Parish Bulletin – 3rd Sunday of Easter – 26 April 2020

REFLECTION: The first reading is taken from the Acts of the Apostles 2:14, 22-33 and concerns bearing witness to the “name” of Jesus, and the implications which this witnessing necessarily brings with it. Peter and the apostles answered their inquisitors by stating firmly their faith in Christ, and the lesson ends with reference to their joy at having been found worthy to endure trials for the name of Christ. The second reading is from the First Letter of Peter 1:17-21. St. Peter says that we are sons of God because of His infinite mercy in sending Christ to us as our brother. So, we can rightly call God our “Father.” But we must behave as true, loyal sons, during our “time of exile” on this earth, for our merciful Father is also the absolutely just God who will judge each one of us “impartially according to our deeds” when we lay down our earthly life. The Gospel is from St. Luke 24:13-35. It is the first day of the week after the great Jewish feast of the Passover and Jerusalem is trying to return to its normal routine. The shop keepers count their profits and the Temple priests congratulate themselves because they were able to kill the ‘Galilean’. For the disciples and those who were ‘foreigners’ in Jerusalem, it is time to start to return to their own homes and their normal lives. Why did the Lord not tell the disciples straight away who He was? Indeed, in the dialogue that the liturgy presents to us today, it almost seems that Jesus did all He could to avoid revealing His true identity. Firstly, He pretended not to know what Cleopas and his companion were discussing and then He went on to ‘explain to them the passages throughout scriptures that were about Himself’ (Lk 24:27) but without making direct reference to Himself. The Risen Lord uses so much gentleness with us! He doesn’t oblige us to ‘believe’ but He offers us the instruments that enable us to judge based on the infallible measure of our own hearts. As St Augustine extraordinarily wrote in the opening of his Confessions ‘our heart is restless until it rests in you’.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1) Please pray for the repose of the soul of Gary Pigeon, son of Phyllis Pigeon. He passed away last week. May God bring comfort to his mother and family in their time of bereavement.

2) Our first streamed Mass seemed to go OK last Sunday with almost 200 people watching as it was being celebrated and many hundreds more later that same day. We will be streaming again this weekend at 10 am on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, we are STILL waiting for one piece of the necessary equipment to let us stream to sites other than Facebook. You can find it on my personal timeline and HOPEFULLY as well on the Facebook page of the Catholic Parishes of the Upper Pontiac.

3) Thank you to those who have taken advantage of the widget on our parish blog to make a donation towards the upkeep of our parishes. You can make a payment there with either your credit card or via a PayPal account. You can also mail us a cheque if you wish to make a donation at Parish Office, C.P. 40, Chapeau, QC. J0X1M0.

4) It would seem that we are still some distance away from the day when we’ll be able to reopen our parish churches for regular weekend services. This includes a prohibition on funerals, baptisms, and weddings as well as our Sunday Masses. Even if the government soon begins to loosen the lockdown rules that have kept us all inside, public gatherings of more than 5 or 10 people will still be prohibited until the ‘all-clear’ sounds and all of the restrictions are lifted. Please remember to pray for those among us who are so deeply missing the opportunity to receive the sacraments. This has been a real suffering for them… as it is for all of us.

5) PRAYER FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF A NEW BISHOP:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we ask in the name of your Son, that you bless our future bishop. Provide him with the gifts he will need to carry on the ministry of Jesus in our diocese. Grant him the heart of your Son, the heart of the Good Shepherd. Bestow upon him the zeal of St. Paul in preaching the Good News; the humility of St. John Vianney in ministering the sacraments; the compassion of St. Vincent-de-Paul in serving those most in need; the wisdom of St. Augustine in teaching the doctrine of our Church; and the missionary fervour of St. Columbkille, our patron. Through Christ our Lord. Amen

Prière: Dieu notre Père nous te demandons, au nom de ton Fils, de bénir notre futur évêque. Donne-lui les dons dont il aura besoin pour exercer le ministère de Jésus dans notre diocèse. Accorde-lui le cœur de ton Fils, le cœur du Bon Pasteur. Donne-lui le zèle de saint Paul pour prêcher la Bonne Nouvelle; l’humilité de saint Jean Vianney dans l’administration des sacrements; la compassion de saint Vincent de Paul pour servir les plus démunis; la sagesse de saint Augustin dans l’enseignement de la doctrine de notre Église; et la ferveur missionnaire de saint Columbkille, notre patron. Par Jésus, le Christ, notre Seigneur. Amen

6) PRAYER FOR AN END TO THE CURRENT PANDEMIC:

Lord God,
I pray for all who have become sick or died by the coronavirus that has been spreading around the world. In your mercy and compassion, deliver us from this disease, In your holy wisdom, guide all who are working to contain the outbreak, In your steadfast love, bring healing to all your children who have become sick, Welcome into your arms the ones that died, Comfort the ones they left behind.
In faith, I place my trust in you.
In hope, I turn to you in my time of need.
In love, I give glory to your name.
In gratitude, I will praise you with my life.
In your Son’s name I pray. Amen.