November 28th, 2021
“May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all.” (Thessalonians 3.12)
Friday, December 10th from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM
No 9:00 AM Mass 5:00 PM Mass 7:00 PM Mass 9:00 PM Mass 12:00 AM Midnight Mass Office Open – 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM
8:30 AM, 10:30 AM, 12:30 PM Mass No 4:30 PM Mass Office Open – 7:30 AM to 2:00 PM
Sunday, December 26th, Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph 8:30 AM, 10:30 AM, 12:30 PM Office Open – 7:30 AM to 2:00 PM
No 9:00 AM Mass Office Closed
No 9:00 AM Mass Office closed
No 9:00 AM Mass Vigil Mass for Feast of Mary the Holy Mother of God – 4:30 PM Mass Office Open – 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM
Feast of Mary the Holy Mother of God World Day of Peace 10:30 AM, 12:30 PM No 4:30 PM Mass Office Open – 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM
8:30 AM, 10:30 AM, 12:30 PM Office Open – 7:30 AM to 2:00 PM
No walk-ins will be allowed for the Masses on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve.
Parishioners will be able to register for Christmas Eve beginning Monday, December 20th and for New Year’s Eve on Monday, December 29th.
Parking at ground level is limited to 51 spaces, but there is plenty of space in the underground parking lot. Do not park in front of the Church since this is a fire route and must be kept clear.
November 29th to December 5th, 2021
MONDAY – MARY BYRNES – Requested her Family TUESDAY – GIUSSEPPINA & ORESTE SMERIGLIO – Requested by Franca Giannotta WEDNESDAY – TOM KAHWA – Requested by Lucille Yeung THURSDAY – JOSEPH LUAN NGUYEN – Requested by the Nguyen Family FRIDAY – SONG JUNG SOOK – Requested by Veronica Do SATURDAY – MARY SAAD – Requested by Laila Kozman SUNDAY – 10:30 AM – NIKOLA VUKOVIC – Requested by the Family SUNDAY – 12:30 PM – EVELYN CABILI ECARMA – Requested by Carmela Caberte
Friday, December 10th from 3:00 to 6:00 PM
During this time of prayer, we are reminded that the gift of Reconciliation restores us to the fullness of life and calls us to full participation in the Christmas liturgies.
Individual reconciliation will be held on Friday, December 10th from 3:00 to 6:00 PM.
Retreat -Saturday, December 4th at 10:00 AM Confirmation – Sunday, December 5th at 3:00 PM
The Sacrament of Confirmation for the candidates from 2019/20 will be celebrated on Sunday, December 5th at 3:00 PM at St. Gabriel’s Church.
In preparation for the Sacrament, a Confirmation Retreat will be held on Saturday, December 4th from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM.
All candidates must attend.
Candidates are reminded to bring a signed letter from the service coordinator or parent stating the completion or anticipated date of completion of service hours.
Sunday November 21st to Sunday, December 12th
We will be having a Christmas Toy Drive again this year for the Catholic Children’s Aid Foundation. You can help by dropping off an unwrapped new toy for a child, age newborn to12 years old. Containers have been set up in the gathering space and will remain there until Sunday, December 12th.
Saturday, November 20th to Sunday, December 12th
St. Vincent de Paul
During Advent, the Society of St Vincent de Paul, St. Gabriel Conference will have a Giving Tree in the Gathering Space. The tree will be decorated with gift stars.
We invite you to take a star, buy a Walmart or Canadian Tire gift card for about $50 and bring it with the star attached to the Parish Office.
Rosalie Hall
At this time of the year, we are also thinking of the young mothers and babies of Rosalie Hall. If you wish to help, you may choose a “Christmas Stocking” from the tree to purchase pyjamas or undershirts for little ones, age 6 months to 5 years.
Because donations are very low this year, sweaters or hoodies would also be very welcome. Unwrapped Items with the original stocking tag attached can be left in the box provided near the giving tree no later than Sunday, December 12th. Toys or books for these little ones would also be appreciated.
