October 19th, 2008
Today we celebrate the 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time which has always been known as Mission Sunday and it is also the feast of St. Paul of the Cross, the founder of the Passionist Community. The Passionists established and built this parish of St. Gabriel’s back in 1951.
I think we’ve been remiss in our public relations in the sense that our parishioners know little if anything about our founder and the works of the Passionists. St. Paul of the Cross was baptized Paul Daneo, born in 1694 in Ovada, a town in Northern Italy. Like the rest of us Paul had his own journey of faith. After what we would call a conversion experience he spent years trying to figure out what God wanted him to do with his life. For two years he served in the army in a crusade against the Turks. Eventually he gathered companions around him and started a religious community. With the permission of his bishop Paul starting preaching in towns and villages, later on he worked as an orderly in a hospital in Rome. Eventually Paul and his companions were ordained by Pope Benedict 13th on June 7, 1727 in St. Peter’s in Rome.
Paul of the Cross opened the first Passionist Monastery in a place called Monte Argentario in 1737 and in a few years he opened other Passionist Monasteries and finally in 1774 the Pope offered the church of Sts John and Paul in Rome as the community’s headquarters. On October 18th, 1775 Paul died in Rome. He was canonized in 1867.
Woven and intertwined through all these dates was the life of a very extraordinary man. He was a man of deep prayer. You may remember the surprise of many people when the letters of Mother Teresa were published and she told of how much of her life was lived in darkness and blind faith in the presence and love of God her. For years she felt none of the consolations of prayer. This was the experience of Paul of the Cross. For many years he lived in and preached out of such darkness.
Most of all Paul of the Cross was a great preacher. He established the Passionists to be itinerant preachers. He and his companions travelled over most of Italy going into towns and villages preaching to the poor and uneducated people. He travelled with a large mission cross and he would preach holding this cross. The crucified Christ was the text book from which he taught the people that they were loved by God. From the very beginning of the Passionists the theme of our preaching was to be the Passion of Jesus Christ and we were to keep alive in the minds and hearts of the people the memory of that Passion. Our community motto is, “May the Passion of Christ be always in our hearts.”
Pope Benedict 16th declared this year the year of St. Paul the Apostle. Paul of the Cross and the Apostle Paul had something in common, they were fixated with the passion and suffering of Jesus the Crucified. For both Pauls the crucified Christ was the love of God made visible, both Pauls knew nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. For both Pauls the crucified Christ was the magnet that drew people back to God – the love shown in the broken body of Christ was the motivation for people to turn their lives around and respond to such love by trying to live lives worthy of such love. Both Pauls wanted to spread the news of Christ’s love to one and all. Paul the Apostle is famous for his missionary journeys. Though it never happened in his life time Paul of the Cross wanted to send missionaries out to foreign countries. This dream was realized a few years after his death when Passionist missionaries were sent to Bulgaria.
Paul of the Cross had a vision of one day seeing his Passionists in England, a vision realized in 1850 when Passionists, led by a priest name Dominic Barberi established the community in England. Dominic Barberi was the one who received Cardinal Newman into the church. Passionists worked in China from 1922 until 1954 when all our priests were expelled. The bishop who ordained me was our exiled bishop from China, Bishop Cuthbert O’Gara who was originally from Ottawa. Now we have men working in Jamaica, Haiti and Honduras.
This is Mission Sunday, a day on which we pray for and support the priests, religious and lay people who spread the faith among many peoples. I ask you to be as generous as your means allow in today’s second collection. And on this feast of St. Paul of the Cross I ask you to pray for the Passionist Communities around the world that we be blessed with vocations to our community and that we always remain faithful to our original purpose – preach the good news of God’s love for humanity, a love made visible in the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ.
| Posted in Homily |
Total: $8,764.74
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We want to thank you for your generous support of the good Shepherd Thanksgiving Food Drive. Your response was outstanding!
The ceremony for the blessing of the sick will be held this weekend on Sunday, October 19th at 3:30 PM. The sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is one of the seven Sacraments. It is celebrated with those who are seriously ill, those who are preparing for surgery and the elderly. The preferred place for celebrating this Sacrament is in the Church with family and the members of the parish community present. All are more than welcome to attend.
On Saturday, October 11th at St. Paul’s Basilica, Bishop Richard Grecco conferred the Twenty -Third Annual Cardinal Carter Altar Server Award on Arthur Li, Elizabeth Li, Simon Li, Morton Nguyen, Evan Wojna and Matthew Wojna. We want to congratulate and thank these young people for their service to the parish.
