March 25th, 2017
Wednesday, April 5, 2017 at 7:30 PM – St. Gabriel’s Church
Fr. Bernard McEachern CP
Fr. Bernard just came back from his visit to Haiti and the Passionist mission there. Many of us who have met Fr. Rick from his 2014 Advent visit to St. Gabriel’s are touched by his work. He and Fr. Enzo continue to do wonderful work there, accompanying the Haitian people in their joy and sorrows.
Good news! Fr. Bernard will be sharing his experience of Haiti as Lenten reflections at the parish on Wednesday, April 5th at 7:30 PM. He will talk about what he saw and felt, as well as his reflections. Please join us on that evening if you can.
MARCH 25th/26th
As was highlighted in the last Parish Bulletin, the parish is collecting various gently used items this weekend. This collection is to assist the ministry of Sister Janis, FMM.
Sister Janis Gbiel is a Ghanaian Sister of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM). When she was young, her father did not want to send her to school because she was a girl. She later found her way to school, and eventually graduated with degrees in Education as well as Biblical Theology. Because of her own experience, Sister Janis has made the education of the needy and the disadvantaged in Ghana, especially women, her mission. She would like to empower them through education.
Sister Janis has just completed her training in spiritual direction here at Guelph. When she returns to Ghana in May, she would like to set up another Senior high school for girls as well as ten basic schools in the poorest region in Ghana.
She is now asking for our help – she is seeking the donation of gently used items to help set up these schools: computers, preferably laptops, but can take about 10 desktops as well. Photocopiers – desktop type (3) Printers (3) Television sets (5) Projector Scanner Digital cameras Sewing machines Math sets School bags Gently used summer footwear – crossed sandals, canvas shoes or sneakers.
Lent is a good time to think about sharing what we have with those in need. With spring in the air, perhaps it is also a good time to do some spring cleaning. Please check your basement or garage to see if there are electronics and other items that are still in good condition which could be put to use for a worthwhile cause.
Sister Janis will be in the Gathering Space after all the Masses this weekend. If you have any questions or need further information, you will be able to ask her directly. Thank you for your support!
Saturday, April 1st at 10:30 AM
St. Gabriel’s Church
First Reconciliation for children attending St. Gabriel’s School and those in the Children’s Faith Program and children attending Private Schools will be held at St. Gabriel’s Church on Saturday, April 1st at 10:30 AM.
Stations of the Cross Friday Evenings at 7:30 PM
Individual Confessions Wednesday, March 29th From 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Reconciliation Service Wednesday, March 29th at 7:30 PM
Palm Sunday April 9th Masses Sat., 4:30 PM 8:30 AM, 10:30 AM, 12:30 PM
Holy Thursday April 13th No 9:00 AM Mass 7:30 PM Mass of the Lord’s Supper Followed by Adoration until 10:00 PM
Good Friday April 14th 10:00 AM Morning Prayer 3:00 PM Solemn Passion of Our Lord 7:30 PM Stations of the Cross
Holy Saturday April 15th No 4:30 PM Mass 8:00 PM Easter Vigil
Easter Sunday April 16th Masses 8:30 AM, 10:30 AM 12:30 PM
Easter Monday April 17th No 9:00 AM Mass Office Closed
March 27th – April 1st, 2017
MONDAY – FR. PETER WATTERS – Requested by Jeanne Robinson TUESDAY – ELIZABETH CHIN – Requested by Michelle Tan WEDNESDAY – DECEASED MEMBERS OF THE DOAN, NGUYEN & VU FAMILIES – Requested by the Nguyen Family THURSDAY – JOHN YEUNG – Requested by Agnes Wong FRIDAY – LOUIS FUNG – Requested by his Family SATUR DAY – CHARLES WILSON – Requested by Kathleen Olden-Poewll
The Parish Family of St. Gabriel’s would like to welcome:
Alexander David Andrade Thomas Michael Chan Schyler Gabriel Ducasse-Salesman Franco Chavez Valdez
These children received the Sacrament of Baptism on Sunday, March 19th 2017. Congratulations!
Gabriel Room English: Saturday, April 1st at 3:15 PM Chinese: Sunday, April 2nd at 3:30 PM
For further information, please contact Linda Law at 416 -918-8029.
