Author: Father Albert

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

Pastor’s Column: Three Notes on Development

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From the bulletin of July 26, 2020      We’ve been looking into the development of doctrine with the help of Blessed Cardinal Newman who laid out 7 “notes” of development in one of his essays. Last week, we looked at four of those notes: Preservation of Type, Continuity of Principles, Power of Assimilation, and Logical Sequence. Today, we’ll finish with the last three.      Anticipation of its Future: This one is closely connected to the previous example of a logical sequence. It means that, when we look at a development of doctrine, should be able to spot its anticipation in...Read More

The Long Defeat

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17th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                              July 26, 2020Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Video of 10am Mass: https://youtu.be/pFAzbcNA178 What to do? Pandemic, economic difficulty, racial tension, fake news, political turmoil – what can we do about any of that? It’s easy to feel trapped and powerless, like we just have to watch things fall apart and accept our lack of influence. Frankly, there is a part of me that wishes I could simply point you to a solution, a path of influence, a technique for getting this world off the track...Read More

Pastor Column: 7 Notes on Development Part I

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From the bulletin of July 19, 2020      As we saw last week, Cardinal Newman was an English saint who was known for his teaching, theology, and good example. One of his better known contributions to the Church’s tradition is his essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, in which he gives 7 “notes” which help us to see the difference between a development of doctrine and a divergence from doctrine (also known as heresy). I will try to summarize and explain each of these notes. They can be a little hard to understand, but they are nonetheless a good...Read More