Dear Friends,
I hope your summer affords you the opportunity to enjoy the people and places around you. What is summer, after all, without a BBQ or two? The added sunlight is certainly helping me to appreciate the natural beauty all around, and giving me more of a chance to spend time with friends and parish families. On that note, drop me a line if you’d like to come in for a chat.
This Sunday, July 18, we are hosting our now annual celebration of our patronal feast: The Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Our Mass, procession, and pot-luck lunch promise to be great community-building events. You won’t want to miss the procession following the 11:00am Mass... the more the merrier!
Our procession is a powerful expression of our being the Body of Christ. Our public profession of faith demonstrates that God’s love is not confined to the church building. We must bring it out with us when we go. The procession reminds us of precisely that, but it also shows our neighbors that we are committed to the task – and they can call on us to be the Body of Christ! Further, the procession makes known the fact that God is alive, and that he is on the move. God is at work in every corner of creation, every neighborhood, and we are called to join him in his work to claim every heart, every life, for Jesus.
It is the Spirit that animates the Body of Christ. That means that, whether or not you can join us on procession or pilgrimage, you can accompany us and support us by your prayers. As we process, my prayers for you and OLMC will be that we live out our call – both together and individually – to bring the love of God to life for the people we encounter!
Christ’s Peace,
Father Daniel
δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