Thank you for your generous support of the Bishop’s Collection on the weekend of September 28th. $1,936.53 was collected for the needs of the Canadian Church.
St. Paul of the Cross was the founder of the Passionists (1720). Born in northern Italy in1694, Paul experienced conversion at the age of 15 and began a lifetime of devotion to prayer and austerity. At age 20 he tried life as a soldier, but left after one year. Six years later, having had several visions, he determined that his vocation was to found an order dedicated to the passion of our Lord. Officials declared the visions authentic and Paul withdrew to write a rule. He was joined by his brother, who remained with him for the rest of his life. By 1747, the Passionists had three houses and were preaching missions throughout Italy. At his death in 1775, Paul was establishing a congregation for Passionist nuns.
On Wednesday morning, October 22nd at 10:30 AM, we will finish studying St. Paul’s Letters. On Tuesday evening, October 28th at 7:30 PM, our topic will be “What is Liberation Theology?” Both groups will decide what topics they wish to study through the fall. If you are interested, please come with your questions, your “puzzlements”, your concerns and interests about the faith (and sometimes doubts) we share. For further information, please call Mary Landry at 416-221-8866, Ext. 224.
BCE (Bell Canada), one of Canada’s premiere telecommunications companies, will soon become a private company (December, 2008). All common shareholders will be required to sell or donate their BCE securities and may face a large tax bill due to the greatly appreciated value of their stock. By donating your shares to our parish or the Passionist Community, you can avoid the taxes on gains. Please consult your financial advisor on this matter. You can also download the forms needed at www.stewardshiptoronto.org. Please share this message with other Catholics you know!
The parish will be holding a reception on November 1, 2008 in the gathering space of the church to welcome all the new parishioners who have joined our parish family in recent months. For those who are new to the parish, this will be an opportunity for the parish team to get to know you and to answer any questions you have regarding our community. Please join us if you can. It will facilitate our planning if we can know ahead the number of people who will be attending. If you can come to the reception, please call the parish office at 416-221-8866 or email stgabrielsparish@bellnet.ca before October 24th.
St. Gabriel’s Students, Children’s Faith Program, Public and Private School Children
Parents please bring completed registration forms to the Parish Office (Gabriel Room) on Tuesday, October 21st between 7:30 and 9:00 PM. A photocopy of your child’s Baptismal certificate must accompany the registration for First Communion and Confirmation.
Wednesday. October 22nd from 7:30 to 9:00 PM This meeting which will take place in the Church, is for parents of children receiving their Confirmation this year.
Your prepared chicken rice 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 the casserole recipe and a pan and give it a try. For more information, please contact Irene Albrecht at 416 221-2791.
Ralph would like to thank everyone for their cards, letters and phone calls. They are very much appreciated. He hopes to be able to answer the cards and letters in the near future.
ShareLife is continuing to accept funds to assist with relief and reconstruction efforts in Haiti. Donations can be made online through the ShareLife website www.sharelife.org. As always, ShareLife applies no administration fees to funds received for humanitarian relief appeals, ensuring that 100 percent of each contribution goes to the agencies involved.
A general meeting of the Blessed Trinity CWL will be held on Tuesday, October 21st in the parish hall. There will be Mass at 1:15 PM, a brief meeting and our guest speaker, Msgr. Sheehy with a special message to the CWL. Refreshments will be served. Please help the food drive and bring a non-perishable food item to the meeting.
Today is World Mission Sunday. Today’s collection supports the new struggling dioceses of the church, churches in mission countries. Your financial support will bring the message of hope to your brothers and sisters in remote areas of the world. Remember, by our Baptism we are all called to be missionaries. Please continue to pray for all those who serve in mission countries and please be generous in your support of their work. May God bless you always.
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 Saturday, October 25, from 2:30 PM to 4:15 PM.
Sunday, November 2nd,from 2-5 PM Temple Har Zion, 7360 Bayview Ave. (north of Steeles) Co sponsored by Temple Har Zion and Thorn hill United Church . The theme is Social Justice with different faiths’ perspectives and will include displays from agencies working to help the poor etc. as well as a program for children on bullying. The program ends with a pot-luck vegan supper. If coming, please bring a dish to share with other participants but with absolutely no meat, poultry, eggs, fish, dairy products or alcohol due to dietary laws and no nut products as many people are allergic to these. All are welcome. Please RSVP to Nora at 416-218- 0680 by October 27th. See the poster on the bulletin boards for more details.
