March 3, 2006

Catholic san Francisco

Cardinal-designate Levada to be first of new cardinals to get red hat from pope

Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper

(CNS PHOTO BY GREG TARCZYNSKI)

By John Thavis

Cardinal-designate, and Archbishop Emeritus of San Francisco, William J. Levada is seen at St. Mary’s Cathedral last year. He will be made a cardinal at a March 24 consistory.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Cardinal-designate William J. Levada, Archbishop Emeritus of San Francisco, was Pope Benedict XVI’s first major appointee as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Now, because of his rank and experience, the archbishop will be the first in line to receive his red hat at a special consistory March 24 at the Vatican. The pope announced names of 15 new cardinals Feb. 22.

San Francisco Archbishop George H. Niederauer said, “This news is a wonderful recognition from the Holy Father of Archbishop Levada’s great gifts, and the high office he has assumed in the Church.”

Archbishop Niederauer said the priests, deacons, religious, and lay women and men of the Archdiocese of San Francisco join with Archbishop Levada’s family and friends in congratulating him.

“We also offer our prayers for him at this time and for his continuing work for the universal Catholic Church,” he added.

Cardinal-designate Levada, 69, was appointed last May as the pope’s successor to head the doctrinal congregation, the Vatican agency charged with protecting and promoting the church’s teachings on faith and morals.

The appointment marked the first time a U.S. prelate has headed the con-

gregation, which is the oldest of the Vatican’s nine congregations and is considered primary in responsibility and influence. He also is the first man who has served as Archbishop of San Francisco to be named a cardinal.

Archbishop Levada chaired his first plenary session of the congregation in early February. The meeting examined bioethical questions and the challenges posed by relativism and religious syncretism to the church’s evangelizing mission.

In an interview with Catholic San Francisco in January, the archbishop said his pastoral perspective is helpful in dealing with the doctrinal challenges facing the church.

In meeting with bishops from around the world, he said, “I can relate quite sympathetically to the range of issues a diocesan bishop has to deal with even if I haven’t had personal experience with some of the particular issues.”

His amount of pastoral experience is unusual among Vatican officials. Before his Vatican appointment, he had served as archbishop of San Francisco since 1995; archbishop of Portland, Ore., 1986-95, and an auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles, 1983-86.

For decades, he was a frequent collaborator with the Vatican and with the CARDINAL-DESIGNATE, page 7

Lenten practices should be experienced with a new spirit, says Pope Benedict Catholic San Francisco Staff “The time of Lent should not be faced with an old spirit, as if it were a heavy and bothersome burden, but with the new spirit of one who has found in Jesus and in his mystery the meaning of life and understands that everything now refers to him,” Pope Benedict XVI said this week prior to Ash Wednesday.

“During this period, one abstains from singing ‘Alleluia,’ and people are invited to practice appropriate forms of penitential sacrifice,” he said. “Lenten practices like fasting

should be experienced as an expression of faith, not as a difficult burden.”

March 5, is the First Sunday of Lent. The season began on Ash Wednesday, March 1, and continues through the afternoon of Holy Thursday, April 13. The rites of Holy Thursday, usually held in the evening, are the first of the Church’s greatest feast, the Easter Triduum that also includes Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, this year celebrated on April 16.

Lenten regulations for fasting and abstinence ABSTINENCE: Everyone 14 years of age and older is bound to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday, the Fridays of Lent and Good Friday.

FASTING: Everyone 18 years of age and older but under the age of 60 is additionally bound to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. On these two days, the law of fast allows only one full meal a day, but does not prohibit taking some food during the

day, so long as it does not constitute another full meal. Drinking liquids is also permitted.

When health or ability to work would be seriously affected, the law does not oblige. In doubt concerning fast or abstinence, a priest assigned to pastoral ministry or confessor should be consulted. In the spirit of penance, the faithful should not lightly excuse themselves from this obligation.

LENTEN PRACTICES, page 9

INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION Embryos are human . . . . . . . 3 Pope condemns violence. . . . 6 Levada on gay priests . . . . . . 8 Editorial and letters . . . . . . 12 Deus Caritas Est – Part V . . 14

First Sunday of Lent ~ March 5 ~ March 3, 2006

News-in-Brief

Carmelites of Cristo Rey

~ Pages 4 – 5 ~

~ Pages 10 – 11 ~ SIXTY CENTS

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

Classified ads . . . . . . . . 18-19

www.catholic-sf.org VOLUME 8

•

No. 8

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Catholic San Francisco

March 3, 2006

On The Where You Live

by Tom Burke

“Music for Others” is just that! The ensemble emanates from St. Ignatius College Preparatory and was formed a few years ago to uplift others through music, said Carol Quattrin, moderator.

“The students make monthly excursions to local nursing homes, where each plays or sings a few selections,” she said. “Nursing home residents are treated to classic and contemporary songs, through voice, piano, violin, flute and alto saxophone.” Hitting the high notes at St. Anne’s Home January 15th were Olivia Schreader, left Andrea Dillon, Annie Dillon, Joanna Quattrin, Carol Quattrin, Joaquin De la Torre.

Giovanna Hrvatin

St. Stephen Women’s Guild will honor Giovanna Hrvatin and Lou Vagadori as “anchor parishioners” March 18. Giovanna has held many positions on the Women’s Guild and devoted her time and talent to assorted fundraising and hospitality activities at St. Stephen’s as well as assisting with liturgy committee, RCIA, and coordinating the altar servers for more than a decade. Lou has held numerous positions within the parish, including vice president of the Men’s Club, chairman on the Financial Council, and is an active member of the parish council. He has held the post of Head Usher for more than ten years….

Much afoot at St. John Elementary School where San Francisco Auxiliary Bishop John C. Wester led Founders’ Day rites January 27th. Bishop Wester celebrated Mass with the school’s 250 students. Msgr.

Jose Rodriguez, pastor, concelebrated. Many prayers were offered at the liturgy for Adriana Choy, 6 yearold sister of St. John’s 3rd grader, Jerrod, and daughter of Kathy and Daren. Adriana, who suffers from a debilitating bone condition, made her first Eucharist at the Mass. In other special moments, Ursuline Sisters Shirley Garibaldi and Lillian Repak renewed the vows of consecrated life at the Mass. Thanks to principal, Kenneth Willers for the good news. On January 29th St John’s sponsored a

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Pancake Breakfast for Adriana and her family to assist with mounting medical bills…. Getting’ well past the century mark is Cecelia O’Grady who celebrated her 102nd birthday January 12th. The longtime St. Dunstan parishioner commemorated the occasion with family and friends at the home of her granddaughter, Patty Ravetti. Cecelia said she’s looking

forward to 103…. Remember this is an empty space without ya’!! The email address for Street is burket@sfarchdiocese.org. Mailed items should be sent to “Street,” One Peter Yorke Way, SF 94109.

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Don’t forget to include a follow-up phone number.

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St. Cecilia School celebrated 75 years of making a difference January 29th. Hundreds of former and current St. Cecilia students, faculty and families joined together for Mass, a wonderful multi-media presentation of the school’s history, and an open house and luncheon. “There were graduates from every decade in the last 75 years,” the school said.

Holy Names Sisters Barbara Carroll, left, a former faculty member, Marianne Vianni, an Associate Superintendent of Catholic Schools, and Marilyn Miller, alumna and now principal of St. Cecilia School were among the throng enjoying the day.

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March 3, 2006

Catholic San Francisco

3

Even before implantation, embryos are human, says Vatican official

By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — While some scientists, legislators and even some parents see the human embryo as material that can be studied, frozen or destroyed, for the Catholic Church an embryo is human and has “a special relationship with God,” said Bishop Elio Sgreccia.

The bishop, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, said that before allowing scientists to study the possibilities for manipulating human embryos, wider society should be asking itself when does life begin and when does life begin to have value.

Bishop Sgreccia and other experts from the academy met the press Feb. 24 to introduce a Feb. 27-28 conference titled, “The Human Embryo Before Implantation: Scientific Update and Bioethical Considerations.”

“It is a theme that, at first glance, can seem strictly scientific or biological,” the bishop said. “But this theme represents, in our opinion, the key question both for anthropology — which asks, ‘When does life begin?’ — and for ethics — which asks, ‘What value should be given to the embryo in its earliest stages?’”

Only when the basic questions are answered, he said, can one really discuss the ethical implications of creating embryos in a laboratory, performing experiments on them, selecting certain embryos for implantation and freezing or destroying the others.

Bishop Sgreccia said that while the speakers on the conference program share the Catholic Church’s point of view, the public was invited to the meeting “because we wanted to put all our cards on the table.”

Respect for the human embryo from the moment of conception, he said, is an “ethically sustainable position supported by scientific data and philosophical reasoning.”

The academy chose to look specifically at embryos before implantation, which begins to occur about seven days after fertilization and is complete by 14 days after fertilization, because some scientists and ethicists insist that pregnancy does not begin until the embryo is implanted in the uterus.

Dr. Adriano Bompiani, an obstetrician-gynecologist at

Jesuit Father Kevin T. FitzGerald, right, and Father Ciro Benedettini are seen at a Feb. 24 Vatican press conference, where they helped introduce an upcoming conference on the embryo and bioethics sponsored by the Pontifical Academy for Life.

(CNS PHOTO/DANIELE COLARIETI, CATHOLIC PRESS PHOTO)

Rome’s Sacred Heart University and former president of the Italian National Bioethics Committee, said that from a rational point of view, it is clear that human life begins when the sperm penetrates the egg and “the progressive differentiation and acquisition of complexity” begins.

Dutch Bishop Willem Eijk of Groningen, a physician and bioethicist, said the progressive movement from fertilization to implantation, the beginning of cerebral activity, the ability to feel pain and finally the ability to survive outside the uterus point to the fact that the embryo is a developing human from the very beginning.

“Modern anthropologies that attribute to the embryo the status of a human person only from the moment when there is self-

Local woman religious to receive Human Life Award Sister Marie Ignatius Clune, RSHM will be the recipient of the 2006 Human Life Award March 25 at the 34th Annual Celebrate Life Dinner sponsored by United for Life of San Francisco.

Sister Marie Ignatius has spent 46 years teaching and guiding young people in the knowledge and practice of their faith through service to others. She served as a campus minister at the University of San Francisco for nearly 20 years and at Campion College for two. She now directs Heart of Mary Ministries in San Francisco involving young Catholic women in service to those in need.

Throughout, Sister Marie Ignatius has been a strong advocate and witness to the sanctity of all human life and has brought many young people to appreciation and service in the pro-life cause, according to Beatrice Smalley

with United for Life.

Guest speaker will be Father Anthony Mastroeni, adjunct professor of Theology at Christendom College in Virginia and former professor at the Franciscan University in Steubenville and the St. Ignatius Institute at USF. The title of his talk is “Restoring the Culture of Life: The Challenge to be Counter-Cultural.” Former speakers have included Archbishop William J. Levada, Mary Ellen Bork and former California Supreme Court Justice and Reagan Cabinet Secretary William P. Clark.

Former San Francisco Supervisor Tony Hall will be Master of Ceremonies.

No host cocktails begin at 6 p.m., dinner at 7 p.m. Cost is $40 per person and reservations may be made by calling 415-567-2293.

– CORRECTION – An error appeared in the ad of Holy Names University in the Welcome Issue of Archbishop George H. Niederauer.

The logo at the left bottom corner was omitted.

Catholic San Francisco regrets this error.

awareness — at the end of the pregnancy — or even when there is a manifestation of rational consciousness — which occurs long after birth — are characterized by a profound dualism not able to explain the human being as a substantial unity” of body and mind or spirit, the bishop said.

Jesuit Father Kevin T. FitzGerald, who holds a doctorate in molecular genetics and is a professor at the Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University in Washington, spoke about pre-implantation diagnosis of human embryos.

Initially, he said, diagnosis and screening was conducted in connection with in vitro fertilization procedures to help doctors choose the embryos most likely to survive.

Then, he said, it was used to identify embryos with genetic malformations and diseases, but “there are already discussions in several countries regarding the use of PGD (Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis) to pursue ‘family balancing,’” the preference of the parents to have a boy or a girl.

Father FitzGerald said the risk is a move “from seeing a child as an unconditionally welcomed gift to seeing him as a conditionally acceptable product.”

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Catholic San Francisco

NEWS

March 3, 2006

in brief

NEW ORLEANS — In a post-Katrina world marked by massive population shifts in the New Orleans area, the term “television Mass” has a new meaning. Unlike the TV ministry provided to shut-ins who cannot attend Mass, St. Luke the Evangelist Parish in Slidell offers a closed-circuit video feed to bring Mass to about 100 people in a community adjacent to the main church who cannot fit inside its 550-seat worship space.

The community room is set up with folding chairs and has glass doors that people can use to enter to receive Communion.

A sound system and television set provide the liturgy live “so that the people are participating in the Mass and hearing and seeing everything that goes on,” said Father Rodney Bourg, St. Luke pastor. Slidell is north of New Orleans and near the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. And like most other north shore parishes, St. Luke has experienced a 22 percent increase in Mass attendance in the last several months as displaced residents from various parts of New Orleans have migrated north to find temporary or permanent homes.

Catholic Charities chief sees signs of hope following a difficult year ALEXANDRIA, Va. — It hasn’t been an easy first year for Father Larry Snyder as president of Catholic Charities USA. There have been battles over immigration reform and the federal budget, struggles to keep the needs of the poor and vulnerable in the public eye, and, looming over everything for the past six months, the tragic effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the Gulf Coast region and the massive reconstruction effort now under way. But through it all, the priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has found signs of hope, gratitude for the world’s generosity and a renewed appreciation for the tens of thousands of Catholic Charities staff members and volunteers around the country who have stepped up to the new challenges. “They say that a tragedy tests the moral fiber, and Katrina and Rita tested the moral fiber of this country,” Father Snyder said. “But it also tested the church and the Catholic Charities network, and we came out of it looking pretty good.”

Business owner voices concerns over immigration law hurdles WASHINGTON — Though she’s an immigrant herself, Carmen Larsen took a long time to come around to the idea of hiring immigrants for her own company. But having turned that corner eight years ago, Larsen understands the advantages and complications of hiring immigrants. She also has developed strong feelings about the problems with the current immigration system, as well as some clear ideas about how it ought to be changed. As a board member of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Montgomery County, Md., Larsen is among the nation’s business owners who are encouraging Congress to adopt immigration legislation that addresses more than just enforcement problems. An enforcement-only bill passed in the House in December has been broadly criti-

(CNS PHOTO/ALBERTO PIZZOLI, REUTERS)

Standing-room-only Masses a sign of shifting New Orleans population

Pope Benedict XVI greets Marie-Eden Lafond, daughter of Canadian Governor General Michaelle Jean, center, during a private audience at the Vatican Feb. 27.

cized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, its Hispanic counterpart, immigrant advocacy groups, labor unions and religious institutions, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Those organizations are lobbying for legislation that also would address systemic problems with legal immigration and provide a way for illegal immigrants currently in the country to regularize their status.

