Tag: faith

Life From Death: Homily for the Exaltation of the Cross 2025

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Exaltation of the Cross                                                                                  September 14, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/kUWM-y3B76E Can you bring life out of death? Or you? No, of course not. There is but one power, one authority, one man in all of existence that can do such a thing. That man is Jesus Christ. That man is also God, who is not merely in existence, but transcends it as the very source of existence just as the sun transcends daylight by being its origin. Only God, only God, only God can bring life out of death. And if we ever forget either...Read More

Approaching Angels: Homily for the 22nd Sunday OT 2025

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22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                   Confirmation                           August 31, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/o8x7dHl8nBg N.B. This Mass featured a confirmation. The homily is slightly different from those given at the other weekend Masses. “You have approached…” That’s what our second reading tells us and that is especially true for you today, Jacob. Confirmation is a sacrament of initiation, a sacred ritual that draws you more fully into the Church. Unlike the old testament, the old covenant, this approach isn’t on a mountain with fire and trumpet blasts and the terrifying, booming voice of God. Though...Read More

Thy Kingdom Come… Where? Homily for the 19th Sunday OT 2025

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19th Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                                                                   August 10, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/nxXZdCHeD7g What is faith? Once, a teacher asked that question to a group of children. One little boy raised his hand and said, “it’s believing something even when you know it’s not true!” Where did he get such an idea? I doubt anyone said those exact words to him. Someone probably told him that with their actions. Children don’t usually get hypocrisy, so they simply take in and imitate what they see. Why did that boy think Faith is believing something you know is...Read More

The Wealth of Judgment: Homily for the 18th Sunday OT 2025

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18th Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                                                                   August 3, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/rgCDUWrgduk “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” Uh, friend Jesus, our Father did. In Acts chapter 10, Peter the chief apostle outright says, Jesus “commissioned us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead.” So, is Jesus being forgetful or is he just trolling this guy? Actually, “trolling him” isn’t far off. If you’re unfamiliar, that expression is used to describe when someone purposely says things more...Read More

What He Gives: Homily for the 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2025

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17th Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                                                                   July 27, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/DUyblY3tRNo Couldn’t even find 10 people, could he? Abraham, I mean. God promises not to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if there are just 10 innocent people in it. But they were destroyed. There’s even some archaeological evidence of where those cities were and what happened. Even if this story was just fictional morality parable, the point would be the same: Sodom and Gomorrah were so evil that they couldn’t come up with 10 innocent people. What does that mean for us? Well, a common...Read More

Sacramental Vision: Homily for the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul 2025

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Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul                                                               June 29, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                            St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/bSt9aI65OsU Is a flower just a plant? Just a briefly living thing that withers and dies? Is a building just a composite of materials in a useful shape? In one sense, yes. In a far more important sense, no. Nothing is “just” that thing. A flower picked by a man in love and given to his beloved is obviously something more, but good luck in trying to measure that. In every culture, buildings are always more than just the shape and stuff....Read More

Shepherds and Gunmen: Homily for 4th Sunday of Easter, 2025

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4th Sunday of Easter, C May 11, 2025Crisis Anniversary, New Pope, Good Shepherd SundayFr. Alexander Albert                                                          St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/Q4ZzzNKinlw “With you I am a Christian, for you a bishop.” This is the quote our new Pope, Leo XIV used in his opening address. He’s quoting St. Augustine and the original context for it is even more amazing. When St. Augustine first said those words, he was afraid. The full quote is “What I am for you terrifies me; what I am with you consoles me. For you I am a bishop; but with you I am a...Read More

2025 Triduum Part III: Healing our Bodies

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N.B. This is Part III of a 3-parts series on the Triduum. Part I is here. Part II is here. Easter Vigil                                                                                                     April 19, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/7YjlSCMhqyg “Their story seemed like nonsense.” Yet, we’re here because of that nonsense, here at the culmination of the Paschal Mystery. Since Thursday, we’ve dwelt in this mystery, reflecting on how it heals us. At the Last Supper, we considered how Jesus heals our community through forgiveness and new priorities. At the Crucifixion, we considered how Jesus heals our souls by entering into...Read More

Going With Gratitude: Homily for the 1st Sunday of Lent 2025

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1st Sunday of Lent, C                                                                                      March 9, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/roydVxA4x5c In 1925 in New York, a 27 year-old woman became pregnant. Normally, it’s not surprising for a woman in her 20s sharing her life with a man to experience that. Only, this woman thought it would never happen because of a choice she had made the last time she was with child, something she thought would leave her barren the rest of her life. But then it happened anyway. This momentous event wasn’t entirely isolated. Shortly before finding herself...Read More