FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR B

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1 Since October 30, Christ the KING Kampala UG PARISH PRIEST Msgr. Gerard Kalumba ASSISTING PRIESTS Msgr. Joseph Mugambe Rev. Fr. John Bosco Ssembatya Rev. Fr. Richard Arthur Muwonge LEAD CATECHIST Evaristo Mary Baguma CHAIRPERSON LAITY Rogers Semakula SECRETARY LAITY John Baptist Ssemitego PARISH EXEC. SECRETARY Mrs. Euphemia Kiwuwa Every virtue in your soul is a precious ornament which makes you dear to God and to man. But holy purity, the queen of virtues, the angelic virtue, is a jewel so precious that those who possess it become like the angels of God in Heaven, even though clothed in mortal flesh. -- St. John Bosco FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR B The second scrutiny is celebrated, in places where there are catechumens with the rite of Christian initiation of Adults. FIRST READING: 2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23; Sunday, 11th March 2018 The Wrath and compassion of God are shown in the exile and liberation of His people. SUNDAY MASSES 07.00am: Luganda 08.00am: English 09.00am: Luganda 10.00am: English 11.00am: English 12.00pm: English 05.00pm: English (Charismatic) SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION Monday - Friday 07.45am (after 7.00am Mass) 12.15pm (before 01.00pm Mass) 01.45pm (after 1.00pm Mass) Saturday 07.45am (after 7.00am Mass) 05.15pm (before 06.00pm Mass) First Saturday of the Month (dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary) Additional Mass: 09.00am A reading from the Second Book of Chronicles. In those days: All the leading priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations; and they polluted the house of the LORD which He had hallowed in Jerusalem. The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by His messengers, because He DAILY MASSES: Monday to Friday: 06.30am; 07.00am; 01.00pm Saturday: 07.00am; 06.00pm (for Sunday)

2 had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; but they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising His words, and scoffing at His prophets, till the wrath of the LORD rose against His people, till there was no remedy. And the Chaldeans burned the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, and burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious vessels. The king of the Chaldeans took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfil seventy years. Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, `The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has charged me to build Him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all His people, may the LORD His God be with him. Let him go up. The Word of the LORD. RESPONSORIAL PSALM: Ps. 137:1-6 (R. 6ab); R. O let my tongue cleave to my palate if I remember you not. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, remembering Sion; on the poplars that grew there we hung up our harps. R. O how could we sing the song of the LORD/ on foreign soil? If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! R. For it was there that they asked us, our captors, for songs, our oppressors, for joy. Sing to us, they said, one of Sion s songs. R. O let my tongue cleave to my palate, if I remember you not, if I prize not Jerusalem as the first of my joys! R. 2 Remember, Rejoice, Renew

3 SECOND READING: Ephesians 2:4-10; When we were dead through our trespasses, we were saved by grace. A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians. Brethren: God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and made us sit with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. VERSE BEFORE THE GOSPEL: John 3:16 V. Glory and praise to you, O Christ R. Glory and praise to you, O Christ V. God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son; that whoever believes in Him should have eternal life.r. Glory and praise to you, O Christ GOSPEL: John 3:14-21; God sent the Son that the world might be saved through Him. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John. At that time: Jesus said to Nicodemus, As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not condemned; He who does not believe is condemned already, because He For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God -- not because of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. The Word of the LORD. has not believed in the Name of the only-begotten Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God. The Gospel of the LORD. Remember, Rejoice, Renew 3

4 THE PARISH PRIEST S REFLECTION 2 Chronicles 36:14-16, Ephesians 2:4-10 John 3:14-21 UNFAITHFULNESS IN RELATIONSHIPS CAUSES DISRUPTION AND DESTRUCTION BUT GOD IS ABLE TO USE THESE NEGATIVE FORCES OF DESTRUCTION TO RESTORE OUR BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS. God judges mercifully, working with our Msgr. Gerard Kalumba brokenness to recreate our relationships with Him. God s capacity to make crooked lives look straight is fantastic and unbelievable. In today s Gospel, Jesus makes a reference to this God s way of operating in the broken lives of the Israelites in the desert as they journeyed from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land, flowing with milk and honey. This liberating journey was full of trials, fears, anxieties, hunger, thirst and sometimes apparent long absence of the Leader Moses. These circumstances induced unfaithful sentiments to the God that had liberated the people from the slavery in Egypt. The people thought that He had abandoned them sometimes. The people became impatient and unfaithful to their friend God and His prophet Moses to the extent of pressuring Aaron the assistant of Moses to make a god of them! Aaron manufactured a golden calf which they worshipped as their god of liberation. When God s anger flared up God let serpents kill the people and many of them died! This negative force of the biting snakes forced the people to appeal to Moses that he intercedes for them before God. And God uses the same negative force to bring about the healing of the people from the snake bites: Thus God is capable of using the destructive negative forces to restore the broken lives of the people. He uses a snake. Jesus tells Nicodemus a Pharisee and a ruler of the people that God has the capacity to make people be born again. God s ability is given in the example of Moses lifting up of serpent in the wilderness to heal the people that had been bitten by the snakes. This example brings us close to the end of the journey of our Lenten season: it brings us to Holy Week and the Easter Triduum where the Son of man (CHRIST JESUS) is to be lifted up to the Cross and that whoever looks at Him as He is on the cross and believes in Him that person receives ETERNAL LIFE. That person s life is healed from its broken state to Life Eternal. This is the journey of Lent and it is in the footsteps of Christ s journey to His Holy Week especially the experience of GOOD FRIDAY. The experience of Christ is reflected in the First Reading where the broken lives of the Israelites was redeemed from the Babylonians who had captured them, by Cyrus the King of Persia who had taken over the Babylonian Kingdom. Cyrus said, The LORD the God of heaven has given me all the Kingdoms of the earth and He has charged me to build Him a house at JERUSALEM which is in Judah. Let people 4 Remember, Rejoice, Renew

