March 18th, 2007
We just heard one of the most famous stories Jesus ever told. Remember it’s a story – we can’t get caught up in the details. What’s important is why Jesus told the story in the first place.
We discover that in the very first lines of today’s gospel; the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling, saying; ‘this fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ Remember when Jesus called the tax collector Matthew to follow him? To celebrate that invitation Matthew threw a banquet and invited his friends, who like himself were tax collectors and outsiders. And the Pharisees and scribes raised the same shocked complaint – this man welcomes sinners and eats with them.
Sensing what is going on, Jesus tells this famous story – the one son who leaves home, blows his inheritance on loose living, comes to his senses and comes home to a father whose heart is open and whose arms are outstretched in welcome. Then there’s the second son who never left home, worked his fingers to the bone, was faithful and true to his father but who was lost to the family because he couldn’t let go of his resentment and bitterness at his father’s generosity. He refused to join the welcoming homecoming.
At the meal Jesus was enjoying with these sinners we see the prodigal son in these so called ‘sinners’ who were amazed that this famous rabbi would have time for the likes of them, would welcome them into his company and treat them so kindly. Such a welcome and such an acceptance paved the way for them to hear Jesus’ teaching, a teaching inviting them back to the life and love of the Father.
In the Pharisees we see the faithful son who never left home, who kept the law and observed the rules, who thought he had an exclusive right to his father’s love and who was furious at the father’s forgiving generosity to his dissolute brother. This was just not fair – we can just sense his anger and frustration. There was no way he could bring himself to embrace this brother – he couldn’t even call him his brother, he distances himself from him by saying, ‘this son of yours’. The father answers his angry protest, ‘your brother was lost, was dead, but he’s come to us, come back to the family. We have to celebrate.’
That’s how the story ends. We have no idea whether or not the faithful son ever relented and welcomed his brother home. We can imagine he continued to ignore his brother, avoided his company and continued to rage within himself at the unfairness of it all. His resentment at his father’s generosity towards his brother probably wrecked his relationship with his father. We can even imagine that when the father died and he owned the farm he ordered his brother off his land and out of his life for good. He may have ended up a lonely and bitter man.
We can see in the constant hostility of the Scribes and Pharisees toward Jesus, right up to calling for his death, that they could never accept the fact that Jesus would eat with sinners and welcome them. They resented such openness, such acceptance of those they thought unworthy. How dare Jesus ignore us and spend His time with these riffraff. Their resentment, their anger, their bitterness isolated them from the life and love Jesus offered them, as he did the tax collectors. For all their righteousness, they were the losers. Their resentment was their ruin.
So often in the complex dynamics of family and sibling relationships resentment can be such a destructive force. Brooding on their real or imagined hurts, over who was the favorite in the family, over who got what in a will, over who did the most for aging parents, over whatever, the resentful person shuts himself/ herself off from any chance of peace and reconciliation. And this can go on for years with no resolution, no reconciliation.
Reconciliation: that’s what today’s Scripture is all about, from Paul’s appeal ‘we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God’ – to the beautiful story of a sorry son embraced by his forgiving father – reconciled. Make up and be at peace with God.
I think the greatest words in today’s gospel are the complaint of the Pharisees: ‘this man eats and drinks with sinners.’ And Jesus still does. He invites us, sinners all, to this meal, enjoys our company, nourishes us with His Body and Blood and sends us on our way to live this Mass outside these walls. We all come here with our sins, our faults our failings our struggles – and our blessings and we are all welcomed, accepted as we are. Each of us here is, in our own way, accepting Jesus’ gracious invitation ‘come to Me all you who labor and find life burdensome and I will refresh you.’
