Tag: faith

Blessed Are You Who Believed: Homily for the 4th Sunday of Advent

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4th Sunday of Advent, C                                                                                 December 22, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/bHDa_DXSTXI “Blessed are you among women.” times 53 in each rosary times the tens of millions of people who pray at least one rosary every day. That means those words are said to Mary over half a billion times every day… and I’m lowballing that number. Mary is blessed indeed! Why, though? Why should Mary be so blessed? And what can we do to be blessed as well? For one thing, it is God’s will. God chose her from before...Read More

To Be One of the Many: Homily for the 32nd Sunday OT 20214

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32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                  November 10, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/czmrFL-K9z4 Some of you probably remember that, about 15 years ago, when the priest said the words of consecration: “this is my blood… the Blood of the new and eternal covenant,” the sentence used to end with “which will be poured out for you and for all for the forgiveness of sins.” Now, however, it ends by saying his blood will be “poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Why did the Church change the words...Read More

Who’s Coming With Me? Homily for All Saints Day 2024

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All Saints Day                                                                                                 November 1, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/wfpSmYsgF8c Epic. Or maybe you’d say “sigma.” Most people see the saints as amazing, “up there,” as heroes and legends and special people who do what we never could. And you know what? Some of them really are. Padre Pio could bilocate, read souls, and had the wounds of Christ in his body for 50 years. Joan of Arc led the French armies to victory in battle and bravely faced being burned alive by corrupt men. Francis of Assisi lived radical poverty...Read More

The Face of God: Mass for VC Homecoming 2024

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Friday Week 29 OT                            VC Homecoming                               October 25, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTOyvFG7egg “Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.” Is it, though? We all just said that 4 times in a row, but do we really mean it? Do we really understand what it means to “long” to see His face? This isn’t some idle wish, some passive desire. And seeing the face of God isn’t as easy as facetiming a friend. There’s a depth, a labor, a concerted effort here that most people fail to appreciate. Let me...Read More

An Impossible Inheritance: Homily for the 28th Sunday OT 2024

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28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                   October 13, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/KwXx1XgngWk “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” You know what? I think we know that answer already. Maybe the whole poverty thing wasn’t obvious to the Jews of Jesus’ day, but the saying “Blessed are the Poor in Spirit” has been around for 2000 years now. We know. Keep the commandments. Stop sinning. Live simply. Follow Jesus. Sure, the details can get messy, but the main point is clear. The problem isn’t that people don’t know the answer to...Read More

What I Really Want: Homily for Vermilion Catholic Oct 10 2024

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Thursday 27th Week OT                                                                                 October 10, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/CKqZAccHXt0 What if I want to eat a snake instead of fish? What if scorpions are just the crawfish of the desert? Boil em up, season em, and start dipping em in the right sauce, and maybe they’re even better than eggs! Had Jesus been talking to a crowd of Cajuns, he probably would have used different examples for things people don’t want to eat. But the point is the same: when we ask God for our “daily bread,” he isn’t going to trick...Read More

To Receive The Kingdom: Homily for the 27th Sunday OT 2024

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27th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                   October 6, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/RpB7H1EbjTQ There’s something deeply moving about seeing God incarnate give hugs to little boys and girls. We are right to relish that beauty and goodness of the scene, to allow this image to reinforce our perception of God as a kind and loving father. There are still many people who fear God in the wrong sort of way; so, prayerfully engaging with scripture passages like this one can better align our understanding with the truth. At the same time, we must...Read More

Afraid to Ask: Homily for the 25th Sunday OT 2024

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25th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                   September 22, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/H5NDa1RrqN8 Have you ever said the words: “I don’t want to know.” I have and I’d guess most of you have. Why wouldn’t we want to know? That’s what our minds are made for: to know! Why would we deliberately remain in ignorance? Sometimes, actually, there is a good reason. Gossip, for example. When a friend starts talking about someone else’s business – especially when it’s something that hurts that person’s reputation – that’s a great time to say “I don’t...Read More

To Make Him Heard: Homily for the 23rd Sunday OT 2024

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23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                   September 8, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/LTbr0KIPMo4 Have you ever watched those videos of the first time a person experiences something we all take for granted? Like those glasses that correct color blindness? Or the Cochlear implants that allow someone to hear for the first time? Imagine never hearing. Then, suddenly there’s a rush of sound, a new dimension to life, a whole new level of belonging. You know what happens almost every time? The person lights up and then crumbles into tears, overwhelmed with the newness...Read More

You Have The Words: Homily for the 21st Sunday OT 2024

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21st Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                   August 25, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville N.B. This in the conclusion of a series on John 6. The series starts here. The previous homily is here. https://youtu.be/ej0u9IG-0Po “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” So we come to the crux of the Bread of Life discourse in John chapter 6. Last week Jesus insistently taught that we are to truly eat his body and drink his blood. The Eucharist literally becomes his body, blood, soul, and divinity during the consecration at Mass. A miracle and a...Read More