January 11th, 2015
In Mark’s gospel, the first of all the gospels, we hear of what took place when Jesus went, as so many others were doing, to the Jordan River to be baptised by his cousin John. John was reluctant to do this, he knew Jesus was greater than he but Jesus insisted. When Jesus came up out of the water we hear that the heavens were torn apart and a voice declared – you are my son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased.
I read somewhere that the ancient world had a very primitive understanding of reproduction and it was impossible to prove who the actual father of a child was. Everyone knew who the child’s mother but who is its father? It was only when a father acknowledged a baby as his own did that boy or girl become a son or daughter. We saw something like this at the circumcision of John the Baptist when Zachariah declared ‘his name in John’, accepting him as his son.
We know that Joseph, by agreeing to marry Mary who was not pregnant by him, performed precisely this task on behalf of Jesus. Joseph accepted Jesus as his son making Jesus a member of his household and giving Jesus honorable standing and a secure setting in which to live.
Now on the banks of the Jordon God the Father declared Jesus as his son, a son in whom he would be well pleased.
In his letter to the Ephesians St. Paul tell his early converts an amazing thing ; before the world began God chose us – you and me – to be his adopted sons and daughters, such was God’s will and pleasure. At our own baptism – with the pouring of the water and the saying of the words –I baptise you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit what was true in eternity becomes true in time – we are the adopted sons and daughters of God our Father. It is so hard to get our heads around such a truth of how important we are to God, how loved we are by the Father who sent his son into the world not to condemn us but to bring us closer to Him.
Baptism is always seen as a birthing – we are reborn into everlasting life. Birthing initiates grow. Time and again Paul calls us to put on Christ, to have that mind in us that was also in Christ Jesus, Paul encourages us to grow to full maturity in Christ. This is our daily task. We are to recognize our own dignity as chosen sons and daughters or God and we are to recognize that same choseness is all those who come into our lives in the course of the day and show the respect that is their due. Growing in Christ we are to find it in our hearts to forgive those who do us harm, we are to hold back from judging the life and lifestyles of others remembering the words of Christ that we are not judge. Having that mind in us that was also in Christ Jesus we are called to reach out to those who are less blessed than we are – the hungry and homeless, the street people trying to survive in the cold snap we are enduring.
Putting on Christ is a life time effort that comes to us by God’s grace. With this in mind we might ask ourselves, when at the end of a day we reflect back on our day, could the Father who chose us as his own be able to say of us – this is my beloved son, my beloved daughter in whom I am well pleased.
| Posted in Homily |
January 12th to January 17th, 2015
MONDAY – PETER YANG – Requested by the Family TUESDAY – ROSA WAI KING TSANG – Requested by the Family WEDNESDAY – IRENE CHUCHRA – Requested by the Family THURSDAY – MORTON SCHULMAN – Requested by the Nguyen Family FRIDAY – MAGDALENE LAM – Requested by John Chan SATURDAY – IN THANKSGIVING – Requested by Marie Calderone
Sunday, January 25th at 4:00 P.M.
Yorkminster Park Baptist Church 1585 Yonge Street
Come and join us in an ecumenical prayer service with His Eminence Thomas Cardinal Collins, Anglican Archbishop Colin Johnson, Evangelical Lutheran Bishop Michael Pryse, Slovak Catholic Bishop John Pazak, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church Rev. Dr. Harris Athanasiadis and other city-wide religious leaders on: Sunday, January 25th at 4:00 P.M. at Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, 1585 Yonge Street (2 blocks north of St. Clair at Heath Street)
Parking is available. Refreshments will follow in the parish hall.
For further information, please contact the Office of Ecumenical and Interfaith Affairs at 416-934-3400, Ext. 344 or Ext. 527 or vkwok@archtoronto.org.
Sunday, January 25th is World Leprosy Day. Leprosy affects the nervous system deadening the body to pain. As a result, cuts and burns go unnoticed and neglected leading to severe infections. Such conditions can lead to loss of function in the limbs and even result in amputation. Please take a few moments to remember the children, women and men living with leprosy.
Please remember to bring us your used postage stamps. These are passed on to the Leprosy Mission of Canada helping them work towards the day when leprosy is eradicated. They are happy to accept any and all trimmed stamps, leaving no less than ¼ inch and no more than ½ inch paper border. Stamps may be deposited in the basket on the cabinet just outside the Parish Office.
Thank you to the volunteers who prepared 51 casseroles for December. For January, your prepared casseroles (frozen please) will be collected at the Masses on the weekend of January 24th/25th for delivery to the Good Shepherd Centre. More volunteers are needed to help feed the hungry in our city. You may pick up a copy of a casserole recipe and a pan from the Parish Office.
Three recipes are also available on St. Gabriel’s web site. Please remember to mark the label on the pan lid with the name of the casserole. For more information, please contact Irene Albrecht at 416 221-2791.
