January 19, 2007

Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper

Bush’s new plan for Iraq draws support, criticism

By Regina Linskey and Jerry Filteau

(CNS PHOTO/JASON REED, REUTERS)

WASHINGTON (CNS) — A Catholic Army chaplain who was stationed in Iraq and a Christian Iraqi-American military adviser said they stand behind U.S. President George W. Bush’s most recent plan to send more troops to Iraq.

But others, including international policy experts, sharply criticized the plan and questioned whether it can succeed.

“If this is what the leaders are asking for, then that’s what they need,” said Father Brian Kane, who served as an Army chaplain for the 67th Area Support Group at Al Asad Airfield, in the Iraqi Al Anbar region.

Father Kane said the White House’s goals for the Iraqi government to ease sectarian violence and stabilize the country are “a positive step” and a “healthy direction.”

The Iraqi government “needs to show the world that they are capable of taking care of their own country,” he said.

These goals will enable Americans to evaluate the Iraqi government’s progress, and they also act as “a reassurance to the U.S. people that we are preparing to turn things over to the Iraqis,” said the priest. who returned to Nebraska from Iraq in September.

Father Kane, who returned to the United States from Iraq in September, said he believes “when a nation is at war it should not be divided in its resolve to support the troops who are in harm’s way.”

In his address, President Bush made no specific mention of penalties for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for promises not kept. Bush said he plans to send 21,500 extra troops to Iraq, but he set no time limit for the deployment or for when he plans to totally withdraw troops.

NEW PLAN, page 6

U.S. President George W. Bush speaks to U.S. troops and their families at Fort Benning, Ga., Jan. 11.

Bush's visit came one day after he announced that the U.S. would put an additional 21,500 troops in Iraq.

Faith Matters Follow the spiritual advice of Mary: ‘Do whatever he tells you’

By Archbishop George H. Niederauer

the image of a bride and groom for the relationship of God to his chosen people, Israel. In today’s first reading, from Isaiah, we hear the prophet say to the people of Israel: “…The Lord delights in you, and makes your land his spouse. As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you; And as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so shall your God rejoice in you.” God, who created married love, uses it as an image for His passionate devotion to us, His children.

Now let’s look at John’s story about Cana, a town near Nazareth, Jesus and Mary’s home town. Mary is a guest at the wedding, and Jesus and his early followers have been invited too. Mary is something of a special guest, and she may have had something to do with helping arrange the reception. When she becomes aware that the hosts are

Archbishop George H. Niederauer delivered the following homily Jan. 14 at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco.

The story of Jesus and his mother Mary at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee is familiar to us Catholics, and it often serves as the gospel reading at weddings. But in listening to John’s Gospel we need to be very alert, Scripture experts tell us. Every passage, every story is working at several levels in proclaiming the truth about Jesus the Lord. For instance, the story of the wedding at Cana is not merely a tale about a nice man who helped some people in a socially embarrassing situation. St. John shows us that much more than that was going on.

First of all, the image of marriage has a special place in the Scriptures. Throughout the Old Testament, prophets very often used

FAITH MATTERS, page 9

INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION Bishop in West Bank . . . . . 3 Pope on migrants . . . . . . . . 5

‘Remembered Light’ ~ Pages 10-11 ~ News-in-brief

‘Open ears, loosen tongues’ . 8

~ Page 15 ~

Datebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Commentary & letters . 12-13 Scripture & reflection . . . 14 Classified ads . . . . . . . 18-19

~ Page 4 ~ January 19, 2007

Catholic Catechism for Adults

www.catholic-sf.org SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS

VOLUME 9

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No. 2

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Catholic San Francisco

January 19, 2007

On The

Congrats to the Vacation Bible School of St. Denis Parish recently selected

by Liguori Publications Web Site as a small-group model of the Religious Education mode. Program director, Victor Valdez, and participants Joel Baker, front left, Celina Chow, Diedrich Welling, Natalie Baker, Jeremy Chow, together with Connor Bennett, back left, Brian Scott, Edward LaHaye, Donald LaHaye, Collin Baker, and Ian Bennett, make themselves at home in the sessions’ Treasure Island setting. Pastor is Father Vincent Ring.

Where You Live

by Tom Burke Hope you’ve noticed the work of Chris Meehan as the Hare in Fast Track commercials running for the last few months on Bay Area television and radio. Chris is a 1987 grad – “the last allguy class” – of Sacred Heart High School and well known for his comedy here as one of the Meehan Brothers. Be sure to watch for him in the about to be Christopher Meehan released soccer film “Her Best Move” and commercials for the aforementioned Fast Track and electronic game component, Sling Box. He can be reached at his Web site www.christophermeehan.com where you can also see clips from most of his work. As one who stumbled through show biz for a number of years, I know how hard a push it can be and am happy to lead this “Hats off” to the Meehan lad. “I’ve been fortunate this year,” Chris told me, “and I’m looking forward to what 2007 will bring.”… St. Peter Parish in Pacifica wishes a happy 30th wedding anniversary to Merline and Jim Ryan who renewed their vows recently at a weekend Mass.

All married couples, by the way, are invited to a Mass including a renewal of vows February 10th at 10 a.m. at St. Mary’s Cathedral. Auxiliary Bishop John C. Wester will preside and special recognition will go to those celebrating their 25th and 50th anniversaries as well as those married more than 50 years. For more information, contact your parish office or the Office of Lay Formation at (415) 614-5680 or visit www.sfcatholic.com/cfm….Congrats at Notre Dame High School to newly named yearbook editors, Cassandra Bass, Emma Clark, Alissa Eggli, Dani Eggli, Charlene Gemora, Kristen Lowe, and Elviza Kho. I’m almost 40 years out of high school and still consult my yearbooks. Thumbin’ through the memories is a great rainy-day activity right up there with Columbo reruns and watchin’ GoodFellas. Yearbook editors and staffs are the “keepers of the keys,” if you will, with regard to what is gleaned from times we’ll look back on even scores of

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years later. Join me please in offering thanks and every good wish to the young women named here and all entrusted with this most important task…. It was a full house for the first Mass of 2007 at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma January 6th. Father Tom Seagrave, pastor, St. John of God Parish, presided. Father Seagrave, who has been going to the cemetery since he was a tot when his grandfather would take him “on the streetcar” to visit his grandmother’s grave, has been principal celebrant of January’s First Saturday Mass at Holy Cross since the liturgy’s inception more than 25 years ago. “It’s a wonderful way to start

Judy and Sam Ross of St. Anthony Parish in Novato are home from a three-week vacation in Italy that included a “dream pilgrimage” to Rome. Highlights of the trip were “a memorable papal audience” and a visit with longtime family friend David Schunk, a seminarian of the Archdiocese of San Francisco now studying at the Eternal City’s North American Pontifical College.

The dome of St. Peter’s Basilica is in background.

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the year,” he said. In addition to the First Saturday Mass, the Cemeteries Department offers Mass and prayer services for occasions including All Souls Day and Memorial Day as well as other special times of the year. Their number is (650) 756-2060. …Remember this is an empty space without ya’!! The email address for Street is burket@sfarchdiocese.org. Mailed items should be sent to “Street,” One Peter Yorke Way, SF 94109. Pix should be hard copy or electronic jpeg at 300 dpi. Don’t forget to include a follow-up phone number. Call me at (415) 6145634 and I’ll walk you through it.

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Catholic San Francisco

January 19, 2007

3

By Judith Sudilovsky NAHALEEN, West Bank (CNS) — The encroachment of Israeli settlements on Palestinian water sources must be addressed, said the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., said his two-day visit to view Catholic Relief Services’ projects in West Bank farming villages brought to his attention the plight of farmers who are losing access to their water supply.

“It is the first time I have become aware of the critical nature of the water supply.

(Palestinians) feel their water supply is being cut from them by the encroachment (of Israeli settlements) beyond the green line,” said the bishop, who grew up on an apple farm in Washington and has been interested in farming all his life.

Bishop Skylstad visited Israel and the Palestinian territories Jan. 11-18, participating in the Coordination of Episcopal Conferences in Support of the Church of the Holy Land and the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land. He and other bishops traveled to the Gaza Strip Jan. 13 and visited Catholic parishes and religious leaders in northern Israel Jan. 14-16.

The bishop said the Israelis are looking to the water supply to foster the future growth of the settlements.

“It gives you a special appreciation for the farmers in the area struggling.... It is amazing how they use what we in the (United) States would call hilly and untillable land ... and their sophistication of getting so much out of poor land,” he said.

On the edge of the village lands where olive groves grow in the rocky valley and terraced hillsides, Bishop Skylstad listened attentively to the farmers from this village of 1,200 families. They told him about the mounting difficulties they face growing and selling produce because of Israeli travel restrictions, constrictions placed on agricultural land by the expansion of Israeli settlements surrounding the village, and the settlements’ negligent contamination of local spring water.

Just a few hundred yards away, a neighboring Israeli settlement has encroached on the village, and together with three other settlements is slowly taking possession of Nahaleen agricultural land on the other side of the hill.

The farmers pointed out the bare excavated site where the city council was to build a girls’ elementary school, in cooperation with CRS, with a grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

However, after the rise of the Hamas political party to the local village council and the Palestinian Authority, the agency’s funding to the project was cut.

However, through the CRS-managed food-for-work project the villagers widened the access road to the agricultural land and planted 400 olive-tree seedlings, providing food and work for some 315 families. CRS is the U.S. bishops’ international relief and development agency.

Earlier, Bishop Skylstad met with parishioners in the village of Aboud to hear about their concerns over losing farmland to the Israeli separation barrier.

“Part of our role is to look and search for a sense of solidarity,” the bishop said.

Palestinians “are very sensitive about how they are perceived in the broader world and have a great fear of being characterized as terrorists.”

He added he could not make any sweeping conclusions because he was in the area for only two days.

However, he said he was concerned by the growing difficulty of Palestinians “increasingly being squeezed with the building of barriers and increasing encroachment on Palestinian land.”

The bishops had not met yet with any Israeli citizens, but they were scheduled to meet with either Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert or Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

“The (separation) wall is an expression of fear of terrorism. It is built in the name of security, but it is also an expression of fear,” said Bishop Skylstad. He said the numerous acts of terror and the kidnapping

(CNS PHOTO/DEBBIE HILL)

U.S. bishop sees Palestinian plight due to Israeli settlements

Bishop William S. Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, greets Palestinian farmers in the West Bank village of Nahaleen Jan. 12.

The farmers told Bishop Skylstad of problems they face because of Israeli travel restrictions, the expansion of Israeli settlements surrounding their village, and the issue of the settlements contaminating local spring water.

of three soldiers last summer have had a strong effect on Israelis.

Following a tour of the Dehiyshe refugee camp, Bishop Skylstad told young Palestinians taking part in the CRS Cyber Bridge project never to lose hope despite the difficulties.

Students in the project share stories about their lives, exchange information and research other countries and cultures on the Internet.

“People have the right to be free and everyone to live together — Palestinians, Christians, Jews and Muslims. We are all

God’s people and we are together,” he said.

He told Catholic News Service that although the land is gripped by fear, anger and frustration people need to be “visionaries of peace and justice” and not allow themselves to be distracted from that goal.

“Fear divides us and oppression is a form of fear and insecurity. We need to learn how to relate to one another no matter our (differences), and we have to live together in justice and in peace,” he said.

“We (as the church) need to do our part.”

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Catholic San Francisco

NEWS

January 19, 2007

in brief (CNS PHOTO/COURTESY OF CHERYL DICKOW)

4

Rev. King’s legacy ‘alive and well,’ says leadership conference head ROMEOVILLE, Ill. — “I have a dream,” the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said more than four decades ago from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.

This simple phrase still has the compelling strength to evoke the slain civil rights leader’s likeness and message in the minds of countless people throughout the world. “His legacy is alive and well,” said Charles Steele, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Launched

by Rev. King in 1957, the conference is an Atlanta-based advocacy organization committed to achieving social, political and economic justice through nonviolent actions, said Steele. Staff counselors and other employees advocate “Kingian nonviolence,” a philosophy designed by Rev. King that underlines peaceful problem-solving strategies and techniques, he explained.

Pro-life official decries passage of ‘misguided’ stem-cell bill WASHINGTON — A pro-life official of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops criticized House passage Jan. 11 of a bill that would expand federal funding of stem-cell research that involves the destruction of human embryos, but expressed confidence that an expected presidential veto of the “misguided and unethical legislation” would stand. Richard Doerflinger, deputy director of the bishops’ Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, said in a statement that the 253-174 vote indicated that there were not enough votes to override the veto that President George W. Bush has promised. The bill now goes to the Senate for a vote; if it passes there, it will be sent to the White House for action by Bush. But Doerflinger said both houses of Congress should turn their attention “to stem-cell research that poses no moral problem — constructive research that is already beginning to help patients with dozens of conditions in clinical trials.” He added, “Unlike embryonic stem-cell research, research using stem cells from adult tissue, umbilical-cord blood, amniotic fluid and other sources is showing enormous promise and is likely to produce new treatments for patients now living.”

E DUCATION

Teacher and author Cheryl Dickow displays books she has written. The writer from Waterford, Mich., has formed a new Catholic publishing company, Bezalel Books, to address the dearth of women's Catholic fiction. See www.AskKnockSeek.com

Boston cardinal calls abuse a ‘dark truth’ in church BOSTON — In a column marking the fifth anniversary of the crisis over clergy sexual abuse of children, Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley said that scandal was a “dark and unremitting truth” that had to be confronted. Cardinal O’Malley’s comments appeared Jan. 7 as an opinion piece in the Boston Globe, the daily newspaper whose unrelenting expose of child sex abuse by priests in the Boston Archdiocese turned the secret of such abuse into a national crisis five years ago. Cardinal O’Malley noted that on Jan. 6 Catholics celebrate the Epiphany, “the manifestation of God’s love for all humanity.” “Five years ago, as we marked the feast on Jan. 6, 2002, the devastating revelations that Catholic clergy had sexually abused children shook the Archdiocese of Boston and the wider community,” he said. “The contrast between the feast, which celebrates the light of Christ, and the dark and unremitting truth of clergy sexual abuse seemed, at first, impossible to accept.” He added, “But the truth of the abuse had to be confronted.”

