November 18th, 2007
Luke’s description of the destruction of the Temple and the persecution of the followers of Jesus was written around 80 AD. What he describes in today’s gospel had already taken place in 70 AD when the Emperor Titus destroyed the Temple and the Holy City and carried most of its citizens off in slavery. For the Jewish people destruction of the Temple was akin to the end of the world. The temple was their pride and joy and it was the dwelling place of God.
Too often buildings and monuments can take on a life of their own. We imagine they will always be there, always a part of our lives. We can’t imagine life without them. Many in the parish felt that way about our former St. Gabriel’s. It pained them to see it being torn down. Last September and October, as I celebrated morning Mass I looked out our window and saw a monastery and church that were part and parcel of my life since 1960 being demolished. It wasn’t easy to watch. Even the joy of having our new church blessed and dedicated by Cardinal Ambrozic a year ago tomorrow didn’t change my memories or feelings.
But a building is a building and it is meant to serve the needs of people. The people give a building its meaning. We are grateful for our beautiful new church building. But personally I am more grateful for you good and beautiful people of St. Gabriel’s who are the church. As I keep telling the children in school, the people are the church, not the building. In his first letter St. Peter tells the community to which he was writing that they are living stones meant to make a spiritual house in which God is praised. And Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you.”
Our church will never be completed in the sense that we can never give up trying to be ‘church’. Our parish motto is ‘belonging, believing, becoming’. These are action words. So we never give up being ‘living stones’ trying to be a family of faith, love and service, we never give up trying to be ‘living stones” meant to make a spiritual house in which God is praised. We never give up trying to be ‘living stones’ welcoming stones ready to accept everyone who comes in our doors. We never give up being living stones who respond generously to the needs of others. We never give up being living stones willing to grow to full maturity in Christ by taking advantage of adult learning programs offered in the parish. We never give up being living stones at every Mass we celebrate when we participate as fully as we can in prayers and hymns of the Mass.
One of the remarks Cardinal Ambrozic made last year when he dedicated this building was about our choir – a choir made up of young and old and people of diverse cultural backgrounds. He said ‘your choir sounds like a choir.’ He didn’t mention the organist. But any choir, any cantor, is meant to help us in our celebration of the Mass, not entertain us. Our celebration of Mass is all that it meant to be – when we ‘living stones’ are fully involved – answering the prayers, singing the hymns. I suggest that even if you feel you can’t sing you at least read the words of the hymn we are singing, for they have their own message.
Our building has been called ‘Canada’s first green church’. Our green church is meant to foster the greening of people and bring all of us to an awareness that we are living stones within the wider community of all creation. Within this green building we are meant to become more conscious of the beauty and fragility of creation and come to realize that the care and the healing of Earth is our God given duty.
As part of this celebration of our first anniversary I ask you to join with me in a short prayer in which we will promise to be ‘living stones’ meant to build a spiritual house in which God is praised especially through our willingness to really participate in each Mass, a spiritual house in which we become more and more conscious of our oneness with all of God’s good creation.
As we continue to celebrate this Mass we pray for ourselves and for each other that we remember ‘the people, you good people, are the church. May all of us as living stones continue to grow in belonging, believing and becoming.
| Posted in Homily |
Total: $9,549
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There will be a book of Remembrance placed on the altar for the month of November. You are invited to write the names of your deceased relatives and friends in this book. They will be remembered at all the Masses celebrated in November.
The topics we have chosen are varied – a mixture of church history, church teachings and scripture. You are welcome to join us whenever you can. For further information call Mary Landry at 416-221-8866 ext 224. Next meetings: Tuesday evening, November 13th at 7:30 PM Wednesday morning, November 14th at 10:30 AM.
The parish is looking to establish a new ministry to serve elderly parishioners and others with special needs who might require transportation to and from Church on Saturdays/Sundays, and to medical appointments. First we would like to ascertain the need of the community in this regard. At the same time, we are seeking volunteers who would like to participate in this ministry. Any parishioners who would like to avail themselves of such a service OR who can volunteer to help, please contact Fatima Lee at 416 221-8866 ext 228.
