March 2, 2007 by Catholic San Francisco

Catholic san Francisco

(CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO PHOTO)

Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper

“Book of the Elect” bearers from four dozen parishes display the signatures of catechumens who signed the books during the Feb. 25 Rite of Election Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral, thus affirming their desire to seek baptism, confirmation and first Eucharist during the Easter Vigil Mass at their respective parishes.

Nearly 400 ‘elect’ to move closer to Easter baptism SAN FRANCISO — Nearly 400 persons from throughout the Archdiocese seeking full participation in the Catholic Church’s sacramental life took a key step in that direction at the Feb. 25 Rite of Election at St. Mary’s Cathedral. During a liturgy that was at times festive and at times solemn, 162 adult catechumens seeking baptism, confirmation and first Eucharist at the Easter Sunday Vigil Mass heard Archbishop George Niederauer’s call to follow Jesus’ command to “love one another as I have loved you” and responded “We do” when asked in his formal public request they declare their intentions of seeking the three sacraments of initiation. The liturgy and the catechumens’ affirmations change their status to “the elect,” the next stage of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) process. The aspiration is for the elect to be received into the Church by receiving baptism, confirmation and the Eucharist at the Easter Vigil Mass, April 7, in their respective parishes. During the Easter Vigil Mass adult “candidates” are also often invited at their parishes to make a Profession of Faith and “be received into the full communion of the Catholic Church,” noted Patrick Vallez-Kelly, director of the Archdiocese’s Office of Worship. RITE OF ELECTION, page 7

(PHOTO BY DAVID PAUL MORRIS)

By Dan Morris-Young and Tom Burke

Bishop John C. Wester packs belongings from his office at the archdiocesan pastoral center, readying them for shipment to Salt Lake City, Utah, where on March 14 he will be installed the ninth bishop of that diocese --which encompasses the entire state. A special section commemorating Bishop Wester’s 31 years of priestly ministry in the Archdiocese is contained in this issue of Catholic San Francisco.

INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION News-in-brief . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Kenya dream

Jesus’ tomb claims criticized

~ Page 3 ~

~ Page 6 ~

March 2, 2007

Archbishop Hanna biography lauded

Health care urged. . . . . . . . 8

~ Page 17 ~

Datebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Columnists. . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Classified ads. . . . . . . . 17-19

NEXT ISSUE MARCH 16 SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS

VOLUME 9

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No. 8

Catholic San Francisco

March 2, 2007

On The Where You Live by Tom Burke

Michael and Joey Peterson

Kimberly McGuigan and her 8-year-old son Jeremiah took part in January’s Walk for Life – West Coast. The McGuigan family including Kimberly, Jeremiah, dad, Robert, and children Adrienne, 6, and Laurel, 3, are members of St. Luke Parish in Foster City.

Jackie de Leon and Kathy Taheny

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Pride is afoot at Catholic schools where teachers have been honored and thanked for long service. Students at Notre Dame High School in Belmont have known the teaching skill of Joey Peterson for a quarter century. “Joey has completed 25 years of selfless and dedicated teaching at Notre Dame,” said school prez, Rita Gleason. “She is an outstanding Catholic educator.” Joey’s husband is Michael Peterson, former principal of Junipero Serra High School and now heading up major fundraising at the San Mateo school. …At St. Gabriel’s, 5th grade teacher, Jackie de Leon, marked her 50th year as an educator and kindergarten teacher, Kathy Taheny, 25 years of helpin’ kids learn. “Jackie and Kathy were honored at our Catholic Schools Week Mass followed by a reception sponsored by the St. Gabriel Parent Organization,” Alice Lawrie of the school’s development office said. Also at St. Gabe’s it’s welcome aboard to new youth minister and junior high teacher’s aide, Yasmine Kury. Yasmine is a graduate of St. Stephen Elementary School, Mercy High School, San Francisco and Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont where she was student body president. Her proud folks are Nora Sotelo-Kury, also a Mercy alum, and Felix Salvador Kury, a psychotherapist and lecturer at the University of San Francisco. Yasmine’s sister,

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Nazira, is a member of the faculty in Mercy San Francisco’s Fine Arts Department….Hats off to all who organized and attended the special wedding anniversary Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral last month. Was quite pleased to speak with Eleanor Presley who has enjoyed the Mass for nigh onto five years with her husband Thomas. “We’ve been married for 54 years and members of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish for 52 years,” she told me. Eleanor called the office because she and her husband had missed signing up for the certificate issued to couples who come to the Mass. If you attended the Mass and did not inquire about the certificate, please email info@sfcatholic.org or call (415) 614 – 5663. You will reach Chris Lyford, now an assistant superintendent in the Department of Catholic Schools and former head of the Family Life Office of the Archdiocese. Chris, who helped originate the anniversary Mass, is always willing to lend a hand even outside of his regular stuff. Thanks, Chris!!!… Speakin’ of OLPH, congrats to Ed Mahoney, a 1961 alum and now development director, who has put together a strong list of fellow alums and quite a nice newsletter called The Perpetual Light. If you’re an OLPH grad, former student or friend, go to www.olphdc.org or email Ed at Emah1965@aol.com. Ed’s hard work lets us know also of others who are out there trying to locate past grads and such. If you are inclined to want to touch base again with the schools you’ve attended, take a minute to call there and get on the alumni/ae list. Getting to know people again from my school days has been terrific and I wish you the same experience. Thanks to Ed Mahoney and all who have taken on this tough and honorable task!….Remember this is an empty space without ya’!! The e-mail address for Street is burket@sfarchdiocese.org. Mailed items should be sent to “Street,” One Peter Yorke Way, SF 94109. Pix should be hard copy or electronic jpeg at 300 dpi. Don’t forget to include a follow-up phone number. Call me at (415) 614-5634 and I’ll walk you through it.

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Catholic San Francisco

March 2, 2007

Dream to teach math in African leads to new sums By Evelyn Zappia At the age of 69 Margo McAuliffe boarded a plane at San Francisco Airport for Kenya. The retired math teacher was finally on her way to fulfilling a lifelong dream — “teaching math to high school girls in Africa.” However, shortly after her arrival fate stepped in and changed her dream significantly. In 2004 McAuliffe had shared her desire to teach in Africa with Father Daniel Kiriti, a Kenyan priest who occasionally visited and celebrated Mass for her Palo Altobased prayer group at Thomas Merton Center for Catholic Spiritual Development. The priest encouraged McAuliffe to pursue her dream, and invited her to visit his parish in Kenya. In September 2005, McAuliffe did just that. Recently retired from Menlo-Atherton High School, she traveled to St. Francis Xavier Church in Naivasha, Kenya, a town about 65 miles from Nairobi, Kenya’s capital. Staying at the rectory gave the teacher an eye-opening view of the difficulties Father Kiriti faced managing a parish of more than 10,000 parishioners. She watched as Father Kiriti and his two assistant priests would drive hundreds of miles day after day to 34 parish sites to celebrate Mass, preside at weddings, perform baptisms, and officiate at funerals. To make matters even more complex, the parish school board voted to require that the parish school, Archbishop Ndingi Secondary School, phase-out boy students and build a new school for them. For various reasons, the coed school system was not working well. Members of the school board believed that single-sex education would bring greater success for both the boys and girls. That decision represented a hefty financial burden for the extremely poor parish.

Margo McAuliffe taking a break from teaching summer classes with some of her students.

Cost to build a school for 300 or more students was estimated at $300,000. After much reflection, Father Kiriti overruled the school board. He decided the girl students would be slowly phased out rather than the boys. He was convinced it would be easier to raise money for girls than for the boys. “I think it was pretty canny on his part,” said McAuliffe. “His dream was that the two schools educate the poorest boys and girls, especially the ones from the most remote parts of his very large and diverse parish.” At present, she explained, most young people receive a “meager” eight years in crowded classrooms. Only the “extremely bright and fortunate few” continue to the

government secondary schools, and then only if their families can raise the money. During her two-week stay, McAuliffe visited Archbishop Ndingi Secondary School, and quickly discovered the Kenyan teachers to be “very good educators.” “If I decided to teach,” she said, “I would only be taking a job from a very good Kenyan teacher. The greater need for the students was fundraising.” She told Father Kiriti she would help by seeking financial support in the United States. The first phase of the school project would require $75,000. “I really didn’t know how to raise money,” McAuliffe admits. Eventually she called Father Kiriti and asked if he would come to the U.S. and help.

The Kenyan cleric visited for two weeks in April 2006, delivering fundraising speeches to McAuliffe’s friends at potluck suppers in her home as well as at the Thomas Merton Center where he celebrated Masses. “If it were not for schools sponsored by churches, and the Catholic Church in particular, quality secondary education would be only for the rich in many parts of the world,” McAuliffe said. “For this reason I believe it is vital to support the efforts of priests like Father Kiriti who have the energy, the dream, the infrastructure, and the moxie to put projects like these together and see them succeed.” “Slowly the fund began to grow,” she said. Her friends “were very generous donors,” and she, too, contributed monies from her tutoring of high school students. She returned to Naivasha in June $10,000 short of her goal. However, shortly after arrival, she received the exact amount needed from an anonymous donor. “Although I hadn’t recognized it at first, clearly the Holy Spirit was at work,” she said. During the three-month visit, McAuliffe and teachers planned lessons together, alternated classes, and observed one another’s different teaching techniques. “It was easy to respect the Kenyan teachers as professionals, and love them as friends,” she said. McAuliffe also became involved with another outreach effort backed by Father Kiriti, a support group for young “commercial sex workers.” Called Life Boom, the organization offers training to help its clients find alternative ways to earn a living wage. Typing, cooking, sewing and craft making are some of the skills taught. “Most importantly,” said McAuliffe, “are the building self-esteem classes offered to the women by a psychotherapist. DREAM TO TEACH, page 5

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Catholic San Francisco

NEWS

March 2, 2007

in brief

Denounces ‘designer embryos’

Catholic, Buddhists dialogue

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI denounced the high-tech trend that encourages parents to seek the “perfect child” through genetic selection in a speech Feb. 24 to more than 350 Catholic medical professionals. The pope said so-called “designer embryos” represent one of many contemporary attacks on human life.

WASHINGTON (CNS) — “Abiding in Christ; Taking Refuge in Buddha” was the theme of the first meeting in the second, four-year cycle of dialogue between Catholics and Zen/Chan Buddhists on the West Coast. The meeting was held at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, a 488-acre Buddhist community and monastery near Ukiah, Calif. Zen and Chan are the respective Japanese and Chinese terms for the meditation school of Buddhism. During two days of spiritual exercises and closed-session dialogues, participants discussed the basis of Christian and Buddhist religious commitments. Bishop John Wester of the Archdiocese of San Francisco has been a participant in the dialogues for several years. Unable to attend this year because of events surrounding his being named the new bishop of the Salt Lake City Diocese, he did send personal greetings and support to the session.

John Paul II sainthood promoted KANSAS CITY, Mo. (CNS) — In a pastoral letter that calls pornography a “plague in our society, reaching epidemic proportions,” Bishop Robert W. Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph has pledged diocesan resources to help people overcome pornography addictions and reconcile themselves to God. Bishop Finn issued his pastoral, “Blessed Are the Pure in Heart: A Pastoral Letter on the Dignity of the Human Person and the Dangers of Pornography,” on Feb. 21, Ash Wednesday. The 11,000-word pastoral is being published in English, Spanish and Vietnamese.

ROME (CNS) — The Rome diocesan office charged with promoting the sainthood of Pope John Paul II continues to distribute official prayer cards for the cause and the only authorized relics, an office spokeswoman said. “We receive dozens of requests each day and the distribution continues,” she told Catholic News Service Feb. 26. The relic is a small piece of one of the white cassocks worn by Pope John Paul. The free cards and relics can be requested by letter, fax or e-mail. The e-mail address is: Postulazione.GiovanniPaoloII@VicariatusUrbis.org; the fax number is: (39-06) 6888-6240. The mailing address is: Postulazione Giovanni Paolo II, Vicariato di Roma, Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano 6A, 00184 Rome, Italy.

Pope clears calendar

Abbey defends hens’ treatment

Calls pornography a ‘plague’

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Continuing an 80-year-old papal tradition, Pope Benedict XVI is canceling regular audiences and clearing his calendar to make a weeklong Lenten retreat. The spiritual exercises shut down the normal business of his pontificate. The papal retreat is also attended by the Roman Curia and involves many hours of sermons and meditations.

Five canonizations on calendar VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI will canonize a Brazilian Franciscan during his May trip to Brazil and will declare four other new saints in June. During a prayer service in the Apostolic Palace Feb. 23, the pope set May 11 as the date for the canonization of Blessed Antonio Galvao, an 18th-century Franciscan and founder of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Conception of Divine Providence. The pope will be in Brazil May 9-13 to participate in the Latin American bishops’ fifth general assembly.

FBI to testify at Kenyan inquest NAIROBI, Kenya (CNS) — Three FBI representatives are expected to testify in early March at an inquest into the death of Mill Hill Father John Kaiser, a 67-year-old U.S. missionary who died in Kenya in August 2000. Mbuthi Gathenji, a lawyer representing the Catholic Church and Father Kaiser’s family, said the officials were expected to begin testimony March 5. The witnesses are said to be experts in behavioral analysis, forensics, and counterterrorism. Father Kaiser, who often spoke against abuses under former Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi, was found dead, with bullet wounds to his head, along a highway southwest of Nairobi. The first police officers on the scene thought he had been murdered, but in 2001 the FBI ruled his death a suicide. The Kenyan government agreed. The Kenyan bishops’ conference dismissed the FBI results. They said that, based on ballistics reports, suicide was a physical impossibility.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (CNS) — Mepkin Abbey in Moncks Corner has released a statement saying the Trappist order meets and exceeds guidelines for egg production in the United States. The statement came after People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Feb. 20 accused the order of torturing its laying hens. On its Web site PETA posted a video of the abbey’s farm, taken without the monks’ knowledge, and written accusations of mistreatment. The abbey does not need to defend itself against claims of inhumane treatment of its laying hens, according to Mary Jeffcoat, spokeswoman for the monastery.

Irish alcohol use decried DUBLIN, Ireland (CNS) — Action is needed to stop excessive alcohol consumption in Ireland, said a bishop during the launch of an Irish bishops’ Lenten pastoral letter on alcoholism. “If we look at international research on alcohol consumption, Irish society’s use of alcohol is nothing short of a national tragedy,” said Auxiliary Bishop Eamonn Walsh of Dublin, vice chair of the Irish bishops’ drugs and alcohol initiative.

(CNS PHOTO/TONY GENTILE, REUTERS)

Supports Polish archbishop OXFORD, England (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI expressed support for an archbishop who resigned because of links to communist-era secret police. “I would like, above all, to offer words of encouragement, inviting you to stride forward with confidence and peace in your heart,” Pope Benedict said in a letter to former Warsaw Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus. The pope said in a letter published Feb. 21 he was “fully aware of the exceptional circumstances” in which Archbishop Wielgus had worked “when the Marxist regime used all means to smother the freedom of citizens, and especially priests.”

Polish nuns expelled, laicized OXFORD, England (CNS) — A group of Polish nuns has been expelled from their order and laicized after refusing to accept a new superior. Archbishop Jozef Zycinski of Lublin published the Vatican decree expelling the members of the Sisters of the Family of Bethany, a Polish order, for “open violation of monastic vows.” The president of Poland’s Conference of Female Superiors said Feb. 22 she had requested an explanation for the unprecedented action and was satisfied correct procedures had been followed.

