October 1st, 2016
We have a tradition in our Passionist Community, as do other religious communities, of celebrating the anniversary of a member’s religious profession. One of our Brothers was celebrating the 50th anniversary of his religious profession and during the Mass the rector of the house preached a homily, congratulated him and presented him with a Papal Blessing. He then made a very strange statement. He said, ‘I really can’t see why we congratulate and thank people for doing what they vowed they would do.’ These words really shocked me.
I’m reminded of that homily every time I hear today’s gospel and Jesus ‘words, we are worthless slaves, we have done only what we have ought to have done.
I read somewhere that in the ancient Middle-Eastern world every family, even relatively poor ones, had at least one unpaid servant. The very poorest families gave some of their children to other families as servants to ensure that they would be fed.
The master in this parable apparently had only one servant who both tended the fields and did the cooking. The thrust of the story is clear and straightforward. Good servants do what they are told. A master never has to thank a servant for doing what is expected.
As Christian men and women we were invited into a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. St. Paul tells us ‘God chose in Christ before the world began to be God’s adopted sons and daughters.’ God choose us we did not choose God. The health and the depth of our relationship with Christ depends upon how we listen to Christ’s words and follow his teachings. Remember the old question,’ if you were arrested for being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict you? Do we love others as Christ loves us? Do we forgive others as Christ forgives us? Are we there for those in need, not just of their physical needs but their spiritual needs as well? Do we offer comfort, companionship, understanding or emotional support? As often as we do these things for others we do them for Christ. This is our identity as Christian men and women.
Remember the story of the scorpion and the frog? The scorpion wanted to cross a river but had no means to do so. He spotted a frog on the other side and asked for help. The frog didn’t trust the scorpion knowing he had a sting that kills. Eventually the scorpion talks the frog into carrying him across the river with the promise he would not sting him. When they get close to the other side the scorpion stings the frog. When the frog protests this betrayal the scorpion answers, I just couldn’t help myself, it’s my nature to sting.’
The point of the parable is that just as a household slave is not an employee of his master and never earns anything when he carries out his duties—so we, when we have lived out our lives as disciples and followers of Christ, loving, forgiving, serving, being there for others, this does not establish a claim for a reward. The scorpion stung the frog because that’s what scorpions do – We Christians love and serve and forgive because that’s what Christians do. For all that, we trust Christ’s promise; our reward will be great in heaven.
| Posted in Homily |
September 13th to October 13th
As previously announced Fr. Brando is away on holiday until October 13th.
October 3rd to October 8th, 2016
MONDAY – FRANCIS CHEUNG – Requested by the Cheung Family TUESDAY – JOHN ROGERS – Requested by his Family WEDNESDAY – TOM VUKOVIK – Requested by Manda Vukovik THURSDAY – ELLEN JANE ROSE – Requested by Cheryl Rancati FRIDAY – JOHN EGSGARD – Requested by Gerry, Molly, Helen & Kathi SATURDAY – GUS CALDERONE – Requested by Marie Calderone
Those who sing well pray twice.”
Our senior choir practices on Tuesday evenings, 7:30 to 9:00 P.M. and leads community song at the 10:30 AM Sunday Mass.
Our junior choir practices on Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 8:00 PM and leads the music at the 12:30 PM Mass.
We always welcome new voices and hope you will consider joining us! For more information, please contact the choir director after any of the Masses.
The Altar Service is now recruiting new members.
If you are in Grade 4 or higher and are interested in becoming an altar server, please contact Colin Meharchand at cmeharchand@bell.net or leave your name and phone number with the Parish Office at 416-221-8866.
Friday, October 7th from 9:30 AM to 12 Noon
This Sunday, October 2nd at 11:30 AM in the Gabriel Room
St Gabriel’s has a long tradition of hosting the Eco-Sabbath every first Sunday of the month. This year, the tradition will continue. The first meeting of this year after the summer break will be held this weekend, October 2nd, at 11:30 AM. All are invited.
English: Saturday, October 1st at 3:15 PM in the Library
Chinese: Sunday, October 2nd at 3:30 PM in the Gabriel Room.
For further information, please contact Linda Law at 416 -918-8029.
Thursday, October 13th at 7:30 PM.
St. Gabriel’s Church
There will be a meeting here at the Church on Thursday, October 13th at 7:30 PM. for parents of children who will be receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation this year.