Congress more religiously diverse; Catholics still well represented WASHINGTON — With one Muslim and two Buddhist members, the 110th Congress is the most religiously diverse ever. Catholics remain the largest denominational group in

Congress, with 155 members — 25 in the Senate and 130 in the House. But there are fewer Catholic Republicans in both houses since the 109th Congress and many more Catholic Democrats. In the last Senate, Catholic members were nearly evenly split between the parties, with 11 Republicans and 13 Democrats. Now there are 9 Catholic Republicans and 16 Catholic Democrats in the Senate. In the House at the start of the 109th Congress, there were 129 Catholics — 57 Republicans and 72 Democrats. Although the total number of House Catholics in the 110th Congress is nearly the same at 130, the current group includes 42 Republicans and 88 Democrats. Even Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., a Muslim who was sworn in as a member of Congress using a Quran once owned by President Thomas Jefferson, was raised a Catholic. He became a Muslim while in college at Wayne State University in Detroit.

Catholic Charities aims to cut U.S. poverty in half by 2020 WASHINGTON — Catholic Charities USA Jan. 10 launched an ambitious campaign to cut poverty in America in half by 2020. “The poor do belong to us. ... They are our brothers and sisters,” Father Larry Snyder, Catholic Charities USA president, told an overflow crowd at a Capitol Hill briefing announcing the Campaign to Reduce Poverty in America.

Noting that 37 million Americans — 12.6 percent of the population — currently live below the poverty line, he said Catholic Charities USA and its affiliates, working in partnership with government, the private sector and other nonprofits, will launch “a concentrated, systematic effort to cut poverty in half by 2020.” Briefing participants received the newly released Catholic Charities USA policy paper, “Poverty in America: A Threat to the Common Good.” It sets the moral and analytic framework for the campaign and spells out specific policy proposals for a sustained drive to reverse the growth of poverty in the United States.

World Food head meets pope, praises church aid for poor VATICAN CITY — The head of the World Food Program, James Morris, praised the Catholic Church’s commitment to the poor after meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican. The pope spoke with Morris in a private audience Jan. 15, a week after the pontiff emphasized the need to reduce hunger in a speech to diplomats accredited to the Vatican. “I wish to thank His Holiness for his continuous personal commitment, as well as that of the Catholic Church, to the poor and desperate people in the world,” Morris said in a statement released from his Rome office. Morris noted that the World Food Program works closely with a number of Catholic humanitarian organizations, including Caritas Internationalis, Catholic Relief Services, the Daughters of Charity, Jesuit Refugee Service, the International Catholic Migration Commission and the Sant’Egidio Community. “The spiritual, moral and material support of Pope Benedict XVI and of the Catholic Church represents a real hope to provide a future to millions of children,” Morris said.

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January 19, 2007

Catholic San Francisco

5

Pope marks migration day, urges policies to benefit families

By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Political policies and humanitarian assistance to help migrant and refugee families stay together or reunite will benefit host societies because they help newcomers integrate, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Marking the World Day for Migrants and Refugees Jan. 14, the pope used his Sunday Angelus address to ask the international community and individual nations to adopt policies aimed at safeguarding the family bonds of migrants and refugees.

In the Gospel account of Jesus, Mary and Joseph being forced to flee to Egypt, he said, people can see “the painful situation of many migrants,” especially refugees, the displaced and the persecuted.

Forced to leave their homes because of poverty, war or persecution, the families of the migrants can become extremely fragile, the pope said.

Pope Benedict told a crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square that the United Nations estimates there are 200 million migrants in the world who have left their homes for economic reasons, 9 million refugees forced to flee and about 2 million young people who have left their home countries in order to study.

To the official figures, he said, one also must add the millions of people who have been displaced within their own nation and those who have immigrated without going through official channels.

Each of those people is part of a family or even the head of a family, the pope said.

Pope Benedict said nations must develop policies to regulate migration in a way that respects the rights of each person, promotes family unity, safeguards women and children and, at the same time, encourages an orderly and legal movement of peoples.

“The proper integration of (migrant) families into the social, economic and political systems of the countries that welcome them,” he said, will be possible only if the human dignity of the migrants is respected and if the migrants recognize the values of the society offering them a home.

Bishop John Wester was honored Jan. 14 at Mercy Center in Burlingame for his support of Catherine Center, a ministry of the Sisters of Mercy and the St. Vincent de Paul Society of San Mateo County, which assists women leaving incarceration. Lorraine Moriarty, left, executive director of St. Vincent de Paul, enjoys San Francisco Archbishop George H. Niederauer’s gentle "roasting" of Bishop Wester, shown laughing at right. Archbishop Niederauer will preside at a Mass of Thanksgiving commemorating Bishop Wester’s long service to the people of the Archdiocese Feb. 20 at 5:30 p.m. at St. Mary’s Cathedral. The appointment of Bishop Wester as Bishop of Salt Lake City was announced Jan. 8. His installation Mass there is set for March 14. A fourth-generation San Franciscan, he was ordained a priest in 1976 and a bishop in 1998.

He has worked in parish ministry, education and administration. Former pastor of St. Stephen Parish in San Francisco, he also spent many years in residence at St. Peter Parish in Pacifica.

Bishop John Wester appears on TV program Bishop John C. Wester, Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco and Bishop-Designate of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, has a warm and revealing conversation with host Maury Healy on the television program “For Heaven’s Sake,” which airs Sunday, Jan. 21 at 5:30 a.m.

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Catholic San Francisco

January 19, 2007

New plan . . .

Pauline Jasim, a military bilingual and bicultural adviser in Baghdad, Iraq, said it was “about time Washington realized the (number of) troops were never enough, and more troops are needed in Baghdad.�

The Iraqis, particularly in Baghdad, “were ecstatic when more troops were transferred to Baghdad last August; they had hoped Baghdad would be cleaned up,� she said.

However, Jasim said Iraq has “lost all hope in its government, coalition forces and the world.� “The secular and the educated population has fled. ...

They have become the most hopeless people in the world, stranded in the neighboring countries,� she said.

Jesuit Father Drew Christiansen, editor of the national Catholic magazine America and director of the U.S. bishops’ Office of International Justice and Peace 1991-98, said the plan “seems to me too light on the troops� to achieve the goal of sufficient security for a transition to Iraqi control.

More importantly, “it ignores the diplomatic elements altogether,� he said.

He said in Bosnia-Herzegovina the allied forces sent in one soldier for every 50 civilians to establish security. Increasing U.S. forces in Iraq from about 130,000 to 150,000 does not come close to the ratio needed, he said, noting some have estimated it would take about 350,000 to 400,000 for an effective occupying force.

The expansion will come by extending current troops’ stays and sending others back into Iraq early, he said, and “the military is being stretched extraordinarily thin.�

He said the Bush plan ignores the Iraq Study Group’s call to look at the situation in Iraq as a regional problem, and the administration continues to try to isolate Iran and Syria, two major actors in the region, instead of drawing them into diplomatic negotiations.

Maryann Cusimano Love, a professor of politics at The Catholic University of America, Washington, and an expert on terrorism, said of the Bush plan: “This is primarily a political battle about winning hearts and minds. And the military measures ‌ don’t do anything to address the underlying problems in Iraq and, I’m afraid, are unlikely to succeed.â€?

She called it a belated response to the problem that not enough troops were committed in 2003. “It’s four years too late,� she said. “I think he recognizes now that there should have been more troops at the get-go, but that doesn’t mean that more troops are the answer now.�

She said Bush’s claim that an additional 21,500 troops will provide enough force to hold neighborhoods once they are cleared “is simply factually incorrect.

When you look at the size of the Iraqi population and the size of the insurgency versus the size of U.S. troops, this just doesn’t add up. We had a much more intensive commitment in Kosovo, and that was a long, hard row.�

Gerard F. Powers, director of policy studies at the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for Peace and head of the bishops’ Office of International Justice and NEW PLAN, page 7

EDUCATION

(CNS PHOTO/ALI JASIM, REUTERS)

â– Continued from cover

A man searches for missing relatives among bodies lying in the Yarmouk hospital morgue in Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 14. Police found 31 bodies, many tortured, in a 24-hour period prior to Jan. 14, said an Interior Ministry source.

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Head of U.S. Bishops Conference says Iraqi security, dignity key to Iraq policy WASHINGTON (CNS) — Every U.S. action or policy in Iraq “ought to be evaluated in light of our nation’s moral responsibility to help Iraqis to live with security and dignity in the aftermath of U.S. military action,� said Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In a statement released Jan. 12, Bishop Skylstad said the new U.S. policies announced by President George W. Bush Jan. 10 or any alternatives to them must be viewed within the framework of “a key moral question that ought to guide our nation’s actions in Iraq: How can the U.S. bring about a responsible transition in Iraq?�

He said “benchmarks� for progress toward such a transition include “minimally acceptable levels of security; economic reconstruction to create employment for Iraqis; and political structures and agreements that help

New plan . . . ■Continued from page 6 Peace 1998-2004, said there “are some positive proposals� in the Bush plan and “the stated goal is the right one — a united, stable, nonsectarian government.�

But he said the “modest increase in troops� announced by Bush is another case of “willing the ends but not the means.� “We’re in a real hole� because the United States does not have the troops needed to establish security for civilians in Iraq, he said. “It would only be feasible if the United States were able to convince other nations, get the international community involved in a serious way. And it’s probably too late for that,� he said.

Powers said the United States incurred “serious obligations to the Iraqi people� when it invaded and occupied their country, and he does not see that issue given sufficient emphasis in the

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overcome divisions, reduce violence, broaden participation and increase respect for religious freedom and basic human rights.� “Any action or failure to act should be measured by whether it moves toward these benchmarks and contributes to a responsible withdrawal at the earliest time,� he added.

Bishop Skylstad, who was traveling in the Holy Land, issued his statement from Jerusalem, but it was released through USCCB offices in Washington.

He noted that the U.S. bishops and the Vatican had expressed “grave moral concerns about the military intervention in Iraq� and its potential for uncontrollable negative consequences. “In light of current realities, the Holy See and our conference support broader regional and international engagement to increase security, stability and reconstruction in Iraq,� he said. “Another necessary step is more sustained U.S. leadership to address other current U.S. debate over the course of American action.

The discussion should focus on “what is our obligation to the Iraqi people, not just what is our security interest,� he said.

Jasim told CNS: “The havoc we see is partly the result of the mistake upon mistake that has been done since the days of the CPA (Coalition Provisional Authority, or the transitional government in Iraq).

The tragedy is that Iraqi-Americans were here (in Iraq) to advise the coalition, but their advice was not heeded. “Even now the Iraqi-Americans struggle to make their voices heard by the decision-makers,� she said.

George Wesolek, who heads the Office of Public Affairs/Social Concerns of the San Francisco Archdiocese, agreed with the position of the U.S. Bishops that we need to find a way to get out but in a manner that is fair to our commitments and does not abandon the Iraqis.

deadly conflicts in this region, especially the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the crisis in Lebanon,� he added.

He said the bishops’ conference has repeatedly called for “substantive, civil and nonpartisan discussion of ways to bring about a responsible transition in Iraq.� “Such civil dialogue is even more essential and urgent at this moment of national discussion and decision,� he said.

In his address on national television last week, Bush outlined a plan to boost U.S. troop strength in Iraq by about 21,500 and set a series of benchmarks the Iraqi government is expected to meet in coming months to stabilize the country and promote its economic recovery.

Bishop Skylstad did not comment directly on specifics of the Bush plan.

He said the bishops “are deeply concerned for the lives and dignity of the people of Iraq who suffer so much and for the men and women in the U.S. military who serve bravely, generously and at great risk.�

He said as religious leaders and human rights defenders the bishops “have expressed particular alarm at the deteriorating situation of Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq.�

Their special vulnerability highlights the dangers being faced by all Iraqis, including Sunnis and Shiites, he said.

A day after Bush announced he wants to send more soldiers to Iraq, anti-war activists held protests in a number of U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Boston, Washington and New York. Demonstrators said the buildup planned by the president will cause more bloodshed and give insurgents new American targets.

Organizers of the protests said they were a prelude to a Jan. 27 march in Washington, which will “send a strong, clear message to Congress and the Bush administration� that the American people want Congress to act to end the war in Iraq and “bring the troops home now.�

The full text of Bishop Skylstad’s statement is available at www.usccb.org.

(CNS PHOTO/GREG TARCZYNSKI)

By Jerry Filteau

Crosses on a hill Jan. 11 in Lafayette, Calif., recall U.S. service men and women who have died in Iraq.

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January 19, 2007

Prayer for Christian Unity Reaching out to other Christians in the spirit of love, respect and unity

By Father Gerard O’Rourke In the Gospel of Luke, we always see some of the reality of the life of Jesus. Luke located the life of Jesus in the historical world of his era. He recorded the promise of his birth. Then he recorded the infancy of Jesus and then kept going right through to his death, resurrection and ascension.

It is important for us to know that St. Luke was conscious of the necessity to tell the story “accurately” so that “ we might realize the certainty of the teachings that we have received.” I noticed in the time before Christmas many references to Jesus in the media. Many references to Jesus seemed to suggest that he was not a real or historical figure; that the stories about Jesus are merely in the realm of myths, simply stories that have become legends. Frequently, alleged experts pontificated this nonsense, some of them even suggested that Jesus might have been an illiterate country boy from a bucolic village called Nazareth!