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Coach Marco Antonio Rosales of team Mater Ecclesiae kneels as players celebrate a goal against Pontifical Gregorian University during the first match of the Clericus Cup soccer tournament in Rome Feb. 24. Seminarians from 50 countries studying in Rome were competing in the newly formed tournament.

‘Latin family life eroding’ VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI warned that family in Latin America shows signs of erosion, evidenced by increasing divorce, cohabitation and adultery. He said the Church should help resist legislative lobbies that are advancing an anti-family agenda in the region and undermining the institution of marriage. He made the remarks Feb. 17 to participants at a Vatican meeting of apostolic nuncios stationed in Latin America.

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(PHOTO BY EVELYN ZAPPIA)

March 2, 2007

Employees of the archdiocesan pastoral center gathered around Archbishop George Niederauer, Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius Wang and Bishop-designate of Salt Lake City John Wester on Feb. 23 for a farewell photo for Bishop Wester who has served the Archdiocese as a bishop since September 1998 and as a priest since ordination by Archbishop Joseph McGucken on May 15, 1976. Bishop Wester will be installed as Salt Lake Cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new bishop on March 14.

Dream to teach . . . â&#x2013; Continued from page 3 The classes help them reintegrate into a community that may not be very accepting at first.â&#x20AC;? When McAuliffe arrived home last September, she began fundraising for the second phase of the school building project, again $75,000. She once again asked Father Kiritiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s help. He returned for two weeks in November. This time the pair hit the road. First stop was Ashland, Ore. and then Portland where McAuliffeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s friends invited Father Kiriti to speak in their homes about the project. The priest was also invited to be the homilist for five Masses at St. Cecilia Parish in Beaverton, Ore. The congregation contributed more than $10,000 toward the girlsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; school, raising the total to $30,000 for this round of fundraising. Father Kiriti also spoke at more potlucks at McAuliffeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home, and to the Palo Alto community at the Thomas Merton Center. Today the school building is about 35 percent complete and the fundraising has reached about half its goal, reported McAuliffe. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our need is for $150,000 more. After this goal has been met, we will begin fundraising for a $100,000 scholarship so that the poorest of girls and boys will be served at Archbishop Ndingy Secondary School.â&#x20AC;? Persons wishing to support the school fund may make checks payable to the Thomas Merton Center, which underwrites administrative costs, and mail them to the Center at P.O. Box 60061, Palo Alto, CA 94306. Write â&#x20AC;&#x153;Kiriti Fund, Girls Schoolâ&#x20AC;? on the check. For more information, email margomca2@sbcglobal.net.

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Catholic San Francisco

March 2, 2007

Calls filmmakers’ claim about tomb of Jesus ‘nonsense’ Father Murphy-O’Connor noted that Kloner had written about the findings a decade ago, and though it was all out in JERUSALEM (CNS) — Catholic biblical scholars and an the public domain, nobody had been interested. Israeli archaeologist rejected filmmakers’ claim that a tomb According to press reports, the filmmakers said they had uncovered nearly 30 years ago in Jerusalem is the burial site worked on the project with world-renowned scientists, including of Jesus and his family. DNA specialists, archaeologists and statisticians. They said the Dominican Father Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, a biblical ossuaries were not identified as belonging to Jesus’ family when archaeologist and expert in the New Testament at the French they were first discovered because the archaeologists at the time Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem who was did not have the knowledge and scientific tools that now exist. interviewed for the film two years ago, said he did not believe But Kloner noted that Jesus’ family was from Galilee and there was any truth to the claim. had no ties to Jerusalem, casting serious doubt they would “It is a commercial ploy that all the media is playing into,” have had a burial cave in Jerusalem. He added that the names he told Catholic News Service Feb. 27. on the ossuaries were common during that time and their disAmos Kloner, an Israeli archaeologist who wrote the orig- covery in the same cave is purely coincidental. inal excavation report on the site for the predecessor of the He said the tomb belonged to a middle- or upper-middleIsrael Antiquities Authority, called the claim “nonsense.” class Jewish family during the first century and the cave was “In their movie they are billing it as ‘never in use for 70-100 years by the family. before reported information,’ but it is not new. Other books, films and articles about the I published all the details in the Antiqot jourtomb, including a full-page feature in nal in 1996, and I didn’t say it was the tomb of London’s The Sunday Times, a British Jesus’ family,” said Kloner, now a professor of Broadcasting Corp. documentary film and a archaeology at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University. book called “The Jesus Dynasty” by James “I think it is very unserious work. I do D. Tabor, have been published and produced scholarly work ... based on other studies,” on the topic in the years since the tomb’s he said. discovery. Toronto filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici and At the New York press conference, Oscar-winning Canadian director James Jacobovici said he thought the so-called Cameron announced at a press conference in “James ossuary,” purported by its owner, Oded New York City Feb. 26 that by using new techGolan, to have belonged to James, the brother nology and DNA studies they have determined of Jesus, was also from the tomb, and he cited that among the 10 ossuaries — burial boxes a forensic technique used to determine this. used in biblical times to house the bones of the He did not mention that in 2003 the Prof. Amos Kloner dead — found in the cave by Kloner in 1980 Israel Antiquities Authority declared the are those of Jesus, his brothers, Mary, another Mary whom they inscription on the James ossuary a forgery or that Golan is believe is Mary Magdalene, and “Judah, son of Jesus.” currently on trial for forging part of the inscription. The documentary film by Jacobovici and Cameron is to be Basilian Father Thomas Rosica, a biblical scholar and aired on the Discovery Channel March 4 and in Canada head of Toronto’s Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation, March 6 on Vision TV. A book on the topic, written by said this latest film shows that “self-proclaimed experts” have Jacobovici and Charles Pellegrino and published by learned nothing from the James ossuary incident. HarperCollins, went on sale Feb. 27. “One would think that we learned some powerful lessons Father Murphy-O’Connor said the names found on the from the media hype surrounding the James ossuary several ossuaries “are a combination of very common names.” years ago, and how important public institutions like the “Fifty percent of all Jewish women in the first century ROM (Royal Ontario Museum of Toronto) were duped in were called either Mary or Salome. It doesn’t mean much at their hosting such fraudulent works,” he said. all,” he said. “You can prove anything with statistics.” Father Rosica said: “Why did the so-called archaeologists The DNA tests could “only prove that they are human” but of this latest scoop wait 27 years before doing anything about “certainly did not prove” any familial connection, he said. the discovery? James Cameron is far better off making

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(CNS PHOTO)

By Judith Sudilovsky

An undated file photo released by the Israel Antiquities Authority shows a burial box found during excavations in Jerusalem. A soon-to-be-released Discovery Channel documentary suggests several ancient burial boxes excavated 27 years ago in Jerusalem contained the remains of Jesus and his family. Israeli archaeologist Amos Kloner, who oversaw work at the tomb, has refuted the claims.

movies about the Titanic rather than dabbling in areas of religious history of which he knows nothing.” A spokeswoman for the Israel Antiquities Authority said two of the ossuaries had been loaned to the filmmakers for their press conference as is customary for such requests for exhibiting antiquities as long as certain conditions are met. The loan was made in the name of freedom of expression and creativity, she said, and did not mean the authority supported their claims. She said one of the Mary ossuaries has been on display for many years at Jerusalem’s Israel Museum; the Judah ossuary is on display in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; two ossuaries are currently with the filmmakers; and the other six are in the authority’s warehouse just outside Jerusalem.

Rite of election . . . ■ Continued from cover “Candidates” are individuals who might have been baptized in other Christian denominations, or persons who were baptized as Catholics but never received the other sacraments of initiation – confirmation and Communion. – and are now completing their full entry into the Church, Vallez-Kelly explained. At the Feb. 25 Rite of Election, 214 “candidates” supported by their sponsors were affirmed in a formal “Act of Recognition” in their journey toward full Church participation. Social Service Sister Celeste Arbuckle, director of the archdiocesan Religious Education and Youth Ministry Office, read the ritual presentations of readiness for both the catechumens and candidates, respectively. As prescribed in the rite, Archbishop Niederauer asked catechumens’ godparents and later the candidates’ sponsors to attest to the readiness of their aspiring Catholics. The response, “They have,” was answered in unison. A dramatic part of the rite takes place following affirmation of the catechumens when they are invited to step forward and, accompanied by their godparents, sign a “Book of the Elect” for their parish. The books had been borne into the Cathedral during the entrance procession by individual parish “Book of the Elect” bearers. Following the Easter season, the newly baptized “elect” – then known as neophytes – as well as the candidates who celebrated sacraments of initiation are invited to return to the Cathedral to take part in the Neophyte Mass. The liturgy is scheduled for April 22 at 11 a.m. “This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate fully in the Eucharist with the Archbishop for the first time,” Vallez-Kelly said of the Neophyte Mass. The Archbishop exhorted godparents, sponsors and the faithful attending the liturgy to support the RCIA participants in an active observance of Lent.

“The Church has two purposes in the season of Lent,” Archbishop Niederauer said in his homily. “The first purpose is to prepare the catechumens, the adults who will be baptized, confirmed, and receive first Eucharist at the Easter Vigil Mass, and to prepare the candidates as well, that is, those who have been baptized but now will be fully initiated in confirmation and first Eucharist at the vigil. The second purpose is to prepare all the baptized to be renewed in their faith, hope and love by means of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.” Later, the Archbishop encouraged, “You are here today, as a catechumen or a candidate, because our loving God took the initiative and called you by name, and you responded in faith. The initiative is God’s, but the necessary response is yours. In the rest of our Gospel passage Jesus tells you the response he wants you to make to his love, for the rest of your lives. Jesus tells us disciples: ‘Love one another as I have loved you.’” Deacon Lerny Prudenciado, a member of the pastoral staff and RCIA team at Colma’s Holy Angels Parish, told Catholic San Francisco after the liturgy he has attended the Rite of Election more than 10 times. “This is one of the first times that catechumens and candidates meet the larger Church of the Archdiocese and also get to meet others on the same path to membership and full initiation into the Church,” he said. “It is very moving for them and for me. I’m especially touched when the catechumens move forward to sign the Book of the Elect and the candidates are recognized in the assembly.” Marilyn Perez has been RCIA director at Holy Angels for 26 years and has helped more than 200 people through the program. “The people who enter the program are very special,” she said. “They come unfamiliar with the Church and go through real conversion about their relationship with God and the Church. I learn every year how much God loves everyone. That is why I love doing this. You can really see that God’s love is there.” Rosa Rodriguez, now a member of the elect, will be baptized, confirmed and receive first Eucharist on Holy Saturday night at Holy Angels Church. Her husband, Rogelio,

Catholic San Francisco

is her sponsor. Also in attendance will be their daughter, Valentina, 19 months, her mother, Laurie, and father, Eric, as well as more than a dozen other family members. “I’m proud to be joining them all in the faith,” Rosa, now 26, said with a smile. “This was something I needed to do for myself. My parents gave me the choice and I chose this. I felt there was something missing in my life and discovered that it was faith. I thought the Rite of Election was really neat. It was so nice to see I wasn’t the only one doing his.” Joan Sexton, a volunteer at Mission Dolores, holds the “Book of the Elect” for the San Francisco Parish.

THE SISTERS OF PERPETUAL ADORATION INVITE YOU TO ATTEND THE SOLEMN NOVENA IN HONOR OF

GREAT ST. JOSEPH Conducted by

Fr. Guglielmo Lauriola, O.F.M. Fr. Christopher La Rocca, O.C.D. Fr. John Williamson, O.C.D. March 11th to March 19th, 2007 At 3:00 P.M. Services: Daily Mass –– 7:00 A.M. Holy Rosary –– 2:30 P.M. Benediction –– 3:00 P.M. Novena Mass –– 3:05 P.M. Send petitions to: Monastery of Perpetual Adoration 771 Ashbury Street San Francisco, CA 94117-4013

Godspeed, Bishop Wester. Your Dominican sisters and brothers in Christ congratulate you on your new appointment.

Western Dominican Province

May the wisdom of St. Dominic and the courage of St. Catherine of Siena always light your way. Laudare ~ Benedicere ~ Praedicare

(CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO PHOTO)

March 2, 2007

Catholic San Francisco

March 2, 2007

Washington Letter Budget squeeze leaves poor, uninsured on the outside By Nancy Frazier O’Brien

Federal Budget Proposal President Bush proposed a $2.9 trillion budget for ﬁscal year 2008.

WASHINGTON (CNS) — As Congress begins its deliberations over President George W. Bush’s fiscal year 2008 budget, you might think that decision-making power rests solely with the president who proposed it and the representatives and senators who will approve it. But many of the most critical decisions were made long ago, by members of Congress who could be long dead, according to Eugene Steuerle, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute in Washington and a consultant to the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Domestic Policy.

WHERE THE MONEY COMES FROM...

(in billions)

$609

National Defense

35%

47% Individual Income Taxes

Social Insurance

6% Other

ANALYSIS

609

Social Security

377

Income Security

348

Medicare

12% Corporate Income Taxes

Those earlier legislators made “promises in law that now we can’t fulfill,” Steuerle told Catholic News Service Feb. 21. And for today’s politicians who want to be known for giving their constituents more and keeping taxes low, “it’s very, very hard politically” to make the needed tough decisions, the economist added. More than half of President Bush’s proposed $2.9 trillion budget goes to Social Security (21 percent), Medicare and other health programs (22 percent), and income security programs such as retirement and disability payments to federal employees, unemployment compensation and housing and nutrition assistance programs (10 percent). Established by earlier legislation, most of those expenditures are mandatory. Add the 9 percent of the budget that pays interest on the deficit and the 21 percent allocated to defense, and there’s little left for education, social services, jobs programs, transportation, veterans’ care and other needs. “The squeeze is on now” as mandatory spending increases and discretionary spending drops, Steuerle said. “And in 10 years there’ll be nothing left over” for discre-

WHERE THE MONEY GOES...

Other Health

290 261

Net Interest Transportation

Veterans

Education, Jobs, Social Services Other

87 145

President George W. Bush has proposed a $2.9 trillion budget for fiscal 2008. Much of it is mandated spending.

tionary spending because the mandatory outlays will exceed what the government is projected to take in. “It makes no more sense to commit future economic resources than it would be to decide today where to station troops until the next millennium,” Steuerle testified before the Senate Budget Committee. “Only major systemic reform can restore a normal democratic process,” he added. “Each generation must regain the right to decide spending and tax priorities based on the nation’s current needs, not on past anticipation.” The budget proposal drew strong criticism from the presidents of the Catholic Health Association and Catholic Charities USA. Both mourned what they said were missed opportunities to improve the plight of the poor and the uninsured. “The president’s new budget hurts those living in poverty at a time when we should be doing even more to help the

most vulnerable among us,” wrote Father Larry Snyder, president of Catholic Charities USA. The priest said the “most alarming cuts” would reduce housing assistance to the elderly and disabled, drop approximately 300,000 people in working families with children from the Food Stamp program, cut block grants to states for community services that aid the poor and sharply reduce the amount available to help low-income people pay heating costs. The budget also proposes cutting more than $100 billion from Medicaid, Medicare and other health programs over the next five years. Those cuts “will impact some of the most vulnerable Americans, including seniors, low-income children and the disabled,” Father Snyder said. Sister Carol Keehan, a Daughter of Charity who is CHA president and CEO, said the budget proposals “simply do not rise to the challenge of helping to improve our nation’s health care system.” “It is particularly disappointing the administration did not take advantage of the required reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program this year to propose measures to expand the program to the nearly 9 million children who remain uninsured,” she stated. “Given the focus on SCHIP, as well as the glaring moral failure of allowing any child in our nation to go without access to health care, the Catholic health ministry strongly believes we enjoy a unique opportunity to make coverage for all children a priority and a reality,” she added. Sister Keehan also said proposed cuts to Medicaid and Medicare “would only hinder the ability of hospitals to care for low-income and other vulnerable populations.” “Balancing the budget is a notable and worthwhile goal,” she said. “But as a reflection of our nation’s values and priorities, no budget should be based on sacrifices from those least able to afford them.”

