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Bulletin – February 11, 2018

Saturday, February 10th, 2018

LENTEN RETREAT

Saturday, March 3rd from 12:30 PM to 4:00 PM

St. Gabriel’s Church

The Lenten season will soon be upon us, calling us to look deeply into our lives, and to return to the Gospel.
Our Lenten retreat this year will be held on Saturday, March 3rd from 12:30 PM to 4:00 PM. The theme of the retreat is “Turning Tables: Our Walking and Working with Jesus.”

Our preacher will be Father Jim O’Shea, an inspiring and engaging Passionist working in New York City. Along with pastoral work, Father Jim focuses also on community development, paying particular attention to the housing and education needs of the community, especially those who are marginalized. In 2010, he founded Reconnect Brooklyn with the mission of engaging young people through entrepreneurship, education and service. The project operates Reconnect Café and Reconnect Graphics, and has employed over 150 young people.

Using stories from the Gospel and his neighbourhood work in Brooklyn, NY, Father Jim will invite us to embrace the liberating and creative spirit of Jesus in changing the world and ourselves.

For more information on the retreat, please call the Parish Office at (416) 221-8866, or email Fatima Lee at fatimalee@bellnet.ca.

FAMILY DAY

Monday, February 19th

Monday February 19th is Family Day, a day to celebrate our families. The Parish Office will be closed and there will be no 9:00 AM Mass on that day.

LUNAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATION

Sunday, February 25th after 12:30 PM Mass

Friday, February 16th marks the beginning of Lunar New Year. This year is the Year of the Dog. For many years, the Asian community in our parish has gifted our parish community with a wonderful Lunar New Year Party.

Our Lunar New Year Celebration will take place on Sunday, February 25th after the 12:30 PM Mass in the Gathering Space. All are welcome.

ANNOUNCED MASSES

February 12th – February 17th, 2018

MONDAY – IN THANKSGIVING FOR CLAIRE – Requested by the Burke Family
TUESDAY – TONINO DI DIODATO – Requested by the Oakie Family
WEDNESDAY – ASH WEDNESDAY – No 9:00 AM Mass
THURSDAY – IN THANKSGIVING – Requested by John Chan
FRIDAY – NIKOLA VUKOVIC – Requested by the Family
SATURDAY – VIOLET PREVIDSA – Requested by Steve Previdsa

ASH WEDNESDAY

Wednesday, February 14th, 2018

February 14th is Ash Wednesday. Special Masses will be celebrated at 12:00 Noon and 7:30 PM. There will be no 9:00 AM Mass.

FIRST RECONCILIATION PARENTS FAITH RENEWAL MEETING

Thursday, February 15th from 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM

Gabriel Room

On Thursday, February 15th at 7:30 PM. there will be Faith Renewal meeting for all parents of those children receiving the sacrament of First Reconciliation this year.

JUST COFFEE

Weekend of February 17th /18th

Fair trade organic coffees will be on sale after all the Masses next weekend.
Regular ground coffee: $5.50
Decaffeinated: $6.00
Whole Beans: $5.50
Chocolate Bars: $4.50 incl. Taxes
Hot Chocolate and Cocoa: $6.00
Teas: $4.25

FOOD FOR ROSALIE HALL & GOOD SHEPHERD CENTRE

Thank you for your generous support of Rosalie Hall and the Good Shepherd Centre. Your food donations are very much appreciated.

Rosalie Hall assists young parents and their children to realize their potential through the provision of a wide range of child development, community, residential and educational services.

Good Shepherd provides hot meals and shelter for the homeless in our city as well as a chance to start again through the Resettlement or DARE Programs

With everyone struggling at this time, your food donations are more important than ever. Please check the expiry dates before donating since we cannot pass on food that has expired.

CANADA SUMMER JOBS PROGRAM

Be Informed & Reach Out to Your MP

The federal government has introduced new requirements for employers applying for the Canada Summer Jobs grant. To be eligible for funding, employers must attest that both the job and the organization’s core mandate respect certain “values” as determined by the federal government including the government’s position on abortion, sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. Organizations unable or unwilling to make this attestation in whole or in part will be deemed ineligible for the grant.

This requirement is clearly unjust. Many Catholic organizations throughout the Archdiocese of Toronto and many other faiths involved in charitable activity at soup kitchens, shelters, refugee welcome centres or summer camps are impacted by this decision.

Please take a moment to visit www.archtoronto.org/summerjobs for more information and to find a template letter to send to your MP and the Minister responsible for this portfolio.

DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE BAKE SALE

A big thank you to all who baked and purchased goodies at our D & P bake sale. It was huge success and the proceeds will be put towards future D & P education and endeavors.

