Bulletin – December 20, 2015

December 19th, 2015

nativity_image

O God,
whose mighty Son was born in Bethlehem
those days long ago,
lead us to that same poor place,
where Mary laid her tiny Child.
And as we look on in wonder and praise,
make us welcome him in all new life,
see him in the poor,
and care for his handiwork, the earth, the sky and the sea.
O God, bless us again in your great love.
We pray for this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Christmas Schedule 2015

INDIVIDUAL ADVENT CONFESSIONS

Saturday, December 19th:10:30 AM to 12:00 Noon
2:30 PM to 4:00 PM
7:30 PM to 9:00 PM

MASSES

CHRISTMAS EVE – Thursday, December 24th
No 9:00 AM Mass
7:00 PM Family Mass – Carol Singing
9:00 PM Adult Choir – Carol Singing
12:00 AM Midnight Mass – Contemporary Group

Office Open 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM only

CHRISTMAS DAY – Friday, December 25th
10:30 AM
12:30 PM
Office Open 9:00 AM to 1:30 PM

BOXING DAY – Saturday, December 26th Mass 4:30 PM
Office Open 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM

MONDAY, DECEMBER 28th
Office Closed
No 9:00 AM Mass

NEW YEAR’S EVE – Thursday, December 31st
No 9:00 AM Mass
Mass at 4:30 PM for the Feast of Mary the Mother of God
Office Open 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM only

NEW YEAR’S DAY – Friday, January 1st
FEAST OF MARY THE MOTHER OF GOD
10:30 AM
12:30 PM
Office Closed

Parking

While parking at ground level is limited to 51 spaces, there is plenty of space in the underground parking lot. Please follow the instructions of the attendants. Do not park in front of the Church since this is a fire route and must be kept clear.

Additional parking is available on the east side of Elkhorn Public School and in the bus loop. Again, please follow the instructions of the attendant. The school requests that we do not park on the grass. Many thanks to Holly Richards, the Principal of Elkhorn Public School, for allowing us the use of the school property.

ANNOUNCED MASSES

December 21st to December 26th, 2015

MONDAY – CATHERINE LEONOR REMEDIOS – Requested by Aliana Chan
TUESDAY – REV FR. RAPHAEL GLOFCHESKI – Requested by Effie Cassling
WEDNESDAY – DAVID SHELDRICK – Requested by Teresa Sheldrick

No Announced Masses on CHRISTMAS EVE, CHRISTMAS DAY and BOXING DAY

CHILDREN’S CHOIR FAMILY MASS – CHRISTMAS EVE AT 7:00 PM

Rehearsal: Sunday, December 20th from 2:00 to 4:00 PM

Each year, young people, Grade 3 and up, form a special choir for the Family Mass on Christmas Eve. Children must be at the Church by 6:00 PM. One rehearsal, which is mandatory, will be held this Sunday, December 20th from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM.

Please call Marilyn Calderone at 416-618-2041 for more information.

CHRISTMAS PAGEANT DRESS REHEARSAL

Sunday, December 20th from 2:00 to 4:00 PM

S.K. to Grade 5 children are invited to participate in the pageant. The rehearsal will be held this Sunday, December 20th from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM in the Church.

ADVENT-SOLSTICE REFLECTION

“Shifting from Darkness to Light: Through Creative Action and Dialogue.”

Tuesday, December 22nd from 7:30 to 9:30 PM in the Gabriel Room

The hopeful expectation of the Advent season requires our active participation to effect change. Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si`, and the recent climate change meetings in Paris have initiated creative action and dialogue. Reflecting on these events, we will seek signs of active hope and reflect on the Church’s calls for ecological justice.

Please contact Elliott Allen Institute for Theology & Ecology at eaite.contact@utoronto.ca or Dennis O’Hara at dennis.ohara@utoronto.ca or call 416-926-1300, ext. 3408
to register or for more information.

FEED THE HUNGRY
FOOD FOR ROSALIE HALL & GOOD SHEPHERD CENTRE

There but for the Grace of God…..

