Catholic san Francisco
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Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
Ten Missionaries of Charity Sisters made their first profession of vows during an Oct. 18 Mass at St. Paul Church, San Francisco. Pictured following the rite are, from left kneeling: Sisters Mary Thereselle, Mary Trinidad Jose, Maria Drana, Maria Francisca and Maria Nazareth, all are newly professed; standing from left: Sisters Maria Clara, mistress of formation; Isabel Marie, newly professed; Mary Salvina, mistress of formation; Mary Vincenta, house superior; Mary Helen Jose, newly professed; Maria Nadjelii, newly professed; Mary
Rochelle, regional superior; Mary Nirmala, superior general; Mary Therese Jezisel, newly professed; Mary Francella, newly professed. Archbishop Emeritus John R. Quinn was main celebrant. Archbishop George H. Niederauer celebrated Mass with the MC community the morning of Oct. 19. Assignments for the newly professed Sisters include ministry in San Francisco, Mexico, Korea, Manila, and Venezuela. More than 4,000 Missionaries of Charity serve from 700 houses in more than 120 countries.
Senator Feinstein to attend global poverty conference
All Saints Nov. 1
Senator Dianne Feinstein will be among federal legislators taking part in Saturday’s Point7Now! Action Conference, a gathering of an estimated 600 persons from throughout California that will address global poverty. A follow-up to last October’s national conference with the same theme at the cathedral, tomorrow’s day-long event will feature presentations by international experts on poverty, workshops on concrete strategies and a “Legislative Town Hall” at which participants may “speak to our invited legislators and challenge them to make poverty history,” according to event literature. “Having Senator Dianne Feinstein with us at the POVERTY CONFERENCE, page 22
By Denise Bossert
Finding strength in the communion of saints In February 2005 I attended a funeral Mass with my husband. John’s cousin had just lost his young wife to cancer. Lori left behind a grieving husband and three small children (ages seven, five and nine months). This wasn’t the way it was supposed to go. Lori and Tommy had both attended Catholic grade schools in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. They met at a football game. From that Facing grief: moment on, Tommy was determined to win the cheerleader’s heart. He would have to wait six more years for that first date, but eventually the two started dating, married and began a family. They were the picture-perfect couple. They were supposed to raise half-a-dozen children, make it to their 50th wedding anniversary, and live to see their great-grandchildren. They were supposed to set the standard for the rest of us by living out what it means to be a strong Catholic family. Tragedy wasn’t supposed to strike. But while preg-
nant with their third child, Lori was diagnosed with cancer. Lori’s funeral Mass was the first Catholic funeral I had attended since beginning my journey into the Church. With the loss of my own father just a year earlier, grief was still like a familiar piece of clothing that fit all too well. Enough time had passed that I was able to step out of the garment of grief long enough to reflect and process my thoughts. But the loss was recent enough that I still hungered for a deeper understanding of Pages 12-16 Catholic teaching on the communion of saints and prayers for the dead. I still had days in which I wondered how any of us could truly go on after a loved one passes away. As a Protestant, I had held to the belief that I was cut off (until I died) from the one loved. Sure, we have Jesus to get us through, and we consol ourselves with the thought that one day we would all be together again. But that had to be enough to see you through the dark night of grief. It seemed to me that something was lacking in Protestant theology, and it was COMMUNION OF SAINTS, page 14
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION Boy’s school land ruling . . . . 3 23 new cardnials . . . . . . . . . 5 Two priests sentenced . . . . 10 Datebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Archbishop’s homily . . . . . . 18
Sisters of Charity of Blessed Virgin Mary mark 175 years
Judge honored at Red Mass
~ Pages 8-9 ~
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October 26, 2007
Catholic Charities CYO: Scripture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 a centennial timeline Classified ads . . . . . . . . 22-23 ~ Page 11 ~ www.catholic-sf.org
SEVETY-FIVE CENTS
VOLUME 9
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No. 32
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Catholic San Francisco
October 26, 2007
On The Where You Live by Tom Burke Hats off to Jane and Frank Gyorgy and their annual Bocce Ball Tournament benefiting residents of Canyon Manor in Novato. The proceeds from last year’s event – about $2,700 - purchased hooded sweatshirts and pants, portable radio alarm Carol and Gerry L’Heureux clocks, plus two pizza parties, an ice cream party and two guitars for residents’ use. This year’s event brought in more than $3,500. Why bocce ball and why Canyon Manor? Jane said it simply: “My husband built the court a year and a half ago and wanted a way to have more people come and play. Canyon Manor lost their big donor with the retirement of a minister from a local Christian church in Novato and the benefit bocce ball tournament was born!” Father Jack O’Neill, pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Olema where Jane and Frank are parishioners, was among the guests. It was Father Jack’s homilies, in fact, that helped Jane realize she “had gifts and a purpose” and that purpose was to use those gifts “in service to others.”… Congratulations to
Among those enjoying Star of the Sea Academy’s class of 1950 reunion were, from left, Marie Conachy Moore, Connie Musso Mertes, Ann Heaney Smith, Helen Baker Stenberg, Helen Wilkey Austin, Peggy Concannon Tiernan.
Louise Oneto on being recognized by the Order of Malta with its Plaque of Merit for her volunteer work especially with the Italian Catholic Federation. Louise and her husband, Albert, longtime members of San Francisco’s Corpus Christi Parish, will be married 60 years Nov. 23…. Victoria Tobar and her husband, Alex Endo, recently welcomed their new daughter, Alexa Maria, who was born Sept. 27 and weighed in at 6 lb. 13 ounces. Alex is principal of Our Lady of Mercy Elementary School in Daly City…. Happy anniversary to Carol and Gerry L’Heureux, married 50 years today – Oct. 26. Parishioners of Our Lady of Angels in Burlingame since 1964, they took their vows at St. Paul Church in Noe Valley…. The Class of 1950 from Star of the Sea Academy met recently at the Irish Cultural Center in San Francisco. “This is an annual event and is always well attendEnjoying bocce ball and a beautiful day were Alan Jamison, director of Canyon Manor and his wife Diana flanked by tournament hosts, Jane and Frank Gyorgy.
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ed,” said class member Helen Austin. Helen told me that at least one member of the class heard about the reunion via this paper’s Datebook. “We had not seen her in 57 years and she said she found the information in Catholic San Francisco,” Helen said…. Believe it or not, Advent is just around the corner so remember to check Datebook for seasonal opportunities when that section returns to the page in a few weeks. As a taste of what’s in store for the ramp-up to Christmas, St. Bartholomew Parish in San Mateo offers Nov. 30 – Dec. 2, “Follow the Star,” a display of almost 200 nativity scenes collected from Louise Oneto around the world by parishioners. And for the “right-now,” a nice “on-the-way to Advent” event happens this Sunday, Oct. 28, at 4:30 p.m. at St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Burlingame – a contemplative rosary. “Pray with us Bob Hurd’s setting of the Luminous Mysteries with song, Scripture and icons to honor Mary during this month of the rosary,” said parish music and liturgy director, Sister Anne Marie McKenna. See Datebook….This is an empty space without ya’! The e-mail 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) 614-5634 and I’ll walk you through it.
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October 26, 2007
Catholic San Francisco
3
(PHOTO BY DAN MORRIS-YOUNG/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)
St. Vincent proposal for senior housing wins planning approval
Archbishop George H. Niederauer, left, and Cardinal Godfried Danneels, archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, visit Oct. 23 at St. Mary’s Cathedral. That evening the cardinal delivered an address on Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Populorum Progressio at St. Rita Parish, Fairfax. For a report on the lecture, visit the Catholic San Francisco website: www.catholic-sf.org.
By Maurice E. Healy SAN RAFAEL — Thanks to a compromise worked out before the Oct. 16 meeting of the Marin County Board of Supervisors, a plan by St. Vincent School for Boys to build a senior care facility on its 770 acres of land north of San Rafael will likely receive approval when Supervisors consider the final updates to the countywide plan Nov. 6. Compromise language in the county’s long-range planning document drew support from environmentalists and others who had sought to drastically limit development on St. Vincent’s land adjoining the Highway 101 corridor. Advocates for seniors and affordable housing who had voiced strong support for St. Vincent’s plan to build a “Community of Care” for seniors also expressed satisfaction. For the second time in only four weeks, a large turnout of Catholic supporters of St. Vincent School for Boys attended the Supervisors’ public hearing Oct. 16 at Marin Civic Center. At the end of the six-hour session, Marin Supervisors unanimously endorsed a land use plan that encompasses the St. Vincent senior village concept, while holding proposed development to a cap set by measures of increases in traffic. At the hearing, Attorney Gary Giacomini spoke for St. Vincent School for Boys. He told the Board of Supervisors they had a “sacred opportunity” to approve a compromise plan that was good for the environment, good for the community and good for St. Vincent’s. Giacomini said the compromise provides St. Vincent’s
with an ability to build a large senior village and achieve the economic return it needs to support programs for at-risk boys, while at the same time protecting the environment and habitat. Development will be limited to five percent of the property with approximately 85 percent of the land designated as open space. Marin Board of Supervisors’ President Steve Kinsey told Catholic San Francisco, “I’m encouraged that the combination of housing for seniors and innovative approaches to transportation will create the opportunity to achieve a result that is good for the property owner and the community.” Supervisor Judy Arnold, who stressed the need to balance environment, economics and equity, said, “Everyone gave something on this.” Brian Cahill, executive director of Catholic Charities CYO, attended the Oct. 16 public hearing and said he was pleased with the result of the meeting. “But,” he added, “our final goal is the rebuilding of St. Vincent’s facilities for the boys and the restoration of the historic buildings there” which will entail significant work over time. St. Vincent School for Boys operates under the auspices of Catholic Charities CYO, which is the social service arm of the Archdiocese of San Francisco. However, the residence care facility for at-risk boys receives no financial support from the Archdiocese. St. Vincent officials will submit a detailed plan for development of the senior village within the next 12 months.
Incident at Serra High School invokes VA Tech tragedy By Rick DelVecchio San Mateo police detectives and private investigators this week continued to comb Junipero Serra High School for clues to who scrawled swastikas and a threatening message invoking last year’s massacre at Virginia Tech. The graffiti, discovered Oct. 16, prompted alarm that an incident could be imminent at the Catholic all-boys school. Investigators later determined there appeared to be no threat of violence, but the school remained at a high level of vigilance. The graffiti was scrawled on a mirror in a first-floor boys’ bathroom near the main lobby,
according to the San Mateo Daily Journal. “It would appear from our investigation that this was a terrible and very cruel prank,” San Mateo Police Department Lt. Mike Brunicardi told Catholic San Francisco. “And any time anybody puts anything up that references what occurred at Virginia Tech or has indications of being hate crimes affecting any of our schools, this is a very top priority for us. We are putting as much resources into it as we can.” In a message to parents, Serra Principal Lars Lund said the message and swastikas “constitute a clear violation of our school’s core values.”
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Lund said he could not reveal details of the case because they could compromise the investigation. “Although we prepare and drill for such incidents, this particular situation was a first for us,” he said. “Our students, parents, faculty
and staff are handling this situation with great concern, sound judgment and a willingness to help. At the same time such an experience can be stressful, frightening and deeply troubling.” He said the school’s counseling and ministry staffs were available to assist students.
Catholic San Francisco
NEWS
October 26, 2007
in brief
SCHIP sinking disappoints WASHINGTON (CNS) — Catholic leaders who had urged an expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program expressed disappointment at the House’s Oct. 18 vote that fell short of overriding President George W. Bush’s veto but said efforts to reach a compromise must not stop. The House vote was 273-156, 13 fewer than the two-thirds majority needed to override. The Senate had already passed the legislation by a veto-proof majority. Father Larry Snyder, president of Catholic Charities USA, decried the fact that “there were not enough House members willing to stand up for children and vote to override this ill-conceived veto of a bill that would have helped so many children without health insurance.”
Pope: politics for laity, but… VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Involvement in politics is a role reserved to laypeople, but Catholic Church leaders must explain and promote the moral principles that will contribute to the common good, Pope Benedict XVI said. “The Church, while recognizing that it is not a political agent, cannot abstain from taking an interest in the good of the whole civil community in which it lives and works,” the pope said in a message published Oct. 18. The papal message marked the 100th annual celebration of a week dedicated to studying Catholic social teaching sponsored by the Italian bishops’ conference. Working for a just social order is a task that belongs to laypeople, the pope said.”
Sudan envoy hopeful WASHINGTON (CNS) — The U.S. special envoy to Sudan said that although a recent period of relative calm in Sudan has been replaced by more chaos — and conditions could rapidly deteriorate even more — he’s hopeful about peace talks on Darfur scheduled for Oct. 27 in Libya. Andrew Natsios told an audience at The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law Oct. 15 the situation in Sudan is so fluid that it’s impossible to predict which of the many factions involved in fighting will even attend the peace conference. A first hurdle is keeping track of how many factions there are, he said, estimating that there are between 17 and 30 different groups with a stake in how the conflict in Darfur, a region in western Sudan, is resolved.
Archbishop Tutu invited ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) — The University of St. Thomas in St. Paul has reversed its decision not to invite
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retired Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa to speak on its campus. University president Father Dennis Dease said in a statement Oct. 10 he has “wrestled with what is the right thing to do in this situation” and has concluded he “made the wrong decision earlier this year not to invite the archbishop.” When St. Thomas originally declined an opportunity to invite Archbishop Tutu to the campus, Father Dease said he was concerned that the Nobel Peace Prize laureate might cause hurt to the local Jewish community because of past comments he has made criticizing the Israeli government’s policies toward Palestinians.
Feeding hungry ‘moral obligation’ VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Feeding the hungry is not simply a logistical and economic challenge, it is a moral obligation, Pope Benedict XVI said. In a message for the Oct. 16 celebration of World Food Day, sponsored by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, the pope said that perhaps the failure to significantly reduce the rate of malnutrition in the world is due to the fact that too many people consider it a “technical and economic” problem. Individuals and nations, he said, must give priority to “the ethical dimension of feeding the hungry.”
(CNS PHOTO/VATICAN MUSEUMS)
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Doctors denounce abortion LONDON (CNS) — Catholic doctors have called on the British government to reduce the legal gestation period for abortions. In a written submission to a parliamentary committee’s inquiry into the 1967 Abortion Act, the Guild of Catholic Doctors said it was opposed to all abortion and pointed out that British society finds late-term abortions in particular to be “abhorrent.” The association of Catholic doctors in England and Wales said the abortion of babies with disabilities “creates negative attitudes to all who are disabled when everyone should be accorded equal standing as human beings.”
