Life on the Chrism Trail

Homily for the Friday of the Twenty-Third Week of Ordinary Time

September 11, 2026
Theological College
Washington, D.C.

1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22b-27
Psalm 84:3, 4, 5-6, 12
Luke 6:39-42

Today we commemorate with our solemn prayers and reflection the 25th anniversary of a day of great anger. Twenty-five years ago today, nineteen Islamic terrorists flew hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center in New York City and into the Pentagon in Northern Virginia, thereby murdering a total of 2977 innocent people including those forty passengers and crew members on United Airlines Flight 93 who fought the terrorists and, in the battle, prevented the plane from hitting the intended target of either the White House or the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

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Homily for the Lunar New Year

February 15, 2026
Our Lady of Fatima Church
Fort Worth, Texas

Genesis 1:14-18
Psalm 8:4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Philippians 4:4-8
Matthew 6:25-34

We come together today to worship God in the offering of the Mass. We do so because God has revealed Himself fully to us through the Sacred Scriptures and fully in the gift of His Son Jesus Christ, who taught the Apostles and His earliest disciples to do this in His memory. We come together as members of His Holy Catholic Church in communion with the Church throughout the world.

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Homily for the Memorial of Saint John Bosco

January 31, 2026
Theological College
Washington, D.C.

Philippians 4:4-9
Psalm 103:1bc-2, 3-4, 8-9, 13-14, 17-18
Matthew 18:1-5

Today the Church offers us this liturgical Memorial of Saint John Bosco, a saint of the nineteenth century who was renowned for his humble dedication to the care and education of orphaned and abandoned boys and adolescents. He and his brother Salesians accepted the responsibility of care for these young men whom the world considered to be a burden on society.

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Homily for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

February 1, 2026
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas

Zephaniah 2:3, 3:12-13
Psalm 146
1st Corinthians 1:26-31
Matthew 5:1-12a

“When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach…” There are two groups depicted in today’s Gospel: the crowds and the disciples. Jesus teaches His disciples, and they listen because He has called them by name, and they belong to Him. A crowd is without identity and thrives on frenzy. Crowds are pieced together by individuals who out of fear or indifference have jettisoned the responsibility that accompanies belonging as a lawful member of society in exchange for fitting in with the prevailing mood of the time. The disciples are governed by faith in God as Christ’s Church.

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Homily for the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

World Mission Sunday

October 19, 2025
St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church
Prosper, Texas

Exodus 17:8-13
Psalm 121:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
2 Timothy 3:14-4:2
Luke 18:1-8

In 1926 Pope Pius XI decreed that each year on the penultimate Sunday of October, the Church would keep a day dedicated to World Missions to remind all Catholics of our shared responsibility to promote the spread of the authentic Gospel in every conceivable way. We can and should support missionary work with our financial gifts, but even more we must seek to live as faithful disciples and loving friends of the Lord Jesus and so bear witness to everyone we meet that Jesus Christ is Lord.

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Homily for the 2025 Red Mass for the Diocese of Fort Worth

September 25, 2025
St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church
Fort Worth, Texas

Micah 6:1-4, 6-8
Psalm 104:1-2, 24, 35, 27-28, 29, 30
Romans 13:1-7
Luke 7:1-10

The passage from the Gospel of Luke which we have just proclaimed describes a story of the Roman centurion who sends some of the local religious leaders to Jesus to ask Him if He will come to the centurion’s home to heal his slave who is suffering and near death. When the religious leaders approach Jesus, they put their own spin on matters. They strongly recommend that Jesus do this for the centurion as they emphasize that he deserves this miracle from Jesus because, unlike a lot of the Roman military force of occupation, this centurion likes them so much that he has paid for the building of their synagogue. It is in their interest that Jesus heal the centurion’s servant.

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Homily for the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Celebration of the 130th anniversary of St. Joseph Parish

August 31, 2025
St. Joseph Catholic Church
Rhineland, Texas

Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29
Psalm 68:4-5, 6-7, 10-11
Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a
Luke 14:1, 7-14

“God in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor.” Our responsorial psalm for today’s Mass, taken from Psalm 68, describes the essence of the prayer life of Father Reisdorf’s vision and labor in the foundation of this parish and the community of Rhineland that this parish has served for one hundred and thirty years.

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Homily for the Mass for the Convocation of Teachers of the Schools of the Diocese of Fort Worth

Memorial of Saint John Vianney

August 4, 2025
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church
Keller, Texas

Numbers 11:4b-15
Psalm 81:12-13, 14-15, 16-17
Matthew 14:13-21

Sing with joy to God our help!

In our Gospel reading, we see the disciples come to Jesus with what they surmise to be a problem. The disciples tell Jesus, “This is a deserted place, and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”

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