Please be aware that we will no longer be accepting milk bags since we have no means of getting them to those who use them. Thank you for your support of this endeavor over the last few years.
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 incl. Taxes Hot Chocolate and Cocoa: $4.75 Teas: $4.25
Next weekend, parishioners will be asked to sign a petition supporting D&P’s campaign,”Sow Much Love”. This campaign is asking the Government of Canada to commit to:
Adopt international aid policies that support small family farmers, especially women,
Ensure that Canadian policies and programs are developed in consultation with small family farmers, and that they protect the rights of small family farmers in the Global South to preserve, use and freely exchange seeds.
Because of the ratification by a number of countries of the latest version of the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, ancestral rights, which consisted of preserving, using and exchanging farmer seeds, have become in some cases illegal acts, which are punishable by law.
More details are available at www.devp.org
January 12th at 7:00 PM
Catholic Pastoral Centre, 1155 Yonge St. 4th Floor
Please join them for an inspirational talk,” Neuroscience and Resilience”. Neuroscience teaches us that resilience is the capacity for our brain to adapt and bounce back after life-changing experiences. Come and learn how you can develop your own resiliency. The speaker will be James Shaughnessy, M.S.W., R.S.W., Psyn.D. Free underground parking is available.
For inquiries please contact: Deacon James Shaughnessy, MSW., RSW., Psyn. D. at 416-921-1163 ext. 2227 or email: jshaughn@cfstoronto.com
Begins January 14th from 7:00 to 9:00 PM
Regis College, 100 Wellesley St. West.
Regis College invites you to a series of eight evenings to help you deepen your spiritual life. Small group discussion will be led by John O’Brien, SJ. The series continues on Wednesdays for eight weeks until March 11th. Admission is free.
For more information and to pre-register, please visit www.RegisCollege.ca/Film or call 416-922-5474, ext. 221. Regis College is the Jesuit School of Theology at the University of Toronto.
Sunday, January 18th at 11:00 AM
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 202 St. Patrick Street
Catholics in our region can be proud that 160 parishes in the Archdiocese of Toronto are involved in sponsoring refugees to resettle in Canada. Join us for a Mass to celebrate the many individuals and families who have escaped turmoil to resettle in Canada and to pray for those still seeking to leave areas of war and strife.
Bishop Wayne Kirkpatrick, Auxiliary Bishop of Toronto, will preside. Mass is hosted by the Chinese Pastoral Council at Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish, with a reception to follow. A special invitation is extended to those who have been involved in refugee sponsorship across the archdiocese. For more information, visit www.archtoronto.org. All are welcome.
Sunday January 18th at 2:00 PM
Temple Har Zion, 7360 Bayview Avenue, Thornhill
Mosaic Interfaith invites you to attend the Annual Program in honour of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior. The topic this year is “Social Justice: Is it the Way to Peace?’ The program will be held at the Temple Har Zion at 7360 Bayview Avenue, Thornhill on January 18, 2015; from 2:00 to 4:00 PM. Please RSVP to Tina at 416-897-1544 by Thursday, January 15th. For more information see the poster on the bulletin board.”
Thursday, January 22nd, at 7:00 PM
The Bear, 1294 Kingston Road, Pickering
Faith Connections, the Office of Catholic Youth, and the local parishes invite young adults (19-39) to join us for an evening of thought-provoking conversation on theological topics! Their special guests will be Cheridan Sanders & Sebastian Gomes, producers at Salt + Light Media.
Munchies are provided and a cash bar is available – come and bring a friend!
For more information: visit the Toronto Theology on Tap web page, or contact OCY by phone at 416-599-7676 or e-mail youth@ocytoronto.org. RSVPs are appreciated!
Our parish has commenced the Family of Faith campaign as mandated by the Archdiocese of Toronto. As stated in my Christmas letter, the parish goal is $900,000 of which 25% will remain in the parish. We hope to use these funds to develop our youth ministry program.
Commitment Sundays are scheduled for January 25th and February 1st. Commitment pledges of $5,000 or more may be made over five years. Pledges less than $5,000 are to be fulfilled within 3 years. I would ask you to be as generous as you always are to cover this special appeal.
Fr. Brando
Collection for New Years Day $5,742 Our operating expenses average $14,550 per week. Collection for January 4th, 2015: Envelopes 422 $ 8,283 Loose Change 993 Weekly Portion of Pre-Authorized Giving 164 3,701 Total 586 $ 12,977
Please pick up your 2015 envelopes as soon as possible if you have not already done so. If you are not currently using parish envelopes and wish to have a set issued for 2015, 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. If you have recently moved, please inform the Parish Office so that we may keep our parish records up to date.
