Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 21, 2025
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Isaiah 7:10-14
Psalm 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
Romans 1:1-7
Matthew 1:18-24
At this Eucharist on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, the Church provides us with a set of readings from Scripture that present us with two different paths on which we are free to travel but on which only one leads us to God-with us-Emmanuel. There is the way of Ahaz and there is the way of Saint Joseph, the righteous man. The way of fantasy and cunning or the way of dreams and grace.
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Homily for the Ordination of Blake Ryan Thompson to the Transitional Diaconate
Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Husband of Mary
March 19, 2025
St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church
Arlington, Texas
Numbers 3:5-9
Psalm 23:1-3, 4, 5, 6
Acts 6:1-7b
Luke 2:41-52
Today is a joyful day in the life of the local Church of Fort Worth as we celebrate the ordination to the transitional diaconate of Blake Thompson who has persevered through discernment, study, ministry, and prayer for the last eight years to arrive at this point of firmly saying “yes” to Christ’s call to him to follow Him in giving himself entirely to Christ and to His Church. This evening our relative and friend, Blake Thompson, will solemnly promise to live a life imbued by celibate chastity in total dedication to the Kingdom of God as established by Christ and manifested through humble service to the People of God. He will promise to pray daily the Liturgy of the Hours with and for the People of God here and throughout the world. Finally, he will be ordained to give himself as a minister of charity and as a herald of the Gospel of Christ, to preach at liturgies, to preside at weddings and funerals, and to administer the sacrament of Baptism within the Church.
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Vigil Mass of the Nativity
December 24, 2024
FMC-Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalm 89:4-5, 16-17, 27, 29
Titus 3:4-7
Matthew 1:18-25
For this celebration of the Vigil of Christmas, the Church offers for our reflection the annunciation of Saint Joseph as recorded in Matthew’s Gospel. One of the noteworthy aspects of this reading is the silence of Saint Joseph. He responds to the announcement by the angel of the first Christmas with silence. The silence of Saint Joseph is not born of confusion regarding what this news means for Mary and for him.
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Homily for the Ordination of Isaac McCracken to the Transitional Diaconate
Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Husband of Mary
March 19, 2024
Saint Maria Goretti Catholic Church
Arlington, Texas
Numbers 3:5-9
Psalm 96:1-2a, 2b-3, 10
Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22
Matthew 1:1-16, 18-21, 24a
Today in her liturgy the Church offers us a respite from Lent in all its purple and penitence, in giving us this great solemnity of Saint Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary. On this day, the Gloria returns for one celebration until the Vigil of Easter and the triumphant color of white for the purity of the saints made so by Christ’s conquest of sin and death is returned for the moment as we celebrate this solemnity of Saint Joseph, Most Chaste Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Foster Father of Jesus, and Patron of the Universal Church. It is more than fitting that we celebrate the ordination to the diaconate of Isaac McCracken on this great solemnity of the Church’s calendar that we might enter more deeply into the mystery of the Church’s call to holiness.
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Homily for the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Diocesan Day of Stewardship
March 19, 2022
St. Michael Catholic Church
Bedford, Texas
2 Samuel 7:4-5a, 12-14a,16
Psalm 89:2-3, 4-5, 27, 29
Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22
Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24a
In Sacred Scripture, we see several instances where God chooses to reveal Himself and His plan for salvation through the dreams of human beings as visions of light amidst the cloudy darkness of the night: Joseph and his coat of many colors, the call of Samuel, the prophet Daniel, and in our Gospel today, Saint Joseph the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the foster father of Jesus.
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Life on the Chrism Trail 