Making Dad Happy

The Baptism of the Lord, C                                                                            January 13, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                            St. Peter’s, New Iberia Jesus didn’t really do much before this moment. He wasn’t going around teaching. He hadn’t done any miracles. All Jesus did was get baptized and start praying. And yet, the Father’s voice booms from heaven to proclaim how proud he is. “You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.” That’s what every child wants to hear from their parents. Some people go their whole lives never hearing it. The feeling of being a disappointment to...Read More

Reading for Treasure

Epiphany                                                                                                         January 6, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                            St. Peter’s, New Iberia Why read books? Entertainment? School or work? To discover something? That last one is what motivates today’s events. Epiphany, the feast of the wise men, the magi, the three kings and their three gifts. Thanks to the creche, we envision three men of different races riding camels across vast deserts searching for the long-awaited king of the Jews; like these men are searching for some hidden treasure. Adventurous and a little exciting. And, it ends with gifts! Look closer and you’ll see something easily...Read More

Mama Dogma

Mary, Mother of God                                                                                     January 1, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                            St. Peter’s, New Iberia It’s a dogma, you know. That Mary is the Mother of God. It’s an official doctrine of the Church and rejecting it means rejecting the Catholic Church. There are lots of dogmas, but only some of them apply directly to Mary. The Immaculate Conception, the Assumption, the Perpetual Virginity. You know what isn’t a dogma? What she wore or who her childhood friends were. We don’t have an official doctrine on Mary’s brothers and sisters. We don’t have an official doctrine on...Read More

Subordinate to Love

Holy Family Year C                                                                                       December 30, 2018Fr. Albert                                                                                            St. Peter’s, New Iberia Subordinate. Submissive. Obedient. Authority. To many in the world, these are dirty words – unpleasant and meant to be avoided or resisted. People resent parents for controlling them, they resent organized religion for having rules, the resent the speed limit for holding them back. But they also want peace and peace requires order and order requires organization and organization requires authority. A family without authority will be broken just as a society without it will fall to chaos and a faith without...Read More

A Christmas Hurricane

Christmas                                                                                                        December 24/5, 2018Fr. Albert                                                                                            St. Peter’s, New Iberia I’ve got good news and bad news. It’s the same news, actually. Christmas is here! Good news if it’s your favorite holiday. Good news if you really got into advent and were waiting for today. Bad news for most people who’ve lost a loved one recently. Bad news if you’re a grinch or a scrooge. Bad news if you’ve been celebrating for months now and this means the party is over. The Christmas season has a lot of power in it. Power to bring...Read More

Believe the Blessing

The Fourth Sunday of Advent, C                                                                   December 23, 2018Fr. Albert                                                                                            St. Peter’s, New Iberia What would you do? Imagine your reaction to an angel appearing to you. A shining light, a voice that echoes with some mysterious power, a heavenly being of pure spirit right there before your very eyes. And, he’s talking to you. “Hail!” He says. I mean, how does someone even process that reality when it happens? And then he has a message! It’s about your mission in this world. “You,” says the angel, “are special, favored by God in a...Read More

The Gaudete Garden

The Third Sunday of Advent, C                                                                    December 16, 2018Fr. Albert                                                                                            St. Peter’s,New Iberia Gaude! Gaude! Emmanuel nascetur pro te Israel. You can probably figure what that means because it has the same tune. That’s the original Latin version going back 300 years, though the words themselves come from the ancient O Antiphons, which are over 1500 years old. Gaude means rejoice. Today, the third Sunday of Advent, is called Gaudete Sunday because rejoicing is the theme. Christmas is almost here. God is coming,so we should rejoice. It’s why we wear pink, the color that symbolizes...Read More

Are We There Yet?

The First Sunday of Advent, C                                                                       December 2, 2018 Fr. Albert                                                                                            St. Peter’s, New Iberia “Already, but not yet.” That is, or should be, the motto of every Christian in this world. It is also the perfect expression of Advent. We already celebrate Christmas, but it is not yet here. The liturgical new year has already begun, but it is not yet New Years in the world. The Lord Jesus Christ has already come as a child to redeem us, but he has not yet come back as the final judge. That’s why, even...Read More

Thy Kingdom Come

 Quid Est Veritas?  That is the very next line in the Gospel; Pilate’s cynical question, “What is Truth?” Our focus is on the Kingship of Jesus, but this deflection is an accurate expression of the attitude so many have toward the Kingdom of God today. Earlier this week, news broke of a young man being killed on a remote island, home to one of the last untouched tribes in the world, called the Sentinelese. They don’t have modern technology, do not speak a modern language, and have no resistance to modern bacteria. They’ve also never heard of Jesus Christ....Read More

Can You Afford It?

The Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, B                                           November 11, 2018 Fr. Albert                                                                                            St. Peter’s, New Iberia  Money. Everyone needs it. Everyone wants more of it. But, no one likes it when the priest talks about it. It’s probably one of the most off-putting things a priest can do: talk about money from the pulpit. Well, I hope you’ll forgive me because that’s exactly what I’m doing. I don’t exactly enjoy the subject either, but I didn’t bring it up; Jesus did. So, let’s not focus on what I think about money. See what our...Read More