St.

Helen Church
4106 Mountain St.
Beamsville, ON L0R 1B7
Ph: 905-562-7427
Fax: 905-563-0003
Email: office@sthelenscatholic.ca
Opened - October 2, 1938 Est. as a Parish - January 1, 1986
HOLY WEEK SCHEDULE
Reconciliation - Saturday April 13, 3:00 to 3:30 p.m. Holy Saturday - April 20:
Mass of Chrism - Tuesday April 16, 7:30 p.m. @ Blessing of Easter Foods - 11:00 a.m.
St. Alfred Church, 272 Vine St., St. Catharines Reconciliation - 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon
Mass of the Lord’s Supper - Thursday April 18, 7:00 p.m. Easter Vigil - 8:00 p.m.
Celebration of the Lord’s Passion - Friday April 19, 3:00 p.m. Easter Sunday - April 21 - 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.
Stations of the Cross - Friday April 19, 5:30 p.m. Altar Server Rehearsal:
Pastor: Rev. Krzysztof Szczepanik Thurs. April 18, 6:30 p.m.
Website: www.sthelenscatholic.ca Fri. April 19, 2:30 p.m.
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/sthelenscatholic Sat. April 20, 10:30 a.m.

You are invited, to meet for a simple bread, soup and

cheese lunch, with a short reflection. All are welcome.

Kindly complete the following and place in the collection basket

☐ New Parishioner* ☐ Change of address ☐ Moving
Name________________________ Phone_________________ E-mail___________________
Address______________________________________________ City_____________________
☐ I would like to use offertory envelopes* Postal Code______________
 Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord - Year C
April 14th, 2019
Mass Intentions
 April 16 - 21, 2019
As we gather, let us remember and pray for . . .
th
Tues. ~ ………………………………………. Apr 16
9:00 am + Elfrieda Hauck (by Nancy Winslow)
Wed. ~ ………………………………………... Apr 17th
9:00 am + Dora Geczy, + Elizabeth Barna
(by Alex Geczy)
+ Members of the Elia & D’Alessio Families
(by Connie & Louis Elia)
....Thursday of the Lord’s Supper….. Apr 18th
7:00 pm For former Pastors of St. Helens,
living and deceased
...Friday of the Passion of the Lord… Apr 19th
3:00 pm Passion of the Lord
5:30 pm STATIONS OF THE CROSS
Sat. ~ ..The Easter Vigil of the Holy Night... Apr 20th
8:00 pm + Jan Williams (by Sharon & Carolyn)
Sun. ~ …..The Resurrection of the Lord…... Apr 21st
9:00 am For the People of St. Helen
11:00 am + John Marchalewicz
(by Marchalewicz Family)
MINISTRY FOR THE SICK AND HOMEBOUND
We are grateful to those who give of their time and care
to bring Holy Communion to our parishioners who can-
not make it to church due to sickness or infirmity. If
you know of anyone who would like to receive com-
munion in their home or while hospitalized at West Lin-
coln Hospital, please contact the parish office
CWL NEWS
CWL Diocesan Convention - Theme: Living as Wom-
en of Faith -- May 21, 6:30 p.m., Opening Mass & Re-
ception at St. Alfred’s Church, St. Catharines, Speaker
Colleen Perry, Ontario Provincial Council President-
Elect; all welcome.
May 22, 8:30 a.m., Convention at Holiday Inn Con-
ference Centre, St. Catharines; Keynote Speaker Dr.
This week, the Sanctuary Lamp burns in
memory of:
CHARLIE MISETICH
The Sanctuary Lamp burns to remind us of Christ’s
presence in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar.
If you wish to sponsor the sanctuary lamp for one
week the stipend is $35.00
Stewardship of Treasure
April 14, 2019 ~ Offertory (187) $ 8,225.00
Loose 276.50
Building Fund (25) 3,075.00
Facility Maintenance (39) 620.00
Share Lent - D&P 1,105.00
“May God bless you for your faithful stewardship!”
Anne Jamieson; fees from $15.00 to $75.00 For more
details, please call Piera, 905-563-4594 (evenings).
KITCHEN & FOOD PREP UPDATE
The food handling & certification workshop is sched-
uled for June 6th from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. An instruc-
tor will be reviewing safe food handling and kitchen
cleanliness with a test following instruction. Contact
the office to register. If you wish to get a head start, the
online food handler manual can be found here:
https://www.niagararegion.ca/living/health_wellness/
food-safety/certification/manual/
Exam info: https://www.niagararegion.ca/living/
health_wellness/food-safety/certification/food-handler-
exams.aspx
GOOD FRIDAY ~ HOLY LAND COLLECTION
In support of the Christians in the Holy Land - they de-
pend on the collection for their lives. It helps to main-
tain the Holy places and supports pastoral, educational
and social works that the Church carries out there.

