Today we welcome our Bishop, R. Daniel Conlon to Our Lady of Mercy parish as he will administer the Sacrament of Confirmation upon 56 of our parish teens during Mass at 3:00PM. Of course, those being confirmed today have already received the Holy Spirit at their baptism. But they, like most of us were baptized as infants, and that awareness of having received the Holy Spirit with its gifts and power needs to be roused. So I like to refer to the Sacrament of Confirmation as a “wake-up call.” Confirmation is one of the three sacraments of initiation. So today we welcome our newly confirmed teens as fully initiated members of the Church. And with that now comes the responsibility to be ACTIVE members of the Church and growing in a personal relationship (friendship) with Jesus. Congratulations to our newly confirmed and may the Holy Spirit guide them throughout their lives!
MercyFest begins this week on Thursday, October 4th and runs through Sunday, October 7th. I encourage everyone to support MercyFest in some way as part of the celebration of our parish 30th anniversary. The 10:45AM Mass on Sunday, October 7th will be celebrated outdoors under the big tent on MercyFest grounds. Our 2nd pastor (now retired) Fr. Hugh Fullmer will be the presider for that Mass. Fr. Hugh started MercyFest 17 years ago as a way to bring the parish and neighboring community together in fun and fellowship, as well as a fund raiser to pay off the debt on the church. MercyFest continues to provide funds for various needed repairs. Last year’s profit provided for the replacement and installation of new padding on the kneelers in church. Last year a new spiritual dimension was added to MercyFest that will continue this year. People were invited into church for prayer and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. This year (like previous years) a percentage of the profits will be donated to Hesed House, a shelter for the homeless in Aurora. I have designated the remaining profits to be used for the upgrading of the sound system in church. But MercyFest is so much more than about raising funds. It is a way to bring our parish together. Though many, we are one! (Our theme for our parish 30th anniversary this year). Over 700 parishioners are needed volunteering in some capacity to make MercyFest successful. The experience of knowing you are part of something bigger than yourself can be inspiring. We as a parish owe a debt of gratitude to the many parishioners who have put their heart and soul into making MercyFest such a great success over the years. And I have no doubt that through the efforts of the chairs and volunteers for this year’s MercyFest, we will have great success again!
Your part now is to attend! Bring family, neighbors and friends to enjoy carnival rides and games, food and entertainment, raffles and even prayer and the opportunity for reconciliation. Please visit our parish website (www.olmercy.com) and click on the MercyFest tab to see a listing of events and musical groups for each day. And one more thing I ask of you….please PRAY for good weather!!
Have a blessed week! And see you at MercyFest!!
Father Don