About the Pastor

Hello, I’m Father Anthony Armstrong, a Carmelite priest at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Osprey, Florida. It is my joy and privilege to serve this vibrant community, helping others deepen their faith and grow in their relationship with God. With a heart for prayer, service, and contemplation, I strive to live out the values of the Carmelite tradition in all that I do. My mission is to guide others with compassion, offering spiritual support and inspiring all to live with humility, peace, and love. Thank you for visiting, and I look forward to walking this journey of faith with you.

As we gather at the threshold of Holy Week, Palm Sunday draws us into the profound mystery of Christ’s Passion. The Gospel first places us among the crowd in Jerusalem, waving branches and shouting “Hosanna!” as Jesus enters the city in humble majesty (Matthew 21:1–11). He comes not as a warrior astride a chariot, but as the Servant‑King, fulfilling the promise of a Messiah who conquers through mercy rather than force. The joy of that moment prepares us for the solemn journey that follows—a journey that reveals the full depth of God’s love.

Isaiah’s prophecy speaks of the Suffering Servant who listens each morning for the voice of the Father and offers his back and his face to those who strike and spit upon him (Isaiah 50:4–7). Jesus embodies this willing obedience. He does not resist, nor does He turn away. His steadfastness shows us that God’s love is not fragile; it endures insult, rejection, and betrayal. This strength will carry Him through the darkest hours of the Passion.

St. Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, invites us to contemplate the self‑emptying of Christ—how He “did not regard equality with God something to be grasped,” but instead “humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6–11). Here lies the heart of Holy Week: the Son of God takes the lowest place so that no human suffering lies beyond the reach of His compassion

The long Passion narrative from Matthew (26:14–27:66) brings us step by step into the betrayal, agony, and sacrificial love of Jesus. We witness the weakness of the disciples, the loneliness of Gethsemane, the injustice of the trial, the cruelty of the scourging, and the silence of Calvary. Yet within these painful scenes, grace is at work. Jesus forgives, He prays, He entrusts Himself fully to the Father. Nothing can extinguish the love He brings into the world.

As we begin this sacred week, the Church invites us not merely to remember these events but to enter them. We are called to walk with Christ—carrying our own crosses with Him, allowing His humility to shape our hearts and His courage to strengthen our faith. May this Holy Week deepen our gratitude, renew our hope, and prepare us to rejoice in the victory of Easter.

~ Father Anthony

It’s that time of year again! And so, with this Pastor’s Corner, I want to let you know that, thanks to your great generosity to the parish, our Catholic Faith Appeal (CFA) goal for 2026 has gone from $267,000 for 2025 to $298,000 for the new CFA year. Actually, the CFA goal for this year should have been $324,000 but the Diocese acknowledged that a jump of over $50,000 in one year was too much and so reduced our CFA goal for 2026.

Our assessment jumped that much because, basically, for every $10 given to the offertory collection last year, $2.60 of that donation was added to our CFA goal for this year. Last year we had over $250,000 extra in donations through the offertory collection! The upside of those extra donations is that our savings account is growing but the downside is that we’re asked to pay more CFA.

For those of you who don’t understand the CFA process a quick explanation. Each diocese in the country has their own equivalent of CFA with different rates and different calculations. However, here in the Diocese of Venice, each parish is assessed 26% of their income from the previous year. Whilst this is higher than in some dioceses, the CFA in this Diocese supports many more programs than in other dioceses, programs that directly support parishes and which help underwrite the costs of the Diocese.

Many of you see CFA as a tax from the Diocese and don’t like supporting CFA because you want to support the parish rather than the Diocese. However, as explained above, if you give to the parish, the Diocese will assess us 26% on all of that income anyway. Last year only 18% of parishioners gave anything to CFA so, to put it another way, 82% of households who supported the parish gave nothing to CFA. I will list some of the many benefits that we as a parish receive from CFA in future Pastor’s Corners but, from a purely financial point of view, if we don’t make our CFA goal, as we were in danger of not doing in 2025, then the Diocese would simply have taken the money from our savings account anyway.

So, bottom line, whether we make our goal or not, the Diocese will still get its CFA assessment from us, whether by parishioners supporting CFA or from the parish savings account. So, as we are about to start the CFA 2026 year my invitation to all of you who don’t give to CFA, or haven’t given for a while, is to consider giving at least a quarter of your donations to the parish via CFA so that we can meet our goal. That way our CFA goal for 2027 will be less because you gave less to the parish in offertory contributions in 2026. Hopefully, this Pastors Corner will encourage you to consider making a contribution to CFA this year. Thank you, and God bless you all.

~ Father Anthony