Embodying Spirit and Truth: Homily for the Dedication Anniversary 2025

Anniversary of the Church's Dedication                                                        January 31, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/16rkHc4GtE0 “Worship in Spirit and Truth.” What does that look like exactly? Clearly, Jesus doesn’t think it requires being in a certain location. In a single line, he completely bypasses a theological debate going back centuries between the Samaritans and Jews about which place is the right place to worship. Even while Jesus says the Jews are right, he moves past the debate to make this point about spirit and truth. Which kind of raises a question: if the location doesn’t matter,...Read More

To Make Him Heard: Homily for the 23rd Sunday OT 2024

23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                   September 8, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/LTbr0KIPMo4 Have you ever watched those videos of the first time a person experiences something we all take for granted? Like those glasses that correct color blindness? Or the Cochlear implants that allow someone to hear for the first time? Imagine never hearing. Then, suddenly there’s a rush of sound, a new dimension to life, a whole new level of belonging. You know what happens almost every time? The person lights up and then crumbles into tears, overwhelmed with the newness...Read More

The Flight of Joy: Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Advent 2023

3rd Sunday of Advent, B                                                                                 December 17, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/hGXZtli3eJ8 Fly! Go on, start flying! It’s not like you don’t know how, there are about a million people in the air right now. So why aren’t you flying? Probably because it’s not as simple as just deciding “I’m flying now.” We can only fly in specific circumstances. It is the result of several forces beyond our control, it took us thousands of years to figure out how to do it. Flying is the fruit of a complex process. Despite being possible,...Read More

In The Beginning: Homily for the 1st Sunday of Advent, B

1st Sunday of Advent, B                                                                                 December 3, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/KxHrddNPiWA “In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.” That’s the opening line to the second book of Douglas Adams’ comedy book series “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” You see, Douglas Adams was a Christian-turned-atheist and his book series is full of funny little jabs at bad arguments for God’s existence. That opening line – creation being a bad idea – conjures up the classic...Read More