December 8, 2006

At Divine Liturgy, Catholic san Francisco pope, patriarch affirm commitment to unity Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper

(CNS PHOTO/L'OSSERVATORE ROMANO)

By Cindy Wooden

Pope Benedict XVI stands with Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew during a visit to Holy Spirit Cathedral in Istanbul, Turkey, Dec. 1.

ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNS) — Claiming the brotherhood of their respective patron saints — the apostles Andrew and Peter — the spiritual leaders of the world’s Orthodox and the world’s Catholics joined together in prayer and solemnly affirmed their commitment to the full unity of their churches.

Incense and ancient hymns chanted in Greek set the atmosphere as Pope Benedict XVI paid homage to the Orthodox church by attending a Nov. 30 Divine Liturgy celebrated by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.

The liturgy at the Orthodox Church of St. George in Istanbul marked the feast of St. Andrew, patron of the patriarchate.

The pope and patriarch greeted each other with kisses on the cheek, but then the pope moved to a raised wooden throne at the side of the church while the patriarch celebrated the solemn liturgy.

After the almost three-hour liturgy, Patriarch Bartholomew led Pope Benedict to a balcony overlooking a courtyard. They both blessed the crowd and then the patriarch took the pope’s hand and held it aloft as they waved and smiled at the applauding crowd below.

“In the liturgy, we are reminded of the need to reach unity in faith as well as in prayer,” the patriarch said in his homily.

“Therefore, we kneel in humility and repentance before the living God and Our Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious name we bear and yet at the same time whose seamless garment we have divided,” the

patriarch told the pope and other members of the congregation.

“We confess in sorrow that we are not yet able to celebrate the holy sacraments in unity,” Patriarch Bartholomew said.

“And we pray that the day may come when this sacramental unity will be realized in its fullness.”

As the Orthodox faithful processed up for Communion, they bowed to the pope before receiving the consecrated bread and wine.

Although the Orthodox Church in Turkey has fewer than 5,000 members, Pope Benedict told reporters that the patriarchate’s standing in the Orthodox world as the “first among equals” made a visit almost obligatory.

“Numbers, quantity, do not count,” the pope told reporters Nov. 28 on the way to Turkey. “It is the symbolic, historical and spiritual weight that counts” and the fact that the patriarchate “remains a point of reference for the whole Orthodox world and, therefore, for all of Christianity.”

Addressing the congregation at the end of the liturgy, Pope Benedict said the service was an opportunity “to experience once again the communion and call of the two brothers,” Peter and Andrew, chosen by Jesus to be his apostles and sent to different cities to preach the same Gospel.

The fact that the brothers also had different roles within the Christian community, with Peter and his successors in Rome having a “universal responsibility,” has “unfortunately given rise to our differences DIVINE LITURGY, page 6

Liturgies, processions, celebrations mark Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

By Marta Rebagliati The Feast of our Lady of Guadalupe will be observed throughout the Archdiocese with early morning celebrations, rosaries, novenas, processions, music, traditional dances and special Masses on Tuesday, December 12.

Mission Dolores will begin the day with “Las Mañanitas” — a Mexican tradition going back over a century – featuring a procession at 4:45 am followed by a Mass in the Basilica celebrated by

Auxiliary Bishop John C. Wester and a reception afterwards.

St. Raphael in Marin County, with many parishioners hailing from Latin America, will have a Mass and procession Dec. 12 at 5 a.m. A reception will follow between 6 and 7 am. In the evening at 5:30 p.m. there will be another procession, which will proceed from 700 A Street towards the main

Church, followed by a concelebrated Mass at 7 pm. There will be a reception following the Mass.

In San Mateo County, St. Anthony Church will begin observances in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe with a 5 a.m. procession from the Community Center to the church and a Mass at 6 am. In the

evening the 7 p.m. Mass will be preceded by the rosary and Benediction at 5:30 pm. It is recommended that people arrive early at these liturgies for good seating. For information please call Mission Dolores at (415) 621-8203; St. Raphael’s at (415) 454-8141 or St. Anthony at (650) 366 -4692.

Other parishes also will mark in some way the feast day of the patron saint of the Americas.

GUADALUPE, page 6

INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION Philippine typhoon victims . . 3

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Archbishop’s Advent message. 4 Ecumenical service . . . . . . . . 5 Dominicans mark 800 years. 8-9 Commentary & scripture. 12-15 Datebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

DECEMBER 10 December 8, 2006

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Catholic San Francisco

December 8, 2006

On The Where You Live

by Tom Burke

(PHOTO BY EVA SOOS)

Father Harold Snider, pastor of Our Lady of Angels Parish in Burlingame is celebrating his 25th year as a Capuchin Franciscan Friar in 2006. The Connecticut native was ordained in 1989. “They say time flies when you’re having a good time so I must be having a ball,” Father Harold said about the quarter century. An outdoor event for parishioners and friends helped commemorate the occasion in September. Joining Father Harold in the church vestibule before Mass are Carole Nickolai, left, Anne and Gerry Hahn, and Carole’s husband, Roy.

Benedictine Father Egon Javor

Hope you’ve been keepin’ up the Advent Opportunities in Datebook. There is plenty goin’ on including the annual Christmas Concert this Sunday featuring the voices of St. Bartholomew Parish in San Mateo. Soloists include Marilyn Vicas, Shirley Crosetti, and Gloria Guaraldi.

“Hear old and new carols and contemporary seasonal music,” said music director, Tim Cooney who will conduct.

Accompanist is organist, Jim Dahlstrom. See Datebook….

Fond and sad farewells met the departing Rose Camacho, dedicated sacristan, St. Vincent de Paul Society member and longtime parishioner of Good Shepherd Parish in Pacifica.

Rose lost her husband, Ed, last year and has decided to move back East to be closer to her surviving family. “Everyone who works with Rose will miss her quiet efficiency in all of the things she does for the church and for the city of Pacifica,” said friend and fellow parishioner, Gloria Hartz. “We all wish her the best of luck in her new home.” In addition, I owe Good Shepherd Elementary School an “Oops” and a “Sorry about that.” Seems the school was well represented at the recent

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Junipero Serra High School Trivia Contest and Scavenger ing their four years there. Giovanna’s favorite volunteer activHunt and I missed naming them in an item about the event. ity is working at the North Peninsula Food Pantry and The team – numbering some 25 students – placed 4th under Dining Center of Daly City. Her proud folks are Pamela and the leadership of coach and vice-princiMichael….Heard this cry from the pal Patrick Sullivan and 8th graders homeland and had to help out. St. Alexis Gallo, Adriana Eversole and Stephen Elementary School in Philly Gabriela Montenegro who captained at Broad and Butler St. is looking for all the brigade…. It’s 50 years later for classmates for an all school reunion. If Woodside Priory and 90 years later you fill this bill, please contact druperfor Benedictine Father Egon Javor tus@comcast.net or call Diana at (609) who entered the nonagenarian ranks 313-4945. My devotion to reunions October 18th. Father Egon presided at remains intact though I’m less than anxthe Portola Valley school’s first Mass ious to take the reins of my high school half a century ago and was among cele40th in 2009. I always get a kick out of brants at a liturgy commemorating the seeing old classmates and friends I’ve anniversary November 11th. Father lost touch with but gathering the bunch Egon is one of seven Benedictines who is a job I’d rather leave to another. Much founded the Priory after fleeing thanks, though, to the women and men Communist oppression in who handle the preliminary tasks and Hungary….Congrats to Giovanna make it so much fun for those of us who Giusti, a junior at Mercy High School, simply “show up.”…Remember this is Giovanna Giusti San Francisco and first recipient of the an empty space without ya’!! The Jane Powell Memorial Award for Volunteerism. Named for email address for Street is burket@sfarchdiocese.org. a former Daly City mayor, the honor recognizes “an outstand- Mailed items should be sent to “Street,” One Peter Yorke ing record of volunteerism” according to the school. During Way, SF 94109. Pix should be hard copy or electronic jpeg the last 18 months Giovanna has at least doubled the 100- at 300 dpi. Don’t forget to include a follow-up phone numhours of service Mercy students are required to perform dur- ber. Call me at (415) 614-5634 and I’ll walk you through it.

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December 8, 2006

Catholic San Francisco

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By Catholic News Service QUEZON CITY, Philippines — As government officials try to assess and address the damage of Typhoon Durian, Pope Benedict XVI has sent a message of encouragement to victims and rescue workers in the Philippines.

“His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI assures all affected of his closeness in prayer,” said a message from the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Dec. 4.

“His Holiness likewise prays for the rescue workers and all involved in providing practical assistance to the victims of this disaster, encouraging them to persevere in their efforts to bring relief and support,” the message said.

More than 1.09 million people in 13 provinces were affected by the typhoon that hit the country Nov. 30, reported the Philippine National Disaster Coordinating Council.

Tens of thousands of houses were destroyed, 425 people were listed as dead, 507 injured and 599 missing. Nearly 23,000 people have sought refuge in 129 evacuation centers.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-

Arroyo has declared a state of national calamity and ordered the release of money for relief and rehabilitation efforts in areas struck by Durian and the typhoons that preceded it.

In the Albay province, southeast of Manila, Durian triggered mudslides on Mount Mayon, a volcano that recently has been restive. About 1,000 people are feared trapped in rocks and sludge that buried houses and fields around Mount Mayon.

Reports to officials of the Legazpi Diocese confirmed 111 deaths in Daraga alone, but Father Rolando Panesa, the diocese’s financial administrator, expects the figure to rise.

On Dec. 4 he told UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand, “We cannot go there even with our fourwheel-drive vehicles” because of mud and debris blocking roads and bridges.

Rain from the typhoon has stopped, but still there is no electricity or telephone service due to fallen posts and destroyed cables.

Father Panesa appealed for food, water, medicine and medical services.

He said that without electricity all shops and businesses, including banks, remain closed.

Bishop urges peace efforts in Lebanon

MISSION NEWS

WASHINGTON (CNS) — The United States and the U.N. Security Council must step up efforts to resolve problems in Lebanon that threaten a tenuous peace agreement, said a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice from Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Orlando, Fla., chairman of the U.S. bishops’ international policy committee. In the Dec. 1 letter Bishop Wenski said the assassination of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel in November was a sign of the deepening crisis and instability in Lebanon. He urged a concerted effort by the United States and the international community to ensure the sovereignty and stability of Lebanon.

On Dec. 3 there were violent clashes between rival Muslim groups in Beirut, causing one death from gunshot wounds and injuries to 21 others, according to an Associated Press story. Meanwhile, as protesters blared revolutionary and nationalist songs outside, a memorial Mass was said for Gemayel in the office of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who has supporters among the country’s Sunni Muslims. At the same time, a second Mass organized by Michel Aoun, a Christian leader with ties to a Shiite organization, took place at St. George Cathedral, a short distance away.

How many children in our lives give us a hug when we’ll ask for one – or when they know we need one?

