Tag: baptism

Phenomenal Mercy, Morality, and Mission: Homily for the Ascension 2026

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Ascension, A                                                                                                   May 17, 2026Fr. Alexander Albert                                                            St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/w6L_PEc6sV8 As a young boy, my favorite animated movie was ‘Aladdin.” In it a young man finds a magic lamp containing a genie who can grant him three wishes. Voiced by the iconic Robin Williams, one of the genie’s most memorable lines is “phenomenal cosmic power, itty bitty living space” – something he says while describing the fact that he is permanently bound to the lamp despite his ability to change reality itself. It kind of raises the question: what good is power if...Read More

Prophets of Word, Wonder, and Woe: Homily for the 6th Sunday of Easter 2026

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6th Sunday of Easter, A                                                                                May 10, 2026Fr. Alexander Albert                                                            St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/WjSH7jVxWws “He is going to marry that girl.” It sometimes happens that a parent says this about their child’s newest love interest without even meeting the love interest in question. Friends sometimes do the same thing. It’s what I said about my friend Adam when he first described his then-new-girlfriend to me, even though I never met her. And marry her he did. I didn’t know her but I got to know her through his love of her. I think that’s a...Read More

Making Disciples: Homily for Vermilion Catholic Sacraments Mass 2026

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Is 44, Ps 63, Titus 3, Mt 28                                                                          April 23, 2026Fr. Alexander Albert                                                            St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/qs7oue0ZWSE “Make disciples of all nations.” That’s what we’re here for. That is the mission of Vermilion Catholic, a Legacy of Mt. Carmel. To make disciples. Jesus sends us to all nations and to all nations we will go. First, however, we begin with our own children, our own community. Elsewhere, Jesus even describes this mission as something that radiates outward: first Jerusalem, then the surrounding area of Judea and Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth. Well,...Read More

To Never Die: Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent 2026

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5th Sunday of Lent, A                                                                                 March 22, 2026Fr. Alexander Albert                                                           St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/BiV4Z-EtgJg Usually, when a person shows immediate understanding or great faith, Jesus responds with joy, even exclaiming “what great faith!” We see this with the Canaanite woman, the roman centurion, the woman with a hemorrhage… And yet, when Martha says “I know [my brother] will rise in the resurrection on the last day,” Jesus doesn’t just affirm her, he pushes for more: “I am the resurrection and the life.” Why? In part, because he’s planning to do something much sooner than the “last day.” He will...Read More

A Father’s Approval: Homily for the Baptism of the Lord, 2026

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Baptism of the Lord, A                                                                      January 11, 2026Fr. Alexander Albert                                                            St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/sJHGxSiOQ6k Why are you here? Why do you go to Mass, pray, do the Catholic thing? Habit? Someone else making you do it? Curiosity? Fear of Hell? Motivation in human beings is strange. Animals have instincts that tell them what to seek. They are biologically programed to want food, water, sleep, affection, pleasure and so on. We want those things too, but under the surface, there’s a whole mess of tangled motivations. You feed, shelter, and show affection to an...Read More

Why Be Catholic? Homily for Divine Mercy Sunday 2025

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Divine Mercy Sunday                                                                                     April 27, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/Mm1TdLw5ZSY “Yet more than ever, believers in the Lord, great numbers of men and women, were added to them.” So our first reading depicts the beginning of the Catholic Church, people joining the Apostles in great numbers. Why do it? Why join the Catholic Church? Considering that around 15% of the entire U.S. population is ex-Catholic or that, in the U.S., about 8 people leave the Church for every 1 person that joins it, it’s an interesting question. Though that number sounds bad,...Read More

Believe, Child of God: Homily for the Baptism of the Lord 2025

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Baptism of the Lord, C                                                                                   January 12, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/v33L25qmdoE On Sunday, ..., I was given life, reborn as a child of God. My ordinary birth was a month and half before that, but were it not for my baptism, I would not yet be truly alive. This is not the case for Jesus. From the moment of his conception, Jesus is divine, the very source of life and grace. So why was he baptized? Because that’s just how important baptism is for us. We need baptism, so Jesus...Read More

God’s Glory Revealed: Homily for the Epiphany 2025

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Epiphany                                                                                                         January 5, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/0DchO0T-Kmg Glory! Splendor! Radiance! Majesty! Magnificence! Awesomeness! We have a lot of words to describe greatness and the bible uses most of them to describe God, though I don’t think “awesomeness” shows up in any mainstream translation… Today’s feast of the Epiphany celebrates the fact that God has indeed revealed his splendor to the world. Perhaps, sitting in this incredible church with hundreds of other people, hearing beautiful music, and being familiar with our Catholic faith all make it easy for us to...Read More

Being Love: Homily for Trinity Sunday 2024

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Trinity Sunday, B                                                                                                       May 26, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/LWnwLJEZS3w Three weeks ago, I focused on the teaching that God is love. But what is love? “Love is to will the good of the other.” If God is love, then this means that God’s very existence is to will the good of the other. We tend to think of existence or being as this kind of passive reality. If you ask me “what are you doing?” and I answer “existing,” you’d probably think “ah, so he’s doing nothing” and you’d...Read More

What’s Your Price? Homily for the 5th Sunday OT, 2024

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5th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                     February 4, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/o5FeYgl6YWw What’s your price? What would it cost someone to convince you to proclaim the gospel to them? In the second reading, St. Paul says he offers the gospel free of charge. Of course, it’s his job: “an obligation has been imposed” on him to preach the gospel. Yet, even though he has the right to be paid for this job but he refuses to accept money from the people he’s preaching to. Why? Because he wants them to see it’s not about the paycheck,...Read More