Tag: Sacrifice

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

Posted on 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

The Hope of Death: Homily for Ash Wednesday 2024

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Ash Wednesday                                                                                              February 14, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/jjTu_TJLkcM What a day this is, this Ash Wednesday. It fixes itself in the imagination, stands out. Many non-Catholics and even non-Christians have picked up on it as something special, and rightly so. For what other day would millions of people eagerly wait in line to be reminded that they are going to die? “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” But they do. Apart from Christmas and maybe Easter, Ash Wednesday Mass has the highest attendance of the year. Why? You tell me....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

How Ought We To Pray? Homily for the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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16th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                               July 23, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/XzE9cl6zTII “The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought.” That’s comforting, but it does raise an important question: How “ought” we to pray? Last week we heard about the groaning of all creation and how we are awaiting “adoption, the redemption of our bodies.” We used this to reflect on how that groaning and hope allow us to “consider the sufferings of this present time as nothing.” Today’s section...Read More

Considered Suffering: Homily for the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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15th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                               July 16, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/fmqitH9yJVY “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing.” Isn’t that a bit callous? If you tell someone in serious pain that their pain is nothing, people would think you are insensitive, cold-hearted, mean. Rightly so, too. But that’s not what St. Paul is saying in our second reading. We need to pay attention to what he actually says. He doesn’t say “suck it up” or “your pain is nothing.” He says he “considers” the suffering is...Read More

The Authority of a Father: Homily for 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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11th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                               June 18, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/hRhiLEarpgY “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” Who do you think are these laborers he’s talking about? What are we praying for more of? If you think it’s “priests,” you’re not wrong. After all, Jesus immediately follows this with appointing 12 Apostles and giving them authority to be his laborers. Pray for vocations. I know there are young men in this parish right now...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

You’ve Got the Power: Homily for the Ascension 2023

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Ascension of our Lord                                                                                                May 21, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/s3uqxmmtueA [N.B. The Sunday Mass was Confirmation, preached by Fr. Blanda so this homily was only given at the Saturday 4 PM Mass] What would you do with more power? Make your own life easier? Get even with some people? Fix some local problems? What would you do with all the power? Solve world hunger? Cure diseases? Save the environment? Change laws? If I had the power to make one law that couldn’t be reversed, I’d probably make it illegal for anyone to own...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