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Discalced Secular Carmelite Community St Joseph Guardian of Carmel

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Lafayette, LA
Discalced Secular Carmelite Community St Joseph Guardian of Carmel

The Discalced Carmelite order was founded by St. Teresa of Avila. Our community is a lay vocation of

The community meets to pray, learn and share a Carmelite atmosphere of friendship and family.

01/21/2026

Daily Gospel Commentary — Mark 3:1-6
Wednesday January 21th of the 2nd Week in Ordinary Time
“He said to the man with the withered hand, "Come up here before us." Then he said to the Pharisees, "Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?" (Mk 3:3-4) Jesus is trying to bring light into the Pharisees darkened minds. He placed his good deeds of healing on the new level for them to understand what he was doing. Their limited understanding was blinded by anger. Jesus’ mere presence again immerses Israel and all of humanity in the living drama of salvation history in the making, and this man with a withered hand represents all mankind in its dire need of being extracted by God’s power out of its condition of entrapment to the Law so that we might become adopted sons and daughters of God. “So, let yourself be loved. Jesus rejoices to build up in you his love for his glory,... even though you have done nothing to attract this grace... Believe his voice.” St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

01/17/2026

"Leave it to God, and do not doubt that He will console you. Trust in Him, and what is there to fear? If God has promised to grant us that which we ask for, have faith. He is with us, and He loves us; it is impossible that He would forsake us." St. Teresa Margaret
To all the world we represent daring faith in the power of prayer. Yes, we are confident that He will come to the aid of the sick and distressed--but how strong is our trust when we pray to be rid of a certain weakness, and we never seem to overcome it? Trust Him andf keep on striving.

01/15/2026

"Obedience makes the soul like Jesus." St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi
In order to reach my destiny--eternal life in God--I need to look to Jesus for a Model in all things. But especially I must, however imperfectly, follow His example of loving, whole-hearted obedience to His Father. For obedience is the best antidote for the pride of life, that universal heritage of fallen man.

01/10/2026

"I feel so much love upon my soul; it is like an ocean into which I plunge and lose myself. It is my vision on earth, while I await the vision face to face in the Light. He is in me and I am in Him. I have only to love Him, to let myself be loved, at all times, in all circumstances. To awake in love, to move in love, to sleep in love, my soul in His Soul, my heart in His Heart, that I may be purified and delivered from my miseries by contact with Him." St Elizabeth of the Trinity
Seeking God within herself, and being united to Him, is the cause of Elizabeth's deep happiness. The more one depends upon conditions outside oneself for happiness, the less happiness you will experience. You cannot live happily in forgetfulness of God; you will cry out in loneliness until you realize that God is all in all.

01/08/2026

Luke 4:14-22—Thursday After Epiphany
“He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,…” (Lk 4:17-18) Jesus is proclaiming that he is the fulfillment of this writing by Isaiah. The poor are not the financially destitute but poverty of spirit. Sight that is limited to this world and cannot see the supernatural world. We are oppressed by our sins. Jesus is telling us that our deliverance has arrived. The Savior makes himself available to all. In the sacrament of Penance, he takes away the sins that imprison us. In the sacrament of the Eucharist, Jesus gives us new strength and nourishes us. God has first loved us. He doesn’t have to wait for us to love Him first, no weakness or failure should prevent us from turning to him. He will free us if we allow him to. Go to meet him, he is waiting for you.

01/07/2026

Mark 6:45-52—Wednesday After Epiphany
“But at once he spoke with them, “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!” He got into the boat with them and the wind died down. They were completely astounded. They had not understood the incident of the loaves. On the contrary, their hearts were hardened.” (Mk 6:50-51) The infant Jesus cannot speak but when he can, no force of nature, even the storms of life, will prevent him from coming to us. The words “it is I” can be translated “I Am” which is the divine name that God identified himself with to Moses. They do not yet realize that he is divine. Because of his divinity, we need to realize that he will always calm the storms in our lives. It may not be in the manner that we wish, faith tells us that he is always there.

01/03/2026

January 3rd Memorial of the Holy Name of Jesus
The Feast we celebrate today was the day Jesus received his name. It was during the circumcision that the name was given to the Child. The name of Jesus means Savior. Persons who played prominent roles in the history of salvation often received their names from God Himself. Abraham — father of many nations; Peter — the rock. The Savior's precursor, John, was given the name God assigned him. According to divine precedent the name of the Redeemer should be given by God. For His name should express His mission. We read in Sacred Scripture how the angel Gabriel revealed that name to Mary: "You shall call His name Jesus." And to St. Joseph the angel not merely revealed the name but explained its meaning: "You shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." With Jesus, therefore, the name actually tells the purpose of His existence. This is why we must esteem His name as sacred. Whenever we pronounce it, we ought to bow our heads; for the very name reminds us of the greatest favor we have ever received, salvation.

01/02/2026

"What pleases Him is to see me love my littleness and my poverty; it is the blind hope I have in His mercy." St. Therese
Let us depend upon God completely,realizing and loving our need for Him. His mercy and grace will help us to start again, gently, every day.

01/01/2026

January 1st Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God
“The Shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about the child.” (Lk 2:16) The first day of the new year invites gratitude and wonder; gratitude for the gift of life and another year, wonder at what it will contain. Dedicating this day to the Holy Mother of God means we entrust ourselves and the new year to Mary. She is our Mother in grace, for we “receive adoption” into divine life because of her fruitful virginity. When she gave birth to the Savior, the Lord willed to “let his face shine upon” us through her. Mary is never apart from her son. Christ body and blood came from her. Therefore, Mary loves us in Jesus and should have a special place in our hearts.

12/29/2025

Luke 2:22-35 — December 29th the 5th Day in the Octave of Christmas
“Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon….It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms” (Lk 2:25-28) Simeon comes from the Old Covenant, but the moment he encounters Mother and Child, the moment he holds the Child in his arms and grasps the fulfillment of all the expectations of Israel, he becomes a Christian. He sees the Son’s coming path. He also sees the difficulties that will arise for those who really believe, because God in the future will be a Man suffering among them. He also sees Mary’s co-suffering as she admits all who he will suffer for so that all come through the Moher to the Lord.

12/28/2025

Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23 — Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
“But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go back there…He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, He shall be called a Nazorean.” (Matt 22-23) Mary and Joseph were privileged above all the earth’s peoples in being able to live under the same roof with God Incarnate. The protected him, and watched him grow. The house in Nazareth was to be the model for all the ages to come, when the unending tasks of millions of hard-working mothers and fathers would be dignified by being patterned after those of the Holy Family. Mary and Joseph exemplified the virtues of humility, poverty of spirit and the great and beautiful virtue of charity. This same gracious Lady, Mary — who is also our Mother — has a personal interest in helping each one of us to practice them, if only we would remember to ask her.

12/25/2025

December 25th the Birth of Christ
“And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.” (Jn 1:14) Jesus of Bethlehem is the central point of history; in Him are concentrated all human journeyings. On this night, in this place, at this meeting the choice is easy, it is sweet, it is strong; and everyone can say with a heart exalting with joy: He came for me! What more is there to say! Without Jesus, we do not know how to be human. In the wondrous expression of the divine person of God’s Son, you revel us to ourselves. Newborn Savior, the very silence of your Incarnation proclaims that the answer to the misery, and the meaninglessness we often experience in life cannot be found within us. You alone are the Answer.

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