Parish Bulletin for Sunday, Sept. 3, 2006

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

It is once again that time of year when we are preparing – preparing for school, preparing for new challenges, preparing for a renewed sense of commitment to whatever we need to do during the coming year.

The freedom and joys of summer fill us with new energy and abilities to move forward. As the facilitator and leader who is responsible for life on many levels of this parish community, it is my sincere hope that this coming year will sustain you and allow all of us to grow in relationship with the Lord through our building of community with each other. Together and with the blessing of the Lord, we can continue to flourish.

Once again, I will be offering reflection sessions in the Advent and Lenten periods. As soon as the sessions are scheduled, I will advise you of both the dates and times. The resources are already purchased and I am most excited to continue our explorations into what literature says to us about our relationship with the Lord.

TUESDAY, Sept. 5

Weekday

8:30 a.m. – Intention: Wedding Anniversary (55)

Thomas and Rita

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 6

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Carmine Spadafora

Requested by Gina Spadafora

THURSDAY, Sept. 7

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Barbara Manza

Requested by Gina Spadafora

FRIDAY, Sept. 8

Birth of Mary

8:30 a.m. - † Teresa B. Ong Keko

Requested by San Pedro family

---

Parish Bulletin for Sunday, Sept. 10, 2006

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

"He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak"

The Gospels show us time and again that Isaiah's vision of hope and healing in the 1st reading for a fragile, wounded world was fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus came to realize the salvific power of God among us.

In today's Gospel, a deaf-mute is set free from the isolation that has entrapped him because of his handicap. Unable to hear, unable to communicate who he was, what he desired, whom he loved and how he suffered, the man was a prisoner in a cell of self; no-one could reach in, nor could he reach out. But faith was growing in some of those who brought this man to Jesus in the hope that he could make a difference.

Think about the words we hear from Jesus. Does he say 'now you can hear' or 'start to speak' or even 'be healed?' No, his words of healing are simple; "Be opened!" A door that was sealed shut has been flung open and a freed man, a hearing and fluent person, stepped forth into a promising future. In Jesus, and through his healing power, the era of salvation was begun and will continue in this world through his disciples until his second coming.

The challenge for us today is to understand what it truly means to hear. There is a difference between hearing and listening. How often do we hear but not listen? All too often we hear God's Word, but do not listen to it attentively; as a result, it does not take root within us. Deafness is not always a physical condition.

We can choose to hear and ignore what the Lord is saying or we can be willing to rely on God's grace to surrender to God's saving power and appropriate the gifts of healing and hearing in faith. What choice will we make this day?

TUESDAY, Sept. 12

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Margaret Mary Dupuis

Requested by I S Business Analysts

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 13

St. John Chrysostom

8:30 a.m. – Intention: Thanksgiving

Requested by Lee Reyes

THURSDAY, Sept. 14

Triumph of the Cross

8:30 a.m. - † Raul Ferrazas

Requested by Hugo and Martha Castro

FRIDAY, Sept. 15

Our Lady of Sorrows

8:30 a.m. - † Lydia Arsenault

Requested by husband

Parish Bulletin for Sunday, Sept. 17, 2006

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time

"The Suffering Servant"

Today's Gospel proclaims the good news of salvation. Jesus understood his role as God's Servant and humankind's saviour as one that would necessarily bring suffering into his life. To look suffering and death straight in the face and with "one's face set like flint" is the true sign of Jesus. It is the sign of the cross, the sign of suffering and death, but also of hope and total renewal. Peter's reaction shows us that his disciples did not 'get' it.

Understanding and acceptance would only come with the grace of resurrection faith – to see and to believe fully. Peter had expectations of the messiah that did not allow him to see God's saving plan that is realized in Jesus. Again, full understanding and acceptance would come much later in the journey.

It is wise to recognize that Peter's negative reaction follows on the heels of his remarkable confession of Jesus as Messiah. To confess Jesus with the lips was also to confess Jesus with one's life, lived out as Jesus lived, through the signs of service and suffering. Jesus challenged his followers then and all who profess to believe now to take up their cross and follow him. To take up the cross is a voluntary choice and is in no way to be considered burdensome. This choice involves active acceptance, not merely passive resignation.

Motivation for such a free and proactive choice is found in verse 35: Jesus bids his own to embrace the cross "for my sake and the sake of the Gospel." Jesus accepted God's ways and will and, in that acceptance, has become the place where God can be encountered. Shall we also become places where others can find God?

TUESDAY, Sept. 19

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Anna Fung

Requested by Dr. Joseph Fung

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 20

St. Andrew Kim and St. Paul Chong

8:30 a.m. - † Fred McNally

Requested by John and Theresa Hogan

THURSDAY, Sept. 21

St. Matthew

8:30 a.m. - † Vern Moore

Requested by Terry and Desiree De Abreu

FRIDAY, Sept. 22

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Tessie Correia

Requested by Johns family

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

HAPPY 50TH ANNIVERSARY

The dictionary defines the word anniversary as the annually recurring date of a past event, especially one of historical, national, or personal importance: for example, a wedding anniversary or a birthday.

The celebration of the founding of a parish community of faith is this, but it is so much more. Yes, the parish was established in 1956 and the first Masses were celebrated on Sunday, Oct.7, 1956 at the Tam O'Shanter Golf Club. Yes, the first Masses in the completed building were celebrated on Dec. 22.1957. These are facts and easily proved accurate.

Yet these facts alone are not the reason we are celebrating this anniversary today. The reason we celebrate this particular anniversary is multi-faceted and important to the community of faith that we are today.

It is not because of a building that we come together every Sunday. It is because we are a community of faith who gather together to listen to the Word at the table of the Word and share in the bread at the table of the Eucharist. The source and summit of our lives as Catholic Christians is the Eucharist. It is the gathering of a people whose very presence in this building every Sunday is a response to the call of God who is all-loving, all-knowing, all-powerful, and ever-forgiving.

We are called to offer praise and thanksgiving to God in the same way as our ancestors in faith, right back to the first disciples. We come together as a people who are seeking to know our God, to praise our God, to thank our God, for the many blessings He has shared with us and to take what we have shared into the lives we live in the world.

We remember who we are as the people of the Eucharist and we celebrate. We remember what we are called to do when we live out our baptismal promises and we celebrate. We remember why we are gathered together and we celebrate. And we remember how when we listen and sing and respond in the celebration of Eucharist.

It should now be coming clear that we are not just marking an isolated event in the past; we remember that we are a people gathered together every Sunday in a parish that is alive today. We have moved from our past to live in our present and prepare for our future. And we celebrate that the centre of our lives is the God who calls us, nurtures us, and abides in us on this journey we are taking together. So celebrate and be glad.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

TUESDAY, Sept. 26

St. Jean de Brébeuf and St. Isaac Jogues (Canadian martyrs)

8:30 a.m. - † Samuel Johns

Requested by Johns family

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 27

St. Vincent de Paul

8:30 a.m. – Intention: Thanksgiving

Requested by Dorothy Johns

THURSDAY, Sept. 28

Weekday

8:30 a.m. - † Nancy Fung

Requested by Dr. Joseph Fung

FRIDAY, Sept. 29

St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael (archangels)

8:30 a.m. - † Bill Ryan

Requested by Barb Dunlop