To review excommunicated heroes MEXICO CITY (CNS) — The Archdiocese of Mexico City has formed a special commission to review the cases of two independence heroes and former priests who were excommunicated for taking up arms against the Spanish empire in the 19th century. The re-evaluation of Fathers Miguel Hidalgo Costilla, considered the father of the Mexican nation, and Jose Maria Morelos, who waged a guerrilla war against the Spanish, could help mend old rifts between the Roman Catholic Church and Mexican nationalists, said Father Hugo Valdemar, spokesman for the archdiocese.
School of Law honors Birch SANTA CLARA — One of the most recognized lesbian leaders in the country, Elizabeth Birch, was to be honored Oct. 25 by the Santa Clara University School of Law during its fourth annual Celebration of Diversity Gala. An SCU law school almuna, Birch spent nearly a decade as president and executive director of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) advocacy organization. Donald
This painting, titled “Madonna of Birth,” from the Florentine School is part of a Vatican Museums exhibit of 100 artworks inspired by the New Testament vision of the Apocalypse.
J. Polden, law school dean, said the University is fortunate to have outstanding graduates such as Birch.
Holy Land emigration feared BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNS) — Catholic patriarchs in the Middle East warned that escalating emigration in the region due to sectarian tensions, particularly in Iraq and Lebanon, threatens the coexistence of Muslims and Christians. Holy Land peace is the key to stability in the entire region and would solve the emigration problem, they said in an open letter to the kings and presidents of the Arab world. The patriarchs of the Maronite, Coptic, Melkite, Syrian, Armenian and Chaldean churches and the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem issued the letter Oct. 19 at the conclusion of their 17th annual congress in Ain Traz, Lebanon. The ChristianMuslim coexistence, which “is a great asset” to both Christians and Muslims, “is in great danger due to the alarming amount of emigration” as a result of war, they said. “The solution to put an end to emigration is to give peace in the Holy Land, which we believe is the key to peace in the whole region,” they said.
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Catholic san Francisco Newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco
Most Reverend George H. Niederauer, publisher Maurice E. Healy, associate publisher & executive editor Editorial Staff: Dan Morris-Young, editor; Tom Burke, “On the Street” and Datebook; Rick DelVecchio, assistant editor; Michael Vick, reporter
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Catholic San Francisco editorial offices are located at One Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco, CA 94109. Tel: (415) 614-5640;Circulation: 1-800-563-0008 or (415) 614-5638; News fax: (415) 614-5633; Advertising: (415) 614-5642; Advertising fax: (415) 614-5641; Advertising E-mail: penaj@sfarchdiocese.org Catholic San Francisco (ISSN 15255298) is published weekly (four times per month) September through May, except in the week following Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day, and twice a month in June, July and August by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, 1500 Mission Rd., P.O. Box 1577, Colma, CA 94014. Periodical postage paid at South San Francisco, CA. Annual subscription price: $27 within California, $36 outside the state. Postmaster: Send address changes to Catholic San Francisco, 1500 Mission Rd., P.O. Box 1577, Colma, CA 94014 If there is an error in the mailing label affixed to this newspaper, call 1-800-563-0008. It is helpful to refer to the current mailing label.
Catholic San Francisco
October 26, 2007
5
Pope names 23 cardinals, including two from U.S. Editor’s note: Thumbnail biographies of the 23 men named cardinals by Pope Benedict XVI may be viewed on the Catholic San Francisco website: www.catholic-sf.org.
By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI named 23 new cardinals, including U.S. Archbishop John P. Foley, grand master of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, and U.S. Archbishop Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, the first cardinal from a Texas diocese. The pope announced the names at the end of his weekly general audience Oct. 17 and said he would formally install the cardinals during a special consistory at the Vatican Nov. 24. Cardinal-designate Foley was in St. Peter’s Square when the announcement was made; he told Catholic News Service he had gone into the square, wading into the midst of the crowd, after going to a doctor’s appointment. While rumors were running strong the pope would name cardinals at the end of the audience and his nomination was almost a given, Cardinal-designate Foley said he was shocked to be the second name announced by the pope. The order in which the cardinals are announced determines their seniority in the College of Cardinals, which has little practical effect except in liturgical processions. Naming 18 cardinals under the age of 80, the age limit set for voting in a papal conclave, Pope Benedict said he was setting aside the limit of 120 potential papal electors established by Pope Paul VI and confirmed by Pope John Paul II. After the new cardinals are installed in late November, there will be 121 potential voters. The 23 new cardinals will bring the total membership of the College of Cardinals to 202. The nomination of Cardinals-designate
Marian factoid Following are propositions about Mary by two saints: “Have devotion to Mary, and you will see what miracles are.” - St. John Bosco (+ 1886) “In the plan of salvation, prayer to Mary is the ultimate recourse. With it we can never be lost.” - Charles Peguy (+ 1914) Brother John Samaha, SM
Cardinal-designate Foley
Cardinal-designate DiNardo
Foley and DiNardo brings to 17 the number of U.S. cardinals; after the consistory, the U.S. contingent will include 13 potential papal electors. The November ceremony will mark the second time Pope Benedict has created cardinals since his election in April 2005. At a March 2006 consistory, he created 15 new cardinals. The new cardinals represent 15 countries on five continents. Eight of the new cardinals are current or retired Vatican officials, 13 are current or retired heads of archdioceses around the world and two are former rectors of the main pontifical universities in Rome. After he had read the 23 names, Pope Benedict told the estimated 30,000 people in St. Peter’s Square that “the new cardinals come from various parts of the world,” and “they reflect the universality of the Church with its multiple ministries: Alongside the prelates deserving for the service they have given to the Holy See there are pastors who devote their energies to direct contact with the faithful.” Continuing a papal custom, among the new cardinals were five churchmen over the age of 80, whom Pope Benedict said he wanted to honor because they were
“particularly deserving because of their commitment to the service of the Church.” The five included the Iraqi-based head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, Patriarch Emmanuel-Karim Delly of Baghdad, 80; Archbishop Giovanni Coppa, a retired Vatican ambassador who will turn 82 Nov. 9; retired Archbishop Estanislao Karlic of Parana, Argentina, 81; Spanish Jesuit Father Urbano Navarrete, former rector of Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University, 87; and Italian Franciscan Father Umberto Betti, former rector of Rome’s Pontifical Lateran University, 85. Pope Benedict said he also had planned to name 93-year-old retired Bishop Ignacy Jez of Koszalin-Kolobrzeg, Poland, but “the well-deserving prelate” died unexpectedly Oct. 16. Like that of Cardinal-designate Foley, the nomination of Cardinal-designate Leonardo Sandri was not a surprise. The Argentina-born prelate, who will celebrate his 64th birthday Nov. 18, is the prefect of
the Congregation for Eastern Churches. The longtime Vatican official, who served at the Vatican nunciature in the United States from 1989 to 1991, became the voice of Pope John Paul when the pope became too weak to read the full texts of his speeches near the end of his pontificate. Cardinal-designate Foley, who for 23 years served as president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, will celebrate his 72nd birthday Nov. 11. A native of Philadelphia, he studied at the Columbia University journalism school and served as editor of The Catholic Standard & Times, Philadelphia archdiocesan newspaper, before Pope John Paul called him to the Vatican to head the social communications office. In June, Pope Benedict named him pro-grand master of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, a chivalric organization dedicated to supporting the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and to responding to the needs of Catholics in the Holy Land. Known to millions of people as the English-language commentator of papal Christmas midnight Masses, the archbishop said he had tried to merge his love for God and the media. Cardinal-designate DiNardo, 58, was born in Steubenville, Ohio, and was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Pittsburgh in 1977. After serving for six years in the diocese, he moved to Rome, where he worked in the Congregation for Bishops for six years. While in Rome, he also taught at Gregorian University. He returned to Pittsburgh in 1991 and was named coadjutor bishop of Sioux City, Iowa, in 1997, becoming head of the diocese a year later. He was named coadjutor of Galveston-Houston in 2004 and became head of the archdiocese in 2006.
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Catholic San Francisco
October 26, 2007
Sister Graciela Martinez returns Deacon Rivera touched lives to direct Hispanic catechetics obituary
A funeral Mass for Deacon Dennis Rivera cons and their wives and were always the perwas celebrated Oct. 20 at Immaculate Heart fect hosts. We missed them when they moved of Mary Church in Brentwood where Deacon away to the Oakland Diocese. Deacon Dennis will be missed on both sides of Rivera had served since the the Bay and we will all keep summer of 2004. Deacon Rivera him, Guia and their family in died suddenly Oct. 13. our hearts and prayers through He was ordained to the diathis difficult time.” conate for the Archdiocese of “Dennis touched the lives of San Francisco Feb. 25, 1995 and just about every family associatserved as parish administrator at ed with Immaculate Heart of the Sunset District’s Holy Name Mary and the community will of Jesus Church for nine years. never be the same without him,” “Deacon Dennis and his the parish said in an announcewife Guia Rivera are known ment of Deacon Rivera’s death. throughout the Archdiocese of Deacon Dennis In addition to his wife, San Francisco as warm-hearted Deacon Rivera is survived by and gracious people who love Rivera helping others,” said Deacon Leon sons, Joseph and Valentin, daughters-in-law, Kortenkamp, diaconate director. “On several Claudia and Nicola and three grandchildren. Condolences may be sent to Guia Rivera, occasions during their years at Holy Name Parish they hosted gatherings of all the dea- 4161 Sequoia Dr., Oakley, CA 94561.
Franciscan Sister Graciela Martinez will Sister Graciela’s responsibilities will soon rejoin the Office of Religious include working with the parishes on cateEducation and Youth Ministry as associate chist formation, development of Spanishdirector of Hispanic catechesis. speaking parish catechetical leaders, adult faith formation “We are pleased to have Sister and RCIA in Spanish. Graciela back in our office,” said Social Service Sister Celeste Sister Graciela served in the Arbuckle, religious education and same job in her previous service youth ministry office director. here. She has also served as a “She comes with a wealth of pastoral associate at St. Boniface experience and skills in Hispanic Parish in San Francisco and has catechesis, community building worked with Pace Bene “to fosand pastoral ministry. Her return ter a just and peaceful world to the office enables us to continthrough non-violent education, ue the wonderful development of community-building and Sister Graciela our Spanish-language programs in action,” Sister Celeste said. Martinez, OFM religious education in our parishes Sister Graciela succeeds throughout the Archdiocese.This is vital to the Marc Gonzalez who took the position of ministry to our families and the role of the director of faith and ministries formation in Church in the faith lives of the community.” the Diocese of Las Vegas.
Peninsula charity head named in sex complaint By Rick DelVecchio The director of the Coastside Catholic Worker, a charity in Half Moon Bay that serves farm workers, offered a woman $500 for sex when she asked him for help finding a job, according to a complaint by the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office. The complaint charges Michael David Niece, 65, with one count of solicitation of a sex act for money, a misdemeanor. If convicted, he faces up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. “She was a poor woman who needed help,” said Steve Wagstaffe, chief deputy district attorney. An attorney for Niece, William Johnston, pleaded not guilty on his behalf in San Mateo County Superior Court on Wednesday, Wagstaffe said. The complaint alleges that the 35-year-old woman
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approached Niece on Aug. 13 to ask for help finding a job to support her family. “He said, ‘Sure, I can help you find a job and I’ll give you $500 to have sex,”’ Wagstaffe said. “She declined, went home and thought about it and called the police the next day.” Wagstaffe said Niece repeated the offer in a phone call monitored by a police detective. He said the suspect set a location to meet the woman and was arrested by a waiting detective when he arrived. A voicemail message at Coastside Catholic Worker says Niece and his wife are on a pilgrimage to Italy and were to return Oct. 24. “What he’s charged with is a very minimal criminal offense which doesn’t warrant the kind of publicity and public approbation that this news frenzy is causing,” Johnston, Niece’s attorney, told Catholic San Francisco. “Let he who is without sin throw the first stone. I’m not
going to comment on guilt or innocence but if any of the rest were similarly charged nobody would care. “There’s something perverse that Mike Niece gets as a reward for the unselfish work he has done for years and years this kind of public humiliation,” he said. The charity has no corporate relationship to the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Michael and Kathy Niece started the charity in 2000 to aid farm, ranch and nursery workers in the area. They distribute food, clothing, diapers, blankets and other household items from their garage twice a week, according to the charity’s website. They also distribute fresh produce one Saturday a month. The website lists the principles of Peter Maurin, cofounder of the Catholic Worker Movement with Dorothy Day. The principles include daily practice of the works of mercy, personal obligation to assist others and immediate relief of those who are in need.
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October 26, 2007
Catholic San Francisco
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Catholic San Francisco
October 26, 2007
Going on 175, BVM Sisters maintain can-do spirit By Tom Burke The Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary celebrate their 175th year in 2008. Founded in Philadelphia in 1833, for almost 120 years the BVM Sisters have been an anchor in schools and ministries across the Archdiocese of San Francisco. It was BVM founder, Mother Mary Frances Clark, at the request of San Francisco’s first Archbishop Joseph Sadoc Alemany, who missioned Sisters of the congregation to staff St. Brigid School in San Francisco – the first BVM school on the West Coast – in 1887. In subsequent years, members of the community would come to the City as teachers and administrators of St. Paul School in 1916; Most Holy Redeemer School in 1925; St. Philip the Apostle School in 1938; and St. Thomas More School in 1954. The BVM Sisters also taught at San Francisco’s St. Michael School. In a news release announcing their 175th year, the order recounted the start of the community: “The countdown to this June anniversary began with five young women drawn to a life of service in their hometown, Dublin, Ireland. The women migrated to Philadelphia, Pa., where, on Nov. 1, 1833, they officially became “Sisters.” Within a few years the small community ventured onto the Iowa frontier. At each point in their westward migration the Sisters attracted new members and established schools, quickly pioneering a cross-country educational network. Today more than 500 BVMs serve in the United States, Ecuador, Guatemala and Ghana.” The jubilee theme is “Crossing the Waters — Currents of Hope: 175 years of BVM presence and partnership.” “We estimate that more than 2,000 Sisters have served in the Archdiocese of San Francisco since 1889,” said Sister Mira Mosle, BVM, communications director for the community. The number includes Sisters’ service in dioceses that have been formed from the Archdiocese of San Francisco – Oakland, Stockton, Santa Rosa, and San Jose. “The first members taught Irish immigrant
In a photo from between 1955-62, students of the former St. Paul High School in San Francisco open their day with morning prayer and song along with Sister Ann Regina Dobel, BVM, principal during those years. Sister Ann lives today in retirement at the BVM motherhouse in Dubuque, Iowa.