Program to ‘mother the mothers’ gives babies a good start in life SAN ANTONIO — Once Suzanne de Leon found out what a doula was, she was “totally hooked.” It was the same for April Todd. Doula, a Greek word meaning “to mother the mother” or “to be a servant,” is something more San Antonians are becoming familiar with, thanks to de Leon and Todd and their work with San Antonio Birth Doulas, now part of Catholic Charities.

A doula is a woman trained to offer emotional and physical support and comfort to a woman having a baby, to facilitate early bonding between mother and infant and teach good parenting skills. A doula is not a midwife, nor does she take over the role of the father or family members in the delivery room. De Leon, founder and executive director of San Antonio Birth Doulas, started the local program in 1999 to “address the high incidences of abuse and neglect that our young babies were receiving at the hands of their teenage parents.” People sometimes question helping pregnant teenagers, feeling it advocates teen pregnancy, de Leon said. “We don’t advocate that, but once it happens, this is our future,” she said. “These babies are going to be the future of San Antonio. Let’s give them a good start.”

Wisconsin agrees to expand Milwaukee school choice program MILWAUKEE — With just days left before a rationing plan was to begin for students in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle and Assembly

Speaker John Gard announced Feb. 17 that the enrollment cap will increase next fall by 7,500 students. The announcement came in the basement of the CEO Leadership Academy, one of Milwaukee’s choice schools, where Doyle and Gard were joined by other legislators, community leaders and students from other schools in the program, including Messmer Catholic High School. Of the 125 schools participating in the choice program this year, 34 are Catholic schools. “This agreement is the result of a lot of hard work and compromise on both sides,” Doyle told the audience. “And as with every negotiation, no one got everything that they wanted. But I believe that the end result is a good, solid agreement and is a clear victory for the children of the choice schools and the public schools in Milwaukee — and for the taxpayers of this state. By that measure, this agreement is a tremendous success.”

Belgian nun discusses plight of child domestic workers in India NEW YORK — They are called domestic workers, but many of them are better described as slaves. They are children who work in private households, they do arduous labor from before dawn until after dark, and they are vulnerable to abuse — physical, emotional, sexual. Sister Jeanne Devos, a Belgian member of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary who has served in India for more than 40 years, has devoted herself to helping them and also women who are domestic workers. In 1985 she founded the National Domestic Workers Movement, based in Mumbai, to call attention to the appalling circumstances in which they are trapped and to work for change. A key part of her mission is to fight trafficking, the abduction or “buying” of children for domestic work. Sister Jeanne said trafficking agents often make false promises to poor families that a child sent into domestic work will receive care and education. Parents learn nothing of the actual conditions the children endure, and in reality, most child domestic workers are not sent to school.

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Catholic San Francisco

March 3, 2006

VATICAN CITY — Despite movements to protect minorities and to value other cultures, civil society and even the Catholic Church often fail to defend Gypsy communities from blatant prejudice and discrimination, a new Vatican document said. “From habitual prejudices to signs of rejection,” Gypsies still suffer exclusion and expulsion, “often without any reaction or protest from those who witness them,” said the document from the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travelers. The council’s “Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of Gypsies” was released at a Feb. 28 Vatican press conference. Cardinal Stephen Fumio Hamao, president of the council, said the council estimates there are 15 million Gypsies in Europe, about 1 million in the United States and significant communities in Latin America, India, Bangladesh and the Philippines. The new document, he said, emphasizes that “everyone should be welcomed in the church, where there is no place for marginalization and exclusion.”

Catholics, Orthodox will find path to full unity, pope says VATICAN CITY — With deeper conversion and greater love, Catholics and Orthodox will find the path to full unity, Pope Benedict XVI told staff and students from a Greek Orthodox theological college. Meeting the group from an Athens theological college Feb. 27, the pope said that, despite “the forces of evil” that have kept Catholics and Orthodox from full unity, visits, cultural exchanges and joint projects have brought new hope to ecumenism. Progress in dialogue, he said, brings hope for “a new dawn, that of the day on which we will understand fully that being rooted and grounded in the love of Christ means concretely finding a way to overcome our divisions through personal and communal conversion,

the exercise of listening to the other and prayer in common for our unity.” The pope said, “We must face the challenges that threaten faith, cultivate the spiritual ground that nourished Europe for centuries, reaffirm Christian values, (and) promote peace and encounters even in the most difficult circumstances.”

Pope says Bible helps youths against dark times, false ideas VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Bible should be the constant companion of young people so that it can help them navigate through life’s dark moments and past the deceit and erroneous ideas present in today’s world, Pope Benedict XVI said in his message for World Youth Day. Reading, studying and meditating on the word of God would help young people get to know Jesus and help them live “a life of consistent fidelity to Christ and his teachings,” the pope said. “I urge you to become familiar with the Bible and to have it at hand so that it can be your compass pointing out the road to follow,” the pope said in his message, dated Feb. 22 and released Feb. 27. The theme of the XXI World Youth Day message is “Your Word Is a Lamp to My Feet and a Light to My Path,” a passage chosen by Pope Benedict from the psalms. Celebrations this year will be held April 9, Palm Sunday, on the diocesan level.

Bosnian bishops say Catholics in some regions near extinction ROME — Catholics in the Balkan nation of Bosnia-Herzegovina have become “secondclass” citizens and, in some regions, are on the verge of extinction, said a group of Bosnian bishops visiting Rome. While the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords brought an end to ethnic violence and bloodshed between Serbs, Muslims and Croats, the bishops said the accords were flawed and unfairly enforced, resulting in a

Father Derek Iwanski will be offering a special series of Lenten talks on the Book of Job, every Tuesday of Lent at 7:30 p.m. in the O’Hare Center at Church of the Nativity in Menlo Park. Monsignor Steven Otellini, pastor of Nativity Church, invites anyone interested to these free talks. Themes from the Book of Job to be explored in the series are wisdom, son-ship of God, folly, friendship and salvation. O’Hare Center is located next to the church at 210 Oak Grove Ave. in Menlo Park. Visit Fr. Derek’s website, www.derekslab.com for more information.

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Philippine protesters brave fire hoses as they clash with riot police while trying to get near the People Power Monument in Manila, Philippines, Feb. 24. Police used fire hoses and batons to disperse 5,000 protesters, including nuns and priests, and arrested three of their leaders. Cardinal-designate Gaudencio Rosales of Manila called for prayers and calm after Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo placed the country under a state of emergency after an attempted coup.

lack of true peace, justice and adequate human rights protections in the country. On the eve of the start of their weeklong “ad limina” visit to the Vatican, Bosnian Cardinal Vinko Puljic of Sarajevo, Bishop Franjo Komarica of Banja Luka, and Auxiliary Bishop Pero Sudar of Sarajevo spoke to journalists at a Feb. 22 press conference hosted by Italy’s Catholic Action

movement. The bishops appealed to the international community to help transform BosniaHerzegovina from its current two-government existence to a unified, decentralized democracy that would no longer be split along ethnic lines. The bishops said they would be informing Pope Benedict XVI about their appeal and the situation of the country’s Catholics.

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Vatican document says church fails to defend Gypsies from prejudice

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Catholic San Francisco

March 3, 2006

Mexican bishops urge officials to probe mine blast that killed 65

By Jason Lange MEXICO CITY (CNS) — Mexican bishops have called on authorities to investigate why a coal mine that had just been visited by federal safety inspectors exploded and left 65 miners dead.

After a Feb. 19 gas explosion at the Pasta de Conchos mine, near the town of San Juan de Sabinas in Mexico’s Coahuila state, rescuers worked for a week to reach the trapped men.

Then, after tests showed the air in the mine was far too poisonous for the miners to breathe, Bishop Alonso Garza Trevino of Piedras Negras joined the state governor Feb. 25 to tell the miners’ families that there was no hope of finding any of the men alive.

Grupo Mexico, the company that owns the mine, said that the air in the mine was about 40 percent methane, the flammable gas behind the explosion that brought down part of the mine shaft. Also, the company said the explosion probably reached the part of the mine where the men were working, about 1.5 miles down the mine shaft and about 220 yards below the surface.

“The inspectors came to check on the mine in February, so what is this?” Bishop Raul Vera Lopez of Saltillo said outside the mine Feb. 25, Reforma newspaper reported. The inspectors “are inept, irresponsible or corrupt.”

A Labor Ministry report said federal health inspectors had been reporting problems in the mine since July 2004; several of the problems had not been resolved at the time of a February inspection, Notimex reported Feb. 24. The report found that the company that owned the mine had not installed equipment required in safety codes that would shut down machinery and electrical lines if gas levels rose above a certain level.

Across the country, church officials joined the media and opposition parties in calling for an investigation of the

A Mexican priest blesses a relative of trapped miners outside a mine complex near San Juan de Sabinas in northern Mexico Feb. 23.

Late Feb. 25, after six days of rescue efforts, government officials declared all 65 miners dead.

(CNS/DANIEL AGUILAR, REUTERS)

tragedy and the safety conditions of other mines in Mexico.

“This tragedy that moves us all should be a time for checking over all the security measures that work sites as dangerous as mines have in place,” Bishop Jose Martin Rabago of Leon said following the announcement of the miners’ certain deaths, El Universal newspaper reported.

Labor Minister Francisco Salazar promised the investigation would be impartial.

“Whoever is responsible, be it the governor of Coahuila, myself or the owner of the mine, will have to face the consequences,” Salazar said at a press conference.

He said the investigation could lead to the mine being shut permanently.

Before the scope of the tragedy was known and as rescue workers slowly advanced through the mine, at times using their bare hands, countless Masses for the trapped miners were celebrated in churches across Mexico.

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state, asked Bishop Garza to tell the miners’ families that Pope Benedict XVI was praying for the trapped men.

“The Holy Father manifests his deep sympathy for the miners and their families, asking the Almighty to give comfort and Christian hope during such a painful time (and) aid the rescue crews in their difficult and urgent task,” Cardinal Sodano said in a Feb. 24 letter to Bishop Garza, which was released to the public by the Mexican bishops’ council.

Pope condemns violence that leaves hundreds dead in Iraq, Nigeria

By John Thavis VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI condemned the recent violence that left mosques and churches destroyed and hundreds dead in Iraq and Nigeria.

God will be severe in judging those who kill in his name, the pope said at a noon blessing Feb. 26.

“The fruits of faith in God are not devastating antagonisms, but a spirit of fraternity and cooperation for the common good. God, the creator and father of all, will call to account even more severely those who spill the blood of their brother in his name,” he told tens of thousands of pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square.

The pope’s comments came after the bombing of a sacred Shiite shrine known as the Golden Mosque in Samarra, Iraq, an act that prompted a wave of violence between Muslim groups that left more than 200 people dead.

The Vatican was closely following the developments, which plunged Iraq deeper into chaos.

“The news of tragic violence in Iraq arrives continuously in these days, with attacks even on mosques.

These are actions that disseminate hatred and seriously

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hinder the already difficult task of reconstruction of the country,” the pope said.

In Nigeria, the pope noted, conflict between Christians and Muslims had continued for several days.

The violence was set off by a Muslim demonstration against the publication of cartoons satirical of Islam; when the demonstration got out of hand, a mob set fire to churches and the property of Christians, leaving several people dead, including a Catholic priest.

In the days that followed, Christians in some southern Nigerian cities rioted, burning mosques and killing some Muslims.

Authorities said that after three days of violence in the country, at least 120 people had been killed.

The pope said he was saddened to hear of the killings and destruction of many churches and mosques in Nigeria and expressed his condolences for all those killed.

“While I express firm condemnation for the violation of places of worship, I entrust to the Lord all the dead and those who mourn them,” he said.

Archbishop John Onaiyekan of Abuja, president of the Nigerian bishops’ conference, said the violence was not a “conflict of religions” as such, but the result of a number of simmering social problems, including economic uncertainty and ethnic resentment.

He said criminal elements had, as always, taken advantage of the situation to loot shops and homes.

Archbishop Onaiyekan, who has helped maintain fairly good relations with local Muslim leaders, said the violence was also fueled by the inflated rhetoric of local Islamic preachers.

“Official Islam has difficulty in controlling these selfproclaimed preachers,” he said.

The archbishop made a point he has frequently underlined when such violence flares up in Nigeria — that the country’s civil authorities have a major responsibility for maintaining order and preventing bloodshed.

At a Rome symposium in 2004, Archbishop Onaiyekan expressed concern that the Iraq War, seen by many Nigerian Muslims as a religious war, was increasing the appeal of Islamic extremists in the country.

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March 3, 2006

Cardinal trends: Pope’s picks boost Asian, U.S., European presence

By John Thavis VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI’s first group of cardinal appointments sent signals about the direction and priorities of his papacy.

They also spotlighted church leaders who, in diverse ways and on different continents, are involved in cultural and social battles that are clearly on the pope’s radar.

The pope announced the appointments Feb. 22 and will formally install the 15 new cardinals March 24.

He also convened a March 23 meeting of the entire College of Cardinals for “prayer and reflection,” a move that suggested he intends to consult with the world’s cardinals and then decide how they can best be used during his papacy.

The pope hinted at a strong advisory role for the cardinals when he said, before announcing the new names, that the college was like a senate designed to support and assist the papal ministry.

Some Vatican officials believe Pope Benedict will convene the cardinals more often than his predecessor, perhaps annually, to get their input on important church affairs. Likewise, they expect the pope to create new cardinals more frequently.

That line of thinking was strengthened when, this time around, he named only 12 cardinals under the age of 80, respecting the limit of 120 voting-age cardinals. The 120 ceiling was something Pope John Paul II routinely waived.

Pope John Paul also tended to wait longer to name new cardinals, presiding over megaconsistories where he handed out 30 or 40 red hats.

Instead, Pope Benedict may take a “topping up” approach, which means that new groups of cardinals could be named every year. By mid-2007, for example, at least 13 more places will be available among voting-age cardinals.

Geographically, the pope’s appointments boosted the U.S. and European presence in the College of Cardinals.

The naming of Archbishops William J. Levada, head of the Vatican doctrinal congregation, and Sean P. O’Malley of Boston raised the number of U.S. voting-age cardinals to 13, a historically high number.

Eight of the 15 new cardinals — and six of the 12 voting-age cardinals — are European. That would leave Europe with exactly 50 percent of the voters in a hypothetical conclave, a slight rebound from recent years.

Perhaps the most striking feature of the pope’s nominations was that three voting-age cardinals came from Asia and none from Africa. Vatican sources have long said that they view Asia as the new frontier for evangelization. By

Cardinal-Designate . . .