Please help feed the hungry and homeless this Christmas by participating in the St. Gabriel’s annual Christmas Food Drive. Please check the expiry dates before donating since we cannot pass on food that has expired.
Food collected will be sent to the Good Shepherd Centre and Rosalie Hall. Thank you for your generous support.

BLOOD DONOR CLINIC

Blessed Trinity Church, 3220 Bayview Ave.
Saturday, December 26th from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Wrap it in Red this holiday season by Giving Life. Book your appointment at www.blood.ca. Download the GIVEBLOOD App or call 1-888-2-DONATE.

FINANCE CORNER

The Parish’s 2015 budgeted operating expenses average $14,550 per week.

Offertory Collection for last weekend:

Envelopes 422 $ 10,205
Loose Change 1,014
Weekly Portion of Pre-Authorized Giving 165 3,145
Total 587 $ 14,364
Refugee Sponsorship $ 62,415

OFFERTORY ENVELOPES FOR 2016

The 2016 Offertory Boxed Envelopes are now in the Gathering Space. Please pick yours up as soon as possible.
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.

Please note: All donations for 2015 must be received in the Parish Office by Wednesday, December 30th 2015 to be included in your 2015 Tax Receipt.

Homily – December 13, 2015

December 12th, 2015

This past Tuesday, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, Pope Francis inaugurated the Jubilee Year of Mercy. He did this symbolically by opening the Jubilee doors at St. Peter’s. Opening these doors church he symbolically opened the doors of the universal church, inviting all of us to enter in and open the doors of our hearts to the mercy and the forgiveness of God.

The year of Jubilee goes back to the Old Testament. In the book of Leviticus God commanded that every seventh year God’s people should neither plant crops nor tend their vineyards trusting that God would care for the people. Every 50th year was to be a year of Jubilee. Fields were left fallow and all debts were to be forgiven. People sold into slavery because they could not pay their debts were to be set free.

The church declares a year of Jubilee every 25 years. Pope Francis has made this coming year a special jubilee of celebrating God’s mercy to all of us and calling us to have mercy on others.

What is mercy? Someone defined mercy this way. Mercy is the willingness to enter into the chaos of another. It is our willingness to understand and sympathize with the struggles and disappointments and failures of a spouse or a family member or a friend. Mercy is our willingness to accept the fact that we are all mistake making beings and so refrain from judging other people.

The most telling words of Pope Francis’ sermon on that day were that ‘mercy comes before judgement’. We go back to his famous words as he was flying back to Rome after his visit to Latin American – who am I to judge? We go back to the words of Jesus – judge not for with the same judgement you will be judged.’

In his sermon on Tuesday Pope Francis put before us the reality of our lives. He said ‘we are constantly tempted to disobedience, a disobedience expressed in wanting to go about our lives without regard for God’s will. This is the enmity which keeps striking at people’s lives, setting them in opposition to God’s plan. Yet the history of sin can only be understood in the light of God’s love and forgiveness. Were sin the only thing that mattered, we would be the most desperate of creatures. But the promised triumph of Christ’s love enfolds everything in the Father’s mercy

This Extraordinary Year is itself a gift of grace. To pass through the Holy Door means to rediscover the infinite mercy of the Father who welcomes everyone and goes out personally to encounter each of them. It is he who seeks us! It is he who comes to encounter us! This will be a year in which we grow ever more convinced of God’s mercy. How much wrong we do to God and his grace when we speak of sins being punished by his judgment before we speak of their being forgiven by his mercy.

But that is the truth. We have to put mercy before judgment, and in any event God’s judgement will always be in the light of his mercy.

There are many ways we can walk through the door into God’s mercy. We lose our tempter, we tell a racist or sexist joke, we put down other people by crude remarks, and we know in our hearts we were wrong and we apologize and in our hearts we ask for God’s forgiveness. We began this Mass by remembers the times we failed to respond to God’s goodness to us. We open ourselves to God’s mercy and forgiveness in a special way in the sacrament of reconciliation. The sacrament of pardon and peace.

The Archbishop has set aside this coming Saturday for the sacrament of reconciliation to be celebrated in every parish in the Archdiocese. The hours for our parish’s celebration are in the bulletin.

