Our Lady of Mercy Parish Merrimack, NH 03054

424-3757

Pastor: Rev. Msgr. Paul Bouchard Deacon: Mr. John Castelot Pastoral Associate: Marie Dancy

Our Lady of Mercy Parish, Merrimack NH December 24, 2017

SATURDAY, December 23rd Vigil: Fourth Sunday of Advent

4:30PM: Joseph Stephanak req by his family and for all parishioners

SUNDAY, December 24th Fourth Sunday of Advent

9:30AM: Skip Watkins req by his loving wife Rachel

Vigil: Nativity of the Lord 4:00 PM: Deceased members of the Delude & Rush families 7:00 PM: The deceased members of the Dwyer & Wood families 12:00AM: Teresa, Jill & Billy Fleming req by the Fleming Family

MONDAY, December 25th The Nativity of the Lord

10:30AM: Tom Gannon req by the Gannon family

TUESDAY, December 26th NO MASS

WEDNESDAY, December 27th St. John, Apostle and Evangelist

8:10AM: Morning Prayer 8:30AM: For deceased priests in the Diocese

THURSDAY, December 28th NO MASS

FRIDAY, December 29th Fifth Day within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord 8:10AM: Morning Prayer 8:30AM: For the intentions of the celebrant

SATURDAY, December 30th Vigil: The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph

4:30PM: Rita T. Bernard req by Eleanor Coyne, a dear friend

SUNDAY, December 31st The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph

8:30AM: For all parishioners 10:30AM: Mary Katherine Colten req by her cousin Anticipated Mass for the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy

Mother of God 4:00PM: For the deceased members of our parish

Pray Before You Speak Have you ever been told to "think before you speak"? Nathan seems to have spoken too soon when he told David to do whatever he wanted about building a house for the LORD. He was being respectful to his king, and it sounded like a good idea. But later that night the Lord gave him a message for David: the LORD did not need anyone to build him a house; God would make David's house (in the sense of family or descendants) last forever. As a prophet Nathan was expected to speak for the LORD. When he finally listened to the LORD, he got the message right. And that can be a lesson to us. In-stead of just thinking before we speak, it could be a good idea to pray before we speak. How many times have we said something in anger--or selfishness, fear, any strong feeling--that we wished we could take back? If we just think before we speak, we might just rationalize what we wanted to say in the first place. But if we take a little more time to bring our feel-ings to God, ask for guidance and listen for what God would have us say, things might turn out a lot better. God can also surprise us if given the chance. The king-dom ("house") God was promising was not a political one, but a universal one. Jesus fulfills this promise as the Son of God who came to proclaim the Kingdom of God. Jesus himself prayed to the Father often in his life. We can do the same. We pray before meals; why not pray before going to work? We can pray before making decisions about our family, getting engaged, taking a new job, buying a new house/car/HD-TV, etc. When a friend or relative needs someone to talk to, we can pray that we listen well and say what God wants our friend to hear. When we are sorry for hurting someone, we can pray for forgiveness and even listen to God to learn what we might do to make it up to them. If we have enough faith to let God guide our lives, let's take the time in prayer to listen for that guidance. Tom Schmidt, Copyright (c) J. S. Paluch Co.

For the weekend of Dec 17th: $6587.50

Thank You!!!

MORNING MASS SNOW POLICY

For the safety of our parishioners and also to give our maintenance staff a chance to clear walkways and to make sure the parking lot is plowed, if Merrimack schools are closed or if there is a delayed opening, Mass is can-celled. We will call and reschedule the Mass intention for that day.

OUR LADY OF MERCY PARISH MERRIMACK, NH

Are You Looking to Start Back on Your Journey of Faith? Are you ready?

The road to receive the Sacraments of Baptism, First Communion and Confirmation is ahead

if you are ready.

Do you wish to finish your Catholic Sacraments of Initiation?

Maybe you want to get on the road—to come to the Catholic Church—to be baptized and start on your journey of faith. Did you receive your First Communion and then get side tracked and never receive Confirmation? It is never too late to get back on the road and continue on your faith jour-ney. It is never too late to receive your First Com-munion or Confirmation and to step right back into the last footsteps of your faith journey and begin again as an adult. This is an exciting pro-cess especially designed for adults who want to celebrate the Sacraments of Baptism, First Com-munion and/or Confirmation called the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). Don’t hesi-tate if you are ready. Just call the parish office at 424-3757 and speak with Marie Dancy, our Pasto-ral Associate. She will give you all the details and help you get started.

