Dear Parishioners of Our Lady of Mercy:
HAPPY EASTER! ALLELUJAH, ALLELUJAH, ALLELUJAH!
Easter is the season for us to rejoice and give thanks to God for the gift of salvation through His beloved Son Jesus Christ. Thank you Jesus for redeeming us!
Congratulations to those who have received the Sacrament of Initiations yesterday at the Easter Vigil at Our Lady of Sorrows: Jayline Almonte, Jadierd Gomez, Ashley de los Santos, Destiny de los Santos, Cassidy de los Santos, Derek Castro, Vaughn Crawford, Amadu NDiaye, NDeye NDiaye and Jasmayline Rodriquez. And, I also congratulate the two newly baptized at Our Lady of Mercy: Yesenia Amethyst Lucero and Luna Guadalupe Lucero. May you grow in wisdom and love of God with the guidance of your parents, godparents and the prayers of our two communities of faith and learn to love your neighbors as you love yourself.
I want to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all of you parishioners. I thank you for your stewardship of Time in worshipping with us, everyday, Sunday after Sunday and Holy Days of obligation. Thank you for your stewardship of Talent, by which you respond to God’s call to serve Him in ways you have been gifted with. You do so by being involved in different ministries and societies of our parishes and by lending your expertise in building up our communities and in many different fields. Thank you for your stewardship of Treasure. Your generosity in our regular Sunday and Holy Day collections, Capital Campaign, Sharing God’s Blessing Appeal, maintenance and various needs is much, much appreciated. May you be blessed with what you need and continue to support our communities in order for us to move on in the years ahead and be able to stay open in ministering to you and to those who will come after you, your children and your children’s children.
And I would like to end this letter by giving you a bit of the statistics of Our Lady of Mercy church. In 2016 we have the following (actual count): 1,362 registered parishioners, 1,093 active parishioners, 36 baptisms, 35 first communions, 38 confirmations, 1 wedding, and 54 funerals. Counting people at mass every Sunday, we have more or less a total of 4,000 people (of course that includes children) at all of our five masses. I am aware that some people are just visiting but I am also pretty sure that we still have a few numbers of people who are not registered. So please… I beg and encourage those who come and worship with us regularly to take an effort and make a decision to become registered parishioners. The whole community is already delighted to have you. Be a part of the family!
Thank you and God bless you all!
Love,
+Father Marty