September 4th, 2021
Many of you have been at Mass during the summer. For those of you who have recently returned to St. Gabriel’s, welcome back. We are very happy to see you!
September 6th to September 12th
MONDAY – LABOUR DAY – No 9:00 AM Mass TUESDAY – THE INTENTIONS OF CHUN-LI – Requested by Tony Fernandes WEDNESDAY – MICHAEL & AURITA FERNANDES – Requested by Tony Fernandes THURSDAY – Claire & Dawn Burke – Requested by their Family FRIDAY – SATURDAY – SHING-WING KOK & FAMILY – Requested by Yau Lam Kok SUNDAY – 10:30 AM – SHING WING KOK & FAMILY – Requested by Yau Lam Kok SUNDAY 12:30 PM – KSHAMALEE WIREKOON’S 75TH BIRTHDAY – Requested by Kshamalee Wirekoon
The Parish Family of St. Gabriel’s would like to welcome these little ones: Ana Elisa Leon Ayala Liam Cameron-Sellers Florez Rebecca Pena Silva Benjamin Adam Siu Aleria Valentina Smikle Theodore Kwabena Oritsematosan Uku
These children received the Sacrament of Baptism in July and August. Congratulations!
At the 10:30 AM Mass from October to May each year, children ages 4 to 10 have the opportunity to gather as a group for the Liturgy of the Word led by parents who have volunteered.
We are in need of more volunteers to assist this program.
For more information or to volunteer, please call Dawn Burke at 416 671-0561 or leave a message at the Parish Office.
There will be registration for the Sacraments of First Communion, Reconciliation and Confirmation on September 21st, 22nd, and 23rd.
Please bring a Baptism certificate if you are registering for First Communion or Confirmation. Registration forms cannot be accepted without it. A Baptism certtificate is not required for Reconciliation.
Meetings in preparation for the R.C.I.A. (Rites of Christian Initiation of Adults) will begin in October. These meetings are for persons interested in learning more about the Catholic Faith. The exploration may lead the candidate to seek baptism, and become a member of the Catholic Christian community; or for Christians already baptized into another Christian denomination, the reception into the Catholic Church.
Adult Catholics who have not received the sacrament of Confirmation but who wish to do so are also encouraged to attend these sessions.
As well, these meetings may be an opportunity for “Born Catholics” to deepen their understanding of our faith. Very often, especially for those of us who received our religious instruction at an early age, we tend to grow physically, mentally, psychologically etc., but the understanding of our faith does not grow correspondingly.
The RCIA may serve as a good opportunity for us to ask questions and to develop a more adult understanding of our faith. Registration will continue until September 18th. If you are interested in joining the RCIA meetings or if you would like to have more information about it, please contact Sr. Maria Lucia by email at StGabrielRCIA@gmail.com or by phone at 416-221-8866.
As you know, Haiti has now been hit with a 7.2 earthquake, the latest in a series of disasters to strike this small nation. The devastation was worsened by arrival of Tropical Depression Grace, bringing heavy rains flooding and landslides.
In an effort to support those have been most directly impacted by these disasters, St. Gabriel’s Parish is accepting funds which will be passed on directly to Fr. Rick Frechette in Haiti.
Contributions can also be made through the Archdiocese of Toronto.
Those wishing to help may do so in the following ways:
Through the parish, making cheques payable to:St. Gabriel’s – Haiti Disaster Relief 2021
Disaster Relief envelopes are on the table in the Gathering Space.
Online through the Archdiocese of Toronto website
Through the Development Office at 416-934-3411
Please offer your prayers for all those impacted by this tragedy. Thank you for your ongoing efforts to assist those in crisis.
Weekend of September 11th/ 12th
On Good Friday in the midst of the pandemic, several parishioners contributed to the Collection for the Holy Land.
For those who missed it, there will be a collection for the Holy Land on the weekend of September 11th/ 12th. This collection is taken to support Christian communities, the upkeep of Holy Sites and the formation of priests in the Holy Land.
Envelopes are in the Gathering Space.
Please be as generous as your means allow.
Thank you for your generous support of Rosalie Hall and the Good Shepherd Centre. Your food donations are very much appreciated.