■ Continued from cover future pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. He was a doctrinal congregation staff member from 1976 to 1982 and has been a bishop-member of the congregation since 2000.

In the 1980s, he worked with then-Cardinal Ratzinger as one of a small group of bishops appointed to write the “Catechism of the Catholic Church.”

The archbishop has been a key figure in the church’s efforts to eliminate priestly sexual abuse. He heads the Vatican agency that oversees the handling of priestly sexual abuse cases; in some “grave and clear cases,” the doctrinal congregation can dismiss the priest from the priesthood by decree, without a formal church trial.

In 2002, he was a member of the U.S.-Vatican commission that made final revisions to the sex abuse norms in the United States, which laid out a strict policy on priestly sex abuse and provided for removal from ministry or laicization of priests who have sexually abused minors.

In San Francisco, he dealt with another issue that has

RETREATS

naming cardinals in South Korea, the Philippines and Hong Kong, the pope raised the church’s profile there and gave Asia a significantly stronger voice in a potential conclave.

Some church observers were surprised that only one Latin American figured on the list, and none were from Brazil, which has the biggest Catholic population in the world and only three voting-age cardinals.

Also somewhat surprising was that the pope named only three Vatican officials, those whose jobs require them to be made cardinals. The lack of a red hat for several heads of pontifical councils — the second tier of the Roman Curia — was yet another signal that a reform of those agencies is imminent, with some councils expected to be combined or eliminated.

Of the resident archbishops on the cardinal list, two were Pope Benedict appointees: Polish Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow, the longtime secretary to Pope John Paul, and Venezuelan Archbishop Jorge Urosa Savino of Caracas.

Archbishop Urosa has been trying to soothe churchstate relations in Venezuela, which have been strained during the presidency of Hugo Chavez, by shifting the church’s attention away from partisan politics and toward the larger moral and social issues in the country.

In Hong Kong, Cardinal-designate Joseph Zen Ze-kiun has been prodding the Chinese government on religious freedom issues for several years. In recent months, he has spoken publicly and hopefully about a breakthrough in Vatican-China relations and taken steps to encourage unity among Chinese Catholics.

South Korean Cardinal-designate Nicholas Cheong Jinsuk of Seoul made headlines last year when he voiced moral objections in a personal meeting with Hwang Woosuk, a cloning scientist whose research was later discredited. The Seoul archbishop also has openly discussed the need for future evangelization in North Korea.

Cardinal-designate Gaudencio Rosales of Manila recently called for prayers and calm after Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo placed the country under a state of emergency after an attempted coup.

In Italy, Cardinal-designate Carlo Caffarra of Bologna has for years been one of the “cultural warriors,” speaking out strongly on issues like abortion and gay marriage. One of his more frequently quoted teachings is that when society legally recognizes gay marriage it is in effect saying: “We no longer have hope, we are allied with death.”

Spanish Cardinal-designate Antonio Canizares Llovera drawn increasing attention from the Vatican’s doctrinal congregation: same-sex marriage proposals. In 2004, he helped lead a prayer rally for the defense and promotion of marriage after the city of San Francisco decided to issue same-sex marriage licenses.

In 1997, he opposed a city ordinance requiring all agencies contracting with the city to provide spousal benefits to domestic partners of their employees. Noncompliance could have jeopardized the church’s social service contracts with the city.

At the archbishop’s urging, the city changed the ordinance so that employees of church agencies could designate any legally domiciled member of their household for spousal benefits.

William Joseph Levada was born June 15, 1936, in Long Beach, Calif. His great-grandparents had immigrated to California from Portugal and Ireland in the 1860s.

After seminary studies in California, he was sent to Rome’s Pontifical North American College, earning a doctorate in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He was ordained a priest in St. Peter’s Basilica Dec. 20, 1961.

He returned to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and worked as an associate pastor, teacher and campus ministry chaplain.

In 1976, he returned to Rome as a staff official of the doctrinal ST. CLARE’S RETREAT

Cardinal Electors Western Europe has the largest bloc of the 120 cardinals eligible to vote for a new pope.

Western Europe

Eastern Europe

46

14

North America

Asia

16

13

Latin America

Oceana

2

20

Africa

9

Countries with the most electors Italy USA Spain France Germany Poland Mexico

Source: Catholic News Service ©2006 CNS

21 13 6 6 5 4 4

of Toledo, a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 1995, knows the pope well. In Spain, he helped organize recent public protests against gay marriage and has been outspoken in opposition to measures that would legalize euthanasia and embryonic research and grant wider access to abortion.

Moreover, the Spanish archbishop has been insistent about the need to restore Europe’s Christian roots, sharply criticizing the idea that modern society can relegate the church and the faith to a strictly private sphere.

In short, although appointed archbishop by Pope John Paul, Archbishop Canizares is very much a Pope Benedict cardinal, eager to pick up on the new pontiff’s talking points.

Over his 26-year papacy, Pope John Paul gradually shaped the College of Cardinals, naming all but two cardinal-electors in the conclave that followed his death. Over the same period, however, the average age of the electors rose to over 70 and is now more than 72.

That’s one reason why it may not take long for Pope Benedict to put his own stamp on the college. Five years from now, he will have had the opportunity to name at least 51 of the 120 cardinal voters, or 42 percent of the total. congregation. During his six years of service there, he continued teaching theology part-time at Gregorian University.

He returned to California in 1982 and was named secretary of the California Catholic Conference, a public policy agency of the state’s bishops. He was named an auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles in 1983 and was ordained a bishop March 25 of that year.

Catholic San Francisco contributed to this story.

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March 3, 2006

Author says McGivney bio could help restore respect for priests priests were being maligned because of the actions of a few.

Father McGivney, she said, provides a model for the kind of selfless pastoral work done by countless priests in the United States. His faith and Catholicism entered into every activity, whether preaching a sermon or playing baseball, she said.

“He believed that when you’re having fun you should feel Catholic, too, not just when you’re sitting in church,” she said.

The book, released in January, has been on the New York Times extended bestseller list for six weeks.

Fenster, who co-authored the book with fellow historian Douglas Brinkley, said she came away from her research particularly impressed with the fact that Father McGivney returned to parish work in his native Connecticut after making such an important mark on society through the Knights of Columbus.

“He chose to draw back into the life he really wanted, as parish priest. He gloried in these little details that other people can get distracted away from,” she said.

Father McGivney’s work is considered extremely influential in animating lay Catholics through the Knights of Columbus, and at the same time helping to remove the widespread anti-Catholic bias in U.S. society.

By John Thavis ROME (CNS) — Supporters of the sainthood cause of Father Michael McGivney are hoping that he will become the first American-born parish priest to be canonized.

A new biography is introducing a wider audience to the 19th-century priest — and may also help restore respect for the many good priests in the United States, said one of the book’s authors.

Julie M. Fenster, a historian who cowrote “Parish Priest: Father Michael McGivney and American Catholicism,” spoke about the book to U.S. priests and seminarians Feb. 27 at Rome’s Pontifical North American College.

At a time when the image of the U.S. priest has been damaged by sexual abuse committed by a small minority of clergy, the book chronicles the good work of a priest who, after founding the Knights of Columbus, worked as a simple pastor until his death at age 38.

“I’m hoping this book might act as a gyroscope to reset some of the balance for people whose only exposure to parish priests is out of those headlines” on sexual abuse, Fenster said in an interview.

She said part of her motivation for writing the book was anger that so many good

The Knights, a Catholic men’s fraternal benefit society, has grown to include 1.7 million members. The organization sponsors educational, charitable and religious activities around the world.

Father McGivney’s sainthood cause is now being reviewed by the Vatican, said Dominican Father Gabriel O’Donnell, postulator for the cause. He said a reported miracle of healing attributed to Father McGivney’s intercession also has been submitted to the Vatican for study.

Father O’Donnell, who was in Rome for the book presentation, said he sees in Father McGivney’s life an example of what Pope Benedict XVI described in his recent encyclical, “Deus Caritas Est” (“God Is Love”).

“The obligation of the church to exercise charity is what Father McGivney was about,” Father O’Donnell said.

One of Father McGivney’s gifts, he said, was that he could speak to those at every level of society, relating well with the poor immigrant community of Catholics as well as those who were upwardly mobile, and forging connections between these groups.

Father O’Donnell said that, unlike saints of earlier centuries who were known for their extraordinary accomplishments, Father McGivney falls into the category of “the more modern saint,

who is great because he did the ordinary things so well.”

“That’s why he’s such a great model, because he was ‘just a parish priest,’ but of such an excellent character. He was humble, compassionate and charitable to a heroic degree, but only within the confines of an ordinary life,” he said.

Prefect Levada says openly gay priests make it tough to represent Christ In his homily, Cardinal-designate Levada reflected on the challenges priests face today and on the Sunday Scripture readings, which described God’s love for his people as the love of a husband for a wife and described Jesus as the bridegroom of the church.

Referring first to “the tragic problem of sexual abuse of minors by clergy,” the cardinal-designate said, “thanks be to God, it is now possible to say that the measures taken by the bishops on behalf of the church have put into place a comprehensive program of education, prevention and care for victims, as well as measures to ensure that abusive clergy are not returned to ministry.”

“One of the more immediate challenges facing seminaries,” he said, is the implementation of the Congregation for Catholic Education’s November instruction that men with “deep-seated homosexual tendencies” should not be admitted to the seminary or ordained to the priesthood.

The instruction, however, made clear that the church was not questioning the

By Cindy Wooden ROME (CNS) — Cardinal-designate William J. Levada said a priest who publicly announces he is homosexual makes it difficult for people to see the priest as representing Christ, the bridegroom of his bride, the church.

A public declaration of homosexuality places a priest “at odds with the spousal character of love as revealed by God and imaged in humanity,” said the U.S. cardinal-designate, who is prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Cardinal-designate Levada made his remarks during a Feb. 26 homily as he presided over a Mass for the installation of the new rector of Rome’s Pontifical North American College.

In the presence of some 170 seminarians, Msgr. James F. Checchio made a formal profession of faith and promised his fidelity to Catholic Church teaching as he took over as rector of the U.S. seminary in Rome.

validity of the ordinations of gay men who already are priests.

The cardinal-designate said the instruction “is not directly related to the U.S. sexual abuse crisis, but it is not without relevance for it,” insofar as a study commissioned by the U.S. bishops identified homosexual behavior as a component in many clerical sex abuse cases.

Beyond the issue of psychosexual maturity, Cardinal-designate Levada said, “the question also needs to be viewed from its theological perspective,” particularly in light of the biblical images of God’s spousal relationship with his people and Gospel passages in which Jesus refers to himself as the bridegroom.

The doctrinal chief said he wanted to look specifically at “the situation of the gay priest who announces his homosexuality publicly, a few examples of which we have recently heard reported” in reaction to the Vatican document.

“I think we must ask, ‘Does such a priest recognize how this act places an obstacle to

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his ability to represent Christ the bridegroom to his bride, the people of God? Does he not see how his declaration places him at odds with the spousal character of love as revealed by God and imaged in humanity?’” he said.

“Sadly, this provides a good example of the wisdom of the new Vatican instruction,” he said.

The cardinal-designate also told the seminarians: “It is important for our people to hear us priests preach and teach about the fundamental character of God’s love imprinted upon humanity in the original act of creation: ‘God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them.’

“It is here that we find the basis for church teaching about marriage and about the family,” he said. “It is here, too, that we find the basis for church teaching about homosexuality and the reason why proposals for recognition of homosexual marriage are contrary to sacred Scriptures and the natural law.”

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Lenten Practices . . .

Sister Mary Wilma King, SNDdeN

■ Continued from cover

Notre Dame Sister Mary Wilma King died February 19. She was 97 years old and had been a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur for 80 years.

“She was a teacher from her earliest years,” her congregation said in information announcing her death. “Only a few years older than her younger sisters, she had a little ‘classroom’ set up at home where she would faithfully teach her two siblings after she returned from school. A teacher to the core, Sister Mary Wilma was always teaching in one way or another up until her last illness.”

A sibling is Notre Sister Mary Wilma Dame Sister Maureen King, SNDdeN King. “When I was three years old I used to wait for her to come home so we could have our classes. She taught me how to read and write. When the time came for me to go to school myself, I was well-advanced for first grade.”

Sister Mary Wilma taught in elementary and secondary schools throughout California and Washington, including Our Lady of Mount Carmel Elementary in Redwood City, the former Notre Dame High School on Dolores Street in San Francisco and Notre Dame High School in Belmont. Sister Mary Wilma supervisor of secondary school teachers in the California Province of the Sisters of Notre Dame from 1969 – 1989. She also served as registrar, reference librarian and teacher at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont.

“I remember her making history come alive in the most personal and exciting way,” said Jeanne Haller Condren, a former student. “She talked about notables in California as if she had known them personally.

She really was an excellent teacher.”

“I always admired Sister Mary Wilma for trying new things. She learned to drive later in life, learned to knit, and decided to learn the ‘Hail Mary’ in as many languages as she could, including Swahili,” recalled longtime friend and co-worker Maxine Olsen.

“I had lots of children —- not my own —- but they were mine when they were in my classroom,” Sister Mary Wilma is remembered as saying. “I never had any trouble, they knew I loved them.”

A memorial Mass was celebrated at Notre Dame Province Center in Belmont on February 25.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, 1520 Ralston Avenue, Belmont, CA 94002.

“When we are baptized it is said that ‘we put on Christ’ and Lent is a time to clean up that baptismal robe so our image is more Christ-like,” said Patrick Vallez-Kelly, associate director of the Archdiocesan Office of Worship, which provides a wide range of liturgical resources.

“For individuals it’s a time for conversion as Ash Wednesday exhorts us to ‘turn away from sin and back to the Gospel.’ For the Church as a whole it’s a preparation time to celebrate Easter well,” said Valdez-Kelly.

“We’re getting ourselves ready to be renewed in the Easter celebration. Our focus is not only on ourselves but on those preparing for baptism. Their conversion is an example for the entire Church.”

The Church says Lent is baptismal and penitential in character with three common forms of penance – almsgiving, fasting and prayer, Vallez-Kelly said. “These three also make up the process most of us go through to be converted – to spend time in prayer with the Word, to have an element of self-denial going on and being more generous to those who need it.”

“Ultimately, our conversion is in God’s hands in a lot of ways,” said Vallez-Kelly, who holds a Master’s Degree in Liturgical Music from Santa Clara University.

“We need to do some of the work but the Holy Spirit is the one who changes our hearts so we have to be content and be patient with ourselves and I think even be patient with God,” he said. “There is a reason we do this every year. We don’t get perfect but it turns us in the right direction.”

The date for Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox. “That’s why you always see a relatively full moon on Holy Saturday,” Vallez-Kelly said.

Catholic News Service contributed to this story.

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A reveler performs in the annual samba Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Feb. 27.