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Pope sends his support to Philippine typhoon victims, rescue workers

Women working in Manila cry after confirming Dec. 4 that their relatives died in Typhoon Durian. Philippine officials fear up to 1,000 people were killed in landslides and floods from the typhoon.

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Catholic San Francisco

December 8, 2006

Advent Message What it means for Catholics to live in hope Archbishop George H. Niederauer delivered the following homily on the First Sunday of Advent, Dec. 3, at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco.

In this country we have many ways of telling time, of keeping track of the days: the calendar year (28 days left after today); the academic year (it begins around Labor Day); the fiscal year (often beginning July 1). We Catholics have still another way: our “Big Picture” is “out of sync” with those other years, too. Our Year of Worship begins today with the season of Advent – then Christmas, then Lent, then Easter (Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost, Ordinary Time, then Advent again). Today is the Catholic Church’s “New Year’s Day.” Happy New Year!

We live between the first coming of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem and his second coming as Judge at the end of the world. The readings in the past two weeks and the readings in this week and next touch on the anticipation and fulfillment of both “comings” of Christ. The message in the Gospel reading from Luke is clear: Do not run and hide in fear and dread.

Instead, hold up your head in anticipation: “stand up straight, raise your heads, because your ransom is at hand.” These readings support a joyful spirit, an “attentive joyfulness”. We know Jesus is here and has won our salvation.

Orthodox to visit pope VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens, spiritual leader of the Orthodox church of Greece, will visit Pope Benedict XVI Dec. 1316, the Vatican announced.

“The archbishop will be received with warm ecclesial brotherhood and with the honor due to his position as primate of the Orthodox church of Greece,” said the Dec. 4 announcement of the visit.

During the visit, the announcement said, Pope Benedict and Archbishop Christodoulos will participate in a ceremony at Rome’s Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.

Pope Benedict will give the archbishop “part of the precious chain of St. Paul’s imprisonment,” which is preserved at the basilica built in his honor.

The basilica is built over the traditional site of St. Paul’s burial. The chains believed to have held St. Paul during his imprisonment just before his execution are preserved in the basilica’s Chapel of the Relics.

St. Paul preached in Athens before making his way to Rome, where he was killed.

While Archbishop Christodoulos came to Rome for the April 2005 funeral of Pope John Paul II, the December visit will be his first official visit to the Vatican and his first official meeting with Pope Benedict.

In one sense, then, there is another coming of Christ, the one here and now, in each moment, each Mass, each relationship, each time of prayer. Jesus has promised to be with us all days until the end of the world. We Catholics don’t engage in fortune telling or stargazing about the future, or the end of the world. Instead, we take literally the last words of Jesus to his followers before he ascended to the Father: “The exact time is not yours to know. The Father has reserved that to Himself. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes down on you; then you are to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, yes, even to the ends of the earth.” Our work is to live and rejoice in the “now” of the coming of Jesus the Lord. That is the Catholic’s “power”: not prognostication but proclamation.

Listen to the prayer of St. Paul in the second reading: “May the Lord increase you and make you overflow with love for each other and for all, may he strengthen your hearts, so you may be blameless and holy before the Father in the coming of the Lord Jesus.” That is what it means for Catholics to live in hope: the daily, practical love of family and friends and neighbors and strangers who need us, whom we need. That is the effect of the Christian hope in our lives: we are called out of the vicious circle and dread of self-centeredness, into a relationship of love with God, and therefore with each other, with all his children. That is what Paul means by his exhortation to us in the second half of the reading: just as you learned from us how to conduct yourselves in ways pleasing to God, so now you must learn to make still greater progress, because, Paul says, “you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.”

St. Paul is merely developing what Jesus says in his warning in the Gospel of Luke. What is the counter-sign to living as Catholic Christians who hope for the Lord’s return? It is the opposite of a life of faith, hope and love: Jesus describes it and warns us, “Be on guard lest your spirits become bloated with indulgence and drunkenness and worldly cares. Then the great day will suddenly close in on you like a trap.” And we can become as drugged and selfabsorbed with worries and anxieties and ambitions and resentments as we can with alcohol or drugs!

Instead of that, Jesus says, we are to be watchful, outward looking rather than self-absorbed. We are to be “on the lookout” for the Lord coming to us in so many ways: we are to watch for him in prayer, in worship around this altar, in listening to his word, in our daily relationships and responsibilities. Then we will live in a way that reveals our Christian hope in the care and concern we show toward others. Consider 1 Peter 3:15-16: “Venerate the Lord, that is, Christ, in your hearts. Should anyone ask you the reason

for this hope of yours, be ever ready to reply, but speak gently and respectfully.” That is particularly good advice in a world more tuned into Santa’s Village than to Bethlehem.

That’s how we should understand our call as Catholic Christians, because of our Baptism and Confirmation.

We are to be “lookouts” for the coming of Christ, watching for how Jesus our Savior is present and active, and meeting us each day in our lives. Because he is. There’s a little four-line verse: “Yesterday is history - Tomorrow is a mystery - Today is a gift - That’s why we call it the present.”

Time is a marvelous “present” which God keeps giving us. How are we using it? Are we burying ourselves in the past, pawing over its meaning, again and again? Are we so totally distracted with our long-range plans that we miss Christ and others in the present? Or are we just mechanically going through the motions of a kind of “rut” in life?

As followers of Jesus Christ we care called away from living in those ways. As Catholics we believe that history is going somewhere, not round in circles, aimlessly. Because of that faith we are not consumed with anxieties, like outcasts in an empty universe, scratching and scrambling for survival. One definition of an atheist is: “a person with no invisible means of support.” In contrast, we disciples are called to depend on the Lord, to be present to him, in everything, not just in a few “great moments” in life. We Catholic Christian lookouts need constantly to familiarize ourselves and others with the “invisible means of support” in Christ and Christ’s Church. If we meet Jesus Christ as a friend each day – in prayer and in our neighbor – Christ our Judge will never be a terrifying stranger.

Spirituality is basically about being awake to God and what he is doing in our lives, and beckoning us to do. Just because other people say things like “I don’t know where the time goes” and “Is another Christmas here already?” doesn’t mean we should say those things too. As believers, as Catholics, we do know where the time goes, and where it comes from, and what it’s for. We believe there is a meaning to what is happening and that meaning is given by Jesus Christ. In this beautiful season of Advent, let’s not get hectic. Let the way we are hosts or guests be a reaching out to pull everyone inside the circle of our love and concern. The most precious gift under your tree, 365 days a year, is the “present” the Father gives you to spend in Jesus, His Son.

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Catholic san Francisco Newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco

Most Reverend George H. Niederauer, publisher Maurice E. Healy, associate publisher & executive editor Editorial Staff: Maurice E. Healy, editor; Evelyn Zappia, feature editor; Tom Burke, “On the Street” and Datebook

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Catholic San Francisco editorial offices are located at One Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco, CA 94109. Tel: (415) 614-5640;Circulation: 1-800-563-0008 or (415) 614-5638; News fax: (415) 614-5633; Advertising: (415) 614-5642; Advertising fax: (415) 614-5641; Advertising E-mail: penaj@sfarchdiocese.org Catholic San Francisco (ISSN 15255298) is published weekly (four times per month) September through May, except in the week following Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day, and twice a month in June, July and August by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, 1500 Mission Rd., P.O. Box 1577, Colma, CA 94014. Periodical postage paid at South San Francisco, CA. Annual subscription price: $27 within California, $36 outside the state.

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December 8, 2006

Catholic San Francisco

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Ecumenical service brings Catholic and Greek Orthodox communities together

By Maurice Healy

(PHOTOS BY LUIS GRIS)

On the eve of the historic meeting in Istanbul, Turkey between the Holy Father and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, an ecumenical prayer service was held in San Francisco. Archbishop George H. Niederauer joined Metropolitan Gerasimos of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco Nov. 29 for the service at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church.

Metropolitan Gerasimos comments

PAGE 12 Also attending the evening service at the mosaic-filled Greek Orthodox Church on Brotherhood Way in San Francisco were Oakland Bishop Allen Vigneron, San Francisco Auxiliary Bishops John C. Wester and Ignatius Wang, Father Gerard O’Rourke, director emeritus of the Archdiocesan Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, and Father John Talesfore, pastor of St. Mary’s Cathedral.

Father Michael Pappas, pastor of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, welcomed Catholic and Orthodox guests as well as representatives of the Jewish and Muslim communities.

In brief remarks, Archbishop Niederauer noted that three years ago, “Metropolitan Anthony of the Greek Orthodox Church, Bishop William Swing of the Episcopal Church, and my predecessor, then-Archbishop

Shown at ecumenical service Nov. 29 are Oakland Bishop Allen Vigneron, Archbishop George Niederauer, Metropolitan Gerasimos, and Bishop Anthimos.

(now Cardinal) William Levada undertook together an unprecedented ecumenical pilgrimage to Istanbul, Canterbury and Rome.”

He said, “Now, on the eve of the meeting between His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI and His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, two of the successors of those shepherds meet here in this beautiful church to pray for God’s blessings on this meeting.”

He added, “East and West are coming closer together to meet the shared challenge of safeguarding Christian tradition and the integrity of witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We meet this challenge on many fronts.

The service also included the dedication and blessing of the mosaic “Madonna in Trono” (Madonna Enthroned), a gift to Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church by Ginnie and Leo Koulos.

Three years in the making, the icon was crafted at the Vatican in the mosaic studio where artisan monks preserve the artistic heritage of the Vatican and maintain the precious mosaics of St. Peter’s Basilica. The brilliance of the icon’s detail and expression is seen in the faces of Christ and the Virgin.

Mr. Koulos is a graduate of St. Ignatius College Prep, and Jesuit Father Robert

Madonna in Trono mosaic at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church.

Walsh, president of SI attended the dedication and prayer service.

Archbishop Niederauer commented, “It seems evident to me that Mary, the Mother of God and our Heavenly Mother, brings her children together to pray for and work with one another. Pope Benedict has spoken recently of an “ecumenism of love,” which expresses itself in “coherent acts that generate trust.” The hospitality of His Eminence, Metropolitan Gerasimos, is one such act, I believe, and so is the splendid generosity and vision in the gift of Ginnie and Leo Koulos that is dedicated here this evening.

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Catholic San Francisco

December 8, 2006

Divine Liturgy . . .

■ Continued from cover of opinion, which we hope to overcome, thanks also to the theological dialogue which has been recently resumed,” Pope Benedict said.

While Orthodox generally recognize the importance of the church of Rome, they object to the way in which popes have tried to exercise direct jurisdiction over all Christian communities.

Pope Benedict said he wanted to “recall and renew” the invitation issued by Pope John Paul II for a discussion among Christians on possible ways for exercising

the papal ministry to serve the unity of all Christians.

“It is only through brotherly communion between Christians and through their mutual love that the message of God’s love for each and every man and woman will become credible,” the pope said.

