September 23rd, 2012
We can better understand our first reading from the Book of Wisdom if we put it into context. The common thinking of the time was that what we see is all there is, there is nothing beyond it. The author of this book tells us the thinking of the times was along these lines: “short and sorrowful is our life and there is no remedy when life comes to an end and no one has been known to return from Hades. For we were born by mere chance and hereafter we shall be as though we had never been. Our name will be forgotten in time and no one will remember our works, our life will pass away like the traces of a cloud… for our allotted time is the passing of a shadow and there is no return from death…. Come then let us enjoy the good things that exist and make use of creation to the full… let us take costly wine and perfumes and let no flower of spring pass us by… let none of us fail to share in our revelry and everywhere let us leave signs of our enjoyment because this is our portion and this is our lot.”
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| Posted in Homily |
September 24th to September 29th, 2012
MONDAY – ROSIE JOSEPH Requested by Margaret TUESDAY – MARION HILL Requested by Nora Kerr WEDNESDAY – ADONIS PEREZ Requested by Mary Alice Mahony THURSDAY – MICHAEL DONAGHY Requested by the Family FRIDAY – THE DECEASED MEMBERS OF THE DON & NGUYEN FAMILIES Requested by the Nguyen Family SATURDAY – GORDON OATWAY Requested by the Family
The Parish Family of St. Gabriel’s would like to welcome:
These children received the Sacrament of Baptism last weekend. Congratulations!
School Age Children Parish Office September 25th, September 27th, October 2nd, October 4th
Registration for children who wish to receive the Sacraments of First Communion, Reconciliation and Confirmation will be held at the Parish Office from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM on the following evenings:
Please Note: A copy of the child’s Baptismal Certificate is required if registering for First Communion or Confirmation.
The Altar Service is now recruiting new members. If you are in Grade 4 or higher and are interested in becoming an altar server, please leave your name and phone number with the Parish Office at 416-221-8866. The orientation and training for new members will be held on Sunday, September 30th from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM in the Church.
“Those who sing pray twice.” Our senior choir practices on Tuesday evenings, 7:30–9:00 PM and leads community song at the 10:30 AM Sunday Mass. Our junior choir practices on Thursday evenings from 6:30–8:00 PM and leads the music at the 12:30 PM Mass. We always welcome new voices and hope you will consider joining us! For more information, please contact the choir director after any of the Masses.
The Children’s Liturgy of the Word will begin on Sunday, September 30th at the 10:30 AM Mass.
If you have, or know of, school age children (ages 7 to 14) who wish to prepare for Baptism, please contact the Parish Office, or Fatima Lee directly, at 416-221-8866. Classes for them will begin in early October.
The Children’s Faith Program for children attending private or public schools began on September 9th.. The next class will be held on Sunday, September 23rd at 10:00 AM at St. Gabriel’s School.
R.C.I.A. (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) meetings will begin this year at the end of September. These meetings are for persons interested in learning more about the Catholic Faith, who may eventually decide to seek baptism into the Catholic Church, as well as for those who wish seek Reception into Full Communion with the Catholic Church. Adult Catholics who want to prepare for the celebration of Confirmation are also welcome. In many ways, these meetings may also provide an opportunity for “Born Catholics” to deepen their understanding of the faith. For more information, please call the Parish Office at (416) 221-8866.
Tuesday, October 9th at 7:30 PM
Did Adam and Eve eat an apple? Did Jonah live inside the whale for 3 days? Did the Flood last 40 days or 120 days? Come and find out. Beginning Tuesday, October 9th at 7:30 PM, Mary Landry will present an overview of the Old Testament – now known as the ‘Hebrew Scriptures’. St. Jerome said that ignorance of these Scriptures is ignorance of Christ. Come and see what he meant! For information or to register please call Mary at 416-293-3760.
CASSEROLES Your prepared casseroles (frozen please) will be collected at the Masses next weekend for delivery to the Good Shepherd Centre. 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. 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.
THANKSGIVING FOOD DRIVE Currently, Good Shepherd Ministries serves more than 1,000 meals a day to people who would otherwise have gone hungry, an increase of 10% over last year. Please make a difference in the lives of those most in need within our community by participating in the annual Thanksgiving Food Drive. Urgently needed items include:
Please no fresh or frozen foods. We thank you for your generous support!
Tuesday, September 25th at 7:30 PM Gabriel Room
Would you like to know more about Haiti first hand, and what its present situation is?
Two of our parishioners, Eric and Helen Pierre, have been very much involved with rebuilding efforts in Haiti after the earthquake. Eric is from Haiti itself, and he has been serving as the honorary consul of Haiti in Toronto. After the earthquake, Eric and Helen were instrumental in building a school in one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Haiti, and also with helping women move towards self-reliance by making handicrafts using milk-bags (yes, transforming our plastic milk-bags from waste to life-giving material).
Eric and Helen will be sharing their experiences with fellow parishioners on Tuesday, September 25th at 7:30 PM in the Gabriel Room. Please join them for an evening of sharing and perhaps even some thought-provoking discussion – how did Haiti get to where it was, its present situation, and what it can become. We will also explore how we can support their efforts at a grassroots level.
The St. Vincent de Paul Society is looking for a one bedroom basement apartment for a neighbor in need. This single parent with a toddler can manage $650 a month. If you know of a possible rental, please call the Parish Office.
