Tag: Easter

Homily for the 4th Sunday of Easter: One With The Father

Posted on by Father Albert
Easter Sunday 4, C                                                                                                     May 8, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/EjmRKNmKjLU He didn’t smell very good and he was only half-covered by the hospital gown. Introvert that I am, I was already timid and uncomfortable simply entering his room – this stranger in a dimly lit room to which I was sent as a kind of hospital chaplain intern. I was not enjoying the experience, I was not exactly happy to do it, and I wanted to get out of there. Then… something happened. It's hard to...Read More

Homily for Easter: The Authority to Love, Triduum Pt. 3

Posted on by Father Albert
Easter Vigil                                         Part 3 of Triduum 2022                                  April 16, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette [See part 1 here] [See part 2 here] https://youtu.be/laRr7ujxiyk Thursday night, we began the most sacred time of the year – the Paschal Triduum – and began also an extended reflection on the meaning of freedom and authority revealed in the life and death of Jesus Christ. Through the washing of the disciples feet and the institution of the Eucharist and the Priesthood, we saw that authority is truly a service to the people over whom it is wielded....Read More

Homily for Pentecost Sunday: A Spirit Greater Than the Force

Posted on by Father Albert
Pentecost Sunday                                                                                                        May 23, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/aqRManLgTZ0 “May the force be with you.” You may have seen this quite a bit on the internet at the beginning of this month, a reference to the popular fictional world of Star Wars. The opportunity for making a pun on the 4th of May is just too good to pass up. Of course, Catholics often add their own flare by responding “and with your spirit.” It think it’s fun. What I don’t think is that force is a good analogy for...Read More

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

Posted on by Father Albert
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

Posted on by Father Albert
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?

Posted on by Father Albert
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

Posted on by Father Albert
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

Posted on by Father Albert
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