Homily for Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter (Year A - 5/18/2026)

Today’s Gospel is a continuation of Jesus’ Last Supper discourse in which he talks about his departure and the coming of the Holy Spirit. Yesterday, on Ascension Sunday, we heard from the conclusion of the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus “was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight” (Acts 1:9). Before he ascended to be at the right hand of the Father, “Jesus approached [the disciples] and said to them, ‘Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.’”

My sisters and brothers in Christ, this promise from our Lord Jesus Christ that he will be with us until the end of the age is through the gift of the Holy Spirit, which we received at Baptism and sealed with at Confirmation. Jesus’ promise to be with us until the end of the age, through his Spirit, should give us the courage to live boldly as disciples of Christ in the midst of the troubles in the world that can rob us of the peace that God desires for us in his Son However, as Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel, he has conquered the world and so we have faith that the troubles in the world, and more specifically, those in our own lives too shall pass.

Throughout Sacred Scripture, the inspired words of God through the Holy Spirit, we find this promise and it gives us hope. From Ecclesiastes (3:1-9), we hear: “There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. A time to give birth, and a time to die. . . A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. . . a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces. . . A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.” Life is full of ups and downs. Jesus does not promise that life will be easy. What Jesus promises is that he will not leave us “orphans” (John 14:18) but that where he is there we may also be with him (14:3).

Moreover, in his Second Letter to the Corinthians (4:17-18),  Saint Paul tells us: “For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen; for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal.” And again, in his Letter to the Romans (8:18): “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us.” Someone I know lost her son a few months ago and what she shared with me is a testament to her faith. She wrote: “Our Blessed Mother Mary, I leaned on her more than ever during the time I lost my son. I continue to lean on her to this day and I ask her to give me a small portion of the strength she has to carry this pain. God's plan is beyond our understanding” (May 15, 2026).

My sisters and brothers in Christ, let us find courage to persevere in faith. Let us have hope even in the face of all the troubles in the world, knowing in our hearts that God loves us and desires his peace for all of us. More importantly, inspired by the Holy Spirit who the Father and Son send to us, let us live in the peace of Christ and share his peace with all we encounter in our lives.

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051826.cfm

Homily for Monday of the Sixth Week of Easter (Year A - 5/11/2026)

In today’s Gospel, our Lord Jesus Christ prepares us to receive the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, and everything that comes with receiving this gift from our Father in heaven. Let us listen to the words of our Lord, who says: “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify. . .” I am reminded of this prayer from the Order of Baptism, during the “Ephaphatha” Rite: “May the Lord Jesus, who made the deaf to hear and the mute to speak, grant that you may soon receive his word with your ears and profess the faith with your lips, to the glory and praise of God the Father.”

Through our Baptism, we are called to listen to the Word of God and speak His Truth in the world. However, Jesus knows that to follow him can be difficult because we will face opposition from those who “have not known either the Father or me” and yet “think he is offering worship to God.” In today’s Gospel, like he does so many times throughout his ministry, our Lord Jesus Christ is upfront with us about the cost to come follow him and be his disciples. It is precisely this reason that Jesus “have told [us] this so that [we] may not fall away,” but be strengthened by the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, who he sends from the Father.

My sisters and brothers in Christ, every time I teach a Baptism class or celebrate the Sacrament of Baptism, I encourage the parents and godparents to live their lives as authentic witnesses of our Lord Jesus Christ, in their words and actions, in such a way that their children and godchildren desire to become disciples of Jesus. What this means for all of us is, we must desire faith, conversion, and transformation in our lives for it to happen because God gives us freewill to come and follow Him through the Holy Spirit that He sends to us. We must cultivate our hearts through faith in God, like Lydia in today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostle, who “listened and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying. After she and her household had been baptized.”

This desire for us to listen to the Word of God with open and attentive hearts and be transformed into disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ reminds me of this “Prayer for Vocations” that I will now share with you.

