St. Gabriel's Passionist Parish

Scripture scholars would have us know that the Ascension of Jesus that we celebrate today should not be thought of as a historical commemoration. The resurrection of Jesus and his return to the Father are all part and parcel of the reality of Christ’s resurrection. The church separated them in order to contemplate the important meaning of two aspects of a single indivisible event. (more…)

We’ve all heard of that wonderful organization Doctors Without Borders. Volunteer professional doctors, nurses and medical people from around the world who volunteer to go and bring their professional skills to help men, women and children victimized by war, famine and disasters of any kind. They look beyond people’s faith, culture, social standing and see only brothers and sisters in desperate need. (more…)

Today’s gospel shows us this powerful image of the vine and the branches. The vine shares with the branches, from the greatest to the smallest, its life giving force, a force that makes the branch fruitful. Each one of us is a branch and Jesus is the vine. He will always be there giving us all the nourishment we need to live Christ-like lives. If for some reason we break away from the vine we wither and die. (more…)

Most Catholics are not too well informed about the Bible. Our non-Catholic friends can quote the Bible chapter and verse at the drop of a hat. The one piece of scripture we all know is the 23rd psalm, The Lord is my Shepherd. We hear it sung at every funeral. (more…)

John ends his gospel with a compliment to each of us here today: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” We have not seen, we have not touched and yet we still believe, in good times and in bad, the awesome truth that “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.” As we said after the renewal of our baptismal vows during the Vigil, ‘This is our faith, this is the faith of the church we are proud to profess it in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ (more…)