A Voice in the Church in Central Texas
A remark during the homily at midnight mass really struck me. The priest reflected how each Christmas is different, not because the Gospel story changes -indeed the story is everlasting – but because we come to Christmas each year a little bit different. Each year we bring with us the lived experiences of the whole past year…. [Read More]
At this writing, I am in Corpus Christi for one of my favorite feasts of the Church year, Christ the King, and also for my birthday weekend, since I was born here. It was growing dark, raining and then storming when I got into town. The bay was black, the water choppy; growing more restless… [Read More]
Last Sunday as we were celebrating the closing of the Year of Mercy around the Diocese, my friend and I were talking about how we were kinda sad to see the Year of Mercy end. She turned to me and said – you know how we had the age of Enlightenment? And the age of the… [Read More]
It’s possible that St Therese of Lisieux is one of those saints of whom we hear so often that we think, well, we already know that story – next! Yet I think we often only capture her “slogan” of childlikeness, and in skipping over it, we miss the profound and prophetic truth manifested in her life…. [Read More]
Have you ever been in one of those arguments where you get sucked into the back and forth, like a frenzied game of tug-a-war? Except no one is playing, and in fact the whole emotional environment feels weighty and overly serious, like we’re arguing about way more than the dishwasher all of a sudden. Sometimes… [Read More]
What does gazing at an image or icon of Divine Mercy do for my mind, body, and soul? The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “The beauty of images moves me [us] to contemplation…” (1162) So what is contemplation? “Contemplation is a gaze of faith, fixed on Jesus, ‘I look at him and he… [Read More]
I don’t understand the Jubilee Year of Mercy, but I’m trying to. I love learning, so, as I said on my panel during the ATX Catholic Retreat, I’m taking this year as an opportunity to learn what mercy means. I encounter tons of media already, so my learning mostly consists of keeping my eyes and… [Read More]
The week before classes started at UT this January, nearly 80 Longhorn Catholics came back to town early – to go out in mission. This is the 4th year of Austin CARITAS (Catholics Answering the Redeemer’s Invitation to Authentic Sanctity), where UT students give up a week of their winter break to serve those in need… [Read More]
For the opening of the Year of Mercy, I was late to mass. Late to mass! Imagine, this great event, once in a Jubilee, and I had even planned ahead to get out of work early – and still I was late to mass, and very late. Walking up to the mass-in-progress, I slid into… [Read More]
We are about to embark on one of the most important years of our present lifetime, the Jubilee Year of Mercy. This year imparts a special grace that cannot be received twice. These types of years don’t come often in the church’s history except every 25 or 50 years, so we need to take advantage… [Read More]
Bubble-wrapped saints? Let’s take in that image…bubble-wrapped saints! How ridiculous, right? Saints are brave, tough, warriors and queens who sweat through struggle and shed blood fulfilling the will of God, steadfast and stouthearted no matter how difficult the task! But wrapped in insulating bubble wrap…? But, if you think about it, if we carried our… [Read More]
What is it about Jesus spitting, putting his fingers in the deaf man’s ear? It hits on something within us, pulls on something. Some inner notion of cleanliness, of boundaries, of unworthiness. It’s uncomfortable. Unusual. Certainly not how we would expect the God-man to act. Now – to bow at his feet, to stand at… [Read More]
This homily was given at St Mary Cathedral in downtown Austin on May 7, 2015 in the 4th Week of Easter. Pope Francis Prayer for the Jubilee of Mercy Lord Jesus Christ, you have taught us to be merciful like the heavenly Father, and have told us that whoever sees you sees Him. Show us… [Read More]
This homliy was given at St Mary Cathedral in downtown Austin, TX on April 30, 2015 in the fourth week of Easter Jesus in the priest and in the deacon as servant. Homily based on the Gospel of John 13:16-20 The Corporal Works of Mercy Feed the hungry Give drink to the thirsty Clothe the… [Read More]
