October 8, 2010

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Rethinking vocations for the generation after the culture wars WASHINGTON (CNS) – That the Church needs more people to enter consecrated life is a given. But what is less understood is that it must connect with younger Catholics in ways that align with the new generation’s shift in world view from that of their Baby Boomer parents. Religious and Catholic lay leaders gathered in Chicago recently to work out ways to promote religious life to a new generation in a new century. The work is beginning at a “critical juncture in consecrated life,” as one participant put it.

Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper

The gathering, funded by a foundation that wished to remain anonymous, featured talks and small-group discussions designed to result in an action plan for promoting vocations in the United States. Holy Cross Brother Paul Bednarczyk, executive director of the National Religious Vocation Conference, said a final report on the symposium and the proposed plans would be presented to the foundation by the end of the year, and made public after a board meeting of the vocation conference in February. The gathering was a follow-up to a 2009 study of recent vocations to religious life conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. The study found that although the numbers in religious orders may be decreasing, new members are passionate about religious life and religious communities following more traditional practices have better success attracting younger members today. Brother Bednarczyk said young people today no longer have the opportunity that past generations had to interact with members of religious communities. “Just recall the impact that men and women religious have had in your own life,” he said. “While they taught RETHINKING VOCATIONS, page 10

Philippines: Churchstate tension over family planning bill MANILA, Philippines (CNS) – The president of the Philippine bishops’ conference said the church was open to dialogue with President Benigno Aquino III about his proposal to distribute contraceptives to control the nation’s population growth. The prelate denied media reports that he threatened to excommunicate the president. “While the prevailing sentiment of a number of bishops was that of dismay and frustration over the reported stance of the president regarding artificial contraceptives, imposition of the canonical sanction (excommunication) has not been contemplated” by the bishops’ conference, Bishop Nereo Odchimar of Tandag, conference president, said in a statement Sept. 30. “I stated that the initial approach of this issue is to be in the spirit of dialogue and not of confrontation,” the statement said. “Threat of excommunication at this point of time can hardly be considered to be in line with dialogue. I maintained that the traditional position of the church is that human life starts at conception and not at implantation. Some contraceptive pills and devices are abortifacient. Any completed act to expel or kill the fertilized ovum is considered to be an act of abortion. “I went on to say that the penalty of excommunication is meted out to the principals and accomplices PHILIPPINES, page 3

(CNS PHOTO/EDUARDO MUNOZ, REUTERS)

More vocations news, pages 8-9

Haitians in Cayes-Jacmel wait in line for medical care at a two-day free health care clinic at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish. Nine months after the devastating earthquake, more than 1 million people left homeless are still living in camps. The United States should liberalize immigration policies for Haitians and work harder at reconstruction in Haiti and toward finding permanent family solutions for orphans, said a report from bishops and others who visited the region recently as part of a delegation from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and its affiliated agencies.

Archdiocesan rescue plan for struggling schools By Valerie Schmalz Two to four Catholic elementary schools in the Archdiocese of San Francisco are likely to be closed at the end of this school year, but a new strategic plan is being implemented to help another dozen schools that are struggling, Department of Catholic Schools Superintendent Maureen Huntington said. The Archdiocese has 53 elementary schools – more than it needs, as the demographics of the area have changed from the population boom of the 1960s, Huntington said. “San Francisco is ninth in Catholic population out of 12 dioceses (in California) and yet it is second only to Los Angeles in the number of elementary schools it operates – meaning that there are dioceses in California with two or three times as many Catholics as we have who operate fewer elementary schools,” Archbishop George H. Niederauer told Catholic San Francisco. Catholic elementary school enrollment in 12 urban dioceses in the United States has dropped by a third since 2000. The San Francisco Archdiocese has not been immune from the trend, and the latest enrollment figures show a decline of more than 2 percent from last year. By county, there are 250 fewer students in San Francisco, 25 fewer in Marin and 125 fewer in San Mateo County. High school enrollment throughout the Archdiocese is down by about 100 students, the schools department said.

In addition to the long-term demographic shift, the fallout from the 2008 economic crisis continues to hurt families who would choose Catholic school but are not confident enough financially to make that commitment, Huntington said. “This policy is targeted at schools that are saveable,” Huntington said. Two to four parish schools appear beyond rescue, she said, but declined to provide more detail.

Two to four K-8 schools are likely to close at school year’s end. The policy was adopted by the Archdiocese effective Sept. 3. Called the “Strategic Plan in Support of Catholic Parish Grammar Schools,” it provides a framework to guide the archdiocesan schools team in helping struggling schools. The team can help in areas such as marketing, building parent advisory boards and improving financial management, Huntington said. “That’s the main thing: how to support the schools, rather than waiting and letting a school go under RESCUE PLAN, page 7

INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION IVF Nobel criticized . . . . . . . . 5 What is a deacon? . . . . . . . . . . 9 Letters: “Let the tears flow” . 12 “Let’s bury the eulogies”. . . . 13 Stretched by great writers . . 14

Blessing of Animals ~ Page 3 ~ October 8, 2010

Pondering Vatican time ~ Page 4 ~

Three real-life sisters share monastic life ~ Page 9 ~ ONE DOLLAR

Datebook of events . . . . . . . . 17 Service Directory . . . . . . . . . 18

www.catholic-sf.org VOLUME 12

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No. 31

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Catholic San Francisco

October 8, 2010

On The

Josh Maule, Brett Anderson, Joe Stinson, Msgr. John Talesfore, and Audrey Schiefer at last year’s Holy Cross Cemetery Christmas Remembrance Service. The cemetery’s Christmas Service this year will be December 11.

Where You Live By Tom Burke In good hands is San Francisco’s Church of the Visitacion Parish where Father Thuan Hoang has been appointed administrator. Father Thuan has been serving as a parochial vicar at Visitacion along with almost fulltime duties in the Metropolitan Tribunal/Canon Law office of the archdiocese at the Pastoral Center - long now from being the ‘new digs’ - at One Peter Yorke Way. “We have a wonderful and caring worshipping community at Visitacion,” Father Thuan, ordained in 1997, told me at the Pastoral Center where we both have first-floor offices. “I’m excited about what’s in store for us all.” A parish picnic is planned for October 16….

Maria and Walt Worthge

Jumpin’ for joy and a medal or two are Maria and Walt Worthge who pole-vaulted to second and fifth place finishes for their age groups – Maria is 46 and Walt is 49 - in recent USA Track and Field Masters Championships in Sacramento. Maria and Walt are pole vault coaches at Junipero Serra High School and Notre Dame High School in Belmont. “We love the sport and enjoy teaching young men and women that with hard work and dedication you can achieve any goal,” Maria told me on her and Walt’s behalf. Their sons are Serra alumni, Johnathan, now at Santa Barbara City College, and Shane, now at UC Irvine. Thanks to Notre Dame principal, Rita Gleason, for fillin’ us in!... On the Pulitzer path is St. Pius, Redwood City parishioner and Carlmont High School sophomore, Sean Traynor. The actor/writer – Sean has been cast in almost two dozen shows - has been named

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editor-in-chief of Amazing Kids! Online Magazine. The monthly non-profit web periodical “by and for youth” claims nearly one million readers. What won Sean the job were “his outstanding writing and editing abilities” and “introducing fresh new concepts and ideas to the magazine,” the publication said in a statement. Proud folks Sean Traynor are Martha and Steve Traynor…. Congratulations to Josh Maule who celebrated his 80th birthday September 30. A 1948 graduate of Junipero Serra High School, Josh has been parishioner of St. Dunstan’s in Millbrae for 42 years. The retired businessman and dedicated Notre Dame and 49ers fan is a frequent reader at liturgies at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma. He commemorated the milestone birthday with family at his daughter’s home in Austin, Texas…. Thanks for the example to Joanna Abot, a senior, at Immaculate Conception Academy, who rustled up more than 600 stuffed toys filling 10 boxes for poor children in the Philippines. Joanna noticed there were not enough toys for all children to play with when she visited Lourdes Parish Feeding Center in Cebu with her folks, Cristina and Peter. “The toys were tied to the wall with strings,” Joanna recalled. Assisting Joanna on the good-will effort was ICA faculty member Letty Cottrell. Joanna is looking to have a Christmas drive for the kids in Cebu in November…. Tavis Wong, a 2010 graduate of St. Ignatius College Preparatory and who played violin and viola in the SI Orchestra, performed over the summer in the 35th annual Classical Music Festival in Austria. The concerts included works from Joseph Haydn and Mozart’s Requiem. Tavis’ sister, Kalista, a 2010 graduate of SI, also performed at the festival on the piano. Proud folks are Kim and Tom Wong…. Remember to not forget Datebook. One of the

invites is from the Social Justice committee at Redwood City’s Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish for an evening of “Education, Prayer, Discernment and Dialogue on the Death Penalty” October 10 starting at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free. “The Empty Chair: Death Penalty Yes or No,” which examines four murders and the effects on the victims, survivors, offenders and others will be shown. Father John Balleza is pastor…. In less than a week – Oct. 13 - the Catholic Professional Business Club honors Msgr. James Tarantino, Vicar for Administration/Moderator of the Curia for the Archdiocese of San Francisco. It’s an occasion to say thanks to one priest while at the same time remembering all priests and their hard work among us. Please let me speak for us all when I say, ‘Thank you, Fathers, one and all!’ See Datebook.... This is an empty space without you. E-mail items and electronic pictures – jpegs at no less than 300 dpi – to burket@sfarchdiocese.org or mail them to Street, One Peter Yorke Way, SF 94109. Don’t forget to add a follow-up phone number. Thank you. My phone number is (415) 614-5634.

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Pilgrimage Processional: Saturday, Oct. 23rd, from St. Finn Barr’s Church (Edna St. @ Hearst St.) to St. Dominic’s Church, 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.; Bilingual Mass at 1:30 p.m.

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Catholic San Francisco (PHOTOS BY ARNE FOLKEDAL/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)

October 8, 2010

Philippines . . . ■Continued from cover of abortion when certain conditions are verified,� the statement continued, “Canon law and morals demand that the sanction is imposed under moral immutability of the sinner.� The Asian church news agency UCA News reported the issues of birth control and reproductive health made headlines in Manila after Aquino announced during a late-September U.S. visit that his government “might provide assistance to those who are without means if they want to employ a particular (family planning) method.� Bishop Odchimar’s statement on the bishops’ website said the church involved itself in the issue because “this is a moral question. Among other things this concerns the right to life particularly of the unborn child in the mother’s womb.� The statement also said the bishops would support a coalition of lay Catholics who planned to protest the government’s Reproductive Health bill, which treats contraceptives as medicines. UCA News reported that on Sept. 29, the head of the Philippine bishops’ Commission on Family and Life accused the United States of meddling in Philippine affairs. “I’m certain that the U.S. government influenced President Aquino’s abrupt decision to support population control,� said Father Melvin Castro, executive secretary of the commission. Msgr. Pedro Quitorio, editor of the Philippine bishops’ news service, said the bishops’ conference did not believe the United States was meddling in the affairs of the Philippines and did not believe the United States had influenced Aquino’s position on birth control. He pointed out that earlier this

year, “Aquino was already, though not very categorically, espousing that stance.� “Cardinal Ricardo Vidal of Cebu, in fact, already warned the church of the position of Aquino on life issues,� Msgr. Quitorio told Catholic News Service in an e-mail Sept. 30. The same day, Aquino, a Catholic, issued a statement that said: “We are all guided by our consciences. My position has not changed. The state’s duty is to educate our families as to their responsibilities and to respect their decisions if they are in conformity to our laws.� The Manila Standard reported that Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago urged Bishop Odchimar in a letter not to excommunicate President Aquino, herself and the other sponsors of the reproductive health bill. She said the legislation clearly prohibits abortion and continues to view it as a crime. Santiago cited the 1966 Papal Commission for the Study of Population, the Family and Birth issued by Pope Paul VI, noting, according to the paper, that it was “met with worldwide criticism because it adopted the minority report instead of the majority report.� In 1968, Pope Paul VI, in his encyclical “Humanae Vitae,� reaffirmed church teaching against artificial birth control. His successors, John Paul II and Benedict XVI, have strongly upheld its principles. From Manila, the news agency inquirer. net reported that House of Representatives Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said he is prepared to defy the church to make sure that the reproductive health bills pending before the House are fully discussed. “Everyone has to assess it for himself, but we ourselves have assessed it in the past and we are willing to take the risk,� Belmonte told reporters, the news agency reported. The bill is designed to bring women’s health care in the Phillipines in line with

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international human rights standards. It also intends to reduce the nation’s birth rate significantly. Filipinos want smaller families but lack access to family planning services to achieve this, according to the bill’s supporters. The government is committed to reducing the nation’s population growth rate in order to improve the economy and the quality of life. Nearly 27 percent of Filipinos live in poverty, according to government figures. The bill contains positive messages about women’s health and equity but the principles behind it are “deeply problematic,� the Southern Cross Bioethics Institute said in an

Pet blessing Pet owners, with furry friends and even a striped snake, flocked to Our Lady of Angels School in Burlingame Oct. 4 for the annual Blessing of the Animals. Oct. 4 marked the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals and the environment. Anointing the pets was pastor Father Michael Mahoney, OFM Cap.

analysis on behalf of the UK’s Society for the Protection of Unborn Children. “It is fundamentally unjust that the state, in its promotion of its secular population control ideals, will be using the financial resources of the primarily religious community whose faith teaches clear opposition to those ideals,� the analysis said. “The bill proposes a heavy– handed approach to dissenters, and elements of the bill appear to be totalitarian.� The bill appears to uphold the current illegal status of abortion, the analysis continued, but “has strong potential to lay the groundwork for state-sanctioned abortion.�

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Catholic San Francisco

October 8, 2010

By John Thavis VATICAN CITY (CNS) – In June, Pope Benedict XVI made an urgent-sounding announcement: He was forming a major Vatican agency to deal with “new evangelization” in traditionally Christian countries.

