"The death of the Lord our God should not be a cause of shame for us; rather, it should be our greatest hope, our greatest glory. In taking upon himself the death that he found in us, he has most faithfully promised to give us life in him, such as we cannot have of ourselves. He loved us so much that, sinless himself, he suffered for us sinners the punishment we deserved for our sins." - St. Augustine
"Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest."
We started at the Seton Center and processed to the church, following our Lord Jesus Christ as he entered Jerusalem.
More pictures here: https://saintalbert.org/photoalbums/palm-sunday-2026
Pope Leo XIV's shared prayer (in the words of the Servant of God, Bishop Tonino Bello) on this Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion echoes our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ's words in today's Gospel.
Pope Leo XIV: "He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them. . . As we set our gaze upon him who was crucified for us, we can see a crucified humanity. In his wounds, we see the hurts of so many women and men today. In his last cry to the Father, we hear the weeping of those who are crushed, who have no hope, who are sick and who are alone. Above all, we hear the painful groans of all those who are oppressed by violence and are victims of war. Christ, King of Peace, cries out again from his cross: God is love! Have mercy! Lay down your weapons! Remember that you are brothers and sisters!"
Click to read the Holy Father's homily: https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/homilies/2026/documents/20260329-palme.html
Fr. Red: "Jesus. God saves. He sends his only Begotten Son to die on the Cross in atonement for our sins so that we may be saved. And in saving us, we become 'Barrabas', son of the Father. . . God sets us free and calls us to be His children."
Listen to Fr. Red Blevins: 10 AM Sunday Mass Homily (English): https://www.podbean.com/ea/pb-238wk-1a85693
7th Anniversary of Diaconate Ordination (March 30th)
To my brother deacons and our wives, from the class of 2019, congratulations on the 7-year anniversary of our Ordination! May God bless us with many more years to serve His people.
Requiescat in Pace
Dcn. Daniel Guerra (2018) 🙏
Dcn. Noel Caballero (2023) 🙏
Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God. St. Joseph, pray for us. St. Stephen, pray for us.
What better way to celebrate 7 years of diaconal ministry than serving at Mass and preaching: https://dcnphuc2019.blogspot.com/2026/03/homily-for-monday-of-holy-week-year.html
Chrism Mass (March 31st)
Blessed to serve at the Chrism Mass this morning alongside my vesting clergy, Deacon David, a day after my 7th Ordination anniversary. It was great to see so many of my brother deacons from the Class of 2019 at the Chrism Mass this morning.
I had the blessed opportunity to among the four deacons who brought up the holy oils to be blessed at the Chrism Mass this morning.
Deacon Michael Beauvais carried the Oil of the Infirmed. I carried the Oil of Catechumen. And Deacon Gilbert Gutierrez carried the Sacred Chrism, along with Deacon Barry Ryan who carried the balsam.
You know your deacon brothers love you when one of them tells you not to drop the holy oil and, if I did, he would laugh at me.
Bishop Garcia gave a beautiful homily. One of the things he said that struck me was when it invited us - priests and deacons - to walk with the people of God even in the midst of our burdens. It reminded me of Philippians 4:13, when Saint Paul wrote: "I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me."
The Sacred Triduum is only a day away. If you have never experienced the Paschal Triduum, perhaps this Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Great Vigil of Easter is the time to experience it for the first time, or even anew. A blessed Holy Week to you all and your families.
Practice makes perfect! Rehearsal for Chrism Mass (March 30th) and at the Chrism Mass (March 31st)
Many thanks to my dear friend for sharing these pictures of me carrying the Oil of Catechumen at the Chrism Mass.
A picture collage from today's Chrism Mass. . . Fr. Michael securing the oils for Saint Albert the Great Catholic Church. My wife and her college friend catching up after Mass. Katy and I proving that Aggies and Longhorns are united under the one banner of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Click here to read the Holy Father's homily (excerpts below): https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/homilies/2026/documents/20260402-crisma.html
Jesus’ freedom changes hearts, heals wounds, refreshes and brightens our faces, reconciles and gathers us together, and forgives and raises us up.
