Author: Father Albert

Pastor Column: Little Way

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From the Bulletin of July 5, 2020      Recall that we learned about Jansenism last week. That particular heresy greatly impacted French Catholicism and the parts of the world influenced by it, including our own Acadiana. With its emphasis on our unworthiness, it caused a lot of scrupulosity and fear so that many Catholics considered their faith a burden rather than a blessing. The Church, as guardian of the truth, did condemn this error and work to undo it’s effects, but our faith is not a list of ideas. Our doctrines and teachings mean very little unless they are lived...Read More

Spirit of Freedom

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14th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                              July 5, 2020Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Video of 8am Mass: https://youtu.be/x38f1Fxdtv4 “His dominion shall be from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the Earth.” That’s the promise of the prophet Zechariah… what he claims will happen when the Messiah, the king comes riding on a donkey. We know this to be Jesus Christ who rode a donkey into Jerusalem. We also know that, just a week later, this same anointed king was put to death on the cross. And...Read More

To Receive

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13 Sunday of Ordinary Time. A                                                                                 June 28, 2020Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Video of 8am Mass: https://youtu.be/ft07H9ij7Cs I want to tell you about Fr. Tim. As a child, Fr. Tim was a mystery to me; this foreign priest occasionally present at family gatherings; a quiet man with an accent. I’m not sure I ever had a conversation with him, but it was evident that he was a respected friend of my grandparents and so afforded at least a polite respect from the rest of the family. So he remains a...Read More

Jansenism

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From the Bulletin of June 28, 2020      As we continue our journey through the Church’s history and tradition, we come to a movement that has some influence on our local culture by way of its influence on French culture in the 1600s. That movement is called Jansenism, named after a Dutch theologian Cornelius Jansen. Ultimately, this movement was declared a heresy - a false teaching, but not before it led many people into error.      Essentially, Jansenism over-emphasized the doctrine of Original Sin to the point of considering human nature as totally depraved. They tried to use the teachings...Read More

Science vs. Faith?

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From the Bulletin of June 21, 2020     Last week, I briefly highlighted some great saints to emphasize that God always sends more grace in times when we need it more. The list was woefully short and didn’t even address other well-known saints like John Fisher, Thomas More, John of Avila, Charles Borromeo, Aloysius Gonzaga, and Philip Neri. Towards the end of this tumultuous century, there is another saint named St. Robert Bellarmine, who plays a role what we’re looking at today: the Galileo Controversy.      Spend just a few minutes looking for atheists online and you’ll quickly come across...Read More

Reasonable Fear

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12 Sunday of Ordinary Time. A                                                                                 June 21, 2020Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Video of 8am Mass: https://youtu.be/Mh55zEHBIF8 “Fear no one!” This man has just told his Apostles that they will be slandered, persecuted, and hated. He said that brothers will have their own brothers killed and that there will even be children who have their own parents put to death. And then this man, this Jesus has the gall to say, “fear no one.” Can you imagine if your own son or daughter were to have you executed? Would the...Read More

Just Accept It

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Sacred Heart of Jesus, A                                                                                             June 19, 2020Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Video of Mass: https://youtu.be/d5e9vYvW0To “It was not because you are the largest of all nations that the LORD set his heart on you and chose you… it was because the LORD loved you.” So Moses tells our spiritual ancestors, the Israelites. So we need to hear today. It was not because you were good that the Lord set his heart on you. It was not because you were wealthy or pious or influential or attractive that the Lord...Read More

The Prize of Participation

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Corpus Christi, A                                                                                                        June 14, 2020Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Video of 8am Mass: https://youtu.be/sUR4Td2v0oI People often like to make fun of the idea of a participation trophy. Some even claim we spoiled a whole generation by celebrating their ordinariness instead of challenging them to truly excel through competition. So, what do we hear when St. Paul talks about participation? When he says, “The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” Does this mean the Eucharist is something you get for just...Read More

Great Saints in Dark Times

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From the bulletin of June 14, 2020      Perhaps by now, you’ve come to see that the Church was in some pretty dark times in the 16th and 17th centuries. Between the Protestant Reformation, the re-introduction of slavery to Europe (and the New World), the violent wars that these divisions sparked, and the brewing conflict between the Church and Galileo (and other scientists after him) things must have seemed pretty rough. It is in the worst of times, however, that God raises up the greatest saints. Before I delve into the infamous Galileo controversy, I want to briefly sum up...Read More

The Awful Mystery

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Trinity Sunday, A                                                                                                       June 7, 2020Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Video of the 8am Mass: https://youtu.be/c6QNZhfHWvw If you think you understand the Trinity, you’re wrong. If you don’t believe in the Trinity, you’re wrong. Perhaps more than anything else, this mystery of the faith is the most humbling because we are forced into the position of firmly believing what we cannot possibly understand while we are also expected to try to understand. In other words, we have to try to do something even though we know we’re going to...Read More