Like the patriarch, he expressed his sadness at the fact that although they share the same faith and recognize the validity of each other’s sacraments, Catholics and Orthodox cannot regularly share each other’s Eucharist.

“May our daily prayer and activity be inspired by a fervent desire not only to be present at the Divine Liturgy, but to be able to celebrate it together, to take part in the one table of the Lord, sharing the same bread and the same chalice,” the pope said.

Father Michael Padazinski named to post of Chancellor

Guadalupe . . .

San Francisco Archbishop George H. Niederauer has announced the appointment of Father Michael Padazinski to the post of Chancellor of the Archdiocese.

The appointment became effective Dec. 1.

Father Padazinski, who is 50 years old, also serves as Judicial Vicar and head of the Metropolitan Tribunal, a position he has held since 2000. Ordained in 1988, Father Padazinski studied in Rome where he earned a doctorate in Canon Law from St. Thomas University (Angelicum).

The Chancellor is responsible for canonical affairs and is the official notary of the Father Michael Padazinski Archdiocese. He oversees the statistical reports of the Archdiocese for official directories, and supervises the work of professionals who maintain the Archdiocesan Archives.

A member of the Council of Priests and the College of Consultors, Father Padazinski also is a member of the Archbishop’s Cabinet. He is in residence at Mater Dolorosa Parish in South San Francisco, and is Dean of Deanery 9.

Father Padazinski also is a Chaplain in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

In announcing the appointment, Archbishop Niederauer expressed his gratitude to Father Stephen Meriwether, who served the Archdiocese as Chancellor for the past three years. Father Meriwether will continue to serve the Archdiocese as Pastor of Most Holy Redeemer Parish.

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At the end of the liturgy, he gave Patriarch Bartholomew a chalice as a gift.

The patriarch, in turn, gave the pope a Book of the Gospels, expressing his hope that Catholics and Orthodox would be imitators of Christ and would allow love, unity and peace to prevail.

After the liturgy, the pope and patriarch signed a joint declaration committing their churches to continuing theological dialogue and greater practical cooperation, especially in promoting Christian values in increasingly secularized societies.

They also expressed their concern for the poor and for victims of violence — especially in the Middle East — and terrorism and those whose religious freedom is not recognized fully.

In the afternoon, the pope continued his ecumenical visits, meeting Armenian Orthodox Patriarch Mesrob II and Syrian Orthodox Metropolitan Filuksinos Yusuf Cetin.

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■ Continued from cover For example, the yearly walking pilgrimage from All Souls Church in South San Francisco, through San Francisco’s Mission district, to St. Mary’s Cathedral will take place on Saturday, December 9 starting at 5 a.m. The miles-long procession will conclude with a solemn Mass at 2 p.m. at St. Mary’s Cathedral. Bishop John C. Wester will accompany pilgrims and celebrate the Mass at the Cathedral. For more information please call 415 333-4868.

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Catholic San Francisco

December 8, 2006

7

Our Lady of the Pillar Parish in Homebound, ill Half Moon Bay presents Nativity scene or incapacitated?

By Evelyn Zappia For the 19th consecutive year, a sign reading “Welcome to Bethlehem” will be posted on Highway 92 near Half Moon Bay to lead travelers to the annual live Nativity scene presented by Our Lady of the Pillar Parish.

The yearly tradition is sponsored by the Knights of Columbus of the parish. Mel Schwing, Sr., a member of the Knights’ Council and a longtime parishioner of the Coastside parish, coordinates the Nativity festivities, which include musicians, singers, actors, and an array of hungry farm animals.

“It’s quite a production. Every year it gets bigger and bigger,” said Polly Candelori, parish secretary.

Schwing estimates it takes about 80 participants, mostly parishioners and a few Knights of Columbus from outside the Council, to keep the Nativity scene staffed and ready for daily musical performances. Even Santa Claus manages to visit the Nativity scene each year.

The Nativity characters include: Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, Three Wise Men and Shepherds.

The menagerie of animals include: sheep, a donkey, a goat, and whatever the local farmers believe they can spare a couple of hours a day from December 20 to Christmas Day, and then January 7, the Feast of the Epiphany.

“The children love it,” said Schwing. “They love to feed the animals. And they like being close to the Three Wise Men so they can speak with them.”

Candelori explained that the performances at the Nativity scene are “like a professional play.” The costumes are elaborate and beautiful. And the singing of Carols helps to put everyone in the Christmas spirit.

Christmas Eve is the highlight when the Nativity characters process into the Church, sit in the front row, and attend Midnight Mass with the parishioners.

The Three Wise Men take the collection, and Mary and Joseph bring the gifts to the altar.

“Every year people tell me they look forward to the Nativity Scene, and how it has become part of their Christmas, including people who are not Catholics,” said Candelori.

Our Lady of the Pillar is located at 400 Church Street in Half Moon Bay. The Nativity Scene can be viewed at the “Bell Building” adjacent to the Church building.

The live Nativity presentations, which feature singing and music, are scheduled for Dec. 20, 21, 22, 5 - 7 p.m.; Dec. 23, 2 - 4 p.m.; Dec. 24, 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (11:15 a.m. Mass); Dec. 24, 11:30 p.m. - 1:30 a.m.

(Midnight Mass); Dec. 25, 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (11:15 a.m. Mass) and 12:45 p.m. Mass (Spanish); Jan. 7, 10:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m. and 12:45 p.m. Mass (Spanish).

For more information call: Mel Schwing (650) 7266765 or Jose (Luis) Diaz (650) 728-0274, (Spanish).

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Catholic San Francisco

December 8, 2006

Dominican Order begins celebration marking 800-year history Dominican Nuns. All of these monasteries will be sponsoring special festivities to mark the 800th Anniversary of the Dominican Order.

Also included in the anniversary projects are The multifaceted celebration of 800 years the publication of two books, which will of Dominican Monastic life is the exciting become available in 2007. “Search for Living focus for more than 3,500 Dominican Nuns in Waters: Dominican Nuns Reflect on 250 monasteries throughout the world. The Contemplative Spirituality” is a collection of 30 Jubilee Year for the Order began on the First essays by the nuns of several different monasSunday of Advent, December 3. This year also teries. Each article is the fruit of the study and is the beginning of a ten-year period of special prayer that is so essential to the life of the nuns. events marking all the complex steps that led A somewhat different book will be one containup to the birth of what is known as the ing the vocation stories of a large number of Dominican Order. nuns in the various monasteries. Along with a In 1206 Dominic de Guzman, sub-prior of little of the early life of each one, these accounts the Chapter of Canons at the Cathedral in tell of what the young woman was looking for, Osma in Spain, was considering how best to how she discovered Dominican contemplative carry out the Lord’s work in the local Church. life, and what attracted her to embrace this way He and his Bishop, Diego had been traveling of searching for God. in southern France and became aware of the A special Jubilee calendar also is being pregreat need for good preaching among the peopared, which will feature each of the monasterDominican Nuns at Corpus Christi Monastery in Menlo Park. ple who had been led away from the Church ies with some history and very interesting picby false teaching. In particular there was a group of women who had been very active in the hereti- this church and gather the converted women there. This tures. This will be a 14-month calendar beginning with cal sect and had been converted by St. Dominic’s preach- monastery became the nucleus of what would later develop December 2006, and continuing through January of 2008, ing. Now these women were free and eager to give them- into the Dominican Order. It was a place for Dominic and the period that has been declared a ‘Jubilee Year’ for the selves to the true faith but were in danger of being lured the preachers who were gathered around him to spend time Order. During this Jubilee Year the Holy See has granted a back to false doctrines unless they could continue to be resting, studying and reflecting between their apostolic Plenary Indulgence under the usual conditions to all of the Faithful who attend services at any one of the Dominican fed with authentic teaching and also have an outlet for journeys.

The nuns were an integral part of this ‘Holy Preaching’ monasteries in the world. their generous response to God. Already in place is a web site, which is now available: On the evening of July 22, 1206, St. Dominic was pray- from the very start since their life was ordered to the salvaing about this in the little town of Fanjeaux in southern tion of souls. It was only in December 1216 that Dominic www.usaopnuns.org and a Jubilee prayer can be found France. As he looked out over the countryside he saw a received from the Holy See the final bull approving the there along with the announcement of the Jubilee Year globe of light descend from heaven and it seemed to rest on Order. Now the Friars, Nuns, Apostolic Sisters, and Indulgence, a short history of the Order, and links to each the abandoned church in the neighboring village of Dominican Laity are spending the ten years from 2006 to monastery as well as slide presentations and other informaProuilhe. When this vision was repeated three times, he 2016 celebrating the foundation of the Order. In the United tion of interest to Dominicans and their friends.

DOMINICAN ORDER, page 9 became convinced that God was directing him to obtain States there are sixteen monasteries of cloistered

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December 8, 2006

Dominican Order . . .

■ Continued from page 8 Corpus Christi Monastery in Menlo Park is the home of the Dominican Nuns in northern California. The community began in 1921 when eight nuns of the Bronx monastery traveled across the country to make a new foundation in San Francisco. They lived in the home of Mrs. Bertha Welch on Eddy Street for seven years, eventually purchasing property and building a permanent monastery in Menlo Park. Over the years women have come from all over the

world to enter Corpus Christi, giving an international flavor to the community.

Although the nuns are cloistered, they do have a hidden apostolate in the local church. The Divine Office is prayed in choir seven times a day, and each nun has assigned times for private prayer. The special focus in the minds of the founding nuns as well as the Dominican friars and Archbishop who welcomed them, was the fostering of devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. Even now the chapel is open from 7:00 am until 5:30 pm every day offering to all a place to spend quiet time with Jesus exposed in the Blessed Sacrament. The public is also invited to join the

St. Vincent de Paul Society honors Bishop Wester

Catholic San Francisco

9

nuns for Mass each morning at 8:00 am and again for Vespers (the Evening Prayer of the Church) at 5:00 pm.

The Corpus Christi Monastery has as its main means of support, the packaging and shipping of altar breads to parishes, campus ministries, retreat houses, hospitals, and retired priests from Alaska to southern California. This work and also Spiritual Bouquets, Mass Cards and other art work, as well as ordinary household tasks, is joined to the observance of study, common life, and liturgical and private prayer, which observances form the framework of Dominican Monastic Life.

In the autumn of 2007, San Francisco Archbishop George Niederhauer will preside at a special Mass at the monastery celebrating the 800th Jubilee year of the foundation of the Dominican Order.

Detailed information about Corpus Christi Monastery, located at 215 Oak Grove Ave. in Menlo Park, may be found at the monastery web site www.nunsmenlo.org.

Saint Agnes Church A Welcoming Parish Sacrament of Reconciliation Wednesday, December 13 9am to 7pm If you have been thinking about going to Confession, this may be the day for you.

Confessors are available through the day. All are welcome.