We need to be patient with the bureaucracy here. – Archbishop Rino Fisichella The initiative was seen as a bold stroke in the church’s ongoing effort to engage the modern world. But three months later, the project is still stuck in the slow wheels of Vatican bureaucracy.

NEWS

in brief

Pope: reject Mafia’s “path of death” PALERMO, Sicily — Pope Benedict XVI urged the young people of Sicily to reject the “path of death” offered by organized crime and to stand up to evil by witnessing the values of the Gospel. The pope spoke Oct. 3 during a one-day visit to Palermo, the Sicilian capital, where he celebrated Mass, met with priests and religious and addressed youth and families. He paused to pray at the site of the assassination of antiMafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone, who was killed by a bomb in 1992. Addressing the young in a central square of Palermo, the pope encouraged them to reshape Sicilian society. HELPLINES FOR CLERGY/CHURCH SEXUAL ABUSE VICTIMS 415-614-5506

415-614-5503

This number is answered by Barbara Elordi, Archdiocesan Pastoral Outreach Coordinator. This is a secured line and is answered only by Barbara Elordi. If you wish to speak to a non-archdiocesan employee please call this nunmber. This is also a secured line and is answered only by a victim survivor.

Officially, in fact, the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization doesn’t yet exist. Although the pope proclaimed its formation and then named its president, Italian Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the office will formally be launched only with publication an apostolic constitution, in which the pope will lay out the council’s structure and tasks. In the meantime, Archbishop Fisichella is in a kind of limbo. “We need to be patient with the bureaucracy here,” he said. The pope keeps mentioning the importance of the new council. Most recently, he urged British bishops to “avail yourselves of its services.” But the council has no address, no phone number and no official mission. Work is proceeding on the council’s office – after the construction team took a month off for the traditional August holidays. As Archbishop Fisichella said, “Pazienza.” And at the Vatican, patience is more than a virtue; it’s a way of life. The refusal to be rushed can be seen in long-delayed VATICAN TIME, page 6 “Don’t be afraid to fight against evil,” he said. “Don’t give in to the suggestions of the Mafia, which is a path of death, incompatible with the Gospel, as your bishops have so often said.”

Under-catechized faithful challenge Catholic press: publisher ROME — The U.S. Catholic press faces the challenges of writing for a Catholic population with a weakening identity and a distrust of institutions, Gregory Erlandson, president of Indiana-based publishing house Our Sunday Visitor, told a meeting of the Catholic Press Congress. But Erlandson sees hope in new technologies and a new generation of writers and editors, Catholic News Agency reported. “It has been a very challenging field really since the Second Vatican Council, but most certainly since the 1990s,” he said. “Mass attendance, attendance at Catholic schools, numbers of priestly vocations, marriages, baptisms and more have drifted lower.” There are four major Catholic national weeklies, 140 diocesan papers, more than 100 magazines and major newsletters, 160 radio stations and a major Catholic TV network in EWTN. “But appearances can be deceiving,” he warned, noting

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Newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco

Most Reverend George H. Niederauer, publisher Maurice E. Healy, associate publisher & executive editor: healym@sfarchdiocese.org Editorial Staff: Rick DelVecchio, editor: delvecchior@sfarchdiocese.org; Valerie Schmalz, assistant editor: schmalzv@sfarchdiocese.org; George Raine, reporter: raineg@sfarchdiocese.org Tom Burke, “On the Street”/Datebook: burket@sfarchdiocese.org

Blessed Andre Bessette, a member of the Holy Cross Brothers and founder of St. Joseph’s Oratory of Mount Royal in Montreal, is pictured in an undated photo from the archives of St. Joseph’s Oratory. Known for his intense piety and miraculous cures, he is one of six new saints who will be canonized in Rome Oct. 17.

the financial stress on most publications. Those not owned by dioceses have declined, as have some diocesan newspapers. The Internet has had an impact, with business models being “unclear or rapidly changing,” and fewer young people read Catholic news. “Two generations of Catholics who have been significantly under-catechized,” Erlandson said. “A larger share of our potential audience often does not understand Catholic vocabulary or concepts.”

Sudan: alarm over new violence KHARTOUM, Sudan — A Sudanese bishop says he will “ring the alarm bell” about the potential for violence to return to his country if the upcoming secession referendum does not go well. Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala will visit London, Edinburgh and Glasgow later this month, three months before Sudan’s referendum on the possible secession of South Sudan. In a statement to ACN, Bishop Hiiboro said South Sudan faces the threat of renewed violence amid signs of a breakdown in preparations for the January elections. “I am coming to the great nation of the U.K to ring the alarm bell,” he said. NEWS IN BRIEF, page 5

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Pondering the curious case of Vatican time

In 1992, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops spoke out against the sin of domestic violence. In response to their strong statement, a new ministry has been formed in the Archdiocese of San Francisco – The Ministers of Light. With the support and blessing of Bishop Bill Justice, the ministry is comprised of a grassroots group of lay ministers, primarily women and primarily survivors of domestic abuse. We are extending an invitation to all members of our faith community, but especially survivors of abuse, to join us in our mission to offer our parishes up as a place of Christ-centered refuge, healing, support and advocacy around domestic violence. If you would like to become a Minister of Light, please contact us at 415-625-2710. For more information about us, visit our website at www.ministersoflight.org.

Our next training commences May 11, 2010

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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.

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Patients at Catholic hospital supply placentas for stem-cell research CLEARWATER, Fla. (CNS) – Women giving birth by cesarean section at a Catholic hospital in Florida can contribute to cutting-edge research that could benefit burn victims, diabetics and wounded soldiers. With the permission of the new mothers, St. Joseph’s Women’s Hospital in Tampa has been collecting placentas for use in stem-cell research by the regenerative medicine company Stemnion. The Pittsburgh-based Stemnion recently opened a research facility in Clearwater, so that cells can be extracted from the afterbirth tissue within a few hours of delivery. Since January, 77 women with prescheduled cesarean deliveries at St. Joseph’s Women’s Hospital have consented to the placental donations, and 63 placentas have been successfully donated.

Children’s Holy Hour

Stemnion officials gathered Sept. 23 at the Clearwater facility with church leaders, including Bishop Robert N. Lynch of St. Petersburg, Fla., and Sister Carol Keehan, president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association, to celebrate the collaboration, which started when Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, then bishop of Pittsburgh, first heard about the fledgling company six years ago. Sister Carol, a Daughter of Charity, said she and the bishops “wanted to see morally upright, good stem-cell research being done in our many Catholic hospitals.” St. Joseph’s Women’s Hospital was a good candidate for the program because about 7,000 babies are born there each year, nearly 3,000 of them by C-section, although many of those are not preplanned.

The research – morally acceptable under Catholic teaching since it does not involve the destruction of human embryos – is aimed at developing healing therapies including a skin replacement barrier that could reduce disfigurement and contraction in severely burned patients. “It’s a great opportunity to be on the cutting edge and advance the care of severely injured people, both military and diabetics and people who are terribly burned,” Sister Carol said. William Golden, a co-founder, executive chairman, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Stemnion, said the company hopes its product “will help STEM-CELL, page 15

News in brief . . .

IVF prize ignores moral issues: professor

■ Continued from page 4

(CNS PHOTO/BOB ROLLER)

Group condemns new stem cell line

Leslie Rodriguez, 7, of St. Catherine Laboure Church in Wheaton, Md., prays during the eighth annual Worldwide Children’s Eucharistic Holy Hour at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington Oct. 1.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — After the University of Michigan announced the creation of a new embryonic stem cell line, pro-life critics decried the move as “dishonorable,” arguing that human lives were destroyed for “unproven research,” Catholic News Agency reported. On Oct. 3, the University of Michigan announced that “after several attempts,” the school created a new embryonic stem cell line known as UM4-6. The work was made possible by Michigan voters’ approval in November 2008 of measure allowing scientists to use surplus embryos from fertility clinics. “This historic achievement holds enormous promise for the treatment of many seriously debilitating and lifethreatening diseases,” University of Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman said. Michigan Right to Life responded: “Based on previous attempts to create embryonic stem cell lines by other institutions such as the University of Wisconsin and the Jones Institute, researchers likely killed between 4-10 human embryos.”

VATICAN CITY — Honoring one of the inventors of in vitro fertilization with the Nobel Prize for Medicine “ignores all the ethical problems” connected to the creation of so-called “test tube babies,” an Italian professor told Vatican Radio. British scientist Robert Edwards, a retired professor at the University of Cambridge, England, won Oct. 4 for the development of in vitro fertilization. His work led to the 1978 birth of Louise Brown, the world’s first “test-tube baby.” Four million more IVF births have taken place, and Edwards’ work is a milestone in modern medicine, the prize committee said. Edwards made a huge mark because he took livestock breeding techniques and applied them to people, Lucio Romano, president of the Italian association Science and Life, told Vatican Radio. “This absolutely does not represent progress for the human person,” he said. He said awarding the Nobel to Edwards ignores the ethical problems connected with IVF, in which human eggs are removed from a woman and fertilized in a lab. The fertilized eggs are placed in a woman’s uterus with the hope the pregnancy will progress normally. Usually, multiple eggs are fertilized with only a few being implanted. A 2008 document by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith repeated earlier Vatican condemnations of the technology because it separates procreation from the conjugal act in marriage, and because unused embryos are often discarded.

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retary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, a position that had been unfilled for six months. That’s a long vacancy for the secretary job, which handles much of the day-to-day business of a congregation that oversees the world’s men and women religious orders. On the other hand, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications was without a No. 2 official for nearly three years before Irish Msgr. Paul Tighe was named secretary in 2008. The College of Cardinals is one of the church’s most important bodies, most significantly when it meets in a conclave to elect a new pope. Yet despite predictions to the contrary, Pope Benedict has shown no sense of urgency in filling vacan-

■ Continued from page 4 appointments, the slow gestation of documents and the methodical preparation of events such as synods or consistories. For example, the pope’s document on the 2008 Synod of Bishops on the Bible – described as an urgently needed text by the synod participants – was expected late last year or early in 2010. It has been inexplicably deferred and is now due out in the fall. The timeline for that synod began with planning in 2006, making it a four-year run. When it comes to appointments, the Vatican can move with lightning speed or slow motion. U.S. Archbishop-designate Joseph W. Tobin was recently appointed sec-

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a virtue; it’s a way of life.” cies among the 120 voting-age cardinals. Rumors of a consistory to create new cardinals began more than a year ago, and it’s now expected to happen in November, when the number of cardinal electors will have dipped to 101, the lowest in many years. If the Vatican takes its time following up on events and personnel vacancies, it also anticipates some affairs by months or years. The Pontifical Council for the Family in late September released the pope’s letter for the

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Rescue plan . . . ■ Continued from cover without any assistance,” said Mercy Sister Pauline Borghello, principal of St. Gabriel School in San Francisco and a member of an advisory group that brainstormed ideas. The policy will not serve to keep every school open but will help to ensure that those assisted by it have the best chance of success, according to the plan, which was signed Aug. 3 by the archbishop and distributed to the Archdiocesan Board of Education, school principals and the Council of Priests in September. Schools with declining enrollment and those operating at a deficit are most at risk. They fall into two major categories: schools in areas with a lot of children but where the parents can’t afford Catholic school tuition, and those in neighborhoods where

the actual number of children has declined, Huntington said. The Basic Fund and the Archdiocese offer limited financial aid to some Catholic school students, but it is not enough to provide complete tuition assistance or to keep schools solvent. “It is a shame,” Huntington said. The plan sets four benchmarks to identity and monitor struggling schools: Declining enrollment; physical plant in need of repair without adequate funds to do the repairs; leadership issues including a poor relationship between pastor and principal and lack of parent and parish advisory boards; and inadequate financial management and/or operating at a financial loss. The grade-school enrollment benchmark has three separate guidelines within it: enrollment falling below 225; a trend of three years of declining enrollment; and a decrease of 15 or more students from previous years. “Pastors and principals who currently

Catholic San Francisco

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mended in an October 2008 report from Catholic Education Consulting Services after the consultant conducted a study assessing the status of every archdiocesan elementary school. Those involved in drafting the schools plan: Think Tank members: Archbishop George H. Niederauer, Msgr. James Tarantino, Rev. James MacDonald, Dr. Lisa Harris, Sister Pauline Borghello, Dr. Anthony Ramirez, Patrick Bailey and Schools Superintendent Maureen Huntington. The Think Tank met every three weeks for six months. Ad Hoc Strategic Planning Committee: Father Vincent Ring, Father Ken Weare, Dr. Ramirez, Deacon Jim Shea, Patrick Bailey, Evalynna Ho, Annette Brown, Kathy Hutchson, Anne Kearny, Barry Gremban, Ken Willers, Paul Hance, and Superintendent Huntington. The Ad Hoc Committee met monthly from September 2009 through June 2010.

face serious challenges should not fear but should gladly welcome the new assistance offered through the Department of Catholic Schools,” said Father Ken Weare, pastor of St. Rita Parish in Fairfax and a member of the Archdiocesan Board of Education. “Challenges can be met. Solutions can be found,” he said. “Such a working relationship with professional advisors should greatly enhance the possibility that no schools will face closure next year. “We are not in the business of closing schools,” Father Weare said. “It is our mission not just to survive but to thrive. After all, the students are our top priority. Catholic education is a moral obligation.” The strategic plan is the product of more than a year’s work by an Ad Hoc Strategic Planning Committee operating on suggestions from another brainstorming Think Tank committee. Both committees included school principals, administrators, pastors, and other experts. The process was recom-