children in Philadelphia and this expanded when they moved to the Iowa territory in 1843,” Sister Mosle said, noting that their motherfounder’s decision to send Sisters to teach in San Francisco “stretched the community.” “Sending Sisters to the far-West was filled with risk,” Sister Mosle said. “Often because of distances and communications challenges, Sisters so far away broke off from their community of origin and formed a new community. That did not happen with BVMs. The circle of friends remained strong and the congregation was gifted with new members from the West and a widening of horizons and experiences.” While change has been a real part of the BVMs’ 175 years, “The core values remain the same, as well as the pioneering spirit of risk and can-do,” Sister Mosle said. “Sisters con-
EDUCATION
tinue to participate in the mission of Jesus. Strong bonds of community, a circle of friends are also a constant.” Sister Anne Marie McKenna, BVM, is currently serving as director of music and liturgy at St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Burlingame. “I’ve been a Sister for 42 years,” she said. “I entered right after graduating from St. Paul’s in 1965.” Among Sister McKenna’s early mentors was Sister Mary Robert Bellarmine, BVM, her piano and organ teacher for several years in grade school. “She encouraged, she challenged, she gave me a lot of responsibility. My most vivid memory is having her stop me during a lesson because an iris was unfolding, and we just sat and watched it.” Sister Maureen O’Brien, a former principal of St. Paul High School, has been a Sister “for 53 wonderful years” and “would do it all over again.” She first met the congregation after moving to San Francisco and attending Most Holy Redeemer School. “I knew they were about proclaiming the Gospel,” Sister O’Brien said. “And I found them to be happy, friendly and down to earth. Sister O’Brien believes anniversaries such as the 175th are important to the people they honor but also to the wider Church. “This is part of the story of what God has been doing and how God uses ordinary people to bring about the Kingdom on Earth. This story is going on now and we need to remember and
give thanks if we are going to hear and see what needs to be at this time.” Sister Karen Conover, BVM, entered religious life in 1965. She met the BVM Sisters at Bishop Garcia Diego High School in Santa Barbara. She taught for 15 years at St. Paul High School and the last 13 years at Holy Names High School in Oakland. Sister Karen says her years at St. Paul High School were among the most important of her life as a religious. “Working at St. Paul High School was being part of a unique community of care. We operated by trusting God for three things: sending us the ‘right’ students – those for whom we could make a difference; bringing the ‘right’ faculty – those who could love and work with those God sent; and providing enough money to keep going. The archdiocesan decision to close the high school was the most painful experience of my life.” Sister Patricia Rogers has served for 22 years as vice principal at St. Thomas More Elementary School. “In 1956 I entered the community and have been a BVM for 51 years. The BVMs were and are excellent teachers and very dedicated women religious. I have always admired their dedication and kindness.” Longevity means something, especially today, Sister Rogers said. “One hundred seventy five years of serving in the United States and other countries is quite a milestone in our culture. In the present day when religious life is waning it is important for Catholics to know that congregations have a long life.” Sister Dee Myers, BVM, celebrates her 50th year as a religious in 2007. She has served as a pastoral associate at St. Matthias Parish in Redwood City since 1991. “Celebrating our BVM congregation’s beginnings compels me to remember our roots,” she said. Among milestones of the 175 years, she lists the Sisters’ “consistent commitment to crucial issues of the day – poverty, refugees, immigrants, world issues, caring for the earth’s resources and working for peaceful solutions to conflict.” “Ministry as a pastoral associate affords me so many relationships with such a broad diversity of people, ministering at such key moments of their lives,” Sister Myers said. “I feel richly blessed.” Sister Julie O’Neill, BVM, entered religious life in 1950 and recently retired after 20 years as director of religious education at St. Veronica Parish in South San Francisco. She remains a pioneer and mainstay in the teaching of religious education and sacramental preparation for people with special needs. “I believe my inspiration was to be a Sister and teach young children,” Sister O’Neill said. About the importance of anniversaries like these, she said, “So many people are appreciative of their early education with the Sisters that it is imporBVM SISTERS, page 9
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Catholic San Francisco
October 26, 2007
Shouldn’t your children love learning?
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OUR LADY OF LORETTO SCHOOL Sister Pat Mahoney, BVM (center) with other volunteers at St. Martin de Porres House of Hospitality in San Francisco.
BVM Sisters . . . ■ Continued from page 8 tant for us to give them an opportunity to remember and celebrate.” Sister O’Neill said one of her most important experiences was unanticipated. “I’d say it was the unexpected opportunity to leave the traditional Catholic school setting to become a DRE during the summer of 1985, and shortly afterward the first chance to work with special needs students and their families. From that grew the ongoing classes with them and the celebrations of their sacramental moments, especially the reception of First Eucharist.” Sister Pat Mahoney, BVM, a Sister for 53 years, was born in Pennsylvania coming to San Francisco when she was eight. She and her siblings attended St. Paul Elementary and, later, she and her sister went on to the all-girls St. Paul High School. “BVM Sisters taught me all through my years at school,” Sister Mahoney said. “From the time I was a little girl I wanted to be a Sister, so, it was very organic for me to enter the BVM novitiate.” Sister Mahoney has taught at schools in Hawaii and served as an advocate for the incarcerated and those with addiction problems. She was part of the Denver, Co. Catholic Worker House for 10 years before becoming part of the St. Martin De Porres House of Hospitality in San Francisco in 1988. “I am still volunteering there and now living in community with others who volunteer at Martin’s.” “BVMs inspired me because they were so professional and dedicated to God,” Sister Mahoney said. “I also benefited immensely
from the forward thinking of BVMs in leadership positions who established the Scholasticate program whereby young professed Sisters would be able to pursue their undergraduate degrees before being sent out as teachers. I was among the first group of scholastics professed in 1957, studying for two years at our Mundelein College in Chicago and graduating in 1959.” Sister Ann Therese Chaput, BVM, recently professed final vows. “I was attracted to a life of prayer and to missionary work while still in elementary school,” she said. “While I responded to that call in a variety of ministries, it has been with the BVMs that I have found community and ministry in the charism to be free and help others to be free in God’s steadfast love.” Sister Mira Mosle spoke of the Sisters’ contemporary focus. “We continue to be called to live in any part of the world where there is promise of furthering the mission of Jesus through works of education, justice and peace. And as women of the Church we are called to give strong public witness against oppression brought about by unjust political and social structures locally, nationally and internationally.” “Our numbers are smaller but our zeal is unabated,” Sister Mosle said. “We will continue to serve where there are needs, probably more and more on the margins. We will continue to do this collaboratively with many partners especially BVM Associates. We will continue to promote learning, freedom, good stewardship and justice and be especially conscious of the needs of women and children.” The website for the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is www.bvmcong.org.
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Catholic San Francisco
October 26, 2007
Priests sentenced to 5 months in ‘torture trial’ The trial of Franciscan Father Louis Vitale and Jesuit Father Steve Kelly came to an abrupt end Oct. 17 after the two entered a no contest plea. Magistrate Judge Hector Estrada sentenced them to five months in prison and bailiffs led the priests off in handcuffs. The priests faced charges of federal trespass and failure to comply with the orders of a police officer, a state charge. The charges stemmed from their participation in a Nov. 19 protest against torture at Fort Huachuca in Arizona. Fathers Vitale and Kelly denounced torture in a letter they attempted to deliver to Fort Huachuca’s commanding officer, Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast. Fast was not at the fort when the priests asked to deliver the letter. After guards refused the priests’ request to deliver the letter to the highest-ranking officer on duty, the two knelt to pray in defiance of orders that they leave the guard post. They were then arrested. At the trial, the priests told the court they could not accept a punishment that
(PHOTO CREDIT LEE STANLEY)
By Michael Vick
Franciscan Father Louis Vitale and Jesuit Father Steve Kelly head to court Oct. 17. The priests were sentenced to five months in jail on charges stemming from a protest at Ft. Huachuca, Ariz. last November.
included a fine, probationary supervision or compulsory community service. A fine, they said, would imply they had committed a crime, a charge they dispute. Probation would entail no longer associating with groups like the Nevada Desert Experience, an anti-nuclear weapons group Father Vitale co-founded that engages in civil disobedience. The priests argued that mandatory community service disregards their contention that community service is their vocation. The priests’ jail sentence, which Estrada handed out reluctantly after the two refused all other punishment options, came on the first anniversary of the signing of the Military Commissions Act. They joined critics of the act by condemning it in their undelivered letter to Fast. The act eliminates the right of habeas corpus and Geneva Convention protections for individuals deemed unlawful enemy combatants. Detractors argue the law is unconstitutional, while proponents say the provisions are lawful and necessary in the fight against terrorism. After the verdict, a statement from
the priests was read to the crowd gathered outside the U.S. District Court in Tucson. “The real crime here has always been the teaching of torture at Fort Huachuca and the practice of torture around the world,” wrote Fathers Vitale and Kelly. “Now it is up to every woman and man of conscience to do their part to stop the injustice of torture.” The Federal trespass charge carried a sentence of three months in federal prison, while the Arizona state charge carried a two-month sentence, to be served consecutively in state prison. For now, the priests are confined in a privately run detention center in Florence, Ariz. After the verdict, Father Vitale’s superior, Franciscan Father Melvin Jurisich, issued a statement in support of the priest. “He is doing what he believes St. Francis of Assisi would do if he were at Fort Huachuca,” said Father Jurisich, provincial minister of the province of Santa Barbara. “We stand by Father Louie during his time of incarceration, and we know that even in jail he will continue to work and pray for peace.”
$12 million campus expansion ribbon cut Major donors took part in a ribbon cutting ceremony at St. Ignatius College Preparatory on Oct. 13 when the Sunset District campus dedicated a new choral room, classroom wing, batting center and weight room. From left are Jack Ryan ’51, Jenny Go, Don Dana ’66, Jack Gibbons ’37, Dr. C. Allen Wall ’46, SI dad Christopher Columbus and Catherine Cannata. Jesuit Fathers Robert T. Walsh and Anthony P. Sauer, current and former SI presidents, respectively, blessed the new facilities that are a part of the school’s Genesis V: New Horizons campaign.
St. Thomas More Society marks jubilee, honors judge Archbishop George H. Niederauer was principal celebrant of the annual Red Mass at Sts. Peter and Paul Church on Washington Square Oct. 18. The liturgy commemorated the 70th anniversary of the founding of the St. Thomas More Society of San Francisco, the oldest fellowship of Catholic lawyers and judges in the West, and named for the 16th century lawyer, judge and martyr. Federal Appeals Court Judge Carlos Bea was presented with the group’s 2007 St. Thomas More Award. Judge Bea studied at Stanford University and received his bachelor’s degree there in 1956; he received his law degree from Stanford Law School in 1958. After a distinguished 32-year career in private practice, Judge Bea was appointed and subsequently elected to the San Francisco Superior Court in 1990 serving there until 2003 when he was appointed to his current post. St. Thomas More Society President Hugh Donohoe presented the award plaque Judge Bea at the Mass. Judge Bea has served as an adjunct professor at UC Hastings School of Law and as a lecturer at Hastings as well as Stanford Law School.
(PHOTO BY TOM BURKE/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)
By Tom Burke
Judge Carlos Bea is congratulated by Archbishop George Niederauer.
“We bestow our annual award and highest honor on Judge Bea for his faith and integrity, as well as his contributions to the legal and Catholic intellectual traditions in San Francisco spanning over
several decades,” the St. Thomas More Society said in early announcements of the award. In his homily, Archbishop Niederauer drew on the missionary context of the
readings of the day, the feast of St. Luke. “Can we be surprised that Jesus was the first to mention the vocation crisis with `the harvest is great but the laborers few?’” Archbishop Niederauer said drawng laughter and affirmation from the assembly of almost 200. Spreading the Gospel message can be a “dangerous mission,” he said. “Witnesses to Christ cannot get bogged down,” he noted, pointing to San Francisco’s patron saint, St. Francis of Assisi, whose “simple and pure witness still speaks some 800 years after his death.” Like the society’s patron, St. Thomas More, “Christians can’t just go along with the crowd,” Archbishop Niederauer said. “With Christianity comes sacrifice and sometimes standing alone.” Concelebrants included Father John K. Ring, pastor, St. Vincent de Paul Parish, where Judge Bea is a parishioner; Msgr. Labib Kopti, pastor, St. Thomas More Parish; Salesian Father John Itzaina, pastor, Sts. Peter and Paul, and Father Jose Chavarin, chaplain to the St. Thomas More Society. Father Michael Padazinski, chancellor and director of the Canon Law Department of the Archdiocese, served as master of ceremonies. Deacons Pete Pelimiano and Chuck McNeil assisted.
October 26, 2007
Catholic San Francisco
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Catholic Charities CYO wrapping up its centennial year celebration The Catholic Charities CYO Centennial Civic Luncheon on Nov. 1 at the St. Francis Hotel, San Francisco, will be the cap and cornerstone of the year-long celebration of the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s social service agency’s centennial year observances. The luncheon will honor more than a dozen Bay Area faith-based social service agencies in addition, the work of CCCYO officials said. California Attorney General Jerry Brown will be keynote speaker, and during the event Archbishop George Niederauer will present a Centennial Service Award to Clint Reilly, immediate past president of the CCCYO Board of Directors. The year’s events have included the Feb. 25 Loaves & Fishes Sunday as well as the April 21 Loaves & Fishes Awards Gala; a March 10 gala honoring the Little Children’s Aid organization and its presidents; a parish school essay contest on the theme of Good Samaritan; the 48th Annual CYO Golf Day May 7; the May 20 Centennial Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral; recognition in June of CCCYO’s ministry to the HIV/AIDS community, and the Oct. 7 Vincenzo Wine & Food Festival supporting St. Vincent School for Boys.
Catholic Charities CYO timeline: 1776 The Spanish colonization of San Francisco begins. 1846 Gold is discovered in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. 1851 California sees an influx of an estimated half million people during the Gold Rush. 1906 The April 18 earthquake and resulting fires devastate San Francisco, destroying much of the city’s infrastructure. Of those San Franciscans who survive, several thousand are left homeless and hungry. 1907 Archbishop Patrick William Riordan establishes the group that would later be known as Catholic Charities CYO in San Francisco, to provide immediate support and services for the orphans and destitute mothers of the 1906 earthquake and fire. 1909 The board of directors, comprised of 100 women community leaders, devotes itself to fundraising and the establishment of Little Children’s Aid Society. 1918 The world-wide influenza pandemic strikes San Francisco; thousands die or are left orphaned. 1920 As a direct result of the influenza, the number of children under the direct care of the agency increases to approximately 1,200. 1929 After the stock market crash of 1929, the agency extends its outreach to poverty-stricken families and the abject poor. The agency changes its name to Catholic Charities. 1931 As more priests begin graduate studies in social work, Catholic Charities becomes increasingly involved in family counseling and helping parishioners overcome family problems. 1945– In the aftermath of World War II, 1950 Catholic Charities expands its focus to include older, at risk-children and their families. Now more localized and operationally diverse, the agency responds to local issues such as community relief and child welfare more quickly and effectively. 1950– Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) 1969 spins off on its own. Catholic Charities continues its child placement programs and further expands its aid capacity to meet a greater number of financially and emotionally distressed families in the Archdiocese.