For the Moms, we are suggesting gift cards from Tim Horton’s, Walmart or MacDonald’s. These can be placed in the cards provided and brought to the Office. Thank you for your continued generosity.
Available on December 4th and 5th, 2021
A beautiful and unique calendar from the Canadian North will be available again!
The calendar showcases photos of lovely landscape of the North captured by Bishop Jon Hansen on his many missionary trips in the Diocese of Mackenzie in the Northwest Territories. That Diocese is home to many isolated indigenous communities.
Many of you may have known Fatima Lee, who is formerly a member of our pastoral team at St Gabriel’s. She has for the past three years served as a missionary in the Diocese of Mackenzie
On the weekend of December 4th and 5th, volunteers will be selling these beautiful 2022 calendars at the parish (following strict Covid protocols).
It is hoped that through the sale of these calendars, funds will be raised to support the travel of priests and pastoral workers of the diocese to the remote communities. Since this Diocese of 1.5 million sq. km has only nine priests serving, many of the isolated communities will have Mass only occasionally. Except in the deep of winter, when the ice roads are available, each time the priests or pastoral workers would have to fly in and out of these communities. It is notoriously expensive to fly in the north.
Please consider supporting the Diocese of Mackenzie. The calendars, at $20 each, are great for personal use; they will also make wonderful gifts, since they are unique and not easily available elsewhere.
As you know, each week we collect food for Rosalie Hall and the Good Shepherd Centre. 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. Thank you for your generous support.
Each week, beginning last Sunday, November 21st, the Solemnity of Christ the King, the CCCB began releasing a video recording of a Bishop reflecting on the Gospel Reading for each Sunday of Advent. This year’s reflections were inspired by Indigenous Delegation travelling to Rome to meet with Pope Francis from December 17th to December 20th2021. Each reflection is based one of the five essential stages of reconciliation: examen, confession, repentance, reparation (making amends), and reconciliation. It is likewise hoped these reflections will assist the faithful, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike, in preparing for Pope Francis’ eventual apostolic journey to Canada.
The videos can be now accessed on the CCCB website at the following link: https://www.cccb.ca/evangelization-catechesis-catholic-education/video-resources/journey-through-advent/
The 2022 Offertory envelopes are now available. When you attend Mass, please remember to pick up your box of envelopes from Nikki, maintaining the required physical distancing.
If there is no box with your name on it and you want a box, please let the parish office know in person, by phone or by email. If you are donating via Pre-Authorized Giving or Donate Now at the Archdiocese, you normally would not have an envelope box assigned to you.
If you still have envelopes in your possession from any prior year, including 2021, please do no use them for 2022. Also, write your name and complete address on the first few 2022 envelopes you use so that the office can ensure we have your correct information for sending out tax receipts.
| Posted in Bulletin |
There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, on earth distress among nations, the roaring of the seas and the powers of heaven will be shaken.
I wonder how the good people of British Columbia must have felt as the endured a storm of the century. Their lives were turned upside down. Within hours families were shattered, lives were lost. Electrical power was no more, main highways, rail roads and bridges were no more. Their businesses gone, farmlands flooded, live stock lost. They were without safe drinking water, they had no sanitation facilities. All this in a matter of hours. It was the end of life as they knew it.
Last week it was B.C. this week it’s Nova Scotia and NFLD. Global warning and climate change are full of surprises. May we keep these people in our prayer that they have the strength and determination to rebuild their lives. Resiliency is part of the human condition, and these disasters bring out the best in us. But still, we know not the day nor the hour. Just think on this…
The poetry of these apocalyptic writings, terrifying as they may be, really is all about the vulnerability and unpredictability of our daily living more than with clues to the schedule of the coming end of all things. Our world disintegrates when a loved one dies or our life is shattered by divorce or our future in uncertain when we lose a job. We fear our future when we’re told we have cancer or we’re in the first stages of dementia.
But even with these portents of the end times, there is the promise born: We will “see the Son of Man coming on a cloud. When these things begin to happen, stand up straight and raise your heads, for your Redeemer is near at hand.”