Christmas Eve ~ Sunday, December 24 Liturgies of the Nativity of the Lord 5:00 pm Children’s Liturgy with Children’s Choir 10:00 pm Christmas Vigil with Choir, Woodwinds and Brass Christmas Day ~ Monday, December 25 Liturgy of the Nativity of the Lord 10:30 am with Choir, Woodwinds and Brass There is no 8:30 am or 6:00 pm Liturgy

Sulpician Father Eugene Konkel and Bishop John C. Wester are shown with St. Vincent de Paul Society of San Francisco’s Executive Director Peter Wise (left) and President Stanley Raggio (right).

San Francisco Auxiliary Bishop John C. Wester was awarded the 2006 Brennan Award by the St. Vincent de Paul Society of San Francisco for his work with the poor and needy. Sulpician Father Eugene Konkel presented the award to Bishop Wester at the annual St. Vincent de Paul fundraising dinner Nov. 17.

Before an audience of 600 people, Bishop Wester expressed his gratitude, but said his inclination was to give the award back to the Vincentians in recognition of their work. He said, “The St. Vincent de Paul Society brings together the Gospel and outreach to the poor and sees that the two are really one, all the same bolt of cloth, the same mystery of life that Jesus has called us to.”

Peter Wise, Executive Director of San Francisco’s St. Vincent de Paul Society said, “The principle of person-to-person service so central to St. Vincent de Paul’s work has been wonderfully modeled throughout Bishop Wester’s ministry.”

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Catholic San Francisco

December 8, 2006

St. Francis Center of Redwood City brings faith to life by helping the poor

By Jose Luis Aguirre Many people call it “La Casita” (The Little House), but its real name is the St. Francis Center of Redwood City.

Dominican sister Christina Heltsley, who has directed the agency for the past seven years, said this is because everyone who comes there is welcome and feels at home.

La Casita also refers to the small house in which Franciscan Sister Monica Asman first began to provide services to needy people in a poor Redwood City neighborhood in 1986. Sister Monica was a college professor before she began her second career in serving the poor.

St. Francis Center, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, provides food and clothing, shower and laundry facilities, training and counseling to low-income individuals and families in southern San Mateo County.

St. Francis Center also owns and operates the Saint Clare apartments; a nearby building with 24 units, for very lowincome families, Rent is about one half to one third of prevailing levels in the neighborhood.

“We know that a lot of the immigrant families live in a single car garage or three to four families live in the same residence, so these apartments give them a little bit of privacy and it is safe,” said Sister Christina.

St. Francis Center, a non-profit with a board of directors, bought the building 10 years ago. People from the community helped to repaint the building, install new windows, and construct an attractive area for outdoor barbeques.

“When the families no longer qualify for these apartments because their salaries increase, I have what it is called a rotary fund,” said Sister Christina. “I can pay their first and last month rent and the security deposit to help them move softly to the mainstream; then, they pay it back four months after they move to the new place.”

Monday through Friday, dozens of people wait in line outside La Casita to get food and clothes. Even though this service opens at 1 pm, a long line starts in the early morning. Each family is allowed to visit the Center for clothing and food once a month. Every day there are between 20 and 45 families, or about 2,500 people a month, according to Sister Christina.

Over the years, the Center has expanded to a cluster of nearby houses and a temporary building in which services are provided.

Jacqueline Rueda is one of the 86 volunteers who work at the Center. She helps to stock the food that comes from donations. A good amount of food comes from

Dominican Sister Christina Heltsley, director of St. Francis Center in Redwood City, receives a delivery from Second Harvest Food Bank.

Visiting the St. Francis Center clothing room, Margarita Castaneda selects clothes for her family.

On a small, unused lot, St. Francis Center provides space for growing produce in a garden dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The Second Harvest Food Bank, which delivers five to seven pallets of food each month. In addition, Sister Christina picks up another load each week in the Center’s van. Some volunteers also bring pastries and bread every day from Safeway and Whole Foods.

“I could not find any other volunteer service better than this” said Rueda who has worked in La Casita for the past six years. “I am very happy here because all the people are very nice,” she said.

In other room, Michelle Kennedy, another volunteer, sorted bags of clothes that had just came in. The St. Francis Center provides 19,000 to 21,000 bags of clothes every year. Families visit the room where clothes are neatly arranged and fill two bags with whatever type of clothing they need at no cost.

“If something is dirty, old, or inappropriate we don’t keep it. We throw it away because we just select what is good and usable for our families,” said Sister Christina.

ST. FRANCIS CENTER, page 11

St. Francis Center owns and operates the adjacent Saint Claire Apartments, which provide families with a place to live.

December 8, 2006

Mothers Rosa Gonzalez and Paz Salazar share in the learning provided at St. Francis Center in Redwood City.

St. Francis Center . . .

■ Continued from page 10 St. Francis Center also has a space for gardening in front of the house dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron of the neighborhood. Twenty-three families have their own garden plot, transformed from a formerly unused lot, where they grow lettuce, chilies, tomatoes and other products, which the families share.

“It is a natural garden,” said Sister Christina, who invites other families to use the garden. “If they will take care of their box, pull the products they planted and keep it nice and clean I give them the key and they can use it whenever they want.

This is a good therapy too because their homes are very tiny it is better for them to come and work in the soil,” she added.

St. Francis Center has a huge toy program at Christmas, which collects and distributes about 5,000 new toys, donated by five Catholic parishes, two Lutheran parishes, two Presbyterian parishes, firefighters, airport employees and others.

“A lot of miracles happen at the Center,” said sister Christina. “Sometimes if I need to pay a utility bill for $200 or $300 and I don’t have it, somebody comes and says, ‘Sister, I don’t have much money but I will write a check for $200 or $300.’ I am almost so used to it, that I know that it is going to happen,” she said.

Another blessing that Sister Christina is thankful for is the corps of volunteers.

“Our 86 volunteers are great people and they have such big heart that without them would be impossible to run the Center”.

Sister Christina came to St. Francis Center after devoting many years to education. A former teacher and college professor, she holds a doctorate from the University of San Francisco. She was Superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese of Monterey before coming to the Center.

She was drawn strongly to working directly with the poor, especially with people who have great needs. Today, the Dominican Sister directs one of the most respected poverty relief programs in the region.

“I love the Center; this is a huge gift to the people and a huge gift to me because I can see that they have great hope especially for their kids,” she said.

Looking to the future, St. Francis Center purchased a property near the original La Casita, where it plans to construct a new 2,600 square-foot building to house its programs and services. The Center has raised about half of the $4 million needed for construction, which will begin in early 2007.

For more information, call Sister Christina Heltsley at (650) 365-7829.

Donations can be sent to St. Francis Center, 101 Buckingham Ave. Redwood City, CA 94063. Visit www.stfrancisrwc.

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Catholic San Francisco

11

Students at Holy Family School are in the sixth grade.

Each student has a dream and pursues it with confidence.

Holy Family School’s extraordinary impact on the lives of children Dominican Sister Christina Heltsley has worked in education most of her adult life and six years ago she decided to start the Holy Family School in the building next door to St. Francis Center.

The founding idea of the school was to have a major impact on the lives of a small number of children from low-income, immigrant families. Twelve children, boys and girls, were given the opportunity to have free education from kindergarten to sixth grade.

“Some of these kids are the first persons in their families ever to be able to read and write,” said Sister Christina, “When I look into their faces and see how far they have come, and I see their dreams actually happening, that is everything for me. I know they are going to make it,” she said with tears in her eyes.

Dominican Sister Susan Ostrowfki is the teacher. She and Sister Christina are the only full time employees that work in the Center, everybody else are volunteers.

But not only the children take classes, their mothers do too. “The only condition for enrollment in the six-year program is that each child’s mother must come one day a week to learn English and to take computers and religion classes.” Said Sister Christina Margarita Castañeda is so happy because her son is getting an “extraordinary education,” and because now she can speaks English thanks to the ESL classes that she has taken in the Center. “When I came to this place for the first time I could not talk in English, but now I feel confident and I am doing it very well, she said.”

Rosa Gonzalez and Paz Salazar are two other mothers whose kids attend to this school. They say their children are good kids and that they are sure they are going to go to college and to the university one day.

This is the last year for the original cohort of 12 children at Holy Family School. They will go on to other schools for the seventh grade with a strong early education foundation. In September 2007, a new group of 12 children will begin class.

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Catholic San Francisco

December 8, 2006

Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper

Ecumenical Service

By Metropolitan Gerasimos Following are comments delivered by His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco at an Ecumenical Prayer Service, Nov. 29, at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in San Francisco.

Your Eminence Archbishop George of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco: the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco welcomes you to Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, the oldest Greek Orthodox parish west of the Mississippi. We gather together on this eve of the Feast of St. Andrew, the First-called Apostle, the patron saint of the Great Church of Christ, the Ecumenical Patriarchate at the same time as your Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI meets with His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Constantinople.

While these visits have been occurring regularly since the 1960s, there are many hopes and expectations for this meeting in particular.

First, we hope that this meeting will create an opportunity for Christians and Moslems to open a dialogue of faith and reason, as Pope Benedict called for in his recent address at Regensburg. The need for such a dialogue between Christianity and Islam has never been more obvious as we witness extremists and fanatics use religious faith to justify violence. As Patriarch Bartholomew has stated, “Every time religion has been used for inciting enmity and misfortunes, it has been a case of taking advantage of the ignorance of the masses and misleading them into actions of intolerance and fanaticism.

If we examine these cases with a clear and healthy mind we see that they are unjustifiable and unacceptable.”

Second, we hope that this meeting will raise the issue of the religious freedom for all people, but especially for the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which struggles daily to preserve our ancient faith and coordinate the work of Orthodoxy globally in an increasing oppressive environment. As Archbishop Demetrios of America stated last year, “Sadly, and especially in the last five years, the Turkish

government has intensified its efforts to restrict the free exercise of the religious activity of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. It has subjected the Ecumenical Patriarchate to even tighter regulations concerning its properties and to closer monitoring of its religious activities than perhaps ever before in its history.… in essence (a) serious deprivations of basic religious rights.”

Third, we hope that it will only deepen the decades long relationship and re-ignite the drive for an eventual reunion of our two Churches. As Patriarch Bartholomew stated in 2004: “The division between the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church has persisted for centuries.

Yet, we firmly believe that, with the guidance of the Risen Lord, our differences are not beyond resolution.

Moreover, we believe that we have a solemn obligation to our Lord to heal our painful divisions. For this reason, we must be persistent in our prayer.

We must increase our expressions of love and mutual respect. We must strengthen our theological dialogue.”

Tonight’s Doxology and dedication of the magnificent icon of the Virgin Enthroned is one more expression of the love, mutual respect and dialogue that our two Churches began in 1958.

