Tag: Jesus

Homily for the 4th Sunday of Lent: A Home Worth Returning To

Posted on by Father Albert
Lent Sun 3, C                                                                                                  March 20, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/l7ghhJTgHao “How many of my Father’s hired workers have more than enough food to eat?” So the lost son wonders to himself just before he returns. It is this insight that finally draws him back home… that shows us how, without even leaving his home, the Father rescued his son from sin. We know the demographics. We all have or at least know someone who has children who have left the Church and even who have left the family altogether. So often I...Read More

Pastor Column: Fasting, Abstinence, and Annunciation

Posted on by Father Albert
[Note: This is not the Sunday homily. It is an article for the bulleting of March 20, 2022]      As everyone knows, Catholic aren’t supposed to eat meat on Fridays during Lent.  What a lot of people don’t know, however, are all the other rules and exceptions that go with this. For one, we call this requirement abstinence. Most people associate that word with refraining from sexual activity, but it can mean to refrain from any particular thing. In this case, we’re talking about abstaining from meat. Now, I’ll jump to one exciting rule that a lot of people don’t...Read More

Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Lent: The Choice of the Tree

Posted on by Father Albert
Lent Sun 3, C                                                                                                  March 20, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/CJDmSHCgal4 “For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none.” For three weeks now, we have been in Lent. Have we born fruit? The answer to that question determines everything. Think about it. Why does Jesus decide to say three years? That was the same amount of time for his ministry on earth. In other places in the gospels, Jesus makes a comparison between the fig tree and the chosen people, the Israelites....Read More

Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Lent: Woken to Glory

Posted on by Father Albert
Lent Sun 2, C                                                                                                  March 13, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/TY0G80EN9fQ “Stay woke.” Perhaps you’ve heard some variation of this phrase. Maybe it’s a positive thing to you or maybe you think of it as a kind of insult. Like so many catchphrases, the meaning has shifted over time and it means different things to different people. It was originally meant to encourage people to stay alert to what is really going on behind the scenes… to see past what “the man” tells you. Or it’s being sensitive to injustices that permeate our...Read More

Homily for the 1st Sunday of Lent: Cycle of Victory

Posted on by Father Albert
Lent Sun 1, C                                                                                                              March 6, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/WTKMEYA2nX0 Identity. Trial. Thanksgiving. This is the pattern for us in life and the pattern laid out for us at the beginning of Lent. It begins by knowing who we are and what makes us who we are. This identity is challenged, attacked, tried by the Adversary, Satan. And what sustains us through it all is to receive the gifts of God and return it to him with thanksgiving. Jesus was just baptized in the river Jordan. He is revealed as the Son...Read More

Homily for Ash Wednesday: Now Is The Time

Posted on by Father Albert
Ash Wednesday                                                                                                          March 2, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/mkRPK6aA8UQ “Now is the day of salvation.” This is similar to a popular piece of advice: “live in the present moment.” There’s a piece of truth in that popular adage. The reality is that we only have the present. The past is gone and the future is not here. The present moment is most real, most important. But this only goes so far. Another, related popular dictum is “live with no regrets” as if being in the present moment justifies never considering past mistakes. If all...Read More

Homily for the 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time: The Cult of Convenience

Posted on by Father Albert
7th Sunday OT, C                                                                                           February 20, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/w1XBvI_Ez00 One huge mistake of the Church in the past 60 years, in my opinion, is we made the Catholic faith too convenient. In part, it’s a psychological thing. Human beings naturally place more value in things that are expensive, difficult, or rare. I’ve seen studies that show how strict religions tend to succeed more than easier ones. I’ve seen in myself and in others that when something is just given to us or made too easily available, we tend to neglect it and...Read More

Pastor Column: Singing at Mass

Posted on by Father Albert
[Note: This is not the weekly homily. This is an article from the bulletin of February 6, 2022.]      If all has gone according to plan, I will have preached about singing at Mass this weekend. To support that points I made, I am listing here some of the teachings and guidelines of the Church that I’m referring to when saying “The Church says we should sing at Mass.” Besides the fact that Christians have sung at Mass since ancient times (even Jesus and the Apostles sang at the Last Supper), there are more recent documents from the Church that...Read More

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Choosing Love

Posted on by Father Albert
5th Sunday OT, C                                                                                           February 6, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/jqCNsAHC4yU “From now on you will be catching men.” This sums up the mission of the Church: to draw men and women to Jesus Christ. Evangelization is at the heart of the Church’s very identity. But what is evangelization? Is it about the number of people at Church on Sunday? Of course not. Peter is already in the boat with Jesus. He has heard him before and listens to his preaching. But Peter is not yet truly evangelized, not yet truly caught by Jesus....Read More

Homily for the 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Insulting Love

Posted on by Father Albert
4th Sunday OT, C                                                                                           January 30, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/IU2mslDu01M The Word of God is always fruitful… it is living and effective. But that doesn’t mean we’re always going to like the effect it has. Jesus’ own experience is proof of that. I hinted last week that Jesus’ preaching would bear fruit and now we see it. At first, it’s great. People are “amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.” Jesus should be happy with that, right? He gives a good homily and even tells people that they are witnessing...Read More