Preparing ourselves for our celebration of this sacrament we look at the sins we know, the sins we do not know and at the sins that do not bother us. I think those are the ‘biggies’. They are our ways of speaking to others, relating to others, thinking about others that have become so much a part of us that we fail to see how much they are so un-Christlike, we fail to see how hurtful they are to others. They don’t bother us but they should. In this sacrament of God’s mercy we place the sins we know, the sins we do not know and the sins that do not bother us before a merciful Father, before a forgiving Christ and come to know the mercy and the peace they offer us.

One of our problems is that we have memories. We remember past hurts and snubs. We won’t let go of them. Our memories are like healing scabs that we keep picking, we like to see the blood, we remember. God has amnesia – when God forgives, God forgets.

Fr. Brando and I invite you to enter the doors of St. Gabriel’s next Saturday – enter the doors of mercy.

Bulletin – December 13, 2015

December 12th, 2015

EXCITING NEWS ABOUT OUR REFUGEE FAMILIES

Exciting news! Our refugee families are expected to arrive soon. Household items will be collected in the Gathering Space this weekend.

DENTIST NEEDED

The Refugee Sponsorship Committee is looking for a dentist who would be willing to treat the 2 adults and 2 children of our Syrian refugee family. If you are interested or could recommend someone from outside the parish, please contact Claire Speed (416) 222-1071 for more information.

ANNOUNCED MASSES

December 14th to December 19th, 2015

MONDAY – HARRY LEUNG – Requested by Mary Leung
TUESDAY – PAUL, MIA, ADAM & CHRISTINE – Requested by Wai Chin Hwang
WEDNESDAY – TOMMASO RUSCICA – Requested by the Family
THURSDAY – FRANCIS, VIITA, VIJAY & VINAY – Requested by the Palayathil Family
FRIDAY – BERNARDO CABRERA – Requested by Olivia Cabrera
SATURDAY – UMBERTO INTINI – Requested by Chiara & Tina Intini

ADVENT-SOLSTICE REFLECTION

“Shifting from Darkness to Light: Through Creative Action and Dialogue.”

Tuesday, December 22nd from 7:30 to 9:30 PM in the Gabriel Room

The hopeful expectation of the Advent season requires our active participation to effect change. Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si`, and the recent climate change meetings in Paris have initiated creative action and dialogue. Reflecting on these events, we will seek signs of active hope and reflect on the Church’s calls for ecological justice.

Please contact Elliott Allen Institute for Theology & Ecology at eaite.contact@utoronto.ca or Dennis O’Hara at dennis.ohara@utoronto.ca or call 416-926-1300, ext. 3408 to register or for more information.

CHILDREN’S CHOIR FAMILY MASS –

CHRISTMAS EVE AT 7:00 PM

Rehearsal: Sunday, December 20th from 2:00 to 4:00 PM

Each year, young people, Grade 3 and up, form a special choir for the Family Mass on Christmas Eve. Children must be at the Church by 6:00 PM. One rehearsal, which is mandatory, will be held on Sunday, December 20th from 2:00 to 4:00 PM. Please call Marilyn Calderone at 416-618-2041 for more information

Christmas Schedule 2015

INDIVIDUAL ADVENT CONFESSIONS

Saturday, December 19th:10:30 AM to 12:00 Noon
2:30 PM to 4:00 PM
7:30 PM to 9:00 PM

MASSES

CHRISTMAS EVE – Thursday, December 24th
No 9:00 AM Mass
7:00 PM Family Mass – Carol Singing
9:00 PM Adult Choir – Carol Singing
12:00 AM Midnight Mass – Contemporary Group

Office Open 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM only

CHRISTMAS DAY – Friday, December 25th
10:30 AM
12:30 PM
Office Open 9:00 AM to 1:30 PM

BOXING DAY – Saturday, December 26th Mass 4:30 PM
Office Open 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM

MONDAY, DECEMBER 28th
Office Closed
No 9:00 AM Mass

NEW YEAR’S EVE – Thursday, December 31st
No 9:00 AM Mass
Mass at 4:30 PM for the Feast of Mary the Mother of God
Office Open 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM only

NEW YEAR’S DAY – Friday, January 1st
FEAST OF MARY THE MOTHER OF GOD
10:30 AM
12:30 PM
Office Closed

Parking

While parking at ground level is limited to 51 spaces, there is plenty of space in the underground parking lot. Please follow the instructions of the attendants. Do not park in front of the Church since this is a fire route and must be kept clear.

