OUR LADY OF MERCY BULLETIN August 6, 2017 • Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord

From the Desk of The PastorDear Parishioners of Our Lady of Mercy:

The month August is here and it is the last month of summer break! I hope everybody is enjoying it so far? Last weekend I wrote in my letter how vibrant our parish community is. And yes, we really are! I thank the Lord, first of all, for the unending blessings poured out upon us and secondly I thank you all, all of you dear parishio-ners, for your generosity and involve-ment in many ways you can. There are quite a few of you who came up to me

this past weekend and express ideas on how to make this com-munity more vibrant. I tell you that what you all think of are in a work-in-progress. A few months ago, I mentioned in one of my letters that there is a so-called new ministry we added on (or a “committee” for some who might want to call it that way). It is called “Fund Raising Task Force.” This is one of the new minis-tries we now have. This ministry has been meeting for quite a few times in these past few months. Ideas of events on how to raise funds were being brought up. The members of this ministry and I are all excited for the implementation of these events. It is going to be soon, one after the other, depending on our parish calen-dar. For me it is exciting because it is not only that we raise a few bucks for our parish’s needs, it will also be a community building

Our Lady of Mercy Mission Statement “We, the faith community of Our Lady of Mercy Parish, joyful-ly and humbly seek to make our Lord Jesus Christ ever more real in all our lives. We enliven our Mission by a commitment to Steward-ship as a Way of Life. We strive to pursue our mission by being a welcoming community that provides a home for all and celebrates life, hope and reconciliation through Word, Worship and Service.”

40 Sullivan Drive, Jersey City, NJ 07305 • www.olmnj.org

Scripture Passages: The Transfiguration of The Lord Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14, 7-12; 2 Peter 1:16-19; Matthew 17:1-9.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR AND SAVE THE DATE! On September 28th there will be a celebration of the Eucharist with Archbishop Cardinal Joseph Tobin at Saint Aloysius Church on Westside Avenue, Jersey City at 7:30pm. This is his visit to Deanery 12 which includes OLM. You are all invited to participate. You will also have a chance to interact with him after the mass. The Archbishop will be open to answer your questions and concerns.

Stewardship Reflection: July 30, 2017 “And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light.” - MATTHEW 17:2 Just as the moon reflects the light of the sun, we should reflect Christ’s light to the world. When we receive the Eucharist, the body and blood of Jesus, we are called to be supernatural to reflect His love, mercy and forgiveness to others. When we are grateful for all that God has given us, generosity flows through us because we are made in God’s image.

Intentions of Pope Francis for August 2017Pope’s Universal Intention: ArtistsThat artists of our time, through their ingenu-ity, may help everyone discover the beauty of creation.

Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament will be every First Friday from 9:15am until 12noon only in the Chapel.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR ANDSAVE THE DATE!

Sharing God’s Blessings Annual Appeal 2017 The goal of Our Lady Of Mercy Parish this year is $36, 302.00. As of July 31st, we have achieved 70.53% ($25,604.00) of our goal, so far. With humble heart, I am asking you to support our Archdiocese. If we go over our goal, the excess will be sent back to us (rebate) and we can add that to what we are trying to accomplish in our parish. Thank you in advance from the bottom of my heart. God bless you all!

Update on Capital Campaign: “We Are Living Stones” You may recall that the Case Items for Parish Portion are the following: • Purchase and Installation of a gas generator • Repointing of the Church • Replacement of windows on the school’s 3rd floor • Repairing the boiler in the school • Debt reduction Last year we did the boiler repair at the school building that cost us $10,075.00. But same boiler needs more repairs. There will be two different boiler jobs to be done and it will cost $8,500.00 and $16,000.00. It just never ends! (Speaking of boiler, we have replaced the boiler (of 1959) for the church and Maria Room. The cost of that replacement was $38,000. It is not a case item for this capital campaign, though.) So far, our parish portion is a $110,000.00. I will ask the Archdiocese to take off what we have spent for school boiler. We cannot start the 3rd floor window replacement until the school (Starting Point) starts their own window replacement. As to repointing of the church, I need to get the estimates. Then there are other items. Given what we have, I don’t think we have enough fund. But keep heart and don’t loose hope be-cause little by little, with your cooperation, we will eventually get there. Thank you for your generosity!

