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

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ July 14, 2019

Loving isn’t too difficult, right? Many of us are surrounded by kind, lovely people trying to do the right thing. Indeed, to “love … your neighbor as yourself” seems like it should be easy enough. Treat people like you would like to be treated. Bring the new neighbors some baked goods (normal and gluten-free, just in case). Chat with the bank teller about his holiday weekend. Write an occasional card to your sister “just because.” There were probably varieties of these acts of kindness in Jesus’s day. Perhaps substituting figs for cookies. But “exchange pleasantries with the traveling cloth merchant” isn’t the example Jesus gives.

“A man fell victim to robbers… they stripped him and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.” The righteous pass by the scene of the dying man. The hero of the story is the one on the margins of Jewish society, who perhaps would not have been welcomed, in other circumstances, by the man now in the ditch. His neighborly love causes him to halt his journey, to tend wounds, and to pay for the man’s care out of his own savings. Are we interruptible? Are we attentive to the hurts of others? Are we generous with our money and possessions?

In the past few weeks, who has crossed your mind as someone in need of help? Perhaps it’s an acquaintance suffering from cancer. Maybe you were invited to donate or volunteer to a local social cause, but it just won’t stick in your mind (or schedule) to make it happen. The needs of people are many and varied. We can’t help everyone, but God does place opportunities in our path for compassion and courageous love. This week, be “the one who treated him with mercy.”

© 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 July 13–July 21, 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.