Dear friends,

I hear this frustrating, persistent, and often challenging question asked repeatedly in conversations about the goodness and omnipotence of God: Why do good people suffer so many challenges while the wicked seem to prosper and have an easy life?

It is rarely simple to give a soothing or immediately convincing answer to such a profound question. To complicate the matter, the question of suffering quickly spirals into deeper societal and existential quandaries. Consider the further questions that arise when we look at the world:

Dear friends,

Truly righteous or virtuous people know that they, too, are capable of contemptible behavior. They know that it is only because of the goodness of God that they have been spared situations in which their weaknesses would have overpowered them. The truly righteous are fundamentally humble.

We are no longer slaves to sin but beneficiaries of adoption as children of God in Christ through Mary. We are therefore made righteous by the Love of God."...God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us". Rom 5:8. Fear no more, but embrace the freedom of the children of God through Christ.

Dear friends,

I am sure you have all heard this phrase: “To Jesus through Mary”. This simple, but profound truth is the very heart of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish. Our existence, our mission, is singular: to lead all who pass through our doors to heaven through a deep and abiding focus on the Eucharist, the very source and summit of our faith, and a devoted love for our Blessed Mother, Mary, our Patroness.

Dear friends,

According to recent studies… a great number of priests quit each year. They don’t quit because they have a lack of faith in God. They don’t quit because they don’t believe in the calling God has placed on their life. Most don’t even quit because of financial reasons. Priests quit because they are overwhelmed with mental exhaustion.

Dear friends,

Two weeks ago, I was out for a Pastors’ Retreat organized by Amazing Parish Movement. The retreat, which focused on the theme: “Abide in me”, taken from John 15, touched me deeply at very many different levels. It kept on reminding me over and over again that for my mission among you as your pastor to bear fruit, it must be rooted in Christ and his cross. This means that all my actions must flow from, be sustained by, and nourished by my deep relationship with the Lord. However, it is what happened at the airport in Dallas on my way to Missouri that inspired the title of this article. Somehow, it also anticipated my retreat experience.

Dear friends,

I want to take a moment to thank each of you for your generosity as we come to the close of our reflections on Stewardship in this month of September. Thank you for sharing your time, your talent, and your treasure so faithfully with our parish. Know that your commitment not only strengthens our community but also helps us live out the mission Christ has entrusted to us through our parish.

Dear friends,

This weekend, our focus turns to the stewardship of treasure, and we're asking you to consider a financial commitment to our parish. This isn't just about meeting a budget; it's about recognizing that everything we have: our talents, our time, and our financial resources, as we have been emphasizing, are gifts from God. How we use these gifts is a reflection of our gratitude and our faith.

Dear friends,

As I mentioned in some of my past articles and homilies on stewardship, we often think of stewardship in terms of tithing or charitable giving. Still, it's a much broader concept that encompasses all aspects of our lives. Last week, we considered the stewardship of time. We pointed out that time is the one commodity we all possess, yet so often squander. However, unlike money, it cannot be saved or earned back. Every second that passes is gone forever.

Dear friends,

As we celebrate the Memorial of Mary, our Lady of Sorrows, this week, I feel first and foremost deeply saddened because of the recent gun attack injuring and killing some innocent school children inside the Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis. Why should hate be embraced by any human being against other human beings when all people are wonderfully created in the image and likeness of God? (Genesis 1:26-28) My heartfelt condolences go to all who suffer loss, grief, and sorrow. May peace prevail on earth if we all consider each other a brother/sister, a friend, or a neighbor. Our world will become a wonderful world. Oh, yes, it will become a wonderful world indeed!

Dear friends,

Welcome to the month of September, our Stewardship Month here at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish! As I shared with you last year, the month of September, every year, will be dedicated to reflecting on Stewardship so as to make it a culture here. And so, during this month, I am very excited as we embark on this journey of reflection, gratitude, and generosity. Let this be a special time for us to recommit to living out our faith by sharing our time, talent, and treasure with God and with our parish community.

Dear friends,

This coming week, we will be celebrating the Feast of St. Monica and her son, St Augustine of Hippo, as well as the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist. These memorials, coupled with today’s readings, ought to become for us an affirmation of faith, a strengthening of hope, and a build-up of prayerful trust in the Lord. We are all people of God: As the Prophet Isaiah proclaimed, "Nations of every language...shall proclaim my glory among the nations" (Isaiah 66:18-19). In our way of life and the manner in which we interact with other people, we should be able to recognize God's goodness and His universal Love.

Dear friends,

These past couple of months, I have been dealing with the challenges of accompanying parishioners and my dear ones who are in various stages of illness, both physical and mental, providing them with both spiritual and emotional support. For those of you who have gone through the same experience, you will acknowledge how heart-wrenching and painful it can be to see a loved one who was once full of life and in control gradually deteriorating and losing this control. This has made me reflect deeply on suffering from a Christian perspective.

Dear friends,

As July draws to a close, my heart is filled with deep gratitude for the summer I’ve spent with the community of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. This final month has been nothing short of transformative, marked by unexpected moments of surrender, powerful encounters with Christ, and profound witness to the love and faith of this vibrant parish.

Dear friends,

Beginning on July 16th, the Community of Our Lady of Mount Carmel leaped for Joy with Solemn Vespers and Mass, for the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, culminating with the 34th Holy Priesthood Ordination Anniversary of our dear Pastor, Rev. Fr. Robert Seraph Aliunzi on Sun, Jul 20. The Teens and our Seminarians sang the tune of the Angels, and the Christian faithful resounded with joy. Like those who received the investiture of the Brown Scapular, we say, 'Yes, we commit ourselves to Mary's protection.'