Author: Father Albert

The Heart Worth Following: Prolife Mass for Vermilion Catholic 2025

Posted on by Father Albert
Thursday OT 1                                                                                                January 16, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://www.youtube.com/live/_AnHtt6OB-0?si=y6yDosj4ujGGs6D1&t=772 Ever heard the advice “follow your heart?” Probably. Maybe it wasn’t phrased that way. Maybe “be true to yourself” or “do what makes you happy.” Whatever the case, is it good advice, do you think? Let’s compare it to what scripture says today: “Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil and unfaithful heart.” That doesn’t quite match up. What about a different part of scripture? “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” Not quite....Read More

Believe, Child of God: Homily for the Baptism of the Lord 2025

Posted on by Father Albert
Baptism of the Lord, C                                                                                   January 12, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/v33L25qmdoE On Sunday, July 10, 1988, I was given life, reborn as a child of God. My ordinary birth was a month and half before that, but were it not for my baptism, I would not yet be truly alive. This is not the case for Jesus. From the moment of his conception, Jesus is divine, the very source of life and grace. So why was he baptized? Because that’s just how important baptism is for us. We need baptism,...Read More

God’s Glory Revealed: Homily for the Epiphany 2025

Posted on by Father Albert
Epiphany                                                                                                         January 5, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/0DchO0T-Kmg Glory! Splendor! Radiance! Majesty! Magnificence! Awesomeness! We have a lot of words to describe greatness and the bible uses most of them to describe God, though I don’t think “awesomeness” shows up in any mainstream translation… Today’s feast of the Epiphany celebrates the fact that God has indeed revealed his splendor to the world. Perhaps, sitting in this incredible church with hundreds of other people, hearing beautiful music, and being familiar with our Catholic faith all make it easy for us to...Read More

Mother of Memory: Homily for Mary, Mother of God 2025

Posted on by Father Albert
Mary, Mother of God                                                                                     January 1, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/LXWgcCJzGB4 What do you keep? What in your life and experiences and memories do you store up, hold onto, safeguard? That word, “keep,” has a lot more connotation than just maintaining possession of something. It’s also translated as “treasuring” something. So, like keeping a trophy or keeping something in a safe-deposit box or “keeping” an eye on your small child. There’s value in the thing being kept. There are lots of memories that we kind of “keep” whether we want to...Read More

The Father’s House: Homily for the Holy Family 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
Feast of the Holy Family, C                                                               December 28, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/-u_BLnMEdEs When I say “holy family,” what do you picture? Jesus, Mary, & Joseph are the Holy Family, but what if I ask you to picture a more generic idea of a holy family? Perfectly behaved kids sitting quietly in church? An immaculate home? A strict father surrounded by his solemn-faced wife and kids praying the rosary with unbroken concentration? When I picture a holy family, I see a noisy family meal, the chaotic joy of Christmas morning, a family...Read More

Where is the Peace? Homily for Christmas 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
Christmas                                                                                            December 25, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/s0BLJbW0oZA Where is the peace? Isn’t there supposed to be peace? Christmas songs proclaim “Peace on earth and mercy mild,” the gloria at Mass comes from the Christmas angels singing “Glory to God in the highest,and on earth peace to people of good will.” Scripture calls Jesus the “Prince of Peace.” Yet, the Holy Land where Jesus was born is a perpetual warzone. Earth as a whole never goes more than a few decades at a time without some major war happening. The...Read More

Blessed Are You Who Believed: Homily for the 4th Sunday of Advent

Posted on by Father Albert
4th Sunday of Advent, C                                                                                 December 22, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/bHDa_DXSTXI “Blessed are you among women.” times 53 in each rosary times the tens of millions of people who pray at least one rosary every day. That means those words are said to Mary over half a billion times every day… and I’m lowballing that number. Mary is blessed indeed! Why, though? Why should Mary be so blessed? And what can we do to be blessed as well? For one thing, it is God’s will. God chose her from before...Read More

Attaining Joy: Homily for Gaudete Sunday 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
3rd Sunday of Advent, C                                                                                 December 15, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/v70YSRU0t5g “Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee O Israel.” It’s hard to pick just one hymn as a favorite, but that’s a contender. Profound meaning, a great tune, a deep connection to tradition, and it’s always sung in my favorite season, especially on one of my favorite days of the year: Gaudete Sunday, which literally means “rejoice.” Our second reading follows that theme by telling us, commanding us to rejoice. How, though? To understand how, it will help to reflect...Read More

Victory: Homily for the Immaculate Conception 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
Immaculate Conception of Mary                                                                    December 9, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/G8KpyEPrY_A Victory! We are here today to celebrate victory! Not just that, but a flawless victory, undefeated. Small, unimportant, easy to overlook and yet conquering mighty enemies. What a reason to celebrate! I’m talking, of course, about the victory of Mary over the devil. Today we celebrate her Immaculate Conception. The most common mistake people make about this day is that they think we’re celebrating when Mary conceived Jesus. No. That’s the Annunciation on March 25th, exactly 9 months before Christmas. Today, we...Read More

Hope Fleshed Out: Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Advent 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
2nd Sunday of Advent, C                                                                                December 8, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/XVSMWcTmRuA “I’m spiritual but not religious.” “I’m an open Christian.” “I am a spiritual person.” These kinds of sayings can be pretty appealing. For a little while, when I was younger, it was popular to be agnostic or atheist, to act like only dumb people believed in God or anything spiritual. Nowadays, however, most people are open to some kind of higher power or spiritual truth. The reality is that human beings need the spiritual. As soon as people start to...Read More