We, as members of his Body, speak of a Church that is “apostolic,” sent out, driven beyond itself, and consecrated to God in the service of his creatures. “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (Jn 20:21).
Our dignity as sons and daughters of God cannot be taken from us, nor can it be lost, but neither can the affections, places, and experiences at the start of our lives be erased.
We are the Body of Christ if we move forward, coming to terms with the past without being imprisoned by it: everything is restored and multiplied if it is first let go, without fear.
Spy Wednesday (April 1st)
In today's Gospel, we heard how Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus' closest confidants, disciples, and friends, betrays him for 30 silver pieces. It should give us pause to reflect on our own lives and all the times that we have betrayed our Lord and Savior's love for us when we sin, when we put our worldly and fleshly desires over friendship with him. However, let us not be like Judas who despaired to the point of committing suicide. Rather, let us be like Peter, who denied Jesus three times; however, Peter trusted in God's power to forgive. Peter trusted in God's love and mercy. Jesus, I trust in you.
Tomorrow begins the Sacred Paschal Triduum. During this holiest of days in the Church's liturgical life, let us empty ourselves of our sins, our despair, our sense of unworthiness, so that we can open our hearts to receive God's love, mercy, and forgiveness given to us in the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the only Begotten Son of the Father.
If you have never experienced the Paschal Triduum, perhaps this Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Great Vigil of Easter is the time to experience it for the first time, or even anew. A blessed Holy Week to you all and your families. May the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ fill you hearts and families with God's love and mercy.
Holy Thursday of the Lord's Supper (April 2nd)
The Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks,
broke it and said,
“This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.
[1 Corinthians 11:23-26]
. . .
Excerpts from an Easter homily by Saint Melito of Sardis, bishop:
"For the sake of suffering humanity he came down from heaven to earth, clothed himself in that humanity in the Virgin’s womb, and was born a man. Having then a body capable of suffering, he took the pain of fallen man upon himself; he triumphed over the diseases of soul and body that were its cause, and by his Spirit, which was incapable of dying, he dealt man’s destroyer, death, a fatal blow. . .It is he who was made man of the Virgin, he who was hung on the tree; it is he who was buried in the earth, raised from the dead, and taken up to the heights of heaven. He is the mute lamb, the slain lamb, the lamb born of Mary, the fair ewe. He was seized from the flock, dragged off to be slaughtered, sacrificed in the evening, and buried at night. On the tree no bone of his was broken; in the earth his body knew no decay. He is the One who rose from the dead, and who raised man from the depths of the tomb."
. . .
Jesus institutes the Eucharist and the priesthood. Without priests, there is no Eucharist and no Mass. Let us pray for our priests and for men to courageously answer God's call to the priesthood. Jesus also gives us a mandate, to love and serve one another as he loves and comes to serve, not to be served:
[He] said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”
The two Sacraments of Service are Holy Orders and Matrimony. In the Sacrament of Marriage, husband and wife put aside their selfish desires and will the good of their spouse out of love. It is in the family that children learn from their parents the virtues of faith, hope, and love. It is in the family that children learn to live the great commandment to love God and love their neighbor as God loves them. It is in the family that children learn charity, to offer their lives as a sacrifice in response to Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross for our salvation.
Fr. Red incensing the Crucifix at the start of Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper.
How many deacons does it take to set the altar for the Liturgy of the Eucharist? LOL
Adoring our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist with my brother deacons and our priests.
. . .
Click here to read the Holy Father's homily (excerpts below): https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/homilies/2026/documents/20260402-coena-domini.html
Out of love, the Lord kneels to wash each one of us, and his divine gift transforms us.
"[As] true God and true man, Christ offers us the example of self-giving, service and love. We need his example to learn how to love, not because we are incapable of it, but precisely to teach ourselves and one another what true love is.
