A Recap of Upcoming Changes
by Joseph Malzone | 01/25/2025 | Liturgy and Worship ReflectionsThe past two weeks, I’ve highlighted some small changes to our masses that will begin next week, February 2, in conjunction with the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, also known as Candlemas. Here, I’ll recap those changes in case you missed their announcements and provide some additional information and context to them.
At all masses beginning on the 2nd, the priest’s chalice will be vested, like the priest himself. The chalice will be “wearing” vestments in the corresponding liturgical color, in the form of the chalice veil and burse. The chalice veil in the Mass represents the veil of the Temple that was torn open as well as the metaphysical veil that hides Heaven from us until we are granted entry to it. The veil stays in place, hiding the full beauty of the chalice during the course of the Mass until that moment when it is time for it to be revealed and put to use. It is a symbol of “almost, but not yet” as we await the fullness of the joy of Heaven but experience a bit of it in the Holy Mass.
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Our New Year’s Resolution: Growing Closer to God through Perpetual Adoration
by Fr. Robert Aliunzi | 01/25/2025 | Weekly ReflectionDear friends,
As we continue on with the new year, many of us may have already taken time to reflect on our lives, on our priorities, and our relationships. We may have made some resolutions based on those. For instance, we may have made resolutions to improve ourselves, our health, our finances, our connections with others or to break bad habits. Those are all great, but for our parish, I want to call you to something more, something deeper: I want to call upon you to make a resolution to nurture a deeper relationship with our God this year.
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Announcing our OLMC Parish and School Endowment Program
by Fr. Robert Aliunzi | 01/18/2025 | Weekly ReflectionDear Parishioners of Our Lady of Mount Carmel,
I am excited to invite you to participate in the first Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish and School Endowment Drive!
With your support, we plan to raise $25,000, and with the dollar-for-dollar matching opportunity with our trusted partners at the Catholic Community Foundation, the total can double to $50,000.
ContinueVeiling the Chalice
by Joseph Malzone | 01/18/2025 | Liturgy and Worship ReflectionsLike most liturgical vestments, the chalice veil is a mysterious garment. We may be tempted to dismiss it as a kind of decoration. However, the chalice and the veil not only have a function during the celebration of Mass, but they also remind us of a dignity that is too often veiled.
Beginning February 2, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple, a Veil, with its accompanying Burse, will be used to cover the chalice when it is carried to and from the altar during the celebration of Mass.
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Reflections on my Christmas Celebrations: Memories from my Past
by Fr. Robert Aliunzi | 01/11/2025 | Weekly ReflectionDear Friends,
I continue to wish you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year 2025. We are already two weeks into the new year. BUT, as I reflected on the events of the past couple of weeks, I found myself going back to the Christmas we have just celebrated. As I did so, I realized that it has been years since this month of January found me in the country, and perhaps that is what triggered this reflection. For many years, I celebrated the first of January in Uganda with my family and friends. So, I found myself thinking about the events surrounding Christmas and my past experiences of it in my village. Hence, the title of this article.
ContinueA Light for Revelation
by Joseph Malzone | 01/11/2025 | Liturgy and Worship ReflectionsWe are excited to announce that beginning on February 2nd, the Sunday 5pm Mass will be the host of a beautiful and prayerful monthly candle-lit Mass!
Forty days after Christmas, February 2nd, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple, which is also referred to as Candlemas, as it is traditionally the day in which candles are blessed. This feast is one of the oldest in the history of the Church, with details of its celebration from even as far back as the year 380. This feast, and its association with candles, stems from Luke 2:25-32:
Continue20 + C + M + B + 25
by Joseph Malzone | 01/04/2025 | Liturgy and Worship ReflectionsToday, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Epiphany, when we celebrate the arrival of the Magi to adore the Christ child, bringing Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, representing, respectively, the kingship, divinity, and death of the Christ. As part of the Epiphany festivities, there is an annual custom in the church of blessing homes, marking this blessing with chalk on the lintel above the main door of the house.
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Mary, Mother of God
by Fr. Gabriel Terrill | 01/04/2025 | Weekly ReflectionDear Friends,
We are now in the midst of the Christmas season and we recognize, during this time, the presence of the living Word of God in his creation by his miraculous incarnation. In this incarnation (taking on human flesh), Jesus maintains his divinity as consubstantial (of the same substance) with the Father and the Holy Spirit while also taking on human nature in the flesh in all ways but sin: a human will, a human intellect.
ContinueThe Theotokos and Christmas
by Joseph Malzone | 12/28/2024 | Liturgy and Worship ReflectionsMerry Christmas! We are now in the fifth day of the Octave of Christmas.
