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

Sacrament of Confirmation:

Confirmation classes for students in grades 8–12 will begin on Sunday, October 20, at St. James. To enroll your child/children, please either pick up a form from the church foyers or print out the registration form available at the link below. Once completed, mail the form to the parish office:

Mary Mother of Mercy Parish
PO BOX 403
Interlaken, NY 14847

Religious Education Registration Form 2019

Gospel Meditation—Encourage Deeper Understanding of Scripture

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ October 20, 2019

“Render a just decision for me against my adversary.” Today’s Gospel features a persistent widow who ekes out justice from a notoriously cold-hearted judge. Why does she win the day? “Because the widow keeps bothering me.” Jesus’s recommendation to the disciples is to be persistent in prayer, because surely God the Father is far more attuned to their needs than this judge. If only it were that easy, right? We’ve all experienced the unanswered prayer, the silence after our cries. When this continues, sometimes it can be difficult to have faith in God or believe He answers prayers. It can be easy to lapse into a sense of His distance. We want Him to do something “fair,” which—in our limited view—typically means that something works out in our favor.

There are, of course, many legitimate cries for justice. We live in a fallen world filled with flawed human beings. We hurt each other, sometimes grievously, and our efforts to remake the world in our image can result in unjust, inhumane systems. Faced with the problem of evil, we may wonder how God will “secure the rights of his chosen ones.” Sometimes, He may well seem “slow to answer them.”

In the face of these very real questions, it’s important to recall the words of the prophet Isaiah, that God’s thoughts “are not [our] thoughts.” His ways are not our ways. God respects the freedom He has given us. When we see what free will has wrought, perhaps we question God’s better judgment! Yet somehow, we hear that He mysteriously works all things for our good. No matter what situation we find ourselves in, we are always free to love. We are invited to be persistent in our prayer, to continue bringing our concerns before God in trusting surrender. We are invited to love well in the circumstances we find ourselves in, to be a light in the darkness. No matter when—or if—our prayers are answered the way we would like, we are nonetheless invited to witness to “faith on earth.”

© 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 October 19–October 27, 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.