Dear Parishioners,

As your pastor, my goal, as I have repeatedly told you, is to help lead you to heaven, and our mission as a parish is to help everyone who walks through our doors to heaven. This continues to be a great blessing and joy for me to walk this journey of faith with you. I love you deeply, and I am grateful every day for your commitment to our parish, our school, and to one another. It is in this spirit of gratitude and love that I invite you to participate in our second Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish and School Endowment Drive.

Dear Friends,

We have just passed the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, and we will now enjoy a little more light each day. Christmas itself is a feast of lights, isn't it? Trees are brought into homes and made radiant with brilliant lights; yards and streets are also illuminated; stores are decorated with lights. The whole world is illuminated. In other ways, too, our lives are aglow with light. Families come together and are sometimes reunited after many years; kind wishes and gift-giving strengthen bonds of love and friendship, and memories are brought back to life while new memories are born. These events of grace truly light up our lives.

Happy New Year, Dear Friends,

We have just joyfully celebrated the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and I hope you all had a blessed and peaceful time with your families.

In a few days’ time, as we usher in the New Year 2026, our attention now turns to the Blessed Virgin Mary. On January 1st, we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. This is a profoundly significant celebration as we begin this new year under her special title.

Dear Friends,

As we conclude the Advent season and prepare to celebrate the joyous birth of our Lord in a few days’ time, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. However, even as we enter this festive season, some of our dear ones will not be sharing that joy for various reasons. One of the reasons for some will be loneliness. This reality was brought home to me in a way that moved me to tears, through the sad story of a mother whom I came across online. I suspect some of you can relate to this story.

Dear Friends,

The tone of our celebration for the 3rd Sunday of Advent, also known as Gaudete, is one of rejoicing. The Entrance Antiphon resounds: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near." The first reading this Sunday presents the Prophet exalting the people to rejoice and to be glad for their God is coming to them. On that day, “The eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf unsealed, then the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy.”

Dear Friends,

Recently, a close friend of mine posed a highly insightful question to me. I had just described my ministry day, which began with the profound solemnity of hearing confessions, immediately followed by the grief and hope of a funeral Mass, transitioned into the joyful celebration of a wedding Mass, and concluded with the celebratory atmosphere of a school gala.

Dear Friends,

The Advent season is once again with us. Yet this year again, its commencement is shadowed by the deep anxieties of a world still struggling for peace in many countries. As we light the first candles—symbols of Hope—it is impossible to ignore the severe conflicts tearing at the global fabric, from the long-standing wars in Ukraine and between Israel and Hamas, to the devastating persecution faced by Christians in places like Nigeria, Sudan, and across the Middle East.

Dear Friends,

Our parish, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, is on a continuous journey to know, to love, and to serve Christ in our community, so that we get everyone who walks through our doors to heaven. In order to achieve this, together we must embrace Christ’s vision for our missionary discipleship so that our parish can thrive and be a place for others to grow together in faith.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ through Mary,

Among St. Vincent de Paul's famous statements, I picked the following:

1. "Go to the poor: you will find God,"
2. "The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is humility,"
3. "We must love our neighbor as being made in the image of God."
4. "Humility is nothing but truth, and pride is nothing but lying". And,
5. "It is not enough to give bread. Love must be your calling."

Dear friends,

This weekend, we at Our Lady of Mount Carmel are blessed to welcome the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (SHS), who are here to share their powerful story of faith, service, and urgent need. We have a profound opportunity to embody the love of Christ by generously supporting these courageous Missionary Sisters.