ST. MARK’S BOTTINEAU & ST. ANDREW’S WESTHOPE

PARISH OFFICE: (701) 228-3164 RECTORY: (701) 228-5164 stsmanda@utma.com

322 Sinclair St. • Bottineau, ND • 58318 - www.stmark-standrew.org

April 1-2, Fifth Sunday of Lent

PARISH STAFF

Fr Michael Hickin, Pastor

Ursula Palmer, Secretary

Cathy Miller, Custodian

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Valerie Heth, DRE

St. Andrew’s Parish

Ursula Palmer, DRE

St. Mark’s Parish

WEEKEND MASS SCHEDULE

Saturday 5:30 pm, Bottineau

Sunday 9:00 am, Westhope

And 11:00 am, Bottineau

CONFESSIONS

Saturday, 4:30 pm, Bottineau

Sunday, 8:30 am, Westhope

Or by Appointment

OFFICE HOURS

Tue 12:30pm-5:00pm

Wed 9:00am-3:30pm

Thurs 12:30pm-5:00pm

Fri 9:00am-5:00pm

PARISH NEWS AND EVENTS

UPCOMING EVENTS St. Andrew’s— K-6 Religious Ed.— April 2, 12, 23, 30 (CYO) Parish Council Mtg, Weds, Apr 12, 5:30 pm, followed by Stations of the Cross @ 7 pm. St. Mark’s— Religious Ed Classes K-6— April 5, 19, 2 Altar Society meeting– April 6 @ 5:30pm First Friday Adoration—April 7, 8:30-12:30

STEWARDSHIP MOMENTS “Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you be-lieve you will see the glory of God?” - JOHN 11:40

Many of us say that we believe in God. We go to church on Sunday. We volunteer for events at our parish. But when life gets hard, the pressure is on, things aren’t going our way, do we really believe, do we really put our trust in the Lord? When we live a life of gratitude, being thankful for the gifts we have been given, we really do see that God is providing all that we need.

Report For March 26, 2017

St Andrew’s: Ad env $ 336 Pl $ 169 and Ch $ 16 St Mark’s: Ad env $ 1639 Pl $ 81 Ch $ 10 Roof Loan Balance as of March is $10,724.34

Sat, April 1, 5:30 p.m. St. Mark’s

(† Robert Brunelle)

Sun, April 2, 9 a.m. St. Andrew’s

(† Shawna Deschamp)

Sun, 11 a.m. St. Mark’s

(Parishioners)

Tue, April 4, 12 p.m. St. Mark’s

(† Tom & Priscilla Fischer)

Wed, April 5, 12 p.m. St. Mark’s

(† Jayne Albrecht)

Thurs, April 6, 9 a.m. St. Andrew’s

(Emily & Sophie Kempf)

Fri, April 7, 8 a.m. St. Mark’s

(† Joe McGrath)

Sat, April 8, 5:30 p.m. St. Mark’s

(† Aime Vandal)

Sun, April 9, 9 a.m. St. Andrew’s

(Parishioners)

Sun, 11 a.m. St. Mark’s

(† Duane Sebelius)

Home Communion Any St. Mark parishioners desiring

Holy Communion at home, call

Claudia Trebas (228-2339) by

Monday evening to be put on the list.

To add or remove a name, please

contact Deb Wyman at 245-6538 or

the parish office.

PARISHIONERS, FAMILY, AND FRIENDS: Military personnel &

their families, Cindy Volk, Wayne Barbot, Kenadi Zappone, Bridget

Herpel, Jerry Burns, Glen Brandjord, Eloise Halvorson, Dakota,

Todd Pigeon, Duane Indridson, Arvid Anderson, Ryan Volk, Donna

Estenerson, Candice Fulsebakke, Brenda Marquardt, Marlys Hum-

mel, Tanya Buzzerd, Sandy Hoffman, Clay Gunderson, Sylvia Fra-

zer, Shirley Pasicznyk, Harvey Soland; a special private intention.

Mass Intention Request

A Mass intention is requested for :

_____________________________________________

From:

_____________________________________________

Suggested offering is $10.00 per Mass intention

O Christ our God, Who by Thy voice didst release Lazarus from the bonds of death after four days in the tomb, restoring him again to life: Thyself. O Master, enliven us who are deadened by sins, granting life that none can take away; and make us who put our hope in Thee, heirs of life without end.