By George Raine The bleeding of America’s urban Catholic schools has not been stanched and more will surely close and more young lives will be disrupted in the years to come, continuing a trend dating to the 1960s. But writing the system’s obituary is premature, educators and diocesan leaders believe. The raw numbers are troubling: U.S. Catholic school enrollment reached its peak in the early 1960s when there were more than 5.2 million students, compared with 2.1 million today, according to the National Catholic Education Association. More than 1,300 schools have been shut down since 1990, mostly in cities, and as a result 300,000 Catholic school students have been forced to go elsewhere, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a Washington, D.C., group that aims to advance U.S. elementary education, said in a report in 2008. Things haven’t improved much in two years. A perfect storm struck Catholic urban schools: Families fled to the suburbs, leaving weakened parishes and schools; the number of priests, nuns and brothers working in schools plunged – they’ve

nearly disappeared – and the unfunded liability for salaries and benefits of lay teachers in turn led to a spike in tuition that forced low-income and minority families out of school. Meantime, the offering by many Catholics when the plate is passed at Mass has been less than magnanimous. “You can almost do the math in terms of when these schools are going to start to get into trouble,” said historian Timothy Walch of Iowa City, the co-author with Thomas C. Hunt of the University of Dayton of “Urban Catholic Education: Tales of Twelve American Cities.” He added, “The value of the schools is undisputed. The problem is the economics of it.” Some experts project that at the current pace, absent reform or innovation, few, if any, Catholic schools will remain in inner cities in 2030. Thus, Catholic educators and dioceses are seeking efficiencies and rewriting the traditional business plan of urban Catholic elementary schools, spreading the financial burden beyond individual put-upon parishes where schools are not sustainable and increasing subsidies significantly, among other strategies. “I think the decline is beginning to slow a little bit,” said Daniel Curtin,

(CNS PHOTO/MIKE CRUPI, CATHOLIC COURIER)

Amid downsizing, experts see bright future for urban Catholic schools

executive director of the National Catholic Education Association, in Washington, D.C. “I think it is a good shot in the arm that the Archdiocese of Chicago announced it is not closing down any more schools (this year), while they have closed schools in last several years. I also think that we have seen many more schools merged together to form a new school. That seems to be more of a pattern. That kind of change is taking place and Catholic education is not being totally eliminated in a particular area. Catholic education is available. It is being consolidated in a much more efficient manner.” A major realignment of schools, with closures and consolidations, is pending

Rafael Ortiz, center, joins his secondgrade classmates in a prayer during the first day of school at St. John Neumann in Rochester, N.Y., Sept. 8. More than 2.1 million students are enrolled in Catholic elementary and secondary schools across the U.S.

in the Archdiocese of New York, where Archbishop Timothy Dolan, although he has not yet laid out his plan in detail, has made it clear that the burden of covering the costs of educating children should be spread around. “While the classic model of a parish school should still remain the norm, we must admit that the days of expecting a parish by itself to support its school are coming to an end,” Archbishop Dolan wrote in Catholic New York, the newspaper of the Archdiocese, on Sept. 9. He also wrote that the schools are worth preserving. “I fear a subtle buy-in into what I call CATHOLIC SCHOOLS, page 20

Announcing the 2010

CPBC Annual Dinner honoring

Msgr. James Tarantino Every year, the Catholic Professional and Business Club honors a priest or bishop of our Archdiocese with a celebratory dinner. This year we are pleased to welcome Msgr. James Tarantino, our new Vicar for Administration and Moderator of the Curia. He has has served as a priest for nearly 30 years, in parishes including St. Gabriel’s, St. Robert’s, Our Lady of Mt Carmel, and most recently as pastor of St. Hilary’s in Tiburon. Please join us for dinner and an inspiring talk by Msgr. Tarantino.

WHEN: WHERE: COST:

Wednesday, October 13, 8, 2010, Cocktails 5:30pm, Dinner 6pm Caesar’s Restaurant, 2299 Powell Street at Bay Street, SF, 94133 $36 per members, $40 for non-members (become a member for $45) Includes full three-course dinner and no-host bar.

RESERVATIONS: Mail your contact information & a check payable to “CPBC-ADSF” to: CPBC, Attn: John Norris, 1 Peter Yorke Way, SF, CA 94109 or pay at the door.

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PUBLIC SQUARE ROSARY CRUSADE America is at a historic crossroad. Secularists are trying to push God from the public square. They reject His beneficial action upon society. But without God, where will our leaders get the wisdom to solve the great problems we face? We must stop the secularist advance and pray to God for help. He will hear us, if we pray through the intercession of His Blessed Mother. That’s why we’re launching the 2010 Public Square Rosary Crusade. In The Secret of the Rosary, Saint Louis de Montfort said: “Public prayer is far more powerful than private prayer to appease the anger of God and call down His mercy, and Holy Mother Church, guided by the Holy Ghost, has always advocated public prayer in times of public tragedy and suffering.”

Join the 2010 Public Square Rosary Crusade Today! What: The Holy Rosary Where: United Nations Plaza (8th Market & Hyde St., S.F.) When: October 16, 2010 at 12:00 noon (Saturday) For more information, contact: Juanita Agcaoili… … 415.647.7229 Helen Rosenthal……415.661.1991 Linda Ibarra… … … 415.351.8750 (cell) Coordinated nationally by Tradition Family Property and its America Needs Fatima campaign: ANF@ANF.org: www.ANF.org

8

Catholic San Francisco

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October 8, 2010

VOCATIONS

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Today’s deacons define ancient order’s role with diverse ministries By Dana Perrigan An active parishioner and energetic volunteer outside the church, Ven Garcia was discussing plans for a spiritual retreat with an assistant pastor at the Church of Epiphany in San Francisco several years ago when suddenly, apropos of nothing, the priest asked him if he had ever considered becoming a deacon. “That was the first time I heard about it,� Garcia said. “My initial reaction, after he explained it to me, was ‘no.’� Now in his fourth year of the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s five-year formation program for permanent deacons, the 61-yearold retired state worker is on track to be ordained by Archbishop George Niederauer in 2012 in an elaborate ceremony marking his entrance into an ancient and honored order of the Church. For many Catholics, it is an order whose identity and role remains shrouded in mystery. “They see you in your alb and stole standing outside church after Mass and they call you father,� said Deacon Ed Cunningham. “I say, ‘yes, I am a father – I have two children.’� While deacons may perform many of the offices of a priest – such as baptizing, marrying, burying, and preaching the Gospel at Mass– the ministerial boundaries of this

resurrected order are still being drawn. Some work in parishes. Others serve as chaplains in hospitals and prisons. Still others work in shelters for battered women or, like the deacon who ministers to cross-country truckers at truck stops, create their own style of service.

St. Paul wrote that deacons should be serious, honest and faithful men, temperate in drink and ‘not greedy for money.’ “I think the real role of the deacon,� said Deacon Ray Noll, “is being defined by the people who are deacons now.� Noll and Cunningham are educators who have been involved in the formation of deacons. There are currently 90 deacons in the Archdiocese, about 17,000 in the country and 37,000 worldwide. The diaconate is a growing demographic within the Church – now with regional, national and international offices – whose origins stem

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St. Francis of Assisi, feeling – due his profound humility – unworthy of the office of priest, chose to remain a deacon throughout his life.

from a complaint over the distribution of food 2,000 years ago. A group of Greek-speaking Christian widows complained to the apostles that they weren’t getting their fair share of the food being distributed to the poor. In response, the apostles appointed seven men to see that the needs of widows and orphans were addressed. Those who performed this new ministry became known as deacons, after the Greek word for servants: “diakonoi.� One of the seven, St. Stephen, became the first Christian martyr when he was stoned to death. St. Francis of Assisi, who felt unworthy of the office of priest, chose to remain a deacon throughout his life. In a letter to Timothy, St. Paul wrote that deacons should be serious, honest and faithful men, temperate in drink and “not greedy for money.� For a variety of reasons, the Council of Sardica, held in 343 AD, reduced the diaconate to a mere step on the path to priesthood. It remained that way for 16 centuries, until

two German priests – Jesuit Father Otto Pies and Father Wilhelm Chamonix, while imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp – started the campaign that led to its restoration at the Second Vatican Council. It was understood at the Council that the deacon had a special responsibility to identify those in need, especially those without power and voice in society. His mandate was to become their advocate, and, whenever possible, inspire the community to respond constructively. “The role of the deacon in the simplest terms is service,� said Cunningham. “When you think of service, you think of working in a parish, but it goes much further than that.� A retired teacher, Cunningham was ordained to the diaconate in 1999. In addition to helping his pastor at St. Anselm Parish in Ross, he ministers to inmates at San Quentin State Prison. For the past three years, he has also served as the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s director of formation for the diaconate. TODAY’S DEACONS, page 10

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October 8, 2010

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Catholic San Francisco

VOCATIONS

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Sisters’ vocation to cloistered life takes them to San Francisco monastery By Valerie Schmalz Sister Alma Ruth’s ambition was to become a flight attendant, and the 23-year-old was anticipating a longsought vacation to Hawaii when she came to San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury district to visit the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. A younger sister was considering a vocation to the cloistered contemplative order, and Sister Alma Ruth thought she’d just visit.

Thank you, Lord, we have another day to save more souls. – Sister Alma Ruth, Sister of Perpetual Adoration The monastery, founded in 1928 by sisters fleeing the Mexican Revolution’s persecution of the Catholic Church, is devoted to constant prayer before the Eucharist. A Jesuit priest, Father Dionisio Kavanaugh, helped the sisters from Guadalajara move to San Francisco, as he had helped the Carmelites the year before. There are three other U.S. monasteries in Anchorage, Alaska and two in El Paso, Texas, and about 80 worldwide, but the core remains in Mexico with 60, said monastery superior Mother Rosalba Vargas. “My vocation was very fast. I came, I liked it, that was it,” said Sister Alma Ruth, now 50, and bilingual in Spanish and English. The mistress of novices told her parents, “I don’t want to go to Hawaii. I want to go to the sisters.” Now, her full name is Sister Alma Ruth of the Holy Spirit because she entered the order on Pentecost Sunday 1983. “I was very happy for them,” said Mother Rosalba, at 53 the eldest sibling of

Sister Alma Ruth and Sister Betzabet, 45. The three were middle children in a family of 10 children who had emigrated from the province of Michoacan, Mexico. “I never thought I was going to end up here,” Mother Rosalba said. “I grew up thinking I didn’t have a vocation.” Although three sisters in one community is remarkable, vocations to contemplative life can run in families, said Father Francis Filice, the diocesan priest appointed chaplain in 1996. An example is St. Therese of Lisieux who was with four of her sisters in the Carmelite monastery in France. The Sisters of Perpetual Adoration were established with papal permission in 1807 by an Italian Franciscan nun who had a vision of Jesus calling for an order devoted to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Blessed Mary Magdalene of the Incarnation was beatified in 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI. “What’s amazing to me is how happy they seem to be despite the fact they are closed up all the time,” said Father Filice. Particularly impressive is the kindness the women show to each other, he said. “A monastery of cloistered nuns is like a lighthouse set on a hill. It reminds the whole diocese of the presence of God in its midst,” wrote Dominican Father Gabriel O’Donnell in a citation on cloisteredlife. com. Pope Benedict XVI calls contemplatives the “heart” of the Church. “…your hidden lives with Christ, imbued with work and prayer, contribute to maintaining the Church, the instrument of salvation for all mankind whom the Lord redeemed with His Blood,” the pope said in June. When the three Vargas sisters entered the monastery at 771 Ashbury St. in the early 1980s, there were 30 members. Today there are 12, four in their 90s, some of whom have spent more than 70 years in the monastery, the sisters said. Potential vocations now come via the monastery website, adorejesus.org. Sister Alma Ruth said some women have come but left before taking final vows.

Sisters of Perpetual Adoration at the order’s San Francisco monastery include real-life sisters Mother Rosalba (above, center), Sister Betzabet and Sister Alma Ruth. At right, the sisters sing as three.

She expects more sisters soon: “Because only God can fill that emptiness.” Life as a Sister of Perpetual Adoration means vows of poverty, obedience and chastity. It includes two hours of recreation after lunch when the religious play volleyball, chat, draw, paint, sew and play music. They pray as a community before the Blessed

Sacrament seven times daily and each sister spends at least one scheduled hour of Eucharistic Adoration each day. Beyond that, “during the day, we make little visits,” SISTERS’ VOCATION, page 10

“Listen, O my son, to the teaching of your master….” (Rule of St. Benedict, Prologue) Come then and live as a monk following the Rule of St. Benedict in the Trappist-Cistercian Tradition

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Catholic San Francisco

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October 8, 2010

VOCATIONS

Rethinking vocations . . . ■ Continued from cover you how to multiply numbers and how to diagram a sentence properly, through their example they also taught you how to treat others justly and fairly and to show a special sensitivity to the needs of the poor and less fortunate. Maybe during a time of personal crisis, illness or grief, they taught you the importance of a caring presence.” But “a smaller and older religious population has lessened the opportunity for such encounters to occur today, especially with our younger Catholics,” he said. “It is testimony to God’s providence that despite their lack of knowing another religious personally, today’s men and women, even though they are in smaller number, continue to come to the vowed life.” Citing divisions in the church on issues ranging from hierarchal leadership to women’s roles to sexuality and immigration, Brother Bednarczyk noted that the study conducted by CARA showed that younger Catholics entering religious life “are clearly disheartened by this polarization they see in the church, in religious life and in their religious institutes.”

Those divisions must be acknowledged as part of “the reality to which we attempt to invite women and men to a radical following of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a life of consecrated chastity, poverty and obedience,” he said. Other speakers raised similar issues, citing a need to recognize the differing worldview of today’s young Catholics in order to discover what might attract them to religious life. For them, “Vatican II is someone else’s history,” said Brother Sean D. Sammon, a former superior general of the Marist Brothers and former president of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men. “Today a new generation, many of whose members lack a strong Catholic identity as defined by the practices of the past, is looking at religious life and mission through eyes shaped by a world that is foreign to many of us over the age of 50,” he said. “Theirs does not include John F. Kennedy or the Cold War. Nor is it a world that has cause to remember Woodstock, the sexual revolution, Dag Hammarskjold, a war in Vietnam, Watergate, the early days of the women’s movement,” Brother Sammon added. “These persons and events may have been a part of your world or mine, but for the emerging generation, they serve as content of the history books that they read.” He said the greatest differences between the younger and older

Today’s deacons . . .

