Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church

 Today May 8, 2025, we have a new Pope, an AMERICAN for the first time! That's a strange feeling. The new  pope has been a bishop in South America for decades. He is orginally from Chicago. 

I ask you to join me in praying that God make Pope Leo XIV a holy and effective pope!

                             Praise Jesus Christ now and forever.

                                        Rev. M. David Dawson           

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                                           Meaning of Life

What is the purpose of your life? Yes, I am serious. You are born, you live, possibly procreate, work, etc. etc. Is there a purpose?

You were made for greatness. By way of your baptism, you became a child of God. You have been called to love Him, follow Him, seek Him, and proclaim Him. You were entrusted with access to His Holy Word and His Church. He provides you with the sacraments to heal the damage of sin and to empower you with the opportunity to follow Him when it is difficult.

God Himself permitted others to arrest Him, strip Him naked, whip Him mercilessly, crown Him with thorns, force Him to haul the means of His execution through the streets and up a hill, get nailed to the Cross, hang buck naked, publicly for hours until He was dead; and He did this for one reason. He did this for love of You personally and particularly.

You may choose to accept, abide and partake of His gifts. Using His grace, we can say no to the many temptations of sin that seek to destroy us. Embracing His holy word and knowledgably partake of the sacraments, we can be empowered to grow closer to Him and become more like Him. He wants us to detach from the world, so we can fill our arms, hearts, minds and lives with Him. He does not give in small doses so there is not room for anything else when He is our all. 

He can make use of your pain when you acceptingly unite it to His Cross, even though it is a heroic effort. He has planned an intimacy, joy, love and awe beyond everything you have ever imagined combined, for your eternity with Him. You are made to be more than you can imagine, even if the world never recognizes the value. We are not made for the world. The world is our ship and not our home.

         You are made to be His and He offers to be entirely yours.
                           Through each minute of your life, it is your choice.
                                   Praise be Jesus Christ now and forever

                                     Rev. M. David Dawson

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                                      Little Things Can Mean A Lot

      There are things about Holy Mass that a lot of people lose sight of over time. There are times a person perhaps never even knew some things about Mass after a lifetime of attendance. Here are a few tidbits for you to ponder. 

¨      Did you know that every Catholic is required to fast for at least an hour prior to Mass/communion? Unless you have something medical (low blood sugar or the like) only water and medicine are otherwise permissible. What about cough drops? Are they medically NEEDED to prevent coughing of course would qualify? Coffee? only if you are skipping communion. Not too long ago, historically speaking, the fast used to be from twelve midnight the night before.

¨           Did you know that once the Eucharistic Prayer has begun, the priest has to continue no matter what happens? If there is an emergency in the Church, the priest and the Mass are to continue. You would be surprised things that have happened and we needed to continue.

¨           There is a maximum to the number of Masses a priest may celebrate in a day, by Canon Law. There are multiple reasons for this, but a priest is only to do one ordinary single Mass on a weekday but an extra can done for "pastoral necessity" (ie. Funeral or retirement home or VERY special occasion.) For a Sunday/holy day up to one Mass and one extra for pastoral necessity.

        A person may request to be dispensed from their obligation to Holy Mass by their pastor, for a particular important and rare occasion. (Ie. We want to go on a cruise for our 25th anniversary. Or something on that level.)
                                   Praise be Jesus Christ now and forever.

                                                  Rev. M. David Dawson

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           2025 -  Jubilee Year In The Church

2025 has been declared a Jubilee year in the Church. This usually happens every 25 years. These go back to the time of the Old Testament. It is meant to be a time of celebration and remembrance. It starts the first day of Advent. The archdiocese of Hartford and the Vatican have not yet stipulated how this will come impact the diocesan or parish level yet.
 

Here is a definition from Catholic Encyclopedia: 
 For the Israelites (see HEBREW YEAR OF JUBILEE), the year of Jubilee was in any case preeminently a time of joy, the year of remission or universal pardon. "Thou shalt sanctify the fiftieth year," we read in Leviticus 25:10, "and shalt proclaim remission to all the inhabitants of thy land: for it is the year of jubilee."

