THE CATHOLIC COMMUNITIES OF

St. Maria Goretti * St. Margaret Mary

Our Lady of Victory * Holy Trinity

PASSION SUNDA March 20, 2016

St. Maria Goretti Parish, 8 St. Clair St. Devon, AB T9G 1J3

Phone: (780) 987-2858 Fax: (780) 987-2837

E-mail : dcc2006@telus.net

Pastor: Rev. James Banu Bodula, SAC: (780)-222-0546

Office Administrator: Vivian Heltman

MASS TIMES

St. Maria Goretti

Sat. 5:00 PM

Sun. 11:30 AM

Weekday Mass

1st Tues. 7:00 PM

Tues. 9:00 AM

Wed.-Fri. 9:00 AM

Rosary at 8:45 AM

Mass at Discovery Place

Second Tues.: 10:30 AM

Holy Spirit School: Tues. AM

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

1st Friday: after Mass

2nd, 3rd & 4th Thurs after Mass

3rd Friday/month @ 7:00 PM

Sacrament of Reconciliation:

Tuesday to Saturday half an hour before

Mass or any day by appointment.

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St. Margaret Mary/Calmar

Rosary: 9:45 AM

Sun. 10:15 AM

Thurs. 5:00 PM

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Our Lady of Victory/Thorsby

Sun. 9:00 AM

Week-day Mass Wednesdays at 11:00 AM

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Cloverleaf Manor in Warburg

3rd Friday @ 10:30 AM

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Holy Trinity/Nisku

All Souls Day: 11:00 AM

Marriages, Funerals

and Special Occasions

Weekly Reflections March 20 - Passion (Palm) Sunday

The Road to Discipleship: Who is the greatest?

Our world is built on competition, not cooperation. Even the disciples

jockeyed for position and favour. Jesus chides them that they must be the

ones who serve, like he is. He tells Simon Peter, “Satan has demanded to

sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your own faith may

not fail.” Luke talks a lot about discipleship, and that being a disciple

means following after the master, the King, and learning to think, act, love,

and forgive like he does. In today’s Gospel, Simon Peter denies Jesus and

runs away. Simon of Cyrene is conscripted to take up the Cross and follow

Jesus. Which one really serves? And which Simon are you?

March 20, 2016

Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord Misericordiae Vultus: The Face of Mercy is Pope Francis’ official decree an-

nouncing this Jubilee Year of Mercy. But Francis had already declared that Jesus

“has shown the face of God’s mercy” back in 2013 on his first Palm Sunday as

pope. Francis described Luke’s account of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem:

“Crowds, celebrating, praise, blessing, peace: joy fills the air. Jesus has awakened

great hopes, especially in the hearts of the simple, the humble, the poor, the for-

gotten, those who do not matter in the eyes of the world. He understands human

sufferings has bent down to heal body and soul.” Entering Jerusalem, Jesus looks

at all of us with love, Francis continued, at our sicknesses and sins. “A beautiful

scene, full of light—the light of the love of Jesus” (Pope Francis, Palm Sunday

homily, March 24, 2013). May this Jubilee Year’s Holy Week and Triduum make

us Jesus’ own light-bearers and love-givers to all who long to see the Face of Mer-

cy.

—Peter Scagnelli, Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co., Inc.

Please visit St. Maria Goretti parish website to access

our Tri-parish bulletin and news.

www.smgparish.ca

TRI-PARISH NEWS AND EVENTS

ARE YOU NEW IN OUR PARISH?

Welcome! We want you to feel at home in our Parish

and we would like to know that you are here.

Please drop off this registration in the Parish collection

basket.

Name: ____________________________________

Address: ____________________________________

____________________________________

____________________________________

Phone No. ______________________

Parish:_______________________________

Do you wish to have contribution envelopes?

