Tag: faith

Not To Count: Homily for the 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Posted on by Father Albert
26th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                  October 1, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/P9Y2vj_vdXk It’s not a ledger. We talk like it is, but judgment isn’t a ledger with good on one side, bad on the other, and whichever has the most decides your fate. If you don’t know better, it seems reasonable that your final fate is determined simply by whether or not you did more good than bad or more bad than good. That kind of idea why the first reading is addressed to people who accuse God of being unfair in how...Read More

The Just Wage: Homily for the 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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25th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                  September 24, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/yNuELL_bquA I… don’t often address politics and economics directly from the pulpit. I don’t want to encourage our American tendency to over-politicize everything. Still, it’s the Church’s job to give the laity moral guidance on politics and economics even if the specific policy-making is left up to the laity. Yes, people of good faith can legitimately disagree on specific applications so long as they don’t reject the principles. Of course, that presumes they know what the principles are. Today is a chance...Read More

Being the Bad Guy for Love: Homily for the 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

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23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                   September 10, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/LDdfIRPwomE There are many things I love about being a priest: Mass, confessions, baptisms, weddings, flying in a helicopter to bless the crops from above… the fun stuff that only a priest gets to do, things that help people, often in ways I get to see first-hand. It’s why there’s joy even in the sadder stuff like anointings of the sick and funerals. As with anything worth doing, these can get old and sometimes stress makes it harder to see the joy,...Read More

Not as Human Beings: Homily for the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

Posted on by Father Albert
22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                  September 3, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/8fyh0bbujDU “Get behind me Satan.” It’s quite the change, really. Last week’s gospel shows Jesus naming Simon “Rock” – Peter in Greek – and proclaiming that the gates of the netherworld will not prevail against the Church founded on that rock. Mere minutes later, Jesus uses a very different name for Simon Peter: Satan. Kind of looks like that promise of never being defeated didn’t last very long, doesn’t it? Appearances can be deceiving. In fact, that’s exactly the point Jesus makes:...Read More

The Key to Evangelizing: Homily for the 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time

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21st Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                   August 27, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/2g6YXhWwMqc Maybe you felt it… With all the talk about tension and jealousy and evangelization, maybe you felt this uncomfortable question in the back of your mind. I’ve been focusing on what it means to evangelize the world while also becoming less like the world. But perhaps you’ve found yourself wondering about more basic questions like: “What’s a practical way to evangelize?” “Why is God doing things this way?” and “Are we really sure we’re right and the world isn’t?” For a...Read More

Jealous for Salvation: Homily for the 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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20th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                   August 20, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/A7z5KmsFjZs To be Catholic is to live in tension… to be in the world but not of the world. The more we live our faith, the more we should love the people around us. At the same time, the more we live this out, the more we are opposed to the falsehoods and sins of those same people. While growing in our love of others, we simultaneously grow in ways that put us in conflict with them. That tension can be difficult...Read More

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

Stairway to Heaven: Homily for the 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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17th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                               July 30, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/7ZRimljf0G0 “We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” Do we, though? Do we really know that all things work for good? This health problem, that tragedy, this loneliness… they benefit me? Yes. That’s why St. Paul has been teaching us about hope in our journey through Romans chapter 8. Despite all the trials we endure, we have hope because we know – or should know – that all...Read More

How Ought We To Pray? Homily for the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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16th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                               July 23, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/XzE9cl6zTII “The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought.” That’s comforting, but it does raise an important question: How “ought” we to pray? Last week we heard about the groaning of all creation and how we are awaiting “adoption, the redemption of our bodies.” We used this to reflect on how that groaning and hope allow us to “consider the sufferings of this present time as nothing.” Today’s section...Read More