November 5th, 2006
In our first reading from the book of Deuteronomy and in our gospel from Mark we are brought right back to basics – we are to love God totally – heart, mind and soul – and we are to love others as we love ourselves. No other commandment is greater than these. Until Jesus, the night before He died, gave us a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you.
Jesus not only talked the talk of love, He walked the walk of love – a walk we call the via dolorosa – through the streets of Jerusalem to Calvary where He died on the cross for us and showed us how to love. Love one another as I have loved you. His was a life giving love – He was crushed for our offences and by His wounds we are healed. As one of the prayers of the church prays – through the obedience of Jesus, your servant and your son, you raised a fallen world. God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself.
Love one another as I have loved you. How often have we heard those challenging, demanding words? How well do we live them?
Christ’s love for us was a life giving, healing and forgiving love – a love that calls us to move beyond our own self interests, self satisfaction to a true concern for good of others, a love that calls others to life and growth and maturity.
One of the saints said that when life is over we will be judged by love alone – this echoes the gospel of Matthew in Jesus’ one description of judgment – I was hungry, thirsty, naked and alone and you were there for me – come to me, or – I was hungry, thirsty, naked and alone and you couldn’t have cared less – depart from me. When our lives are over we will be judged by love alone – we will be judged on how well we lived the great commandment – love one another as I have loved you.
How will that judgment be? We have the vivid images of it in scripture and art – just think of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. I remember how we were told in catechism classes how we would stand before God Who held in His hands a book that recorded our lives. Every sin we ever committed would be told to everyone who ever lived and then will either be called to heaven or sent to hell. But most times we were neither holy enough to go straight to heaven, nor bad enough to go to hell so we would spend some time in purgatory to be purified.
Purgatory, that’s a word we don’t hear too often anymore.
This is the month of the holy souls – we begin the month celebrating all those saints, those good people who touch and enriched our lives with the feast of All Saints. The next day we have All Souls Day on which we remember and pray for all those souls in purgatory. In the book of Maccabees we are told – it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the death, that they may be loosed from their sins.
Praying for the dead is an ancient teaching of the faith – as can be seen from art in the catacombs and the teachings of the fathers of the church as far back as the fourth century.
St. Thomas Aquinas teaches that when we die basically we judge ourselves. For the first time in our existence we are graced with an understanding of God’s love for us – something we couldn’t totally grasped wrapped in our earthly existence. We see too, in a way that is free from all self deception just how much or how little we responded to that love – how fully we lived the new commandment, ‘love one another as I have loved you.’ We come face to face with the ‘unfinished businesses of our lives. We know we’ve left behind unhealed relationships, wrongs that were never righted, good deeds left undone, love and thanks never spoken. We realize all this is so because we did not live the new commandment. Seeing our stinginess, our self centeredness we know we are unfit, unsuited for union with God. We are not ready for such an eternity. In that comprehension we want to rid ourselves, purge ourselves of our selfishness, our self love. And that desire to be purged, eradicated of all attitudes and actions of our past life that held us back from loving others as we were loved – is our purgatory. It’s a cleansing, a purification we willing embrace because it removes all those barriers that keep us from life with God. Maybe the prayer of the souls in purgatory is – thy kingdom come – thy kingdom come to all those aspects of my life in which I failed to love others as You loved me.
We can’t get into days and months and years spent in purgatory – purgatory is beyond time but it is not beyond our prayers. So it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead – for those not yet in full communion with God.
We can continue to celebrate this Mass remembering, it is a good and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins – and praying for ourselves and each other that we all be graced to strive to live the new commandment, the commandment on which our lives will be judged – love one another as I have loved you.
| Posted in Homily |
On SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19th, Cardinal Ambrozic will be with us to consecrate our new church. The ceremony will take place at 3:00PM. We are expecting that our General Superior from Rome will be with us as well as our Provincial Superior from the States. ALL are welcome to attend this important event in the life of our parish. In place of a collection at this special Mass and to share the joy of this celebration in a practical way, we ask you to bring toothbrushes and toothpaste, razors and shaving cream, combs and shoe laces. These items will be sent on to be used at the Good Shepherd Centre.
As a lead-in to the dedication of our New Church, Michael Nasello and Mary Landry will make a presentation to all who are interested in learning about the eco-theology that the Passionists have developed over the past twenty years. It will include a power point presentation, a discussion, and end with a reflection on the Sunday’s readings in light of what we have learned. Come to the Parish Office.
