A call for atonement: annual Mass of Reparation held at St. Philip the Apostle Parish
Deacon Rigoberto Leyva prepares to process at the beginning of the annual Mass of Reparation for Victim of Abuse at St. Philip the Apostle Church on April 5, 2025.(NTC/Juan Guajardo)
FLOWER MOUND — In his homily for this year’s Mass of Reparation for Victims of Abuse, Bishop Michael Olson stated the unique and sacred purpose of the April 5 Mass — to pray for healing of sexual abuse victims and survivors; to make reparation for the sins of bishops, priests, and superiors who actively or passively colluded with abusers; and to make reparation for those sacrilegious sins which so deeply offended God.
“Reparation is a teaching of the Catholic faith connected with the doctrine of atonement and satisfaction for sins committed,” Bishop Olson said in his homily.
“We believe that we are redeemed, and this injustice is satisfied only through the Precious Blood of Christ, the Blood of the Lamb, who, as Jeremiah prophesies, is willingly led to slaughter,” he added.
An estimated 300 parishioners, Diocese of Fort Worth Safe Environment staff, parish Safe Environment facilitators, and volunteers attended the Mass at St. Philip the Apostle Parish in Flower Mound. The Mass also was livestreamed.
Joy Joseph, TOR, pastor of Holy Cross Parish in The Colony; Father Stephen Hauck, pastor of St. Martin de Porres Parish in Prosper; and Monsignor Francis Boakye Tawiah, parochial vicar at St. Philip the Apostle.
Bishop Olson connected the first reading of the Mass (Jeremiah 11:18-20) with victims of abuse, “who like Jeremiah were ‘led to slaughter, and had not realized that the authorities were hatching plots against them’ in a conspiracy of silence.”
He also reminded the faithful that “the annual offering of this Mass of Reparation is a reminder of our constant need for vigilance in our custodial responsibilities for sacred rites of the Church and our dire need to protect the innocent and vulnerable that none will ever be harmed again through the conspiracy of the powerful and the indifference of the elite.”
In an interview with the North Texas Catholic, Bishop Olson explained that Bishop Kevin Vann celebrated the first Mass of Reparation in the diocese at St. Maria Goretti Parish in Arlington after mediation with victims of abuse from that parish. After becoming prelate, Bishop Olson, who had worked with survivors, saw a pastoral need for an annual Mass of Reparation for Victims of Abuse. This is the diocese’s fifth annual Mass of Reparation.
He said this Mass also is important and necessary because though psychology and the law are helpful tools, “ultimately you realize that only God can help us.”
He explained that reparation comes through the Mass because child abuse is not only a crime; it is also a sin which requires repentance and uniting with the atoning sacrifice of Christ.
“The Mass is the reenacted presence of Calvary,” the bishop continued. “It is the most important thing we can do on Earth because it makes us present to that sacrifice by which Christ atones for all sins, particularly the most grievous sins of sacrilege that really cry out for justice.