Rosalie Hall assists young parents and their children to realize their potential through the provision of a wide range of child development, community, residential and educational services.
Good Shepherd provides hot meals and shelter for the homeless in our city as well as a chance to start again through the Resettlement or DARE Programs.
Your food donations are more important than ever as Covid 19 continues and numbers of needy people continue to increase. Please check the expiry dates before donating since we cannot pass on food that has expired.
Living the Gospel by supporting young parents
Thanks to generous donors like you, ShareLife agencies helped 150,000 people locally last year. These include 1,900 young pregnant and parenting women and their babies. These women take parenting classes, receive diapers and healthy food, and get one-on-one support as they complete their high school education.
We encourage you to support this work by making a gift to ShareLife via the parish or at sharelife.org.
October 3rd is the next ShareLife Sunday. Please give generously.
With a federal election scheduled for September 20th, Catholics are encouraged to learn more about the parties and candidates seeking our vote.
Catholic Conscience is Canada’s non-partisan Catholic civic and political engagement organization. They have prepared a number of resources that will assist Catholics in voter education and engagement in the days leading up to the federal election. These resources can be accessed at: www.catholicconscience.org/canada-federal-current.
All those eligible to vote are encouraged to do so on, or before, September 20th, 2021.
Saturday, October 2nd from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Manresa Jesuit Spiritual Renewal Centre 2325 Liverpool Rd., Pickering
A day of reflection for Catholic parents of young adults with mental health issues. Facilitated by Sr. Mary Rowell, csj. A suggested offering of $50 per person. Includes lunch, break and retreat day program. Space is limited.
For more information, visit their website at www.manresa-canada.ca
To register contact mikehyland@bell.net or phone 647-296-2499.
Tuesday, October 12th from 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM
Queen of Apostles Renewal Centre 1617 Blythe Rd., Mississauga
Celebrate October, the Month of the Holy Rosary, by attending a day retreat at Queen of Apostles Renewal Centre in Mississauga.
The cost is $40 (includes morning coffee and muffin, hot lunch and the program)
To register call Anne at 905-278-5229.
ST. GABRIEL’S GARDEN RETREAT
A Gateway to Earth’s Spirituality Saturday, September 18th
St. Gabriel’s will be hosting a Garden Retreat on Saturday, September 18th, on the theme of the garden as gateway to earth spirituality. Through hands-on garden encounters, contemplation and knowledge-sharing, participants will be invited to explore and deepen their relationship with the land.
Please see the posters in the Gathering Space and downstairs for further details.
The Finance Council wishes to share this with all who come together as our worshipping community.
“The financial burden of the Parish is the responsibility of each and all parishioners to the extent that your means allow.”
Please consider giving your offertory by picking up Envelopes, enrolling in Pre-Authorized Giving (PAG), or Donate Now (through the Archdiocese of Toronto website). Please come by the parish office if you have any questions.
| Posted in Bulletin |
August 29th, 2021
Today’s scriptures are very relevant to the times in which we live. We’re living with a death dealing virus and its mutants and we’re in the midst of a snap election.
In both these instances we’re called to be ‘doers of the word and not hearers only.
In living with the virus being doers of the word means we care for those around us, we are our brothers and sister keepers, we do unto others what we would have others do to us and so we wear masks, we get vaccinated, we wash our hands. We’re mature enough not to buy into; no one’s going to tell me what to do; I have my rights. Government get out of my life.
In this time of elections, we are to be doers of the word not just hearers. Be doers of the word and elect men and women who are willing to face the realities of climate change, the need for a living wage and equitable health care. Be doers of the word and elect those who take seriously the need for affordable housing and the reality of our aging population.
It is not my business to tell you how to vote. It is my business to remind you of your civic duty to vote. It is a privilege many man and women in too many countries do not have.
As voting Christian men and women we follow the example and teachings of Jesus; feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty – clean safe water is a human right – welcome the stranger. Be doers of the word.
Here in Canada we vote for a political party and it’s political platform, not for the individual. Check and see how close the political platform comes to what we consider to be ‘gospel values’.In our opening prayer we asked God; to nurture in us what is good and keep safe what God has nurtured.