Noting that nearly one in five of the children benefiting from the federally supported State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) lives in California, religious leaders made a public appeal for increased federal funding of health care programs, especially for children, at a Feb. 22 rally staged at the archdiocesan pastoral center. Leading off the meeting, Archbishop George Niederauer underscored the Gospel mandate to serve the sick and the poor, especially the young. In a letter delivered to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s Washington office on Feb. 12, the Archbishop had encouraged Pelosi – a member of the Archdiocese – to support “access to affordable health insurance for every child through proven, successful federal-state partnerships.” According to organizers, nearly $60 billion will be needed over the next five years to sustain the SCHIP, including Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to add 250,000 children to the

California Healthy Families program and 220,000 to Med-Cal. “People will ask where is this money going to come from,” Deacon Nate Bacon said to those gathered at the pastoral center. “When Congress sees something as a priority, they seem to find the money.” An analysis titled “Keeping Children Healthy: What California Has at Stake in SCHIP” was released at the meeting. Copies of it were going to be delivered to Pelosi’s San Francisco and Washington offices, organizers said. Its text can be accessed on the Internet: www.picnonetwork.org. Representatives from the Archdiocese at the meeting also included Father Charles Kullmann, CSP, pastor of Old Cathedral of St. Mary Parish, San Francisco; Msgr. Maurice McCormick, retired; Father Jorge Roman, parochial vicar, St. Peter Parish, San Francisco; Father Thomas Parenti, pastor, St. Brendan Parish, San Francisco; and Sister Sheral Marshall OSF, pastoral associate, St. Robert Parish, San Bruno.

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(PHOTO BY EVELYN ZAPPIA)

Religious leaders issue appeal for increased health care funds

Deacon Nate Bacon of St. Peter Parish, flanked by Archbishop George Niederauer and Rabbi Camille Shira Angel of Congregation Sha’ar Zahov, addresses a Feb. 22 gathering of local religious leaders advocating greater federal funding for children’s health care.

March 2, 2007

Catholic San Francisco

obituary

Longtime Monitor executive dies Feb. 12

St. Patrickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day volunteers sought Catholic Charities CYOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s San Francisco Adult Day Care Center, 50 Broad St., San Francisco, is seeking volunteers to help with food service and recreational activities for a St. Patrickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day celebration on March 16 from 1-2:30 p.m. For information, call Megan Baker at (415) 972-1272.

San Damiano Retreat 2007 THEME:

Embracing Hope

LENTEN DAYS OF RENEWAL

Santa Cruz

2381 LAUREL GLEN ROAD SOQUEL CA 95073 E-mail stclares@sbcglobal.net Web site: www.nonprofitpages.com/stclaresretreat

Reservations for weekends must be made by mail and accompanied by a $10 non-refundable deposit per person.

March 9-11

Silent Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Retreat Fr. Michael Barry, SS.CC.

March 16-18 Silent Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Retreat â&#x20AC;&#x153;Deus Caritas Estâ&#x20AC;? Fr. Allen Ramirez, OFM Conv.

MAR. 9-11

MEN & WOMENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S LENTEN Our Lenten Journey Fr. Rusty Shaughnessy, OFM Rena Grant, MFT

March 23-25

Silent Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Retreat â&#x20AC;&#x153;Deus Caritas Estâ&#x20AC;? Fr. Allen Ramirez, OFM Conv.

March 30

Silent Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Retreat

APRIL 5-8

HOLY WEEK/EASTER Hope In The Mystery Of The Resurrection Fr. Ray Bucher, OFM Fr. Rusty Shaughnessy, OFM Fr. Evan Howard, OFM Rena Grant, MFT

-April 1

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hosannaâ&#x20AC;? Fr. Gerald Barron, OFM Cap

April 6-8

Easter Sunday â&#x20AC;&#x201C; NO RETREAT

April 13-15

Special Group

April 20-22

Special Group

March 29

San Damiano retreat DANVILLE,

ST. CLAREâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S RETREAT

THURSDAY EVENING LENTEN SERIES March 8 March 22 March 15 March 29 Chiaraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lantern

March 13 March 14

William M. McManus, longtime advertising manag- committed to his Catholic faith and to the social teacher of The Monitor, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of ing of the Church.â&#x20AC;? San Francisco until 1984, died Feb. 12. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was a college kid in the 60s, when I A graduate of St. Maryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s College in started working at The Monitor, and I Moraga, he retired in 1982 after 35 remember Bill and others on the staff years on The Monitor staff. Mr. being very involved with civil rights, the McManus would have been 90 years old farm labor movement, and the anti-war April 25. movement,â&#x20AC;? Ward said. Roberta Ward, executive editor of The â&#x20AC;&#x153;More than anything, I remember Billâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Valley Catholic, newspaper of the Diocese devotion to his family and the hospitality he of San Jose, was on the staff of The and Marion extended to everyone they knew.â&#x20AC;? Monitor, and had known Bill for nearly 20 Mr. McManus is survived by his wife, years. Marion, whom he often called â&#x20AC;&#x153;the best â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bill was one of the kindest people I thing that ever happened to me,â&#x20AC;? as well as have ever known,â&#x20AC;? Ward said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And he their children, sons and daughters-in-law was fun, too. He always had a joke and he and 19 grandchildren. was a great kidder. A funeral Mass was celebrated Feb. 26 William M. McManus at St. Anne of the Sunset Church in San â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think he would have made a terrific professor. He was very well read and was interested Francisco. Remembrances may be made to the St. Anne in an array of topics. Most especially, he was deeply Remembrance Tree, 850 Judah St., San Francisco, 94122.

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2007 Archdiocesan Choral Festival Sacred music performed by choir members from throughout the Archdiocese of San Francisco Saint Cecilia Church, San Francisco from J.S. Bach, Hector Berlioz, G.P. da Palestrina, Flor Peeters, John Rutter, Bernadette Farrell, Christopher Walker and others

This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s featured director: Mr. Simon Berry Director of Music and Liturgy Saint Dominic Church, SF

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Open admission. A free-will offering will be taken.

Join Mercy Center, with guest presenter Bishop John Wester to celebrate our many years of ministry. CONTEMPLATIVE RETREAT â&#x20AC;&#x153;And the seed fell on good ground.â&#x20AC;? Matt 13:8 June 7 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 10, 2007; $325 / $285 Commuter

Gather in song, silence, worship, prayer and sharing. Come and harvest the gratitude of these fruitful years. Space is limited. To register, please call 650-340-7454 or go to our website at www.mercy-center.org .FSDZ $FOUFS "EFMJOF %SJWF t #VSMJOHBNF $" t t XXX NFSDZ DFOUFS PSH

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Sunday, March 11, 2007, 4:00 pm. Music of Feasts and Seasons

RETREATS & EVENTS DIRECTORY

A day retreat for men and women. Is it OK to be single in our couple-oriented society? Is there value in solitude when everyone else seems to want to be part of a group? Come and reflect on the opportunities and challenges of being alone what ever your age or position in life. Carol Kaplan, MFCC is a popular and frequent retreat director at Vallombrosa Retreat Center.

MARCH 17, 2007 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Savor the Celtic Wayâ&#x20AC;? Led by Suzanne Young 9:30 am â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 3:30 pm; $40 Celtic Spirituality is full of rich themes and insights. In the past, we focused on topics such as all the world is holy and full of spirit, everyday is sacred and a blessing, silence and solitude lead to fruitful action, and soul friendships are golden treasures. Today we will enjoy more contemplative practice, inviting the infusion of Goldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s presence into our awareness through song, meditation and expression.

MARCH 18, 2007 The Meaning of Love Led by Father Patrick Collins 2:00 pm â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 4:00 pm; $25

Serra for Priestly Vocations

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Meaning of Loveâ&#x20AC;? a Sunday afternoon concert. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Meaning of Loveâ&#x20AC;? is based on a M. Scott Peckâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s The Road Less Traveled. Father Collins quotes briefly from Peckâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s text and then sings songs which reflect the feelings of Peckâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s message. The music is drawn from the Broadway, sacred and operatic repetoires. This program explores the meaning of interpersonal intimacy which opens us toward the intimacy of Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s loving us â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a grace present in all human loving.

Please Call Archdiocese of San Francisco Fr. Tom Daly 415-614-5683

APRIL 14, 2007 â&#x20AC;&#x153;LAUGHTER: Led by Carol Kaplan An Inexpensive Cure for What Ails Youâ&#x20AC;? 9:30 am â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 3:30 pm; $40

APRIL 13-15, 2007 â&#x20AC;&#x153;His Mercy Endures Foreverâ&#x20AC;? Led by Father Kevin Kennedy 9:30 am â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 3:30 pm; $40 Thomas faced his struggles to believe with radical honesty by bringing those doubts into his encounter with the Risen Jesus. The result was a renewal of faith and of trust in the Lordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s merciful love. What struggles impact our encounter with the Risen Lord? Can we, like Thomas, risk being honest enough to receive the Easter gift of peace. This weekend retreat will be led by Father Kevin Kennedy, a priet of the Archdiocese of San Francisco who currently serves as hospital chaplain for Kaiser and Sequoia Hospitals in Redwood City.

This is your one and only life. Are you enjoying it? Joy is not an â&#x20AC;&#x153;option.â&#x20AC;? It is a proven cure for better physical, psychological, and spiritual health. Come for the day and have some fun. Wear casual clothes. Carol Kaplan is a marriage and family counselor with a private practice in Monterey, California. She is a well loved retreat director.

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Catholic San Francisco

March 2, 2007 PAID ADVERTISEMENT

At Age 74, Missionary Sister Still Fights Tirelessly to Help the Poor One night, during a torrential storm, Sr. Joan Clare and the other sisters of the Missionaries of the Poor Sisters were praying for guidance from God when there was a knock at the door. As the door opened with a rush of wind and rain, a painfully thin woman stepped into the house. She was carrying a cardboard box. “As we crowded in around her to see what she had, we were surprised to find a baby inside. It was a newborn, laying on pieces of shredded newspaper, and you could see that he was severely handicapped,” Sr. Clare said. “The woman knew that we ran an orphanage. She knew that we represented the baby’s only chance for survival.” Sister Clare and the Missionaries of the Poor welcomed the baby as they had taken in so many other needy infants before. They never questioned that God would meet the needs of this child in some way. “One of the sisters suggested that we call him Moses because he had come to us like the baby Moses in the basket,” Sr. Clare continued. Although the group of nuns realized Moses had medical needs beyond their resources, they felt compelled to take this first step. By accepting the child, they hoped to keep alive the hope of his eventual rescue. “We kept Moses as long as we could, praying for God’s help, but knowing that we would eventually need to turn him over to someone else. Then, a miracle happened. A family in the United States came forward with a willingness to adopt the baby. Doors also opened for him to get the medical attention he needed. Now, that baby has a future. He’s now in the U.S. where he can get the care he needs,” Sr. Clare said with a smile. “God’s hand was in it all.”

In other cases, the Missionaries of the Poor have themselves become the family for abandoned children in need. “I think of Julie, who is now three. She’s a joy to all of us — always singing and dancing. But her life began quite differently. She was lost and alone, with no one to care for her properly. She was malnourished and fearful when we found her and brought her in,” Sister Clare explained. “It’s a wonderful thing to see a child grow and bloom as they find peace and security in life. A loving home is the greatest gift you can give these little ones. It is the foundation they need to build a happy life.” Inspired by Sr. Clare and her ministry in the Philippines, Cross International Catholic Outreach is supporting her important work among the poor. “Sr. Clare and the Missionaries of the Poor Sisters are doing amazing things with very few resources. Life is a real struggle for them, but they never complain or give up the fight. They represent everything that is best and most inspiring in the Catholic Church. We count it a privilege to be a partner with them in that holy work,” said Jim Cavnar, president of Cross International Catholic Outreach. Cavnar is calling on other Catholics in America to join the partnership and support the work being done by priests, nuns and pastors in Developing Countries. “The Church is poised to have a major impact among the poor, but they lack the resources. That’s where we American Catholics can make such an important difference,” he said. “For example, the sisters are there to serve, but they need the food, clothing and other resources only we can provide. And it only takes the gift of a few dollars to supply those things.”

In addition to her two homes for abandoned children with disabilities, Sr. Joan Clare, 74, also has outreaches to several of the poorest communities in the Philippines. Cavnar also pointed out that future lives may depend on how Americans respond. “Do we really want to put the Missionaries of the Poor Sisters in the position that they must turn a child away for lack of resources? Certainly not! We value life as a gift of God. We would never willingly let a child be lost,” he said. “Just like that stormy night when a knock came to the door of the orphanage,

this call is a knock at the door to our hearts. Will we open the door and respond as those nuns did? I am confident that if we do, God will be glorified and we can save more children in need.” To support Cross International Catholic Outreach and it’s outreach programs for the poor, send your taxdeductible gift to: Cross International Catholic Outreach, Dept. AC00385, PO Box 63, Akron, OH 44309-0063

Catholic Leaders Help Build Strong Foundation for Cross With the recent addition of His Eminence William Cardinal Keeler as its Patron, Cross International Catholic Outreach continues to build on a strong foundation of Catholic leadership and support. The impressive group of Catholic bishops already on the organization’s board includes its Chairman, Most Reverend Sam Jacobs, Bishop of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodauex, and directors Most Rev. Michael Cote, Most Rev. Carlos Sevilla and Most Rev. Edward Slattery. “Cross International Catholic Outreach is an official Catholic organization, listed in the national Catholic directory, and our mission has always been tied to the work of the Catholic Church overseas,” explained Jim Cavnar, president of Cross. “Our goal is to make American Catholics aware of the work being done by the dedicated priests, nuns and other Catholic leaders serving overseas. The Catholic Church is accomplishing amazing things in serving the poor. More people should be aware of it — and support the work if they can.”

His Eminence William Cardinal Keeler at a recent meeting with Pope Benedict XVI. In Cavnar’s view, Cardinal Keeler, the Bishops serving on the board for Cross and the thousands of U.S. Catholics who support the ministry as benefactors are all part of one unified mission.

“Christ called us to love one another, and all of us are simply trying to respond to that command in a meaningful and tangible way,” Cavnar explained. “We are people

bound together by a shared mission, and God has blessed us. As Christ calls others to take part, we will continue to grow — expanding the outreach by feeding more who are hungry, providing shelter to those who need it, delivering medicines to comfort the sick and sharing the Gospel with those who are lost.” This commitment to the poor has also helped forge an official collaboration between Cross International Catholic Outreach and the Holy Father’s own international relief organization, the Pontifical Council Cor Unum. This unique collaboration has already been a blessing for the poor following several disasters, including the tsunami in south-east Asia, floods in Haiti, drought in Africa and programs serving refugees in Rwanda. “Ultimately, the success of Cross depends on the prayers and support of American Catholics — their generosity and faithfulness have made all of this possible,” Cavnar said. “We are deeply grateful for their support.”

