E-Newsletter - December 20, 2022

From the Desk of Fr Tim…

Confessions Prior to Christmas

Tuesday December 20 and Wednesday December 21 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Please note that there are no confessions on Saturday December 24.

Christmas and New Year’s Mass Schedule

Please invite your family, your neighbours and your friends to join our parish community for Christmas and New Year’s Masses this year as follows:

Christmas Eve: Saturday December 24 at 4:00 p.m. (Children’s Mass with Dramatization of the Gospel), 6:00 p.m. (Livestreamed), 8:00 p.m., and 10:00 p.m.

Christmas Day: Sunday December 25 at 9:00 a.m. (Livestreamed), 10:30 a.m. and 12:00 Noon

Please not that there is no 7:45 a.m. mass on Christmas Day.

New Year’s Eve: Saturday December 31 at 5:00 p.m.

New Year’s Day: Sunday January 1:  Regular Sunday Mass Schedule: 7:45 a.m., 9:00 a.m. (Livestreamed), 10:30 a.m. and 12:00 Noon

A warm welcome to all who celebrate Christmas with us here at St. Ignatius Loyola Parish this year!  We hope that you find our Christmas masses an opportunity to welcome the Christ child into your hearts for…

God’s sign is the baby in need of help and in poverty.  The same sign has been given to us…God’s sign is simplicity…God’s sign is that he makes himself small for us.  This is how he reigns.  He does not come with power and outward splendour.  He comes as a baby, defenceless and in need of our help.  He does not want to overwhelm us with his strength.  He takes away our fear of his greatness. He asks for our love: so, he makes himself a child.  He wants nothing other from us than our love, through which we spontaneously learn to enter into his feelings, his thoughts, his will - we learn to live with him and to practice with him that humility of renunciation that belongs to the very essence of love.  God made himself small so that we could understand him, welcome him, and love him…Christmas has become the Feast of gifts in imitation of God who has given himself to us. Let us allow our heart, our soul, and our mind to be touched by this fact!      - Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

Merry Christmas to all of you and your families from Fr. Tim, Fr. Alex, Deacon John, Deacon Rob, Caroline Borcsok, Olga Calderon, and all the Parish Staff.

Weekday Masses/Office Hours

Please note that there will be no 9:00 a.m. Mass on Monday December 26.  Our parish office will be closed December 26 and December 27, and January 2, 2023.

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, and World Day of Peace

In the womb of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, are met mercy and faithfulness, justice, and peace.  May the peace of God born in Jesus Christ be the future for which we hope and toward which we work, through Mary’s example and intercession. 

Our mass schedule (same as regular Sunday mass schedule) is as follows:

New Year’s Eve: Saturday December 31 at 5:00 p.m.

New Year’s Day: Sunday January 1:  Regular Sunday Mass Schedule: 7:45 a.m., 9:00 a.m.,10:30 a.m. and 12:00 Noon

First Friday Mass and Holy Hour

Join us on Friday January 6 at 9:00 a.m.  All are welcome!

New Weekend Parish Secretary/Receptionist

We are happy to welcome Marie Luis to our parish staff as our new weekend Secretary/Receptionist.  She will work on Sunday (alternating with Millie Ozaeta) and will also fill in for our parish secretary Olga Calderon when she is away from the office.  Welcome Marie!

2023 Parish Envelopes/Pre-Authorized Giving

Thanks to all who have picked up your 2023 envelopes and use them faithfully each Sunday - envelopes for pick up are in the parish hall.   Please remember to mark your name and address on the first few envelopes you use in this New Year…we appreciate your support!  If you did not use envelopes in 2022 but would like a box of envelopes for the new year please visit, call, or email the office to request envelopes for 2023. 

I invite each family to consider the option of Pre-Authorized Giving for the new year.  The PAG registration form can be found in the foyer of the church or on our website and can be returned (along with void cheque) to the office directly or by dropping it into next Sunday’s Offertory basket!

Confirmation Preparation Programme Begins!

Our parish 2023 Confirmation preparation programme begins with a first Preparation Class on either Monday January 9 at 7:00 p.m. OR Tuesday January 10 at 7:00 p.m. Please be reminded that attendance is mandatory for all candidates!

Those Grade 7 students who did not attend the Registration meeting earlier this month are asked to bring their registration form, baptismal certificate copy and $50 offering to the church office as soon as possible, and to plan on attending a special Registration Make-up Meeting with their parents and sponsor on Wednesday January 4 at 7:00 p.m. in the church.  After this date NO further registrations will be accepted for the 2023 Confirmation class.

Any older youth or adults wishing to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation in May 2023 are asked to contact Fr. Alex as soon as possible.

Bible Study 2023

Are you new to Bible Study or a returning participant? Please come and register in the parish hall on Thursday January 19 from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. 

Our next 8-week bible study from Ascension Press is entitled “Hebrews: The New and Eternal Covenant”. The registration cost is $40 per person and materials will be provided. This study will begin on Thursday January 26 and will end on Thursday March 23 (no session March 16). Each session takes place in the parish hall from 7:30 - 9:15 p.m.

Parish Family Pasta Dinner – Saturday February 4

We are very happy to announce the resumption of our Annual Parish Pasta Dinner with our own Italian parishioners and their home-made sauces!  It is planned for Saturday February 4 at 6:00 p.m. immediately following the 5:00 p.m. mass in the parish hall…further details to follow…hold the date in your calendar and plan to purchase tickets beginning on the weekend of January 14/15 from the parish office!

ShareLife - Your Gift will Double in Value!

From now until the end of 2022, all contributions to our parish’s ShareLife campaign will be matched by an anonymous donor up to a total of $1 million.

“Our faith community has always responded heroically to the needs around us, particularly through our enthusiastic support of ShareLife. We can help alleviate the suffering of those whose lives have been upended by the pandemic. Let us say yes to Jesus' call to live the Gospel by providing for those in need.”

                  –Cardinal Thomas Collins

Our goal this year is $255,000. To date we have collected $208,500. Please give at the parish using a ShareLife envelope, online through our parish website, or at https://sharelife.org/ 

Thank You, Trustee Sharon Hobin and Welcome, Trustee Herman Viloria

I wish to thank parishioner Sharon Hobin, who retired this fall after 16 years of service as our local Trustee, Wards 2 and 8, Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, including two terms as Chair of the Board.  Thank you, Sharon, for your long and committed service in this important role!

I am happy to announce that parishioner Herman Viloria was elected as Sharon’s successor in the October election and has begun his three-year term of office as Trustee, Wards 2 and 8, Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board.  Herman is a Minister of the Eucharist at the 7:45 a.m. Mass. Welcome, Herman, and blessings upon you in your new role!

Retrouvaille

Is your marriage going down the right road . . . or is it a little off track? Does the distance between you seem wide? Are you already separated?

Retrouvaille can help and offers hope for a better relationship. By learning the tools of healthy communication, you can build intimacy and heal. Retrouvaille is Catholic in origin but welcomes couples of all faiths.  The next session takes place on January 13-15, 2023, at Queen of Apostles, Mississauga. Visit: https://www.helpourmarriage.org/