Tag: love

We Stubborn Brothers: Homily for the 4th Sunday of Lent 2025

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4th Sunday of Lent, C                                                                                      March 30, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/jYy-gRolW0k What do you call this story? Parable of the prodigal son, right? That’s not what Jesus calls it. There isn’t a name, actually. Those bolded titles in most bibles are added by editors. I think that, if we asked Jesus what the name of this parable should be, he wouldn’t call it the prodigal son. I think he’d call it the parable of the stubborn brother. Don’t get me wrong, I love to emphasize the prodigal son’s return and...Read More

Tales About Time: Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Lent 2025

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3rd Sunday of Lent, C                                                                                     March 23, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/0GLF7VVVSZE Once upon a time, there were two brothers who lived in a kingdom in the middle of a great desert. The king was a wise man who built his kingdom around an abundant oasis. One day, someone poisoned the water, so the king needed someone to go to cross the great desert and recover the antidote to the poison. The two brothers were well known as the fastest runners in the kingdom, but even they couldn’t make it across...Read More

From the Heart: Homily for the 8th Sunday OT 2025

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8th Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                                                                     March 2, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/HEQZJ0XLQIM While at lunch in the seminary dining room one day, the conversation got onto the topic of how people acted when they were fans of something: famous people, stories, music and so on. When one book in particular came up, I casually interjected, “oh man, I hate fans of that book” only to look up and lock eyes with someone who was indeed a fan of that very book, a horrified expression on his face. It’s still a clear...Read More

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

Posted on by Father Albert
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, ..., 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, so Jesus...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

Posted on by Father Albert
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