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FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT

March 29 and 30, 2025​

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Saturday            - Haliburton     4:30 pm           Patrick Conway – Aoife Conway and Dan Read

 

Sunday              - Bancroft         10:00 am           Missa Pro Populo – Mass for the People

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*** PLEASE NOTE THAT THE ROSARY IS PRAYED BEFORE MASS AT 8:30 AM ***

 

Monday             - Bancroft          9:00 am           Rev. Paul Hickey – Dennis and Marcella Purcell

 

Tuesday             - Bancroft          9:00 am           Steve Tripp – Kathy Tripp

 

Wednesday       - Haliburton      8:30 am           Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

                                                        9:00 am           Rosary

                                                        9:30 am           Joseph Mifsud – Barb and Jim Perog

 

 Thursday          - Bancroft          9:00 am           Bogumila and Jan  - Kathy Kowalski

           

First Friday      - Bancroft           8:30 am           Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

                                                        9:00 am           Rosary

                                                        9:30 am           Anna and Jozef – Kathy Kowalski

 

                            - Haliburton      3:00 pm           STATIONS OF THE CROSS

 

                            - Bancroft          5:00 pm           STATIONS OF THE CROSS

 

First Saturday - Bancroft          9:00 am           Special Intentions of Kathy Banaszak – Kathy Kowalski

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~ FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT ~

April 5 and 6, 2025​

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Saturday            - Haliburton     4:30 pm           Missa Pro Populo – Mass for the People

 

Sunday              - Bancroft        10:00 am           In Thanksgiving for Prayers answered – John and Kathy Pires

 

 

 

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THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT:  The parable Jesus tells in today's Gospel is unique to the Gospel of Luke. Jesus has been teaching the crowds as he journeys to Jerusalem. As he teaches, the Pharisees and scribes complain and challenge Jesus because he is welcoming sinners at his table. Today we hear the third of three parables that Jesus tells in response to his critics. These three familiar parables—the lost sheep, the lost coin, and today's parable of the prodigal son—invite us to consider the depth of God's mercy and love.

The Pharisees taught a scrupulous observance of Jewish Law. In their interpretation and practice, observant Jews who shared table fellowship with sinners would be made unclean. Like Jesus, the Pharisees hoped to lead sinners back to God. The Pharisees, however, required that sinners first become ritually clean—observant of the Pharisees' interpretation of Jewish Law—before sharing table fellowship. This appears to be one of the major differences between the Pharisees and Jesus. Jesus reaches out to sinners while they are still sinners, inviting them to conversion through fellowship with him. Jesus is God acting among us; by befriending us, he is inviting us to return to friendship with God. Through friendship with Jesus, our sins are forgiven and we, in turn, bear fruit for God. Recall last Sunday's Gospel and the barren fig tree.

Our familiarity with today's parable risks dulling us to its tremendously powerful message. We call this the parable of the lost son or the prodigal son. Any focus on the younger son, however, must also be balanced by an examination of the unusual behavior of the father.

First we must imagine our first response to the audacity of a son who asks for his inheritance before his father has died. Indignation would certainly be a justifiable response to such a request. Yet the father in this parable agrees to honor the son's request and divides his property among his two sons. How might we describe such a father? Foolish comes to mind, but so does trusting. Without property of his own, the father must rely upon his sons to provide for his well-being.

The younger son takes his inheritance and leaves home. The older son remains, continuing to provide for the father and the household. Having been disgraced by the younger son, the father spends some time watching the road for the return of the lost son. When he eventually sees his wayward son returning, the father not only welcomes him but also runs out to greet him and then honors him with a party. We say that this father is loving and forgiving. Yet these adjectives only begin to describe the depth of love and mercy that characterize the father.

We find no surprise in the anger of the older son. Yet the father appears sad and even confused by the older son's indignation. He says in reply that they should celebrate because the lost son had returned. The father is filled with gratitude and love for the older son's faithfulness. This love is in no way diminished by the father's rejoicing at the return of the younger son. Yet the older son's jealousy reveals his limited understanding of the depth of his father's love.

The Fourth Sunday of Lent is traditionally called Laetare Sunday. Laetare is a Latin word that means “rejoice.” Today's Gospel describes the reason for our joy: God's great love for us has been revealed in Jesus. Through his Passion, Death, and Resurrection, Christ has reconciled us with God and one another.

 

PRAYER FOR POPE FRANCIS

 

Loving God:

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As Francis, our beloved pope, suffers from grave illnesses, we come before you in prayer.

We ask you to look with mercy on your servant Francis, who has served you devotedly and tirelessly as a Jesuit, a priest, an archbishop, a cardinal and as pope.  Most of all, he has served you as a faithful Christian sharing the love, mercy and compassion that your Son showed to all he encountered in this public ministry, especially those who were poor or in any way struggling.

During his papacy, Francis has striven to imitate your Son by reaching out to all who were feeling abandoned, ignored or neglected, making it his special task to care for those who were in any way sick.

As Francis himself now faces serious and complex illnesses, help the doctors, nurses and medical team who care for him, help him bear any pain with grace and help him to heal quickly.

Send your Holy Spirit, your own breath, into his weakened lungs to heal him, inspire him and raise him up again so that he may live out his vocation as the Vicar of Christ.  But if it is your will, loving God, to take him to yourself, let his passing into new life be painless and peaceful. We ask all this in your Holy Name.

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Amen.

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