With Paul’s call for reconciliation and this story of acceptance and resentment before us, we can pray for ourselves and for each other that, if in any of our relationships, familial or otherwise, we have let resentment or rancor isolate us from others, then Christ who loves to eat and drink with us sinners will, through the Bread of Life we receive, give us the strength and grace we need to pick up the phone or write a note, or visit anyone from whom we are estranged or alienated and seek reconciliation. Being reconciled with others, we will truly be reconciled with God.
| Posted in Homily |
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28th AT 7:30 PM
Lent is a season in which we spend time reflecting on our lives and on how faithfully we are following Jesus Christ. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is always available after the 4:30 PM Mass on Saturday or by appointment.
on Friday evenings at 7:30 PM
This annual Parish event is again being sponsored by the Pastoral Team on WEDNESDAY APRIL 4th AT 7:00 PM in the Gabriel Room. Passover is the oldest festival of the Hebrew liturgical calendar. It has been observed by Jewish people for more than three thousand years. Passover is a religious family meal celebrating Jewish freedom from slavery. It occurs in the spring, the time of renewal in “Nissan”, the first month of the Hebrew year, and it lasts for eight days. Why do we celebrate this “meal” at St. Gabriel’s? First, this celebration helps us to understand our religious roots, which are Jewish. Second, it is an opportunity for us to celebrate our growth as a community, and be together with families and friends at this most special time during Holy Week. Please call the Parish Office at 416-221-8866 by FRIDAY MARCH 30th to book your table of 6 or 8, or to have your name added to a table.
Total: $11,372
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St. Gabriel’s has been selected as one of the three finalists for this award. The ceremony will take place on Tuesday, May 1, 2007 at City Hall. The recipient, who will receive $5,000, will be announced at the ceremony. All finalists will be profiled in the spring issue of Green Living magazine as well as on the Green Toronto Awards website.
THURSDAY MARCH 22nd from 7:30 – 9:00 PM in the Gabriel Room. This meeting is for the parents of the children receiving Reconciliation for the first time.
(St. Gabriel’s School children) Saturday March 24th at 11:00 AM in the Church.
(All children in Children’s Faith Program) Saturday March 24th at 2:00PM in the Church.
PLACE: LIBRARY March 21st at 10:30 AM – 12 noon Vatican II – THEN AND NOW
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March 20th, 7:30 – 9:00PM PLACE: Library “OTHER SEPARATIONS FROM THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH” For more information on any of the above topics, contact Mary Landry at 416-293-3760.
Part 1 – will be broadcast on Sunday, March 25th on VISIONTV at 7:00 PM. Rediscovering Catholicism – Part 2 – continues the following night Monday, March 26th at 7:00 PM. Matthew Kelly, will present an inspiring message for young and old. He will be joined by the world-renowned St. Michael’s Choir School. Truly a Mission for the entire family.
The Shepherds’ Trust would like to thank everyone for their support of the Trust. Your generosity during the November collection was evident. We received $1,553,522 from Diocesan Parishes and $311,605 from Religious Order Parishes towards the retirement needs of our clergy. For more information call Sheryn Lepine at 416-934-3400, ext. 615. Caring for those who have always cared for us!
Covenant House Toronto is a leading expert and advocate for homeless youth in Canada. They serve the largest homeless youth population and provide the most complete range of housing and support services through their facilities and community partners to meet the needs of street youth. They are flexible and responsive to the emerging needs of homeless youth in our community.
Next Sunday is ShareLife Sunday!
| Posted in Bulletin |
March 11th, 2007
God’s call to Moses from the burning but unconsumed bush is the beginning of a long adventure of freeing the Jewish people from slavery. This long adventurous journey would end when these freed slaves would enter a promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
In the 80th Psalm this freeing journey is described in this way: “You uprooted a vine out of Egypt – to plant it you drove out other nations – you cleared a space where it could grow – it took root and filled the whole country – it covered the mountains with its shade – the cedars of God with its branches – its tendrils extended to the sea – its offshoots all the way to the river.”
The whole history of Israel tells of how God cared for and tended that vine. But the vine – the Jewish people – rejected God’s care and began to worship false Gods. Then the vine came upon hard times – as the psalm goes on, “why have you destroyed its fences – now anyone can go and steal its grapes, the forest boar can ravage it, the wild animals eat it.” Then the people would repent and pray “look down from heaven, look at this vine and protect it, protect what your right hand has planted, Lord Sabaoth, bring us back, let your face smile on us and we shall be saved.” And God would patiently tend the vine again.
This imagery of the vine fits in well with the imagery of the fruitless fig tree Luke uses in today’s gospel. It was wasting the soil, taking up space, taking up the time and effort of the gardener. The owner of the garden has his own take on this useless fig tree, get rid of it, its not worth all the time and effort that’s gone into it. Cut it down. The patient gardener, the one who’s done all the work, pleas for just one more year. He’ll soften up the soil around it and put some manure on it – he wants to give it one more chance.
