March 8th, 2009
We all know this story of God demanding that Abraham offer his only son Isaac as a sacrifice. We wonder what kind of a God would ask for such a thing, ask a father to kill his only son. We have to remember we are talking about a very primitive stage in the development of religious belief. In order to placate God or plead with God or thank God people offered sacrifices – gifts – to God. Many times the gift offered was what was most important and most precious to the person offering the gift. There were times when that gift was a child, a son, a daughter. Human sacrifice was not unheard of in those days. So when God made this request of Abraham he was not shocked, confused for sure, but not shocked. Abraham would be confused because God made him a promise that through his only son Isaac Abraham would have descendents as numerous as the sands on the sea shore. Through Isaac his family name would continue til the end of time. This demand of God was in complete contradiction to this promise. Abraham still trusted that God would fulfill that promise no matter what and so he offered what God asked of him.
We hear in the story that God stayed the knife wielding hand of Abraham and God restated his former promise to him, “I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand on the seashore because you have obeyed my voice.”
Abraham became the father of all believers, the model of all those who trust in the presence, the fidelity and the love of God no matter how many circumstances in their lives tell them differently.
Our second reading tells of another Father, a Father who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all. God stopped the hand of Abraham from striking his son but God did not stop the hands of those who whipped His Son, God did not stop the hands of those who wove the cruel crown of thorns and pressed them down into His Son’s head, God did not stop the hands of those who slapped His Son’s face to humiliate and mock Him, God did not stop the hands of those who put a cross on His Son’s shoulders, God did not stop the hands of those who drove the nails through His Son’s hands and feet, God did not stop the hands of those who raised His Son up on the cross.
In our first reading God asked Abraham to give Him what was most precious to him, his only Son Isaac. In our second reading we heard of God giving up what was most precious to Him, Jesus His only Son as a sign and pledge of God’s great love for each of us.
So often, when we face our own faults and failings and we imagine God to be so angry or fed up and tired of our weaknesses we can’t seem to get our heads around what today’s scripture is telling us, “God who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, will he not, with him, give us everything else?”
“Who will separate us from the love of Christ?” The love of the crucified Christ sweeps over us like a tsunami; it overwhelms us, engulfs us, and sweeps us up. In one of his letters St. Paul claims, nothing can come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord. What we’re talking about here is not our love for God but God’s love for us. God’s love for us is a given, proven beyond all doubt. Our response, our openness to that love is another issue.
The only thing that can come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus is ourselves and our unwillingness to open our lives to the love and life offered us by the crucified Christ. The only thing that can come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord is our unwillingness to distance ourselves from persons or places or mind sets or life styles that come between us and the life and love Christ offers us.
You’ve heard of the story of the young couple out for an evening drive. He’s behind the steering wheel, she over by the passenger door. She looks at him and says, “We didn’t sit like this when we were courting”. He looks at her and says, “I haven’t moved.” If anything can come between us and the love of God, it is our distancing ourselves from such a love.
During these days of Lent we can pray for ourselves and for each other that we come to grips with the awesome truth we celebrate and remember in this Eucharist, “God did not spare His Own Son but gave Him up for us all.”
| Posted in Homily |
Stations of the Cross will take place on Friday evenings during Lent, at 7:30 PM.
Wednesday, April 1st at 7:30 PM
This is an opportunity to spend some time in peace and quiet, to reflect upon how we are responding to our call to be sons and daughters of God. Recognizing the fact that we are “good people”, we also accept the fact that good people can sin. Through an examination of conscience we face those sins, admit them and are reconciled to God. For those who wish, individual confessions will be celebrated after the service. We encourage you to take advantage of this celebration.
Total: $11,183
–>
Number of Envelopes Issued: 1,136 Number of Envelopes Used: 521
Tuesday, March 10th at 7:30 PM Topic: How the Bible Was Written
Wednesday, March 18th at 10:30 AM Topic: The Reformation
In case of inclement weather, please call Mary Landry at 416-293-3760.
