July 2nd, 2006
The two gospel stories we’ve just heard – one of the long suffering woman and the other of the father pleading for Jesus’ help – speak to me of desperation.
Someone referred to this good woman who worked her way thru the crowd just to touch Jesus’ clothes – as a bent woman – bent and burdened by her years of chronic illness and her chronic disappointments at the failure of her many attempts to be cured – desperation.
Jarius – facing the harsh fact that his child was dying had to be at his wit’s end. He begged and pleaded repeatedly for Jesus to come to his home and just lay his hand on his daughter – do something, do anything – desperation.
Both had great hope and trust in Jesus as each reached out to touch him – hoping that he would answer they desperate pleas for health – for life. Both Jarius and the bent woman had that faith to trust that Jesus has the power to confront their desperate life circumstances and make a difference.
We can say that the two stories in today’s gospel are success stories, everything worked out. Jarius’ and the bent woman’s trust in the power of Jesus ‘ payed off’. But what about all those times when there is no Jesus there to touch and heal – no Jesus to take us by the hand and tell us ‘get up’?
A few nights ago I was called to the emergency at NYGH – a three week old baby was dying. The staff at emergency were doing everything to keep a little girl alive – her mother keeping calling her name – encouraging her to fight, fight – finally a decision was made – nothing more could be done – the mother pleaded with them to keep working on her daughter – desperation – the deep sobbing of both parents really took its toll on all of us – everyone in that room had such a sense of helplessness. Actually I thought of today’s gospel that night. – I wished I had the power to turn that disaster around with the simple words – little girl get up. – That young mother and father were absolutely inconsolable. Maybe some future memory of how hard that staff worked to save their daughter – some future memory of how they were supported that night – will help them know they experienced the presence and love of Christ in the people who were with them at the desperate time.
There can be many times in our lives, or in the lives of those we love, when we are desperate – devastated by the unfairness of life – the meanness of people – the infidelity of friends – an injustice suffered – the death of someone we love. So many life situations can bring us to the brink of desperation – cause us to cry out like Job – why? – this is so unfair.
Think on this – despite their desperate situations both the bent woman and Jarius continued to trust in Jesus – trust that He could make a difference in their lives. The bent woman and Jarius stand forever together as witnesses to Jesus’ power to heal and give life – There can be times in our own lives or in the lives of those we love, when we are with desperate, frantic people caught up in some life disaster – and as helpless as we may feel – we do have the power – by our silence presence – to support, sustain, heal and give people trust in the basic goodness of life. They can experience God’s presence and love in our presence and love. Just as we have experienced God’s presence and love in the presence and love of family and friends.
Years ago a woman was telling me of how she got involved in the AIDS ministry. She took all the courses on pastoral visiting etc and then she made her first visit to a young man dying of aids. She told me she was terrified as she opened the door to his room – she was shocked by the sight of this wasted young man. She forced herself to walk to his bedside and sit down – then she took his hand in hers and admitted to him,” I don’t know what to say.” He looked at her and said, “you’ve said everything, you touched me.” We touch people in so many ways and more often than not in those desperate times in our lives or theirs it is the touch of presence that says everything and is life giving.
As we continue to celebrate this Mass with these two powerful stories before us we can pray for ourselves and for each other that we realize the truth that by our presence and support we can reach out and touch family and friends and strangers who find themselves in desperate situations – because our God is a God of the living who sees, cares and in God’s great mercy and wisdom has given us the power to be His loving, caring and healing presence to others.
| Posted in Homily |
June 25th, 2006
As you know officially this is our last Sunday Mass in this church. We will still be celebrating Mass here in July until we can make the move to our new church. At the end of Mass we will ritualize this event by carrying our parish records of baptisms, first communions, confirmations, marriages and funerals out of this church as a sign of our movement to the future.
Reflecting on today’s scripture can support us as we move on to our new church. Today’s portion of Mark’s gospel comes at the end of a long series of parables Jesus used to teach the people the good news – Mark tells us that great crowds came to hear him – Jesus felt himself in danger of being crushed by the crowd so he asked his disciples to have a boat ready for him so he could preach from the boat. Jesus taught the people in parables – stories about the seed growing, the yeast fermenting, always stories about growth, becoming. Having finished his preaching Jesus knew it was time to move on – He had other cities and towns to visit.
