Author: Father Albert

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

Who Said I Wanted Your Father Anyway?

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5th Sunday of Easter Fr. Albert St. Peter Catholic Church, New Iberia [audio wav="http://box5246.temp.domains/~alberuc3/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Who-Said-I-Wanted-Your-Father.wav"][/audio]   “No one comes to the Father except through me.” “Who cares? Who said that I wanted to go to the Father anyway? Keep your way and truth to yourself, Jesus, because I’m gonna live my own life and I don’t want or need your father.” Does any of that sound familiar? This Gospel is a profound excerpt from the Last Supper where Christ is pouring out his heart to his Apostles and strengthening them for what is to come. But his message, this whole revelation...Read More

Daily Collection: Fifth Sunday of Easter

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Collect taken from the Fifth Sunday of Easter. Collect: Almighty ever-living God, constantly accomplish the Paschal Mystery within us, that those you were pleased to make new in Holy Baptism may, under your protective care, bear much fruit and come to the joys of life eternal. Through our Lord Jesus Christ... "Almighty ever-living God, constantly accomplish the Paschal Mystery within us," - Note that this is not a description but a request; We are asking God to continue to accomplish the Paschal Mystery within us. Although Christ died and rose once for all we each must go through the process of having...Read More

Daily Collection: Our Lady of Fatima

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Collect taken from memorial of Our Lady of Fatima. Collect: O God, who chose the Mother of your Son to be our Mother also, grant us that, persevering in penance and prayer for the salvation of the world, we may further more effectively each day the reign of Christ. Who lives and reigns... "O God, who chose the Mother of your Son to be our Mother also" - "Behold, your mother." So spoke Jesus on the cross and this is a fact we must often recall. Mary is our Mother. Just as Eve became the mother of all the living, Mary, the...Read More

Daily Collection: Fourth Week of Easter – Friday

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Collect taken from Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter. Collect: O God, author of our freedom and of our salvation, listen to the voice of our pleading and grant that those you have redeemed by the shedding of your Son’s Blood may have life through you and, under your protection, rejoice for ever unharmed. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "O God, author of our freedom and of our salvation, listen to the voice of our pleading" - We have free will and that is the image of God in us. Sin enslaves us and takes away our freedom, so...Read More

Daily Collection: Fourth Week of Easter – Thursday

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Collect taken from Thursday of the Fourth Week of Easter. Collect: O God, who restore human nature to yet greater dignity than at its beginnings, look upon the amazing mystery of your loving kindness, and in those you have chosen to make new through the wonder of rebirth may you preserve the gifts of your enduring grace and blessing. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son... "O God, who restore human nature to yet greater dignity than at its beginnings, look upon the amazing mystery of your loving kindness" - God not only overcame the Original Sin of Adam, but made us even...Read More

Daily Collection: Fourth Week of Easter – Tuesday

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Collect taken from Tuesday of the fourth week of Easter. Collect: Grant, we pray, almighty God, that, celebrating the mysteries of the Lord's Resurrection, we may merit to receive the joy of our redemption. Through our Lord Jesus Christ... "Grant, we pray, almighty God, that, celebrating the mysteries of the Lord's Resurrection" - We invoke God's help as always, but notice that it is a prayer which presumes some action on our part. We pray for God to make fruitful our efforts to celebrate the mysteries of the Lord's resurrection. And we must not overlook the use of the word "mystery." The resurrection...Read More