Additional parking is available on the east side of Elkhorn Public School and in the bus loop. Again, please follow the instructions of the attendant. The school requests that we do not park on the grass. Many thanks to Holly Richards, the Principal of Elkhorn Public School, for allowing us the use of the school property.

CHRISTMAS PAGEANT DRESS REHEARSAL

Sunday, December 20th from 2:00 to 4:00 PM
S.K. to Grade 5 children are invited to participate in the pageant. The rehearsal will be held on Sunday, December 20th from 2:00 to 4:00 PM in the Church

DAY OF CONFESSION

December 19th

On Saturday, December 19th, we will all have the opportunity to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Confessions will be heard from, 10:30 AM to 12:00 Noon. from 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM and from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM.

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: $4.50 incl. Taxes
Hot Chocolate and Cocoa: $6.00
Teas: $5.00

FEED THE HUNGRY
FOOD FOR ROSALIE HALL & GOOD SHEPHERD CENTRE

There but for the Grace of God…..

Please help feed the hungry and homeless this Christmas by participating in the St. Gabriel’s annual Christmas Food Drive. Please check the expiry dates before donating since we cannot pass on food that has expired. Food collected will be sent to the Good Shepherd Centre and Rosalie Hall. Thank you for your generous support.

GIFTS FOR CATHOLIC CHILDREN’S AID, ROSALIE HALL & ST. VINCENT DE PAUL

Thank you so much for your wonderful response to our appeal for gifts for the Catholic Children’s Aid “Hope for the Children campaign, Rosalie Hall and St. Vincent de Paul. This weekend is your last chance to bring in gifts. Please include the mitten, stocking or gift tag with your gift.

Toys for Hope for the Children may be left in the large box in the Gathering Space. Items for Rosalie Hall and
St. Vincent de Paul may be left beside the Christmas tree in the boxes provided. If you were unable to get a tag, you may still contribute. Just bring your gift and place it in the appropriate place.

CASSEROLES FOR THE GOOD SHEPHERD CENTRE

Weekend of December 19th/20th

Your prepared casseroles (frozen please) will be collected at the Masses next weekend for delivery to the Good Shepherd Centre. Please note that because of the holiday, casseroles are being collected one week earlier.
More volunteers are urgently needed to help feed the hungry in our city. Please get a copy of a casserole recipe and a pan and give it a try.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.

MARRIAGE PREPARATION COURSE

St. Gabriel’s Parish
Weekend of April 22nd, 23rd, and 24th, 2016

A Marriage Preparation course will be offered here at St. Gabriel’s the weekend of April 22nd to 24th, 2016. Please note the change to a later date.

The course will be held Friday from 7:00 to 9:00 PM.
Saturday from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM and
Sunday from 10:00 AM to 3:30 PM.
For a registration package please
email Marie Deans at deansm@sympatico.ca.

SERAPHIM & CHERUBIM CHRISTMAS CONCERT

Church of St. Bonaventure
1300 Leslie Street
Saturday December 19th at 7:30 PM

Christmas, Christmas time is near!

Come join the “Seraphim and Cherubim Chorus” singing the Christmas songs you love as part of their “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” concert at the Church of St. Bonaventure on Saturday, December 19th at 7:30 PM. A mix of old favourites and twists on classics, with a bit of Disney flare!

Tickets are now available online. Any remaining tickets will be available at the door.

Proceeds in support of Romero House.

For additional dates and locations of performances, please visit www.seraphimandcherubim.ca

FINANCE CORNER

Our operating expenses average $14,550 per week.

