Sunday Liturgy
Saturday: 5:00 pm
Sunday: 11:00 am
Mission Statement
We are a welcoming Christian community called to embrace and respect the uniqueness of each individual as we join together in our faith and worship. Our ongoing mission is to engage our youth, promote renewal, out reach, evangelization and ecumenical cooperation.MASS INTENTIONS FOR THE WEEK
Monday, March 23rd – 9:00 am Velma Bourque (Anniv)
Monday, March 23rd – 12 Noon Funeral Mass – Jo-Anne Jefferson
Tuesday, March 24th – 9:00 am Marion Oram
Wednesday, March 25th – 9:00 am Walter Wesley Hooper
Thursday, March 26th – 9:00 am Florence/Michaelena/Eileen McLaughlin
& Kay McGraw
Friday, March 27th – 9:00 am Eileen F. Higgins
Saturday, March 28th – 5:00 pm Linda Guthrie
Sunday, March 29th – 11:00 am Shirley Farrah
Weekly Reflections (Homily) from Msgr. Sheehan (March 20, 2026)
FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT
Dear friends;
We come to-day to the fifth Sunday of Lent… next Sunday, Palm Sunday, the week after, Easter Sunday…
We have reflected on what Jesus gives us… what he wants to give us… we have been listening to the Gospels from John… the Book of Signs… Jesus being the “life giving light”… (the man born blind) “the life giving water”… (the Samaritan woman at the well) – and now the last of the signs… Jesus as “the life giving life”… (the raising of Lazarus…)
The story of the raising of Lazarus is not found in any of the other gospels. It is unique to John, for it highlights John’s unique understanding of the universal Lordship of Christ. It portrays Jesus as both very human and nonetheless divine. He has friends whom he loves very much. His heart is moved by the tears of Martha and Mary for their dead brother, and he himself weeps when he comes in sight of Lazarus’s tomb.
But at the same time, he knows why he has come to the tomb. He knows he has come to give glory to the Father, and to show that God’s power is within him. And he knows he has come to give the ultimate sign of his Lordship.
The dialogue here, like the earlier dialogues in this gospel, gradually moves into deeper and deeper revelations of the mystery of Christ. At one point, Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. And even now, if you ask God for anything, I am sure he will grant it.” Jesus assured her, “Your brother will rise again.” She replied, “I know he will rise again, at the resurrection on the last day.”
Then Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. All those who believe in me will live, even if they have died. And all those who live and believe in me will never die.”
(John 11:21 – 26)
Jesus is saying that to live in him is to know a life so real that it can never be taken away, not even by death. And to carry this life within is to know that it will go on, even after death.
But it is not easy to believe this when face to face with the apparent finality of death. So Jesus asks Martha if she really believes this, and she responds in a way which reveals the depth of her faith:
“Yes, Lord, I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into the world.”
(John 11:27)
Mary comes to join them, and the two sisters lead Jesus into the place where Lazarus has been laid. The tomb symbolizes the deadness, the coldness, the hardness in every life which makes it seem much more like death. This is the sin which Jesus approaches when he asks to be admitted to the human heart. This is the sin of the world which the Lamb of God has come to take away.
And so Jesus asks those nearby to roll away the stone at the entrance of the tomb. He has come to shed his light in the darkness, to overcome deadness with his life.
Notice that Jesus does not roll away the stone by his own power. Undoubtedly he could do it by himself, and yet he invites others to participate with him in the miracle of giving life. As if to emphasize this, he does it again at the very moment when he gives the most powerful sign of his divinity. He calls to the man inside the tomb:
“Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped in strips, his face covered by a cloth. Then Jesus said, “Unbind him, and let him go free.”
(John 11:43-44)
John’s teaching here, masterfully described in this symbolic action of Jesus at the tomb, is that the Lord alone gives life, and yet he also needs us to help him. The risen Lord cannot work miracles unless a community of believers is willing to share in the work of rolling away the stones which oppress people and take away their humanity. This is the meaning and the purpose of the Church: to participate with Jesus in overcoming the darkness of the world and liberating humanity for the truth of God.
In John’s understanding of the good news, Christians are not called to just a Jesus-and-me relationship. It is not enough for us to be individually related to the Lord. Our personal relationship with Jesus must embrace others as well. Even though Jesus wants to enter every tomb, only we can roll away the stone for him. Even though he wants to give life to every person, only we can undo the bonds which restrict their freedom.
Community is not something which is added on to the Christian life; it is at the very heart of that life. Christianity is a way for people to live community.
The gospel of the raising of Jesus… and the community sign of giving new life… bringing community of new life to each other… was vividly brought home to me here is this parish…
Some time ago recently – we had a rather sudden death… it was unexpected… a woman died… who was often at daily Mass with her husband…
I announced her death at daily Mass… the husband was sitting alone… attending as a new widower…
Immediately, at the end of Mass… nearly half the regular Mass attendees went over to him… to offer sympathy… to console him… to support him… to promise to be there for him… becoming community for him… becoming family for him… giving him new hope… giving him the promise and realization of new life… it made me so proud that I was pastoring such a wonderful parish.
Amen.