Homily for the Red Mass for the Diocese of Fort Worth
September 23, 2026
Saint Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Isaiah 58:6-11
Psalm 112:4-5, 6-7, 8-9
James 2:14-18, 26
Matthew 25:31-46
We come together this evening not only as judges, attorneys, legislators, priests, and public servants. This evening, we invoke the fire of the Holy Spirit as symbolized by the red vestments of this Mass, seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit upon the hearts and minds of those of us who are especially charged with administration of the law towards the preservation of justice. We do not seek God’s ratification of our political agendas or His blessing upon the ambitions for our careers. We gather to ask the Holy Spirit to purify and to illumine our reason with the fire of His Love.
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Homily for the Feast of Saint Matthew the Apostle
Institution of Acolytes
September 21, 2026
Saint Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church
Fort Worth, Texas
Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-13
Psalm 19:2-5
Matthew 9:9-13
Today we gather at this Mass of the Feast of Saint Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist to pray for these men who are to be instituted in the ministry of Acolyte as part of their preparation and formation on the path towards ordination to the permanent diaconate. We pray also for their wives and families. Finally, we pray for the Church, both local and universal.
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Homily for the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows
Mass for the Repose of the Souls of Deceased Basselins
September 15, 2026
Caldwell Hall Chapel, The Catholic University of America
Washington, D.C.
Genesis 3:9-15, 20
Psalm 31:2 & 3b, 3cd-4, 5-6, 15-16, 20
Hebrews 5:7-9
Luke 2:33-35
The Liturgy of the Church offers us this memorial dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Sorrows. This memorial is placed immediately after the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross because the Blessed Virgin Mary, through her being preserved from the stain of all sin by the merits of her Son, shares most closely in her Son’s mission of salvation and is united with Him in His suffering. We come together on this day, here in this chapel at this university, to offer Mass and to pray for the repose of the soul of Theodore Basselin and the souls of all deceased recipients of the scholarship named in his honor.
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Homily for the Twenty-fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time
September 13, 2026
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
Washington, D.C.
Sirach 27:30-28:7
Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12
Romans 14:7-9
Matthew 18:21-35
“Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight.” These words from the Book of Sirach, the first reading in our Mass, offer an instruction on anger, vengeance, and forgiveness. Wrath is a destructive force, and because of our emotions we are prone to let it overtake us and drive us farther away from reason. We remember insults and injuries we have received and feel justified in returning the same. Our irritations soon become grudges, and our irascibility frequently turns to wrath and makes us become bitter, entitled, resentful and increasingly irrational. What exactly does it mean to hug anger tight?
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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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