My wife and I were blessed to be able to attend the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis from July 17-21, and it was AWESOME!  It was truly incredible to be with 60,000 Catholics for the main purpose of adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament!  We all desired to grow in love for Him and for each other.  It was a little glimpse of heaven as we felt like one body before our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  If someone dropped something, there would quickly be someone there to help them pick it up.  If someone tripped, they quickly received the aid of others.  The lines were long for most things, but there was no complaining or grumbling, just love and kindness.

Dear Friends,

One of my ardent prayers is that before I leave this parish or retire, we should have produced at least three priests from our parish. This prayer has been intensified by the assignment of seminarian Max Rich for his summer pastoral experience here at our parish. His presence and commitment to his vocation has not only renewed my own vocation but has also given me hope that my prayers will be answered.

Dear Friends,

This weekend we celebrate two events. The first is the community celebration of our Patroness, Our Lady of Mount Carmel. We transferred the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel to this weekend so that our entire community can more easily participate it. Our second cause for celebration is our Pastor, Father Robert Aliunzi’s priestly anniversary. This Saturday, July 20th, Father celebrates 33 years of priesthood. This is significant especially for a priest since the number 33 is associated with Jesus as he was 33 years old when he ministered and died on the cross. Father Robert, thank you for your many years of ministry and please know of our prayers as we celebrate your priesthood.

Dear Friends,

As I pointed out in my last article, the Feast Day of our Parish, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, is indeed around the corner. This is our 92nd Anniversary and since the founding of our Parish in 1932, (although our current Church was built in 1968), we have celebrated this great Feast in various small and big ways. This year, we shall celebrate it in a rather moderate way. However, despite that, we all know that to better celebrate an important Feast, a proper preparation is always necessary. In our case, we have already begun this preparation with the Novena on Thu, Jul 11 which will go up to Fri, Jul 19.

Dear Friends,

Feasts of various kinds are always occasions to rejoice and reflect on what is being celebrated. The Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, our Parish’s Feast, is no exception. Every year we celebrate this feast on July 16, and we have celebrated it for years, to remind us of the special place Our Lady plays in the life of our Parish and to encourage us to grow closer to her and to her son Jesus Christ.

Dear Friends,

If you have seen that my smiles have broadened these days, you are correct. Why? Well, this is because the long-awaited Perpetual Adoration Chapel construction is now underway as you have probably seen. This project is dear to my heart as it is in many of yours, I am sure. Yes, for many months, we have longed for, prayed fervently and battled with mundane procedures to reach this moment.

Dear Friends,

We have just recently concluded our Parish Census and Survey. One of the major purposes of these exercises as I told you, was to identify the needs of our Parish and appropriately address them. While the final outcome of the survey is still being compiled and will be shared at an appropriate time, one need that came out frequently from many of you and which I personally have been also thinking about, is the need for a Bereavement Support Ministry here in our Parish.

Dear Friends,

This was the simple but profound question I was asked one day by one of my OLMC preschool friends named Luke this past school year. Much as Luke constantly asks me very many questions whenever I visited their class or after Mass, this particular one about the Father of God caught me completely off guard. For all my years of studying theology, some years of teaching religious education and years of preaching, I could not immediately provide him with a simple response suitable for a four-year-old.

Dear Friends,

“You have a great and joyful community here at OLMC. Keep on doing whatever you are doing, Robert. I will certainly come back soon!” These were the final words Bishop Dolan told me as I escorted him to his car after my Installation and thereafter the Groundbreaking for our Adoration Chapel last week. I couldn’t agree more with the Bishop but more especially with his first sentence about being a joyful community.

Dear Friends,

Twelve days ago today, despite his extremely busy schedule, our Bishop, John Dolan, accepted my short-notice invitation for him to come over and officially break ground for the construction of our long-awaited Divine Mercy Perpetual Adoration Chapel this weekend. He is also at the same time installing me officially as your Pastor. I am especially so grateful to God that this historical occasion of the groundbreaking is finally taking place today June 2, 2024, soon after the 11:00am Mass. I am also grateful to our Bishop for making the time to come over and be with us to Preside over these events.

Dear Friends,

This past week, as the school year came to a close, our own school joined the flurry of activities of other schools which included graduations, among others. The last to graduate this past Monday in our own school, which caught my attention most, were the Little Lamb Preschoolers. As usual, I was fascinated by the simplicity and purity of love exhibited by these little souls which ranged from their often off-tune but passionate songs to their spontaneous genuine words of “I love you”.

Dear Friends,

Last week, I joined the Priests of the Diocese of Phoenix for a five-day silent retreat in Tucson. It was one of the best retreats I have had in recent years. One of my prayer focuses for this retreat was for our Perpetual Adoration Chapel whose construction has been delayed for nearly two years, to be approved by the City of Tempe. So, from the very beginning of the retreat, I asked the Lord to expedite the approval process for the building permit so that the construction of our Divine Mercy Adoration Chapel can commence. This was in addition to asking many of you individually and as a community to pray for this same intention for months.

Dear Friends,

When we look at the state of our world today, we can easily get discouraged. There are many reasons for this but one reason that is common and perhaps most apparent is the division we see in the world. We are technically more connected than ever before, more aware of our fellow man’s existence yet we seem to be just as divided as ever. Even within the Church we see this division. Division is nothing new, it’s been around since the fall of Adam and Eve when Adam blamed Eve for his sin. However, what we see in our modern era is a radical individualism, an idea that we must be reverenced as unique and distinct from all others and that our individual identity is more important than anything else.

Dear Friends,

I want to take this opportunity to thank those of you who participated in the just concluded Parish Census. I am glad to report that we have gathered great data through this exercise, and we are now ready to move forward to the Survey portion. Like I mentioned in my previous articles and video messages, I am very interested to hear your thoughts about our Parish namely, what you think we do well and sets us apart as Our Lady of Mt. Carmel; what you think we could improve on and what new things you desire to be introduced in order for our parish to continue thriving.