Dear Parishioners of Our Lady of Mercy:
Greetings in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ!
In the name of the whole community, I welcome to the Christian world our newly baptized children: Calixta Summer Garcia-Velasco, Lily Marie Cardinali and Ezra Rocha! Congratulations to their respective parents and godparents! We commit ourselves to praying for them as they grow in their faith and love of God. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to Deacon Meynard and the baptismal team for the work in preparing the parents and godparents for this sacrament.
Congratulations also to those who finished the bible study under the guidance of Father Nol. Thank you Father Nol.
Brothers and sisters, you have heard the announcements regarding the invitation to be part of the parish ministries: altar serving, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, lectors, choir and many others. I am happy to see you signing up. Thank you for your response. I encourage you to let the word out to those who have not heard it. And if you pay close attention to the readings this weekend, what you do is one of the many ways to respond to God’s call to “love Him above all things and to love your neighbor as yourself.” Simply put, you show your love of Him by coming to Church Sunday after Sunday and on Holy Days of obligation and, by participating in community life as ministers you show your love to your neighbors. You show your love to God by serving His people. My hope and prayers is that you will carry on what you have committed to do until you reach eternal life.
As we move along, there many other needs we have to pay attention to. One of them is a need for someone who has a gift and profession for special education program to volunteer. The number of those children who have special needs is growing in our community. So, whoever is in that profession and willing to volunteer, please come and see me. The whole community would be grateful for you for stepping up.
Also, if you browse our weekly bulletin and read carefully, an announcement for those who were civilly married (only) is there. It has been there for quite a while. Please do not be afraid nor hesitant to come and see us priests. We encourage you to do the church wedding as soon as you can. It won’t be hard the preparation for it. And you don’t have to plan for an extravagant entourage nor party to do that. All we need is just the two of you with two other witnesses. It doesn’t matter if you have been living for a long time and have children. What matters most is the Sacrament, the Sacrament of Marriage. So, please, approach us.
Thank you and God bless you all!
Love,
+Father Marty
Please pray for the sick:
Paul Calefati, Elaine Staltari, Othelia G. Laurena, Jean Karycinski, Dorothy Darcy, Erlinda Jacinto, Presentacion Sorio, Leonora Loyola, Eric Bautista, Lilian Kryczkowski, Ellen Iorio, Jessica Pavone, Ian Malesiewski, Ruben Catipon, Angela Salvador, Clarita Salvador, Teresita Cordon, Vincent Mastria, Maria Svaligmac, Bill Macchi, Craig Rutkowski, James Seaman, Makenzie Cadmus, Manuel J.Juson, MD, Gina Marquez, Rose Maschucci, Daniel Tamayo Santos, Marie Ronzitti, Lucia Vanderburg, Betty Scerbo, Philip Scerbo, Alejandra Ancheta, Cindy Popolo, Mario Banaag, Oscar Alladin, Antonio Roldan, Esperanza Galarza, Carmen Tuazon, Nick DeBello, Susan Ranola Rivera, John Broderick, John Hnath, Joanne Diaz, Ligaya Tan, Concepcion Del Rosario, Leonarda DeCarlo, Dolores Steinhauser, Eugenio Cacananta, Austin Macalintal, Carolyn Taliaferro, Nonong Dava, John Gaito, Elsa Concepcion, Anthony B. Cashman, Ricardo Vales, Virginia T. Mercurio, James Leung, Tran Phouc, Sophia Gonzalez, Father Tom Roberts, Jocelyn Tuazon, Florentino Chanco
Is Your Marriage Valid?
If you were married civilly, that is, not in the Catholic Church before a priest or deacon, it might not be a valid marriage. Some couples believe that a marriage before a Justice of the Peace or a non-Catholic minister is valid. For a marriage to be valid in the Catholic Church, the marriage must be in a Catholic Church or Chapel and officiated by an authorized Catholic priest or deacon along with 2 witnesses. (There are limited interfaith exceptions with proper permission.)
We invite you to speak with one of our priests if there are any questions or if indeed you wish to validate your marriage. The process can be very simple and your marriage will now be blessed by the Church.
Previous Bulletin: October 22, 2017