Homily for the 5th Sunday of Easter, B: Tending the Garden

5th Sunday of Easter, B                                                                                              May 2, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/cuuQwlxIuaU I tried. Last year, as the pandemic hit, I tried to start gardening, dabbling mostly… Tomatoes, bell peppers, a few vegetables… It did not go well. Most of what I started is dead now, overrun with weeds. The reason why is pretty straightforward: I didn’t take care of it. I started to be a gardener, but I did not remain a gardener, defaulting instead to a passive observer after the first few tomatoes and a single pumpkin. Such fruitlessness isn’t...Read More

Homily for the 4th Sunday of Easter: Life Worth Living, Self Worth Giving

4th Sunday of Easter, B                                                                                              April 25, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/knQwMihv42A When we talk about heaven, most of us imagine it to be a place of eternal happiness, whatever that looks like. Well, St. John in the second reading is talking about heaven. And do you know how he defines the joy in heaven? “We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” That’s what will bring us everlasting happiness, to see Jesus Christ as he is and so to become like him. So, it should...Read More

Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Easter: Am I Real To You?

3rd Sunday of Easter, B                                                                                               April 18, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/vzx11z22aOI Am I real to you? If we would continue our journey into joy, we have to answer this question from Jesus. Am I real to you? The Apostles evidently had their own struggles to accept it. Jesus appears to them and they think it is a ghost, a detached spirit. But it is not so! Jesus is real, his body is real, and he wants to prove it so we can be witnesses to it. He shows his hands...Read More

Homily for Easter Sunday: The Flower of Perfection

Part I is here Part II is here Easter Vigil                                         Part 3 of Triduum 2021                                  April 3, 2020Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/32bkjWIy5Zk On Thursday night we began an extended reflection on the idea of becoming perfect, not in the sense of never making mistakes but in the sense of being made complete according to God’s design. It starts with an encounter, an experience of the inexplicable love of God made man. That encounter remains available to you in prayer, in the Church, in confession, and in the Eucharist if you seek it...Read More

Homily for Mass of the Lord’s Supper: Accepting Perfection

Mass of the Lord's Supper                  Part 1 of Triduum 2021                                  April 1, 2020Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/Tpp30vmuNUg Good vs. Evil, Obedience, Freedom, Hope, Perfection. These were the themes of our Lenten journey through the fundamentals, a journey that ended with us crucifying Christ this past Sunday. But now we begin a different journey. Lent is over, but tonight begins the Triduum. It is a single liturgy that spans three days, a continual act of worship that takes us through the Last Supper, Christ’s death, and then to his resurrection. So the homilies...Read More