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Praying for the whole world Carmelites of Cristo Rey Monastery

The refectory in the cloistered area of Cristo Rey.

By Evelyn Zappia

I

nside San Francisco’s Cristo Rey Monastery are 18 Discalced Carmelite Nuns who are committed to the pursuit of the supreme art of prayer and an intense spiritual life.

Behind the shrouded mystery of the monastery walls and iron grilles the Carmelite vocation is one of great happiness and fulfillment, lived in solitude and silence, consecrated by vows, and shared in joyful sisterly community.

The life of Carmel is modeled on the life of Mary of Nazareth who through her quiet and hidden way carried out her exceptional role in the history of salvation.

The real heart of the Nuns’ lives is contemplative prayer - the silent, personal union of the soul with God. “We must strive to be souls of prayer, souls of love, who spend our lives loving God,” said Mother Elizabeth, prioress.

Through their prayers their love embraces everyone. “We pray for the Church, the priests, family, friends, our city, and the world as a whole,” she said.

Behind the thick black iron grilles Mother Elizabeth and Sister Mary of the Sacred Heart shared with Catholic San Francisco their personal journeys to Cristo Rey Monastery on Parker Avenue.

Mother Elizabeth was born in Stockton, California. Her father passed away when she was only seven years old.

She spoke of her “mother of great faith” who helped her recognize her call to religious life. She reflected on the precious time she shared with her mother praying the Rosary together almost every day.

It was not until she attended St. Mary’s High School in Stockton, the young lady confided in one of her teachers, a Dominican Sister, that she was interested in religious life.

Her teacher asked the teenager what community interested her. “I told her the ones that never go out,” said Mother Elizabeth, with a smile. “I knew nothing about the Carmelites at that time or any other cloistered community,” she added.

Yet after visiting a few Carmelite Monasteries the young lady felt that the Lord was calling her to Cristo Rey the instant she stepped inside. “I think it’s true,” she said, “you are not only called to be a Carmelite but you are also called to a particular monastery.”

“A call to religious life or the priesthood is a gift from God,” said Mother Elizabeth. “The first initiative is with God. He makes the selection: ‘You did not choose me, I chose you’… I really understand that now,” she said.

For 41 years, Mother has prayed in silence and solitude behind the monastery walls. She said that she could not be happier. She explains it simply, “His interests are mine.”

Sister Mary of the Sacred Heart’s journey to the Carmel life is quite different than Mother Elizabeth’s.

The native San Franciscan graduated from Mercy High School in 1973 with only one dream – “to be married.”

“I liked Rock and Roll, and boys,” she said laughing.

Although she was just a typical teenager, her “very loving and protective father” saw it differently. He began worrying about her - especially when she started exhibiting difficulty following the “rules” he set for her.

He decided to send his daughter to her aunt in Nicaragua – “hoping she would find her a husband.”

“I liked the idea,” said Mother Mary, admitting, the attraction was “more freedom.”

The monastery’s interior courtyard.

But her life changed drastically in Nicaragua. Her aunt’s home was far from any city. And she rarely met people her age. She lived in the big empty house surrounded by tropical plants and flowers.

Yet something happened. God began speaking to the teen - through the stunning sunsets and tropical beauty she witnessed day-after-day.

“Observing nature was God’s sermon to me,” said Sister Mary.

“I looked at so many star-filled skies,” she said. “It was as if God had a salt shaker of stars and knew exactly where to place all of them.” I thought, “God made all this.”

It was as if she woke from a dream, and she had to know – “who really is God.” “I began devouring every book I could find about Him,” she said. “I remember reading the Bible under my night covers with a flashlight. My aunt didn’t know what to think about me.”

After her one-year stay in Nicaragua, she returned home. Although she felt that God was sending her some sort of message she still held on to her dream of “being married.”

She secured a job at an insurance company, attended daily Mass, and joined a Bible class.

It was after a night class at the University of San Francisco where she approached Jesuit Father Cornelius Lynch regarding her state of confusion.

“He told me all I had to do was go across the street to Cristo Rey Monastery, and talk to the Sisters. He made it just that easy.”

Eventually, she realized that God was talking through Father Lynch.

She took his advice and visited the Carmelite Nuns at Cristo Rey. After a few more visits, the Nuns opened the monastery doors to her in May of 1976.

She exhibited all the necessary signs that confirmed her contentment with the Carmel life. “She ate well, slept well, and laughed - All the signs revealing she was, and continues, to be happy serving the Lord,” said Mother.

Sister Mary agreed, “I’m so happy here. My love for people continues to grow. The whole world is my family now.”

PRAYER REQUESTS, “TURN STYLE,” AND THE “TURN SISTER” St. Teresa of Avila reformed the Order of Carmel in the 16th century setting up a lifestyle which is very much the same today. Although some traditions the Sisters follow are not conventional and somewhat mysterious and difficult to understand, all of their customs foster their personal relationship with the Lord, freeing them to embrace the hopes and anguish of every person on earth day-after-day.

The first example is the “turn style,” a wooden revolving cylinder set in the wall of the monastery lobby. Visitors ring the bell to summon the “turn sister.”

She then rotates the open side of the cylinder toward the visitor in the lobby.

The visitor may drop a piece of paper inside the cylinder with a prayer request on it. Or, the visitor may leave donations of food, money or flowers on the “turn.” Although the Sisters never solicit charity, many of their visitors realize their ministry relies only on Divine Providence.

The “turn” is also a way the Sisters learn of the immediate needs of their brothers and sisters around the world. People leave on the “turn style” local newspaper clippings regarding the latest world events - natural or manmade disasters. The Sisters’ prayers are always requested.

The choir is visible from the main altar.

The “turn sister” speaks through the walls of the turn, but she cannot be seen. She listens to urgent prayer requests and takes the prayer needs to the prioress or community. The hours are from 9:30 a.m. to 11:10 a.m. and in the afternoon from 3:15 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.

SPEAK ROOM Relatives of the Sisters visit in the “Speak Room” which is divided in two sections. The Sisters sit behind iron grilles and shutters. The relatives sit in front of the grilles. The nuns draw back the shutters and speak through the grilles.

Mother Elizabeth explained why no visitors are allowed beyond the monastery walls and iron grilles. “Our Rule and Constitutions call for it,” she said. “Silence and solitude create the material and spiritual atmosphere for intimacy with God who gave Himself only the sanctuary of the heart. It’s logical then, that the Rule be solicitous about the heart and prepares it for the ideal.”

PRAYER, PENANCE, AND RECREATION The Chapel is open throughout the day. The daily Mass is at 7 a.m. The sisters attend Choir seven times a day to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. The community silent prayer (mental pray) hours are 5:30 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. and 5:15 p.m., followed by a community Rosary.

Their apostolate is through prayer and penance. The nuns abstain from meat all through the year. They fast from Sept. 14, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross - until Easter, except Sundays, solemnities, and other special celebrations.

During the day, the Sisters speak only when necessary. They speak freely during their recreation hours of 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. During these hours they also make the brown Scapular of our Lady of Mount Carmel, Rosaries, and they crochet and knit other things. None of the objects they make are for sale. They are intended for their benefactors.

Everything they create is a service of love.

The nuns own no personal possessions. They wear the traditional black habit and veil, and sleep on wooden cots with thin mattresses.

Each monastery is autonomous, and the local customs can vary a little at each one. The nuns remain in the community that they enter for their entire life.

Because of the enclosure rules, the nuns are expected to stay within the monastery except for medical reasons, and on rare occasions like the visit of Pope John Paul II to San Francisco in 1987 when Archbishop John R. Quinn gave permission to all the cloistered communities to attend the Pope’s message to the Religious at St. Mary’s Cathedral.

With their Solemn Vows of poverty, chastity and obedience they let go the ideals of owning their own property, marriage and family, and independence.

Yet for them it is all for a greater cause – the salvation and sanctification of all humankind.

“We keep Jesus company,” said Mother Elizabeth. “…If one perseveres (in the practice of prayer) I trust then in the mercy of God, who never fails to repay anyone who has taken Him for a friend. For mental prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us. In order that love be true and the friendship endure, the wills of the friends must be in accord.”

(Our Holy Mother St. Teresa of Jesus).

Most of the 18 sisters at Cristo Rey.

History of the Discalced Carmelites The Carmelite Order first began as a single community of hermits who chose to live according to the example of the prophet Elijah on Mount Carmel in Palestine in the early days of the 13th century.

Carmelites have always regarded themselves as children of the Blessed Mother and of Elijah, whom the Bible associates so closely with Mount Carmel. About 1238, the hermits from Mount Carmel began to establish other communities in different parts of Europe.

It was not until 1562 a Spanish Carmelite nun, known today as St. Teresa of Avila, assisted by another great Carmelite, St. John of the Cross, established what was to become a new branch of the Carmelite Order, the Discalced Carmelites. “Discalced” comes from the Latin word meaning “unshod.” They were so called because the most distinctive thing about their appearance was the fact that, because of their more austere way of life, they wore rope sandals of the poor in place of leather shoes.

Today’s Carmelites regard St. Teresa as their spiritual mother and foundress. Like the early hermits, the Nuns strive to live in complete dedication to God – with Mary as their model, and prayer as the very soul of Carmel.

CRISTO REY MONASTERY On Nov. 28, 1924, the Mexican government confiscated the 300year-old Monastery of St. Teresa of Avila in Guadalajara and separated the cloistered sisters. The anti-Church clauses of the Mexican Constitution, drafted seven years earlier in the wake of the Mexican

Revolution, banned monastic orders. The Carmelite Sisters secretly met in private homes and continued their consecrated way of life.

In 1926, all of the Sisters were gathered in one house. The house was raided and the police arrested them but did not jail them. A year later, the Carmelite community sent three Sisters to California in search of a place they could follow their rule of life – to live and pray together.

After searching for a monastery site in Los Angeles for several months the Sisters grew weary. They were about to return to Mexico when they met Jesuit Father Dennis J. Kavanagh who was curious to learn about the nuns wearing habits he did not recognize.

After learning about the Sisters and their troubles, Father Kavanagh became their greatest advocate. He helped them establish a foundation on Parker Avenue across from the campus of St. Ignatius College (now the University of San Francisco).

Oct. 9, 1927, Archbishop Edward J. Hanna greeted the City’s newest refugees telling the Sisters, “The Jesuit Fathers will be your chaplains and in case they should be unable to attend you, here am I.” About 25 years later, a local neighbor, Mrs. Rita Marie A. Shomo, willed her entire estate to build a monastery and chapel. The permanent structures were built five years later.

Father Kavanagh named the Sisters’ new home “Cristo Rey,” Spanish for Christ the King. The name is in honor of the Mexican Catholics who boldly continued practicing their faith in defiance of the Mexican government and in spite of the consequences.

The Risen Christ is center stage behind the baldachino and main altar.

Statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

Detail of the hand painted Sacred Heart of Jesus.

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Catholic San Francisco

March 3, 2006

Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper

Free speech victory Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court — in an 8-0 vote — rejected attempts to use racketeering laws against abortion clinic protesters. This was the third time the Supreme Court has ruled in the case, as abortion advocates had been successful in bringing new appeals.

The original case began 20 years ago when the National Organization for Women tried to use racketeering laws in class-action lawsuits against abortion clinic protesters.

But on Tuesday, the nation’s highest court reversed a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ interpretation of the Supreme Court’s 2003 ruling in the case. Justice Samuel Alito Jr. did not participate in the Feb. 28 ruling.

In the latest decision, Justice Stephen Breyer wrote that to violate the Hobbs Act — a 55-year-old law prohibiting extortion — physical violence or threats of violence must be related to extortion.

In the 2003 ruling, the Supreme Court had found that the protests did not constitute extortion under the Hobbs Act because they did not involve attempts to obtain property, nor was there any basis for claims under the 1970 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. A nationwide injunction against the protesters has been in place since 1998, after a Chicago jury said demonstrators broke the racketeering law by interfering with clinic operations, menacing doctors, assaulting patients and damaging clinic property.

When the case was remanded to the Circuit Court, it said the Supreme Court had not been asked to consider the four instances in which there had been instances or threats of physical violence unrelated to extortion and ordered a District Court to consider whether those might be violations of the Hobbs Act. Again the case came to the Supreme Court, and Breyer wrote that “physical violence unrelated to robbery or extortion falls outside the scope of the Hobbs Act.” Catholic News Services reports that the latest consideration of the case had drawn the attention of a wide range of activist organizations, including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to Pax Christi USA, which argued that if the Hobbs Act was allowed to be applied to social protests the financial costs could bankrupt protesters and effectively stifle such civil actions.

The Supreme Court’s ruling is a victory for free speech because it negates attempts by abortion advocates to silence abortion clinic protestors. It is important to note, however, that such protests must be peaceful and lawful. Threats of violence to person or property are not acceptable and should be condemned by all. MEH

Mutual understanding needed

By Father Eugene Hemrick The Book of Proverbs speaks to our times in saying, “Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom, and with all thy getting get understanding!”

A critical issue of our times is the smothering of understanding by misunderstandings. Take, for example, the misunderstandings caused by the cartoons on the prophet Muhammad. On one hand, some Muslims feel the Western world is conspiring against it. Yet, many in the Western world feel they have a right to free speech.

In essence, we have two diverse cultures needing to understand each other better. If this doesn’t happen, we could see one of the worst disasters in our history!

But how do we reach the understanding we need?

The place to start is with a better comprehension of understanding and what it requires of us. In Latin, “understanding” means looking deeply into the matter at hand. It requires that we be in earnest about sorting through all the circumstances, and it calls for patience and a heartfelt love of the truth.

Sad to say, our recent history has experienced an increase in prominent newspapers and magazines retracting things they published because of jumping to conclusions and not patiently sorting through the evidence. In some cases, a desire to be first outweighed a love for the truth.

Make no mistake about it, understanding the truth isn’t easy. It requires hard work and often leaves one confounded. Shakespeare was wise in telling us, “Knowledge maketh a bloody entrance.”

As difficult as this may be, we live in an age of instant information. But information needs to be assessed patiently by sorting through the evidence in order to gain a clearer understanding of developments, data or claims. This is especially true when it comes to the relationship of the Judeo-Christian world to that of the Muslims.

Most of what we have been viewing lately are clips of irate Muslims shouting their hatred of America, Europe and Israel. These images tend to group all Muslims into one, making it seem as if all of them are against us. The people in those clips are by no means a complete picture of Muslim life.

Muslims are human beings who want peace, unity and progress. They want their children to grow up in a better world. They love God and desire virtue. If we look deeply at the truth of the matter, we get a much different image of these people than is being portrayed in clips on television.

A new phenomenon of our times is to interpret world events primarily on the basis of news clips. We live in the age of the instant in which we witness a desire for quicker, less complicated information.

If America and other nations are to come together peacefully, a new kind of understanding is needed that is in earnest about going beyond instant images to seek the fuller picture.