As we continue this Mass we pray for ourselves and each other for the courage to be doers and not just listeners of the basic teaching and example of Jesus; love one another, especially the least among you, as I’ve loved you.
| Posted in Homily |
August 21st, 2021
Download the Garden Retreat Poster
September 18th, 2021 9:00 AM – 3:30 PM
St. Gabriel’s Parish 670 Sheppard Ave. East
Participants will engage hands-on with the plants and soil. Dress for the weather.
Visit: stgabrielsparish.eventbrite.ca Or Call: 416-221-8866 Reserve early as space is limited.
Cost $30. Please pay registration fee at the door.
Fr Stephen Dunn, Passionist, Ecotheologian – Changing Perspective –
Dennis Patrick O’Hara, PhD – The Garden in Architectural Context –
Maria Montejo, Indigenous Maya Popti’, Traditional Knowledge Holder – An Indigenous Perspective on creating a way of life that is in Harmony, Balance and Respect with All Our Relations –
Sponsored by St. Gabriel’s Parish in collaboration with the St. Gabriel’s Garden Ministry, The Eco Sabbath, The Youth Ministry, and the Congregation of Passionists.
Event will operate under the COVID-19 protocols of Toronto Public Health.
| Posted in Events |
August 16th, 2021
As well, these meetings may be an opportunity for “Born Catholics” to deepen their understanding of our faith. Very often, especially for those of us who received our religious instruction at an early age, we tend to grow physically, mentally, psychologically etc., but the understanding of our faith does not grow correspondingly. The RCIA may serve as a good opportunity for us to ask questions and to develop a more adult understanding of our faith.
Registration will continue until September 18th. If you are interested in joining the RCIA meetings or if you would like to have more information about it, please contact Sr. Maria Lucia by email at StGabrielParishRCIA@gmail.com or by phone at 416-221-8866.
| Posted in Notice |
August 14th, 2021
St. Paul describes Jesus in this way; He did not consider his equality with God as something to be clung to but he emptied himself becoming as we all are, though without sin and took to himself the form of a slave, the least of human beings, a slave obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Because of this diminishment God exalted him and gave him a name above all others, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The life of Mary parallels the life of Jesus. As a young girl Mary is invited to play a major part in the plan God had for humanity. She would conceive and bear a child by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit and name him Jesus. Mary was promised her son would be great and the Lord God with give him the throne of his ancestor David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will have no end.
Mary must have remembered these promises as she stood by the cross of Jesus on Calvary. Saw her son robbed of all human dignity, robbed of his reputation as a good man. Jesus’ throne was his cross, his crown was woven thorns, his royal robe was his flesh ripped by whips, his banner the mock title nailed to his cross; Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews.
Jesus called out, my God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Mary sharing in that sense of abandonment must have questioned, what happened to all those promises? But Mary’s trust in the promises of God never faltered.
God the Father vindicated Jesus in Jesus’ resurrection. God the Father vindicated the faith of Mary in her assumption into heaven.
Like the Immaculate Conception the Assumption was not always a dogma of our Catholic faint until Pope Pius 12 rules it so in 1950. It is longstanding tradition in the Orthodox churches of the East. They celebrate the feast of the dormition, the slumbering of Mary.
In his dogmatic decree of 1950 Pope Pius made it a matter of our faith that Mary, having completed her earthly course was taken body and soul to heaven to share in the glory of her risen Son. The Father did not let his holy one see corruption.
This feast celebrates Mary’s un shakable trust in God’s promises.
Despite all odds Mary trusted God to be faithful to God’s promises. Mary’s example challenges us to question ourselves, how trusting are we to God’s promises to us? Jesus promised us; seek and you will find, ask and you will receive, knock and the door will be opened, and especially, when we fret over our past mistakes, there’s the promise, tho your sins be as red as scarlet they will be white as snow, tho they be red as crimson they shall be white as wool.
On this great feast of Mary’s Assumption into heaven we pray for ourselves and for each other for the gift to have share in Mary’s trust that the promises made to her by God would be fulfilled and trust so will God’s promises to us.
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