Lent is a great time to take a look at our relationships – especially our relationship with God. On Thursday, March 26th from 10 AM to 3 PM, we will take time to look at how, when and where the Spirit of God dwells within us (St. Paul). Lunch will be provided (suggested cost $10) so please register. Call Mary Landry at 416 221-8866.
The youth of St. Gabriel’s will hold a meeting in the Gabriel Room on Sunday, March 15th right after the 12:30 PM Mass.
The following will be on the agenda: *Easter Egg Fundraising Campaign *Musical Talent Showcase
March 28th 8:30 PM to 9:30 PM
As you know, on March 28th, cities around the world will be celebrating Earth Hour. By the simple action of turning off the lights, Earth Hour intends to reinforce the powerful message about the need for action on global warming. Participating cities are encouraging their citizens to turn off their lights from 8:30 to 9:30 PM.
As parishioners of Canada’s First Green Church, we at St. Gabriel’s will also be celebrating Earth Hour here in our church during that time. We encourage all of you to participate in this important gesture. Please see the bulletin next week for further details.
Fair trade organic coffees will be on sale after all the Masses next weekend.
Regular ground Coffee: $5 Decaffeinated $6 Whole Beans $5 Chocolate Bars: $4 including taxes Hot Chocolate and Cocoa: $4.50 Teas: $3.25 to $4.00 by variety
On March 27th at 7:00 PM here at St. Gabriel’s Church
Cardinal Carter Choir will be performing with the Elmer Iseler Singers. More details in next week’s bulletin.
The Christian Jewish Dialogue of Toronto is again sponsoring the Walking in God’s Path Series this year. The series seeks to stimulate real conversation between Jewish and Christian congregations. As in last year, St. Gabriel’s will be one of the participating institutions. The themes to be explored this year are:
March 11th at 7:30 PM Beth Tzedec Congregation 1700 Bathurst Street (south of Eglinton)
Closing Event: Where are We Going and How Do We Get There March 18th at 7:30 PM Beth Tzedec Congregation
The closing program will feature a panel discussion between Fr. Paul McGill, retired Anglican Archbishop, Terrence Finlay and Rabbi Erwin Schild, to be moderated by Mr. Frank Faulke, producer of the CBC Series, Tapestry. These meetings will allow us to further explore the Jewish roots of our Christian faith. It will also offer a good opportunity, for those interested, to meet some of our Jewish friends and to visit different synagogues.
As a partner institution, St. Gabriel’s will be hosting the first meeting of the series. The focus, very appropriately for our parish, will be on ecological justice. The discussion will be lead by Father Paul, our pastor.
For further information on this series of events, please contact Fatima Lee at 416-221-8866.
It’s a wonder children in isolated regions receive sacramental training…
Last year, we approached the Pastoral Mission Fund with an application requesting financial help for a faith formation program. at Govindapuram mission parish (India). On the concluding day, the Holy Eucharist was celebrated by our bishop. He administered the sacrament of Confirmation on 64 children. It was a memorable day for our people, especially the children. This was all possible because of your generous contribution. Thank you.
Fr. Kanmury Niranjan, St. Mary’s Church, Govindapuram
With your help, we can work wonders!
Upcoming Weekend Date: April 17 -19, 2009
Married Couples: You deserve a weekend to celebrate being together; to rediscover each other and to focus on ways to make your relationship even better. A Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend offers this opportunity. Consider giving each other or another couple that you know the gift of a weekend away from daily pressures; time to be with each other and with God on a Marriage Encounter Weekend.
For Further information or registration, please contact Cora and Mike Bryce at 905-896-2958 or by email at cora-mikebryce@sympatico.ca
Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 2:00 PM, Blessed Trinity Hall Guest speaker, Len Walker, will talk on “The Origin of the Universe”. Prospective members are cordially invited to attend.