Sunday, September 30th at the 10:30 AM Mass
As reported earlier, our refugee family has arrived safely in Toronto at the end of July. Now they are beginning to settle in to their new life in Canada. The adults are in ESL classes and the child just started Grade 6. Our Refugee Sponsorship Committee has been doing a wonderful job helping with their settlement.
On Sunday, September 30th, the family will be joining our parish community for the 10:30 AM Mass. It will be an opportunity for us to give thanks to God together. Please join us if you can. After Mass, they will stay and meet with our parishioners. Although their English is still limited at this time, please take a few moments to come up and welcome them, or even try start a simple conversation with them.
Our operating expenses average $13,750 per week. Collection for September 16th, 2012
Loose Change – $1,194 Envelopes (315) – $7,289 Weekly Portion of Pre-Authorized Giving (179) – $3,371 Total – $11,854
September 25th at 2:00 PM Blessed Trinity Parish Hall
The first fall meeting of the North York Retired Men’s Club will take place on Tuesday, September 25th at 2:00 PM. The Guest speaker, Elizabeth Shamehorn, will speak on the topic “Orillia, A Historical Perspective”. All retired men and their spouses are cordially invited to attend.
Tuesday, October 16th at 6:00 PM Blessed Trinity Church 3220 Bayview Avenue
Catholic Family Services and Blessed Trinity Parish invite you to attend the third annual Mass offered to end Woman Abuse on Tuesday, October 16th at Blessed Trinity Church. Light refreshments in the Parish Hall will follow the Mass. Please register by email, info@cfstoronto.com or by phone at 416-921-1163.
Save this date… October 26th. The Sneak Peek orchestra returns to St. Gabriel’s for another wonderful concert. Watch the bulletin for more details.
| Posted in Bulletin |
September 16th, 2012
In this famous scene from Caesarea Philippi when Jesus asks the disciples, “who do people say I am,” they give him many answers; John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. But Jesus really wants to know, ‘who am I to you?’ In today’s gospel we have the simple answer, “you are the Christ.”
In Matthew’s telling of this same event we hear Peter saying, “you are the Christ the Son of the living God.” Jesus goes on to tell Peter he didn’t come to such an insight on his own, God himself revealed this truth to Peter. Peter was happy to accept this insight into Jesus but he colored it with his own idea of the Christ, the Messiah. Peter’s Messiah was to be the one who was to deliver the Jewish people from the oppressive Romans. Peter’s Messiah would be a victorious liberator. When Jesus starts to tell Peter and the others what the total reality of being Messiah would entail, “the son of man must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised,” things changed.
Peter couldn’t cope with this at all; this is not the way things were to work out. Peter tells Jesus, “Far be it for you Lord, this must never happen to you.” That’s when Jesus called Peter “Satan” and a stumbling block. In Matthew’s telling of this event Jesus calls Peter a rock, a rock on which he would build his church, his community. In today’s gospel Peter is a stumbling block.
I think Jesus had his tongue in his cheek when he called Peter a rock. He knew Peter inside and out. He chooses this dedicated but fickle man to lead the church. We know that the church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ. Through the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit Jesus watches over his church, a church he entrusted to men who possess all the strengths and weaknesses found in human beings.
It’s not easy to be a Catholic these days. It’s certainly not easy being a priest these days. It was easy to be a Catholic in the glory days of Second Vatican Council led by the good Pope John. Those were days of great dreams and promises. It was easy to be a Catholic in the early days of the young, vibrant Pope John Paul 11 and bask in the impact he had on the world scene. In those days we shared in Peter’s concept of Jesus as Messiah, the deliverer, the conqueror, the church victorious. Now we are more in the time Jesus spoke of when he described how the son of man would be handed over, scourged, mocked, belittled and brought low. Today Christ in his church is beset with scandals and troubles. The churches in Ireland, in Belgium, Germany and other countries are shamed by the crimes committed against innocent children by priests and religious. We are embarrassed and angry as we learn of the concerted efforts of our bishops to cover up these crimes and move criminals to new parishes so as to keep a lid on the crimes and protect the reputation of the church. In the States we see bishops and diocesan bureaucrats brought to trial for their failure to protect the innocent children and their cover-up of the crimes of priests.
There is something we must all remember and hang on to in these painful times. The people are the church. Christ is the head of the church and we are its members. As St. Paul tells us, “when one member suffers we all suffer, when one member glories, we all glory.” Today we are a suffering, embarrassed church. Today we are one with the ridiculed and humiliated Christ. Today we must stay with the church; we do not abandon Christ as the Apostles did in their time of testing. We have the witness of the resurrection, the witness of the victorious Christ.
This isn’t the first time the leadership has failed the church. This isn’t the first time our church has been rocked by scandal. But in every age the church has been saved by the deep faith and fidelity of the people inspired by saintly men and women like Francis of Assisi and Catherine of Siena, Teresa of Avila and many others. As we continue this Mass we pray for our wounded Church, we pray for our wounded selves and ask Christ to heal all our wounds and restore us to fidelity.
September 9th, 2012
Isaiah told of a future time when a liberated people would see the wonderful works of God. ”the eyes of the blind shall be open, the ears of the deaf unstopped, the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.” Throughout his ministry Jesus could say, “this day these very words are fulfilled in your sight.”
Welcome back! In this week’s bulletin, the Children’s Faith Program begins and the RCIA program starts at the end of the month; relief funds for flooding the Philippines and crisis in the Sahel; and our parishioners share their experience in Haiti.
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
