4th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Our Lady of Victory Sunday - 9:00 A.M.	CELEBRATION OF THE EUCHARIST	St. Malachy Saturday - 7:00 P.M.

F O O D   F O R   T H O U G H T

Reading I Zephaniah 2.3; 3.12-13 Responsorial Psalm Blessed are the poor in spirit; the kingdom of heaven is theirs! Reading II 1 Corinthians 1.26 -31 Gospel Matthew 5.1 -12a Food for Thought We have no portrait of you, Lord but in the Beatitudes you show us your interior landscape, the source of your joy. This is not a set of regulations, but a vision of where true happiness lies. Let me taste it, phrase by phrase.

Pastor	Gyanprakash Topno
Rectory	490 Charles Street Gatineau, Québec J8L 2K5
Secretary	Monday and Thursday - 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday - 9:00 - 10:00 a.m.
Email	Info-Request@stmalachyolv.com
Telephone	(819) 986-3763
Fax	(819) 961-3159

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 SAT. Feb. 09th - 7:00 p.m. St. Malachy Sister Marion Farnand in honour of her 100th Birthday by Leonard Farnand & family SUN. Feb. 10th - 9:00 a.m. OLV Bill Cameron (36th Anniversary) & Mally Cameron (21st Anniversary) by Nan Bernadette Woods (1st Anniversary) by Tom & Isabel Laframboise Mass of thanksgiving by a parishioner

DEVELOPMENT & PEACE This week, Ash Wednesday will mark the beginning of Lent. As you will notice on the poster at the entrance to the church, the theme for Share Lent this year is: “I believe, I give”. The Share Lent collection is on the 5th Sunday of Lent, March 9th - to help you plan for the collection, the Lifestyle Awareness Calendar is included with this weekend’s bulletin. This year’s Calendar invites reflection on the omnipresence of metals in our daily lives. It also offers an opportunity to express our solidarity with communities in Africa, Latin America and Asia that are demanding that mining companies act responsibly. Your support and that of our partners will enable these communities to participate in developing their own resources in a peaceful and sustainable manner.

STATIONS OF THE CROSS DURING LENT In the past, our two parishes would join together to celebrate the Stations of the Cross every Friday evening during Lent. Notwithstanding the low turnout of parishioners in the past, there would still be a certain amount of preparation required. In that respect, the Parish Pastoral Council has decided that there will be no Stations of the Cross at OLV this year. Instead, certain parishioners have offered to carpool to St. Aloysius parish every Friday during Lent to attend the Stations of the Cross there. If you want to attend the services at St. Aloysius, please contact the parish Secretary, Alma Miller no later than the Thursday afternoon before the service.

ASH WEDNESDAY - OUR MOUNTAIN CLIMBING TOWARDS EASTER BEGINS
This coming Tuesday-Wednesday our church will look a little different; it will have a Lenten look. The cross, the burlap, the ashes, the banners, the purple. They underline the fact that as Christians we are signing up for renewal on the way to Easter when we will have our baptism renewed. The Scripture readings and music will also sound different, as part of the Lenten repertoire.

On Tuesday, February 6 at 7:00 p.m. (as explained in last Sunday's bulletin) there will be a service at O.L.V. in which we receive the ashes. The receiving of the ashes is a sign that we are serious about the upcoming season of renewal and conversion.

However, let us not lose sight of Easter. We do not observe Lent for its own sake. It is meant to get us in shape to celebrate the mystery of our faith, the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. That core mystery will be celebrated right after Lent during the Three Great Days of Holy Thursday evening, Good Friday, Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday.

So this Tuesday-Wednesday we start our 40-day trek to Easter. We can hopefully mark that journey with the traditional Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and alms-giving:

PRAYER: Our Sunday liturgies, with their rich Bible- readings, provide the basic orientation for Lent. How about making a special effort to use the Question of the Week as found in the bulletin. That same bulletin will include a reflection for each week. And could we have the Stations of the Cross on Friday evening?