Thinking about the priesthood? Wondering what it might be like? Then “Come and See” is for you! November 7th to 9th, 2008, there will be an opportunity for young men of 18 years or older to visit our Archdiocesan Seminary in Scarborough. This weekend will provide time for prayer, reflection and information on becoming a Catholic priest. If God is calling you, say yes… and Come and See. Those interested are asked to speak with their Pastor or contact the Office of Vocations for further information at 416-968-0997.
De La Salle College, a Catholic co-educational, private school for students in grades 5 to 12, will be hosting an Open House on Wednesday, October 22nd from 7:00PM to 9:00PM for prospective students and their families for the academic year 2009 -2010. Tuition for the current 2008 – 2009 academic year is $10,350.00. The school is located at 131 Farnham Avenue. Please contact the Office of Admissions at 416-969-8771, Ext. 228 for more information.
| Posted in Bulletin |
October 12th, 2008
When Matthew retells a parable of Jesus he usually has two audiences in mind. In today’s parable of the wedding banquet and the unwilling guests we can easily catch the reference to the unwillingness of the scribes, Pharisees and the religious leaders to accept the invitation Jesus offers them to enter into a new and renewed relationship with God. As the parable tells us, “They made light of it” and went about their own business. They ignored Jesus and what he had to say. They even resorted to violence toward Jesus and His followers. The part of the parable describing the fate of those who refused their invitation refers to the destruction of the city of Jerusalem in 70 AD, when the Romans did not leave one stone upon another.
In the second part of this parable Matthew is speaking to the members of the early Christian community – those brought in from the highways and the byways – those people on the fringe of society, tax collectors, prostitutes, bad and good alike. These are all ‘graced’ people, they had no right to be there, and they are invited to this grand party.
Years ago there was an old technique in preaching when the preacher would deal with a particular subject on justice or morality and it would all be academic. Then the focus of the sermon would change when the preacher asked the people, “But what about you?” What does all this have to do with you personally, in other words, “let’s get down to brass tacks.” I think this is Matthew’s technique in the last part of this gospel when he tells about the wedding guest who was without his wedding garment. He is an apparent contradiction to this joyous feast. Matthew is teaching about the practical living out of a person’s acceptance of being invited. In the telling of this parable Matthew moves from invitation – “go out into the highways and by ways and make them come in” to facing the consequences of that acceptance, namely living one’s life by doing the deeds of faith. This fellow represents the spiritless, actionless followers of Jesus. The nominal Christians.
When people come in for a wedding and they tell me they are Catholic or Anglican or United or whatever, I always ask, “Is that a capital C or a small c?” There is a big difference. Maybe in the early Christian community in Jerusalem it was the same, people who were really committed to their new found faith in Jesus and people who associated with the community when it was to their advantage. Remember the parable Jesus told about the sower sowing seed and some seeds sprang up quickly but when the sun hit them they withered and died because they had no root. They were not wearing the wedding garment of commitment and faithfulness. Today we call them nominal Catholics or nominal Anglicans or nominal whatever. The C and E’s, Christmas and Easter. Our Jewish neighbours have the same experience, the Rabbis refer to them as the revolving door Jews, in on Rosh Hashanah and out on Yom Kippur.
And what about you and what about me? Are we wearing the wedding garment of fidelity and commitment? Our wedding garment is our lifestyle – how we live out our Christian life every day of life – I used this story a couple of weeks ago about someone asking a person, “Are you a Christian?” and the person answering, “Ask my neighbour.” What about you, what about me? Do we talk the talk and walk the walk? If we were arrested for being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict us? These are all clichés but they have a message.
As we continue to celebrate this Mass on this Thanksgiving weekend we pray for ourselves and for each other that we appreciate the great gift we’ve been given, being invited to the wedding feast and given the wedding garment of our Christian faith. Strengthened by the bread of life we will receive at the Mass may each of be blessed to proudly wear this garment and bear witness to our faith, outside these walls by the lives we live, the work we do, the service we give and the prayers we pray.
God has given us the earth to be our homeland. Along with this gift, we are asked to show our thankfulness by caring for the earth and by sharing our own gifts with one another. Mass will be celebrated on Thanksgiving Day, Monday, October 13th at 10:00 AM.
