My dear parishioners:
Our church is closed, but our parish is still open.
With the temporary suspension of public masses in our church, I would like to share with the parish various outreach initiatives for the season of Advent, which begins this weekend:
Livestreaming of Sunday Mass (with music!) will continue, but back to its original time of 10:00 am. Please check our parish website www.myparish.org for the link
Starting Tuesday, December 1st, we will livestream Daily Mass at 9:30 am each day, from Monday to Friday. Again, check the website for the daily mass link.
The church will be open for daily prayer on Tuesdays and Fridays, from 10:30 am – 12:30 pm. The entrance will be the 2 glass doors on the west side of the church. Please note that a maximum of 10 people can be in the church at any time.
We invite you to sign up for The Road to Bethlehem this Advent. This programme will include daily reflections, weekly videos, audio talks and also reflections for children. Make sure you have already signed up for your free subscription to FORMED and then go to www.formed.org/advent. Full details here: FORMED: Advent on our website
Another great and no-cost way to start your day is through the University of Notre Dame’s daily reflection: www.faith.nd.edu/signup Each morning you will receive an email with the Gospel of the day, a reflection and prayer, and also the Saint of the day.
On Thursday, December 10th, from 8:00 pm – 9:00 pm, we will host an on-line Advent Reflection Evening filled with prayer, scripture, music and reflection. Look for more details on our website by December 4th.
On Thursday, December 17th we will hold our Advent Day of Confessions. Please check the website for more details by the Monday before.
My daily reflections and Sunday homilies will continue to be found on the parish website.
Our parish’s St. Vincent De Paul Society (SVdeP) will be holding its annual Christmas collection on the weekend of December 12/13. Our SVdeP relies on your support to enable them to serve the needs of the poor in our community. You can drop off your donations at any time through the parish mail slot by the office door. If you are using your own envelope, please mark SVdeP Christmas Donation on your envelope.
I am very thankful for your financial support of the parish. You can continue to do so by dropping off your envelopes through the mail slot by the parish office door or mailing your envelopes to Nativity. Most importantly, I invite you to consider switching to On-line Giving by credit card, or by the Pre-Authorized Giving (PAG) programme. Starting this coming Monday, November 30th, go to the post marked GIVING on the homepage of the parish website for more details.
You can continue to follow the parish through our website as well as our social media accounts:
Facebook: @NativityOfOurLordParishEtobicoke
Instagram: @NativityofOurlordparish
Twitter: @OurNativity
Our youth can stay in touch through our Youth Ministry Instagram account @nativityym as well as www.nativityym.com. Lifeteen and EDGE will continue to be on their scheduled Friday evenings on ZOOM. Courtney, our Youth Minister’s email is [email protected].
In another two weeks I will share the next report with details for Christmas and New Year’s as well as further news. I assure you that our parish staff and I will continue our outreach efforts to you, the good people of our parish, during these challenging times. After all,
Our church is closed, but our Parish is still open.
Happy Advent, and God bless all of you!
Peace and prayers,
Fr. Michael Machacek.