Homily for the Rite of Acceptance for Candidacy
June 10, 2025
St. Peter Catholic Church
Lindsay, Texas
Isaiah 6:1-2a, 3-8
Psalm 24:1bc-2, 30, 4ab, 5-6
1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23
John 1:45-51
Those who are to be formally accepted as candidates for Holy Orders today find themselves at a pivotal stage in their priestly formation. They have completed the propaedeutic and discipleship stages and with this Rite of Acceptance of Candidacy for Holy Orders will formally enter the configuration stage of priestly formation. Our reflection upon this stage of configuration and the associated need of prayers for our four seminarians and soon to be candidates: Carson Kitaif, Eric Hernandez, Alex Jansen, and Evan Lang, can begin with the Scriptures proclaimed in our first and second readings.
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Homily for Saturday of the Twentieth Week of Ordinary Time
Mass for Saint Andrew Breakfast
August 26, 2023
Saint Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Ruth 2:1-3, 8-11; 4:13-17
Psalm 128:1b-2, 3, 4, 5
Matthew 23:1-12
“Let me go and glean ears of grain in the field of anyone who will allow me that favor.” Gleaning is the practice of gathering the leftover pieces of grain that remained on the ground after the wheat was harvested. Gleaning was forbidden for the owners of the field because it was to be left behind for God who in His Providence would give it to the poor who in turn would gather it themselves. This action recognizes the priority of the poor in the eyes of God and everybody’s reliance upon God for their flourishing in life. It also speaks against the deadly sin of greed. It seems that greed dominates so many people and motivates many to ignore the needs of others and to sin in other ways.
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Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time
February 6, 2021
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Isaiah 6:1-2a, 3-8
Psalm 138:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 7-8
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Luke 5:1-11
Pope Saint John Paul II observed prophetically in 1993 that in our culture, “A distorted sense of freedom…is lived out as a blind acquiescence to instinctive forces and to an individual’s will to power. Therefore, on the level of thought and behavior, it is almost natural to find an erosion of internal consent to ethical principles. On the religious level, such a situation, if it does not always lead to an explicit refusal of God, causes widespread indifference and results in a life which, even in its more significant moments and more decisive choices, is lived as if God did not exist.
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Homily for the Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
November 7, 2021
St. Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
1 Kings 17:10-16
Psalm 146:7, 8-9, 9-10
Hebrews 9:24-28
Mark 12:38-44
This Sunday begins National Vocation Awareness Week, an annual week-long celebration of the Catholic Church in the United States dedicated to fostering vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life through prayer and education. It is an opportunity for us to renew intentionally our prayers and support for those who are discerning one of these particular vocations. It is an opportunity for each of us to ask God for the grace to invite young men and women with leadership qualities to pray for fortitude to listen for God’s call and to respond with confidence to it by saying “yes.”
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Homily for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
August 15, 2021
Saint Patrick Cathedral
Fort Worth, Texas
Revelation 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab
Psalm 45:10, 11, 12, 16
1 Corinthians 15:20-27
Luke 1:39-56
Today we celebrate Mary’s being assumed body-and-soul into heaven. As she shared so closely in Jesus’ life and mission, so now she shares His Resurrection. Today’s solemnity invites us to contemplate the mystery of vocation, response, and love most perfectly exemplified in the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The call and response truly involve authentic freedom on God’s part and on Mary’s part. Neither the call nor the response is pre-determined – they each spring from and bear fruit in real love. Mary is portrayed in the Book of Revelation as being glorified by the sun, moon and stars as her garments. She is further pictured as being pregnant. The birth of Jesus was not just a personally defining moment of her life, but also the focal point of history. The mission of her Son became her own, but the threat to that mission is symbolized by the dragon ready to devour her Son. The dragon we face today is predominantly the dragon of indifference towards God’s love for us and the basic needs of our brother and sister human beings. It appears differently in each of our lives: sometimes preoccupation with self or boredom, often forgetfulness or thoughtlessness, always some sin, some form of selfishness or pride.
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Life on the Chrism Trail 