How many of you have been through something like this – a favorite house plant fails to blossom, it’s struggling to survive? You give it extra care, more water, more sunlight, more fertilizer, hoping the plant will respond. You may even call the man on the CBC at noon hour to get some advice on plant care; after all he’s the expert.
Jesus had been laboring for three years – going from town to town, preaching, pleading and healing. He tries to harvest from those who hear His message of God’s love for them, fruits of repentance, people turning back to God. In this gospel story Jesus is that patient gardener, willing to give this struggling tree one more year. As someone once wrote, “we are all living in that ‘one more year’ of God’s laboring love.” We are all in that ‘one more year’ of our lives needing God’s help to bring us more and more into God’s life and love.
It’s not as if we find ourselves in the bottom half of the ninth inning with two out and two strikes on us – it’s not as if we have one last shot at salvation. It’s all part of our ongoing relationship with God.
Yahweh, Who uprooted that vine out of Egypt, Who cleared a space and planted it to grow and prosper never gave up on His people, no matter how many times they were unfaithful to His law and His love.
Jesus, the patient gardener will never give up on this struggling fig tree – He continues to nurture it, care for it, and coaxes it to life and fruitfulness.
Maybe the message of today’s gospel is that we never give up on ourselves or others, especially when we see ourselves or others as losers – fruitless fig trees. God never gave up on His people, the vine God brought out of Egypt – Christ the gardener never gave up on that fruit tree, and He never gives up on us. We should not give up on ourselves or others.
There can be times when we are tempted to do so – we can get so frustrated with our own weakness, our own failing, so irritated with the number of times we disappoint ourselves or are disappointed by others. We can wonder, ‘why bother?’ So annoyed, we become like the impatient owner who wants to tear that fig tree out of the ground and throw it away, forget it. When we come to grips with our own weaknesses of the weaknesses of others we need patience. Remember we are works in progress as are all those who are in our lives: spouses, son and daughters, friends and strangers. God’s not finished with any of us yet. We need to give ourselves time; we need to give ourselves and others that ‘one more year’. Instant growth is not a healthy or lasting growth.
Holiness is God’s work and God is patient. Holiness is God’s work; we just have to make ourselves available, open to the working of God’s grace in our lives.
As we continue to celebrate this Mass, we can pray for ourselves and for each other that as Christ the patient gardener is willing to give us ‘one more year’, we will be willing to patiently give ourselves and others ‘one more year’ to grow and bear fruit as people who are loved by our ever patient God.
Friday evenings at 7:30 PM
FIRST RECONCILIATION (St. Gabriel’s School children) Saturday March 24th at 11:00 AM in the Church.
FIRST RECONCILIATION (All children in Children’s Faith Program) Saturday March 24th at 2:00PM in the Church.
Total: $11,322
LIBRARY March 21st 10:30 AM – 12 noon Vatican II – THEN AND NOW
March 20th 7:30 – 9:00PM Library TOPIC: “OTHER SEPARATIONS FROM THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH” For more information on any of the above topics, contact Mary Landry at 416-293-3760.
Since last November, a group of parishioners in the parish, who are newcomers to the country, have been meeting and getting to know and support one another. On Friday, March 16th, they will be having a potluck dinner at 7:30 PM. All recent immigrants who have not been able to join the group’s activities are most welcome to do so. For details call Fatima Lee at (416) 221-8866 ext 228.
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
Pelletier operates one group home and six foster care residences which serve 27 young women between the ages of 12 and 18. These youth turn to Pelletier to escape serious difficulties such as abuse. They face barriers to self-sufficiency, including emotional problems, low education, truancy, substance abuse and poverty. The organization offers residential care, individual counseling, life-skills development, educational and career planning, family and parental support, social and interpersonal skills development, ongoing support and an Educational Classroom. With your help we can make a difference!
Part 1 will be broadcast on Sunday, March 25th on VISIONTV at 7:00 PM. Rediscovering Catholicism – Part 2 – continues the following night Monday, March 26th at 7:00 PM. Matthew Kelly, who has spoken to 5 million people in 52 countries, will be joined by the world-renowned St. Michael’s Choir School. Finally a Mission for the entire family.
www.redemptorists.ca Lent offers us a chance to start over. Lent offers us a chance to look at ourselves, to become the person who God calls us to be. You will find daily scriptural reflections on-line that will provide you with opportunities to reflect, ponder and grow in faith through this season of Lent.