Have questions regarding end of life issues: euthanasia, pain and suffering surrounding death, palliative care, withdrawal of treatment or dignity of the dying?
Please join us for a lecture series presented by the Canadian Catholic bioethics Institute (CCBI) here at our parish. The lectures are scheduled for four consecutive Wednesdays beginning on November 14th from 7:30 to 9:30 PM.
The topics are: Nov. 21st – Advanced Directives, Power of Attorney and Ethical issues at the End of Life Nov. 28th – Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide, Palliative Care and Spiritual Issues Dec. 5th – A Christian Spirituality of Suffering and Death
Guest speakers will be Dr. Moira McQueen, the Director of the CCBI, and Dr. Barry Brown. At the end of each lecture, there will also be an opportunity for questions and discussion. Suggested donation is $40 for the series; or $10 per lecture; or whatever your means allow. For further information and to register, please call the parish office at (416) 221-8866.
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.
This is a reminder to all servers or their parents to pick up the new schedule December 2007 to February 2008 on the bulletin board beside the Sacristy.
This Ecumenical Service is sponsored by the Bayview-Sheppard Ministerial Group (including Chaplains of North York General Hospital and Seniors’ Health Centre) with the hope that the light of Christ will bring peace and comfort to people in the North York community who are bereaved or troubled, or for whom Christmas may be a difficult time. This will take place in Auditoriums 1 and 2 at North York General Hospital, 4001 Leslie Street (at Sheppard) on Tuesday, December 11th at 7:30 PM. Free Parking Refreshments following the Service.
We are inviting families to assist us in providing some little extras, such as new clothing, new toys, food vouchers, and/or gift certificates to bring the joy of the season to one of our families. If you are willing to adopt-a-family or provide a donation, please call 416 395-1634 or email hopeforchildren@ccas.toronto.on.ca For more information about the Christmas Program or a list of gift suggestions please visit www.ccas.toronto.on.ca/HopeForChildren/Christmas.html
Your donations to the poor boxes after Mass throughout the year are very important in enabling us to help those in need. At this time of the year, we try to provide a little extra for families and others that we help. Your generosity as you leave the Church would help us add something to their Christmas celebration.
The Catholic Office of Religious Education and Liturgy is sponsoring one workshop that may be of interest to you.
Saturday, November 24, 2007 The Church’s Teaching on Marriage St. Luke’s Parish 39 Green Lane, Thornhill, ON (905) 881-2786
on Saturday, November 24, 2007 at Scarboro Missions, 2685 Kingston Rd., Scarborough. We welcome those who feel they may be called by God to be a priest or lay missioner. We invite you to walk with us…it may change your life forever! To register please contact us at (416) 261-7135 or lmo@scarboromissions.ca
is having a Wine and Cheese Social on Tuesday, November 20th at 7:00 PM in their Parish Hall. There will be a brief general meeting followed by refreshments and socializing.
Archbishop Adam Exner, OMI, will preach a weekend retreat for Married Couples at Queen of Apostles Renewal Centre in Mississauga on November 30th to December 2nd. The theme of the retreat will be “REFLECTING THE FACE OF CHRIST IN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY”. To register or to obtain more information, contact the Centre at 905 278-5229.
| Posted in Bulletin |
November 11th, 2007
I want to say a few words of our first reading from the Book of Maccabees and what it has to say to what we will be doing after the homily.
We have a powerful telling of the story of seven brothers and their mother who were willing to die rather than abandon their faith. King Antiochus from Antioch has ravaged Jerusalem and especially the temple and its treasures. He has left behind officials to subdue the Jewish people and force them to reject their customs and their God. This mother and her seven sons are killed for their faith in the God of life Who will raise them to a higher life, because they have remained faithful to living faithfully while on earth.
I hope you find the time to read a piece in the bulletin about the Passionist Bishop Eugene Basilkov from Bulgaria. Today is the 55th anniversary of his execution by the communists. He was imprisoned and pressured into establishing a national church which would be controlled by the government. Being faithful to his faith and the church he refused. He was shot and buried in a common grave. Like the Macabean mother and her seven sons Bishop Eugene was a martyr, a witness to the faith.
