Author: Father Albert

Impossible Love

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The Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                                                     February 24, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Love of God, Love of Neighbor. It’s the mission statement I made last week… the two greatest commandments for every Christian. And these two are always and everywhere connected. It is impossible to actually love your neighbor unless you love God. And, if you claim to love God, but do not live out love of neighbor, that love is not genuine. Love of God and love of neighbor are always connected. Here, Jesus proves that point by taking “love...Read More

Who Are You?

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The Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                                                         February 17, 2019Fr. Albert                                Introduction to St. John’s       St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette “Blessed are you when people hate you… woe to you when all speak well of you.” Well, if that’s the case, I hope you’ve all heard terrible things about me!... I mean, who doesn’t want to be liked? But I if I have to pick between a good reputation with you and the blessedness of heaven, sorry, but I’ll pick heaven every time. Now, what is Jesus saying here? Surely, he doesn’t really want a first-time pastor...Read More

Here I Am, There I Go

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The Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                                                          February 10, 2019Fr. Albert                                Farewell to St. Peter’s                         St. Peter’s, New Iberia “Here I am,” Lord,” send me!” Just under 10 years ago, I prayed these same words that we hear from Isaiah. It was a lot like having a crush at first, but that sense grew from mere attraction into a commanding love until it seemed to be a permanent fixture in my spiritual life. For what I had thought was the third time in my life, I had fallen in love. Unlike the two previous falls,...Read More

Jesus, Go Away!

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The Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                                                       February 3, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                            St. Peter’s, New Iberia Because you are so wicked and sinful, God won’t do amazing things in your life… I bet that’s not what you want to hear. Well, you’re not alone. The people of Nazareth didn’t like it either, but that’s kind of what Jesus does here and it’s the reason they almost kill him. It didn’t start like that, though. At first, they were amazed and pleased with his preaching. But Jesus didn’t come to offer pretty words. He came to call...Read More

Make My Homilies Short Again

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The Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                                                      January 27, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                            St. Peter’s, New Iberia “From daybreak till midday.” That’s how our first reading describes the length of the readings and homily in this synagogue service. That’s like 6 hours. Maybe I should strive for that today… No, don’t worry. I’ll stay much closer to the way Jesus preaches. Today he stops with only a single sentence for his homily! I’ve already gone past that, but I’ll keep in mind that Jesus’ longest recorded homily is like 15 minutes at most. For all its brevity,...Read More

Will You Marry Me?

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The Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                                                      January 20, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                            St. Peter’s, New Iberia Have you noticed this ring I wear on my left hand? My wedding ring; a reminder that I am married, not to an single woman, but the Church. Priests marry the Church, so to speak. And like marriage between a man and a woman, my marriage is a sign of something else, something much deeper. It is a sign of what happens in eternity. Yes, we all know that heaven is the great happy place we want to go to...Read More

Making Dad Happy

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The Baptism of the Lord, C                                                                            January 13, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                            St. Peter’s, New Iberia Jesus didn’t really do much before this moment. He wasn’t going around teaching. He hadn’t done any miracles. All Jesus did was get baptized and start praying. And yet, the Father’s voice booms from heaven to proclaim how proud he is. “You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.” That’s what every child wants to hear from their parents. Some people go their whole lives never hearing it. The feeling of being a disappointment to...Read More

Reading for Treasure

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Epiphany                                                                                                         January 6, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                            St. Peter’s, New Iberia Why read books? Entertainment? School or work? To discover something? That last one is what motivates today’s events. Epiphany, the feast of the wise men, the magi, the three kings and their three gifts. Thanks to the creche, we envision three men of different races riding camels across vast deserts searching for the long-awaited king of the Jews; like these men are searching for some hidden treasure. Adventurous and a little exciting. And, it ends with gifts! Look closer and you’ll see something easily...Read More

Mama Dogma

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Mary, Mother of God                                                                                     January 1, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                            St. Peter’s, New Iberia It’s a dogma, you know. That Mary is the Mother of God. It’s an official doctrine of the Church and rejecting it means rejecting the Catholic Church. There are lots of dogmas, but only some of them apply directly to Mary. The Immaculate Conception, the Assumption, the Perpetual Virginity. You know what isn’t a dogma? What she wore or who her childhood friends were. We don’t have an official doctrine on Mary’s brothers and sisters. We don’t have an official doctrine on...Read More

Subordinate to Love

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Holy Family Year C                                                                                       December 30, 2018Fr. Albert                                                                                            St. Peter’s, New Iberia Subordinate. Submissive. Obedient. Authority. To many in the world, these are dirty words – unpleasant and meant to be avoided or resisted. People resent parents for controlling them, they resent organized religion for having rules, the resent the speed limit for holding them back. But they also want peace and peace requires order and order requires organization and organization requires authority. A family without authority will be broken just as a society without it will fall to chaos and a faith without...Read More