March 2, 2007

Catholic San Francisco

PAID ADVERTISEMENT

U.S. Catholics “Key” to Positive Changes in Haiti After visiting the desperately poor in a village in Haiti’s Central Plateau region, Msgr. Michael Flanagan has dedicated himself to rallying support in America for their urgent needs. Msgr. Flanagan believes that he and other Americans can play a key role in the recovery of destitute villages of Haiti. He urges U.S. Catholics to seize this opportunity to help the poor overseas. “In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus gave us a preview of the final judgment, and the power of those words burned in my soul as I walked through the village,” Msgr. Flanagan said. “When Jesus related the last judgment of mankind, He made the shocking revelation — that help given to the poor would equate to help given to Him, and that those who ignored the poor would be judged as if they had ignored Christ Himself. The connection to Haiti is both obvious and challenging. That destitute village is a place where Christ abides today.

He is there among the poor, calling for our help.” Flanagan also encourages Catholics to see the Judgment story in Matthew as a blessing rather than as a source of anxiety or fear.

“Who among us wouldn’t be joyful to serve our Lord if He were to appear here among us now? We shouldn’t see our actions in Haiti as simply feeding a child or building a home for a poor family. We should see our outreach as

a loving response to Jesus himself. That’s what’s so amazing about our Lord’s revelation in Matthew 25. He is showing us a tangible way to demonstrate our love for Him here and now — in our modern world,” Flanagan said. “What could be more inspiring than that?” Flanagan also pointed to other key verses in scripture that magnify the importance of the poor in God’s plan for blessing His people. “Isaiah 58:5-11 is another powerful passage. It explains that we are most pleasing to God when we help the needy and bring relief to the poor,” he said. “Ultimately, a generous response from American Catholics to the needs in Haiti could have a tremendous impact,” he added. “If we rise to this occasion, we can create sweeping positive changes in Haiti. The sick can be healed, the hungry fed — lives literally can be saved,” Msg. Flanagan said.

American Catholics Asked to Help End Senseless Deaths of Children Affected by Contaminated Water Poverty kills. Just ask Jocelyn Joachins. One moment, her daughter Natacha was like any other baby — giggling and playful and a symbol of hope. The next, she was gone — the victim of a contaminated water supply. It was a painful death for the baby and an excruciating loss for Jocelyn. “Unfortunately, I have seen this happen too often. In fact, the same month we lost Natacha, two other children died for the same reason. Jocelyn is poor and she scavenges for food and water like many families in Haiti’s central plateau. Clean water has become very scarce and many families have been forced to use sources that are risky,” explained a church leader working in the area. “No child should die that way. No mother should suffer like that. But it happens and it will keep happening until we can do something about it.” Catholic missionaries in developing countries know that many American Catholics may find it difficult to relate to this kind of problem. Virtually every American has safe water to drink and has immediate access to that water from a faucet in their home. In Haiti, women often walk for hours over rough dirt roads to draw water from a well, crude standpipe or riverbank. Many leave their homes at 4:00 in the morning, walking in the dark in order to save precious daylight hours for other work that needs to be done. It’s common to see as many as 40 or 50 people clustered around a water source with plastic buckets. Water at a well or riverbank is rarely crystal clear or good to the taste, but it’s eagerly collected because it is the only option these families have. And when a water supply becomes contaminated, the villagers may not realize it for days — usually, only after children have already died and others are fatally ill.

“We Americans are so far removed from that kind of poverty that we can’t fully appreciate the urgency of their problem...” James Cavnar, President of “Cross” Children, weak from cramping and dysentery, are a pitiful sight as they hang limply in the arms of their worried mothers. Life in Haiti is already hard. This added attack is often more than a child can take, and many never recover. “We Americans are so far removed from that kind of poverty that we can’t fully appreciate the urgency of their problem,” admitted Jim Cavnar, president of Cross International Catholic Outreach, a U.S.-based ministry working with missionaries to provide water to Haiti’s poor. “This is a life or death issue. If we don’t solve the problem, more children will die in the months ahead.” Cavnar added that Haiti’s water problems are not technically difficult to solve. In fact, the solution usually involves capping a spring or digging a well, both of which can be done with equipment already available in the country. The only issue is cost — the poor villages cannot afford the $250 to $3,000 it takes to finish the project. “In some cases, the problem can be something as simple as a broken pump. The part might be $250 or less. But these people are unable to pay even that. These are poor families who may only make $100 in an entire year, and they need that for food,” Cavnar said. “The positive side is that we can solve the problem if we have financial support from Catholics and

their parishes in the U.S. If American Catholics are willing to contribute to this effort, we can provide safe drinking water to villages in Haiti and save the lives of these children.” Cavnar, a devout Roman Catholic himself, is confident that fellow Catholics will eagerly rally to solve this problem. “Our faith is a universal faith — a worldwide faith. We see fellow Catholics as brothers and sisters, and we understand that God wants us to care for those in our family who have

needs,” he said. “When we rally together to solve a problem like this one, it honors God, and magnifies the power of our faith for the whole world to see.” Individuals and parishes interested in participating in Cross International Catholic Outreach’s efforts to help the poor can make a tax-deductible contribution to the ministry using the brochure found in this issue of the newspaper (see below details).

How to Help: Your help is needed for Cross International Catholic Outreach to bring Christ’s mercy to the poorest of the poor. Use the enclosed postage-paid brochure to mail your gift or send it to Cross International Catholic Outreach, Dept. AC00385, 490 White Pond Drive, PO Box 63, Akron, OH 44309-0063.

Catholic San Francisco

March 2, 2007

Other side of coin

Catholic san Francisco

(PHOTO BYDAVID PAUL MORRIS)

Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper

Enjoying a light moment while vesting for the 12: 10 p.m., Feb. 21 Ash Wednesday liturgy at St. Mary’s Cathedral, from left: Father John Talesfore, Cathedral rector; Bishop Wester; Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius Wang; and Archbishop George Niederauer.

Au revoir, Bishop Wester As Bishop John C. Wester leaves the Archdiocese of San Francisco to become the bishop of the Salt Lake City Diocese, perhaps Canossian Sister Maria Hsu – director of the Archdiocese’s Ethnic Ministries — synthesized as well as anyone the simultaneous sense of loss and joy experienced by the vast number of us touched by this man during his 31 years as a priest here. She emphasized not a farewell, but an au revoir – until we meet again. It is almost impossible to say “goodbye” to a person who has had this much impact on a community and on so many individuals. The influence will remain. And while his departure leaves a sting of sorrow, there is at the same time a subtext of pride and confidence – pride that one of our own has been selected to take up the incredibly challenging task of shepherding an entire diocese, and confidence he will do it well. Very well. Bishop John Wester seems to exude an innate quality of character nurtured by family, formed by education and training, and hewn by self-discipline and ministry. Without exception, he is described as a priest of humility, humor and holiness. Each of the archbishops he has served describes him in parallel ways – “blessed with many graces,” a man of “deep faith, loving heart, strong witness,” a priest “tireless in devotion, unfailingly kind.” As those who know him say, he has a remarkable ability to make others feel at home while at the same time making clear the duty to serve the Gospel directives of love and service. This could well be part of the reason he earned the honor of being nicknamed “Big John” by some of the inmates of San Quentin. Barbara Stinson Lee, editor of the Catholic newspaper of the Salt Lake City Diocese, laughingly said she was grateful she was not asked to find anything negative about Bishop Wester. About the only fault to which anyone hinted, she said, was concern about the Bishop’s inability to make a day-off stick. A brother cleric under duress, a parishioner in need, a function needing Episcopal or priestly presence – any of these and more could make a day of rest evaporate. The many who are quoted in this week’s special pages dedicated to Bishop Wester are correct. The Diocese of Salt Lake City is, indeed, blessed to be receiving this man as its ninth bishop.

I read Mr. Peter Mandell’s Feb. 16 letter, “Pelosi on target,” as another essay on moral relativism (morality of convenience), overlooking the other side of the coin. 1) War: The Bosnian war (Clinton) was also a war, and it wasn’t authorized. Where was the liberal outrage then? The politically correct mantra against the war in Iraq is not about the war (approved in Congress by the same liberals who now criticize it), nor Iraq. It has been for years about getting rid of Bush, so obviously that the view in Europe is that we will gladly accept defeat now, rather than sharing victory with him. Obfuscating hatred is the price of awry politics. 2: Father Drinan: The hero (?) of the Vietnam war embraced the abortion license, against the teachings of the Church, and pushed the Democratic party to run with it. Is Mr. Weigel wrong to call the difference? 3: Pelosi: Can we be so righteous about the Iraq war and ignore “Thou shall not kill the unborn”? And, is this not the liberal (Pelosi’s) position on both counts? 4: Then Mr. Mandell writes: “I question any Catholic who… sees fit to judge other Catholics. What an ego!” Nicely disguised throw of a nasty “curve” in the best Babe Ruth fashion! Subtle dichotomy in Mr. Mandell’s writing could be interpreted as, “You cannot judge Catholics, Mr. Weigel, but we can judge you, because we are liberals, and you are not!” Almost a strike! 5: Choice between Pelosi and Weigel? No contest. Fernando Lavin Daly City

One hand clapping? Mr. Peter Mandell writes in his Feb. 16 letter to Catholic San Francisco that he applauds Nancy Pelosi’s clear Catholic beliefs in regard to the injustice of the Iraq war. Does he also applaud her for her clear, un-Catholic belief as a pro-abortion stand? Joan Sullivan Novato

Write on I would like to comment that my two all-time favorite Catholic San Francisco writers are Father Ron Rolheiser and long-gone Vivian Dudro. Vivian’s encouraging words and stories often got me through some rough weeks when my children were very small. I look forward to Father Ron’s column and have often saved some of his articles for my journal that I’ve kept off and on for the past 20 years. Keep writing, Father Ron, just the way you are! Anne Martin Novato

Artist Kong Pak Yu’s original work presented to Archbishop George Niederauer takes as its theme the tenacity of the pine tree even in severe circumstances.

Nice photos, but…

L E T T E R S

I just have a comment on the article “Chinese Community bids ‘au revoir’ and welcome” (Feb. 23, page 5). No doubt you will receive other comments (or corrections) like this. First, I did like the article and the photos accompanying it. However, it has been three or four years at least, since the Asian Art Museum has been located in Golden Gate Park. It was demolished quite a few years ago to make way for the new, enlarged deYoung Museum. The Asian Art Museum took over the old main library building in Civic Center. Hopefully, this is where artist Kong Pak Yu’s works are displayed. I enjoy Catholic San Francisco and look forward to its delivery on Fridays, even though I might not read it for weeks afterward. (But I do eventually read it.) Theresa O’Connell San Francisco Ed. Note: Works of wellknown artist Kong Pak Yu have, indeed, been on display at the Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin St., San Francisco, near City Hall. None are currently on exhibit, according to the currator, although they are part of the museum’s collection.

Fidelity and truth Letters welcome Catholic San Francisco welcomes letters from its readers. Please:

➣ Include your name, address and daytime phone number. ➣ Sign your letter. ➣ Limit submissions to 250 words. ➣ Note that the newspaper reserves the right to edit for clarity and length. Send your letters to: Catholic San Francisco One Peter Yorke Way San Francisco, CA 94109 Fax: (415) 614-5641 E-mail: morrisyoungd@sfarchdiocese.org

Many thanks regarding the commentary entitled “Why Do We Believe The Earth is Round?” in the issue dated Feb. 9 by Father Bill Nicholas. It is gratifying to note that in these days of skepticism and change fueled by monetary rewards and political supremacy, an article like this was written by someone whose only motivation is to emphasize the importance of and fidelity to the truth under all circumstances; truth, the only guiding light to keep us from “falling off any horizon” so to speak, or getting trapped in unresolved quandaries or quagmires, spiritual or otherwise. This article also works in our daily lives by intertwining the ultimate works of God with the scientifically proven facts that exist around us, that there is no conflict between our religious beliefs and science. Thank you. Manriqueta Ver Menlo Park

March 2, 2007

Catholic San Francisco

Spirituality for Life

Crucifixion and moral wisdom connected There are different ways of being intelligent, of being awake. Not everyone is bright in the same way. Some people are gifted mathematically and philosophically. That’s the intelligence of an Albert Einstein, an Alfred North Whitehead, a Bill Gates. Others are gifted with emotional intelligence. You see this, for instance, in the great novelists, the Iris Murdochs, the Anne Byatts, the John Steinbecks, and the Alice Munroes, who possess an emotional grasp of things that the greatest psychologists in the world can only envy. Then there is something that might be called practical intelligence. I saw this in some of my high school friends, young men who couldn’t pass enough courses to graduate, but who are wonderfully gifted with life-skills and are the ones the rest of us lean on whenever we need to sort out our plumbing, our automobile woes, our leaking roofs, and the thousand other things that mathematics, philosophy, and literature don’t equip us to handle. There is, too, a certain aesthetic intelligence, that

unique brightness of the artist which sometimes combines with the emotional or even the mathematical (especially in the case of music) but is often an intelligence all to itself. Finally, there is still another kind of intelligence, moral intelligence. What is this? Sometimes we call it depth or wisdom or character. Whatever its name, moral intelligence is a sensitivity to the deeper contours within life. It is a certain grasp of those things which hold life together at its root and which must be respected so that life doesn’t go sour, unravel, disintegrate, and turn against us. Moral intelligence intuits the imperatives innate within the DNA of life itself. It grasps the things we have do, and not just the things we like to do. It lays bare the hard-wiring inside the mystery of life and love. Where does it come from? Like other forms of intelligence, it is perhaps mainly a natural endowment, a temperament, a grace given by God as a gift to the world. But, I suspect, in most cases it is also the product of something else, namely, a certain kind of suffering and humiliation.