1970– Services continue to grow and 1985 adapt based on changing community needs. Programs now assist with the treatment of alcoholism and drug abuse, unemployment, the influx of immigrants and refugees, and the needs of the elderly and handicapped. 1986 As a first responder to the epidemic, the agency creates the AIDS/ARC division to meet to the needs of those living with HIV or AIDS. 1998 San Francisco businessman and Catholic Charities board member Clinton Reilly and Archbishop William Levada found the Annual Loaves & Fishes Awards Dinner and the Archbishop’s Charity Council, both of which have raised millions of dollars to support agency programs. 2003 To streamline resources and ensure greater efficiency in the delivery of services to the most vulnerable, Catholic Charities reunifies with Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) to create Catholic Charities CYO (CCCYO). 2002 Clinton Reilly is appointed the first lay board president in CCCYO history. 2005 In response to catastrophic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, CCCYO partners with other community agencies to set up shelter for 300 victims in St. Mary’s Cathedral and also provides direct support via referrals, counseling services, and transportation to medical services. Archbishop George H. Niederauer is appointed as the eighth Archbishop of San Francisco and chairman of the CCCYO Board of Directors on December 15. 2006 The agency provides critical financial and emotional support to the victims of the storms and flooding that devastated parts of Marin County. Cecilia Herbert is appointed the new president of the CCCYO Board of Directors. 2007 To date, Catholic Charities CYO serves more than 40,000 clients every year through more than 30 programs throughout San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo counties. These programs change the lives of children, families in crisis, single parents, the homeless, the elderly and disabled, those living with HIV/AIDS, refugees and immigrants, regardless of faith.
With roots in the San Francisco fire and earthquake of 1906, Catholic Charities CYO observes its 100th year in 2007. Today CCCYO is the umbrella for more than 30 programs that serve from immigrant families and those impacted by HIV/AIDS to the elderly and youth. From top to bottom above: 1) Students and Sisters in the ruins of Presentation Convent and School, Powell and Lombard Streets, San Francisco, 1906. 2) Students donate coins to help CCCYO respond to those in need. 3) Volunteers work at St. Joseph Family Center in San Francisco. 4) Archbishop George Niederauer meets with the staff of CCCYO’s Refugee and Immigrant Services.
G R I EV I N G & H E A L I N G
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Catholic San Francisco
October 26, 2007
Creative Healing Project helps youngsters fight fear and hurt with colors and canvas Editor’s note: At the request of Catholic Charities CYO, this story uses an assumed name to protect client privacy.
By Rick DelVecchio At 11, Alicia was already an experienced artist. But with her latest piece she was really pushing herself. Maybe it was because the stakes were high: this canvas, a realistic family portrait, was to be a special gift. “I’m making it for my mom,” Alicia said, “for her birthday.” As the young artist worked she had all the support and encouragement she could need literally at her shoulder. Standing behind her, his smile as broad as hers as her painting began to show the spark of life, was Matthew Brenner, CEO and founder of Creative Healing Project. Alicia and Brenner had been doing art together for many months. Other child artists had been working under his guidance as well, and sometimes parents and siblings joined in. All the children are members of a Catholic Charities CYO residential community in San Francisco for mothers and their children who are infected with or affected by HIV or AIDS. Brenner had become a part of the community through the twice-monthly art sessions he was invited to lead in the basement of the community’s home in San Francisco’s Western Addition. The community is a key link in the chain of HIV services in San Francisco, helping women and their children deal with the grief of diagnosis, illness and even death — and supporting a high quality of family life. It provides permanent housing for seven families at any one time, plus intensive case management, crisis intervention and child care. Under a policy designed to protect clients’ privacy, Catholic Charities requests
that the community’s name not be published. Brenner brought his Creative Healing Project to the community as a means for children and their families to communicate feelings through free play with colors and canvas. For the 35-year-old Brenner, the value of art for families dealing with stressful times is that it provides soothing and joy by liberating the imagination.
One of the art pieces created by a young participant in a CCCYO-backed healing arts outreach to children with mothers impacted by HIV or AIDS.
When a child can improvise a visual story — using life’s troubles as a palette — and then communicate it to those around her with a sense of joy, Brenner realizes the vision he had for the project when he started it four years ago with a helping hand from his dad. Brenner is not a therapist, nor is he strictly an art
teacher. He does not come with rules, and his goal is not to realize measurable results. He provides art supplies and the gentlest of guidance and the kids do the rest according to what is in their hearts. “I don’t discredit art therapy,” Brenner said. “I think it’s a valuable tool. But really every kid has the ability to pick up a pencil and start to scribble and draw. It’s not till they get to be an adult that they decide whether they are an artist or not a good artist.” The climactic moment the night Alicia worked on her family portrait came when the girl’s mom arrived unexpectedly. Alicia quickly hid the birthday gift and her mom, luckily, was none the wiser. The girl’s mother glowed as her daughter set to work on another painting, a color study featuring “glitter with a little smiling face in the corner.” Alicia, a fifth grader, is a high-achieving student bound for college, her mom said. “She’s doing some things I’ve never done.” Alicia, in addition to doing well at science and math, can lay claim to being a professional artist: she sold three pieces at a silent auction held in August at the Catholic Charities CYO residence. The sales brought in $135. Alicia kept half, and the home and Creative Healing split the balance. Five other child artists also sold paintings, ringing up more than $500. The pieces were shown in gallery-style frames. Buyers included friends of Catholic Charities CYO and Creative Healing and people who came in off the street. “They pretty much gobbled up everything we had,” Brenner said. Working with kids in hospitals and other therapeutic settings including child cancer patients at UC San Francisco, Brenner has given away 300 “magic boxes” over the last four years. Each box is a “treasure chest
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October 26, 2007
Creative Healing Project’s Matthew Brenner assists a budding artist.
filled with art supplies and wrapped with a giant BandAid,” he said. “The interior is a giant gold sticker, so when kids open the magic boxes the first thing they see is this glowing gold shiny paper, so when you look from different angles you see the whole color spectrum.” “I’ve got to figure out a way to engage each person and help them give it a chance,” he said. “And if some-
one will give it a chance I’ll show them a tool they can use for the rest of their lives.” Sitting off to side in a child’s rocking chair as Brenner guided the children was an older man: Paul Brenner, Matthew’s father. Paul joked that he was just there to clean up, but the story goes deeper than that. The story of Creative Healing has its roots in the Brenners’ enduring relationship through heart-wrench-
Catholic San Francisco
ing changes the family went through since Matthew was a young man. Here is how Matthew described it. When Matthew was a high school sophomore, his father left the family. Over time Matthew learned his father, a former Protestant minister, was gay. While in college, Matthew also learned his father had been diagnosed HIV-positive. “My family had to deal with all the things that came with that – growing up in northern Florida,” Matthew said. “My parents had always given me access to art materials. In the moments when I couldn’t sleep and the moments I felt angry, I picked up a drawing pad and started to doodle and would doodle for hours. All I knew is that at the end of the day I felt better.” Still, Matthew and his father remained close. Matthew moved to California and got a job selling information technology to Fortune 500 companies. He did well financially and then came into a windfall when he won a fantasy football contest. He decided to quit the corporate world and use his good fortune as start-up capital to create a non-profit entity to teach art. He phoned his father for business advice. His dad threw his support behind him. Creative Healing was born in September 2003 and immediately established itself with backing from the Lance Armstrong Foundation. “The experience of having gone through something like HIV in my own family made me realize the fragile nature of how quickly something can change,” Matthew said. “Every time I’ve gone through something — beginning with my dad coming out, when he had HIV, experiencing divorce, loneliness or whatever it would be – art has been the consistent thing that has helped me to get through it,” he said. The elder Brenner, who turns 68 in November, is in improving health and no longer needs daily medication to help his immune system fight off HIV. Matthew said he wants to reach more kids with Creative Healing and needs all the help he can muster. “We’re always in need of volunteers,” he said. “If anyone has any questions, I’d love to assist.” Matthew Brenner can be reached at (415) 425-3674. The project’s website is http//www.creativehealing.org.
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Catholic San Francisco
October 26, 2007
Communion of saints . . .
obvious that whatever that “something” was, every person who goes through grief should have access to it. For Catholics, there is the communion of saints. For Catholics, there is unending love and intercession. For Catholics, there is a mysterious moment every time they go to Mass. In that moment the veil lifts, heaven touches down, and through the Most Blessed Sacrament, we are joined with our eucharistic Lord and with the faithful who have gone before us. We reach across the Great Divide and hold hands once again. In that moment, we can almost hear the prayers of that great cloud of witnesses (as it says in Hebrews’ chapter 12). And we know they are praying for us. We are not on our own in this valley of tears. Those who have known us and loved us most dearly are even now alive-in-Christ and praying that we will have every grace we need to run the course marked out for us. In the two years that have passed since Lori’s death, Tom has picked up his cross and kept on going. He is raising their three children, has published two inspirational children’s books and has started a publishing company. He draws great strength from his eternal connection to Lori. “There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about Lori and talk to her out loud,” he says. When a loved one dies, the chasm that separates us seems so great – and yet we know it really can’t be much of a distance. Someone we have known intimately, someone we have loved deeply has crossed the divide and passed into eternity, and that overwhelming truth brings heaven very close. The truth of the communion of saints is written in our hearts. It is precisely in that moment – in that valley of the
A procession of saints is shown in a window at St. Joseph Cathedral in Sioux Falls, S.D. All Saints Day, Nov. 1, commemorates all the blessed in heaven. It is a holy day of obligation.
shadow of death – that we cling tightly to the message of the Creed, that we believe in the communion of saints, we believe in the resurrection of the body and we believe in life everlasting. Thank God, I believe! And until the day we lay our own cross down, we keep going, and if we listen very carefully, we can hear the cheering from the other side. Tommy and Lori continue to be that strong Catholic family. That’s the irony of it. Tragedy did not have the final
word. The cheerleader is still cheering, only the team she is rooting for is a team of four. The mother of four, freelance author Denise Bossert writes from New Melle, Mo.,where she is a member of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish. Editor’s note: Tom’s book Father Like a Tree and his new release The Three Pigs, Business School, and Wolfe Hash Stew under the pen name Matthew S. Field can be seen at www.MattingLeahPublishing.com . He is a member of St. Stephen the Martyr Parish in Warwick, N.Y.
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G R I EV I N G & H E A L I N G October 26, 2007
Catholic San Francisco
15
Learning to live alone after loss: challenge and opportunity When a loved one passes on, many older adults face the challenge of learning to live alone, some for the first time. If they were part of a couple, this is a particularly big adjustment. Loneliness may be profound, and difficult to overcome. If you are in this situation, following are some tips that can help. ● Give yourself permission to feel all of the emotions that surface, including resentment and frustration. Recognize there will be good days and bad days, and be extra good to yourself on the bad ones. Prepare a list of things to do on such days — indulgences to give you a lift, as well as tasks or projects to tackle that will give you a sense of satisfaction (for example, de-cluttering various areas of your home). ● Accept the reality of your situation. Don’t dwell on the past, as it fosters self-pity and prevents you from moving forward. ● Get out of the house every day. ● Look after your physical health: eat nutritious meals, get adequate rest and exercise regularly. This will help ward off depression. Consider joining a dinner club, fitness center or exercise class, which also combats isolation. ● Cultivate some solitary pastimes, such as doing crossword puzzles, woodworking, gardening, writing or sketching. Learn to enjoy your own company, recognizing that it’s possible to be alone without feeling lonely. ● Sign up for an adult education course or lessons that interest you—for example, gourmet cooking, pottery or modern jazz. (Check out the programs available at the local recreation center or senior center as well as educational institutions.) Learning something new can be energizing and confidence boosting, and in the process you might make new friends. ● Get involved in your community by volunteering — perhaps with a neighborhood association, parish group, charitable cause, political campaign or environmental issue. Or look for a job if you’re able-bodied and finances are a concern. ● Take the initiative in calling friends and relatives to talk or arrange to get together. Instead of waiting for invitations, extend them. ● Do nice things for others, especially those who are also going through a difficult time. This takes your mind off your own situation, boosts your self-esteem and strengthens relationships. ● Find at least one person you can talk to openly, who will listen and understand. Consider joining a community support group for widows or widowers, or an Internet one if it’s hard to get out or if you prefer anonymity. ● Record your thoughts, feelings and experiences in a
(PHOTO COURTESY ST. ANTHONY FOUNDATION)
By Lisa M. Petsche
journal, chronicling your journey of self-discovery and growth. ● Nurture your spirit by doing things that bring inner peace, such as meditating, practicing yoga, reading something uplifting, listening to soothing music or communing with nature. ● Turn to your faith for comfort, whether it’s through private prayer, reading the Bible, attending Mass more often or talking with your pastor. Pray for guidance and strength in dealing with challenges. ● Take things one day at a time so you don’t get overwhelmed. At the same time, plan your days so you don’t have too much free time on your hands. ● If you don’t like coming home to silence, leave the television or radio on when you go out. ● Get a pet. Cats and dogs provide companionship and affection, and provide a sense of purpose. Owning a dog also ensures you will get out of the house and get regular exercise. ● If feelings of isolation persist, look into options such as taking in a boarder, sharing accommodation with a relative or friend, relocating to a condominium or apartment in a senior living community or, if your health is frail, moving into a retirement home. Don’t make such a major decision hastily, though. If you were a caregiver and put your personal life on hold, now is the time to re-invest in yourself, resuming for-
VALERIE KAY, PSY. D.
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mer interests or pursuing new ones, and nurturing neglected relationships as well as expanding your social network. Whether or not your loved one’s death was anticipated, the reality of being on your own may initially seem overwhelming, even frightening. However, with time, patience and trust in God’s grace, you will be able to successfully adapt to your new circumstances. You may even end up growing in ways you could not have imagined.
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Becoming active in community life through volunteering can be an excellent antidote to depression and isolation after losing a loved one, writes health care expert Lisa Petsche. St. Anthony Foundation is one organization in the Archdiocese with a well-developed volunteer program. Marie O’Connor is director of their individual volunteers program and may be contacted at (415) 592-2726.