In that year, our two Churches began a correspondence that would have far reaching consequences for all Christians. Pope John XXIII and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras had seen first-hand in their ministries the realities of Christian division and they sought to end that division upon their ascendancy to the historic Sees of Rome and Constantinople. They understood that division between Christians diminished the voice of Christ in the world. In 1959, Patriarch Athenagoras wrote to Pope John XXIII: “The distressing picture of humanity today, as it undergoes all sorts of trials deriving from mutual incomprehension and the failure of people to live in peace with one another, imposes on the leaders of the Christian Churches a very pressing duty. This consists in a concerted effort to make it quite clear to the contemporary world that technical and

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: healym@sfarchdiocese.org

(PHOTO BY DIMITRIOS PANAGAS)

‘The need for Christians to be people of reconciliation and peace

His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco

scientific achievements are not enough to form an all-embracing human civilization, if the spiritual, religious, and moral foundations are not there – that is to say, if Christ himself, who is the author of love, peace, and justice between people, is not there.”

These words are still relevant nearly fifty years later. As our world continues to make even greater scientific and technical advances, accomplishments that could barely been dreamed of in 1959, we see an equal decline in the relationships among people. Our scientific achievements promise to inaugurate a new era of human existence. Of course, the treatment and eradication of deadly diseases and the ease of global communication are just two examples of how these advances have improved the lives of many people throughout the globe. However, at the same time we see these advances causing even greater inequity between rich and poor. We see a society that over consumes to fill emptiness in human relationships, whether interpersonal, familial, or communal.

We see Christianity and religion in general being used as tools for inflaming the division of peoples. In short, we see the product of a world without the centrality of the Good News of Jesus Christ.

While there are many issues that still divide the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, our faith in Jesus Christ unites us as brothers and sisters. This common faith unites us – or should unite us – in the labors to advance the kingdom of God. This common faith unites us – or should unite us – in the labor for justice and peace. This common faith unites us – or should unite us – in the labor for human dignity. We should applaud the words of the North American Orthodox – Catholic Consultation, the oldest theological dialogue between our two Churches, which recently stated: “Both Pope Benedict XVI and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew have affirmed their desire to heal the division between our churches, and to contribute to healing the wounds of

our societies. They have affirmed the need for Christians to be people of reconciliation and peace. They have called for mutual understanding among all faiths, and the for the elimination of misunderstanding, prejudice and injustice wherever they may be found.”

But it is not enough to applaud a high-minded statement of theologians. It is not enough to sit by as our Patriarch and Pope meet. As Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras stated about their historic meeting in Jerusalem, “These two pilgrims, their eyes fixed on Christ, the exemplar and author, with the Father, of unity and peace, pray to God that this meeting may be the sign and prelude of things to come for the glory of God and the enlightenment of his faithful people.”

Your Eminence, we are the heirs of that tradition of pilgrimage that began over forty years ago. Pilgrims, as we know, were known for walking long distances to visit a shrine or a holy place, to receive God’s blessing and sanctification. Our Churches have been walking together now for nearly fifty years. Today, we walk together as pilgrims to an icon of the mother of God, venerating her and praying to her that she intercede on our behalf before her Son to enlighten us and compel us to action on our pilgrimage of charity.

Pope Benedict and Patriarch Bartholomew have challenged us to heal wounds. As Archbishop Anastasios of Albania has repeatedly stated, “the oil of religion should be used to soothe and heal the wounds of others.” As we journey together, our entire beings will encounter many who have not heard the Good News, felt the healing touch of ministry, nor tasted from the table of bounty. Can we walk together as brothers and sisters offering the oil of the Good News of Jesus Christ in this City and region?

Pilgrimages are usually not taken alone, but in groups. In the icon we dedicate this evening, we see a group of six angels, messengers of God. The work of the angels is the never ceasing ECUMENICAL SERVICE, page 15

Catholic San Francisco

December 8, 2006

13

Guest Commentary

Benedict the Brave It takes a lot of faith to believe that any good will come of Pope Benedict’s visit to Turkey — but of course, Benedict has that in spades.

The media will naturally enough focus on the trip’s possible impact on the future of Muslim-Christian relations. But for Benedict, the highlight and purpose of his trip lies elsewhere, especially in the historic meeting with Bartholomew I, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the spiritual head of the Orthodox Church.

According to National Catholic Reporter’s John Allen, Pope Benedict told reporters on the flight to Turkey that, bringing together “the two sister churches of Rome and Constantinople is a very important moment in the search for Christian unity.” It is, he acknowledged, a symbolic encounter, but one that “is not just empty, but is full of reality.”

One of the realities the pope seeks to call to our attention is how utterly oppressed by the Turkish government the small flock of Orthodox Christians remains.

Too many powerful people, when they talk about the importance of defending civil liberties, really mean (as Kevin J. Hasson of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty puts it) “their favorite civil liberties.” Which may be one reason why, although I was acutely aware that the government of Turkey faced sharp criticism from the West for putting novelists, his-

torians, journalists — and even, in one case, an archeologist with novel theories about the uses to which ancient Sumerians put headscarves — on trial, I had not heard before of the disgraceful state of discrimination to which the patriarch of Constantinople and his church remain subject to this day.

George Weigel points out in Newsweek that the Turkish government closed the patriarchate’s seminary in 1971 and refuses to permit it to reopen. The patriarchate is not permitted to own property, including the churches in its jurisdiction. “Turkish authorities have also confiscated houses, apartment buildings, schools, monasteries and lands that were once owned by the Ecumenical Patriarchate; the state seized the patriarchate’s 36 cemeteries, which are now the property of various legal subdivisions of the city of Istanbul; and, earlier this year, the state confiscated the boys’ orphanage run by the patriarchate (which is the oldest wooden building in Europe and of great historical value),” reports Weigel.

The Turkish government also determines who may teach in Orthodox schools and what books they use. With considerable understatement, he adds: “No Christian community in the West would tolerate such conditions, which involve violations of basic human rights.”

None of which has made news in Europe or America

in the same way that oppressing academics, artists, editors or other symbolic analysts has.

With Orthodox Christians amounting to less than one-tenth of one percent of the population, it is hard to idenMaggie tify a more vulnerable Gallagher minority, or one with fewer influential public defenders.

Let us hope one may be enough. Just before takeoff, Benedict told reporters on the plane he begins the trip with “great trust and hope,” counting on the support and prayer of many persons — including, he said, the Turkish people, “who want peace.”

“Turkey has always been a bridge between cultures, a place of meeting and dialogue,” the pope said.

Like I said: a brave man.

Maggie Gallagher is the author of “The Case for Marriage.”

For the Journey

Does it matter that Christ came as a child?

I have always loved Christmas. But as I’ve gotten older, I find myself focusing on what may be the greatest lesson of Bethlehem: When the Son of God came to this earth to show us, as famed author Gilbert Chesterton wrote, “how to make the world right,” he came as a child.

There has always been something so human, yet so magical, about the child born in a stable in an obscure place in old, troubled days in world history.

When I was very young, I wondered sometimes why God didn’t send his Son to earth as a grown up, powerful king. I long ago figured it out that it had a lot to do with who we can love — not a powerful king, but a beautiful, needy baby.

In a great new book by Dominican Father Albert Nolan, “Jesus Today, a Spirituality of Radical Freedom” (Orbis), there is a chapter spelling out what we all should seek to understand: God’s wisdom in sending his Son to us as a child. As Father Nolan explains: “Of all the things Jesus turned upside down, none was more surprising and unexpected than his depiction of a little child instead of an adult as the model we should imitate and learn from.

“The image he put forward as the ideal to strive for was not the image of some great heroic figure, a person of

great strength and power, superstar or even a wise old man or woman or a Buddah-like contemplative. The image of true greatness that he put before his disciples and lived up to himself was the image of a little child. For Jesus, personal transformation means becoming like a child. Why?” Father Nolan’s explanation is meditation material. Most of us pay tribute to the Babe of Bethlehem, and then never ask why Jesus came as a child. Yet, in his teaching, Jesus told us why, even if his lessons have been lost on most of us.

“For Jesus, the child was the model of radical humility,” writes Father Nolan. “Those who wish to follow him will have to become as humble as little children.” This can happen only when we recognize how our egos damage us with “false images of ourselves.”

This priest is not speaking from a textbook. The noted theologian was prompted to work in South Africa with those struggling against apartheid.

Thirty years ago Father Nolan wrote a book, “Jesus Before Christianity,” that I often refer to, reading again the many passages I underlined. Shouldn’t we remain amazed that when the disciples asked Jesus who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, he sat a little child in front of him? Then he said something astounding: “One who makes himself as little as this little

child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

Father Nolan emphasized that the little child, who is an image of the kingdom, “is a symbol of those who have the lowest places in society, the poor and the oppressed, the beggars, Antoinette Bosco the prostitutes and tax collectors — the people whom Jesus often called the little ones or the least.”

This may not seem like the Christmas story, but it is.

The joyfulness of giving gifts, of being with loved ones, of singing beautiful hymns, of going to church, of kneeling before the Nativity scene is only the beginning. Then comes the challenge: Can we keep the childhood wonder and awe — that could make our world God’s kingdom, as Jesus understood it — ever alive in our lives?

Antoinette Bosco is the author of a dozen books including “One Day He Beckoned.”

Spirituality for Life

Looking for rest amidst the pressures of life The 13th century Middle-Eastern poet, Rumi, once wrote: “What I want is to leap out of this personality And then sit apart from that leaping I’ve lived too long where I can be reached.”

In a day of instant and constant communication, cell phones and emails, I suspect that we all fit that description. Certainly I do. I’ve lived too long where I can be reached.

It seems that we’re almost always over-stretched with too much to do. We come to the end of each day tired, yet conscious of what we’ve left undone. There’s always someone else we should have phoned, emailed, or attended to in some way. Our lives often seem like over packed suitcases, crammed to the brim, and still unable to hold all we need to carry along. What’s wrong here?

Whenever we feel that way, it’s a sure sign that we’ve lost the proper sense of time. Life is meant to be busy, but we’re also meant, at regular times, to have sabbatical, sabbath time, to rest and enjoy.

When we look at scripture we see that God established a certain rhythm to time.

Biblically, this is the pattern: We’re meant to work for six days, then have a one-day sabbatical; work for seven years and have a one year sabbatical; work for seven times seven years (forty-nine years) and have a Jubilee year; and finally work for a lifetime and have an eternity of sabbatical. The idea is that our pressured, hurried, working days should be regularly punctured by times of rest, celebration, enjoyment, non-work, non-pressure, and that ultimately all work will cease and we will have nothing to do except to luxuriate in life itself.

And what’s supposed to happen on a sabbath? What constitutes sabbath time?

First, a sabbath is meant to be unordinary time, a time when our normal work and the everyday pressures of life are stopped. Partly this is meant to free us up for deeper things, but mainly it is meant to remind us that we do not live to work, but rather work in order to live and love.