What do I mean by that? If we look at our lives and ask ourselves: What has made us deep? What has helped us to understand the deeper things in life? If we are honest, we will Father have to admit that what Ron Rolheiser made us deep were not our successes or achievements. These brought us glory, but not depth or character. What brought us depth and character are the very things we are often ashamed to talk about, namely, our inferiorities - getting picked last on the school team, being bullied on the playground, some physical inadequacy, our ROLHEISER, page 16

Lenten Spirituality

Watering the garden of our souls At certain points in our lives, God leads us into new ways of praying. Perhaps we feel a hunger to spend more time meditating on the mysteries of the rosary than praying the Hail Mary. We may discover the only prayer we know is “Give me!” and decide to dig deeper into reading the Gospels. Our time of eucharistic adoration, formerly filled with litanies, becomes mostly a time of loving God in silence. The Spanish mystic St. Teresa of Avila often regretted not making more of a commitment to prayer earlier in her life. Once she gave her entire self to finding God in prayer, however, Teresa grew by leaps and bounds. As a 16th-century woman, she could not enter a college school of theology, but she read everything she could get her hands on about prayer. Teresa consulted many spiritual directors and “learned men” (as she called them). Most of all, she prayed. She put her mind and heart into the search to be completely one with “Her Majesty” (one of her names for God). Teresa’s insights about the spiritual life have helped Christians for centuries, and showed such wisdom that in 1970 she was the first woman to be given the title “Doctor of the Church.” Teresa often found it difficult to find the right words to explain what she knew to be true about prayer. Because of this, she often used simple comparisons. Teresa sometimes commented that her own analogies made her smile because of their inability to fully communicate the ideas—but she hoped her readers would understand. One of her famous analogies is found in her spiritual autobiography, in which she compares four ways of watering a garden to four phases of one’s prayer life. Teresa

compares the soul of a person who is ready to get serious about praying to a garden bed that has been stripped of its weeds by God, who then plants good seeds (of virtue). The soul is ready to begin prayer “for real.” The garden (the soul) must be watered with prayer. For beginners, the effort demanded is like that of one who lowers a bucket into a deep well, draws it out with a rope, and carries it to pour on the garden. Faithful prayer takes effort, determination and perseverance. In time, prayer eventually becomes a little bit easier. It is like using a “water wheel” tool of Teresa’s time to crank the water by hand, drawing it from an aqueduct system. The gardener, that is, the person who prays, gradually finds prayer a more peaceful activity. Teresa speaks here of the “prayer of quiet.” A third type of prayer is like a garden that is watered by an irrigation system or a stream channeled off a river. One opens a gate, and the water floods the garden of the soul with very little effort. Because of the flooding, the water soaks deeper and remains longer. The flowers, Teresa says, are blossoming. Finally, Teresa speaks of a fourth type of “water,” the rain that falls from heaven upon the garden of the soul. The person may experience a deep union with God at special times of the Lord’s choosing. One can prepare the garden for this great gift, but one does not make it rain. Only God can do that. Lent is the perfect time to discover new ways to feed and water the garden of our souls. We can learn more about prayer by reading classics such as St. Teresa’s “The Interior Castle,” St.

Francis de Sales’ “Introduction to the Devout Life,” or Brother Lawrence’s “The Practice of the Presence of God.” A practical, userfriendly new book called “50 Ways to Pray” (Abingdon Press, 2006) Julie McCarty is a great way to learn about a wide range of ways to pray. The author, Teresa A. Blythe, gives straightforward explanations of traditional Christian prayer forms such as lectio divina (sacred reading), the Jesus Prayer, praying with icons, Ignatian prayer methods, and others. Newer prayer methods are also offered, such as doing lectio with a musical piece or reflecting on images of God found in the media. For a truly blessed Lent this year, allow your heart to open to God in prayer. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal ways of praying that draw you closer to the Divine One who loves you immensely, thereby also leading you into deeper love of others and all of God’s creation. For love—genuine Christ-like love—is the real goal of prayer. Julie McCarty is a freelance writer and author of “The Pearl of Great Price: Gospel Wisdom for Christian Marriage” (Liturgical Press, forthcoming July, 2007).

The Catholic Difference Before the gossamer threads of mythology being woven around the memory of the late Father Robert Drinan, SJ, harden into what some might take for facts, a visit to the historical record is imperative. (1) In a memorial essay in the Washington Post, Colman McCarthy asserted that Father Drinan’s presence in the House of Representatives “had been sanctioned by...the U.S. episcopate, the cardinal of Boston, [and] his own Jesuit superiors...” That is false. An exhaustive study by historian James Hitchcock, “The Strange Political Career of Father Drinan,” was published in 1996 in Catholic World Report. Using documents from the archives of the New England Province of the Society of Jesus, Hitchcock demonstrated that the Father General of the Society, Pedro Arrupe, expressed serious concerns about Father Drinan’s political career numerous times. On several other occasions, Father Arrupe tried to communicate, through the New England Province leadership, his desire that Father Drinan leave electoral political life. The superior general eventually withdrew his objections, but as Hitchcock writes, this “occurred [in 1976] only after Father Drinan had several times run for Congress in defiance of the General’s express command.” In 1972, Cardinal John Krol, president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, stated that Father Drinan’s presence in Congress was contrary to the policy and wishes of the U.S. bishops. That same year, Bishop Bernard Flanagan of Worcester informed Father Arrupe that both he and Archbishop Humberto Medeiros of Boston disapproved of Father Drinan serving in Congress. Father Arrupe reported this to Father Drinan in a letter, reiterat-

ing his command that Father Drinan cease and desist. Father Drinan apparently did not reply. A reasonable reading of Hitchcock’s article suggests Father Drinan defied or ignored his Jesuit superiors in Rome on a dozen occasions; he seems to have done the same with the relevant U.S. bishops at least four times. (2) The Post’s McCarthy, like others, suggested that Pope John Paul II ordered Father Drinan to leave Congress because of pressure from “rankled American conservative Catholics.” That is also false. John Paul’s proscription on priests in elective politics, which was universal in scope, involved the theology of the priesthood. How, the pope asked, could a priest live out his sacramental ordination as an embodiment of the Church’s unity if he engaged in partisan politics? This was a problem in Latin America, where priests were engaged in sometimeslethal partisanship. It was also a problem in the (somewhat) more genteel halls of Congress. Hitchcock’s article also offers a depressing reminder that Father Drinan’s New England Jesuit supporters insisted to Father Arrupe that there was no layman qualified to take his seat in Congress – a breathtaking example of clericalism, and another falsehood to boot. (3) Questions about the secular canonization of Robert Drinan as a forceful champion of human rights are also in order. The abortion license is the gravest (and certainly most lethal) violation of human rights in America today. Father Drinan was a consistent pro-abortion vote in Congress; in 1980, a National Abortion Rights Action League fundraising letter argued that Father Drinan’s re-election was essential. After becoming president of Americans for Democratic Action [ADA] in his postcongressional life, Father Drinan dispatched an ADA fundrais-

ing letter urging the election of pro-abortion members of Congress on moral (sic) grounds. In 1996, Father Drinan penned a New York Times op-ed attacking the partial-birth abortion ban, misrepresentGeorge Weigel ing the facts about the medical “necessity” of this gruesome procedure, and thanking President Clinton for vetoing the bill. How any of this comports with a devotion to “human rights” is unclear. On the great human rights and civil rights issue of American domestic politics these past three decades, Father Drinan was on the wrong side: consistently, persistently, and with no public evidence of regret. In the 1980s, the New England province Jesuit leadership claimed Father Drinan’s was a uniquely moral voice in American politics. That was untrue then; recent, similar claims about Father Drinan’s legacy are also untrue. There is no pleasure to be had in writing these things. The case is, however, an important cautionary tale about the corruptions of judgment that ensue when truths are fudged in service to political power, and when that power is thought to be of greater consequence than the truth. George Weigel is a senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

JOHN EARLE PHOTO

Demythologizing Father Drinan

Catholic San Francisco

March 2, 2007

SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18; Psalm 27:1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14; Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 9:28b-36 A READING FROM THE BOOK OF GENESIS (GN 15:5-12,17-18) The Lord God took Abram outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can. Just so … shall your descendants be.” Abram put his faith in the Lord, who credited it to him as an act of righteousness. He then said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as a possession.” “O Lord God,” he asked, “how am I to know that I shall possess it?” He answered him, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat, a threeyear-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” Abram brought him all these, split them in two, and placed each half opposite the other; but the birds he did not cut up. Birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses, but Abram stayed with them. As the sun was about to set, a trance fell upon Abram, and a deep, terrifying darkness enveloped him. When the sun had set and it was dark, there appeared a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch, which passed between those pieces. It was on that occasion that the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River, the Euphrates.” RESPONSORIAL PSALM (PS 27:1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14) R. The Lord is my light and my salvation. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The Lord is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be afraid? R. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Hear, O Lord, the sound of my call; have pity on me, and answer me. Of you my heart speaks; you my glance seeks. R. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Your presence, O Lord, I seek. Hide not your face from me; do not in anger repel your servant. You are my helper: cast me not off.

R. The Lord is my light and my salvation. I believe that I shall see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord with courage; be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord. R. The Lord is my light and my salvation. A READING FROM THE LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE PHILIPPIANS (PHIL 3:17-4:1) Brothers and sisters: Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body by the power that enables him also to bring all things into subjection to himself. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord. A READING FROM THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE (LK 9:28B-36) Jesus took Peter, John and James and went up the mountain to pray. While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” But he did not know what he was saying. While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my chosen Son; listen to him.” After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They fell silent and did not at that time tell anyone what they had seen.

Scripture Reflection FATHER EDWARD J. KELLY, CSSP

Extraordinary in the ordinary Today’s Gospel (March 4) tells us about the radical glory of Jesus in the dramatic story of the Transfiguration. But the all-important thing that we must realize here is that this story of the Transfiguration is certainly not intended to lead us to believe that God is to be found only in something extraordinary, in some kind of phenomenal, marvelous, miraculous event. On the contrary, this story of the Transfiguration is intended to show us the direct opposite, namely that God is always present in all reality, but in a hidden way, that God and sanctification and salvation and all that religion really means is to be found only in the reality of our plain, ordinary, everyday lives: that God and grace are only in this concrete, tangible world as we know it and experience it. The only way the Apostles ever saw Jesus throughout his life was as the plain, ordinary, everyday, human Jesus. It was only after the resurrection they were able to look back and see Jesus as already glorious even then as he began the journey to his suffering and death in Jerusalem. So, they tell the story of the Transfiguration to show us that they finally realized that the whole time they had been experiencing the ordinary, mundane reality of the plain, everyday human Jesus, they were actually experiencing the hidden extraordinary reality of Jesus, the glorious Son of God and Savior of the world. And that that is the only way for us to see Jesus - in plain, ordinary, everyday, human reality.

How, then, do we see this extraordinary inner reality in the ordinary if there is no marvelous change or manifestation in the outward appearances to indicate change or manifestation in outward appearances to indicate it to us? By faith; simply, by faith. By the kind of faith the story of the Transfiguration is intended to stir in us. By the kind of complete, trusting faith we heard about in our first reading – the faith Abraham had in God’s promise even in the face of absolutely opposite appearances. By the kind of faith that prompted Paul to proclaim in our second reading the transfiguration of our bodies even in the face of actual sickness, suffering, aging and dying. By the kind of faith that sees not only bread and wine in the Eucharist but more - the very body and blood of Jesus. By the kind of faith that sees social service and social action on behalf of others not only as secular and political activities but as more — as the very building up of the kingdom of God. By the kind of faith that leads us away from the Transfiguration to find the extraordinary that is actually right in all that seems just ordinary in our lives. So much so is this the case that we can rightly say the Transfiguration is a story of the extraordinary intended to show us the deep-down religious meaning of the ordinary. (THE TRANSFIGURATION – RAPHAEL)

Father Edward J. Kelly was a Holy Ghost priest for 60 years before his death in 2000.

Most dangerous word in the Christian life is ‘tomorrow’ Following is the homily delivered by Archbishop George H. Niederauer at the St. Mary’s Cathedral on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 21: “Is there a difference between a crime and a sin?” A pollster who asked people that question would hear lots of “yeses” and lots of “nos.” When people in the public eye are accused of wrong doing, they often say, “Everything I did was perfectly legal.” But there is a big difference between a crime and a sin. People who believe in God and people who do not can agree that robbery and murder are crimes. But only people who believe in God believe in sin, because “sin” means an offense against God. For instance, Pope John Paul II taught us the priceless value of human life as a gift from God. Contrast that with the civil government’s “legalizing” of abortion, euthanasia and capital punishment. For believers these actions are still sinful, whether or not they are legal. Sin, then, has to do with our relationship with God and so does Ash Wednesday. A good way to begin to understand your relationship with God is to think about your other human relationships. You cannot be unfaithful to a stranger in the same way you can be unfaithful to someone you know and love - and who knows and loves you: a friend, a husband, a wife, or a parent or sister or brother or child. We Christians believe our profoundest relationship is with God in Jesus his Son, because God has created us and given us all those other relationships. We believe that God our Father created us out of love, gave us our loved ones and all our gifts, and sent his Son, Jesus, to give us a share in his life, and to call us to live with him forever in eternal life. Because we are imperfect and weak, we commit sin; that is, we act selfishly against our love for God, against our love for our neighbors, our sisters and brothers in Christ. Lent is a season

devoted to renewing our relationships with God, individually and together as a Catholic family of faith. On Ash Wednesday the Church reminds us of our need to be renewed, to let Jesus renew us. We need to experience conversion, which means to turn back again more completely in the direction of God’s love for us. In the first reading today, the prophet Joel speaks for God to the people: “Even now return to me with your whole heart.” Why? The prophet continues, “For God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, rich in kindness and relenting in punishment.”

So, let’s live a good Lent; let’s center on Christ, not on ourselves; let’s try to do that each day, and not save it for some tomorrow that never comes. In our second reading today St. Paul writes to his friends at Corinth, to remind them that God has reconciled them to himself in Jesus, his Son, their brother. God has turned these people back toward himself through their relationship with Jesus Christ. You and I don’t earn salvation or reconciliation; it is a gift given us by God through Christ. We don’t earn it, but we must accept it and respond to it and use it. So St. Paul says, “Do not receive the grace of God in vain.” St. Augustine explained it another way: “God who

created you without you will not save you without you.” When should all this happen? Now! Listen to St. Paul again: “Now is the acceptable time! Now is the day of salvation!” The most dangerous word in the Christian life is “tomorrow.” (That’s true for dieting too, of course.) For instance, “I’ll start praying tomorrow, or next month.” We get so wrapped up in our efforts to stay alive physically and academically and socially, that we forget the most import kind of “staying alive”- spiritually - staying alive in God, in Christ’s Church. We need to stay alive in Christ all our lives long. That’s one reason the Church puts ashes on our foreheads today: “Remember you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.” The Church is not being morbid, merely realistic and truthful. Our lives will end; diamonds might be forever, but you and I are not. So the Church challenges us to center our lives in Christ rather than in ourselves. Why? Because being self-centered is a dead end - literally (think, “ashes”). Being Christ-centered has a great future, here and forever. The ashes are meant to make us truthful, humble, and hopeful about ourselves and Jesus — not to make us feel spiritually superior to all those mere mortals around us who don’t have ashes on their foreheads today. The Church recommends three practices for us during Lent: prayer (listening to God’s word and responding from the heart); fasting or sacrifice (saying “no” to ourselves in some way that frees us for a “yes” to Christ in others); almsgiving (giving and sharing what God has given us). We do these Lenten actions not for their own sake, to make ourselves look good. Jesus is clear about that in today’s Gospel reading. So, let’s live a good Lent; let’s center on Christ, not on ourselves; let’s try to do that each day, and not save it for some tomorrow that never comes.