415-255-3253 2171 Union Street San Francisco, CA 94123 www.kylecorsiglia.com Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist
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16
Catholic San Francisco
October 26, 2007
Spirituality for Life
The human heart is exquisitely fragile Canadian poet, Margaret Atwood, says it is not enough to say certain things just once. Some things need to be said, and said, until they don’t need to be said again. Every year I write a column on suicide and each of those columns usually prompts a flood of mostly grateful letters. The gratitude comes from the fact those columns suggest that, in most cases, suicide claims its victims in the same way as does a heart attack, a stroke, cancer or an accident. There is no freedom not to die. Suicide victims are, like victims of sickness and accidents, not responsible for their own deaths and suicide should not be a matter of secrecy, shame, moral judgment or second-guessing. For this year’s column, I will not reiterate those same themes. Rather I will give a first-hand testimony from William Styron, author of “Sophie’s Choice.” A victim of suicidal depression, he wrote in 1990 a book titled, “Darkness Visible, A Memoir of Madness,” within which he chronicles his own descent into suicidal madness and his helplessness as he spirals into that hell. Since Styron is sharing, first-hand, the experience of suicidal depression, allow me to quote him extensively: “The pain of severe depression is quite unimaginable to those who have not suffered it, and it kills in many instances because its anguish can no longer be borne. The prevention of many suicides will continue to be hindered until there is a general awareness of the nature of this pain. ... and for the tragic legion who are compelled to destroy themselves there should be no more reproof attached than to the victims of terminal cancer. “What I had begun to discover is that, mysteriously and in ways that are totally remote from normal experience, the gray drizzle of horror induced by depression takes on the qual-
When Life Hurts It Helps To Talk • Family • Work • Depression • Anxiety
ity of physical pain. But it is not an immediately identifiable pain, like that of a broken limb. It may be more accurate to say that despair, owing to some evil trick played upon the sick brain by the inhabiting psyche, comes to resemble the diabolical discomfort of being imprisoned in a fiercely overheated room. And because no breeze stirs this caldron, because there is no escape from the smothering confinement, it is entirely natural that the victim begins to think ceaselessly of oblivion.” Styron then describes graphically how the depressed person becomes obsessed with thoughts of oblivion: “many of the artifacts of my house had become potential devices for my own destruction: the attic rafters (and an outside maple or two) a means to hang myself, the garage a place to inhale carbon monoxide, the bathtub a vessel to receive the flow of my opened arteries. The kitchen knives in their drawers had but one purpose for me. Death by heart attack seemed particularly inviting, absolving me as it would of active responsibility, and I had toyed with the idea of self-induced pneumonia-a long, frigid, shirt-sleeved hike though the rainy woods.” After reading virtually all the literature, medical and psychological, on the issue, Styron suggests the suicidal depression is, in the end, caused by chemical imbalance, despite the fact other factors (lifestyle, childhood, moral values, memory) contribute. Modern sensitivities, he contends, make us reluctant to use old-fashioned words like madhouse, asylum, insanity, melancholia, lunatic, or madness, but “never let it be doubted that depression, in its extreme form, is madness. The madness results from an aberrant biochemical process. It has been established with reasonable certainty (after strong resistance from many psychiatrists, and not all that long ago) that such madness is chemically induced amid the neurotransmitters of the brain,
probably as a result of systemic stress, which for unknown reasons causes a depletion of the chemicals norespinephrine and serotonin, and the increase of a hormone, cortisal.” Styron was one of the lucky ones. With his Father suicide already planned, Ron Rolheiser he drew on some last gleam of sanity and, in that, realized he could not commit this desecration on himself and his loved ones. He woke his sleeping wife and she drove him to a hospital. In its “safety” and given “seclusion and time” he healed. That insider’s story has a double value: Not only should it help us understand suicide more deeply and exorcise more of its shameful stigma, but, in helping to expose the anatomy of suicide, Styron gives us better tools to help others (and ourselves) in its prevention. Beyond that, a proper understanding of suicide should help us all walk more humbly and compassionately in grace and community, resisting the bias of the strong and unreflective who make the unfair judgment that people who are sick want to be that way. The human heart is exquisitely fragile. Our judgments need to be gentle, our understanding deep, and our forgiveness wide.
Karen M.Z. Mitchell
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October 26, 2007
St. Mary’s Cathedral The following events are taking place at or are coordinated by the cathedral of the Archdiocese located at Gough and Geary St. in San Francisco. Call (415) 567-2020 for more information about any event listed here. Oct. 27: Point7Now! Action Conference, a continuing effort against global poverty. Invited speakers include U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer as well as U.S. Representatives Tom Lantos, Anna Eshoo and Lynn Woolsey. Sponsors include the Archdiocese of San Francisco, Catholic Relief Services, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the Seton Institute. Tickets are $20. For information or to register, call (415) 614-5567 or email publicpolicy@sfarchdiocese.org. Nov. 2: Exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament begins after the 8 a.m. Mass and continues throughout the day and night until 7:45 a.m. Saturday with Morning Prayer and Benediction. (Exposition is suspended during scheduled Masses at 12:10 noon, 7 p.m. and 6:45 a.m. according to liturgical norms.) Join in prayer for world peace, a culture of life, priests and special intentions. For more information or to volunteer, call (415) 567-2020, ext. 224. Nov. 11, 3:30 p.m.: “Jean Langlais: Composer, Organist, Teacher.” A lecture presented by four Langlais students: David Bergeron (Gloucester, Mass.), Karen Hastings Flegel (Antioch), Elna Johnson (Pittsburgh, Pa.), and Christoph Tietze (San Francisco). Recital follows at 5 p.m. when music by Langlais and his contemporaries will be performed. Sundays at 3:30 p.m.: Concerts followed by vespers; Oct. 28: Michael Pelzel (Switzerland), organist; Nov. 4: Christoph Tietze, organist.
Datebook
Taize/Chanted Prayer 1st Friday 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 Grove Ave., Menlo Park at 7:30 p.m. Call Deacon Dominic Peloso at (650) 322-3013. Tuesdays at 6 p.m.: Notre Dame Des Victoires Church, 566 Bush at Stockton, San Francisco with Rob Grant. Call (415) 397-0113. 2nd Friday at 8 p.m.: Our Lady of the Pillar, 400 Church St. in Half Moon Bay. Call Cheryl Fuller at (650) 726-2249. 1st Tuesday at 7 p.m.: National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi, 610 Vallejo St. at Columbus,
Nov. 3: Notre Dame Sister Roseanne Murphy will reflect on the writing of her new book “Martyr of the Amazon: The Life of Sister Dorothy Stang” 9:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. at Notre Dame Province Center, 1520 Ralston Ave. in Belmont. The program will integrate information, reflection and prayer. Call Notre Dame Sister Phyllis D’Anna at (650) 593-2045. Notre Dame Sister Dorothy Stang was murdered Feb. 12, 2005 in Brazil where she worked for nearly 40 years as an advocate for the poor. She was 73. The gunmen were hired killers paid by a now-convicted local rancher and other land-owners. Sister Murphy served as chair of the Psychology/Sociology Department at Notre Dame de Namur University for 37 years.
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Sundays at 3:30 p.m.: Concerts at St. Mary’s Cathedral followed by vespers. Oct. 28: Michael Pelzel (Switzerland), organist; Nov. 4: Christoph Tietze, organist.
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 Sunday, 5 a.m., CBS Channel 5: “Mosaic,” featuring conversations on current Catholic issues. 3rd Sunday, 5:30 a.m., KRON Channel 4: “For Heaven’s Sake,” featuring conversations about Catholic spirituality.
Reunions
Pauline Books and Media Daughters of St. Paul, 2640 Broadway, Redwood City (650) 369-4230 Nov. 20, 7 p.m.: An evening of reflection on the recently released “Spiritual Journal of Mother Teresa: Come be my Light.” Father Kevin Kennedy, local priest, hospital chaplain and spiritual director will share insights drawn from Mother Teresa’s life and writings, as well as from the masters of the spiritual life and his own familiarity with the various stages of the interior life. Book available for purchase at $22.95. Reception follows.
Catholic San Francisco
“The Foreigner” by Larry Shue takes the stage at Marin Catholic High School Nov. 15, 16, 17, at 8 p.m. and Nov. 18 at 2 p.m. The popular comedy is always a hit. The cast includes, back from left, Katherine Comstock, Rita Makrusina, JohnPaolo Dawydiak-Rapagnani, Connor Salmon, Alex Ford, Wade Higgins, Colleen Killingsworth, Ashley Cosgriff, Claire Poulos and, front from left, Annette Roggenbuck, Gina Vanni, Shannon Thompson, Alex Napoli. For ticket information call (415) 464-3855. All shows at Marin Catholic’s Poetz Theater. San Francisco. Call (415) 983-0405 or visit www.shrineSF.org. Sundays: Gregorian Chant at the National Shrine of Saint Francis, 610 Vallejo St., San Francisco, 12:15 p.m. Mass. For more information, call (415) 983-0405. Oct. 28: A Contemplative Rosary at St. Catherine of Siena Parish, 1310 Bayswater Ave. at El Camino Real in Burlingame at 4:30 p.m. Luminous Mysteries are set to the music of Bob Hurd to honor Mary in month of the rosary. Call (650) 766-0364 or music@stcsiena.org.
Food & Fun Oct. 27: St. Thomas More School Halloween Festival from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Raffle, carnival games, prizes, jumpers and more. Foods include BBQ tri-tip and chicken; 50 Thomas More Way at Brotherhood Way. Questions? STMParentsClub@hotmail.com or (415) 9054660, ext. 20#. Oct. 28: Oktoberfest 2007, 11:30 a.m. – 3 pm., benefiting Most Holy Redeemer AIDS Support Group at MHR Parish “Beer Garden,” 18th St. and Diamond, San Francisco; $20 tickets include beverages and one meal, $15 ticket includes beer/beverages without the food, $5 ticket for those under 21 includes soft drinks and a meal. Featured will be German sausages and traditional music. Visit www.mhr-asg.com or contact Robert or Pete at (415) 863 – 1581 or mhr@mhrasg.com Nov. 2: Catholic Marin Breakfast welcomes speaker John Weiser, a parishioner of St. Anselm in Ross and former chair of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. The GTU is the largest partnership of seminaries and graduate schools in the United States. Group meets at St. Sebastian Church, Sir Francis Drake Blvd. and Bon Air Rd. in Greenbrae for Mass at 7 a.m. and breakfast and talk after. Members breakfast $7/visitors $10. Call (415) 461-0704 weekdays or e-mail sugaremy@aol.com. Archbishop George H. Niederauer addresses the group Dec. 7. Nov. 3, 4: Fall bake sale benefiting St. Stephen School. Homemade treats will be sold after each Mass outside church. For more information, contact Ethel Rohan (415) 682-8008 or epmtrohan@comcast.net or Maureen Mallon (415) 5669865 or j-mallon@sbcglobal.net. Nov. 7: Ultimate Home Party benefiting works of Ladies Guild of St. Mark Parish, 325 Marine View, Belmont from 6 – 9 p.m. A gift shopping opportunity with jewelry, cosmetics, candles, food items, house wares, clothing, religious articles and more. Admission is free. Raffle prizes every 15 minutes. Call (650) 591-5937. Nov. 10: Notre Dame des Victoires’ 57th Annual Bal de Paris “Une Soirée en Ville!” The gala will be held at Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason St., San Francisco. Cocktails/silent auction at 6 p.m. dinner, dancing at 7.30 p.m. Black tie optional. Tickets $125 each or become a Bal Patron and receive tickets based on donation level. Fundraiser supports school/parish. Call (415) 421-0069 for information. Nov. 16, 17, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.: Sisters of Mercy at Marian Convent 2007 Annual Holiday Boutique. Beautiful holiday items for sale including; themed gift baskets, handcrafted blankets, all occasion handmade cards, homemade jams
and jellies, baked goods, candies and fudge. Marian Convent, 2300 Adeline Dr., Bldg. D, Burlingame. Follow Lower Road on Mercy Campus to Marian Convent. For information call Debbie Halleran (650) 340-7426. Nov. 16, 17, 7 – 10 p.m.: “Rock the Parish Hall,” two evenings of dancing to classic rock and blues by Marin band, “Girls Nite Out” at St. Hilary Parish Hall, 761 Hilary Dr.,, Tiburon. Tickets, available at the door, are $20 and include appetizers. Wine, soft drinks and beer will be available for purchase. Call (415) 435-1122 or e-mail richardsmckinley@comcast.net. Nov. 17: “Cougars On Broadway”, a fall fashion show benefiting St. Stephen School. Day begins at 11 a.m. at the Olympic Club Lakeside with nohost cocktails and a silent auction, and luncheon at noon. Tickets are $70 or $700 for a table of 10. Raffle tickets are $5 or six tickets for $25. Raffle prizes include $500 Stonestown Galleria Shopping Spree and $150 Gift Certificate to Zuni’s Restaurant. For more information, contact Kimberley Collins at (415) 990-1620 or kimberleycollins@sbcglobal.net.
Catholic Charismatic Renewal The Catholic Charismatic Renewal plans events throughout the year. Information about the group’s activities can usually be found in Datebook and always at their website: www.sfspirit.com. First Friday Mass will be held on Nov. 2, at St. Paul of the Shipwreck, 1122 Jamestown, San Francisco. Rosary at 7 p.m. and Mass at 7:30 p.m. Life in the Spirit Seminar presented by the Catholic Charismatic Renewal on Saturdays, Nov. 3, 10 and 17 at St. Paul of the Shipwreck, 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with lunch. Presenters are Father Jim Tarantino and Deacon Bill Brennan. There will be a Spanish Life in the Spirit Seminar simultaneously.
Arts & Entertainment Oct. 30: USF’s Center for the Pacific Rim presents an interview and book signing with Gail Tsukiyama, author of “The Street of a Thousand Blossoms”(St. Martin’s Press, 2007) at 5:45 p.m. in Fromm Hall, 2467 Golden Gate Ave. at Parker. Free and open to the public. To reserve a seat, call (415) 422-6828. Nov. 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17: Sacred Heart Preparatory Theatre Company presents an adaptation of the Ken Kesey classic, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in the DePaul Auditorium, Ellis and Gough St. in San Francisco. Ticket prices and curtain times available by calling (415) 775.6626, ext. 840 or visit www.shcp.edu. Notre Dame des Victoires, French national church, announces auditions for the volunteer Choeur Paroissial and the professional vocal quartet Les Choristes. Contact Steven Olbash at (415) 577-1827 or olbash@comcast.net for dates and times. 1st and 3rd Tuesdays: Noontime Concerts (12:30 p.m.) at Old St. Mary’s Cathedral, 660 California St. at Grant, San Francisco; $5 donation requested. Nov. 6: Cypress String Quartet. Nov. 20: Classical works for piano, violin and cello. Call (415) 288-3800.
