How To Get Rich

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                        August 4, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette What does it mean to be rich? Having $100,000? $1,000,000? Someone who makes more than $200,000 a year is in the top ten percent of the world. And not just of the present day, but in all of history! Yet so many who make that much consider themselves “middle class” and say they worry about their finances. 70% of millionaires do not consider themselves wealthy.  How can that be? Well, for most people, when they make more, they spend more....Read More

Making Prayer Work

Seveneenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                   July 28, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette What is a good way to ruin a human being? To make them immature, selfish and entitled? Give them everything they want as a child. We even call it “spoiling” a child when a parent instantly satisfies every desire. On the opposite extreme is to never give a child anything they want or need. They might become hard-working and self-sufficient, but they are plagued by difficulty in their relationships with God and others, usually because they have problems with...Read More

The Divine Visitor

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                      July 21, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Here we see God visiting Abraham and being fed by him and his servants. Then there is Jesus entering into Martha’s home and eating at her table. And how many times do we see him eating at other people’s houses too; friends, tax collectors, and other sinners? Yet, almost in contrast to what we see, we are in God’s house about to eat from his table fed by his servants. Don’t get me wrong, you do need to be...Read More

The Price Is Paid

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                       July 14, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Does anyone not know this story? Even those outside the Church are familiar with it. It resonates with the common experience of human beings throughout history: people suffer while others just pass by. The Levite and the Priest might have had urgent business or an excuse involving ritual purity, but that doesn’t really mean much to the guy bleeding on the side of the road. Another reason this parable is popular is that it’s easy to see how this...Read More

The Waste of Family

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                    July 7, Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Isn’t Jesus being inefficient? He’s short on disciples to send out and he even tells us right here to pray for more laborers for the harvest. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says the apostles won’t be able to reach every town. Yet, he sends them out in pairs. Their mission is to deliver the message that God’s kingdom is at hand. Isn’t that really a one-person job? Do you really need to send two people to say that? Why not...Read More

To Be What We Are

Trinity Sunday, C                                                                                                       June 16, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. That is how we start and end everything in the Church. And today’s feast is all about that reality, the revelation of God as a Trinity. The Blessed Trinity is the central mystery of the faith. Everything else tells us about what God did, but this tells us who he is. One God, Three Divine Persons. It’s impossible to figure out on our own...Read More

A Friendship So Real

Pentecost 2019                                                                                                            June 9, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette In college, my favorite job was Raising Cane’s. It was fun and I liked my coworkers. One guy in particular was my favorite to work with. Together, we were the most efficient and effective combination of cooks. His name was Moe, as in Mohammed. He was a devout Muslim. That made things interesting. I learned to respect his faith because it gave him a well-developed sense a duty and responsibility. Islam emphasizes serving God well and it was obvious that...Read More

It’s Not Enough

Ascension Sunday, Year C                                                                                         June 2, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette The Incarnation – God becoming man in Jesus Christ – it is not enough. Jesus teaching and preaching – it is not enough. Jesus suffering and dying on the cross – not enough. His resurrection from the dead – still not enough. When God shows love, there must be more. So, Jesus stays 40 days after conquering death until what we celebrate today: his Ascension into heaven. Then, there is what happens next week. The life of Christ is...Read More

The Hardest Commandment?

Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year C                                                                                  May 26, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette What is the most difficult commandment to keep? Jesus reminds us that “whoever loves me keeps my word.” Jesus’s words – his commandments – can be challenging. Because of lust, the sixth and ninth commandments are a common struggle. It’s pretty tough to “forgive as you are forgiven.” And who doesn’t wrestle with “love your enemies?” Yet, there is one command that Jesus gives right here, and in a thousand places throughout scripture, that is quite possibly the most...Read More

Dive, Don’t Fall

Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C                                                                                  May 19, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette You’ve been lied to… for basically your whole life. You’ve been lied to about love. What it is, how it works. Of course, you’ve also been told the truth. The question is, have you accepted the lie, the truth, or some combination? Jesus says: “love one another.” What is love? Well, what is the lie? It’s the idea that love is some impersonal, magical force that you just have to follow. An attraction and passion which consumes you and...Read More