Tag: Mercy

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

The Arrows of God: Homily for VC School Mass 20 Feb 2025

Posted on by Father Albert
Thursday, OT 6                                                                                               February 20, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               Vermilion Catholic, Abbeville https://youtu.be/BXwgcA-WzOk [Miming a bow & arrow motion] The bow & arrow has been a useful tool for a looong time. Way before we even thought about making the wheel. The only tools older than a bow & arrow are the pointy stick, the hammer, the sharp rock, and fire. There’s evidence that human beings used the bow & arrow over 70,000 years ago. Even today with more high tech options, people still use the bow & arrow to hunt and it’s premier event at the...Read More

The Face of God: Mass for VC Homecoming 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
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

The Good and The Bad: Homily for the 26th Sunday OT 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
26th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                   September 29, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/yOnOWMxOvEg Okay, Jesus, which is it? You seem to be talking out of both sides of your mouth. On one side you say something like “whoever is not against us is for us.” That’s a pretty low bar. That seems pretty easy. All I have to do is not actively oppose you and I’m in? Just give a cup of water to your disciples? Can do! On the other side, however, you threaten hellfire to people who aren’t willing to cut...Read More

Expecting the Lord: Fr. Albert’s introduction to St. Mary Magdalen, 14th Sunday Ordinary Time 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
14th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                               July 7, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/3buILgR4pMM “They took offense at him… He was amazed at their lack of faith.” As your new pastor, I pray that does not often describe us! Or that, if it does, it does not come to the same conclusion. There aren’t exactly any hills for you to throw me off of, but I’d still rather not end up tossed into the bayou over something I say! Now, I’m not Jesus and I’m not perfect, so it’s possible, perhaps even...Read More

Hear, See, Touch: Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Easter 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
3rd Sunday of Easter, B                                                                                   April 14, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/CJpKIwhq6Js It’s a funny thing, being a priest. All the time, I don’t have to say or do anything for people respond differently to me. Double-takes, subtle changes in posture, eagerness to talk to me or to avoid me, hearing the same jokes over and over. Without me even thinking about correcting them, people will apologize for cursing in front of me. Sometimes I do ask but even when I don’t, people will volunteer why they don’t come to Mass. One I hear...Read More

A Body Made Real: Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Easter, 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
2nd Sunday of Easter, B                                                                                  April 7, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/w5q5Gk1QIFI Does it sound like a cult to you? When you hear that first reading describing the early Christian church, perhaps everyone being “of one heart and mind” sounds a bit like not letting people think for themselves. Perhaps having “everything in common” and no one claiming “any of his possessions [as] his own” sounds a bit like a hippy commune. Perhaps letting the Apostles distribute wealth “to each according to need” sounds a bit like giving the leaders too much power and...Read More

What Is Chosen: Homily for the 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Posted on by Father Albert
28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                   October 15, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/dFZ1EfAg8as Beating the messengers again! Just last week Jesus told us about people who killed the messengers rather than pay their rent. I offered the hypothetical explanation that the tenants of the vineyard had no fruit to give, so they responded to their shame and fear by killing whoever threatened to expose it. Indeed, we often respond to God in the same way – lashing out whenever he dares to touch on our sins, wounds, and weaknesses. Afraid of how demanding God...Read More

Fear of Fruitlessness: Homily for the 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Posted on by Father Albert
27th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                  October 8, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/hzKx4gYwYDc Why didn’t they just give him some of the grapes? No one likes it when it’s time to pay the rent. But how much sense does it make that their first response is to beat, kill, and stone the messengers? No request for leniency, no negotiation. It’s not like the landowner is unreasonable or impatient. He tried again, even after they murdered his servants. He sent his own Son. Clearly, if these tenants had even tried to work out a deal...Read More

Not To Count: Homily for the 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Posted on by Father Albert
26th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                                  October 1, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/P9Y2vj_vdXk It’s not a ledger. We talk like it is, but judgment isn’t a ledger with good on one side, bad on the other, and whichever has the most decides your fate. If you don’t know better, it seems reasonable that your final fate is determined simply by whether or not you did more good than bad or more bad than good. That kind of idea why the first reading is addressed to people who accuse God of being unfair in how...Read More