Immaculate Chapel Hebbronville

06/03/2026

St. Peter Mission Aguilares, Texas, Webb County. The community was named for brothers José, Locario, Francisco, Próspero, and Librado Aguilar who established ranches in the area in the 1870s. Pictured above is the wooden chapel built in 1881. In1892, Fr. Emilio J. Ylla was living in Aguilares and was in charge of the mission. By 1900 Fr. Miguel Puig was responsible for the chapel. The last priest to take charge was Fr. A. Serna who began his service in 1902. When the Franciscan friars took charge of the parish in Hebbronville, St. Peter Mission became a Franciscan mission until the early 1960s when the people of the community slowly began to leave Aguilares and it eventually died out. The second picture is the residence of the priests.

06/03/2026

Gospel of the Day (Mark 12,18-27)

Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and put this question to him,
saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us, 'If someone's brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother.'
Now there were seven brothers. The first married a woman and died, leaving no descendants.
So the second married her and died, leaving no descendants, and the third likewise.
And the seven left no descendants. Last of all the woman also died.
At the resurrection (when they arise) whose wife will she be? For all seven had been married to her."
Jesus said to them, "Are you not misled because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God?
When they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they are like the angels in heaven.
As for the dead being raised, have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God told him, 'I am the God of Abraham, (the) God of Isaac, and (the) God of Jacob'?
He is not God of the dead but of the living. You are greatly misled."

06/02/2026

Gospel of the Day (Mark 12,13-17)

Some Pharisees and Herodians were sent to Jesus to ensnare him in his speech.
They came and said to him, "Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you are not concerned with anyone's opinion. You do not regard a person's status but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or should we not pay?"
Knowing their hypocrisy he said to them, "Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius to look at."
They brought one to him and he said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?" They replied to him, "Caesar's."
So Jesus said to them, "Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God." They were utterly amazed at him.

06/01/2026

Sacred Heart Mission, Realitos, Texas, Duval County. The community of Realitos was established on the Santos García Spanish land grant. In 1885, Realitos was described as "a settlement, also a ranch”. Franco Cadena donated a lot to Mons. Pedro Verdaguer, Bishop of Corpus Christi in 1888 to build a chapel. Pictured above is the first chapel made of wood dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, in 1940. A priest from San Diego Texas, would come by train once a week to celebrate Mass. The picture below is from the inside of the mission.

06/01/2026

Gospel of the Day (Mark 12,1-12)

Jesus began to speak to the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders in parables. "A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey.
At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard.
But they seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.
Again he sent them another servant. And that one they beat over the head and treated shamefully.
He sent yet another whom they killed. So, too, many others; some they beat, others they killed.
He had one other to send, a beloved son. He sent him to them last of all, thinking, 'They will respect my son.'
But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'
So they seized him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
What (then) will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, put the tenants to death, and give the vineyard to others.
Have you not read this scripture passage: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes'?"
They were seeking to arrest him, but they feared the crowd, for they realized that he had addressed the parable to them. So they left him and went away.

05/30/2026

On this Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity, which leads us to contemplate and worship the divine life of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit: a life of communion and perfect love, origin and aim of all the universe and of every creature: God. We also recognize in the Trinity the model for the Church, in which we are called to love each other as Jesus loved us. And love is the concrete sign that demonstrates faith in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We are created in love to be a community of loving persons, just as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are united in love. From the day of our Baptism, we have belonged to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. How privileged we are to grow up in such a beautiful Family! Hence, let us turn to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in prayer every day. We belong to the Family of the Triune God. The love, unity and joy in the relationship among the Father, Son and Holy Spirit should be the supreme model of our relationships within our Christian families. Our families become truly Christian when we live in a relationship of love with God and with others.

Glory be to the Father, Who by His almighty power and love created me, making me in the image and likeness of God.
Glory be to the Son, Who by His Precious Blood delivered me from hell, and opened for me the gates of heaven.
Glory be to the Holy Spirit, Who has sanctified me in the sacrament of Baptism, and continues to sanctify me by the graces I receive daily from His bounty.
Glory be to the Three adorable Persons of the Holy Trinity, now and forever. Amen.

05/30/2026

05/30/2026

Gospel of the Day (Mark 11,27-33)

Jesus and his disciples returned once more to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders approached him
and said to him, "By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do them?"
Jesus said to them, "I shall ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
Was John's baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me."
They discussed this among themselves and said, "If we say, 'Of heavenly origin,' he will say, '(Then) why did you not believe him?'
But shall we say, 'Of human origin'?"--they feared the crowd, for they all thought John really was a prophet.
So they said to Jesus in reply, "We do not know." Then Jesus said to them, "Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things."

05/29/2026

The Sacred Heart Mission, Bruni, Texas, Webb County. The town was named after Antonio Bruni, an Italian immigrant who arrived in the area around 1877 and owned a general store and a ranch. Bruni became a station stop-over on the Texas-Mexican Railway about 1881, and by 1939 the population had increased with the discovery of the South Bruni oilfield. The first chapel was built in 1916 on land donated by the Bruni family. When the Franciscans arrived in Hebbronville in 1926, they took responsibility for the mission and started to build a new chapel made of wood and dedicated it to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. That same year, Bishop Ledvina blessed the chapel and celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation. In 1973, the sacristy was added and in 1982, a brick exterior was added. It continues to be part of the Parish in Hebbronville and it is still under the care of the Franciscans.

05/29/2026

Gospel of the Day (Mark 11,11-26)

Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple area. He looked around at everything and, since it was already late, went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
The next day as they were leaving Bethany he was hungry.
Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, he went over to see if he could find anything on it. When he reached it he found nothing but leaves; it was not the time for figs.
And he said to it in reply, "May no one ever eat of your fruit again!" And his disciples heard it.
They came to Jerusalem, and on entering the temple area he began to drive out those selling and buying there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.
He did not permit anyone to carry anything through the temple area.
Then he taught them saying, "Is it not written: 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples'? But you have made it a den of thieves."
The chief priests and the scribes came to hear of it and were seeking a way to put him to death, yet they feared him because the whole crowd was astonished at his teaching.
When evening came, they went out of the city.
Early in the morning, as they were walking along, they saw the fig tree withered to its roots.
Peter remembered and said to him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered."
Jesus said to them in reply, "Have faith in God.
Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it shall be done for him.
Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours.
When you stand to pray, forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance, so that your heavenly Father may in turn forgive you your transgressions."