Dear Parishioners:Last week we held the Annual Financial Meeting for the Parish Corporation. Our Parish Trustees, Joe Cavanagh and Bill Wray, along with the seven members of our Parish Finance Council met with Dave Cote, our Parish Business Manager, and myself to review the Annual Financial Report for the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2013. Overall the report looks good and a copy will be provided to the entire parish in the coming weeks. Specifically, the report indicates that this year the parish had a cash surplus of about $25,000. This is a change from the last few years of deficits, and a sign of your generous support. The report shows a positive financial trend for our parish and this is truly great news especially during these tough economic times. Unlike the federal government we won’t face a shut down!
I wish to thank the Parish Trustees, Finance Council and Dave Cote for their hard work and dedication to serving our parish. Their sound advice and good counsel is a great asset in keeping the 
parish financially sound and fiscally viable. Also, I wish to thank Gloria Lincourt for her many years of dedicated service to the parish. As you may know she served as a Parish Auditor for many years and recently asked to step down. We are grateful for her hard work and service on behalf of the parish. Ed Loiselle, a long time parishioner of OLM and a CPA, has generously agreed to take Gloria’s place as Parish Auditor. I am grateful for his willingness to serve along with our longtime Parish Auditor, Paul St. Onge. Both Ed and Paul carefully reviewed the Annual Financial Report as required by the Diocese. The final report will now be sent to Bishop Tobin for his review. I am grateful for your generous financial support of Our Lady of Mercy. In a time when many other parishes are struggling financially, your continued generosity keeps Our Lady of Mercy Parish both fiscally sound and financially healthy.
While financial health is important for any parish so too is spiritual health. So I bring to your attention the many ways you can keep your spiritual life healthy at OLM. Of course, the greatest way to maintain your spiritual health is through regular attendance at Mass. With the addition of 
another Mass on the OLM schedule on Sundays, getting to Mass is even easier. You can also keep spiritually healthy by attending Marian Devotions each Monday in October. Join us each week for a prayerful time of reciting the Rosary, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and a brief spiritual talk. It’s yet another wonderful way to improve your spiritual life. Also, I bring to your attention the addition to the OLM Schedule of Monday night Confessions at 6:00PM. We’ve added this extra hour of Confessions for those who cannot get here on Saturday afternoons. Remember what Pope Francis has said: “The confessional is not a torture chamber, but the place in which the Lord’s mercy motivates us to do better.” So please stop by on Mondays for God’s mercy and forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance.
The renovations of the Church bathrooms should be coming to end. Each bathroom has been redesigned and remodeled with new tile, new insulation, new fixtures and new lighting. The bathrooms now have only one toilet each and will now be unisex. There is a privacy lock on the door of each and one has a changing table for our young families with infants! This project was made possible because of your generous support of the Annual Collection. The Annual Collection continues to garner support this year. So far just over 300 families have made their donation in support of this important collection. In a parish with 2,200 registered families we still await a gift from many families to reach last year’s total of $100,000. If you have not yet made your donation, please do so by placing the blue envelope in the collection basket at any Mass. Thank you for your support. Congratulations to the 93 young adults confirmed this weekend God Bless. Go Sox!!