Our Sunday Obligation

Our Catholic Christian faith teaches us that the Eucharist is the “source and summit” of our life as disciples of Jesus and the Body of Christ. It is important before anything else to remember this importance of the Mass and our personal commitment to Christ during our week.

It is a requirement for First Holy Communion that candidates regularly attend Mass throughout the year. Candidates will receive “mass cards” to be turned in at the end of each mass to the celebrating priest. The religious education office will record all received mass cards each week. A full set of mass cards will be distributed to each student at the start of the year, and additional cards will be available from the greeters at masses.

Every Sunday, our parish continues to offer 11 Masses. The Sunday Mass schedule is:

Saturday Evening
            4:00pm English (Our Lady of Mercy)
            7:00pm Spanish (Our Lady of Mercy)

Sunday
7:30am English (Our Lady of Mercy)
            9:00am Spanish (Our Lady of Mercy)
            9:00am Portuguese (Corpus Christi)
            11:00am English (Our Lady of Mercy)
            11:00am Spanish (Holy Rosary)
            11:00am Polish (Corpus Christi)
            12:30pm English (Corpus Christi)
            1:00pm Spanish (Our Lady of Mercy)
            5:00pm Spanish (Our Lady of Mercy)

As your child prepares to receive the sacrament of First Holy Communion and the graces of the Holy Spirit that accompany it, it is imperative that they are attending Mass regularly so as to spiritually prepare to begin their life as confirmed disciples. If health concerns for elderly family members or other loved ones is truly a concern, then it is important to protect the most vulnerable. However, if family members are attending other social gatherings, parties or sporting events, it would be good to examine the true motives for missing Sunday Mass.

For this reason, failure to attend mass, as known by the record of mass cards turned in, may result in removal from the Confirmation program and denial of the application for Confirmation. Through prayer and love of the Sacraments, we can grow as a parish with Christ as the center of all.