Day of Recollection: With Bishop Richard Grecco
Monday, March 16, 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM at Blessed Trinity Parish. Tickets: $16 (includes lunch) Call Camilla at 905 763-7670 or Joyce 416 221-2471.
| Posted in Bulletin |
March 5th, 2009
| Posted in Events |
March 1st, 2009
It is stating the obvious to say life is all about relationships. Lent offers us all a time to reflect upon our relationships, relationship with family and friends and co-workers and neighbours, fellow parishioners and especially our relationship with God. The truth of the matter is that the quality of all these relationship determines the quality of our relationship with God. In the gospel we hear of Jesus driven into the desert by the Holy Spirit. In that bleak place He was to ponder His own relationship with God and what that relationship would demand of Him. Once he understood what was asked of him He came back from the desert with the demanding message ‘repent and believe in the good news’.
To repent requires a change of mind and heart, a change in our attitudes and understanding of things. This is a life long process. Repentance goes way beyond giving up chocolate or scotch for forty days. That may take will power but the repentance to which Jesus calls us is an invitation to turn away from habits and mindsets that have become almost a part of our make up as persons but are barriers to our becoming the men and women God calls us to be. When we hold back from loving others, accepting others, respecting others we hold back and diminish our relationship with God.
If we want to, we can use these days of Lent to take a look at what is good and what is needed in all our relationships. Instead of saying ‘do we need to’ maybe we could say, ‘do we want to’. Do we want to spend more time with the family, do we want to be more patient with children, do we want to show we appreciate those we say we love, do we want to take the time to call or visit aging parents, do we want to be more aware of the poor and needy in our community, do we want to mend broken relationships, apologize for the wrong we’ve done, do we want to forgive those who have wronged us, do we want to deepen our relationship with God by spending a few minutes in peace, quiet and prayer each day, do we want to mend a broken relationship with God through the Sacrament of Reconciliation? The list could go on and on.
In our first reading from Genesis we heard the story of Noah and the Ark. According to the story God sent the flood because of the sins and the infidelity of the people. He found Noah and his family faithful and so they were spared. The part we heard today seems to have God saying, ‘let’s give this another try’ and so He enters into a new covenant, a bonding with Noah and his family. God makes the promise never to destroy the earth again by a flood. To show God is at peace with humanity God sets His bow in the sky. God changes an instrument of war, the bow and arrow into a sign of peace. God enters into a new relationship with humanity. But not just with humanity. God’s covenant is with Noah and his family and with every living creature that is with him. God binds Himself to all living things upon the earth.
One of our relationships that needs the most healing, the most attention is our relationship with all living things that share this planet with us. The truth of the matter is, we have alienated ourselves from the earth community by our exploitation of earth’s resources, living and not living. Because of our disconnect with the earth community we have done great damage to earth. We have done great damage to ourselves. As you’ve heard me say before; “the earth does not belong to us we belong to the earth and what we do to the earth we do to ourselves.”
Last December there was an article in the Star titled “Don’t fix the economy, change it”. A main topic of concern in Canada right now is the budget. The article talks about the ecological budget and the need for nations to plan their budgets around the ecological budget.
The article says “the ecological budget on which all life and consequently the human economy depend is already in dramatic deficit.” Why is this budget more important than the fiscal budget? The author claims that September 23, 2008 was Earth Overshoot Day. The period after Sept 23rd represents the time the human population causes an ecological deficit, using up the earth faster than the earth can regenerate. Every year Earth Overshoot Day comes earlier. This moving date tells the story of a global environment rapidly losing its ability to support life; accelerating climate change, the loss of species, the proliferation of ocean dead zones, diminishing fresh water resources. All these are indications of a harsh reality we avoid facing; that the global environment is rapidly losing its ability to support life, our life, all life.
This is heavy stuff but Lent is about heavy stuff, repentance, changing our mindsets and attitudes. If we are willing to use Lent as a time to take a serious look at the health and wholeness of our relationships then this is one relationship that needs our attention – our relationship with all living creatures that share the earth with us. We can use Lent to examine our life styles, the way we consume, the way we waste, the way we litter. Because of the economic crisis touching so many nations, including our own, people are going to have to make changes in the way they live their lives. Because of the ecological deficit facing the globe we are all going to have to look at the way we live upon the earth. We do this not because we have to but because we want to. We want to heal our relationships with every living creature that share earth with us.
