Fifth Sunday of Lent March 17, 2024

 
        
       Our Lady of Peace Parish
Also Serving Our Lady of the Smile Parish, Waterhen Lake and
St. Jude’s Parish, Green Lake

Office Hours: Closed Monday
Tuesday - Friday 1-3:00 pm
Office Phone:  306-236-5122 
Cell Phone: 306-304-7271

Parish Email: [email protected] Pastor Email: [email protected]
Facebook: Catholic Church Meadow Lake
Website: https://www.meadowlakecatholicchurch.com/
Address: 504-3rd Ave. East, Meadow Lake, SK S9X 1H5  
 
 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Psalm 51 Refrain
 
 Our Vision:
A Community of Disciples
Our Mission
We commit to form disciples
who joyfully and faithfully
live out the mission of
Jesus Christ
by enriching our relationship
with God and neighbour
through the intercession of
Our Lady of Peace.
Pastor: 
Fr. Uche Umechikelu, MSP
Parish Secretary:
Pat Bencharski
 
Masses
Intentions

When there is a funeral, the daily mass will normally be cancelled.  Check Facebook for the most up-to-date information.  On Tuesday to Friday and on Sunday, Our Lady of Peace masses will be livestreamed on Facebook.

Mon., Mar.18 – No mass
 
Tues., Mar. 19 – 10:00 am  Liturgy with Communion at the Lodge
 
Tues., Mar. 19 – 6:30 pm (Our Lady of Peace Church & Facebook) - Doreen Sinclair by Wilfred & Glen Sinclair & Virginia Delaire

Wed., Mar. 20 – 9:30 am (Our Lady of Peace Church & Facebook) - Anonymous

Thurs., Mar. 21 – 9:30 am (Our Lady of Peace Church & Facebook) - Anonymous
Thurs., Mar. 21 – 6:30 pm  Penitential Service/Reconciliation

Fri., Mar. 22 – 9:30 am (Our Lady of Peace Church & Facebook) - Souls in Purgatory
Fri., Mar. 22 – 5:00 – 6:30pm Opportunity for Confession

Sat. Mar. 22 – 4:00 – 5:00 Opportunity for Confession – Green Lake
Sat., Mar. 23 – 5:00 pm (St. Jude’s Green Lake) - People of God

Sun., Mar. 24 – 10:00 am – (Our Lady of Peace Church & Facebook) Palm Sunday - People of God

Sun., Mar. 24 – 3:00 pm (Our Lady of the Smile Waterhen) Palm Sunday - People of God

THIS WEEK IN THE PARISH

1. Adult Faith Study Tuesday, March 19 at 1:00 pm in the Church.
2. Penitential Service with additional priests Thursday March 21 at 6:30 pm.

Sunday Collection – Mar. 10:  Meadow Lake $4845.30   Green Lake $256.90    Children’s Collection $7.20
                                               
The Pope’s Prayer Intention for March – for the new martyrs – We pray that those who risk their lives for the Gospel in various parts of the world inflame the Church with their courage and missionary enthusiasm.
 
40 Cans for Lent – The Meadow Lake Knights of Columbus are sponsoring 40 Cans for Lent for food to be donated to the Door of Hope.  We are asking families to bring nonperishable food each week of Lent.

Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace Lent 2024 – Through their prayer, fasting and almsgiving during Lent, Christians express their desire to turn toward God and to all God’s children in preparation for Easter. The Bishops of Canada have reserved the Season of Lent for a collection to assist the Global South. Normally this collection is held on the Fifth Sunday of Lent. On the day of the collection, an appropriate intercession may be added to the Prayer of the Faithful. The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace financially supports development and aid projects in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as informs Canadian Catholics on international social justice questions.
            “So many people even today hope to have enough to eat. The planet has food for all, but the will to share with everyone seems to be lacking. To prepare the table for all, and to ask that there be one table for all. Doing whatever we can so that everyone has food, but also reminding the world’s powerful that God will call them to be judged one day, and it will be demonstrated whether they have truly tried to provide food for Him in each person (cf Mt 25:35) and whether they have acted in order that the environment would not be destroyed but would be able to produce this food.”

• Pope Francis, Homily during the Mass at the opening of the 2015 General Assembly of Caritas Internationalis

 
Pictorial Directories – The pictorial directories have arrived! If you had your picture taken for the directory please pick up your free copy at the back of the church or at the office during office hours.
 
The Way of the Cross – Please join us on Friday evenings for the Way of the Cross. We will gather at 6:30 pm in the Church to pray with Jesus as he makes his way to Calvary.
 
Easter Reconciliation – There will be opportunity for confession on Thursday, March 21 at 6:30 (Penitential Service) with additional priests available. Fr. Uche will also be available March 22 from 5:00 – 6:30 pm. He is also available to anyone by appointment.
 
Scripture Insights – Fifth Sunday of Lent
Taken from Source Book for Sundays, Seasons and Weekdays 2024:  The Almanac for Pastoral Liturgy, LTP Liturgy Training Publications Copyright 2023, 3949 South Racine Avenue, Chicago, IL 60609, pg. 128.
 
 Today’s passage from Jeremiah tells of a covenant unlike what Israel has known. Whereas the Sinai covenant identified multiple stipulations that Israel was required to uphold, in this covenant Israel is passive. God would place this new covenant within the heart of the people. Israel would receive this covenant freely. While similar images exist in a variety of texts in the Old Testament ( for example, EZ 11:19 – 20; 36:26; and Is 42:9), nowhere else do we hear od a new covenant until we turn to the New Testament.
            Psalm 51, often associated with King David, though not necessarily composed by him, is one of the better known psalms of the psalter and certainly one of the best known of the seven penitential psalms. The refrain “Create a clean heart in me, O God,” is a plea for newness. The heart, in Hebrew anthropology, was the most vital of all organs. It also was understood to be that place where discernment took place and where decisions were made.
            As the liturgical year draws closer to the celebration of the Triduum, the New Testament readings bring our attention to the death of Jesus. In the Letter to the Hebrews, Jesus’ humanity is detailed. He was a being who prayed, cried, learned, and suffered. In the Gospel, Jesus states, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified,” indicating that the time of his suffering, death, and resurrection is at hand.
                    
·         First, there were the laws as they were written on the tablets. Now, God desires even more intimacy: God’s laws will be written on our heart, in the depth of our being. Consider the things we are doing, individually and as a community, to both shape our consciences and to discern and live out God’s deepest desires for us. How might we lean into this invitation?
·         Jesus was in the flesh – incarnate. This messiah who came to live with us, as one of the most vulnerable among us, now cries and suffers with us. Christ, in his most fully human expressions, teaches us both the sacred source of our emotions and the capacity we retain for reverence, prayer, faithfulness. It is in the midst of this tension that we find relationship with God and God’s people: not in a straightforward, comfortable, or easy way of living. What tempts us toward a life of less suffering?
·         No matter how we choose to live out our lives, the fact remains that life on earth is brief. We will all die someday, and when we do, what comes next? Have we lived our lives via a path of least resistance? What are the ways that we have shown (or hope to show) how our dying to self may give life for others, like Christ? How can we use the time we have on earth with responsibility and integrity?