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Our Lady of Mercy Church St. Anthony of Padua Mission
196 Bridge Street West, P.O. Box 879 27 Victoria Street, P.O. Box 1200
Bancroft, ON, K0L 1C0 Haliburton, ON K0M 1S0
613-332-2954 Reverend Casmir Muobike SMMM, Parish Priest 705-457-3695
Email: olmbancroft@gmail.com Email: stanthonyhal@bellnet.ca https://olmbancroft.wixsite.com/ourladyofmercy https://stanthonyhal.wixsite.com/stanthonyofpadua
“LIKE” us on FACEBOOK!
Office Hours: Office Hours:
Tuesday & Thursday from 9:00 pm to 1:00 pm. Tuesdays from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm
Secretary: Mrs. Kathy Tripp Secretary: Mrs. Catherine Wheeler
Our Lady of Mercy School: 613-332-3300
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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
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
PRAYER CORNER
Maximillian Sullivan and the Sullivan Family, Evan and Gary Wheeler, Judy,
Kathy Edwards, Katherine Flowers, BroniaWijas, Matt and Kate Flowers, Alverna Ross, Paul Lee, Lori Best, Irene Houtby, Samantha Spencer,
Bill O’Shaughnessy, Anne Carr,
Victor Umeohanna, Silas Agina, Bruce Lance,
Rita Stock, Richard Wheeler, Anita Neuman,
Helen Curran, niece of Pauline Burcher,
Julian Joseph Forget, Kathy Willerding,
Thomas Smallwood, Hannah Neveu-Greene,
Mary Hall, Gladys Roberts,
Carol Gaboury, A.S. Crean,
Shirley Grimshaw, Corrinne Messner,
Gerald Diamond, Brian Dunn,
Barb Perog, Sandra Wheeler, Rita Callaghan,
Stacie Burnett, Gina Mazara,
Reuben Maughan, Anthony.
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OUR LADY OF MERCY
PRAYER AND BIBLE GROUP
Agenda for Thursday:
8:30 am – Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
9:00 am – Rosary
10:30 am – 12:00 Noon – Bible Study/Prayer
12:00 Noon – Lunch
The Agenda for next Thursday, April 3rd
consists of:
The Parable of the Talents
(The Good heart)
(Matt. 25:14-30; pg 441)
LIVES OF THE SAINTS
St. Louis Schosoppi
Lunch at 12:00 noon
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SUNDAY MASS
Giving Thanks and Seeking God's Grace
Sunday Mass is a time to give thanks to God for all that has happened in our lives and to call out to God, asking for help in all the things that are about to happen in our lives.
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ANNUAL PARISH SUPPER
Mark your calendars!!!
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14th, 2025
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ST. ANTHONY’S MISSION
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Sunday Mass Attendance: 33
ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA
SANCTUARY LAMP
For the week commencing
Sunday, Mar. 30th – April 5th:
All souls in Purgatory.
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OUR LADY OF MERCY CHURCH
Sunday Mass Attendance: 86
OUR LADY OF MERCY
SANCTUARY LAMP
For the week commencing
Sunday, Mar. 30th – April 5th:
In loving memory of Steve Tripp.
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LIVING ROSARY
AT ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA
Would you like to participate in the Living Rosary on Saturday, May 10, 2025 at 3:30 p.m.?
If so, please sign the sheet at the entrance to the Church by March 31, 2025. This is a special event to honour Mary our Mother, and all our Mothers.
If you have any questions pleases contact
Marina Maughan at 705-754-0869 or mmaughan@highlandmaughans.ca
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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:
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.
Amen.