St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was one of the seven original “diakonoi” named by the apostles of Christ.

■ Continued from page 8 Usually, said Cunningham, those interested in applying to the diaconate have a track record of parish involvement. After being endorsed by their parish priest, applicants are carefully vetted by the Archdiocese. Applicants must be at least 35 years old. Single applicants are required to remain celibate. A married applicant whose wife dies may not remarry without permission of the Holy See. Most, the majority of whom are married and have jobs outside the Church, are not paid. “My decision to join the diaconate was a very gradual process,” said candidate John Murray, a married classmate of Garcia’s whose girlfriend in college became a nun. “When you’re a lawyer, you look at life with a narrow focus. I was thinking what I could do that – frankly, would make me a better person.” Those accepted into the program spend their first year studying the documents of the Second Vatican Council, as well as assessing their readiness to serve as deacons. They later take courses in Church history, Scripture, moral and sacramental theology, homiletics, canon law and liturgy. The 1,000-hour formation process includes occasional weekend seminars dedicated to such topics as restorative justice and Catholic social teaching.

SOCIETY OF MARY

Ordained in 1981, Noll, a theology professor emeritus from the University of San Francisco, has worked to educate candidates in the Diocese of Oakland, Archdiocese of San Francisco and Diocese of Santa Rosa. He and his wife, Jean-Marie Noll, also an educator, have served together on several ministries, including mission coordination for the Santa Rosa diocese and helping the homeless.

Sisters’ vocation . . . ■ Continued from page 9 Sister Alma Ruth said. “It’s a beautiful life. Such a perfect schedule.” The Vargas’ siblings have more than 30 children, and the Vargas nuns greet them from from behind the grill. Their father is still alive but their mother died shortly after they took final vows. “She was so happy,” Sister Alma Ruth said. “She

So GOD, what do YOU want ME to do for YOU?

Called by Mary To live, pray, and serve the Church and the world In the community which bears her name

maristsociety.org Individual and group vocational counseling available.

i t i t

THE MARISTS

i t i t

For more information, contact: THE VOCATION DIRECTOR MARIST FATHERS AND BROTHERS 2335 WARRING ST., BERKELEY, CA 94704 TOLL FREE: 866-298-3715, OR 510-486-1232 EMAIL: maristvocations@sbcglobal.net

✝

generations are seen in the “desire to belong to a group whose commitment and fidelity to the church is unquestioned, the wearing of a religious habit, the form of community life and style of prayer.” Brother Sammon said a key ingredient in establishing “the necessary lines of communication between this population and our congregations” is the creation of a “culture of vocation promotion,” including the appointment of at least one full-time vocation promoter in each of the congregation’s provinces or districts. “If General Motors or IBM faced the personnel crisis that we have had on our hands for the last few decades, they would have long ago had their best people in the work of recruiting men and women for a career with their corporations,” he said. New revelations of clergy sex abuse and the Vatican apostolic visitation of U.S. communities of women religious have not discouraged Catholics from considering a religious vocation, with the majority of vocation directors seeing an increase in inquiries for the fourth straight year, according to a recent survey. The survey, commissioned by the Chicago-based Vision Vocation Guide, also found that vocations directors reported some positive impact on their work from Pope Benedict XVI’s call for atonement for the church’s failings, the Year for Priests and the canonization or beatification of a particular saint.

“I’m often in a position where I can encourage lay men and women to get involved with the parish,” said Noll, a resident of Petaluma, “because I’m the guy down the street with the mortgage, just like them.” The wives of deacon candidates attend classes with their husbands. Some, like Noll and his wife, often end up working as a team. Director of the Permanent Diaconate in the San Francisco Archdiocese since 1993, Deacon Leon Kortenkamp said deacons may create their own social justice programs, which may include enlisting community involvement and obtaining funding, similar to the operation of a non-profit. As an example, he mentioned the ministry of a deacon who set up a program to serve battered women. Since being ordained in 1999, Deacon Chuck McNeil has, in addition to working at St. Dominic Parish in San Francisco, been involved in several ministries. He developed a ministry involving parishioners, who conduct prayer services twice a week at the San Francisco County Jail. McNeil, 50, recently became assistant chaplain at San Quentin. “It’s been a very good experience,” said McNeil of his 11 years in the diaconate. “It’s been an amazing experience. I feel like I’m still trying to grow into the vocation.” Dana Perrigan is in formation to become a permanent deacon of the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

The Perpetual Adoration Chapel hours are 6:15 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, Mass at 7 a.m. Street parking near 771 Ashbury at Frederick and at 70 Downey St., a garage behind the monastery. adoresjesus.org would always encourage us to give ourselves to the Lord.” But the sisters knew from other family members that their mother would cry quietly at home because she missed her girls so much after they entered the cloister. It took their father two years to accept their vocations, Sister Alma Ruth said. “It was easier for us,” said Sister Alma Ruth. “You have to remember, we are here to serve the Lord. When you have a vocation, I don’t think it’s so difficult. You just feel so good that you have that time to be with the Lord.”

Am I called to CONSECRATED LIFE? Am I called to serve those who live in poverty?

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Choices of the HEART Retreat FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

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Serving the Archdiocese of San Francisco Since 1854 For information, please contact:

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415.422.5017

October 8, 2010

Catholic San Francisco

11

PRIESTS FOR THE FUTURE You haven’t chosen me. I have chosen you.” “Tu no me has elegido. Yo te he elegido a ti.”

PRIESTS FOR THE ARCHDIOCESE

OF

SAN FRANCISCO

John 15:16

God, our Father, In Your providential Love, You call each of us to a more holy and abundant life. We pray for our young people in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Open their hearts and minds to know the vocation You have planned for them from all eternity. If they are being invited to follow You as a Priest, Brother, or Sister, give them a generous heart to respond to Your challenging call and the strength to follow wherever You lead them. May families desire to please You by encouraging and supporting vocations within their homes. We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Good Shepherd. Amen

Archdiocese of San Francisco Seminarians Raul Barriga Jordan Lindsey Richard Grablin Peter Kemberling Patrick Summerhays

Gregory Joseph Cameron M. Faller Manolito S. Jaldon, Jr Tony Vallecillo Andrew Spyrow

Adrew W. Ginter Thomas V. Martin Roger G. Gustafson Armando J. Gutierrez Felix B. Lim

Rev. Mr. John Chung Rev. Mr. Jerome M. Murphy Dat Nguyen Hansel P. Tomaneng Juan R. Alejo

Please complete this form and mail to the Vocation Office ❑ I will pray for vocations daily. ❑ I would like information on studying for the priesthood would make a great priest(s). Parish ❑ I believe that ❑ I wish to make a gift to ensure priests for the future. ❑ I have or would like to remember the education of future priests in my will. ❑ I would like information about joining a parish vocation committee. Name

Phone Number

Address City

State

Zip

Please Return To: Father Thomas A. Daly, Office of Vocations Archdiocese of San Francisco One Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco, CA 94109 (415) 614-5683 e-mail: dalyt@sfarchdiocese.org or go to: www.sfarchdiocese.org/vocations

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Catholic San Francisco

October 8, 2010

“The tears streamed down, and I let them flow” In the Gospel of John, Chapter 11, describing the death of Lazarus, someone whom Jesus loved intensely, we are told in verses 33 and 34: “When Jesus saw Mary weeping and the Jews her companions weeping, he sighed heavily and was deeply moved. ‘Where have you laid him?’ he asked. They replied,’ Come and see, sir.’ Jesus wept.” On a recent front page of San Francisco Chronicle, there was a story about the new $830,000 state-of-the-art execution chamber at San Quentin – ready to deal death in the most efficient way possible. And, on a recent front page of this Catholic newspaper, there was a photograph of students at St. Cecilia School, who, weeping at the

sudden, tragic loss of a beloved classmate/schoolmate and her mother, had come together in faith and prayer, in profound grief and Easter hope, in the House of God, their local church, seeking the presence of the Lord who wept at the loss of Lazarus, and who has defeated our great enemy, death. I disagree vigorously with the recent writer who called this a “plain photo op.” It clearly showed the People of God – children, yes, with broken hearts, coming to spend time with the Risen Lord, who has promised to make a place ready for those who believe and the only One who promises a peace beyond our limited human understanding. The Chronicle celebrates a death chamber. Catholic San

Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper

Killer’s execution would serve justice The Oct. 1 issue Catholic San Francisco reported on the impending execution of Albert Greenwood Brown and stated that the bishops and others of the Catholic Church are in disfavor of execution of this person and others of his ilk. The usual arguments are cited: A life sentence will keep him off the streets; execution degrades all life and doesn’t inhibit crime. These reasons are insignificant. The news report was that this man raped and killed a 15-year-old girl while on parole following his conviction for raping another girl. In each case Albert was found guilty of crimes against innocents and against humanity. Albert not only destroyed the lives of these two girls, but has altered the lives of the families forever. Every morning and evening the parents of these two girls must try to forget how their daughters suffered at the wanton hands of this person. His actions prove he is not human. Execution will enhance my respect for all life, and my regard for our system of justice. To have to feed, clothe and provide health care for this person is a burden the state should not have to carry any longer. Ron Gillis Larkspur

Sixth graders raise $133.60 for fire relief Our daughter, Anna Meehan, is a sixth grader at St. Paul’s School, and was moved by the disaster in San Bruno. We saw pictures of what happened to those homes and families; there are several St. Paul’s families who live in San Bruno and as is inevitably the case in San Francisco, which is just a small town, we had connections one way or another to the poor people who lost their lives. Anna and five other St. Paul’s girls talked together on the playground about what to do to help, and decided that they would make bracelets and sell them. Last Friday, Anna Meehan, Lauren Cayongcat, Rachel Sweeney, Caroline Castaneda, Michela Hovland and Isabel Siu, all sixth graders in Ms.

Letters welcome Catholic San Francisco welcomes letters from its readers. Please send your letters to: Catholic San Francisco One Peter Yorke Way San Francisco, CA 94109 Fax: (415) 614-5641 E-mail: delvecchior@sfarchdiocese.org, include “Letters” in the subject line.

Woodall’s class at St. Paul’s Elementary School, spent the afternoon making beaded bracelets and clay charms. On Sunday, the girls sold their stock, along with custom-made on-the-spot bracelets, at the Men of St. Paul’s Pancake Breakfast. The St. Paul’s community responded generously: many people handed the girls extra money and said, “Keep the change.” The girls netted $133.60 (on trinkets they were selling for $1 and $2.50) which we sent to the Catholic Charities CYO San Bruno Fire Relief Fund. Mary Ann Koory San Francisco

Praise for faith groups’ San Bruno response The recent fire disaster in our beloved San Bruno neighborhood has truly reaffirmed for us the preciousness of life. We are so very grateful to those who valiantly responded that evening to a highly dangerous situation as they put the safety and well being of us in this community before their own. A most sincere and heartfelt thank you goes out to these first responders as it is through their remarkable response that many of us still have homes to which we recently returned. God truly sent us many unsung heroes that evening, and to all of them we express our deepest and humblest gratitude. The response from the St. Robert Parish was overwhelming and exceedingly heartwarming. Father Obet, Father Paul and Father Ring exuded the spirit of Christ over those long, difficult days by opening up our church to the needs of our suffering community. The Sisters of the Presentation were a constant presence at the community shelter/aid center, and Sister Sheral Marshall worked tirelessly to assure that our many needs were being met. The convent was even opened up for residents who had nowhere to stay during the evacuation period. What better way to serve one’s fellow man than to physically help those in most need, as many of us truly were during this dark and very sad time. Our neighboring church, St. Andrew’s Lutheran, sent several of its own ministers to assist in the disaster. Church of Scientology ministers were present throughout the entire evacuation ordeal as they brought comfort to those displaced by the explosion by spreading ministry and giving food and water to tired victims. Pastor David Smith of the Church of the Highlands opened up his own church auditorium for community outreach by giving food, water and even meeting space to residents. The gratitude we feel toward these remarkable people is difficult to express. San Bruno Mayor Jim Ruane, City Council members, and members of the Disaster Preparedness team showed

Francisco celebrates a Church of believers who are Easter people, and who understand the meaning of these profound words of St. Augustine: “The tears Jacqueline and streamed down, and I let them flow as freely Janessa Greig as they would, making of them a pillow for my heart. On them it rested.” Father Piers Lahey Good Shepherd Church, Pacifica

that our tiny community can truly work together to ensure that a disaster of this magnitude can be met with an immediate and effective plan to save lives and minimize great casualties. Although our days ahead will still be filled with memories of that terrible night, we take comfort in knowing that so many around us cared so very deeply. The horror that we personally felt that evening as we fled for our lives and believed that we looked upon our home for the final time is slowly giving way to the intense admiration and gratitude we have for all who assisted in this remarkable effort. May God richly bless them for the example of selfless serving they have shown to all. Alan and Darlene Esola San Bruno

New Missal aligns with original Latin Catholics now decrying the new English translation of the Novus Ordo must remember that Latin is the official language of the Church, and that while the (Second Vatican) Council allowed vernacular translations of the Mass, it stipulated that they must accord with the Latin original. The current English translation diverges widely (even wildly) from the Latin on so many points that the world’s anglophone bishops raised a chorus of voices asking for a better version some years ago. The new version, which premiers next Advent, is in far better accord with the Latin. This former Latin student will welcome it and be pleased to defend it from the original text. Qui hoc contendere vult? (Editor’s note: The phrase translates “Who is willing to fight this?”) Thomas Byrne Daly City

