BOOK OF REMEMBRANCE
A Book of Remembrance has been placed on the altar for the month of November. You are invited to write the names of your deceased relatives and friends in the book. They will be remembered at all the Masses celebrated in November.
November 16th/17th
As members of our Catholic community, we regularly benefit from the tireless service of our priests. Called by God and ordained to care for His people, our priests serve our families, in churches, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, missions and on the streets.
This weekend there will be a second collection for The Shepherds’ Trust. The mission of The Shepherds’ Trust is to help ensure that elderly and disabled priests are provided with sufficient financial resources to lead a dignified life after many years of ministry. Your generous gift will help our priests to maintain a modest but active and independent lifestyle in their retirement years. For priests who are ill or otherwise infirm, the Trust ensures they have access to nursing home facilities and medical care. Thank you for your support of this important work.
St. Gabriel’s Church, Saturday, December 14th 7:30 PM
Christmas, Christmas time is near! Come join the Seraphim & Cherubim – Men’s’ Chorus and Women’s Chorus singing the Christmas songs you love as part of their All You Need is Love concert series. Bringing our friends together to sing songs that touch our hearts is celebrating the season is all about. Never a typical Christmas concert and always full of surprise tunes and reimagined classics. Ticket prices: Adults $20, Children $5. Proceeds are in support of Thalassemia Foundation of Canada.
November is “Make a Will’ month! Have you considered remembering your parish in your will? The Church is where we experience many important moments in our lives. A bequest is a beautiful way to express your faith and gratitude for a lifetime of blessings – a lasting legacy of love that will help the Church continue with its many ministries. When making your will, please consider a bequest to St. Gabriel’s Passionist Parish. For more information, please call the Parish Office at 416-221-8866 or the Development Office of the Archdiocese at 416-934-3411, Ext. 519.
November 18th to November 24th
MONDAY – RONNIE FRANCIS FORD – Requested by the Ford Family TUESDAY – DECEASED MEMBERS OF THE PUGLIESE FAMILY – Requested by Rose Pugliese WEDNESDAY – NORMAN EPSTEIN – Requested by the Jon Epstein THURSDAY – MICHEL SEAS – Requested by Megan Freitas FRIDAY – HUGH & CATHERINE GAUGHAN – Requested by Eamon & Agnes Gaughan SATURDAY – RICHARD GARDIAN – Requested by Sally & Caitlin Gardian SUNDAY – 10:30 AM JUAN SAKALHA – Requested by Marta Alvarez & Family SUNDAY – 12:30 PM VERNON MULHALL – Requested by Vivian Mulhall McDonough
Sunday, November 24th at the 12:30 PM Mass
The Confirmation Enrollment Ceremony for all Confirmation candidates will be held on Sunday, November 24th at the 12:30 PM Mass. All Confirmation candidates must attend.
Candidates are reminded to submit their letters requesting Confirmation to Fr. Brando through the Parish Office by November 17th.
The R.C.I.A. (Rites of Christian Initiation of Adults) sessions have commenced and no further candidates will be accepted for this year. However, contact Sr. Maria Lucia at our Parish Office if you are thinking about going through the R.C.I.A. commencing in 2020.
Please pray for all our R.C.I.A. participants that they may patiently persevere in their spiritual journey. You may use this short prayer. Prayer for the Journey of Faith:
Loving God, bless those who are moving forward into the fullness of faith in You and full communion in the life of our Catholic Family. Protect them on their journey. Reveal to them the love of Your Son Jesus. Empower them with the gifts of Your Holy Spirit. May their journey to deepen their faith be fruitful and enriching. We offer this sacrifice of prayer for them, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.
Available weekend of Dec 7th and 8th, 2019
As many of you know, Fatima Lee, who was formerly a member of our pastoral team, has served as a missionary in the Diocese of Mackenzie in the Northwest Territories for over a year now. The Diocese is home to many isolated indigenous communities.
On the weekend of Dec 7 and 8, volunteers will be selling beautiful 2020 calendars from the Diocese of Mackenzie at the parish. This beautiful and unique calendar showcases photos of lovely landscape captured by Bishop Jon Hansen on his many missionary trips in the Diocese.
It is hoped that through the sale of these calendars, funds will be raised to support the travel of priests and pastoral workers of the diocese to the remote communities. Since this Diocese of 1.5 million sq. km has only seven priests serving, many of the isolated communities will have Mass only three or four times a year. Except in the deep of winter, each time the priests or pastoral workers would have to fly in and out of these communities. It is notoriously expensive to fly in the north.
Please consider supporting the Diocese of Mackenzie. The calendars, at $20 each, are great for personal use; they will also make wonderful gifts, since they are unique and not easily available elsewhere.
Saturday November 30th to Sunday December 15th
We will be having a Christmas Toy Drive again this year for the Catholic Children’s Aid Society. You can help by dropping off an unwrapped new toy for a child, age newborn to12 years old. Containers will be set up at the doors of the Church on Saturday, November 30th and will remain there until Sunday, December 16th.
