Tag: Trinity

To Make Him Heard: Homily for the 23rd Sunday OT 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                   September 8, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/LTbr0KIPMo4 Have you ever watched those videos of the first time a person experiences something we all take for granted? Like those glasses that correct color blindness? Or the Cochlear implants that allow someone to hear for the first time? Imagine never hearing. Then, suddenly there’s a rush of sound, a new dimension to life, a whole new level of belonging. You know what happens almost every time? The person lights up and then crumbles into tears, overwhelmed with the newness...Read More

Body, Love, Glory: Homily for Corpus Christi 2024

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Corpus Christi, B                                                                                                        June 2, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/SHuPAApGo2A Last week, I spoke about “union” as if it was obvious that it was something everyone would want. Well, maybe it isn’t obvious to you. Maybe you aren’t sure what I mean by union and therefore aren’t sure why it’s something you would want to “will” for yourself or “will” as the “good of the other person.” What is union? Why do we want it? A friend of mine shared a story with me about a young man who was...Read More

Being Love: Homily for Trinity Sunday 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
Trinity Sunday, B                                                                                                       May 26, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/LWnwLJEZS3w Three weeks ago, I focused on the teaching that God is love. But what is love? “Love is to will the good of the other.” If God is love, then this means that God’s very existence is to will the good of the other. We tend to think of existence or being as this kind of passive reality. If you ask me “what are you doing?” and I answer “existing,” you’d probably think “ah, so he’s doing nothing” and you’d...Read More

What is the Holy Spirit? Homily for Pentecost 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
Pentecost, B                                                                                                                May 19, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/J6WTq0Qr46k What is the Holy Spirit to you? Really, I should say “who” is the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is a person! Yes, Jesus sometimes talks about the power of the Holy Spirit in a more abstract way, but we see the personal dimension in today/tomorrow’s gospel. Jesus says “But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.” Hear how personal that is? “He will guide you.” So, while Pentecost is about the fantastic...Read More

What Unity Means: Homily for Trinity Sunday

Posted on by Father Albert
Trinity Sunday, A                                                                                                       June 4, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/7CSgy6PHzs4 You may have noticed that instead of the usual greeting of “the Lord be with you” at the beginning of Mass, I said: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the [communion] of the Holy Spirit be with [you all].” Then we heard something very similar from the conclusion of our second reading, which is also the end of St. Paul’s Second letter to the Corinthians. Indeed, the greeting I used came from that part of scripture...Read More

Homily for the Epiphany: Real Power

Posted on by Father Albert
Epiphany                                                                                                         January 8, 2023Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/sP2csL942zA Who has the power? In the wake of tense battles over important positions, we might wonder what real power looks like. Majority votes, political concessions, making other people do what you want… all these are a part of how we tend to imagine power. Yet, a careful reading of the scripture ought to challenge us to think more deeply about it. Who, after all, has the real power in the story of these Magi? Herod is a king backed by the power of the...Read More

Homily for Trinity Sunday: The Mystery that Makes us Who We Are

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Trinity Sunday, C                                                                                                       June 12, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/-Kr02irRkbY In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. This is how we’re baptized, how we begin and end everything. It’s so ingrained in us Catholics that we instinctively respond to it. It’s one of my favorite ways to quiet down a room full of Catholics – just shout it out and by the end, most people in the room have done the sign of the Cross and are now at...Read More

Homily for the 4th Sunday of Easter: One With The Father

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Easter Sunday 4, C                                                                                                     May 8, 2022Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/EjmRKNmKjLU He didn’t smell very good and he was only half-covered by the hospital gown. Introvert that I am, I was already timid and uncomfortable simply entering his room – this stranger in a dimly lit room to which I was sent as a kind of hospital chaplain intern. I was not enjoying the experience, I was not exactly happy to do it, and I wanted to get out of there. Then… something happened. It's hard to...Read More

Homily for Trinity Sunday: Faith Beyond Reason

Posted on by Father Albert
Trinity Sunday, B                                                                                                       May 30, 2021Fr. Albert                                                                                St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/ZMDF8JDjlcc It’s unreasonable, irrational even… isn’t it? At the very heart of the Christian faith is this illogical claim about who God is. The Trinity is One God and Three Divine Persons. It’s not like there’s three people who each have their own thoughts or make their own decisions. One God means one mind and one will. They don’t just agree with each other, they think the same thoughts and make the same decisions as one God. Yet, there are three...Read More