THIRTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
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 6. 2-6 Responsorial Psalm I love you, Lord my strength Reading II Hebrews 7. 23-28 Gospel Mark 12. 28-34 Food for Thought Here we see Jesus in an atmosphere of dispute and discussion and then someone asks a very good question, Jesus’ answer to this question seems to bring him and the questioner together. They end up on the same wavelength. Do I allow the central question about what’s really important to arise in me? Or, am I easily distracted and confused by the “noise” around me? Would I like to hear Jesus say to me, “You are not far from the kingdom of God”? Maybe he is already…

November 5th, 2006

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

A sincere welcome to those who are new among us. We hope you find a warm and welcoming faith-home with us. Please introduce yourself after Mass and call the Rectory to register.

M A S S       S C H E D U L E WED. Nov. 08th - 9:00 a.m. OLV Larry Miller by Simonne Seguin SAT. Nov. 11th - 7:00 p.m. St. Malachy Esther & John Lavell by Greg and Pat SUN. Nov. 12th - 9:00 a.m. OLV Philippe Lotz by his wife Marianne Gerald Limmer by Bob and Maureen Dunlop Marshall & Josephine French & deceased family members by Pearl French

NOVEMBER - THE MONTH IN WHICH WE REMEMBER THE DECEASED:
November is traditionally the month in which we give more attention to the remembrance of the deceased. Christians do so in a unique way based on what is central in our faith: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

You will see for all of the month of November the so-called Book of Life at the front of the church. The Book of Life contains the names of deceased parishioners and relatives. Some additional pages are provided at the back of the book for that purpose, unless you decide to make up your own book.

It is our way of expressing our faith that the dead find peace with God and will be raised to life when the Lord Jesus comes in glory. The Book is placed next to the Easter Candle which speaks of the ultimate victory of life over death, of light over darkness, in the dead and risen Jesus. We are called to share in that victory.

NOVEMBER 12th - “DEADLINE” FOR REGISTRATION FOR CONFIRMATION AND FIRST COMMUNION:
Confirmation and First Communion are normally celebrated in the Easter Season. That stands to reason. Together with baptism, confirmation and participation in the Eucharist are -- what we call -- the sacraments of initiation: We are made one with Jesus Christ, we are grafted onto Jesus Christ, we are clothed with Jesus Christ. We are initiated into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we become members of Christ’s Body, the Church. That is really a life-long process which is only complete, when --— in and through Jesus Christ and in the power of the Spirit -- - we come finally home in the circle of love and life that God Father, Son and Spirit is.

When adults seek to become Christian, they normally enter into the somewhat lengthy process of Christian initiation. It is really a process of conversion to Jesus Christ and his Gospel.

That process is marked by various phases and steps, and it reaches its climax in the celebration of baptism, confirmation and participation in the Eucharist at the Easter Vigil. Indeed, the Easter Vigil is the privileged home for the sacraments of initiation. That is where we are born as sons and daughters of God.

Most of us are baptized in infancy. That means that the two remaining sacraments of initiation will be celebrated at a later point in life. Ideally, confirmation would come before participation in the Eucharist (as, for example, they do now again in the Ottawa diocese). But, for all sorts of reasons, we have not held on to that sequence. In fact, in many places confirmation comes after first participation in the Eucharist and we have even gone so far as to assigning them to a given age: in our diocese, confirmation for those who are 15 years of age or older, first participation in the Eucharist when the children are about 7-8 or older. We try to work with that the best we can.

I realize this is a rather lengthy (perhaps even confusing?) introduction to the point. Before next Sunday, November 12, we would like to hear from parents who want their children to make their First Communion in the Easter season of next year. That also applies to parishioners who are 15 years of age or older and who want to be confirmed in the Easter season of next year. If we know by November 12th, we can get the interested parties together in the second half of November to discuss how best to prepare for what we will be celebrating in next year’s Easter season.

It would be much appreciated if you could bring this to the attention of those who may not read this rather lengthy note, but who would nevertheless be interested in it. Thank you.

THE EUCHARISTIC PRAYER - A REAL GOLD MINE!
Without minimizing the significance of other parts of the Mass, the Eucharistic Prayer is really the heart of the Mass. It is not always looked upon that way. For many centuries the priest used to say it in Latin, most of the time in an inaudible voice. It was considered to be the priest’s prayer. The only part that we really paid attention to was what we have come to call “the words of consecration”. Of course, these are important, but they were emphasized so much that they overshadowed and crowded out the rest of the Eucharistic Prayer. And that is not helpful.

What part of the Mass or what prayer are we talking about? It is the prayer that is proclaimed after the bread and wine have been presented and placed on the altar. The prayer begins with the introductory dialogue between priest and congregation: “The Lord be with you”... “Lift up your hearts” “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God”.

And the prayer ends with the Great Amen which concludes the so-called doxology “through him, with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honour is yours, almighty Father, for ever and ever”, during which the priest elevates the consecrated bread and wine, the Body and Blood of Christ.

What begins with “The Lord be with you” and what ends with “Amen” is really one prayer that has an integrity of its own. And it has to be respected as such. Yes, it is a lengthy prayer and it has several parts, but none of these parts may be so emphasized that we lose sight of the unity of that prayer. In fact, we cause ourselves a lot of problems when we isolate one little part of it and no longer appreciate it as part of the larger whole. That is what has happened in the course of history. That is unfortunate, because the result of it was that the rest of the prayer was not considered to be very important. But the prayer as a whole is crucial, and it is immensely rich.

WARDENS NEEDED:
Two wardens are needed for both OLV and St. Malachy for the next term. If you are interested in helping out your parish in that capacity, you may contact one of the wardens or the office, for OLV and Joan Teske at 281-5962 for St. Malachy wardens.

KIDS:
Do you like to sing and are 7 yrs old and over? Looking for at least 10 kids to get the choir started. Practices would take place at OLV church once a week for an hour. Possibility of putting on plays and having lots of fun. If you can make this commitment please phone Sandra at 819 986-1185.

COOKBOOK FUND RAISER:
Please submit your favorite recipes ASAP. Everyone has some. You may drop them in the collection basket any time. We are looking forward to receiving a good number so as to make our book interesting.

PRAYERS AND SYMPATHY:
- To the Aube family and friends of Paul, who died recently.

CONGRATULATIONS & BIRTHDAY WISHES:
- To Betty Filiatreault who will celebrate her birthday on November 13th.

W E E K L Y     R E C E I P T S   Date Collection OLV St. Malachy Oct. 29th Regular $ 748.00    $ 238:00