Sunday, April 2nd at 11:30 AM Gabriel Room
Saturday, April 1st at 2:00 PM
Holy Family Mausoleum, Holy Cross Cemetery
The 2017 Ching Ming Mass of Remembrance will be held in the Holy Family Mausoleum at Holy Cross Cemetery in Thornhill on Saturday, April 1st at 2:00 PM. For further details please see the poster on the bulletin boards. On Sunday, April 2nd, the Passionist Centre for Ecology and Spirituality will facilitate a 30 minute reflection and discussion prompted by the readings for that Sunday’s liturgy. The guided reflection brings an ecological perspective to the readings.
All are welcome.
Interviews for children who are preparing to receive their First Communion are now being scheduled.
Please call the Parish Office at 416-221-8866-to book your appointment with Fr. Brando or Fr. John as soon as possible.
Those children attending the Children’s Faith Program, private schools or others are asked to choose one of the following dates: April 18th, 19th, 20th or 21st.
Children from St. Gabriel’s School are asked to choose one of the following dates: April 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, May 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th.
Wednesday, March 29th at 7:30 PM
This is an opportunity to spend some time in peace and quiet, to reflect upon how we are responding to our call to be sons and daughters of God.
Recognizing the fact that we are “good people”, we also accept the fact that good people can sin.
Through an examination of conscience we face those sins, admit them and are reconciled to God. For those who wish, individual confessions will be celebrated after the service. We encourage you to take advantage of this celebration
Friday, April 7th from 9:30 AM – 12 Noon
“Living the Gospel” locally and around the world…
How do we “Live the Gospel” toward others when our daily lives are so busy? For some it is volunteering at a soup kitchen, or it may be caring for an elderly relative. If we do not have the time to actively participate, we can support the many ShareLife funded agencies within our community that bring the hands of Christ to those in need. Our annual appeal provides resources to 42 agencies, bringing much needed programs and services to those both here in our communities and around the world. Next Sunday is the first ShareLife collection. Over the next week, consider your ability to “Live the Gospel” by helping those who are vulnerable and in need, and make a contribution to ShareLife
Next Sunday, April 2nd 2017 is ShareLife Sunday Please give generously.
2016 Financial Statement
Copies of the 2016 Financial Statement is available to parishioners. You may pick one up this weekend and next in the Gathering Space or from the Parish Office.
We would like to provide you with an opportunity to learn more about cyber crime, how it can affect us all and tips to protect ourselves. We will only proceed with hosting this event If there is enough interest shown. If you are interested, please sign up in the Gathering Space after each Mass on March 25th/26th and April 1st /2nd weekends.
If you are contributing cash to the Offertory Collection without any identification, you will not receive credit for your contribution. You must provide your full name and address. If you are not currently using parish envelopes and wish to have a set issued for 2017, 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.
| Posted in Bulletin |
March 19th, 2017
Can you remember how refreshing a nice glass of cold water tastes on a hot summer day? Think about for a second. It’s nice and cold and it is so refreshing. It really perks you up.
In Toronto we take water for granted. Lake Ontario is part of the greatest fresh water systems on Earth. The peoples of our First Nations called the Great Lakes the Sweet Water Seas.
Hopefully we are pained by the news reports of thousands of men, women and children from different countries displaced by ravaging droughts destroying their food supplies and their herds of goats and sheep. We see them in the thousands pouring into refugee centers in order to survive.
Today’s gospel tells us of the story of the woman at a well and her encounter with Jesus. In the towns of that time there were two important places: the market place and the community well. The men got together in the market place and gossiped about town politics. The woman went to the common well twice a day and gossiped about their husbands. The well was far more important than the market place. A dry well meant no water, no water meant no town.
In their conversation Jesus, who was at the mercy of this woman because, as she tells him the well is deep and he has no bucket. Jesus confuses her by telling what she already knows, ‘whoever drinks of this water will be thirsty again.’ Jesus promises her water that will quench her thirst forever. Jesus promises water that gushes up to eternal life, a water that does away thirst forever. Sir give me this water.
Hopefully we all thirst for a deeper relationship with God. Our relationship, our bonding with God begins with water, the water of baptism. Blessed with this water we come to life with God and begin the life long process of growing in the likeness of Christ, God’s Son, so that God can look at each one of us and say, ‘this is my beloved son, my beloved daughter, in whom I am well pleased.’ That’s why we might pray every day the prayer of the woman at the well, ‘sir give me this water’ so I may grow into a deeper relationship with God as God shares His life with me. That’s why we pray, give us this day our daily bread, Christ our bread of life who strengthens and nourishes our relationship, our bonding with God.
