Bulletin – January 11, 2015

ANNOUNCED MASSES

January 12th to January 17th, 2015

MONDAY – PETER YANG – Requested by the Family
TUESDAY – ROSA WAI KING TSANG – Requested by the Family
WEDNESDAY – IRENE CHUCHRA – Requested by the Family
THURSDAY – MORTON SCHULMAN – Requested by the Nguyen Family
FRIDAY – MAGDALENE LAM – Requested by John Chan
SATURDAY – IN THANKSGIVING – Requested by Marie Calderone

WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY 2015 ECUMENICAL PRAYER SERVICE

Sunday, January 25th at 4:00 P.M.

Yorkminster Park Baptist Church
1585 Yonge Street

Come and join us in an ecumenical prayer service with His Eminence Thomas Cardinal Collins, Anglican Archbishop Colin Johnson, Evangelical Lutheran Bishop Michael Pryse, Slovak Catholic Bishop John Pazak, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church Rev. Dr. Harris Athanasiadis and other city-wide religious leaders on: Sunday, January 25th at 4:00 P.M. at Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, 1585 Yonge Street (2 blocks north of St. Clair at Heath Street)

Parking is available. Refreshments will follow in the parish hall.

For further information, please contact the Office of Ecumenical and Interfaith Affairs at 416-934-3400, Ext. 344 or Ext. 527 or vkwok@archtoronto.org.

WORLD LEPROSY DAY – SUNDAY, JANUARY 25TH

USED STAMP COLLECTION

Sunday, January 25th is World Leprosy Day. Leprosy affects the nervous system deadening the body to pain. As a result, cuts and burns go unnoticed and neglected leading to severe infections. Such conditions can lead to loss of function in the limbs and even result in amputation. Please take a few moments to remember the children, women and men living with leprosy.

Please remember to bring us your used postage stamps. These are passed on to the Leprosy Mission of Canada helping them work towards the day when leprosy is eradicated. They are happy to accept any and all trimmed stamps, leaving no less than ¼ inch and no more than ½ inch paper border. Stamps may be deposited in the basket on the cabinet just outside the Parish Office.

GOOD SHEPHERD CENTRE CASSEROLES

Thank you to the volunteers who prepared 51 casseroles for December. For January, your prepared casseroles (frozen please) will be collected at the Masses on the weekend of January 24th/25th for delivery to the Good Shepherd Centre. More volunteers are needed to help feed the hungry in our city. You may pick up a copy of a casserole recipe and a pan from the Parish Office.

Three recipes are also available on St. Gabriel’s web site. Please remember to mark the label on the pan lid with the name of the casserole. For more information, please contact Irene Albrecht at 416 221-2791.

MILK BAGS

Please be aware that we will no longer be accepting milk bags since we have no means of getting them to those who use them. Thank you for your support of this endeavor over the last few years.

JUST COFFEE

Fair trade organic coffees will be on sale after all the Masses next weekend.

Regular ground coffee: $5.50
Decaffeinated: $6
Whole Beans: $5.50
Chocolate Bars: $4 incl. Taxes
Hot Chocolate and Cocoa: $4.75
Teas: $4.25

DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE CAMPAIGN

Next weekend, parishioners will be asked to sign a petition supporting D&P’s campaign,”Sow Much Love”. This campaign is asking the Government of Canada to commit to:

Adopt international aid policies that support small family farmers, especially women,

Ensure that Canadian policies and programs are developed in consultation with small family farmers, and that they protect the rights of small family farmers in the Global South to preserve, use and freely exchange seeds.

Because of the ratification by a number of countries of the latest version of the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, ancestral rights, which consisted of preserving, using and exchanging farmer seeds, have become in some cases illegal acts, which are punishable by law.

More details are available at www.devp.org

NEUROSCIENCE AND RESILIENCE

January 12th at 7:00 PM

Catholic Pastoral Centre, 1155 Yonge St. 4th Floor

Please join them for an inspirational talk,” Neuroscience and Resilience”. Neuroscience teaches us that resilience is the capacity for our brain to adapt and bounce back after life-changing experiences. Come and learn how you can develop your own resiliency. The speaker will be James Shaughnessy, M.S.W., R.S.W., Psyn.D. Free underground parking is available.