And then along comes the Gospel reading from Luke for the third Sunday of Ordinary Time. Luke tells us about the beginning of the public life of Jesus with his return to Galilee and his hometown of Nazareth. Jesus was welcomed to the Synagogue, which he had attended regularly throughout his life. But he is no longer the local carpenter!

This welcome of Jesus to the Synagogue included permission to speak to the congregation. He was given the sacred scroll of the Scriptures and the passage from the Prophet Isaiah. This showed that not only was he very literate but also very familiar with the sacred writings. He chose the exact quotation from Isaiah that he wished to read. Jesus read the passage powerfully. He used the words of Isaiah to proclaim his program and his priorities for the public life he had just begun.

This was no meek, tentative country boy speaking a few nice remarks for the hometown folks. He declared, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” That is the kind of authentic language that rings out through the ages.

What is clear in the priorities of Jesus is his commitment to include all people in the glad tidings, the good news of salvation. Especially, he includes the poor, those in captivity of any kind, those who need healing and those who need freedom. In other words no one is left out of his concern and his love especially if we are going through bad or trying times.

We now are in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which began Jan. 18 and concludes Jan. 25. Unity and the Spirit of Unity were the last recorded requests of Jesus before he was led to his death on the Cross. You could say it was his last will and testament that we, his followers, live together in the spirit of unity and respect for one another. His model for us was his unity with his Heavenly Father. These are his own words form Chapter 17 of John’s Gospel. “I pray for those who will believe in me. May they all be one. Father may they be one in us, as you are in me and I am in you, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me.”

May each of us find in our hearts and our lives some way of fulfilling those words of Jesus. Our Holy Father Pope Benedict never tires telling us that prayer is the most indispensable thing that we can do for Christian Unity. Let each of us join in that prayer. We also can reach out to other Christians in the spirit of love, respect and unity. We may even be closely related to them as family members, as colleagues at work or as neighbors in your neighborhood. In this crucial new year of 2007 may we make Christian Unity a priority in our lives so that we can be open, be healed and be inclusive like Jesus always was and always will be.

Vatican cites ‘spiritual ecumenism’ as route to unity

By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Every time Christians of different communities pray together, witness to the Gospel and help people in need, they are promoting Christian unity, said the Vatican’s top ecumenist. Joint prayer and Bible study, attendance at a major event of another denomination and working together for justice and peace are the components of “spiritual ecumenism” suggested by Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council

for Promoting Christian Unity. The cardinal is the author of “A Handbook of Spiritual Ecumenism,” a booklet published in English late in 2006 in time for the Jan. 18-25 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

“The way toward reconciliation and communion unfolds when Christians feel the painful wound of division in their hearts, in their minds and in their prayers,” the booklet notes. It focuses on what bishops, priests, religious and laity can do to promote closer relationships with their ROUTE TO UNITY, page 9

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The theme of the week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2007 is taken from the Gospel of Mark 7:31-37. It is summarized in the words “Open our ears and loosen our tongues.” In our spirit of unity this year may we find an inspiration for unity in those words: O God, holy and eternal Trinity, we pray for your church in the world.

Sanctify its life; renew its worship; empower its witness; heal its divisions; make visible its unity.

Lead us, with all our brothers and sisters, towards communion in faith, life and witness so that, united in one body by the one Spirit, we may together witness to the perfect unity of your love, Amen.

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January 19, 2007

Faith Matters . . .

■ Continued from cover running out of wine, her faith in her Son leads her to tell him of the problem. Remember, in John’s telling of the gospel story, Jesus has not yet worked any sign or miracle. Jesus even says to his mother, “My hour has not yet come.”

But this mother knows her son, so she tells the waiters, “Do whatever he tells you.” [Twenty centuries later, that is still the best piece of spiritual advice for Catholics.] And, sure enough, Jesus advances his “hour” at his mother’s request. And Jesus does not stint on quality or quantity: the six jars hold between 120 and 180 gallons, and the headwaiter remarks to the groom that this latest wine is the best they have served all day.

It’s interesting here that the headwaiter has missed the meaning of the new wine, because he doesn’t know how it got there. The servants know, however, and so do the followers of Jesus, and eventually, the people of the town. But why this action as a first great sign, for a Messiah who would go on to give sight to the blind and raise the dead to life?

For one thing, in this story John shows the ordinary humanity of Jesus. And, remember, John is a great emphasizer of Jesus as Son of God. Nevertheless, we see Jesus at Cana enjoying the happy social occasion of a wedding, and acting in sympathy, kindness and understanding toward people who aren’t in the worst trouble there is, but still are acutely ashamed and embarrassed.

And the Catholic Church has always understood Jesus at Cana as a powerful sign of the value he places on

Route to unity . . .

■ Continued from page 8 fellow Christians while the official theological dialogues continue to deal with issues that keep the Christian community divided.

Prayer should be Christians’ first response, it said. “It is significant that Jesus did not primarily express his desire for unity in a teaching or in a commandment to his disciples, but in a prayer to his father,” and “Since unity is a gift, it is fitting that Christians pray for it together,” the cardinal wrote. Conversion is at the heart of the search for Christian unity, he said.

The booklet also urges special attention to young people, who will inherit “the burden of past division.” “It is of paramount importance that young Christians be given the opportunity to make friends with Christians of other traditions, to read the Gospel and to pray with them, to grow in understanding and appreciation of their particular gifts,” it said.

The booklet encourages bishops and priests also to give special attention to husbands and wives from different Christian communities, not simply because of the difficulties they face in continuing to practice their faith, but

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Christian marriage as a sacrament and a vocation. We don’t even know the young couple’s names, but we consider them one of the most privileged couples in history, to have Jesus and Mary as guests at their wedding. And yet, as I like to point out when I preside at a Catholic wedding, every young couple who is married in the Church are more privileged than they. The couple from Cana invited Jesus to their home and he changed water into wine for them. But Jesus invites each Catholic couple into the church, the home he shares with them, and for them and their guests at Mass he changes bread and wine into his own Body and Blood, with which he nourishes them for their life together in Him. The dignity and meaning of Christian marriage is challenged in our time, especially people who contend that different kinds of partnering should be indistinguishable from one another, that there is nothing unique about the union of a man and a woman, and the life they share with one another and their children. Besides, we are often told, this is the 21st century, and the traditional family of husband, wife and their children is passé, going quickly out of style.

In a Sunday cartoon sometime ago Doonesbury took satiric aim at such ideas; he showed his hero watching Geraldo or some such tabloid show. The host began: “Meet Brad and Carol. They have been married for ten years.

They have two happy, well-adjusted children who were not born out of wedlock. Both Brad and Carol go to church, give time to charities, love their parents, and help their kids with their homework. Neither has ever battered the other.

Neither is addicted to sex, drugs, alcohol, food, violence, cigarettes, or each other. Today on Geraldo: Happily married people who are not recovering from anything!” Then

the host says: “So, Brad and Carol! What’s it like, being freaks?” Brad answers, “It’s fine. No complaints.” Carol says, “Actually it’s strengthened our marriage.”

I’m not saying Jesus doesn’t care about troubled lives or troubled relationships. He seems to care most about those, and so should we in the Catholic Church. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a Christian ideal, and it does mean that the people who strive toward it need our prayers, support and encouragement.

And the story of Cana speaks to each one of us baptized Catholics about our own vocations as Christians. Cana shows us that Jesus has the power and the desire to make the ordinary in us into the spiritually extraordinary, just as he transformed the water into wine. But we have to do as those waiters did: we have to take Mary’s advice—”Do whatever he tells you.”

When Jesus says, “Follow me,” we need to do so.

Jesus wants us to enter into a close relationship with him, not just keep him at arm’s length. We mustn’t just keep the Lord of our lives on a shelf, to be trotted out on special occasions. What Jesus Christ taught is pertinent to the decisions we make about our lives, the priorities we set, the values we live out, and the relationships we put ourselves into. In today’s Gospel story St. John is not just telling us about something Jesus did many centuries ago in a town halfway around the world. It’s a story about what Jesus is always doing. The message is that Jesus comes into our lives too, with the same power that could change water into wine. Here’s a promising question, not a scary one: What change do you need to make in your life that you can’t do by yourself? If you were to take Mary’s advice, and do whatever Jesus tells you, what change could he make in your life if you let him?

also because they can be a resource in bringing members of their denominations closer together. As people who “feel intensely the pain of division between the communities to which they belong,” the couples can help organize ecumenical groups that meet for prayer, Scripture study and support for other couples from different denominations, it said.

Working together to alleviate the suffering of the poor and the sick and to build peace and justice also is part of “spiritual ecumenism,” the document said. Cooperation is especially important, it said, in situations where the good works of different denominations may appear to be in competition with each other or where they uselessly duplicate each other’s efforts.

One of the practical suggestions in the booklet is that,

during Lent, divided Christians gather for “a common service based on biblical readings on forgiveness and mercy in preparation for approaching a minister of one’s own church for personal confession of sins and absolution.” While acknowledging that local situations may make some projects more appropriate than others, the booklet also suggests ecumenical cooperation in designing Bible study programs; annual commemoration of Christians who have been martyred for their faith or their commitment to promoting Gospel values; joint prayer services on Thanksgiving and on holidays honoring those who died in the service of their country; ecumenical affirmation or renewal of baptismal promises during the Easter season or around the feast of the Baptism of the Lord; organizing an ecumenical Nativity play for children before Christmas.

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Catholic San Francisco

January 19, 2007

January 19, 2007

Catholic San Francisco

11

‘Remembered light’

Fragments of church and synagogue windows destroyed in World War II take on new life in unique exhibit A unique art exhibit of 25 stained glass windows created from glass fragments of church and synagogue windows destroyed during World War II will be displayed in the Presidio of San Francisco at the Officers’ Club from January 24 to April 15.

Although the exhibit launches a $6 million expansion and endowment fundraising campaign for the Presidio’s Main Post Interfaith Chapel, the exhibit is free to the public.

The McDonald Memorial Windows were named for the WW II U.S. Army Chaplain, Frederick Alexander McDonald, who salvaged the shards of broken glass during his service in WW II, 1944-45.

F

ollowing the exhibit’s opening in San Francisco titled “Remembered Light: Glass Fragments from World War II,” the artwork will travel throughout the U.S. then come back to its new home, the Main Post Interfaith Chapel.

Chaplain McDonald hoped one day that the shards he collected would be used in a military chapel. The Presidio’s Interfaith Chapel was a likely candidate since his first assignment after Chaplain School at Harvard University was to build and dedicate San Francisco’s Fort Mason Chapel and manage the worship services held there by different faith groups. He lived close to the Presidio for the last 18 years of his life.

Although the Chaplain collected a file box full of stained glass fragments for future use, he kept the story of the shards of broken glass close to his heart for a half century. One evening, he told friends about the story after the topic of “stained glass” was raised at the dinner table. His guests were astonished at his thorough filing system that detailed a brief history of each glass site.

Shortly after, his dinner guests contacted Reflection Studios, a nationally renowned stained glass studio with the story. Armelle La Roux, an artist on staff, visited him in San Francisco, and his stories were diligently transcribed for the upcoming project.

Artist LeRoux also studied the locations of the glass fragments and began designing a series of windows to include the shards and also have portions of the stories etched into the windows. LaRoux met with Chaplain McDonald many times before he passed away March 9, 2002 at the age of 93.

In all, 13 artists from Europe and the U.S. created 25 windows in diverse media including ceramic, silk-screen, vinyl, cooper, and glass. Their work takes a range of forms and dimensions, varying from a 9x14-inch glass book, its shard from an unknown site, by Le Roux, the principal artist and project manager, to a 41x30-inch crown of thorns created in antique glass by Narcissus Quagliata, with shards from the Cathedral of St. Stephen, Metz, France.

The Presidio Interfaith Center’s board of directors voted to include the McDonald Memorial Peace Windows in the Chapel’s renovation and new construction plans. The building’s rehabilitation will include a redesigned lower level, two new offices, a gallery, and a lobby, all providing square footage for the new stained-glass windows.

For more information, contact Paul Chaffee at 415-775-4635 or e-mail him at paul@interfaith-presidio.org. To help support the endeavor, write to Interfaith Center at the Presidio, attention McDonald Project, P. O. Box 29055, San Francisco, CA 94129.

Cathedral of St. Stephen, Metz, France

The Presidio Chapel

Exhibit information

“Remembered Light: Glass Fragments from World War II” will be open to the public, free of charge, Wednesdays to Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., from Jan. 24 to April 15 at the Officers Club of the Presidio of San Francisco.

St. Michael’s Cathedral, Coventry, England

The man behind ‘Remembered Light’ Frederick Alexander McDonald was born in Seattle in 1908, and graduated from the General Seminary of the Episcopal Church. When Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941, he resigned his pastorate at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Portland, Oregon, to join the armed services. After attending Chaplain School at Harvard University in 1942, McDonald served at Fort Mason in San Francisco.

McDonald, then 34, was already well traveled; a young merchant marine when he explored Asian ports and a hiker who walked Europe’s mountain trails between the great wars. His life-long passion for religious architecture and stained-glass windows kept him curious and happy to travel.

Sent to Europe in 1944, Chaplain McDonald was assigned to the 12th Army Group, led by U.S. General Omar C. Bradley.

He spent 12 months close to enemy lines, driving hundreds of miles across the wartorn countryside to offer worship and pastoral care to the small army of military pro-

Cathedral de Notre Dame, Coutances, France

U.S. Army Chaplain Frederick McDonald visiting Church of Our Lady in Trier, Germany, during World War II

fessionals marching the Allies into Germany. One Christmas eve he ushered General George C. Patton to a special chair in a candle-lit church in Luxembourg before conducting worship.

