Farewell, Fr. Charlie (6/22/2025)

A week ago, Pope Leo XIV met with the priests in the Diocese of Rome and shared with them this message:

"[Let] us all undertake to be credible and exemplary priests! We are aware of the limits of our nature and the Lord knows us in depth; but we have received an extraordinary grace; we have been entrusted with a precious treasure of which we are the ministers, the servants. . . If together we try to be exemplary in a humble life, then we will be able to express the renewing force of the Gospel for every man and for every woman."

As you know, next weekend is Fr. Charlie’s last as our pastor. Fr. Charlie, in the words of the Holy Father, thank you for being a credible and exemplary priest, faithful to God who entrusted to your care these past six (6) years His flock here at Saint Albert the Great. Thank you for your life of holiness, for your courage in making important decisions in the face of incredible challenges, and for your humility to God’s will, all of which contributed to the renewal of the spiritual life of our beloved parish.

This is the enduring image that I have of Fr. Charlie as pastor of St. Albert the Great. This was taken on Christmas Eve 2020 at the "Reunion" Mass. The clergy brought our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ - Real Presence in the Eucharist - to the faithful attending Mass in the parking lot. Come home, brothers and sisters in Christ. Do not be afraid. Come home. Fr. Charlie faithfully carried Jesus' charge to him: "Feed my lambs. . . tend my sheep. . . feed my sheep" (John 21:15-17) by making the Sacraments accessible to the people of God during the pandemic.

Homily for Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time (Year C - 6/16/2025)

In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us another one of his many teachings that can be hard for us to put into practice in our lives. Jesus said to his disciples (and us): "You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. . .” We live in a litigious society. I know this from experience because I am a paralegal by profession. I have worked on countless lawsuits filed between friends and even family members because one party felt that the other wronged them and so they sought retribution through the courts.

However, our Lord challenges us, saying: “But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well.” I bet you are thinking to yourself “I must be a saint” to follow this teaching of Jesus. Well, is not living a life of holiness and saintliness something that we are striving for as followers of Christ? I am reminded of a story that I read about Saint Ignatius of Loyola: 

When he first came to Paris, he received from a merchant twenty-five gold crowns on an order sent from Barcelona. These he put for safekeeping in the hands of one of the Spaniards with whom he lived. This latter very soon appropriated them for his own use, and when called upon, could not restore them. The result was. . . Ignatius found himself unprovided for. . . he was forced to seek his livelihood by begging, and to leave the house where he lived. . . the Spaniard who had spent the money of Ignatius and had not paid him, had set out to journey to Spain and fallen sick. As soon as Ignatius learned of this, he was seized with a longing to visit and help him, hoping by this to lead him to abandon the world and give himself wholly to God.

https://jesuits-eum.org/readings/ignatius-autobiography/

How would we have responded if we found ourselves in a similar situation that Saint Ignatius of Loyola found himself in with the Spaniard?

Jesus’ teachings, like the one today, though challenging, are not commandments as much as they are an invitation from Christ for us to participate in his divine life, to enter into the communion of love of the Holy Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We certainly cannot respond in the way that Saint Ignatius of Loyola did on our own. We must depend on God’s grace. This is what Saint Paul tells us in in today’s first reading: “in everything we commend ourselves as ministers of God, through much endurance, in afflictions, hardships, constraints, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, vigils, fasts; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in unfeigned love, in truthful speech, in the power of God. . .” It is as St. Thérèse of Lisieux wrote: “I had to pass through many trials before reaching the haven of peace, before tasting the delicious fruits of perfect love and of complete abandonment to God’s will.”

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061625.cfm

Homily for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity (Year C - 6/15/2025)

Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said that God “is the Creator and merciful Father; he is the Only-Begotten Son, eternal Wisdom incarnate, who died and rose for us; he is the Holy Spirit who moves all things” (Angelus, 6/7/2009). Every time we pray the Nicene Creed, we profess our belief and faith in the Triune God - three distinct Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - GOD.

We profess: “I believe in one God, the Father almighty. . .” the Creator and Author of life. He created “the heavens and the earth. . .” (Genesis 1:1) and He “created [us] in his image; in the image of God he created [us]; male and female he created [us]. God blessed [us]. . .” (1:27). God is the great “I AM” (Exodus 3:14) who is always close to us, guides us, and even removes obstacles in our lives in a similar way that He parted the Red Sea for the Israelites and accompanied them on their journey across the Red Sea and into the wilderness (14:10-22).

