Liturgy Archives - Albert the Ordinary

Pastor Column: Mediator Dei VI

Posted on October 10, 2022October 9, 2022 by Father Albert

[N.B. This is not the Sunday Homily. It is an article from the bulletin of October 9, 2022] All liturgy - that includes Mass, the Sacraments, the Liturgy of the Hours, adoration - points us to the mysteries of Jesus Christ and helps us take part in those mysteries which redeem and sanctify us. To do this, the liturgy has seasons which point us to different aspects of these mysteries. At this point in the letter (around paragraph 154) Pope Pius XII starts to highlight these seasons briefly. Advent is the start of the Liturgical year and, according...Read More

Pastor Column: Mediator Dei V

Posted on October 3, 2022October 3, 2022 by Father Albert

[Note: This is not the Sunday Homily. It is an article for the bulletin of October 2, 2022] After last week’s financial report, we return to our journey through Mediator Dei by Pope Pius XII, written in 1947. We left off with the pope’s reminder to spend time in personal prayer after the Mass. Again, I encourage everyone to make this a regular practice and to observe reverence inside the Church so that people can pray (you can talk in the vestibule/foyer, just try not to talk in the middle of the Church). Now Pope Pius moves onto...Read More

Pastor Column: Mediator Dei III

Posted on September 12, 2022September 11, 2022 by Father Albert

[Note: This is not the Sunday Homily. It is an article for the bulletin of Sep 11, 2022] Focusing in on the Eucharist, Pope Pius XII notes that “the nature of men requires” a “visible sacrifice.” This sacrifice is “no mere empty commemoration of the passion and death of Jesus Christ, but a true and proper act of sacrifice.” Each celebration of the Mass is the same sacrifice offered by the same person: the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ who offers himself on the Cross. The manner of the offering is different in that the Mass is the unbloody re-presentation...Read More

Pastor Column: Mediator Dei II

Posted on September 4, 2022September 4, 2022 by Father Albert

[Note: This is not the Sunday Homily. It is an article for the bulletin of September 4, 2022] Picking up on the Church’s guidance of the liturgy, Pope Pius XII stresses that a proper understanding of the liturgy factors in both the objective, external reality and the internal, subjective reception of that reality. The Sacraments give grace. That is an objective fact. But receiving that grace requires a person to be properly disposed. He quotes St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians about examining ourselves before receiving communion, lest we eat and drink damnation on ourselves. The salvation offered by...Read More

Pastor Column: Mediator Dei I

Posted on August 29, 2022August 29, 2022 by Father Albert

[N.B. This is not the Sunday homily. It is an article for the bulletin of Aug 28, 2022] “The Mediator between God and Men.” That is the opening line of the next document in our series and where we get the title Mediator Dei (Mediator of God). Written in 1947 by Pope Pius XII, this document addresses the Sacred Liturgy. The “Sacred Liturgy” refers not only to Mass, but to all of the public, formal acts of worship performed by the Church. This includes the other 6 sacraments as well as the many blessings and rituals that populate our...Read More

Pastor Column: Singing at Mass

Posted on February 6, 2022February 6, 2022 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 February 6, 2022February 6, 2022 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 1st Sunday of Advent: Strong of Heart

Posted on November 28, 2021November 28, 2021 by Father Albert

1st Sunday of Advent, B November 28, 2021Fr. Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/fdpnHZ8CicE So it begins. Today starts the Catholic new year, when our liturgical calendar starts all over. The birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, the descent of the Holy Spirit. Again and again we cycle through these events, with the looming promise that one year, the cycle will end forever. Jesus will come a second time and that will be it. It’s why the first week of Advent doesn’t even mention Jesus’ birth. It’s why, at the start of what many people call...Read More

Homily for Ascension Sunday, B: The Work of Love

Posted on May 16, 2021May 16, 2021 by Father Albert

Ascension Sunday, B May 16, 2021Fr. Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/vQfcazDSmdE The Bishop asked that this letter be read during the homily: "Dear Brothers and Sisters of the Diocese of Lafayette, the third commandment of God obliges us to keep holy the Lord's Day. This commandment is fulfilled when we give God the most perfect worship possible, the worship of Jesus Christ himself in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We also observe it by works of charity, spiritual reading, and refraining from unnecessary servile labor to spend time with family...Read More

Father Alexander Albert

Tag: Liturgy