When the war came to an end, Chaplain McDonald — on 45-minutes notice — found himself preaching to General Bradley and the Allied commanders, his words broadcast back to the United States by NBC. He stayed on in Europe for the long months it took to return this country’s soldiers to the United States, leading a spontaneously organized “seminary,” a kind of interreligious prep school for Catholics, Jews, and Protestants who wanted to go to seminary and seek a religious vocation when they got back home.

In his war travels, Father McDonald made a habit of stopping at sanctuaries victimized by the conflict. On these visits he picked up broken fragments of stained glass from the rubble. He put the bits of colored glass in envelopes, labeled by site. These site names are a litany to the millions touched by the war – Periers, Wiesbaden, Thionville, Metz,

Coutances, Verdun, Aachen, Malmedy, Cologne, Verviers, Bastogne, Dinant, Maestricht, Trier, Nuremburg, Coventry, London, and Biarritz.

For 55 years the glass was kept in a cardboard box. One evening in 1999, he shared the story of the shards with astonished friends around the dinner table.

Mrs. Jean Wright, one of the friends at dinner, contacted Reflection Studios, a nationally renowned stained-glass studio across the Bay from San Francisco. A French stained-glass artist there named Armelle LaRoux met the retired chaplain, and a great friendship began.

LaRoux talked with McDonald many times, took notes, studied each group of glass fragments, selected a team of artists to participate, and became the main artist and project leader of the McDonald Memorial Peace Windows project. The artists understood that the project had not been funded but that efforts to raise funds would go forward.

Conversations began in 1999 about the best use of the shards. A single mosaic of glass was one possibility, a window using all the shards in what probably would have been an abstract representation of Fred’s war experience. But then his remarkable memory helped take the project in a different direction. Till the end of his life, McDonald’s stories captivated people. He recalled each of the visits to the damaged, destroyed cathedrals, churches, and synagogues where he picked up the bits of colored glass. He remembered his interactions with men and women struggling to survive the conflict. As he talked about those meetings, LaRoux conceived of a series of windows, each with its own brief story.

The stark human reality of McDonald’s memories gave an internationally distinguished stained-glass team the creative inspiration and energy for an ambitious, complex project. Through three years of conversation, the retired chaplain shared his stories and the artists responded. While McDonald died five years ago, this year his dream will be realized, with light once again shining through these small glass fragments, capturing new images and stories about the quest for peace.

The Main Post Chapel in the Presidio of San Francisco is an interfaith sanctuary built by the U.S. Sixth Army in 1931 and now part of the nation’s newest national park. It is cared for and managed by the Interfaith Center at the Presidio.

The sanctuary sits high on a prominent knoll adjacent to the first National Cemetery on the west coast, established by the National Cemeteries Act in 1863 and used even earlier to inter American dead. Human history in the Presidio extends back hundreds of years and more through the Muwekma Ohlone Nation, an indigenous people who inhabited and domesticated the area. The Ohlone were displaced in 1776. For the next 219 years the Presidio successively served as a military post under the flags of Spain, Mexico, and the United States. In 1994 the Presidio of San Francisco became a national park.

Architecturally the Main Post Chapel is an example of Spanish Mission Revival, with the same baroque features and embellished architecture of California’s early mission churches. A notable feature of the Chapel’s east porch is a large fresco, “The Peaceful Uses of the Presidio.” Sponsored by the officers of the 30th U.S. Infantry, it was painted in 1935 by a team led by Victor Arnautoff, a Russian-born, San Francisco-trained artist. He served an extensive apprenticeship under master muralist Diego Rivera and was supervising artist of San Francisco’s Coit Tower frescos.

Veterans’ organizations sponsored and funded the stained-glass windows in the sanctuary when the Chapel was built. Then over a three-year period 11 stained-glass windows depicting military virtues and values were installed – including Comradeship, Courage, Mercy, Motherhood, and, in the front of the sanctuary, Faith, Love, and Hope. They were designed and created by Wilamina Ogterop, the first woman stained-glass artist west of the Mississippi.

Plaques adorn the Chapel walls, memorializing soldiers and officers who served in the Presidio. Outside, more plaques were placed in a memorial garden, and small monuments have been erected to honor Army chaplains and Vietnam veterans. A bronze bell cast in Philadelphia in 1904 was raised in the Chapel’s bell tower in 1933.

For many of McDonald’s “greatest generation,” the Presidio was the last American shore seen when they shipped out to World War II. Many came home to be healed at the Presidio’s Letterman Hospital or laid to rest in the cemetery next door. The site of the Chapel, both its history and its art, provide a remarkably appropriate context for the new McDonald Memorial Peace Windows.

The new windows became a defining element in plans to rehabilitate the Main Post Chapel, an effort designed by J. Gordon Turnbull one of the nation’s leading restoration architecture firms. The renovation includes an elevator, new bathrooms, and earthquake retrofitting, all significantly increasing the facility’s usefulness and safety.

Including the McDonald windows in the renovation simultaneously enhances the Chapel’s historic, aesthetic, and spiritual significance.

The Main Post Chapel is a jewel in the crown of the Presidio of San Francisco, and the McDonald Windows will enhance the experience of the thousands who visit. None of the Chapel’s existing artwork will be disturbed, including the Ogterop stained-glass windows in the sanctuary or the Arnautoff fresco. Instead, the Chapel’s lower level, a site for meetings, retreats, workshops, and receptions, will be the ‘canvas’ for the McDonald Windows, making it as compelling and interesting to the visitor as the sanctuary above.

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Catholic San Francisco

January 19, 2007

Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper

Guest Commentary Respect for all Life

By Greg Erlandson One of the great lies told about the pro-life movement is that it is only concerned about children before they are born.

Ignoring for the moment that this cheap rejoinder evades the question of whether the child before it is born is as worthy of protection as after, it is worth reflecting on what this attack means to say.

It plays to a particular prejudice that likes to think of pro-lifers as religiously addled and cold-hearted, willing to ignore the suffering and struggles of the poor but determined to force them to bear children. Often there is a whiff of anti-Catholicism in this comment, harkening back to the old shibboleth that Catholics are simply interested in amassing an army of babies.

The facts are quite the opposite. Leaders of the abortion movement, going back to Margaret Sanger, a eugenicist and founder of Planned Parenthood, viewed abortion as a solution particularly fitting for the poor and minorities. Pro-lifers have by and large understood that the preciousness of life meant that care is to be shown for both mother and child, for the unborn and the born.

Indeed, to believe anything less is to undercut the pro“ . . . all human life, from found message of the pro-life movement: That all human conception to natural life, from conception to natural death, has objective dignity death, has objective and must not be compromised. dignity and must not be Pro-life activists can be found in all walks of life, helpcompromised.” ing the poor of our country and of other countries; assisting women as they struggle to carry their babies to term and ministering to mothers and fathers who have aborted their child and then suffer the consequences of their act; helping families who are dealing with critical issues of infant care, child rearing and support for the aged.

Yet on this, the 34th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, it is important that we who are Catholic and pro-life remind ourselves that more is expected of us than simply the occasional donation. Scripture talks a great deal about the responsibility of the believer to care for the poor, and it spends much more time talking about this than talking about almost any other issue.

Our dedication to the unborn is unyielding. This is because we know that the unborn child – zygote, embryo, fetus – is a genetically unique human being needing only time before it becomes a squalling newborn. To allow experiments on embryos, to sell them to others, to end their lives because they are inconvenient or “damaged” is to turn that unique human being into an object, a commodity, a thing to be owned or discarded based on our wants or preferences.

Yet we also know that this child, once born, must be given the basic necessities of life so as to grow and flourish, to learn to love and be loved, to take advantage of God’s gifts and to live out God’s plan for him or her.

There is a great divide in this country today, one that affects our neighborhoods and schools, our hospitals and nursing homes, our political voice and our family well-being. It is a divide between those who enjoy so many of our material comforts and those who live in poverty and isolation.

Pro-life Catholics have both a right and a duty to make their voices heard in the national debates of our day. This anniversary, in our political discourse and in our actions, let us remind our nation that we to whom much has been given are called by God to care for the weak and the defenseless, including the unborn.

This commentary originally appeared in the Jan. 14 issue of Our Sunday Visitor (www.osv.com), a newsweekly published in Huntington, Ind. The commentary also is posted on Catholic Online (www.Catholic.org).

Thanks for coverage Thanks to Catholic San Francisco for the expanded coverage the newspaper has given recently to issues relating to the Christians in the Holy Land and throughout the Middle East. The secular media in the United States presents only one side of the story and rarely focuses on the trials of the “Living Stones” of the Mother Church of Jerusalem, the descendants of the Apostles and the first Christians.

The Knights and Ladies of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in our Archdiocese seek to provide support and encouragement to these forgotten Christians.

Your stories and articles help us in our mission.

Your coverage of the good and the bad, the encouraging and the discouraging events in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Iraq and Lebanon helps ensure that the Catholics of our Archdiocese are reminded, in the words of the psalmist, to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”

John H. McGuckin, Jr. Lieutenant, Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem San Francisco

Iraq war a ‘blunder Hats off to Catholic San Francisco for publishing (Dec. 15) the letters of Patrick Quinn, George Grandemange, and Jerome F. Downs! Their critiques of George Weigel’s opinions on the Iraq war are right to the point. The arrogance of Weigel in arguing for a just war here, as though he were speaking for the Catholic faithful, is shocking and intellectually dishonest. The late Pope John Paul II was very clear in his opposition to this war and said so to President Bush. Mr. Downs is quite correct: “that the invasion of Iraq was the political blunder of the century”. In addition, it was a blunder in critical thinking and moral thinking that has diminished America’s influence in the world for peace and justice.

Michael McGinley San Francisco

Raids questioned

Catholic San Francisco welcomes letters from its readers.

Please send your letters to: Catholic San Francisco One Peter Yorke Way San Francisco, CA 94109 Fax: (415) 614-5641 E-mail: healym@sfarchdiocese.org

Not ‘discovered’ Nellie Hizon’s “Simbang Gabi – A Spiritual preparation for Christmas” (Dec. 15) certainly was an informative article, particularly for those unfamiliar with the Christmas season devotion celebrated worldwide and with particular significance in the Philippines. I respectfully request, however, that Catholic San Francisco refrain from stating that the Philippines was “discovered.” Discovery in this context is a purely Eurocentric notion, which is one-sided and biased. Europeans made contact with the island group in 1521 and gave it the European name by which it is known today.

The indigenous people of the islands knew where they were and, therefore, were not “discovered” because they were neither anonymous nor lost. “Contact” rather than “discovery” is a much better representation of the first documented visit by Europeans as seafarers from surrounding Asian areas were aware of the island group’s existence for many centuries prior to this contact.

Jinni Bartolome Daly City

L E T T E R S

On the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe a massive raid on Latinos was staged at plants of Swift Packing Co. in Colorado and other sites (Dec. 22). People currently are imprisoned without resource to attorneys. The action by the Department of Homeland Security was described as terroristrelated. But coverage in major media has said little or nothing of the impact of the raids on plant employees and their families, particularly those who have no information about detained family members. As a priest serving mostly Southeast Asian immigrants, I am fearful of what the American government meant to convey by this action. This situation

Letters welcome

calls our Catholic community to vigilance for “the strangers amongst us” (Lev. 19: 34) and humble prayer before the Prince of Peace.

Fr. Donald MacKinnon CSsR Berkeley

‘Speak the truth’

I am writing to express my concern over the scandal of Nancy Pelosi touting her image as a Catholic mother and grandmother. Nancy Pelosi has received a 100 percent approval rating from NARAL for her unwavering position on abortion.

Ms. Pelosi has opposed any restrictions on abortion through the ninth month of gestation. I encourage Archbishop Niederauer to make a statement instructing his flock (including Ms. Pelosi) that Ms. Pelosi is not in accord with Catholic teaching on abortion and other life issues.

In the absence of any statement from our shepherd, the assumption remains that she is a Catholic in good standing. As one of the main organizers of the Walk for Life West Coast, I have been blessed to see a new voice for women and life emerge in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. The respect life ministry has gained great momentum. Young people are getting involved. We are making great strides to build a Culture of Life. I urge the Archbishop to continue this great trend by speaking authoritatively to Ms. Pelosi, both for her sake and the sake of us all. As St. Catherine of Siena said, “Speak the Truth with a thousand voices; it is silence that kills the world.”

Dolores Meehan San Francisco

Special Christmas Thank you so very much for including Good Shepherd San Francisco in your Christmas Wish List. We had an amazing response — so many beautiful sheet sets and luxurious towels! Our young women are overwhelmed that so many of your readers were so kind to them. It was indeed a very special Christmas for us.

Ann Lund, Executive Director Good Shepherd San Francisco

January 19, 2007

Catholic San Francisco

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Community of Faith

Catholicism absorbing Latino culture The New York Times magazine recently suggested that American Catholicism is being “Hispanicized.” As usual, when the subject is the Catholic Church, the “good, gray” Times is tone-deaf.

The Irish Catholic model of Catholicism, which sometimes for weal and sometimes for woe has shaped the American church, is adjusting to a new and powerful model. Catholicism always tries to do that, because it is a pluralistic church that believes, in principle anyway, that Catholic means, as your man Jimmy Joyce put it, “here comes everyone.” The outcome will be neither Mexican nor “Anglo” (which is what they call us Celts out here in the desert), but a combination of both.

The popular religion of Mexico is a rich rain forest of devotions, saints, customs, celebrations and theological insights, such as “God is part of our family and when we celebrate as a family God comes and celebrates with us.”

