Author: Father Albert

Homily for the 3rd Week of Advent: Beating Anxiety

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3rd Sunday of Advent, C                                                                                December 12, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/sFDcOJ9jJHM Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you O Israel. It is Guadete Sunday, from the Latin word for rejoice… the same word used in that ancient and beautiful hymn and in our entrance antiphon. And that is not just a verb. It’s not just describing rejoicing. It is in the imperative mood, it is commanding us, saying “you must rejoice!” But to get there, we should perhaps first try to follow another command, one that St. Paul gives in the second reading: “Have no...Read More

Homily for the Immaculate Conception: Destiny and Freedom

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Immaculate Conception                                                                                 December 8, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/WaT2iEGRTls Destiny. What is destiny? What do we mean when we say something is a person’s destiny? That they have no choice? That life is beyond their control? I ask because St. Paul tells us we are “destined” for adoption by God through Jesus Christ. We have been “chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will.” And what is his will? “That we might exist for the praise of his...Read More

Pastor Column: The Social Question – Unions

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[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 2nd Sunday of Advent: Preparing the Way for Grace

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2nd Sunday of Advent, C                                                                               December 5, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/Ec3WmCxwSBI Last week I urged you work at almsgiving, prayer, and fasting in order to be blameless in holiness. The world will end and it will end in great tribulation. The difference between our being victims on that day and our being victors on that day is this holiness. Please recall, however, that I warned you not to take up these sacred practices – almsgiving, prayer, and fasting – as proof of your own strength but as cooperation with grace, because it is grace that...Read More

Homily for the 1st Sunday of Advent: Strong of Heart

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1st Sunday of Advent, B                                                                                 November 28, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/fdpnHZ8CicE So it begins. Today starts the Catholic new year, when our liturgical calendar starts all over. The birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, the descent of the Holy Spirit. Again and again we cycle through these events, with the looming promise that one year, the cycle will end forever. Jesus will come a second time and that will be it. It’s why the first week of Advent doesn’t even mention Jesus’ birth. It’s why, at the start of what many people call...Read More

Pastor Column: Making the Most of Advent

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[Note: This is not the weekly homily.] This is an article from the bulletin of November 28, 2021      It’s already begun. So many people would say it is already the Christmas season. Whether it started the day after Halloween or at 4pm on Thanksgiving Day, most of the country began putting up decorations and wishing each other a “Merry Christmas” or a “Happy Holidays.” People look forward to this time all year long, so once they get the chance to get started, they jump at the opportunity. And you know what? Fine. People are free to act as they...Read More

The Social Question II

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[Note: This is not the weekly homily.] This is an article from the bulletin of November 14, 2021      We left off last week with Pope Pius XI reiterating Leo XIII’s teaching on private property, namely, that it is a natural right but not an absolute right. Men ought to be able to own property in providing for themselves, but this right does not justify hoarding or wastefulness and the obligation to be support those in need must always be considered. Today, we pick up with a teaching on labor and capital. “Capital,” in this context generally refers to property....Read More

Homily for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time: Fighting to the End

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33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                  November 14, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/EJS5nbER25o The end of the world. In one sense, we should fear it. In another, we should look forward to it. Fear it because it means destruction and suffering and death. Jesus himself calls it “tribulation” and Daniel the prophet is told “it shall be a time unsurpassed in distress.” Yet, we should look forward to it because it also means the end to our long battle… final victory. The angels will gather God’s “elect” and the “wise shall shine brightly.” That’s us… if...Read More