So we have today’s gospel of crossing over to the other side, the violent storm and the calming of the sea. In a way we could imagine that the disciples were quite happy with the way things were – crowds were coming to hear Jesus, this was a good scene, they were getting comfortable with the situation. But Jesus gives the order – we’re moving on – we’re crossing over to the other side where there will be more work to do, more challenges to meet.
Moving on is not always an easy thing to do – moving out of a home you’ve lived in for years can be heartbreaking – leaving behind so many memories. Moving on from grade school into high school or from high school into university – these changes can be fraught with anxiety of what is ahead. Moving on from a single life to married life – moving on from a job you’ve held for years and going into retirement – moving on from independent living to home care – in all these situations we tend to think more on what we are leaving behind than the possibilities of what lies ahead.
As a parish family we are in the process of moving on, crossing over to the other side – we leave behind this holy place and space that has been our home these 54 years – we have memories of great celebrations and tragic funerals – in these past 54 years we celebrated 6,606 baptisms 3,838 first communions, 3,327 confirmations, 2,203 weddings, 1,363 funerals – occasions of joy – times of sadness.
Maybe we can see in the turbulent seas of today’s gospel the mixed emotions we all have about our move – I’ve been a priest 47 years – 35 of those years have been here at St. Gabriel’s and its not easy to say good bye to this place with its many memories – its not easy for any of us – but – we can make our own the first words of our second reading tell us – the love of Christ urges us on, urges us on to cross over to the other side – we can make our own the last words of Paul – in Christ there is a new creation – everything old has passed away – see everything has become new – We want to grow as a community of faith – our new church expresses in the way it was built, in the way we will gather in it – in the way we will worship in it – a new sense of God’s good creation – hopefully we will be put us in touch with a new way of looking at creation – a deeper awareness of our connectedness with all God’s good creation – a greater gratitude for the beauty of the earth – a deeper sense of our personal commitment to the healing of Earth.
Christ chided the disciples for their lack of faith – that they doubted he would leave them to their own resources in that troubled sea – We can continue this Mass giving thanks to God for all that has happened in our church these past 54 years – and asking for the faith we need to trust that Christ is with us as we go through the troubled seas of our own emotions – crossing over to that other side that will be full of new life and new possibilities.
THIS IS OUR LAST BULLETIN FOR THE SEASON. WE WISH YOU A HAPPY AND SAFE SUMMER.
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM MONDAY TO FRIDAY 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM SATURDAY 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM SUNDAY
If you would like a souvenir of this Church before its demolition, consider ordering a picture of the mosaic over the main doors. Order forms are available at the back of the Church on a table under the sample pictures. Please note that you have a choice of frames. You may drop the order forms into the collection basket at any Mass.
is designed for children from Senior Kindergarten to Grade 8 in our Parish who are attending either private or public school and wish to learn about our Catholic Faith. We are currently accepting new students for the 2006/2007 school year. The deadline for enrollment is JUNE 30, 2006. For more information please call the Parish Office at 416 – 221 – 8866.
Total: $8,803.00
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I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your very generous support of this year’s ShareLife. – Fr. Paul
2005 SHARELIFE TOTAL: $176,612.27 2006 TO DATE: $148,119.01
Meetings will begin Monday September 18 at 7:30PM. These evenings are for persons interested in learning about the Catholic Faith. Adult Catholics who wish to celebrate the Sacraments of Eucharist and Confirmation are welcome. For more information, please call Mary Landry at 416-221-8866 ext 224
There will be a meeting for all altar servers on Sunday July 9th after the 12:30 Mass. It is important to attend.
Friday July 7th after the 9:00AM Mass until 12 noon.
Please enter by the West doors. SATURDAY JULY 1st – ENGLISH – 9:00AM SUNDAY JULY 2nd – CHINESE – 3:30PM
Adriana Sofia Balarezo Aidan Boylan Ella Anne Jones Chi – Ping Kung Lucas Benjamin Sulit Anju Tsukimoto
During the summer, the chicken rice casseroles will be collected on the weekend of July 22/23 (a week earlier than normal because of the move to the new Church) and the weekend of August 26/27 (in the new Church). 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.