Jesus our Saviour, your sacred Heart felt compassion when you looked upon the crowd and saw that they were like sheep with a shepherd. We know that the harvest of souls is abundant but the laborers few, so we ask you, the master of the harvest, to send our more laborers. [and here is the hinge] Open my hearts and the hearts of my brothers and sisters to your will and raise up abundant faithful servants of the Gospel - devoted and holy priests, sisters and brothers who will spend themselves for your people in the Diocese of Austin. May none of your flock, won at the price of your blood, be without a shepherd to guide them. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051126.cfm

Prayer for Mother's Day (5/10/2026)

 My prayer for all mothers. . . 🙏🕊❤️

Lord Jesus Christ, you loved your Mother and you loved her to the end. Help us to love our mothers and all mothers with the same love that you loved your Mother.

Bless the bonds of marriage between mothers and their husbands, strengthen the bonds between mothers and their children, and guide them all in love as they navigate their ever-changing relationships through the years, always filled with joy and love.

Pour forth your blessings upon mothers who all carry much burden for love of their families. In times when the cross of motherhood becomes too heavy of a burden, help them to unite their hearts with the Immaculate Heart of your Mother Mary. In doing so, may they feel your loving presence in their lives to strengthen them in the vocation to which you have called them.

We ask all this through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary as we pray. . .

Hail, Mary, full of grace,

the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death.

Amen. 🙏🕊❤️

Links:

A challenge for all fathers for Father's Day: https://dcnphuc2019.blogspot.com/2024/05/reclaiming-faithful-fatherhood.html

Prayer for Mother's Day (5/11/2025): https://dcnphuc2019.blogspot.com/2025/05/prayer-for-mothers-day-5112025.html

Prayer for Mother's Day (5/12/2024): https://dcnphuc2019.blogspot.com/2024/05/prayer-for-mothers-day-5122024.html

Prayer for Mother's Day (5/14/2023): https://dcnphuc2019.blogspot.com/2023/05/prayer-for-mothers-day-5142023.html

Homily for Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter (Year A - 5/4/2026)

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us: “Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.” Jesus’ commandment to us is to love God and to love our neighbor. Jesus continues, saying: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.” How does the Father and Son dwell in us? It is through the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit that the Father sends in the name of our Jesus Christ to dwell in our hearts. It is the Spirit that Saint Paul wrote of, saying: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19). It is the Spirit that we received at Baptism and are sealed with at Confirmation.

It is the Spirit the Father sends in the name of his Son who “will teach [us] everything and remind [us] of all that [Jesus] told [us].” Pope Francis reflected on this, saying: “Teaching and remembering. This is the role of the Holy Spirit. He teaches us: he teaches us the mystery of faith, he teaches us to enter into the mystery, to understand the mystery a little more. . . the Holy Spirit helps us grow in understanding faith, understanding it more, understanding what faith says. . . He will teach us the things that Jesus has taught us, he will develop in us an understanding of what Jesus has taught us, he will grow the doctrine of the Lord in us, to maturity” (Homily, 11/5/2020). One of the shortest and most powerful prayers we can pray when we are struggling with our faith is, “Come Holy Spirit.”

Moreover, Pope Francis reflected further, saying: “The Holy Spirit is like memory, he wakes us up. . . he keeps us awake, always awake in the Lord's things, and also reminds us of our lives” (id). The Holy Father recalled how “one person prayed before the Lord like this: ‘Lord, I am the same one who, as a child, as a boy, had these dreams. Then, I went along the wrong paths. Now you've called me.’ I am the same: this is the memory of the Holy Spirit in one's life. He brings you to the memory of salvation, to the memory of what Jesus taught, but also to the memory of one's life. . . a beautiful way of praying, looking at the Lord: ‘I am the same. I've walked a lot, I've been wrong, but I'm the same and you love me.’ The memory of life's journey” (id). Again, one of the shortest and most powerful prayers we can pray to help us activate the graces of the Sacraments that we have received, particularly the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, to help remind us of who we are and whose we are is, “Come Holy Spirit.”

When we pray this prayer to the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity will remind us that we are beloved sons and daughters of the Father. That is who we are and whose we are. My sisters and brothers in Christ, Lent prepared our hearts for the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ - for God so loved the world that He sent his Only Begotten Son to die on the Cross for our salvation. Easter prepares us to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit from God and the Risen Lord - “But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7). We are three weeks away from Pentecost, let us cultivate our hearts - through prayers and words - to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit from the Father through the Son.

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/050426.cfm