Author: Father Albert

Daily Collection: St. Cyril of Alexandria

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Collect taken from the memorial of St. Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop and doctor. Collect: O God, who made the Bishop Saint Cyril of Alexandria an invincible champion of the divine motherhood of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, grant, we pray, that we, who believe she is truly the Mother of God, may be saved through the Incarnation of Christ your Son... "O God, who made the Bishop Saint Cyril of Alexandria an invincible champion of the divine motherhood of the most Blessed Virgin Mary," - God has promised to protect his Church against the gates of the netherworld and that includes protection...Read More

Daily Collection: 12th Week of Ordinary Time

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Collect taken from Twelfth Week of Ordinary Time. During Ordinary time, the collect from Sunday is used throughout the week. Collect: Grant, O Lord, that we may always revere and love your holy name, for you never deprive of your guidance those you set firm on the foundation of your love. Through our Lord Jesus Christ... "Grant, O Lord, that we may always revere and love your holy name," - Although it is our natural duty to worship and reverence God, our fallen nature makes twists and obscures this instinct. So, we ask for the grace to do it. The word for...Read More

Reasonable Fear

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Homily for 12th Sun OT, Year A Fr. Albert  St. Peter Catholic Church, New Iberia [audio wav="http://box5246.temp.domains/~alberuc3/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Reasonable-Fear.wav"][/audio]   “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 plainly say, “fear no one.” Can you imagine if your own son or daughter were to have you executed? Would the command, the advice to “fear no one” really be of...Read More

Freedom in the Forest

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[caption id="attachment_1684" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The view from Black Balsam Knob, a mountain not from from the camps. Via Wikimedia.[/caption] As I write this, I am in one of my favorite places in the world: Camps Kahdalea & Chosatonga.  It's a pair of superb wilderness camps nestled in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Parkway at the edge of the Pisgah National Forest.  Staffed by an exceptional group of counselors, these camps take seriously the modifier "wilderness."  They expose youth aged 8-18 to a wide array of adventurous activities from white-water kayaking to rock-climbing to spelunking.  And they have the whole...Read More

Daily Collection: St. Ephrem

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Collect taken from the memorial of St. Ephrem, Deacon and Doctor Collect: Pour into our hearts O Lord, we pray, the Holy Spirit, at whose prompting the Deacon Saint Ephrem exulted in singing of your mysteries and from whom he received the strength to serve you alone. Through our Lord Jesus Christ... "Pour into our hearts O Lord, we pray, the Holy Spirit, at whose prompting the Deacon Saint Ephrem exulted in singing of your mysteries" - It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can adequately praise God's goodness and the mysteries of our redemption. So, while...Read More

Daily Collection: St. Norbert

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Collect taken from the memorial of St. Norbert Collect: O God, who made the Bishop Saint Norbert a servant of your Church outstanding in his prayer and pastoral zeal, grant, we ask, that by the help of his intercession, the flock of the faithful may always find shepherds after your own heart and be fed in the pastures of salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ... " O God, who made the Bishop Saint Norbert a servant of your Church outstanding in his prayer and pastoral zeal," -  Without fail, we continue to give glory to God for the achievements of his saints. Even...Read More

Daily Collection: St. Boniface

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Collect taken from the memorial of St. Boniface, bishop and martyr Collect: May the Martyr Saint Boniface be our advocate, O Lord, that we may firmly hold the faith he taught with his lips and sealed in his blood and confidently profess it by our deeds. Through our Lord Jesus Christ... "May the Martyr Saint Boniface be our advocate, O Lord," -  Recently, we heard from Jesus that the Holy Spirit is the Advocate, but here we are asking for St. Boniface to be an advocate. It is true that Jesus is the one mediator between God and man - St. Boniface...Read More

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