Catholics set themselves apart from many other Christians through their practice of praying for the deceased. This practice stems from the belief that the souls of the departed may be in purgatory, and the prayers and sacrifices of the living on Earth can aid their journey to Heaven.

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.

“Another angel with a golden censer came and stood at the altar; he was given a great quantity of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that is before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel” (Revelation 8:3-4).

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.

Last week I attended the canonization Mass of now Saints Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati. St. Peter's Square was packed with hundreds of thousands of people, most of them young people from all over the world, waving their country's flag back and forth in the air.

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!

Today I am in Rome, attending the Canonization Mass of Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis, where Pope Leo XIV proclaims through his capacity as Vicar of Christ that these two men are officially members of the Heavenly Kingdom; in other words, Saints.

In the Nicene Creed that we profess at Sunday Mass, we come across a word that is rather challenging: “consubstantial.” This is an indirect translation of the most controversial word in the history of Christianity — the Greek term homoousios.

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.

The Church, especially in the English language, has multiple I nstances where the same word has multiple meanings. It's very similar to how lead and lead, while spelled the same, are two very distinct things. For the Church, the word “catholic” has multiple meanings, and which meaning is being used is commonly distinguished by the use of capital letters: Catholic and catholic.

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.

In many Catholic churches, flowers are the most commonly used decorations in the sanctuary. They can be found near the altar at Mass, or in front of statues and other prominent works of art. Flowers serve the purpose of reminding us of God's creation and the beauty of his handiwork. Nikolaus Gihr, in his book The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, elaborates on this spiritual meaning.

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.

Last weekend, many thousands of youth attended celebrations in Rome as part of the 2025 Jubilee celebrations. In 2001, during his 1,000th general audience as the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II addressed youth, in particular altar servers, while remarking on World Youth Day in Rome during the Jubilee of 2000. He said:

Each month on the second Sunday at 5pm, we offer a special candlelight Mass where the sanctuary is lit primarily by a multitude of candles surrounding the altar. The music is different from the other masses with a beautifully contemplative and prayerful mood to draw us into the wonder of the Eucharistic Mystery that unfolds before us on the altar. Incense is burned throughout the Mass to engage another of our senses. This engagement of our senses tunes us to enter the contemplation of the things of Heaven and our relation to them, in the very place where Heaven comes down to touch the Earth.

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.'