Afraid to Ask: Homily for the 25th Sunday OT 2024

25th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                   September 22, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/H5NDa1RrqN8 Have you ever said the words: “I don’t want to know.” I have and I’d guess most of you have. Why wouldn’t we want to know? That’s what our minds are made for: to know! Why would we deliberately remain in ignorance? Sometimes, actually, there is a good reason. Gossip, for example. When a friend starts talking about someone else’s business – especially when it’s something that hurts that person’s reputation – that’s a great time to say “I don’t...Read More

A Trigger Warning: Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Lent 2024

2nd Sunday of Lent, B                                                                                     February 25, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/vEuAWfzPkKY Image by CC 2.0 from https://www.flickr.com/photos/gcfairch/4189169360 A story. A true one, as far as I know. At a church elsewhere in Louisiana, there was a young pastor who once opened the door to find a gun pointed straight at him. Holding that gun was a nervous looking man who rather shakily said, “Father, I’m sorry but God told me I have to kill you.” Inspired, he quipped, “oh, God just told me to tell you that you don’t have to kill me anymore.” The...Read More

To Repay What We Owe: Homily for the 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time

29th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                   October 22, 2023 Fr. AlexanderAlbert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/A1CWnEMUS7c “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” And what is that, exactly? What do we owe to God? Everything. The demands of our religion aren’t arbitrary. They are concrete expressions of the fact that we owe God everything. Authentic religion is the effort to make that repayment. Last week, I focused particularly on the obligation to attend Sunday Mass. Repaying to God what we owe to God means being willing to sacrifice time, money,...Read More

The Key to Evangelizing: Homily for the 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time

21st Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                   August 27, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/2g6YXhWwMqc Maybe you felt it… With all the talk about tension and jealousy and evangelization, maybe you felt this uncomfortable question in the back of your mind. I’ve been focusing on what it means to evangelize the world while also becoming less like the world. But perhaps you’ve found yourself wondering about more basic questions like: “What’s a practical way to evangelize?” “Why is God doing things this way?” and “Are we really sure we’re right and the world isn’t?” For a...Read More