Author: Father Albert

Pastor Column: Mass Times Change

Posted on by Father Albert
[Note: This is not the homily, that can be found under homilies on this website.]From the bulletin of Feb 27th, 2022      As I announced last week during the Homily, our Sunday Mass schedule will change to 9am starting the Second Sunday of Easter (April 24). The reason is straightforward: we don’t need two Masses to accommodate the number of people who attend on Weekends. We average just under 300 people on a weekend (100/Mass) though we could fit 600. It’s worth reflecting on how necessary the Saturday 4pm really is (don’t worry, I’m not cancelling it, just provoking thought)....Read More

Homily for the 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time: The Cult of Convenience

Posted on by Father Albert
7th Sunday OT, C                                                                                           February 20, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/w1XBvI_Ez00 One huge mistake of the Church in the past 60 years, in my opinion, is we made the Catholic faith too convenient. In part, it’s a psychological thing. Human beings naturally place more value in things that are expensive, difficult, or rare. I’ve seen studies that show how strict religions tend to succeed more than easier ones. I’ve seen in myself and in others that when something is just given to us or made too easily available, we tend to neglect it and...Read More

Homily for the 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Blessing and Woe

Posted on by Father Albert
6th Sunday OT, C                                                                                           February 13, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/qclvyk4-I04 This past Friday marks three years I have been your pastor, halfway through my first term. Covid certainly made it more difficult and there are a few things I wish I had done differently… some things that pain me. Attendance is still down by 30%. On most weekends, the collection is still slightly lower than what I remember seeing when I started. We lost the partnership with Head Start and had to sell the school property. Yet, it’s not all bad news. We...Read More

Pastor Column: Singing at Mass

Posted on by Father Albert
[Note: This is not the weekly homily. This is an article from the bulletin of February 6, 2022.]      If all has gone according to plan, I will have preached about singing at Mass this weekend. To support that points I made, I am listing here some of the teachings and guidelines of the Church that I’m referring to when saying “The Church says we should sing at Mass.” Besides the fact that Christians have sung at Mass since ancient times (even Jesus and the Apostles sang at the Last Supper), there are more recent documents from the Church that...Read More

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Choosing Love

Posted on by Father Albert
5th Sunday OT, C                                                                                           February 6, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/jqCNsAHC4yU “From now on you will be catching men.” This sums up the mission of the Church: to draw men and women to Jesus Christ. Evangelization is at the heart of the Church’s very identity. But what is evangelization? Is it about the number of people at Church on Sunday? Of course not. Peter is already in the boat with Jesus. He has heard him before and listens to his preaching. But Peter is not yet truly evangelized, not yet truly caught by Jesus....Read More

Homily for the 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Insulting Love

Posted on by Father Albert
4th Sunday OT, C                                                                                           January 30, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/IU2mslDu01M The Word of God is always fruitful… it is living and effective. But that doesn’t mean we’re always going to like the effect it has. Jesus’ own experience is proof of that. I hinted last week that Jesus’ preaching would bear fruit and now we see it. At first, it’s great. People are “amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.” Jesus should be happy with that, right? He gives a good homily and even tells people that they are witnessing...Read More

Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time: Present to the Word

Posted on by Father Albert
3rd Sunday OT, C                                                                                           January 23, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/EOW_ul5yMjA Normally I preach for 10 minutes but in honor of Ezra reading from “daybreak until midday,” how does an hour sound? Not long enough? How about 3? No, but we should take God’s word seriously. The Gospel ends with Jesus saying “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” Not “fulfilled in your presence.” Not “fulfilled at this time.” In. Your. Hearing. The Word of God is fulfilled not just in being proclaimed, but in being heard, received, made fruitful. The question...Read More

Homily for the 2nd Week of Ordinary Time: Our Wedding Gifts

Posted on by Father Albert
2nd Sunday OT, C                                                                                          January 16, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/TvwkkMiOCMg This is our wedding feast. To belong to the Church is to be invited to the wedding of God with humanity. Scripture constantly speaks of Israel as God’s bride. It’s the reason that Jesus’ first miracle is done at a wedding feast – it pointing to this deeper reality that God wants to unite all of us to himself in perfect love – marriage is a sign of that truth. Jesus is the bridegroom and the Church – to which we belong –...Read More

Homily for the Baptism of the Lord: You Are My Beloved Son

Posted on by Father Albert
Baptism of the Lord, C                                                                                   January 9, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/ARKHEABt4dI This past Wednesday, Pope Francis stirred up some controversy when he talked about families who get pets instead of having children. People were upset that he called it “selfish.” Maybe there was a better way to say what he said, but he’s right. It’s a statistical reality that less and less couples are having kids and more and more are getting pets. All the time, you’ll see people call themselves a “dog dad” or a “cat mom.” Don’t get me wrong. I love...Read More

Homily for the Epiphany: The Light of Worship

Posted on by Father Albert
Epiphany                                                                                                         January 2, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/E4WDaxhc82k “Nations shall walk by your light.” So says the prophet Isaiah of the city of Jerusalem. God chose the Israelites so that he could reveal himself through them and call all nations to himself. They were to be the exemplars, the messengers, the witnesses to the nations. They knew that a king would rise up to make them this light to the nations and eventually even pagans had heard of the prophecy. This is why Persian Magi were aware of the birth of a Jewish king...Read More