For Thou art our Life and Resurrection, and to Thee belongeth glory: together with Thine im-mortal Father, and Thine All-holy, and Good, and Life-creating Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Russian Orthodox Prayer

St. Mark Parish First Reconciliation retreat and First Reconciliation on April 2 @ 5:30 for our 2nd graders and Communal Penance Service for the Parish @ 7pm

St. Mark’s Ministries for April 8-9 DATE EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS READER GIFT BEARERS USHERS GREETERS COUNTERS

Satr. Bread: Vickie Gangl Carla Eisenzimmer / Lenny McGuire

Jessica Tagestad Tagestad family Matt Brandjord / Dennis Lagasse

Marlys Richard / Eileen Lahr

Sun. Bread: Jen Nero Megan & Tyler Rogers

Vicki Boehnke Mike Nero family Mike Nero / Chuck Nubauer

Hight family Karen Sollin

From the Pastor’s Pen

LOVE. Jesus seems to love some friends and disciples more than others. We see evidence of this in today’s Gospel.

Is it hard to accept that God would love some people more than others? Our natural reaction is to think that’s unfair. And yet, our

lives all bear witness to the fact that we don’t love everybody equally.

The Scriptures demonstrate that God does not show favoritism. He is not prejudice. Yet, He does elect for Himself a Chosen People. What do we make of that? Our Christian Faith gives us the glimpse of an answer, but it remains a mystery. Love is a free gift; it

always remains a mystery.

In Christ, God the Son becomes man. As a human being, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son does on earth what he eternally did in Heaven, just in earthly form. He receives life from the Father, obeys the Father, give his whole self back to the Father. The life of Jesus

Christ only makes sense from this perspective.

If as a man, Jesus loved some more than others, this could show us something of his real humanity, but it also reveals something

of the divine. We ought to love all and help strangers, but that doesn’t deny the special bonds we have with family and friends.

Looking at Jesus, we note in the fourth Gospel the presence of one who is called the beloved disciple. In this same Gospel, we

read that Jesus had a particular family in Bethany, Lazarus-Mary-Martha, that he loved in a special way.

Death, Jesus’ archenemy, had touched his friend Lazarus and this troubled him. Death wrenches soul from body. It tears loved ones from the embrace of their families. So in the presence of those wounded by death’s sting, especially Martha and Mary, Jesus weeps. When the Jews saw his tears they understood how much he loved his

friend, which is the point here.

Jesus had friends. This special love for some people was not to exalt them in any earthly sense. It

put them even more at the service of the mission he received from the Father.

The closer we are to Jesus’ inner circle, the more he expects us to participate in the whole reason of his coming and suffering and rising. The closer one is to Jesus, the more one participates in his work of founding of the Church, spreading the Kingdom, transforming the future. The beginning of the answer as to

why God would love some more than others is service.

Saint Mark’s feast—will be celebrated on April 30th. We will

put out some sign-up sheets for attendance starting next

weekend, April 1st through April 20th. We are all encouraged to

sign-up and participate in our patron’s feast. We are envision-

ing a very nice evening with a social hour starting at 5pm

where we will have some entertainment, dinner at 6pm, appre-

ciation for volunteers for ministries in the Church and the Altar

Society raffle drawing.

God’s Gift Appeal— When Jesus heard about the ill-ness of His friend, Lazarus, He responded, “This illness is not to end in death; rather it is for God’s glory, that through it the Son of God may be glorified.” Every aspect of our lives – our gifts as well as our sufferings – can, if surrendered to Christ,

lead to blessing for ourselves and others. Please make your God’s Gift

pledge during this special season of sacrifice.

St Mark’s – 34% of the goal pledged; 15% participation from the parish.

St Andrew’s – 19% of the goal pledged; 12% participation.

DIVINE MERCY. The Novena of Divine Mercy begins on Good Friday, ending Divine Mercy Sunday. Pamphlets on

this great prayer will be made available.

We will recite the Mercy Chaplet before the Good Friday Services (so please consider coming 20 minutes early). On Holy Saturday, we will recite it at the Hour of Mercy, 3 p.m., and on Easter Sunday before Mass begins.