FASTING: We diet, we cut down on food and drink for a variety of reasons. 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.

ALMS: This flows naturally from the previous two practices. Almsgiving says we care for others even to the point of depriving ourselves from something. How about if we make 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? We pray that this 40-day Lenten period may be grace-filled for our parish, for ourselves; that it will be a good preparation for the upcoming Feast of Easter.

FAITH FORMATION - PASSION NARRATIVES - Tuesday, February 19th, 7:30-9:00 pm
Fr. Bill Marrevee and Pauline Leduc will be helping us take a closer look at the Passion narratives in the four different gospels. There are significant differences in these four accounts. Come and discover them, see which one corresponds to your own prayer style, to help you meditate on Jesus’ Passion during this time of Lent. It will be a very informal evening with opportunity to interact. Bring your Bible. Meet in the church at St. Aloysius, 300 Abbé-Murray St. Gatineau, and we will decide where we will go for the session.

PARISH LIFE
Our two parishes, Our Lady of Victory and St. Malachy, work with one joint Parish Pastoral Council (PPC), while each parish has its own Fabrique (wardens). Having a joint PPC is part of the attempt to integrate the pastoral life of our two parishes. Considering the size of our two parishes, it is impossible to have each parish function pastorally on its own. Integration of pastoral life is called for, and that is what has been worked at for a good number of years already and with a fair amount of success.

Presently, the members of PPC are as follows:

P P C    M E M B E R S Gale Pearson (Chairperson) Joan Teske (Vice-Chairperson) Linda Cameron (Secretary) Gyanprakash Topno Ellen Butler Jean Dunnigan Paul Jeffrey Diane Bedard-Cameron

PPC NEEDS NEW BLOOD
According to item 1 of the Constitution, the PPC is the representative and coordinating body of both parishes together in pastoral matters. Its purpose is as follows:

The Council shall, as a consultative body to the Pastor and in co-responsibility with the Pastor, provide leadership, direction, education, resources and encouragement in the parishes’ accomplishment of their mission as expressed under the four poles of church life: liturgy, faith formation, fellowship and transformation in accordance with the vision of the Church of Gatineau.

Two members of PPC will be stepping down on April 1st 2008, one from St. Malachy and one from OLV. Here is your chance to serve your community by becoming more involved in pastoral matters.

All interested candidates, please advise the Secretary, Alma Miller, no later than March 3rd 2008 if you are interested in taking up this very worthwhile role in our parish community. The members of PPC would be only too pleased to answer any questions you may have about PPC.

ARE YOU A CANCER SURVIVOR? DO YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO IS?
The Cancer Society is looking for survivors to take part in. the Relay for Life on Friday June 13, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.

The first Relay for Life (sponsored by the Cancer Society) will be held on Friday, June 13 from 7 p.m. to Saturday, June 14 at 7:00 a.m, at McAndrew Park

Looking for people to form a team of 10, collect $100.00 in pledges each, and come join in the fun.

Anyone interested please come to the Knights .of Columbus Hall on Monday, February 11, 2008, 7:00 p.m. (in their meeting hall downstairs) for more information. Cancer Society members, along with your Buckingham committee, will be present to inform the public on this special event.

We are planning to make this a yearly event, See you there.

THANK YOU
A big thank you to all who sent cards and prayers for my recovery from knee surgery. As you see, I am out again and feeling much better. Our faith is the greatest gift we have. (Signed Evelyn Robitaille)

OFFICE HOURS

Monday and Thursday:	1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Tuesday and Wednesday:	9:00 – 11:00 a.m.

Telephone messages are picked up on a regular basis throughout the week.

If you have any items for the bulletin, please send them to Alma at olv@videotron.ca before Wednesday afternoon.

W E E K L Y     R E C E I P T S   Date Collection OLV St. Malachy      Jan. 27/28 Sunday $   723.00    $   331.00         Jan. 27/28 Fuel    335.00       147.00         Jan. 27/28 Christmas Concert    487.00       487.00