Welcome Fr. Gabriel Terrill

08-26-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Gabriel Terrill

Hello, brothers and sisters in Christ!

You have likely seen me around these past two months, and perhaps we have had a chance to speak. But, for those who don’t know me, my name is Fr. Gabriel Francis Alexander Terrill, but you can just call me Fr. Gabe. I am your new Parochial Vicar, and I am excited to be with you and serve you in my priestly ministry. To give you a better idea of who I am, I thought I might share a bit of my vocation story and how I became a priest.

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I'm so Grateful

08-19-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Robert Aliunzi

Dear Friends,

Yes, August 21st, is my birthday but unlike all the previous ones, I was not even almost aware of it until Facebook reminded me of it last week and Kelly just asked me to write something about my birthday from my heart. But this got me thinking as to why I don’t have any excitement and mood of celebration in me about my birthdays anymore? The obvious answer is the fact that I am becoming older and I don’t like it! But the more I thought about it, the more I also realized that it is not just about getting older but that getting older has re-ordered my priorities. I came to realize that over the last couple of years of living in my new country, the United States of America, I could have been greatly influenced by some aspects of our culture that constantly wants more and faster of most everything. I realized further that the more things I acquired for myself on my birthdays, the less fulfilled I was at every birthday. This new world order created by my new culture has therefore, made me to introspect the meaning of this particular birthday, which a friend of mine described as simply a bunch of numbers.

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Why would anyone in their right mind leave the Catholic Church?

08-12-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Robert Aliunzi

Dear Friends,

A few days ago, I was having a brief conversation with a priest friend about this and that in our lives as pastors who have just recently taken over parishes. Something he said about adoration during that conversation not only shocked me but also made me sad, and got me thinking. He said he had replaced the full day adoration schedule in his parish with Mass at noon because he didn’t want to give people the reason to leave the church because of adoration! To leave the Church because of adoration? What a pity! To leave the Church because of adoration would mean that even if those people he is trying to retain come to the noon Mass, they most likely have no idea who they are coming to encounter or receive. If they did, they would never have enough of Him let alone leave the church because of Him being exposed for adoration. Moreover, those who want to leave the Church will still find other reasons to leave the Church no matter what. Therefore, pampering to those few denies the many the opportunity to spend time with the Lord in adoration. However, an excerpt from Matthew Kelly entitled “Beautiful Eucharist”, gives a very good perspective to this issue of leaving the Church. Matthew Kelly says:

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What Being a Community Means to Me

08-05-2023AllFr. Robert Aliunzi

Dear Friends,

Since my assignment here among you, first as an associate pastor a year ago and now as your pastor a month ago, it has become increasingly very clear to me how community-oriented our parish is. We are a warm and indeed very welcoming community of believers. The concept of community means a lot to me because it has taught me precious values I can always relate with, and it has greatly influenced my leadership as a pastor over the years and here is why:

Growing up in my village in Uganda, I have always been made to understand myself as a child of my community. My life was shaped by the rural village environment where darkness brought out night runners, countless stars, and a variety of wildlife. Where every child was a child of the community regardless of whether that child was from a rich or poor family, was a biological child or child of a neighbor.

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The Jesus Guy

07-29-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Robert Aliunzi

Dear Friends,

Two weeks after my arrival here at our parish in June of last year, I got a call to go and anoint a sick person in our neighborhood to which I responded promptly. However, when I reached the apartment indicated on the address, I got confused how to locate the exact room number. Fortunately, I found a gentleman in the parking lot, and I asked him to help me locate the room number. After looking at the number he said: “Oh, you are looking for the Jesus Guy”. What an identity to be described by – “The Jesus Guy!”

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Do not gossip: It is unChristian.

07-22-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Robert Aliunzi

Dear Friends,

A few days ago, after Mass, I was chatting with Dave Fesko, the sacristan. He brought about the topic of gossip and how he hated it. I cannot remember how that conversation came about but it inspired this short article. This is because gossip is usually attractive but very toxic and destructive to a community especially when they target the personality of someone or people. Besides, they also break the cardinal virtue of charity. Unfortunately, despite this, gossip happens almost everywhere even in the Church. Therefore, it is a vice which should never be entertained especially in the Church. That is why I always say that if you are tempted to say something bad about somebody, just shut up!

In reflecting further on this topic of gossip, the following story from Pope Francis about Socrates as to why we should not gossip came to my mind. I would like to share this with you. Hope you will find it useful.

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I Cannot Thank God Enough, Here is Why

07-15-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Robert Aliunzi

Dear Friends,

On July 20th, 1991, something very significant happened in my life – I was ordained a Catholic priest in my home parish in Uganda! In a few days’ time therefore, I will be celebrating the 32nd Anniversary of my priesthood. As I reflected on this milestone in my life, I realized that it was not by accident that I am celebrating this particular anniversary among you as your new pastor, or to some as your son and to others as your brother and friend. I am so grateful to God for each of you, whichever way you look at it.