Hopefully we all have a thirst for God and for God’s refreshing life and love for us. But do we ever think about God’s thirst for us? Do we ever give a thought about God’s eternal thirst for our faith, our trust, our love? God’s thirst for us is the central mystery of our relationship with God. Christ’s call from his cross, ‘I thirst’ expresses in human words God’s eternal thirst for our love in return for God’s for each of us. God loves us with an everlasting love and thirsts for our love in return.
Are we willing to quench God’s thirst, Christ’s thirst for us by living as best we can the way Christ taught us to live by his words and example? Are we willing to quench God’s thirst, Christ’s thirst by a cup of cold water, a cup of kindness to those who have wronged us, a cup of cold water that brings us closer to those we love, a cup of cold water offered to a stranger, a cup of cold water that refreshes those who feel unwanted, unloved, a cup of cold water to the homeless and unemployed, a cup of cold water to a friend living with the hurt and the loneliness of separation and divorce, a cup of cold water to a family member or friend in a nursing or retirement home, a cup of cold water of welcome to the refugees who come to our land?
As one spiritual writer wrote; our thirst for God is insatiable. But that is only half the story. More vast than the furthest reach of our hunger and thirst to be known and loved is the God who longs to be our bread of life, our living water. Are we willing to quench the thirst of God?
| Posted in Homily |
March 18th, 2017
As was highlighted in the last Parish Bulletin, the parish will be collecting various gently used items on the weekend of March 25th/26th. This is to assist the ministry of Sister Janis, FMM.
You will be able to listen to and meet Sister Janis at all the masses this weekend. If you have any questions or need further information, you will be able to ask her directly. All items will be collected next weekend (March 25th /26th). Thank you for your support!
Good news! Fr. Bernard will be sharing his experience of Haiti as Lenten reflections at the parish on Wednesday, April 5 at 7:30 PM. He will talk about what he saw and felt, as well as his reflections. Please join us on that evening if you can.
St. Gabriel’s Church First Reconciliation for children attending St. Gabriel’s School and those in the Children’s Faith Program and children attending Private Schools will be held at St. Gabriel’s Church on Saturday, April 1st at 10:30 AM.
Stations of the Cross will take place each Friday evening during Lent at 7:30 PM. We also encourage your attendance at our daily Mass throughout Lent.
Please call the Parish Office at 416-221-8866 to book your appointment with Fr. Brando or Fr. John.
February 6th – March 31, 2017
The Government of Canada passed legislation in June 2016, legalizing euthanasia/assisted suicide. Despite wording in the legislation intended to protect doctors and facilities, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario is forcing health care workers to participate in ending the lives of their patients. No other country does this. Provinces across Canada do not do this. Yet, Ontario refuses to protect doctors who object to assisted suicide/euthanasia.
Please visit www.CanadiansforConscience.ca to learn more, join the “Call for Conscience” and write directly to your elected Member of Provincial Parliament asking them to protect conscience rights.
Living the Gospel by providing for homeless youth
On a given night, 6,000 people across Canada between 16 and 24 have nowhere to call home. This represents 20 per cent of the total homeless population. In Toronto, estimates of homeless youth range from 900 to 2,000 nightly.
The ShareLife supported Rights of Passage program at Covenant House has been active in making a positive difference in the lives of homeless youth on the streets of Toronto. 75 % of these youth have been matched with mentors and have also made progress in strengthening their life skills and family relationships, getting them ready for life on their own. In addition, the ShareLife funded Youth In Transition programs helps youth in foster care to transition to independent living.
Sunday April 2nd, 2017 is ShareLife Sunday Please give generously.
Your prepared frozen casseroles will be collected at the Masses next weekend for delivery to the Good Shepherd Centre.
More volunteers are needed to help feed the hungry in our city. Three recipes are available on St. Gabriel’s website. Printed copies of the recipes are also available in the Parish Office. Please remember to mark the label on the pan lid with the name of the casserole.
For more information, you may contact Irene Albrecht at 416 221-2791.
Did you know that as pressure to privatize the natural resource of water increased, Development and Peace focused on water as a human right and campaigned for public control of water systems in areas where millions of people suffer from water scarcity? To find out more about the work of Development and Peace or to become a member or donor, visit the website at http://www.devp.org/en/get-involved
Each month food we collect is sent to Rosalie Hall.
With everyone struggling during the winter months, your food donations are more important than ever. Please check the expiry dates before donating since we cannot pass on food that has expired. Thank you for your generous support.
