Tag: Holiness

The Rules of Love: Homily for the 6th Sunday OT 2026

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6th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                            February 15, 2026Fr. Alexander Albert                                                          St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/9p8fk5Jcj84 Ladies, if you had walked into the house yesterday to find three roses and a box of chocolates inside a grocery bag on the counter and him off playing a game or something, how would you have reacted? It’s certainly better than if he ignored the day completely. Now compare that to if you walked in the house to find him holding those same three roses, smiling and greeting you with enthusiasm, if he had that same box of chocolates, but presented them...Read More

Billboards & Mirrors: Homily for the 5th Sunday OT 2026

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5th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                              February 8, 2026Fr. Alexander Albert                                                           St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville N.B. Technical difficulties during streaming mean the video is broken up and incomplete. https://youtu.be/uTQDN-xeZLM Audio Re-recorded: In 1835, a New York City printer named Jared Bell used his equipment to print an image on a special cloth-based paper that was 6 feet wide and 8 feet high. The specialized paper meant the image was durable enough to stay outside for a long time, thus marking the first ever modern billboard advertisement. Jared Bell used this cutting-edge marketing technology to advertise Barnum & Bailey’s circus....Read More

A Heavenly Hunger: Homily for the 4th Sunday OT 2026

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4th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                             February 1, 2026Fr. Alexander Albert                                                           St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/DAKE9jarScg Are you unsatisfied? Is something missing, something not quite right? Do you often wake up or fall asleep with the nagging sense that there’s something you want but don’t yet have? Like maybe you’re hungry, but not quite sure if it’s real hunger or just boredom… that you don’t even know what you want to eat? And after the late-night snack or the early morning breakfast, does that vacancy, that subtle emptiness still tug at the edge of your mind? Good. If any...Read More

Education of the Heart: Homily for Catholic Schools Week 2026

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Tuesday Week 3 OT               Catholic Schools Week                            January 27, 2026Fr. Alexander Albert                                                           Vermilion Catholic, Abbeville “Then David came dancing before the Lord with abandon.” When is the last time you danced with abandon? The last time you got so excited about something you completely let loose and celebrated without caring about how you looked or what others might think? I don’t often let loose in that kind of way. I think of the first time I got a deer while hunting and I simply shouted with joy right there on the spot. I think of running down...Read More

The Call of the Light: Homily for the 3rd Sunday OT 2026

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3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                             January 25, 2026Fr. Alexander Albert                                                            St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/hAUKlxBw3kY “What can we do? What can I do?” Maybe you’ve asked that question a few times this month. From international anxiety over Venezuela and Greenland to ongoing unrest in Minnesota to the disturbing allegations of abuse in our own diocese, there are a lot of reasons to be worried or even feel powerless. Perhaps you identify with that description of Zebulun and Naphtali in Isaiah. Perhaps you feel like a people who “sit in darkness” and like “those dwelling in a land overshadowed...Read More

The Odds of Sanctity: Homily for All Saints Day 2025

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All Saints Day                                                                              November 1, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                          St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/RjiaxZJncGA Saints are exceptional people, aren’t they? Heroic leaders, bold preachers, prophetic speakers, miracle workers, lifelong witnesses to love, brave martyrs… our spiritual hall of fame is full of some amazing people whom even the world sometimes acknowledge as the best of the best. There are an estimated 11,000 official saints in the Catholic Church, all of whom we celebrate today. But that’s not all we celebrate today. For all the ones we know of, there are far more we do not – some of whom...Read More

The Heart of a Good Compliment: Homily for School Mass, Thurs Week 28 OT

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Thursday Week 28 OT                       Margaret Mary Alacoque                    September 29, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               Vermilion Catholic, Abbeville https://youtu.be/hwBIkzfOzFo People have often said that I’m intelligent. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the intent behind that compliment, but I have to say that it’s not my favorite. Why not? It’s a nice thing to say, right? Especially when it’s true. Yes. So why not just accept it? Well, I do accept it. But here’s why it’s not a big deal: being smart is just a natural quality. It doesn’t say anything about the kind of person someone is. Smart people can...Read More

Fighting Fear with Fear: Homily for the 5th Sunday OT 2025

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5th Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                                                                     February 9, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/rAf68Cwy3XA I am not worthy to be your pastor, unfit to be a steward of divine things, keeper of the keys of God’s mercy. Yet I am all these things by God’s providence just as St. Paul was an apostle despite once being an enemy of Christ and complicit in murder. Though I’ve never killed anyone, I’ve no reason to feel any more secure about my credentials than Saul the Pharisee. By God’s grace, I am what I am as...Read More

Believe, Child of God: Homily for the Baptism of the Lord 2025

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Baptism of the Lord, C                                                                                   January 12, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/v33L25qmdoE On Sunday, ..., I was given life, reborn as a child of God. My ordinary birth was a month and half before that, but were it not for my baptism, I would not yet be truly alive. This is not the case for Jesus. From the moment of his conception, Jesus is divine, the very source of life and grace. So why was he baptized? Because that’s just how important baptism is for us. We need baptism, so Jesus...Read More

Mother of Memory: Homily for Mary, Mother of God 2025

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Mary, Mother of God                                                                                     January 1, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/LXWgcCJzGB4 What do you keep? What in your life and experiences and memories do you store up, hold onto, safeguard? That word, “keep,” has a lot more connotation than just maintaining possession of something. It’s also translated as “treasuring” something. So, like keeping a trophy or keeping something in a safe-deposit box or “keeping” an eye on your small child. There’s value in the thing being kept. There are lots of memories that we kind of “keep” whether we want to...Read More