Author: Father Albert

The Unity of the Holy Spirit

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Homily for Pentecost Sunday Fr. Albert St. Peter Catholic Church, New Iberia [audio wav="http://box5246.temp.domains/~alberuc3/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/The-Unity-of-the-Holy-Spirit.wav"][/audio]   Unity. Do we have unity in our families? Our Parish? Our Country? What about in our faith? Is our Church unified? Perhaps it is worth asking, what “unity” means anyway? In a sense, we could say that these questions run throughout all human history. Trade, politics, warfare… these and more are responses to the question of unity, to the question of how we will go about existing in the same world. Sometimes we can avoid the issue by simply avoiding the same space. Two points...Read More

Daily Collection: St. Charles Lwanga and Companions

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Collect taken from the memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs Collect:  O God, who have made the blood of Martyrs the seed of Christians, mercifully grant that the field which is your Church, watered by the blood shed by Saint Charles Lwanga and his companions, may be fertile and always yield you an abundant harvest. Through our Lord Jesus Christ... "O God, who have made the blood of Martyrs the seed of Christians" - We remind ourselves of Tertullian's famous quote about the blood of martyrs. We recognize that Christians who give their lives for the love of God and...Read More

And These Three Remain

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Homily for Ascension Sunday Fr. Albert St. Peter Catholic Church, New Iberia [audio wav="http://box5246.temp.domains/~alberuc3/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/And-These-Three-Remain.wav"][/audio]   “Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” Isn’t it odd that this is the Gospel passage we read on the very day that we celebrate the Ascension? The Apostles watch as Jesus ascends into heaven and disappears. They stand there staring for so long that an Angel has to appear to them and shake them out of it. “What are you doing? Quit staring at heaven; Jesus has been taken up… he will return later.” If he has been taken up,...Read More

Daily Collection: Seventh Week of Easter – Monday

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Collect taken from Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter. Collect: May the power of the Holy Spirit come to us, we pray, O Lord, that we may keep your will faithfully in mind and express it in a devout way of life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ... "May the power of the Holy Spirit come to us, we pray, O Lord" - We are in the midst of the Novena to the Holy Spirit, the original novena in the life of the Church. As such, the prayers for this entire week ask for the Holy Spirit and look forward to his coming. "that...Read More

Daily Collection: St. Augustine of Canterbury

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Collect taken from the memorial of St. Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop Collect:  O God, who by the preaching of the Bishop Saint Augustine of Canterbury led the English peoples to the Gospel, grant, we pray, that the fruits of his labors may remain ever abundant in your Church. Through our Lord Jesus Christ... "O God, who by the preaching of the Bishop Saint Augustine of Canterbury led the English peoples to the Gospel" - Particularity is a part of the faith. While we are all joined to the one Church, we are also a rich diversity of peoples who come to the...Read More

Daily Collection: St. Bede the Venerable

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Collect taken from the memorial of St. Bede, Priest and Doctor Collect:  O God, who bring light to your Church through the learning of the Priest Saint Bede, mercifully grant that your servants may always be enlightened by his wisdom and helped by his merits. Through our Lord Jesus Christ... "O God, who bring light to your Church through the learning of the Priest Saint Bede" - As always, we credit God for the merits of his saints. In this case, St. Bede is a doctor of the Church, which means that he was a teacher of the faith. So, we acknowledge...Read More

Love Rules

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Homily for the 6th Sunday of Easter Fr. Albert  St. Peter Catholic Church, New Iberia [audio wav="http://box5246.temp.domains/~alberuc3/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Love-Rules.wav"][/audio]   “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Come again? Did Jesus really say that “Love” means keeping “commandments?” Isn’t love supposed to be free and generous? What does following a bunch of rules – being “rigid” – have to do with the beauty and freedom of love? Surely this one comment by Jesus is a fluke, right? No, he reiterates it just a few sentences later: “Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me.” And again a few...Read More

Daily Collection: St. Bernardine of Siena

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Collect taken from the memorial of St. Bernardine, Priest. Collect:  O God, who gave the Priest Saint Bernardine of Siena a great love for the holy Name of Jesus, grant through his merits and prayers, that we may ever be set aflame with the spirit of your love. Through our Lord Jesus Christ... "O God, who gave the Priest Saint Bernardine of Siena a great love for the holy Name of Jesus," - St. Bernardine was famous for his devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus and his eagerness to spread that love. As with the other saints, we attribute this zeal and...Read More

Daily Collection: Fifth Week of Easter – Wednesday

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Collect taken from Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter. Collect: O God, restorer and lover of innocence, direct the hearts of your servants towards yourself, that those you have set free from the darkness of unbelief may never stray from the light of your truth. Through our Lord Jesus Christ... "O God, restorer and lover of innocence, direct the hearts of your servants towards yourself" - Innocence is mocked and treated as something that only immature children can have, but it is not so for the Lord. He not only loves innocence, but, by grace restores it. And, the prayer to direct...Read More

Daily Collection: Fifth Week of Easter – Tuesday

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Collect taken from Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Easter. Collect: O God, who restore us to eternal life in the Resurrection of Christ, grant your people constancy in faith and hope, that we may never doubt the promises of which we have learned from you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ... "O God, who restore us to eternal life in the Resurrection of Christ" - Before the firs sin, we had eternal life, but the first sin brought death. By bringing our human nature through death and back to life, Christ has paved the way for all human beings to pass beyond death...Read More