There is 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.
Out of consideration for those who are celebrating Mass with you, please keep your child with you at all times and prevent them from running loose out into the open space. Children are bound to get restless and noisy. Again, out of consideration for those around you, just take them out to the ‘gathering space’ and help them to settle down. We are happy to have the children here, but they should not be allowed to disrupt those around them and the Mass itself.
will be held on SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 12Th. During the 12:30 PM Mass, candidates will be acknowledged at the altar. All confirmants in St. Gabriel’s School, in the Children’s Faith Program and in Private Schools are invited to attend. Please note: Registrations for Confirmation are not accepted on or after this date.
A reception will be held on Saturday, NOVEMBER 11th at 2:00PM in the Gabriel Room for those in the parish community who are newcomers to the country. If you have come to Canada recently (in the past five years), please join us. We would like to get to know you and hear how you are adjusting to life in Canada. Please call Fatima at 416-221-8866 to leave your name and contact number.
Total: $10,038.35
This fall we will look at our new “green” church from different perspectives, including: “Who started us in this direction? Why did we choose this way of placing the pews, the altar, the pulpit (ambo)? Do we as Catholics have any tradition linking ecology and religion?” — and any other questions you may have. Each topic will be repeated the following week. You are invited to join us on: DATE: Wednesday, NOVEMBER 1st (to be repeated on November 8th) TIME: 10:30 AM to noon PLACE: Come to the Parish Office
We hope the discussions will be informative and enjoyable. We are also prepared to offer this series of presentations on alternate Tuesday evenings for those interested, beginning NOVEMBER 7th at 7:30 PM. If you wish to attend Tuesday evenings, please phone Mary Landry at 416-293-3760.
On TUESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 14th, we will begin with the topic: How is our Christian life and ethics similar to those of other faith traditions? How are they different? TIME: 7:30 – 9:00 PM PLACE: Come to the Parish Office
will be selling their annual raffle tickets after all the Masses next weekend November 11/12th. The draw will take place at their CHRISTMAS CRAFT & BAKE SALE being held Saturday, December 2 from 1:00 to 6:00PM and Sunday, December 3rd from 8:00AM to 2:00PM. Donations of crafts and baked goods are most welcome. Also volunteers would be greatly appreciated to help with the craft show. Please contact Linda 416-226-4645 or Bernadette 416-226-0100.
On WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8TH AT 7:30PM we will be participating in the annual Holocaust Education Week. There will be a short documentary called Sister Rose’s Passion – a film that challenges the “anti-Jewish” overtones in Mel Gibson’s film, The Passion of the Christ. After the screening, Holocaust survivor and educator INGE SPITZ will recall her own personal story as a young girl saved by nuns during the War.
Thank you to the volunteers who prepared 42 casseroles for the Good Shepherd Centre for October. For November, your prepared casseroles (frozen please) will be collected at the Masses on the weekend of November 25/26 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.
St. Gabriel volunteers have been serving lunch to our less fortunate sisters and brothers at the Good Shepherd Centre for over seven years. We are trying to develop a roster of volunteers who are willing to serve on the second Monday of the month. Then we will have more flexibility for volunteers who can come only on an irregular basis. A ride will be provided from the church or you may come independently if you work downtown. For more information or to volunteer, please contact Lily D’Gama at 416-733-3949.
On Wednesday, November 8th from 7:15 to 9:00PM, there will be an open house for grades 7 & 8 students, parents/guardians, teachers, guidance counselors and administrators in the gymnasium. 416-393-5516
ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9th at 7:00PM. All students and parents/guardians are invited. 211 Steeles Ave. East, Toronto 416-393-5508
| Posted in Bulletin |
October 29th, 2006
Lord let me see again. We can just imagine the intensity of that plea of Wartimes – oh to see again – to see the face of those he loved, to see the blue sky, fig trees in bloom, to see the familiar homes and streets of Jericho. Please, please release from this darkness – let me see again.
Someone has written that people who have their sight restored after some period of blindness have their own share of difficulties. It’s a bit like getting a new hearing aid that works – a person starts hearing all kinds of new sounds and noises – it can be disconcerting, confusing – its takes a bit of getting used to. It’s the same with regaining one’s sight – a person can be bombarded with all kinds of new sensations – too much, too soon. Again, it takes getting used to.