At the center of it is the figure of Our Lady of Guadalupe, once perhaps a pagan goddess, but now unquestionably the patron of the Mexican peon. I tell students that if they want to understand what Catholicism was like before the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation, they should look at Mexican popular Catholicism and read the plays of Shakespeare. The “religion of the border” (as my colleague James “Big Jim” Griffith calls it) does not need, for example, the approval of the Congregation for the Making of Saints to proclaim their saints — just as Catholics did for a thousand years.

The project as Latino Catholicism and North American Catholicism absorb one another is to retrieve some of the fervor and enthusiasm and energy and, yes, the freedom of Christians before the Council of Trent.

From the fall of Rome to the beginning of the 16th century, Christianity was more of a religious culture than a formal church. It was a mix of stories, songs, art, deep faith, angels and saints, the Madonna, festivals, celebrations and local devotions and customs — many of which might be thought today to be superstitious.

In the later Middle Ages a demand emerged for “reform,” which meant organizing, regularizing and purifying this religious “blooming, buzzing” culture.

There was a Catholic “reform” in England, for example, well before Henry VIII. However, the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation both strove to impose discipline, order and orthodoxy on a recalcitrant peasant population. The Council of Trent at the end of the 16th century made a vigorous and systematic attempt, not always successful, to transform popular religious culture into a church. Trent was an utterly necessary turning point in Catholic history.

However, the Conquistadors left Spain before the Council. Despite efforts of the Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries, Trent had little impact on Hispanic America. The church in the United States is mostly the post-Trent church; the church in Latino America is mostly a pre-Trent church.

Despite what many church leaders try to persuade themselves, Vatican Council II was as dramatic a turning point in Catholic history as was Trent. Among its many achievements was the Father creation of a greater Andrew Greeley openness. Trent was not repealed but adjusted to be more tolerant of diversity. Hence, efforts of many parish priests to absorb the best of Mexican-American religion into American Catholicism are not attempts to return to the religious chaos of the Middle Ages. They are rather efforts to retrieve and integrate into American Catholicism all that is good and true and beautiful in Latino Catholicism, especially its joy, its love of celebration, its delight in festival.

As I tell Latino students, rules are necessary, but celebration and joy are more important — even for us Celts.

Our ancestors in the Middle Ages had one thing right: Jesus preached good news, which demands celebration.

Father Andrew Greeley is an author, journalist, sociologist and teacher.

For the Journey

Changing the world, starting now Anne Frank wrote in her Holocaust diary, “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”

At first glance the quote brings a surge of pity. These are the idealistic words of a teenager locked up in a Dutch hideaway, her family hoping to avoid discovery by German occupiers.

Are these words naive, words of fruitless longing?

How can such a girl improve the world?

Then, of course, I remember that the diary she left behind is one of the most widely read books in history and that, through her honest examination of her own heart, she continues to improve the world daily even years after her death in a concentration camp.

The beginning of each new year is a time when we traditionally ask ourselves how we would like to be better. The “resolutions” we make often are broken by now, especially the knee-jerk dos and don’ts we impose upon ourselves without providing adequate support and reflection.

But the real new year examination of conscience, if done thoughtfully and over a period of time, may bring us change.

During the past year I took a part-time job as coordinator of stewardship and hospitality at my parish. It’s

been an eye-opening experience. I’ve seen how generous people can be and how much a parish can do. Yet I’ve also seen that a parish often struggles to be the center of faith and action that it can be.

Our parish has a committee that brings Communion to the homebound. I’ve written before about my modest involvement. Currently, I bring Communion to an elderly woman in an assisted-living home in my neighborhood. It’s hardly a sacrifice; she lives so close, and stopping by after Mass takes a small part of my Sunday. And it’s such a reward to see how the Eucharist consoles her.

Recently, our committee hosted a man who is in charge of the extraordinary ministers of Communion at our Catholic hospital. When the last religious sister working at the hospital left more than 13 years ago, he promised he would make sure that Catholic patients continued to receive daily Communion, and in all that time there have been only about eight days without distribution of the Eucharist.

This man made a commitment to improving the world. He spoke to our committee because he needs more help.

About the same time, we were asked to visit an elderly couple at another small facility in a neighborhood in another parish. We called that parish to ask if it had a

committee to visit the homebound. We were told they were having trouble getting it organized and that a religious sister was doing the visiting.

The sister referred to is a friend of mine, Effie Caldarola and I know she’s nearly 80.

We decided we could visit this couple at least monthly.

I guess the moral of this story is that the world is full of needs — not just the needs you see in the daily paper, when you shake your head because there’s nothing you can do and turn to the sports page.

There are needs that can be filled at your parish, which is your faith family. They might involve an hour of your time a week, or even an hour a month.

So pick up the phone today — this single moment, as Anne Frank would urge us — and ask about the opportunities for service that your faith family offers you.

Effie Caldarola writes from Anchorage, Alaska.

Spirituality for Life

Ultimate consolation The most singularly consoling doctrine in all of religion is the Christian belief that Christ descended into hell (Apostle’s Creed).

Christ descended into hell. What is meant by that?

There is an old understanding that interprets the phrase this way: After the original sin of Adam and Eve, the gates of heaven were closed and nobody was able to go to heaven until Christ came and paid the price for our sins. But then, after Jesus died, in that time between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, he went to that underworld place where all the good people who had died since the time of Adam and Eve waited and he opened up for them the gates to paradise.

Christ’s going to that place of the dead (mythically imagined geographically, but theologically conceived of spiritually) was understood as Christ’s descent into hell.

However there is an even older understanding of this doctrine which, while not denying the essence of what was just said, interprets it this way: The descent into hell highlights something in the way that Jesus lived and died.

First of all, we see this in the way that Jesus lived and revealed God’s presence: We see in gospels, time and again, that Jesus goes into all the dark, taboo places and takes God’s light and love there. The ultimate dark, taboo place of course is hell itself.

And we see this most clearly in Jesus’ death: When we look at the way that Jesus died, we see that in his death he “descended into hell,” that he went into a place and space of utter alienation and complete darkness where he was, outside of everything except raw faith, completely cut off from community, life, and God. There, in that place where he was so utterly alienated and alone, he was able to breath out the spirit of God and of life.

What does that mean for us? Let me try to explain by using a series of images: In the Gospel of John, the evangelist describes how the resurrected Jesus appeared to the disciples. He tells that the disciples were “huddled together in a locked room, in fear” and that Jesus (twice) came right through the locked doors, stood in the middle of them, and breathed out peace. These images are significant and

powerful: “they were huddled in fear;” and “Jesus entered through the locked doors:” and “Jesus stood in the midst of them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’”

In St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, Father there is a famous Ron Rolheiser painting, “The Light of the World,” by Holman Hunt. It shows Christ with a lantern, knocking on a door, waiting for it to be opened from the inside. Another version of this has been made into a holy card. It shows Christ, with a lantern, knocking on a door on which has no doorknob on the outside. There is only a knob on the inside and there, huddled in fear, depression, and paranoia, stands a man who is obviously faced with the choice: Open the door and let Christ in or keep Christ ROLHEISER, page 15

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Catholic San Francisco

January 19, 2007

THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY

TIME

Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10; Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 15; 1 Corinthians 12:12-30; Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21 A READING FROM THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH (NEH 8:2-4A, 5-6, 8-10) Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly, which consisted of men, women, and those children old enough to understand.

Standing at one end of the open place that was before the Water Gate, he read out of the book from daybreak till midday, in the presence of the men, the women, and those children old enough to understand; and all the people listened attentively to the book of the law. Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that had been made for the occasion. He opened the scroll so that all the people might see it — for he was standing higher up than any of the people; and, as he opened it, all the people rose. Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people, their hands raised high, answered, “Amen, amen!” Then they bowed down and prostrated themselves before the Lord, their faces to the ground.

Ezra read plainly from the book of the law of God, interpreting it so that all could understand what was read. Then Nehemiah, that is, His Excellency, and Ezra the priest-scribe and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all the people: “Today is holy to the Lord your God. Do not be sad, and do not weep”— for all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law. He said further: “Go, eat rich foods and drink sweet drinks, and allot portions to those who had nothing prepared; for today is holy to our Lord. Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength!”

RESPONSORIAL PSALM (PS 19:8, 9, 10, 15) R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul; The decree of the Lord is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple.

R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The command of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eye.

R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; The ordinances of the Lord are true, all of them just.

R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

Let the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart find favor before you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

A READING FROM THE FIRST LETTER OF SAINT PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS (1 COR 12:12-14, 27) Brothers and sisters: As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.

Now the body is not a single part, but many. You are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it.

A READING FROM THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE (LK 1:1-4, 4:14-21) Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received.

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all. He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.

He said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Scripture Reflection FATHER JOHN ORME MILLS, O.P.

God’s spirit of power Imagine what it was like to be in that synagogue in Nazareth.

Stories have circulated about this amazing local man who has been baptized by John the Baptist and then done all sorts of wonderful things, and preached with extraordinary power and wisdom. And at last he has come back to his hometown. At last the people who have known him for years have a chance to see for themselves why everybody is talking about him.

Jesus reads from the prophet Isaiah the momentous words: ‘The Spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me.’ And then he goes on to say to the people crowded in that synagogue: ‘This passage of scripture has come true today, as you heard it being read.’ What does he mean by that? It would seem as if he is saying that these words of Isaiah apply to him, personally. That he is the Savior whom the Israelites had been waiting for — waiting for so long. That he is the chosen one sent by God who would free them and lead them into a new kingdom, a holy kingdom — who would bring them close again to God. That he is the Messiah, in other words.

In at least some ways the problems a lot of people have today about God are not unlike the problems about God, which many of the Jews of Jesus’ time had. Those Jews believed that for centuries the Spirit of God, which had fired the great prophets of old, had vanished.

There were no more prophets in the land.

The promises of a new and glorious Israel were not turning into realities. In fact, the opposite was the case: Israel was a beaten nation, and God was silent.

Unlike in our own country, everybody believed that there was a God, but it was felt he was so remote that he was out of all human contact.

Mind you, people went on longing for the return of the Spirit. But a growing number of them came to think this would only happen at the end of time, at the end of everything. On the other hand, from its

Gifts of the Holy Spirit Q. What are the gifts of the Holy Spirit? Are they in the Bible?

A. In Catholic spiritual tradition, the gifts of the Holy Spirit (usually numbered as seven) are given by God to help sustain and increase the holiness of our lives and our relationship with the heavenly Father. We receive these gifts radically at baptism, but their influence increases with prayer and other good habits of Christian spirituality, symbolized especially in the sacrament of confirmation.

The prayers and hymns of our liturgy refer often to these gifts as powerful forces in Christian life. St. Thomas Aquinas identifies them as permanent characteristics disposing us to follow eagerly the invitations and movements of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The Scriptures actually contain two dissimilar groupings or lists of gifts of the Holy Spirit. The one most commonly referred to in tradition is found in the book of the prophet Isaiah. The writer foretells one who will come later from the tribe of Jesse, one who will bring justice and peace, the one whom Christians later will understand as referring to Jesus Christ.

The spirit of the Lord, writes Isaiah, will come upon this man, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and strength, knowledge and piety (faithful, loving

obedience to God, parents and others), and fear, or reverence, of the Lord (11:2-3).

It can be a bit confusing because these gifts are not worded the same in all Bibles and ancient manuscripts.

But the seven names I give here – wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord – are those commonly used in Christian spirituality. The sources of this listing are the Septuagint, the Hebrew Bible translated by a group of Palestinian Jewish scholars in the third century before Christ, and the Latin Vulgate, translated by St. Jerome.

We find the other listing of gifts in several places in the letters of St. Paul. In his letter to the Romans, for example, Paul repeats one of his favorite themes: “We, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually parts of one another.” He then identifies gifts we are to exercise for one another, which here also happen to number seven: prophecy, ministering or serving, teaching, encouraging, contributing to others’ needs, leadership and showing mercy (Rom 12:5-8).

Paul repeats this theme at length and in more detail in the famous “body of Christ” section of First Corinthians (Chapter 12), where he describes how the faithful exercise of each of our individual roles in the church is essential for the health of the whole body.

The foot, Paul writes, cannot say to the hand, “I do

very start it’s been a basic claim of Christianity that the Spirit of God has come back already. The Bible says that this happened in the coming of Jesus, with his message that the reign of God was breaking into our world, that the new heaven and new earth were no longer just a dream, a fantasy. And this brings us back to the sermon with which we started our own sermon: the sermon which St Luke tells us Jesus preached in Nazareth’s synagogue nearly 2,000 years ago.

We do not need to know the rest of the story, which will be next week’s gospel reading, in order to ask ourselves the question: could Jesus’ hearers possibly have taken seriously the sort of things he was telling them? The fact that he had been a boy whom they had all known would have been no problem if he had just done comforting things — miracles, and so on. What was bound to upset some of them was that he insisted on talking to them about power, big power... maybe God’s power, but power all the same: power ‘to proclaim liberty to captives’ and ‘to set the downtrodden free’.

It’s power, after all, which is the thing that can make even the best of us feel threatened.

If some of the people in that synagogue misunderstood Jesus, it’s excusable really. But we surely can’t be so easily excused. For it still hasn’t sunk into people’s heads that God’s power is just not like our idea of power at all. What Jesus showed the world, in his words but above all in his life, is that God’s power is the power of love, the power which looks like weakness — something so different that our minds alone can’t grasp it. It’s terribly important that we don’t overlook what God is doing in us just because it doesn’t fit in with our own ideas of how God should work in our lives.

Dominican Father John Orme Mills is a member of the Priory of St Michael Archangel, Cambridge.

?

QUESTION CORNER Dietzen Father John

not need you,” nor can the ear say to the eye, “I do not need you.” If they were all one part, where would the body be? God has placed each of these gifts, these parts, in the body as he intended.

