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

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ February 17, 2019

What an audience Jesus has in today’s Gospel! “A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of people from all over Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon.” Disciples, pagans, and devout Jews gathered together to hear Jesus speak in the Sermon on the Mount. All of these people had something in common. God was someone to be bargained with, and if God liked you, you were rewarded with good fortune. This Sunday, Jesus tells us a different story. “Woe to you who are rich … who are filled now … who laugh … when all speak well of you. Blessed are you who are poor … you who are now hungry … when people hate you and when they exclude you and insult you.” Jesus completely flips the script on what it means to be blessed by God. What he proclaims as “woe” are states of life we often strive for, and “blessed” are the states we work hard to avoid!

Jesus is concerned with the kingdom of God and the world to come, not the typical structures of power and privilege. The word “now” appears often in these statements. Why? If you are well “now,” that’s beside the point. To be rich in this life has no direct bearing on your immortal soul. If you’re struggling “now,” that’s not an indication that God has forgotten you or that—in light of eternity—you’re worse off than someone else. In fact, it could be an indicator that you’re enduring something that will bring you to a place of greater, eternal joy in the future.

This Sunday, consider your priorities. Who do we reject as not blessed, and thereby inflict woe upon ourselves? When we encounter difficult situations in our own lives, do we see them as opportunities to remember God and lean on His mercy and grace?

© 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 February 16–February 24, 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.