March 23 – 25, 2007 Married couples: You deserve a weekend to celebrate being together; to rediscover each other and 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: David and Lucy Adams 905-470-9590 or email adams@rogers.com
CALL THE PARISH OFFICE AT 416-221-8866 IF YOU HAVE A STATIONARY EXERCISE BIKE THAT YOU COULD LOAN US FOR 2 MONTHS.
March 4th, 2007
Have you ever noticed that a lot of churches are built on hills or have a lot of steps you have to climb to get in? In the old days they never thought about accessibility. Building on a hill or having to climb a lot of steps was a way of recognizing the ‘aboveness’ of God. Mountains play a great part in Sacred Scripture – as in today’s gospel. The fact of the matter is we live our lives in the ‘belowness’ on the level plains of life.
In the gospel of the Transfiguration Jesus takes his friends, Peter, James and John out of the level plains of their lives into the ‘aboveness’ of God. Great and wonderful things happened – the very appearance of Jesus is transfigured – they saw Jesus as they never saw Him before. They are startled to see Moses representing the Law, Elijah representing the prophets – talking with Jesus. This is a true religious experience – it must have overwhelmed them. No wonder Peter said,” Lord it is good for us to be here” Then to hear the very voice of God, “This is my Son, My Chosen, listen to Him.” This whole experience allowed Peter, James and John to be part of the ‘aboveness’ of God. It must have been a bit like St. Paul’s experience when he tells of being swept up into the third heaven.
When Luke tells of the appearance of Moses and Elijah he tells us these two were talking with Jesus about his departure that He was to accomplish in Jerusalem. Jesus had been trying to tell the twelve that He would be betrayed, handed over to the authorities and be put to death. They didn’t want to hear this. This shattered all their expectations of a Messiah. As Peter told Jesus, ‘far be this from You Lord, this must never happen to You.’ But it would happen and they would fail to be there with Him and for Him – as scripture says, “I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.’ And scattered they would be.
This sharing in the ‘aboveness’ of God was to prepare them, strengthen them for the coming experiences in the belowness of their lives and the life of Jesus. Luke goes on to tell us that as Jesus brought them down from the mountain and they were met by a large crowd with a desperate father whose son was possessed by a demon. The father begs Jesus to do something, anything for his son. Jesus asks him, ‘do you believe I can do this?’ the poor man didn’t know what to say except, ‘Lord I believe but help the little faith I have.’
This whole gospel story teaches us that we will live most of our lives, maybe all of our lives, on the level plains of belowness. Every now and then we may be blessed with an awareness of God’s love – we may be blessed to know that God saw us through a difficult time and really is with us and cares for us. But most times, when things are rough, we are like the desperate father saying ‘help my unbelief.’
There can be high points in our lives that see us through the low points. They are like rockets bursting in the air. The deep joy of a mother and father holding their new born child in their arms is what gives them the strength to face sleepless night trying to walk that baby to sleep. Even though it may be in the far distant past, that joy helps them see a rebellious teenage son or daughter through the madness of puberty.
The memory of the joy and excitement of a wedding day – if it is kept alive – can see a husband and wife through the struggles that are part and parcel of every married life.
Back to Peter, James and John. These are the same three Jesus took into the garden of Gethsemane – certainly a great ‘belowness’ in their lives and in the life of Jesus. In that dark place they see Jesus sweating blood and begging for His life – pleading, ‘if it is possible, let this chalice pass me by’. In Gethsemane no one said, ‘Lord it is good for us to be here’ – they couldn’t wait to get out of the place and when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, they scattered. The memory of the mountain was lost in the terror of the garden.
As we continue to celebrate this Mass we can pray for ourselves and for each other that there be times when we are blessed to experience the ‘aboveness’ of God, that we be gifted with those moments when we know God loves us, forgives us, sustains us. We pray too that as we live our lives in our belowness we will always have the honesty and courage to pray when things are rough ‘Lord I believe, help the little faith I have.’ In either of these experiences may we always say, “Lord it is good for us to be here.’ Because wherever we are You are there.
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
