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 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time: Beyond the Gates

Posted on by Father Albert
21st Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                  August 23, 2020Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Video of 8am Mass: https://youtu.be/FJ-LHdThtl4 Have you ever been attacked by a gate? Lost a fight to one? I mean, Jesus says “the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against” the church that he will build on a rock. A church and a gate… two inanimate objects – how can one of them “prevail” against the other? I think most people just interpret this passage as if the netherworld is on the offense and the Church is the...Read More

Homily for Year of St. Joseph: Man of Mystery

Posted on by Father Albert
Opening Mass Year of St. Joseph                                                                   August 16, 2020Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Video of 8am Mass: https://youtu.be/eDQD0nNkF0w St. Joseph has always been an important saint, but 150 years ago he was declared the patron of the Universal Church by Blessed Pope Pius IX. This is because of his special role in the life of Jesus, who is the head of the Church, and in the life of Mary who is the model and exemplar of the Church. So, the Diocese of Lafayette has decided to observe a special year of St....Read More

Homily for the 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time: The Ship That Does Not Sink

Posted on by Father Albert
19th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                  August 9, 2020Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Video of Mass: https://youtu.be/ZfHVJ5yehUQ This is one of the more popular scenes from the Gospel and there are a lot of ways to apply it: the power of faith to do the impossible, the importance of keeping your eyes on Jesus, the way that Jesus catches us when we call out to him. Really, it’s one of those passages that seems so familiar, so obvious to interpret that it’s easy for us to stop listening when it comes...Read More

Not Enough

Posted on by Father Albert
18th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                  August 2, 2020Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Video of 8am Mass: https://youtu.be/H-X4ONLUPvM Not enough. Words that haunt every human being, whispered in the mind, festering in the heart – not good enough, not pretty enough, not rich enough, not strong enough, not popular enough, not holy enough. Scarcity is simply part of our condition. Even the super-rich, super-famous, and super-powerful face this fundamental experience of fallen humanity. An echo of the first temptation given to Adam and Eve, the suspicion that we are not enough...Read More

Pastor’s Column: Three Notes on Development

Posted on by Father Albert
From the bulletin of July 26, 2020      We’ve been looking into the development of doctrine with the help of Blessed Cardinal Newman who laid out 7 “notes” of development in one of his essays. Last week, we looked at four of those notes: Preservation of Type, Continuity of Principles, Power of Assimilation, and Logical Sequence. Today, we’ll finish with the last three.      Anticipation of its Future: This one is closely connected to the previous example of a logical sequence. It means that, when we look at a development of doctrine, should be able to spot its anticipation in...Read More

The Long Defeat

Posted on by Father Albert
17th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                              July 26, 2020Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Video of 10am Mass: https://youtu.be/pFAzbcNA178 What to do? Pandemic, economic difficulty, racial tension, fake news, political turmoil – what can we do about any of that? It’s easy to feel trapped and powerless, like we just have to watch things fall apart and accept our lack of influence. Frankly, there is a part of me that wishes I could simply point you to a solution, a path of influence, a technique for getting this world off the track...Read More

Pastor Column: 7 Notes on Development Part I

Posted on by Father Albert
From the bulletin of July 19, 2020      As we saw last week, Cardinal Newman was an English saint who was known for his teaching, theology, and good example. One of his better known contributions to the Church’s tradition is his essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, in which he gives 7 “notes” which help us to see the difference between a development of doctrine and a divergence from doctrine (also known as heresy). I will try to summarize and explain each of these notes. They can be a little hard to understand, but they are nonetheless a good...Read More

The Waste of Grace

Posted on by Father Albert
15th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                              July 12, 2020Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Video of 8am Mass: https://youtu.be/Mql4NaKBDL4 What a waste! All that seed wasted on the path, the rocky ground, and the thorns. It’s the sower’s fault, isn’t it, for throwing all that seed there in the first place? But Jesus blames the ground… like it had a choice in whether or not it was walked on, rocky, or full of thorns. I mean, when the plants in my garden don’t grow well, is it the dirt’s fault? Or mine...Read More

Spirit of Freedom

Posted on by Father Albert
14th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                              July 5, 2020Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Video of 8am Mass: https://youtu.be/x38f1Fxdtv4 “His dominion shall be from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the Earth.” That’s the promise of the prophet Zechariah… what he claims will happen when the Messiah, the king comes riding on a donkey. We know this to be Jesus Christ who rode a donkey into Jerusalem. We also know that, just a week later, this same anointed king was put to death on the cross. And...Read More

To Receive

Posted on by Father Albert
13 Sunday of Ordinary Time. A                                                                                 June 28, 2020Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Video of 8am Mass: https://youtu.be/ft07H9ij7Cs I want to tell you about Fr. Tim. As a child, Fr. Tim was a mystery to me; this foreign priest occasionally present at family gatherings; a quiet man with an accent. I’m not sure I ever had a conversation with him, but it was evident that he was a respected friend of my grandparents and so afforded at least a polite respect from the rest of the family. So he remains a...Read More