July 10th, 2009
| Posted in Events |
July 5th, 2009
I’d like to say a few words on today’s second reading from Paul’s letter to the Christian community in Corinth. Paul had a lot of difficulties with this community. His authority, his preaching, his integrity was challenged by disgruntled people in the community. Paul refused to back off from his vocation as an apostle, just as Ezekiel and Jesus refused to back away from their vocation as prophets. As we know, prophets were men or women who didn’t foretell the future, they named the present properly – often times in a way that exposed it faithlessness and injustice.
In defense of role as overseer of this Corinthian community Paul – in the verses previous to today’s reading Paul tells of some of his spiritual experiences, about visions and revelations he had from Christ. He found it difficult to put these experiences into words. He claimed he was caught up into paradise and heard things which must not and cannot be put into human language.
Then we have today’s reading where Paul tells us that in view of these extraordinary experiences, to keep him from getting too proud, too self confident, he was given this ‘thorn in the flesh’. In other words, in spite of all these gifts Paul still had to deal with his own humanity, his own short comings. We have no idea what this thorn was but it was meant to keep Paul mindful of the fact that it was God’s grace, God’s gift that made him apostle and preacher and kept him faithful to Christ. Paul knew he had to hand over to God his human needs and weaknesses because he knew from his own experience it was the weak things God chose to confound the strong and the foolish things God chose to confound the wise. Paul was deeply aware of the reality of his life ‘the good that I would, that I do not and the evil that I would not do, that I do.” Paul trusted that Christ could see through Paul’s opinionated ways, his impatience with those who disagreed with him and see the basic goodness that was in him.
We’ve all heard the expression ‘ pulling yourself up with your own boot straps’ we’ve heard of the self made person, we’ve heard the song,” I did it my way”. All these expressions smack of pride, arrogance and egoism. When we try to live our lives guided by these convictions we are in for trouble and disappointment. We are bound to be overwhelmed by a sense of failure and shame as we try to cope with our own personal ‘thorn in the flesh.’ We are bound to be hurt if we fail to put aside such convictions of doing it our way and open our lives to try to do it Christ’s way. Like Paul we have to trust the truth that Christ can see beyond our weaknesses and love the basic goodness that is in all of us. Like Paul we could be glad of our weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in us.
At each Eucharist when we hear the words, this is my body, this is my blood – as Christ hands himself over to us, we can respond by saying to Christ, this is my anger, this is my discouragement, this is my unwillingness to forgive, this is my resentment toward others, this is my lack of care for the poor, this is my self indulgence, this is my temptation toward infidelity, this is my indifference to You, my lack of faith. I hand them over to You and the power of Your grace.
Whatever be that thorn in our lives that keeps us from being the person we wish to be, the Christian we wish to be; let these be our offerings at Mass. As Christ gifts Himself to us we give Him all these wounds and weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell is us. Whenever we offer our weakness to Christ then He offers His strength to us.
At each Mass we can say ‘this is me, gifted with many gifts, this is me weakened by my self inflicted wounds, nourish me with Your body and blood, save me from being discouraged by my weaknesses, help me realize that when I am weak, then I am strong.
As we continue this Mass having heard in the scriptures of the struggles of Paul may each of us be blessed with the conviction that kept him faithful, for all his failing, that the power of Christ was with him and that is was by God’s grace he was who is was – as it is with each of us – by God’s grace I am what I am.
| Posted in Homily |
June 28th, 2009
In today’s gospel we hear of two wonderful works of love and mercy on the part of Jesus; curing the woman who suffered poor health for years and the raising a young girl to life. Both these wonders involved touching. “If I but touch his clothes I will be made well” and “Jesus took her by the hand and said, little girl get up.”
I’d like to focus on the raising the young girl to life. In a society that valued men over women and sons over daughters this father’s concern for his daughter’s well being is remarkable. Maybe she was his only child. He was a person of importance yet in desperation he falls at the feet of Jesus and begs, pesters Jesus to come to his home and just touch his daughter and make her well again.
Have you ever been to a wake and sense that the grieving in the room is almost tangible? The grief, the sorrow, the mourning, the hurt is so intense. You’d give anything to be able to change things, turn things around, you wish you could go to the casket and say “get up, be well” and restore that dead person to his/her family. You know that’s not possible but you wish it were.
