Dear Parishioners of Our Lady of Mercy,
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Congratulations to our newly installed Lectors and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion! May they be faithful in their service to the people of God and may their example draw others to want to do what they do.
You know well that the Church needs more helping hands to do God’s work. So, I urge you to pray and to discern what you can do to help. Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” (Matthew 9:37).
In this Sunday’s Liturgy of the Word, we hear that the coming of the Lord is near at hand. We are challenged to prepare ourselves for His coming by straightening up our lives and by being of service to others. In the first reading from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we are told to “strengthen the hands of the feeble, make firm the knees that are weak, say to those whose hearts are frightened: be strong, fear not.”
In the Gospel, we heard Jesus command the disciples of John the Baptist to “go and tell John what you see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.” These words call all of us to act now to show the presence of Jesus by our acts of service.
Brothers and sisters, as we prepare to celebrate the birthday of our Savior Jesus Christ in just ten days, let us heed His call to service, let us seek forgiveness for our sins, and let us listen to God’s command to love Him and our neighbors. If we do those things, I guarantee that we will have the happiest Christmas celebration ever!
God bless us all!
Love,
Father Marty