April 21st, 2013
Let’s imagine you are a good living Jew, living in the city of Antioch. As a Jew you would be an outsider in the city. Your only friends would be other Jews. Your faith told you to avoid, as much as possible, any contact or dealings with the Gentiles, neighbours who worshiped the gods of the Romans or Greeks.
Read more »
| Posted in Homily |
In this week’s bulletin, a mandatory meeting for Confirmation candidates, casseroles for the Good Shepherd Centre, and exploring Muslim-Christian dialogue with Scarboro Missions.
April 22nd to April, 27th, 2013
MONDAY – LEONARD MARCHIE Requested by Teresa Marchie & Family TUESDAY – JULIANNA FOZY Requested by the Family WEDNESDAY – THANKSGIVING Requested by Jack & Wanda THURSDAY – MARCELINO FERNANDES Requested by Tita Fernandes & Family FRIDAY – GUS CALDERONE Requested by Marie Calderone SATURDAY – MILO SHEA & MARY KIERANS Requested by Kathi Leah
The Sacrament of Confirmation will be celebrated on Sunday, April 28th at 7:30 PM at St. Gabriel’s Church. In preparation for this Sacrament, a Confirmation Retreat will be held on Saturday, April 27th from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM at St. Gabriel’s Church. All candidates must attend.
Candidates are reminded to bring a signed letter from the service coordinator or a parent stating the completion or anticipated date of completion of volunteer service hours.
Tuesday, April 30th at 7:30 PM or Thursday, May 2nd at 10:30 AM
Topic: An Overview of the Old Testament – now known as the ‘Hebrew Scriptures’. For information please call Mary at 416-293-3760.
Our operating expenses average $14,550 per week.
Collection for April 14th, 2013
Envelopes (410) – $6,746 Loose Change – $1,227 Weekly Portion of Pre-Authorized Giving (186) – $3,555 Total – $11,528
Please remember to put your full name(s) on your Offertory envelopes.
Working wonders with dignity and respect for others…
As the annual charitable appeal of the Catholic community in our Archdiocese, ShareLife supports a large family of Catholic agencies that truly do feed, clothe and shelter people, care for the sick and frail, and befriend the isolated and lonely. They protect the vulnerable, guide and counsel the troubled, visit people in prison and give a voice to the voiceless. Regardless of their religious beliefs or personal background, ShareLife agencies meet people where they are, treating them with the dignity and respect we all deserve.
—Thomas Cardinal Collins, Archbishop of Toronto
Through the ShareLife Community Challenge, a generous parishioner in the Archdiocese of Toronto will match all new or increased gifts to the 2013 ShareLife Campaign up to a total of $800,000! Together, as a Catholic community, we have an opportunity to respond to this challenge and make a significant impact on the work of our agencies.
ShareLife Total for 2012: $208,317 Share Life to Date: $80,975.60
Today is ShareLife Sunday. Please give generously. You can work wonders!
Your prepared casseroles (frozen please) will be collected at the Masses next weekend for delivery to the Good Shepherd Centre. The Centre serves more than 1100 hot meals each day to the needy of Toronto, up 13 percent over last year. They desperately need your help.
More volunteers are encouraged to 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 mark the label on the pan lid with the name of the casserole. For more information, please contact Irene Albrecht at 416 221-2791.
The Leprosy Mission of Canada would like to thank the Parishioners of St. Gabriel’s for their outstanding participation in the stamp collection project. Your prayers and support are a source of strength for those trapped in a life of extreme poverty and the pain that comes from the stigma that surrounds leprosy. Your support is crucial in showing the world that leprosy is not an ancient disease, but a present reality affecting hundreds of thousands of children, women and men every day.
Wednesdays from April 17th to May 1st 2685 Kingston Road
April 24th: A Muslim Imam and a Catholic Priest in Conversation May 1st: A Christian’s Encounter with Islam
Dr. Helene Ijaz, a Christian educator with experience in Muslim-Christian relations and with interfaith marriages
Admission is free. No registration is required. For more information, please call 416-261-7135, Ext. 296 or visit www.scarboromissions.ca
April 24th to 27th from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM 100 Wellesley Street West, 1st Floor Solarium
Regis College is holding its second Annual Used Book Sale April 24th to April 27th at Regis College, 100 Wellesley St. West. All proceeds will be directed towards financial support of furthering the education of young Jesuits and lay students.
For more information please call (416) 922-5474 ext.244; or go online to booksale@regiscollege.ca or www.regiscollege.ca/booksale .We hope you are able to attend.
May 2nd to May 5th
A Women ACTS Retreat will take place on May 2nd – 5th, based on the theme of Adoration, Community, Theology and Service. For further information or to register for either retreat, please call 905-278-5229.
Weekend of May 3rd to May 5th
RETROUVAILLE: Help for Troubled Marriages is a live-in weekend program followed by a number of Post sessions to help married couples through difficult times in their marriage relationships. It provides the tools necessary to rediscover each other and examine their lives together in a new and positive way.
For confidential information or to register for a weekend, visit the web site at: www.torontoretrouvaille.com or call 416-281-6007.
