December 25th, 2015
Our year 2015 cannot hide and deny the many tragic events haunting people and countries all over the world. From the destructive ISIS campaigns in the Middle East to the refugee crisis in Europe, the almost serial shootings in America, the pervading hunger and destitution in Asia and Africa and to the increasingly precarious condition of our planet brought by climate change. These events may seem so far from us considering the peace and comfort we have been so blessed with. But, I would like to believe, many of us do not sleep on the agony of our brothers and sisters the world over. We are connected to and affected by their plight.
At this, we are humbly awakened by a particular challenge: while the birth of our Lord certainly brings joy to the world, it also appeals to us – who have enormous access to such joy – to spread and share it to those deprived of such access. It does not take a mammoth scale of an effort for us to respond to such challenge. I personally witnessed how many of you in our parish community demonstrated your concern to our less fortunate brethren – in many varied ways. In this community, St. Gabriel’s virtue of maintaining the interaction between prayer and fraternal concern has been well animated. While the challenges of being a pastor can never be underestimated, I really haven’t approached a difficult curve in my ministry here because of your empowering support.
Our parish community can enumerate plenty of operative and successful programs this year: your outstanding response towards the Family of Faith Campaign initiated by the Archdiocese, your bountiful support through the works of St. Vincent De Paul; bringing food for Rosalie Hall, Good Shepherd Centre and providing material necessities to Catholic Children’s Aid and above all your immense generous response towards refugee sponsorship.
All these events and projects are highly significant for us because they are undertaken not by your Pastor, not by a small group, but through the collaboration of the entire parish —by our act of being church.
It then occurred to me that any act of gift-giving and gift-receiving this Christmas is simply a paying forward of the ultimate gift giving – the Lord’s giving of His Son to us. Such gift comes to us sans the wrappings. For indeed, the greatest gifts that one can receive are unwrappable. The kiss of your father, mother, husband, wife, son, daughter, or friend, including someone not on good terms with you, is unwrappable. And they can be more expensive than any perfume or gadget one can wrap. Your presence, prayer, involvement, collaboration and support which serve as engines of this parish are unwrappable. Our being church is the best Christmas gift we can receive. It is our ultimate response to the prior gift given to us, the birth of our Lord.
Hence, I cannot ask for more. The most that I can do is thank God for all the blessings He gave to us throughout the year. I can only thank all of you for being with me in shepherding the flock of St. Gabriel’s. Our flock may be so small to offset and address the harsh situations our world is facing. But every grand thing abounds from something little – like the baby Jesus in the manger, which calls and gathers all people to find a common home. Our community can be like that – a manger which gathers and welcomes everyone from Toronto and beyond – a common home. Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!
Thank you all for your prayer, support and encouragement! Looking forward to seeing you this Christmas!
Fr. Brando
| Posted in Homily |
December 19th, 2015
In his letter to the Hebrews St. Paul tells us that these words, ‘I come to do your will, O God’ were the mind set of Jesus’ whole life. So often in the Hebrew Scriptures we hear God rejecting the temple sacrifices offer by priests who were just going through the motions of correct rituals but their life style gave the lie to the authenticity of their faith life. It was all performance. Their hearts were not in what they were doing. Jesus challenged and infuriated the religious leaders of his time for that same lack of authenticity, placing law before love and mercy. He told them that a heart obedient to God is a greater form of worship than any temple sacrifice. And he paid for his honesty.
In today’s gospel we meet three people who opened their lives to the will of God. Mary, Zechariah and Elizabeth, each said in their own way and in the circumstances of their own lives – I come to do your will O Lord. Because Zechariah and Elizabeth trusted in God’s promise John the Baptist came into our world to announce the presence of the promise one. Because Mary and Joseph said ‘yes’ to what God asked of them – take Mary to be your wife – be it done to me according to your will – these words of Mary ‘yessed Jesus into life and Jesus could say, ‘I come to do your will.’
We celebrate the event told in Luke’s gospel on the feast of the Visitation remembering when the young and pregnant Mary went in haste to be with her older cousin Elizabeth when she would give birth to her son John. Mary’s willingness to be there for Elizabeth is an example for us to be there for others in there time of need. As a parish family you are there for the families you are fleeing from the refugee camps in Jordon and welcoming them to Canada. Every time we are there for friend or stranger in need, in need of food, clothing, shelter, in need of sympathy, understanding, support or forgiveness we are there for others, just as Mary was there for Elizabeth, just as God is always there for us.
On one occasion Jesus told his listeners, ‘it is not those who say to me Lord, Lord who will enter the kingdom, but those who do the will of my Father in heaven, those say from their hearts, ‘I come to do your will of God.’ Words spoken must be words lived. Love spoken must be love lived. Forgiveness spoken must be forgiveness lived; peace spoken must be peace lived. Living not by words but by actions, each of us can live imitating Jesus Christ saying and living as best we can his words –I come to do your will O God, I come to do your will.
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.
Saturday, December 19th:10:30 AM to 12:00 Noon 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM
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
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.
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
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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
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.
| Posted in Bulletin |
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.
Exciting news! Our refugee families are expected to arrive soon. Household items will be collected in the Gathering Space this weekend.
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.
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
CHRISTMAS EVE AT 7:00 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
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
Our operating expenses average $14,550 per week.
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
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.
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.
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