Stewardship of Treasure for July 30, 2017 Regular Collection ~ $ 7,551.00 Thank you for your generosity and support to our com-munity!

and fellowship among one another. And that is a real beauty in our parish if we stop and think about it. It is beautiful to see all of you coming together in an event or events and mingles with everybody, of every race and culture. To mention some of these events, if not all: there will be talents shows, dance lessons, dinner dances, 50/50 raffles, golf outings, food expos, walkathons, pil-grimages and many others. I encourage you to always take home a bulletin with you and check out upcoming events that we will be posting as soon as dates have been decided. As we speak, there are a few upcoming events in place so far (of which I already have mentioned in last week’s bulletin and will keep them posted every week so you will not forget.) As many of you have experienced it, I am pretty sure that you would agree with me when I say that, “challenges or hardships come along with the blessings we receive.” And just as I share with you some of the blessings we are bestowed upon as a community, allow me to share with you also some of the challenges I now face as a pastor of our community. Many of you have seen me and worked with me (for eleven years to be exact) as a parochial vicar or assistant to the pastor. (By the way, pastors and parochial vicars are of the same function because we are all ordained as priests. So, don’t get me wrong.) When I was a parochial vicar I didn’t have to make decisions myself for the community. And that makes the difference as to being a pastor and parochial vicar, the deci-sion-making. As priests we have the moral obligation to take care the spiritual welfare of the people and to take care the treasures of the Church, and as a pastor or leader of the flock I have the responsibility to oversee the whole thing and have the final word. And let me tell you that making decisions is not an easy job. It takes a lot of prayer, consultations with the assistants or parochial vicars, staff members, parish councils and most importantly, it must always be in conformity with the scriptures, church doctrine or teachings and traditions. In other words, it is about orthodoxy. At present, many of you are not used to seeing me as a pastor now. And some of you think negatively about some policies. So, for example if we have a “no picture taking” policy at baptisms, first communions, confirmations and weddings, it is not because of me. It is not about me making that up because I am the pastor and that I am a changed person now, stricter, and, I can do what I want. NO! It really is about the Liturgy. It is for the good of the people of God. It is for all of us to stay and keep focused on the sacrament or sacraments being celebrated. It is about helping us how be in the right track towards what we do at church. The real presence of the Lord Jesus Christ is here! If we don’t know about it yet, we entered into prayer the moment we begin our celebration with the sign of the cross until the sending forth. And we know from the Catechism of the Catholic Church that the Liturgy of the Eucharist is the “highest form of prayer” (- CCC 1375 on the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist.) If we pay close attention to all the words or what the priest says at mass, we find out that we pray for everybody and everything. And because of that we want you to really be in it, to be in prayer and really pray well without any distractions whatsoever. And to those of you who know me well, you know how I love taking pictures and to be in it, too. And experience says that when we take pictures we want them to come out as good pictures (with the right angle, lighting, etcetera.) And guess what? You are not the only one who got distracted but you are a distraction yourself to others. Try to take pictures when you cross the street or while driving… guess what would happen…you will get into accident! It is the same thing at our celebrations in church. Brothers and sisters, I pray that before we talk against our priests, or pastor in particular, we first try to understand the reasons behind church policies. (And, this is also true in many other things.) It is all about having the right attitude in coming to

church. Let us ask ourselves first why do we exert effort to come to Church? And we know so well the answer to that question: we are called to come to worship God in spirit and in truth, to pray and to get nourished in Word and in Sacraments. And that’s the core of it all. We hear it from our other Christian brothers and sisters when they knock on our doors as their own way of evangeliz-ing the Word of God: “Are You Saved?” Well… in our personal relationship with God let us ponder on that same question “Are We Saved?” Truth be told, we will not really get to know about it until we get there, but for now, what we can do for sure is we can prepare ourselves for it by having the right attitudes. As we celebrate this Sunday of the Transfiguration of the Lord, we may do well by coming to our senses and ask if we are on the right track towards salvation. Let us work on our transfig-uration and be converted to attain eternal life. It is never too late to change. God gives us a chance all the time to come back to him when we get a little distracted along the way. I tell you that in this world there is a lot of temptation to get sidetracked from. Once that happens, get back on and God is forever willing to forgive and lovingly embrace us. God bless you all! Love,+Father Marty

The Directory: 2017 Senior Services GuideCopies of the Directory from Office of Aging of the Department of Health and Human Resources in Hudson County are available at the parish office. This Directory is an essential guide for all who may be seeking information on home and community services available to them, according to the Hudson County Executive. For those who want to help and reach out to our aging brothers and sisters please feel free to get your copy.

