Around St. Mary's This Week (26 December 2021)

My Fellow Parishioners,

What another year this has been! The past year has had different times of both joy and sadness. It has been a difficult year to be a Canadian and a Catholic, as we navigate the path of Truth and Reconciliation. We have learned so much of our nation’s and our Church’s embarrassing involvement in the Residential School System, the Intergenerational Trauma caused, the “60’s Scoop,” and the ongoing discrepancy in funding for child welfare services within indigenous communities. As a parish we have been actively walking this road of reconciliation, and will continue to do so.

With Christmas, we celebrate Emmanuel - the reality that God comes to us! God has come to us in History – 2020 years ago in Bethlehem, God will come to us again – in Majesty and Glory, and God Does Choose to come to us here and now – in Mystery! In the midst of variants and all that has and is happening in our world, in the midst of masks and physical distancing, arrows on the floor and sanitizer at the entrance, God is very close to us.  This is the good news that we can share with others, as we share a table at Christmas with smaller numbers, keeping each other safe.

May the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, may the Glory of God shine around you, may the hope of the Spirit encourage you in these times. You are in our pastoral team’s prayers these days.            Fr. Larry

Christmas Mass Schedule

* Masses will be livestreamed on our parish Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/st.marysbarrie.live

SYNOD ON SYNODALITY

Pope Francis has launched the Synod on Synodality: a two-year global process of listening to the faithful that will help the Church reflect on how we can do God’s will in the world today. The comments of the faithful will ultimately be discussed at a meeting of the bishops in the Vatican in 2023. To learn more about the Synod on Synodality and to share your thoughts, please visit: www.archtoronto.org/synodality. 

Praying for the Sick

If you or a family member is sick please let us know and we shall add their name to our prayer list which is posted in the gathering space of the church.

We remember in prayer those who have died recently. We pray for all deceased members of our parish.

Feast of the Holy Family

Today we rejoice in the gift of family and thank God for the many ways we are able to reflect God’s love to the world.

Prayer for Families

O God, whose desire is that all the peoples

of the world

should be one human family,

living together in harmony,

grant that our home,

by its worship and its witness,

may help to hasten the day

when your will is done on earth

as it is in heaven.

Amen.

MINISTRY WITH MATURING ADULTS

VON SMART (Seniors Maintaining Active Roles Together) Exercise Program is held on Tuesday mornings. There will be no class on Tuesday December 28, 2021. Class will resume on Tuesday January 4th, 2022. For details regarding registration call: VON at 705 737 5044 ext. 221. 

Christian Meditation is an ancient form of contemplative prayer rooted in the Christian tradition. This group meets on Tuesday mornings at 10:30 a.m. The next session will be on Tuesday, January 4th on Zoom. If you are interested in learning more about this form of prayer please contact Catherine Ecker.   cecker@archtoronto.org or 705 728 2985 ext. 115.

Celebrating Christmas until January 9, 2022

The Christmas season continues until the feast of the Baptism of the Lord celebrated this year on Sunday January 9, 2022. Throughout the liturgical season of Christmas our Church celebrates the many ways that God is made present in our midst and world. We are invited to celebrate the full season of Christmas.

From Christmas Day until the Baptism of the Lord, the following prayer can be prayed when your family gathers for a meal.

Father in heaven,

you so loved us that You sent Your Son,

among us as Savior and Lord.

Fill us with Your blessing, that we may grow in love and continue to live our Christian faith.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Some suggestions for celebrating Christmas beyond December 25th are:  sing a verse or refrain of a favourite Christmas carol before the evening meal; call or schedule a virtual visit with a family member who lives a distance from your home; pray for peace in our homes, community and world; at meal time talk about the many ways you see God each day; walk through your neighbourhood and enjoy the lights and decorations.

January 1 – Feast of Mary the Mother of God and World Day of Prayer for Peace

This feast celebrates Mary as the Mother of God. Every year on January 1st the Pope marks the World Day of Peace with a special message inviting all people to reflect on the important work of building peace. In 1967 Pope Paul VI, now St. Paul VI began this tradition.

Prayer for Peace - This well- known prayer was composed sometime in the early 20th century and it has been attributed to St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226).

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

 where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.