The Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

From the Pastor

Dear Parishioners of Our Lady of Mercy,

I hope this finds you well and safe.

I always like to begin my letter with a short reflection on the readings proclaimed at Mass this weekend. As my starting point, I would like to consider our second reading from the first letter of Saint Paul to the Christians in Corinth. In a nutshell, the reading is about “love.” The married or unmarried man and woman are both anxious about everything, namely, the world, their very lives, and their spouses. But if you take a look at the whole passage, it is focused on love.

I would like to reflect on this with you because by virtue of our baptism we are called to love not only God but also to love one another. We have the responsibility to embody all the virtuous aspects of love in our relationships with one another and with the world.

Loving means that we have to choose to act in a way that may not always be in harmony with how we may feel at a given moment. It takes courage to love in this world. Jesus gives us a perfect example of that. In our gospel reading this weekend, Jesus had the courage to be faithful to his mission of teaching, preaching, healing, and saving us, and to deal with the rejection and refusal of his people to accept him.

Looking at our lives, we really need the help of Jesus and the grace of God to stand up and continue to proclaim Jesus’ mission of love in this world. If we come to the realization that loving is the only thing that will lead us to experience real joy and fulfillment, then we may understand our true purpose in this life.

Saying that, I encourage you to realize that whatever you do for yourself, your loved ones, your family and friends, the people around you, your community, your parish, etc., you should do it out of love.

For example, besides our obligation to attend Sunday Masses and Holy Days, we have upcoming events here in our parish that need our participation, such as the 2021 Annual Appeal, the coming Lenten observances that lead to the celebration of the Easter Season, sacramental preparations for First Communion and Confirmation. Your participation in these events should be motivated by your love of God and love for one another. Because if you do that, then everything will go smoothly and easily.

That is what we your priests, deacons and ministers are doing here at Our Lady of Mercy Parish. Our love of God and of his people is the force that pushes us to do what we do especially in these trying times in our world. We pray that you do the same. You also have to be convinced that God sees everything, be it done in secret or in public.

Let us continue to support one another in prayer and in whatever we can do to continue the mission of Christ.

I would like to thank all of you for your Christmas gifts to our parish. Please see the report on our Christmas Collection included in this bulletin.

I also would like to thank “Kuya” Alfred Gathalian for donating two TV monitors to help us participate in the celebration of the liturgy. I thank Jojo Paloma, our Maintenance Director, and “Kuya” Guiz Macalintal, and all those who helped to install the monitors.

God bless you all.

Love,

Father Marty