Next a sabbath is meant to be a time for enjoyment, for high celebration. And this isn’t abstract: On a sabbath we’re meant to eat our best meal of the week, wear our best clothing, rest, enjoy the earth and each other, and (if you’re really an Orthodox believer) to make love. On a sabbath we’re meant to drink in life in all its fullness, including its sensuality.

Finally, sabbath is meant to be a time for reconciliation, for forgiving debts, for giving up grudges, for making peace with our enemies. The cessation of work, the rest, the celebration, the drinking in of enjoyment, and the making love are all partly ends in themselves. The sabbath was made for us. However they’re also in function of something else, namely, reconciliation, forgiveness. We only truly celebrate the sabbath, have a genuine holiday, if we forgive someone and it’s because we don’t do this that, so often, our vacations don’t relax us for long. We’re tired, go on vacation, get a good rest, get away from the pressures of our work, enjoy some unpressured time, perhaps even get some sun and a tan, but then come home and very soon, within hours or days, are just a tired as we were before we went on vacation.

Why? Because we didn’t forgive anybody and our hurts and bitterness are the deep roots of our tiredness. There’s a statute of limitations to all debts, including our personal hurts.

A couple of years ago, Wayne Muller wrote a little

book entitled, “Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in our Busy Lives.” I leave you with some of his wisdom: Sabbath need not be a year or even a day.

It can also be an afternoon, an hour, a walk, a Father dinner. Sabbath is a Ron Rolheiser time when we drink, if only for a few moments, from the fountain of rest and delight. It is a time to listen to what is most deeply beautiful, nourishing, and true.

Sabbath is different kind of fertility; it honors the wisdom of dormancy. If certain plant species do not lie dormant for winter, they will not bear fruit in spring. A period of rest, within which our roots quietly take in nourishment, is the key to health.

We are almost always running, trying to catch the things that will make us happy when, in fact, those very things are trying to catch us!

God said: “Remember to rest.” This is not a lifestyle suggestion, but a commandment, as important as not stealing, not murdering, or not lying.

We need sabbath. We’ve all lived too long where we can be reached.

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

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Catholic San Francisco

December 8, 2006

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT Baruch 5:1-9; Psalm 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6; Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11; Luke 3:1-6 we are filled with joy.

Although they go forth weeping, carrying the seed to be sown, They shall come back rejoicing, carrying their sheaves.

R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

A READING FROM THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET BARUCH BAR 5:1-9 Jerusalem, take off your robe of mourning and misery; put on the splendor of glory from God forever: wrapped in the cloak of justice from God, bear on your head the mitre that displays the glory of the eternal name. For God will show all the earth your splendor: you will be named by God forever the peace of justice, the glory of God(s worship.

Up, Jerusalem! stand upon the heights; look to the east and see your children gathered from the east and the west at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that they are remembered

by God. Led away on foot by their enemies they left you: but God will bring them back to you borne aloft in glory as on royal thrones.

For God has commanded that every lofty mountain be made low, and that the age-old depths and gorges be filled to level ground, that Israel may advance secure in the glory of God. The forests and every fragrant kind of tree have overshadowed Israel at God’s command; for God is leading Israel in joy by the light of his glory, with his mercy and justice for company.

A READING FROM THE LETTER OF SAINT PAUL TO THE PHILIPPIANS PHIL 1:4-6, 8-11 Brothers and sisters: I pray always with joy in my every prayer for all of you, because of your partnership for the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer: that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM PS 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6 R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

When the Lord brought back the captives of Zion, we were like men dreaming.

Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with rejoicing.

R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”

The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad indeed.

R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like the torrents in the southern desert.

Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.

R. The Lord has done great things for us;

A READING FROM THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE LK 3:1-6 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert. John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.

Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

Scripture Reflection FATHER EDWARD J. KELLY, C.S.SP.

Preparing the world for ‘the day of Christ Jesus’ Advent is a time of waiting and preparing, as we look forward to the grand and joyful celebration of Christmas, which marks the coming of Jesus into human history.

We do this each year so that by the very celebration of it the whole wonderful reality will become an ever-more intensive, an ever-more exciting expectation within us. So that, in turn again, the kingdom of God that was begun here on earth at the first coming of Jesus in the past will grow to final fulfillment and visible completion at the second coming of Jesus in the future.

Therefore, our celebration of his first coming at Christmas is in reality the joyful, hope-filled anticipation of his Second Coming on the last day — the day that St. Paul calls “the day of Christ Jesus.”

Hear again what Paul writes, “the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Paul prays that we will grow in love and learn to value the things that really matter, up to the very day of Christ.

This is the scriptural and liturgical understanding. And it moves us far beyond just a nostalgic remembrance of the birth of a baby, and far beyond ourselves, and our

own individual religious concerns. In fact, it leads us out to critical and responsible social action to change the world so that it is more just and human and therefore more ready for the second coming of Jesus at the end. This is why Paul says he prays for the Lord’s followers to be “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.” This is what Advent and Christmas tell us; this is what John the Baptist tells us; this is what the prophets Baruch and Isaiah tell us; this is what Luke tells us in the Gospel. This is what they all mean when they tell us to be heralds in the world, crying out, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.”

Do you see how powerful this scriptural meaning of Christmas really is?

That Christmas points not to the past but to the future; that Christmas is very much an adult affair.

The tremendous task to which Christmas calls us is the task of preparing the world by our actions of love and justice and peace for the final coming of the Lord at the end; that this is indeed the mighty majestic message and challenge that Advent is preparing us to hear at Christmas.

From the archives of Father Edward J. Kelly, a Holy Ghost priest for nearly sixty years before his death in 2000.

The Teaching of Christ

Current American scene: The context of catechesis

By Most Rev. Donald W. Wuerl The need for the new United States Catholic Catechism for Adults is something I believe we have all experienced. There is both a negative, or downside, and a positive, or upside, to what we find in our culture today.

Both aspects cry out for a catechetical renewal, particularly among our young adults, and an appropriate tool to help with this catechesis.

Without belaboring the negative side, it is important to highlight some of the elements that we perhaps all have faced. For example, our culture is aggressively secular. This is true to such an extent that the environment can be actually hostile to Christian faith.

We can begin with the fact that social mores, particularly in large urban centers and reflected in the means of social communications that reach the entire country, have so changed in the past years as to produce a climate that is not only secular but almost entirely focused on the material world. Many commentators often speak of a generation that has lost its moral compass.

Concomitant with this is the disintegration of the community and social structures that once supported religious faith and encouraged family life. The heavy emphasis on the

individual and his or her rights actually has eroded the concept of the common good and its ability to call people to something beyond themselves. This impacts strongly on our capacity as catechists and teachers of the faith to call people to accept revealed teaching that cannot be changed by democratic process and to follow an absolute moral imperative that is not the result of prior popular approbation.

However, our experiences are not all darkness and gloom. On the brighter side is a sense among some of our young people that the secular, material world does not provide them sufficient answers for their lives. Over and over, the phenomena of youth gatherings from as large as World Youth Day to as modest as small parish programs speak of the searching for value and direction that characterizes a growing number of our faithful.

There is a hunger for God and the things of the Spirit, but it needs to be encouraged, informed and directed.

In reaching out to the young, I have experienced their openness, sense of searching and desire for a clear affirmation of the faith.

The basic truths of the faith often evoke in them a positive and affirmative response.

Often in meeting with young people, whether in a university class setting, an RCIA discus-

sion or a simple conversation about the faith, I find a willingness in many to explore what the church brings to our world and the human condition that no other voice provides.

This openness says to me that it is not a time for any of us to be hesitant to speak about our faith and explain our beliefs. This may entail on our part a more thorough study of the teaching of Christ and his church. In this context, there is a welcome place today for the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults.

In parishes I am also greatly heartened by the recognition of more and more of the faithful that the work of catechesis is not confined or reserved solely to clergy, catechists and teachers. Increasingly there is an affirmation of the principles articulated in the General Directory for Catechesis that “catechesis is a responsibility of the entire Christian community.” The same directory instructs us that “Christian initiation indeed should not be the work of catechists and priests alone, but of the whole community of the faithful” (220).

The entire faith community must be invited into both the recognition that there is a need to evangelize and catechize, and also the commitment to participate in this effort. This is perhaps the most challenging aspect of the catechetical renewal today. All of us together

must assume responsibility for sharing with others the faith that we have received and so cherish.

However, ecclesial catechesis is not an undifferentiated or nondirected activity. The bishop, as head of a local church, has the primary responsibility for catechesis in the particular church. This he does by being actively engaged in the teaching of the faith where this is possible and certainly through the oversight of all who teach the faith. By extension, this task falls also to each priest by virtue of his ordination.

I hear from a number of priests that they regularly use the bulletin as a catechetical tool. Their own more active engagement in the oversight of the various catechetical initiatives of the parish is another testimony to priestly teaching of the mystery of faith.

And still others highlight their teaching presence in the parish utilizing the pulpit and Sunday liturgy homily.

Our current situation then gives us all the more reason to rejoice in the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults as a welcomed instrument in adult faith formation at every level throughout the archdiocese and, most particularly, within each of our faith-filled parishes.

Catholic San Francisco

December 8, 2006

Pope calls visit unforgettable experience

By John Thavis VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI called his visit to Turkey an unforgettable experience and said he hoped it would lead to improved relations between Christians and Muslims. The pope made the remarks at his noon blessing Dec. 3 at the start of Advent.

The pope thanked Turkish authorities for ensuring that the visit was “peaceful and fruitful” and expressed his gratitude to “the friendly Turkish people” for giving him “a welcome worthy of their traditional spirit of hospitality.”

He said the visit was “an unforgettable spiritual and pastoral experience, which I hope will help produce an increasingly sincere cooperation among all the disciples of Christ and a beneficial dialogue with Muslim believers.”

The papal visit was designed as a primarily ecumenical trip and featured important encounters with Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.

But the pope generated the most interest in Turkey and in the world by meeting with

Muslim leaders and visiting the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, where he prayed alongside a Muslim cleric while facing Mecca.

The pope recalled with special affection the “dear Catholic community” in Turkey. He said that despite its small size the Catholic minority is rich in enthusiasm and faith, and carries out its pastoral life “in conditions that are often not easy.” He said Turkish Catholics are, in effect, living in a continuous experience of Advent, sustained by hope and trust that God is coming.

The message of Advent, he said, is that Christ “is coming into human history, to knock at the door of every man and woman of good will, to bring the gift of brotherhood, harmony and peace to every individual, every family and every people.”

As Christians await the celebration of the birth of Christ, they should renew this sense of hope with prayer and with concrete demonstrations of love, he said. The commitment for justice should be a meeting ground for people of every culture and every nationality, including believers and nonbelievers, he added.

Ecumenical Service . . .

■ Continued from page 12 praise of God and in this icon we see them surrounding the Mother of God and her Son, in acts of praise of adoration. On their long journeys, pilgrims would sing hymns praising God. In imitation of the angels, on our pilgrimage this evening we have offered hymns of glory and thanksgiving to God. This has not been the prayer or song of one, but the prayer and song of many. Even as we are still divided Churches, we have found a common voice.

