The Parishes of Our Lady of Victory and St. Malachy

Pastor
Father William Marrevee, s.c.j.

Eucharistic Celebrations

St. Malachy - Saturday 7:00 P.M.
Our Lady of Victory - Sunday 9:00 A.M.

Welcome to new parishioners:
We welcome you to our parish! Please introduce yourself after Mass and call the Rectory to register.

THIRTY THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (C) NOVEMBER 14, 2004

BAPTISM:
Our Christian communities welcome Emma-Mae, daughter of Jacqueline Maull and John Villeneuve. May the Lord of Love bless and keep you.

WEDDING ANNIVERSARY:
Congratulations and best wishes to Rose and Louis Weatherdon, who celebrate their 65th anniversary on November 16.

LITURGICAL MINISTERS APPRECIATION DAY, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.:
That is an initiative of our Parish Pastoral Council endorsed last Wednesday by the Liturgy Committee. It is a way of saying thank you to all those who help us as a parish community to celebrate the Sunday Eucharist: hospitality ministers (ushers), those who lead the singing, readers, gift bearers, ministers of communion, those who assist the presider, the presiding priest, decorators. They will all be contacted so that we have some idea how many will be there.

We'll start at 11:00 a.m. with the sharing of experiences and the expressing of needs and/or concerns. Around noon we'll have a light lunch to strengthen our fellowship. It is a great idea to have all who "make the Sunday Eucharist work" get together to make sure we are all on the same wave length.

DID ANYTHING COME FROM LOOKING AT THE BIBLE?
A number of us got together last Monday to see what we can do to get a little more comfortable with the Bible. There are different ways of doing this.

What we came up with was the proposal to get together every 2nd or 3rd Monday evening. The first 20 minutes will be spent on sharing what we have heard in the previous Sunday homily because the homily is supposed to be based on that Sunday's Scripture readings. The preacher will be there to listen; he is not to explain what he meant to say; he must hear what the hearers have heard. This can be immensely helpful to the preacher.

Then we'll spend an hour or so on the Scripture readings of the following Sunday. The idea is that this gives us an opportunity to explain from what Book of the Bible the particular readings are taken, etc.

That looks like an interesting exercise which we hope will be helpful to all participants.

THE NEW "LIVING WITH CHRIST" SUNDAY MISSALS HAVE ARRIVED - SHOULD THEY BE USED? CLEARLY, THE ANSWER IS YES. THE REAL QUESTION IS HOW?
That is the way that Bishop Raymond Lahey begins his observations. You find them on pages 517-519.

As a general rule, their use during Mass should be very limited. It is not a good practice to follow the presider and the reader in their prayers and readings. Imagine, going to a play where everybody brought a copy of the play and followed the actors.

Of course, that presupposes that the presider and the reader speak their texts clearly and audibly. Let us work on that instead of bringing out the Missals. Naturally, for those who have difficulty hearing it is entirely appropriate that they use the missals. But for the rest of us, leave the missals aside and listen attentively. That makes for better participation. And that is what we are aiming for.</p>

So why have the Missals at all? Precisely for the purposes that Bishop Lahey suggests. We encourage that you buy one (for $5.00; that is a steal!) and that you use it at home, especially in light of the Question of the Week initiative about which more will be said below.

"WHAT PRAYER IS HE SAYING NOW? I CANNOT FIND IT IN MY MISSAL."
That is one of the observations made, when a few weeks ago I used a Eucharistic Prayer that indeed is not found in the Living with Christ Sunday or weekly Missal. It is a keen observation, but it also showed up a serious problem with that Missal. Please, don't get me wrong. The Living with Christ Missal is a very helpful tool. Some years ago I did a bit of work for it too. But much depends on the purpose for which it is used.

The Living with Christ Missal has its limitations. It does not contain all the officially approved Eucharistic Prayers in our Church. Hence, if it restricts the legitimate choice of the presider to choose a Eucharistic Prayer that happens to be more in line with the Scripture readings and the homily of that particular Sunday, then we give the Living with Christ Missal more authority that it can claim. With all due respect for the Missal it does not have the right to limit the legitimate choice of the presider.

The above mentioned observation points to another problem as well. The Eucharistic Prayer is the kind of prayer that ideally the congregation listens to and consents to with its acclamations (Holy...; Christ has died,..., Amen) when the presider proclaims it in its name. In other words, the Eucharist Prayer is not to be followed in a book. Of course that puts the burden on the presider: he is expected to proclaim it slowly, deliberately, and with conviction. That is to say, he must not rush or mumble through it. I do my best, but if I can improve on that, please let me know.

CEREAL BAR DRIVE:
O.L.V., Sunday, November 21. These cereal bars, (not chocolate bars) are given to children who come to school hungry for whatever reason.

O.L.V. CHRISTMAS TEA:
A convenor is needed for this December 4th event. Interested? Please call Evelyn at 986-2477.

CRAFT SALE:
Saturday, Nov. 27, 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 28, noon-2:30 p.m., St. Aloysius Church. Please see poster at entrance for more details.

LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS!
Volunteers are needed to look after Fellowship (Coffee & Cake) on the first Sunday of each month at O.L.V. If we can get enough volunteers, each person would be responsible for Fellowship only once a year. For info. please call Babe at 986-6900.

Weekly Receipts	O.L.V.	St. Malachy
Regular	$667	$290	THANK YOU!
Support	$465	$157
Missionary Bishops	$190
All Saints	$180