 Every seventh year, like every seventh day, was always accounted holy and set aside for rest, but the year which followed seven complete cycles was to be kept as a sabbatical year of special solemnity. The Talmudists and others afterwards disputed whether the Jubilee Year was the forty-ninth or the fiftieth year, the difficulty being that in the latter case two sabbatical years must have been observed in succession.

 Further, there are historical data which seem to show that in the age of the Maccabees the Jubilee of the fiftieth year could not have been kept, for 164-163 B.C. and 38-37 B.C. were both certainly sabbatical years, which they could not have been if two sabbatical years had been intercalated in the interval. However, the text of Leviticus (25:8-55) leaves no room for ambiguity that the fiftieth year was intended, and the institution evidently bore a close analogy with the feast of Pentecost, which was the closing day after seven weeks of harvest. 

In any case it is certain that the Jubilee period, as it was generally understood and adopted afterwards in the Christian Church, meant fifty and not forty-nine years; but at the same time the number fifty was not originally arrived at because it represented half a century, but because it was the number that followed seven cycles of seven.
 Praise be Jesus Christ now and forever
 Rev. M. David Dawson

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Attached is the kids' bulletin for the week of August 25, 2024. Please print it and share with your children and grandchildren. Enjoy!
 Click on this link to open: Kids' Bulletin
*A printed copy will be available at all Masses.* 

Find out how much Jesus loves us when we go to Mass and receive the Eucharist in this inspiring video!         

We, the people of Our Lady of Mercy Church in Plainville, Connecticut are committed to journey together as a community of faith, hope, and love within the Catholic tradition.  We are called to witness to the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives through sharing and celebration of faith and a life of Christian Service.

Dear Padre,

My neighbor is a fundamentalist Christian. He said I won't be "saved" unless I accept Jesus as my personal savior.  Didn't Jesus become my savior when I was baptized?

Your neighbor is probably referring to John 3:7, when Jesus told Nicodemus, "You must be born anew."  Jesus is talking about a spiritual rebirth; we must have a spiritual birth in order to be saved.

As you have correctly noted, Catholics believe this happens at baptism. In John 3:5, Jesus says, "No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit."

We are saved by the waters of baptism. But for Catholics, it's not merely a one-time event.  We continue to accept or reject the salvation offered us by the decisions we make every day.

Your neighbor used the words "personal savior."  Catholic Christians go even deeper through the sacraments.  We develop and nurture a very personal relationship with Jesus by regularly receiving the Eucharist.  In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we admit we have sinned and ask Jesus to forgive us.  And in the Sacrament of Confirmation, our relationship is "sealed" with the gifts of the Spirit.  

Many Catholics also celebrate the Sacrament of Marriage. The couple's personal relationship with Jesus is deepened through the love the couple shares.

So tell your neighbor you are indeed saved by Jesus.  And because you are saved, you deepen that relationship with Jesus by living a sacramental life.

Fr. Patrick Keyes, CSSR

       Weekend Masses

             Sunday 
 8:30 a.m. & 10:30 a.m. 

 Liturgy of the Word         for Children is            celebrated at the         10:30 a.m. Mass

   Monday   6:00 p.m.          starting 10/14/24. 

   Tuesday- Saturday
            8:00 a.m.

         Wednesday
           NO Mass

      Friday: 8:30 a.m.              Exposition of the              Blessed Sacrament                   followed by               Adoration & Benediction

*************************       CONFESSIONS

       Confessions are celebrated each week at 12:00 p.m. on Saturdays
For an Examination of Conscience go here. 

 

The Office is Located at:
19 South Canal Street,
Plainville, CT 06062
Office Hours are 
Monday - Thursday:
     9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Friday: 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., afternoons by appointment only


 
Phone:  860-747-6825
Fax:  860-747-5407
Email: Administration@olmct.org