Patriarch Athenagoras challenged us to shore up the moral, spiritual, and religious founda-

tions of society. Can we find a way to speak to the people of this City, to reenter the public arena, and to speak with one voice “to fulfill the Lord’s will and to proclaim the ancient truth of his Gospel confided to the Church.”

Our actions and words this evening, dedicating an icon and praising the Lord together, are just a few steps in a long journey that began when two brothers, Peter and Andrew took when they began to follow the Lord. Pope Benedict and Patriarch Bartholomew, as successors to the Sees of Peter and Andrew, have now begun their pilgrimage together. When we conclude this doxology, we will walk together as brothers as a sign that our journey in San Francisco has begun and must continue.

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Catholic San Francisco

December 8, 2006

‘Picturing Mary’ documentary ready for debut on public television WASHINGTON (CNS) – Filmmaker Rosemary Plum recently returned to her London home from Mexico City, the last of 22 cities in 13 countries where she and her crew shot footage for the new 60-minute documentary “Picturing Mary,” funded in part by the U.S. bishops’ Catholic Communication Campaign.

Plum called “Picturing Mary” a kind of sequel to the 2001 documentary “The Face: Jesus in Art,” another CCC-funded production which showed how artists captured the face of Jesus within their time and culture. Plum was producer and location manager for “The Face.”

Jim Clifton, who wrote the screenplay for “The Face,” also wrote “Picturing Mary,” narrated by actress Jane Seymour with quotations read by actor James Keach. Both documentaries were a joint effort of the CCC and New York public television station Thirteen/WNET. “The Virgin Mary has been responsible for some of the finest expressions of the human spirit,” Plum said. “Hopefully we’re achieving that, and the motivations behind why she’s one of the most painted faces of history, really.”

Plum had a wealth of images from which to choose, given the travel schedule she endured for filming. Without revealing what images are in the film, Plum declared, “What it is fair to say is masterpieces and works that are less familiar to the audience” will be seen in the documentary.

“All of the artworks have been filmed in

(CNS PHOTO/COURTESY OF CATHOLIC COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGN)

By Mark Pattison

This is a detail from the Duccio painting “Madonna and Child.”

their original locations,” she added. “The whole point is to try to have the viewer, wherever they are in the world, (experience) what it’s like to be able to stand before some of these treasured arts.”

Plum and her crew, by acting in the viewer’s stead, got to see things few tourists ever would.

One coup was filming Michelangelo’s

“Pieta” at the Vatican. “We were able to film it for the first time in nearly 30 years from behind the glass,” Plum said.

She explained that “ever since a madman attacked it with a hammer” in the 1970s, it has been protected by bulletproof glass. “This is the first time in over 30 years that permission’s been granted” for

FUNERAL SERVICES DIRECTORY

anyone to go behind the glass, she said.

Hailing “Pieta” as “the most famous piece of art,” Plum said that “it’s the only piece that Michelangelo’s ever signed.”

She said her biggest revelation came in filming images of Mary on the islands of Lake Tana in Ethiopia. “We were working a little bit in unknown realms of what we would find when we got to Lake Tana,” which covers more than 2,100 square miles, Plum said. “On this lake there are some 30 islands dotted around, and at least 20 of these islands have convents, monasteries on the lake — some dating back to the 16th century.

“It’s unknown in terms of media. Very few people go and film” them, Plum said of the Marian images found at Lake Tana. “It made it, in our eyes, worth going. When we got there we just found a wealth of imagery and wealth of feeling toward Mary,” she added.

“Picturing Mary” will be seen in December on public television stations in the United States. Information on the documentary, including air dates and times for PBS affiliates, will be made available on the Web site www.picturingmary.com.

After the documentary has been viewed on public television, a 90-minute DVD version will be made available for sale and will include even more images of Mary, according to Plum.

“Picturing Mary” on DVD will be available for purchase at $19.95 from USCCB Publishing online at: www.usccbpublishing.org, or by phone at: (800) 235-8722.

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December 8, 2006

Advent Opportunities Dec. 8, 9: Mater Dolorosa Parish presents Carols, Classics, and Broadway, a special holiday benefit concert featuring the MD Hallelujah Chorale and the Children’s Ensemble. Shows at 7:30 p.m. at 307 Willow Avenue, So. SF, Tickets $10 advance, $15 at door, children 3 and under free. Call (650) 5888175, (650) 583-4131, or (650) 952-4333, emailmdconcert06@yahoo.com.

Dec. 8, 10: This Christmas Night, a concert of traditional and contemporary carols for the season by Schola Cantorum - Fri. at 8 p.m. at St. Peter and Paul Church on Washington Square and Sun. at 4 p.m. at Mercy Center, 2300 Adeline Dr. in Burlingame. Tickets are Adult: $15/Senior: $10/Student: $5 and can be purchased at the door or on-line at www.ScholaSF.org.

Dec. 9: Bi-lingual Mass, drama and fiesta commemorating the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, 3835 Balboa St. at 40th Ave. in San Francisco at 6:30 p.m. Enjoy Mariachis, Aztec dancers, as well as traditional Mexican and other foods.

Dec. 9: I Have Called You by Name, a Morning of Reconciliation, organized by parishes of Deanery 2 of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, at St. Paul of the Shipwreck Church, 1122 Jamestown Ave. at 3rd St. at 9:30 a.m. Franciscan Father Charles Talley will facilitate. Call the parish office at (415) 468-3434.

Dec. 9: Christmas Remembrance Service at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma at 11 a.m. Call (650) 756-2060.

Dec. 10: The Choirs and Musicians of St Bartholomew Parish present their annual Christmas Concert at 2:00 p.m. The program will include Vivaldi’s Gloria with orchestra old and new carols and contemporary seasonal music.

Performing groups include the Festival Choir, Contemporary Choir, Children’s Choir, and Faith Formation Choir. Conducted by Tim Cooney with organist Jim Dahlstrom. Free will donations appreciated.”

Dec.10, 12, 14: Choir featuring voices of almost 50 priests serving in the Archdiocese of San Francisco perform songs of the season Dec. 12 at St. Andrew Church, 1271 Southgate Ave. in Daly City, (650) 756-3223; Dec. 12th at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, 60 Wellington Ave., Daly city, (650) 755-9786; and Dec, 14 at St. Anne of the Sunset Church, 850 Judah St. at Funston in San Francisco, (415) 665-1600, ext. 22. Concerts begin at 7 p.m. Free will offerings will benefit Priests’ Retirement Fund.

Dec. 13: Advent Celebration at St. Gabriel Church, 2559 40th Ave. in San Francisco at 7:30 p.m. Prepare for the birth of the Messiah with prayer, hymns, and spiritual reflection. Call (415) 731-6161.

Dec. 14: The Choral Scholars of Notre Dame des Victoires present a solo recital of modern American art songs and a preview of Christmas choral selections performed by the Choeur Paroissial with Steven Olbash, organ, and Skye Atman, piano at 8:00 p.m; 566 Bush Street (at Grant). Suggested donation $15 at the door. For more information call (415) 397-0113.

Dec. 15: St. Charles Parish presents its 5th Annual Christmas Concert at 7:30 p.m. under the direction of Claire Giovannetti. Featuring the Adult’s and Children’s Choirs, the concert will celebrate the rich heritage of Advent and Christmas music, including carols both old and new — some for listening and some for singing along.

Admission is free. An offering will be taken for the Catholic parishes devastated by Hurricane Katrina. St. Charles is located at 880 Tamarack Avenue in San Carlos.

Dec. 15 – 23: Simbang Gabi , a prayerful preparation for Christmas, at St. Gregory Church, 2715 Dec. 13: Monthly Breakfast of Catholic and Professional Business Club at Capurro’s Restaurant, Jefferson and Hyde St in San Francisco at 7 a.m. John McGuckin, Jr., an executive officer with the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, will speak on Christians in the Holy Land: An Endangered Species. Tickets $20 members/$27 non-members. Annual membership is $45. Call (415) 614-5579 or visit www.cpbc.-sf.org

Datebook

Catholic San Francisco

17

Young Adults Office of Young Adult Ministry and Campus Ministry: Connecting late teens, 20s and 30s, single and married to the Catholic Church.

Contact Mary Jansen, 415-614-5596, jansenm@sfarchdiocese.org. Check out our Web site for a list of events around the Bay Area and download our Newsletter at www.sfyam.org. We publish a quarterly newsletter to connect college students and young adults to the Catholic Church.

World Youth Day 2008: We are offering two pilgrimages for people age 18 – 35. Initial registration deadline is October 1, 2006 but and we will continue to accept registrations after that date but space is limited. Pilgrimage A is 16 days and includes the “Days in the Diocese” host family stay for only $3,550. Pilgrimage B is 11 days just in Sydney for $3,300. The Archdiocese of San Francisco is working with the dioceses of Fresno, Sacramento, San Jose, Oakland, Monterey, Reno and Stockton. Visit www.sfyam.org.

Single, Divorced, Separated

The class of ’56 from Mercy High School, Burlingame joined together in September to catch up and go on! Classmate Maureen McCue Byrne hosted dinner at her home and the next day all took part in the school’s annual Homecoming Mass and Luncheon. Heading up the planning was a group including Mary Lou Woodman Whitcomb, Pat Hoffman Keicher, Joyce Flores Keifer, Joan White Selchau, Nancy Rooney Gouveia, Cecelia Kolloch Wollary, Gail Trowbridge Roll, Marie Brauner, and Marsha Stanford Aliamus.

Hacienda St. in San Mateo at 7 p.m. daily with confession available from 6 – 6:45 p.m. Reception follows in Vanos Gym. Sponsored by parishes of Deanery 10 including St. Gregory, St. Bartholomew, St. Catherine, St. Luke, St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Timothy. Archbishop George H. Niederauer will preside at the Mass of Dec. 15th.

Call (650) 591-5937.

Dec. 16 – 24: Simbang Gabi, a spiritual preparation for Christmas at 6 a.m. at St. Stephen Church, 601 Eucalyptus Drive in San Francisco.

Breakfast follows. Contact Nellie Hizon at (415) 699-7927. Sponsored by St. Stephen, St. Cecilia, St. Emydius, St. Finn Barr, St. Brendan, St. Anne, and St. Gabriel parishes.

Sundays: Gregorian Chant at the National Shrine of Saint Francis at 12:15 p.m. Mass.

Visitors and locals alike are welcome to come and worship at this intimate historical treasure in the heart of North Beach 610 Vallejo Street at Columbus Avenue. For more information, please telephone (415) 983-0405.

Sundays: Concerts at 3:30 p.m. at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Gough and Geary Blvd. in San Francisco. Call (415) 567-2020 ext. 213. Open to the public. Admission free. Dec. 10: Organist, Vytenis Vasyliunas; Dec. 17: Organist, Mark Bruce; Dec. 24: Organist, Christoph Tietze with music of the season.