In 2015, please do not use any envelopes from 2014 or any envelopes from previous years as the number on it may have been reassigned. Please put your name on your envelope to ensure that your donation is properly recorded.
| Posted in Bulletin |
January 4th, 2015
January 5th to January 10th, 2015
MONDAY – RENATO BELLISARI – Requested by Chiara & Tina TUESDAY – ROSA WAI KING TSANG – Requested by the Family WEDNESDAY – TOM & BETTY HIGGINS – Requested by Carol & Hugh MacKenzie THURSDAY – CELINA DELFIN – Requested by the Family FRIDAY – ROBERT GAUDET – Requested by Wai Chin & Paul Hwang SATURDAY – GEORGE OLDEN – Requested by Kathleen Olden-Powell
THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
Thank you, good people, for your overwhelming generosity this Christmas season. Thanks to you, St. Gabriel’s was able to provide toys, food and gifts to Rosalie Hall, the Catholic Children’s Aid, the Good Shepherd Centre and the St. Vincent de Paul Society.
A special thank you to our neighbours the St. Gabriel’s Village Condos for their generous support of our food and toy drives. Your thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated.
Our parish has commenced the Family of Faith campaign as mandated by the Archdiocese of Toronto. As stated in my Christmas letter, the parish goal is $900,000 of which 25% will remain in the parish. We hope to use these funds to develop our youth ministry program. You will be hearing more about our Commitment Sunday which is scheduled for January 25th,
To date, the parish has received pledges totaling one third of the above goal.
I would ask you to be as generous as you always are to cover this special appeal as well as your regular offerings.
Catholic Pastoral Centre 1155 Yonge St. 4th Floor
Regis College 100 Wellesley St. West.
Mosaic Interfaith invites you to attend the Annual Program in honour of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior. The topic this year is “Social Justice: Is it the Way to Peace?’. The program will be held at the Temple Har Zion at 7360 Bayview Avenue, Thornhill on January 18, 2015; from 2:00 to 4:00 PM. Please RSVP to Tina at 416-897-1544 by Thursday January 15th. For more information see the poster on the bulletin board.”
The Bear 1294 Kingston Road, Pickering
Munchies are provided and a cash bar is available – come and bring a friend! For more information: visit our Toronto Theology on Tap web page, or contact OCY by e-mail youth@ocytoronto.org, or phone 416-599-7676. RSVPs are appreciated!
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul has been overwhelmed by your generosity once again! Your contributions to our giving tree were wonderful. Thanks to everyone who offered help and gifts to our families in need. Your kindness has been deeply appreciated.
Fr. Rick Frechette – Haiti Mission The final amount received for Fr. Rick’s mission was almost $40,000. You are very generous people!
Collection for Christmas $33,373
Our operating expenses average $14,550 per week.
Collection for December 28th, 2014: Envelopes 381 10,052 Loose Change 872 Weekly Portion of Pre-Authorized Giving 164 3,058 Total 545 $13,982
If you are a regular Parish member and you do not contribute to the Offertory collection, the Finance Council reminds you that “the financial burden of the Parish is the responsibility of each and all parishioners to the extent that your means allow”.
For those parishioners who contribute to the offertory on a regular weekly basis, we thank you for your constant support.
Have you considered using PAG or Donate Now?
Please pick up your 2015 Offertory Boxed Envelopes as soon as possible. You may contact the Parish Office if you do not have envelopes but would like a box for 2015
In 2015, please do not use any envelopes from 2014 or any envelopes from previous years as the number on it may have been reassigned.
December 28th, 2014
Father help us to live as the Holy Family, united in respect and love.
The greatest blessing you bring to your family is the presence of God in your life. The fragrance of His presence sweetens the atmosphere of your home. The beauty of His presence warms the relationships within its walls. The joy of His presence lightens every heart. The glory of His presence fills all its chambers with rare and precious treasures.
“From God’s Heart to Yours” by Roy Leesin
Let us pray for one another. May God bless you and yours throughout this Christmas Season. We wish you a happy and peaceful New Year and always try to remember “Holiness is in the ordinary.”
A big thank you to those who decorated our church beautifully. Thank you also to the musicians who provided us with lively music, to the lectors who proclaimed the Word, to the altar servers who are always available when needed, to our hospitality ministers who welcome everyone with a ready smile and to all our generous parishioners who always make me grateful for the goodness of the Lord.
May my gratitude to all of you create a vision for tomorrow. Have a great and wonderful New Year!
NEW YEAR’S EVE – Wednesday, 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 – Thursday, 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 29th, 2014 to January 3rd, 2015
MONDAY – MRS. WAI KING TSANG – Requested by Pauline & Linda TUESDAY – FRANCISCO & MA. ROSARIO CALIMBAS – Requested by Estrella, Cherrie, Stella & Isabel WEDNESDAY – NEW YEARS EVE THURSDAY – NEW YEARS DAY FRIDAY – MELENCIO YAO – Requested by Susana Yao SATURDAY – Mr. & Mrs. WONG SANG MOU – Requested by Catherine Soong
Your prepared casseroles (frozen please) will be collected at the Masses on the weekend of January 3rd/4th for delivery to the Good Shepherd Centre.
