Tag: Mercy

Homily for the 31st Sunday of Ordinary Time: Real Repentance

Posted on by Father Albert
31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                    October 30, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/xssUEkvlg5U Repentance, Reparation, and Charity. Last week, we heard the parable of the arrogant pharisee and the repentant tax collector. We focused then on the journey from being the arrogant pharisee in the parable to becoming like St. Paul, confident in his own salvation. A journey that starts with recognizing our pride and conceit, goes through repentance, and culminates in humble service. But what is repentance, really? The tax collector in the parable prays for mercy and admits...Read More

Homily for the 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Whom You Serve

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25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                   September 18, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/skWhxMdJTgY What just happened? If you were a little confused by that parable, you’re not alone. Most scripture scholars agree that this is the most confusing parable Jesus tells. Of course, that’s part of what parables are for: to confuse us a little and make us think. Still, what happened? The basic story of the parable is this: a man stole from his boss and when he got caught, he stole from him again, but did it in...Read More

Homily for the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Cosmic Visions of Mercy

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15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, C                                                                              July 10, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/Rt7vUUEHnFo What is your cosmic vision? When you mentally zoom out to consider everything that exists, how do you make sense of it? Because the way you answer that question can tell you a lot about what you really believe and what motivates you. And the reason I ask you that is because so much of what I challenge you to do, what the Church urges you to do, what Jesus Christ asks of you is going...Read More

Homily for Corpus Christi: Assisting Communion

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Corpus Christi, C                                                                                                        June 19, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/jPNItdt2kdY Ado You may have heard that the US Bishops are launching a kind of Eucharistic Revival in our country over the next few years. To start that off, Bishop Deshotel has asked us to read this letter from him to you: “Dear Friends in Christ, The Church celebrates this weekend the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord. The celebration invites us to reflect on that most precious gift given to us by Our Savior...Read More

Homily for Divine Mercy Sunday: The Point of the Power

Posted on by Father Albert
Divine Mercy Sunday                                                                                                 April 24, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/Z1VOiVY0vNk What’s the point? Of this passage I mean. If, as so many people say, that we can just confess our sins directly to God, why would Jesus bother to give his Apostles the authority to forgive sins? “Whoever’s sins you forgive are forgiven them, but don’t worry about it because they can just confess directly to me and so you’ll never use this power.” Is that what people think Jesus is doing here? Of course not! There...Read More

Homily for Easter: The Authority to Love, Triduum Pt. 3

Posted on by Father Albert
Easter Vigil                                         Part 3 of Triduum 2022                                  April 16, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette [See part 1 here] [See part 2 here] https://youtu.be/laRr7ujxiyk Thursday night, we began the most sacred time of the year – the Paschal Triduum – and began also an extended reflection on the meaning of freedom and authority revealed in the life and death of Jesus Christ. Through the washing of the disciples feet and the institution of the Eucharist and the Priesthood, we saw that authority is truly a service to the people over whom it is wielded....Read More

Pastor Column: Divine Mercy

Posted on by Father Albert
[Note: This is not the Sunday Homily. That can be found under "Homilies" on the website]      In the 1930s in Poland, a young nun named Faustina began to receive extraordinary messages from Jesus. He asked her to record them in a book that is today known as The Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska. It covers many things, but perhaps the most famous is the message of divine mercy, the Image of Diving Mercy, and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy that is based upon it.      The message is pretty straightforward: God loves us and He wants us to...Read More

Homily for the 5th Sunday of Lent: The Seriousness of Sin

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Lent Sun 5, C                                                                                                  April 3, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/QgizjQEXI7Y Imagine if this scenario went a bit differently. Let’s say Jesus was walking through Jerusalem and came across a small group of people. Let’s say one of them was this woman who had committed adultery and that someone else in the group casually mentioned that fact and then, after some awkward moments, the rest of the group walks away and Jesus is left alone with the woman. He then looks at her and says, “don’t worry about your past, just try to...Read More

Homily for the 4th Sunday of Lent: A Home Worth Returning To

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Lent Sun 3, C                                                                                                  March 20, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/l7ghhJTgHao “How many of my Father’s hired workers have more than enough food to eat?” So the lost son wonders to himself just before he returns. It is this insight that finally draws him back home… that shows us how, without even leaving his home, the Father rescued his son from sin. We know the demographics. We all have or at least know someone who has children who have left the Church and even who have left the family altogether. So often I...Read More

Homily for the Baptism of the Lord: You Are My Beloved Son

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Baptism of the Lord, C                                                                                   January 9, 2022Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/ARKHEABt4dI This past Wednesday, Pope Francis stirred up some controversy when he talked about families who get pets instead of having children. People were upset that he called it “selfish.” Maybe there was a better way to say what he said, but he’s right. It’s a statistical reality that less and less couples are having kids and more and more are getting pets. All the time, you’ll see people call themselves a “dog dad” or a “cat mom.” Don’t get me wrong. I love...Read More