Tag: Death

Beyond The Way of All Flesh: Homily for St. Agatha, VC School Mass

Posted on by Father Albert
Thursday, Week 4 OT (St. Agatha)                                                         February 5, 2026Fr. Alexander Albert                                                           St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/q9o9fzR-g7Y “I am going the way of all flesh.” When King David says that to his son Solomon, he means he is going to die. But the way he expresses that is important for us to understand. Death really is the way of all flesh. Everyone dies eventually. King Solomon is a legendary king, but he’s dead now. The 12 apostles that Jesus sends out? All dead. The people they healed, the ones they delivered from demons? All dead. When we really think about...Read More

The Heat of Salvation: Homily for the 33rd Sunday OT 2025

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33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                                                      November 16, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                           St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/3WYBnlvJBVk “Blazing like an oven.” How does that make you feel? To hear that the “day of the Lord,” the day of Jesus’ return, the end of the world is coming “blazing like an oven?” Well, to a piece of wood or straw, to something or someone who would be destroyed by fire, that must be terrifying. But what if you’re the unfinished pie, full of the right ingredients but needing heat to bring together the delicious perfection you’re meant to be? What if...Read More

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

Tales About Time: Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Lent 2025

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3rd Sunday of Lent, C                                                                                     March 23, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/0GLF7VVVSZE Once upon a time, there were two brothers who lived in a kingdom in the middle of a great desert. The king was a wise man who built his kingdom around an abundant oasis. One day, someone poisoned the water, so the king needed someone to go to cross the great desert and recover the antidote to the poison. The two brothers were well known as the fastest runners in the kingdom, but even they couldn’t make it across...Read More

The Arrows of God: Homily for VC School Mass 20 Feb 2025

Posted on by Father Albert
Thursday, OT 6                                                                                               February 20, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               Vermilion Catholic, Abbeville https://youtu.be/BXwgcA-WzOk [Miming a bow & arrow motion] The bow & arrow has been a useful tool for a looong time. Way before we even thought about making the wheel. The only tools older than a bow & arrow are the pointy stick, the hammer, the sharp rock, and fire. There’s evidence that human beings used the bow & arrow over 70,000 years ago. Even today with more high tech options, people still use the bow & arrow to hunt and it’s premier event at the...Read More

The Truth of an Acorn: Homily for the 6th Sunday OT 2025

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6th Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                                                                     February 16, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/6lPZUytPIsg Quid est veritas? Pontius Pilate mocks Jesus Christ with that question, “what is truth?” It’s cynical, showing that Pilate doesn’t think there is such a thing as “truth” in the first place. For him, all that matters is what works, what keeps him comfortable, alive, and in power. Cynical though the question is, Jesus does answer it. Not with words, but by his very presence and by his witness of obedience unto death. I sympathize with the question, though....Read More

Victory: Homily for the Immaculate Conception 2024

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Immaculate Conception of Mary                                                                    December 9, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/G8KpyEPrY_A Victory! We are here today to celebrate victory! Not just that, but a flawless victory, undefeated. Small, unimportant, easy to overlook and yet conquering mighty enemies. What a reason to celebrate! I’m talking, of course, about the victory of Mary over the devil. Today we celebrate her Immaculate Conception. The most common mistake people make about this day is that they think we’re celebrating when Mary conceived Jesus. No. That’s the Annunciation on March 25th, exactly 9 months before Christmas. Today, we...Read More

That’s My King: Homily for Jesus, King of the Universe 2024

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Christ the King, B                                                                               November 24, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/SRX1lB3_mfE What makes a king? Riches? Bloodline? Popularity? The power to make other people do things? Maybe. Depends on what you mean by a king. The world plays fast and loose with words and their meanings, changing them to suit whatever goal happens to be convenient at the time. This is why Jesus can be elusive sometimes, answering questions with questions. He knows better than anyone that when two people say the same thing, they do not always mean the same thing....Read More

Love Without Loopholes: Homily for the 31st Sunday OT 2024

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31st Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                   November 3, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/9F7darsL3j0 Why? Why didn’t anyone dare “to ask him any more questions?” My guess is that it has something to do with the way he told the scribe he was not far from the kingdom of God. Usually when Jesus flexes that kind of power – like forgiving sins or flipping tables – usually the scribes and pharisees complain that he is overstepping his authority. But this time? No one even questions it. Something about the whole exchange must have just...Read More

Love That Never Fails: Homily for Easter Sunday

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Easter Sunday                                                                                                 March 31, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/8oluT1-c5gE Rejected, betrayed, slandered, murdered, and buried, what good is love to Jesus? That question doesn’t even occur to Mary Magdalen early on Sunday morning. She goes to the tomb, ready to anoint him, to fulfill the duties placed on her by law and personal affection. She does not have a plan for the stone across the tomb, yet she goes anyway. She is not willing to let foresight or prudence delay her love even a moment. Whatever she expected, she persevered and when she arrived...Read More