March 2, 2007

Lenten Opportunities March 2, 3: St. Boniface is having a play about St. Bernadette March 2 at 7 p.m. and March 3 at 2 p.m. in the parish theater at 175 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco. Admission is free. Call (415) 816-5230. March 3: Looking for a closer relationship with God? Looking for something fresh? Come to a Life in the Spirit seminar at St. Anne of the Sunset (14th & Judah), San Francisco. Registration at 9 a.m. Day ends at 1:30 p.m. and includes a free lunch with plenty of parking. Seminar leader and speaker: Father Jim Tarantino. For more information call (415) 753-3732 or (650) 906-3451. March 11: Archdiocesan Choral Festival. Choristers from more than 20 parishes join in song for a 4 p.m. concert under the direction of Simon Berry at St. Cecilia Church, 17th Ave. & Vicente, San Francisco. Call (415) 614-5585. Free admission. March 21: Why We Gather Around The Table with Sister Pam Chiesa, part of Deepen Your Faith Speaker Series. Engaging speaker, delicious food, and in-depth discussion beginning at 7 p.m. at St. Pius Parish, 1100 Woodside Rd, Redwood City. For more information call (650) 365-0140 or email Kevin@pius.org. March 23: Singer/composer/liturgist Dan Schutte in concert at 7:30 p.m. at St. Patrick Church, 671 E. Yosemite Ave, Merced. The following day he will give a Lenten Day of Reflection from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., also at St. Patrick. Concert cost: $15 advance; $20 at the door. Day of reflection cost: $40 advance; $50 at door. Both events: $50 advance registration only (by March 20). Group discounts available for 20 or more. Schutte is currently composer in residence at the University of San Francisco and composer of familiar pieces including “Here I Am, Lord” and “You are Near.” For more information call (209) 383-3924, ext. 21 or check Web site at www.olmstpatrick.org. March 24: Day of Recollection, 9 a.m.–2 p.m. in the Green Room of St. Cecilia Church, 17th Ave. and Vicente St., San Francisco; $35 fee includes light breakfast and lunch. Dr. Richard Sonnenstein will speak on “The DaVinci Code.” Father Mark Taheny will facilitate and preside at Mass. Call Dr. George Maloof at (415) 219-8719. March 31: Come to the Table, a healing retreat from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Mater Dolorosa Parish, 307 Willow Dr., South San Francisco. An opportunity to prepare for Easter and experience spiritual healing. Free admission and free lunch. Pre-registration required. Call (650) 583-4131 or email lidwellf@mdssf.org. March 31: Come to the Table, a healing retreat from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Mater Dolorosa Parish, 307 Willow Dr., South San Francisco. An opportunity to prepare for Easter and experience spiritual healing. Free admission and free lunch. Pre-registration required. Call (650) 583-4131 or email lidwellf@mdssf.org. Wednesdays in Lent: Come to Most Holy Redeemer, 100 Diamond St., San Francisco, for a prayerful Lenten season. Every Wednesday in Lent, MHR is having a different speaker for its 7:30 p.m. vespers. Call (415) 863-6259 St. Stephen Parish of San Francisco is offering a Chinese Bible study group. The group will meet every Thursday, 7:30 – 8:45 p.m. at the O’Reilly Parish Center, 451 Eucalyptus Dr., San Francisco. Call Veronica Wong at (415) 681-2444, ext. 33 for details. Come pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet, Scriptural Rosary, and special intentions before the Blessed Sacrament at the Monastery of Perpetual Adoration. Saturdays 10 to 11:15 a.m., 771 Ashbury St., San Francisco. Contact Steve at (415) 290-5598. Saturdays: Prayer meeting at St. Hilary Church, 761 Hilary Dr., Tiburon, at 9:30 a.m. Father James March 10: 100-Year Gala: A Century of Charity, a benefit evening honoring the work of the Little Children’s Aid Auxiliary and beginning the 100year celebration of Catholic Charities CYO of the Archdiocese. Tickets are $175 per person to the Black Tie optional affair taking place at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco beginning at 6 p.m. Guests of honor are the more than 50 former presidents of the auxiliary known for many years now as The Juniors. Call (415) 972-1243.

Catholic San Francisco

tainment begins the event at 11 a.m. with lunch at noon. March 17: St. Patrick’s Day dinner benefiting St. Matthew Elementary School, now in its 75th year. All starts at 6 p.m. in school auditorium, 9th Ave. at El Camino Real, San Mateo. Tickets are $15 per adult, $5 per child. Menu includes corned beef and cabbage plus entertainment and children’s bingo. Email Charliejad@yahoo.com to make reservation or call (650) 628-6848. March 18: 6th Annual Crab Bash Family Dinner benefiting Holy Name of Jesus Parish in Ryan Hall, 40th Ave. at Lawton, San Francisco, beginning at 6 p.m. Tickets are $35 per person with tables of 8 for $240. Tickets for children 6 – 12 are $10. Contact Jackie Alcaraz at (415) 664-8590. March 24: The Alumnae Council of Mercy High School, San Francisco, presents, “Eggstravaganza!” — Easter fun for children ages 2 - 12, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. on Mercy’s campus, 3250 19th Ave. The event will feature an egg hunt, games, arts and crafts and an appearance by the Easter Bunny. RSVP by March 2, please. Tickets are $5 per child; adults are free. For more information, contact Nilsa Lennig at (415) 334-0525, ext. 228 or nlennig@mercyhs.org. March 24: Cruise with St. Cecilia School Mothers’ Club at its annual fundraiser “A Nautical Night” aboard the SS Durocher. The Durocher Pavilion will be transformed into a virtual cruise ship. Evening includes a bon-voyage reception with music, live and silent auctions, dancing and dining, and a $10,000 raffle prize. E-mail Susie Buckley at buckleysm@comcast.net or call (415) 731-8400. Visit www.scfundraiser.com. April 4 – May 1: St. Brendan School kicks off its Fiesta Elegante Online Auction. Visit www.stbrendanschool.cmarket.com. Proceeds benefit school educational and sports programs.Contact Michele Pallari at (415) 309-6045.

Datebook

Young Adults Office of Young Adult Ministry and Campus Ministry: Connecting late teens, 20s and 30s, single and married to the Catholic Church. Contact Mary Jansen, (415) 614-5596, jansenm@sfarchdiocese.org. Check out our Web site for a list of events around the Bay Area and download our newsletter at www.sfyam.org. March 17: Life Directions Retreat for Young Adults, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at St. Teresa Parish, 376 Missouri St., San Francisco. Sponsored by the Religious of the Sacred Heart, the retreat is meant to help people in their 20s and 30s discern the action of the Holy Spirit as they make decisions affecting their futures. Contact Sacred Heart Sister Mary Pat White at (415) 418-4569 or e-mail mwhite@rscj.org.

Single, Divorced, Separated March 24: Called to the Center, a centering prayer workshop with Mercy Sisters Marguerite Buchanan, center, and Suzanne Toolan, at piano, at Marin Catholic High School, 675 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. in Kentfield from 9:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. Catherine Regan, Ph.D., also pictured, will be the workshop presenter. Call Vicki Bornstein at (415) 435-1122. Cost is $20 per person. Sponsored by Deaneries 6 and 7. Tarantino presides. Hospitality follows. All are welcome. Call Moriah: (415) 756-5505 Saturdays: Bible Study at St. Hilary Church, 761 Hilary Dr., Tiburon, 12:30 - 2 p.m. All are welcome. Call Moriah: (415) 756-5505. Star of the Sea Church at 4420 Geary Blvd. & 8th Ave., San Francisco will have Lenten Soup & Scripture Agape on Fridays during Lent (excluding Good Friday). A simple meal of meatless soup and bread begins at 6 p.m. in the school auditorium with readings Sacred Scripture followed by Stations of the Cross at 7 p.m. Free parking. Children are welcome. Call (415) 751-0450.

Food & Fun March 2, 3: Annual Flea Market benefiting works of St. Elizabeth Parish Women’s Club in Cantwell Hall, 449 Holyoke St., San Francisco, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. both days. March 10: St. Monica School & Parish Fundraiser

Auction Dinner - “Enchanted” — an evening of fun, food and dance in the parish hall, 23rd Ave and Geary Blvd, San Francisco. Event starts at 6 p.m. with a silent auction, continues with a crab cioppino dinner, and concludes with dancing. Tickets are $35 per adult and $10 per child age 5 to 17. Call (415) 751-9564 or look for the “Enchanted Auction Dinner” link at www.stmonicasf.org. March 10: St. Luke Parish annual crab feed in the community center: socialize, dance, bid on auction items, and eat.Tickets are $40 per person; includes allyou-can-eat crab or pre-ordered chicken entrée, pasta, salad, dessert and coffee. No host wine and beer available. Starts at 6:30 p.m. Call (650) 345-6660 or stop by church office, 1111 Beach Park Blvd., Foster City. March 16: Archbishop George H. Niederauer is keynote speaker for the annual St. Patrick’s Day lunch benefiting campus ministry and other the works of The Hibernian Newman Club at the St. Francis Hotel on Union Square. SFFD Chief Joanne Hayes-White is guest of honor. Tickets are $80 per person and available by calling (415) 386-3434. No-host social with Irish enter-

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April 27 – 29: Weekend for Widowed, Separated, Divorced at El Retiro, Los Altos. For more information, call La Verne (650) 355-3978, Helen (415) 3889651, or Donna (408) 371-0865, or see Web site: www.beginningexperience.org. Separated and Divorced support group meets 1st and 3rd Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. at St. Stephen Parish Center, San Francisco; call Gail at (650) 5918452 or Vonnie at (650) 873-4236. Catholic Adult Singles Association of Marin meets for support and activities. Call Bob at (415) 897-0639 for information.

Datebook is a free listing for parishes, schools and non-profit groups. Please include event name, time, date, place, address and an information phone number. Listing must reach Catholic San Francisco at least two weeks before the Friday publication date desired. Mail your notice to: Datebook, Catholic San Francisco, One Peter Yorke Way, S.F. 94109, or fax it to (415) 614-5633.

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Catholic San Francisco

March 2, 2007

Deacon Norris adds pastoral ministry post Archbishop George H. Niederauer announced Feb. 2 his appointment of Deacon John Norris as director of the Department of Pastoral Ministry for the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Deacon Norris had been functioning as temporary head of the department since last summer. Deacon Norris has served as archdiocesan director of development since 2002 and will continue additionally in that role. The Development Office oversees the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal as well as Stewardship Education and planned giving. The Department of Pastoral Ministry includes the efforts of offices assisting in worship, evangelization, religious education and Deacon John Norris youth ministry, young adult and campus ministry, lay formation and the Catholic Studies Institute and ethnic ministry. Deacon Norris, who came to Church administration from a career of managing “many functions, lots of people and lots of dollars for banks and insurance companies” is confident he can cover the wide and seemingly diverse areas of the two jurisdictions. “That doesn’t particularly worry me,” he told Catholic San Francisco. “I’ve always had jobs with more functions than you’d think capable of being part of one job.” “Our role in development is to help the parishes have the resources they need, money, people, etc., to keep that process working,” he said. “I’ve always seen stewardship and evangelization as very nearly the same thing. It’s doing all we can with the gifts God has given us to answer His call to us – the call each of us got in our baptism. It’s using our gifts to carry on the mission of Jesus. It’s the same in the new job. Our job in pastoral ministry is also to carry on the mission of Jesus, and especially, to be supportive of the parishes in their everyday efforts to do that as well.” Ordained to the diaconate in October 2000, he and his wife, JoAnn, who serves in the Metropolitan Tribunal of the Archdiocese, will be married 44 years in June. Deacon Norris is chair of the Board of Trustees of the Seton Hospital Health Services Foundation, a fundraising arm of the Daly City medical center. “Deacon Norris joined the Archdiocese in June of 2002 as director of development and has ably served us in that role,” Archbishop Niederauer said in his February announcement. “He has accepted the challenge of these additional responsibilities, and I am grateful for his support.”

Rolheiser . . . ■ Continued from page 13 mother’s weight problem, our dad’s alcoholism, an abuse inflicted upon us that we were powerless to stop, a slowwittedness that perpetually left us out of the inner circle, our failure to achieve what we’d like to in life, a pain about our sexual orientation, an addiction we can’t master, and many, many other small and big wounds and bruises that helped shape our souls. James Hillman, our generation’s maverick intellectual, speaks eloquently on this. Depth, he suggests, never comes out of our successes, but only out of our inferiorities and failures. And this, he says, gives us character: Our scars are like huge stones in a riverbed; they may do nothing but stay still and hold their ground, but the river has to take them into account and alter its flow because of them and it’s precisely this which gives a river (and a face) some character. This truth lies at the very heart of Jesus’ life and message. When the disciples can’t fathom or accept the crucifixion, he asks them: “Wasn’t it necessary?” Isn’t there a necessary connection between the humiliation of Good Friday and the glory of Easter Sunday? Isn’t there an intrin-

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Catholic San Francisco

March 2, 2007

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Archbishop Hanna biography provides broad insights FATHER RICHARD GRIBBLE, CSC. “AN ARCHBISHOP FOR THE PEOPLE: THE LIFE OF EDWARD J. HANNA.” New York/Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press, 2006. Reviewed by William Issel, professor of history, emeritus, San Francisco State University and author of “The Catholic Internationale: Mayor Joseph L. Alioto’s Urban Liberalism and San Francisco Catholicism.” Few today realize that during the first half of the 20th century, the Archdiocese of San Francisco occupied more 3,657 sq. km., a territory slightly larger than Denmark with a somewhat smaller total population (1.9 million versus 2.5 million in 1940). When Archbishop Edward J. Hanna, the subject of the book reviewed here retired in 1935, the Archdiocese contained more than 400,000 Catholics living in 13 Bay Area counties from Santa Clara in the south to Mendocino in the north, organized into 174 parishes served by 600 priests. Catholic leaders claimed the city’s 60 parishes embraced

fully half of San Francisco’s population, but a census bureau count made in 1936 put Catholics at 28 percent of the population and 68 percent of all church members. While the size and proportion of San Francisco’s Catholic population cannot be described with complete assurance, there is no doubt about the city itself, which increased in size from 634,394 in 1930 to 775,357 in 1950. Only Los Angeles among Western U.S. cities ranked higher in population than San Francisco. Despite the city’s place in the national and western hierarchy of cities, the role of Catholicism in the history of San Francisco has been largely ignored by scholars and pundits alike. Stereotyped notions have come to dominate local, regional, national and international commentary about the city. The result is that the real San Francisco of the 1910s to the 1940s is obscured behind slogans such as “Wide Open Town,” “Baghdad by the Bay,” and “Left Coast City.” Holy Cross Father Richard Gribble is among the handful of scholars whose prodi-

‘Mosaic’ guest addresses divorce, separation, relationship to Church Jesuit Father Albert Grosskopf, parochial vicar, St. Ignatius Parish in San Francisco, speaks about his involvement with ministry to divorced and separated Catholics March 4 at 5 a.m. on “Mosaic,” a public affairs program airing on KPIX – Channel 5 in San Francisco. The Southern California native has been facilitating support groups for those experiencing the loss of marriage for more than 30 years. The conversation with program host, Tom Burke, puts in plain language what the divorced and those anticipating divorce are going through and what is available to help them. Father Grosskopf also speaks about divorced Catholics and their relationship with the Church.

gious archival research over the past several decades has recovered a more complex – and more fascinating – reality beyond the mythology. His detailed biography of Archbishop Edward J. Hanna (1860 – 1944), the first ever, contains numerous insights about Archbishop Hanna’s service as the third San Francisco Archbishop, from 1915 to 1935. Father Gribble makes a strong case for his thesis that Archbishop Hanna well deserved his reputation as “An Archbishop for the People” by detailing the variety of social justice endeavors that he spearheaded, as San Francisco Archbishop, president of the California Commission of Immigration and Housing, and chairman of the Administrative Committee of the National Catholic Welfare Council. During Archbishop Edward J. Hanna’s

20 years as Archbishop, Irish, German, and Italian immigrants, their children, and their grandchildren made up nearly two-thirds of a city that was 94 percent of white European background. Not all of those Irish, German and Italian San Franciscans were Catholics, but Catholics were predominant in the bluecollar workforce, and they filled executive, middle-level, and lower-echelon positions in business, government and the professions. Not all Catholics practiced their religion, but a sizeable number – a “critical mass” – of the city’s Catholics took their faith seriously, practiced their faith inside parish churches, at outdoor neighborhood and city-wide religious ceremonies, and they brought their faith-based convictions to bear in the public realm as well. Father Gribble’s biography effectively addresses the ways in which the Archbishop related successfully to the ethnic diversity and social justice concerns of his Catholic constituency, and he also describes how he fostered ecumenism and interfaith relations. In 1931, in recognition of one of these efforts, the Archbishop received the national American Hebrew Award presented annually “to that American man or woman who, during the year, has achieved most in the promotion of better understanding between Christians and Jews.” Father Gribble’s book is obviously a labor of love, and it succeeds admirably in its goal of providing a detailed and reliable fine-grained narrative based on multiarchival research, but his work has significance beyond the merely biographical. Of equal importance is the historian’s contribution to an ongoing project among scholars: reclaiming for the historical record (and for posterity) the important roles played by Catholics and Catholicism in the shaping of 20th century San Francisco.