God’s promise to all of us is; fear not, I am with you always, even to the end of days, especially in the worst of days…
| Posted in Homily |
November 21st, 2021
This is the Feast of Christ the King To Him be Glory and Kingship forever!
A Box of Remembrance has been placed on the altar for the month of November. You are invited to write the names of your deceased relatives and friends on a sheet of paper at home and bring it to place in the box.
Those whose names are in the Box of Remembrance will be remembered at all the Masses celebrated in November.
November 22nd to November 28th, 2021
MONDAY – KOK YAU MAY – Requested by Yau Lam Kok TUESDAY – ANITA LEE – Requested by Rosemary Lee WEDNESDAY – THURSDAY – FILOMENA D’SILVA – Requested by Maria D’Silva FRIDAY – SATURDAY – LOZANO FABRA – Requested by Myrian Fabra SUNDAY – 10:30 AM – CAROLYN CRAVEN – Requested by Milena Babic SUNDAY – 12:30 PM – SIMON GALVEZ PRINCIPIO – Requested by Margina Principio
Sunday, December 5th at 3:00 PM
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 great 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.
During Advent, the Society of St Vincent de Paul, St. Gabriel Conference will have a Giving Tree in the Gathering Space.
The tree will be decorated with gift tags. Each tag will have the gender and age of a child. We invite you to take a tag, buy a Walmart gift card of about $50 for that child and return it with the tag attached to the Parish Office.
At this time of the year, we are also thinking of the young mothers and babies of Rosalie Hall. If you wish to help, you may choose a “Christmas Stocking” from the tree to purchase pyjamas or undershirts for babies, age 6 months to 5 years.
For the Moms, we are suggesting gift cards from Tim Horton’s, Walmart or MacDonald’s. These can be placed in the envelopes provided and brought to the Office. Thank you for your generosity
Saturday November 21st h to Sundday, December 12th
We will be having a Christmas Toy Drive again this year for the Catholic Children’s Aid Foundation. You can help by dropping off an unwrapped new toy for a child, age newborn to12 years old. Containers will be set up in the gathering space on Saturday, November 21st and will remain there until Sunday, December 12th.
As you know, each week we collect food for Rosalie Hall and the Good Shepherd Centre.
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. Thank you for your generous support.
Available weekend of December 4th and 5th, 2021
Weekend of November 27th/28th
Your prepared frozen casseroles will be collected at the Masses the weekend of November 27th/28th for delivery to the Good Shepherd Centre.
Due to Covid 19, there are many hungry people who are counting on us to make a difference. Good Shepherd Ministries serves more than 1,1300 meals a day, every day of the year.
More volunteers are urgently needed to help feed the hungry in our city. Please get a copy of a casserole recipe and a pan and give it a try.
Recipes are available in the parish office or on our website. Remember to mark the label on the pan lid with the name of the casserole. For more information, you may contact Irene Albrecht at 416 221-2791.
Wednesday November 24 at 8:00 AM
A VIRTUAL EVENT Recommended by the Office for Promoting Christian Unity and Religious Relations with Judaism
This webinar invites us to see the arts not just through aesthetic lenses, but more so in their awareness-raising, educational and mobilizing abilities. The speaker, Favianna Rodriguez, will highlight some of our time’s most inspiring art initiatives and share how social and ethical issues can be brought to the public’s attention through art.
To register go to https://bit.ly/EthicsAndArtWebinar
Thursday, November 25th at 6:30 PM
A Virtual Event Sponsored by the Office for Interreligious Dialogue, Archdiocese of Toronto
This event is organized by the Young Adults Interfaith Dialogue Group, which is run under the auspices of the Office for Interreligious Dialogue, Archdiocese of Toronto. They have invited Dr. Shari Golberg, Saulina Amaral, Muneeb Nasir and Mandeep Singh to discuss the meaning and importance of grief and healing in their faith traditions. They will discuss: how does faith help us in the process of healing when we are challenged emotionally?