Easter Tuesday through Mercy Sunday, before Masses.

THIS SUNDAY, April 2, 7 pm. Jesus Christ, in the person of 4 priests, is taking the first step in coming to you with a mighty gift: freedom-joy-

peace. You just need to show up & open up.

Make Easter extra-special by being a forward looking person, one who has no regrets, no skeletons in the closet, no buried grudges, no memories of shame. It’s really & truly possible by an almighty gift from God. That’s

what Confession is all about.

St. Andrew’s Ministries

DATE EUCHARISTIC

MINISTERS READER GIFT BEARERS ALTAR SERVERS COUNTERS USHERS

Sun. April 9 Tom Henry / Nancy Erickson

CYO Sunday CYO Sunday Jude Griffith / Anthony Tabarez

Tom Henry/ Roger Heth

Mike & Terri Thompson

HOLY WEEK BEGINS NEXT SUNDAY, Palm Sunday. Time to batten down the hatches and head out into the high seas of Deep Love. Look ahead. What can you do to sharpen your senses and attune

yourself to the unfolding Mystery?

Perform a secret kindness. “Don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” Give up your need for a pat on the

back. Put other people’s needs ahead of your own.

Exercise patience. Start with yourself, move on to others. Give up being in a hurry. Give up telling Jesus, “We’ll get together

tomorrow.”

Bite your tongue. Take a second to change a negative word into a word of wisdom. Give up all cursing and snapping. “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all” (my Mom’s saying); but stay clear of the cold shoulder treatment, that’s just as

mean.

Pour your passion into a dream. Think big for a change of pace. Give up arguing over petty stuff. Pour some energy into why Christ died for you; hint, it wasn’t so that we could veg-out in

front of some screen.

Cut out some of the noise around you. Take a walk, sit in silence, visit Christ in the Eucharist. Give up never having any

time for yourself (synonym for being alone with God).

Focus on and point out the good. Commit yourself to thinking and speaking about things that bring joy. Give up being

crabby.

Make the decision to forgive. Let go of the hurts people dish out. Flush out the poison in society. Give up being bitter. Give up thinking that the other guy has to make the first step.

FELLOWSHIP Charisms, Saints, & Me. Carla Eisenzimmer is leading this unique study Thurs evenings, 7 pm, in St. Mark’s rectory base-ment. You are all welcome!

Support for community members that are dealing with the death or terminal illness—We are interested in forming a planning committee that will help us improve how we may improve our support for families that are experi-encing, or have experienced, the death or terminal illness of a loved one. Please contact Warren Emmer 701-220-5042 or Janel Agnes 701-201-0294.

DEEPEST AND HEARTFELT SYMPATHY TO:

Patty Graber and her family. Patty’s dad, Gerald Geisen, passed away on March 25

th.

Gloria Giglio and her family. Gloria’s granddaughter, ToriRay Brien, passed away last week.

Rosemary Lacroix and all her family. Rosemary’s brother Lloyd McKeown passed away on March 21

st.

Our hearts are saddened by your loss and our thoughts and prayers

are with you.

“I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” Jn 11:25-26

Rosary at St. Mark’s 20 to 30 min prior to Sat & Sun Masses. Volunteers needed to lead the rosary. Brochure available in the back of the church, along with a sign-up sheet. Please con-sider being part of this important ministry.

Stations of the Cross

Wednesday Evenings 6pm simultaneously at St. Mark’s and St. Andrew’s, April 5 – E M H C April 12 – Northern Lights Apostles

St. Mark’s soup-suppers on Wednesdays 5pm—6pm will be offered by the group leading Stations of the Cross and the free-will offerings will go to the Northern Lights Apostles.

&

LAST FISH FRY & BAKE SALE— April 7 at

ST. Mark’s Parish Hall from 4:30 to 7pm.

Adults $10—Kids $5

St. Mark’s Altar Society’s mtg April 6 @ 5:30 pm,Parish Hall.

A big thank you! To Circle # 4 ladies that either served, brought food or both to all 3 March events

that we had. Also Thank you to Vickie Gangl and other Cir-cle members that offered their help. You are all so appreciated!