Often we use this miracle of new sight as an example of being blessed with new insight, a deeper comprehension and appreciation of things. We can start with our faith – let me see again, let me grasp in a deeper way the wonder that God has embraced me in love, that Christ thought enough of me He was willing to die for me – that though my sins are as red as crimson they shall be as white as snow. Let me see again what this very Eucharist we celebrate is all about – that here and now we make present again the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus – This is My Body, this is My Blood given for you – take and eat, take and drink.
But this new sight makes its own demands on us and how we live our faith in word and deed. With his new gotten sight Bartimaeus left his old way of living and followed Christ along the way – he had to make great adjustments in his life with that decision.
Think of the new sight gifted to a man or woman who comes to see that his/her life is beyond control and they need to hand their life over to a higher power – that new sight is costly, demanding that life be lived with the help of others one day at a time for the rest of their lives.
Think for a moment what new sight cost Paul of Tarsus. Paul was a very observant Pharisee – faithful to the law and prophets. He had no truck with those who followed Jesus – he saw them as deserters from their faith. He was out to crush this new movement in the Jewish faith. Then he had his famous encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. He was struck blind – a symbol of his own inner blindness. But when the scales fell from his eyes – when Paul saw again he knew Jesus not as a heretic but as a savior, as the messiah. He began to preach Jesus as the messiah and was himself seen as a traitor by his fellow Jews – Paul’s new sight caused him to be driven out of synagogues – he was beaten and stoned and imprisoned – Paul’s new sight cost him his life.
There’s that saying, be careful what you ask you, you may get it. If we have the boldness of Bartimaeus and really ask ‘Lord let me see again, ‘Lord let me see, let me understand the meaning of my relationship with you, let me comprehend the full meaning of my call to grow to full maturity in Christ – we would be in for a shock. We might back away from the demands of such new sight – a new sight that demands we see men and women of other faiths and cultures and life styles with a greater openness and respect we ever offered before. Our new sight might compel us to see the homeless and the street people of Toronto with a compassion we never felt before and inspire us to do something for them. Our new sight into our relationship with Christ might call us to a deeper appreciation of ourselves as good people, people blessed with many blessings, a wounded people loved and healed.
I like to think that our new church offers us new sight as to what church is all about – it’s about people – its about our oneness with God’s good creation – its about the importance of the table of the altar at which we celebrate a sacrifice of thanks giving – its about this table of the word from which we are nourished with the life giving words of scripture. Its about Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament and His gracious invitation ‘ come to me all you who labor and find life burdensome and I will refresh you.’
As we continue this Mass and going back to our opening prayer – we can pray for ourselves and for each other that we have the boldness of Bartimaeus and ask for sight – a sight that will show us how to do with loving hearts what God asks of us and come to share the life He promises.
On SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19th, Cardinal Ambrozic will be with us to consecrate our new church. The ceremony will take place at 3:00PM. We are expecting that our General Superior from Rome will be with us as well as our Provincial Superior from the States. All are welcome to attend this important event in the life of our parish.
On TUESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 31st, we will begin with the topic: How is our Christian life and ethics similar to those of other faith traditions? How are they different? TIME: 7:30 – 9:00 PM PLACE: Come to the Parish Office
will meet on SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4th at 1:00PM in the Library.
will meet on SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 5th at 3:30PM in the Library.
Total: $9,431.02
will be held on SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 12th. During the 12:30 PM Mass, candidates will be acknowledged at the altar. All confirmants in St. Gabriel’s School, in the Children’s Faith Program and in Private Schools are invited to attend. Please note: Registrations for Confirmation are not accepted on or after this date.
Alex Seredenko, who is the accompanist for the 12:30 Mass, is a student of the Glenn Gould School, studying piano. Alex has graciously offered to perform a little bit of Lizst, Beethoven, Chopin and Bach. It will be quite a performance, as Alex is a brilliant, talented musician. All are welcome. A small reception will follow.
will be hosting a CHRISTMAS CRAFT & BAKE SALE on the weekend of DECEMBER 2nd & 3rd. Donations of craft items & baked goods will be most welcomed for this worthwhile event. Raffle tickets will be on sale on November 11/12 after all the Masses and again on November 25/26. Volunteers will also be needed. Please contact Linda 416-226-4645 or Bernadette 416-226-0100.