Nov. 2: Alumni Back-to-School Day at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory. Continental breakfast and registration at 9 a.m. at the Herbst Library and Information Center, 6th Floor, La Salle Campus, 1055 Ellis St., $10 per person. Visit www.shcp.edu or contact Director of Alumni Relations John Brown at john.brown@shcp.edu. Nov. 3: Classes of ’62, ’67, ’72, ’77, ’82, ’87, ’92, ’97: Alumni Mass 5 p.m. Victor Barulich ’39 Memorial Chapel – 6th Floor, La Salle Campus, 1055 Ellis St. Dinner Dance 6 p.m. – midnight in Sister Teresa Piro, DC, Student Life Center. Tickets are $75, $60 per person for the Class of ’96. Register online at www.shcp.edu or contact Director of Alumni Relations John Brown at john.brown@shcp.edu Nov. 3: Class of ’82 from Presentation High School, San Francisco, at Basque Cultural Center in South San Francisco. Contact kathycooney@hotmail.com or LucyMulkerrins@sbcglobal.net. Nov. 3: Class of ’57 from San Francisco’s St. Emydius Elementary. Tickets at $39 include meal tax and tip. No host bar. All takes place at Caesar’s Restaurant in San Francisco. Call Barbara Lassalle Watson at (415) 897-6757 or Nancy Glueck McCann at (415) 924-4358. Please respond by Sept. 30.
Prayer/Lectures/Trainings Oct. 30: Ben Lemer, author of “The Lichtenberg Figures” which won the Hayden Carruth Award and was considered one of the best poetry books of the year, will read from his works at the University of San Francisco’s Lone Mountain campus’s room 100, 2800 Turk St., San Francisco, at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 3: First Saturday Mass at Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma, at 11 a.m. Call (650) 7562060. Nov. 3, 4: Cistercian Father Thomas Keating, will speak on “Healing the World One Person at a Time” during a 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. event at St. Hilary Church, 761 Hilary Dr., Tiburon. He will take part in “An Invitation to Interspiritual Dialogue and Healing of the Human Family” on Nov. 4 from 1:30-4:30 p.m. at Mercy High School auditorium, 3250 19th Ave., San Francisco. Preregistration is “highly recommended” by the sponsoring organization, Contemplative Outreach of San Francisco and Marin Counties. Cost for the Nov. 3 event is $35 in advance, $40 at door and includes lunch. Cost for Nov. 4 is $25 in advance, $30 at door. Visit www. contemplativeoutreach.org or e-mail mary.wyman@yahoo.com. Nov. 4, 10:30 a.m.: Memorial Mass remembering alumni, clergy, religious and friends of St. Peter Elementary School, at St. Peter Church, 24th and Florida St. in San Francisco. Brunch follows in parish hall - $15 adults, $5 children. Call Irma Vargas (415) 846-5966. Nov. 10, 9:30 a.m.: Paulist Father Terry Ryan on Pope Benedict XVI’s “God is Love” at Old St. Mary’s Cathedral, Grant and California St. in San Francisco. “The heart of the Christian faith is an encounter with Jesus Christ,” Father Ryan said. “The workshop helps us to see how we can open ourselves to this encounter.” Call (415) 288-3800.
Young Adults Office of Young Adult Ministry and Campus Ministry: Connecting late teens, 20s and 30s, single and married to the Catholic Church. Contact Mary Jansen at (415) 614-5596, or email jansenm@sfarchdiocese.org. Check website for Bay Area events, or download quarterly newsletter at www.sfyam.org. Nov. 6: Theology on Tap, “Not For Sale Campaign: Stopping Human Trafficking in the Bay Area” with Mark Wexler, international speaker for notforsalecampaign.org. This evening offers information, faith-sharing and Q&A opportunities. Hospitality begins at 6:30 p.m. and Program is from 7 to 9 p.m. at Elephant & Castle at 425 Battery St. near Clay. $10 cover. Free appetizers and drink specials beginning at 6:30 pm.
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.
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Catholic San Francisco
October 26, 2007
Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
Perseverance and patience: pillars of healthy prayer life Following is the homily delivered Oct. 21 by Archbishop George H. Niederauer at St. Thomas More Parish, San Francisco: St. Bernard was riding on his horse one day, lost in prayer. He met a beggar on the road and they started talking. The beggar asked St. Bernard what he was doing as he rode along, and Bernard said he was praying. “But I often have distractions in my prayer,” Bernard confessed. “Oh, well, I never have distractions when I pray,” the beggar said. “That’s nice,” said St. Bernard. “I’ll give you this horse if you can say an ‘Our Father’ without once being distracted.” “Oh, that’s easy,” the beggar said, and he began to pray, “Our Father, who art in heaven; hallowed be thy name…” The beggar paused: “Say, does the saddle come with the horse?” Often we can get discouraged when we get easily distracted when we try to pray, and, when we feel that the prayer is very dry and God is very far away. What we need is the gift of perseverance, so that we will not get sidetracked or give up. All three readings today are about perseverance, especially perseverance in prayer. In the first reading, Moses keeps his hands raised in prayer for the Israelites on the battlefield, and when he grows tired, Aaron and Hur support his arms. In the second reading the apostle Paul encourages the young priest Timothy to persevere in his ministry even when it is hard and inconvenient, even when he becomes impatient with so much correcting, reproving and beseeching. Jesus, in Luke’s Gospel, tells the story of the widow appealing to the unjust judge until he finally gives in. Jesus tells us: If even the unjust judge finally listens and acts, won’t a just and loving God, our Father, hear us? But perseverance and patience are not easy virtues, especially for us Americans. In heavy traffic, we run the risk of road rage; we want our food faster and faster, never mind better and better; communications are getting speedier and speedier, and they’d better, or we opt out; even weight loss must be quick, or we give up. Such experiences and attitudes don’t help us when we turn to prayer. We want an answer, an emotional lift, some outcome right now, or prayer is obviously not working. Let’s look again at that story Jesus tells about the widow and the evil judge. The judges in Israel in the time of Jesus worked for Herod or the Romans, and they were notoriously corrupt, usually demanding bribes for any kind of ruling. One chronicle tells us that their official title was “Dayyaneh Gezeroth,” that is, “judges of prohibitions and punishments,” but the people made a pun on that phrase, calling them “Dayyaneh Gezeloth,” that is, “robber judges.” So the widow faced terrible odds, but she persevered, and the judge finally gave in to her pleas for justice. Jesus then makes the comparison and the contrast: Can’t we keep on calling out, and listening to, a loving God and Father, if she could keep on appealing to the unjust judge? We can do that, but first we have to know what we are doing in prayer. Jesus taught us, in the Our Father, to say, “Thy will be done.” Too often our prayer, though, can become a variation on the theme of, “My will be done.” Don’t get me wrong: God wants us to ask him for what we need; he wants us to turn our minds and hearts to him. But we turn to God so that he can teach and lead and guide and change us, not so that we can change his mind. Probably one thing he will show us is how to live as his follower very well without all the things we want, just as that beggar got along without the horse and the saddle. After all, most of the time there is a difference between what we want and what we need. God sees all time, and all our lives, whole and entire. He knows how to save us and bring us forever to himself, in the long run. No good parent says “yes” to every request, and neither does God. Open, faithful, persevering prayer leads us, over a lifetime, to see and hope and want more as God draws us to do, but only if we keep on turning to him and opening ourselves up to him, to his saving and healing love. In the second reading, Paul reminds Timothy that Jesus Christ our savior will come at the end of our lives as judge, and it will be his way of seeing us that will finally matter in the end. When we let the Lord remind us of that, his gift of a spirit of gentle patience and PRAYER LIFE, page 21
Distaste for crime Again, the Catholic San Francisco advertises the unhappy location of Father Louis Vitale in our Archdiocese. We have had letter exchanges before about my distaste for this ex- convict, having served time for his crimes against the United States government. Once again he appears to be on trial for similar acts. I look forward to your pictures of him and his cohort, Father Steve Kelly, entering a federal prison for a long time. In Catholic San Francisco I much prefer George Weigel to George Wesolek, which I am sure won’t surprise you. Don F. Bechter Millbrae
Crime and punishment How is it that Fathers Louis Vitale, OFM and Stephen Kelly, SJ, are currently serving five months in Florence Correctional Center for denouncing torture while the vast majority of the perpetrators of torture at Abu Ghraib served sentences ranging from six months to a year? How is it that military leadership — Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast, head of intelligence for the U.S. command in Baghdad, Army Reserve Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, Col. Thomas M. Pappas, commander of the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade and Lt. Col. Jordan — who were complicit in the Abu Ghraid prisoner abuse, were quietly relieved of their commands and reprimanded while men of conscience like Fathers Vitale and Kelly are incarcerated in federal prison? Susan Hall Cotati
Oxymoron?
Letters welcome Catholic San Francisco welcomes letters from its readers. Please:
➣ Include your name, address and daytime phone number. ➣ Sign your letter. ➣ Limit submissions to 250 words. ➣ Note that the newspaper reserves the right to edit for clarity and length. Catholic San Francisco One Peter Yorke Way San Francisco, CA 94109 Fax: (415) 614-5641 E-mail: morrisyoungd@sfarchdiocese.org
Some questions Thank you for your coverage of Archbishop Niederauer’s recent visit to Most Holy Redeemer and the “controversy” surrounding the giving of the Sacrament of the Eucharist to someone in full “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” regalia. As a member of the parish, and of the congregation on that particular Sunday, I wonder about a few things. I cannot help but wonder about the motivation of persons who are not members of the parish showing up with video cameras. I cannot help but wonder about the motivation of the persons who showed up that day in full drag, giving fodder to those cameras. I cannot help but wonder about the motivation of the bloggers and pundits who created the brouhaha. It is a shame that people with outside agendas felt it appropriate to commandeer a beautiful and prayerful religious celebration to carry out political agendas. Would any of these folks have been content with the celebration of a bishop’s visit with an inclusive and prayerful congregation? I somehow think not. But that is what that Sunday morning was for most of us in the church that day. From my perspective, the Archbishop did the right thing that morning, but I am no theologian. I wonder if the ultimate motivation of the outside folk who showed up that Sunday was to give him a bad taste in his mouth about the place. I pray that did not happen and that he knows that he is welcome anytime. Bob Nelson San Francisco
L E T T E R S
Your Oct. 19 article about the Father Peter Phan controversy contained a quotation from him in which he said that by the year 2050 “a white Christian is an oxymoron.” When I converted to Catholicism in 1978, one thing that struck me was how the Catholic Church embraced people of “every race, language and way of life,” as the Eucharistic Prayer says so eloquently. Therefore, it is very disturbing to read of a Catholic priest and theologian proclaiming that to be Caucasian and Christian is a contradiction in terms, or will be in the near future. The parish where I serve is made up of people from all over the world (for example, the Philippines, Vietnam, Ireland, Latin America, India, Italy, Pakistan, the Holy Land, Africa, San Francisco) living and worshipping together, which is a beautiful thing to be part of. I am sure Father Phan was trying to make a different sort of point, but his choice of words looks terribly racist.
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Fortunately, he does not get to decide who is and is not a real Christian. Father William E. Brown Pastor Our Lady of Mercy Parish, Daly City
Time to reflect
I read the explanation and apology that the Archbishop gave regarding receipt of the sacrament by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. As a Catholic I too am profoundly offended by the actions of this group and am offended by their mocking of the religious women. My Aunt has given her life as a Sister of Holy Family for better than 50 years, an order that was born in the Archdiocese. The Archbishop doesn’t owe Catholics an apology. These irreverent men, who ridicule a group of people, offend our religion, and mock our religious practices owe us an apology, not somebody who has spent his entire adult life ministering, teaching, shepherding and challenging us to do better. We are truly blest by having Archbishop Niederauer as our shepherd. This is probably a great time for us to think about and pray for the religious women in our lives, parish, Archdiocese and world; a good time to reflect on what sacrifices they have given to make our lives better. This would be an awesome reminder that we should always pray for more vocations not only for a harvest of priests, but also for those in religious life. A good time for us to reflect on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and to make sure we are spiritually prepared to receive the sacrament. Michael Murray San Mateo
Sacrilege clear While I was watching Fox News, I saw coverage on the scandal in which the Archbishop partook. I have also read his apology to the Catholics in the San Francisco Archdiocese and to all Catholics. However, I fail to see how he could have misjudged the two strangely dressed individuals as not being members LETTERS, page 20
October 26, 2007
Catholic San Francisco
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Family Life
Unleashing the grip of iWant “I want the world. I want the whole world. I want to lock it all up in my pocket. It’s my bar of chocolate. Give it to me – now!” Veruca Salt’s declaration of greed in the 1971 film “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” would make an apt anthem today for many Americans, aiming for acquisition and prodded by retailers, who seem to have fully and irretrievably wedged the commercial Christmas season into November. Now we craft wish lists before we even pause to consider that antiquated notion of giving thanks. Well-oiled ad campaigns are designed to make our material lives feel incomplete, sorely lacking accessories, utterly mute of bells and whistles. We come to see the holes in our wardrobe, the gaps in our entertainment center, the lags in our home office. We are keenly aware of what we wish we had. And though the gimmes are nothing new, what has changed is the sheer volume of products, along with the complexity of new high-tech toys. Millions of Americans decided they wanted an iPhone before they understood how it functioned. It was a flashy badge for the early adaptor before it became a useful tool. We have become less discerning consumers, coveting gadgets without considering their practical benefits. We are seized by iWant, a modern brand of avarice that allows no
space to separate person from product. Novelty morphs into necessity at first sight. iWant may seem like a seasonal blip, but it is a serious spiritual malady. It compels us to dismiss the blessed lowly and chase the rich and famous, trying to forge the kind of “fabulous life” documented on VH1. Pope John Paul II admonished materialism with fervor and frequency. He preached about its dangerous grip during his first papal visit to the United States. He addressed the subject again in his 1986 encyclical “On the Holy Spirit in the Life of the Church and the World.” “In principle and in fact,” Pope John Paul wrote, “materialism radically excludes the presence and action of God, who is Spirit, in the world and above all, man.” A year later, he told young people gathered in New Orleans, “The modern technological world can offer us many pleasures, many comforts of life. But what the world can never offer is lasting joy and peace.” Two decades later, his message is more relevant than ever. We can honor our late pontiff by heeding his warning. Here’s an exercise: Instead of pining away for the things you wish you had this November, be grateful for the things you don’t have. If any of these scenarios have eluded your home or heart, consider yourself blessed: a bad habit,
a loud neighbor, a family grudge, an expensive addiction, a hostile enemy, a criminal record, an intolerable boss, an insatiable ego. If you don’t attract the paparazzi, be glad. If you don’t have a reaChristina son to go on “The Jerry Capecchi Springer Show” – or the desire to – count yourself fortunate. If you don’t star in your own reality TV show, let out a sigh of relief. If you don’t possess the kind of fortune that calls for a prenuptial agreement, know that you’re better off. We are urged to “have it all.” Seldom do we hear about the freedom that comes from having none of it. What advertisers portray as a void in your life might just be an abundance of blessings. Christina Capecchi is a freelance writer from Inver Grove Heights, Minn. E-mail her at christinacap@gmail.com.
