Tag: evangelization

Homily for the 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Love That Does Not Retire

Posted on by Father Albert
18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                              July 31, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/lOGd5Us241w What’s the plan? Get a decent job, make enough money to get a home, raise a family, save up, and retire? And then what? Relax, go on trips, enjoy nice things? Sounds pretty good doesn’t it? That’s kind of the standard American vision of a good life. But is it the Catholic one? Well, what does St. Paul say about it? “If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at...Read More

Homily for the 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time: The Peace of Disciples

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14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                              July 3, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/ndBvUYXN4ug If, as I claimed last week, freedom is found in commitment and true freedom found in the right kind of commitments, then how do we find that right commitment? What should expect to see in the freeing sacrifice of freedom that marks the Christian way of life? The same kind of things we see in these seventy-two disciples. The first thing is that they travel in pairs, rather than alone. Why? Wouldn’t it be more efficient...Read More

Homily for Pentecost Sunday: Confirmed in Mission

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Pentecost Sunday                                                                                                        June 5, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/YFG_PBT4EHQ “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Do we really understand what that means? We are sent by Jesus in the same way the Father sent him. The Son of God didn’t become man… Jesus wasn’t born just to sightsee the world he created. He came with a mission. We aren’t here just to get through life. We have a mission – His mission. Sure, this command is given specifically to the Apostles, but when...Read More

Homily for the Ascension: Advancing the Kingdom of Heaven

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Ascension, C                                                                                                               May 29, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/HMLIPbQGB1I Where did he go? Jesus is “lifted up” in the first reading until a cloud takes him from sight. The Gospel tells us he “was taken up to heaven.” So, do we believe that heaven is up there, in the clouds somewhere? Did Jesus go up like a rocket ship into outer space until he reached some distant planet where heaven is? Of course not. But to this day, we talk about heaven as being “above” us and...Read More

Homily for the 4th Sunday of Lent: A Home Worth Returning To

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Lent Sun 3, C                                                                                                  March 20, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/l7ghhJTgHao “How many of my Father’s hired workers have more than enough food to eat?” So the lost son wonders to himself just before he returns. It is this insight that finally draws him back home… that shows us how, without even leaving his home, the Father rescued his son from sin. We know the demographics. We all have or at least know someone who has children who have left the Church and even who have left the family altogether. So often I...Read More

Homily for the 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time: The Cult of Convenience

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7th Sunday OT, C                                                                                           February 20, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/w1XBvI_Ez00 One huge mistake of the Church in the past 60 years, in my opinion, is we made the Catholic faith too convenient. In part, it’s a psychological thing. Human beings naturally place more value in things that are expensive, difficult, or rare. I’ve seen studies that show how strict religions tend to succeed more than easier ones. I’ve seen in myself and in others that when something is just given to us or made too easily available, we tend to neglect it and...Read More

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Choosing Love

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5th Sunday OT, C                                                                                           February 6, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/jqCNsAHC4yU “From now on you will be catching men.” This sums up the mission of the Church: to draw men and women to Jesus Christ. Evangelization is at the heart of the Church’s very identity. But what is evangelization? Is it about the number of people at Church on Sunday? Of course not. Peter is already in the boat with Jesus. He has heard him before and listens to his preaching. But Peter is not yet truly evangelized, not yet truly caught by Jesus....Read More

Homily for the 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Insulting Love

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4th Sunday OT, C                                                                                           January 30, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/IU2mslDu01M The Word of God is always fruitful… it is living and effective. But that doesn’t mean we’re always going to like the effect it has. Jesus’ own experience is proof of that. I hinted last week that Jesus’ preaching would bear fruit and now we see it. At first, it’s great. People are “amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.” Jesus should be happy with that, right? He gives a good homily and even tells people that they are witnessing...Read More

Homily for the 4th Sunday of Advent: Visiting Faith Upon The World

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4th Sunday of Advent, C                                                                                December 19, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/NsURWAp8Pik “Blessed are you who believed.” This is the way. I fear that too many people may have heard least week’s homily and concluded that the solution to anxiety is just gratitude. Gratitude does help to overcome anxiety, but the kind of gratitude that actually works depends on what is really the answer: faith. If you recall, the point I made was that, in the face of anxiety, we are called to trust so deeply in God’s providence that we can turn around and thank...Read More

Homily for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time: Fighting to the End

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33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                  November 14, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/EJS5nbER25o The end of the world. In one sense, we should fear it. In another, we should look forward to it. Fear it because it means destruction and suffering and death. Jesus himself calls it “tribulation” and Daniel the prophet is told “it shall be a time unsurpassed in distress.” Yet, we should look forward to it because it also means the end to our long battle… final victory. The angels will gather God’s “elect” and the “wise shall shine brightly.” That’s us… if...Read More