Dear Friends of Carmel Mission,
I’m writing this message just after I finished eating the most delicious pear – so sweet, so tender, so juicy!
It wasn’t just any pear. It was plucked from a pear tree planted way back in the 1700s by St. Junípero and his friars.
Can you imagine it, a pear tree planted all those years ago is still producing such succulent fruit? The pears are symbolic of the good seeds of faith sowed by St. Junípero and still yielding a rich and bountiful harvest today.
We are all called to bear good fruit and Advent is a good season to examine the type of fruit we are producing.
Are we truly preparing the way to welcome our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, just as did his cousin John the Baptist in our Gospel this weekend?
Are we actively promoting an agenda of reconciliation and peace, beginning with our family, our friends, our workmates?
Are we making an effort to support those who are neglected, isolated, marginalized, exploited, abandoned and abused?
Our tree will be judged according to the fruit it produces.
Advent is a time to prune and tend the soil.
Happy gardening!
Blessings,
Fr. Paul
Please take a moment to read our Carmel Mission Weekly Bulletin.