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.

OUR LADY OF KNOCK SHRINE PILGRIMAGE - SUNDAY, AUGUST 12TH
We receive a number of flyers or brochures announcing various pilgrimages. Many people love to take part in those. But let us not forget the one closer to home, actually in our own backyard. That is the one in Mayo. It is usually celebrated around the 15th of August, the feast of the Assumption of Mary and honours Our Lady of Knock. This year it takes place on Sunday August 12th.

You can make a complete day of it in beautiful surroundings. And there is a real prayerful atmosphere. The major components are:

• Celebration of the Eucharist at 11:00 a.m.
• Lunch is available after Mass
• The Rosary is recited on the way to the Cemetery where prayers are said
• Adoration and Benediction with the Blessed Sacrament
• Healing Service concludes the day.

A good number of O.L.V. parishioners help in putting it on. That is much appreciated. In fact, it would be a great development if we could make it into a joint effort of both St. Malachy and O.L.V. parishes. Anyone interested in making this beautiful event work could call Claire Butler at 819-986-6818.

NEXT BAPTISMS FOR OUR LADY OF VICTORY - ST. MALACHY - SUNDAY JULY 29TH
We normally celebrate baptisms 5 times a year. One is usually towards the end of June. This one is delayed a little, but we hope that those requesting baptism for their son-daughter can fit into what is possible for us.

Baptism does not stand on its own. Our normal practice is to have three evenings of reflection in preparation for the baptism. For this July 29th baptism, the preperation sessions are set for Tuesday, July 10th, Monday, July 16th and Monday, July 23rd. The children to be baptized will be presented to the parish community during the July 22nd Sunday Mass.

ENGLISH RETREAT - "ENCOUNTERING THE HEALING GOD" - AT CHAMPSOISÉ
Champboisé Solitude Centre has included in its 2007 program a retreat which will be given in English. The title of the retreat is Encountering the Healing God. It is a 6-day retreat given by Sister Lise LeRiche, fdls, from Friday July 13th to Thursday July 19th.

For more details there are leaflets at the entrance to the church or you can investigate at www.champboise.org.

BBQ AT ST. MALACHY CHURCH GROUNDS
On Sunday, July 8th 2007, the wardens of St. Malachy will be hosting a farewell party for Father Bill in the afternoon, beginning at 3:30 p.m. Please bring your lawn chair and your own beverages.

SOME PEARLS FROM KATHLEEN NORRIS
Kathleen Norris is a poet who has been an unbeliever for many years. Part of her journey of faith is learning to understand and speak the language of the Christian faith. Her book Amazing Grace. A Vocabulary of Faith is a delightful and enlightening reflection on that aspect of her journey of faith.

Here follow some of her reflections:

The All-wise, All-knowing God cannot speak without meaning many things at once.-- Cardinal Newman

If there existed only a single sense for the words of scripture, the first commentator who came along would discover it, and other hearers would experience neither the labour of searching, nor the joy of finding.— Ephrem the Syrian I treasure the times in a monastery when I have heard read aloud as part of morning or evening prayer passages that I would never hear on Sunday morning in my church at home. Among celibate women I have savoured the Song of Songs read with quiet reverence and joy; and in a choir full of celibate men, I have listened to the story of David and Bathsheba, a tale of rape, adultery, murder and its aftermath. Such readings became a part of my religious conversion, allowing me to marvel at the inclusion of all of this in the great book of my religion. It forced me to admit that I would rather have a holy book that reflects the fullness of human life than one that fosters denial. The absence of God so starkly portrayed in Job’s laments or in Jeremiah’s wishing that he had never been born points to God’s presence, just as surely as the ecstatic praise of the psalmist, remembering the great mystery of what he has seen holds in tension the possibility of God’s absence.

Many people these days feel an absence in their lives, expressed as an acute desire for “something more”, a spiritual home, a community of faith. But when they try to read the Bible they end up throwing it across the room. To me, this seems encouraging, a place to start, a sign of real engagement with the God who is revealed in scripture. Others find it easy to dismiss the Bible out of hand, as negative, vengeful, violent. I can only hope that they are rejecting the violence-as-entertainment of movies and television on the same grounds, and that they say a prayer every time they pick up a daily newspaper or turn on CNN. In the context of real life, the Bible seems refreshingly whole, an honest reflection on humanity in relation to the sacred and the profane. I can’t learn enough about it, but I also have to trust what little I know, and proceed, in faith, to seek God there.