Tag: Magi

Myrrh to Give: Homily for the Epiphany, 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
Solemnity of the Epiphany                                                                             January 7, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/tNpg2iiciWY The bells in a church are symbols of the angels. Because church bells are rung to call people to prayer, they carry the message of God to the world just as angels do. I don’t think I knew that when I was in college at UL, but when I would hear the bells of Our Lady of Wisdom ringing across campus, something in me did know. Those bells carried to me the message of God. They proclaimed to me that Christ is...Read More

Homily for the Epiphany: Real Power

Posted on by Father Albert
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 the Epiphany: The Light of Worship

Posted on by Father Albert
Epiphany                                                                                                         January 2, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/E4WDaxhc82k “Nations shall walk by your light.” So says the prophet Isaiah of the city of Jerusalem. God chose the Israelites so that he could reveal himself through them and call all nations to himself. They were to be the exemplars, the messengers, the witnesses to the nations. They knew that a king would rise up to make them this light to the nations and eventually even pagans had heard of the prophecy. This is why Persian Magi were aware of the birth of a Jewish king...Read More

Homily for Epiphany: How to Give

Posted on by Father Albert
Epiphany, Year A                                                                                           January 3, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/NBtzeX79l0c What do I get for the God who gave me everything? This was the question we asked on Christmas day. The answer was to get him the most valuable, thoughtful, practical, and liberating gift we could – ourselves. That’s “what” we give, but now we wonder “how?” While we give gifts on Christmas day, many other cultures wait until today’s feast, the Epiphany, to make that exchange. So, it’s a fitting day to answer this question by looking how the Magi give...Read More