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Catholic San Francisco

March 2, 2007

Catholic san Francisco Northern Californiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Weekly Catholic Newspaper

MOST REVEREND JOHN C. WESTER

( P H OTOS BY DAVID PAUL MORRIS)

BBishop-designate ishop-designate ooff tthe he D iocese of of Salt Salt Lake Lake City City Diocese

SPECIAL COMMEMORATIVE EDITION

MARCH 2, 2007

FAREWELL BISHOP WESTER ISSUE

March 2, 2007

Cardinal Levada: Bishop Wester ‘blessed with many graces’ It was with great joy that I received the news of Bishop John Wester’s appointment as the new Bishop of Salt Lake City, and I hasten to add my own voice to those of Bishop Wester’s fellow priests, co-workers, and friends in congratulating him on this appointment. This is certainly a moment of joy for the Church in Salt Lake City as it is one of pride for the Archdiocese of San Francisco. During my 10 years as Archbishop of San Francisco, it was my distinct privilege and pleasure to work closely with Bishop Wester. He had already distinguished himself as a pastor, educator and capable administrator in his priestly ministry at Marin Catholic High School, the Archdiocesan Department of Catholic Schools, and as pastor of St. Stephen Parish in San Francisco. His ministry would only deepen in these last eight years as he cared for his brother priests as Vicar for Clergy and Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco. In these positions, he earned the trust and respect of clergy and faithful alike. He has been blessed with many graces which will serve him well in his apostolic ministry in Salt Lake City. San Francisco will certainly miss Bishop Wester very much as he departs for Utah. But his nomination as the Bishop of Salt Lake City is also a moment for us to give thanks to God for Bishop Wester’s affable presence and generous ministry in our Archdiocese. God has called him forth into this new ministry, and we can be both confident and proud that his priestly service in San Francisco has well prepared him for this moment. I would very much like to be present for Bishop Wester’s installation in Salt Lake City, but my obligations at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith make that impossible. I therefore join all of you in the prayer that God may continue to bless Bishop John Wester and the Diocese of Salt Lake City, that, under his patient leadership, the Church in Utah will continue to grow in ardent faith, joyful hope, and faithful love.

As Archbishop of San Francisco, Cardinal William J. Levada greets Bishop John Wester on the day of his ordination as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese on Sept. 18, 1998.

His Eminence Cardinal William Joseph Levada Archbishop Emeritus of San Francisco Prefect, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

鵷 Congratulations Bishop John C. Wester 鵸

MOST REVEREND GEORGE H. NIEDERAUER ARCHBISHOP OF SAN FRANCISCO

MOST REVEREND JOHN C.WESTER NINTH BISHOP OF SALT LAKE CITY

O n behalf of the clergy, religious and laity of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, I express sincere gratitude to Bishop John C. Wester for his many years of service in the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

T he people of the Archdiocese of San Francisco also extend their prayerful best wishes to Bishop Wester as he begins his new ministry as shepherd of the Diocese of Salt Lake City.

Archbishop George H. Niederauer Archbishop Emeritus John R. Quinn Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius C. Wang The Clergy, Religious and Faithful of the Archdiocese of San Francisco

FAREWELL BISHOP WESTER ISSUE

March 2, 2007

Archbishop Niederauer: Bishop Wester: ‘deep faith, loving heart, strong witness’ The appointment of San Francisco Auxiliary Bishop John Wester as ninth Bishop of Salt Lake City is a double joy for me: the diocese I served for 11 years is welcoming a peerless priest and bishop, and my dear friend and co-worker is soon to lead and serve a diocese of great vitality, a Catholic people who will welcome him with joy and warmth and genuine Christian love.

(PHOTO BY JACK SMITH/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)

When we witness the wedding of a couple who seem made for each other, we rejoice. In the same way, we Catholics in the Archdiocese of San Francisco can rejoice at the installation of Bishop John Wester as shepherd of the Catholic Church in Utah. It is precisely this image of a union of loving service that the Church intends in the symbolism of the bishop’s ring.

As an auxiliary bishop for the San Francisco Archdiocese, Bishop John Wester welcomes Archbishop George Niederauer to the Archdiocese during a Dec. 15, 2006 press conference at St. Mary’s Cathedral. Bishop Wester will now succeed Archbishop Niederauer as the new bishop of the Salt Lake City Diocese.

Bishop John C. Wester

For more than 30 years, as priest and bishop, John Wester, a native San Franciscan, has served as shepherd to the flock of Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd in many assignments in this Archdiocese. He has ministered faithfully and generously under the leadership of four Archbishops of San Francisco. Bishop Wester has touched so many with his deep faith, loving heart, and strong witness: the religious of the Archdiocese, as their companion in the Spirit; the priests, whose brother and Vicar he has been; the deacons and their wives, whose guide he was in faith and hope and love; the lay leaders and young people, whom he encouraged and inspired; the inmates of San Quentin Prison, whom he touched with caring and simple friendship. We pledge to our longtime friend our prayers, affection and gratitude. As he leaves us for Utah we entrust him to the care of God our loving Father, Who alone can go with him, remain with us, and be everywhere for good.

Most Rev. George H. Niederauer Archbishop of San Francisco

With Gratitude to Almighty God for the Ministry and Dedicated Pastoral Leadership of Bishop John C. Wester.

A shepherd, a leader, a friend...

We express our gratitude, admiration, affection and congratulations as you are called to your new role in the Church of Utah. Our prayers go with you and for your new ministry with the clergy and faithful as Bishop in the Diocese of Salt Lake City. Bishop Patrick J. McGrath with the clergy, religious and faithful of the Diocese of San Jose

The Most Reverend Allen H. Vigneron and the clergy, religious and laity of the Diocese of Oakland

FAREWELL BISHOP WESTER ISSUE

March 2, 2007

Archbishop Emeritus Quinn Bishop Wester ‘tireless in devotion, unfailingly kind’ As Bishop John Wester leaves San Francisco we universally feel sadness at our loss. We do not begrudge the gift that Salt Lake receives in its new Pastor. In fact, we envy them. Tireless in his devotion, unfailingly kind, he will traverse the embracing spaces of Utah’s roads and valleys bringing encouragement and strength. We in San Francisco lift up our prayer of gratitude for what has been, and give deep-felt thanks for the blessing that has come to the Diocese of Salt Lake. It will not take long for everyone in Utah to recognize that a quiet light has come to them and with it a new chapter in a storied history. This is, indeed, a time for the Church in Utah to raise a great prayer of thanksgiving and to look forward in hope as God walks with his people on their pilgrim path to the fulfillment of his plan of salvation and mercy.

Archbishop John R. Quinn Archbishop Emeritus, Archdiocese of San Francisco

The clergy, religious and faithful of the Diocese of Salt Lake City wish to express their gratitude to the people of the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

Archbishop Emeritus John R. Quinn (foreground) and Bishop John Wester pictured together at the Vatican in 2004 as part of the team which delivered the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s ad limina report, an accounting on the state of the Archdiocese required every five years.

GRATITUDE BLESSINGS AND CONGRATULATIONS TO

Bishop John C. Wester for his Pastoral Service to San Francisco and on his Installation as the Ninth Bishop of Salt Lake City March 14, 2007

We pray for God’s blessing on Bishop Wester’s ministry among us.

From Bishops Brown, Soto, Luong and McFarland, the clergy, religious and laity of the Diocese of Orange, California

May Yahweh bless you

and keep you. May Yahweh let his face shine on you and be gracious to you. May Yahweh turn his face toward you and bring you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

BISHOP WESTER May you be filled with God’s blessing as you serve the people of the Diocese of Salt Lake. Bishop Blaire and the people of the Diocese of Stockton

March 2, 2007

FAREWELL BISHOP WESTER ISSUE

By Barbara Stinson Lee Special to Catholic San Francisco SAN FRANCISCO – The Catholic community of Salt Lake City is awaiting in excited anticipation the installa-

Bishop Wester visits the “This is the Place” monument in Salt Lake City. The monument marks the arrival of the first Mormons in the Salt Lake Valley. A portion of the monument features two Franciscans, Fathers Francisco Dominguez and Silvestre de Escalante, who visited the Valley even earlier. In 1776 the two friars crossed the territory with the help of local Native American guides. Six months later, diminishing supplies and threatening weather forced their expedition to return to New Mexico. It would be nearly another century before Catholic priests would formally establish a Church foundation in the Utah Territory.

tion of their ninth bishop, Bishop John Charles Wester, former auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Slated for March 14 at 1:30 p.m. in the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City, the installation ceremony will draw civic and religious leaders alike. The ordaining prelate will be Archbishop George Niederauer of the Archdiocese of San Francisco who was the eighth and most recent bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City. The see has been without an ordinary since Archbishop Niederauer was named to San Francisco in December 2005. In addition to the archbishop, those slated to attend the installation already include Archbishop Pietro Sambi, papal nuncio to the United States; Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.; Lieutenant Gov. Gary Herbert; three top officials of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including President Gordon B. Hinckley; the Right Rev. Carolyn Tanner Irish of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah; Salt Lake City Mayor Ross “Rocky” Anderson; Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Carroon; and Midvale Mayor JoAnn Seghin. Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles will attend with some 30 other bishops, most of them from the Western region of the United States. On March 13, an evening of prayer will be held at St. Ann Church in Salt Lake City in anticipation of the installation. The prayer liturgy will be followed by a social at the parish and a dinner at the Salt Lake City Downtown Marriott Hotel. On March 14, the installation ceremony will be preceded by a luncheon at 11:30 a.m. at the Downtown Marriott Hotel. The installation Mass will begin at 1:30 p.m. A social will be held that evening at 6:30, followed by a dinner at 7:30 at the Downtown Marriott Hotel. All events will be by invitation only. Bishop Wester follows a line of bishops that goes back to Bishop Lawrence Scanlan, who traveled the diocese on horseback and built the diocese’s mother church, the Cathedral of the Madeleine. Also in that line was Bishop John J. Mitty, the third bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, who would become the fourth Archbishop of San Francisco. Barbara Lee Stinson is editor of Intermountain Catholic, newspaper of the Diocese of Salt Lake City.

(PHOTOS BY BARBARA STINSON LEE)

Installation will draw religious, civic, social leaders

Bishop Wester visits the grave of the late Bishop Joseph Lennox Federal and a monument to all the bishops who have served the Diocese of Salt Lake City on Jan. 8, the day Bishop Wester’s appointment to the Diocese of Salt Lake City was announced. Bishop Wester chose to have the announcement made on the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord.

FAREWELL BISHOP WESTER ISSUE

March 2, 2007

Bishop Wester bids farewell at ‘Mass of gratitude’ SAN FRANCISCO –When Bishop John C. Wester was ordained as the auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco in 1998, he was quoted as saying to the Catholic community: “You will see yourselves reflected in my ministry to you.” At the farewell Mass for Bishop Wester celebrated Feb. 20 in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, the people of Archdiocese, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, heard Bishop Wester thank them for helping form him in his priestly and episcopal ministry. San Francisco, the fourth-generation San Franciscan said in his homily, has always made him feel at home, whether he’d been away studying in the seminary or had been traveling out of the country. On March 14 Bishop Wester will be installed as the Diocese of Salt Lake City’s ninth bishop. Alluding to his growing up years in San Francisco and Daly City, Bishop Wester noted during his homily, “I’ve had my hair cut in the Amazon Barber Shop since 1951. I feel as though I have always known (owner) Marty, and Marty has known me.” As illustrative of his feeling of San Francisco and the Bay Area as home, the bishop said he returned to the barber shop one day after an absence of more than 20 years of study and formation. He said he picked up a local newspaper and began reading it. “I said, ‘Hello, Marty,’” Bishop Wester said. “He looked up from the hair he was cutting and said, ‘Hello, John.’ It was as if I’d never left. Marty’s simple greeting was like a quiet re-introduction to the city, and I felt very much at home.” At the beginning of the Mass, which

(PHOTO BY BARBARA LEE STINSON)

By Barbara Stinson Lee Special to Catholic San Franicsco

At the reception following the Feb. 20 farewell Mass for Bishop John Wester at St. Mary’s Cathedral, members of his family pulled together for a photo. Back, from left: Terry O’Sullivan, brother-in-law; Barry Wester, brother; Stephen Barbi and John Sullivan, nephews. Front, from left: Kathy O’Sullivan, sister; Helen Wester, mother; Nancy Barbi, sister; and Sarah O’Sullivan, niece.

had as its theme, “I Am the Vine, You Are the Branches,” Archbishop George Niederauer looked out at the crowded pews and good naturedly said of Bishop Wester: “If you were a wonderful priest and bishop for 31 years, you, too, can have all these friends.” Sitting in the front rows were Bishop Wester’s mother, Helen (his father, Charles, died in 1999), his brother, Barry, his sisters, Kathy O’Sullivan and Nancy Barbi and her son Steve, Kathy’s husband Terry O’Sullivan, one of their sons, John Eric (named for Bishop Wester), and their daughter, Sarah. Pews near the sanctuary were filled with Bishop Wester’s colleagues: priests, deacons and women religious with

whom he has served. Civic leaders including Fire Chief Joanne HayesWhite, Police Chief Heather Fong, San Francisco supervisors Angela Alioto and Sean Elsbernd were there as well as nearly two dozen representatives of other faiths. “The Bay Area and this city I know well will always be at home in me,” Bishop Wester said. “In John’s Gospel tonight we heard the words, ‘Abide in me.’ We are called to remain in Jesus through our love of him and one another. By being at one with Christ we will experience the ebb and flow of Christ.” Serving as an acolyte for the farewell Mass was a Diocese of Salt Lake City seminarian, Thomas Stinger, who is

studying for the priesthood at St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park. Drawing from the first reading from Hosea, Bishop Wester reminded those present that nothing can get between God and the love he has for individuals unless a person allows it. “I have lived for 56 years in this local Church,” he said. “ . . . I will take all that you have taught me as I move on to my new assignment in the Diocese of Salt Lake City. I am the bishop you have helped me become.” Bishop Wester recalled the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, celebrated in December, when people of all ethnic groups gathered around one table. He called it “an encounter of love and generosity.” “We are all co-workers in the vineyard of the Lord,” he said. “I spent 12 years being formed in the seminary, and have learned much from each of the healing ministries, and I must say, this is not a farewell. This is a time to be cheered; a time for us to be brothers and sisters with each other. Yes, this is an emotional time. Let us greet it with joy.” Speaking from his own experience, Bishop Wester said the “home is the first seminary,” and added, almost shyly, “I think Dad would be proud.” He spoke of the challenge he will have succeeding Archbishop Niederauer who was the Diocese of Salt Lake City’s eighth bishop before being named Archbishop of San Francisco more than a year ago. “It isn’t going to be easy to go to a place where he’s been,” Bishop Wester quipped, drawing laughter from the congregation. Bishop Wester also thanked retired Archbishop John R. Quinn whom he called his “mentor,” and San Francisco Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius Wang. Both MASS OF GRATITUDE, page W7

March 2, 2007

Mass of Gratitude . . . ■ Continued from page W6 prelates were concelebrants at the Mass with Archbishop Niederauer and Bishop Wester. Bishop Wester lauded Father William Justice, who will be taking his place as vicar for priests. “All of you have formed me and made me who I am,” he said. Bishop Wester expressed deep appreciation for teachers and students of the schools he has attended and at which he has served. He was assigned to Marin Catholic High School from 1979 until 1986, the last two years as president of the Kentfield school He said he was especially grateful to members of the Victim Survivor Group with whom he has worked throughout the clergy sex abuse crisis.