To register, go to https://bit.ly/GriefAndHealing2021
November 20th, 2021
Standing before a corrupt politician, dressed in mock purple, wearing a painful crown of thorns, weakened by his scourging, Pilate asks Jesus, ‘are you the king of the Jews. Jesus does not deny the title’ ’King’ but wants nothing to do with the reality of kingship of his time, ‘my kingdom is not off this world.’
Basically Jesus is saying to Pilate I am not tolerating this phony trial. I am here to bear witness to the truth.
Pilate asks Jesus, ‘what is truth’ but is really not interested in an answer.
Truth for Jesus was that every person has his/her own dignity before God. That’s why he praised the Samaritan people, who were despised by the Jews. That’s why Jesus ate with publicans and sinners, the despised outcasts of society. That’s why Jesus embraced prostitutes and lepers, despised by the social snobbery of the time… That’s why Jesus spent time with and preached to the crowds hungry for words of understanding as to how difficult their lives were; bearing witness to the truth that they were of value, they are loved by God, and they are loved by Jesus.
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.
You’ve probably heard the saying,’ denial ain’t just a river in Egypt’. How many truths, how many realities are we denying, refusing to face the truth of our time?
How about these truths?
The embarrassing truth that our church made a terrible mistake when we teamed up with the federal government to get the Indian out of the child and staffed residential schools.
The frightening truth of global warming and climate change and our challenge to live lightly on the earth.
The embarrassing truth of the unjust and unfair distribution of earth’s wealth and resources.
The shameful truth of the racism and bigotry that pervades our communities and education systems.
The distressful truth of unaffordable housing and the homelessness that is part and parcel of our social network.
Christ our King said that everyone who belongs, admits and accept the uncomfortable truths of their times listen to his voice and works to undo the wrongs of their times.
You shall know the truth and the truth will make you free. Admitting the truth of the reality of the injustices with which live, the racism and bigotry with which we live, the consumerism and wastefulness of our lifestyles may God give us the freedom to live our lives as faithful followers of the Christ we honor as our King.
November 14th, 2021
From the fig tree learn this lesson – its tender branches and its fresh leaves tell us summer is near. For us falling leaves and bare branches sign us that winter is on its way. Get out our woollies.
What are the signs in our times that warn us of future troubles? The increase number of hurricanes, the loss of shore lines, prolonged dry hot seasons and forest fires, melting glaciers, polluted oceans, these are all signs that things are changing in the world in which we live. What is the lesson these signs want us to learn? Could it be; smarten up? You are in trouble?
The world summit in Glasgow on climate change is an important event. Concerned young people from around the world gave and heard speeches about possible disasters that will impact their futures. World leaders gave great promises to change our dependency on fossil fuel and made promises of economic help to poor countries.
Everyone had to admit we are running out of time to really and drastically change the ways we live on planet Earth. But let’s face it; there hasn’t been that much change, drastic change in our life styles of consumerism and wastefulness, and our dependency on fossil fuel, since the Paris Agreement in 2019
I could scare you to death with all kinds of statistical woes but all you have to do is read the newspapers to find out how bad things are. Are we really serious about the drastic changes in our lifestyles required of us if we are to survive? Are we trying to live simply on Earth that others may simply live? Or are we leaving it for the next generation to clean up the mess we leave them, are we kicking the can down the road?
There is another way we can hear today’s gloomy gospel, that is to hear Mark speaking to every generation, including our own. Each of us will have our own ‘end time’ namely our own death and our generation pass away, like those before us… Can we hear Mark not so much warning us about the future end of the world but rather telling us how to live this day, this moment, this life? Right here, right now is our time to bear fruit, right here, right now, in our time, Mark is telling us to live today as if it were our last day, loving as we’ve been loved, forgiving as we’ve been forgiven, and healing as we’ve been healed. It’s all about right here, right now.
Jesus once said to people who worried about the future problems, ‘sufficient for the day is the evil there of’. For us here and now can we hear, sufficient for the day are the possibilities there of? The possibility to be more accepting of men and women different from ourselves, the possibility to be there for friend or stranger, the possibility to act kindly, live justly and walk humbly before our God. The rest is in the hands of God
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
