Tag: Jesus

Pastor Column: Mediator Dei I

Posted on by Father Albert
[N.B. This is not the Sunday homily. It is an article for the bulletin of Aug 28, 2022]      “The Mediator between God and Men.”  That is the opening line of the next document in our series and where we get the title Mediator Dei (Mediator of God). Written in 1947 by Pope Pius XII, this document addresses the Sacred Liturgy. The “Sacred Liturgy” refers not only to Mass, but to all of the public, formal acts of worship performed by the Church. This includes the other 6 sacraments as well as the many blessings and rituals that populate our...Read More

Homily for the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time: The Right Choice

Posted on by Father Albert
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                   August 28, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/K_r_46LwqUI Strive for grace. That’s what I left you with last week, a challenge to not worry about things beyond you and to persevere in getting grace from God because only grace gets us to heaven. But what does it mean to strive after grace? And what will that grace mean for the people who are in our lives, the people we hope to bring to heaven with us? Although complex in what it says, the point of...Read More

Homily for the 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time: Strive

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21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                   August 21, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/bvUNadKwPHM What are you really after? When you ask a question like “will only a few people be saved,” what is the real question? The deeper motivation? I think it could be several things; most of them aren’t good. Most of them come back to pride. We might want to know how many people will be saved out of a simple desire to have the answer. The one who asks Jesus this question is probably thinking about a...Read More

Homily for the 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Water and Fire

Posted on by Father Albert
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                  August 14, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/fS5JI_Jm798 Water and fire. Hearing this Gospel, it might be tempting to focus on Jesus’ promise to divide families, but we’ll miss the point of this if we miss what he’s saying about fire and water. These two have certain things in common: both can be used to cleanse and purify and both can be used to kill and destroy. Often, it is by destroying that they purify. Dirt and grime dissolve in water – are kind of...Read More

Homily for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time: What Faith Means

Posted on by Father Albert
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                  August 7, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/GqMMnfEEo0g When Jesus comes back, what does he expect to find? What do we want him to find? If we want to be the servants who are “blessed,” we must be ready to open immediately. What does it take to be ready in this way? What can keep us vigilant? Faith. And what is faith? According to our second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews, “faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of...Read More

Homily for the 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Love That Does Not Retire

Posted on by Father Albert
18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                              July 31, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/lOGd5Us241w What’s the plan? Get a decent job, make enough money to get a home, raise a family, save up, and retire? And then what? Relax, go on trips, enjoy nice things? Sounds pretty good doesn’t it? That’s kind of the standard American vision of a good life. But is it the Catholic one? Well, what does St. Paul say about it? “If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at...Read More

Homily for the 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Asking Like Children

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17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                              July 24, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/A0AYOaAPWkU I just spent several days with my brother, sister-in-law, and my niece and nephew. At 3 and 1 years old, as you parents know, those little ones are quite the handful. I admit I kind of enjoyed watching the chaos unfold every night as they entered into the routine of dinner, bath, and bedtime. One thing that struck me again and again – you can ask my brother and his wife how many times I commented...Read More

Homily for the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Cosmic Visions of Mercy

Posted on by Father Albert
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                              July 10, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/Rt7vUUEHnFo What is your cosmic vision? When you mentally zoom out to consider everything that exists, how do you make sense of it? Because the way you answer that question can tell you a lot about what you really believe and what motivates you. And the reason I ask you that is because so much of what I challenge you to do, what the Church urges you to do, what Jesus Christ asks of you is going...Read More

Homily for the 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time: The Peace of Disciples

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14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                              July 3, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/ndBvUYXN4ug If, as I claimed last week, freedom is found in commitment and true freedom found in the right kind of commitments, then how do we find that right commitment? What should expect to see in the freeing sacrifice of freedom that marks the Christian way of life? The same kind of things we see in these seventy-two disciples. The first thing is that they travel in pairs, rather than alone. Why? Wouldn’t it be more efficient...Read More

Homily for the 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Freedom Freely Given

Posted on by Father Albert
13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                              June 26, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/jn01oieesqY If I told you that today’s readings are about freedom, how would you take it? Would you perhaps point out that the 1st reading is about a man sacrificing his livelihood and leaving his family all because another man said so? Or point out that Jesus tells people that following him means giving up a home and family? But St. Paul is clear: “for freedom Christ set us free.” Jesus also tells us “the truth will...Read More