Parishioners’ thoughts on Sacrament of the Sick

13 years with the last two pastors who ran this parish. So, when you placed this article in the newspaper we began to think one priest encourages us to get this sacrament and another discourages us by saying it is being abused and invited people to call the rectory and ask the priest to come to their home or the people to come to the rectory for this sacrament. We began to wonder that maybe giving out this sacrament was taking too much of the pastor’s time to anoint those who are suffering. James and Eleanora Rivera South San Francisco

The violin is king George Raine’s statement that the organ is the king of instruments (CSF, Oct. 1) is incorrect. The violin is the king of instruments, the piano is the queen of instruments and the organ is the pope of instruments. Patrick Quinn San Mateo

L E T T E R S

We are responding to the article “Sacrament of the Sick is redemptive: priest” in the Sept. 24 CSF. This is what we believe but we are very concerned when a pastor takes away that sacrament that was being offered each first Saturday of each month after the 8:30 morning Mass because the pastor decided that people were abusing it. We used to go to this parish each month to receive this sacrament and invited others who were suffering with on-going illnesses and also enjoyed doing the first Saturday devotion to the Blessed Mother Mary. We would see quite a few elderly people who would attend this Mass and felt that this sacrament encouraged the elderly to make Mass and receive the “Anointing of the Sick.” We were never approached and asked what kind of on-going sickness/suffering we were going through. This sacrament was a great help and gave us a new strength to keeping carrying our cross. How would a pastor know if people are abusing this sacrament unless he decided to interview each person that came that month? “The Anointing of the Sick” was at this parish for more than

One swallow does not make a summer

Jane L. Sears’ condemnation of the 40-year-old English translation of the Mass, comparing it to “Twinkies” and calling it “lackluster vanilla” (CSF, Sept. 17) is a very elitist view of what was, in fact, a groundbreaking attempt to make the Mass more accessible to people who encompass a wide range of educational backgrounds, including even illiteracy. Also, the movement to the vernacular Mass came from the “grass roots” and had been practiced in Europe for more years before it was officially recognized and acknowledged by the Second Vatican Council. One person’s preference for more literary language in the Mass does not, I believe, represent the majority of the laity or the clergy on this topic, just as one swallow doesn’t make a summer. Rosemary K. Ring Kentfield

Marianists: “Best-kept secret in San Francisco” Brother Arnold Stewart, FSC, in his letter (CSF, Sept. 24) regarding the lack of recognition of the contributions of the Marianists, brought back memories of 1934. As a freshman at St. James High School, I heard many times the statement, “The Marianists are the best-kept secret in San Francisco.” Unfortunately, that statement is still relevant today. For whatever reason, the fathers, brothers and staff have never received the praise and recognition they so richly deserve for providing an excellent Catholic education to thousands of young men in San Francisco and St. Joseph’s, St. James and Archbishop Riordan high schools for over 100 years. I second Brother Stewart’s salute to the Marianists! James V. Grealish St. James High School Class of 1938 San Francisco

October 8, 2010

Catholic San Francisco

13

The Catholic Difference

Benedict humbles the “new atheists” Some years ago, I was invited to address a seminar at the Palace of Westminster for members of the House of Lords and House of Commons interested in Catholic social doctrine. The seminar was advertised in the daily schedules of both houses of Parliament and by 11 a.m. a dozen or so peers and MPs (members of Parliament) had gathered in a conference room. As Lord Alton of Liverpool was introducing me, a gray head thrust itself inside the door to see what was afoot. Alas, before I could seize the microphone and say, “Do come in, Dr. Paisley, and see what the Whore of Babylon is up to,” David Alton finished his introduction and invited me to begin my presentation—for which, alas, the Rev. Ian Paisley did not tarry. It was something of a disappointment, for I was eager to get to grips with the old anti-Catholic firebrand from Northern Ireland. An exchange of polemics is unlikely now, though, for Dr. Paisley is so far gone in respectability as to have been raised to the peerage as Lord Bannside. Yet a few embers of anti-Catholic bigotry still smolder within his lordship’s breast: during Pope Benedict’s recent visit to the United Kingdom, Dr. Paisley told the Telegraph that “I don’t want his blessing” and then claimed, absurdly, that “I just got a notice from their website that if you pay 25 pounds and go to Mass today, you’ll get out of purgatory quicker.” Still, there’s something a bit ragged, a bit shopworn, about Ian Paisley’s complaints these days. He’s engaged in anti-Catholic bombast for so long that whatever notes he

manages to coax from his tarnished trumpet sound muted and flat: a matter of going through the motions for the sake of auld lang syne (if an Ulsterman like Paisley will permit me the reference). The serious anti-Catholic antics prior to the pope’s pilgrimage to Scotland and England came, not from Ian Paisley, but from “new atheists” like Richard Dawkins and Stephen Fry, their allies in the British media (generally vicious in the run-up to Benedict’s arrival), and their legal show-pony, Geoffrey Robinson, Q.C., a transplanted Australian seeking to export the joys of American liability law to the U.K., as a base from which to plunder the Vatican of what he imagines to be its Croesus-like wealth. These people came unglued in anticipation of the pope’s arrival: Dawkins & Co. originally proposed having the Pope arrested as an abettor of child-rape, and the op-ed pages were filled with raucous anti-Catholic blather for weeks before Benedict XVI set foot in the United Kingdom. In the event, of course, it all came a cropper, to use a local phrase. As a courageous Scottish bishop, Philip Tartaglia, put it to me during the visit, “the pope’s grace and intelligence” won the day, to the point where even the BBC—which had disgraced itself with forays into the Paisleyan fever swamps of anti-Catholicism in recent months—was providing reasonably balanced, and occasionally even positive, coverage of papal events in Glasgow and London. The hyper-secularist chattering classes had had their

innings; the people turned out in droves anyway, to be with the Bishop of Rome and to give him the kind of cordial and respectful welcome first extended to him on his arrival by the ever-impresGeorge Weigel sive Queen Elizabeth II. By the time Benedict left, even Prime Minister David Cameron, not previously noted for his enthusiasm about Joseph Ratzinger, was telling the pope that he had given all Britons important things to think about. Benedict XVI’s success in the U.K. challenges the often-supine British hierarchy to be as humanly compelling and intellectually forceful as the pope. If the bishops of the U.K. gather their nerve, they may eventually recognize that the new atheists are in danger of becoming Paisley 2.0: people so perfervid, so over-the-top, in their antipathies as to be dismissed as fundamentally unserious. The virulence of the new atheists’ pre-papal visit commentary suggests they may fear this fate for themselves. In which case, to use another local phrase, it’s time to put in the boot. George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

Guest Commentary

Let’s bury the eulogies According to the dictionary, a eulogy is “a speech or piece of writing that praises someone or something highly, typically someone who has just died.” Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? In the context of a Catholic funeral, however, eulogies can be problematic for several reasons. The first is that Catholic liturgical norms do not permit a eulogy during the funeral Mass. The Order of Christian Funerals states, “A brief homily based on the readings should always be given at the funeral liturgy, but never any kind of eulogy. The homilist should dwell on God’s compassionate love and on the paschal mystery of the Lord as proclaimed in the Scripture readings.” The instruction goes on to say that the homily should give consolation and strength to the community mourning the death of one of its members. The point here is that the funeral liturgy is public worship for the Church – with its own expectations and limitations – and not primarily a memorial service for the one who has died. The homily, therefore, should focus on Jesus Christ and His saving death and resurrection, and not become a testimony – as well-deserved as it might be – to the deceased. Obviously it’s fitting, even during the homily, to offer sympathy and support to the grieving community, and to say good things about the deceased, to highlight their positive virtues and contributions. But that personal tribute should never be the primary focus of the homily. Another emphasis of the liturgical norms is that the

homily be “brief.” Now, “brief” is a relative term and what might be brief to one might be excessive to another. In light of our common liturgical experience, however, it seems to me that a funeral homily generally shouldn’t exceed ten to fifteen minutes. The homily should apply the Word of God, simply and clearly, to the reality of death and resurrection, and avoid the temptation to recall, year-by-year, the deceased’s life story and accomplishments. Now, having said all of that, the Church certainly recognizes the more personal consequences of death. For that reason, the funeral liturgy provides an option for the conclusion of Mass: “A member or a friend of the family may speak in remembrance of the deceased before the final commendation begins.” Even these “words of remembrance,” popularly called eulogies, create real pastoral problems, however, and like many priests I’ve witnessed abuses of this accommodation. On one occasion, the eulogy was presented by a relative of the deceased, a fallen-away Catholic, who used his time at the microphone to lambaste the Catholic Church and its traditions. In another case, the nephew of the deceased took the occasion to praise his uncle’s rather profligate life style, emphasizing how he was really good “at picking-up chicks.” Another time the eulogy rambled on and on, becoming almost as long as the rest of the funeral Mass. Sometimes the person chosen to offer the remembrance isn’t adept at public speaking and their words are presented

in vain, unable to be heard or understood by the congregation. I remember one eulogist so overwhelmed by grief that she stood at the pulpit weeping uncontrollably for several minutes, imposing her intense Bishop private grief upon a very uncomfortable congrega- Thomas J. Tobin tion, until someone finally came forward and gently led her back to her pew. Whether or not to permit words of remembrance is the sole discretion of the pastor who is responsible for the spiritual care of his parish and the liturgy that takes place there. If words of remembrance are permitted they should be very brief, not competing with or replacing the homily, and they should be appropriate in tone, keeping in mind the sacred time and place. There may be some special situations – for example when the deceased is well-known in the community, or there are unusual circumstances in the death of the individual – when words of remembrance at the end of Mass may be more fitting, but these too must be limited in scope and appropriate in content. EULOGIES, page 20

For the Journey

Have we given up teaching the young to work hard? One of my brothers is very frugal, and consequently he has done well financially. His saving ways were apparent in childhood. As the rest of us devoured our Halloween candy as greedily as Mom would allow, my brother put his in a locked suitcase and kept it under his bed. He would eat his goodies sparingly and with admirable restraint. He wasn’t above good-natured teasing, either. He’d enjoy a lollipop from that suitcase as slowly and pleasurably as possible while the rest of us watched, our little mouths watering. But frugality wasn’t his only characteristic. He was also, from the time my dad first put him on a tractor on our farm, an incredibly hard worker. When he graduated from fields to the “kill floor” of a beef packing plant to help pay his way through college, he became – and remained – a valuable employee. Not surprisingly, he did well and was able to retire early. Also not surprisingly, idleness doesn’t sit well with him, and there’s only so much travel you can do. So, not having a family to keep him busy, he took a job in a plant. It’s below his educational level, but it keeps

him busy. When things slow down and there’s not much to do, he picks up a broom and tidies up the place. That’s just the worker he is. It’s in his bones. The other day he told me over the phone that the plant offered him a promotion and several dollars an hour more pay. He hadn’t asked for it. In these hard economic times, he’s not trying to beat out younger, perhaps needier, workers. Wow, I told him, you’d think there would be all kinds of competition for a raise like that. I could almost see him shaking his head from across the miles. You just won’t believe how so many people (his coworkers) just don’t want to work hard, he said. After our call, I reread an opinion piece by Robert J. Samuelson in the Sept. 6 issue of Newsweek. The article discusses why school “reform” is failing. Samuelson is blunt: “The larger cause of failure is almost unmentionable: shrunken student motivation.” More students, he says, “of all races and economic classes ... don’t like school, don’t work hard and don’t do well.”

We ’r e s p e n d i n g more money on students. Student-teacher ratios have fallen dramatically. But test scores have barely budged, and more and more students arrive in college needing remedial work. Effie Caldarola Samuelson says motivation comes in a variety of ways: “curiosity and ambition; parental expectations; the desire to get into a ‘good’ college; inspiring or intimidating teachers; peer pressure.” I remember all those motivations at work on my brothers and me as I was growing up. We learned how to work hard, and work was our expectation. So what’s missing now? Having seen my last child graduate from high school, FOR THE JOURNEY, page 20

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Catholic San Francisco

A READING FROM THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 2 KGS 5:14-17 Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times at the word of Elisha, the man of God. His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean of his leprosy. Naaman returned with his whole retinue to the man of God. On his arrival he stood before Elisha and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel. Please accept a gift from your servant.” Elisha replied, “As the Lord lives whom I serve, I will not take it;” and despite Naaman’s urging, he still refused. Naaman said: “If you will not accept, please let me, your servant, have two mule-loads of earth, for I will no longer offer holocaust or sacrifice to any other god except to the Lord.” RESPONSORIAL PSALM PS 98:1, 2-3, 3-4 R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done wondrous deeds; his right hand has won victory for him,

October 8, 2010

Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time 2 Kings 5:14-17; Psalm 98:1, 2-3, 3-4; 2 Timothy 2:8-13; Luke 17:11-19

his holy arm. R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power. The Lord has made his salvation known: in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice. He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel. R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God. Sing joyfully to the Lord, all you lands: break into song; sing praise.

