Mass Schedule: Saturdays at 6:30 pm, Sundays at 10:30 am & 12:30 pm at OLOL church (1515 Queen St. W., Toronto, ON)Sundays at 7:00pm at Holy Redeemer Church (796 Eyer Dr., Pickering, ON)
Sunday, April 6th, 2014The healing of the Blind Man 10:30am: Memorial mass for the late Juliette Harouni andHabib Ghanem offered by their son Fadel Ghanem and his family.12:30pm: • Memorial mass for the souls of all the Martyrs of Zahle offeredby Zahle's families in Toronto.• Memorial Mass for the late Therese Adib Dagher offered by herhusband Youssef and her children: Jean, Feryal and Dr. Fadi andtheir families.• One week memorial for the late Haikal Elkoreh offered by hisson Emile and his family.
Saturday, April 12th, 201410:00am: 40 Days memorial mass for the late Fares YoussefKattar offered by his family.6:30pm: For the intentions of our Parishioners
Sunday, April 13th, 2014Palm Sunday 10:00am (special timing) : Mass with Palm procession12:30pm: Mass with Palm procession7:00pm (Pickering): Mass with Palm procession
The “Our Lady of Lebanon Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception”provides the following items for the Holy Week events:- Decorated candles for Palm Sunday - Roses for the Holy Friday, - Lent dinner following Holy Friday Celebration.All income will be for the church support.
Candles - Roses - Dinner
Our Lady of Lebanon Parish Pastoral Council is an advisoryworking group that attempts to identify, reflect, and makerecommendations for pastoral planning regarding issues relatingto the unique spiritual needs of our parish community. The councilthereby assists our pastors, by seeking to provide wise andprudent advice based on a knowledgeable representation of theparish population and works on various activities aimed atsupporting our parish, religious beliefs and community. The Spiritof God moves within our parish community and we all strive tolisten to its presence...With heartfelt gratitude, we would like to acknowledge and thankthe outgoing (December 2013) OLOL Council members forsharing their time, talents and contributions over the past 6 years. Also, congratulations to the new 2014-2015 Parish PastoralCouncil Members: Joseph Daou, Claude Dagher, Ghada Sadaka,Marwan Saliba, Rony Dagher, Cozette Dagher, Joe Fakhri, RitaMouannes, Rami Mansourati, Maroun Hage, Fadi Melhem and RitaBou-Abboud.
A reading from the Second Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians. (2cor 10: 1-7)Your blessings Father
Brothers and sisters, I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness ofChrist--I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold to you when I am away! Ibeg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with suchconfidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of acting in worldlyfashion. For though we live in the world we are not carrying on a worldly war, for theweapons of our warfare are not worldly but have divine power to destroy strongholds.We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, and takeevery thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, whenyour obedience is complete. Look at what is before your eyes. If any one is confidentthat he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that as he is Christ’s, so are we. Praise be toGod always.
Keep in touch!Dear parishioners, if your address has recently changed, please contact the office of theparish to update our records.
Contact usPlease contact the office of the parish to arrange for any sacrament of the Church.Office hours: Mon, Thurs: 3pm - 8 pm. Tues, Wed, Fri: 11am - 8 pmMarriage: A marriage preparation course is necessary. Please call the Priest one year beforethe planned wedding date and before arranging the hall. Baptism: Please make an appointment one month in advance.Ministry of the Sick: Inform the priest for assistance. Confession: By appointment or before the Mass.
Gospel (Mark 10:46-52)
They came to Jericho. And as he wasleaving Jericho with his disciples and asizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man,the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadsidebegging. On hearing that it was Jesus ofNazareth, he began to cry out and say,"Jesus, son of David, have pity on me."And many rebuked him, telling him to besilent. But he kept calling out all themore, "Son of David, have pity on me." Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." Sothey called the blind man, saying to him,"Take courage; get up, he is calling you."He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, andcame to Jesus. Jesus said to him inreply, "What do you want me to do foryou?" The blind man replied to him,"Master, I want to see." Jesus told him,"Go your way; your faith has saved you."Immediately he received his sight andfollowed him on the way."This is the truth. Peace be with you.
Canada's Maronite Youth Convention 2014For the first time in Canada, the Maronite Eparchy is organizing the very FIRST MaroniteYouth Convention (MYC) that will be held on May 16-19, 2014 in MONTREAL!!!For the first time, all youth of all seventeen (17) Canadian Lebanese Maronite Parishes willUNITE, MEET, and LIVE one of the biggest Maronite events for youth ever held in Canada.We encourage all the youth from 18 to 35 years old in our parish to participate. It's only100$/person for the 3 days (Food, activities and transport included).For more details and for reservation please contact Michline Khalil 416-435-0987Check the Facebook event: Canada's Maronite Youth Convention 2014
Palm Sunday April 13th10:00 am & 12:30 pm Mass with Palm procession 7:00 pm Mass with Palm procession (Pickering)
Monday April 14th and Tuesday April 15 th 7:00 pm: Mass & Ziah el Salib
Wednesday April 16th 7:00 pm Mass & Blessing of the Holy Oil
Thursday of the Mysteries April 17th 7:00 pm Mass & Washing of feet 8:30 pm till midnight Exposition and Adoration of the blessed Sacrament.
