The Sanctification of Human Labor

Collect taken from the mass for the Sanctification of Human Labor. Collect: O God, who through human labor never cease to perfect and govern the vast work of creation, listen to the supplications of your people and grant that all men and women may find work that befits their dignity, joins them more closely to one another and enables them to serve their neighbor. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "O God, who through human labor never cease to perfect and govern the vast work of creation," - We here remember that God's creation was not a one-time event, but...Read More

Carrying The Cross With Both Arms

Homily for 22ndSun OT, Year A                                                                Fr. Albert St. Peter Catholic Church, New Iberia [audio wav="http://box5246.temp.domains/~alberuc3/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Carrying-The-Cross-With-Both-.wav"][/audio]   Is Peter making a mistake? Is it a mistake to trust this Jesus? In the course of a single conversation, He went from promising the keys of the kingdom of heaven to calling Peter “Satan.” Peter was just trying to be a good friend, trying to save Jesus from pain and difficulty. Wouldn’t...Read More

It Is Right And Just

Homily for Mother Teresa Novena Mass, 5th day                                           Fr. Albert Queen of Peace, Lafayette [audio wav="http://box5246.temp.domains/~alberuc3/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/It-Is-Right-And-Just.wav"][/audio]   There is a dirty word among Christians: Justice. It is popular to speak all the time of mercy. That word conjures up warm thoughts of reconciliation, welcome, and kindness. But justice… well, that too often sounds like rules or judgment, wrath or revenge. Still others suspect the word refers to invented rights, and conspiracies of control. And yet, there are those who are willing to speak of it as they should. Even the formulas for mass today are for the preservation of Justice and...Read More

Twenty-First Week of Ordinary Time

Collect taken from Twenty-first Week of Ordinary Time. Collect: O God, who cause the minds of the faithful to unite in a single purpose, grant your people to love what you command and to desire what you promise, that, amid the uncertainties of this world, our hearts may be fixed on that place where true gladness is found. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "O God, who cause the minds of the faithful to unite in a single purpose" - Unity cannot come from worldly control or merely human efforts. We recall in this prayer that it is God, and God...Read More

Beheading of John the Baptist

Collect taken from the memorial of the beheading of John the Baptist. Collect: O God, who willed that Saint John the Baptist should go ahead of your Son both in his birth and in his death, grant that, as he died a Martyr for truth and justice, we, too, may fight hard for the confession of what you teach. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... " O God, who willed that Saint John the Baptist should go ahead of your Son both in his birth and in his death," - We recall the fitting design of God in order to evoke a...Read More

St. Augustine of Hippo

Collect taken from the memorial of St. Augustine of Hippo, bishop, confessor, and doctor. Collect: Renew in your Church, we pray, O Lord, that spirit with which you endowed your Bishop Saint Augustine that, filled with the same spirit, we may thirst for you, the sole fount of true wisdom, and seek you, the author of heavenly love. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "Renew in your Church, we pray, O Lord, that spirit with which you endowed your Bishop Saint Augustine" - In each age, the Church needs men and women who are filled with the spirit of zeal and...Read More

You’re Building What?

Homily for 21stSun OT, Year A                                                                     Fr. Albert St. Peter Catholic Church, New Iberia [audio wav="http://box5246.temp.domains/~alberuc3/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Youre-Building-What.wav"][/audio]   Maybe this sounds familiar: Three men died and went to heaven. When they got there, St. Peter met them at the gate. He said “tell me why you deserve to go to Heaven…”  Those lines are the opening to hundreds of different jokes about dying and going to heaven. Some of them...Read More

St. Bartholomew

Collect taken from the memorial of St. Bartholomew, Apostle. Collect: Strengthen in us, O Lord, the faith, by which the blessed Apostle Bartholomew clung wholeheartedly to your Son, and grant that through the help of his prayers your Church may become for all the nations the sacrament of salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "Strengthen in us, O Lord, the faith, by which the blessed Apostle Bartholomew clung wholeheartedly to your Son," -Especially after Jesus' ascension into Heaven, Bartholomew could not rely on ordinary human perception to stay close to Christ. Instead, he had to rely upon a supernatural ability...Read More

St. Rose of Lima

Collect taken from the memorial of St. Rose of Lima, virgin. Collect: O God, you set Saint Rose of Lima on fire with your love, so that, secluded from the world in the austerity of a life of penance, she might give herself to you alone; grant, we pray, that through her intercession, we may tread the paths of life on earth and drink at the stream of your delights in heaven. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,... "O God, you set Saint Rose of Lima on fire with your love, so that, secluded from the world in the austerity of...Read More

Queenship of Mary

Collect taken from the memorial of the Queenship of Mary. Collect: O God, who made the Mother of your Son to be our Mother and our Queen, graciously grant that, sustained by her intercession, we may attain in the heavenly Kingdom the glory promised to your children. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "O God, who made the Mother of your Son to be our Mother and our Queen," - Just as the Israelite kingdom had a "Queen Mother," so does the kingdom of Heaven. This takes nothing away from God, of course, because it is precisely how He wants His...Read More