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A Brief Update on the Perpetual Adoration Chapel

07-08-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Robert Aliunzi

Dear Friends,

I felt the need to give a brief update on our perpetual adoration chapel project after receiving several anxious queries as to what is going on since Fr. Charlie moved from the parish. I think you deserve to know after the very remarkable contribution and support you have extended towards this project. As you all know, Fr. Charlie had desired to complete this project before leaving our parish, but I told him that I will make sure that it is completed as quickly as possible since he has done a great deal of the work. Besides, I also firmly believe in this project because personally, the Eucharist and Adoration have always meant so much to me from my childhood to my priesthood and as I pointed out in last week’s article, focus on the Eucharist will also be one of the pillars of my service here among you as your pastor.

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A New Phase Begins: A Privilege to Love You More as your Shepherd

07-01-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Robert Aliunzi

Dear Friends,

Today, July 1, 2023, I offcially begin my ministry among you as your Pastor. I do so with profound gratitude to God for giving me the opportunity to serve you in this phase of my priestly life. I am honored. I expressed the same sentiment in the first article I wrote a few weeks ago and I repeat it yet again because gratitude remains my primary focus and love will be my instrument to express it. I am deeply grateful to all the pastors who preceded me most especially Fr. Charlie our immediate former pastor, for preparing me in various ways, knowingly or unknowing for this moment. I am also grateful to the Servants of the Plan of God for their years of great service to our parish and school. May they all be blessed as they begin another phase in their pastoral and evangelization mission wherever the Lord has now assigned them. I thank the staff of both the parish and of our wonderful school for serving with me diligently in this community. Finally, I thank you my dear parishioners, for showing me tremendous love this past year as I served as your associate pastor. Many of you have expressed lots of excitement and support when I was named as your pastor three months ago. That meant a lot to me and will continue to mean a lot to me for years to come.

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The Significance of Fatherhood in the Lives of our Children

06-24-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Robert Aliunzi

Friends,

This past week we celebrated Fathers’ Day during which we honored and prayed for our fathers both biological and spiritual. Thank you for your prayers. Although I had a strong urge to focus my homily on fatherhood, the liturgical impulse to preach on the readings of the day prevailed. In this short article, therefore, allow me to brie$y share some of my thoughts on the significance of fatherhood in the lives of our children. I deem this to be very important because our fathers significantly shape how we handle responsibilities and challenges and view life in general in our adult lives. The way our fathers treat our mothers for instance, will determine how the boys will treat women in general and their wives in particular, as adults.

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God Writes Straight with Crooked Lines

06-17-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Robert Aliunzi

Dear Friends,

What a great blessing it is for me to be called to serve you here at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel as your pastor at this point in my priestly life. I am convinced that this is not by coincidence, it is by providence. In a month’s time, I will be celebrating my 32nd year of priestly ordination. During these past years, I have no doubt that the Lord has been at work, building, molding, and motivating me just for this moment. While He has done amazing things for me, He has also allowed me to face various challenges over the years in order to purify and strengthen me so that with His help, I may come out a stronger person to serve you. I will share some of these in future articles.

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Aging: A Curse and a Blessing

06-10-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Robert Aliunzi

Dear Friends,

So much serious stuff has been going on around us this past couple of months that I would like to lighten the atmosphere a bit with this light article which I write in the place of Fr. Charlie. As I do so, let us continue to pray that Fr. Charlie enjoys his well-deserved rest as he prepares to move onto his new assignment. Let us also welcome Fr. Bitrus Maigamo who will be serving us in this month of June and of course, keep in your prayers Fr. Gabriel Terrill who will join us in July as our Parochial Vicar.

This article was inspired by my recent experience and conversations about aging while on my vacation in Uganda. Many people I encountered there kept on remarking that I look younger than my age and that I don’t seem to age. While I kind of enjoyed those compliments, in reality I feel very different now than ever before and I don’t like it. I recall that when I was young, I looked forward to growing old but no one ever warned me about the other frustrations that come with age such as aching bones, frequent doctors’ appointments, impatience, whining about the present state of affairs, worrying about retirement and everything else. I noticed this even more clearly when I found myself among my fellow “old men” in my village reminiscing about the past good old days and condemning the children of these day.

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SCRIP/ Food for Thought Program

06-03-2023Weekly ReflectionFr. Charlie

Dear Friends,

It has been more than 20 years that merchant cards have been sold at OLMC to help fund school expenses. This program, administered by the Home and School Association, has benefitted many teachers and their students over the years. School volunteers standing in their spot selling cards after the Sunday Masses is a sight we are all accustomed to seeing.

Much has changed since the program was "first initiated—especially with the way that so much is done online. Today, schools in our diocese that still have SCRIP programs do all of their transactions online. These online sites allow you to purchase the cards and credit our school account, all from the comfort of your home.

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