Tag: Cross

Life From Death: Homily for the Exaltation of the Cross 2025

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Exaltation of the Cross                                                                                  September 14, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/kUWM-y3B76E Can you bring life out of death? Or you? No, of course not. There is but one power, one authority, one man in all of existence that can do such a thing. That man is Jesus Christ. That man is also God, who is not merely in existence, but transcends it as the very source of existence just as the sun transcends daylight by being its origin. Only God, only God, only God can bring life out of death. And if we ever forget either...Read More

2025 Triduum Part II: By His Stripes We Are Healed

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N.B. This is Part II of the 3-part Triduum Series. Part I can be found here. Good Friday of the Lord's Passion                                                                 April 18, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/HuMvxV79v9c “By his stripes we were healed.” How strange to say the wounds, the “stripes” left by a whip could bring healing. Yet what God has written, he has written. Today, we continue our reflection on the healing power of the Paschal Mystery. Last night, at the Last Supper, we reflected on how it heals our community. Salvation is not a private thing, but...Read More

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

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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

The Cross Already Carried: Homily for the 24th Sunday OT 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
24th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                   September 15, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/M4eBo9yAycI “He spoke this openly.” What did he speak openly? That the dreams of glorious conquest people had about the promised Messiah would turn out to be just dreams, that his mission and ministry would look like a total failure, that he would be betrayed and murdered in the most shameful and painful way. Simon Peter, his right hand man, takes that about as well as you’d expect. We so often look at the crucifix, are so familiar with how the...Read More

Not as Human Beings: Homily for the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

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22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                  September 3, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/8fyh0bbujDU “Get behind me Satan.” It’s quite the change, really. Last week’s gospel shows Jesus naming Simon “Rock” – Peter in Greek – and proclaiming that the gates of the netherworld will not prevail against the Church founded on that rock. Mere minutes later, Jesus uses a very different name for Simon Peter: Satan. Kind of looks like that promise of never being defeated didn’t last very long, doesn’t it? Appearances can be deceiving. In fact, that’s exactly the point Jesus makes:...Read More

In the Midst of Betrayal: Homily for Good Friday

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Good Friday of the Lords' Passion                                                                             April 7, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette Part I of the Triduum Series here https://youtu.be/KAxzo3WzR1c Part III of the Triduum Series here Betrayal is the second worst thing there is. Last night, we began this solemn journey through the holiest days of the year by exploring this theme. The Last Supper and the washing of the feet focused on preparing for betrayal. After Jesus’ own example, we are to accept that it is going to happen, to take the risk of trust, love, and vulnerability anyway, and to be...Read More

Homily for the Solemnity of Christ the King: Justice and Mercy

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Christ the King, C                                                                                           November 20, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/0oCRms2gkmw “We have been condemned justly.” Have we? Since the beginning of the Church, there have been those who keep coming back to the same error, the same mistake: the idea that our condemnation isn’t really just, that damnation just can’t be real. There are a lot of subtle and clever arguments to support the idea that everyone goes to heaven – we call it universalism – but it seems to me there is always something beneath the surface…...Read More

Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Lent: Woken to Glory

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Lent Sun 2, C                                                                                                  March 13, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/TY0G80EN9fQ “Stay woke.” Perhaps you’ve heard some variation of this phrase. Maybe it’s a positive thing to you or maybe you think of it as a kind of insult. Like so many catchphrases, the meaning has shifted over time and it means different things to different people. It was originally meant to encourage people to stay alert to what is really going on behind the scenes… to see past what “the man” tells you. Or it’s being sensitive to injustices that permeate our...Read More