Tag: Hope

A Trigger Warning: Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Lent 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
2nd Sunday of Lent, B                                                                                     February 25, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/vEuAWfzPkKY Image by CC 2.0 from https://www.flickr.com/photos/gcfairch/4189169360 A story. A true one, as far as I know. At a church elsewhere in Louisiana, there was a young pastor who once opened the door to find a gun pointed straight at him. Holding that gun was a nervous looking man who rather shakily said, “Father, I’m sorry but God told me I have to kill you.” Inspired, he quipped, “oh, God just told me to tell you that you don’t have to kill me anymore.” The...Read More

The Hope of Death: Homily for Ash Wednesday 2024

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Ash Wednesday                                                                                              February 14, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/jjTu_TJLkcM What a day this is, this Ash Wednesday. It fixes itself in the imagination, stands out. Many non-Catholics and even non-Christians have picked up on it as something special, and rightly so. For what other day would millions of people eagerly wait in line to be reminded that they are going to die? “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” But they do. Apart from Christmas and maybe Easter, Ash Wednesday Mass has the highest attendance of the year. Why? You tell me....Read More

What Our Future Needs: Homily for the 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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30th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                   October 29, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/2up2bZK2WGU When I started here, we averaged between 400 and 450 people at Mass each weekend. Covid dropped us to around 250. The current average is near 300. On average, we have about 30 funerals a year. We have about a dozen baptisms and 5 weddings a year, but both of those numbers include people who no longer live here, but came for historical reasons. To put it simply, we are shrinking. I say this so you understand why I often mention...Read More

Enough, Lord!: Homily for the Lafayette Eucharistic Rally 2023

Posted on by Father Albert
Votive Mass of the Holy Eucharist                                                                 October 5, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               Cajundome Convention Center https://www.youtube.com/live/pnFJrLR7vKI?si=idBWav2wzPAOzWBQ&t=2211 “Enough, Lord!” Who among us has not made this exasperated prayer of Elijah our own? There’s usually joy and all kinds of good fortune that comes along with the first serious turn towards the Lord, but it seems only a matter of time before any committed believer reaches the point where they feel as he did – alone, burdened, and just plain weary of feeling like the harder they try to do the right thing, the more everything goes wrong....Read More

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

Posted on by Father Albert
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

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

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

All Will Be Revealed: Homily for the 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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12th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                               June 25, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/QNoeHhjIgmo “Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed.” Does that frighten you a little bit? It does me. There are things in my life I would rather remain concealed. I’m sure that’s true for every human being. It’s also true that there are things which should not be publicized. Jesus is not suggesting we shout out our every fault and sin in public. There is such a thing as prudent silence, discretion, and confidentiality. Indeed, the sacrament of Confession is...Read More

Freely Called To Happiness: Homily for the 4th Sunday of Easter, A

Posted on by Father Albert
4th Sunday of Easter, A                                                                                               April 30, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/OZnsMHx4ppg “Do you know what I love about no longer being a Christian? I can do whatever I want!” I saw that in an online forum for ex-Christians to support each other after leaving. What I find interesting about that claim is what isn’t said directly. This appeal to freedom is built on a deeper belief that that kind of freedom is what will make you happy. You know what, that online commentor probably experienced Christianity as a religion of restrictions, shame, and...Read More