Father Eugene Hemrick writes a column for Catholic News Service.

Defeat assisted suicide A proposed bill to make physicianassisted suicide a legal medical treatment in California is back again, this time in the State Senate. The same bill was defeated in the Assembly last year. Buoyed by the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the Oregon assisted suicide law, the proponents are aggressively pushing the bill, AB 651, which is cruelly called the “California Compassionate Choices Act.” Proponents of AB 651 are telling members of the Senate that the public overwhelmingly supports assisted suicide - it is critical that members of the Senate hear from as many opponents as possible by March 15.

Senators need to hear from Catholic citizens that: ● Suicide is in direct violation of the intrinsic dignity of each human person. ● What is being sold as a “right to die” will easily erode to an overwhelming “responsibility to die” for the poor, disabled, and powerless. ● Research has shown that the primary motivation for suicide is depression, and not pain or debilitation, the two primary reasons proponents mention for the need to offer suicide to the terminally ill. ● The “beneficiaries” of physicianassisted suicide will be HMOs, hospitals, and insurance companies, who will save money offering lethal prescriptions rather than proper end-of-life care for the poor and vulnerable.

Visit website www.catholics4commongood.org for further updates and information on contacting your senator.

Bill May Catholics for the Common Good

Just suppose

What it said With regard to the assertion by Robert Rowden (Letters – Feb. 17) on the postmortem of Terri Schiavo, I submit the following quote from the June 13, 2005 autopsy report by Pinellas County, Florida Chief Medical Examiner Jon R. Thogmartin, M.D.: “PVS is a clinical diagnosis arrived at through physical examination of living patients.” So it should be clear that Terri’s postmortem examination could not, and did

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

Correction, praise, welcome Congratulations on the February 17 issue of Catholic San Francisco and the special “Welcome Issue” addition. I hope you noticed that the photo on the front page failed to identify who I think is Bishop Wang sitting next to Archbishop Niederaeur at the Chinese Ministry Dinner. Not that Bishop Wang would perhaps be unrecognized by many, but at first I thought maybe it was an attempt to illustrate what the Archbishop said in his interview in the paper about the “last being first”. Seriously though, the biography on the Archbishop and his interview with the paper were well done and revealing.

I particularly like his servantleader concept and that our lives are really not about us but about God’s love of us and our need to respond in love, especially through serving others; a great counter to the “me” focus we experience so often in our American culture. And, his statement, that he feels “most one” with what he’s doing and what he’s supposed to be doing when he’s celebrating the sacraments with the people, speaks of a deep spirituality.

Welcome Archbishop Niederaeur!

Jack Hitchcock San Mateo

L E T T E R S

You ignored my letter last year on this subject, but perhaps in view of the two published letters on Terri Schiavo (CSF – Feb. 17), you will now consider the issue I raised.

Prior to the advent of the feeding tube and respirator, the natural result of the inability to eat, drink or breathe normally was death. Let us suppose that an Advance Health Care Directive had been in place for Terri, in which it was stated that she did not wish to be kept alive by artificial means (In this case, restarting her heart despite the likelihood of irreversible brain damage).

If we are not obliged to use whatever means technology now has, or can devise in the future, to avoid natural death, how can it then be called murder if those instructions are followed?

Virginia Dolar Novato Ed. note – Terri Schiavo did not have an advance health care directive. John Paul II called the provision of food and water for helpless patients, even with artificial assistance, “a natural means of preserving life, not a medical act.”

Letters welcome

not, enable the person, who performed it, to conclude that she was in a persistent vegetative state. For anyone to state otherwise, is to perpetrate the dissemination of misinformation. Those who are unaware of the medical and therapeutic neglect suffered by Terri are already victims of such unrighteous behavior.

Of course, the most important truth related to Terri’s death is that there should be no room in a Catholic Christian’s mind for its acceptance or justification, whether one thinks of it as assisted suicide, euthanasia or murder.

Fred D’Alessio Sausalito

Save St. Vincent’s chapel

In the grand plan being proposed for St. Vincent’s (Letters – Jan. 27 and Feb. 3) I am concerned with Mr. Cahill’s vague statement …”the current Sunday Mass administered by St. Isabella’s Parish will continue at the discretion of the Pastor.”

The Chapel at St. Vincent’s was designed to seat 400 and is filled to that number on Sundays. For the boys Sunday Mass attendance is voluntary for the non-Catholics.

Many do attend and after some time volunteer to serve or to read. Recently, several asked to be baptized, which, of course, first requires approval by their guardian.

Many of the individuals who come to Sunday Mass are also volunteers, perhaps a team coach, a school aide, or an assistant with the equestrian program. Others are members of one of the three support groups at St. Vincent’s - the Godfathers, the Godmothers or the Women’s Auxiliary. The latter group dedicated for many years to the raising of funds for the purchase of new clothing for the boys. These individuals come not only for Mass but also to express their love and support for the boys. The kids know this and look forward to having a chat with someone they know after Mass. The point is that many of the boys would feel uncomfortable somewhere else. These are youngsters who may have suffered neglect or even abuse before coming to St. Vincent’s. St. Vincent’s is their home. The magnificent Chapel, named “Queen of the Holy Rosary” belongs to St. Vincent’s having been the gift, anonymously, of a donor known only to the late Monsignor McElroy, head of St. Vincent’s at the time the Chapel was constructed 75 years ago.

The Chapel must never be separated from the school. The commitment to serve the segment of our young most in need, the boys at St. Vincent’s, and to administer to their spiritual needs must be the first priority at St. Vincent’s.

Hugh W. Harris Belvedere

March 3, 2006

Catholic San Francisco

13

The Catholic Difference St. Patrick’s is, arguably, the most famous Catholic cathedral in the United States. The Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis is, arguably, the most beautiful. But Baltimore’s Old Cathedral, now the Basilica of the Assumption, is indisputably the most historic.

It was conceived by Archbishop John Carroll, the founder of the American hierarchy, whose diocese originally encompassed the entire United States. Archbishop Carroll wanted the first Catholic cathedral in the new republic to embody the nation’s commitment to religious freedom and turned to Benjamin Henry Latrobe, architect of the U.S. Capitol (and son of a Moravian minister), the leading architectural practitioner of the day. Latrobe designed the building to be bathed in light; Thomas Jefferson may have helped inspire Latrobe’s design of the Old Cathedral’s unique double-dome and skylights. Like similar projects down through the ages, the Baltimore Cathedral was originally financed by a lottery; and as luck would have it, Archbishop Carroll, reaching into hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lottery tickets to choose the winner, picked his own ticket – and promptly gave his winnings back to the building fund. (Nary an eyebrow was raised.)

In the most extensive Catholic exercise in conciliar decision-making between Trent and Vatican I, the bishops of the United States met in seven provincial and three plenary councils during the 19th century; every one of those councils began and ended in the Baltimore Cathedral. Thus the Old Cathedral saw the bishops legislate to meet the needs of immigrants, erect the parish system, mandate

parochial schools, launch the Catholic University of America, and commission the famous Baltimore Catechism, which taught generations of Catholics the basics of their faith. No other Catholic edifice in America can claim to have seen so much history made within its walls.

My own experience of the Old Cathedral began early: when I was 6, to be precise, and began attending the Cathedral School, just across Mulberry Street from the great building. Under Latrobe’s magnificent dome I made my first Communion; under that same dome I graduated from college; my son was baptized in the Old Cathedral in 1987. But the building I first knew as a boy was not the building Carroll and Latrobe had planned. Years of leaks in the dome – caused, it now seems, by imprudent fiddling with the innovative drainage system Latrobe had devised – led to the skylights being removed after World War II. Two redecorations, however well intended, made the Old Cathedral a dark, shadowy place, rather than the living symbol of the light of religious freedom Carroll wanted and Latrobe provided. There was no access from the interior of the building to what should have been one of the great Catholic shrines in America: the crypt, where such giants as Carroll, Archbishop Martin John Spaulding, and James Cardinal Gibbons are buried.

All of that is now changing, as Baltimore’s Old Cathedral is undergoing a massive restoration, the completion of which will be marked with appropriate ceremony in November. The dome’s skylights are back, and their restoration, combined with a brave decision to restore the original

plain glass to the basilica’s windows, will let 21st-century Americans experience the luminosity that Carroll and Latrobe intended. The rear of the apse will now open into the crypt, so that 21stGeorge Weigel century Catholics can pay their respects to the men who laid the foundations of Catholicism in America. The Old Cathedral’s decorations and furnishings will follow Latrobe’s original plans, so that for the first time in a very long time, pilgrims, parishioners, and visitors will experience this religious and architectural gem as it was intended to be.

A restoration project of this magnitude – which includes modernizing all the Old Cathedral’s operating systems – is enormously expensive. And as the Basilica of the Assumption belongs, in a sense, to every Catholic in America, the thought occurs that many Catholics today might want to participate in its restoration to glory. If, as we begin Lent 2006, you would like to help reclaim the most historic Catholic building in America, go to www.baltimorebasilica.org, or mail your taxdeductible contribution to the Basilica Historic Trust, 408 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21201.

George Weigel is a senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

Family Life

An ordinary day is a precious gift, indeed When the alarm sounds, I awaken to a Friday morning like any other. Rolling slowly to my side, I lift my heavy eyelids toward the digital clock that sits on the night table next to my bed: 6:45.

Every morning, it’s the same routine. I hustle out of bed, pack four school lunches, kiss the high schoolers goodbye and then jump in the shower. By 8, I’m ready to drive the younger two children to school. Then it’s home for chores — cleaning the kitchen, starting the laundry, running the vacuum and emptying the trash — all completed before 9, my usual target time to begin work in my home office.

This day, I bury my head deeper into my pillow and pull the covers up to my ears.

Not that I can go back to sleep, of course. Mayhem ensues if mom is the last one up. Rather, I lie in the dark, watching the clock advance the day, minute by reliable minute.

At 7:04, the urge finally strikes me to pull back the blankets. I amble to the kitchen, where it’s lights, coffee, action.

By 7:12, our morning routine is well under way. I’m making turkey sandwiches (one with cheese, three without), careful to pack the right fruit in the right bag (two get

bananas, one gets an apple, one gets applesauce, but only if it’s cinnamon-flavored).

I work around my teenage daughters, who always eat standing up while their overloaded backpacks occupy chairs at the kitchen table.

About 7:29, Amy appears on the scene, still wearing the pajama top and gym shorts she had on when I tucked her into bed last night. She’s attempting a stall technique — typical for my 8-year-old.

“Why aren’t you dressed for school?” I ask.

“She claims she lost her voice,” Betsy interjects.

Working hard to hold back a smile, Amy mouths the words: “It’s true. I can’t talk.” Her lips exaggerate their movements to emphasize each silent syllable.

“We don’t have time for your antics. You’re going to make us late,” I say. “You know the routine. Get moving.”

I shoo her back upstairs.

“OK, I’ll hurry,” she says in full voice.

No one remarks on her amazing recovery.

At 7:38, Katie and Betsy head out the door. Within 20 minutes, I’m driving the younger two children to school, steering

through our neighborhood and into the pale light of another ordinary day.

Most mornings on the way to school, we talk about the hours ahead.

“What are your goals for today?” I’ll ask. The answers usually are Marybeth Hicks something like “to get my math done so I don’t have homework” (Amy) or “to make it through science without falling asleep” (Jimmy).

This day, though, the ride to school is unusually quiet — and not because Amy’s vocal chords have resumed their former phony affliction.

Rather, we’re aware of our collective sadness as we drive past our neighbor’s house, where an unusual gathering of cars in the driveway reminds us of their extraordinary heartbreak.

Just yesterday, on what should have been a typical HICKS, page 17

Spirituality

Listening to Christ’s heartbeat How do you hear a heartbeat?

At the end of her novel, A Map of Glass, Jane Urquhart, has her heroine Sylvia, recall how her father, a doctor, once gave her a toy stethoscope as a gift when she was a little girl. She was fascinated with it: “I loved the little silver bell at the end of the double hose, a bell I could place against my chest in order to listen to the drum, to the pounding music of my own complicated, fascinating heart.”

Our hearts are complicated and fascinating and we’d all be gentler with ourselves and find our lives more interesting if we listened more regularly to their beat. That’s also the secret in our relationship with Christ. We need to put a stethoscope to his heart and listen to its complex and fascinating rhythms. How do we do this?

In the Gospel of John we’re given a mystical image for this. In John’s account of the Last Supper, he has a disciple, whom he describes as “the one whom Jesus loved”, reclining on the breast of Jesus. Obviously this connotes a deep intimacy, but it’s also meant to convey something else. If you lean your ear on someone’s chest you are able to hear that person’s heartbeat and that sound eventually begins to gently reverberate throughout your own body.

So this is the image, the image of perfect discipleship for John: We are “the one whom Jesus loves” and we need to have our heads on Jesus’ breast so as to hear his heartbeat and, from there, look out at the world. Being attuned

to Christ’s heartbeat and reclining in solace and intimacy on his breast will give us both the vision and the sustenance we need to live our lives as we should.

As we know, “the one whom Jesus loved” in John (historically this might have been John himself) is meant to refer to every one of us. Each of us is to be the “beloved disciple”, the one who reclines on Jesus’ breast in special intimacy. For John, this constitutes the very heart of discipleship and dwarfs everything else (charism, church office, even prophecy) in terms of what’s important. Indeed, at the Last Supper, Peter (the pope, the leader of the church) cannot even talk to Jesus directly, but must ask his question through the “beloved disciple”. That’s John’s way of saying that intimacy with Jesus is more important than any charism or leadership role.

And that’s our call, to have the kind of intimacy with Christ that has us reclining on his breast, hearing his heartbeat, and looking out at the world from that perspective.

But how do we do that practically?

To recline on Jesus’ breast is not the image William Blake so brilliantly describes in his poem, Infant Sorrow, where fear and hurt suggest it’s best “to sulk upon my mother’s breast.” In this case, our eyes are turned inward, or are closed, and what we are seeking is only comfort.

John’s image says something more.

His is an image of the intimacy of lovers, where the bond

of intimacy offers deep comfort but also attunes one heart to the other in such a way that energy and strength flow out, first from the one who is doing the consoling and then from the one who is drawing that consolation.

Father The image works Ron Rolheiser this way: We are to put our heads on Christ’s breast, feel that intimacy, hear his heartbeat, be filled with the comfort of that, and then let the energy and strength we feel there flow out, through us, into the world. And that is meant to fill us with the vision and sustenance we need to live as we should.

