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.

Get an email for each new Homily!

Join 1,391 other subscribers

Homily for Divine Mercy Sunday: The Command of Peace

Posted on April 11, 2021April 11, 2021 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 April 5, 2021April 5, 2021 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 April 2, 2021April 5, 2021 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 April 1, 2021April 2, 2021 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 March 24, 2021March 24, 2021 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 March 14, 2021March 14, 2021 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 March 9, 2021March 9, 2021 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

Homily for the 2nd Week of Lent, B: The Victory of Obedience

Posted on February 28, 2021February 28, 2021 by Father Albert

2nd Sunday of Lent, B February 28, 2021Fr. Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/bKRDZq1mVXk Obedience. In our journey through the fundamentals, it is time to look at the reality of obedience. Last week took us through that fundamental conflict of Good vs. Evil, begun with original sin and carried on today in the heart of every human person. After promising never to use a flood to destroy evil again, God gives us the sign of a rainbow, which foreshadows the way in which he will overcome evil once and for all, by aiming it’s...Read More

Homily for the 1st Sunday of Lent: Good vs. Evil

Posted on February 21, 2021February 21, 2021 by Father Albert

1st Sunday of Lent, B February 21, 2021Fr. Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/X6n0iIVvAAI Good versus evil. This concept is part of nearly every story ever told and central to all the best ones. Some people may talk about these two forces as a necessary part of the balance of the universe, the yin and yang or, to borrow an idea from Star Wars, the dark and light sides of the force. But even then, no sane person actually wants evil to be equal to good. The Jedi talk about balance, but strive continually...Read More

Homily for the 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Reaching Out

Posted on February 19, 2021February 19, 2021 by Father Albert

6th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B February 14, 2021Fr. Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXDYj2HY71Q “Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” In a sense, this verse is a summary of the entirety of salvation history. God’s pity, his mercy, moves him to stretch to the point of becoming human so he could touch us infected by sin and death and make us clean. It is, therefore, also the summary of what we should do in evangelization – stretch out, touch...Read More