Exploring our encounter with Christ through the Sacraments

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Decorative ImageBeginning Wednesday, October 5 at 7:15 pm and continuing weekly throughout the Fall

Our faith is often described as a marriage between God and humanity. St. Paul writes that marriage was actually designed by God himself to be a visible and tangible sign of his own love for humankind. So if our relationship with God is like a marriage, and marriage is about a lifelong covenant in which a man and a woman live to give themselves entirely to each other, how do we give ourselves completely to God? A better question still is: how does God give himself fully to us? Is that even possible? What would my life be like if I was totally God’s, and he was totally mine?

The answer can be summed up in two words: The Sacraments. This is how God, our divine spouse, is ever seeking to draw us to himself and to give himself to us.

Over the course of this Fall, we will dive into the staggering realities of the Sacraments, how they are God’s means of coming to be with us, how they are our means of sharing in God’s very life, and how they might radically transform the way we perceive and live out our lives as the Church, the spouse of God.

Beginning October 5th, at 7:15 pm, and continuing weekly throughout the Fall, we’ll gather in the Parish Hall at St. Peter’s. We’re looking forward to gathering with many of you!

Sick and Shut-in Ministry Meeting

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Decorative ImageThere will be a meeting for Eucharistic Ministers to our sick and shut-in parishioners on Saturday October 8 at 1:00 pm in the Church auditorium. Anyone interested in volunteering and/or learning more about this ministry are also welcome. Police background check will be required.

Thanksgiving Food-Drive

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Decorative ImageThe Good Shepherd Mission in Toronto looks after many of the city’s homeless and helps them find a warm meal all year round. Each year they rely on the generosity of Torontonians who are able to donate food to make their mission possible. This year the parish will be sponsoring a Thanksgiving Food Drive to support the Good Shepherd Mission. Please consider donating canned tuna, canned meat, canned fruit or vegetables, canned soups and stews, peanut butter, jam, cereal teabags, instant coffee, cookies, rice, and crackers. Please no fresh fruits or vegetables or frozen food. Some parishes decorate their sanctuaries with flowers on the Thanksgiving weekend. Let us decorate ours with food to be offered to those in need. Please bring your non-perishable food donations to any of our Sunday Masses on the Thanksgiving weekend – October 8 & 9.

In the Jesus Movement, Every Life Matters

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Preparing for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

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In the Anointed for Mission programme that the Archdiocese uses to prepare the candidates for the Sacrament of Confirmation, there is a game that is played to try and get the candidates to take a stand for justice. In this game, people are told to award themselves points for certain qualities about themselves and to subtract points for certain other qualities. The winner of the game is the person who gets the most points. That person is given a prize of a bag of a large number of small chocolate bars. Some of the things that they are told to award themselves points for are: if their family owns their own home; if they have more than two cars in the family; if they are boys; if they are good at sports; or if they were born in Canada. Some of the things that they lose points for are: if their family does not own their own home, if their family does not have a car; if they are girls; if they are bad at sports; and if they were born outside of Canada.

The purpose of the game is to try and get the young people who are preparing for Confirmation to see the injustice of the game and to get them to want to stand up against such an unjust game. By the time the game is over, they are supposed to be angry at the injustice and want to stand up for those who are being unjustly treated. The idea is that they will see that this is sometimes the way the world actually treats people. One of the reasons that the prize is a large bag of many small chocolate bars is because it is hoped the winner will also understand how unjust the game has been and decide to share the chocolate equally with all of the candidates who take part in the game. Happily, throughout all of the times I have been involved with this exercise, the winner has always decided to share his or her prize because he or she understood that the prize was only won because of a number of unjust situations and they have a desire to share with others. Continue reading →