FIRST SUNDAY IN 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 O U G H T

Reading I Deuteronomy 26.4 - 10 Responsorial Psalm Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble. Reading II Romans 10.8 – 13 Gospel Luke 4.1 - 13 Food for Thought How do the temptations of Jesus speak to my life? Do the devil’s false promises and manipulations ring a bell with me? How am I tempted to dominate and use the material gifts of the world around me? Does the realization of temptation in my life weigh me down?

February 25th, 2007

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

ARE YOU NEW TO OUR PARISH? WELCOME!
Welcome to those who want to make our parish their faith home. You may have come from other places. You may have been “away for a while”. Be assured that we love to have you among us. We would appreciate it very much if you identified yourself at Mass. It would also help if you would take the time to fill out a registration form. The next time you are with us, you may leave it in the collection basket or give it to one of the ushers or to the priest. Thank you and welcome.

M A S S       S C H E D U L E WED. Feb. 28th - 9:00 a.m. OLV Larry Miller by Mr. & Mrs. Reggie Lavell SAT. Mar. 03rd - 7:00 p.m. St. Malachy Mary Elizabeth Byrne by her Estate Barbara Dupont by David & Cindy Aileen Monaghan Kane ( 4th Anniversary) by her family SUN. Mar. 04th - 9:00 a.m. OLV Father Fernand Langevin by Regis Lemieux Lyall Sicard by Nan & family Bernard Belter (7th Anniversary) by Veronica & family

LENT - WE CLIMB THE HOLY MOUNTAIN OF EASTER
We have begun the 90-day period that is crucial for us Christians. We spend 40 days (Lent) in preparation for the Three Great Days of Christ’s Death and Resurrection (Easter Triduum) after which, for 50 days, we celebrate Christ’s victory over darkness, sin and death (Easter season closing at Pentecost). That explains the 40-3-50 which will mark our Sunday bulletins until May 27 (Pentecost Sunday).

This 90-day period has everything to do with the shaping of our identity as Christians. We want to make it count! “Becoming more Christ-like” and “having Christ come to perfection in us” that is what we are about. Only God’s grace can accomplish that in us. Imagine if we dared to say of Lent being the season in which Jesus Christ grows on us — instead of saying that Lent is about giving up something.

THE BANNERS FOR LENT
Finding appropriate images to capture the Lenten spirit is a bit of a challenge, but the ones you see up front in the church may serve the purpose. One banner depicts a pilgrim, a mountain climber guided by the Spirit. That is us as we make our way to Easter. What is the baggage we bring with us? The three traditional Lenten practices of praying, fasting and almsgiving as depicted on the other banner.

Prayer	The Sunday liturgies provide the basic orientation for Lent. That is why it makes a lot of sense to take the Living with Christ Sunday Missal home instead of letting them collect dust in the church. Having the Missals home we have an opportunity during the week to check either last Sunday’s or next Sunday’s Scripture readings. In addition, at the entrance to the church you find some extra prayer, meditation, reflection material that may be helpful.
Fasting	During Lent we could refrain from some food, from a drink, from a party, from a video as a gesture of solidarity with those who have no choice in these matters for the simple reason that they do not have them. This sort of fasting can also be done to show that we can distance ourselves from so much of what our consumer society says we need.
Almsgiving	This flows naturally from the previous two practices. Alms-giving says we care for others even to the point of depriving ourselves from something. How about making the money we save this way into our contribution to the special Development and Peace Lenten collection that will be held later on in Lent?

Naturally, these practices are not an end for themselves, but they are meant to help us grow in greater union with Jesus Christ. He is the one that stands central in it all.

READY FOR SOME MEATY LENTEN STUFF?
Is it chance or design/grace when you stumble upon a piece that really speaks to you? That happened to me when — by chance or by design/grace? — I read Daniel O’Leary’s Lenten reflection in The Tablet. Pretty powerful, in my estimation. That is why it is an insert in this Sunday’s bulletin. Who knows, it may speak to you as well.

IF “GIVING UP” IS PART OF OUR LENTEN VOCABULARY.... MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 7:00 P.M.
There is more to Lent than Giving Up. But it is one of those words that for Catholics is almost ingrained. Instead of giving up on Giving Up, how about giving it a new orientation? That is what Mia Crosthwaite is trying to do on the basis of Catholic social teaching. She identifies seven key themes of Catholic social teaching and elaborates on them a bit. It speaks more to the U.S.A. scene, but it can be helpful for us as well. And in a creative way we can get a sense of our Church’s social teaching.

We plan to have an evening to discuss the author’s suggestions. That will be on this Monday, February 26, 7:00 p.m. at St. Aloysius. Please, use the entrance at the Rectory.

It would be good to bring a copy of her musings that was included in last Sunday’s (February 18th) bulletin as a supplement.

STATIONS OF THE CROSS DURING LENT
Stations of the Cross will be Friday evenings at 7:00 p.m.

OLV CHOIR PRACTICE
Interested in joining us at our next choir practice? We would love to see you there! Please meet us at 6.00 pm instead of 7:00 pm, at OLV. This is in order to have time to practice the special hymns we have for the Triduum -- those 3 biggest days of our Christian calendar beginning on April 5th! Come and sing!

FIRST COMMUNION PREPARATION
The next session in the preparation program will be on Saturday, March 11th, 9:00 a.m. Parents and children join in the celebration of the Sunday Eucharist of the parish.

ST PATRICK’S DAY TEA
The St. Patrick’s Tea will be held on Saturday March 17th, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. in the parish hall.More details will follow.

THE CANADA DAY COMMITTEE
is sponsoring our annual St Patrick’s Dance to be held on Friday March 16th, at 8:30 p.m. It will be held at the Centre Recreatif Forestier, Julie/Chantal 1361 Route 315 (Mayo Road). Music by Country Hill (Clifford Daly) Admission is $6:00. For information or tickets, please call 281-5487 or 986-3534.

ST. COLUMBAN’S ANNUAL ST. PATRICK’S PARTY
St. Columban parish will be holding their Annual St. Patrick’s Party on Saturday, March 17th at eight o’clock at the Royal Canadian Legion, 231 Maloney Blvd. West, Gatineau. There will be a Country Music Band and Irish Entertainers. Great prizes and lunch will be served. Cost is $8. Tickets are available from St. Columban’s Wardens, Marty Bums, Jim Foley and Maynard Robinson or call 819-561-3352.

INCOME TAX RECEIPTS OLV
Please drop off a self-addressed stamped envelope in the collection basket or at the rectory, if you wish to receive an Income Tax Receipt for 2006.

W E E K L Y     R E C E I P T S   Date Collection OLV St. Malachy      Feb. 18th Regular $   802.50