Tag: Jesus

A Chosen Family: Homily for the Christmas Vigil Mass 2023

Posted on by Father Albert
Christmas Vigil Mass                                                                                     December 24, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/mv-a2ZjONgs Arthur J Albert became the father of Julius. Julius became the father of Jules Sr. Jules Sr. became the father Jules Jr., whose mother was Bertha. Jules Jr. became the father of Kenneth, whose mother was Nancy. Kenneth became the father of Alexander. Alexander became a priest and stands before you now. But what does that list of names tell you? Probably not much and not nearly as much as the Gospel’s list. Yet, in both, there are important details if you...Read More

Your Will Be Done: Homily for the 4th Sunday of Advent 2023

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4th Sunday of Advent, B                                                                                 December 24, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/8yjMcR6JPEo Some of the most useful and most underrated words in all of Scripture are the ones the prophet Nathan says to King David in our first reading: “Go, do whatever you have in mind, for the LORD is with you.” These words can pull you back to the center from one of two dangerous extremes: excessive self-reliance and crippling uncertainty. By far the most common one is excessive self-reliance. Even being too worried about what other people think is relying on...Read More

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

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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

How It Burns: Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Advent, B

Posted on by Father Albert
2nd Sunday of Advent, B                                                                                December 10, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/4QCixpBM44I If you were running from a fire about to burn your house down, would you stop to make the bed first? It kind of sounds like St. Peter is saying we should in the 2nd reading. Listen again: “the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a mighty roar and the elements will be dissolved by fire… Since everything is to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought...Read More

From Beyond Time: Homily for the Immaculate Conception of Mary

Posted on by Father Albert
The Immaculate Conception of Mary                                                             December 8, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/Rgpy1AmDGjU Seeing how we celebrate the Immaculate Conception of Mary, some Christians accuse us of over-emphasizing her. Yes, there are people who get carried away and distort Marian devotion, but the Catholic Church’s teaching that Mary was immaculately conceived – conceived without Original Sin – is solid and dependable. Critics say the Immaculate Conception isn’t in the bible. But it is. The angel calls her “full of grace,” which comes from a unique Greek word. We lose something in translation: this is...Read More

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

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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

How You Treat Your King: Homily for the Christ the King 2023

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Christ the King, A                                                                                          November 26, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/vSPc8phV1jI You could maybe be excused for thinking that today’s solemn feast is about the end of the world. After all, we’ve been hearing about that subject for a few weeks in our readings and today we hear again about the final judgment. Today also marks the last Sunday of the Liturgical year. Next Sunday begins Advent, which is the start of a new cycle. So, it kind of makes sense that the feast of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe should be...Read More

Heavenly Treasure: Homily for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

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33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                   November 19, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/jK9ymiP5ZJ4 Every now and then, someone asks me if the world is going to end soon. Just Friday, in fact, a woman at a store asked me that question based on what is happening in the middle east right now. I gave her my standard answer: “every generation of Christians thinks the end is near.” I put it that way to make a few points: First is that worrying about the end of the world isn’t new. Secondly, everyone who thought the...Read More

Dying To Live: Homily for the 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

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32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                  November 12, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/-jvAMZk0wIg To get right to the point: we are all going to die. Some people want to avoid this reality, even avoiding the word “funeral” and instead talking about a “celebration of life.” Of course we celebrate life! But we do so precisely because we know we’re going to die and that only by dying do we receive real life, eternal life with God. So it’s important to realize that death comes for us all. If we don’t want that reality to...Read More

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

Posted on by Father Albert
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