Author: Father Albert

Introducing the Daily Collection

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Greetings friends! For a little while now, I've wanted to offer something for reflection that would be a little more frequent and more digestible than the occasional weekend homily. As I was looking over the prayers of the Mass, yesterday, I was struck by the beauty and depth of the Collect for Sts. Cornelius and Cyprian. That's when it hit me - how many people pay much attention to the "opening prayer" for Mass? After the new translation, the prayers are more beautiful and more precise, but I know that the sentences can sometimes be confusing. How many people hear...Read More

Conquest

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Exaltation of the Cross Deacon Albert St. John the Evangelist Cathedral https://sites.google.com/site/fatheralbertmedia/mp3/Exalt_Cross_9-14-15.mp3 Our Lord is a God who loves a paradox. Death came from a tree, so he brought us life through a tree. Death came through serpents, so he brought life through a serpent mounted on a pole. In ancient Rome, Crucifixion was used to mock slaves who were too ambitious - it was a parody of being "raised up" as a King. Christ used the crucifixion to bring our freedom and reveal himself as the True King. The Emperor Constantine had a vision which told him that he...Read More

A Cross-Check on Your Faith

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24th Sunday OT, Year B Deacon Albert St. John the Evangelist Cathedral https://sites.google.com/site/fatheralbertmedia/mp3/24_OT_B_9.mp3   Have you heard of or seen the new, popular video titled “I’m a Christian, but I’m not…”? A few people explain how they are Christian but they tell us “I’m not like them… I’m like the world.” No mention of Christ, no mention of the Cross… “Get behind me Satan!” “You are not thinking as God does, but as human beings do.” So… how does God think? The Cross, the Cross, the Cross. It is the Cross for the sake of our salvation, for the resurrection, but the...Read More

The Small Details

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Huzzah! I went to see Ant-Man a while back and had a blast, but maybe I got too excited. Because I'm all digital and stuff, I decided to try to copy Ant-Man in a way by attempting to shrink down my data and squeezing into different servers and hard drives. I got a little carried away and ended up stuck inside a 3 1/2" floppy disk right before it got ejected. Man, I was worried. I mean, how many people ever even use those things anymore? What were my chances of every getting back into a computer with internet access?...Read More

Is Your Worship in Vain?

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22nd Sunday OT, Year B Deacon Albert St. John the Evangelist Cathedral https://sites.google.com/site/fatheralbertmedia/mp3/22_OT_B.mp3 Does Jesus have a problem with good hygiene? I mean, what is wrong with washing your hands and dishes before you eat? Or with the occasional “purification… of beds?” Surely Jesus doesn’t want us to sleep on sheets full of mildew and put our food on a layer of crumbs and mold from the last meal, does he? Of course not. These things are good in themselves and there is nothing wrong with doing them. But, Jesus has a reputation to uphold. His family honor is on...Read More

Whom will you serve?

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21st Sunday OT, Year B Deacon Albert St. John the Evangelist Cathedral   https://sites.google.com/site/fatheralbertmedia/mp3/21%20OT%20B.mp3 “If it does not please you to serve the LORD, decide today whom you will serve.” The gods of pop culture and changing fashion, the gods of your imagination and pride, or the gods of the fleeting pleasures of the flesh. As for this house, we will serve the God of reality, the Lord who gave us our flesh and blood and who gave us his own flesh and blood. You see, there is no other option. You either worship the True God or you worship...Read More

Queen and Mother

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Today we celebrate the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This used to mark the end of the Octave of the Assupmtion, eight days of celebrating the special role that Mary had in salvation history and continues to have in the lives of the faithful. Just a week ago, many in the diocese of Lafayette participated in a day long Eucharistic procession by boat down the Bayou Teche in honor of Our Lady of the Assumption. This was significant because this year is the 250th anniversary of the Acadians migration from Nova Scotia to Louisiana where they live today. It...Read More

Taste and See

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19th Sunday OT, Year B  Deacon Albert St. John the Evangelist Cathedral https://sites.google.com/site/fatheralbertmedia/mp3/19%20Sun%20OT%20B.mp3 What a summer! ISIS still on rampage, a Supreme Court decision, shootings, constant political bickering, gut-wrenching undercover videos, financial chaos in Europe, and our own slump in the oil field … did I miss anything? Isn’t summer supposed to be a time of vacation and rest? But sports, school, and politics are just getting started – time, ordinary time doesn’t stop and the demands just keep coming. I don’t think I’m alone in wanting to shout to the heavens with Elijah: “This is enough, O Lord!” Maybe...Read More

Gathering up the Fragments

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17th Sunday OT, Year B   Deacon Albert St. John the Evangelist Cathedral https://sites.google.com/site/fatheralbertmedia/mp3/17%20Sun%20OT-B.mp3 “God… is over all and through all and in all.” Do we truly believe that? I mean, it is easy to say “yes, God is over all” when you watch a man multiply food and give you more than you can eat – when you lie back on the grass on a sunny day with a full stomach. It’s not hard to profess your faith that God is “in all” when we are surrounded by friends, family, and peace. Yet, do we profess these things when we...Read More

Weathering the Storm

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12th Sunday in Ordinary Time Deacon Albert St. John the Evangelist Cathedral https://sites.google.com/site/fatheralbertmedia/mp3/12%20Sun%20OT%20B.wav “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” The ship is the Catholic Church and we are the ones inside. Teacher, do you not see this huge storm of secularism that threatens to destroy the Church? The winds of change are blowing so fiercely that many in the world want to actually change what it means to be a family, a man or a woman. Christians are drinking the salt water of relativism and selfishness that has splashed over the sides of our ship. We are being...Read More