Total: $11,136.02
The ceremony for the blessing of the sick will be held on Sunday, October 19th at 3:30 PM. The sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is one of the seven Sacraments. It is celebrated with those who are seriously ill, those who are preparing for surgery and the elderly. The preferred place for celebrating this Sacrament is in the Church with family and the members of the parish community present. All are more than welcome to attend.
On Tuesday evening, October 14th at 7:30 PM, our topic will be “What is Liberation Theology?” On Wednesday morning, October 22nd at 10:30 AM, we will finish studying St. Paul’s Letters. Both groups will decide what topics they wish to study through the fall. If you are interested, please come with your questions, your “puzzlements”, your concerns and interests about the faith (and sometimes doubts) we share. For further information, please call Mary Landry at 416-221-8866, Ext. 224.
St. Paul of the Cross was the founder of the Passionists (1720). Born in northern Italy in 1694, Paul experienced conversion at the age of 15 and began a lifetime of devotion to prayer and austerity. At age 20 he tried life as a soldier, but left after one year. Six years later, having had several visions, he determined that his vocation was to found an order dedicated to the passion of our Lord. Officials declared the visions authentic and Paul withdrew to write a rule. He was joined by his brother, who remained with him for the rest of his life. By 1747, the Passionists had three houses and were preaching missions throughout Italy. At his death in 1775, Paul was establishing a congregation for Passionist nuns.
Public and Private School Children For families registered in this parish. If your child does not attend St. Gabriel’s School but wishes to receive the Sacrament of Baptism, First Communion, Reconciliation or Confirmation, please pick up a Registration Form in the Parish Office. These forms should be returned to the Parish Office with a copy of your child’s Baptismal Certificate (for First Communion and Confirmation) as soon as possible.
Children’s Faith Program and St Gabriel’s Students Parents please bring completed registration forms to the Parish Office (Gabriel Room) on Wednesday, October 15 or Tuesday, October 21 between 7:30 and 9:00 PM. A photocopy of your child’s Baptismal certificate must accompany the registration for First Communion and Confirmation.
The parish will be holding a reception on November 1, 2008 in the gathering space of the church to welcome all the new parishioners who have joined our parish family in recent months. For those who are new to the parish, this will be an opportunity for the parish team to get to know you and to answer any questions you have regarding our community. Please join us if you can. It will facilitate our planning if we can know ahead the number of people who will be attending. If you can come to the reception, please call or email the parish office before October 24th.
Fair Trade organic coffees will be on sale after all the Masses next weekend. Regular ground coffee: $5 Whole beans $5 Decaffeinated Ground and Beans: $6 Chocolate Bars: $4 incl. taxes Hot Chocolate and Cocoa: $4.50 Teas $3.25 to $3.50 by variety
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 Saturday, October 25, 2008 from 2:30 PM to 4:15 PM.
Archbishop Collins will provide the opening address at a conference on woman abuse hosted by some of the Catholic agencies of the Archdiocese on Saturday, October 18 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The conference will be held at Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts in North York (Sheppard Subway Station). Come and learn about this important issue and what you can do about it. Youth (over 16 years) and adults, both men and women, are welcome. Pre-registration is required. The fee of $20 includes lunch. Please contact Carmela at 416-222-0048, Ext. 235.
Sunday, November 2, from 2-5 PM Temple Har Zion, 7360 Bayview Ave. (north of Steeles) Co sponsored by Temple Har Zion and Thornhill United Church The theme is Social Justice with different faiths ‘perspectives and will include displays from agencies working to help the poor etc. as well as a program for children on bullying. The program ends with a pot-luck vegan supper. If coming, please bring a dish to share with other participants but with absolutely no meat, poultry, eggs, fish, dairy products or alcohol due to dietary laws and no nut products as many people are allergic to these. All are welcome. Please RSVP to Nora at 416-218-0680 by October 27th. See the poster on the bulletin boards for more details.
Next Sunday is World Mission Sunday. Your financial support will help share the Good News of Jesus through the translation of bibles and missals, printing prayer books and hymnals and broadcasting the Gospel to remote mission communities. Please pray for the missions and be generous next Sunday – World Mission Sunday.
Single women, 18 to 40, are invited to a retreat weekend October 17 – 19 given by a team of Sisters of St. Joseph. For further information, call Sister Dorothy at 416-927-0702. Also see the bulletin board flyer.
