Tag: faith

Homily for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time: What Faith Means

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19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                  August 7, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/GqMMnfEEo0g When Jesus comes back, what does he expect to find? What do we want him to find? If we want to be the servants who are “blessed,” we must be ready to open immediately. What does it take to be ready in this way? What can keep us vigilant? Faith. And what is faith? According to our second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews, “faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of...Read More

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

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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 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Asking Like Children

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17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                              July 24, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/A0AYOaAPWkU I just spent several days with my brother, sister-in-law, and my niece and nephew. At 3 and 1 years old, as you parents know, those little ones are quite the handful. I admit I kind of enjoyed watching the chaos unfold every night as they entered into the routine of dinner, bath, and bedtime. One thing that struck me again and again – you can ask my brother and his wife how many times I commented...Read More

Homily for the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Cosmic Visions of Mercy

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15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                              July 10, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/Rt7vUUEHnFo What is your cosmic vision? When you mentally zoom out to consider everything that exists, how do you make sense of it? Because the way you answer that question can tell you a lot about what you really believe and what motivates you. And the reason I ask you that is because so much of what I challenge you to do, what the Church urges you to do, what Jesus Christ asks of you is going...Read More

Homily for the 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Freedom Freely Given

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13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                              June 26, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/jn01oieesqY If I told you that today’s readings are about freedom, how would you take it? Would you perhaps point out that the 1st reading is about a man sacrificing his livelihood and leaving his family all because another man said so? Or point out that Jesus tells people that following him means giving up a home and family? But St. Paul is clear: “for freedom Christ set us free.” Jesus also tells us “the truth will...Read More

Homily for Corpus Christi: Assisting Communion

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Corpus Christi, C                                                                                                        June 19, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/jPNItdt2kdY Ado You may have heard that the US Bishops are launching a kind of Eucharistic Revival in our country over the next few years. To start that off, Bishop Deshotel has asked us to read this letter from him to you: “Dear Friends in Christ, The Church celebrates this weekend the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord. The celebration invites us to reflect on that most precious gift given to us by Our Savior...Read More

Homily for Trinity Sunday: The Mystery that Makes us Who We Are

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Trinity Sunday, C                                                                                                       June 12, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/-Kr02irRkbY In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. This is how we’re baptized, how we begin and end everything. It’s so ingrained in us Catholics that we instinctively respond to it. It’s one of my favorite ways to quiet down a room full of Catholics – just shout it out and by the end, most people in the room have done the sign of the Cross and are now at...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 6th Sunday of Easter: The Way of Peace

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Easter Sunday 6, C                                                                                                     May 22, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/FWmyMx8vzto “My peace I give to you.” Of the many gifts Jesus offers, this is probably one of the most requested. “Pray for me to find peace, Father.” And I do so gladly because, after all, Jesus does promise it right here. But what does that peace look like? How do we recognize it, increase it, cooperate with it? In short, the answer is the Holy Spirit. Notice what Jesus lists right before he mentions peace. “The...Read More

Pastor Column: Mystici Corporis II

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[Note: This is not the Sunday Homily. It is an article in the bulletin for May 22, 2022]      Having laid out the need for a single visible head in the Church (the Pope), Pope Pius XII turns to the three virtues that manifest the unity of the Church: Faith, Hope, and Love. These connect Catholics to each other and to God. Citing several passages of the New Testament, the Pope focuses first on faith.      We share one faith in the sense of having the same beliefs. We have the same faith in the sense that the one Holy...Read More