For inquiries please contact: Deacon James Shaughnessy, MSW., RSW., Psyn. D. at 416-921-1163 ext. 2227 or email: jshaughn@cfstoronto.com

REGIS COLLEGE FILM SERIES: “THE HIDDEN ROOTS OF LOVE”

Begins January 14th from 7:00 to 9:00 PM

Regis College, 100 Wellesley St. West.

Regis College invites you to a series of eight evenings to help you deepen your spiritual life. Small group discussion will be led by John O’Brien, SJ. The series continues on Wednesdays for eight weeks until March 11th. Admission is free.

For more information and to pre-register, please visit www.RegisCollege.ca/Film or call 416-922-5474, ext. 221. Regis College is the Jesuit School of Theology at the University of Toronto.

Mass for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees

Sunday, January 18th at 11:00 AM

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 202 St. Patrick Street

Catholics in our region can be proud that 160 parishes in the Archdiocese of Toronto are involved in sponsoring refugees to resettle in Canada. Join us for a Mass to celebrate the many individuals and families who have escaped turmoil to resettle in Canada and to pray for those still seeking to leave areas of war and strife.

Bishop Wayne Kirkpatrick, Auxiliary Bishop of Toronto, will preside. Mass is hosted by the Chinese Pastoral Council at Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish, with a reception to follow. A special invitation is extended to those who have been involved in refugee sponsorship across the archdiocese. For more information, visit www.archtoronto.org. All are welcome.

MOSAIC INTERFAITH Social Justice: Is It the Way to Peace?

Sunday January 18th at 2:00 PM

Temple Har Zion, 7360 Bayview Avenue, Thornhill

Mosaic Interfaith invites you to attend the Annual Program in honour of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior. The topic this year is “Social Justice: Is it the Way to Peace?’ The program will be held at the Temple Har Zion at 7360 Bayview Avenue, Thornhill on January 18, 2015; from 2:00 to 4:00 PM. Please RSVP to Tina at 416-897-1544 by Thursday, January 15th. For more information see the poster on the bulletin board.”

THEOLOGY ON TAP – NEW EVANGELIZATION: POPE FRANCIS STYLE

Thursday, January 22nd, at 7:00 PM

The Bear, 1294 Kingston Road, Pickering

Faith Connections, the Office of Catholic Youth, and the local parishes invite young adults (19-39) to join us for an evening of thought-provoking conversation on theological topics! Their special guests will be Cheridan Sanders & Sebastian Gomes, producers at Salt + Light Media.

Munchies are provided and a cash bar is available – come and bring a friend!

For more information: visit the Toronto Theology on Tap web page, or contact OCY by phone at 416-599-7676 or e-mail youth@ocytoronto.org. RSVPs are appreciated!

FAMILY OF FAITH CAMPAIGN

Our parish has commenced the Family of Faith campaign as mandated by the Archdiocese of Toronto. As stated in my Christmas letter, the parish goal is $900,000 of which 25% will remain in the parish. We hope to use these funds to develop our youth ministry program.

Commitment Sundays are scheduled for January 25th and February 1st. Commitment pledges of $5,000 or more may be made over five years. Pledges less than $5,000 are to be fulfilled within 3 years.
I would ask you to be as generous as you always are to cover this special appeal.

Fr. Brando

Collection for New Years Day $5,742
Our operating expenses average $14,550 per week.
Collection for January 4th, 2015:
Envelopes 422 $ 8,283
Loose Change 993
Weekly Portion of Pre-Authorized Giving 164 3,701
Total 586 $ 12,977

OFFERTORY ENVELOPES FOR 2015

Please pick up your 2015 envelopes as soon as possible if you have not already done so. If you are not currently using parish envelopes and wish to have a set issued for 2015, please contact the Parish Office and we will prepare a box for you. This is the most effective way to keep track of your donations. If you have recently moved, please inform the Parish Office so that we may keep our parish records up to date.

In 2015, please do not use any envelopes from 2014 or any envelopes from previous years as the number on it may have been reassigned. Please put your name on your envelope to ensure that your donation is properly recorded.