Obviously, the significant difference between the gifts in Isaiah and Paul is their overall orientation. The first emphasize more our individual relationship with God, our personal spirituality. The gifts Paul describes, however, speak more directly and emphatically about how the body of Christ on earth, the community of Christian believers, must live together in supportive harmony.

In both instances, the underlying message is the same. The wind, or Spirit, of God which hovered over the initial chaos of creation (Gn 1:2, 8:1) still hovers over the world to help it become what the Creator and our Savior intended it to be.

January 19, 2007

Catholic San Francisco

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The Teaching of Christ To give an account of our faith

By Most Rev. Donald W. Wuerl In describing the value of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II pointed out that it “is offered to every individual who asks us to give an account of the hope that is in us (cf. 1 Pt 3:15) and who wants to know what the Catholic Church believes” (“Fidei Depositum,” No. 4).

The same can be said for the new United States Catholic Catechism for Adults. It is meant to help us understand our faith better so that we in turn can help others accept the truth of our faith. The classical word for this effort is “apologetics.” It refers to the discipline concerned with the defense of or proof for Christianity.

Why do we need to know more about our faith? Why would someone want to spend time learning more about what we believe? Why would you want to take time studying more about your Catholic faith?

There are two good and basic reasons to do this: first, so that we can live it more fully; second, so that we can share it more effectively with others.

As adults, we want to live, act and be nurtured as such. St. Paul said that as a child you do the things of a child, you are nourished as a child, you play with the toys of a child; but when you become an adult, you put those things aside and assume adult responsibilities (cf.

1 Cor 13:11). We have to attain now an adult appreciation and understanding of what we believe.

SCRIPTURE SEARCH

By Patricia Kasten

Following is a word search based on the Gospel reading for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C: Jesus’ speech to the people of his hometown of Nazareth. The words can be found in all directions in the puzzle.

NARRATIVE WRITE NAZARETH ISAIAH POOR BLIND THE EYES

someday will be united to Christ in glory? What does it mean to say that I am obliged now to apply the commandments, the Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount and the works of mercy to my daily life?

The church begins to unfold that revelation for us and to apply it to our daily lives. In this way we can have sure answers to perplexing problems such as issues involving the beginning and end of life, genetic engineering, embryonic stem-cell research and so many more.

It is one of the great gifts of Christ to his people that the church can benefit from the fruit of 2,000 years of examining the human condition under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and offering a response to each situation. We can turn then both to the pages of sacred Scripture and to the magisterial interpretation of those words in the living tradition of the church to understand the teaching of Christ.

The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults addresses what the church believes in the hope that we will grasp more profoundly the teaching of Christ and be in a better position to share it with anyone who wants to know why we so much love our Catholic faith. The book is available at retail stores selling Catholic books; general booksellers; and online at www.USCCB.org — “Publications.”

Rolheiser . . .

possible way of having their love break through the shell of her sickness and alienation. It didn’t work.

Eventually she killed herself. All the love in the world and all the best medicine and psychiatry could not any more penetrate inside her private hell. Her family could not “descend into hell” and open up for her the gates of life and community. They were helpless before her darkness, her hell.

But Christ can descend into that, and into every hell that can be created. That’s what the descent into hell means. There is no hell that Christ cannot penetrate, no locked door he cannot go through. When this young woman woke up on the other side of this life, I am certain that she found Christ standing in the middle of her huddled fear and loneliness breathing out the spirit of community and joy and saying: “Do not be afraid. Peace with you!”

Sometimes you don’t have to open the door!

■ Continued from page 13

Gospel for January 21, 2007 Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21

COMPILE THE WORD POWER PROPHET ANOINTED CAPTIVES YEAR

We are called to share the faith. If all I have to fall back on are my childhood recollections of what we believe when I come into contact with people, how can I ever explain to them, how can I ever share with them the fullness and richness of our faith so that it may come alive for them? How can I share the importance of my religion with them if I don’t understand it and can’t explain it myself?

Religious education is a lifelong process. It begins with the simple recognition that God’s Word, the revelation given to us in Jesus Christ, the truth presented to us in Christ, is utterly beyond us. It takes an act of humility to recognize this fact.

The act of obeying and accepting the Word of God is sometimes described as a genuflection of the will. “I may not fully comprehend the mystery of what you are saying, God, but in humility and recognizing my own limitation, I accept your Word.”

For some, this is a difficult step. But once we accept that it is truly God who speaks to us in his Word that comes to us in his church, we can experience a freedom unlike anything the world can give.

The next step is to try to understand. The task of understanding has been the work of the church for 2,000 years.

What does it mean to say that Christ came among us, died, rose from the dead and saved us? What does it mean to profess that we are justified, have been redeemed and

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waiting outside! The obvious implication is: Only you can open that door! The picture suggests that this particular man might be too depressed to be up to the task.

There is a legitimate challenge in this image: There are certain doors that we must open in order to let Christ into our lives. In another sense however, it raises questions. In the Gospel of John after the resurrection, with the disciples huddled in fear inside of a room, Jesus does not stand and knock, waiting, saying: “Only you can open that door!”

He comes right through the locked doors, stands in the middle of the circle of fear, breathes out the Holy Spirit, and says: “Do not be afraid! Peace be with you!”

Several years ago, some family friends of mine had a 19 year-old daughter who became severely depressed and attempted suicide. They rallied round her, took her to the best doctors and psychiatrists, and tried every

Most Reverend Donald W Wuerl is Archbishop of Washinghton, D.C.

Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser is a teacher, theologian and award-winning author.

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Catholic San Francisco

Food & Fun Jan. 27: Mardis Gras Zydeco Dance benefiting St. Finn Barr Parish in Goode Hall, 415 Edna St. in San Francisco from 8 p.m. – midnight. Tickets are $15 in advance/$18 at door. Music by Andre Thierry and Zydeco Magic. Refreshments and food will be on sale. Call (415) 585-4524 or 333-3727.

3rd Sat.: Handicapables gather for Mass and lunch at St. Mary Cathedral, Gough and Geary St., SF, at noon. Volunteer drivers always needed. Call (415) 585-9085.

California Handicapables needs volunteers including drivers, servers, donors, and recruiters of those who might benefit from the experience. Call Jane Cunningham at (415) 585-9085.

4th Sat.: Handicapables of Marin meet at noon in the recreation room of the Maria B. Freitas Senior Community adjacent to St. Isabella Church, Terra Linda, for Mass, lunch and entertainment. Call (415) 457-7859.

January 19, 2007 San Mateo County: San Mateo - St. Bartholomew, Dan Stensen at (650) 344-5665; St. Matthew, Deacon Jim Shea at (650) 344-7622. Burlingame - St. Catherine of Siena, Silvia Chiesa at (650) 685-8336; Our Lady of Angels, Holy Names Sister Pat Hunter at (650) 375-8023. Millbrae - St. Dunstan, Dianne Johnston at (650) 697-0952. Pacifica - St. Peter, Sylvia Miles at (650) 355-6650, Jerry Trecroci at (650) 3551799, Frank Erbacher at (650) 355-4355. Half Moon Bay - Our Lady of the Pillar, Meghan at (650) 726-4337.

Datebook

Meetings Jan. 22: The San Francisco Council of Catholic Women The council’s monthly meeting takes place Jan. 22 at St. Paul Parish Hall, 29th and Church St. In San Francisco beginning at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m.

This is the group’s “layette” meeting and those attending are invited to bring items for newborns. The evening’s speaker will be from the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

2nd Wed.: Men’s Evening of Reflection: Being Catholic in the Modern World at the National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi, 610 Vallejo St. at Columbus, SF beginning at 7 p.m. Call (415) 983-0405.

Courage is a Catholic support group for persons with same-sex attraction. They meet in San Francisco Thursdays at 7:45 PM. Call Father Emmerich Vogt at 415-567-7824 or Father Lawrence Goode at 650-322-2152.

Arts & Entertainment 1st and 3rd Tues.: Noontime Concerts – 12:30 p.m.

- at Old St. Mary’s Cathedral, 660 California St. at Grant, SF. $5 donation requested. Call (415) 288-3800.

Sundays: Concerts at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Gough and Geary St., SF at 3:30 p.m. Call (415) 567-2020 ext. 213. Open to the public. Admission free.

Jan. 20: The Grammy Award winning San Francisco Boys Chorus announces new chorister auditions at campuses in San Francisco, Oakland, and San Rafael for boys ages 4 and older with unchanged voices. No experience required and financial assistance is available. To make an appointment or learn more call (415) 861-7464 x 319, email auditions@sfbc.org, or visit www.sfbc.org.

Jan. 21: Join the Saint Agnes Church Community for a dedication of the new Harrah organ. There will be a special sung liturgy at the 10:30 Mass with the organ dedication and a concert by acclaimed organist David Hegarty at 2:30 p.m. David is the senior staff organist at the Castro Theatre. Saint Agnes is at 1025 Masonic Avenue (near Oak) in San Francisco - parking available in Oak Street lots. Info: 415 487-8560 Jan. 22 – April 22: “Sacramental Light: Latin American Devotional Art” will be on exhibit at the Thacher Gallery at University of San Francisco.

Opening reception and curator tour: Thursday, January 25, 4-6 p.m. The exhibition features devotional objects and paintings from 17th and 18th century colonial Latin America. www.usfca.edu/library/thacher/ (415) 4225178 Feb. 3: A free symposium will be held 1-5 p.m. in Fromm Hall, University of San Francisco (650 Parker).

Featuring four nationally-recognized speakers and using the Thacher Gallery’s exhibition “Sacramental Light: Latin American Devotional Art,” the conference will explore the interaction between Hispano-Catholic and indigenous Central and South American religious and artistic traditions in the 17th and 18th century. (415) 422-5178 http://www.usfca.edu/lanecenter/events/sacramental.ht ml

Taize/Chanted Prayer 3rd Wed. at 7:30 p.m.: Sisters of Notre Dame Province Center, 1520 Ralston Ave, Belmont. Call (650) 593-2045 ext. 277 or visit www.SistersofNotreDameCa.org.

1st Fri. at 8 p.m.: Mercy Center, 2300 Adeline Dr., Burlingame with Mercy Sister Suzanne Toolan. Call (650) 340-7452; Church of the Nativity, 210 Oak

2007

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Class of ’55 from Glen Park’s St. John Elementary School celebrated their 65th birthdays in the fall. “The Welcome to Medicare party was the classmates first reunion in 51 years,” said Carolyn Eriksson, a member of the esteemed group.

Grove Ave., Menlo Park at 7:30 p.m. Call Deacon Dominic Peloso at (650) 322-3013.

Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m.: Notre Dame Des Victoires Church, 566 Bush at Stockton, SF, with Rob Grant. Call (415) 397-0113.

2nd Fri. at 8 p.m.: Our Lady of the Pillar, 400 Church St. in Half Moon Bay. Call Cheryl Fuller at (650) 726-2249.

Sundays: Gregorian Chant at the National Shrine of Saint Francis at 12:15 p.m. Mass. Visitors and locals alike are welcome to come and worship at this intimate historical treasure in the heart of North Beach 610 Vallejo Street at Columbus Avenue. For more information, please telephone (415) 983-0405.

Reunions Feb. 17: Mercy High School, San Francisco, Class of ’71 in Rist Hall. Contact Patricia O’Neill at (415) 682-7858.

Prayer/Lectures/Trainings Feb. 24: Training for New Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. Offered by the Office of Worship. $15.00 fee. 9am-3:30pm at St. Charles Church, San Carlos. Please pre-register at 415-6145585 or vallezkellyp@sfarchdiocese.org.

Mar. 24: Training for New Lectors. Offered by the Office of Worship. $15.00 fee. 9am-3:30pm at St. Charles Church, San Carlos. Please pre-register at 415-614-5585 or vallezkellyp@sfarchdiocese.org.

Consolation Ministry Grief Groups meet at the following parishes.

Please call numbers shown for more information.

San Mateo County: St. Catherine of Sienna, Burlingame. Call Debbie Simmons at (650) 5581015; St. Dunstan, Millbrae. Call Barbara Cappel at

(650) 692-7543;. Good Shepherd, Pacifica. Call Sister Carol Fleitz at (650) 355-2593; Our Lady of Mercy, Daly City. Call Barbara Cantwell at (650) 755-0478; Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Redwood City.

Call Parish at (650) 366-3802; St. Robert, San Bruno. Call Sister Patricia at (650) 589-2800.

Marin County: St. Anselm, San Anselmo. Call Brenda MacLean at (415) 454-7650; St. Isabella, San Rafael. Call Pat Sack at (415) 472-5732; Our Lady of Loretto, Novato. Call Sister Jeanette at (415) 897-2171.

San Francisco: St. Dominic. Call Sister Anne at (415) 567-7824; St. Finn Barr (Bilingual). Call Carmen Solis at (415) 584-0823; St. Gabriel. Call Elaine Khalaf at (415) 564-7882.

Young Widow/Widower Group: St. Gregory, San Mateo. Call Barbara Elordi at (415) 614-5506.

Ministry to Parents: Our Lady of Angels, Burlingame. Call Ina Potter at (650) 347-6971 or Barbara Arena at (650) 344-3579.

Children’s Grief Group: St. Catherine, Burlingame.

Call Debbie Simmons at (650) 558-1015.

Information regarding grief ministry in general call Barbara Elordi at (415) 614-5506.

Returning Catholics Programs for Catholics interested in returning to the Church, have been established at the following parishes: Marin County: St. Hilary, Tiburon, Mary Musalo, (415) 435-2775; St. Anselm, Ross, call (415) 4532342; St. Sebastian, Greenbrae, Jean Mariani at (415) 461-7060; Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Mill Valley, Rick Dullea at (415) 388-4190; St. Mary Star of the Sea, Sausalito, Lloyd Dulbecco at (415) 331-7949.