YES ______ NO _______

EASTER SCHEDULE

HOLY THURSDAY: Our Lady of Victory—5:00 PM

March 24 St. Margaret Mary—6:30 PM

St. Maria Goretti—8:00 PM

GOOD FRIDAY: Our Lady of Victory—10:30 AM

March 25 St. Margaret Mary—12:30 PM

St. Maria Goretti—3:00 PM

HOLY SATURDAY: St. Maria Goretti—8:00 PM

March 26

EASTER SUNDAY: Our Lady of Victory—9:00 AM

March 27 St. Margaret Mary—10:15 AM

St. Maria Goretti—11:30 AM

Marriage Encounter Jesus has such compassion on the woman in the Gospel read-

ing today as he forgives her and gives her mercy and grace

instead of judgment and condemnation. We are in turn called

to extend that same love and compassion, especially in our

marriage relationship. The next Worldwide Marriage Encoun-

ter Weekend is April 22-24 To register, please contact Gavin

and Nicole at 780-464-2874 or gvankup@telus.net or visit our

website at www.wwme.org.

Blessing of Easter baskets.

Saturday, March 26

12 Noon

St Maria Goretti Parish

Together We Serve

Thank you for your generous support of Together We

Serve. Please note that your collection envelope box

contains a Together We Serve envelope for Good Fri-

day. The Good Friday collection goes to our Together

We Serve appeal, which helps support the Needs of

the Church in the Holy Land. The Holy Land Com-

missariat uses our donations for the protection and

upkeep of holy places and shrines, and to support the

shrinking number of Christians in the Holy Land

through pastoral work, Catholic schools, housing,

health care, and social assistance. This Good Friday,

let us as one family in Christ, support the needs of the

Church in the Holy Land through Together We

Serve. For more information, please visit

www.caedm.ca/WeServe.

ST MARIA GORETTI COMMUNITY NEWS

Outreach is in need of two queen size beds, and a

loveseat.

If you can help out, please call Gloria @ 987 2791

Thank you and God bless!

The Outreach committee is organizing an Easter Brunch for

the Carmelite Sisters.

Delivery will be at 11:00 Easter morning.

If you would like to donate something for the feast,

please call Phedelia 987 9169.

A few suggestions: Ham, deviled eggs,

salads, veggie tray,

fruit tray, baking, Easter treats.

Thank you and God bless!

Holy Spirit School invites parishioners to follow their Twitter account! www.twitter.com and follow @HolySpiritDevon

Together We Serve Thank you for your generous support of Together We Serve to date. Our parish’s

target for 2016 is $7400.00. This target represents our parish’s average giving to

special collections over the past 7 years. To date our parish has collected 13% of

its target. Watch the Together We Serve progress poster to see where we are in our

journey to reach our parish target. Let us, together as one family in Christ, bring

the mercy of God, the very heart of the Gospel, to all we support through Together

We Serve.

ST MARIA GORETTI COMMUNITY NEWS St. Maria Goretti Parish Five Part Lenten DVD Series

Divine Mercy In the Second Greatest Story Ever Told

by Father Michael Gaitley, MIC

St. Maria Goretti Parish Five Part Lenten DVD Series

Divine Mercy In the Second Greatest Story Ever Told by Father Michael Gaitley, MIC

Continues Monday, March 21st, 2016 at 7:00 pm

In this Jubilee Year of Mercy come and see the drama and splendor of God’s merciful love revealed in Sacred Scripture, manifested at key moments of Church history, and realized in our present time of mercy. Fr. Gaitley connects people and events in history to a unifying vision of the splendor of God's merciful love. We are called to respond to the urgent need for mercy in our time of unprecedented evil. This series serves as an inspiration for all those who desire to bear witness to the mercy of God, focused on Christ. Now is the time of mercy!

This 10 part DVD series will be viewed over 5 nights.

Feb. 29th: God’s School of Trust & Behold, This Heart

March 7th:The Suffering Servant & Faustina and the Spread of Divine Mercy March 14th:Proclaim This Message & Fatima

March 21st: The Secret of Divine Mercy & God's Master Plan March 28th: Mary’s Knight & The Final Question

EVEN IF YOU MISSED THE FIRST SESSION, EVERYONE IS WELCOMED! PLEASE COME AND JOIN US WHEN YOU CAN!

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DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY CELEBRATION

presided by Fr. James Banu Bodula, SAC

Sunday, April 3, 2016 at 3:00 pm

St. Maria Goretti Parish, Devon, AB

All are welcome!