R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power. A READING FROM THE SECOND LETTER OF PAUL TO TIMOTHY 2 TM 2:8-13 Beloved: Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David: such is my gospel, for which I am suffering, even to the point of chains, like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. Therefore, I bear with everything for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in

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boy slipped and fell into a raging river. He was about to drown, when, fortunately, a man walking by plunged into the water and saved him. Later, in the hospital, after regaining consciousness, the boy said to the man, “Thank you, sir, for saving my life.” The man replied: “That’s okay, sonny, but live in such a way that your life was worth saving.” Gratitude is expressed in words. Often we measure a person’s good manners by the word “thank you.” We delight in teaching little children to say thank you. A common disappointment is when others do not say thank you. However, we know that it is easier to say thanks than to live a grateful life. Saying thank you is important, but “doing” thanks is essential. If individuals and nations can live from a grateful heart, the whole world would be transformed. The Word of God spotlights the necessity of the attitude of gratitude. Having been cleansed of leprosy, Naaman the Syrian is filled with gratitude. He wants to do a concrete act of thanks. But Prophet Elisha disappoints him by refusing to profit from the act of healing. All the Syrian can do now is to haul off “two mule-loads of earth” back to his land. It is his way of doing thanks. But more importantly, he realizes that he “will no longer offer holocaust or sacrifice to any other god except the Lord.” From now on, he will give thanks by living a life of witness to the incredible healing God has given him. In the Gospel, after the healing of the ten lepers the Samaritan alone comes “glorifying

Scripture reflection FATHER CHARLES PUTHOTA

The necessity of gratitude God in a loud voice” and falls “at the feet of Jesus” and thanks him. Jesus’ question “Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” might seem as if Jesus was fishing for gratitude. It is not so. Jesus wants thanks to be given to God. What the other nine missed by not thanking God is the opportunity to be sent out on a mission by the Son of God: “Stand up and go: your faith has saved you.” Now the healed Samaritan has to live a life of the “wounded healer.” His life now will show it was worth saving–-by the Savior himself. Doing gratitude is made possible by God who removes the boundaries between the insider and outsider. Naaman, the Syrian, an outsider, becomes an insider by embracing faith. The Samaritan, too, in the Gospel

becomes an insider like the rest of the disciples of Jesus who are sent out on his mission to heal and transform the world. The Incarnation is the ultimate mystery of God becoming the insider. Living thanks means breaking down barriers between insider and outsider and building up the universality of love and service. Doing thanks will also spring from striking a balance between the individual and community. As a healed man, Naaman is fully restored to his community where he would enjoy his rights and privileges. The lepers in the Gospel who had been shunned as untouchables are restored their rightful place in society. Jesus looks at each leper as if he were the only one in the whole world to love. But Jesus is also eager to restore them

Christ Jesus, together with eternal glory. This saying is trustworthy: If we have died with him we shall also live with him; if we persevere we shall also reign with him. But if we deny him he will deny us. If we are unfaithful he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself. A READING FROM THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE LK 17:11-19 As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.” to community and society. We are individuals at our best when we are an integral part of community. The Kingdom of God is Jesus’ vision of the new community. Jesus’ approach to law and love in the healing story of the lepers inspires us about doing thanks. Jesus allows the ostracized lepers to interact with him, though the law had banished them as outcasts. He allows the Samaritan to come into his presence, even though the Jews and Samaritans had no dealings with each other. Time and again, especially in the Sabbath healings, we see Jesus choosing love over the law. Sabbath is made for us, not the other way around. Jesus shocks his contemporaries by eating with sinners and tax-collectors. The greatest commandment is that of love. In Jesus Christ there is only one law: the law of love. It is to love God and others. All other laws are subservient to the law of love. Is it possible that at times we are so eager to follow rules and laws that we neglect love? Doing thanks necessarily will entail our living by the law of love. Let us say thanks to those who planted flowers by planting flowers ourselves. We shall grow fruit trees as a way of giving thanks to those who have offered us fruits. The way we can truly do thanks for life is by sharing it with others. Let thanks be always on our lips and in our deeds. Father Charles Puthota, Ph.D., is pastor of St. Veronica Parish in South San Francisco.

Spirituality for Life

Being stretched by great writers British writer, A.S. Byatt, is perhaps the foremost novelist in the English language today. She will, no doubt, one day be awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. Her newest novel, “The Children’s Book,” like all her novels, is dense, challenging, and not easy to read. And it is a difficult read not just because it is long (over 600 pages) and generously mixes history, art, architecture, politics, economics, oppression, ideology, mythology, love, sex, abuse and family life, but also because it unsettles a settled mind. Life, as she lays it out, doesn’t move along clear, easily defined moral lines. Any easy concept of history, morality, family, or sex, will unravel as you read her. Byatt, like all great writers, unsettles and stretches the mind. And what’s to be said about this unsettling? Is it healthy? If we are Christians with clearly defined beliefs about life, morality, sexuality and family, is it healthy to expose ourselves to this kind of unsettling? Shouldn’t we be reading things that bolster our faith and morals? Why walk deliberately into an intellectual and moral lion’s den? Because, I believe, the lion’s den holds a partial key to mature faith and morality. A mature faith is a tested faith and any set of moral principles worthy of our genuflection must not shy away from life’s real complexities. It is important that we be given solid roots and nurturing in the tenets of our faith

and moral principles; but to come to maturity, we must also be stretched and made to walk through desert places which, especially at first, can seem chaotic, unsettling, and threatening. Paradoxically there is a nurturing in the unsettling. If our minds and hearts are open, we can find in those unsettling spaces some rich and important things that will widen and enrich us both in our humanity and in our faith and morals. Here is how Byatt herself describes this in “The Children’s Book:” Philip Warren, one of her characters, an aspiring young artist, has lived a very sheltered life and lacks even a basic education. Taken to Paris by some rich patrons, he finds himself, a raw uneducated youth, inside the Rodin Pavilion, staring at the works of this great master. What he sees blows apart his world, but he senses something else, too: Vast forms of sculpted flesh and muscles loomed. Delicate frozen female faces emerged from rough stone, or retrieved into it. Everywhere was appalling energy writhing, striving, pursuing, fleeing, clasping, howling, staring. Philip’s first instinct was to turn and run. This was too much. It was so strong that it would destroy him - how could he make little trellis-men and modest jars, in the face of this skilled whirlwind of making? And yet the contrary impulse was there, too. This was so good, the only response to it was to make something. He thought with

his fingers and eyes together. He needed desperately to run his hands over haunches and lips, toes and strands of carved hair, so as to feel out how they had been done. There is a lesson Father here, I believe: We Ron Rolheiser must be careful of what we let into our lives. Sometimes energy can be so powerful that it destroys us, or eats away at our faith and morals. A healthy soul keeps us glued together and too much exposure to the wild can cause it to unravel. But the reverse is just as true: We cannot safeguard our faith and morals by shutting ourselves off safely in a room that cuts us off from thought and art, a room within which great artists and secular writers are seen as threats. Studying philosophy as a seminarian, I had two kinds of professors: One kind told me that, as seminarians, we were to read great minds like Kant, Hegel, Feuerbach, Durkheim and Marx only so that we could disprove them. The second kind gave a different advice: “Take for granted SPIRITUALITY FOR LIFE, page 20

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Catholic San Francisco

October 8, 2010

Benedict XVI: “One of the last truly great European voices” against secularism

“Pope’s library” replica to open as tourist exhibit

(CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING)

“BENEDICT XVI: ESSAYS AND REFLECTIONS ON HIS PAPACY,” edited by Sister Mary Ann Walsh, RSM. Sheed & Ward (Lanham, Md., 2010). 224 pp., $29.95. “THE RATZINGER READER: MAPPING A THEOLOGICAL JOURNEY” by Joseph Ratzinger. Edited by Lieven Boeve and Gerard Mannion. Continuum (Harrisburg, Pa., 2010). 286 pages, $34.95.

Shelved books in the Leonine Reading Room.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Created by Pope Nicholas V in the 15th century, the Vatican Library is home to about 75,000 manuscripts and more than 1.1 million printed books oneverything from mathematics to law, theology and literature. Only qualified students, scholars and historians are granted permission to leaf through the treasures. But now, to help celebrate its extensive restoration, the pope’s library is organizing a special exhibit next to St. Peter’s Square to help everyday visitors get a feel for the real library. Visitors to the exhibit in the Braccio Carlo Magno hall from Nov. 10 to Jan. 31, 2011, will be able to slip on white gloves and cozy up to exact replicas of medieval and Renaissance era manuscripts, said the curator of the library’s printed collections. Barbara Jatta, a recent papal appointee, told Catholic News Service that the library’s artisans will also be on hand at the temporary exhibit to show the public how they care for and repair damaged bindings, worn pages and delicate codices. While the exhibit is still in the planning stages, Jatta said they will try to recreate the ornately frescoed Sistine Hall reading room and furnish it with chairs, large wooden desks and special tabletop manuscript lecterns so visitors “can consult reproduced codices with white gloves” just like real scholars use to keep dirt and grime from soiling the folios, she said. The exact replicas will include medieval and Renaissance-era Bibles and codices such as the colorful hand-drawn manual, “De arte venandi cum avibus,” which details the art of raising falcons and hunting birds, she said. “We want to create a replica of this reading room because a normal visitor would never be able to see it,” she said.

SCRIPTURE SEARCH Gospel for October 10, 2010 Luke 17:11-19 Following is a word search based on the Gospel reading for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C: the cure of ten lepers and the faith of one. The words can be found in all directions in the puzzle. JESUS GALILEE LEPERS VOICES CLEANSED GOD SAMARITAN

JERUSALEM VILLAGE STOOD MASTER ONE OF THEM HE FELL FOREIGNER

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© 2010 Tri-C-A Publications www.tri-c-a-publications.com

Sponsored by Duggan’s Serra Mortuary 500 Westlake Avenue, Daly City 650-756-4500 ● www.duggansserra.com

Reviewed by Brian Welter (CNS) – While Pope Benedict XVI is undoubtedly a much different pope than John Paul II was, the depth of the current pontiff’s pastoral concerns are, surprisingly to some, as deep as his predecessor’s. Few would have foreseen that such a brilliant, often polemical man could possess these qualities. Yet writer after writer in “Benedict XVI: Essays and Reflections on His Papacy,” a collection of the thoughts from Catholic America, extols not the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s intellect, as formidable as that is, but his personality. Contributors tell of their encounters with Benedict the pastoral pope, as when he came to the United States and reached out to victims of abusive priests. Or when he wrote a pastoral letter to Chinese Catholics, again reaching out and asking for unity within the Chinese Catholic Church fractured into the underground and the governmentally sanctioned parts. Or when he began to be seen as a “green pope” for putting solar panels on the Vatican and appealing to safeguard the environment. As one writer notes, he has made a unique contribution to the environmental movement by linking “natural ecology” with “human ecology.” In other words, how it goes with our families and communities is how it goes with our treatment of nature. The current pontiff has continued Pope John Paul II’s concern for human rights, as when he linked human rights with forgiveness, and noted that peace was “relational.” Yet the contributors to “Essays and Reflections on His Papacy” are nonetheless impressed by the former Cardinal Ratzinger’s deep intellect. He critiques the Protestant over-reliance on Scripture (“sola scriptura”) for undervaluing tradition and making “faith depend on the always-changing findings of scholars.” This traditionalist pope therefore appreciates liturgy, sharing in the concern of many American Catholics over the sloppiness in postconciliar worship. Pope Benedict’s traditional stance is likewise apparent in “The Ratzinger Reader,” a collection of his writings as a “private theologian,” that is, when he publishes essays and books as an individual rather than when speaking as a Vatican official. The reader includes succinct commentaries by the editors, which helpfully situate Cardinal Ratzinger’s thoughts within the secular versus Catholic battleground

The depth of the current pope’s pastoral concerns are as deep as his predecessor’s. in the decades following the Second Vatican Council. The commentators, Lieven Boeve and Gerard Mannion, argue that Cardinal Ratzinger has not deeply changed his basic positions, even though many others, such as Father Hans Kung, have accused the current pontiff of just that. Cardinal Ratzinger highlighted a more traditionalist position as the 1970s wore on. However, this was not so much a reactionary stance as it was the position of a priest who was deeply concerned with the secularization not only of Western society, but within the church itself, as many seminaries, religious orders and Catholic schools lost a sense of being Catholic. In one writing, Cardinal Ratzinger calls on the faithful to become more deliberate in the way in which Catholic education or health care is indeed Catholic. Some of the writings testify to the polemical style with which Cardinal Ratzinger often defended the faith. His strong words extend to his ecclesiastical brethren who misunderstood the council: “The tragic one-sidedness of the last conciliar debates came about because they were controlled by the trauma of underdevelopment and by a pathos of ‘caught-up modernity.’” The polemical nature of some selections in no way reduces the elegance, precision and clarity of Cardinal Ratzinger’s writings. This reader also indicates why he is becoming so popular with Catholics. Not only is he the pastoral pope, as witnessed by “Essays and Reflections on His Papacy,” but he is one of the last truly great European voices against the continent’s wholesale rejection of its Christian heritage. Welter is studying for his doctorate in systematic theology and teaching English in Taiwan.

BOXES Lifting the Lid on an American Life by Donnan Beeson Runkel

Everyone has a collection – stamps, receipts, seashells, pictures, figurines. These objects, when gathered together, imbue more meaning than each has on its own. For the author, the varied containers crowded on top of her dresser became not just a collection on boxes to hold her jewelry, but a link to people in her life who made major contributions to who she is today – a successful businesswoman with a wide array of friends and connections around the world. Each one of these boxes contains a rich story of transformation that, when woven together, becomes a unique memoir. This collection of influences and experiences, changes and challenges is responsible. In Boxes: Lifting the Lid on an American Life, readers will witness vivid, often hilarious, recollections of a life that began in awkward self-doubt and blossomed into the discovery of true love and the challenges and triumphs of motherhood and career. Through this journey, readers will learn as she has that the pain of life folds into the many-faceted depths of becoming.

order now . . . www.boxesbook.com

October 8, 2010

Mass in Latin The traditional Latin Mass celebrated according to texts and rubrics of the Missal of Blessed John XXIII of 1962 is celebrated at four locations within the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Sunday, 12:15 p.m.: Holy Rosary Chapel at St. Vincent School for Boys in San Rafael. For more information, call St. Isabella Parish at (415) 479-1560; First Fridays, 7 p.m.: St. Francis of Assisi Church, 1425 Bay Rd. at Glen Way in East Palo Alto. For more information, call (650) 322-2152. Father Lawrence Goode, pastor, is celebrant; First Sundays, 5:30 p.m.: Mater Dolorosa, 307 Willow Ave. South San Francisco. For more information call (650) 5834131; Second Sundays, 5:30 p.m.: St. Finn Barr Church, Edna St at Hearts in San Francisco. Call (415) 333-3627. The Latin Gregorian Chant Mass – English “Novus Ordo� liturgy – is celebrated Saturdays at 4 p.m. at Church of the Visitacion, 655 Sunnydale Ave. off Third St. in San Francisco.

