justice Archives - Albert the Ordinary

Fear of Fruitlessness: Homily for the 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Posted on October 8, 2023February 3, 2024 by Father Albert

27th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A October 8, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/hzKx4gYwYDc Why didn’t they just give him some of the grapes? No one likes it when it’s time to pay the rent. But how much sense does it make that their first response is to beat, kill, and stone the messengers? No request for leniency, no negotiation. It’s not like the landowner is unreasonable or impatient. He tried again, even after they murdered his servants. He sent his own Son. Clearly, if these tenants had even tried to work out a deal...Read More

Not To Count: Homily for the 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Posted on October 1, 2023October 1, 2023 by Father Albert

26th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A October 1, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/P9Y2vj_vdXk It’s not a ledger. We talk like it is, but judgment isn’t a ledger with good on one side, bad on the other, and whichever has the most decides your fate. If you don’t know better, it seems reasonable that your final fate is determined simply by whether or not you did more good than bad or more bad than good. That kind of idea why the first reading is addressed to people who accuse God of being unfair in how...Read More

All Will Be Revealed: Homily for the 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Posted on June 25, 2023June 25, 2023 by Father Albert

12th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A June 25, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/QNoeHhjIgmo “Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed.” Does that frighten you a little bit? It does me. There are things in my life I would rather remain concealed. I’m sure that’s true for every human being. It’s also true that there are things which should not be publicized. Jesus is not suggesting we shout out our every fault and sin in public. There is such a thing as prudent silence, discretion, and confidentiality. Indeed, the sacrament of Confession is...Read More

Mater et Magistra IV

Posted on December 5, 2022December 5, 2022 by Father Albert

[N.B. This is not the Sunday Homily. It is an article for the bulletin of December 4, 2022] Continuing Pope St. John XXIII’s reflection on farming, we pick up with the subject of taxation. Yes, the Church teaches that governments do have the right to impose taxes in order to pay for services to the common good. She also teaches that taxation systems should be “based on justice and equity,” meaning that tax raters are “proportioned to the capacity of the people contributing.” The pope point out that this means the system should note the particular challenges facing farmers...Read More

Homily for the Solemnity of Christ the King: Justice and Mercy

Posted on November 20, 2022November 20, 2022 by Father Albert

Christ the King, C November 20, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/0oCRms2gkmw “We have been condemned justly.” Have we? Since the beginning of the Church, there have been those who keep coming back to the same error, the same mistake: the idea that our condemnation isn’t really just, that damnation just can’t be real. There are a lot of subtle and clever arguments to support the idea that everyone goes to heaven – we call it universalism – but it seems to me there is always something beneath the surface…...Read More

Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Lent: Woken to Glory

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

Lent Sun 2, C March 13, 2022Fr. Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/TY0G80EN9fQ “Stay woke.” Perhaps you’ve heard some variation of this phrase. Maybe it’s a positive thing to you or maybe you think of it as a kind of insult. Like so many catchphrases, the meaning has shifted over time and it means different things to different people. It was originally meant to encourage people to stay alert to what is really going on behind the scenes… to see past what “the man” tells you. Or it’s being sensitive to injustices that permeate our...Read More

Pastor Column: The Social Question – Unions

Posted on December 6, 2021December 6, 2021 by Father Albert

[Note: This is not the weekly homily.] This is an article from the bulletin of December 5, 2021 I mentioned two weeks ago that we’d address Labor Unions in the next article on Pope Pius XI’s encyclical Quadragesimo Anno. In the letter, there are a few places where the pope address the concept of labor unions. Towards the beginning, he mentions them by name only briefly. He again addresses the idea of unions later in the letter, but calls them “syndicates” The first mention is in the context of lamenting that various revolutions and governments have forbidden Catholic...Read More

Homily for the Baptism of the Lord

Posted on January 10, 2021January 10, 2021 by Father Albert

Baptism of the Lord, B January 10, 2021Fr. Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/zE_0KN67ELs “I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice.” Who doesn’t want that? Those who believe that Biden was lawfully elected want the victory of justice in having him peacefully take office. Those who believe the election was stolen want the victory of justice in having it overturned or redone. And both sides want the justice of proper punishments for those that they believe broke the law or violated the principles of our nation and the common good....Read More

Father Alexander Albert

Tag: justice