We profess: “I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God. . .” The Son reveals the Father to us: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Jesus is “the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father” (14:6) except through him who was crucified on the Cross, died, resurrected, and ascended into heaven to prepare a place in his Father’s house for us so that we can be with him for all eternity (14:2). Jesus loves us, calls us “friends” (15:15), and keeps his promise to be with us “always, until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20) through the Sacraments of the Church.

We profess: “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life. . .” who is the promise of the Father and of  Jesus: “I will ask the Father, and he will give [us] another Advocate to be with [us] always, the Spirit of truth. . . he will teach [us] everything and remind [us] of all that” Jesus teaches us (14:16-17, 26). This is the truth of God’s love that Jesus reminds us of in today’s Gospel, saying; “when he comes, the Spirit of truth. . . will guide [us] to all truth”

Above all, the Trinity is a communion of love who finds “delight in the human race.” Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI observed: “three Persons who are one God because the Father is love, the Son is love, the Spirit is love. God is wholly and only love, the purest, infinite and eternal love” (Angelus, 6/7/2009). God so loves us “that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but. . . be saved through him” (John 3:16-17). Jesus so loves us that he “emptied himself. . . coming in human likeness; he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” for our salvation (Philippians 2:7-8). The Holy Spirit so loves us that he “comes to the aid of our weaknesses [and] intercedes” for us (Romans 8:26).

In the communion of love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Trinity shows us how we are to “love the Lord, [our] God, with all [our] heart, with all [our] soul, and with all [our] mind. . . [and to] love [our] neighbor as [ourselves]” (Matthew 22:37,39). Pope Leo XIV reflected on the communion of love and unity of the Trinity, saying: “Christ prays that we may “all be one” (v. 21). This is the greatest good that we can desire. . . in his mercy, God has always desired to draw all people to himself. It is his life, bestowed upon us in Christ, that makes us one, uniting us with one another. . . Different, yet one; many, yet one; always, in every situation and at every stage of life” (homily, 6/1/2025).

We love God as He loves us and we love others as God loves us, not by our own will and power, but by tapping into the graces of the Sacraments that we have received. The Sacraments are visible signs of an invisible reality that unites us all as members of the one Body of Christ with Jesus as the head of his Body - the Church [us]. Nothing unites us to each other and to Christ more than the Eucharist. Right here, on this altar of our Lord and our God, the Holy Spirit, working through the priest who is in persona Christi (or in the person of Jesus Christ) consecrates bread and wine that become the Body of Christ broken for us and Blood of Christ poured out for us. When we receive our Eucharistic Lord - body, blood, soul, and divinity - at Communion, God reveals to us the invisible reality: we are so loved by our Triune God.

The realization that we are so loved by our Triune God frees us not only to have bope, but to be the hope and peace of Christ for others. Saint Paul wrote that “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. . . and we boast in hope of the glory of God. . . and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”  Hope in the Trinity gives us “a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD” (Isaiah 11:2), to help us be Jesus Christ to others as we accompany the most vulnerable, the marginalized on the peripheries of society, those experiencing homelessness, the migrants and immigrants, and families who are struggling against the darkness that exists in a world that needs God more than ever.

I want to conclude by sharing these words of Pope Leo XIV, especially to all fathers on this Father’s Day, who along with your wives are the heads of your “domestic churches” and the formators of your children’s faith. The Holy Father said: The profound thirst for the infinite present in the heart of every human being means that parents have the duty to make their children aware of the fatherhood of God.  In the words of Saint Augustine: “As we have the source of life in you, O Lord, in your light we shall see light” (Confessions, XIII, 16).

Readings:  https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061525.cfm

Prayer for Father's Day (6/15/2025)

My prayer for all fathers:

Loving and merciful Father, you model all fathers after Saint Joseph and place in them your divine heart. You give them the strength and courage to be models of authentic masculinity, fatherhood, and protector for their families. We ask for your abundant blessings on all fathers and grant them joy as they labor to serve their families with humility, patience, kindness, and gentleness. Keep their hearts chaste and pure for love of their spouses. Bring healing to fathers whose hearts have been wounded by the lost of their spouses or children and grant them your peace and consolation. Endow all men with the grace to be devoted husbands, fathers, and spiritual fathers for their wives, children, and all those entrusted to their care.

We ask this through the intercession of Saint Joseph, the Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Worker, the Protector, and the Terror of Demons. Amen.

Links:

Prayer for Father's Day (6/18/2023) https://dcnphuc2019.blogspot.com/2023/06/prayer-for-fathers-day-6182023.html

Prayer for Father's Day (6/16/2024) https://dcnphuc2019.blogspot.com/2024/06/prayer-for-fathers-day-6162024.html

"Reclaiming Faithful Fatherhood" Initiative: https://dcnphuc2019.blogspot.com/2024/05/reclaiming-faithful-fatherhood.html

Homily for Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter (Year C - 6/2/2025)

Good morning. One of the great joys of my ministry as a deacon is being able to baptize infants with these words: “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” This is the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we hear in the Gospel of Matthew: “After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened [for him], and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove [and] coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (3:16-17).

This is the baptism that the followers of John the Baptist desired when Paul asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers.” They answered him, saying: “We have never even heard that that is a Holy Spirit.” This is the baptism in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that we have all received as a child or, if you are like me, as an adult when we followed Jesus home to Rome.

The Holy Spirit comes upon us when we are anointed with the Sacred Chrism when we receive the Sacrament of Confirmation, and we receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit - wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord - so that we may have the strength and courage to go forth and “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). Moreover, with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, we have the courage to “observe all that [Jesus has] commanded” us and teach others to do the same (28:19).

In today’s Gospel, our Lord Jesus Christ tells us that “[in] the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.” With these words, our Jesus tells us that we, too, with the help of the Holy Spirit can conquer the troubled world that we live in. How? In his first letter, Saint John the Evangelist, gives us this insight when he wrote: “For the love of God is this, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whoever is begotten by God conquers the world. And the victory that conquers the world is our faith.” And here is the hinge: “Who [indeed] is the victor over the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:3-5). 

My sisters and brothers in Christ, when we believe in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; when we keep the commandments that he has given us - to love God and love our neighbors; when we lead others to encounter the love and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ so that they, too, may come and follow him; then, we can conquer the troubled world in which we live, not with power, but with our faith. The question for us then is, do we have enough faith and the courage to ask the Holy Spirit to activate the graces of the Sacraments that we have received, especially the Eucharist that we receive at every Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, be instruments of the peace that Jesus desires for each and every one of us and for the world? Come, Holy Spirit!

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060225.cfm

Trial Preparation: A Reflection on the Great Commandment

Two weeks after the bench trial in Georgetown, Williamson County, TX ended, I found myself back in the courtroom again. This time in Austin, Travis County, TX, on a case where there were a lot of arguments by opposing counsel, supported by their witnesses' testimonies, on what it entails to be a "good neighbor" for two businesses that share a wall. I was waiting for them to quote directly from Scripture  Jesus' Great Commandment (below) but they did not.

Jesus says to us: "This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. . . I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another" (John 15:12-17).

Peppered throughout 4-day trial, in which each side had 7 hours to present their evidence, were talks about homelessness and, as I mentioned above, being a good neighbor. A few of the prospective jurors, during voir dire, were very vocal about their views on homelessness in Austin, ranging from those who believe that the government is not doing enough to help people experiencing homelessness to those who believe that homelessness is a lifestyle.

As I reflected on this, something that Pope Leo XIV said in his recent General Audience (5/28/2025) struck me. The Holy Father reflected on the parable of the "good" Samaritan and had this to say about compassion:

". . .before being a religious matter, compassion is a question of humanity! Before being believers, we are called to be human. . .

Compassion is expressed through practical gestures. The Evangelist Luke ponders the actions of the Samaritan, whom we call “good”, but in the text he is simply a person: a Samaritan approaches, because if you want to help someone, you cannot think of keeping your distance, you have to get involved, get dirty, perhaps be contaminated. . 

. . .when will we too be capable of interrupting our journey and having compassion? When we understand that the wounded man in the street represents each one of us. And then the memory of all the times that Jesus stopped to take care of us will make us more capable of compassion."

Turning back to the trial itself, while I had to work pass midnight several days in a row and slept for only 4-5 hours a night, it was a relatively stress-free jury trial. I got to experience pretrial, voir dire, and even waited around while the jury deliberated. It was great that we did not have deposition designations and depo video clips to prepare and play because all the witnesses testified in-person. While we had ~280 exhibits to their ~50 exhibits, there were not a lot of redactions or additional work to prove the authenticity of the documents, especially with native files.