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October 10, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.: An evening of Education, Prayer, Discernment and Dialogue on the Death Penalty at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, Kavanaugh Hall, Fulton and Catherine St. in Redwood City. Admission is free. “The Empty Chair: Death Penalty Yes or No,� which examines four murders and the effects on the victims’ survivors, the offenders and others involved in the cases, will be shown. Participants will gain a greater appreciation of the Church’s stance on the death penalty and its ramifications for society as a whole. Contact Susan at (650) 474 2628 or susan-swope@att.net. Oct: 24, 5 p.m.: Annual Pro-Life Dinner for San Mateo Pro-Life at St. Mark Church, 325 Marine View off County Line Rd. in Belmont. Mike Millen, who has represented Respect Life advocates and is affiliated with Life Legal Defense, is guest speaker. Menu includes chicken picatta by Divine Catering. Tickets are $30 per person. Please respond by October 22. Call (650) 341-9781 or mail check to PO Box 6273, San Mateo 94403. October 24, 1:30 p.m.: San Francisco CROP Hunger Walk, Lake Merced, meet at parking circle at Lake Merced Blvd/Sunset Blvd in San Francisco). CROP Hunger Walks help children and families worldwide – and right here in the U.S. – to have food for today, while building for a better tomorrow. Won’t you walk to help alleviate global and local hunger? It’s fun and easy! Register online at www.cropwalksf.org. Questions call (415) 474-1321.

Vocations/Serra Clubs Oct. 13, 6 p.m.: The Serra Club of San Francisco’ honors women and men religious at annual Appreciation Dinner at El Patio Espanol Restaurant, 2850 Alemany Blvd. in San Francisco. Tickets are $35 per person. Contact Vivian Mullaney at (415) 239-8280 or e-mail vivianmullaney@yahoo.com. Oct. 18, 7:30 p.m.: “Come and See Gathering with the Society of Jesus� – the Jesuits - at Loyola House/USF, Lone Mountain campus, 2600 Turk Blvd. in San Francisco, for single men

Oct. 12, 7 p.m.: “Call to Watchfulness,� hear Dana Cody, executive director of the Life Legal Defense Foundation educate and update on life issues and cases which may not always be reported in the media but which raise Dana Cody vital issues nonetheless. Takes place at St. Luke Church, 1111 Beach Park Blvd., Foster City at corner of Beach Park Blvd,/Foster City Blvd. LLDF is a non-profit legal organization committed to the sanctity of human life. Call (650) 345-6660.

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Capuchin Franciscan Friars celebrate a century of service in the Western United States with Mass at 5 p.m. and dinner Oct. 9 at Our Lady of Angels Church in Burlingame where they have served since the parish founding in 1926. The order does parish work in Los Angeles and Solvang and sponsors a high school in La Canada-Flintridge. Tickets for the dinner are $48 and the event includes a buffet and dancing, with music by the Ben Hunter band. Information is available by calling (650) 347-7768.

ages 18 – 45. This informal gathering enables Catholic men who would like to explore a possible vocation to religious life, serving as a priest or brother, to get to know the Jesuits of the California Province. Participants will hear vocation stories, life as a Jesuit, the spirituality and work of the Society. There will be opportunities to listen to, ask questions, and speak with Jesuit priests, brothers and men in formation. Pizzas and refreshments will be served afterward. There is no cost for this event, but pre-registration is requested. To register, call Teresa Rechsteiner, Loyola House secretary, at (415) 422-4200 or e-mail trechsteiner@usfca.edu. For more information, call Brother James C. (Jim) Siwicki, S.J., vocation director, at (408) 884-1613 or e-mail jsiwicki@calprov.org.

Food & Fun Oct. 9, 10 a.m.: Please join us for the Star of the Sea Parish and School festival. Festivities include live entertainment, crafts, Touch -aTruck and kids games. Get some holiday shopping done at the upstairs boutique while you enjoy homemade treats. Bingo at 11am-5pm. Family pasta dinner starts at 5p.m. Free parking available. Come to Star of the Sea Parish Center at 345 8th Ave. between Clement and Geary in San Francisco. Call (415) 751-0450 for tickets or information. October 15, 16, 17: Relive childhood memories and create new ones at “Playland at St. Cecilia�, where you can enjoy the “Giant� Slide, delight in an It’s It, and maybe get a glimpse of Laughing Sal. Join us at our annual festival benefitting St. Cecilia Parish, Vicente and 18th Ave in San Francisco: Friday 6-10 pm; Saturday noon-4 and 6-10 pm; Sunday noon-6pm. Tons of indoor and outdoor games, silent auction, bingo, raffles (over $5000 in cash prizes), fun house, carnival activities, salami toss. Enjoy a hot lunch and dinner in our snack bar. Call (415) 309-8073 or visit www.scfestival.com. Revive your City pride and join the fun. Oct. 23, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.: “Fall Parking Lot Sale� benefiting St. Isabella parish, One Trinity Way in San Rafael/Terra Linda. Breakfast and lunch will be available for purchase. Spaces are available for rent until Oct. 8. Contact ginny@lucasvalley. net or Siobhan@sempleappraisal.com or call (415) 479-5609 or 492-9445.

TV/Radio Fridays at 9 a.m.: The Archbishop’s Hour on Immaculate Heart Radio, KSFB - 1260 AM, San Francisco. Enjoy news, conversation and in-depth look at local and larger Church. Program is rerun Fridays and Mondays at 9 p.m. and Sundays at 11 a.m. - e-mail info@sfarchdiocese.org with comments and questions about faith. 1260 AM also offers daily Mass, rosary and talk on the faith. Visit www.ihradio.org. Sunday, 6 a.m., KOFY Channel 20/Cable 13 and KTSF Channel 26/Cable 8: TV Mass with Msgr. Harry Schlitt presiding. Sunday, 7 a.m.: TV Mass on Filipino Channel (TFC) (Channel 241 on Comcast and Channel 2060 on Direct TV. Saturday, 4 p.m.: Religious programming in Cantonese over KVTO 1400 AM, co-sponsored by the Chinese Ministry and Chinese Young Adults of the Archdiocese. 1st Sunday, 5 a.m., CBS Channel 5: “Mosaic,� featuring conversations on current Catholic issues. EWTN Catholic Television: Comcast Channel 229, AT&T Channel 562, Astound Channel 80, San Bruno Cable Channel 143, DISH Satellite Channel 261, Direct TV Channel 370. For programming details, visit www.ewtn.com.

Single, Divorced, Separated Information about Bay Area single, divorced and separated programs is available from Jesuit Father Al Grosskopf at grosskopf@usfca.edu (415) 422-6698. Oct. 22-24: A Beginning Experience Widowed, Separated and Divorced Weekend at Vallombrosa Center, Oak Grove Ave. in Menlo Park. Contact Cathy at (408) 262-3718 or Helen at (415) 388-9651 You may also e-mail SJBeginExp@aol.com or visit www.beginningexperience.org. Jesuit Father Al Grosskopf is the group’s spiritual director.

Prayer Sundays, 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.: Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament with Benediction at Notre Dame des Victoires Church, 566 Bush St. between Stockton and Grant in San Francisco. Convenient parking is available across Bush St. in StocktonSutter garage. Call (415) 397-0113.

Oct. 13, 5:30 p.m.: The Catholic Professional Business Club honors Msgr. James Tarantino, Vicar for Administration/Moderator of the Curia for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, at Caesar’s Restaurant, Powell at Bay St. in San Francisco. Tickets are $36 for members and $40 for nonmembers. Menu includes three-course dinner. Cocktails/wine/soft drinks will be available for purchase. Ordained in 1981, Msgr. Tarantino is former pastor of St. Hilary parish in Tiburon and former President of Marin Catholic High School. Call Deacon John Norris at (415) 614- 5504 or e-mail norrisj@sfarchdiocese.org. Tickets will also be available at the door.

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Taize Sung Prayer: 1st Friday at 8 p.m.: Mercy Center, 2300 Adeline Dr., Burlingame with Mercy Sister Suzanne Toolan. Call (650) 340-7452; young adults are invited each first Friday of the month to attend a social at 6 p.m. prior to Taize prayer at 8 p.m. The social provides light refreshments and networking with other young adults. Convenient parking is available. For more information, e-mail mercyyoungadults@sbcglobal.net. Tuesdays at 6 p.m.: Notre Dame Des Victoires Church, 566 Bush at Stockton, San Francisco with Rob Grant. Call (415) 397-0113. 3rd Friday, 8 p.m.: Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose, Motherhouse Chapel, 43326 Mission Blvd. (off Mission Tierra), Fremont. For further information, please contact Dominican Sister Beth Quire at (510) 449-7554 or visit our website at www.msjdominicans.org for more information. October 13, 7 – 8:30 p.m.: Santa Sabina Center, 25 Magnolia Ave, San Rafael. Presentation on St. Francis of Assisi will precede the service. Suggested offering $10-20. Call (415) 457-7727 or e-mail info@ santasabinacenter.org. October 13: Contemplative Day of Prayer at Santa Sabina Center, 25 Magnolia Ave, San Rafael, CA 94901, 9:30a.m.-2:00p.m. Suggested offering $20. Call (415) 457-7727 or e-mail info@santasabinacenter.org.

Reunion Oct. 17, 2 p.m.: The San Francisco Chapter of the Notre Dame de Namur Federation cordially invites all alumnae from Notre Dame High Schools - San Francisco, San Jose, Belmont, Alameda, Marysville, Watsonville, and Salinas - and friends to “An Autumn Tea� at the historic Ralston Mansion in Belmont. Proceeds benefit retired Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. Checks payable to: NDSF Alumnae, 440 Panorama Dr., San Francisco 94131-1223. Questions may be directed to Katie O’Leary (415) 282-6588 or nuttydames@aol.com. Tickets are $45. Oct. 23: Class of 2000 Notre Dame High School, Belmont with campus tours at 4:30 p.m. and celebratory event at 7 p.m. at King Fish Restaurant in San Mateo. E-mail ndbjaguars2000@gmail.com. Oct. 23: Archbishop Riordan High School, class of ’60 dinner dance, at the Italian American Social Club in San Francisco. Contact Tucker Spolter at teespot@earthlink.net or (415) 461-4628, or Tom Aspell at aspellt@al.com. Nov. 20, 4 – 8 p.m.: Class of ’60, Holy Name of Jesus Elementary School in San Francisco on school campus at 40th Ave. and Lawton. Contact Dennis Norton at (415) 454-3184 or danort@comcast.net

Special Liturgies Oct. 28, 5:30 p.m.: Mass commemorating 75th anniversary of Shrine of St. Jude at St. Dominic Church, 2390 Bush St. at Steiner in San Francisco. Archbishop George H. Niederauer will preside. Call (415) 931-5919 or e-mail info@stjude-shrine.org. Visit www.stjude-shrine.org.

Arts and Entertainment Sundays, Oct. 17 – Jan. 9, 2 – 5 p.m.: Sacred Synergies: paintings and Jewish ceremonial objects by Tobi Kahn at the Manresa Gallery of St. Ignatius Church, Parker at Fulton in San Francisco at USF. “It is the gallery’s hope that this exhibition will provide a platform to engage in interfaith dialogue by way of the arts,� said Tamara Lowenstein, gallery manager. The artists talks on “Creating Sacred Space� Oct. 17 at the gallery. Additional lectures and related events will follow on later dates. Visit www.manresagallery.org.

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, e-mail burket@sfarchdiocese.org, or visit www.catholic-sf.org, Contact Us.

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Catholic San Francisco

October 8, 2010

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For Advertising Information visit www.catholic-sf.org, Advertising; Call: 415-614-5642 • Fax: 415-614-5641 • E-mail: penaj@sfarchdiocese.org

Do you want to be more fulfilled in love and work – but find things keep getting in the way? Unhealed wounds can hold you back - even if they are not the “logical” cause of your problems today. You can be the person God intended. Inner Child Healing Offers a deep spiritual and psychological approach to counseling: ❖ 30 years experience with individuals, couples and groups ❖ Directed, effective and results-oriented ❖ Compassionate and Intuitive ❖ Supports 12-step ❖ Enneagram Personality Transformation ❖ Free Counseling for Iraqi/Afghanistani Vets

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

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: CONTRACTORS STATE LICENSE BOARD 800-321-2752

October 8, 2010

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Room For Rent Large room for rent. $775 - month to month/no lease req. in shared unit; for female. Utilities $75/ mo. (cable TV, internet). Bright, sunny, 3 large bay windows, hardwood floors, fully furnished, walk-in closet. Large sit-in kitchen, all modern amenities, laundry one floor down. No smokers or pets. Centrally located @ Geary & Divisadero, plenty of restaurants/stores within walking distance. Free shuttle to all UCSF locations 2 blocks away. Respond to email: martid528@comcast.net By appt. only.

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Catholic San Francisco

classifieds Visit www.catholic-sf.org

For website listings, advertising information & Place Classified Ad Form OR Call 415.614.5642, Fax 415.614.5641, Email penaj@sfarchdiocese.org

Rummage Sale heaven RUMMAGE SALE can’t wait October 15, 16, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.: Serra for Priestly Vocations

benefiting the Little Sisters of the Poor, St. Anne’s Home, 300 Lake St. in San Francisco.

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Huge sale at Low Prices includes art, jewelry, a lot of furniture, books, clothing, collectibles, Christmas, linens, food.