In terms of vision: When we are listening to Christ’s heartbeat and looking out at the world from there, we will see what it means to love purely, beyond ideology, beyond being liberal or conservative, beyond different schools of thought, and beyond our opinions and those of others. We will also have a vision of self-sacrifice, beyond our own comfort, own ambitions, and society’s sincere, though shrunken, capacity to renounce pleasure and the immediROLHEISER, page 17

JOHN EARLE PHOTO

Reclaiming America’s cathedral

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Catholic San Francisco

March 3, 2006

Deus Caritas Est ~ God is Love “Deus Caritas Est” (God is Love) is the first encyclical by Pope Benedict XVI. Catholic San Francisco is publishing the full text over several weeks. This is the fifth of seven segments.

tures is not directly the duty of the Church, but belongs to the world of politics, the sphere of the autonomous use of reason. The Church has an indirect duty here, in that she is called to contribute to the purification of reason and to the reawakening of those moral forces without which just structures are neither established nor prove effective in the long run.

The direct duty to work for a just ordering of society, on the other hand, is proper to the lay faithful. As citizens of the State, they are called to take part in public life in a personal capacity. So they cannot relinquish their participation “in the many different economic, social, legislative, administrative and cultural areas, which are intended to promote organically and institutionally the common good.” [21] The mission of the lay faithful is therefore to configure social life correctly, respecting its legitimate autonomy and cooperating with other citizens according to their respective competences and fulfilling their own responsibility.[22] Even if the specific expressions of ecclesial charity can never be confused with the activity of the State, it still remains true that charity must animate the entire lives of the lay faithful and therefore also their political activity, lived as “social charity”.[23] The Church’s charitable organizations, on the other hand, constitute an opus proprium, a task agreeable to her, in which she does not cooperate collaterally, but acts as a subject with direct responsibility, doing what corresponds to her nature. The Church can never be exempted from practicing charity as an organized activity of believers, and on the other hand, there will never be a situation where the charity of each individual Christian is unnecessary, because in addition to justice man needs, and will always need, love.

28. In order to define more accurately the relationship between the necessary commitment to justice and the ministry of charity, two fundamental situations need to be considered: a) The just ordering of society and the State is a central responsibility of politics. As Augustine once said, a State which is not governed according to justice would be just a bunch of thieves: “Remota itaque iustitia quid sunt regna nisi magna latrocinia?”.[18] Fundamental to Christianity is the distinction between what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God (cf. Mt 22:21), in other words, the distinction between Church and State, or, as the Second Vatican Council puts it, the autonomy of the temporal sphere.[19] The State may not impose religion, yet it must guarantee religious freedom and harmony between the followers of different religions. For her part, the Church, as the social expression of Christian faith, has a proper independence and is structured on the basis of her faith as a community which the State must recognize. The two spheres are distinct, yet always interrelated.

Justice is both the aim and the intrinsic criterion of all politics. Politics is more than a mere mechanism for defining the rules of public life: its origin and its goal are found in justice, which by its very nature has to do with ethics. The State must inevitably face the question of how justice can be achieved here and now. But this presupposes an even more radical question: what is justice? The problem is one of The multiple structures of charitable service practical reason; but if reason is to be exercised in the social context of the present day properly, it must undergo constant purification, 30. Before attempting to define the specific since it can never be completely free of the danger profile of the Church’s activities in the service of of a certain ethical blindness caused by the dazman, I now wish to consider the overall situation zling effect of power and special interests. of the struggle for justice and love in the world of Here politics and faith meet. Faith by its spetoday. cific nature is an encounter with the living God— a) Today the means of mass communication an encounter opening up new horizons extending have made our planet smaller, rapidly narrowing beyond the sphere of reason. But it is also a purithe distance between different peoples and culfying force for reason itself. From God’s standtures. This “togetherness” at times gives rise to point, faith liberates reason from its blind spots misunderstandings and tensions, yet our ability to and therefore helps it to be ever more fully itself. know almost instantly about the needs of others Faith enables reason to do its work more effecchallenges us to share their situation and their diftively and to see its proper object more clearly. ficulties. Despite the great advances made in sciThis is where Catholic social doctrine has its ence and technology, each day we see how much place: it has no intention of giving the Church suffering there is in the world on account of difpower over the State. Even less is it an attempt to ferent kinds of poverty, both material and spirituimpose on those who do not share the faith ways al. Our times call for a new readiness to assist our of thinking and modes of conduct proper to faith. neighbours in need. The Second Vatican Council Its aim is simply to help purify reason and to conhad made this point very clearly: “Now that, tribute, here and now, to the acknowledgment and through better means of communication, distances attainment of what is just. between peoples have been almost eliminated, The Church’s social teaching argues on the charitable activity can and should embrace all basis of reason and natural law, namely, on the people and all needs.”[24] basis of what is in accord with the nature of every On the other hand—and here we see one of the human being. It recognizes that it is not the challenging yet also positive sides of the process Church’s responsibility to make this teaching preof globalization—we now have at our disposal vail in political life. Rather, the Church wishes to numerous means for offering humanitarian assishelp form consciences in political life and to stimtance to our brothers and sisters in need, not least ulate greater insight into the authentic requiremodern systems of distributing food and clothing, ments of justice as well as greater readiness to act and of providing housing and care. Concern for accordingly, even when this might involve conflict our neighbour transcends the confines of national with situations of personal interest. Building a just communities and has increasingly broadened its social and civil order, wherein each person horizon to the whole world. The Second Vatican receives what is his or her due, is an essential task Council rightly observed that “among the signs of which every generation must take up anew. As a our times, one particularly worthy of note is a political task, this cannot be the Church’s immedigrowing, inescapable sense of solidarity between ate responsibility. Yet, since it is also a most imporall peoples.”[25] State agencies and humanitarian tant human responsibility, the Church is dutyassociations work to promote this, the former bound to offer, through the purification of reason mainly through subsidies or tax relief, the latter by and through ethical formation, her own specific making available considerable resources. The solcontribution towards understanding the requireidarity shown by civil society thus significantly ments of justice and achieving them politically.

La Charité – William Bouguereau, 1878. surpasses that shown by individuals.

The Church cannot and must not take upon b) This situation has led to the birth and the herself the political battle to bring about the most growth of many forms of cooperation between just society possible. She cannot and must not replace the State. Yet at the same time she cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in State and Church agencies, which have borne fruit. Church agencies, with their transparthe fight for justice. She has to play her part through rational argument and she has to ent operation and their faithfulness to the duty of witnessing to love, are able to give a reawaken the spiritual energy without which justice, which always demands sacrifice, can- Christian quality to the civil agencies too, favouring a mutual coordination that can only not prevail and prosper. A just society must be the achievement of politics, not of the redound to the effectiveness of charitable service.[26] Numerous organizations for chariChurch. Yet the promotion of justice through efforts to bring about openness of mind and table or philanthropic purposes have also been established and these are committed to will to the demands of the common good is something which concerns the Church deeply. achieving adequate humanitarian solutions to the social and political problems of the day. b) Love—caritas—will always prove necessary, even in the most just society. There is Significantly, our time has also seen the growth and spread of different kinds of volunteer no ordering of the State so just that it can eliminate the need for a service of love. Whoever work, which assume responsibility for providing a variety of services.[27] I wish here to wants to eliminate love is preparing to eliminate man as such. There will always be suf- offer a special word of gratitude and appreciation to all those who take part in these activfering which cries out for consolation and help. There will always be loneliness. There will ities in whatever way. For young people, this widespread involvement constitutes a school always be situations of material need where help in the form of concrete love of neighbour of life which offers them a formation in solidarity and in readiness to offer others not simis indispensable.[20] The State which would provide everything, absorbing everything into ply material aid but their very selves. The anti-culture of death, which finds expression for itself, would ultimately become a mere bureaucracy incapable of guaranteeing the very example in drug use, is thus countered by an unselfish love which shows itself to be a culthing which the suffering person—every person—needs: namely, loving personal concern. ture of life by the very willingness to “lose itself” (cf. Lk 17:33 et passim) for others.

In the Catholic Church, and also in the other Churches and Ecclesial Communities, new We do not need a State which regulates and controls everything, but a State which, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, generously acknowledges and supports ini- forms of charitable activity have arisen, while other, older ones have taken on new life and tiatives arising from the different social forces and combines spontaneity with closeness to energy. In these new forms, it is often possible to establish a fruitful link between evangethose in need. The Church is one of those living forces: she is alive with the love enkin- lization and works of charity. Here I would clearly reaffirm what my great predecessor dled by the Spirit of Christ. This love does not simply offer people material help, but John Paul II wrote in his Encyclical Sollicitudo Rei Socialis [28] when he asserted the refreshment and care for their souls, something which often is even more necessary than readiness of the Catholic Church to cooperate with the charitable agencies of these material support. In the end, the claim that just social structures would make works of Churches and Communities, since we all have the same fundamental motivation and look charity superfluous masks a materialist conception of man: the mistaken notion that man towards the same goal: a true humanism, which acknowledges that man is made in the can live “by bread alone” (Mt 4:4; cf. Dt 8:3)—a conviction that demeans man and ulti- image of God and wants to help him to live in a way consonant with that dignity. His Encyclical Ut Unum Sint emphasized that the building of a better world requires Christians mately disregards all that is specifically human. to speak with a united voice in working to inculcate “respect for the rights and needs of 29. We can now determine more precisely, in the life of the Church, the relationship everyone, especially the poor, the lowly and the defenseless.” [29] Here I would like to between commitment to the just ordering of the State and society on the one hand, and express my satisfaction that this appeal has found a wide resonance in numerous initiatives organized charitable activity on the other. We have seen that the formation of just struc- throughout the world.

March 3, 2006

FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT Genesis 9:8-15; Psalm 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:12-15 A READING FROM THE BOOK OF GENESIS (GN 9:8-15) God said to Noah and to his sons with him: “See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you: all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals that were with you and came out of the ark. I will establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood; there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth.” God added: “This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you: I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds, I will recall the covenant I have made between me and you and all living beings, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings.”

RESPONSORIAL PSALM (PS 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9) R. Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.

Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me your paths, Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior.

R. Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.

Remember that your compassion, O Lord, and your love are from of old.

In your kindness remember me, because of your goodness, O Lord.

R. Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.

Catholic San Francisco

Lenten Message from POPE BENEDICT XVI

Good and upright is the Lord, thus he shows sinners the way.

He guides the humble to justice, and he teaches the humble his way.

R. Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep your covenant.

The gaze of Christ

A READING FROM THE FIRST LETTER OF SAINT PETER (1 PT 3:18-22) Beloved: Christ suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the Spirit. In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water. This prefigured baptism, which saves you now. It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.

“Jesus, at the sight of the crowds, was moved with pity” (Mt 9:36)

A READING FROM THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK (MK 1:12-15) The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him.

After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment.

The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

William Blake – The Temptation of Christ, 1808.

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Following is excerpted from Pope Benedict’s Message for Lent.

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Lent is a privileged time of interior pilgrimage towards Him Who is the fount of mercy. It is a pilgrimage in which He Himself accompanies us through the desert of our poverty, sustaining us on our way towards the intense joy of Easter. Even in the “valley of darkness” of which the Psalmist speaks (Ps 23:4), while the tempter prompts us to despair or to place a vain hope in the work of our own hands, God is there to guard us and sustain us. Yes, even today the Lord hears the cry of the multitudes longing for joy, peace, and love. As in every age, they feel abandoned. Yet, even in the desolation of misery, loneliness, violence and hunger that indiscriminately afflict children, adults, and the elderly, God does not allow darkness to prevail.

In fact, in the words of my beloved Predecessor, Pope John Paul II, there is a “divine limit imposed upon evil”, namely, mercy (Memory and Identity, pp.

19ff.). It is with these thoughts in mind that I have chosen as my theme for this Message the Gospel text: “Jesus, at the sight of the crowds, was moved with pity” (Mt 9:36).

In this light, I would like to pause and reflect upon an issue much debated today: the question of development. Even now, the compassionate “gaze” of Christ continues to fall upon individuals and peoples. He watches them, knowing that the divine “plan” includes their call to salvation. Jesus knows the perils that put this plan at risk, and He is moved with pity for the crowds. He chooses to defend them from the wolves even at the cost of His own life. The gaze of Jesus embraces individuals and multitudes, and he brings them all before the Father, offering Himself as a sacrifice of expiation.

Enlightened by this Paschal truth, the Church knows that if we are to promote development in its fullness, our own “gaze” upon mankind has to be measured against that of Christ. In fact, it is quite impossible to separate the response to people’s material and social needs from the fulfillment of the profound desires of their hearts. . . [I]t involves the proclamation of the truth of Christ, Who educates consciences and teaches the authentic dignity of the person and of work; it means the promotion of a culture that truly responds to all the questions of humanity.

In the face of the terrible challenge of poverty afflicting so much of the world’s population, indifference and self-centered isolation stand in stark contrast to the “gaze” of Christ. Fasting and almsgiving, which, together with prayer, the Church proposes in a special way during the Lenten Season, are suitable means for us to become conformed to this “gaze”. The examples of the saints and the long history of the Church’s missionary activity provide invaluable indications of the most effective ways to support development. Even in this era of global interdependence, it is clear that no economic, social, or political project can replace that gift of self to another through which charity is expressed.

Those who act according to the logic of the Gospel live the faith as friendship with God Incarnate and, like Him, bear the burden of the material and spiritual needs of their neighbours. They see it as an inexhaustible mystery, worthy of infinite care and attention. They know that he who does not give God gives too little; as Blessed Teresa of Calcutta frequently observed, the worst poverty is not to know Christ. Therefore, we must help others to find God in the merciful face of Christ. Without this perspective, civilization lacks a solid foundation. . .

Moved like Jesus with compassion for the crowds, the Church today considers it her duty to ask political leaders and those with economic and financial power to promote development based on respect for the dignity of every man and woman.

An important litmus test for the success of their efforts is religious liberty, understood not simply as the freedom to proclaim and celebrate Christ, but also the opportunity to contribute to the building of a world enlivened by charity. These efforts have to include a recognition of the central role of authentic religious values in responding to man’s deepest concerns, and in supplying the ethical motivation for his personal and social responsibilities. These are the criteria by which Christians should assess the political programs of their leaders.

We cannot ignore the fact that many mistakes have been made in the course of history by those who claimed to be disciples of Jesus. Very often, when having to address grave problems, they have thought that they should first improve this world and only afterwards turn their minds to the next. The temptation was to believe that, in the face of urgent needs, the first imperative was to change external structures. The consequence, for some, was that Christianity became a kind of moralism, ‘believing’ was replaced with ‘doing’. Rightly, therefore, my Predecessor, Pope John Paul II, of blessed memory, observed: “The temptation today is to reduce Christianity to merely human wisdom, a pseudo-science of well-being. In our heavily secularized world, a ‘gradual secularization of salvation’ has taken place, so that people strive for the good of man, but man who is truncated…We know, however, that Jesus came to bring integral salvation” (Redemptoris Missio, 11).