Good Friday April 18th 11:00 am Ceremony of the Adoration of the Cross in “Holy Redeemer Church”
(Pickering)3:00 pm Via Crucis, Stations of the Holy Cross and
Ceremony of the Adoration of the Cross in “Our Lady of Lebanon Church”
Saturday of the light April 19th 11:00 pm Prayer of forgiveness and confessions.12:00 am Easter Midnight Mass
Easter Sunday April 20th 10:30 am & 12:30 pm Mass in OLOL 7:00 pm Mass in “Holy Redeemer Church” (Pickering)
ConfessionsFrom Monday to Thursday (6 – 7 pm)
Pope Francis reflected on the need for repentance and the awareness of our spiritual blindness. (Vatican City, March 31, 2014 - Zenit.org)
The gospel of the day was on the story of Jesus healing the blind man. Each of us has a need to reflect on the state of our spiritual lifeduring the time of Lent. We need to repent and journey closer to the light of Christ.Today’s Gospel presents us with the episode of the man born blind to whom Jesus gives sight. The long narrative opens with a blindman who begins to see and closes – this is curious – with those who presumably see and who continue to be blind in their soul. Johntells of the miracle in just 6 verses because he wants to draw attention not to the miracle but to what happens afterward, that is, to thediscussions that the miracle causes. He also wants to draw attention to the gossip. Often a good work, a charitable work causesgossip and discussion, because there are some who do not wish to see the truth. The evangelist John wants to draw attention to this,which also happens today when a good work is done. The blind man who is healed is first interrogated by the astonished crowd – theysaw the miracle and they interrogate him. Then he is interrogated by the doctors of the law; and they also interrogate his parents. Inthe end, the blind man who is healed arrives at faith, and this is greatest grace that Jesus bestows upon him: not only to see him but toknow him, to see him as “the light of the world” (John 9:5)…Our life is sometimes similar to that of the blind man who is open to the light, who is open to God, who is open to his grace.Sometimes, unfortunately, our life is a little like that of the doctors of the law: from the height of our pride we judge others, and, in theend, the Lord! Today we are invited to open ourselves up to the light of Christ to bear fruit in our life, to eliminate non-Christian ways of acting; we areall Christians, but all of us, at times act in ways that are not Christian, we act in ways that are sinful. We must repent, we must stopacting in these ways so we can set out decisively on the road of sanctity…I would like to suggest to you today, when you return home, to open the Gospel of John and read this passage of chapter 9. It will doyou well, because in this way you will see this road from blindness to light and the other, wicked road toward deeper blindness. Let usask ourselves about the state of our heart. Do I have an open heart or a closed one? Open or closed to God? Open or closed to myneighbor? We always have some closure in us born of sin, of mistakes, of errors. We must not be afraid! Let us open ourselves up tothe Lord. He awaits us always to help us see better, to give us light, to forgive us. Let us not forget this! To the Virgin Mary we entrustthe Lenten journey, so that we too, like the blind man who was healed, can with the grace of Christ “come to the light,” make progresstoward the light and be reborn to a new life.
Save the date
Jun 7th, 2014for the Our Lady Of Lebanon Parish
Annual Dinner
A reading from the Second Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians. (2cor 10: 1-7)Your blessings Father
Brothers and sisters, I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness ofChrist--I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold to you when I am away! Ibeg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with suchconfidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of acting in worldlyfashion. For though we live in the world we are not carrying on a worldly war, for theweapons of our warfare are not worldly but have divine power to destroy strongholds.We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, and takeevery thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, whenyour obedience is complete. Look at what is before your eyes. If any one is confidentthat he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that as he is Christ’s, so are we. Praise be toGod always.
Keep in touch!Dear parishioners, if your address has recently changed, please contact the office of theparish to update our records.
Contact usPlease contact the office of the parish to arrange for any sacrament of the Church.Office hours: Mon, Thurs: 3pm - 8 pm. Tues, Wed, Fri: 11am - 8 pmMarriage: A marriage preparation course is necessary. Please call the Priest one year beforethe planned wedding date and before arranging the hall. Baptism: Please make an appointment one month in advance.Ministry of the Sick: Inform the priest for assistance. Confession: By appointment or before the Mass.
