Tag: love

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

Posted on by Father Albert
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

What Fire Does: Homily for Candlemas 2025

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Candlemas                                                                                                      February 2, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/DR4qUiEfhK0 Does fire save? Or does it destroy? If you ask the wood and the wax, they will say it destroys. If you ask the man caught in the cold or the child lost in the darkness, they’ll save it saves. Your answer, then, will probably depend on two things: what you are and where you are. It’s for this reason that Our Lord, that Scripture, that the liturgy of the Church makes such frequent use of fire, both literally and symbolically. Take our...Read More

Believe, Child of God: Homily for the Baptism of the Lord 2025

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Baptism of the Lord, C                                                                                   January 12, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/v33L25qmdoE On Sunday, July 10, 1988, I was given life, reborn as a child of God. My ordinary birth was a month and half before that, but were it not for my baptism, I would not yet be truly alive. This is not the case for Jesus. From the moment of his conception, Jesus is divine, the very source of life and grace. So why was he baptized? Because that’s just how important baptism is for us. We need baptism,...Read More

The Father’s House: Homily for the Holy Family 2024

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Feast of the Holy Family, C                                                               December 28, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/-u_BLnMEdEs When I say “holy family,” what do you picture? Jesus, Mary, & Joseph are the Holy Family, but what if I ask you to picture a more generic idea of a holy family? Perfectly behaved kids sitting quietly in church? An immaculate home? A strict father surrounded by his solemn-faced wife and kids praying the rosary with unbroken concentration? When I picture a holy family, I see a noisy family meal, the chaotic joy of Christmas morning, a family...Read More

Attaining Joy: Homily for Gaudete Sunday 2024

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3rd Sunday of Advent, C                                                                                 December 15, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/v70YSRU0t5g “Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee O Israel.” It’s hard to pick just one hymn as a favorite, but that’s a contender. Profound meaning, a great tune, a deep connection to tradition, and it’s always sung in my favorite season, especially on one of my favorite days of the year: Gaudete Sunday, which literally means “rejoice.” Our second reading follows that theme by telling us, commanding us to rejoice. How, though? To understand how, it will help to reflect...Read More

Surviving the End of the World: Homily for the 33rd Sunday OT 2024

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33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                   November 17, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/eg_n8cldRbY Repent! The end is near! No, really it’s true. I mean, it’s been true since Jesus ascended into heaven, but you really do need to repent nonetheless. Jesus could come back at any moment. Our own deaths could happen at any moment. So, we should be ready now. And if we are not, then we need to start getting ready now. We are two weeks away from Advent, which is the beginning of our liturgical year. So, on the Church’s...Read More

To Be One of the Many: Homily for the 32nd Sunday OT 20214

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32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                  November 10, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/czmrFL-K9z4 Some of you probably remember that, about 15 years ago, when the priest said the words of consecration: “this is my blood… the Blood of the new and eternal covenant,” the sentence used to end with “which will be poured out for you and for all for the forgiveness of sins.” Now, however, it ends by saying his blood will be “poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Why did the Church change the words...Read More

Love Without Loopholes: Homily for the 31st Sunday OT 2024

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31st Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                   November 3, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/9F7darsL3j0 Why? Why didn’t anyone dare “to ask him any more questions?” My guess is that it has something to do with the way he told the scribe he was not far from the kingdom of God. Usually when Jesus flexes that kind of power – like forgiving sins or flipping tables – usually the scribes and pharisees complain that he is overstepping his authority. But this time? No one even questions it. Something about the whole exchange must have just...Read More

Who’s Coming With Me? Homily for All Saints Day 2024

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All Saints Day                                                                                                 November 1, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/wfpSmYsgF8c Epic. Or maybe you’d say “sigma.” Most people see the saints as amazing, “up there,” as heroes and legends and special people who do what we never could. And you know what? Some of them really are. Padre Pio could bilocate, read souls, and had the wounds of Christ in his body for 50 years. Joan of Arc led the French armies to victory in battle and bravely faced being burned alive by corrupt men. Francis of Assisi lived radical poverty...Read More

The Face of God: Mass for VC Homecoming 2024

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Friday Week 29 OT                            VC Homecoming                               October 25, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTOyvFG7egg “Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.” Is it, though? We all just said that 4 times in a row, but do we really mean it? Do we really understand what it means to “long” to see His face? This isn’t some idle wish, some passive desire. And seeing the face of God isn’t as easy as facetiming a friend. There’s a depth, a labor, a concerted effort here that most people fail to appreciate. Let me...Read More