Summer or Winter Makes No Difference! As you know, we are now following our summer Mass schedule, Saturday 5 pm, Sunday 8 am, 10 am, 12 noon, and 7 pm. That schedule would normally change in September and we would then follow our winter Mass schedule. However, this will no longer happen. We have decided to keep our current Mass schedule through-out the entire year. Our Mass schedule will continue as it is, Saturday 5 pm, Sunday 8 am, 10 am, 12 noon, and 7 pm. Summer or winter will make no difference, the Mass times will remain the same!

Weekday Mass Schedule Starting September 1st weekday masses schedule will be the following: Monday - Friday at 7:00am and 8:30am Saturday at 8:30am

We are rolling out a novel way of supporting Our Lady of Mercy Parish through your purchases at Amazon. Please note instructions prepared by Peachy Molina, a member of our Adult Music Ministry, which you can find at www.olmnj.org.Please remember to: • Use an internet browser, not a mobile app • Log on to smile.amazon.com • Choose Our Lady of Mercy Jersey City as your charity 

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE SICK:Paul Calefati, Elaine Staltari, Othelia G. Laurena, Jean Kary-cinski, Dorothy Darcy, Erlinda Jacinto, Presentacion Sorio, Leonora Loyola, Eric Bautista, Lilian Kryczkowski, Ellen Iorio, Jessica Pavone, Ian Malesiewski, Ruben Catipon, Angela Salva-dor, Clarita Salvador, Teresita Cordon, Vincent Mastria, Maria Svaligmac, Bill Macchi, Craig

Rutkowski, James Seaman, Makenzie Cadmus, Manuel J.Juson, MD, Gina Marquez, Rose Maschucci, Maurita Reyes, Daniel Tamayo Santos, Marie Ronzitti, Lucia Vanderburg, Betty Scerbo, Philip Scerbo, Alejandra Ancheta, Cindy Popolo, Mario Banaag, Oscar Alladin, Antonio Roldan, Ricardo Valdez, Erma Chidichi-mo, Esperanza Galarza, Carmen Tuazon, Nick DeBello, Susan Ranola Rivera, Conrado “Boy” Tanada, John Broderick, John Hnath, Joanne Diaz, Ligaya Tan, Concepcion Del Rosario, Leon-arda DeCarlo, Dolores Steinhauser, Eugenio Cacananta

Spirituality of Knitting RetreatSeptember 12 – 15 (3-nights – mid-week) Marianist Family Retreat Center Cape May Point, NJ 08212 Come explore how the work of your hands is also the work of our Creator’s hands! Through shared prayer services, presen-tations, daily mass and plenty of time to craft in community, we will explore the Spirituality of Knitting. All who knit, crochet or needle-craft with some experience are welcome! Cost: $150 per person (includes program, lodging and meals Sign up online at www.capemaymarianists.org. or call 609-884-3829 fro more information.

Mark your calendar and save the dates On September 28th there will be a celebration of the Eu-charist with Archbishop Cardinal Joseph Tobin at Saint Aloysius Church on Westside Avenue, Jersey City at 7:30pm. All of you are invited to participate. This is his visit to all churches in the Archdiocese of Newark but he does it by dean-ery. You will have a chance to interact with him because after mass light refreshments will be served in the parish hall and the Archbishop will be open to answer your questions and concerns. So please show up. In December 11th and 12th there will be an advent parish mission. The Parish Advent Mission theme will be “Preparing for the Prince of Peace: Reflections on the Peace Prayer” and will be given by Father JohnPaul Cafiero, OFM. You may recall Father JohnPaul had been with us for a parish mission a few years ago and did “Reflections on the Wizard of Oz.” There will be more information regarding the said events as we come closer to the dates.

Bereavement Team We are in need of volunteers to be part of Bereavement Team. For those of you who feel like you have a gift to console those who are grieving due to loss of loved ones, please step up. See Father Marty or Mr. Edwin Dava.