Of course, Chris was a guru with trial presentation to the point that one of our clients called him a "magician" and the jurors, during their deliberation, designated one of them to be their version of "Mr. Stephen" to pull up the exhibits for them. The jurors received from us a joint list of admitted exhibits and a Chromebook with the exhibits on their to review so I did not have to prepare notebooks for them. My litigation assistant, Adam, handled the lunches for us (like he did for our bench trial two weeks earlier) so I am grateful that the courthouse uses LunchDrop and we could eat in the conference room right outside the courtroom.

From a best-practices standpoint, particularly related to trial exhibits, I am happy with how I tracked exhibits that have been admitted because I was able to quickly provide the paralegal on the other with a list of admitted trial exhibits for both sides. She just needed to verify with her notes. It was the same with the court reporter. The process was smooth and "painless" for all of us and I am glad for that.

After the jury came back with the verdict (for our clients. . . woo hoo!), the trial team went out for drinks. One of the attorneys asked me how many trials have I done over the years since I had just completed a bench trial and a jury trial in a month's time. Since 2014, I have done 8 trials. One jury trial in Comal County lasted a month and a half. I had two 2-week jury trials back-to-back years in 2021 & 2022. I also had a week-long criminal trial in federal court and a week-long hearing at the Railroad Commission. I also had 2 week-long arbitrations, one was during the COVID-19 pandemic in December of 2020. Of course, I had cases settled right before trial started, including one in 2023 that we prepared for a jury trial twice and the case settled the morning we had to pick a jury.

One of the attorneys in this jury trial said something that resonated with me. He said that what he liked most about trials is the interaction between the attorneys and even the parties; however, the aspect of trial that he does not like is the long-hours, late nights, and sleep deprivation. I agree with him 100%, even if he was opposing counsel. Ha!

. . .

Other related blogs:

Trial Preparation: A Reflection on Getting to Heaven https://dcnphuc2019.blogspot.com/2023/09/trial-preparation-reflection-on-getting.html

Trial Preparation: A Reflection on the Call of Saint Matthew https://dcnphuc2019.blogspot.com/2025/05/trial-preparation-reflection-on-call-of.html

Reflecting on Conclave and Pope Leo XIV as the Successor of Peter (May 8, 2025) (UPDATED 5/17/2025) https://dcnphuc2019.blogspot.com/2025/05/reflecting-on-conclave-and-pope-leo-xiv.html

Homily for Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter (Year C - 5/29/2025)

Good morning. Yesterday, I shared how incredibly busy Paul and his companions were as they carried out their mission to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. They traveled to Antioch, Pisidia, Inconium, Lystra, Asia Minor, Europe, and the list goes on and on. In today’s first reading, we learn that Paul also had a “day job”. He was a tentmaker like Aquila and Priscilla. We hear that Paul “went to visit them and, because he practiced the same trade, stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.”

Like all of us, Paul had to work to make a living. However, his passion, what gave his life its true meaning and purpose was to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with the people that he encountered. We hear that “[every] sabbath, [Paul] entered into discussions in the synagogue, attempting to convince both Jews and Greeks.” And “[when] Silas and Timothy came down. . ., Paul began to occupy himself totally with preaching the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.” In the busyness of his life, between making a living as a tentmaker, probably to support his mission. . . going all over the place to proclaim the Good News, Paul was “content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ. . .” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

My sisters and brothers in Christ, when we take a moment to reflect on Paul’s passion and zeal to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ, we begin to realize that Paul knew exactly what Jesus meant when he said to his disciples, in today’s Gospel: “A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me. . . Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.” We can get a sense of Paul’s desire to be with Christ for eternity from his letter to the Philippians, in which he wrote: “For to me life is Christ, and death is gain. . . I long to depart this life and be with Christ, [for] that is far better. . .” (1:21). However, Paul also understood the mission that Jesus had given him in his life, saying: “Yet that I remain [in] the flesh is more necessary for your benefit. And this I know with confidence, that I shall remain and continue in the service of all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that your boasting in Christ Jesus may abound on account of me when I come to you again.“ (, 23-26).

I am sure we can all agree that our hope is that a little while later, we will see our Lord Jesus Christ and that the grief that we presently feel, from being separated from God, will become joy in heaven. However, until that time comes, we can look to Paul as an example of how we should live our lives in a way that our Lord Jesus Christ is always at the center of everything that we do. We must work to provide and care for our families and those who depend on us, no doubt about it. However, we can certainly find the time to worship God, share the Good News of Jesus Christ with those we encounter (especially with our own family members and friends), allow the Holy Spirit to guide us to all truth, and help others come and follow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. After all, this is the mission that Jesus has given to all of us.

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052925-thursday.cfm