Tag: Ordinary Time

Steps to Joy: Homily for the 30th Sunday OT 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
30th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                   October 27, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/mgqV77TSPKI [Steps outlined at the bottom] “The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.” Does that sound convincing? If we cannot convince ourselves, how can we convince those who do not know God? Preaching on this topic is always a little fraught with danger. For one thing, it rarely helps to try to guilt-trip people into being joyful. “Shame on your for not feeling joy! Start being joyful right now!” I say rarely, not never, because...Read More

The Apostolate of Hope: Homily for the 29th Sunday OT 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
29th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                   October 20, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/kbJFoLWU4Ps “Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.” Jesus does not mind ambition, does not reject our desire for greatness – he gives us that desire! – he only minds that we so consistently misunderstand what true greatness is. Not everyone will be a super saint, known world-wide and celebrated for the next 1000 years. But, everyone who gets to heaven will be a...Read More

An Impossible Inheritance: Homily for the 28th Sunday OT 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                   October 13, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/KwXx1XgngWk “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” You know what? I think we know that answer already. Maybe the whole poverty thing wasn’t obvious to the Jews of Jesus’ day, but the saying “Blessed are the Poor in Spirit” has been around for 2000 years now. We know. Keep the commandments. Stop sinning. Live simply. Follow Jesus. Sure, the details can get messy, but the main point is clear. The problem isn’t that people don’t know the answer to...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

Tradition and tradition: Homily for the 22nd Sunday OT 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                  September 1, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/J_-YLi6Z7_I “In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.’ You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition.” I know a lot of people hear that line and think it’s a bit ironic for Catholics of all people to be proclaiming it from the pulpit. After all, aren’t we Catholics all about tradition? Rituals, memorized prayers, rote gestures… It is even part of Catholic teaching that Scripture and Tradition are together the “one sacred deposit of Word of...Read More

The Food of Love: Homily for the 20th Sunday OT 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
20th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                   August 18, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville N.B. This is the fourth homily in a series. The third is here. https://youtu.be/ufO08G1JHTo “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” How indeed. Perhaps we’re so used to the idea of the Eucharist that we don’t appreciate the difficulty of answering that question. These crowds have seen Jesus heal the sick, cast out demons, and multiply food to feed 5000 people. He is obviously no ordinary man, but a miracle-worker and a prophet. Yet, as miraculous as those...Read More

The Primacy of Grace: Homily for the 19th Sunday OT 2024

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19th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                   August 11, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville N.B. This is the third homily in a series. The second is here. https://youtu.be/vkwyEiRKMWc Mission trips, podcasts, retreats, books and articles, hard conversations, clever marketing, good music – all these strategies and more can be found in the Church’s efforts to evangelize non-believers and strengthen those who already believe. None of them are the most important tool, however. None of them are the most effective. Not to say that we can bypass these things. Last week, as we continued our journey...Read More

The Work of Belief: Homily for the 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
18th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                   August 4, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville N.B. This is the second homily in a series. The first is here. https://youtu.be/03__dket1y8 Last week, we saw the importance of bringing our hunger, our desires to Jesus no matter what they were. This allows Jesus to satisfy, heal, transform, or transcend those desires. Jesus was happy to multiply the loaves and feed the crowds last week, knowing they’d be hungry again and that they’d follow him. This time when they come to him, instead of feeding them again he deliberately...Read More

Left Wanting More: Homily for the 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
17th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                   July 27, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville This is the first in a series, the next homily continues here. https://youtu.be/nMHtaVvIdgU Whatever did or did not happen at the opening show of the Olympics, whatever was or was not intended by its designers, one thing is certain: we all need Jesus Christ. More than that, all human beings hunger for him, though we so often fail to realize that. Complicating things still further, we often try to satisfy that hunger with a substitute version of him. If indeed we...Read More

Seeking Peace: Homily for the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
15th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                               July 14, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/qCeLEA2WdH4 What can I say about yesterday? Who should we listen to in the days to come? Maybe start with what we hear in today’s psalm: “I will hear what God proclaims; the LORD —for he proclaims peace.” Now, if you proclaim peace, especially in a time like this, you’ll be met with quite the variety of responses. One phrase that jumps to mind – a phrase fans of the John Wick movies might recognize – is the old...Read More