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.

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 15th.

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.

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 luggage 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. How about making a special effort to use the Question of the Week that is found on the front page of the Sunday bulletin. If we reflect on that and possibly discuss it with each other at home during the week, then the Scripture readings do not simply stay in the church, but serve as food for our Christian living.

FASTING: We diet, we cut down on food and drink for a variety of reasons. Do we still dare to deliberately refrain from 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? But do we also dare to do it for ourselves, showing 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. The money we save with our fasting could be made part of the "Share Lent" or "Development and Peace" collection which will be taken up later in Lent. Almsgiving says we care for others even to the point of depriving ourselves from something. It is a way of saying our world is bigger than my own little circle.

BURLAP FOR OUR HOMES
The piece of burlap you receive today is meant to find a noticeable place in our homes during this 40-day Lenten period. It may remind us daily of the season we are in as Christians. It may also point to the rough edges in ourselves that we need to attend to in this grace-filled period of Lent. Once Lent is over, on Holy Thursday, we can remove it as a sign that we are ready to celebrate with renewed heart the Easter Mystery. You may want to bring the burlap to church on Holy Thursday.

ASHES AND SAND - WE AWAIT THE LIFE-GIVING WATER OF EASTER
As part of the "Lenten decor" the baptism font at the entrance to the church has been replaced by a pot filled with sand and ashes. Why? The Israelites spent forty years in the desert/wilderness on their way to God-given freedom. Jesus spent forty days in the desert/wilderness to sort out where he stood in relation to the battle between the Reign of God and the reign of darkness. As disciples of Jesus we have entered the 40-day Lenten period on the way to Easter to sort out to what degree the Risen Life of Jesus is really ours. That is what the sand and ashes evoke: our desert/wilderness.

Once we have made that 40-day Lenten journey, the life-giving water of baptism will come over us again at Easter to deepen and strengthen the Risen Life of Jesus in us individually and in our parish community.

ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICE ON TUESDAY EVENING - IT WORKED
To accommodate the parishioners of St. Aloysius and St. Columban we had put the Ash Wednesday service for Our Lady of Victory and St. Malachy on Tuesday evening. And it worked thanks to your understanding and cooperation.

CALLING ALL YOUNGER PARISHIONERS TO LENT

THINKfast is a chance for youth to be introduced to issues of global justice and international development. Several years of successful THINKfasts have confirmed that this is a simple and fun way to look at global issues, and examine how each of us plays a part.

St. Mark’s parish in Aylmer has been holding a THINKfast for several years. This year, they are inviting youth from our area, between the ages of 11 and 18, to join in Development and Peace’s popular youth activity. The THINKfast will begin on Friday, February 22nd at 6:00 p.m. and will end with a meal following the 7:00 p.m. mass at St. Mark’s on Saturday, February 23rd. All of the activities will take place inside St. Mark’s church. There are posters at the entrance of the church for more information. You can either contact the names on the poster or if you have questions about THINKfast, please call Linda Cameron at 819-986-8901 or you can send an email message to: linda.cameron@sympatico.ca

Members of our Transformation Committee will ensure the transportation of participants to and from the THINKfast.

PASSION NARRATIVES – Please note change of date
Thursday night, February 21st, 7:30 to 9:00 p.m., 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 parish hall at St. Aloysius, 300 Abbé-Murray St. , Gatineau.

PPC NEEDS NEW BLOOD
As mentioned in last week's bulletin, 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 by taking up a very worthwhile role in our parish community: Become more involved. Please advise our secretary, Alma Miller, no later than March 3rd 2008 if you are interested. Any of the current members of PPC would be only too pleased to answer any questions you may have about PPC (Fr. Gyan Topno, Gale Pearson, Ellen Butler, Diane Bedard-Cameron, Linda Cameron, Jean Dunnigan, Paul Jeffrey, Joan Teske).

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.

FRIENDSHIP CLUB BAZAAR - FEB.20TH 1:30 P.M. TO 4:00 P.M.
At the Knights of Columbus hall. Come and enjoy the Bake Table, Craft Table, Bric-a-Brac Table, Raffle, Door Prize, Guess Jar, and Light Lunch. You can enjoy all this for the Admission price of only $1:00. Every one is welcome.

PRAYER DEVOTIONS
During Lent, the prayer devotions will be held on Wednesday mornings at 10:15 a.m. instead of Thursday afternoons.