DIVINE MERCY - DID YOU KNOW?

The Divine Mercy Novena can be made at any time but it is most especially made beginning Good Friday in preparation for the

Feast of Divine Mercy.

Divine Mercy is a pardoning of any and every sin, which reveals the depths of God’s Heart to us.

Divine Mercy is the forgiveness of a loving Father offered tenderly to His wayward child.

LEARN MORE ABOUT DIVINE MERCY IN THE FOLLOWING WEEKS!

ST. MARGARET MARY COMMUNITY NEWS

BAPTISM PREPARATION CLASS

Parents wishing to have their child Baptized are requested to call

Barb Abel for an appointment at (780) 985-3655

and attend the preparation class.

MONTH END HOSPITALITY AFTER MASS Everyone is welcome to come down to the parish basement on the last

Sunday of every month (except December) for coffee, pot luck snacks

and to visit with your fellow parishioners.

Your attendance is greatly appreciated

St. Margaret Mary Cemetery Please leave the cemetery gates OPEN during the winter

months for easier access to snow removal if needed.

Please do not block Emergency Vehicle

access to the Parish. Emergency access

route should be minimum 6 metres wide

and must connect to public thoroughfare.

Thank you for your co-operation.

OUR DEEPEST SYMPATHY

We at St. Margaret Mary Parish extend our deepest sympathy to Father James on the sudden loss of his Uncle in India, Father Ratna Raj, Bodeala. Let us keep Father James in our prayers and also pray for the soul of Father Ratna Raj, Bodeala.

ST. MARGARET MARY PARISH DINNER AND RAFFLE COMING NOVEMBER 6, 2016

We need everyone’s help as we will be handing out Books of Tickets to Parishioners to sell for our upcoming Raffle on draw date November 6, 2016. Prizes are as follows: 1st Prize - $1500 Cash 2nd Prize - $750 Cash 3rd Prize - $250 Cash All proceeds go to St. Margaret Mary Parish General Account. (2000 tickets printed) In order to raise $7000 we must all work to sell these tickets.

TOGETHER WE SERVE Thank you for your generous support of Together We Serve to date .Our Parish target for 2016 is $3400. This

target represents our parish’s average giving to special collections over the past 6 years. To date, February 28,

2016 our parish has collected $308. (9.06%) of its target.

Watch the thermometer posted at the back of the church to see where we are in our journey to reach our parish

target and enable the very worthwhile work of all the charities we support through TOGETHER WE SERVE.

Together we can make a difference as together we serve.

PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL MEETING

The next Parish Pastoral Council Meeting is Thursday, May 26, 2016 at 7:00PM. Mass 6:30PM. Please forward agenda items to Robert Gardner before May 19, 2016. Thank you.

OUR LADY OF VICTORY COMMUNITY NEWS

CEMETERY

If you have any questions regarding the cemeteries

please call one of the contacts.

Our Lady of Victory Cemetery

Mark Bendoritis @780-985-3779

Rod Kuzio @780-789-2423

St. Francis Cemetery

Ed Naprawa @ 780-789-2195

St. Charles Cemetery

Jack Penner

780-848-2293

For occasions requiring music at OLV

(weddings, funerals, anniversary masses, etc.)

please contact

Kelli Warren at 780-789-1996

to arrange music and musicians

A reminder that any correspondence for Our Lady of Victory should be directed to

Box 845, Thorsby, Alberta T0C 2P0

Eucharistic minister needed for Clover-

leaf Manor in Warburg. Please see Father

James or contact Jeanette Shymanski

@ 780-848-7658

Our Lady of Victory contacts: Guy Giroux @780-389-4106 Ernest Jablonski @780-789-2363

SUNDAY HOSPITALITY Please consider taking a turn to host our Sunday hospi-

tality, and perhaps teaming up with another family to do

so. Wider participation in this worthwhile weekly event

would be greatly appreciated.

