Tag: eucharist

Easter Vigil – Part III of the Triduum: An Enduring Love

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Easter Vigil, B                                                                                                March 30, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/GafqqCduUs0 This is part III of a series for the Paschal Triduum. Part I of the series here. Part II of the series here. Love endures. At the Last Supper, Jesus revealed to us the new commandment of love and so we’ve taken love as the theme of this Paschal Triduum. That new love called us to serve in a way that makes another person our “own.” Because such love cannot set aside the truth, that love turned deadly yesterday when it brought Jesus to...Read More

Holy Thursday – Part I of the Triduum: A New Love

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Mass of the Lord’s Supper                                                                              March 28, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/W2LmLDbBnDY “Love one another as I have loved you.” We call it the new commandment because that’s what Jesus called it. Like the word “gospel,” however, we’ve heard it so much that it does not strike us as news in any way. It’s old hat, familiar territory, memorized and forgotten, hear the first few words and tune out… But we don’t know it like we think we do. Anyone who thinks the gospel isn’t news isn’t really listening. Anyone who thinks this commandment...Read More

A Heart That Can Be Astonished: Homily for the 4th Sunday OT 2024

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4th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                     January 28, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/aJ_e1CLKBsM “The people were astonished at his teaching.” I’ll admit it, there’s a part of me that wants people to say this about my preaching, that wants people to look up to me because of it. But I know that’s my vanity talking and I’ve learned – often at the expense of people I love – just how harmful it can my vanity can be. So, what do I do? Preach badly on purpose so I never get complements that might make me vain? Then...Read More

Your Body Matters to God: Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, 2024

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2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                    January 14, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/YiG7kmwbD-I “Why would the all-powerful God be so worried about what people do in their bedroom?” Critics of the Church’s teaching on sexuality love to ask that kind of question. They want to imply or even explicitly say that the Church is too obsessed with sex and that, to God, it’s not really a big deal. “Do what you want! Your sex life isn’t important enough for him to notice!” We have an answer, though. It’s meant as a rhetorical question or a lazy criticism,...Read More

What Is Chosen: Homily for the 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                   October 15, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/dFZ1EfAg8as Beating the messengers again! Just last week Jesus told us about people who killed the messengers rather than pay their rent. I offered the hypothetical explanation that the tenants of the vineyard had no fruit to give, so they responded to their shame and fear by killing whoever threatened to expose it. Indeed, we often respond to God in the same way – lashing out whenever he dares to touch on our sins, wounds, and weaknesses. Afraid of how demanding God...Read More

Enough, Lord!: Homily for the Lafayette Eucharistic Rally 2023

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Votive Mass of the Holy Eucharist                                                                 October 5, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               Cajundome Convention Center https://www.youtube.com/live/pnFJrLR7vKI?si=idBWav2wzPAOzWBQ&t=2211 “Enough, Lord!” Who among us has not made this exasperated prayer of Elijah our own? There’s usually joy and all kinds of good fortune that comes along with the first serious turn towards the Lord, but it seems only a matter of time before any committed believer reaches the point where they feel as he did – alone, burdened, and just plain weary of feeling like the harder they try to do the right thing, the more everything goes wrong....Read More

Being the Bad Guy for Love: Homily for the 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

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23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                   September 10, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/LDdfIRPwomE There are many things I love about being a priest: Mass, confessions, baptisms, weddings, flying in a helicopter to bless the crops from above… the fun stuff that only a priest gets to do, things that help people, often in ways I get to see first-hand. It’s why there’s joy even in the sadder stuff like anointings of the sick and funerals. As with anything worth doing, these can get old and sometimes stress makes it harder to see the joy,...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

What That Power Can Do: Homily for Pentecost Sunday

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Pentecost Sunday                                                                                            May 28, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/3Hrt3-06meQ Have you thought about it? About what you would do with more power? For those of you who weren’t at the 4pm Mass last week, I asked everyone to consider what they would do with more power. I explained that Jesus had all power in heaven and on earth and used it on a single command: “go make disciples, baptizing them…” I explained that power is not found in fear and coercion, but in the ability to give others the freedom to choose what is...Read More