Offertory Collection for last weekend:

Envelopes 408 $ 9,503
Loose Change 953
Weekly Portion of Pre-Authorized Giving 165 3,145
Total 573 $ 13,601
Maintenance Fund 224 $ 3,970

PRE-AUTHORIZED GIVING OPTION

The “Pre-Authorized Giving” Plan (PAG), authorized and supported by the Archdiocese of Toronto, is a direct debit program. It allows parishioners to make their regular offertory donations by automatic monthly bank withdrawal on or about the 20th of each month. Participation in the PAG provides a regular dependable cash flow of contributions to the parish and enables us to better manage the Parish finances. PAG brochures and sign-up forms are available in the Parish Office and on the tables at the back of the Church.

OFFERTORY ENVELOPES FOR 2016

The 2016 Offertory Boxed Envelopes are now available in the Gathering Space. Please pick your box up as soon as possible.

For 2016, a small box of envelopes is not being provided for parishioners who contribute through PAG or Donate Now. Those parishioners are asked to use the Maintenance, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Christmas envelopes available in the pews. Please provide your complete name and address in order to be properly credited.

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 moving out of the Parish or have a change of address, please contact the Parish Office at 416-221-8866 so that we can update our records. Thank you.

Homily – December 6, 2015

December 6th, 2015

Advent is that season of the year when we prepare ourselves to celebrate the birth of Christ. This week we prepare ourselves to celebrate the feast of the immaculate conception of Mary, a feast involved with the wonder of our blessed mother who said ‘he who is mighty has done great things for me and holy is his name.’ Mary knew that hence forth all generations would call her blessed as she surrendered herself to the mysterious will of God ‘ be it done to me according to your word.’

This coming Tuesday, the feast of the sinless Mary, Pope Francis calls each of us to prepare – prepare with the intensity of a John the Baptist – prepare for something many of us forget, or maybe don’t trust. Pope Francis calls us to prepare our minds and hearts to the reality of God’s mercy and love for each of us.

As Pope Francis opens the Holy Year doors of St. Peters this Tuesday, he is symbolically opening the doors of God’s mercy inviting all of us to enter in and be forgiven and healed.

On this coming Tuesday Pope Francis invites us to live and thrive in this year of mercy. This is a year in which we try to trust the truth of God’s mercy for us. This is a year in which we trust our Father’s words ‘

‘Though you sins are as scarlet they shall be white as snow, though they be red as crimson they shall be white as wool.’ Showing us the maternal side of God the Pope repeats the question God asked Isaiah, ’can a mother forget her baby or a woman the children within her womb? Yet even if these forget I will never forget you.’

Here’s a question we really have to ask ourselves, do we really trust God’s mercy for us or do we project onto God our own stinginess of heart, our tendency to hold on to grudges and past hurts, do we project onto God our unwillingness to let the past we past? Do we make God into our image, do we imagine God to be as tight fisted, hard hearted as we are, or are we really trying to image God’s mercy and forgive as we’ve been forgiven?

Do we have issues with God’s mercy because we have issues with the ways in which we fail to be merciful, forgiving or understanding to others? Can we say to ourselves, I am a wretch, but God loves me as I am? Can we pray,’ God help me to love others as they are. Can we ask God for the grace to be more tolerant, patient, tender and forgiving of those men and women and family members who rub us the wrong way or drive us up the wall? Can we pray for the grace for a tender attitude towards those we find difficult?

As Pope Francis said when he instituted this Year of Mercy,

“ The world needs to discover that God is the Father, that there is mercy, that cruelty is not the way, that condemnation is not the way, because it is the Church herself who at times takes a hard line, and falls into the temptation to follow a hard line and to underline moral rules only; many people are excluded of its life because of this. Salvation comes not through the observance of the Law, but through faith in Jesus Christ, who in his death and resurrection brings salvation together with a mercy that justifies.’ We are all sinners,all of us carry inner burdens. I felt that Jesus wanted to open the door to His heart, that the Father wants to show us his innate mercy, and for this reason he sends us the Spirit. This coming Tuesday Pope Francis opens the Jubilee Doors and invites us to walk through these welcoming portals of God’s mercy – will we walk with him?

