March 29th, 2020
MARCH 24, 2020
“In order to assist in limiting the spread of the COVID-19 virus, we have already cancelled the public celebration of the sacraments, including the Eucharist. In view of the increased restrictions on public activity, I am now asking you to close your church and any chapel, even for individual prayer, effective immediately.
As of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday evening, parish offices should be closed to the public. Please make every effort to arrange for remote working arrangements for either the parish secretary or a parishioner who has the capacity to help organize and communicate with the faithful and to reach out to those isolated.”
As directed by Cardinal Collins, all communal celebrations of the Sacraments of Baptism, Reconciliation, Marriage and Funerals are not allowed at this time.
Please contact the Pastor should you have plans for Baptism, Reconciliation, Marriage, Marriage Preparation or Funerals.
“Funerals – During this emergency, there will be no vigils or wake services. The Rite of Committal will take place with the immediate family at the cemetery. There will be no funeral Mass at this time, but we encourage the celebration of a funeral Mass at a later date when it is possible. Prior to the Rite of Committal at the cemetery, there may be a brief religious service, but not the Mass, in a church or funeral home, following the required prescriptions of the health authorities regarding the number of people who may be present, as well as the need for social distancing.
Please contact the parish office should you know of someone vulnerable or homebound that need assistance.
Emergency provisions are reviewed regularly in accord with the requirements of the public health officials and updates are provided at: www.archtoronto.org/covid19
This event scheduled for Sunday, April 26th from 2:00 PM to 5:00PM has been postponed.
March 30th to April 5th, 2020
MONDAY – SIMON & TERESA – Requested by Veronica Do TUESDAY – WEDNESDAY – ALLAN PERSAUD – Requested by the Persaud & Goldenberg Families THURSDAY – DAVID SHELDRICK – Requested by Teresa Sheldrick FRIDAY – CATHERINE MINNAN-WONG – Requested by Noreen Chen SATURDAY – GUS & MARIE CALDERONE – Requested by their Families SUNDAY – 10:30 AM – VLADO PETRANOVIC – Requested by Mira Petranovic SUNDAY – 12:30 PM – MICHAEL FERNANDES – Requested by Tony Fernandes
This event scheduled Sunday, April 5th at 11:30 AM in the Gabriel Room has been cancelled.
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. There will be no meetings until further notice
The groups scheduled below have been cancelled until further notice.
English: Saturday, April 4th at 3:15 PM in the Gabriel Room. Chinese: Sunday, April 5th at 3:30 PM in the Gabriel Room
For information, please contact Linda Law at 416-918-8029.
Friday, April 3rd from 9:30 AM to 12 Noon – Cancelled
Stations of the Cross on Friday evenings have been cancelled.
As we enter these last few weeks of Lent, we continue to prepare for the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. During this time of prayer, almsgiving, and fasting, the Church endeavors to remind parishioners of the gift of Reconciliation, as a loving act through which the Father restores us to the fullness of life and to call them to full participation in the Holy Week and Easter liturgies.
The Reconciliation Service on Wednesday, April 1st at 7:30 PM has been cancelled.
“In this time of tribulation, we as priests of Jesus Christ, are all the more called to deepen our exercise of this sacred ministry to the glory of God and the service of His people. Each day we do this through the celebration of the Eucharist even when it is not possible for the people to be present. We also do this through the celebration of the Liturgy of Hours in which we pray for God’s people as their priests, and I strongly encourage every priest to spend at least an hour before the Blessed Sacrament in prayer for the people.
We are approaching the most sacred time of the year. It is essential that, in every parish in the diocese, the ceremonies of Holy Week and Easter proceed even though adapted to the restrictions required at this time.
Due to the current pandemic, the liturgical celebration of the paschal mysteries of Holy Week, the Triduum and Easter will be celebrated without the physical participation of the faithful.”
Please click on the following link for the instruction that outlines how these liturgies are to be celebrated in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Michael, and in all parish churches throughout the Archdiocese of Toronto.
https://www.archtoronto.org/media-centre/news-archive/chancery-news/cardinal-collins-letter-on-holy-week-during-the-covid19-pandemic
Living the Gospel locally and around the world
“Last year, your generosity to ShareLife made a difference in the lives of over 140,000 people locally and countless more around the world.