It is this integral salvation that Lent puts before us, pointing towards the victory of Christ over every evil that oppresses us. In turning to the Divine Master, in being converted to Him, in experiencing His mercy through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we will discover a “gaze” that searches us profoundly and gives new life to the crowds and to each one of us. It restores trust to those who do not succumb to skepticism, opening up before them the perspective of eternal beatitude. Throughout history, even when hate seems to prevail, the luminous testimony of His love is never lacking. To Mary, “the living fount of hope” (Dante Alighieri, Paradiso, XXXIII, 12), we entrust our Lenten journey, so that she may lead us to her Son. I commend to her in particular the multitudes who suffer poverty and cry out for help, support, and understanding. With these sentiments, I cordially impart to all of you a special Apostolic Blessing.

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Catholic San Francisco

March 3, 2006

Lenten Opportunities March 11: Young adult women are invited by the Sisters of the Presentation to Turning Your Heart to God, a time for reflection and sharing, on Saturday, March 11, 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., at Presentation Retreat Center in Los Gatos. This Lenten retreat is for young women who want to deepen their relationship with God and will help them explore their personal call from God. For more information or to reserve a space for this reflection day, please contact Sister Gloria Loya, PBVM, at 415 422-5009 or gloya@pbvmsf.org.

Fridays: Star of the Sea Church, 4420 Geary Blvd. & 8th Avenue, announces “Lenten Soup and Scripture Agape” except on Good Friday. A simple meal of meatless soup and bread begins at 6 p.m. in the school auditorium, accompanied by reading of passages from Sacred Scripture. Stations of the Cross follow in the Church concluding with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Parking in the lot is free. Children are welcome. Call (415) 7510450 for more information.

Wednesdays: Christian Meditation in Siena Room at St. Dominic Church, 2390 Bush St. at Steiner in San Francisco, 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. The silent rite is based on the teachings of late Benedictine Father John Main who believed the contemplative experience creates community for ordinary people. More information available at www.christianmeditation.us

(408) 371-0865, or see the website: www.beginningexperience.org.

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. Group also meets 1st and 3rd Thurs. at 7:30 p.m. at St. Peter Parish in Pacifica. Call (650) 359-6313 for location.

Saturdays: Prayer Group, 9:30 - 11:30 a.m. at St. Hilary Church 761 Hilary Drive, Tiburon, (415) 7565505. Father James Tarantino, presides. Call (415) 756-5505.

Catholic Adult Singles Assoc of Marin meets for support and activities. Call Bob at (415) 8970639 for information.

Datebook

Consolation Ministry

St. Mary’s Cathedral The following events are taking place at or are coordinated by the cathedral of the Archdiocese located at Gough and Geary St. in San Francisco.

Call (415) 567-2020 for more information about any event listed here. .

Cathedral Autumn Group: All people 55 and over are cordially invited. Call (415) 567-2020, ext.

218. March 16: Filoli Gardens by coach. April 20: International Luncheon in Parish Hall. Reservations Required to (415) 567-2020 ext. 218.

Food & Fun March 11: St. Patrick’s Day Luncheon benefiting St. Francis Center in Redwood City beginning at 11:30 a.m. at St. Patrick’s Seminary, 320 Middlefield Rd. in Menlo Park. Afternoon includes auction, raffle and corned beef lunch. Tours of seminary also available. Tickets $50 per person. Call (650) 854-1262 or 851-9858.

March 11: Catholic Professional Women’s Club presents Shamrock Shenanigans, a luncheon and fashion show at the United Irish Cultural Center, 45th Ave. at Sloat Blvd. in San Francisco. Begins with Silent auction and no-host social hour at 11:30 a.m. with lunch at 12:30 p.m. Tickets are $40 per person. Call Clorinda Aldrich at (415) 564-4492.

March 11: St. Patrick’s Day Party at St. Matthew School, One Notre Dame Way, San Mateo, 6:30 – 10 p.m. Lot’s of food, beer, wine, and fun for the ENTIRE family. Tickets, $15 adults/$8 children. Includes special Bingo area for the kids. Call 650-628-6848.

March 18: Cougars Go Celtic, a dinner dance with live and silent auctions sponsored by the St. Stephen Women’s Guild at the United Irish Cultural Center in San Francisco beginning at 6 p.m. Tickets are available by calling Celine O’Driscoll (415) 8411554) or Margaret O’Driscoll (415) 661-5704 or email mgtodriscoll@comcast.net. Raffle tickets are also available ($10 each/3 for $25) for grand prizes worth up to $1,000. Winners need not be present to win; free drawing ticket available at school office upon request. Come and join in the fun; need not be Irish to attend!

March 18: New York, New York, Spring Auction and Dinner Dance benefiting St. Isabella Elementary School in San Rafael, 5 p.m. – midnight, at the Marin Civic Center. Tickets are $85 per person. Call (415) 479-3727.

March 19: St. Patrick’s Day Chicken Barbecue and Raffle benefiting Sacred Heart Church in Olema, and St. Mary Magdalene Mission in Bolinas at the Dance Palace Community Center in downtown Point Reyes Station, rain or shine. An almost 50 year tradition, the feast includes barbecued chicken, pasta, salad, rolls, and milk, tea or coffee.

Meals are $12 for adults and $7 for children. The famous cake booth will offer desserts for purchase and cash bar will be serving holiday beverages.

Music and raffle too! Call (415) 663-1139.

Live at the Copacabana, an annual fundraiser for Notre Dame High School in Belmont, takes place March 11th in the school’s Moore Pavilion. Call (650) 595-1913 for ticket information. Among more than 100 volunteers at work on the good time are Janet Abbott, left, Letty Juarez, Linda Andreini, Holly Miner, Colleen McPeek-Bechtold, and school Events Director, Denise Severi.

Shows/Entertainment March 24, 25 at 7:30 p.m.: “One Instance of Burning”, a play by Chris Rogers, explores Joan of Arc’s story of struggle and faith with the story of a contemporary woman. Come to the St. Agnes Spiritual Life Center, 1611 Oak Street, between Ashbury & Masonic in San Francisco. Parking is available next to the facility. Call 415-487-8560, x.

238 for more information.

1st and 3rd Tues.: Noontime Concerts – 12:30 p.m. - at Old St. Mary’s Cathedral, 660 California St. at Grant, SF. $5 donation requested. Call (415) 2883800.

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

Sundays: Concerts at 4 p. m. at National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi, Vallejo and Columbus, SF. Call (415) 983-0405 or www.shrinesf.org. Open to the public. Admission free.

Prayer/Lectures/Trainings March 4: 1st Saturday Mass at Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma in All Saints Mausoleum at 11 a.m. Call (650) 756-2060.

March 6, April 17, May 15: The Art of Dying Well, a Bio-ethics Seminar by the SF Guild of the Catholic Medical Association at Heart of Mary Center, 2580 McAllister St. in San Francisco at 7:30 p.m. Thomas Cavanaugh, Ph.D. and Dr. Stephen McPhee will facilitate the evening. Donation $15. Call (415) 2198719.

March 7, 7:30 - 9 p.m.: The 4th century Arian controversy plagued the Roman Empire and the early Church. Join Father Paul Burrows for The Arian Controversy: from Heterodoxy to Orthodoxy, a special presentation on Christology, in particular how the orthodox position of the natures and person of Jesus were concretized into church teaching during this tumultuous period. Takes place at St. Agnes Spiritual Life Center, 1611 Oak Street, between Ashbury and Masonic Avenues. Parking is available next to the facility. Call (415) 487-8560, ext. 238 for further information.

Mar. 11: Training for New Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. Offered by the Office of Worship. $15.00 fee. 9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. at St. Mark Church, Belmont. Please pre-register at (415) 6145585 or vallezkellyp@sfarchdiocese.org.

March 11: Stepping Out of the Boat/ Surprised by Risk and Hope, 9:30 -11:30 a.m. at Notre Dame Province Center, 1520 Ralston Ave., Belmont. www.SistersofNotreDameCA.org or (650) 5932045. This Morning of Reflection and Prayer, led by Notre Dame Sister Maureen Hilliard, offers an opportunity to reflect on the “surprises of God.” Mar. 18: Training for New Lectors. Offered by the Office of Worship. $15.00 fee. 9 a.m - 3:30 p.m. at St. Mark Church, Belmont. Please pre-register at (415) 614-5585 or March 16, 7:00 p.m.: Breaking the Silence: Reminiscences of a Hidden Childhood. Talk and booksigning by author Paul A. Schwarzbart who as a Jewish child was hidden in a Catholic boarding school in Belgium during WWII. Sponsored by Campus Ministry at St. Thomas More Church, 1300 Junipero Serra (at Brotherhood & Thomas More Ways), San Francisco. Admission free. See www.stmchurch.com for map and directions. MUNI 17,18, 28, 88.

March 29: San Domenico School’s annual Spring Spirituality Evening with Irish poet & author John O’Donohue. Program begins with a dessert reception at 7 p.m. in the Hall of the Arts, 1500 Butterfield Road in San Anselmo. Tickets are $35 in advance.

Please call (415) 258-1931 or visit www.sandomenico.org for more information.

April 8: Day of Recollection, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., at St. Cecilia Church, Green Room, 17th Ave. and Vicente in San Francisco. Carol Braga speaks on the last days in the life of Pope John Paul II from records published by the Vatican. Sponsored by SF Guild of the Catholic Medical Association. Donation of $35 per person is appreciated. Call (415) 219-8719.

Come pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet, Scriptural Rosary, and special intentions before the Blessed Sacrament at the beautiful Monastery of Perpetual Adoration. Saturdays 10:00 to 11:15 am, 771 Ashbury Street at Waller in San Francisco. Some parking available adjacent to the monastery.

Contact Steve at (415) 290-5598.

Single, Divorced, Separated April 28 – 30: WIDOWED, SEPARATED, DIVORCED WEEKEND at Vallombrosa Retreat Center, Menlo Park. The weekend helps those who have suffered a loss move on to the future with renewed hope. For more information, call La Verne (650) 355-3978, Ward (415) 821-3390, or Donna

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 Sr. Carol Fleitz at 650-355-2593; Our Lady of Mercy, Daly City. Call Barbara Cantwell at 650-755-0478; Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Redwood City. Call Parish at 650-366-3802; St. Robert, San Bruno. Call Sr. 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 Sr. Jeanette at 415-897-2171.

San Francisco: St. Dominic. Call Sr. Anne at 415567-7824; St. Finn Barr(Bilingual). Call Carmen Solis at 415-584-0823; St. Gabriel. Call Elaine Khalaf at 415-564-7882.

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

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

Children’s Grief Group: St. Catherine, Burlingame. Call Debbie Simmons at 650-558-1015.

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

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

San Francisco: Old St. Mary’s Cathedral, SF, Michael Adams at (415) 695-2707; St. Philip the Apostle, 725 Diamond St. at Elizabeth/24th, SF. Call (415) 282-0141; St. Dominic, SF, Lee Gallery at (415) 221-1288; Holy Name of Jesus, SF, (415) 6648590.

San Mateo County: St. Bartholomew, San Mateo, Dan Stensen at (650) 344-5665; St. Catherine of Siena, Burlingame, Silvia Chiesa at (650) 685-8336; Our Lady of Angels, Burlingame, Holy Names Sister Pat Hunter at (650) 375-8023; St. Dunstan, Millbrae, Dianne Johnston at (650) 697-0952; Our Lady of the Pillar, Half Moon Bay, Meghan at (650) 726-4337; St. Peter, Pacifica, Sylvia Miles at (650) 355-6650, Jerry Trecroci at (650) 355-1799, Frank Erbacher at (650) 355-4355; St. Matthew, San Mateo. Jim Shea at (650) 344-7622.

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.

Catholic San Francisco: Sesquicentennial Essays Now just $19.95 including shipping and handling

This extraordinary book, with a preface by Archbishop Emeritus William J. Levada, contains 39 essays on Catholic history in the Bay Area over the past 150 years.

The 300-page hard-cover book, with scores of historical photographs, includes essays on Catholic pioneers, immigrants, schools, and women and men religious, as well as topics of labor, civil rights, church-state conflict, local impact of Vatican II, and more!

To receive your copy, send a check for $19.95 to Communications Office One Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco, CA 94109.

Catholic San Francisco

March 3, 2006

Hicks . . .

■ Continued from page 13 Thursday, they lost a son, just 21, to a relentless and ravaging brain tumor. His short life was not to unfold in the ordinary way.

The sympathy that preoccupies my thoughts stays with me on the round trip to school and throughout my morning chores. Eventually, I sit at my desk to answer e-mail and tackle a project that awaits my attention, but I don’t get much done.

That I’m blessed to focus on such mundane tasks stirs in me waves of tears for my friend, whose duties today will require surpassing strength and faith — the kind of steely resilience no mother wants to discover she can muster.

Instead of being productive, I mostly spend my time in the awkward awareness that an ordinary day truly is a gift from God. And so the hours pass until at last it’s time to make my way again through the neighborhood to pick up my children from school.

This time, there are even more cars in what seems like an endless line outside my neighbor’s home. It’s no

surprise that a family known for kindness and generosity is being cared for so tenderly by friends and relatives.

Amid the vehicles that crowd the driveway, one catches my eye, and I do a double take.

It’s a pizza delivery car.

I don’t know why, but a sight as incongruous as that pizza car parked outside the home of a grieving family fills me with an odd reassurance.

It strikes me as a simple affirmation that in the midst of a day so exceptionally dark as to be surreal, we all must be fed and nurtured in even the most basic, unremarkable ways.

In the aftermath of a loss so confounding, comfort will be found in the common acts of compassion the family is sure to experience in the weeks and months to come.

I don’t know how you could face life’s routine rhythm after your reality changes so profoundly.

I don’t know how my neighbors will do it.

I only know I’m grateful for the poignant reminder to thank the Lord for every precious day — especially the ordinary ones.

Marybeth Hicks writes a column for the Washington Times.

17

Rolheiser . . .

■ Continued from page 13 ate for something deeper and more meaningful longrange.

In terms of sustenance: When we are listening to Christ’s heartbeat, feeling his comfort, and looking out at the world from there, we will also more easily find the strength to keep our hearts soft when everything beckons us to be hard, our tongues gentle when everything is gossip and slander, and ourselves aware of others’ gifts when all around there is jealousy. We will more easily find the capacity to forgive despite our wounds, to live chastity inside an over-stimulated culture, to see beauty inside dram and duty, to see the sacred inside of the humdrum, and to remain aware of God’s presence inside a godlessness that sometimes overwhelms us.

Our sensitivity must be a stethoscope that hears the beat of the complex and fascinating heart of Christ.