Good Friday of the Lord's Passion (April 3rd)
[He] was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins; upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed.
We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way; but the LORD laid upon him the guilt of us all.
Though he was harshly treated, he submitted and opened not his mouth; like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearers, he was silent and opened not his mouth. . .
Because of his affliction he shall see the light in fullness of days; through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear. . . he shall take away the sins of many, and win pardon for their offenses.
. . .
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your Cross you have redeemed the world.
Behold the wood of the Cross,
on which hung the salvation of the world.
℟. Come, let us adore.
Adoration of the Holy Cross on Good Friday of the Lord's Passion
Celebrant and Deacons of the Word and Altar prostrating.
Kneeling at this part in the Passion narrative: "When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, 'It is finished.' And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit."
Kissing the Cross of Christ.
The Great Vigil of Easter (April 4th)
From an ancient homily on Holy Saturday
(PG 43, 439, 451, 462-463)
The Lord descends into hell
Something strange is happening—there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.
He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.” Christ answered him: “And with your spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated.
For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.
See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.
I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.
Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.
. . .
"[The] light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:5).
I am reminded of this sermon on the Annunciation by St. Bernard of Clairvaux in the Office of Readings during Advent (excerpts below):
You have heard, O Virgin, that you will conceive and bear a son; you have heard that it will not be by man but by the Holy Spirit. The angel awaits an answer; it is time for him to return to God who sent him. We too are waiting, O Lady, for your word of compassion; the sentence of condemnation weighs heavily upon us.Tearful Adam with his sorrowing family begs this of you, O loving Virgin, in their exile from Paradise. Abraham begs it, David begs it. All the other holy patriarchs, your ancestors, ask it of you, as they dwell in the country of the shadow of death. This is what the whole earth waits for, prostrate at your feet. It is right in doing so, for on your word depends comfort for the wretched, ransom for the captive, freedom for the condemned, indeed, salvation for all the sons of Adam, the whole of your race.Answer quickly, O Virgin. Reply in haste to the angel, or rather through the angel to the Lord. Answer with a word, receive the Word of God. Speak your own word, conceive the divine Word. Breathe a passing word, embrace the eternal Word.See, the desired of all nations is at your door, knocking to enter. If he should pass by because of your delay, in sorrow you would begin to seek him afresh, the One whom your soul loves. Arise, hasten, open. Arise in faith, hasten in devotion, open in praise and thanksgiving. Behold the handmaid of the Lord, she says, be it done to me according to your word.
Click to read: https://aleteia.org/2023/12/19/imagine-the-whole-world-waiting-for-marys-reply-to-gabriel/
Click below to read my blogs on the Exsultet, which I have chanted since the Easter Vigil in 2023, 15 years after I was baptized and confirmed and came home to Rome in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Fr. Red incensing the Crucifix during the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
So many of them were in tears of joy as the reality of becoming Catholic dawned on them. One of the Elects shared with me before Mass that she cannot wait to go up for Communion and NOT have to cross her arms but finally be able to receive our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.
It reminded me of when I received the Eucharist for the first time at the Easter Vigil on March 22, 2008. Click here to read "Reflecting on 15 years as a Catholic (March 22, 2008 - March 22, 2023) (UPDATED 4/14/2025)." Let us pray that they "live the joy of the Resurrection" in their new life in Christ as Catholics.
Above: Receiving Holy Communion for the first time.
Below: Serving at the altar of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Resurrection of the Lord - Easter Sunday (April 5th)
Here is a link to the reflection that I shared on Easter Sunday during Communion Service at The Conservatory: https://phucphan.podbean.com/e/christ-is-risen-gospel-reflection-452026/.
Here is a link to the homily that I preached on Monday in the Octave of Easter, at the 6:30 A.M. Mass at Saint Mary Cathedral: https://dcnphuc2019.blogspot.com/2026/04/homily-for-monday-in-octave-of-easter.html.
These new Catholics joined a record number of people coming into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil! Welcome home to Rome!
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