THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT
CELEBRATION OF THE EUCHARIST
Our Lady of Victory		St. Malachy
Sunday - 9:00 A.M.		Saturday - 7:00 P.M.

F O O D   F O R   T H E   W E E K

Reading I Exodus 20.1-17 Responsorial Psalm Lord, you have the words of everlasting life. Reading II 1 Corinthians 1.18, 22-25 Gospel John 2.13 - 25 Adult 1.  Name some ways you see people today violating the first commandment. What helps you to keep God first in you life? What makes it difficult? 2.  Describe a time when living the gospel made you look foolish to others. Where did you find the courage to be true to your beliefs? 3.  If Jesus were to come to your parish, what might he cleanse? What if he looked around your heart or your family? How do you think people would react if he acted as he did in Jerusalem?

Pastor	William Marrevee s.c.j.
Email	w.marrevee@sympatico.ca
Rectory	490 Charles Street Gatineau, Québec J8L 2K5
Secretary	Monday and Thursday 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Telephone	(819) 986-3763
Fax	(819) 986-9889

A sincere welcome to those who are new among us. We hope you find a warm and welcoming faith-home with us. Please introduce yourself after Mass and call the Rectory to register.

40/3/50 - THE PASCAL SEASON

MASSES:

WED.	Mar. 22 - 9:00 a.m.	Robert & Benita Archer by Louis & Rose Weatherdon
FRI.	Mar. 24 - 7:00 p.m.	Stations of the Cross
SAT.	Mar. 25 - 7:00 p.m.	Maurice & Eleanor Doherty by Brian Doherty & family
SUN.	Mar. 26 - 9:00 a.m.	Bertina Gorman by Lucien & Aurelia Deguire Gerry Cullen by Larry & Pauline Cullen Millie Kearnan by Lenora Dunning

LENT - WE CLIMB THE HOLY MOUNTAIN OF EASTER:
The Lenten Season gives us a rich fair of Scripture readings. That is especially true for the Sundays of lent. What they have in common is that they all prepare us for the celebration of the central mystery of the Christian faith: the Death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Not all Scripture reading can be mentioned here, but notice this fixed pattern of the Gospel readings in Lent. The first Sunday always starts with the Temptation of Jesus in the desert, temptations that threaten every Christian, but that by the power of Jesus’ Spirit we are able to deal with. The second Sunday always gives us the story of Jesus’ Transfiguration, a preview of his resurrection and glory in which we are called to share.

When it comes to the 3rd, 4th and 5th Sundays of Lent, the Gospel Readings follow a different pattern over a three-year cycle. This year we are in “Year B”. The focus is on the coming exultation of Jesus. But it is an exultation that (typically of John’s Gospel) occurs at the hour of this deepest self-abasement: the death and resurrection of Jesus belong together and together make up the central mystery of our faith that we are preparing to celebrate.

SOME INTERESTING REFLECTIONS ON FASTING AND ABSTINENCE:
An editorial in a recent issue of the Tablet made some good points on the practice of fasting and abstinence that used to be such a Catholic thing “until” the late sixties. Here follows part of what the editorial has to say:

Fasting and abstinence has come to be associated with a particularly rigid and scrupulous attitude to church law—eating meat on Friday was a “mortal sin” to be confessed before one could receive Communion, and so on. That was never the point of it, and while breaking that sense of over-scrupulosity was doubtless a good pastoral move at that time, the climate now is entirely different.

Any return to a more general practice of fasting and abstinence would have to be seen as an exercise in valuable self discipline rather than as the empty observance of regulations, but that is something that modern culture, with its interest in “diet and detox”, could readily appreciate. If we are what we eat, then not eating for a set period makes a powerful point. Why should our bodies not worship as well as our minds and hearts? But to leave the choice entirely up to individuals would not be sufficient. It has to become normative again, a regular and routine feature of Catholic life. In 1967 it was abolished from the top down. Why not let it return to Catholic life from the bottom up, by the spontaneous initiative of local parishes seeking ways to deepen their faith?

And if we then make the money we save with our fasting and abstinence into our contribution to the upcoming Share Lent collection, then we really make our fasting and abstinence life-giving to others. And is that not part of Christian living?

WHAT IS THAT RAIN BARRELL DOING UP THERE?
The barrel at the entrance of the church may surprise us. It is part of the” Lenten” décor. Popularly, Lent is easily linked with ‘’giving up something”. Surely, there must be more to Lent than “giving up something”. There must be a purpose for it. Otherwise, there is the danger that it is merely negative and self-centered.

Here is where Development and Peace, The Canadian Catholic Relief Agency, comes into the picture. If part of the Lenten effort is to deprive ourselves of something, then we can put the money we save that way to use. After all, there are so many in our world, especially in the developing world, who lack so may of the things that we have in abundance.

In that light, the rain barrel can become a helpful image. It becomes a source of life for those who thirst for the necessities of life. We can meet them with our attempts to cut down on some of the things we have plenty of. In that case, our Lenten effort becomes positive and other-centered.

GETTING READY FOR BAPTISM - PREPARATION STARTS MARCH 22nd:
We celebrate baptism for children five times a year. (Adults can only be baptized at the Easter Vigil). Some suggest that we do it more frequently. But that suggestion usually comes from looking at the celebration of baptism itself.

However, the celebration of baptism is always preceded by a preparation. The form that we have given to that preparation is three evenings of reflection with the parents who have requested that their son/daughter be baptized. In other words, we need a fair bit of time to get ready for the baptisms.

The next time we celebrate baptism at OLV will most likely be Sunday April 30th or 23rd. The preparation for it begins on Wednesday, March 22nd, followed by sessions on March 29th and April 5th. That is a fair distance between the preparation sessions and the actual baptism. The reason for that is the celebration of Easter and the celebration of baptism at St, Al’s in Gatineau.

A REAL TREASURE, NOT HIDDEN, BUT RARELY SEEN:
Is that a great way of describing the liturgies of the three Great Days, starting Holy Thursday evening, Good Friday, Easter Saturday/Sunday? W e may well go to one or the other or even to all of them, but do we have the sense that they make up really one liturgy with fairly long “intermissions,”

The liturgies of those Three Great Days are unique. They are not simply three Masses on three consecutive days. They are really on liturgy in successive stages. Yes, they very much hang together. That stands to reason, because what we celebrate in those three Great Days is the very core of our Christian faith, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and their saving significance for us who in those saving events are made into God’s cherished people.

How about taking a closer look at these liturgies? A little more familiarity with them may result in more people taking part in them. And, more importantly, we may discover how faith-forming they are. Monday, March 27th, at 7:30 p.m . in St. Aloysius Church.

ST. PATRICK:
As a teenager, St. Patrick was kidnapped and lived the life of a slave herding swine on a hillside. In that isolation he turned to God in prayer; that was his nourishment and protection. He left us The Deer’s Cry.

Christ as a light, illuminate and guide me
Christ as a shield, o’ershadow and cover me.
Christ be under me, Christ be over me.
Christ be beside me, on left hand and right
Christ be before me, behind me, around me.
Christ this day be within me and without me. Amen.

BIRTHDAY WISHES TO:
- Waldick Wallingford who celebrates his 90th birthday on March 19th.

Weekly Receipts	O.L.V.	St. Malachy
Mar. 12th (Regular)	$   608	$   369