Thank you for helping so many people experience God’s love and compassion.” – Cardinal Thomas Collins
ShareLife Sunday, which was scheduled for today has been postponed.
There will be a revised ShareLife collection schedule when Masses are celebrated in the parish.
Parishioners can still contribute by credit card through the ShareLife website, or by mailing or dropping off or mailing their contribution to the parish office
Each month food we collect is sent to Rosalie Hall and the Good Shepherd Centre. Unfortunately, with the current COVID-19 situation, we cannot accept any food donations at this time
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.
Our primary concern is the health and well-being of our parishioners. And at a time like this it can be uncomfortable to talk about giving. However, these difficult circumstances show just how important the offertory is to the life of our parishes.
The reality is that our parishes rely on the support of their parishioners to operate – parish salaries, programs and ongoing operating costs (heating, water, electricity, etc.) are funded through the generosity of its parishioners. It will be a challenge for the parish to maintain operations without the weekly offertory collection.
Because there will be no masses, there will no offertory collections taken up. You may consider sending your offertory by mail to the parish. Or you may visit the Archdiocese of Toronto COVID-19 “Support your Parish” tab for more options to support your parish.
https://www.archtoronto.org/covid19/Pages/support.aspx
Monthly contributions to the Parish by monthly Pre-Authorized Giving or by credit card through “Donate Now” continue automatically.
Please consider changing your offertory giving, at this time, to monthly Pre-Authorized Giving. Forms are available on-line at the Parish website in the “Weekly Giving” section under the Finances tab.
| Posted in Bulletin |
March 28th, 2020
March 24, 2020
Dear Parishioners of St. Gabriel’s Passionist Parish,
In order to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus and so as to comply with the Government of Ontario’s new regulations requiring that all non-essential workplaces be closed, we are sorry to inform you that the church and the parish office must remain closed until further notice. This is a deeply painful, but necessary, decision for our faith community.
However, we are still here for you during this difficult time. You can still leave a voicemail at the parish office: 416-221-8866 or you can email us at: stgabrielsparish@bellnet.ca. We will return your messages soon as possible. Visit www.archtoronto.org/covid19 for updated information from the Archdiocese of Toronto and for links to view the Daily Mass online.
Please continue to pray for those sick and those caring for them. Be assured of our daily prayers for you. Yours in Christ
Rev. Fr. Brando Recana CP Pastor of St. Gabriel’s Passionist Parish
Click the image to open Fr. Brando’s message. (Letter opens in new tab.)
| Posted in Notice |
Today’s gospel tells the awesome story of Jesus calling his close friend Lazarus from the tomb to life. All this was done so that God may be glorified.
We hear this story every year. Lazarus and Mary and Martha were close friends of Jesus. He and his disciples visited their home on other occasions. This time was different. Lazarus was seriously ill. Martha and Mary sent word to Jesus, ‘come quickly, the family needs you.’ Jesus delays and arrives four days after his friend’s death. Both Martha and Mary let Jesus know they are annoyed with him. ‘If you had been here our brother would not have died.’ Together they go to the tomb and Jesus weeps. He then tells them to roll away the stone that blocks the entrance to the fetid tomb. He calls Lazarus to come out. Lazarus hears the call and comes out and all are amazed.
These are stressful and tense filled times for all of us. We can’t meet friends for coffee and a chat. We can’t mingle with friends and neighbours. Restaurants and bars are no-go zones. It’s rough. Who’d ever imagine we’d come to such a place?
Do you remember ever saying to yourself,’ Oh for some peace and quiet, oh to be alone for just a bit’? Well it’s here, here in spades. It’s stressful.
Hopefully the time will come when this necessary separation from others will come will be over. Hopefully the time will come when Jesus will call each one of us, as he called Lazarus, out of our tombs of isolation and lonely confinement and restore us, as he restored Lazarus, to our friends and neighbours. Was it Joni Mitchel who sang, ‘you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone’? We know now the pain of separation. When all this is over, and it will be, may we be blessed with a deeper appreciation of how our lives are blessed with the people we so often take for granted.
