Tag: Prayer

Keep Watch With Me: Homily for Palm Sunday 2026

Posted on by Father Albert
Palm Sunday, A                                                                                           March 29, 2026Fr. Alexander Albert                                                           St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/PSgb2kBhC1s Who wins? The chief priests? Not when the veil of the sanctuary is torn. Judas? Certainly not when he takes his own life. Pontius Pilate? Not when he has to answer to his wife who asked him not to do it. The disciples? Not when they fell asleep in the garden, not in their futile attempt to use the sword, not when they fled and not when Peter denies Jesus. Who wins in the end, then? Jesus wins in his resurrection. But we aren’t there yet. Who...Read More

Saints & Pharisees: Homily for the 30 Sunday OT 2025

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30th Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                                                                   October 26, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/BG2y-1f79ls “O God, I thank you that I’m not like those pharisees who think they’re better than everyone else. They pray and fast and give to the Church, but they’re so judgmental. I’m much more like those tax collectors and other people Jesus loved – I never fast or give tithes, I love money, I’m addicted to drinking, and I like to lust… but, man I’m so glad I’m not judgmental!” Y’all see the problem there? People are so quick to agree with Jesus...Read More

Will He Find Faith Here? Homily for the 29th Sunday OT 2025

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29th Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                                                                   October 19, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/LnoLBi-jlxw It’s one of the most frightening questions in all of scripture. “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” For the third week in a row, our Gospel has called attention to the virtue of faith. This time we see a shift in focus: not just faith, but faith in preparation for the end of the world. Jesus doesn’t just want us to have faith. He wants us to keep faith and, more importantly, to spread faith. The fact...Read More

Faith, Gratitude, and Salvation: Homily for the 28th Sunday OT 2025

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28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                                                                   October 12, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/PeIKEth-UP0 A man was about to be late for an important meeting. Knowing that the right parking spot could make all the difference, he began to pray as he got close to the parking lot: “Lord, if you help me find the right parking space, I’ll…” Just then he spotted a place right by the door “nevermind, Lord, found one!” That’s a classic story of being ungrateful to the Lord, but let me tell you a true story of gratitude from my own life....Read More

What He Gives: Homily for the 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2025

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17th Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                                                                   July 27, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/DUyblY3tRNo Couldn’t even find 10 people, could he? Abraham, I mean. God promises not to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if there are just 10 innocent people in it. But they were destroyed. There’s even some archaeological evidence of where those cities were and what happened. Even if this story was just fictional morality parable, the point would be the same: Sodom and Gomorrah were so evil that they couldn’t come up with 10 innocent people. What does that mean for us? Well, a common...Read More

Him Whom My Heart Loves: Homily for the Patronal Feast of St. Mary Magdalen 2025

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Patronal Feast of St. Mary Magdalen                                                                         July 20, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/szYXUkvax6U “Him whom my heart loves.” Who does your heart love? Last week, Jesus exhorted us to love God with our whole heart, mind, being, and strength. Now we hear this love poem from the bible. The Song of Songs is 8 chapters of lyrical verse about love. Traditionally ascribed to King Solomon, some Church Fathers read this poem as an allegory for the kind of love that should exist between God and the human soul with God as the groom and the...Read More

Going With Gratitude: Homily for the 1st Sunday of Lent 2025

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1st Sunday of Lent, C                                                                                      March 9, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/roydVxA4x5c In 1925 in New York, a 27 year-old woman became pregnant. Normally, it’s not surprising for a woman in her 20s sharing her life with a man to experience that. Only, this woman thought it would never happen because of a choice she had made the last time she was with child, something she thought would leave her barren the rest of her life. But then it happened anyway. This momentous event wasn’t entirely isolated. Shortly before finding herself...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

Embodying Spirit and Truth: Homily for the Dedication Anniversary 2025

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Anniversary of the Church's Dedication                                                        January 31, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/16rkHc4GtE0 “Worship in Spirit and Truth.” What does that look like exactly? Clearly, Jesus doesn’t think it requires being in a certain location. In a single line, he completely bypasses a theological debate going back centuries between the Samaritans and Jews about which place is the right place to worship. Even while Jesus says the Jews are right, he moves past the debate to make this point about spirit and truth. Which kind of raises a question: if the location doesn’t matter,...Read More

What I Really Want: Homily for Vermilion Catholic Oct 10 2024

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Thursday 27th Week OT                                                                                 October 10, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/CKqZAccHXt0 What if I want to eat a snake instead of fish? What if scorpions are just the crawfish of the desert? Boil em up, season em, and start dipping em in the right sauce, and maybe they’re even better than eggs! Had Jesus been talking to a crowd of Cajuns, he probably would have used different examples for things people don’t want to eat. But the point is the same: when we ask God for our “daily bread,” he isn’t going to trick...Read More