Pilgrims honor St. Jude in procession through City streets
Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
By Jack Smith
(PHOTO BY JACK SMITH)
St. Jude pilgrims turn the corner of Pine and Pierce Streets in San Francisco, arriving at St. Dominic church, Oct. 22.
Nearly one thousand people participated in the second annual Pilgrimage for St. Jude Thaddeus on Saturday, Oct. 22, in San Francisco. The pilgrimage begins with ceremonies at a Mission District parish and proceeds along City streets to St. Dominic Parish, home of the shrine to the “patron of the difficult and desperate.” The day began with an 8 a.m. Mass at St. Anthony Parish on Cesar Chavez Street celebrated by Fr. Gabriel Flores, pastor. A welcome and recitation of the Rosary was led by Bishop John C. Wester, Apostolic Administrator, along with Bishop Ignatius C. Wang, and then a biography of the Apostle of Jesus, who went on to preach in Asia Minor, was presented. Fr. Flores was very excited about the turnout for the Mass, which he estimated to be at least 800 people – an overflow crowd at St. Anthony’s. “The devotion to St. Jude is very charismatic,” he said, “People love him.” The popularity of the event will certainly ST. JUDE, page 4
Synod urges Catholics to allow Eucharist to transform lives By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — While acknowledging problems connected with faith, discipline and manpower, the Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist called on Catholics to approach the sacrament with awe and allow it to transform their lives and the life of the world. In their final message, the bishops encouraged Catholics to “go joyfully” to meet the risen Jesus in the Eucharist and experience the truth of his promise to be with his followers until the end of time. The message was released Oct. 22, a day later than scheduled, after synod members returned it to their drafting committee for minor changes and after several bishops called for clarification
in its section on divorced and civilly remarried Catholics who cannot receive the Eucharist. The message said the synod’s goal was to offer Pope Benedict XVI suggestions on how “to update and deepen the eucharistic life of the church.” It listed several challenges to eucharistic renewal, including secularism with its loss of a sense of the sacred and an awareness of sin; a shortage of priests in many countries; those in irregular marriage situations; and war, injustice and poverty. The bishops said Catholics must rediscover the “deepest meaning” of the sacrament of reconciliation; “it is a conversion and a precious remedy given by the risen Christ for the forgiveness of sins and for the growth of love toward
him and our brothers and sisters,” they said. The fact that in many parts of the world there are not enough priests to celebrate the Eucharist each Sunday “worries us a great deal,” the bishops said. They asked Catholics to join them in praying for and actively promoting vocations to the priesthood. The message did not mention the Oct. 2-23 synod’s discussion about the possibility of ordaining married men in the Latin-rite church, a possibility the majority of bishops said was not the path to pursue. The three-week assembly brought together more than 250 bishops. Australian Cardinal George Pell of Sydney told the Oct. 22 press conference, “I think it is significant that there
has been a massive restatement of the tradition in the Latin church of mandatory celibacy for priests.” In their message, the bishops encouraged renewed attention to the idea of “spiritual communion,” in which the faithful prayerfully unite themselves with Christ present in the Eucharist although they do not receive Communion. The bishops said the practice of spiritual communion would help Catholics have a deeper experience of the Eucharist when they are able to receive it and would “bring genuine consolation to those who, for various reasons, cannot receive the body and blood of Christ in Communion.” The message also expressed “pastoral SYNOD, page 4
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION ‘On the Street’ . . . . . . . . . . 2 Pope ends Synod . . . . . . . . 5 Church on death penalty . 13 Scripture and reflection . . 14 Datebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Book review . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Faith Formation Conference ~ Page 3 ~ October 28, 2005
Grieving and Healing section ~ Pages 9-11 ~ SIXTY CENTS
Katrina relief ~ Page 15 ~
Classified ads . . . . . . . . . . 19
www.catholic-sf.org VOLUME 7
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