Gerry McNellis

Christ humbled himself for us and, in obedience, accepted death, even death on a cross.

Christ humbled himself for us and, in obedience, accepted death.

The disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Where would you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?’ He said, ‘Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, “The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.” ’

The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me… And he said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’

‘Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.’ Only when the jar is opened does everyone share in the beauty of the scent.

Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.

He said to them, ‘You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world… So they said to him, ‘Who are you?’ Jesus answer this fundamental question.. ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he,

O God, by whose wondrous grace we are enriched with every blessing, grant us so to pass from former ways to newness of life, that we may be made ready for the glory of the heavenly Kingdom.

Jesus was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’

But Sion said, ‘The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.’ ‘Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget,yet I will not forget you.’

How did so great and salutary a gift come to me, the gift of knowing and loving God, though at the cost of homeland and family? I came to the Irish peoples to preach the Gospel and endure the taunts of unbelievers, putting up with reproaches about my earthly pilgrimage…

But be glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress.

Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.

Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the LORD are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.

Thus says the LORD: ‘This command I gave them: “Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.” But they did not obey or incline their ear…

‘Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children.’

Today is the Feast of St John Ogilvie, priest and martyr. He travelled Europe in times of turmoil and conflict, from Bohemia to Belgium, for his education before returning to his native land where he was executed. Over 400 years later, we pray again for Europe torn apart by war.

Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’

Parish bulletin, 8th March 2026, 3rd Sunday in Lent ✝️