5 go up to build Jerusalem and rebuild the house of God. God is able to use the negative forces of destruction to restore the destroyed Temple in Jerusalem and free the captives of Judah. He uses the power of the foreign being to liberate the Israelites. So we can conclude with Paul s sentiments in the Second Reading: God who is rich in MERCY, Out of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead through our SINS MADE US ALIVE together with CHRIST AND RAISED US UP WITH HIM (CHRIST) AND MADE US SIT WITH HIM IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST JESUS. This is the gift of God and not our human efforts. In the negative forces of crucifixion, God raises us up from our broken relationships. With about 2 weeks remaining to Holy Week, let us remain focused to Christ whose life will be destroyed in Holy Week so that He can raise it up again with us restored from our BROKENESS. Msgr. Gerard Kalumba Christ the King Parish, Kampala CATHOLIC PROFESSIONALS PRAYER BREAKFAST ===Theme: And you will be my witnesses. === The Catholic Association of Professionals of Uganda warmly invites all the Catholic Professionals to a Prayer Breakfast. Date: Saturday 24 th March Venue: Silver Springs, Bugolobi Time: Starts with Morning Mass at 7.00am Card costs: 60,000. Contact: Mr. Deo Rubumba Nkunzingoma - Mob: Come and discover your role in the church as a Catholic Professional. Remember, Rejoice, Renew 5

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7 THE CONSTRUCTION OF OUR CHURCH AND A WORD OF THANKS TO THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY. The Second Phase of the construction of our Church is well underway and we shall soon be able to see the floor of the Church after which there will be the Construction of the two remaining Galleries (Western Gallery and the front one). The tower and the roof. It is our prayers that the contractor expedites this phase without further delay. The First Phase is near to completion. Dear Friends, your constant contributions to this Church Construction, has made it possible to reach where we are and we are very sure that we shall complete the remaining part of the funds by this constancy. Thank you ever so much. Remember, Rejoice, Renew 7

8 WEEKDAY SAINTS AND READING OF THE WEEK READINGS Celebration to be planned and organised: PENITENTIAL CELEBRATIONS STATIONS OF THE CROSS CHRISTIAN INITIATION OF ADULTS (Election and Scrutinies) LENTEN CAMPAIGN Monday 12th March 2018 Lenten Weekday (Mass of Lent): First reading: Isaiah 65:17-21; Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 30:2, 4-6, (R. 2a); Gospel: John 4: Tuesday 13th March 2018 Lenten Weekday (Mass of Lent): First reading: Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12; Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 46, 2-3, 5-6, 8-9 (R.8); Gospel: John 5:1-16. Wednesday 14th march 2018 Lenten Weekday (Mass of Lent): First reading: Isaiah 49: 8-15; Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 145:8-9, 13-14,17-18 (Ps. 8a); Gospel: John 5: Thursday 15th March 2018 Lenten Weekday (Mass of Lent): First reading: Exodus 32:7-14; Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 106:19-23 (Ps. see 4a); Gospel: John 5: Friday 16th March 2018 Lenten Weekday (Mass of Lent): First reading: Wisdom 2:1, 12-22; Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 34:17-21, 23 (R. 19a); Gospel: John 7:1-2, 10, Saturday 17th March 2018 Lenten Weekday (Mass of Lent): First reading: Jeremiah 11:18-20; Responsorial Psalm: Ps. 7:2-3, 9-12 (R. 2a); Gospel: John 7: Sunday 18th March 2018 The memorial of Saint Patrick, Bishop may be Celebrated as a Commemoration Vigil Mass of The Fifth Sunday of Lent Year B. FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR B: The practice of covering crosses and images throughout the church from this Sunday may be observed. The third scrutiny is celebrated, in places where there are catechumens with the rite of Christian initiation of Adults. First reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Responsorial Psalms: Ps. 51:3-4, (R. 12a); Second reading: Hebrews 5:7-9; Gospel: John 12: Other Masses are not permitted, not even funeral Masses. The memorial of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop & doctor of the church will not be observed. PAULINE MEDIA & BOOK CENTRE...now brings to your attention for this Lenten Season and through Easter time: 3 GREAT BOOKS AND 2 DVDs with lots more for your spiritual formations and mediation during this season of Lent and Easter Find Copies at Pauline s Book & Media Centre Opp. King Fhad Plaza - Kampala Road. Christ the King Parish, Kampala Tel: Plot 3 Colville Street, P. O. Box 2551, Kampala - Uganda info@christthekingkampala.org