Think on this: our daily small actions multiplied by millions are having a devastating effect on the planet, but by the same token our daily positive actions multiplied by millions can have a healing effect on the planet. Two examples: think of how things have changed since people became more and more aware of the ill effects of smoking. Think of how things have changed since Loblaw’s started charging for plastic bags. Little things, but little things have a powerful impact.
As we continue to celebrate this Mass we can pray for ourselves and for each other that we all be blessed with the gift of repentance, a desire to change the way we think of and relate to God’s good creation. May we make our own this native prayer; Gracious God, give us hearts to understand; never to take from creation’s beauty more than we give; never to destroy wantonly for the furtherance of greed; never to deny to give our hands for the building of earth’s beauty; never to take from her what we cannot use. Give us hearts to understand that to destroy earth’s music is to create confusion; that to wreck her appearance is to blind us to beauty; that to callously pollute her fragrance it to make a house of stench; that as we care for her, she will care for us.
Beginning tomorrow, March 2nd, Mass will be celebrated daily, Monday to Friday, at 9:00 AM.
Total: $9,093
Number of Envelopes Issued: 1,136 Number of Envelopes Used: 465
Wednesday, March 4th at 10:30 AM Topic: The Reformation
Next meeting: Tuesday, March 3rd at 8:00 PM St. Bonaventure’s Church. Fr. Paul Cusack will speak on the “Power of Forgiveness.”
Friday March 6th from 9:30 AM to 12:00 Noon. Please see the time schedule on the table inside the Church.
Sunday, March 1st at 3:30 PM in the Gabriel Room For information, please contact Linda Law at 416-918-8029.
Saturday, March 7th at 3:15 PM in the Library For information, please contact Linda Law at 416 -918-8029.
Thank you to the volunteers who prepared 51 casseroles for the Good Shepherd Centre for February. For March, your prepared casseroles (frozen please) will be collected at all the Masses on the weekend of March 28/29 for delivery to the Good Shepherd Centre. More volunteers are encouraged to become active in helping to feed our less fortunate sisters and brothers.
If you require more information or would like to get a copy of the recipe and a casserole pan, please contact Irene Albrecht at 416-221-2791.
How Jews and Christians Perceive Jesus March 4th at 7:30 PM St. Phillip the Apostle Anglican Church 201 Caribou Road (Bathurst & Lawrence)
Friday, March 6th at 2:00PM Trinity Presbyterian Church 2737 Bayview Avenue (just south of the 401)
The World Day of Prayer is an ecumenical service which takes place throughout the world in Christian Churches.
This year, the celebration will be hosted by Trinity Presbyterian Church. Please join us.
The theme of the 2009 ShareLife campaign truly reflects the power the Catholic community has to make a meaningful difference in society. Wonders happen daily at ShareLife agencies, as troubled, needy and vulnerable people in our midst receive effective, compassionate care. This year, make a contribution to the ShareLife campaign to assist over 225,000 people in need.
“It’s very appropriate that ShareLife should be emphasized during lent, a time when we think of what’s most important in our lives. Action in the service of others is at the very heart of it and that’s the point of ShareLife; it’s really the Share Life with others.” Most Rev. Thomas Collins, Archbishop of Toronto
ShareLife Sunday – March 29th, 2009 With your help, we can work wonders!
On March 7th, 2009, from 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM, the Green Awakening Network and Faith and the Common Good are jointly organizing a workshop “Faith Communities: Catalysts for Community Action” at Lawrence Park Community Church.
If you are concerned about the environment, and would like to get involved to work against climate change personally and/or in a group, this workshop will not only heighten your awareness of the issues, but will also give you practical ideas about how to get started.
You will learn about how to
You will also get to meet other people who are committed to making a difference in the righting of our relationship with Creation.
Details about the workshop are posted on the bulletin boards of the Church. We are encouraged to attend as a group; and we do plan to go as a group from St Gabriel’s. The registration fee is $15 per participant (lunch included).
For further information or to register, please contact Fatima Lee at (416) 221-8866 ext 228.
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