Sales of Fair Trade coffee will be suspended for July and August. Thank you to all who supported this program to provide farmers in the south with a fair living wage.
| Posted in Bulletin |
May 7th, 2006
From the 7th to the 12th of May, Fathers Steve Dunn, Bernard and Paul will be attending an important meeting of the Passionist Community in Scranton, PA. This meeting is called a “Chapter” and at it the leadership of the community for the next four years will be elected and issues of the Passionist Community will be discussed. Please pray for the success of this important meeting. The Franciscans , from St. Bonaventure’s Parish, will be celebrating the Masses during the coming week. On Wednesday of last week, we had a visit from Fr. Ottaviano D’Egidio, our Superior General from Rome. Fr. Ottaviano is an architect and was anxious to see our new Church. He told us he was delighted by what he saw and supported our efforts.
One of the features of our New Church will be a large gathering space. To give parishioners the opportunity of socializing after Mass and to deal with the reality of underground parking, we will be changing the hours of our weekend Masses. As of June 4th, the hours of Sunday Masses will be Saturday – 4:30 PM Sunday – 8:30 AM – 10:30 AM and 12:30 PM This will allow for a more leisurely coming and going between Masses.
The balance for our new organ is $ 38,639.00. If you would like to donate to the new organ, please get in touch with the parish office. Each donor will be inscribed in the special Heritage Book. Again, thank you for your generous response to our Gifting Program.
Please make your cheque payable to: St. Gabriel’s – Gifting – and forward it to the parish office to the attention of Marilyn Doré. We would also ask that you let us know in whose honour (living or deceased) you would like your gift named.
Tuesday, May 16 at 7:30 pm Wednesday, May 10 at 10:30 am (West Door Entrance)
Wednesday, May 17 at 10:30 am ( West Door Entrance)
is designed for children from Senior Kindergarten to Grade 8 in our Parish who are attending either private or public school and wish to learn about our Catholic Faith. We are currently accepting new students for the 2006/2007 school year. Enrollment forms are available at the Parish office. The deadline for enrollment is JUNE 30, 2006. Volunteers to the program are always welcome. For more information please call the Parish Office at 416 – 221 – 8866.
and other children in the Parish will be held on Saturday, May 27th at 11:00 AM. Parents, please bring the children to the Church at least 10 minutes earlier.
Thursday, May 25th from 9:00 AM to 2:30 PM. All candidates receiving Confirmation this year are expected to attend a retreat in their honour to be held in the Church Hall.
Total: $10,478.31
On behalf of Cardinal Ambrozic and all those served by ShareLife’s 34 Agencies, we would like to thank you for your generous support. This year the Diocese asked our Catholic faith community to “answer the call to give”, responding as stewards of healing and hope to the poor and marginalized. May we continue to help those in need.
2005 SHARELIFE TOTAL: $176,612.27 2006 TO DATE: $78,875.00
Thank you to the volunteers who prepared 48 casseroles for April. For May, your prepared casseroles (frozen please) will be collected at the Masses on the weekend of May 27/28 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.
provides desperately needed counselling and support assistance to families in parishes throughout the Archdiocese. Beginning this year, we are hoping to involve more participation from each parish in supporting our activities through volunteering, helping with fundraising events and serving on our Board of Directors.
Our new activities kick off on Wednesday, May 24th with a day of golf for all parishioners at the glorious Glen Eagle Golf Club. We are hoping that each parish will sponsor at least one team of four in our tournament. However, individual players are encouraged to sign up as well. The event is open to both casual and competitive golfers and is followed by a magnificent Dinner and Awards Banquet.
Registrations will be available at the parish office, or for more information, please contact Mark Evans at Catholic Family Services by phone at 416 – 921 – 1163, or by email at mevans@cfsofto.org
Single women, 18 – 40 are invited to a retreat weekend May 12-14 or June 2-4, given by a team of Sisters of St. Joseph. For information please call Sister Dorothy at 416 – 934 – 0042.
December 25th, 2005
| Posted in Events |
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