These two events, our first reading and this anniversary of Bishop Eugene’s death have much to say to the ceremony that follows the sermon. We will be having the enrollment ceremony for those young people of the parish who are asking to be confirmed.
Confirmation is that sacrament which is meant to strengthen, reinforce, and fortify the life into which we were born at Baptism. In the first centuries of the church most baptisms were adult baptisms and immediately after a person was baptized they were anointed with oil to strengthen them to live a faith which could cost them their lives. Then they received their first communion which was meant to nourish and sustain them in living out their commitment to Christ.
Confirmation is not an automatic thing. Students are not confirmed because they are in grade eight. Students must ask to be confirmed and there are certain things they are expected to do such as helping in the different ministries in the parish, to prepare themselves for this sacrament.
Personally I find this a very frustrating sacrament. The school and the parish go through so much to prepare these students for confirmation and often we wonder if it ever ‘takes’. Once they hit high school coming to Mass isn’t ‘cool’, they have better things to do and often they don’t have the example of their parents to follow. I was talking with a Rabbi a few years ago and he expressed the same frustration. He said, “We see Bar Mitzvah as an entrance into our community. But after the ceremony and the party our young people see it as an exit from the community.
Few of us remember our baptisms. Our parents and Godparents spoke on our behave stating our belief in God and our rejection of evil. But every Easter Sunday, which in the early church was ‘the’ day of baptisms, we are invited to speak in our own names and commit ourselves once again to trying to live fully the life that is ours through the passion, death and resurrection of Christ.
Today as these good young people prepare themselves for the sacrament of Confirmation, and with the powerful witness of faithfulness to their faith given us by a brave mother and her seven sons, the witness of a faithful shepherd Bishop Eugene – we pray for these students that they appreciate what they doing – that they always remain open to the love of God proven to us in the cross they receive – that they be faithful to that love. We can pray for ourselves that we be confirmed and strengthened in our faithfulness to Christ, Who was faithful to us, even to dying on the cross for us.
Some parishioners are concerned about the coming of the Flu season and our practice of shaking hands for the Greeting of Peace. If someone does not offer their hand to you, please do not take it personally, they may not want to pass their cold onto you.
Today marks the 55th anniversary of the execution of Passionist Bishop Eugene Bossilkov by the Communists. The Passionists have been ministering in northern Bulgaria since the 1700s. Eugene joined the Passionists in 1920 and eventually was ordained bishop of Nicopolis in 1947. Bulgaria joined the Axis during the Second World War and was eventually invaded by the Russians who established a Communist government in the country. Bishop Bossilkov refused to work with the government to establish a ‘national’ church free of the influence of Rome. He was arrested and tried for treason and was executed on this day in 1952 and was buried in a common grave. Bishop Eugene was beatified by Pope John Paul II on March 15, 1998.
Fr. Paul
Total: $9,920
The Shepherds’ Trust is an archdiocesan retirement program that provides elderly and infirm priests with the financial support they require to lead a dignified life after their many years of service to us. This collection will take place in our parish the weekend of November 17th/18th. The contributions received from our parish plus other ‘religious order’ parishes will be allocated to each order’s retirement fund. Please note that all contributions are tax-deductible. Thank you for caring for those who always cared for us!
The topics are: Nov. 14th – What is Bioethics and what are the issues? Nov. 21st – Advanced Directives, Power of Attorney and Ethical issues at the End of Life Nov. 28th – Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide, Palliative Care and Spiritual Issues Dec. 5th – A Christian Spirituality of Suffering and Death
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 incl. taxes Hot Chocolate and Cocoa: $4.50 Teas: $3.25 to $4 by variety
Fair trade products are appreciated as Christmas presents. Please let us know of your Christmas order at next week’s sale so that we can have sufficient quantities for the December sale.
The Catholic Office of Religious Education and Liturgy is sponsoring two workshops that may be of interest to you.