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

277 or visit www.SistersofNotreDameCa.org.

1st Fri. at 8 p.m.: Mercy Center, 2300 Adeline Dr., Burlingame with Mercy Sister Suzanne Toolan. Call (650) 340-7452; Church of the Nativity, 210 Oak Grove Ave., Menlo Park at 7:30 p.m. Call Deacon Dominic Peloso at (650) 322-3013.

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

Dec. 15 at 8 p.m.: Our Lady of the Pillar, 400 Church St. in Half Moon Bay. Call Cheryl Fuller at (650) 726-2249.

Martin Luther King Commemorations Jan. 12. 7:30 p.m.: Celebrate Dr. King’s legacy while enjoying an evening of world class Gospel Music and entertainment at the “Love can build the Dream” Interfaith Service, St. Mary’s Cathedral, Geary and Gough Streets, San Francisco. This year’s Focus is on our Youth, and features the highly accomplished “Touch of Class Youth Choir” - Phil and Sala Burton High School - with Mr. Gregory Cole, Director of Music and Choreography. Joining them on the Program will be the very young, and very talented, E.R. Taylor Elementary School Choir, under the direction of Mrs. Myrna Bulos, their Teacher. Our Guest Speaker for the evening is the exciting and dynamic Fr. Ken Hamilton, St. Lawrence O’Toole, Oakland, who will inspire us with his message!

Admission is free and people of all faiths are welcome! A free-will love offering will be accepted. For more information, call (415) 567-2020 x220.

January 14th, 10:30 a.m. For Sunday morning worship, join the St. Paul of the Shipwreck Parish community in celebrating its 21st Annual MLK Solidarity Mass. The nationally renowned dynamic educator and speaker, Sister Eva Marie Lumas, SSS, Assistant Professor, Franciscan School of Theology, Berkeley, will bring the message, and the Inspirational Voices of St. Paul of the Shipwreck Gospel Choir will minister in song. We invite you to join us for light refreshments and fellowship in the Vestibule of the Church after Mass. People of all faiths are welcome! For more information, call (415) 468-3434.

Food & Fun Dec. 14: Annual Christmas Luncheon of Good Shepherd Guild at Olympic Club, Lakeside with social at 11:30 a.m. and lunch at 12:15. Tickets are $45 per person. Proceeds benefit Sisters of the Good Shepherd. Contact Shirley Terry at (415) 682-9617.

Dec. 16: Annual Potluck and Ornament Exchange at St. Dominic Parish Hall, 2390 Bush St. at Steiner in San Francisco at 6:30 p.m. Call Vonnie at (650) 873-4236.

Sundays 7 – 9 p.m. beginning Jan. 7: Divorce Recovery Course providing a chance to understand the emotional journey that begins with the loss of a relationship. Takes place at O’Reilly Parish Center of St. Stephen Parish, 451 Eucalyptus at 23rd Ave. in San Francisco. Cost of $45 includes book and materials. Call Vonnie at (650) 873-4236 or Susan at (415) 752-1308.

Separated and Divorced support group meets 1st and 3rd Wed. at 7:30 p.m. at St. Stephen Parish Center, SF, call Gail at (650) 591-8452 or Vonnie at (650) 873-4236.

Consolation Ministry Grief Groups meet at the following parishes.

Please call numbers shown for more information.

San Mateo County: St. Catherine of Sienna, Burlingame. Call Debbie Simmons at 650-5581015; St. Dunstan, Millbrae. Call Barbara Cappel at 650-692-7543;. Good Shepherd, Pacifica. Call Sister Carol Fleitz at 650-355-2593; Our Lady of Mercy, Daly City. Call Barbara Cantwell at 650-7550478; Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Redwood City. Call Parish at 650-366-3802; St. Robert, San Bruno. Call Sister Patricia at 650-589-2800.

Marin County: St. Anselm, San Anselmo. Call Brenda MacLean at 415-454-7650; St. Isabella, San Rafael. Call Pat Sack at 415-472-5732; Our Lady of Loretto, Novato. Call Sister Jeanette at 415-8972171.

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

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

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

Children’s Grief Group: St. Catherine, Burlingame. Call Debbie Simmons at 650-5581015.

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

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

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

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18

Catholic San Francisco

December 8, 2006

Advertisements in this newspaper do not constitute endorsements

by Catholic San Francisco.

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Pray for us (3X).

Holy Mary, I place this cause in your hands (3X).

Say prayers 3 days.

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Prayer to the Holy Spirit Holy Spirit, you who make me see everything and who shows me the way to reach my ideal.

You who give me the divine gift of forgive and forget the wrong that is done to me. I, in this short dialogue, want to thank you for everything and confirm once more that I never want to be separated from you no matter how great the material desires may be. I want to be with you and my loved ones in your perpetual glory. Amen. You may publish this as soon as your favor is granted.

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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 statelicensed. 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

December 8, 2006

Catholic San Francisco

classifieds

Program Coordinator

DIRECTOR OF STEWARDSHIP AND DEVELOPMENT ST. IGNATIUS CHURCH ● SAN FRANCISCO, CA

Qualified candidates will have excellent writing and communication skills, strong organizational skills, and be able to work collaboratively with the Pastor, staff, and volunteers. Candidate must be well versed in computers – including database management (FileMakerPro), desktop publishing (InDesign), and word processing (Microsoft Word).

This is a 30-hour per week position with a generous benefit package.

Salary will be commensurate with experience.

A complete position description can be found on the parish website at www.stignatiussf.org. To apply for this position, please mail resume and cover letter to: Stewardship & Development Director Search ● St. Ignatius Church ● 650 Parker Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94118.

Resumes must be received by December 15, 2006.

NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE.

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OPPORTUNITIES Catholics for the Common Good is seeking a paid or volunteer Office Manager/ Volunteer Coordinator with good writing, computer and organizational skills.

Contact CCG 415.651.4171 or ChairmanCCG @cftcg.org

Jesuit Volunteer Corps: Southwest seeks a dynamic, creative Program Coordinator to manage the programmatic aspects of JVC:SW as related to 80 full-time young adult volunteers each year. The Program Coordinator oversees the formation of the volunteers in a faith that does justice; planning and implementation of retreat program and field support; recruiting, screening and placement of volunteers; placement development; and supervision of four Area Directors. Must be available to travel and have supervisory experience, strong foundation in Roman Catholic faith, and understanding of Ignatian spirituality and Catholic Social Teaching.

Master’s degree or equiv. in theology, ministry or related field required. Salary range $37-43K + benefits. Send resume and cover letter to Yvonne Prowse, Executive Director, JVC: Southwest, P.O. Box 40039, San Francisco CA 94140 or yvonnerp@JesuitVolunteers.org.

Job summary available by email or (415) 522-1599.

RNs and LVNs: we want you.

Provide nursing care for children in San Francisco schools.

Full or part time.

Generous benefit package.

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

JOB /

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For Advertising Information Call: 415-614-5642 Fax: 415-614-5641 Email: penaj@sfarchdiocese.org

Help Wanted St. Ignatius Church is a Catholic parish with over 1,500 members, located on the University of San Francisco campus. Under the direction of the Pastor, the Director of Stewardship & Development is responsible for managing the parish’s stewardship program and fund raising efforts for the parish. Primary responsibilities include managing the Annual Commitment Campaign, Archbishop’s Annual Appeal Campaign, and overseeing donor relations and gift tracking. The director also works closely with the Stewardship Committee to encourage parish members’ active participation in the life of the parish.

Catholic San Francisco

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

Send your resume to: Email: Fax: Mail:

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

Special Needs Nursing, Inc.

IMMEDIATE JOB OPENING ASSISTANTS TO THE CAMPUS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - NIGHTS

The Sisters of Mercy Burlingame Regional Community needs a parttime, non-benefited Executive Assistant with regularly scheduled work on Thursday and Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with possibility of extra hours on other days. S/he reports to the President and works with the members of the leadership team. AA degree or equivalent certification from technical school in office or business management required.

Bachelor’s degree preferred. Minimum of 5 yrs administrative assistant experience with at least 3 yrs of executive experience reporting to senior executive preferred. Must be able to demonstrate a commitment to the mission and values of the Sisters of Mercy. Must possess the following abilities/qualities: ability to make day to day decisions in absence of Leadership Team; strong interpersonal skills and ability to interact effectively with many people with different work styles; ability to maintain confidentiality of employee and Sisters of Mercy records and information; excellent problem-solving/organizational skills; ability to manage multiple priorities and tasks simultaneously; ability to work independently and be part of a team; ability to draft and edit written material; excellent written (correct grammar, punctuation, spelling) and oral communications skills, and computer proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite.

The Sisters of Mercy, Burlingame Regional Community has created two new night shift positions reporting directly to the Campus Executive Director: a full time benefited position for Monday to Friday and the other a part-time, non-benefited position working for 16 hours on Saturday and Sunday but with occasional additional hours as needed. The work schedule for both positions is 9:45 p.m. to 6:15 a.m. The persons shall serve as the centralized communications, safety and security, and hospitality coordinator for the campus during the night hours. High School diploma required, some college and/or technical training preferred. Minimum of 2 yrs. experience in a campus or multi-building environment. Duties include guest relations, giving orientation, providing support to Sisters and guests, research work and projects, overseeing the night security guards, answering phones and responsible for phone and other office equipment, campus emergency coordinator during the evening hours.

Must be able to demonstrate a commitment to the mission and values of the Sisters of Mercy. Must possess the following abilities/qualities: good independent judgment; strong interpersonal skills and ability to interact effectively with many people with different work styles; work with evolving systems and structures; excellent problemsolving/organizational skills; manage multiple priorities and tasks simultaneously; be a good team player; draft and edit written material; excellent written (correct grammar, punctuation, spelling) and oral communications skills, and computer proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite.

Salary commensurate with experience and qualifications. Interested and qualified applicants may send their resumes to:

Salary commensurate with experience and qualifications plus night shift differential. Interested and qualified applicants may send their resumes to:

IMMEDIATE JOB OPENING EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

Sisters of Mercy, Attn: HR Department 2300 Adeline Dr., Burlingame, CA 94010 Email: cricafrente@mercyburl.org or fax (650) 373-4509

Sisters of Mercy, Attn: HR Department 2300 Adeline Dr., Burlingame, CA 94010 Email: cricafrente@mercyburl.org or fax (650) 373-4509

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Catholic San Francisco

December 8, 2006

success

love

“I came to Hanna to get away from family issues and change my grades.

I’m now getting good grades, playing sports, participating in 4-H and have made lifelong friends, too!“ Henry, 13

educati Now accepting new applicants for boys ages 12 to 18!

For admissions, donations or general information please visit hannacenter.org 17000 Arnold Drive, Sonoma 707.996.6767

respect

suppor t

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