Tag: Truth

Angelic Battles: Homily for Sts. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael 2025

Posted on by Father Albert
Feast of the Archangels                                                                                  September 29, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/5I_BnljiZEw My little ones, we’re going to talk about some big stuff. What you need to know is this: there are good angels and there are bad angels. The good ones help protect us from the bad. We don’t need to be afraid of the bad angels because God is on our side. Our job is to be honest, to be humble, and to be helpful. If you do that, you help the good angels defeat the bad ones. Now, let’s expand on that for...Read More

The Truth of an Acorn: Homily for the 6th Sunday OT 2025

Posted on by Father Albert
6th Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                                                                     February 16, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/6lPZUytPIsg Quid est veritas? Pontius Pilate mocks Jesus Christ with that question, “what is truth?” It’s cynical, showing that Pilate doesn’t think there is such a thing as “truth” in the first place. For him, all that matters is what works, what keeps him comfortable, alive, and in power. Cynical though the question is, Jesus does answer it. Not with words, but by his very presence and by his witness of obedience unto death. I sympathize with the question, though....Read More

To Defeat the Devil: Homily for Catholic Schools Week 2025

Posted on by Father Albert
Monday Week 1 OT               Catholic Schools Week                                   January 27, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               Vermilion Catholic, Abbeville https://youtu.be/Emt1O26T4Ww 500 years ago, a young Italian woman named Angela traveled over 300 miles to visit Rome. Why? Because, 1525 was a jubilee year – just like this year 2025 is a jubilee year – and those who visited the Major Basilicas in Rome were offered special graces. By that time, she was already a well-known teacher and the Pope tried to get her to stay in Rome and run a school. She refused, preferring to return home to Brescia and...Read More

Believe, Child of God: Homily for the Baptism of the Lord 2025

Posted on by Father Albert
Baptism of the Lord, C                                                                                   January 12, 2025Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/v33L25qmdoE On Sunday, ..., I was given life, reborn as a child of God. My ordinary birth was a month and half before that, but were it not for my baptism, I would not yet be truly alive. This is not the case for Jesus. From the moment of his conception, Jesus is divine, the very source of life and grace. So why was he baptized? Because that’s just how important baptism is for us. We need baptism, so Jesus...Read More

Where is the Peace? Homily for Christmas 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
Christmas                                                                                            December 25, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/s0BLJbW0oZA Where is the peace? Isn’t there supposed to be peace? Christmas songs proclaim “Peace on earth and mercy mild,” the gloria at Mass comes from the Christmas angels singing “Glory to God in the highest,and on earth peace to people of good will.” Scripture calls Jesus the “Prince of Peace.” Yet, the Holy Land where Jesus was born is a perpetual warzone. Earth as a whole never goes more than a few decades at a time without some major war happening. The...Read More

That’s My King: Homily for Jesus, King of the Universe 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
Christ the King, B                                                                               November 24, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                              St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/SRX1lB3_mfE What makes a king? Riches? Bloodline? Popularity? The power to make other people do things? Maybe. Depends on what you mean by a king. The world plays fast and loose with words and their meanings, changing them to suit whatever goal happens to be convenient at the time. This is why Jesus can be elusive sometimes, answering questions with questions. He knows better than anyone that when two people say the same thing, they do not always mean the same thing....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

The Cross Already Carried: Homily for the 24th Sunday OT 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
24th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B                                                                   September 15, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville https://youtu.be/M4eBo9yAycI “He spoke this openly.” What did he speak openly? That the dreams of glorious conquest people had about the promised Messiah would turn out to be just dreams, that his mission and ministry would look like a total failure, that he would be betrayed and murdered in the most shameful and painful way. Simon Peter, his right hand man, takes that about as well as you’d expect. We so often look at the crucifix, are so familiar with how the...Read More

Hear, See, Touch: Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Easter 2024

Posted on by Father Albert
3rd Sunday of Easter, B                                                                                   April 14, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/CJpKIwhq6Js It’s a funny thing, being a priest. All the time, I don’t have to say or do anything for people respond differently to me. Double-takes, subtle changes in posture, eagerness to talk to me or to avoid me, hearing the same jokes over and over. Without me even thinking about correcting them, people will apologize for cursing in front of me. Sometimes I do ask but even when I don’t, people will volunteer why they don’t come to Mass. One I hear...Read More

Good Friday – Part II of the Triduum: A Deadly Love

Posted on by Father Albert
Good Friday of the Lords' Passion                                                                 March 29, 2024Fr. Alexander Albert                                                               St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette https://youtu.be/LOsXBjmKEJk Part II of a 3 three part series on the Triduum. Part I is here. Love. We’ve just seen love, continuing our theme for Paschal Triduum. Last night began with the “new commandment” to love one another as Christ loves us, to make others our “own,” invest in them, and serve them even though that leaves us vulnerable to betrayal. While that reality is heartwarming when it’s washing feet, it is heartbreaking when it means inviting those we love to crucify us....Read More