SATURDAY, August 55:00pm Laela Lanting (L) (Birthday)SUNDAY, August 68:00am For The People10:00am Alan Teves r/b Banaag Family12:00pm Ronald Oliver (L) (Birthday) r/b Kathy Oliver7:00pm Rosalina B. Moreno r/b Moreno FamilyMONDAY, August 77:00am Jaimee Figueras (L) (Birthday) r/b Vickie Figueras8:45am Florante Vicedo (Death Anniversary) r/b Delia VicedoTUESDAY, August 87:00am Gerard & Rose DiGeronimo r/b Anna Iacono8:45am Ruthie Tayao (In Thanksgiving) r/b Betty BalatbatWEDNESDAY, August 97:00am Jeng Villa (L) (Birthday) r/b Villa Family8:45am Vincent Longo r/b Olga FreraccioTHURSDAY, August 107:00am Rose Maschucci r/b Mary & Cosmo DeSteno8:45am Edgardo Balatbat (Birthday in Heaven) r/b Betty BalatbatFRIDAY, August 117:00am Basilisa Tuazon (Death Anniversary) r/b Tuazon Family8:45am Isabel Canivel Reyes (Death Anniversary) r/b Lerie ReyesSATURDAY, August 128:45am Purgatorial Society5:00pm Lydia Pia r/b Rex & Liza GarciaSUNDAY, August 138:00am For The People10:00am Anna Marie Barrett r/b Guiz & Gigi Macalintal12:00pm Miguel Malinay Jonson r/b Jonson Family7:00pm Open Intention BREAD & WINE: The offering for the bread to be used this week at our Eucha-ristic Worship was given in memory of The People. The offering for the wine to be used this week at our Eucharis-tic Worship was given in memory of The People.SANCTUARY LAMPS: The lamp burning over our tabernacle in the Church this week is offered for Thanksgiving for All the Blessings Received by Trinidad Reyes.. The lamp burning over our tabernacle in the Chapel this week is offered for The People.

Mass IntentionsParish Offices

Our Lady of Mercy Parish40 Sullivan Drive, Jersey City, NJ 07305

Phone: 201-434-7500Web: olmnj.org | Email: olmjcnj@aol.com

Office Hours:Monday to Friday 8:00am – 3:00pm

Saturday 9:00am – 1:00pm

Pastor:Reverend Father Marty B. Jacinto

Parochial Vicars:Father Thomas Iwanowski Father Ranulfo D. Docabo

Sunday Associate:Father Renato J. Bautista

Permanent Deacon:Deacon Nick Fargo (Emeritus)

Deacon Meynardo Espeleta

Pastoral Associates:For Faith Formation

Regina ‘Jeng’ Matias-Villa

Director of Music Ministries:Michael Rivera

Youth/Young Adult MinistriesDirector of Youth/Young Adult Ministries:

Regina ‘Jeng’ Matias-Villa

Parish Trustees:Presy Lorenzo Renato Tuazon

Ministry to the Sick and Homebound If you, a family member or neighbor is hospitalized and wish a visit from a Parish priest, call the Parish Office or email us at olmjcnj@aol.com. The Sacrament of the Sick: Any homebound or hospitalized parishioner may request this Sacrament by calling 201-434-7500.Visitation of the Sick: Please contact any priest, deacon or pas-toral associate or call the Parish Office at 201-434-7500. Priests’ Hospital Assignments: If you, a family member or neighbor are hospitalized and wish a visit from a Parish priest call or e-mail us at olmjcnj@aol.com.

I appeal to those who want to advertise your company or your busi-ness to please do so. It will be a very big help to make our bulletin better (in color if possible) so we can give you more information and knowledge about all the goings-on or happenings in our commu-nities. You can call Dave Chameides at 1-203-641-6051 or email: dchameides@4Lpi.com.

Mass Schedule Saturday 5:00pm Sunday 8:00am / 10:00am / 12noon / 7:00pmReconciliation Saturday 3:30pm – 4:300pm. Anytime by appointment.

Live Christ Share Christ for the Youth is coming to Our Lady of Mercy Church!

LCSC-Youth is an opportunity for young people to come share, pray, fellowship and get to know Jesus Christ more intimately. Come and see... Be part of something great!  All youth from ages 13-19 years old are invited to attend a Life in Christ Sem-inar. The seminar is FREE. The only investment required is your Time and Open-ness.

August 19, 2017 (Saturday) 9:00 A.M. – 4:30 P.M.

(Light lunch & snacks will be served)at the

MARIA ROOM Our Lady of Mercy Parish

40 Sullivan Drive, Jersey City, NJ 07305

(Please tear-off and return to Our Lady of Mercy (OLM) Parish Rectory/Office – or call the Rectory at 201-434-7500 for questions)

LCSC YOUTH PRE-REGISTRATION Name:

Phone:

Email: