Dear Friend of Carmel Mission,
Today we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit into the world and the birthday of our Church. For over two thousand years, our Church as relied on the Holy Spirit to guide her, to heal her, to renew her, and to sustain her. As we welcome the Holy Spirit into our hearts today, we also can experience this guidance, healing and renewal. There has been much focus in the recent days on when our houses of worship can safely re-open. This is understandable and I will address our own efforts towards this goal. It is important to remember as we anticipate that day; our Church has never closed. While our Basilica may be closed, the essential work of the Church, to be the Body of Christ in the world, continues, with your support and participation.
Our Bishop, Danny Garcia, has been working on guidelines for the safe re-opening of our parishes. At Carmel Mission we hope that we will be able to meet these requirements and welcome you back soon. Please be aware there will be many changes to our usual practice of gathering here at the Mission. We will be creating video messages and written documents to provide you with as much detail in advance as possible as to what to expect if you choose to join us. For those who are not able to join us in person we will be continue to stream the Mass via our website. As you can imagine, we are in overdrive to meet the standards necessary to safely re-open. Your support is crucial to our ability to achieve the goal of welcoming you back as soon as possible. Please consider visiting the website and clicking the DONATE button to help us meet this challenge. The most up to date information on our re-opening and current conditions at the Mission can always be found on our website; I encourage you to visit carmelmission.org regularly to check for any new information.
Oh, and I have great news! Our Carmel Mission Museum store is open online and taking orders at this time, Please visit our website to see what is available and email orders@carmelmission.org with orders or any questions. Store staff is available 9am-5pm Monday-Friday to receive, process, prepare and ship your orders. Please support our store, and take advantage of a 20% discount on all merchandise for parishioners.
The Holy Spirit is inventive, creative, and wise beyond our understanding. With trust in his guidance we can and will overcome the current challenges presented by the pandemic. “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord .” (Romans 8:38-39).
I wish you and your loved ones blessings of good health, continued patience, and the many gifts of the Holy Spirit,
Fr. Paul
Please take a moment to read our Carmel Mission Weekly Bulletin.