Dear Friend of Carmel Mission,
We hear two accounts of Jesus’ Ascension into Heaven today, one in Luke’s Gospel, and another in the Acts of the Apostles. In both there is a clear direction for the first disciples, they are to stay in Jerusalem, waiting for coming of the Holy Spirit that Jesus has promised. Onc ...
Dear Friend of Carmel Mission,
As we hear the story of Jesus’ travels with His disciples in today’s Gospel, I am struck with Jesus’ enormous patience with His followers. James and John want call down a heavenly fire-ball on a town that rejects Jesus. They believe the townspeople has insulted Jesus by not w ...
Dear Friend of Carmel Mission,
Today we celebrate the great solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, and we reflect on the remarkable gift that is the Eucharist. In all our readings today, shared meals form the heart of the hospitality that God offers to us, and invites us to offer one another. In the ...
Dear Friend of Carmel Mission,
Today we celebrate the great mystery at the heart of our Catholic faith, the Most Holy Trinity, one God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our typical understanding of the word mystery is something that is meant to be solved, but the theological sense of mystery is a l ...
Dear Friend of Carmel Mission,
Today we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost, the birthday of our Church, when the Holy Spirit visited Jesus’ first disciples and empowered them to share the Good News of salvation. It is a visceral and inspirational story, the strong wind, the tongues of flame, and the sudden abili ...
Dear Friend of Carmel Mission,
We hear two accounts of Jesus’ Ascension into Heaven today, one in Luke’s Gospel, and another in the Acts of the Apostles. In both there is a clear direction for the first disciples, they are to stay in Jerusalem, waiting for coming of the Holy Spirit that Jesus has promised. Onc ...
Dear Friend of Carmel Mission,
Today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles places us in the midst of the heated conversation on what is required to be a Christian. Some people felt that to be a follower of Christ, one first needed to be a Jew. This excluded many of the Gentiles who were coming to believe in Je ...
Dear Friend of Carmel Mission,
In today’s Gospel Jesus’ new commandment, and His vision for the new Church that was to come, could not have been simpler, or more challenging! He asks his disciples to love. Jesus calls them, and us, to love as God loves, with a love that is rooted in humility and vulnerability. T ...
Dear Friend of Carmel Mission,
In the Gospel reading today we have the beautiful image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, “My sheep hear my voice: I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). This pastoral image was particularly relevant to the people of Jesus’ time, many of whom were shepherds themselves, a ...
Dear Friend of Carmel Mission,
In the Gospel today we see a beautiful example of our Savior lovingly giving his friend Peter something he desperately needs, healing. Peter’s love for Jesus has not diminished in any way since His Death and Resurrection. If anything, the wild exuberance with which Peter jumps in t ...
Dear Friend of Carmel Mission,
Throughout the Easter season we hear readings from the Acts of the Apostles. Written as a kind of sequel to Luke’s Gospel, the Acts answer many of the questions posed by the Gospel. Today we learn what the disciples did after Jesus comes back. Filled with the Holy Spirit, given to ...
Dear Friend of Carmel Mission,
Our Scripture readings for this Easter Sunday focus on the importance of witness. In the Gospel, Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John are witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus, though they do not yet truly understand the implications of what has occurred. In the first reading from the Ac ...
Dear Friend of Carmel Mission,
In this year’s lectionary cycle we are reading the Passion according to Luke. Each evangelist has his own style and his own focus in the Gospel narratives. In Luke’s telling of the Passion story, Jesus’s love and compassion for His disciples features quite prominently. Jesus kn ...
Dear Friend of Carmel Mission,
Like last week’s story of the Prodigal Son, this week’s Gospel involving Jesus, the Pharisees and the woman accused of adultery is one in which we can relate to several characters in different moments in our lives. We have likely experienced moments of persecution, misunderstandi ...
Dear Friend of Carmel Mission,
Today’s Gospel story of the Prodigal Son with its theme of forgiveness and reconciliation feels so relevant at this moment. Our world, as well as our hearts, are in desperate need of reconciliation, of healing, of peace and forgiveness. Our minds turn immediately to our brother ...