Leprosy Mission of Canada Stamp Collection Program
Make a difference with your mail! You can get involved by collecting, trimming and sending your used postage stamps to Effect Hope, the Leprosy Mission of Canada. Please place stamps in the basket provided outside the Parish Office
Your kindness and compassion are felt by the friends and staff of Effect Hope and by the many people they serve.
Weekly Offertory Collection for last week: Envelopes 345 $ 5,955 Loose Change 847 Weekly Portion of Pre-Authorized Giving 162 3,027 Total 507 $ 9,829 Maintenance Collection: $ 4,413
If you are contributing cash to the Offertory Collection without any identification, you will not receive credit for your contribution. You must provide your full name and address.
If you are not currently using parish envelopes and wish to have a set issued for 2017, 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.
March 12th, 2017
June 9th to June 11th, 2017
Passionist Retreat House, Jamaica, New York
The Passionist Province of St. Paul of the Cross and its Commission on the Laity are sponsoring the “Convocation on the Laity” from June 9th to June 11th, 2017 at the Passionist Retreat House in Jamaica, New York. For further information, please go to www.stgabrielsparish.ca or contact Fatima Lee at 416-221-8866.
If you have old laptops, desktops, printers, TVs, scanners and such in good working order, this is the time to get them out of the basement and garage and put them to good use.
There will be a collection for these items at our Church on the weekend of March 25th and 26th.. More info to come in next Sunday’s Bulletin. So keep an eye out and please start scouring the basement and garage.
March 13th – March 18th , 2017
MONDAY – JOSEPHINE BADALI – Requested by John, Sal & Patsy TUESDAY – MIA HERRERA – Requested by Wai Chin & Paul Hwang WEDNESDAY – ALICE MICHAEL – Requested by Charmaine Michael THURSDAY – TOMO & SLAVKA VUKOVIC – Requested by Manda Vukovic FRIDAY – ARMAND OAKIE – Requested by the Oakie Family SATURDAY – PETER & BRIDGET PEREIRA – Requested by Sophie & Candida Pereira
Children from St. Gabriel’s School are asked to choose one of the following dates: April 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th,May 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th.
Recognizing the fact that we are “good people”, we also accept the fact that good people can sin. Through an examination of conscience we face those sins, admit them and are reconciled to God.
For those who wish, individual confessions will be celebrated after the service. We encourage you to take advantage of this celebration.
Canada legalized euthanasia/assisted suicide in June 2016. Between June and December, 2016, more than 740 people across the country died from what is now being referred to as “medical aid in dying”. Meanwhile, only 30% of Canadians have access to quality palliative (end of life) care. Please visit www.CanadiansforConscience.ca to learn more, join the “Call for Conscience” and write directly to your Member of Provincial Parliament asking them to protect conscience rights.
Living the Gospel by providing for vocations to the priesthood…
“Living and studying at St. Augustine’s can bring untold blessings into the lives of those entering ministry,” shares Matt McCarthy, a current Seminarian. Matt’s interest in sports and his desire to enter the priesthood and minister to those in his community, gives him an opportunity to serve the Church in a unique way. At ShareLife-funded agencies such as Serra House, St. Augustine’s and Redemptoris Mater Seminaries, individuals undergo extensive theological education and practical field training. Through ShareLife, you are helping to sustain vocations to the priesthood and inspire discernment for God’s call. Last year ShareLife helped support 70 seminarians in their formation studies.
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: $4.50 Hot Chocolate and Cocoa: $6.00 Teas: $4.25
Did you know that as pressure to privatize the natural resource of water increased, Development and Peace focused on water as a human right and campaigned for public control of water systems in areas where millions of people suffer from water scarcity?
To find out more about the work of Development and Peace or to become a member or donor, visit the website at http://www.devp.org/en/get-involved.
Collecting Stamps
This is a wonderful time of year to collect stamps from your Christmas cards and letters to give to the Leprosy Mission of Canada, who are renowned for their effectiveness in the prevention, detection and treatment of leprosy. Stamps may be left in the basket outside of the office.
Each month food we collect is sent to Rosalie Hall and the Good Shepherd Centre.
We are continuing to collect stamps for Effect Hope, the Leprosy Association of Canada, and eyeglasses for the Lions Club. Please place them in the baskets provided outside the office.