Have you thought about what a tragedy it is that so often we wait until someone dies to appreciate how much they meant to us, what good people they were, what good things they did in life? Have you ever grieved over the fact that you put off visiting them while they were ill and confined to home or hospital? A sudden death is like that thief in the night who robs us of one last chance to say to someone we love; ‘I love you, thank you, I’m sorry, I understand.’ Have you ever wanted to turn back the clock for a day, an hour, even a minute just for that one last chance to say and do the things you wished you’d said and done?
As I mentioned these two wonders in today’s gospel are about touching and being touched. We touch people in so many ways; by our words, by our actions, by our attitudes.
A lesson we can learn from today’s gospel is that every day of life we are offered an opportunity to be sources of life and love and healing to family, friend and stranger as we reach out to touch them by a kind word, an understanding word, a forgiving word, an encouraging word. St. Paul tells us, “say only the good things people need to hear, things that will really help them.” Every day we can speak kind and encouraging words that help people endure the pain of depression and alienation. Every day we say words of gratitude to seniors, letting them know their lives were worthwhile, their lives made a difference. Every day we can speak words of encouragement to young people unsure of their possibilities, their future. Every day we can speak words of comfort and consolation and ease the anxiety of those who are ill and frightened. Every day we can speak words of peace and apology that placate and calm the anger in others. Every day we can speak words of consolation to those who mourn the loss of someone they loved.
Every day we can reach out and touch, heal and enliven others as we put aside our prejudices or narrow mindedness towards good people of other cultures, faiths or lifestyles and come to treat them with respect, realizing Christ died for them as much as He died for us. Everyday we can reach out and touch and heal and enliven men and women less fortunate than ourselves, who struggle to survive on welfare checks and food banks as we try to understand what it must be like to live under their circumstances.
We hear much about the culture of death and the culture of life. As followers of the healing, loving, life giving Christ we try to foster a culture of life within ourselves, being sensitive to all those occasions when we can be sources of healing, life and love to others.
Jesus said “I have come that you may have life and have it to the full.” His ministry was all about preaching the good news of God’s love for all of us and calling people out of selfishness and sin into the new life of grace and love.
As we continue to celebrate this Mass we can pray for ourselves and for each other that however and whenever we touch other people’s lives – family, friend or stranger – it will be a touch for healing, a touch for life, and a touch for love.
Congratulations to the Graduating Class of 2009 from St. Gabriel’s School. We wish them a happy, healthy and bright future.
R.C.I.A. (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) meetings begin on Monday, September 21st, 2009 at 8:00 PM. These evenings are for persons interested in learning about the Catholic Faith. Because the Parish Community itself is considered the official teacher and guide for potential new members, it is important that some parishioners participate by being present and by sharing their Faith in various ways. It is also an opportunity for “Born Catholics” to deepen their understanding of the faith. Adult Catholics who wish to celebrate the Sacrament of the Eucharist and/or Confirmation are welcome. For more information, please call Mary Landry at 416-221-8866.
Total: $8874
–>
Total 2008: $174,507.20
Total to Date: $165,861.51
Registration forms for the Children’s Faith Program for next year are now available in the Parish Office. Please note that all registrations must be returned by June 30th. Volunteers from the Parish to teach or to assist the teachers are always welcome. Please contact Lynette Fernandes at lynettefern@yahoo.com if interested.
The Senior Choir and Junior Choir will be taking a well earned break for July and August. We want to thank all of these gifted participants for their Ministry of Music. We would like to invite others to consider this important leadership role. The Senior Choir practices Tuesday evenings from 7:30 to 9:00 and sings at the 10:30 Mass. The Junior Choir practices Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 8:00 and sings at the 12:30 Mass. We invite all to consider joining! For more information, please call Marilyn Calderone at 416 – 618 – 2041.
Remember “Those who sing pray twice!”
A Marriage Preparation Course will take place at St. Gabriel’s Church on the weekend of November 6h to 8th. If you are interested, please contact the Parish Office. at 416-221-8866. Register early as space is limited.
