Author: Father Albert

Who Has The Power?

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The First Sunday of Lent, C                                                                           March 10, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeaneretteblack pleat polycotton mens pants “I shall give to you all this power and glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish.” That is Satan talking, the devil, the great fallen angel Lucifer. Here in the desert, while tempting Jesus, he makes this rather incredible claim that he can give “all the kingdoms of the world” to Jesus. And how does Jesus respond? Not by saying “you don’t have that...Read More

The Standard

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Ash Wednesday                                                                                                          March 6, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette The ashes don’t do anything, you know. At least, not like the sacraments. The sacraments always give grace, even if we do not accept it. The ashes are what we call a sacramental. They don’t give us grace. They’re just there to help us use the grace we’ve been given already. And yet, Ash Wednesday is one of the most popular days of the year. It seems like everyone, even many non-Catholics go out of their way just to get some dirt smeared...Read More

A Heart For Your Neighbor

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The Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                                                       March 3, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Love of God, Love of Neighbor. Our mission statement. Don’t worry, I won’t start every homily like this. We need round out what we’ve started. Last week was focused mostly on the love of God – the importance of Mass, the Eucharist, Confession and all the sacraments to teach us real love and empower us to live it. Perhaps you heard it and thought “okay, so what next? I get the sacraments, but what does loving my neighbor look...Read More

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