March 17th to March 19th
Queen of Apostles Renewal Centre
Celebrate your love and take a fresh look at your marriage! Spend a very special weekend together. A Weekend of discovery…a lifetime of love! Worldwide Marriage Encounter is a weekend getaway that helps married couples rediscover themselves as individuals and as a couple. The Weekend format helps couples communicate openly and honestly without group sharing, therapy or marriage counseling.
The next weekend will be March 17th to March 19th at Queen of Apostles Renewal Centre, Mississauga
For more information and application, please go to www.wwme.org or contact: Gerard & Marge McCauley at gerard.marge@rogers.com or (905) 792-1925.
March 25th from 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM
St. Augustine’s Seminary, 2661 Kingston Road
St. Augustine’s Lay Spiritual Formation Program presents Spiritual Warfare, a Lenten retreat with Rev. Charles Anang, Director of Spiritual Formation. The event will be held on Saturday, March 25th from 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM at St. Augustine’s Seminary. Mass in the Seminary chapel and lunch are included. The cost is $50. To register go to www.staugustines.on.ca or call 416-261-7207, Ext. 235.
Saturday, March 25th
Dynamic Women of Faith will be hosting its 8th annual conference for Catholic women on Saturday March 25th.
Cardinal Thomas Collins will be celebrating the opening Mass. There is a mother -daughter event, Calling All Girls, the evening before!
For more information including registration fees and location visit www.dynamicwomenfaith.com or call 905 279-7702.
WEEKLY OFFERTORY December 25th $ 14,293 Christmas Collection $ 32,352 New Year’s Day $ 3,692 Collection for January 1st, 2017last week: Envelopes 393 $ 8,202 Loose Change 1,098 Weekly Portion of Pre-Authorized Giving 162 3,027 Total 557 $ 12,327
Have you considered using Pre-Authorized Giving ( PAG) to make your weekly offertory? Your specified offertory donation would be taken directly from your bank account on or about the 20th of each month. Authorization forms are available in the Parish Office.
March 5th, 2017
Just a few words on the second reading of today’s Mass. To begin with Adam was not an actual historical person. We can see him as the personification of Everyman. Jesus was a person like us in everything though he did not sin.
In his letter to the Romans Paul compares the obedience of Jesus to his Father’s will to the disobedience of Adam to God’s command. Adam fell under the allurement that if he ate the forbidden fruit he would become like God, knowing good and evil. Adam wanted to step up, to be more than he was. He was a climber. On the other hand Jesus, the new Adam, was willing to step down. As St. Paul wrote to Philippians, Jesus did not consider his equality with God as something to be clung to. He empties himself of his divinity and took on our humanity, being like us in all things. Unlike the self-seeking, disobedient Adam, Jesus was obedient to God, even to dying his painful and humiliating death on the cross.
Adam’s act of disobedience brought death into the world. Christ’s obedience restored us to life, endless life with God. As St. Paul puts it, ‘so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all people… just as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many were made righteous .
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil turned out to be the source of death. The tree of Calvary’s cross becomes the tree of life for all who believe.
Jesus faced his temptations to turn away from his God given mission by seeking fame and power. For all of us temptations are a fact of life. There can be times when they overpower us; the promise of satisfaction, pleasure, prestige, happiness can be too much. We fall away from our life giving relationship with God. We come face to face with our own nakedness, our own weakness. But the obedience of Jesus, that obedience that brought him to death, even death on the cross, offers us the chance to be reconciled with God through the sacrament of reconciliation.
As we received ashes on Ash Wednesday we were encourage to ‘turn away from sin and believe the good news.’ We were encouraged to trust the truth that sin is not the final reality of our lives. The reality of our lives is the Jesus Christ died on the cross and by his wounds we are healed. The reality of our lives is that God so loved us God sent his Son to us, not to condemn, not to damn us but to bring us to a deeper awareness of how loved we are by our Father.
Can we imagine Christ crucified speaking to us from his cross asking each of us,’ what more can I do to convince you that you are loved, you are forgiven.’? Can we hear him using the words of Isaiah, though your sins are as red as scarlet they shall be white as wool’, though they be red as crimson they shall be white as snow.
The church offers each of us the opportunity, through prayer and fasting and caring for others, to open our hearts and lives to be open to God’s power and goodness and so deepen our relationship with God. Can we come appreciate this truth of our faith, ‘ In this is love, not that we love God but that God first love us and sent his son into the world to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.’ ? During this season of Lent can we grow in the life that is ours through the obedience of our Crucified Lord?
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