I know a few priests who during the summer months make a point of giving very short homilies. Today, I would like to give a short homily, but I do so not to speak for a shorter period of time, but rather so that I can also give you a brief update about a few significant changes that will take place at the end of the summer. First a short homily.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan is perhaps one of the most famous parables in the bible. For most people, when they hear this parable, they hear it as a story about what they are called to do for their neighbour. I have to admit, when I hear this parable, I think of it a little differently. When I hear the parable of the Good Samaritan, I hear it as a story of what Christ has done for me.

Prior to Christ’s coming into the world, you and I were all like the man in this parable who had been left to die in a ditch. Jesus, who, as we hear in the second reading from the Letter of Paul to the Colossians, had existed for all time and was with the Father when He created all things. Despite being God, Jesus became our neighbour, my neighbour and your neighbour, and took on the flesh to save each of us from death. When we were dead as a result of sin, Jesus gave up everything to save us. Because He became our neighbour, we must view everyone as our neighbour and be willing to help them as we are able. By becoming one of us, God became our neighbour to save us. We must see others as our neighbour and seek to love them as God has loved us.

This call to love our neighbour is at the heart of our Christian faith. It calls us to take seriously the call to forgive those who have offended us and to care for those in need. Here, in our parish, there are many ways that we can care for those in need. The St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Winter Welcome Table, and many charities supported by ShareLife, all provide a way to care for those in need. As we encounter persons on the streets of our city, we are also invited to see Christ in these persons in need and discern how we might best assist them. As we in Canada prepare for a federal election, casting our votes responsibly, while reflecting on the Gospel values and teachings of the Church, also provides a way to discern how we as a nation care for our neighbour and those who are in need in our society.

As we hear this parable about the Good Samaritan, and reflect upon who our neighbour is, it is important that we also reflect upon why Jesus has told this parable. Jesus tells this parable in response to the question, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” In order that we might have eternal life, Jesus became our neighbour. If we wish to inherit eternal life, we must imitate His example and become neighbours of one another. Jesus has loved each of us so much that He gave His life when we were dead to sin. It is only because of His love for us that He is able to say to us who hope for eternal life: “You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.”

Now, I would like to give you a brief update about a few things that will happen here at St. Peter’s at the end of the summer. As I have already mentioned to your several times, shortly after the Paulist Fathers left the parish in 2015, the Archdiocese of Toronto bought the Paulist Centre. The Archdiocese has been letting the parish use the Centre without paying rent for several years. We moved the parish offices out of the Centre and back into the rectory at the beginning of this year. At the end of the summer, the Centre will close for renovations. When this happens, we will move the weekday Masses into the Church here. This will happen at the beginning of September. For the rest of this year, the weekday Masses will continue to be celebrated at the regular times. At the beginning of the New Year, the weekday Masses will all be celebrated at 8:00 a.m. There is an important reason for this. At the present time, when there is a funeral, I am often not able to get back from the cemetery for the 12:10 pm Mass on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Sometimes I am scrambling at the last minute to find a priest who can celebrate the 12:10 pm Mass so I can go to the cemetery, or I am having to ask the family to have a very early Funeral Mass so I can be back on time. If the Masses are at 8:00 a.m. everyday, I can go to the cemetery with the family after a funeral and not worry about when I get back.

Once the Centre is closed, the Archdiocese will also re-locate a computer classroom that they have in the Centre into our Church basement. This classroom is used to train Archdiocesan employees to use the Archdiocesan accounting and computer records systems. This will mean that the guard who the Archdiocese has assigned to the Centre will move over to the Church. As long as the guard is here, I am hoping that we will be able to move the weekday Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament into the church and leave the church open in the daytime. Over the coming year as this is done, I would like to see how we can consider keeping the Church open when the classroom moves back to the Centre and we no longer have a guard. The church can only be left open if it is safe for those visiting the building and for the contents of the building.

I hope to continue to keep you updated during these changes and am happy to hear any concerns that you might have about these changes. 

Let us continue to pray for one another!

Fr. Michael McGourty,
Pastor—St. Peter’s Parish—Toronto