Author: Father Albert

Pastor Column: Modernism II

Posted on by Father Albert
From the bulletin of March 28, 2021      Continuing our look at the heresy of Modernism, we come to how they view the Church’s authority. Since Modernists say that Christ is only human and that all religion is the product of a vague internal “religious sense,” they go on to reject the idea that the Church has real authority coming from God. They see the Church’s authority as the product of the “collective conscience” of all believers. In other words, they argue that the Church should be democratic about it’s beliefs because it’s authority is really based on the opinion...Read More

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent: Perfection

Posted on by Father Albert
5th Sunday of Lent, B                                                                                     March 21, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/r1BJFiqQXE8 This Lent, beginning with Adam and Eve, we saw God’s firm opposition to evil, especially as shown with Noah and the great flood. In Abraham’s willingness to offer up Isaac, we saw the importance of faith shown through obedience to things beyond our understanding. With Moses and the Ten Commandments, we encountered the paradox that real freedom is not doing whatever we feel like but being free enough from sin and our impulses to do what is truly good....Read More

Pastor Column: Modernism I

Posted on by Father Albert
From the bulletin of March 21, 2021      Continuing with the documents of Pope St. Pius X, we come to one of his better known encyclicals, Pascendi Dominici Gregis, subtitled “On the Doctrine of the Modernists,” published in 1907. “Modernism” is the name that the pope uses to describe a collection of erroneous beliefs which were becoming popular at the time. As the pope, he sees it as his responsibility to point out and correct these errors as directly as possible.      The first error he tackles is what he calls “agnosticism.” This refers to the belief that human reason...Read More

Homily for the 4th Sunday of Lent: Hope of Victory

Posted on by Father Albert
4th Sunday of Lent, B                                                                                     March 14, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/LWCH83GpMoA We are losing. At least, that’s what it looks like. And that is a key part of this next step in our journey through the fundamentals – the hope of victory. In the battle of good vs. evil, this battle for freedom fought with the weapons of obedience, we must remember what victory really looks like if we are going to avoid discouragement. The first reading is from the end of the Jewish bible and it speaks of what...Read More

Homily for the 3rd Week of Lent: Freedom

Posted on by Father Albert
3rd Sunday of Lent, B                                                                                     March 7, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/zooLk_rNUqo Freedom. The next step in our journey is to understand the fundamental value of freedom. It might seem a strange thing to talk about when our readings include a list of “you shall not”s and we see Jesus literally using a whip to interrupt other people’s business, yet that really is the core of what’s happening here. Our first reading should have sounded pretty familiar to you; it’s the Ten Commandments. They are given to Moses on Mount Sinai...Read More

Pastor Column: Tra Le Sollecitudini II

Posted on by Father Albert
From the bulletin of March 7, 2021      Last week, we looked at the first part of Pope St. Pius X’s document on sacred music, which gave some basic principles for what kind of music should be used at Mass and other forms of the liturgy. The glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful are the reasons for sacred music and because of this, such music should be holy and beautiful in a way that transcends a single cultural expression. By way of example, the pope pointed to Gregorian Chant as the music developed by the Church herself...Read More

Homily for the 2nd Week of Lent, B: The Victory of Obedience

Posted on by Father Albert
2nd Sunday of Lent, B                                                                                    February 28, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/bKRDZq1mVXk Obedience. In our journey through the fundamentals, it is time to look at the reality of obedience. Last week took us through that fundamental conflict of Good vs. Evil, begun with original sin and carried on today in the heart of every human person. After promising never to use a flood to destroy evil again, God gives us the sign of a rainbow, which foreshadows the way in which he will overcome evil once and for all, by aiming it’s...Read More

Pastor Column: Tra Le Sollecitudini I

Posted on by Father Albert
From the bulletin of February 28      One of the earliest things Pope St. Pius X wrote as pope was a document on the music at Mass, titled Tra Le Sollecitudini, published on November 22, 1903. As he puts it, he is writing this letter because he “deemed it expedient to point out briefly the principles regulating sacred music in the functions of public worship, and to gather together in a general survey the principal prescriptions of the Church against the more common abuses in this subject.” This kind of letter is what’s called a Motu Propio. A good while...Read More

Homily for the 1st Sunday of Lent: Good vs. Evil

Posted on by Father Albert
1st Sunday of Lent, B                                                                         February 21, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/X6n0iIVvAAI Good versus evil. This concept is part of nearly every story ever told and central to all the best ones. Some people may talk about these two forces as a necessary part of the balance of the universe, the yin and yang or, to borrow an idea from Star Wars, the dark and light sides of the force. But even then, no sane person actually wants evil to be equal to good. The Jedi talk about balance, but strive continually...Read More

Pastor Column: Pope St. Pius X

Posted on by Father Albert
From the bulletin of February 21      Returning to our journey through major documents of recent popes, it is time to move on to Pope St. Pius X. Born with the name Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, he lived from 1835 to 1914. He lived in Riese, which was in the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, though it is now Italy. He became a priest in 1858. He served in a few placed, including as spiritual director and rector (president) of the seminary. By 1880, he was a teacher at the seminary until he was named the Bishop of Treviso in 1884 by Pope...Read More