Author: Father Albert

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

Hoping Through The End: Homily for the 1st Sunday of Advent 2024

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1st Sunday of Advent, C                                                                                 December 1, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/C0K8xlqVWJ8 Remember Y2K? The great “end of the world” scare in the late 90s? Most early computers were programmed to only list the last 2 digits of the year: 85, 93, 99. I don’t know how, but the idea spread that, when we hit the year 2000 and computers rolled over to the number ‘00’ in their programming, something terrible would happen. As a kid in middle school, the impression I got is that there was a chance this computer glitch...Read More

That’s My King: Homily for Jesus, King of the Universe 2024

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Christ the King, B                                                                               November 24, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/SRX1lB3_mfE What makes a king? Riches? Bloodline? Popularity? The power to make other people do things? Maybe. Depends on what you mean by a king. The world plays fast and loose with words and their meanings, changing them to suit whatever goal happens to be convenient at the time. This is why Jesus can be elusive sometimes, answering questions with questions. He knows better than anyone that when two people say the same thing, they do not always mean the same thing....Read More

Surviving the End of the World: Homily for the 33rd Sunday OT 2024

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33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                   November 17, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/eg_n8cldRbY Repent! The end is near! No, really it’s true. I mean, it’s been true since Jesus ascended into heaven, but you really do need to repent nonetheless. Jesus could come back at any moment. Our own deaths could happen at any moment. So, we should be ready now. And if we are not, then we need to start getting ready now. We are two weeks away from Advent, which is the beginning of our liturgical year. So, on the Church’s...Read More
Via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_of_thorns#/media/File:Christ_Carrying_the_Cross_1580.jpg

Messiahs True and False: Homily for Mass at Vermilion Catholic Nov 14, 2024

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Thursday 32nd Week OT                                                                                 November 14, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville **The audio takes a few moments to load** If I told you “I am Jesus reincarnated,” would you believe me? I certainly hope not! The sad fact is that people have claimed to be Jesus and other people have believed them! In the 1600s, the Welshman Rhys Evans claimed to be Jesus and tried to warn the king about some dire prophecies of doom. In the 1700s, Ann Lee proclaimed herself to be the female incarnation of Christ. She and her followers moved to...Read More

To Be One of the Many: Homily for the 32nd Sunday OT 20214

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32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                  November 10, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/czmrFL-K9z4 Some of you probably remember that, about 15 years ago, when the priest said the words of consecration: “this is my blood… the Blood of the new and eternal covenant,” the sentence used to end with “which will be poured out for you and for all for the forgiveness of sins.” Now, however, it ends by saying his blood will be “poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Why did the Church change the words...Read More

Love Without Loopholes: Homily for the 31st Sunday OT 2024

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31st Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                   November 3, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/9F7darsL3j0 Why? Why didn’t anyone dare “to ask him any more questions?” My guess is that it has something to do with the way he told the scribe he was not far from the kingdom of God. Usually when Jesus flexes that kind of power – like forgiving sins or flipping tables – usually the scribes and pharisees complain that he is overstepping his authority. But this time? No one even questions it. Something about the whole exchange must have just...Read More