Meetings in preparation for the R.C.I.A. (Rites of Christian Initiation of Adults) will begin soon. These meetings are for persons interested in learning more about the Catholic Faith. The exploration may lead the candidate to seek baptism, and become a member of the Catholic Christian community; or for Christians already baptized into another Christian denomination, the reception into the Catholic Church.
Adult Catholics who have not received the sacrament of Confirmation but who wish to do so are also encouraged to attend these sessions.
As well, these meetings may be an opportunity for “Born Catholics” to deepen their understanding of our faith. Very often, especially for those of us who received our religious instruction at an early age, we tend to grow physically, mentally, psychologically etc., but the understanding of our faith does not grow correspondingly. The RCIA may serve as a good opportunity for us to ask questions and to develop a more adult understanding of our faith.
If you are interested in joining the RCIA meetings or if you would like more information about it, please call Fatima Lee at the Parish Office, 416-221-8866, Ext. 228.
If you have, or know of, school age children (ages 7 to 14) who wish to prepare for Baptism, please contact the Parish Office, or Fatima Lee directly, at (416) 221-8866, ext. 228. Classes for them will begin after Thanksgiving.
Each month some of the food we collect is sent to Rosalie Hall.
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.
With everyone struggling at this time, these 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 outstanding support.
You can make a difference in the lives of the hungry and homeless this Thanksgiving by participating in the annual Good Shepherd Ministries Thanksgiving Food Drive.
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.
Urgently needed items include: rice, pasta and pasta sauces, peanut butter, jam oatmeal pancake mix teabags ground or instant coffee, sugar cookies and crackers, canned tuna, soups, stews, meats, fruits and vegetables.
Please no fresh or frozen foods.
We thank you for your generous support!
Beginning October 2nd at 7:00 PM
ST. MICHAEL’S CATHEDRAL
One Sunday evening each month, all are welcome to join Cardinal Collins for Lectio Divina at St. Michael’s Cathedral. We begin with Vespers (Evening Prayer) at 7:00 PM followed by Lectio Divina from 7:30 to 8:15 PM. The theme for this season is “The Freedom of the Kingdom of God.” This year, we will meditate upon nine passages of Scripture that illuminate the slavery we experience in our struggle with sin and show the way to freedom. The first evening will take place Sunday, October 2nd at 7:00 PM at St. Michael’s Cathedral. For a full list of dates and Scripture passages, visit www.archtoronto.org/lectio. Each gathering is archived at this website. Episodes also air on Salt + Light TV (www.saltandlighttv.org).
Six Tuesday Mornings Beginning October 4th
St. Bonaventure’s Parish Centre, 1300 Leslie Street
Maureen McDonnell, D.Mim. will be presenting an exciting and informative programme on the topic of Spiritual Growth in the Second Half of Life.
The programme, hosted by St. Bonaventure’s Church will take place on six Tuesday Mornings at 10:00 AM between October 4th and December 13th.
For more information or to register, please call 416-491-2360. or email adamscote@rogers.com.
Weekend of October 28th/30th
Are you longing for mercy from the One who brings peace and healing? Project Rachel can help. A weekend retreat for women whose hearts have been broken by abortion will be held on the weekend of October 28th to -30th.
Please e-mail ProjectRachel@StMarysRefuge.org or call 416-629-8264. Project Rachel is private and confidential.
Wednesday, Oct. 5th at 7:00 PM
Holy Cross Funeral Home, Thornhill
Catholic Cemeteries and the Archdiocese estate planning team will share: – How to protect your loved ones with a proper Will – How to ensure your wishes are legally protected – About Powers of Attorney – Estate Trustee selection – Finding lawyers and estate planning advisors – Our Catholic traditions around wills, burial and funerals
An estate planning kit will be provided at no cost.
The session will be held at the Holy Cross Funeral Home (located at 211 Langstaff Rd. East, Thornhill) Refreshments will be provided. RSVP: Frank Jannetta, Catholic Cemeteries 416.733-8544 ext. 2023 or fjannetta@cc-fs.ca.
Friday, October 21st, 2016
Catholic Education Centre, 80Sheppard Avenue East
The Toronto Catholic District School Board is hosting a Welcome Reception for Newcomers to Canada on Friday, October 21st from 10:00 AM to 12:00 Noon at the Catholic Education Centre.
