Welcome to the parish of Mary, Mother of Mercy!

 “We do not want … a Church that moves with the world.
We want a Church that will move the world.” ~G. K. Chesterton

Gospel Meditation—Encourage Deeper Understanding of Scripture

Fifth Sunday of Easter ~ May 19, 2019

“I give you a new commandment: love one another.” With these words, Jesus sums up the law and the prophets in one concise phrase. Love one another. After 2,000 years, you’d think we’d have it figured out by now! But all too often we fail in this commandment. Perhaps we mistake “love” for mere “common decency.” Perhaps we’ve been betrayed, or our own visions of love have been tarnished or misrepresented in our lives. Blessedly, Jesus doesn’t leave us without a guide.

“As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” Jesus himself modeled what this love should look like. So what are some of the characteristics of the love of Christ? Humility, for one. St. Paul writes that Jesus “emptied Himself.” In becoming man, Jesus puts aside the full splendor of the Godhead. Not only does he become human, but he takes on many of the mundane privations of human life. He spent most of his life in relative poverty—especially by our standards—as a common laborer. When he began gaining popularity as a preacher, he still traveled on foot and spent nights in other people’s homes or outdoors.

Jesus’s love is generous. He was always available to the crowds and to being interrupted by people in need. He invested time in his disciples and patiently taught them about the kingdom of God. The love of Jesus is also courageous. He encountered many people deemed less worthy of human respect, due to being public sinners or having a physical or mental disability. Jesus was brave in breaking these social boundaries to show care and concern to the outcast. These traits are possible for us to imitate! Indeed, we are hardly identifiable as Christians without them. “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

© Liturgical Publications Inc.

Welcome to the web page for the parish of Mary, Mother of Mercy. This parish has three churches:

• Holy Cross in Ovid, New York;
• St. Francis Solanus in Interlaken, New York; and
• St. James the Apostle in Trumansburg, New York.

The parish office is located at the Parish Center: 3660 Orchard St., Interlaken, New York.

The title Mother of Mercy is thought to have been first given to Blessed Virgin Mary by St. Odo (d.942), Abbot of Cluny. It is a fitting title of Our Lady both because she brought forth for us Jesus, the Christ, the visible manifestation of the mercy of the invisible God, and because she is the spiritual mother of the faithful, full of grace and mercy. Please join us in faith and in person at any of our three churches. Our mass schedule is listed below and additional resources are available on subsequent pages.

To join the parish community or to celebrate the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, anointing of the sick, or marriage, please phone the Parish Center (607 294–0064) or email: immmercy@dor.org to make arrangements.

A list of our Mass intentions (also below) and parish meetings and events are available on our parish calendar page. All are welcome!

Mass Intentions at St. James the Apostle in Trumansburg, Holy Cross in Ovid, and St. Francis Solanus in Interlaken for the week of May 18–May 26, 2019:

Prayer to Mary, Mother of Mercy
Blessed Virgin Mary, who can worthily repay you with praise and  thanks for having rescued a fallen world by your generous consent! Receive our gratitude, and by your prayers obtain the pardon of our sins. Take our prayers into the sanctuary of heaven and enable them to make our peace with God.