Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church

                                   Prayer for the Election of a New Pope

         Most glorious God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we your flock await the new Shepherd you have prepared to lead your people. Many dark valleys may be ahead, yet our trust in your Devine Providence makes us long for a new springtime in the Church. 

      In every age you guide and safeguard the faithful by sending forth a Holy Father to take up the keys of St. Peter and govern that which you have founded.

      By the fire of your Spirit, pour forth divine wisdom and inspire those Cardinals who will elect the next Pope. May they fulfill your perfect will and raise up a good and holy man to shepherd us by your word and example. 

      Under his leadership may your Church boldly proclaim the joy of our faith, the reason for our hope, and the charity that comes through Truth. May your mighty hand protect the Church through whatever storms lay ahead and lead us safely home to the vision of your glory.  Amen.

  -Pedro de la Cruz                                                                                                              www.CatholicPrayerCards.org

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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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We are about to celebrate the second and last Solemnity of this Lenten season: 

The Annunciation. The annunciation  is when the Archangel Gabriel came to the Blessed Virgin Mary, to tell her that she was chosen to bare the Christ. There is a very well known prayer that is written in honor of this great event, it is called the Angelus. Often it is prayed by people at 6 am; noon and 6pm. Those who are faithful to doing all 3 each day credit it with significant things happening as a result. (If there are more than one person, V is for the person leading, is for the one responding. If a person is alone they do both parts.) Where it says “Hail Mary” the entire Hail Mary prayer is done.
 
                                           V/. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary,
                                         R/. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

     Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you;
 blessed are you among women,
 and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
 Holy Mary, Mother of God,
 pray for us sinners
 now and at the hour of our death.
 Amen.
 V/. Behold the handmaid of the Lord,
 R/. Be it done unto me according to your Word.
 Hail Mary…

V/. And the Word was made flesh, (Genuflect if able)
 R/. And dwelt among us.
 Hail Mary…
 V/. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,
 R/. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. 
 Let us pray.  Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts: that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son was made known by the message of an Angel, may by his Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of his Resurrection. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Things are happening at Our Lady of Mercy

Events for April 2025:

April 27^th Divine Mercy Chaplet at 3:00 p.m. with Confessions to follow.

Events for May 2025:

May 4^th  First Communion at 1:00 p.m. 

Events for June 2025:

June 22^nd Feast of Corpus Christi 10:30 a.m. Mass procession (weather permitting).

Other Events :

Volunteer Fair: Everyone can help with something (More info to come at later date).

Major projects coming up for our Church:

Brighter lighting in the Church.

Repaired flooring in the Church (Mass may be in the gym for the Summer).

                                             Praise be Jesus Christ  now and forever

                                                           Rev. M. David Dawson

                                                         Words To Live By!
 Jesus said to his Disciples: “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the good and the bad, and cause rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?  Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers and sisters only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
 Matthew 5:43-48
                                                                    Meditation
 Jesus is challenging us to love all people, even to “pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). We may not face persecution, and our list of mortal enemies may not be very long, but we all know people who make our lives difficult. And loving “those people” can prove to be challenging, it is easy to see people through lens of their faults or failures. We can begin to withhold kindness because we unconsciously deem them unworthy of our time or patience. But Jesus calls us to love even those who hurt us or those who seem underserving. As we do, we reflect the One in whose image we are made. Just as the sun’s light radiates out to all creation, we can shine forth with God’s all encompassing, unchanging love. We can bring his warmth and light to a world overshadowed by harshness and judgement. God is asking  us to open our hearts wider—to love more deeply, forgive more readily and judge less harshly. So think about how you love your friends, family members, and co-workers or any other people you come in contact with. Think, too, about the people you find the most “unlovable”!  The Spirt can soften your heart and help you see the image of God in all of them. (The Word Among Us, Lent 2025)
                                    “Lord, help me to share your steadfast love with everyone!”   

                                      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