ORGANIC GARDEN WORKSHOPS

Sunday, February 18th

Gabriel Room

Our Organic Horticulturalist, Robert Cordy, will continue to hold workshops in the series entitled Organic Garden Design 1, 2 and 3, on Sunday, February. 18th. All parishioners are welcome. Workshop will be held in the Gabriel Room after the 12:30 Mass.

LIVING OUR SPIRITUALITY IN THE SECOND HALF OF LIFE

Tuesdays – until April 24th
9:30 AM to 11:30 AM

St. Bonaventure’s Parish – Francis Room

St. Bonaventure’s Ministry with Maturing Adults is offering several programs on Tuesday Mornings from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM.

February 20th – Advanced Care Planning
February 27th – Understanding Islam – Being in Dialogue with your Neighbors
March 13th – Homeless in Toronto
March 20th -The Wisdom of Teresa of Avila
April 24th – Special Event with Luncheon

There is no cost for this program. For more information, please go to Maureen@st-bonaventure.ca or call her at 416 447 5571 Ext. 550 or check the flyer on the bulletin board.

MARRIAGE SUNDAY MASS

This Sunday, February 11th at 3:00 PM

Blessed Trinity Church, 3220 Bayview Avenue

The Office of Formation for Discipleship at the Archdiocese of Toronto is happy to announce the Celebration of Marriage Mass at Blessed Trinity Church this Sunday, February 11th at 3:00 PM. Cardinal Thomas Collins will preside over this special Mass where couples celebrating their milestone 25th, 40th, 50th and 60+ wedding anniversary will be honoured.

LIVING WITH SEPARATION AND DIVORCE

February 13th to April 3rd from 4:30 to 6:30

Central Office, 1155 Yonge Street

Catholic Family Services of Toronto is offering a psycho-educational program for those dealing with the stress of the ending of a relationship.

The sessions facilitated by a clinical social worker will be held February 13th to April 3rd, 2018 from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM. at 1155 Yonge St. There is a $30 fee per session.

Please contact Alpana Das at 416-921-1163 x2232 or email adas@cfstoronto.com for more information.

WOMEN’S LENTEN RETREAT WEEKEND

Queen of Apostles Renewal Centre in Mississauga
Friday February 16th to Sunday February 18th

A Women’s Lenten Retreat will be held at Queen of Apostles Renewal Centre on the weekend of February 16th to 18th. The retreat will be preached by the Centre team – Oblate Father Pawel Ratajczak and Mrs. Anne Hales. This is a beautiful way to begin the season of Lent. For information or registration please call 905-278-5229.

MARY, MOTHER OF GOD SCHOOL PRESENTS

Agatha Christie’s “Appointment with Death”.
Thursday, February 22nd & Friday, February 23rd at 7:30 PM
1515A Queen Street West

The Francis de Sales Centre Drama Club’s will present Agatha Christie’s “Appointment with Death”. Find out “whodunit” on February 22nd & 23rd at 7:30 PM! Mary Mother of God School is at 1515A Queen Street West. Admission is by donation. For more detail go to www.marymotherofgodschool.org.

WORLD DAY OF PRAYER

Friday, March 2nd at 1:30 PM

St John’s York Mills Anglican Church
19 Don Ridge Drive

You are cordially invited to the annual ecumenical World Day of Prayer Service which will be held at St. John’s York Mills Anglican Church on Friday March 2nd at 1:30 PM. The theme this year, “All God’s Creation is Very Good” was written by the women of Suriname. St. Gabriel’s is one of three Catholic churches involved but has very little representation at the service. Please join us, along with our neighbouring Christian churches, in prayer and reflection. A reception will follow.

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Homily – February 4, 2018

Sunday, February 4th, 2018

We all know the story of Job – a man who was so blessed by God. He was wealthy beyond imagining, he owned thousands of sheep and goats. He had vineyards and plentiful crops. Job and his wife were blessed with beautiful daughters and hard workings sons. God said of Job,’ There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.’ But Satan had other ideas about Job. He’s good because God is good to him but let him know hard times and see how upright and faithful he his. To prove Job would be faithful and true in any circumstance in his life God brought Job low – his sons and daughters died, his crops failed, his cattle and sheep died – Job was totally reduced, he was covered with open sores, his friends avoided him. They tried to convince Job he was being punished by God. Job believed God was testing him and he would not speak against God.

How often have felt like Job felt? Life can seem so unfair. Maybe you feel life is nothing but hard service, you get no positive feedback for all you hard work. You have your sleepless nights as you worry about job security, unpaid bills. You may be facing health issues and the possibility of having to give up your independence and go a retirement home.

You can understand Job’s discouragement, his depression. If there is a light at the end of the tunnel, it’s probably a train heading right for you. Each one of us at this Mass is struggling with one or another issue, be it a health or financial issue, or an inter-personal problem, or a personal struggle. None of us is worry free. And hopefully none of us is alone, though some may be.