Saturday, November 30th to Sunday, December 15th
During Advent, the Society of St Vincent de Paul, St. Gabriel Conference will have a Giving Tree in the Gathering Space.
The tree will be decorated with gift tags. Each tag will have the gender and age of a child. We invite you to take a tag, buy a gift or a gift card of about $25 for that child and return the unwrapped gift, with the tag attached, to the box provided in the Gathering Space. If you choose an older child, please buy a gift card. Return it with the tag to the Parish Office. If you are a knitter, there will be mitten tags. Please take one and return mitts to the box in the Gathering Space.
At this time of the year, we are also thinking of the young mothers and babies of Rosalie Hall. If you wish to help, you may choose a “Christmas Stocking” from the tree to purchase pyjamas or undershirts for babies, age 6 months to 4 years. Unwrapped Items with the original stocking tag attached can be left in the box provided near the “mitten” tree no later than Sunday, December 15th. Toys or books for these little ones would also be appreciated.
For the Moms, we are suggesting gift cards from Tim Horton’s, Walmart or MacDonald’s. These can be placed in the envelopes provided and brought to the Office. Thank you for your generosity.
The priests of the Passionist Community who serve our Parish have a special request: we need a part-time chef.
If you or your friends know someone who might want this opportunity, please let Fr. Steve know by email at sgjdunn@gmail.com.
A copy of the job description is available in the Parish office.
Thanks for your help.
For November, your prepared frozen casseroles will be collected at the Masses next weekend for delivery to the Good Shepherd Centre.
More volunteers are needed to become active in helping to feed our less fortunate sisters and brothers. Three different recipes are available in the Parish Office or online at the Parish website. Casserole pans are also available from the Parish Office. If you require more information please contact Irene Albrecht at 416-221-2791.
Thank you for your generous support of Rosalie Hall and the Good Shepherd Centre. Your food donations are very much appreciated. Good Shepherd provides hot meals and shelter for the homeless in our city. Rosalie Hall provides a wide range of child services for young parents and their children.
Please check the expiry dates before donating since we cannot pass on food that has expired. Thank you for your ongoing support of these important centres.
Wednesday, November 20th
The Milk Bag Workshop will meet this Wednesday, November 20th at 1:00 PM in the Gabriel Room. Please make sure the bags you drop off or bring are clean and flat in the box. This will be of great help to the weavers.
For further information about this program, please visit www.milkbagsunlimited.ca or contact Sharon Gusz at sharongusz@gmail.com.
Sunday, November 24th – 2:30 PM to 5:00 PM
MOSAIC Interfaith (of which St. Gabriel’s is a member) invites you to attend the annual Peace Meal on Sunday November 24th from 2:30 PM to 5:00 PM at the Mulla Asghar Memorial Library and Resource Centre (MARC), 9000 Bathurst Street, Thornhill. (This is a large complex so enter through door 4)
As this is within the Islamic Centre modest dress is required and women are asked to wear a head covering. The theme will be “What are our religious obligations to the earth and why?” The speakers will explore what our faiths say about looking after our world. This will be followed by the Peace Meal. Attendees are asked to bring a nut-free and alcohol-free vegan dish for the meal – i.e. no meat, poultry, eggs, fish or dairy products.
To RSVP please contact Nora at 416-218-0680 by November 20th. For more information see poster on bulletin board.
Tuesday, November 19, 2019 – 7:00 PM.
St. Brigid’s Church, 300 Wolverleigh Blvd., Toronto
Patricia Hung is a retired police officer, certified life coach, author, and speaker who is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in psychotherapy. Patricia began her policing career in Intelligence as a translator during a major drug importation investigation. She then worked in Communications, frontline policing, helped execute gang-exiting programs and many others areas in the Service.
After the homicide of her 14-year old daughter, Patricia retired as the Victim Witness Support Coordinator (for the Toronto Police Service) and shifted her focus to support victims of crime. Her work has been published in Canadian Family Magazine. She is the author of Seven Helpful Ways to Support Those Who Grieve.
Register Online at https://sbcct.eventbrite.ca or contact Arcanelo Limanni MRE at 416-587-7687
This is the last posting of The Garden Shed in 2019. The Garden Ministry, like the garden itself, will take a rest. Please check this space early in the New Year for news of plans for 2020. Although early with our greeting, we wish you and yours a peaceful and joyous Christmas and a Happy New Year!
This Bulletin entry was posted on Sunday, November 17th, 2019.
Founded by St. Paul of the Cross, every Passionist takes a special vow to spend his or her energies in promoting remembrance of the sufferings of Jesus, the memory of the Cross, and reflection of the meaning of the Cross for the world.
Learn about Passionists and our insignia »
Companion for the Walk of the Stations of the Cosmic Earth
St. Gabriel’s Garden – Guided Sensory Reflective Walk