San Francisco: Old St. Mary’s Cathedral, Michael Adams at (415) 695-2707; St. Philip the Apostle. Call (415) 282-0141; St. Dominic, Lee Gallery at (415) 221-1288; Holy Name of Jesus, (415) 664-8590.

Jan. 28: Celebrate, annual fundraiser benefiting works of San Francisco Council of Catholic Women at Olympic Club, Lakeside with no-host cocktails and silent auction at 11:30 a.m. and lunch at 12:30 p.m. Entertainment by Sound Wave Chorus, a group of award-winning singers committed to the barbershop singing style. Tickets are $50 per person and tables of 10 are available. Please make reservations by Jan. 20th with Diana Heafey at (415) 731-6379.

Are you in a troubled marriage? Retrouvaille, a program for couples with serious marital problems, might help. For information, call Tony and Pat Fernandez at (415) 893-1005.

Information about Natural Family Planning and people in the Archdiocese offering instruction are available. Call (415) 614-5680.

Sat. at 9 a.m.: Pray the Rosary for Life at 815 Eddy St. between Franklin and Van Ness, SF. Call (415) 752-4922.

Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekends can add to a Lifetime of Love. For more information or to register, call Michele or George Otte at (888) 568-3018.

TV/Radio Sunday 6 a.m., WB Channel 20/Cable 13 and KTSF Channel 26/Cable 8: TV Mass with Msgr.

Harry Schlitt presiding.

1st Sun, 5 a.m., CBS Channel 5: Mosaic, featuring conversations on current Catholic issues.

3rd Sun, 5:30 a.m., KRON Channel 4: For Heaven’s Sake, featuring conversations about Catholic spirituality.

Volunteer Opportunities Interested in what St. Vincent de Paul Society of San Francisco does? Take a tour of our facilities; Multi-Service Center South homeless shelter, Vincentian Help Desk, Ozanam Detox center. First Tuesday of every month at 10:30 am, and second Saturday of every month at 11:00 am. Phone Katherine, 415.977.1270, x3003 to register.

Registration limited to twelve per tour.

Datebook is a free listing for parishes, schools and non-profit groups. Please include event name, time, date, place, address and an information phone number. Listing must reach Catholic San Francisco at least two weeks before the Friday publication date desired.

Mail your notice to: Datebook, Catholic San Francisco, One Peter Yorke Way, S.F. 94109, or fax it to (415) 614-5633.

ARCHDIOCESE OF SAN FRANCISCO 2007 DELUXE DIRECTORY

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Jan. 25: The Alumnae Council of Mercy High School, San Francisco will host, “Ten Steps to Financial Fitness: What Every Woman Should Know”, a business and professional women’s mixer from 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. in Rist Hall. A complimentary reception will immediately follow the presentation. Mercy High School is located at 3250 Nineteenth Avenue. For more information, please contact Nilsa Lennig at (415) 334-0525, ext. 228 or nlennig@mercyhs.org.

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January 19, 2007

Catholic San Francisco

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Hard-edged novel of murder, manipulation and media “PHILIP’S CODE: NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS – TO A KILLER,” by James O. Clifford, Sr., 2006, 267 pp., $15.

Reviewed by Maurice Healy Philip’s Code, a novel by James O. Clifford, is a deceptively straightforward tale of murder and manipulation. On one level, it is a gripping crime novel out of the Mike Hammer tradition; a complex and exciting murder mystery with a “Bonfire of the Vanities” twist. On another level, it is an in-depth and uncompromising look at how our understanding of events is distorted by advocacy and bias in the news media.

Like wire-service reporter Phil Davis, the protagonist in this novel, Clifford is a 40-year veteran of the news business – with award-winning tenures at the San Francisco bureaus of both United Press International and Associated Press. Clifford, and the fictional Davis, came into the news business at

a time when reporters went at news with a passion rather than an agenda.

Clifford’s novel is the story of three murders really – two individuals and a principle.

The first murder victim is a high-flying, San Francisco socialite responsible for the death of a young woman; the second victim is a high-end drug dealer; and the third murder victim is integrity in news reporting.

With a similarity to American writers who have examined the dynamics of social change, and the resulting effects on individuals and society, Clifford in this novel puts the American news and information industry under a microscope and shows its deformities.

Clifford points out that his protagonist, API reporter Phil Davis, came to accept the fact that journalism had changed radically “from simply reporting facts to using facts to mold opinion, from informing to influencing.”

Entering the 21st century, Davis found himself in an environment in which “many journalists belonged to advocacy groups that rallied around race, gender or sexual

preference versus an earlier time when reporters assiduously avoided bias.”

Clifford gives the San Francisco Chronicle a particularly tough review. In one example he tells the story of “San Francisco’s fabled firehouse ‘Swastika incident’” dating from the late 1980s, in which two minority firefighters claimed a swastika was planted in their office. The media were carried away with this story until much later, during the trial of a civil lawsuit, it came out that the swastika had been created years earlier to “roast” a retiring fireman of German heritage.

Clifford writes, “Five years later, some news stories about discrimination in hiring still were referring to ‘a swastika that was found in the office of two minority firefighters.’ This despite the city attorney writing letters to the San Francisco Chronicle stating that the swastika planting was a work of fiction.”

While the loss of integrity in news reporting is a dominant theme, Clifford doesn’t let his criticism overshadow this

tale of murder and betrayal. The book remains entertaining at many levels.

On Monday, Jan. 22, EWTN will televise the annual March for Life from Washington D.C. beginning at 8 a.m. The events mark the 34th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade abortion decision. EWTN also will air other special Respect Life programs.

EWTN is carried 24 hours a day on

Comcast Digital Channel 229; RCN Channel 80; DISH Satellite Channel 261; and Direct TV Channel 422. Comcast airs EWTN on Channel 70 in Half Moon Bay and on Channel 74 in southern San Mateo County. For encore telecast times and other scheduling information, visit www.ewtn.com.

Annual March for Life on TV EWTN – Eternal Word Television Network — will air live coverage of the third annual Walk for Life West Coast in San Francisco Saturday, Jan. 20 beginning at 10:30 a.m. A rally in Justin Herman Plaza at Market and

Embarcadero will feature speakers including Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life. A march to Marina Green in San Francisco will begin at noon. Coverage also will air at 5 p.m. Jan. 20. See www.ewtn.com for schedule.

The Catholic Cemeteries

◆

Archdiocese of San Francisco

www.holycrosscemeteries.com

Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery Intersection of Santa Cruz Avenue, Menlo Park, CA 94025 650-323-6375 A

TRADITION

OF

Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery 1500 Mission Road, Colma, CA 94014 650-756-2060 FA I T H

Mt. Olivet Catholic Cemetery 270 Los Ranchitos Road, San Rafael, CA 94903 415-479-9020

T H RO U G H O U T O U R L I V E S .

FUNERAL SERVICES DIRECTORY

The Leading Catholic Funeral Directors of the San Francisco Archdiocese

For Advertising Information Please Call (415) 614-5642

Pre-planning “My Funeral, My Cremation, My Way” www.duggansserra.com

SULLIVAN’S

FUNERAL HOME

Giving sincere and personalized care for over 50 years, and receiving the highest praise and recommendations by the families that we serve…

The Peninsula’s Local Catholic Directors… www.driscollsmortuary.com

www.arthurjsullivan.com

Duggan’s Serra Catholic Family Mortuaries Duggan’s Serra Mortuary 500 Westlake Ave., Daly City FD 1098

650/756-4500

Driscoll’s Valencia St. Serra Mortuary 1465 Valencia St., SF FD 1665

415/970-8801

Sullivan’s Funeral Home & Cremation 2254 Market St., SF FD 228

415/621-4567

www.duggansserra.com

affordable solutions

FD #1522

• Funeral Mass & Vigil Services in Church followed by Burial or Cremation • Cremation followed by Memorial Mass and Burial • Graveside Services • Receiving from Out of State for Funeral Mass and Burial • Pre-Planning Arrangements • Caskets from$450.00 - Urns from $75.00

Chapel of the Highlands Funeral & Cremation Care Professionals • Licensed by the State, FD-915 ~ Paul Larson, President • Feel free to call us at (650) 588-5116 and we will send info, or go to www.chapelofthehighlands.com

• El Camino Real at Millwood Drive in Millbrae

McAVOY O’HARA Co. S E RV I N G W I T H T R U S T A N D C O N F I D E N C E SINCE 1850

Evergreen Mortuary 4 5 4 5 G E A RY B O U L E VA R D a t T E N T H AV E N U E For information prearrangements, and assistance, call day or night (415) 668-0077 FD 523

18

Catholic San Francisco

January 19, 2007

Room Retreat Caregiver for Rent

Catholic San Francisco

classifieds

For Information Call: 415-614-5642 Email: penaj@sfarchdiocese.org

heaven can’t wait

MICHAEL H. BROWN RETREAT Saturday, March 10, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm South San Francisco Conference Center $40, online at www.spiritdaily.com, by phone 386-446-8139 or at door

PUBLISH A NOVENA

Serra for Priestly Vocations Please call Archdiocese of San Francisco Fr. Tom Daly (415) 614-5683

“OUR SPECIAL TIME”

Fax: 415-614-5641

Pre-payment required Mastercard or Visa accepted

Cost $25

If you wish to publish a Novena in the Catholic San Francisco You may use the form below or call 415-614-5640

Many years experience, excellent local references, responsible and reliable. Available days or nights.

Please call for info.

(415) 503-7208

Catholic San Francisco.

REAL ESTATE

❑ Prayer to the Blessed Virgin ❑ Prayer to the Holy Spirit

MIKE TEIJEIRO Realtor (650) 523-5815 m.teijeiro@remax.net

Cahalan Construction (LIC #582766)

Painting, roof repair, fence (repair/ build) demolition, carpenter, gutter (clean/ repair), skylight repairs, landscaping, gardening, hauling, moving, janitorial. All purpose.

Foundations - Garage Additions Termite - Dryrot - Stucco Kitchens & Baths Office/fax: 415-386-2628 cell: 415-279-1266 Email: cairl@msn.com

GARAGE DOOR REPAIR

Discount

Garage Door

Repair Lic #376353

Broken Spring/Cable?

Operator Problems?

Lifetime Warranty All New Doors/Motors

415-931-1540 0% Financing Available

AUTO SALES

HOLLAND Plumbing Works San Francisco

Wally Mooney Auto Broker

650-244-9255 Spells Wally 650-740-7505 Cell Phone

BONDED & INSURED

All Mfg. Warranty: Rebates and Special Dealer Finacing goes to Registered Owner/s

415-205-1235

BEST PLUMBING, INC. Your Payless Plumbing

(650) 557-1263

P.O. Box 214 San Bruno, CA 94066

St. Robert’s Parish San Bruno

Lic. # 872560

➤ Drain-Sewer Cleaning Service ➤ Water Heaters ➤ Gas Pipes ➤ Toilets ➤ Faucets ➤ Garbage Disposals ➤ Copper Repiping ➤ Sewer Replacement ➤ Video Camera & Line locate PROMPT AND UNPARALLELED SERVICE EMAIL: bestplumbinginc@comcast.net Member: Better Business Bureau

Plumbing • Fire Protection • Certified Backflow

GENERAL CONTRACTOR Gydesen Const., Inc. General Contractor

Featuring Pressure Washing ● ● Repairs ● Safety Grab Bars ●

John Bianchi

●

Phone: 415.468.1877 Fax: 415.468.1875 100 North Hill Drive, Unit 18 • Brisbane, CA 94005

Lic. # 778332

(650) 355-8858

Expert Plumbing Repairs ●

●

SANTI PLUMBING & HEATING

FAMILY OWNED

415-661-3707

Lic. # 663641

24 HR

NOTICE TO READERS Licensed contractors are required by law to list their license numbers in advertisments. The law also state that contractors performing work totaling $500 or more must be state-licensed. Advertisments appearing in this newspaper without a license number indicate that the contractor is not licensed.

For more information, contact:

Contractors State License Board 800-321-2752

SM

TABLES SEATING LINENS SETTINGS SERVEWARE STAGING

1- 800-717-PARTY

Construction ABBEY

411 ALLAN STREET DALY CITY, CA 94014 FAX 415-715-6914 TEL 415-715-6900

NOT A LICENSED CONTRACTOR

party rents sf

WWW.ABBEYRENTSSF.COM

MORROW CONTRUCTION Specializing In Wood Fences

COUNSELING

lic. 343633

Do you want to be more fulfilled in love and work – but find things keep getting in the way?

Painting & Remodeling

Unhealed wounds can hold you back - even if they are not the “logical” cause of your problems today. You can be the person God intended.

Inner Child Healing Offers a deep spiritual and psychological approach to counseling:

Ca. Lic 391053 General Contractor Since 1980

(650) 355-4926

❖ 30 years experience with individuals, couples and groups ❖ Directed, effective and results-oriented ❖ Compassionate and Intuitive ❖ Supports 12-step ❖ Enneagram Personality Transformation

Painting & Remodeling

Lila Caffery, MA, CCHT

•Interiors •Exteriors •Kitchens •Baths

San Francisco: 415.337.9474 Belmont: 650.888.2873 Complimentary phone consultation www.InnerChildHealing.com

Contractor inspection reports and pre-purchase consulting

SELL your house,

When Life Hurts It Helps To Talk • Family • Work • Depression • Anxiety

• Relationships • Addictions

Dr. Daniel J. Kugler Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Over 25 years experience

car,

Confidential • Compassionate • Practical (415) 921-1619 1537 Franklin Street • San Francisco, CA 94109

MICHAEL A. GYDESEN

Lic. No. 390254

General Repairs Clean Drains & Sewers Water Heaters

FINE SERVICE, BETTER EVENTS.