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

TRAVEL GUIDE

TOTUS TUUS: The Journey Walk in the footsteps of Pope John Paul II From $2,698 departing April 18, 2006

For advertising information

Included Highlights:

Call (415) 614-5642

¾ Air Transportation from San Francisco. ¾ 7 night accommodations in first class hotels. ¾ Breakfast and dinner daily ¾ In depth sightseeing in Warsaw, Krakow, Zakopane, Wadowice; the Pope’s birthplace, the Divine Mercy Convent, the Holy Cross Church and much more. ¾ Add-on fares from your home town available. ¾ Optional Extension to Rome available.

LAKE TAHOE RENTAL

Vacation Rental Condo in South Lake Tahoe.

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PACIFIC I’NTL TRAVEL AGENCY FOR ALL YOUR TRAVEL NEEDS SPECIALIZING IN

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Ext 206, 208, 226.

PACIFICTRAVEL.COM

regina@groupist.com www.Regina-Tours.com

Catholic San Francisco

CST # 1010514

invites you to join in the following pilgrimages

FRANCE

ITALY May 2 – 12 , 2006

April 18 – 28, 2006

Departs San Francisco 11-Day Pilgrimage

Departs San Francisco 11-Day Pilgrimage

only

$

2,499

only

(tips and taxes not included)

2,299

($2,399 after Jan. 22, 2006)

($2,599 after 1/8/06)

Fr. Robert Hutmacher, OFM

Fr. Tim Mockaitis

Spiritual Director

Spiritual Director

Visit: Paris, Lisieux, Normandy, Versailles, Chartres, Nevers, Paray-Le-Monial, Ars, Lyon, Toulouse and Lourdes.

$

Eiffel Tower

Visit: Venice, Florence, Assisi, Rome (Papal Audience), Siena St. Peter’s Basilica

THE HOLY LAND

FATIMA, SPAIN AND LOURDES May 15 – 25 , 2006

November 13 – 22, 2006

Departs San Francisco 11-Day Pilgrimage

Departs San Francisco 10-Day Pilgrimage

only

$

2,199

only

$

2,399

($2,299 after Feb. 4, 2006)

($2,499 after Aug. 5, 2006)

Fr. Jack Wintz, OFM

Fr. Glenn Kohrman

Spiritual Director

Spiritual Director

Visit: Paris, Lisbon, Santarem, Fatima, Coimbra, Alba de Torme, Avila, Burgos, Loyola, Pamplona, Javier, Lourdes

Lourdes

Visit: Tel Aviv, Netanya, Caesarea/Mt. Carmel, Upper Galilee, Tiberias, Jerusalem, Cana

Cana

For a FREE brochure on these pilgrimages contact: California Registered Seller of Travel Registration Number CST-2037190-40 Catholic San Francisco (415) 614-5640 (Registration as a Seller of Travel does not constitute approval by the State of California)

Please leave your name, mailing address and your phone number

18

Catholic San Francisco

Piano Lessons PIANO LESSONS BY

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

CALL (415) 921-8337.

March 3, 2006

Catholic San Francisco

Organist ORGANIST WEDDINGS • FUNERALS

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

Worship Services, Catholic Experience Marie DuMabeiller 415-441-3069, Page: 823-3664 VISA, MASTERCARD Accepted Please confirm your event before contracting music!

Chiropractic Care

Pre-payment required Mastercard or Visa accepted

KARL A. GILJUM, D.C.

Piano Lessons

Prayer to the Blessed Virgin never known to fail.

PUBLISH A NOVENA

Doctor of Chiropractic Providing quality not quantity care 500 Sutter St. #601 San Francisco, CA 94102 (415) 706-1920

Cost $25

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

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Most beautiful flower of Mt. Carmel Blessed Mother of the Son of God, assist me in my need. Help me and show me you are my mother. Oh Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and earth. I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to help me in this need. Oh Mary, conceived without sin.

Pray for us (3X).

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

Say prayers 3 days. M.B.

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.

M.B.

St. Jude Novena

Prayer to St. Jude

Prayer to the Blessed Virgin never known to fail.

Most beautiful flower of Mt. Carmel Blessed Mother of the Son of God, assist me in my need. Help me and show me you are my mother. Oh Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and earth. I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to help me in this need. Oh Mary, conceived without sin.

Pray for us (3X).

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

Say prayers 3 days. C.O.

Your prayer will be published in our newspaper

Piano Lessons

By a Conservatory Graduate

Adult Beginners Children of all levels

Yearly Recitals At Clarion Hotel $50 mo. once a week lesson

650-438-2846

SERVICE DIRECTORY

Elderly Care ORI’S ELDER CARE AGENCY Personal care companion.

Help with daily activities; driving, grocery shopping, doctor appts. Required: CNA, Nurse’s Aid, Certificate, honest, reliable, excellent refs, bonded.

Call Ori 415-713-1366

Name Adress Phone MC/VISA # Exp.

\

May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, glorified, loved & preserved throughout the world now & forever. Sacred Heart of Jesus pray for us. St. Jude helper of the hopeless pray for us.

Say prayer 9 times a day for 9 days.

Thank You St. Jude.

Never known to fail.

You may publish.

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

Select One Prayer: ❑ St. Jude Novena to SH ❑ Prayer to St. Jude

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

AUTO SALES

M.B.

Dear Jesus, I adore You and thank You for being always available to me. I am sorry for my shortcomings and ask Your help in being a witness to You. Only You know what I need. Please assist me in my need.

One Our Father, One Hail Mary. Publication may be made as soon as your favor is granted.

J.P.

GARAGE DOOR REPAIR PHOTO RESTORATION

Wally Mooney

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

Oh, Holy St. Jude, Apostle and Martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, near Kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful intercessor of all who invoke your special patronage in time of need, to you I have recourse from the depth of my heart and humbly beg to whom God has given such great power to come to my assistance. Help me in my present and urgent petition. In return I promise to make you be invoked.

Say three our Fathers, three Hail Marys and Glorias. St. Jude pray for us all who invoke your aid. Amen.

This Novena has never been known to fail. This Novena must be said 9 consecutive days. Thanks.

M.B.

Discount

Auto Broker

Garage Door

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

Repair

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

Lic #376353

P.O. Box 214 San Bruno, CA 94066

St. Robert’s Parish San Bruno

Painting & Remodeling

FLOORS

Broken Spring/Cable?

Operator Problems?

Lifetime Warranty All New Doors/Motors

One Price 24 /7

415-931-1540 0% Financing Available

John Holtz

Ca. Lic 391053 General Contractor Since 1980

PLUMBING

(650) 355-4926

Painting & Remodeling

Expert Plumbing Repairs ●

General Repairs Clean Drains & Sewers Water Heaters ●

FAMILY OWNED

Contractor inspection reports and pre-purchase consulting

Handyman

415-661-3707

REAL ESTATE SPECIALIZING IN SAN MATEO COUNTY REAL ESTATE If I can be of service to you, or if you know of anyone who is interested in buying or selling a home, please do not hesitate to call me . . .

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

Call (650) 757-1946 Cell (415) 517-5977 NOT A LICENSED CONTRACTOR

NOTICE TO READERS Licensed contractors are required by law to list their license numbers in advertisments.

The law also state that contractors performing work totaling $500 or more must be 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

Today

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

415-239-8491

CA LIC #817607

BONDED & INSURED

415-205-1235 Plumbing • Fire Protection • Certified Backflow

John Bianchi Phone: 415.468.1877 Fax: 415.468.1875 100 North Hill Drive, Unit 18 • Brisbane, CA 94005 Lic. No. 390254

Tile ● Painting ● Carpet ● Bathrooms ● Kitchens ● Electrical ● Plumbing ● Fences ● Decks CALL MITCH AT (650) 557-9106 ● cell (650) 784-6544

Gydesen Const., Inc. General Contractor ● ●

Featuring Pressure Washing ● Repairs ● Safety Grab Bars ●

Inner Child Healing Offers a deep spiritual and psychological approach to counseling: ❖ 30 years experience with individuals, couples and groups ❖ Directed, effective and results-oriented ❖ Compassionate and Intuitive ❖ Supports 12-step ❖ Enneagram Personality Transformation

Lila Caffery, MA, CCHT San Francisco: 415.337.9474 Belmont: 650.888.2873 Complimentary phone consultation www.InnerChildHealing.com

• Family • Work • Depression • Anxiety

• Relationships • Addictions

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

FINE SERVICE, BETTER EVENTS.

SM

●

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

When Life Hurts It Helps To Talk

PARTY RENTALS

ONE STOP MAINTENANCE AND HANDYMAN

Handyman GENERAL CONTRACTOR

not a licensed contractor

ALL PLUMBING WORK PAT HOLLAND

HANDY MAN

LIC.

Carpentry, Cabinetry, Painting,Refinishing Floors and Furniture, Door & Window Instal.,Cement Work.

Se habla Español & Tagalog.

Serving also the East Bay, Contra Costa,&Marin Counties

Lic. # 663641

24 HR

HOLLAND Plumbing Works San Francisco

* Parishioner of St. Gregory’s Church, San Mateo

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

●

SANTI PLUMBING & HEATING

•Interiors •Exteriors •Kitchens •Baths

COUNSELING

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TABLES SEATING LINENS SETTINGS SERVEWARE STAGING

ABBEY party rents sf

1- 800-717-PARTY

SPIRITUAL HEALING

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

WWW.ABBEYRENTSSF.COM

Elephants Remember

People FORGET

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Customers Need Reminding That You’re In Business To Serve Them Reach 86,000 Catholic Households With An Ad In Catholic San Francisco!

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March 3, 2006

BECOME A FARMERS INSURANCE & FINANCIAL AGENT

Catholic San Francisco

19

Employment Opportunities

Free Info Packet: 650-931-8608 We will train!

UNIVERSITY OF GREAT FALLS ADVERTISING SALES SEEKS VICE PRESIDENT FOR DEVELOPMENT For The Largest Publisher of Catholic Church Bulletins

JUNIPERO SERRA HIGH SCHOOL is accepting resumes in all subjects areas: ● Social Studies English ● Counseling and Guidance ● Mathematics ● Foreign Language ● Theology ● Science ● Visual and Performing Arts ● Academic Resource Program ● Computer Science ●

(especially AP Computer Science)

We are looking for well-educated Roman Catholics who can serve as inspiring teachers and positive role models for our students.

Send cover letters, resumes and references to: Lars Lund, Principal Junipero Serra High School 451 W. 20th Ave., San Mateo, CA, 94403 email: llund@serrahs.com We will have a booth at the upcoming Teacher Job Fair (Saturday, March 4 at Notre Dame HS in Belmont), please visit us for more information!

The University of Great Falls a Catholic, liberal arts university in Montana is seeking a Vice President for Development. The Vice President for Development, working with the President, is responsible for the University's Development Program, including alumni, grants, annual giving, and capital gifts. After the President, the Vice President is the most important public face of the University. This is not a desk job, but marketing and sales job.

The Vice President is expected to carry the dreams and ambitions of our University to those who will be pleased to contribute to a small Catholic institution intent on becoming one of the most interesting universities in America.

To apply or for additional information contact Cindy Gahagan at cgahagan01@ugf.edu.

ELEMENTARY ADVERTISING PAYS! SCHOOL A V S F , JOB FAIR Teachers, Teacher Aides, Secretaries and Maintenance Personnel SATURDAY MARCH 18, 2006 MERCY HIGH SCHOOL 3250 – 19th Avenue San Francisco, CA 94132

10:00 a.m. to 1: 00 p.m.

(Campus Parking closed.

Please use neighborhood parking) For more information please call (415) 614-5668 www.sfcatholicschools.org

LMA IA OF AN RANCISCO a newly opened retirement and assisted living community, provides high quality assisted living and dementia care programs within an environment that encourages wellness and independence. We currently have the following opportunities available:

WELLNESS DIRECTOR RN OR LVN You will be responsible for managing & supervising the wellness department, conducting assessments, coordinating care, providing healthcare oversight for residents, supervising & educating the caregivers and assisting with community marketing efforts.

Requires current CA nursing license & 3 years healthcare mgmt exp. Email resume to: avsfjobs0031@eldercarealliance.org

This is a Career Opportunity!

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

Call 1-800-675-5051 Fax resume: 707-258-1195

ACCOMPANIST – PART TIME St. Stephen Parish, a thriving community of 1,200 families is looking for an accompanist for two Sunday morning Masses beginning July 1. Requires excellent keyboard skills for pipe organ and piano: accompany the choir, cantor and congregation; availablity for funerals, weddings desirable.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: March 15, 2006. E-mail resume and cover letter to jwalsh451@aol.com

FUNDRAISING ASSISTANT POSITION The Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s Catherine Center announces a fundraising assistant position to begin immediately. This person will be intimately involved in raising funds for an innovative program for women returning from jail or prison. The position is part-time with pro-rated benefits. Duties include supporting normal development activities. Writing skills, experience and comfort with Microsoft Word and Excel and databases, communication, organization, and interpersonal skills are essential.

This person will work alongside the current fundraising assistant until May 2006, to become familiar with all aspects of the position.

Experience: An exhibited commitment to assisting the poor and marginalized; progressively responsible business, financial fundraising, writing and or public relations experiences.

Interested applicants can send their resumes to: SVDP’S CATHERINE CENTER 50 North B Street, San Mateo, CA 94401 svdpmj@yahoo.com Fax: (650) 343-9495

Special Needs Companion Services We are looking for you.

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

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

COMMUNITY RELATIONS DIRECTOR We’ll rely on you for the planning, implementing and marketing of our sales strategies, meeting occupancy goals and providing community outreach. Requires a Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing or related field and 2+ years marketing and sales exp. Must be a team player with excellent interpersonal and written/verbal communication skills. Email resume to: avsfjobs0032@eldercarealliance.org

MAINTENANCE ASSISTANT You will be responsible for building maintenance under the supervision of the Maintenance Director. Must have knowledge of mechanical systems, and electrical, plumbing, building and floor maintenance, including janitorial. Email resume to: avsfjobs0030@eldercarealliance.org

Please email your resume to the address listed with the appropriate position. You may also fax it to (415) 337-5114 or mail to D. Chambers, One Thomas More Way, San Francisco, CA 94132. EOE. Elder Care Alliance Communities

DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT Notre Dame High School, a Catholic independent school sponsored by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur and serving 730 young women, is seeking a Director of Development.

The Director of Development will report to the Principal and will provide leadership, direction, oversight, and coordination of annual and capital fund-raising, communications, alumnae affairs, special events, scholarship and endowment, planned giving, and stewardship programs. The Director will manage a staff to accomplish the administrative and financial activities of the Development Office including record keeping, gift tracking, pledge fulfillment, and data analysis.

The successful candidate will have a proven record of accomplishments in development and communications and an appreciation of the mission of Catholic education for young women.

Interested candidates should send a resume and references to: Rita Gleason, Principal Notre Dame High School 1540 Ralston Avenue, Belmont, CA 94002 Email: rgleason@ndhsb.org Website: www.ndhsb.org

20

Catholic San Francisco

March 3, 2006