Tag: Jesus

A Father’s Approval: Homily for the Baptism of the Lord, 2026

Posted on by Father Albert
Baptism of the Lord, A                                                                      January 11, 2026Fr. Alexander Albert                                                            St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/sJHGxSiOQ6k Why are you here? Why do you go to Mass, pray, do the Catholic thing? Habit? Someone else making you do it? Curiosity? Fear of Hell? Motivation in human beings is strange. Animals have instincts that tell them what to seek. They are biologically programed to want food, water, sleep, affection, pleasure and so on. We want those things too, but under the surface, there’s a whole mess of tangled motivations. You feed, shelter, and show affection to an...Read More

Sacramental & Human: Homily for Holy Family Sunday 2025

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Feast of the Holy Family, A                                                       December 28, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                          St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/EWkdXx9XLzo It’s kind of weird, isn’t it? Mary was conceived without sin. Mary is the most perfect servant of God to ever exist. Mary gave birth to God’s own son. Yet, Mary gets exactly one visit from an angel. But Joseph? He gets not one, but four visits from angels. There’s the first confirming Mary’s claim before Jesus is born. Then there are the three we see today. One telling him to flee to Egypt, another telling him to go home,...Read More

Viva Cristo Rey: Homily for Christ The King Sunday 2025

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Christ the King, C                                                                   November 23, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                          St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/UcLneADiZKo Ninety-eight years ago today, the Mexican Jesuit priest José Ramón Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez was led before a firing squad in Mexico City. The Mexican government had severely restricted Catholicism at that time. So, Padre Miguel Pro continued to minister in secret. Eventually, he was caught. On the morning of November 23, 1927, Miguel Pro, holding a rosary in one hand and a crucifix in another, blessed the men about to shoot him and knelt to pray. He then stood and extended his hands like...Read More

A Different Target: Homily for VC School Mass Sept 11, 2025

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Thurs, Week 23 OT - I                                                                                   September 11, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               Vermilion Catholic, Abbeville https://youtu.be/rQJiCOuXWt0 It’s supposed to be different. It’s supposed to make us stand out. The Gospel way of life is meant to make us different. “Other schools aren’t so strict about uniforms or Sunday practices.” Yeah, most schools don’t have Christ at the center. “Other kids get smartphones when they’re 8.” Is being like other kids your only goal? Don’t you see? Jesus wants us to live a different kind of life. I gave some random examples, but I could just as easily...Read More

Fighting Fire with Fire: A Chastity Homily – 20th Sunday OT 2025

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20th Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                                                                   August 17, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/zXt_IGG5bNU “Fight fire with fire.” One tactic for fighting a wildfire is to deprive it of fuel by burning the areas in front of it. Fire can’t burn what’s already been burned. That tactic is enlightening when we consider Jesus’s pyromaniac proclamation, “I have come to set the earth on fire and how I wish it were already blazing!” Is the reason it's not blazing perhaps because the world has already been burned? Of course, the fire Jesus speaks of is a metaphor for...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

Too Fast For Family: Homily for the 14th Sunday OT 2025

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14th Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                                                                   July 6, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/iiVB2xqgZao Have you ever been on the highway behind someone going too slow? You go to pass them, but right as you get even with them, it seems like they speed up to stay even with you? Are they being spiteful? Trying to stop you from passing? Maybe. More likely is that it’s not a conscious choice. Human beings are instinctively communal. Some part of our subconscious tells us “stay together.” So, unless the person is using cruise control or actively thinking about what...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

A Turn of Love: Homily for the 7th Sunday OT 2025

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7th Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                                                                     February 23, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/0IJCGuT8RiY Once, while I was a seminarian teaching catechism to kids, a student struck me on the cheek and ran away. To be fair, he didn’t mean to actually hit me. He was acting on a dare to touch my beard, which was laughably bad in those days. Nervousness made him move too quickly, but it’s not like it even hurt… more surprised me. Eventually, of course, his classmates told their parents, who told the pastor. When the pastor asked...Read More

Anticipating Heaven: Homily for Word of God Sunday 2025

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3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                                                                     January 26, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://www.youtube.com/live/pWdm09q5vAU?si=S73Anm0_AzMRJbKA&t=1295 What’s the longest you’ve ever waited for something? A new book in a series? A concert? A line for a roller coaster? The first McDonalds in Russia had an 8 hour wait to get a burger on opening day. The Beatles had lines half a mile long and I’m sure Taylor Swift concerts usually come with long wait times. Each time World Youth Day rolls around, people often hike for miles to camp overnight in a field to be...Read More