The Long-awaited Day is Finally Here: The Groundbreaking!

06-02-2024Weekly ReflectionFr. Robert Aliunzi

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.

But, today, I am particularly excited and filled with profound joy because, although a Groundbreaking Ceremony generally marks a significant milestone in any construction project, this is very different and special to me. It is very different because we are constructing a building of eternal significance – a Perpetual Adoration Chapel! Moreover, this day has come after enormous struggles and overcoming obstacles in the process of securing permits and making other architectural adjustments. So, to me, this Groundbreaking uniquely signals the start of a brand-new story, our story, and a steady progress and growth of our Parish Community. I am so honored to be your Pastor at this very important moment of our history. As we journey together towards Heaven, let this new story be firmly written in our hearts through our focus on the Eucharist and strong commitment to the timeless practice of Adoration to the Blessed Sacrament. Once the Chapel is completed, this opportunity for Adoration will be available to us twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. What a blessing!

Now that the work has finally begun, I encourage everyone who has not yet fulfilled their financial pledges to this project to please, do so. Also, if you still wish to donate, please feel free to do so because there are still some physical improvements that I would like to make on our entire Church building during this same time. Finally, I would like to thank all our donors who have made this project possible. Thank you so much. May your purses be re-filled over and over again.

On another note, I would also like to thank you for joining me on my Installation as your Pastor today. It means a lot to me. But what is this Installation thing all about? Allow me to elaborate a little on this ceremony. This is because whenever we hear the word “install” in our technological influenced age, I suspect we first think of “loading a new program onto a computer”. However, in this case, to have an Installation of a Pastor means that the Bishop is placing me into a new position of authority on his behalf, as your shepherd. In other words, Installations of Pastors in the Catholic Church is a Canonical act through which the Pastor is entrusted with the care of the souls in his Parish. Some people believe that the word originated from two words, “in” and “stall” meaning that the Pastor is literally put on a stall (seat) to show his new position. Ideally, this ceremony would have happened on the first Sunday of my appointment as Pastor last July, but since there were many moves of Pastors in the Diocese, the Bishop has been busy installing other Pastors in addition to his many other commitments as Bishop. And since today the Bishop was also coming to do our Groundbreaking for our Chapel, we decided to combine the two ceremonies on the same day.

Finally, I would like to state very sincerely that since I joined our wonderful community of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel two years ago, I’ve been overwhelmed and tremendously encouraged by your love. Many of you have told me repeatedly how you love me and feel blessed that I am your Pastor. I’m humbled! But I want you all to know that I also feel the same way about you. I love you and it is the only reason why I wake up every morning with a big smile to serve you because I believe that by loving and serving you with dedication, I am serving God. As I have told you many times before, my job, as I see it, is to get all of you to Heaven! This is not an easy feat so please, always keep me in your prayers so that I may truly be a good shepherd to. So, help me God.

I love you!