Celebrating at Home: Close Encounters with the Kingdom of God17th Sunday in Ordinary TimeIn the Gospel, Jesus compares the Kingdom to treasure hidden in a field, to a merchant on the lookout for fine pearls and to a fisherman’s dragnet which brings in a very mixed catch. The point of the parables is the behavior of the people in them.In the first two parables the joy and delight of those who find (experience) the Kingdom is obvious. It is so strong that nothing is spared in order to posses the Kingdom. The pur ...Continue Reading

Blessed John Soreth, priestJuly 24 | MemorialImportant to the life of the Carmelite Order was the foundation of female monasteries by Blessed John Soreth. As soon as he was elected prior general on November 1, 1451, Soreth himself affiliated the beguinage of Ten Elsen near Geldern in 1452, confirming it the following year by appealing to the papal bull Cum nulla (October 7, 1452), with which Pope Nicholas V recognized the Carmelites' right to have female monasteries like other mendicant orders.Soreth ...Continue Reading

  The Provincial Commissariat of Zimbabwe Celebrates 80 Years During 2026The Carmelites in Zimbabwe are celebrating 80 years of Carmelite presence in that country during 2026. Adopting the theme “Rooted in Faith: Growing in Hope: 80 Years of Carmelite Presence in Zimbabwe,” the celebrations will be various and many throughout the year. The Commissary Provincial, Shelton Zimondi, challenged that the jubilee not be a mere reflection on the past but “a look to the future with hope and confidence. Our hope is ...Continue Reading

Whitefriars Hall -- Washington, DCThe Prophet ElijahJuly 20 | Solemnity*Elijah and His Portrayal in Modern Art*Many representations are now on display in churches and museums around the world of the Prophet Elijah. Their quality varies greatly but each has the potential to draw the viewer into prayer and reflection on the various actions the Prophet of God performed. Marc Chagall (1887-1985) is a more recent artist who attempted to bring the Old Testament stories to life as part of his 105-etching series of the Old Test ...Continue Reading

Celebrating at Home: The Patient Gardener16th Sunday in Ordinary TimeThe section of St Matthew’s Gospel from which we are now reading concerns the Kingdom of God. Jesus uses this expression frequently in his teaching. The Kingdom is not heaven, it is the life and heart of God. We live in the Kingdom when we live according to the mind and heart of God. The Kingdom, or reign of God, breaks into human reality when human beings live, breathe and act out of the life of God; when the heart of God becomes ours; when we al ...Continue Reading

 CAUSA NOSTRAE LAETITIAEINITIUM NOVITIATUS*16-07-26  Ángel Vicente Satama (PCM-Ecuador)16-07-26  Oreste José Fernández (PCM-Ven)16-07-26  Marcos Leonbardo Maxim Sánchez (PCM-Méx)16-07-26  Jhosymar Patricio Reyes (PCM-Ecuador)16-07-26  Juan Alberto Castellanos (PCM-Ven)16-07-26  Eduín Said Chicas Bonilla (PCM-Hon)16-07-26  Melvin Omar Gutiérrez Lorenzo (PCM-Hon)PROFESSIO TEMPORANEA*15-07-26  Paulus Bonari Ndundu (Indo-Or)&n ...Continue Reading

 IN SOLLEMNITATE B.V. MARIAE DE MONTE CARMELO/Flos Carmeli, vitis florigera,//splendor caeli, Virgo puerpera singularis. Mater mitis, sed viri nescia, Carmelitis esto propitia, stella maris./ *DESIDERIO PRIOR GENERALIS DOMUSQUE GENERALIS COMMUNITAS*16.VII.2026    +          +           + www.ocarm.orghttp://www.facebook.com/ocarm.orghttps://twitter.com/ocarm_org     ...Continue Reading

St. Teresa of Jesus "of the Andes," virginJuly 13 | Optional Memorial in Latin America*Jesus Alone is Beautiful*From the writings of the Saint: Diario y cartas (Los Andes, 1983), 373, 359, 376Second Reading from the Office of Readings for July 13Jesus alone is beautiful; he is my only joy. I call for him, I cry after him, I search for him within my heart. I long for Jesus to grind me interiorly so that I may become a pure host where he can find his rest. I want to be athirst with love so that other souls may p ...Continue Reading

Carmelite Church - Cagliari, Italy Bl. Jane Scopelli, virgin July 9 | Optional Memorial  *Mystical Life with Mary* From /De/ /vita/ /Mariae-formi/ et Mariana by Michael of St Augustine  (Chapter 2, 13) Second Reading from the Office of Readings for July 9 We have shown previously how the deiform and divine life, life in God, is to be practiced. Here we shall show how the Mariform and Marian life is to be practiced. In order to live in God, we must, in all our actions, omissions, and sufferings, perform th ...Continue Reading

Celebrating at Home: Becoming Rich Soil15th Sunday in Ordinary TimeThe section of St Matthew’s Gospel from which we are now reading concerns the Kingdom of God. Jesus uses this expression frequently in his teaching. The Kingdom is not heaven, it is the life and heart of God. We live in the Kingdom when we live according to the mind and heart of God.This section about the Kingdom of God is the centrepiece of St Matthew’s Gospel.This week we begin the series of parables about the Kingdom with the parable of the Sower ...Continue Reading