Church Archives - Albert the Ordinary

A Trigger Warning: Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Lent 2024

Posted on February 25, 2024February 26, 2024 by Father Albert

2nd Sunday of Lent, B February 25, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/vEuAWfzPkKY Image by CC 2.0 from https://www.flickr.com/photos/gcfairch/4189169360 A story. A true one, as far as I know. At a church elsewhere in Louisiana, there was a young pastor who once opened the door to find a gun pointed straight at him. Holding that gun was a nervous looking man who rather shakily said, “Father, I’m sorry but God told me I have to kill you.” Inspired, he quipped, “oh, God just told me to tell you that you don’t have to kill me anymore.” The...Read More

Heavenly Treasure: Homily for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

Posted on November 19, 2023February 3, 2024 by Father Albert

33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, A November 19, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/jK9ymiP5ZJ4 Every now and then, someone asks me if the world is going to end soon. Just Friday, in fact, a woman at a store asked me that question based on what is happening in the middle east right now. I gave her my standard answer: “every generation of Christians thinks the end is near.” I put it that way to make a few points: First is that worrying about the end of the world isn’t new. Secondly, everyone who thought the...Read More

Homily for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time: Build Because It Crumbles

Posted on November 13, 2022November 13, 2022 by Father Albert

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, C November 13, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/OTgFf7YJ5jI Not long after I was assigned to this parish, I went on a short vacation that kept me away during a weekend, so I made arrangements for another priest to cover for me. While away, my phone rang at about 3pm on the Saturday. I looked to see that it was the priest who was scheduled to hear confessions and celebrate the 4pm Mass. My heart sank. I just knew he was calling to say he forgot...Read More

Pastor Column: Mater et Magistra I

Posted on November 7, 2022November 7, 2022 by Father Albert

[N.B. This is not the Sunday homily. It is an article for the bulletin of November 6, 2022] Since his pontificate was short and much of his effort went toward beginning the Second Vatican Council, Pope St. John XXIII did not write very many encyclicals. We’ll begin with one of the more important ones, titled Mater et Magistra and written in 1961. It is Latin for “Mother and Teacher,” and it focuses on the role of the Church as mother and teacher of all nations. Like other popes, John XXIII released this document on the anniversary of a very...Read More

Pastor Column: Mystici Corporis III

Posted on May 28, 2022May 28, 2022 by Father Albert

[Note: This is not the Sunday Homily. It is an article for the bulletin of May 29, 2022] Recall that last week, we noted Pope Pius XII’s call to practice “effective love.” In the context of the early 1900s, this prompts him to specifically condemn the idea and practice of eugenics and euthanasia. This is of course targeted at the Nazis, but we would do well to remember that eugenics was a popular idea in our own country prior to the war. It is primarily because of what we saw in the Nazis that eugenics faded as a popular...Read More

Pastor Column: Mystici Corporis II

Posted on May 22, 2022May 22, 2022 by Father Albert

[Note: This is not the Sunday Homily. It is an article in the bulletin for May 22, 2022] Having laid out the need for a single visible head in the Church (the Pope), Pope Pius XII turns to the three virtues that manifest the unity of the Church: Faith, Hope, and Love. These connect Catholics to each other and to God. Citing several passages of the New Testament, the Pope focuses first on faith. We share one faith in the sense of having the same beliefs. We have the same faith in the sense that the one Holy...Read More

Pastor Column: Mystici Corporis I

Posted on May 15, 2022May 15, 2022 by Father Albert

[Note: This is not the Sunday Homily. It is an article for the bulletin of May 15, 2022] The next encyclical of Pope Pius XII is Mystici Corporis Christi (“On the Mystical Body of Christ”) written in 1943. By “Mystical Body,” the pope is referring to the Church and this document gives a thorough teaching on what we mean when we say “the Church is the body of Christ.” So, we’ll take it a little at a time and see what it says. To start with, Pope Pius says he is speaking specifically about the Church Militant, which...Read More

Homily for Easter: The Authority to Love, Triduum Pt. 3

Posted on April 17, 2022April 17, 2022 by Father Albert

Easter Vigil Part 3 of Triduum 2022 April 16, 2022Fr. Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette [See part 1 here] [See part 2 here] https://youtu.be/laRr7ujxiyk Thursday night, we began the most sacred time of the year – the Paschal Triduum – and began also an extended reflection on the meaning of freedom and authority revealed in the life and death of Jesus Christ. Through the washing of the disciples feet and the institution of the Eucharist and the Priesthood, we saw that authority is truly a service to the people over whom it is wielded....Read More

Pastor Column: Making the Most of Advent

Posted on November 23, 2021November 21, 2021 by Father Albert

[Note: This is not the weekly homily.] This is an article from the bulletin of November 28, 2021 It’s already begun. So many people would say it is already the Christmas season. Whether it started the day after Halloween or at 4pm on Thanksgiving Day, most of the country began putting up decorations and wishing each other a “Merry Christmas” or a “Happy Holidays.” People look forward to this time all year long, so once they get the chance to get started, they jump at the opportunity. And you know what? Fine. People are free to act as they...Read More

Homily for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time: The Kingdom of Healing

Posted on July 11, 2021July 11, 2021 by Father Albert

15th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B July 11th, 2021Fr. Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/_mTau59tI44 Repentance, Exorcisms, and Healings; three characteristics of the Apostle’s ministry seen in this passage. To this day, they remain a core part of the Church’s mission. The Church exists to proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven. Indeed, the Church is the kingdom of Christ already present in mystery. That’s what St. Paul is talking about in that really complicated second reading. There is a mystical reality that’s something deeper than bureaucracy, buildings, and bishops. The Church is Christ’s...Read More

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