Tag: Communion

To Follow the Holy Spirit: Homily for Pentecost 2025

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Pentecost Sunday, C              Adult Confirmation Mass                          June 8, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                          St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/-W_p5fkkP_M Jesus says the word “peace” 23 times in the gospels. A few times are as part of a lesson. A few times are when he uses it like a simple farewell, “go in peace.” A few are when he tells the apostles to wish peace to the houses they visit while going on mission. The only time he gives peace directly to the Apostles, however, is the last supper and here. At the last supper, he says “Peace I leave with you;...Read More

How Would They Know? Homily for the 5th Sunday of Easter 2025

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5th Sunday of Easter, C                                   May 18, 2025Baccalaureate MassFr. Alexander Albert                                                      St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/kHJjTW50yM4 “Nobody’s gonna know. Nobody’s gonna know. They’re gonna know. How would they know?” A few years ago, that little exchange became something of a trend on social media. People are still using it to make funny clips. So, let’s imagine for a moment that’s how today’s gospel plays out. Jesus is telling the apostles he’s about to leave them. He’s going to be “glorified;” the “glory” he’s talking about, by the way, is him being crucified and raised from the dead. After that,...Read More

Why Be Catholic? Homily for Divine Mercy Sunday 2025

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Divine Mercy Sunday                                                                                     April 27, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/Mm1TdLw5ZSY “Yet more than ever, believers in the Lord, great numbers of men and women, were added to them.” So our first reading depicts the beginning of the Catholic Church, people joining the Apostles in great numbers. Why do it? Why join the Catholic Church? Considering that around 15% of the entire U.S. population is ex-Catholic or that, in the U.S., about 8 people leave the Church for every 1 person that joins it, it’s an interesting question. Though that number sounds bad,...Read More

2025 Triduum Part I: Healing our Communion

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Mass of the Lord's Supper                                                                              April 17, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/3VSL59f5zG4 “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you” (Lk 22:15). Jesus says that in Luke’s Gospel, but I’m saying it too. We aren’t just remembering something, we are entering into it. Tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday, we are participating in a continuous liturgy that truly makes present the most important event in all of time and space. Entering into that reality with you is not just a nice addition to us as parish and pastor… it helps define our...Read More

Pastor Column: Receiving Communion Well

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[N.B. This is not the Sunday Homily. It is an article from the bulletin of June 11, 2023]      This feast is a fitting time to encourage everyone to reflect on how they receive communion. St. Paul warns us that “anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself” (1 Cor 11:29).      Before coming to Mass and before receiving communion, do you carefully examine your conscience to determine if you are in the right state to receive? Catholics are encouraged to receive communion often, but there are requirements. Besides being Catholic, they must not...Read More

How Can We? Homily for Corpus Christi

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Corpus Christ, A                                                                                                         June 11, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/LYlfEG19rpk “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” How indeed? In almost every culture, cannibalism is recognized as something repugnant, unacceptable, evil. Eating human flesh is almost always sinful because the dignity of the human person extends even to their body. Only the rarest of exceptions – as a last resort for survival – could such a thing even begin to be conceivable, though many would still prefer to die than eat someone. For the Jewish culture of Jesus’ day, it...Read More

The Best Brick to Build With: Homily for 1st Communion 2023, 5th Sunday Easter, A

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5th Sunday of Easter, A                                                                                               May 7, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/mdw7Xsv0QD0 One hundred fifteen years this brick Church has endured through fire and storm and decay – a sign to us of the whole Church that will never fall. Yet, this building didn’t build itself, repair itself, or fill itself with love. When I began as pastor, someone told me one of my favorite stories of all time, a story about how this church was built. In 1907, the bricks for the new church were brought by train and dropped off right by...Read More

Pastor Column: Mediator Dei IV

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[Note: This is not the Sunday Homily. It is an article for the bulletin of Sept 18, 2022]      Continuing our journey through Mediator Dei, we pick up with the pope teaching us that it is good for the lay people to become familiar with the Roman Missal. The missal is the book which the priest uses for Mass. In particular, he means it is good for the laity to have some grasp of what is going on and that various resources can be used to help them do that, including the use of books to help follow along. Remember...Read More

Homily for Corpus Christi: Assisting Communion

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Corpus Christi, C                                                                                                        June 19, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/jPNItdt2kdY Ado You may have heard that the US Bishops are launching a kind of Eucharistic Revival in our country over the next few years. To start that off, Bishop Deshotel has asked us to read this letter from him to you: “Dear Friends in Christ, The Church celebrates this weekend the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord. The celebration invites us to reflect on that most precious gift given to us by Our Savior...Read More