Sunday, December 24, 2017 4:00 PM; 7:00 PM and 12:00(midnight)

Monday, December 25, 2017

10:30AM

Sunday, December 31, 2017

4:00 PM

Monday, January 1, 2018

10:30 AM

120 Club Winners Week #20

$250.00…..Kathleen Conlin $100.00…..Suzanne McDermott $ 50.00…..Liane Peppin $ 50.00…..Richard Debelis $ 25.00…..Muriel Gelinas $ 25.00…..Linda Ketchie $ 25.00…..Barbara Arcieri $ 25.00…..Susan Proulx

COMING SOON…..

Please join us for Bible Story Time. Children of all ages are welcome, as well as interested adults. Learn about fasci-nating individuals and events in our Church’s history. These stories will be read after the 10:30 AM Mass downstairs in the Church Hall during the month of January. We hope to see you there.

December 24, 2017

Rosary Calendar Signups

A new year is beginning soon and we all have many reasons to pray. More than ever, we need love, guidance and the intercession of our Heavenly Mother Mary. She is our Queen of Peace! Praying the Rosary is a wonderful way to ask our Blessed Mother to bring peace in our hearts and to offer spiritual support for life at all stages and in all vocations. Through prayer you can make a difference. Each day of January 2018 has been dedicated to a specific intention. To participate, simply sign your name on the day you wish to pray the Rosary. Each day can be chosen by more than one person. Parents, please talk about the daily intention with your children and say a short prayer with them each day. Pray for families, for priests, for the elderly, the unborn and our government leaders. Life is God’s gift to all of us. Sign ups begins the weekend of January 6th and 7th after all the masses or anytime throughout the month. More than one person can sign up for any day.

How to Report Suspected Abuse If you know or suspect abuse or neglect of a minor (a per-son under the age of 18), you must report it to the NH Division for Children, Youth and Families at 1-800-894-5533 or 603-271-6556. If you are an employee or volun-teer in the Catholic Church in NH, in addition to reporting to DCYF, if you know or suspect sexual abuse of a minor by Church personnel you must also report it to: Local Law Enforcement and the Delegate for Ministerial Con-duct if the abuse involves a minor at 669-3100.

Prayer Shawl Ministry For many years the women of the OLM Prayer Shawl Ministry have been getting together on Fridays in the Parish Meeting Room. They’re an outgoing group of women who have knitted and crocheted an almost unimaginable number of hats, scarves, and other items for hospitals, treatment centers, homeless shelters, etc. They have just finished up 718 hats and scarves for donations this year. Along with these items they have also made numerous prayer shawls for those who are grieving the loss of a loved one or are just in need of prayer and comfort. They would love to have you join them. If you are interested, call the parish office at 424-3757 for more information. The ladies are running low on yarn and would ap-preciate any donations. You may bring your yarn donations to the parish office or call the office and we can make some arrangements for you to drop them off.

MASS SCHEDULE

Saturday: 4:30 pm Sunday: 8:30 and 10:30 am Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday: 8:30 am Holy Days: Anticipated Mass (evening before) 7:00 pm Holy Day at 8:30 am Phone Parish Office/Rectory: 424-3757 Religious Education Office: 424-4477 Emails for Office Staff Pastor: Rev Paul Bouchard Email: FrPaul@olmnh.org Deacon: Mr. John Castelot Email: deaconjohn@olmnh.org Pastoral Associate: Marie Dancy Email: mdancy@olmnh.org Faith Formation Director: Laura Paison Email: lpaison@olmnh.org Faith Formation Admin Asst: Kathleen Rush Email: kjrush1@olmnh.org Youth Minister: Mackenzie Murphy Email: mmurphy@olmnh.org Office Manager: Cathy Guman Email: cguman@olmnh.org Music Director: Nancy King Email: nking@olmnh.org Receptionist/Secretary: Alyce Bolduc Email: alemae@olmnh.org

PARISH OFFICE HOURS December 26th through January 1st

The Parish office will be open December 26th through December 29th from 9am to 12 noon.

Parish Offices will be closed on Monday, December 25, 2017 and Monday, January 1, 2018l

We will resume regular office hours (9am to 4pm) on January 2, 2018.

The Sanctuary Lamp for December 23rd through December 29th is lit in memory of Paul Lacasse & Carol Hagman.

If you would like to have the sanctuary lamp lit in memory of or for the intentions of a loved one, please call the parish office at 424-3757.

Information Page

Acct #: 694750 Our Lady of Mercy Parish 16 Baboosic Lake Road Merrimack, NH 03054 Contact Person: Kathleen Rush Phone: (603) 424-4477 or (603) 424-3757 Fax: (603) 424-1780 Email Address: kjrush1@olmnh.org

Bulletin for December 24, 2017 Kathy