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Public Service Announcement St. Bruno’s Church (650) 588-2121

555 W. San Bruno Avenue, San Bruno, CA 94066

Calling on all old-time parishioners of St. Bruno Church: St.Bruno Parish celebrates the 50th anniversary of the dedication of the church with a bilingual mass on October 9, Saturday at 6pm; food sales and entertainment are on the following day. You are cordially invited. Also, two years from now (2012), St. Bruno’s celebrates the 100th anniversary of its foundation as a parish. If you have old pictures and stories that represent that history of St. Bruno’s, kindly lend them to us for exhibit purposes so that these beautiful memories mayb shared by others. Thank you.

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Cost $26

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

Prayer to St. Jude Oh, Holy St. Jude, Apostle and Martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, near Kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful intercessor of all who invoke your special patronage in time of need, to you I have recourse from the depth of my heart and humbly beg to whom God has given such great power to come to my assistance. Help me in my present and urgent petition. In return I promise to make you be invoked. Say three our Fathers, three Hail Marys and Glorias. St. Jude pray for us all who invoke your aid. Amen. This Novena has never been known to fail. This Novena must be said 9 consecutive days. Thanks. M.M.

Your prayer will be published in our newspaper

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

â?‘ Prayer to the Blessed Virgin â?‘ Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Please return form with check or money order for $26 Payable to: Catholic San Francisco Advertising Dept., Catholic San Francisco 1 Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco, CA 94109

May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, glorified, loved & preserved throughout the world now & forever. Sacred Heart of Jesus pray for us. St. Jude helper of the hopeless pray for us. Say prayer 9 times a day for 9 days. Thank You St. Jude. Never known to fail. You may publish.

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October 8, 2010

Stem-cell . . . ■ Continued from page 5 patients with burns to heal faster with less scarring and less pain and get them out of the burn unit faster with fewer long-term consequences.” Golden said Stemnion does not do research involving embryonic stem cells; the Catholic Church opposes such research because it requires human embryos to be destroyed. The placentas are transported by courier in a sterile container to the Clearwater lab, about 20 miles from the hospital. Stemnion technicians then test, isolate and store the usable stem cells and eventually transport them to the company’s main laboratory in Pittsburgh for use in research. Each placenta collected has the capacity to yield several hundred million cells and can produce many doses of the investigational medicine that the company has in the trial phase, according to Stemnion. The company conducted an initial clinical trial at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and other burn centers, and it is now undergoing a safety trial. Adult stem cells have been found effective in more than 70 treatments, including therapies for diabetes, Parkinson’s disease and heart and spinal cord conditions, according to Do No Harm: The Coalition of Americans for Research Ethics.

Bishop Robert N. Lynch of St. Petersburg, Fla., blesses the new Stemnion facility Sept. 23 in Clearwater, Fla.

“This is really about a very volatile issue, and the more opportunities that we have to show how adult stem cells are being used and furthering the cause of science and of healing, the less need there will be to use embryonic stem cells, which we would not be involved in,” said Franciscan Sister Patricia Shirley, vice president of mission for St. Joseph’s Hospital, which is affiliated with St. Joseph’s Women’s under the umbrella of BayCare Health System.

The Catholic Cemeteries

Catholic San Francisco

15

Francis Clare Rouse, Sr. Quartermaster Chief Petty Officer - USN retired Born August 20,1921 in Charles City, Iowa, passed away at home in East Palo Alto (EPA), CA on September 3, 2010 at the age of 89. His remarkable life was highlighted by his personal citation from ADM Chester Nimitz for ‘heroic conduct and meritorious service” on the aircraft carrier Yorktown during the World War II Battle of Midway, considered the greatest naval victory in U.S. history. His great heroics in that battle are just an example of how he lived his entire life. He was devoted to God, family, country and neighbor and was a shining example to his 10 children and countless others of living a good fife. He worked many years as a machinist with Litton Industries, San Carlos, taught upholstery classes in San Mateo County, and was Chief Quartermaster in the US Navy Reserve (38 years). He was a proud 60 year resident of EPA and its contribution to racial equality and brotherhood. He was a founding parishioner of St. Francis of Assisi Church in EPA. He is survived by his beloved wife of nearly 66 years, Elaine, his children, Francis Jr., (Kristine), Lawrence, Mary Ann, Margaret, Anthony (Debora), Teresa, Virginia, Joseph (Barbara), Elizabeth (Kevin Hurley), and Rebecca (John Fox), his many grandchildren, great grandchildren, brother Ronald Huffman, and beloved nieces, nephews, and relatives. Memorial contributions may be sent to the St. Vincent de Paul St. Francis Chapter, 1425 Bay Rd./ EPA 94303 to help the poor.

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Catholic San Francisco

October 8, 2010

900 teens attend Youth Mass

Also in attendance were San Francisco Auxiliary Bishop William Justice, Stockton Bishop Stephen Blaire, and Orange Bishop Tod Brown. Special guests included Philippine Consul General Marciano Paynor and his wife Teresita Paynor.

(PHOTO BY ARNE FOLKEDAL/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)

20

Pilgrimage talk at St. Dominic

Catholic teens packed the pews at St. Anne of the Sunset for the second annual Archdiocesan Youth Mass and then got together after the 4 p.m. Mass for activities and a meal of raviolis. Auxiliary Bishop William Justice celebrated the Sept. 26 Mass, which was attended by about 900 high school students, more than twice the number that attended last year’s event. “It was wonderful to see how talented our youth are and what a vibrant archdiocesan community we have,” said Vivian Clausing, associate director of Youth Ministry and Catechesis. Parish youth ministers and Catholic high school campus ministers helped organize the event, which featured a teen choir, youth musicians, and teen lectors, altar servers and ushers. The Father’s Club of Junipero Serra High School served the food, which was donated by several organizations. More photos on catholic-sf.org.

Seminary gala draws 350 guests St. Patrick’s Seminary & University celebrated its third annual Four Pillars Gala Sept. 18 at the Menlo Park school, with 350 guests attending. San Francisco Archbishop George Niederauer presided at vespers in the Archbishop Niederauer chapel to open the evening. Music by seminarians accompanied tours of the facility and a social before dinner. The Oblate Sisters of Jesus the Priest who serve at the seminary were honored for their dedication with a Waterford Crystal cross. A choir of seminarians closed the evening with the a cappella “Salve Regina.”

Catholic Schools . . . ■ Continued from page 13 the hospice mentality,” he wrote. “Some bishops, priests, pastoral leaders and Catholic faithful now sigh and say, ‘Well, we sure love our schools, and they have served us well, but, sadly, their day is over, and twilight is here. So, the best we can do is make their passing comfortable, and hold their hand while they slowly pass into grateful memory.’ Malarkey! We need to move from hospice to hope.” The mood was certainly grim in the Diocese of Buffalo in 2007. Fourteen schools were closed in the city and eight counties of Western New York. A familiar combination of factors was to blame – declining enrollment, fewer school age children, significant parish or school debt and

Eulogies . . . ■ Continued from page 13 It seems to me that the funeral rites of the Church provide much better times for a personal remembrance of the deceased than during the sacred precincts of the holy sacrifice of the Mass – for example, during the vigil, or at the graveside, or at the social event that follows the liturgy when family and friends gather together. You can see, I hope, why the Church prohibits eulogies during the funeral Mass. They don’t fit well in a liturgical setting, and they are filled with pastoral minefields. The poor parish priest who prohibits eulogies is sometimes viewed as an uncaring, insensitive ogre, while really, all he’s trying to do is follow the law of the Church and provide for a dignified and prayerful funeral.

For the Journey . . . ■ Continued from page 13 I know that peer pressure has slipped enormously, especially among boys. For example, it wasn’t “cool” for a boy to be in the honor society when my kids were in junior high. How sad is that? Are we as parents motivating our kids to work hard? Is that a value anymore? More importantly, are we moti-

Father Martin de Porres Walsh, OP, will give a talk at St. Dominic Church in San Francisco on Oct. 15 on the spirituality of pilgrimage. In the talk, which begins at 7:30 p.m., Father Walsh will recount his journey last spring on the El Camino de Santiago, or the Way of St. James, the millennium-old pilgrim’s path to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. Father Walsh said he experienced two days of snowstorms, five days of rain and many opportunities for ministry to fellow pilgrims. Father Walsh is director of the Dominican Mission Foundation, based in San Francisco, of the Western Dominican Province.

AIDS children focus of Mercy Center exhibit In the exhibit “Faces of Hope: a new look at African children and AIDS,” documentary photographer Karen Ande focuses on a few of the more than 15 million children orphaned by AIDS in Africa. “My dream has been to give these children a face, a name and a story so people like us will be moved to help them,” Ande said of the exhibit on display at Mercy Center Art Gallery in Burlingame. Ande, who recently won the World Affairs Council Global Visions photography contest, is also co-author of “Face to Face: Children of the AIDS Crisis in Africa.” The exhibit continues through Oct. 31 at the gallery, 2300 Adeline Dr., Burlingame, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For information, (650) 340-7474 or visit www.mercycenter.org.

San Domenico Schools names new music director for virtuoso program

Presentation Sister Mary Paschal Elvin, 97, is the second-oldest resident of the Sisters of Presentation Motherhouse on Turk Street in San Francisco. She and other retired Presentation sisters make sandwiches and prepare lunch bags every third Monday of the month. Sisters and the Presentation Associates distribute the lunch bags, which include two sandwiches, a new pair of socks, a beverage and dessert to homeless men and women in St. Anthony Parish on Cesar Chavez Street. More photos on catholic-sf.org.

Philharmonic, a work she arranged, at Herbst Theater in San Francisco. Krinitsky has performed nationally as a violinist and is a published music transcriber, arranger and copyist. She serves as guest conductor and adjudicator at various festivals and competitions.

Catholic business club honoring Msgr. Tarantino

San Domenico Schools named Ann Krinitsky as Director of the Virtuoso Music Program. Krinitsky, a native of Terra Linda, is an honors graduate of UC Berkeley whose first piano lesson was from San Domenico teacher Alma Tomlinson, now deceased. She received the 2000-01 JoAnn Falletta Conducting Award recognizing women pursuing careers as conductors and guest-conducted The Women’s

Msgr. James Tarantino, who on July 1 began his service as Vicar for Administration and Moderator of the Curia of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, will be honored at a dinner Oct. 13 by the Catholic Professional and Business Club. The event will be at Caesar’s Restaurant, 2299 Powell St., San Francisco, at 5:30 p.m. Information is available at www.cpbc-sf.org. Msgr. Tarantino, a San Francisco native, has been a priest for nearly 30 years. He has served as president of Marin Catholic High School, pastor of St. Hilary Church in Tiburon for 13 years and has served the Archdiocese in a variety of other capacities.

weak weekly offerings, said Kevin Keenan, a diocese spokesman. In one parish, 83 cents of every dollar from weekend Masses was going to support the school, “which meant they had precious little resources for other parish ministries,” said Keenan. Now, he said, the diocese thinks it will have traction with an advertising campaign that states this fact: A child in Buffalo attending a Catholic elementary school has a 95 percent chance of being graduated from high school, compared with a 50 percent chance for a child in public school. Other diocese are reporting modest progress amid the crisis: Thirteen schools closed this year in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, but more than half of the 2,100 children affected were given seats in nearby Catholic schools. Schools in the Archdiocese of Detroit had an enrollment

of 6,449 in 1999-2000 compared with 981 in 2009-2010, but the declines are now less pronounced and are even reversing. There is a heavy emphasis on consolidation in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. “We make the best use of assets,” said spokesman Tod Tamberg. “It does not necessarily mean a closure. It means being smart with what we have and meeting the needs of the local community.” Historian Walch, also the director of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library in West Branch, Iowa, said he still has hope for urban Catholic schools. Three traditions – cultural diversity, adaptability and community – are three touchstones that bode well for the future of urban Catholic schools, he said. He thinks that, even after all the turmoil, “Catholic schools will be beacons of refuge in difficult times.”

“In the face of death,” the Christian rites state, “the Church confidently proclaims that God has created each person for eternal life and that Jesus, the Son of God, by his death and resurrection, has broken the chains of sin and death that bound humanity . . . Christians celebrate the funeral rites to offer worship, praise and thanksgiving to God for the gift of life which has now been returned to God . . . The Church through its funeral rites commends the dead to God’s merciful love and pleads for the forgiveness of their sins.” May all of our funeral celebrations seek to maintain and promote this holy understanding of a death of a Christian.

Spirituality for Life . . .

The author is bishop of the Diocese of Providence. The article was reprinted with permission of the Rhode Island Catholic. vating them in a Christian sense to use our God-given talents to work hard for the common good, for the good of our society? Reading the article, I also thought of a friend, a Sister of Mercy who is now retired. She once taught a class of 40 first graders. And she had no discipline problems. It really makes you wonder: What are we missing now? Effie Caldarola writes a column for Catholic News Service from Fairbanks, Alaska.

■ Continued from page 14 that because these are great minds they have something to teach you, something that will much help you, even inside your faith. Be careful, but be open!” Caution, but openness, is indeed the key: All kingdoms need to be protected. To believe otherwise is to be naïve. There are dangers in simply opening ourselves naively and indiscriminately to everything and anything that is colorful, full of energy, or bursting with life. Sometimes its sheer power can overwhelm us. In Western society today it is not for lack of exposure to energy that we have a problem. To the contrary, too often today people lack for something they can hang on to morally and religiously. But sometimes in our church circles, the opposite is true. We are too fearful of energy, especially as it finds expression in art and literature. Goethe once wrote: The dangers of life are many, and safety is one of those dangers. It can be unsettling to read books like A.S. Byatt’s, “The Children’s Book,” but perhaps, long range in our lives, it will be more unsettling if we do not. Father Ron Rolheiser, theologian, teacher and award-winning author, is president of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas. He can be reached through his website at ronrolheiser.com.

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