Category: Homilies

I post the text and audio of my Sunday homilies here for anyone who wants to go back to something they liked or catch something they missed. I sometimes include links to resources that I mention, so that you aren’t left guessing how to follow up on anything I may have challenged you to do.

I put up every weekend homily and the homilies for special feast days like Christmas or the Assumption.

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Homily for the 5th Sunday of Easter, B: Tending the Garden

Posted on by Father Albert
5th Sunday of Easter, B                                                                                              May 2, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/cuuQwlxIuaU I tried. Last year, as the pandemic hit, I tried to start gardening, dabbling mostly… Tomatoes, bell peppers, a few vegetables… It did not go well. Most of what I started is dead now, overrun with weeds. The reason why is pretty straightforward: I didn’t take care of it. I started to be a gardener, but I did not remain a gardener, defaulting instead to a passive observer after the first few tomatoes and a single pumpkin. Such fruitlessness isn’t...Read More

Homily for the 4th Sunday of Easter: Life Worth Living, Self Worth Giving

Posted on by Father Albert
4th Sunday of Easter, B                                                                                              April 25, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/knQwMihv42A When we talk about heaven, most of us imagine it to be a place of eternal happiness, whatever that looks like. Well, St. John in the second reading is talking about heaven. And do you know how he defines the joy in heaven? “We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” That’s what will bring us everlasting happiness, to see Jesus Christ as he is and so to become like him. So, it should...Read More

Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Easter: Am I Real To You?

Posted on by Father Albert
3rd Sunday of Easter, B                                                                                               April 18, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/vzx11z22aOI Am I real to you? If we would continue our journey into joy, we have to answer this question from Jesus. Am I real to you? The Apostles evidently had their own struggles to accept it. Jesus appears to them and they think it is a ghost, a detached spirit. But it is not so! Jesus is real, his body is real, and he wants to prove it so we can be witnesses to it. He shows his hands...Read More

Homily for Divine Mercy Sunday: The Command of Peace

Posted on by Father Albert
2nd Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy), B                                                       April 11, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/A1PSl54NWiU “Peace be with you.” They’re the first words Jesus speaks to his Apostles since he died. They are the reason he rose from the dead in the first place. It is this peace, and the joy that comes with it, that is the topic, the focus of our journey through Easter. This season begins with rejoicing in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead… rejoicing that our trust in God is not misplaced… that this trust ends with joy...Read More

Homily for Easter Sunday: The Flower of Perfection

Posted on by Father Albert
Part I is here Part II is here Easter Vigil                                         Part 3 of Triduum 2021                                  April 3, 2020Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/32bkjWIy5Zk On Thursday night we began an extended reflection on the idea of becoming perfect, not in the sense of never making mistakes but in the sense of being made complete according to God’s design. It starts with an encounter, an experience of the inexplicable love of God made man. That encounter remains available to you in prayer, in the Church, in confession, and in the Eucharist if you seek it...Read More

Homily for Good Friday: Finishing Perfection

Posted on by Father Albert
See part I here. Good Friday of the Lord's Passion     Part 2 of Triduum 2021                                  April 2, 2020Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/xP-fOuMcGzQ The theme of this Triduum is perfection; being complete according to God’s will. Perfection comes from the same Greek word as finished. Last night, we saw that this perfection begins not with our resolutions or ideas, but with encountering Jesus Christ and accepting his love for us. There is a real need to experience this, to feel the love of God manifest. But we also recalled that feelings aren’t what is...Read More

Homily for Mass of the Lord’s Supper: Accepting Perfection

Posted on by Father Albert
Mass of the Lord's Supper                  Part 1 of Triduum 2021                                  April 1, 2020Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/Tpp30vmuNUg Good vs. Evil, Obedience, Freedom, Hope, Perfection. These were the themes of our Lenten journey through the fundamentals, a journey that ended with us crucifying Christ this past Sunday. But now we begin a different journey. Lent is over, but tonight begins the Triduum. It is a single liturgy that spans three days, a continual act of worship that takes us through the Last Supper, Christ’s death, and then to his resurrection. So the homilies...Read More

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent: Perfection

Posted on by Father Albert
5th Sunday of Lent, B                                                                                     March 21, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/r1BJFiqQXE8 This Lent, beginning with Adam and Eve, we saw God’s firm opposition to evil, especially as shown with Noah and the great flood. In Abraham’s willingness to offer up Isaac, we saw the importance of faith shown through obedience to things beyond our understanding. With Moses and the Ten Commandments, we encountered the paradox that real freedom is not doing whatever we feel like but being free enough from sin and our impulses to do what is truly good....Read More

Homily for the 4th Sunday of Lent: Hope of Victory

Posted on by Father Albert
4th Sunday of Lent, B                                                                                     March 14, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/LWCH83GpMoA We are losing. At least, that’s what it looks like. And that is a key part of this next step in our journey through the fundamentals – the hope of victory. In the battle of good vs. evil, this battle for freedom fought with the weapons of obedience, we must remember what victory really looks like if we are going to avoid discouragement. The first reading is from the end of the Jewish bible and it speaks of what...Read More

Homily for the 3rd Week of Lent: Freedom

Posted on by Father Albert
3rd Sunday of Lent, B                                                                                     March 7, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/zooLk_rNUqo Freedom. The next step in our journey is to understand the fundamental value of freedom. It might seem a strange thing to talk about when our readings include a list of “you shall not”s and we see Jesus literally using a whip to interrupt other people’s business, yet that really is the core of what’s happening here. Our first reading should have sounded pretty familiar to you; it’s the Ten Commandments. They are given to Moses on Mount Sinai...Read More