Know Your Place – Homily – July 21, 2013

July 21st, 2013

Recently there was a very uplifting piece of news on TV. A 16 year old girl named Malala spoke at the UN. On October 9th 2012 this young woman was shot in the head by member of the Talban in her village in the Swat Valley in Pakistan. The Taliban wanted to stop her from encouraging other young girls to get an education. On her 16th birthday at the UN Malala spoke to the world appealing for education for all young people of the world.

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Homily – July 14, 2013

July 14th, 2013

Last Monday Pope Francis made his visit first outside the Vatican by going the southern Mediterranean island of Lampedusa, a major point of arrival for impoverished immigrants, mostly from Africa and the Middle East, seeking to reach Europe. Some 20,000 migrants have died at sea trying to make this journey to the island located off the Sicilian coast at the continent’s southern edge. The Pope thanked the people of the island for doing what they can for these landless people.

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For me, to live is Christ – Homily – July 7, 2013

July 7th, 2013

I could almost title this sermon ‘enough already’. Paul was having a real problem trying to convince the Jewish Christians in Galatia that what made their personal relationship with God ‘right’ was their baptism and their faith in Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen, not ritual circumcision. Jewish Christians were insisting, despite all Paul’s teachings, that Gentile Christians had to be circumcised if they were real Christians. Under such pressure some of the Gentile Christian had themselves circumcised and Paul wrote to them, “O foolish Galatians who has led you astray before whom Jesus Christ is depicted as crucified.” He told these misguided people he was astonished they followed a teaching, a gospel other the one he preached. Such a gospel was a perversion of the one he taught them from the beginning of his ministry among them. He called such preachers ‘accursed’.

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Homily – June 30, 2013

June 30th, 2013

A number of years ago someone gave me a gift. It was a circle of cloth with the letters  T W I T in the middle of the circle. The object was called a round to it. It was for procrastinators. How often have we heard ourselves saying, I’ll get around to making that phone call, I’ll get around to sending that email, I’ll get around to visiting, I’ll get around to doing whatever. I’ll get around to it. Remember Harry Chapin’s song ‘the cats in the cradle’ and its refrain ‘we’ll get together then son, you know we’ll have a good time son’- of course it never happened – I’m very busy but we’ll get around to it.

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Bulletin – June 30, 2013

June 30th, 2013

FROM THE DESK OF FR. PAUL

Good people of St. Gabriel’s,

Thanks for a wonderful weekend. Thanks to the many “old timers” who came to wish me well. Thanks to the parish staff who arranged everything for the receptions. Thanks to all of you for your great generosity towards me. My life has been an “embarrassment of blessings”. Thank you, thank you! What more can I say?

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