John Holtz

ALL PLUMBING WORK PAT HOLLAND

●

One Price 24 /7

PARTY RENTALS

Call (650) 757-1946 Cell (415) 517-5977

(650) 994-6892

PLUMBING CA LIC #817607

415- 485-4090

Handyman

If I can be of service to you, or if you know of anyone who is interested in buying or selling a home, please do not hesitate to call me . . . * Parishioner of St. Gregory’s Church, San Mateo

$600/mo. References.

(707) 433-2984 (speak slowly please)

CONSTRUCTION

SPECIALIZING IN SAN MATEO COUNTY REAL ESTATE

Today

Private bath and entrance, access to river and trail, kitchen privileges, washer/ dryer, swimming pool.

No smoking, no pets. Adult community in Healdsburg, walking distance to town.

Please return form with check or money order for $25 Payable to: Catholic San Francisco Advertising Dept., Catholic San Francisco 1 Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco, CA 94109

Call 415-614-5642 E-mail: penaj@sfarchdiocese.org

(415) 668-2690

CHIMNEY CLEANING SPECIAL!

FURNISHED ROOM FOR RENT.

SERVICE DIRECTORY For Advertising Information

PIANO LESSONS BY

CAROL FERRANDO. Conservatory training, masters degree, all levels of students.

CALL (415) 921-8337.

Room for Rent

Name Adress Phone MC/VISA # Exp. Select One Prayer: ❑ St. Jude Novena to SH ❑ Prayer to St. Jude

Room for rent, $650/mo. including utilities, washer/dryer, Richmond district in SF, no pets.

chimney cleaning

Your prayer will be published in our newspaper

Advertisements in this newspaper do not constitute endorsements by

Piano Lessons

HANDY MAN

ONE STOP MAINTENANCE AND HANDYMAN ●

Tile ● Painting ● Carpet ● Bathrooms ● Kitchens ● Electrical ● Plumbing ● Fences ● Decks

CALL MITCH AT (650) 557-9106 ● Cell (650) 784-6544 LIC.

# 687359

or any other items with a Classified Ad in

Catholic San Francisco

Only $10 for 4 lines Call

415 614-5642

VAULT & SAFE DEPOSIT LOS ALTOS VAULT & SAFE DEPOSIT CO. • • • • • • •

A private depository Safe deposit boxes of all sizes Strict and total confidentiality Secured and ample parking For your own sake we should have your business Visit our facility and judge for yourself Data bank for important & confidential records

121 First Street, Los Altos, CA 94022 Tel: 650-949-5891 • www.losaltosvault.com

January 19, 2007

Help Wanted CLASSIFIEDS Catholic San Francisco

For Information Call: 415-614-5642 Fax: 415-614-5641 Email:

penaj@sfarchdiocese.org

LUCKY CHECK CASHING

heaven can’t wait

1028 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94103

Serra for Priestly Vocations

* Customer Service Clerk* Bilingual – English / Spanish

Please call Archdiocese of San Francisco Fr. Tom Daly (415) 614-5683

(415) 558-8265 We are looking for you.

• Honest • Generous • Compassionate • Make a Difference • Respectful

Place a Help Wanted ad in Catholic San Francisco Over 200,000 readers!

19

ADVERTISING SALES For The Largest Publisher of Catholic Church Bulletins

This is a Career Opportunity!

Catholic San Francisco

• Generous Commissions • Minimal Travel • Excellent Benefit Package • Stong Office Support • Work in Your Community. E.O.E.

Call 1-800-675-5051, Fax resume: 925-926-0799

ASSISTANT SACRISTAN/CUSTODIAN ––––– THE CATHEDRAL

OF

ST . MARY

OF THE

ASSUMPTION –––––

Half time position open at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption. Position would require detailed person who has the ability to relate well with people in a diverse, worship environment. The successful applicant will have some knowledge of the Roman Catholic church and it’s rituals. Be able to lift up to fifty pounds, have a valid California driver’s license, fluent in English. Some familiarity with maintenance and cleaning, a plus. Requires flexibility in scheduling, able to work weekends, holidays, Mondays and Tuesdays.

Resumes should be sent to Liturgy Director, c/o St. Mary Cathedral, 1111 Gough Street, San Francisco, CA, 94112. Fax: 415-567-2040 Complete job description and job application, available at the Cathedral office, 1111 Gough St., lower level, during regular business hours, 9a.m.– 5 , Monday – Friday.

Computer Literate

Special Needs Companion Services

Looking for employees?

Tell our advertisers you saw their ad in

Catholic San Francisco

Work Full or Part-time in San Francisco – Marin County • Provide non medical elder care in the home • Generous benefit package Fax your resume to: Jeannie McCullough Stiles, RN 415-435-0421 Send your resume: Jeannie McCullough Stiles, RN Special Needs Nursing, Inc. 98 Main Street, #427 Tiburon, Ca 94920

RNs and LVNs: we want you.

Provide nursing care for children in San Francisco schools.

Full or part time.

Generous benefit package.

Send your resume to: Email: Fax: Mail:

Jeannie McCullough Stiles, RN, PHN RNTiburon@msn.com 415-435-0421 Special Needs Nursing, Inc. 98 Main Street #427 Tiburon, CA 94920

Special Needs Nursing, Inc.

The Department of Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of San Francisco is seeking elementary principals for the 2007-2008 school year. Candidates must be practicing Roman Catholic in good standing with the Church, possess a valid teaching credential, a Master’s degree in educational leadership, an administrative credential, and five years of successful teaching experience at the appropriate level.

Please send resume and a letter of interest by March 15th, 2007 to: Bret E. Allen Associate Superintendent for Educational & Professional Leadership One Peter Yorke Way San Francisco, California 94109 Fax (415) 614-5664 E-mail: allenb@sfarchdiocese.org

PRINCIPAL ST. JOSEPH NOTRE DAME HIGH SCHOOL ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA St. Joseph Notre Dame High School, Alameda, California, (www.sjnd.org), a Catholic, coeducational, college preparatory high school currently serving 450 students, and operated by the Parish Community of St. Joseph in the Diocese of Oakland, seeks a creative and visionary Principal to carry on its strong tradition of academic excellence and faith formation. The new Principal of this historic and well-endowed Catholic high school will be a committed, practicing Catholic in good standing with the Church with excellent communication, delegation, organization, and strong leadership skills. The successful candidate will hold a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration or in an appropriately related field and will demonstrate successful experience in Catholic secondar y school administration, fundraising, marketing, financial management, and educational technology. The successful candidate will be expected to work in close cooperation with St. Joseph Parish and St. Joseph Elementary School. Salary is competitive and commensurate with education and experience.

Preferred start date is July 1, 2007. Interested and qualified candidates are asked to submit a letter of interest addressing the requirements and skills listed above, resume, and the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of five references to: St. Joseph Notre Dame High School Principal Search, Catholic School Management, Inc., P. O. Box 4071, Madison, Connecticut 06443-4071 or office@catholicschoolmgmt.com.

Review of applications will begin on Februar y 14, 2007 and will continue until the position is filled.

20

Catholic San Francisco

January 19, 2007

PACIFIC I’NTL TRAVEL AGENCY

TRAVEL DIRECTORY

FOR ALL YOUR TRAVEL NEEDS SPECIALIZING IN

CHINA • INDIA • PHILIPPINES VIETNAM • INDONESIA • THAILAND KOREA • JAP AN • TAIWAN JAPAN AIWAN • EUROPE EUROPE MANILA SPECIAL $696 Limited availabillity

800-886-5944 PACIFICTRAVEL.COM

Walking with Jesus and the Apostles

– PORTUGAL – SPAIN – FRANCE – ITALY – JAPAN

Travel with a Purpose Many different Tours • • • • •

Europe Asia Minor Eqypt Holy Land Japan

Experience the Pilgimage of a Lifetime!

Our pilgrimage destinations include Spain, Francie, Italy, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Poland, Lichtenstein, Japan, Prague, Switzerland, Hungary, Greece, Turkey, Eygpt, the Holy Land, and more!

for a Call todaychure FREE bro

Travel free with only seven travel companions!

You choose your travel itinerary and with only seven paying members signed up, you have already earned your first Free Trip!

Spirit Tours, Inc. 1-800-995-4346 SPIRIT TOURS, INC.

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– HOLY LAND – GERMANY – AUSTRIA – POLAND – LICHTENSTEIN

PRAGUE – SWITZERLAND – HUNGRY – GREECE – TURKEY – EGYPT

CST # 1010514

GLORY TOURS invites you to join us on pilgrimages.

INTRODUCING PILGRIMAGE TO TURKEY Turkey is a beautiful and a friendly country. It is rich in biblical sites, natural beauty, ancient and cultural history.

The Pope went there, others too and what about you?

Please join us to visit Mother Mary’s house in Ephesus (where Pope Benedict just visited in Turkey), Tomb of St. John the Apostle, Tomb of St. Nicholas (Santa Claus), some of the Seven Churches of Revelation, Pamukkale: one of the natural wonders of the world; a snow like mountain plateaus formed by deposits of calcium carbonate from thermal springs. These spas and mineral-rich springs are believed to be of therapeutic value. Where East meets West: Constantinople/Istanbul (topkapi: sultan’s palace, Hagia Sophia & The Grand Bazaar). March 16-25, 2007 SFO $1, 990 + tax

For more details feel free to contact by phone 1-866-352-5952 or e-mail: ruby@glory-tours.com or check www.glory-tours.com.

GLORY TOURS is a wholesale pilgrimage tour company serving group leaders, organizations, churches leaders and travel agents on wholesale basis.

We are dedicated to serving pilgrims, giving the best experience possible on their journeys. Once you taste our loving service, you’ll never think of going on pilgrimages without Glory Tours.

So come and join us, with your family, friends and relatives.

GLORY TOURS runs and operates the tour and offers one free travel for every ten paying pilgrims.

We will meet or beat every legitimate offer in the market.

OTHER PUBLIC TOURS: FATIMA, LOURDES & ITALY March 19-30, 2007 and Nov 19-30, 2007 SFO #2,490 + tax SHRINES OF ITALY: Venice, Florence, Assisi, Loretto, Lanciano, San Giovanni Rotondo (Padre Pio), Pompeii, Rome July 5-28, 2007 (14 days), SFO $ 3,290.00.00 + tax PRAGUE, MEDJUGORJE, DUBROVNIK & SPLIT Sep 15-28, 2007 SFO $2,290 + tax Greece, Greek Island Cruise & Turkey Nov 6-17, 2007 SFO $2,795 + tax and port charges FATIMA, SPAIN, FRANCE & PARIS Nov 7-18, 2007 SFO 2,590 + tax CST# 2082730-40

Pilgrimage at Sea ~ Holland America Cruise ~ Athens to Venice ~ Sept 27 - Oct. 13, ‘07 Includes 2 days pre-cruise in Thessaloniki ~ Philipi & Athens AND 1 day post-cruise in Venice, Italy. Ports of Call: Athens, Istanbul, Ephesus, Rhodes, Corfu, Jerusalem, Alexandria, Debrovnik.

Price Incls: 12 day Cruise + Excursions in Thessaloniki, Philippi, Istanbul, Ephesus, Jerusalem & Venice. 3 ngts first class hotels, meals, sightseeing. Chaplain: Fr. Donald Robinson. Call Today!!

Pilgrimage at Sea ~ Holland America Cruise ~ Mediterranean Enchantment July 9–23, 07 Ports of Call: Monte Carlo; Livorno (Florence); Barcelona (Montserrat); Mallorca; Palermo (Monreale); Capri; Rome. Excursions incl 3 ngts Rome first class hotel, meals, sightseeing in Rome: Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel; Major Basilicas; optional visit Assisi (St. Francis).

Chaplain: Msgr. Edward Hajduk. Outstanding Itinerary.... For Best Availability, CALL TODAY!!

Holland America Mexican Riviera Cruise from $599 pp Circle Hawaii Cruise from $1499 pp.

Departs San Diego. Several Sailings from January to March 2007.

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For information about advertising in the

Catholic San Francisco invites you

to join in the following pilgrimages FATIMA, SPAIN & LOURDES April 16 – 25, 2007 Departs San Francisco 10-Day Pilgrimage

only

$

2,399

($2,499 after Jan. 6, 2007)

Fr. Donald Eder

TRAVEL

Spiritual Director Visit: Paris, Lisbon, Fatima, Alba de Tormes, Avila, Segovia, Burgos, Pamplona, Lourdes and more

DIRECTORY Please Call

(415) 614-5642

Lourdes

SPAIN March 18 – 28, 2007 Departs San Francisco 11-Day Pilgrimage

only

$

2,699

($2,799 after Dec. 28, 2006)

Most Rev. Gustavo Garcia-Siller Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago Visit: Madrid, Lisbon, Fatima, Seville, Cordoba, Granada, Avila, Segovia, El Escorial, Valley of the Fallen

IRELAND May 5 – 15, 2007 Departs San Francisco on an 11-Day Pilgrimage

LAKE TAHOE RENTAL Vacation Rental Condo in South Lake Tahoe.

Sleeps 8, near Heavenly Valley and Casinos.

Call 925-933-1095 See it at RentMyCondo.com#657

only

$

2,499

($2,599 after Jan. 25, 2007)

Fr. Ralph Fratts, Spiritual Director Visit: Shannon, Galway, Knock, Croagh Patrick, Kylemore Abbey, Galway, Cliffs of Moher, Shannon Castle, Limerick, Adare, Tralee, Gallarus Oratory, Slea Head, Killarney, Kinsale, Blarney Castle, Kilkenny, Bunratty Folk Park, Waterford and more.

Bunratty Castle

For a FREE brochure on these pilgrimages contact: Catholic San Francisco

(415) 614-5640 Please leave your name, mailing address and your phone number California Registered Seller of Travel Registration Number CST-2037190-40 (Registration as a Seller of Travel does not constitute approval by the State of California)