Author: Father Albert

Homily for the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time: God Forbid

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22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                 August 30, 2020Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Video of 8am Mass: https://youtu.be/30pRHRn2QXY “God forbid, Lord! Don’t let it happen. Don’t let them suffer, don’t let us suffer.” A reasonable request, but what do we do when he doesn’t forbid it? Do we try to forbid what God himself allows? What God himself wills? Then we may well hear that surprising rebuke Jesus offers to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!” Peter, the close friend of Jesus, first among the Apostles, and the first to confess Jesus as...Read More

Pastor’s Column: Different Kinds of Documents

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From the bulletin of August 30, 2020      As we journey through some of the more recent Papal teachings, it is also important to understand the different kinds of documents a pope can write. Last week’s survey of the Marian doctrines of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption were drawn from the kind of document called an “Apostolic Constitution.” This is considered the highest level of document which can be used for infallible teachings and for other very important decisions about things in the universal Church. Even when the teaching is not specifically formulated as an infallible dogma, they are...Read More

Homily for the 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time: Beyond the Gates

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21st Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                  August 23, 2020Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Video of 8am Mass: https://youtu.be/FJ-LHdThtl4 Have you ever been attacked by a gate? Lost a fight to one? I mean, Jesus says “the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against” the church that he will build on a rock. A church and a gate… two inanimate objects – how can one of them “prevail” against the other? I think most people just interpret this passage as if the netherworld is on the offense and the Church is the...Read More

Pastor Column: Infallible Marian Teachings

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From the bulletin of August 23, 2020      Now that we’ve learned a little about Papal Infallibility, let’s look at some examples. You may recall I wrote that Papal Infallibility only applies in very specific circumstances and that it doesn’t extend to everything he says and does. In fact, the circumstances are so specific that there are only two examples of an undisputed infallible teaching from the Pope. This doesn’t mean that nothing else they’ve said and done has any authority, but that there are only two examples where he used the power of teaching doctrine ex cathedra (from the...Read More

Homily for Year of St. Joseph: Man of Mystery

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Opening Mass Year of St. Joseph                                                                   August 16, 2020Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Video of 8am Mass: https://youtu.be/eDQD0nNkF0w St. Joseph has always been an important saint, but 150 years ago he was declared the patron of the Universal Church by Blessed Pope Pius IX. This is because of his special role in the life of Jesus, who is the head of the Church, and in the life of Mary who is the model and exemplar of the Church. So, the Diocese of Lafayette has decided to observe a special year of St....Read More

Pastor Column: Papal Infallibility II

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From the bulletin of August 16, 2020      Continuing our study of Papal Infallibility, this week we’ll consider the way this has been misunderstood and misused. You may recall that some of the people who objected to the decision of Vatican I to proclaim this doctrine did so because they were worried about it being misunderstood. They believed the Holy Spirit infallibly protected the teachings of the Church and that the pope had a special charism to carry out this protection. What they feared was that people would interpret this declaration to mean that everything the pope said had to...Read More

Homily for the 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time: The Ship That Does Not Sink

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19th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                  August 9, 2020Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Video of Mass: https://youtu.be/ZfHVJ5yehUQ This is one of the more popular scenes from the Gospel and there are a lot of ways to apply it: the power of faith to do the impossible, the importance of keeping your eyes on Jesus, the way that Jesus catches us when we call out to him. Really, it’s one of those passages that seems so familiar, so obvious to interpret that it’s easy for us to stop listening when it comes...Read More

Pastor Column: Papal Infallibility

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From the bulletin of August 9, 2020      As we learned last week, the First Vatican Council was most famous for solemnly declaring that the Pope had the ability to teach doctrine infallibly. It is often called the charism of infallibility. That word “charism” is used by the Church to refer to spiritual gifts and in this case means that the Pope, because of the authority he inherits as successor to St. Peter, has the spiritual gift of teaching without error. Now, it is important to remember that, whenever the Church defines a doctrine, she is not changing what we’ve...Read More

Not Enough

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18th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                  August 2, 2020Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Video of 8am Mass: https://youtu.be/H-X4ONLUPvM Not enough. Words that haunt every human being, whispered in the mind, festering in the heart – not good enough, not pretty enough, not rich enough, not strong enough, not popular enough, not holy enough. Scarcity is simply part of our condition. Even the super-rich, super-famous, and super-powerful face this fundamental experience of fallen humanity. An echo of the first temptation given to Adam and Eve, the suspicion that we are not enough...Read More

Pastor Column: Vatican I

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From the bulletin of August 2, 2020      Perhaps you’ve heard of the Second Vatican Council, or simply “Vatican II.” Many of you lived through it and remember the impact it had on the Church at large. When we do get to that council, we will spend a lot of time going through it, but our historical tour hasn’t gotten there just yet. We’re still in the 1800s and now we’re going to take a look at the First Vatican Council. It was called on December 8, 1864 by Pope Pius IX in response to the rising influence of various...Read More