This is a multilingual event: interpreters and print materials will be available in a variety of languages. A light lunch will be provided. Please RSVP by October 7th to your local school principal.
October 21st to October 23rd
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 October 21st/23rd 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.
Weekly Offertory Our operating expenses average $14,550 per week. Collection for last weekend: Envelopes 366 $ 7,087 Loose Change 878 Weekly Portion of Pre-Authorized Giving 165 3,018 Total 531 $ 10,983 Needs of the Canadian Church $ 2,598
| Posted in Bulletin |
September 25th, 2016
In one of his letters to the church Pope Francis challenged all of us to own up to what he called the globalization of indifference. He wrote “Usually, when we are healthy and comfortable, we forget about others, we are unconcerned with their problems, their sufferings and the injustices they endure… Our heart grows cold,”
“As long as I am relatively healthy and comfortable, I don’t think about those less well off. Today, this selfish attitude of indifference has taken on global proportions, to the extent that we can speak of a globalization of indifference. It is a problem which we, as Christians, need to confront.”
The rich man in today’s gospel was not a bad or evil man. You’ll notice he didn’t set the dogs on Lazarus, didn’t tell him to get off his property. He didn’t kick him as he stepped over him as he went to enjoy his sumptuous meal. This man was just indifferent to Lazarus and his needs.
In the time of Jesus if you were rich and well off you were considered to have been blessed by God. If were not well off, if you were destitute, well that was your lot in life. The Law and the Prophets taught that people who were well off had an obligation to those who were poor. As we know from our first reading from the prophet Amos this didn’t always happen. The people who well off were too caught up in their own selfish lifestyles to have a care for those in need.
They were just indifferent to the needs of the poor, those not so well blessed. Their indifference caused them to lose sight of the Golden Rule, ‘do unto others and you would have others do unto you,’ Pope Francis sees today’s indifference in the fact that the rich are upset when the stock market drops three points but have no concern for an unemployed street person dies of hunger or the cold. Such a person is not on their radar.
In Christ’s parable both men die as we all will. The man blessed with good things during his lifetime ends up in hell. Lazarus, who had nothing but grief during his life time ends up in the company of Abraham. A great chasm separates them. The chasm is of their own making. Notice that the rich man is talking to Abraham, not to the poor man; and he is asking Abraham to command the poor man to go fetch him water to ease his thirst. He just doesn’t get. He brought all this pain on himself. The wealthy of the world, trapped in global indifference, refuse to listen to the revelations of God, the teaching of Jesus, the social teachings of the church are creating their own chasm. Wealth and privilege have a way of creating this unbridgeable gap. They just do not need God. They certainly do not need the poor. They are self-sufficient.
And we, living in this Judeo-Christian nation, who have read Moses’ law, who have heard the prophets, and received the good news of Jesus—what might this parable say to us? Have we created an abyss between ourselves and the Lazarus’s of our day? Are we plagued by this globalization of indifference? Are we weary of hearing about the millions of refugees, weary of seeing TV coverage of children who are the innocent victims of war?
Do we not close our minds to anything that challenges our way of life?
Maybe some of us do. Maybe some of us are caught up in global indifference, recently Pope Francis called this indifference a modern illness. But on the whole you are a good and generous people. All through the years you’ve have been more than generous when you’ve been asked to help people less blessed than yourselves. You’ve always supported Share Life, our Christmas and Thanksgiving food drives, and think of the families you’ve given new hope and new lives as you’ve supported our refugee appeals.
There is the Psalm that sings, ‘The lord hears the cry of the poor’. You good people have a long history of hearing the cry of the poor. May God bless our parish family for our long history of hearing and answering the cry of the poor.
September 24th, 2016
September 26th to October 1st, 2016
MONDAY – CATHY & BILL MILLAR – Requested by their Family TUESDAY – ARMANDO & WALTER DINARDO – Requested by Pasqua Dinardo & Family WEDNESDAY – SR. DORYNE KIRBY IBVM – Requested by Margaret Anne Leckie THURSDAY – MICHAEL O’CONNELL – Requested by Fergus & Mary Ann O’Connell FRIDAY – ROSIE JOSEPH – Requested by Margaret & Yasmin Joseph SATURDAY – PASQUALE GATTI – Requested by Linda Gatti & Family
“Those who sing well pray twice.”
Our senior choir practices on Tuesday evenings, from 7:30 to 9:00 P.M. and leads community song at the 10:30 AM Sunday Mass.