Following a series of devastating tropical storms that struck Haiti in August and September, ShareLife is now accepting funds to assist with relief and reconstruction efforts in affected areas. In the past two months, Haitians have faced flooding and severe damage to homes, buildings and crops from tropical storms Hanna, Fay, Gustav and Ike. The storms left hundreds dead and an estimated 650,000 people struggling in dire conditions. The Catholic Church’s official relief body, Caritas Internationalis, is working with staff in the region. As has been the case in the past, contributions will be channeled through the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development & Peace, the Caritas representative organization in Canada. Donations can be made online through the ShareLife website www.sharelife.org. As always, ShareLife applies no administration fees to funds received for humanitarian relief appeals, ensuring that 100 percent of each contribution goes to the agencies involved.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at 2:00 PM Blessed Trinity Hall Professor S. Kumar will speak on India… a great civilization and an emerging power. All are invited.
October 5th, 2008
This is the most important time of the year for farmers – it’s harvest time. By the quality of the food grown in Ontario this year, this has been a great year. The strawberries, the peaches, the corn were delicious. For any farmer it is a good year if the harvest is bountiful, but it is a disaster if the harvest fails. All that hard work for nothing and harvest time turns to misery.
Our first reading and the gospel are almost parallel stories. They tell of all the hard work that goes into developing a vineyard. Turning the soil, planting and caring for the vines, building a tower for protection, digging out a wine vat for making wine, all these are part and parcel of the vineyard. After all that effort and hard work one looks for and hopes for a good harvest. Imagine the disappointment on discovering the vines you cultivated so carefully have produced wild, sour grapes, good for nothing. The owner looses his investment, it’s not only the grapes that are sour.
The story Jesus tells runs pretty parallel to the one Isaiah tells. Its all about God’s generosity to His people, the people God chose to be His own. How is that generosity repaid? As our disappointed God asks, “What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it?”
We see the same disappointment in the gospel story. It is even worse. The tenants repay the generosity of the owner by killing his son. And there are consequences to the actions of the tenants. In the Isaiah story the vineyard is let go to waste, in the gospel the tenants are driven out and the vineyard is given to others. In hearing these two stories, but especially the gospel we may be tempted to read into this gospel something it does not say, that Christianity is superior to and supercedes Judaism. That’s not what this gospel teaches and to think this would be a dangerous and incorrect reading and understanding of who Jesus was and is. It’s important to remember that God’s love for and covenant with the Jewish people has not been taken away, nor is it replaced by God’s love for those who follow Jesus.
On Good Friday when we pray for the Jewish people we acknowledge they were the first to hear the word of God, to them belongs the covenant and the prophets and as Jesus told the Samaritans, “salvation is from the Jews.”
Matthew presents Jesus as sent to the people of Israel, the Jews, to call them back to their original experiences of the Exodus and God’s saving love and formation of them as God’s chosen people. At this Eucharist we are called back to our original experience of God’s saving love as we re-present the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. The people of Israel and the people of Christianity are reminded of just who they are in God’s eyes and how they are to respond. The response of the people then and our response today indicate a similar human resistance to what God invites us all to be. The reading from Isaiah and the gospel of Matthew teach us that we, Jews and Christians are the vine, the vineyard planted and created for a just relationship with that Planter.
During his recent visit to France, Pope Benedict met with leaders of the French Jewish community. He had this to say, “Dear friends, for reasons that unite us and for reasons that separate us, we must live and strengthen our fraternity. And we know that the bonds of fraternity are a continual invitation to know one another better and to respect one another.” The Pope goes on to say, “By her very nature, the Catholic Church is called to respect the Covenant established by God with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. She also places herself, in fact, in the eternal Covenant of the Almighty, who does not repent of his plan and respects the children of the Promise, children of the Covenant, as her beloved brothers and sisters in the faith. The Church repeats forcefully, through my voice, the words of the great Pope Pius XI, who said to a group of Belgium pilgrims in 1938 ‘Spiritually, we are all Semites’. Hence, the Church is opposed to all forms of anti-Semitism, for which there is no acceptable theological justification. To be anti-Semitic is to be anti-Christian.”
On Thursday of this coming week our Jewish friends and neighbours will be celebrating Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement in which they face the reality of all those times and occasion where they have failed, individually and as a community to be a fruitful vineyard and commit themselves once more to be faithful to their covenant with God. We could join with them in that same spirit of sorrow as we face our own failures to be the fruitful vineyard and renew our own desire to be faithful members of God’s holy people, faithful followers of the Christ Who died for us so that we might live in the life of God.
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