Homily for the Solemnity of Our Lord Christ, King of the Universe
November 24, 2024
St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church
Prosper, Texas
Daniel 7:13-14
Psalm 93:1, 1-2, 5
Revelation 1:5-8
John 18:33b-37
Not living in an era of kings, the feast of Christ the King may seem a little foreign to us. The age of kings and queens is past, although the finery and grandeur of that past still captures our imagination. Even more, the power and its benefits that royalty brought is still an object desired by countless men and women. However, the age of kings was also a time of chivalry and courage, honor and obedience, duty and loyalty, virtues that should still be sought. We, though, live in an age that enshrines equality and individualism and that places value on our sovereignty. The ethic of this world is encapsulated by the phrase, “No one has dominion over us, and we are nobody’s servants.”
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Homily for the Solemnity of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph
December 26, 2021
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
1 Samuel 1: 20-22, 24-28
Psalm 84: 2-3, 5-6, 9-10
1 John 3: 1-2, 21-24
Luke 2: 41-52
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Holy Family: Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. The Church offers us this feast on the first Sunday immediately after Christmas because this mystery of family life is so important and very much essential to the mission of redemption of humanity given to Jesus by His Father in Heaven — a mission that He further entrusts to all of us as the Church to proclaim and to bring to fulfillment under the guidance of the Holy Spirit whom we first receive at Baptism.
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Solemnity of Christ the King
Saint Patrick’s Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
November 22, 2020
Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17
Psalm 23:1-2, 2-3, 5-6
1st. Corinthians 15:20-26, 28
Matthew 25:31-46
The Netherlands is frequently associated with the reclamation of land from the sea, as its engineers are famous for developing techniques like polders to drain wetlands and make them usable for agriculture and other development. The Dutch have a saying: “God created the world, but the Dutch created the Netherlands.” Yet, every so often this land is invaded by floods and requires it to be drained again and reclaimed. I think that it is inaccurate to consider the ocean to be an invader; rather, the ocean is simply returning to what is rightfully its own. God created the Netherlands too.
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Homily for the Solemnity of the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Solemnity of the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ
May 24, 2020
Saint Patrick’s Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Acts 1:1-11
Psalm 47: 2-3, 6-7, 8-9
Ephesians 1:17-23
Matthew 28: 16-20
A number of years ago, I was seated in an airport lounge waiting to board a flight that had been delayed for several hours — a flight that I thought would never get off the ground because of weather and mechanical problems.
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Life on the Chrism Trail 