ONLY 6 SPOTS REMAINING!!!
Join FR. KRZYSZTOF on a
PILGRIMAGE to the HOLY LAND
Points of Interest
Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Caesarea, Mt.
Carmel, Megiddo, Galilee, Jor-
dan River, Cana, Nazareth, Mt
Tabor, Beit Shean, Old & New
City of Jerusalem, Bethlehem,
Masada, Qumran, Dead Sea,
Eilat, Negev
Pilgrimage Package Price
$3,995.00 CAD pp based on
double occupancy. To register
and more info, call the office.
 HOSANNA
Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!
(Lk 19) Procession
God has given me a well-trained tongue. (Is 50)
He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave. (Phil 2)
This is my body, which will be given for you. (Lk 22)
Passion week ends
our celebration of
Lent. Our Lenten
preparations have
been focused on
improving our re-
sponse to God’s
call so that we, His
children, will be ready to come home and live for all
eternity. Jesus, our eldest brother, has showed us how
to live His life so that we can gain eternal life. Our
readings today show us how Jesus freely became the
eternal perfect sacrifice – the one sacrifice which could
open the gates of heaven so that we could have our sins
forgiven and forgotten. The sacrifice instituted the New
Covenant with God; the covenant in which we are no
longer God’s slaves but His children. As with all cove-
nants, this covenant is sealed with a meal, a meal in
which all parties partake and which is offered to God.
The offering to God is described in Revelation 5:6 by
John: “Then I saw standing in the midst of the throne
and the four living creatures and the elders a Lamb
that seemed to have been slain.” The meal in which we
partake is the Holy Eucharist promised by Jesus at Ca-
pernaum “Unless you eat the flesh of the son of man
and drink His blood you have no life within you. Who-
ever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.” (John 6:53-54).
This meal was provided for us by Jesus at the Last Supper.
HOLY THURSDAY
The day we celebrate as Holy Thurs-
day is the day in Jesus’ time which
was the preparation day for the Pass-
over. Jesus sent in the Apostles from
Bethany to reserve a place for the
Passover meal. At evening, which is
at the beginning of a new day as the
Hebrews account time (from sun-
down to sundown), the apostles and
Jesus gathered together for the Passover meal, and Our
Lord washed the feet of the apostles. During the Passo-
ver meal Our Lord instituted the Blessed Sacrament as
His eternal memorial. Toward the end of the meal Ju-
das, identified as the traitor, left. He foretold the be-
trayal of Peter and in the last discourse encouraged
them to love one another. Interrupting the Passover
meal prior to its completion, Jesus and His apostles go
out to the Mount of Olives. At Gethsemane on the
Mount of Olives, He took the three apostles (Peter,
James, and John) and began His agony in the garden.
GOOD FRIDAY
Good Friday is such a pow-
erful day; we venerate the
sign which is central to our
faith - the cross, because on
it the sinless one experi-
enced the fullest emptying
of himself, the fullest shar-
ing in what it is to be hu-
man, to enter the darkness of death. It is the ultimate
submission’ (as the second reading says), by which the
suffering servant “is made perfect”. By this death, our
high priest feels “our weaknesses with us”, and leads
each of us by the hand through our own death to the
liberation we shall celebrate tomorrow. The cross is
thus triumphant, a victory-sign.
HOLY SATURDAY
Holy Saturday is about emptiness. ‘The cross is empty
now, and still.’ Where is the Lord? The heavens and
the earth cry out with longing for the sinless one who is
not to be found. We, the people of the sacraments, are
denied the sacraments, to create in us the same longing.
We wait, as mourners beside a grave, unsettled, ill at
ease, almost not knowing what to do with ourselves.
The reader, like the other ministers of the Church, has
only one thing to do today: to pray through the empti-
ness of Holy Saturday. It must not be like any other day
- there simply is no other day like it.
EASTER VIGIL
Easter is the original feast, and
this vigil is ‘the mother of all
vigils’. It is thus the most sol-
emn, special and sacred celebra-
tion of the whole liturgical year.
Tonight we welcome the Risen
Christ by using symbols of fire, light, water, bread and
wine, and we know that He is with us. More than ever
He is present in his celebrated word, as in the light of
his rising we review God’s eternal plan of salvation,
prefigured in the history of ancient Israel, achieved in
the rising of the eternal Word, and present in the Sacra-
ments of the Church. Our preparation for this feast
must be sincere and faithfully done - because this is the
feast which most clearly celebrates who we are as the
holy people of God, gathered in the light of Christ by
the power of the Spirit.
EASTER SUNDAY
When the Word is proclaimed, it is real and active – the
Lord is present, and what is described is, in a sense,
happening now. On certain days this is made more ob-
vious by the selection of scripture that refers to a par-
ticular time or day. Such a selection occurs this morn-
ing, when we go with Mary Magdalene to visit the
tomb, only to make – with her – a momentous discov-
ery: the tomb is empty, He is risen!