For the summer, your prepared chicken rice casseroles (frozen please) will be collected at all the Masses on July 25th /26th and August 29th /30th. Please mark your calendars as there is no bulletin during the summer. For more information, contact Irene Albrecht at 416-221-2791.
On Sunday, August 23rd the Feast of St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows will be celebrated at Immaculate Conception Parish, 300 Ansley Grove Road in Woodbridge. Communal singing, prayers and confession will take place in the Church during the afternoon. A Procession and outdoor Mass will begin at 3:00 PM. Please inform all your friends.
Catholic Cemeteries – Archdiocese of Toronto wishes to invite all families within the Archdiocese of Toronto to participate in the Annual Mass for the Faithful Departed on Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 at 7:00 PM.
Cemetery locations and celebrants for this year’s annual Mass are as follows:
The Office of Catholic Youth of the Archdiocese of Toronto is calling on young people to attend the 2009 Youth Rally to be held on July 27th and 28th at Martyr’s Shrine Midland. Visit www.ocytoronto.org for more details and to register.
The synagogues of the Bayview Corridor, together with “Between Friends” are collecting some badly needed items for fourteen Aboriginal communities in Northern Ontario.
Most requested items are:
(not text books, damaged or written in)
Donations can be dropped off at “Kids Come First” Daycare, 40 Westminster Drive, Thornhill (Steeles between Bathurst and Dufferin) between 7:30 AM and 2:00 PM, Monday to Friday.
If you have any questions, please contact Fatima Lee at 416-221-8866.
World renowned New Testament scholar Professor Raymond Collins has accepted an invitation from the parish to give a workshop on Paul in the fall (October 5th to 7th , 2009). Please mark your calendars and stay tuned.
Masses are celebrated:
| Posted in Bulletin |
June 21st, 2009
Last Friday was the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It was also the 50th anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood. I was ordained with 13 others by Bishop Cuthbert O’Gara a Passionist Bishop who had been jailed and finally exiled from China. Of the 14 ordained 5 of us are still in active ministry. Seven left and married, three are dead.
The other day someone asked me if I had to do all over again would I do it. My answer was yes. I would do some things, maybe many things differently but thank God these past 50 years have been good to me. I like using that quote from the book A Complicated Kindness in which a young woman describes her life as “an embarrassment of blessings.” Certainly my life has been an embarrassment of blessing.
I have to tell you that what has been the greatest support to me these past 50 years of priesthood is seeing you good people live out your own priesthood. Our Baptism has made us all priests. We don’t hear too much about the priesthood of the faithful but through baptism we are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people set apart. A priest offers the sacrifice of the Mass. But I have been inspired by the many sacrifices you good parents make in raising your children and staying together as a family. A priest baptizes infants into the life of the church but it has been wonderful to see so many of you live out your priesthood as you pass on the faith to these children by the example of your own lives. A priest celebrates reconciliation with people but you good people do the same as you heal old wounds and let go of past hurts and bring about family peace and harmony. The priest anoints the sick but how many of you sustain the sick by your presence to them in their hours of isolation and loneliness and as you care for aging parents or spouses? A priest preaches the good news and so do you. You preach your faith and trust in God as you face and overcome life’s crises and disappointments and as you celebrate the joys and wonders of your lives.
In living out our priesthoods there are many times when we experience the distance of God, the absence of God in our lives. Like the disciples in today’s gospel caught up in that violent, life threatening storm how often have we asked the seemingly sleeping Christ, “Lord, do you not care that we are perishing’? Do you not care we are being swamped by so many worries and frights? Think of the number of times we were convince God was asleep, God was not interested in our anxieties and confusions. Our faith was tested and maybe found wanting when we wondered, ‘is it worth all this trouble?” But in those times of testing Jesus was using tough love to invite our faith to go deeper. In time the winds did cease and there was a great calm and we came to know that God was with us all along and we carried on.
It’s true this is an important milestone in my life – I never thought I’d last this long. I believe the best way to celebrate this anniversary is to celebrate and give thanks for the priesthood we all share in our baptism, praying for each other that as we live our priesthood in the ordinary living of our ordinary lives the love of Christ will urge us on, so that we may live no longer for ourselves but for Him and for each other and together remain in His love.
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
