Celebrating at Home: Finding True Life22th Sunday in Ordinary Time | Mt 16: 21-27The Communications Office is closed during the month of August. So we are providing a short reflection on the Gospel each week. Have a blessed week!What a contrast there is between last Sunday’s Gospel—when Peter was proclaimed the “rock” upon which the Church would be built—and this Sunday, when Jesus rebukes him for being a different kind of rock, a “stumbling block”!When Jesus begins to speak of his suffering, death, and resurrection, it ...Continue Reading

Bl. Jacques Retouret, priest and martyrAugust 26 | Optional Memorial*Excerpts from the Homily of St. John Paul II at the Beatification of 110 Victims including Carmelite Jacques Retouret*/Martyrdom is a special gift of the Holy Spirit/: a gift for the entire Church. It finds its culmination in today’s liturgy of Beatification, in which we give special glory to God: “/Te martyrum candidatus laudat exercitus.”/ God, who through a solemn act of the Church—Beatification—crowns their merits, at the same time reveals the gift ...Continue Reading

St. Mary of Jesus Crucified (OCD), virginAugust 25 | Optional MemorialExcerpts from the homily of Pope Francis at the Mass of CanonizationMay 17, 2015 | St. Peter's SquareAn essential aspect of witness to the risen Lord is unity among ourselves, his disciples/, in the image of his own unity with the Father. Today too, in the Gospel, we heard Jesus’ prayer on the eve of his passion: “that they may be one, even as we are one” (Jn 17:11). From this eternal love between the Father and the Son, poured into our hearts th ...Continue Reading

Celebrating at Home: Who Do You Say I Am?20th Sunday in Ordinary Time | Mt 16: 13-20The Communications Office is closed during the month of August. So we are providing a short reflection on the Gospel each week. Have a blessed week!At this point in the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Jesus and his chosen disciples have been living and traveling together for a long time. Now he invites them to reflect on their identity; even his question contains an explicit clue: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”The disciples answer him w ...Continue Reading

  *Province of Eastern Indonesia Hit by Earthquake*The island of Flores, Indonesia was struck yesterday morning by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake. The epicenter was at the center of the island, near the town of Ende, Flores. The General Curia was contacted by Ferdinandus Tay, the vice provincial of the Province of Eastern Indonesia, to inform the curia that the provincial offices, inaugurated in August 2025, suffered a great deal of damage in the quake. The two communities of Carmelites in Bajawa are okay how ...Continue Reading

CAUSA NOSTRAE LAETITIAEPROFESSIO TEMPORANEA*16-07-26 Christopher Lee Castaneda (PCM) CDMX, México16-07-26 Walter Vladimir Díaz Romero (PCM) CDMX, México16-07-26 Oscar Alejandro Méndez López (PCM) CDMX, México16-07-26 Hugo Alexander Ramírez García (PCM) CDMX, México16-07-26 Nicholas Matthew Jeferry (PCM) CDMX, MéxicoPROFESSIO SOLEMNIS*25-07-26 Syprian Dzihwema (Hib-Zim) Kriste Mambo, Zimbabwe 25-07 ...Continue Reading

Bl. Angelus Augustine Mazzinghi, priestAugust 17 | Optional MemorialBl. Angelo Mazzinghi was a noted preacher, prior, and reformer, teacher of theology and was known for his pious devotion to the Holy Eucharist, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Carmelite Rule.The exact date of his birth is unknown but was certainly before 1386. He is sometime referred to as Angelo Agostino but Agostino is his father’s name. He was received into the Carmelite Order in 1413.He was the first member of the reformed observance of Our Lady of ...Continue Reading

Celebrating at Home: A Kingdom for All20th Sunday in Ordinary Time | Mt 15: 21-28The Communications Office is closed during the month of August. So we are providing a short reflection on the Gospel each week. Have a blessed week!Today’s Gospel recounts a turning point in Jesus’ ministry. He sees himself as “the one sent”—not only to the lost sheep of Israel. That is, to those who were judged as sinners because they did not keep the Law of Moses and, were not considered to be within God’s care and concern by the religiou ...Continue Reading

 *Earthquake in Colombia on August 10*On August 10, the country of Colombia has been struck by a violent earthquake that has devastated large areas of the country, particularly the city of Cali, where there are reports of hundreds of fatalities, thousands of injuries, and a large number of people missing. Authorities describe the situation as extremely serious, with entire buildings collapsed and infrastructure damaged. Rescue operations are continuing around the clock, while the need for humanitaria ...Continue Reading

Bl. Isidore Bakanja, martyrAugust 12 | Optional MemorialExcerpts from the book Isidore Bakanja: Martyr for the Scapular by Lina FarronatoOn the surface, Bakanja was a simple, unassuming boy from one of many Congolese villages. But he stood out for his goodness of character. Those who knew him, like Remacle Linganga, the labor leader of Coquilhatville, remembered him as a very affable and sweet person, who did not like unnecessary disputes, friendly with anyone regardless of color, and devoid of malice. However ...Continue Reading