Tag: evangelization

Divine Surface Tension: Homily for the 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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19th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                   August 13, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/vpcNaFPY4Qo Conviction. It’s a powerful word, coming from “con” & “vincere” – “to conquer with.” Last week’s reflection on the Transfiguration emphasized that our faith is not just one opinion among many, but a conviction of the truth about what God has revealed. Even as we respect the freedom of others, we cannot confuse that respect for others with indifference. We are convicted that Christ is the king, our hearts and minds conquered with that truth. We ought to act like it...Read More

Beyond Opinion: Homily for the Feast of the Transfiguration

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Feast of the Transfiguration, A                                                                       August 6, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/6kYxVwOeO_0 “The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth.” I hope you know that we really do mean it. The Psalm doesn’t say “the Lord is our king” or “the Lord is king if you accept him.” It says the Lord is king… over all the earth. I think we might have an American “freedom filter” in our brains that doesn’t let us register what that really means. We’re taught from birth not to impose our beliefs on other people....Read More

Receiving Whom? Homily for the 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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13th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                               July 2, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/bnhQLxlvbwQ “Whoever receives you receives me.” Just this past week, I was at the anniversary Mass of a couple celebrating 20 years of marriage. That’s not terribly unusual, the Church provides special prayers for such moments and there’s always a few couples in every parish who will take advantage of such an offer. What was unusual about this one, however, was that it was celebrated by 3 priests. As the main celebrant – not me – pointed out, the reason for...Read More

Salvation by way of Friendship: Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Easter

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3rd Sunday of Easter, A                                                                                               April 23, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/oOmFW3IRkn8 Last week, we reflected on the role of love, especially in the form of offering and receiving forgiveness, in the establishment of a truly evangelistic Christian community. But there’s a problem with a generic call to “be a community.” How do you actually do it? My challenge to reflect on how much you actually value the faith and forgiveness of others in the community is a decent start. But, left at the level of vague reflection, it’s hard to go anywhere further....Read More

How They Love One Another: Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Easter

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2nd Sunday of Easter, A                                                                                             April 15, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/tz51ynvOa84 “See how they love one another.” That was the phrase most commonly used to explain why people were converting to Christianity in the ancient world. Not “see how clever they are” or “see how successful they are,” or “see how pretty their buildings are,” but “see how they love one another.” Our first reading gives us a glimpse of this. Starting with Advent, the Church has taken us through all of salvation history: creation, fall, promise of redemption, the old covenants, the...Read More

Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time: What is the Gospel?

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3rd Sunday OT, A                                                                                            January 22, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/Ff0rBm0UKoI Jesus went around “proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom…” St. Paul tells us he was called preach the Gospel. Indeed, Jesus every one of us to proclaim the gospel. What does that mean? How do we do that? There’s two things consider: what the Gospel is and whether we let it actually enlighten our lives. First, what is the gospel? Where do we look to understand the gospel best? There’s this book I’ve just read from. There’s the four gospels of Matthew,...Read More

Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time: The Ignorance of Discipleship

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2nd Sunday OT, A                                                                                           January 15, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/IO-zG2-y0HE “I did not know him.” Twice John the Baptist says this. But, isn’t that a strange thing to say? After all, this is the same John who leapt in the womb when Mary, pregnant with Jesus, greeted John’s mother Elizabeth. John is Jesus’ cousin – why wouldn’t he know him? There were a lot of people who “knew” Jesus. His whole hometown thought they knew Jesus, but they wind up trying to kill him when he begins to reveal himself fully. John...Read More

Homily for the 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time: The Most Dangerous Thing

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30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                   October 23, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/eO2TW99OllY “At least I’m not like…” If your thought, your sentence begins with those words, you’ve probably already messed up. As straightforward as this parable is, it’s one of the easiest for people to misapply. Millennia of Christian influence on culture has made it so that we too quickly identify ourselves with the tax collector. Just because we hear the word ‘pharisee’ so often, we assume we know what it means. And all too often we instinctively follow...Read More

Homily for the 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time: Discipleship

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23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                   September 4, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/IEXvOIRenOA To choose to be where you are for the sake of love. That’s the takeaway from last week. Instead of trying to make the most money or find the most convenience, we ought to look for those places and opportunities to put ourselves in humble service to others. God himself did this, going so far as to serve us not only by preaching and teaching, by healing the sick and washing the feet of his disciples, but...Read More

Homily for the 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Water and Fire

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20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                  August 14, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/fS5JI_Jm798 Water and fire. Hearing this Gospel, it might be tempting to focus on Jesus’ promise to divide families, but we’ll miss the point of this if we miss what he’s saying about fire and water. These two have certain things in common: both can be used to cleanse and purify and both can be used to kill and destroy. Often, it is by destroying that they purify. Dirt and grime dissolve in water – are kind of...Read More