Pray for the sick and the doctors and nurses and their support staffs who are under so much stress these days. May they be blessed with patience and courage.
| Posted in Homily |
March 22nd, 2020
Are you going stir crazy? Do you feel the walls are closing in around you? Do you ‘just want to get out the house? These are hard times for everyone. Are you one of those people who are off the job because the place where you work has been closed down? Are you lucky enough to be able to work from home? Will we ever get back to normal? Let’s hope not. Even though we were not locked in our homes we were locked into IPad and so many other technologies that isolated us from inter-personal relationships with one another.
You’ve heard me say different times that ‘we did not weave the web of life; we are strands in the web and what we do to the web we do to ourselves.’ We belong to the family of life, even the virus family. One author I read put it this way,
“In a globalised world our lives are so intertwined that the idea of viewing ourselves as islands – whether as individuals, communities, nations, or a uniquely privileged species – should be understood as evidence of false consciousness. In truth, we were always bound together, part of a miraculous web of life on our planet and, beyond it, stardust in an unfathomably large and complex universe.”
Today’s gospel from John tells of Jesus curing a man who was blind from birth. Maybe we could ask the healing Jesus to cure us of our failure to see our interconnectedness with all the life forms on Earth; our failure to see we are kin with all life. May we be blessed to see we are not islands nor are we meant to be rugged individuals. We are family and as family we care for one another. Just give a shut-in friend a phone call, the sound of the human voice is better than an e-mail.
We’re all in this together, the loneliness, the frustration, and the anxieties that are part of all our lives. So, we pray for and we reach out to one another. We are family!
March 21st, 2020
Contact Your Member of Parliament!
New Euthanasia Legislation Introduced in Canada
Legislation that would expand access to euthanasia in our country has been introduced by the federal government. Among the alarming changes are amendments to expand euthanasia to those without a terminal illness, including those with disabilities. Only 30 per cent of Canadians have access to quality palliative care which would significantly reduce the number of people wanting to end their lives. Every life has value – visit www.helptheliving.ca to send a letter (prepared for you) to your Member of Parliament. The process takes less than 5 minutes. More information can also be found at: www.archtoronto.org/euthanasia. We continue to pray and advocate for the vulnerable among us.
“In view of the requirements of the Government of Ontario, during this medical emergency, beginning Tuesday, March 17, 2020, I instruct that all public Masses be cancelled, both during the week and on the weekend. Churches will be available for individual private prayer.
The priests of the archdiocese will celebrate Mass every day privately for the intentions of the people.
The faithful will be able to watch, via livestream, a Mass which will be celebrated every day at 7:30 a.m. at St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica, which will be followed by the Angelus and the Rosary. I will personally celebrate this Mass as much as is possible. This Mass, Rosary and Angelus will also be available on the Archdiocese of Toronto’s YouTube channel for those who cannot join at 7:30 a.m. These Masses and prayers will be offered for the intentions of everyone as we go through these trying times.
In addition, Mass will be broadcast daily on Salt & Light Catholic Media Foundation, VisionTV (Daily TV Mass) and EWTN.
Baptism – At this time, communal celebrations of Baptism are not allowed. Individual Baptism is allowed with immediate family and following the regulations established by the health authorities.
RCIA – I dispense the catechumens from the scrutinies. Information will be sent out later on the Triduum and reception into the Church.
First Holy Communion, First Reconciliation and Confirmation will be postponed for the duration of the emergency.
Sacrament of Reconciliation – Communal celebrations of the Sacrament of Reconciliation are not allowed at this time. All those who wish to receive the sacrament should contact a priest. The sacrament is to be celebrated not in a confessional but rather in another location, where confidentiality may be ensured and where the distance required by the health officials can be maintained.
Marriage – Marriages without Mass may take place with the immediate family members, provided they follow the regulations established by the health authorities. The postponement of the wedding may be requested given these circumstances, but if this is granted there may be a need for revision of the canonical requirements.
Marriage Preparation is very important. At this time, however, marriage preparation classes are cancelled and pastors are to arrange for individual couples to be prepared properly for marriage.
Visits to the Sick and Homebound should continue as much as possible. As previously communicated, visiting clergy and volunteers should take direction from the health care facility. Parishes should also take care to contact the homebound and vulnerable.