California perspective
Health care reform: leadership, courage needed Health care costs are rising twice as fast as wages. A bi-partisan effort to cover low-income children is vetoed on ideological grounds. And a state health care plan is delayed and endangered by budget-weary legislators. At the beginning of the year, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger promised to make this the year of health care reform. It didn’t happen during the regular legislative calendar – thanks to the summertime budget impasse – so he had to call a special session. People are literally sick and dying. But progress on health care reform has been excruciatingly slow. Talks seem to have bogged down.Unfortunately, this kind of impasse is all too common in Sacramento. Of course, health care reform will not be easy. Doctors, insurance companies, employers, pharmaceutical firms, hospitals, nurses and unions are just a few of the formidable players in this debate. Daunting forces, true, but also stakeholders who should recognize the system is badly in need of repair. They must take responsibility. They must seek compromise. Medical consumers – sometimes quaintly referred to as patients – must also take responsibility by demanding action and holding lawmakers accountable. Approaches to reform vary. One plan was proposed by the Governor, another by the Democratic leadership, and third option called “single-payer” is favored by many and passed during the regular session (but the Governor has vetoed it.) Side-by-side comparisons of the competing plans are bewildering. But by charting solutions on coverage, indi-
vidual mandates, financing, and other elements, you can tell how well each interest is holding its own. It is when groups place their own interest too far above that of the overall benefit of society that policies fail. So what is the common good when it comes to health care? The Alliance for Catholic Health Care – which represents Catholic hospitals and health systems – has highlighted the critical areas that need to be addressed. These points serve as a good discussion guide for the debate and people of faith can judge the results of reform on how well the solutions addresses each: ● Health care is a basic human right and must be available to all. ● A basic care package, including preventive care, longterm care and other services, should be ensured for all. ● Incentives should be included that encourage the health care system to continually improve. ● All the stakeholders mentioned earlier, in short, all of us, must take responsibility for the success of reform. ● Reform needs to include respect for religious beliefs. Nobody should be forced to perform any act or procedure contrary to their religion or convictions. ● Government can play a role in ensuring that services are provided for the common good – that all persons have quality health care. ● And the perhaps the most central question in this whole debate. Who pays? Too often, solutions hang up on the “Why pays?” question. But it is clear that rising medical costs, millions of people with no access to affordable care and others facing ever-
rising deductibles are deepening an already severe crisis. These groups are going to have to compromise. When the interests of the few take precedence over the many it’s the many who Steve Pehanich suffer. And many are suffering now. Why can’t we sculpt something that all parties can accept with pride? Catholic hospitals, for instance, took the lead in accepting a strategy which imposes a tax on themselves (four percent under the Governor’s plan.) Others followed suit. Good for them. The reduction in income will be made up with increased Federal Medicare payments. It will take strong leaders and commitment to the common good to bring effective health care to all. Unfortunately, despite a year that promised otherwise, the leadership in Sacramento was filled with inconsistency, rewards for special interest and inaction. It’s an all too common occurrence is Sacramento. In this case, our leaders are literally playing with people’s lives. Steve Pehanich is the executive director of Catholic Charities of California. Contact him at spehanich@cacatholic.org.
The Catholic Difference
Looking back at Benedict XV’s Modernism I’ve long had a high regard for Pope Benedict XV, least-known pontiff of the 20th century, whose slight, stooped figure masked a diplomatic and historical intelligence of the first caliber. Benedict saw with clarity that World War I, prolonged, would be a civilizational catastrophe for Europe. The Great Powers refused to listen. Italy blackballed the Holy See from any post-war peace conference. Benedict nevertheless spent out the Vatican’s financial resources in supporting wartime prisoners and refugees — to the point where Pietro Gasparri, the Cardinal Camerlengo, had to borrow money from the Rothschilds to pay for the 1922 conclave to elect Benedict’s successor. Benedict XV began his pontificate, however, by trying to stop another war: the civil war within the Church over Modernism, which his predecessor, Pius X, had condemned in the 1907 encyclical Pascendi as “the synthesis of all heresies.” Anti-Modernist sentiments ran high after Pascendi; clandestine ecclesiastical networks dedicated to rooting out Modernists, crypto-Modernists, and/or alleged Modernists from seminaries and theology faculties ran amuck. Some entirely reputable scholars were gravely
damaged in the process. It was a tawdry business, even if the principal Modernist paladins (like Alfred Loisy and George Tyrell) were men of highly dubious theological opinions. Benedict XV called off the dogs, and a measure of stability, if in a more subdued mode, returned to Catholic intellectual life. On the centenary of Pascendi, Peter Steinfels dedicated his New York Times column to some predictable progressive bleating about the encyclical’s deleterious effects: Pascendi, Steinfels mourned, “crippled those very elements in European Catholicism that might have resisted the Church’s sympathy for authoritarian regimes after World War I, when liberal parliamentary governments were besieged by rising totalitarianism.” Pascendi, in other words, decisively shaped the Church’s role “in the blooddrenched history of the first half of the 20th century.” I wouldn’t go so far as some commentators in the Catholic blogosphere, who charged Dr. Steinfels with suggesting that “less Catholic dogmatism would have prevented the Holocaust.” Steinfels is too clever a writer for that. But his column did seem lacking in a broader historical perspective, which would have suggested the possibility that the popes of the late 19th and early 20th
centuries had been put in a very difficult position by the modern liberal state in Europe — a position that inevitably shaped their attitudes toward other aspects of modernity, including George Weigel modern theological adventurousness. Historians like Michael Burleigh (“Earthly Powers”), Owen Chadwick (“A History of the Popes 1830-1914”), and Michael Gross (“The War Against Catholicism: Liberalism and the Anti-Catholic Imagination in Nineteenth-Century Germany”) vigorously disagree with certain papal tactic vis-à-vis anti-clerical European governments. But they also demonstrate, in vivid detail, that those governments indeed waged a kind of war on the Church. “Liberalism,” to the popes of the 19th and early 20th centuries did not mean William Jennings Bryan, Teddy Roosevelt, or Woodrow Wilson. It meant the French government closWEIGEL, page 22
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Catholic San Francisco
October 26, 2007
Letters . . . ■ Continued from page 18 of the group that is well known to be anti-Catholic. In his apology he wrote:”At Communion time, toward the end of the line, two strangely dressed persons came to receive Communion. As I recall one of them wore a large flowered hat or garland. I did not recognize either of them as wearing mock religious garb.” Any Catholic who saw the video can clearly see those individuals were mocking Catholicism. And should have been denied Communion. This only opens doors to other scandals. The Church has suffered enough through sex scandal, and she cannot afford to have something as sacrilegious as what happened on Oct 7. Sergeant Emmanuel A. Cabahug 3rd Signal Company Special Troop Battalion 3rd Infantry Division (Mech) Camp Victory, Iraq
Too many assumptions? While I deeply appreciate the humility of the Archbishop in issuing his apology to the faithful, I have to question whether it was truly called for. I’ve seen the video and must point out: 1) It was by no means clear the costumes were intended to imitate a Sister’s habit. They actually looked more like Commedia dell’arte actors in costume. The two gentlemen’s association with the Sisters” of Perpetual Indulgence, Inc. was not a given. 2) They presented themselves in the usual manner, bowing before the Archbishop as called for, receiving the Body of Christ in their right hand, consuming it and making the Sign of the Cross. 3) In any event, Father Jim Bretzke, a moral theologian at USF, was quoted as saying, “Even if these people were bizarrely dressed, the Archbishop was following clear pastoral and canonical principles in giving them Communion. The default is, you give holy Communion to one who presents himself.”. I will accept Father Bretzke’s opinion over Bill O’ Reilly’s. 4) While everyone else there was reverently participating in the distribution of Communion, the person who took the video was skulkingaround the two men, bobbing and weaving,to get the best “shot,” interfering with parishioners’ passage to and from receiving the sacrament. Our Catholic community in San Francisco faces enough challenges without getting involved in these kinds of diversions. God bless Archbishop Niederauer. Greg Smith San Francisco
Not at fault I am writing this letter concerning the many letters condemning the Archbishop for giving holy Communion to two members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. I fail to understand the reason for condemning him. I also fail to understand why it was necessary for the Archbishop to write an apology. He was making a pastoral visit to Most Holy Redeemer Church. He was celebrating Mass there, and, of course, he gave the holy Eucharist to all the parishioners. How was he to know these two people should not have been given Communion? The parishioners knew who these people were, and if they did not have the
courage to come up to the Archbishop and warn him about these two people, then it is the fault of the parishioners, not the Archbishop. Walter E. Marston San Francisco
SCRIPTURE SEARCH
Intent unclear
Following is a word search based on the Gospel reading for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C: the parable of two men praying at the Temple. The words can be found in all directions in the puzzle.
I have followed the uproar over the incident at Most Holy Redeemer where Archbishop Niederauer gave Communion to two men from the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. I thought of Jesus who loved and came to save prostitutes, tax collectors and other socially “unacceptable” people. He said, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.” Jesus (the original Body and Blood) never turned anyone away. He left us with these words, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers(sisters) of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me.” It is my understanding Catholics are taught that each person is to receive Communion according to the state of his/her individual conscience. No one (including the Archbishop) can determine the state of another person’s conscience at the time they approach Communion. This is between the individual person and God. The way a person is dressed (bizarre though it might be) cannot be used by other people to judge his/her state of conscience at the time he/she approaches. Jesus was clear about judging others: “Stop judging that you may not be judged.” I do not know the intention the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence had on Oct. 7. It appears they behaved respectfully throughout the liturgy. If their intent was to get attention for themselves and their “cause,” they have certainly succeeded. However, if their intent was to reconnect with God and the Church, then self-righteous Catholics have certainly done a wonderful job of driving LETTERS, page 21
By Patricia Kasten
Gospel for October 28, 2007 Luke 18:9-14
PARABLE TEMPLE TAX COLLECTOR FAST INCOME HIS BREAST HOME
TWO MEN TO PRAY GOD TWICE A WEEK HEAVEN BE MERCIFUL JUSTIFIED
WENT UP PHARISEE THANK YOU TITHE BEAT I TELL YOU EXALTED
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October 26, 2007
TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
RESPONSORIAL PSALM PS 34:2-3, 17-18, 19, 23 R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor. I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall be ever in my mouth. Let my soul glory in the LORD; the lowly will hear me and be glad. R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor. The Lord confronts the evildoers, to destroy remembrance of them from the earth. When the just cry out, the Lord hears them, and from all their distress he rescues them. R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit he saves. The Lord redeems the lives of his servants; no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him. R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor. A READING FROM THE SECOND LETTER OF PAUL TO TIMOTHY 2 TM 4:6-8, 16-18 Beloved: I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance. At my first defense no one appeared on my behalf, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them! But the
Prayer life . . . ■ Continued from page 20 humble trust can rescue us from a touchy spirit that lashes out at all criticism; from a self-important spirit that insists on personal rights and prestige and recognition at every turn; from a self-centered spirit, hungry all the time for thanks and praise; from an overly-sensitive spirit, wounded constantly by so much ingratitude. None of this is easy, and it’s so tempting to give it all up, including prayer. That’s why Jesus asks that question at the end of the Gospel reading, a question that has always sounded as sad to me as anything portrayed in Mel Gibson’s movie about the Passion. Jesus asks: “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on the earth?” Jesus is asking: “When I return, will anyone still believe?” What does Jesus mean by that question? It might be something like this: The British playwright Alan Bennett, in his autobiography, makes this comment: “The majority of people perform well in a crisis and when the spotlight is on them; it’s on the Sunday after-
Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen. A READING FROM THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE LK 18:9-14
Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” noons in life, when nobody is looking, that the spirit falters.” Over the long haul, the wearier we get, the easier it is to say to ourselves, “Why bother?” or “What’s the use?” That’s why we need prayer each day, all the days. If we come faithfully to prayer, especially to time alone with Jesus Christ in his gospels, gradually the Lord will move us away from prayer that is just showing up at the heavenly ATM and punching in our code along with the current demand. Gradually Jesus will move us to listen to him so that he can teach us and show us the difference he can make - wants to make - in the living of our lives. And we are meant to help each other in prayer, even as Aaron and Hur held up the arms of Moses. In our prayer for each other we show that we realize we are brothers and sisters in Christ, daughters and sons of the Father. One final tip: it helps to keep a prayer list. If groceries and chores and errands are important enough to write down on a list, so are the people we pray for. Take the time to list the people who need you to pray for them, then, of course, take the time to pray. If you do that, when Jesus, the Son of Man, comes, whoever else he finds with faith, he will definitely find you.
21
Scripture reflection
Jeremiah 20:7-9; Psalm 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9; Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 16:21-27 A READING FROM THE BOOK OF SIRACH SIR 35:12-14, 16-18 The Lord is a God of justice, who knows no favorites. Though not unduly partial toward the weak, yet he hears the cry of the oppressed. The Lord is not deaf to the wail of the orphan, nor to the widow when she pours out her complaint. The one who serves God willingly is heard; his petition reaches the heavens. The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal, nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds, judges justly and affirms the right, and the Lord will not delay.
Catholic San Francisco
FATHER CHARLES PUTHOTA
‘Bible in one hand and the newspaper in other’? The great theologian Karl Barth once said: “You need to have the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.” He implied that the Word of God dialogues with our evolving historical reality. The more important insight is that God’s Word relates to the world as a whole represented by the newspaper. Of course, the Word of God enlightens individuals to conversion, but it seeks more to transform communities and institutions into people capable of living in the image and likeness of God and of being and becoming his children. From this standpoint, the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector is an invitation to individuals to grow in personal spirituality, but, more appropriately, a challenge to people as a whole to build up the human family. No doubt, the parable illuminates the dire need for humility in the post-modern person. As individuals, we are often caught up in the cultural and social conditioning that places a premium on the glorification of the ego. A preoccupation bordering on narcissism can characterize our way of life. Strangely, people are proud to be proud, aggressive and assertive, qualities we can detect in the Pharisee. Rugged individualism may be a way of life on the frontier but for those living in communities, interdependence and consensus are necessary. Christian vision calls us to forget and deny self, to occupy the last place, to wash the feet of others, and to be servant, even an unworthy servant. Jesus could bring us new life only through ultimate and complete self-effacement. The tax collector exemplifies such Christian values. God looks into his humble heart, upholding him who cannot but put his trust in God. However, Christianity envisions more than personal sanctification. It binds people together on a pilgrimage of life, leading them toward the Kingdom of the Father. The parable stirs us into a deeper consciousness of the human family. Addressing “those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else,” Jesus places the Pharisee within this group and the tax collector among those at the receiving end. If we could visualize the incident as taking place not in some lonely temple but amidst crowds in the Jerusalem temple, we would be able to capture the relational insight of the parable.
