Tag: Mercy

Authority and Peace: Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Easter 2026

Posted on by Father Albert
2nd Sunday of Easter, A                                                                               April 12, 2026Fr. Alexander Albert                                                            St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville N.B. Technical problems caused the video to cut in and out several times. https://youtu.be/VEPFxw-u_90 Authority is a terrifying thing. And a comforting one. Without the authority of divine revelation and the authority of divine mercy, there are many questions that cannot be answered and many human faults that cannot be overcome. When authority is abused, however, it creates things so terrible that it’s hard to imagine worse. That Apostles knew this on a deep, experiential, existential level. They are cowering in fear...Read More

The Call of the Light: Homily for the 3rd Sunday OT 2026

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3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, A                                                             January 25, 2026Fr. Alexander Albert                                                            St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/hAUKlxBw3kY “What can we do? What can I do?” Maybe you’ve asked that question a few times this month. From international anxiety over Venezuela and Greenland to ongoing unrest in Minnesota to the disturbing allegations of abuse in our own diocese, there are a lot of reasons to be worried or even feel powerless. Perhaps you identify with that description of Zebulun and Naphtali in Isaiah. Perhaps you feel like a people who “sit in darkness” and like “those dwelling in a land overshadowed...Read More

Why Be Catholic? Homily for Divine Mercy Sunday 2025

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Divine Mercy Sunday                                                                                     April 27, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/Mm1TdLw5ZSY “Yet more than ever, believers in the Lord, great numbers of men and women, were added to them.” So our first reading depicts the beginning of the Catholic Church, people joining the Apostles in great numbers. Why do it? Why join the Catholic Church? Considering that around 15% of the entire U.S. population is ex-Catholic or that, in the U.S., about 8 people leave the Church for every 1 person that joins it, it’s an interesting question. Though that number sounds bad,...Read More

Uncomfortable Mercy: Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent 2025

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5th Sunday of Lent, C                                                                                      April 6, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/1qiAE8QwpbE Let’s talk a little inside baseball on scripture today. You see, most scripture scholars think this story of the woman caught in adultery was not originally in John’s Gospel. Why? Because it isn’t in some of the oldest copies of the bible we have, from around 400 A.D. Where it does show up, it’s in different places or in another gospel, which kind of gives the impression that people who added it in later on didn’t know where to...Read More

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

Whatever it Takes: Homily for Ash Wednesday 2025

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Ash Wednesday                                                                                              March 5, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/ArNnE4yuS8c “Do whatever it takes.” How often do we hear that? How many motivational speeches and posters exhort us to do whatever it takes? And for good reason. There’s a certain kind of blunt power to it, a directness and simplicity that has a way of lodging in the brain. Forget the excuses, the complicated whatnots… do whatever it takes. Whatever it takes to do… what, exactly? That’s the important question. If your goal is a noble one – holiness, helping others, overcoming...Read More

A Turn of Love: Homily for the 7th Sunday OT 2025

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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

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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

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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