Tag: love

Homily for the 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Blessedness and Joy

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4th Sunday OT, A                                                                                            January 29, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/05AboWUvaQk They are true, you know. These beatitudes, these promises of blessedness are not rhetorical… Jesus isn’t just trying to make a point. What he says is true. There is real blessedness, real joy to be found in each one of these examples. And no, it’s not just a future happiness that he’s talking about. The reasons he gives are in the future tense – will inherit, will be comforted – but the description of blessedness is right now – blessed are they....Read More

Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time: What is the Gospel?

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3rd Sunday OT, A                                                                                            January 22, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/Ff0rBm0UKoI Jesus went around “proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom…” St. Paul tells us he was called preach the Gospel. Indeed, Jesus every one of us to proclaim the gospel. What does that mean? How do we do that? There’s two things consider: what the Gospel is and whether we let it actually enlighten our lives. First, what is the gospel? Where do we look to understand the gospel best? There’s this book I’ve just read from. There’s the four gospels of Matthew,...Read More

Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time: The Ignorance of Discipleship

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2nd Sunday OT, A                                                                                           January 15, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/IO-zG2-y0HE “I did not know him.” Twice John the Baptist says this. But, isn’t that a strange thing to say? After all, this is the same John who leapt in the womb when Mary, pregnant with Jesus, greeted John’s mother Elizabeth. John is Jesus’ cousin – why wouldn’t he know him? There were a lot of people who “knew” Jesus. His whole hometown thought they knew Jesus, but they wind up trying to kill him when he begins to reveal himself fully. John...Read More

Homily for the Epiphany: Real Power

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Epiphany                                                                                                         January 8, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/sP2csL942zA Who has the power? In the wake of tense battles over important positions, we might wonder what real power looks like. Majority votes, political concessions, making other people do what you want… all these are a part of how we tend to imagine power. Yet, a careful reading of the scripture ought to challenge us to think more deeply about it. Who, after all, has the real power in the story of these Magi? Herod is a king backed by the power of the...Read More

Homily for Christmas: The Sudden Arrival of Hope

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Christmas                                                                                                        December 25, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/Gs6_kJf5w6k Allow me to tell you a story… a parable of sorts. Sometime in the past, there once was a man with his daughter. A loving father, a devoted daughter. Living in Australia in its early days, they were both eager to discover what life was like in the old world. After a careless choice by the daughter on the journey, they were separated. Each knowing that the other would not turn back, they resolved to continue the journey, hoping to be reunited along the way. So...Read More

Homily for the 4th Sunday of Advent: The Forceful Humility of God

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4th Sunday of Advent, A                                                                                 December 18, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/uBkuluTIvBQ "Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly.” The prevailing explanation of this verse is that Joseph suspected Mary of committing adultery. Since he was righteous, he wanted to follow the law. The law required that women who commit adultery be put to death. Rather than killing her, he decided to divorce her quietly. Then the angel showed up to tell him the full...Read More

Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Advent: Crowned with Joy

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3rd Sunday of Advent, A                                                                                 December 11, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/3ngXssLUSws “Crowned with everlasting joy.” That’s what Isaiah the prophet promises us. Truly, that is the theme of this day – the joy of the Lord. Yet, that joy is not only something that comes in heaven. It begins here. That’s why the Church does this in Advent and Lent – two penitential seasons. Just over halfway through each one, we break from the purple to use the rose vestments and brighten up the décor and music. Today...Read More

Clothed in Light: Homily for the 1st Sunday of Advent

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1st Sunday of Advent, A                                                                                 November 27, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/HNfv0y0DZtg When I was a college student at UL, one of things I enjoyed in an almost unconscious way was the big oak trees, especially along E. St. Mary and McKinley. They lend a sort of majesty to the campus. Just this past week, I was on campus and noticed that the trees had already had lights winding up their trunks. Illuminating the whole area, these lights called attention to the shape and size of the trees, drawing...Read More

Homily for the Solemnity of Christ the King: Justice and Mercy

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Christ the King, C                                                                                           November 20, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/0oCRms2gkmw “We have been condemned justly.” Have we? Since the beginning of the Church, there have been those who keep coming back to the same error, the same mistake: the idea that our condemnation isn’t really just, that damnation just can’t be real. There are a lot of subtle and clever arguments to support the idea that everyone goes to heaven – we call it universalism – but it seems to me there is always something beneath the surface…...Read More

Homily for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time: Build Because It Crumbles

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33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                   November 13, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/OTgFf7YJ5jI Not long after I was assigned to this parish, I went on a short vacation that kept me away during a weekend, so I made arrangements for another priest to cover for me. While away, my phone rang at about 3pm on the Saturday. I looked to see that it was the priest who was scheduled to hear confessions and celebrate the 4pm Mass. My heart sank. I just knew he was calling to say he forgot...Read More