Tag: Easter

2025 Triduum Part III: Healing our Bodies

Posted on by Father Albert
N.B. This is Part III of a 3-parts series on the Triduum. Part I is here. Part II is here. Easter Vigil                                                                                                     April 19, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/7YjlSCMhqyg “Their story seemed like nonsense.” Yet, we’re here because of that nonsense, here at the culmination of the Paschal Mystery. Since Thursday, we’ve dwelt in this mystery, reflecting on how it heals us. At the Last Supper, we considered how Jesus heals our community through forgiveness and new priorities. At the Crucifixion, we considered how Jesus heals our souls by entering into...Read More

2025 Triduum Part I: Healing our Communion

Posted on by Father Albert
Mass of the Lord's Supper                                                                              April 17, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/3VSL59f5zG4 “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you” (Lk 22:15). Jesus says that in Luke’s Gospel, but I’m saying it too. We aren’t just remembering something, we are entering into it. Tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday, we are participating in a continuous liturgy that truly makes present the most important event in all of time and space. Entering into that reality with you is not just a nice addition to us as parish and pastor… it helps define our...Read More

The Greatest Fan of Obedience: Homily for the 6th Sunday of Easter 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
6th Sunday of Easter, B                                                                                               May 5, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/rh1VdxHvkg8 I’m not much of a sports fan. I rarely watch any games. I don’t follow sports news. Maybe the 4th quarter of a Saints game, but only if they’re in the playoffs. If I’ve got nothing going on and some friends invite me to watch the Superbowl, I’ll go and enjoy myself. Baseball, however? I’ve never been a fan. It’s probably that I’m too easily distracted and too impatient, but I just can’t watch it. Yet, for some reason...Read More

A Silence That Conquers: Homily for the 5th Sunday of Easter 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
5th Sunday of Easter, B                                                                                   April 28, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/yvVT2H8I6Y8 Darkness is the absence of light. Cold is the absence of heat. You can’t “get rid of” darkness and cold. You can only overcome them by adding light and heat. So also with evil. Evil is the absence of good. We don’t defeat evil just by fighting it really hard or running away from it. We defeat evil by running toward what is good and by allowing good to fill us such that it pushes evil away. But what about silence? Sure,...Read More

Love So Absurd: Homily for the 4th Sunday of Easter 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
4th Sunday of Easter, B                                                                                   April 21, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette I love animals. I grew up with dogs, I often play with pets when I visit people’s homes, and I enjoy adorable animal videos as much as anyone. For all that, however, I’d never actually risk my life for some sheep. They’re cute and all, but they’re still just animals. Which is why we should be struck by what Jesus says. A good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep? Tell that to the wife whose children no longer have a father...Read More

Hear, See, Touch: Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Easter 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
3rd Sunday of Easter, B                                                                                   April 14, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/CJpKIwhq6Js It’s a funny thing, being a priest. All the time, I don’t have to say or do anything for people respond differently to me. Double-takes, subtle changes in posture, eagerness to talk to me or to avoid me, hearing the same jokes over and over. Without me even thinking about correcting them, people will apologize for cursing in front of me. Sometimes I do ask but even when I don’t, people will volunteer why they don’t come to Mass. One I hear...Read More

A Body Made Real: Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Easter, 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
2nd Sunday of Easter, B                                                                                  April 7, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/w5q5Gk1QIFI Does it sound like a cult to you? When you hear that first reading describing the early Christian church, perhaps everyone being “of one heart and mind” sounds a bit like not letting people think for themselves. Perhaps having “everything in common” and no one claiming “any of his possessions [as] his own” sounds a bit like a hippy commune. Perhaps letting the Apostles distribute wealth “to each according to need” sounds a bit like giving the leaders too much power and...Read More

Love That Never Fails: Homily for Easter Sunday

Posted on by Father Albert
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

Easter Vigil – Part III of the Triduum: An Enduring Love

Posted on by Father Albert
Easter Vigil, B                                                                                                March 30, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/GafqqCduUs0 This is part III of a series for the Paschal Triduum. Part I of the series here. Part II of the series here. Love endures. At the Last Supper, Jesus revealed to us the new commandment of love and so we’ve taken love as the theme of this Paschal Triduum. That new love called us to serve in a way that makes another person our “own.” Because such love cannot set aside the truth, that love turned deadly yesterday when it brought Jesus to...Read More

A Clean Heart: Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
5th Sunday of Lent, B                                                                                      March 17, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/Rq7nymESj0w When I was a kid, my boy scout troop would take rock climbing trips. Now, we all knew that falling from a great height can kill you, which is why we were careful to use ropes, harnesses, and anchors to keep us safe. We were taught how to use it and we knew that the gear was perfectly safe. But when you’re 70 feet off the ground, barely clinging to a tiny handhold and your feet start to sleep… you suddenly know the power...Read More