The schedule for Christmas confessions is posted in the bulletin – the day and the evening of Dec. 19th

All are welcome.

Bulletin – December 6, 2015

December 5th, 2015

EXCITING NEWS ABOUT OUR REFUGEE FAMILIES

Exciting news! Our refugee families are expected to arrive soon. The refugee Sponsorship Committee is seeking help to furnish their apartments, as well as to put together a Welcome Shower for them. Moreover they are asking for donations of gently used, clean winter clothing.

Sizes Needed:
Men: Medium, X Large
Women: Small, Medium
Girls, Ages: 11, 9, 5, and 4 Years
Boys, Ages: 10 Years and 9 Months

If you would like to be a part of this effort, please let them know this weekend what items you would like to contribute at the refugee Sponsorship table in the Gathering Space.

These items (other than furniture) will be collected in the Gathering Space on the weekend of December 12th/13th
Please help our refugee families and extend them a warm welcome! Thank you!

ANNOUNCED MASSES

December 7th to December 12th, 2015

MONDAY – IVY LYN – Requested by the Family
TUESDAY – DELFIN REYES SR. – Requested by Reyes Family
WEDNESDAY – CLARA PALAYATHIL – Requested by the Family
THURSDAY – LOUIS NINO – Requested by Friends of Maria Heffler
FRIDAY – GUS CALDERONE – Requested by Marie Calderone
SATURDAY – DECEASED MEMBERS OF THE WROBEL & CHUCHRA FAMILIES – Requested by Jack & Wanda

ADVENT-SOLSTICE REFLECTION

“Shifting from Darkness to Light: Through Creative Action and Dialogue.”

Tuesday, December 22nd from 7:30 to 9:30 PM in the Gabriel Room

The hopeful expectation of the Advent season requires our active participation to effect change. Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si`, and the recent climate change meetings in Paris have initiated creative action and dialogue. Reflecting on these events, we will seek signs of active hope and reflect on the Church’s calls for ecological justice.

Please contact Elliott Allen Institute for Theology & Ecology at eaite.contact@utoronto.ca or Dennis O’Hara at dennis.ohara@utoronto.ca or call 416-926-1300, ext. 3408 to register or for more information.

DAY OF CONFESSION

December 19th

On Saturday, December 19th, we will all have the opportunity to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Confessions will be heard from, 10:30 AM to 12:00 Noon. from 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM and from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM.

Christmas Schedule 2015

INDIVIDUAL ADVENT CONFESSIONS

Saturday, December 19th:10:30 AM to 12:00 Noon
2:30 PM to 4:00 PM
7:30 PM to 9:00 PM

MASSES

CHRISTMAS EVE – Thursday, December 24th
No 9:00 AM Mass
7:00 PM Family Mass – Carol Singing
9:00 PM Adult Choir – Carol Singing
12:00 AM Midnight Mass – Contemporary Group

Office Open 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM only

CHRISTMAS DAY – Friday, December 25th
10:30 AM
12:30 PM
Office Open 9:00 AM to 1:30 PM

BOXING DAY – Saturday, December 26th Mass 4:30 PM
Office Open 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM

MONDAY, DECEMBER 28th
Office Closed
No 9:00 AM Mass

NEW YEAR’S EVE – Thursday, December 31st
No 9:00 AM Mass
Mass at 4:30 PM for the Feast of Mary the Mother of God
Office Open 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM only

NEW YEAR’S DAY – Friday, January 1st
FEAST OF MARY THE MOTHER OF GOD
10:30 AM
12:30 PM
Office Closed

Parking

While parking at ground level is limited to 51 spaces, there is plenty of space in the underground parking lot. Please follow the instructions of the attendants. Do not park in front of the Church since this is a fire route and must be kept clear.

Additional parking is available on the east side of Elkhorn Public School and in the bus loop. Again, please follow the instructions of the attendant. The school requests that we do not park on the grass. Many thanks to Holly Richards, the Principal of Elkhorn Public School, for allowing us the use of the school property.