The Parish Family of St. Gabriel’s would like to welcome:
Samuel Francisco Castillo Kiera Aurora Francisco Cristiano Sean Antonio Sealy Johnson Alexandra Helini Paloubas Margaret Sofia Romero Naya Grace Rudd Violet Mey Wiradharma
These children received the Sacrament of Baptism on Sunday, September 18th, 2016. Congratulations!
Thursday, September 22nd, Tuesday, September 27th from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM.
Registration for children who wish to receive the Sacraments of First Communion, Reconciliation and Confirmation will be held at St. Gabriel’s Church from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM on the following evenings: Thursday, September 22nd Tuesday, September 27th
Please Note: A copy of the child’s Baptismal Certificate is required if registering for First Communion or Confirmation. A fee of $20 is required for Confirmation.
Sunday, October 2nd at 11:30 AM in the Gabriel Room
St. Gabriel’s has a long tradition of hosting the Eco-Sabbath every first Sunday of the month. This year, the tradition will continue. The first meeting of this year after the summer break will be held on October 2nd, at 11:30 AM. All are invited.
English: Saturday, October 1st at 3:15 PM in the Library Chinese: Sunday, October 2nd at 3:30 PM in the Gabriel Room.
Each month the food we collect is sent to Rosalie Hall. 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.
Maureen McDonnell, D.Min. will be presenting an exciting and informative programme on the topic of Spiritual Growth in the Second Half of Life.
The programme, hosted by St. Bonaventure’s Church will take place on six Tuesday mornings at 10:00 AM between October 4th and December 13th.
Upcoming Weekend: October 21-23, 2016 (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.
Weekly Offertory
Our operating expenses average $14,550 per week.
Collection for last weekend: Envelopes 371 $ 6,582 Loose Change 771 Weekly Portion of Pre-Authorized Giving 165 3,018 Total 536 $ 10,371
September 18th, 2016
Our gospel parable is about a shrewd, manipulating and devious manager who was fixing his boss’s books. Obviously this rich man had a whistle blower on his staff that let his boss know that the manager of his affairs was robbing him blind. The manager is called into the boss’s office and fired. Before he leaves he makes a few more deals, does a few more favors for his master’s debtors hoping they will take care of him when he’s out on the street. He fixes the books in their favor.
We see this in our day when we hear of moneyed people having accounts off shore to avoid paying taxes or investment brokers or wealth managers who lure their clients into deals that promise great returns only to find out they’ve been scammed. How many people have been caught in Ponzi schemes only to left high and dry when the too good to be true deal falls through? It all comes down to greed.
In our first reading we hear Amos, the prophet of social justice, denouncing the rich who just cannot wait for the new moon festival or the Sabbath day to be over so that they can get back to their devious business and make their profits by cheating and exploiting the poor and sometimes the greedy rich with their shady ways of doing business. Again, it’s greed, our innate desire for more and more.
In the parable the master could have had his manager charged with theft but instead he admires his manager’s craftiness. Jesus makes the observation, if only his followers showed that same shrewdness in the way they lived their lives as did this crooked manager they would be better off. Jesus wants the children of this age – in other translations they are called the children of light, those enlightened by his teachings and example, men and women such as ourselves to be as shrewd.We too are to be clever opportunists, using whatever wealth we have, be it great or little, in the ways that Jesus always tells us, sharing with those who have less, feeding the poor, clothing the naked, housing the homeless, helping refugees come to Canada and live new lives and all the while asking nothing in return. In the mind of Jesus money is for persons and the only proper use of it is in sharing – sharing with those who have less.
We’ve heard the teaching of Jesus so many times, ‘you cannot serve two masters, and you cannot serve God and money. We’ve heard this question before,’ do you own your possessions or do they own you’? Do you manage them or do you manage them?
Common sense tells us there is nothing wrong with being successful and well off. We know too there is nothing right about being hard up, living on the edge, surviving from pay check to pay check. The question is, are we tight fisted, grasping what possesses us or are we willing to share our good fortune with those not so blessed? Our lives will be judge on how we shared whatever we had be it much or little? If much, – did we write a generous check. If little, did we put a little more water in the soup? Did we share?
In this Eucharist Jesus shares himself with us, this is my body take and eat, this is my blood, take and drink. May his generosity with us inspire us to be generous with others.
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