In today’s short gospel we hear of Jesus, at the end of a long day is besieged by people burdened by with various diseases and demons. At dawn Jesus slipped away for some peace and quiet and prayer. The apostles found him and wanted him to get back to work, maybe not so much preaching but certainly healing the wounds of the people. But Jesus insisted he had to move on to other towns and villages preaching the good news of God’s special love for the downtrodden and healing the sick.

This is the same Jesus who is with us at the Mass, the same Jesus who is one with us as we receive his body at communion time. Like the men and women and probably children who crowded around the house of Peter at Capernaum bringing Jesus their wounds and worries, in faith, trust, we bring Jesus our wounds and our worries trusting he will give us the grace and strength to face and cope with our issues never doubting the love and the care he has for each one of us.

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Homily – January 21, 2018

Sunday, January 21st, 2018

In today’s gospel we hear of Jesus calling other people to join him in his work of proclaiming the good news of God’s love for all of us. He calls these men, Peter and Andrew, James and John while they were in the midst of their daily work, Peter and Andrew were casting out nets while James and John were mending their nets – they were all fishermen. Jesus offers them a greater challenge – from now on they would be fishers of people, they would be catching people for God. Jesus began the work of networking, organizing others to help him in his work of proclaiming the good news.

Jesus networked with each one of us when we were baptised. In baptism we became members of the body of Christ, the church. In his letter to the Corinthians Paul compares the union of the human body to the unity of the church. Each member of the body has its own role to play in the life of the body and no one part can do without the other. Each member of the body of the community of the church, of the community of this parish, has his or hers own gifts that are to be used for the good of the whole body, the church, this parish.

I’m sure you heard the words, ‘I have no hands but yours’. These words are meant for every member of the body of Christ, the church. And they are spoken to each of us as we go about the daily tasks of our lives just as they were spoken in a different way to Peter and Andrew, James and John in the midst of casting nets and mending lives.

Christ says to you and to me, as we go about our daily living our ordinary lives, I have no hands but yours, I have no voice but yours, I have no eyes but yours, I have no ears but yours, I have no heart but yours, no feet but yours to continue my work on earth. These words challenge each of us to live no longer for ourselves but for Christ, to complete his work on earth and bring us to the fullness of grace.

Pope Francis say we share our faith by the way we live our lives and you’ve heard that saying of St. Francis ‘ preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words.

So when we speak we say only the good things people need to hear, word that will really help them. So in our conversations, at home or at work, we speak words of encourage and support and avoid gossip and criticism.

We listen to other people’s problems, knowing they don’t expect us to solve their problems; they just want to be heard. We look at others and see in them their dignity and worth as human beings and as brothers and sisters in Christ. We reach out to others and help them in and through the different ways the parish outreach programs offer us.

Jesus called Peter and Andrew, James and John as they went about their daily work. He calls each of us to be attentive, aware of the possibilities offered in our daily contact with others, at work, at the supermarket, on the street – whenever and where ever we are in contact with other people – there is our chance to be the hands and the ears and eyes of Jesus. This is our opportunity to bring the life and love and healing of Jesus to others.

As baptized Christian Catholics we have to know that Christ’s work of bringing the people to the Father must truly be our own.

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Homily – January 14, 2018

Sunday, January 14th, 2018

Imagine you are a Christian living in Syria or Iraq or Iran or Lebanon or Egypt or in any country that is caught up in civil or religious strife. Because you are in a minority you are subjected to suspicion and hostility. You can’t find work; you can’t feed your family. You live in an overcrowded, unhealthy refugee camp. You are trapped, wrapped around with the red tape of bureaucrats as you seek refuge in a new country.

Your paper work keeps getting lost. You are unaware of the fact that in the country you seek to enter there are many people who don’t want you. You are seen as a tax burden or a stealer of jobs. They want you to stay where you are.

You are an educated person, an engineer, a dentist, a doctor. You want to bring our skills to a new land. But you are made to feel like a beggar sitting on a street with your hand out grateful to any pittance thrown your way.

Around the world there are millions of migrant and refugee families who live in hopeless situations such as we’ve just imagined.

Today the Catholic Church around the world focuses it thoughts and prayers on these refugee and migrant people. These good and desperate people are our brothers and sisters. Pope Francis wrote a letter to us Catholics on the occasion of this day, it is titled, ‘Child Migrants, the Vulnerable and the Voiceless.’

Francis calls the nations of the world to be open and welcoming to the refugees and migrants who are desperate for a new beginning in a new land. In no way dismissing the challenge the nations of the world face in trying to be open to the millions of refugees and migrants Pope Francis exposes the hypocrisy of national leaders who for political reasons, foment fear of migrants instead of building peace. Such national leaders sow violence, racial discrimination and xenophobia among their people in the name of national security. We had example of such rhetoric this past week from south of the border.

