Greetings from Fr. Gregory
Dear Little Flower Family,
Greetings in Our Lord Jesus Christ! As our new community of friars gets settled in here at the Basilica, please allow me this opportunity to assure you of our prayers for you and your families as we begin our service to you here at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower.
It is my joy to have been asked by my religious superior to return to Little Flower and to have begun serving as pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and St. Thérèse Parish. In undertaking this new ministry, my thoughts turn to the words of our patroness, St. Thérèse, as she opens her spiritual autobiography, The Story of a Soul:
Just as the sun shines simultaneously on the tall cedars and on each little flower as though it were alone on the earth, so Our Lord is occupied particularly with each soul as though there were no others like it. And just as in nature all the seasons are arranged in such a way as to make the humblest daisy bloom on a set day, in the same way, everything works out for the good of each soul.
My prayer is that, by God’s grace, each of our parishioners may come to experience this particular love of Our Lord for them in the way that St. Thérèse did. And that, as a parish community, we may become witnesses to God’s merciful love for all who come to the Basilica – be it for Mass, Confession, faith formation, spiritual conferences, Little Flower School activities, cultural events, pilgrimages and tours, or any other reason. May our beloved Basilica become “a place for mercy,” just as our patroness, St. Thérèse, is a herald of God’s merciful love, revealed through His Son, Jesus Christ Our Lord.
The prayers of the friars are with you all as we cope with the pandemic. For those of you who are well, we pray for your continued health. For those suffering from the virus, we pray for healing. For those who have lost their lives, we pray for their eternal rest and the consolation of their families. This crisis is the time in which Our Lord calls us to live His Gospel in a spirit of trust and charity. May He show Himself to be our Good Shepherd who is at our side as we travel through this dark valley.
As soon as we are able, I do hope to start returning bit by bit to the parish’s previous schedule of Masses, Confessions, and other services. One of the things necessary to move forward in this regard is to build a large enough team of volunteers to meet the requirements of the COVID-19 guidelines for holding public services in the Basilica. If you would like to help in this regard, please contact the administration office.
Thank you for your faithfulness and continued support of our parish.
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and St. Thérèse, pray for us!