By praying to “himself,” the Pharisee sets himself apart from God whose grace he does not seem to need. True to the name “Pharisee,” he also sets himself apart from others. He is thankful he is not like the “rest of humanity,” which is “greedy, dishonest, adulterous.” He considers himself far above the tax collector. Having thus established his own identity, he proceeds to boast about his good deeds. Positioning himself superior to everyone else, the Pharisee takes himself outside the people God, a people forged together in a covenantal relationship. He can do nothing really toward building up the people of God. As a result, he cannot be justified. On the other hand, the tax collector, feeling unworthy even to raise his eyes to God, beating his breast, prays, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” His humility places him with the rest of humanity who cannot exist without God. Jesus says he went home justified, that is, he is in good standing—-in right relationship—-with God. He is aware that God’s covenantal love will not abandon him and everyone else who is lowly and despised like him. The First Reading from Sirach situates the poor and oppressed who cry to God within God’s covenant community. Their prayer, like that of the tax collector, “pierces the clouds.” Faced with abandonment and death, Paul, too, in the letter to Timothy, knows God upholds him, even as he is “being poured out like a libation.” God justifies the humble and downtrodden, and hastens to their rescue. Jesus in his person and preaching embodies God’s concern for the covenant family. Jesus’ disciples cannot shy away from the mission of creating a world of right relationships with God and others, which means that we have to work for peace and justice; create coalitions to eradicate poverty, hunger, homelessness, disease, desperation, anguish, violence, war, discrimination, oppression, and such evils; strive for liberty in Burma, Darfur, North Korea, Iraq, the Middle East, and other troubled spots. Let the Word of God and the newspaper dwell in our minds and hearts richly, guiding us to discern the signs of the times.
Letters . . .
a position like that. The Archbishop is a man who believes all are welcome at Christ’s table, which is why he was celebrating Mass at Most Holy Redeemer on the day of the Castro Street Fair, and the Sisters knew that he would most likely give them Communion. I believe they were trying to cause this uproar and that is not admirable nor is it productive. They are the ones who should apologize. Terese Lawler San Francisco
■ Continued from page 20 them away and reinforcing negative ideas about Catholics and the Church. Sometimes it seems some Catholics have become so preoccupied with enforcing Church rules and regulations that the original message of Jesus has been forgotten. As a practicing Catholic, and a clergy sexual abuse survivor who returned to the Church after a long absence, I had to learn the hard way to distinguish between these two. Beth Maureen Gray Mill Valley
Unfair situation I am a practicing Catholic and a native San Franciscan. I am among those who believe the Catholic Church needs to rethink its official stance on homosexuality. That said, I think it was very unfair and unkind of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to come to Mass and go up to receive Communion in costume. It is unfair to put a man like Archbishop Niederauer in
Father Charles Puthota is parochial vicar of St. Patrick Parish, San Francisco.
A nice thing Thanks for the great placement in your Oct. 12 issue of the picture and item for St. Stephen School’s role in Coastal Cleanup day. It means a lot to our new student council members to see their efforts getting press, and the parents and kids alike enjoy seeing their efforts publicized in Catholic San Francisco. It creates a buzz in their own family circles, which is a nice thing. Maggie Granero Publicity Director St. Stephen Women’s Guild San Francisco
22
Catholic San Francisco
October 26, 2007
Weigel . . .
Poverty conference . . .
■ Continued from page 19
■ Continued from cover
ing all Catholic schools, monasteries and convents in the early 20th century. It meant Bismarck’s late-19th century “culture-war” against the Church. It meant anti-clerical violence in Spain and Portugal. It meant the destruction of the old Papal States by the Italian Risorgimento. Small wonder that the popes, given their Eurocentricity (and continental Eurocentricity, at that) did not view “liberal democracy” as the Church’s friend. To suggest, however, that this “conservative” theological and political critique of real-existing-liberalism in continental Europe helped pave the way for fascism is not a claim that will withstand much scrutiny, not least because it was theological innovators, not those benighted conservatives, who were seduced early-on by the siren-songs of Nazism. The Steinfels column was of a piece with the Cowboys-and-Indians interpretation of Vatican II, in which Good Liberals defeat Evil (anti-Modernist) Conservatives. Fortunately, for both the Church and the historical record, we have been blessed with two papal veterans of Vatican II, John Paul II and Benedict XVI, who have proposed a far more interesting interpretation of the Council as both a reaffirmation and a development of classic Catholic truth claims. Some people, it seems, take rather a long time to get the message.
Point7Now! Conference is a unique opportunity for her to listen to our support for the United States keeping its promise to contribute .7% of its Gross National Product for the poorest of world, those 1.1 billion people who live on less than $1 a day. Our parishioners have researched this issue thoroughly and are ready to ask her some pointed questions,” said George Wesolek, director of the Archdiocese’s Office of Public Policy and Social Concerns. That office is a conference co-sponsor along with Catholic Relief Services, the Episcopal Diocese of California, the Lane Center for Catholic Studies and Social Thought at the University of San Francisco, the Seton Institute, Temple Emanu-El of San Francisco and the Social Development and World Peace Office of the United States Conference Archbishop Ndungane of Catholic Bishops. The conference title refers to goals adopted in September 2000 at the United Nations Millennium Summit, aimed at reducing extreme poverty and improving the lives of those living in the world’s poorest countries by the year 2015. A globally known human rights advocate, Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of Cape Town, South Africa will be one of the morning speakers.
George Weigel is a senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.
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$
SALARY: 9.84 to 11.75 an hour (based on experience)
DIRECTOR OF FACILITIES F/T benefited. Responsible for all aspects of plant and building maintenance, repair and facilities upkeep. Responsible for the supervision of the Food Service Manager, Receptionists, housekeeping and maintenance personnel.
HOURS: 9 am–12:30 pm or 10 am–1:30 pm JOB DESCRIPTION: Prepare lunch, serve and clean-up. Working under a cafeteria manager in a full service cafeteria. WHERE: All Souls Catholic School 479 Miller Ave., South San Francisco Ph: 650-583-3562 Email: info@ssfallsoulsschool.org
Send resume to: Sister Virginia Espinal 281 Masonic Avenue San Francisco, Ca 94118-4416 or email: vespinal@pbvmsf.org
CONTACT PERSON: Mr. Vincent Riener, Principal
IMMEDIATE JOB OPENING Marian Convent is a person-centered independent living and assisted living community of the Sisters of Mercy in Burlingame. It has an immediate job opening for the following position.
PASTORAL CARE COORDINATOR Primarily responsible for spiritual and emotional support to the Sisters, their families, and staff members who care for them. Plans liturgical and sacramental celebrations and a variety of educational and supportive activities. Certification in NACC or ACPE, or equivalent required. Two or four units of Clinical Pastoral Education preferred. Certification, degree or classes in the fields of spirituality, gerontology, counseling and group facilitation preferred. Comparable experience may be substituted for certification/degree/classes. Minimum of three years experience in chaplaincy or related field. Training and experience is spiritual ministry, pastoral counseling (both individually and communally) preferred. Must demonstrate a sound spirituality, theology, Christology, liturgy and psychology and current knowledge of theological/bio-ethical issues. Possess good self-knowledge of own spirituality and emotional well-being. Has knowledge and ability to journey with the dying and those who are grieving. Creative in developing/establishing a holistic spirituality and counter cultural community building. Excellent communications and interpersonal skills. Self starter, team player and can work with a variety of different constituents.
Qualified applicants may send their cover letters and resumes to: Sisters of Mercy – Attn: HR 2300 Adeline Drive, Burlingame, CA 94010 E-mail: cricafrente@mercyburl.org ● Fax: (650) 373-4509
IMMEDIATE JOB OPENING Marian Convent is a person-centered independent living and assisted living community of the Sisters of Mercy in Burlingame. It has an immediate job opening for the following positions.
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
TO THE
MANAGER
Responsible for providing assistance to the Manager in the completion of specific projects as assigned. Highs School diploma or GED required. AA or equivalent from two-year College or technical school, or one year related experience or combination of both education and experience preferred. Minimum three years experience in a clerical position with increasing responsibility required. Experience in a non-profit organization preferred. Must demonstrate an understanding of person-centered care model of working for the elderly, and sensitivity and knowledge of working with older adults. Excellent communication, interpersonal, and computer skills; tactful; can work independently, organized, ethical, with personal integrity, flexible. Current valid CA driver’s license with no moving violations a must.
LIFE ENRICHMENT COORDINATOR LAND II Responsible for planning, coordination and implementation of the activity programs for the Marian Convent that meet the daily comprehensive needs and interests of the Sisters. High School diploma or GED required. AA in Recreational therapy and/or certification as Activity Professional from an accredited program required for Level II. Equivalent combination of education and experience accepted from Level I. Two years experience in life enrichment, social or recreational program for the elderly within the past five years needed. For Level II, experience in managing or helping to manage such programs required. Demonstrate an understanding of person-centered model of providing support for the elderly and sensitivity and knowledge of working with older adults, the aging process and related physical, emotional, and mental health issues related to aging. Must have excellent communication, interpersonal, and computer skills; tactful; can work independently, organized, ethical, with personal integrity, flexible. Current valid CA driver’s license with no moving violations a must.
TRANSPORTATION SERVICES COORDINATOR I
AND
II
Responsible for scheduling the various appointments for individual Sisters (medical, shopping, general outings, etc.) and arrangement for the transportation needs for said appointments. High School diploma or GED required. Two years related experience and/or training in a medical office. Able to work independently with minimal supervision and computer skills. Has good patient transfer skills and knowledge of good body mechanics. Valid current CA driver’s license with no moving violations a must. Level II acts as the lead transportation services and assigns duties as needed to Level I.
Qualified applicants may send their cover letters and resumes to: Sisters of Mercy – Attn: HR 2300 Adeline Drive, Burlingame, CA 94010 E-mail: cricafrente@mercyburl.org ● Fax: (650) 373-4509
24
Catholic San Francisco
October 26, 2007
In Remembrance of the Faithful Departed Interred In Our Catholic Cemeteries During the Month of September Lynn O. Lay Daniel L. Scannell M. Corsiglia HOLY CROSS Nancy Stephen S. Lombardi Gladys Marilyn Scherba Gloria Cuaresma Mary F. Looney Bernice Annette Matulich Schwarz Christina Deely COLMA Helen P. Looney Chu Yuk Tse Seeto Edna M. Del Debbio Sadie M. Delahoussaye Sixto Paris Dones James J. Duryea Eileen Jane Frances Eliseian Maria Lucina Esparza John W. Faccini Roberta M. Fahey Norma Jean Fava Manuel J. Frediani Esperanza Giron Gloria C. Glickman Theresa L. Gotelli Carl E. Gustafson Sosaia Hafoka Margaret M. Haggerty Thomas F. Hanlon Beatrice Alice Hart James J. Hegarty Elvira T. Herico Alice F. Hocker Alice A. Johnson Marie L. Kerwin Filomena J. King Zita Krsinich Tom Lai Germaine V. Larson Sabina Lausoo Alice I. Lawless
Jaime Alvarez Dolores “Dee” Arroyo George O. Baptista Bernard Baylocq Adele L. Bellotti Olga Baptista Blackmon Ida M. Bonnardel Emanuel Bonnici Thomas B. Borg Virgilio R. Bunac Lilia T. Cabrera Marian J. Caccia Laura M. Cantiller Ramon S. Carrillo Celsa Maria Carter Fred J. Casassa Patricia M. Casey Guido D. Castanio Marie Olga Cicoletti Betty C. Cocoles Rose M. Cohn Sr. Mary Placida Conant, RSM Joseph P. Connolly Blanca Contreras Thomas M. Cook Eloise M. Cooney
Michael J. Lyons Tina Magliocco Christy Ann M. Maguire Judge Lawrence S. Mana Gary V. Manno Karen B. Marchi Leo Michael Martinez Evelyn F. McClure John J. McIntyre Genevieve S. McLean James Paul Montalvo James L. Moore Gloria Muzzin Dolores V. Nagel Nora G. Nostratis Gordon R. O’Keefe Juan Olmedo John Louis Ouilhon, Sr. Bernice Lorene Owens Mary F. Pagelli Larry T. Pena Erna Perlaky Mary L. Piazza Pauline Pierucci Crucifissa DiCresce Polsinelli Thomas Polsinelli Joseph P. Portelli Gloria Segrove Prescott Isabel Ann Purcell Ralph Ramirez Maria C. Razo-Alvarez Leonard Roche Madeline Rosenkrantz Elizabeth J. Saluk Dorotea “Dora” Salvemini Luz Imperial Sanano Inez C. Sanchez Maxine Coloma Santos Juan G. Saucedo
Helen J. Serafini Eileen A. Starkie Leland Vern Steffey Pauline M. Suber Robert G. Unsworth Francisco M. Uribe Louis John Vidich Carlos A. Vieira Marian J. Wackerman Daniel P. Walsh Loretta C. Webb Elizabeth Louise Wirth Edward Y. Wong Charlotte Woodruff
HOLY CROSS MENLO PARK Juanita Alvarez Pierre John Jones Ventura Juarez Taaniela L. Maama Brighid McDermott Justin Giovanni Benitez Ruiz Virgil Patrick Santiago
MT. OLIVET SAN RAFAEL Teresa U. Burke Francis G. Carrade Rita L. Edrich Dorothy Hallroan Idell M. Johnson John A. Lamuth Tosca Maria Massoni Rita Mueller Dorothy P. Olayos Victoria Silveria John E. Slovek Guido A. Todaro
HOLY CROSS CATHOLIC CEMETERY – COLMA TODOS LOS SANTOS – ALL SAINTS’ DAY CELEBRATION SATURDAY OCTOBER 27, 2007 – 11:00 A.M. – All Saints Mausoleum Chapel Most Rev. Ignatius C. Wang, Celebrant – Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco, Principal Celebrant Refreshments in the courtyard
ALL SOULS’ DAY MASS – FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2007 – 11:00 A.M. All Saints Mausoleum Chapel Rev. Daniel Carter, Celebrant – Our Lady of Lourdes Parish
FIRST SATURDAY MASS – SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2007 – 11:00 A.M. All Saints Mausoleum Chapel Rev. Brian Costello, Celebrant – Mater Dolorosa Parish
VETERANS’ DAY SERVICE – SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2007 – 11:00 A.M. Outdoor Service – No Mass – Star of the Sea Veterans’ Section
The Catholic Cemeteries Archdiocese of San Francisco www.holycrosscemeteries.com Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery 1500 Mission Road, Colma, CA 94014 650-756-2060
Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery Intersection of Santa Cruz Avenue, Menlo Park, CA 94025 650-323-6375
Mt. Olivet Catholic Cemetery 270 Los Ranchitos Road, San Rafael, CA 94903 415-479-9020
A Tradition of Faith Throughout Our Lives.