The Holy Theotokos, a Greek that can be translated as “God-Bearer,” is a succinct yet profound title that The Church has used for Mary since at least the 3rd century. As Jesus was born into the world both completely human and completely divine, Mary’s bringing forth of Him into the world through her womb makes her not merely the mother of Jesus but the mother of God. Today, we celebrate the “Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.” On Wednesday, we will celebrate, as a Holy Day of Obligation, the “Solemnity of Mary, The Holy Mother of God.” Together with these two special days, The Church points to the special significance of God’s incarnation through Mary and His role in the human family.
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Merry Christmas Season and Happy New Year
by Fr. Robert Aliunzi | 12/28/2024 | Weekly ReflectionDear Friends,
Even though we have just celebrated the birth of our Lord Jesus, I would still like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year. Indeed, as we come to the end of this year, my heart is filled with gratitude for the abundant blessings we have received as a parish, as a family, and as individuals. However, at individual levels, this Christmas celebration may never have been the same for some of you because of the loss of a dear one or due to other circumstances.
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What does the final week of Advent tell us?
by Fr. Robert Aliunzi | 12/21/2024 | Weekly ReflectionDear Friends,
As we enter the final part of our Advent season, the Church invites us to intensify our preparation for the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, in a few days’ time. Since the beginning of the season, we have had great opportunities here at our parish to prepare by participating in our “Lessons and Carols” led by our own choir and clergy; then we had the “Honor Your Mother” Novena Rosary which our diocese asked our parish and school to lead, followed by a very inspiring and engaging “Advent Mission” led by the renowned and nationally acclaimed Jesse Romero.
ContinueGaudete
by Joseph Malzone | 12/14/2024 | Liturgy and Worship Reflections“Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, Gaudete!”
This incipit (the opening line) of the introit, the short piece of musical prayer the Church gives for the beginning of the Mass, translates to English as “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.” That is where we get the name for this Sunday of the Liturgical Year: Gaudete Sunday. This day is one of only two days in the entire Liturgical Year that the vestments for the Mass may be of rose color; the other day is Laetare Sunday in Lent.
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Dear Friends,
During this third week of Advent, we celebrate Gaudate on Sunday. Gaudate is Latin for “rejoice,” the first words of the opening antiphon for mass. This Sunday is unique as the third candle lit in the Advent wreath is colored rose rather than violet. Along with the candle, the priests and deacons who celebrate wear rose vestments. In this season of purple, the rose of Gaudete Sunday sticks out as a symbol of joy and rallies us to persevere in our Advent practices as the celebration of our Lord’s birth draws near. The Lord is near, so rejoice!
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Advent is already two week old!
by Fr. Robert Aliunzi | 12/07/2024 | Weekly ReflectionDear Friends,
Yes, dear friends, we are already in the second Sunday of Advent. Each year, this season offers us an opportunity to re-examine ourselves and turn away from sin in order to prepare to receive the birth of our Savior in a befitting manner. However, before I go into a bit of detail as to what we are called to do during this season, I would like to briefly share the meaning of Advent.
ContinueSome Customs of Advent (Part 2)
by Joseph Malzone - Adapted from Michael P. Foley | 12/07/2024 | Liturgy and Worship ReflectionsThe nativity scene or crèche arose out of ancient piety and the medieval theater. Christians were honoring the cave in Bethlehem where Jesus Christ is believed to have been born even before St. Helen built the Basilica of the Nativity over it around A.D. 330. Medieval mystery plays later reenacted the Nativity, but when they got out of hand, Pope Honorius suppressed them.
ContinueSome Customs of Advent (Part 1)
by Joseph Malzone | 12/01/2024 | Liturgy and Worship ReflectionsHappy New Year! Today, the First Sunday of Advent marks the start of the Church’s new Liturgical Year.
Advent is a curious season. It is the beginning of the liturgical year, and yet its first Gospel is about the end of the world. It marks a fresh start, and yet it opens by virtually repeating one of the readings from the Sunday before. It is draped in the penitential color of violet yet is irrepressibly joyful. It awaits the coming of the Messiah, who already came two thousand years ago. During Mass, the Gloria is suppressed, but outside Mass, there are delicious treats, Yuletide drinks, and joyous caroling.
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I had a dream – it was an Advent assignment!
by Fr. Robert Aliunzi | 12/01/2024 | Weekly ReflectionDear Friends, I was reminded of a strange dream I had some time back. In that rather strange dream, I was on a journey that took me through a lonely, deserted, and fearful terrain to a destination not quite clear to me. At around midday, totally hot and exhausted, I suddenly came upon what looked like a corpse. In a state of terror, my first reaction was to flee for my life, fearing that the body lying on the pathway was a victim of some wild animal or robbers. Afraid that I could easily become the next victim, the urge to flee grew even stronger.
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