On the first Sunday of each month, the Passionist Centre for Ecology and Spirituality facilitates a 30 minute reflection and discussion prompted by the readings for that Sunday’s liturgy. The guided reflection brings an ecological perspective to the readings. All are welcome. Coffee and tea are provided. The next gathering will be held on SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 5th beginning at approximately 11:30AM (after the 10:30 Mass) in the large meeting room.
Supplies to make the next batch of combat Rosaries for Canadian Forces in Afghanistan have arrived! New and returning volunteers are asked to meet after the 8:30AM Mass next SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 5th in the meeting room. Supplies will be distributed and training will be available.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1st at 7:30PM at St. Bonaventure Parish Centre, 1300 Leslie Street. Free admission.
ON NOVEMBER 1ST at 7:00PM
Grades 7 – 12. Location: 36 Greenfield Avenue. For information please call the school at 416-393-5556.
ON NOVEMBER 1ST from 7:30 to 9:00PM
Location: 1515 Bathurst. St. (at St. Clair Avenue West) 416 – 653-3180.
October 22nd, 2006
From Monday til Thursday of this past week I was at the annual priest’s seminar held up at Nottawasaga Inn. What I got most out of this meeting was meeting so many priests from so many different countries serving here in the Archdiocese. We were reminded that the Mass is celebrated in 37 different languages every Sunday here in Toronto.
At my group table I met a young priest from Ethiopia who is the chaplain at Toronto Western and I met a priest from Poland who spent 15 years in Brazil and is now working in a Portuguese parish in the city. Talk about mobility.
Today is Mission Sunday – it’s a day on which we are asked to support the missionary activities of the church and to pray for those men and women who leave family and country to preach the gospel in other lands. I was preaching a mission in Florida and the pastor was what was known as an FBI – foreign born Irish. He told me, ‘ sure I came to this country 25 years ago to do good – and I’ve done well.’
For years Canada did a great job sending missionaries to other countries – we still have the Scarboro Foreign Mission Society and Our Lady’s Missionaries – the Maryknoll Fathers were famous in the States.
The Passionists were founded in 1745 and before our founder St. Paul of the Cross died in 1775 he’d sent missionaries to Bulgaria and even though we were small in numbers Passionist Missionaries were sent to England and the States by 1852. The American Passionists sent men to Hunan Province in Northern China in 1920. The Communists expelled them all in 1954 so we started new mission fields on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines and then in Jamaica, West Indies, in Haiti and Honduras.
From the very beginning the church was missionary – Jesus sent his disciples out, two by two, to all the towns and villages He was about to enter.
In past years Canada sent missionaries out to other countries. Today Canada is receiving missionaries from other countries. If it were not for the many priests from many lands serving so many parishes in the Archdiocese of Toronto we would be in dire straights. The truth of the matter is, we are now on the receiving end of things. I hear people complain about some of these foreign priests – how difficult it is to understand them, they have such heavy accents. I think of what the poor people in China had to put up with as our American missionaries struggled trying to preach in Chinese – what goes around comes around. Again, if it wasn’t for so many priests from so many different counties coming here – the church in Toronto would be in trouble.
The Passionists just finished a general chapter in Rome. One of the movements in our community is what we’ve called ‘restructuring’ the congregation. Our Father General, who will be here for the dedication of our new church in November, wants to move us from being too locally conscious – too territorial – to being more universal – more available to the needs of the community and church throughout the world. Vocations are scarce in Europe and North American – they are many in the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Africa – we have to spread Passionist manpower around more evenly.
On this mission Sunday we are asked to support the missionary works of the church financially and spiritually. We can pray for those men and women from Canada who have gone to serve in other lands – and we can pray for those priests who leave family and homeland and come to Canada to minister to us – learning English, getting used to our food, our climate, and our ways. It’s not easy for them and they need our prayers and patience. We are blessed to have them.
We say that the church is a missionary church – sent to preach the good news of Jesus Christ. But you good people are the church – we are all meant to preach the gospel – by the very lives we live. I love that teaching of St. Francis of Assisi – preach the gospel at all times and when necessary, use words. We can all be missionaries, witnesses to our own faith, by the lives we live, the work we do, the prayers we pray and the service we give – giving witness to our faith in Jesus Christ by what we say and what we do. Let us pray for each other that we be so.
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.
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Companion for the Walk of the Stations of the Cosmic Earth
St. Gabriel’s Garden – Guided Sensory Reflective Walk