Funerals – During this emergency, there will be no vigils or wake services. The Rite of Committal will take place with the immediate family at the cemetery. There will be no funeral Mass at this time, but we encourage the celebration of a funeral Mass at a later date when it is possible.
Parish Meetings and Events are cancelled at this time.
Parish Offices – While parish offices may offer more limited operating hours, they should maintain an active presence in the community and be accessible to the faithful. The Archdiocese of Toronto’s Catholic Pastoral Centre will also follow this practice, ensuring that offices remain accessible.”
Confirmation class on Saturday, March 28th from 2:00 to 3:30 PM is cancelled.
The Parish Family of St. Gabriel’s would like to welcome:
Norah Tze Ching Ho Aliyah Rachele Juliete Morrison Noah Finn Tarvairen
These children received the Sacrament of Baptism on Sunday, March 15th. Congratulations!
March 23rd to March 29th, 2020
MONDAY – ABANDONED SOULS IN PURGATORY – Requested by the Nguyen Family TUESDAY – FR. STEVE, FR. BRANDO & THE STAFF OF ST. GABRIEL’S – Requested by a grateful Mother WEDNESDAY – EAMON GAUGHAN – Requested by the Gaughan Family THURSDAY – THANKSGIVING FOR THOSE CELEBRATING THEIR 75TH BIRTHDAY – Requested by Linda Law FRIDAY – INTENTIONS OF MARK DESROCHES – Requested by Mark DesRoches SATURDAY – DOREEN YOUNG – Requested by Noreen Chen SUNDAY – 10:30 AM – FERNANDO LASA – Requested by Ana Maria Lasa SUNDAY – 12:30 PM – MANUEL NUNEZ SANTA CRUZ – Requested by Jimena Nunez
With masses being cancelled across the country the Daily TV Mass offers Mass each day on television and the internet.
Vision TV Sunday – 8:00 AM Monday – Friday 8:00 AM & 12:00 PM Saturday – 8:00 AM & 9:30 AM
Salt + Light Sunday – 11:00 AM & 10:30 PM Monday – Saturday – 6:30 AM, 11:00 AM, 3:00 PM, 10:30 PM
yesTV Sunday – 10:30 AM Monday – Saturday – 1:00 PM Internet
www.dailytvmass.com www.youtube.com/dailytvmass
How can you “Live the Gospel” when life is so busy?
Many people help those in need by volunteering at a local organization. But if your schedule doesn’t allow for it, you can still make a huge impact in your community by supporting ShareLife-funded agencies. Next Sunday is the first ShareLife collection. Over the next week, please reflect on your ability to “Live the Gospel” by making a sacrificial gift to our parish ShareLife campaign.
Next Sunday, March 29 is ShareLife Sunday. Please give generously.
We have already begun the preparation for the greatest feast of all: The Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. During this time of prayer, almsgiving, and fasting, the Church endeavors to remind parishioners of the gift of Reconciliation, as a loving act through which the Father restores us to the fullness of life and to call them to full participation in the Holy Week and Easter liturgies. Our Day of Confession will be March 26th from 3:00 PM to 6:00PM. Please contact the Pastor for individual Confession.
Each month food we collect is sent to Rosalie Hall and the Good Shepherd Centre.
Please check the expiration on food package to avoid passing food that has expired. Thank you for your generous support!
Delivery to the Good Shepherd Centre has been suspended for the time being. We will post a notice when the pick up resumes.
You may consider to prepare casseroles when pick up resumes, the three recipes are available on St. Gabriel’s web site. Printed copies of the recipes are also available in the Parish Office. For more information, you may contact Irene Albrecht at 416 221-2791.
For more information on the Garden Ministry, please email Heather Bennett at heathermjb@gmail.com.
During this time of uncertainty, please remember that the expenses of operating and maintaining the church and its premises continue. Our Church remains open and our outreach programs and pastoral presence remain active.
Because there will be no masses, there will no offertory collections taken up.
Monthly contributions to the Parish by monthly Pre-Authorized Giving would have continued automatically.
Please consider changing your offertory giving, at this time, to monthly Pre-Authorized Giving. Forms are available at the Parish office or on-line at the Parish website in the “Weekly Giving” section under the Finances tab.
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