Francis quotes Pope John Paul who wrote; if the dream of a peaceful world is shared by all, if the refugees and migrants’ contributions to the countries that make them welcome are properly evaluated, then humanity can become more and more a universal family and the earth a common home. Throughout history many have believed in this dream, it must be ours too.’

Child migrants, the vulnerable and the voiceless.

We’ve ended our Christmas season and celebrations. But who was at the center of our celebrations. Wasn’t Jesus the reason for the season? I’m quoting from an article I read recently;

“The real Christ is forever seeking a home in a world within which there’s no room for him.

So who best fits that description today? I suggest the following: Millions of refugee children. The Christ-Child can be seen most clearly today in the countless refugee children who, with their families, are being driven from their homes by violence, war, starvation, ethnic cleansing, poverty, tribalism, racism, and religious persecution. They, and their families, best fit the picture of Joseph and Mary, searching for a room, outsiders, powerless, uninvited, no home, no one to take them in, on the periphery, strangers, labeled as “aliens.” But they are the present-day Holy Family and their children are the Christ-Child for us and our world.

Where is the crib of Bethlehem today? Where might we find the infant Christ to worship? In many places, but “preferentially” in refugee camps; in boats making perilous journeys across the Mediterranean; in migrants trekking endless miles in hunger, thirst, and dangerous conditions; in people waiting in endless lines to be processed in hope of being accepted somewhere, in persons arriving at various borders after a long journey only to be sent back; in mothers in detention centers, holding their young and hoping; and most especially, preferentially, in the faces of countless refugee children.

What can we do about all this? We have no power, no influence, but we can keep these children and their families in our prayers. Samuel says in our first reading, ‘speak Lord you servant is listening.” Does the Lord speak to us in and through these voiceless children? We know he does. Will we answer by our mindfulness and our prayers for these migrant children, the vulnerable and the voiceless?

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Homily – December 31, 2017

Sunday, December 31st, 2017

This is the season of too many feasts. Today we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family, the gospel event tells of Mary’s purification in the temple forty days after the birth of Jesus. Tomorrow we celebrate the circumcision of Jesus eight days after his birth. Things get out of cynic this time of year.

On a feast like today scripture holds up models of what holds families together. Christian art has done a great disservice to the Holy Family. They were struggling working class people and life could be rough. All we see is a tranquil setting, angels all around, everything is perfect. Not so.

Have you ever watched the TV series ‘Modern Family’? It follows the stories of three families living in the same neighborhood. They are in and out of one another’s homes all the time. One family is a traditional family; mother, father, son and daughter. One family is interracial, made up of a divorced couple and the child of a first marriage and the third couple consists of two gays and their adopted son. A true picture of the complexities found in family life today and far removed from what we’ve always thought of what family life is all about.

These three families have all the joys and stresses of family life. They cope with good times and bad. They deal with stress and misunderstandings. They deal with the conflicts between parents and children. All of them in one way or another have financial worries. For all their differences they have so much in common with all those living the community life of families.

What holds them together is that each family finds a way to be faithful to the teachings we heard in our second reading from Paul’s letter to the Colossians; they face their difficulties trying to be compassionate and kind and patient with one another. They find ways to be forgiving of one another. Harmony is the goal of each family and even after all the blowups and misunderstanding that are found in every family they strive for peace and harmony as they live out their differences.

You’ve probably heard of a letter from Pope Francis titled the Joy of Love. It is the Pope’s reflection on the Synod on the Family held a couple of years ago by bishops from around the world. Pope Francis makes clear that the causes of the family’s distresses are diverse, and that no single response to them will prove a silver bullet. The Pope makes clear that the Church has too often been content “simply decrying present-day evils,” and sought “to impose rules by its sheer authority. Pope Francis tells it like it is.

Francis wants us to In turn away from such attitudes by constantly redirecting our attention to the beauty and joy of married life and the family. He says we’ve been wasting pastoral energy on denouncing a decadent world instead of being proactive in supporting those struggling with the challenges of family life.

Francis makes a crucial point: “The Lord’s presence dwells in real and concrete families, with all their daily troubles and struggles, joys and hopes.” God is with all of us, not only the sinless and so the Church is called to accompany the weak, to discern with them and to integrate them into the life of Church. He calls Bishops and priests to look beyond laws and regulations, important as these may be, and take a more pastoral approach to the complexities of the reality of divorced couples and walk with husbands and wives helping them to find a way back into the life of the church.

On this feast of the Holy Family we pray for all the families in our parish family; the solid, the broken, the struggling and the searching, remembering the words of Pope Francis, “The Lord’s presence dwells in real and concrete families, with all their daily troubles and struggles, joys and hopes.” God is always present to them though they may not be always present to God.

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St. Gabriel's Passionist Parish