Our Parish is sponsoring a family in need so please be generous with items for the food bank as this is an ongoing project throughout the year. There is a box located at the back of the church for donations. Perishables are accepted but please let Guy Giroux, Ernest Jablonski or Frank Moar know if you have donated a perishable so it can be distributed in a timely manner.

We need 12 volunteers to have their feet washed on Holy

Thursday, March 25, 2016 for our Mass at 5:00 pm. There

is a sign up sheet at the back of the church.

Together We Serve Thank you for your generous support of Together We Serve to date. Our

parish’s target for 2016 is $4300.00. This target represents our parish’s

average giving to special collections over the past 7 years. To date our

parish has collected 14% of its target. Watch the Together We Serve

progress poster to see where we are in our journey to reach our parish tar-

get. Let us, together as one family in Christ, bring the mercy of God, the

very heart of the Gospel, to all we support through Together We Serve.

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE ARCHBISHOP 14 March 2016

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,

As you know, the Supreme Court of Canada decided in February of 2015 to strike down Canada’s existing laws

prohibiting assisted suicide. The federal government is now drafting legislation to accord with that decision, and

provincial governments are drafting regulatory procedures for implementation.

The issues of suffering and of preparing for death touch every one of us. How do we respond as followers of Jesus

Christ? The mindset informing the decision of the Supreme Court is not ours. We approach all aspects of life as

baptized followers of the Lord. From the perspective of our faith it is clear that the practices of assisted suicide

and euthanasia are morally wrong and cannot be condoned.

In the Archdiocese of Edmonton we are undertaking a special initiative to help one another explore deeply our

Catholic stance. In the Easter season, I shall host a series of conversations on the subject of physician assisted sui-

cide and euthanasia. The series will be called Every Life Matters. Over a ten-day period the Archdiocese will host

five sessions, each to be held in a different area of the Archdiocese. This will allow all of our parishioners to be

present personally for at least one of the events. Each session will be live-streamed over the Internet and recorded,

so that any prevented by distance from attending can still participate. At each of the gatherings we shall focus up-

on a different aspect of the issue by addressing the questions that are most often posed. What is this all about?

What is wrong with assisted suicide and euthanasia? Am I not free to do what I want with my body? What is the

meaning of suffering? What must we do in response? I warmly invite your participation in these events.

The sessions are as follows:

Session I Sunday, April 3rd 2:30apm – 4:30pm St. Anthony, Lloydminster

What’s it all about? An outline of the legal situation now facing our country

Session II Tuesday, April 5th 7:00pm – 9:00pm Corpus Christi, Edmonton

What’s wrong with assisted suicide & euthanasia? An explanation of Church doctrine

Session III Sunday, April 10th 2:30pm- 4:30pm St. Mary’s, Red Deer

It’s my body, my choice. The meaning of freedom in the Christian tradition

Session IV Tuesday, April 12th 7:00pm – 9:00pm Holy Trinity, Spruce Grove

I don’t want to suffer. The Christian Understanding of Suffering

Session V Wednesday, April 13th 7:00pm – 9:00pm St. Charles, Edmonton

What must we do? How we are called to respond to this new situation

In the meantime, there are actions we can take immediately.

Your parish has already made available to you details concerning our social media campaign. I encourage your

participation in it.

Direct advocacy with elected officials is of the utmost importance. A personal intervention will always have great-

er impact than simply responding to a survey that offers limited choices for responses. Please write letters to your

MP and MLA, phone them directly, or make a visit to their offices. These are opportunities to voice our complete

opposition to assisted suicide and euthanasia and to advocate for protection of the conscience rights of physicians

and healthcare workers. Our institutions, too, will benefit from your advocacy. Our own Covenant Health is, as

you know, a ministry of the Church. As such it is governed by fidelity to our moral doctrine and entirely dedicated

to the complete care of the patient. It must be allowed to remain fully faithful to its mission.

This Jubilee Year of Mercy underscores beautifully our Christian commitment to serve, visit, and care for the sick

and dying. Through word, service and advocacy, we must witness clearly and joyfully to the beauty and dignity of

human life at every stage and in every circumstance.

Yours sincerely in Christ,

✠ Richard W. Smith

Archbishop of Edmonton