Saturday, November 17, 2007 Praying With Children St. Rose of Lima Parish 3216 Lawrence Ave. East Scarborough, ON (416) 438-6729
Saturday, November 24, 2007 The Church’s Teaching on Marriage St. Luke’s Parish 39 Green Lane Thornhill, ON (905) 881-2786
has begun a new outreach program of talks throughout the Archdiocese of Toronto to bring the message of joy and hope to the laity, especially families. On November 17, 2007 at 10:00 AM, Prof. Donald DeMarco will talk about The Architects of the Culture of Death. All the lectures, which are free of charge, will be held at St. Bernard de Clairvaux Hall located at 1795 Lawrence Ave. West, Toronto. For more information, you may call the station at (416) 245-0200 or email at info@hmwn.net.
on Saturday, November 24, 2007 at Scarboro Missions, 2685 Kingston Rd., Scarborough. We welcome those who feel they may be called by God to be a priest or lay missioner. We invite you to walk with us…it may change your life forever! To register please contact us at (416) 261-7135 or lmo@scarbormissions.ca
November 4th, 2007
A couple of weeks ago someone sent me an e mail with an attachment titled,” A Fascinating Zoom In”. It was produced by NASA and we are invited to travel with NASA from the biggest to the smallest distances in the universe.
Our journey starts 10 million light years away in vast expanse of space. We work our way down through the light years into our own galaxy of the Milky Way. We journey 100 light years, then 10 light years and finally at 1 light year we catch sight of our sun. At 100 billion km we begin to see our solar system, at 10 billion km we see our solar system and at 100,000 km we see planet earth, much at the first astronaughts saw it. At 1000 km we zero in on Florida, at 10 km we can make out streets and lakes – and golf courses – at 100 km we can see what we might see from a helicopter – at 10 cm we see leaves on a tree – at 1 cm we see the structure of a leaf – at 100 microns we see the cells that make up the leaf and at 1 micron we can see the cell itself. We continue the journey, at 1000 angstroms we see the chromosomes of the cell and at 100 angstroms we see the DNA chain of the leaf. At 1 nanometre we see the atom of carbon, the basis of all life and at 10 picometres we see the atom orbit of the electrons and at 100 fermi we see the inner anaton. At one Fermi we see the surface of the neutron and our journey which started in the outer reaches of space ends at 100 atom metres where we see the quark.
To tell you the truth I don’t understand any of these terms and in a way the whole things sounds like the Negro spiritual, ‘your toe bone’s connected to your foot bone and your foot bone’s connected to your ankle bone’… and so on.
To watch this ‘fascinating zoom in’ is awesome. The author of our first reading had no such insight into cosmology as we have today but he could still look to an unpolluted sky and marvel at it all. Yet he knew that compared to the awesomeness of God the wonder before his eyes was like a speck that tips the scales, like a drop of morning dew that falls to the ground. He would say this not to belittle creation but just to keep things in perspective.
In the 4th century the church condemned a heresy called Manichaeism which taught that creation was divided into good and evil, light and darkness and the material creation was evil. In condemning this world view the church echoed the words of today’s first reading, “Lord you love all things that exist and detest none of the things you have made.” In other words all creation is good and all creation from the quark to the galaxy is loved by God.
Today we’ve come to know that all creation is connected, inter-related. No being, especially the human being stands alone, apart from other human beings apart from the rest of God’s good creation. We are one living body and when one part of the body suffers, we all suffer. We can see this as we witness the diminishment of planet earth. As I’ve mentioned before, we did not weave the web of life, we are a strand in the web and what we do to the web we do to ourselves. The earth does not belong to us; we belong to the earth and what we do to the earth we do to ourselves.
There’s not a day goes by that we don’t hear of some weather disaster or environmental crisis, glaciers melting, deserts spreading. It’s depressing. We can’t pray for a healing of the earth, we are the healers. In our own little way we can make a difference as we examine our own life styles, our consumerism, our buying habits, our trashing.
Planet earth will survive. This is not the first crisis it has had to deal with in its 5 billion years of existence and we will survive as well if we can just catch the truth of our first reading -Lord, you love all things that exist, you spare all things for they are yours, you who love the living.
As we continue to celebrate this Eucharist we can pray for ourselves and for each other that we be blessed with a deeper reverence and respect for all God’s creation, that we celebrate its wonder and appreciate its fragility.
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