As we honor our Founder and first Pastor on his Feast Day, I take this opportunity to thank you for your participation and great Stewardship here at Carmel Mission. My great gratitude goes to all of you who helped us surpass our goal for our “Renew A Pew” Campaign. We are very fortunate to have Paul Hoffman as our AMA Coordinator. Thanks once again, Paul, for another successful campaign.
This is a bittersweet time of year for parishioners and priests, as our Bishop, Daniel Garcia, announces new assignments. It is with regret that we bid farewell to Fr. Jhonnatan Carmona,
as he takes up his new assignment at St. Patrick’s in Watsonville. I will miss his hearty laugh and his mischievous smile among many other things. He seemed always to be happy here, which is a great testimony to the warmth of our parishioners. I know that he has learned much here that will assist him in his priesthood and his ministry to the people of our diocese.
Dear Jhonnatan, we wish you continued joy in your service of God’s people, and we thank you for sharing your many gifts with us here at the Mission. May God continue to bless you and protect you.
As Fr. Jhonnatan moves on in his ministry, we welcome our new Parochial Vicar, Fr. Rodrigo Paredes, who comes to us from Sacred Heart Parish in Salinas.
I will ask Fr. Rodrigo to introduce himself:
Dear Friends of Carmel Mission,
My name is Fr. Rodrigo Paredes and I graduated from Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon. I was ordained a priest last year, June 8, 2018. You might be thinking by now: “Oh Lord… he’s a baby priest!” Truth is … you’re absolutely right… I feel the same; however, I trust that you will help me to become the priest I always intended to be. As a deacon I was assigned to Holy Trinity, Greenfield CA., where I served for one full year and after that, as a priest, I served as the parochial vicar at Sacred Heart, in Salinas CA.
It is with great joy and anticipation that I am coming to serve you, the holy people of God at the Carmel Mission, Basilica. In the same way, it is a great honor to know that I’ll be collaborating with our Pastor Paul Murphy and his staff. He will be a good mentor to me and I’ll benefit tremendously from his priestly experiences and leadership.
We will journey in faith and grow together in charity. This is why I come to you with a great sense of hope and trust. For this, I always remind myself of a couple of phrases. On the one hand, “Do not be afraid” (SJPII). These words have resonated in my heart since I started formation many years ago and after more than 14 years of seminary training, they continue to be a great source of inspiration and motivation. On the other hand, “act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). As for so many of you, this biblical passage delights my soul, and nourishes my spirit of life. Trusting in these words, I’m very optimistic about my new beginning with you.
I pray this time with all of you will be an experience of happiness in and with Christ. It is also my prayer that we will unite our efforts to continue giving a wholehearted “YES” to whatever the Lord is calling us to do. I look forward to personally meeting you.
Blessings,
Fr. RodrigoPlease take a moment to read our Carmel Mission Weekly Bulletin.