Gospel (Mark 10:46-52)
They came to Jericho. And as he wasleaving Jericho with his disciples and asizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man,the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadsidebegging. On hearing that it was Jesus ofNazareth, he began to cry out and say,"Jesus, son of David, have pity on me."And many rebuked him, telling him to besilent. But he kept calling out all themore, "Son of David, have pity on me." Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." Sothey called the blind man, saying to him,"Take courage; get up, he is calling you."He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, andcame to Jesus. Jesus said to him inreply, "What do you want me to do foryou?" The blind man replied to him,"Master, I want to see." Jesus told him,"Go your way; your faith has saved you."Immediately he received his sight andfollowed him on the way."This is the truth. Peace be with you.
Canada's Maronite Youth Convention 2014For the first time in Canada, the Maronite Eparchy is organizing the very FIRST MaroniteYouth Convention (MYC) that will be held on May 16-19, 2014 in MONTREAL!!!For the first time, all youth of all seventeen (17) Canadian Lebanese Maronite Parishes willUNITE, MEET, and LIVE one of the biggest Maronite events for youth ever held in Canada.We encourage all the youth from 18 to 35 years old in our parish to participate. It's only100$/person for the 3 days (Food, activities and transport included).For more details and for reservation please contact Michline Khalil 416-435-0987Check the Facebook event: Canada's Maronite Youth Convention 2014
Palm Sunday April 13th10:00 am & 12:30 pm Mass with Palm procession 7:00 pm Mass with Palm procession (Pickering)
Monday April 14th and Tuesday April 15 th 7:00 pm: Mass & Ziah el Salib
Wednesday April 16th 7:00 pm Mass & Blessing of the Holy Oil
Thursday of the Mysteries April 17th 7:00 pm Mass & Washing of feet 8:30 pm till midnight Exposition and Adoration of the blessed Sacrament.
Good Friday April 18th 11:00 am Ceremony of the Adoration of the Cross in “Holy Redeemer Church”
(Pickering)3:00 pm Via Crucis, Stations of the Holy Cross and
Ceremony of the Adoration of the Cross in “Our Lady of Lebanon Church”
Saturday of the light April 19th 11:00 pm Prayer of forgiveness and confessions.12:00 am Easter Midnight Mass
Easter Sunday April 20th 10:30 am & 12:30 pm Mass in OLOL 7:00 pm Mass in “Holy Redeemer Church” (Pickering)
ConfessionsFrom Monday to Thursday (6 – 7 pm)
Pope Francis reflected on the need for repentance and the awareness of our spiritual blindness. (Vatican City, March 31, 2014 - Zenit.org)
The gospel of the day was on the story of Jesus healing the blind man. Each of us has a need to reflect on the state of our spiritual lifeduring the time of Lent. We need to repent and journey closer to the light of Christ.Today’s Gospel presents us with the episode of the man born blind to whom Jesus gives sight. The long narrative opens with a blindman who begins to see and closes – this is curious – with those who presumably see and who continue to be blind in their soul. Johntells of the miracle in just 6 verses because he wants to draw attention not to the miracle but to what happens afterward, that is, to thediscussions that the miracle causes. He also wants to draw attention to the gossip. Often a good work, a charitable work causesgossip and discussion, because there are some who do not wish to see the truth. The evangelist John wants to draw attention to this,which also happens today when a good work is done. The blind man who is healed is first interrogated by the astonished crowd – theysaw the miracle and they interrogate him. Then he is interrogated by the doctors of the law; and they also interrogate his parents. Inthe end, the blind man who is healed arrives at faith, and this is greatest grace that Jesus bestows upon him: not only to see him but toknow him, to see him as “the light of the world” (John 9:5)…Our life is sometimes similar to that of the blind man who is open to the light, who is open to God, who is open to his grace.Sometimes, unfortunately, our life is a little like that of the doctors of the law: from the height of our pride we judge others, and, in theend, the Lord! Today we are invited to open ourselves up to the light of Christ to bear fruit in our life, to eliminate non-Christian ways of acting; we areall Christians, but all of us, at times act in ways that are not Christian, we act in ways that are sinful. We must repent, we must stopacting in these ways so we can set out decisively on the road of sanctity…I would like to suggest to you today, when you return home, to open the Gospel of John and read this passage of chapter 9. It will doyou well, because in this way you will see this road from blindness to light and the other, wicked road toward deeper blindness. Let usask ourselves about the state of our heart. Do I have an open heart or a closed one? Open or closed to God? Open or closed to myneighbor? We always have some closure in us born of sin, of mistakes, of errors. We must not be afraid! Let us open ourselves up tothe Lord. He awaits us always to help us see better, to give us light, to forgive us. Let us not forget this! To the Virgin Mary we entrustthe Lenten journey, so that we too, like the blind man who was healed, can with the grace of Christ “come to the light,” make progresstoward the light and be reborn to a new life.