For those who have lost a loved one through Death, Separation or Divorce. May 7th from 7:00 to 9:00 PM Archdiocese of Toronto Pastoral Centre – 1155 Yonge St., 4th Floor
(on the North East corner of Yonge and Shaftesbury, beside the Summerhill subway station. There is free underground parking off Shaftesbury)
Come and join us for an informative evening: Our Facilitator is Father Brian Clough J.C.D., Topic: “Annulment: Healing the Wounds of Divorce”. Pre-registration is NOT required. For more information, please contact Deacon James Shaughnessy, MSW., RSW., Psyn.D. at 416-921-1163 ext 2227 or email jshaughn@cfstoronto.com
Weekend of May 11th & 12th
The Society for St. Vincent de Paul will hold their annual Bundle Up Collection on the weekend of May 11th/12th. Bring your gently used clothing and household linens to share with others. A St. Vincent de Paul truck will be in the Church parking lot to receive donations. We will donate or sell these donations to support our outreach efforts. Thank you for your continued support. The truck will be open on Saturday, May 11th from 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM and all day Sunday, May 12th until 4:00 PM. Volunteers will assist with the loading before and after each Mass.
5km Fundraising Walk and Hug Saturday, May 11th, 2013 8:30 AM to 12 Noon Beginning at Fort York
On Saturday, May 11th, the 12th annual Meagan’s Walk: -Creating a Circle of Hope will take place. Registration opens at 8:30 AM at Fort York and the Walk begins at 10:00 AM. The Walk concludes at SickKids with the “Hug”, followed by closing festivities, a brief stage presentation and a BBQ at SickKids. All proceeds will be split between the Meagan Bebenek Endowment Fund and awareness, research and treatment of paediatric brain tumors at SickKids. Register, Pledge, Donate at www.meaganswalk.com
| Posted in Bulletin |
April 14th, 2013
Today’s gospel story appears in the gospels of Luke, Matthew and John. Luke and Matthew place this event at the beginning of Jesus ministry. After this amazing catch of fish Jesus tells Peter and the others that from now on they would be fishers of people.
In this week’s bulletin, ShareLife Sunday, Just Coffee, and Exploring Muslim-Christian Dialogue with Scarboro Missions.
April 7th, 2013
There are different ways people deal with grief. Normally we have a time of viewing. Before the funeral people come together for support, and prayers. It can be a time for renewing old acquaintances, there is a saying among families ‘the only time we see one another is at wakes and weddings.’ A family needs such support from others in their time of grief. Unfortunately after the funeral people go their separate ways and the widow or widower or the family is often left to their own devices.
Among Jewish people there is a quick burial, within 24 hours, and then the family sits Shiva. Family and friends come to support those who are grieving. A Shiva could last up to seven days. Usually everyone brings something to eat. They support the grieving family and are with them after the burial.
Some people will have what they call a ‘celebration of life’ sometime later on. Maybe they need some time to adjust to the death of someone they’ve loved or maybe they are avoiding the whole thing.
I think that Thomas was just as shattered as the other disciples were, but he tried to deal with the shock and brutality of Jesus’s death all by himself. He isolated himself from the company of the others and missed their experience of seeing the Risen Christ. When the others told him of what they saw and heard he wouldn’t believe them. He had to see and touch. When Jesus came the next time Thomas was back in the community. All he could say in answer to Jesus’ invitation – put your finger here and see my hands, put your hand into my side – do not doubt but believe – was the stammer, ‘my lord and my God.’
One of the lessons we can take from this gospel is that we need the presence and support of our community of faith. We need one another to share our joys and to see us through the dark days that are part and parcel of all our lives.
There are scripture scholars who say that this story of the ‘doubting Thomas’ “was made up by the apostle John.” Tradition maintains that John was the last of the Apostles to die. John was the last living person who saw and ate with the Risen Christ. So John created the doubting Thomas as a model for those who would never see the risen Christ and yet still believe the truth of those who did. More blessed are those who have not seen and still believe.
The disciples had to come to faith in the risen Lord when they saw him; so those who have not seen him can still have the blessedness of faith through believing the testimony of the first witnesses.
There can be times in our lives, times of great sorrow, times when we are faced with an illness that can lead only to death, times when we know that life is unfair, unjust, there can be times when depression takes over our lives, times when we allow ourselves to forget the blessings with which our lives have been blessed. Spiritual writers call these times the dark night of the soul. It is during such times as these that the words of John can ring true for us – blessed are those who have not seen and despite all evidence to the contrary still believe – still trust the truth that they are loved, forgiven and healed by Christ who died and rose from the dead. The apostle John would say, “truly worthy of esteem are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” It is in these times we need the support and understanding of others.
We all know good people, friends and family members who have, for whatever reason, distanced themselves from the church. They tell us they are religious or spiritual but they don’t see the church as necessary. As I said, these are good people. They are there when we need them, they do good works, they help the poor, and they even go to far off lands and work with the poor. As someone said of such people, “these honest agnostics use their goodness and God given strengths and talents to help their brothers and sisters in their struggles for justice and fairness.” He writes, “God does not ask us to have a faith that is certain, but a service that is sure.”
We have the assurance that, should we faithfully help carry others through the rough spots of their lives, without first thinking of ourselves, we will one day find ourselves before the person of Christ who will gently say to us: “See for yourself, that I am real, and not a ghost. Blessed are those who have not seen but believe. For whatever you did for one of these the least of these brothers and sisters of mine you did to me.”
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