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

Holy Day of Obligation: Mass schedule for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary on December 8:

• Friday, December 7                 Vigil Mass at 6:00 p.m. at Saint Francis Solanus
• Saturday, December 8             Feast day Mass at 9:00 a.m. at Saint James the Apostle

Are you ready for Advent?
Take time during Advent to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation, so that you are prepared to welcome Jesus Christ into your life on Christmas and throughout the new year. In our parish this year, the sacrament will be available to people on Friday evenings at 6:30 p.m. at St. Francis Solanus Church and in all three of our parish churches after each of the weekend Masses.

Gospel Meditation—Encourage Deeper Understanding of Scripture

December 9, 2018~Second Sunday of Advent

“In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar…and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee…and Lysanias was tetrach of?” Did you need to pinch yourself awake during the first few lines of this Sunday’s Gospel? John the Baptist received quite a prelude today as Luke described the religious and political leadership of the time period. Scripture is divinely inspired, and we believe that everything that made it into the Bible is there for a reason. These lines remind us of an important truth. The Christmas story isn’t a fairy tale or nursery rhyme. It’s not a parable we say to give meaning to the holiday. At Christmas, God’s presence is made tangible in a precise moment in time. The birth of Christ is a historical event. As precursor to Jesus’s preaching, the ministry of John the Baptist is also a historical event.

“Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” John’s call to repentance and the forgiveness of sins happened in a particular time and place. But that does not mean it is limited to first century Palestine! God continues to move in our daily lives. What we hear in today’s Gospel—and what we anticipate at Christmas—occurs in our daily lives. God works in concrete ways in time and space. He did that 2,000 years ago, and He continues to do so today!

This Sunday, examine your own Christmas preparations. Is there anything you need to repent of before the Christmas season? Are there low points in your life, valleys to “be filled” by the love of God? Are their mountainous obstacles in your spiritual life? How can they be “made low?” Are you making decisions that have moved you away from God? This Advent season is the time for them to “be made straight and…made smooth.” Prepare the way in your heart for Christ today!

© 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!

Prayer to Mary, Mother of Mercy