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 1,393 other subscribers

Winning By Humility

Posted on by Father Albert
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                           October 27, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette The battle continues. Last week, Christ called us to the combat of perseverance in our prayer. This week is the battle against pride.. Pride is often subtle and those filled with it rarely see themselves clearly enough to know it. So, here are some practical ways to keep your personal prayer free from pride. Don’t compare yourself to others. The reality is that you are unique. Your relationship with God is unique. There are things about you and your relationship...Read More

Like Your Life Depends On It

Posted on by Father Albert
Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                   October 20, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette If you’ve ever tried to pray regularly, you know that prayer is a battle. A battle against time, against distractions, against your own selfishness. Sure, most of us have had at least one point in our life where we enjoyed praying, but all of us have experienced a dryness, a boredom, and a downright reluctance to pray. Perhaps this is why almost 75% of Catholics don’t come to Mass every week and that many who do come tend to show...Read More

The Miracle of Gratitude

Posted on by Father Albert
Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                 October 13, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette In the developed world, we can cure leprosy with medicine. But in ancient times, leprosy was basically a death sentence. It was also a permanent exile from the community. When leprosy was healed by some act of God, it was a big deal, a rare life-changing miracle. And yet, for the ancient Israelites, it wasn’t all that rare. In Leviticus, the book of laws that God gave to the Israelites, there was a ritual, a standard practice for what to...Read More

The Roots That Matter

Posted on by Father Albert
Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                               October 6, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Really, Jesus? Be uprooted and planted in the sea? I mean, why would anyone even want to waste so much power on such a bizarre thing? I guess it could have saved the government some money 8 years ago when they moved that giant oak tree along highway 90, but otherwise, who would put a tree in the sea? No one would. Jesus doesn’t actually want his disciples to try a stunt like that, but it does give us a striking...Read More

What Did I Do Wrong?

Posted on by Father Albert
Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                   September 29, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette To maintain order in my classroom, I used a warning system that involved writing students’ names on the board. Sometimes, when I wrote a name, I would get an immediate reaction from the child “But I didn’t do anything wrong! What did I dooo?” I wonder if the rich man in this parable had that same reaction? Because it’s not like he killed anyone, or stole anything, or lied, or worshiped pagan idols. He never hurt Lazarus. What was so...Read More

Dishonest Wealth

Posted on by Father Albert
Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                    September 22, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette So, I keep saying that I see potential in this parish. Allow me to offer a list of possibilities during my term as pastor: establish a youth group, improve the parking lot, hire an outreach coordinator, deal with the old convent and school, offer ongoing adult formation in the parish, restore some of the Church’s former beauty, enrich our music program, start a children’s choir, host parish missions for lent and advent, increase our service to the poor, improve lighting...Read More

The Weirdness of God

Posted on by Father Albert
Homily for Mass @ CHS – St. Januarius                                                       September 19, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                            Catholic High, New Iberia Earlier today in Naples, Italy, the Archbishop went into the Cathedral, reached into a sacred shrine and took out a container with something very special inside. It is the blood of someone who died a long time ago and it is blood that performs miracles. The blood of St. Januarius, who died as a martyr 1700 years ago, is kept in a glass container in the Naples Cathedral. This blood, long since dried out after it was first shed,...Read More

Finding Lost Souls

Posted on by Father Albert
Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                 September 15, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Well, wasn’t that a long Gospel? And why so long… why three parables instead of one? Wasn’t the one about the sheep enough? We sin, God comes to get us, and everything is great after. Did we really need to stand so long to listen to the rest? Yes, we did. Not every sinner is the same. Not every path to repentance is the same so we need to hear more than one way for the Mercy of God to...Read More

The Tower of Faith

Posted on by Father Albert
Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                   September 8, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette If you think I’ve been optimistic about what people get out of going to a Sunday Mass, then you’ve already realized something very important: Mass is not for beginners. Repenting from sin, putting effort into the same old responses every week, and “feasting” on readings we don’t always understand. Add to these the incredible belief that bread and wine invisibly turn into God himself, and you’d be crazy to think just anybody would “get it” after one visit. This is...Read More

The Feast

Posted on by Father Albert
Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                            September 1, 2019Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Jesus likes food so much, he actually became food. Even before giving the Eucharist to his Apostles, you can see it in his ministry. Here he is at dinner with a pharisee and offers two lessons involving food. Really, they are more about about the occasion: a meal, a gathering to share food and company. And that is, in part, what we do here at Mass. The past two weeks have been about what you do before Mass – repentance...Read More