CHILDREN’S CHOIR FAMILY MASS – CHRISTMAS EVE AT 7:00 PM

Rehearsal: Sunday, December 20th from 2:00 to 4:00 PM

Each year, young people, Grade 3 and up, form a special choir for the Family Mass on Christmas Eve. Children must be at the Church by 6:00 PM. One rehearsal, which is mandatory, will be held on Sunday, December 20th from 2:00 to 4:00 PM.

Please call Marilyn Calderone at 416-618-2041 for more information

CHRISTMAS PAGEANT DRESS REHEARSAL

Sunday, December 20th from 2:00 to 4:00 PM

S.K. to Grade 5 children are invited to participate in the pageant. The rehearsal will be held on Sunday, December 20th from 2:00 to 4:00 PM in the Church

THE GIVING TREE

During Advent, the Society of St Vincent de Paul has a Giving Tree in the Gathering Space.

The tree is decorated with gift tags. Each tag has the gender and age of a child. We invite you to take a tag, buy a gift or a gift card of about $25.00 for that child and return the unwrapped gift, with the tag attached, to the box provided in the Gathering Space. 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 ages 3 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 December 13th. Toys 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 Parish Office. Thank you for your generous support.

FOOD FOR ROSALIE HALL & GOOD SHEPHERD CENTRE

Each month food we collect is sent to Rosalie Hall and the Good Shepherd Centre.

Rosalie Hall assists young parents and their children to realize their potential through the provision of a wide range of community, residential, educational and child development 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. Thank you for your generous support

CHRISTMAS TOY DRIVE

We are having a Christmas Toy Drive for the Catholic Children’s Aid Society.

Can you help by dropping off an unwrapped new toy for a child 0 to12 years old? Containers will be set up at the doors of the Church from Saturday, November 28th until Sunday, December 13th.

MARRIAGE PREPARATION COURSE

St. Gabriel’s Parish
Weekend of February 12th to 14th, 2016

A Marriage Preparation course will be offered here at St. Gabriel’s the weekend of February 12th to 14th, 2016.

The course will be held Friday from 7:00 to 9:00 PM, Saturday from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM and Sunday from 10:00 AM to 3:30 PM. For a registration package please email Marie Deans at deansm@sympatico.ca.

SERAPHIM & CHERUBIM CHRISTMAS CONCERT

Church of St. Bonaventure
1300 Leslie Street
Saturday December 19th at 7:30 PM

Christmas, Christmas time is near!

Come join the “Seraphim and Cherubim Chorus” singing the Christmas songs you love as part of their “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” concert at the Church of St. Bonaventure on Saturday, December 19th at 7:30 PM. A mix of old favourites and twists on classics, with a bit of Disney flare!

Tickets are now available online. Any remaining tickets will be available at the door.
Proceeds in support of Romero House.

For additional dates and locations of performances, please visit www.seraphimandcherubim.ca

FINANCE CORNER

Our operating expenses average $14,550 per week.

Offertory Collection for last weekend:
Envelopes 405 $ 7,542
Loose Change 1,028
Weekly Portion of Pre-Authorized Giving 163 3,057
Total 568 $ 11,627

PRE-AUTHORIZED GIVING OPTION

The “Pre-Authorized Giving” Plan (PAG), authorized and supported by the Archdiocese of Toronto, is a direct debit program. It allows parishioners to make their regular offertory donations by automatic monthly bank withdrawal on or about the 20th of each month. Participation in the PAG provides a regular dependable cash flow of contributions to the parish and enables us to better manage the Parish finances. PAG brochures and sign-up forms are available in the Parish Office and on the tables at the back of the Church.

OFFERTORY ENVELOPES FOR 2016

The 2016 Offertory Boxed Envelopes are available in the Gathering Space this weekend. Please pick your box up as soon as possible.

For 2016, a small box of envelopes is not being provided for parishioners who contribute through PAG or Donate Now. Those parishioners are asked to use the Maintenance, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Christmas envelopes available in the pews. Please provide your complete name and address in order to be properly credited.

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 moving out of the Parish or have a change of address, please contact the Parish Office at 416-221-8866 so that we can update our records. Thank you.