Tag: love

What is the Holy Spirit? Homily for Pentecost 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
Pentecost, B                                                                                                                May 19, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/J6WTq0Qr46k What is the Holy Spirit to you? Really, I should say “who” is the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is a person! Yes, Jesus sometimes talks about the power of the Holy Spirit in a more abstract way, but we see the personal dimension in today/tomorrow’s gospel. Jesus says “But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.” Hear how personal that is? “He will guide you.” So, while Pentecost is about the fantastic...Read More

The Greatest Fan of Obedience: Homily for the 6th Sunday of Easter 2024

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6th Sunday of Easter, B                                                                                               May 5, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/rh1VdxHvkg8 I’m not much of a sports fan. I rarely watch any games. I don’t follow sports news. Maybe the 4th quarter of a Saints game, but only if they’re in the playoffs. If I’ve got nothing going on and some friends invite me to watch the Superbowl, I’ll go and enjoy myself. Baseball, however? I’ve never been a fan. It’s probably that I’m too easily distracted and too impatient, but I just can’t watch it. Yet, for some reason...Read More

Love So Absurd: Homily for the 4th Sunday of Easter 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
4th Sunday of Easter, B                                                                                   April 21, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette I love animals. I grew up with dogs, I often play with pets when I visit people’s homes, and I enjoy adorable animal videos as much as anyone. For all that, however, I’d never actually risk my life for some sheep. They’re cute and all, but they’re still just animals. Which is why we should be struck by what Jesus says. A good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep? Tell that to the wife whose children no longer have a father...Read More

Love That Never Fails: Homily for Easter Sunday

Posted on by Father Albert
Easter Sunday                                                                                                 March 31, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/8oluT1-c5gE Rejected, betrayed, slandered, murdered, and buried, what good is love to Jesus? That question doesn’t even occur to Mary Magdalen early on Sunday morning. She goes to the tomb, ready to anoint him, to fulfill the duties placed on her by law and personal affection. She does not have a plan for the stone across the tomb, yet she goes anyway. She is not willing to let foresight or prudence delay her love even a moment. Whatever she expected, she persevered and when she arrived...Read More

Easter Vigil – Part III of the Triduum: An Enduring Love

Posted on by Father Albert
Easter Vigil, B                                                                                                March 30, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/GafqqCduUs0 This is part III of a series for the Paschal Triduum. Part I of the series here. Part II of the series here. Love endures. At the Last Supper, Jesus revealed to us the new commandment of love and so we’ve taken love as the theme of this Paschal Triduum. That new love called us to serve in a way that makes another person our “own.” Because such love cannot set aside the truth, that love turned deadly yesterday when it brought Jesus to...Read More

Good Friday – Part II of the Triduum: A Deadly Love

Posted on by Father Albert
Good Friday of the Lords' Passion                                                                 March 29, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/LOsXBjmKEJk Part II of a 3 three part series on the Triduum. Part I is here. Love. We’ve just seen love, continuing our theme for Paschal Triduum. Last night began with the “new commandment” to love one another as Christ loves us, to make others our “own,” invest in them, and serve them even though that leaves us vulnerable to betrayal. While that reality is heartwarming when it’s washing feet, it is heartbreaking when it means inviting those we love to crucify us....Read More

Holy Thursday – Part I of the Triduum: A New Love

Posted on by Father Albert
Mass of the Lord’s Supper                                                                              March 28, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/W2LmLDbBnDY “Love one another as I have loved you.” We call it the new commandment because that’s what Jesus called it. Like the word “gospel,” however, we’ve heard it so much that it does not strike us as news in any way. It’s old hat, familiar territory, memorized and forgotten, hear the first few words and tune out… But we don’t know it like we think we do. Anyone who thinks the gospel isn’t news isn’t really listening. Anyone who thinks this commandment...Read More

Resting In Zeal: Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Lent 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
3rd Sunday of Lent, B                                                                                     March 3, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/oQSiCq5f3Cg Zeal for your house consumes me. Does it, though? It’s possible to do the right thing without ever being zealous about it… even possible to do the right thing while avoiding zeal. Indeed, if you hear someone say, “oh, that girl? She’s a real zealot,” how do you think he intends that comment to be taken? As a compliment or a criticism? Odds are he means it critically. He might not be wrong. Zeal can be dangerous. Just ask Saul; his zeal drove him...Read More

A Trigger Warning: Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Lent 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
2nd Sunday of Lent, B                                                                                     February 25, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/vEuAWfzPkKY Image by CC 2.0 from https://www.flickr.com/photos/gcfairch/4189169360 A story. A true one, as far as I know. At a church elsewhere in Louisiana, there was a young pastor who once opened the door to find a gun pointed straight at him. Holding that gun was a nervous looking man who rather shakily said, “Father, I’m sorry but God told me I have to kill you.” Inspired, he quipped, “oh, God just told me to tell you that you don’t have to kill me anymore.” The...Read More

The Hope of Death: Homily for Ash Wednesday 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
Ash Wednesday                                                                                              February 14, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/jjTu_TJLkcM What a day this is, this Ash Wednesday. It fixes itself in the imagination, stands out. Many non-Catholics and even non-Christians have picked up on it as something special, and rightly so. For what other day would millions of people eagerly wait in line to be reminded that they are going to die? “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” But they do. Apart from Christmas and maybe Easter, Ash Wednesday Mass has the highest attendance of the year. Why? You tell me....Read More