In Sunday’s Gospel Jesus invites us to come and find rest for our souls. Rest is an undervalued part of our productivity-driven world, which encourages us to drive ourselves to the limit of our endurance to keep achieving. Even when we are not working at our jobs, there is very little true rest. Our amazing global connectivity which allows us to be “live” at all times is a remarkable and valuable phenomenon but one with some repercussions. Jesus offers us another option, that we can come to Him, and rest our weary bodies, our burnt out minds and our tired souls.
Speaking of working, when we went into the lockdown time and had to close our facility, a core team of employees stayed with us as we navigated the intricacies of closing and securing our property and developing our online presence to create a virtual Carmel Mission community. Through our website, our streaming Masses and Daily Prayers we were able to remain connected to our parishioners and help all of you remain connected to one another..
This same core team Is providing the leadership for our limited re-opening. We are very pleased that at this time we are able to re-open for Masses and to welcome visitors to our Mission Grounds and Museum Store. As any of you who have come and visited the Mission or have attended Mass here will have noticed, it is not yet business as usual. We have had to adapt to the many measures required by the state, local and Diocesan authorities to help make these experiences safe for all participating. We are very aware of our responsibility to safeguard the health of our staff, our parishioners and all our visitors, and safety is and must be our first priority.
We are working hard to come back as quickly and as safely as possible under the current conditions. We appreciate your continued patience and understanding, and share your desire for the world to return to a state of normalcy. Until this is possible, please rest assured that we will continue to navigate these challenges together , and will keep you updated and informed of any developments. I encourage you to visit our Advisory Page on our website, carmelmission.org, for all the latest information as it is updated daily.
As we continue to journey together as a faith community, I thank you for your patience and your support which is allowing us to negotiate this time of re-opening and balance the diverse needs of our community.
This week, I encourage you to seek the rest that Jesus offers us. We can help each other remember that when we are rested and refreshed we are so much better able to serve our God
and one another.
Wishing you and your loved ones blessings of good health and true rest,
Fr. Paul
Please take a moment to read our Carmel Mission weekly bulletin