Author: Father Albert

Queenship of Mary

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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

Pope St. Pius X

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Collect taken from the feast of St. Pius X, Pope. Collect: O God, who to safeguard the Catholic faith and to restore all things in Christ, filled Pope Saint Pius the Tenth with heavenly wisdom and apostolic fortitude, graciously grant that, following his teaching and example, we may gain an eternal prize. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "O God, who to safeguard the Catholic faith and to restore all things in Christ, filled Pope Saint Pius the Tenth with heavenly wisdom and apostolic fortitude," - "To restore all things in Christ" was Pius X's Papal motto. Invoking that motto, we...Read More

Twentieth Week of Ordinary Time

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Collect taken from Twentieth Week of Ordinary Time. Collect: O God, who have prepared for those who love you good things which no eye can see, fill our hearts, we pray, with the warmth of your love, so that, loving you in all things and above all things, we may attain your promises, which surpass every human desire. Through our Lord Jesus Christ... "O God, who have prepared for those who love you good things which no eye can see, fill our hearts, we pray, with the warmth of your love," - We make an act of faith in acknowledging that God...Read More

Better a Dog to God than a Child to Satan

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Last week Jesus knowingly sent his disciples into a storm and left them in it for hours. This week, we see something that, quite frankly, is offensive to us. Jesus not only ignores this poor woman, but even calls her and her whole race “little dogs.” And yet, just as the storm ended with walking on water, so this rebuttal ends with a joyful consent to the woman’s request. Some try to say this woman teaches Jesus about racism but that is silly; Jesus already knows racism is wrong. Jesus Christ, who is both God and Man, is using this...Read More

Netflix or Nothing: Our Need for the Void

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Netflix is the Devil! Is that a startling enough headline for you?  I'm exaggerating, of course, but only by a little. [caption id="attachment_1783" align="alignright" width="225"] Where are the horns?[/caption] Personally, it's easy for me to lose hours upon hours to Netflix or other similar streaming services.  Even when there wasn't a show that got me excited, I would come back like the bored man to his fridge.  I know what's in the fridge - I've basically memorized it - but I'm still hungry, so I'll close the door for a while, sink further into boredom-hunger and then lower my standards...Read More

St. Stephen of Hungary

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Collect taken from the feast of St. Stephen of Hungary. Collect: Grant your Church, we pray, almighty God, that she may have Saint Stephen of Hungary, who fostered her growth while a king on earth, as her glorious defender in heaven. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "Grant your Church, we pray, almighty God, that she may have Saint Stephen of Hungary, who fostered her growth while a king on earth, as her glorious defender in heaven" - This short collect is a great example and reminder of the fact that all holiness works for the benefit of the whole Church....Read More

Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

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Collect taken from Nineteenth Week of Ordinary Time. Collect: Almighty ever-living God, whom, taught by the Holy Spirit, we dare to call our Father, bring, we pray, to perfection in our hearts the spirit of adoption as your sons and daughters, that we may merit to enter into the inheritance which you have promised. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "Almighty ever-living God, whom, taught by the Holy Spirit, we dare to call our Father," - Although we tend to think it's no big deal, calling God "Father" is a rather bold thing to do. God is infinitely beyond us and,...Read More

Jesus Made Me Do It

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Homily for 19th Sun OT, Year A Fr. Albert St. Peter Catholic Church, New Iberia [audio wav="http://box5246.temp.domains/~alberuc3/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Jesus-Made-Me-Do-It.wav"][/audio]   “After he had fed the people, Jesus made the disciples get into a boat and precede him to the other side.” Jesus made the disciples go across the sea without him. And he knew that they would be caught in a terrifying storm. It’s not even the first time he’s let them face the intimidating power of a storm at sea, but at least he was with them last time, even if he was asleep. Sure, Jesus knows he will come to them later, but the storm starts in...Read More

St. Clare of Assisi

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Collect taken from the feast of St. Clare of Assisi, virgin. Collect: O God, who in your mercy led Saint Clare to a love of poverty, grant, through her intercession, that, following Christ in poverty of spirit, we may merit to contemplate you one day in the heavenly Kingdom. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "O God, who in your mercy led Saint Clare to a love of poverty," - We take seriously Jesus' call to poverty. We see that in the fact that call it "mercy" when God leads someone, like Clare, to love poverty. How contrary to the world!...Read More

St. Lawrence

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Collect taken from the feast of St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr. Collect: O God, giver of that ardor of love for you by which Saint Lawrence was outstandingly faithful in service and glorious in martyrdom, grant that we may love what he loved and put into practice what he taught. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "O God, giver of that ardor of love for you by which Saint Lawrence was outstandingly faithful in service and glorious in martyrdom," - Always we begin with recognizing the goodness of God. With a touch of poetic expression, we do that in this prayer,...Read More