More volunteers are 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.
Three recipes are available on St. Gabriel’s web site. 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.
“Mosaic Interfaith invites you to attend the Annual Program in honour of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior. The topic this year is “Social Justice: Is it the Way to Peace?”. The program will be held at the Temple Har Zion at 7360 Bayview Avenue, Thornhill on January 18, 2015; from 2:00 to 4:00 PM” Please RSVP to Tina at 416 897 1544 by Thursday January 15th. For more information see the poster on the bulletin board.”
The Parish’s 2014 budgeted operating expenses average $14,550 per week.
Offertory Collection for last weekend:
Envelopes 418 $11,864 Loose Change 922 Weekly Portion of Pre-Authorized Giving 164 3,058
Total 582 $15,844
The 2015 Offertory Boxed Envelopes are available in the Gathering Space. Please pick yours up as soon as possible. If you have a PAG or Donate Now account, you will still receive a smaller green box of envelopes since these include Initial, New Year’s, Christmas, Easter and Maintenance envelopes. You may contact the Parish Office if you do not have envelopes but would like a box for 2015.
Please note: All donations for 2014 must be received in the Parish Office by Tuesday, December 30th 2014 or they will not be included in your 2014 Tax Receipt.
December 25th, 2014
Have you ever noticed that when an infant is brought into a room he or she immediately becomes the center of attention? There are all kinds of compliments about how cute, adorable, sweet he or she is. The infant is passed around from person to admiring person. Kissed and tickled. Then he or she is immediately returned to the mother if there is an accident.
Today the attention and worship of billions of Christians are centered on an infant, Jesus, the son of Mary, the babe of Bethlehem. We are in awe that our God comes to us as a fragile, helpless infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a feeding trough. This infant is the center of attention of his parents, the shepherds and the angels of God. The hopes and fears of all the years are met in him this night.
Christmas is usually a children’s feast. There are toy drives everywhere – no child should be without a toy. Parents take great delight as they watch their young ones rip open their gifts and hear their squeals of happiness as they show what they got from Santa.
Children are our greatest possession. They bring us joy, they bring us grief but they are our future. We find it incomprehensible when we hear stories of mothers or fathers killing or abusing their children as happened in Australia this past week. Yet we know it happens. We ask ‘how could any rational human being go from class room to classroom slaughtering 140 children, snuffing out young and promising lives as happened in Pakistan. Imagine the grief of the mothers and fathers of these innocents. Imagine the relief and the joys of the mothers and fathers of those children who survived that dreadful day. They probably squeezed their sons and daughters so tightly. They appreciated as never before how much they loved their children and how precious they were to them.
On this feast of the Christ Child on this feast of children as you parents and grandparents celebrate this day with your children could you use this day and time to make a promise that you will treasure your children, especially the older ones, they are the one that can cause you grief and challenge your patience? My mother used to say to my brothers and me,’ the older you get the worse you get.’ She was always so affirming. It is so important that you pass on your values to you children, especially the values of our Christian faith, a faith that teaches us the worth and the dignity of every human being. May your sons and daughters be free of any prejudices and hang ups that may be part of your lives. May they see in every person they meet as they live out their lives a brother of sister a person for whom Christ was born in Bethlehem and died on Calvary. Teach them to see in every person they meet a son or daughter of our loving Father regardless of the person’s race, color, creed or life style. Nourish your children’s faith by giving them a living example of your faith through your attendance at Sunday Mass and by family prayer. The prayer said over parents at a child’s baptism says to parents – you are the first teachers of your children in the ways of faith, may you also be the best of teachers by what you say and what you do. Our faith and our values come to us through osmosis from our parents.
You’ve probably seen that poster titled ‘Children learn what they live’. Here are a few lines to keep in mind;
If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn. If children live with hostility, they learn to fight. If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive. If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
But
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence. If children live with praise, they learn appreciation. If children live with acceptance, they learn to love. If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.. If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them. If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.
Parenting is not an easy vocation. Some of you may be saying to yourselves, he doesn’t know the half of it.. I know, I took the easy way out. As we celebrate the birth of the Christ child may all you good parents, single parents and grandparents be blessed with the grace of treasuring your sons and daughters, your grandchildren, they are your your treasures, they are your future.
May we all be blessed with a peaceful and holy Christmas as we celebrate the birth of Mary’s child, Jesus the babe of Bethlehem.
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.
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Companion for the Walk of the Stations of the Cosmic Earth
St. Gabriel’s Garden – Guided Sensory Reflective Walk