With his special gifts for outreach toward those of other faiths, Bishop Wester recognized members of the Buddhist-Catholic Dialogue. “I also want to thank especially Father David Pettingill and the other members of our support group.”

“I will never forget you,” Bishop Wester told the congregation. “We are one in Christ the Lord…” “I will never forget you,” Bishop Wester told the congregation. “We are one in Christ the Lord… the vine.” A touching message of farewell was read by Jesuit Father Steve Barber, chaplain at San Quentin Prison,

FAREWELL BISHOP WESTER ISSUE

where Bishop Wester earned the nickname “Big John.” The Catholic community at the prison has taken the name, Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Community. There they have a Catholic institute of studies and interfaith studies, wrote inmate Leonard Rubio, who thanked Bishop Wester for the Easter vigils he has celebrated at San Quentin, baptizing inmates. “Bishop Wester brought redemption and hope. He brought God to his brothers behind the walls, and that is no small miracle. He symbolized for us joy and faith.” Bishop Wester has also ministered at the St. Vincent de Paul Society’s Catherine’s Center, a ministry assisting women leaving incarceration sponsored by the St. Vincent De Paul Society of San Mateo County. The organization honored him in January. Following the “Mass of gratitude and farewell,” a reception for Bishop Wester and the congregation was held in the Cathedral downstair’s halls.

B i s h o p J o hn C . We ste r

The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption

where you were ordained priest May 15, 1976 and where you were ordained bishop September 18, 1998

congratulates you and sends warmest greetings to

The Cathedral of the Madeleine

where you will be installed Ninth Bishop of the Salt Lake City Diocese March 14, 2007

FAREWELL BISHOP WESTER ISSUE

March 2, 2007

Prison ministry a focus for departing bishop

Bishop Wester distributes Communion to an inmate.

During his ministry in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, Bishop John Wester has been active in programs and out-reach efforts for the incarcerated. On Jan. 14 he was honored by the St. Vincent de Paul Society’s Catherine’s Center, a ministry assisting women leaving imprisonment sponsored by the St. Vincent De Paul Society of San Mateo County. “Bishop Wester has been very supportive of Catherine Center and has a very special place in his heart for the incarcerated and the recently released,” said Ed Watson, SVdP president of San Mateo County. “He has spent many a Christmas

Day and Easter Sunday saying Mass at San Quentin and San Mateo County jails.” Ray McKeon, former director of Detention Ministry for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, often accompanied Bishop Wester to visit inmates at San Francisco’s downtown jail facilities. “He just wanted to be with people who are in need and in pain,” McKeon said. “Knowing him has touched me personally. It was an incredible pleasure.” At the Feb. 20 farewell Mass for Bishop Wester, his prison ministry was recognized, including a statement from Jesuit Father Steve Barber, a chaplain at San Quentin Prison.

Congratulations Bishop Wester From Most Rev. Ignatius C. Wang And Staff Of The Pontifical Mission Aid Societies On your installation as the Bishop of Salt Lake City, Utah



  

The Society for the Propagation of the Faith Holy Childhood Association One Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco, CA 94109 (415) 614-5670 FAX (415) 614-5671 E-Mail: spof@archdiocese.org

The Sisters of the Presentation San Francisco Wish

Bishop John C. Wester Heartfelt thanks and appreciation for his dedicated service and friendship throughout the years Our blessings and prayers go with you always.

March 2, 2007

FAREWELL BISHOP WESTER ISSUE

To Bishop John WITH GRATITUDE FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE SUPPORTED YOUR MINISTRY FOR SO MANY YEARS and

To the Diocese of Salt Lake City WITH OUR DEEP APPRECIATION FOR YOUR WARM WELCOME AS HE MAKES UTAH HIS NEW HOME

Annabelle Groh, Eileen Wagner, Geraldine Burbank

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FAREWELL BISHOP WESTER ISSUE

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Bishop Wester reflects on his ministry â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Thank you one and all for giving me a good startâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; My Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ: On Wednesday, March 14, I will be installed as the ninth Bishop of Salt Lake City. This is an exciting moment in my life of service to the Church, a moment filled with expectation, hope, joy and a fair amount of sadness as well. The sadness stems from leaving this place I have called home for 56 years. I have a deep love and appreciation for all those who make up this wonderful Archdiocese. I left home at the age of 13 to enter the minor seminary in 1964. I never dreamed I would be going through the same thing all over again, albeit a bit older this time! Yet, here I go! Of course, this sadness is attenuated by the wonderful and welcoming people of Salt Lake City. It is also made easier by the fact that I take you, the priests, religious, deacons and their wives, and the faithful of the Archdiocese, with me to Utah. In a very real way, because you have done so much to help me grow as a person and as a bishop, you will accompany me in my ministry to the people of my new diocese. All that you have given me and shared with me will manifest itself in my interaction with the new community of faith I am called to serve. I take great consolation in this fact and I am filled with gratitude for all you have done to reflect Christâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s light in my life. It would be next to impossible to Bishop John C. Wester chronicle the past 56 years that form the fabric of my life here in the beautiful Bay Area, and particularly in â&#x20AC;&#x153;the City.â&#x20AC;? The sacramental celebrations, relationships, events, highlights, projects, gatherings and assignments I have been privileged to experience these past 56 years form a kaleidoscope of memories that will give life to my ongoing ministry and serve to strengthen me as I assume new responsibilities. Each time I turn the lens of my mindâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eye, I view a variety of people who have made me who I am, an endless series of celebrations and gatherings that cascade through the years. And even though these thoughts may seem disparate and unrelated, it is clearer to me than ever that a Divine Providence has been guiding each moment, each step along the way. I thank God and I thank you, the people of this Archdiocese, for those moments, memories and steps.

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There are some symbolic memories that I recall which seem to represent all the others. First and foremost, I think of those gatherings around the altar of the Lord. The gift of celebrating Sunday Eucharist throughout the Archdiocese has been a great grace for me. Experiencing first hand the faith of our people has truly inspired me and helped my own faith to grow. When I see various pictures of the parishes in the Pastoral Center, I often say to myself, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been there. Those are really great people.â&#x20AC;? I still remember the first Confirmation I celebrated at St. Cecilia on Saturday, Sept. 19, 1998 and my last scheduled Confirmation a few Sundays ago on Feb. 11 at St. Philip the Apostle. These Confirmations and all those in-between are enduring memories of burgeoning faith, steady hope and genuine love. And to all those I confirmed, I remind you not to forget to tell your sponsor just how much he or she means to you, even now! There are so many other wonderful eucharistic celebrations that come to mind: anniversaries, pastor installations, patronal feast days, ordinations, graduations, and so many more. Of course, I will always cherish concelebrating the Eucharist with the Archbishop in St. Mary Cathedral, joined by our brother priests, deacons, the lay faithful and the religious of the Archdiocese. These were transcendent moments when Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grace filled us

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;All that you have given me and shared with me will manifest itself in my interaction with the new community of faith I am called to serve.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; deeply in the unfolding of ritual, prayer and music. Most of these liturgies were exuberant expressions of joy though in some the joy was muted as we raised our prayers through tears, expressing the hope we all have for the fullness of Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Kingdom. In particular, I will always be grateful for the support and consolation my family and I received at my fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s funeral Mass in August of 1999. I have been gifted with wonderful people in my assignments and residencies: St. Raphael, Marin Catholic High School, the Pastoral Center, Mission Dolores, St. Thomas the Apostle, St. Stephen, St. Peter in Pacifica and St. Cecilia in San Francisco. Each community of faith has given me more than I could ever give. And to each I will be forever grateful. I will always be grateful for the rich ethnic diversity that graces this Archdiocese. I cherish the Kava Ceremony I was privileged to join with the Tongans at St. Timothy. I am still awed and fascinated by the beautiful ceremony honoring the Vietnamese Martyrs and the ceremony that pays tribute to the Chinese ancestors. I recall with fondness the Simbang Gabi Masses sponsored by our Filipino parishioners. I will never forget the many pilgrimages from All Souls to the Cathedral in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, joined by almost REFLECTION, page W14

SAINT THOMAS MORE thank BISHOP WESTER for lovingly sharing his ministry as Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco and wish him the best in his new Ministry at Salt Lake City. We will surely miss him here in San Francisco. Fathers Labib Kobti, Andrew Johnson and Rick Van De Water And STM Ethnic Communities

Congratulations and Best Wishes Bishop John C. Wester Bishop of Salt Lake City Dennis H. Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Hara One Market, Spear Tower #200 San Francisco, CA 94105 Ph: 800-877-9300 CA License #0726293

Wish to express their gratitude and thanks to The Most Reverend John C. Wester And wish him Godspeed and success in Salt Lake City.

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FAREWELL BISHOP WESTER ISSUE

March 2, 2007

‘He’ll always be John, the boy we raised’ By Tom Burke Helen Wester, mom of new Salt Lake City Bishop John Wester, sees her son’s appointment as a continuing of his vocation. She’s a bit sad that he’ll be farther away from her than he’s ever been before but “acceptance,” at least of God’s will, is a vital element of life, she said. “That’s the biggest thing in life acceptance,” Mrs. Wester told Catholic San Francisco in the dining room of the Daly City home where she and her late husband, Charles, raised Bishop Wester and his siblings, Nancy, Barry and Kathy. “My own mother said that we need to accept things and leave them in God’s hands.” “The eight years of John’s being a bishop have been very fulfilling for me,” Mrs. Wester said. “Just watching him grow in his vocation has been such a gift.” Mrs. Wester confessed she and her husband had been somewhat uneasy with their son’s wanting to enter the seminary from eighth grade. “We thought he should go to St. Ignatius and then enter,” she said with a chuckle. Bishop Wester’s elevation to the episcopate in 1998 has not changed the person she has known as baby, boy, priest and shepherd, she said. “He’ll always be John, the boy we raised,” she said, proud and at the same time sure. “John has never considered himself a big shot. He’s very humble in his

Bishop Wester, now 56, celebrates his 40th birthday with his mother, Helen, and his late father, Charles.

Bishop John C. Wester

With Prayers and Best Wishes SAN MATEO PRO LIFE P.O. Box 6273, San Mateo, CA 94403 650.341.8188

~ We Thank You ~ ~We Will Miss You ~ ~ We Will Pray For You ~ Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Redwood City

Congratulations and Best Wishes

Bishop John C. Wester AUFER’S

RELIGIOUS SUPPLIES

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vocation. That’s how he approaches everything – with humility.” Bishop Wester is much busier than ever before, his mom, who speaks with him nearly everyday, is ready to admit. “I don’t know how he fits everything in,” she said. “It’s amazing to me how he does it all and does it with such a happy outlook. He loves people. He has always loved people even as a little kid.” Mrs. Wester will, of course, be present for her son’s installation March 14 as the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, a see that encompasses all of Utah. “I’ll be there for eight days or so and I’m certain I’ll be going back,” she said. “The diocese is also part of the San Francisco Province, so John’s told me he’ll probably be back here for meetings and things.” Bishop Wester’s dad, Charles, who died in August 1999, will not be far in spirit from the installation rites or his son’s ministry, Mrs. Wester said. “I see his dad in John a lot. He was a very strong influence to do the right thing. He believed in his convictions. The kids were very fond of their dad.” The bishop additionally shares his mom’s devotion to the Blessed Mother, she said. “I’m looking forward to this in so many ways,” Mrs. Wester said. “It’s exciting to see John move into a new part of his life. For him I am very happy.” “John will adjust,” his mom said. “He relies on the Lord and whatever is sent his way he accepts.”

Farewell Bishop John Wester, May God’s Blessings be with you as you begin a new chapter in your pastoral ministry.

Saint Veronica Church & School South San Francisco

March 2, 2007

FAREWELL BISHOP WESTER ISSUE

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;I will always be grateful for the rich ethnic diversity that graces the Archdiocese,â&#x20AC;? writes Bishop Wester in his message of farewell. At the 16th Annual Chinese dinner on Feb. 9, at left Bishop Wester is greeted by Sister Maria Hsu, FdCC, director of the Ethnic Ministries Office; and above he is pictured with, from left: Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius Wang and entertainers Wilson Yau and Rufina Wu. Bishop Wester is wearing his new, elegant jacket of cotton and silk, a farewell gift from the Chinese community.

St. Dunstan Parish

Congratulations

would like to express heartfelt thanks and appreciation to

from

Bishop John Wester

Bishop Daniel F. Walsh,

for many years of dedicated service to the Archdiocese of San Francisco. You will be missed. God bless you as you begin your new assignment as Bishop of Salt Lake City.

BISHOP WESTER Immaculate Conception Academy

the clergy, religious and

will miss you

the faithful of the Diocese of Santa Rosa

God Bless You!

The Most Reverend Thomas G. Doran and the Clergy, Religious and Laity of the Diocese of Rockford offer prayers and best wishes to The Most Reverend John C. Wester

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FAREWELL BISHOP WESTER ISSUE

March 2, 2007

Reflection . . . ■ Continued from page W11 all of the ethnic groups in the Bay Area. I relish the Korean meals I have enjoyed at St. Michael Parish. There are many other groups who have welcomed me and made to feel at home and to them all I express profound gratitude. I deeply appreciate the women and men religious in our Archdiocese who have supported me with their prayers, encouraged me with their wise counsel and included me in their celebrations. I have learned a great deal from their valiant dedication to the Gospel and the way they live their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. I have always been grateful for the presence of our excellent seminary at St. Patrick in Menlo Park. Each year I have admired the seminarians for their faithfulness to the call they have discerned from Christ himself to follow him. I will never be able to thank sufficiently the Sulpician Fathers for the formation they gave me and my classmates. And speaking of my classmates, I will always cherish them, my brothers from the ordination class of 1976. We shared a lot in the seminary and beyond. Two from our class have already gone to the Lord and I know they are praying for the rest of us in a very specific way. In a very particular way, I express my thanks to my brother priests. It has been a singular privilege to serve them as Vicar for Clergy these past nine and a half years. Their selfless commitment to Christ and the generous way they serve the people of God have helped to form my own priesthood and direct my response to Christ, the great high priest. We have laughed, cried, grown and prayed together as brothers in the Lord. In many cases, I have known them since my days in the seminary and will never cease to thank God for their example and guidance. I have had the honor of serving three archbishops in my years here as priest and bishop. Each has taught me more than I could have dreamed possible — partly because I had a lot to learn but mostly that they are such exemplary men. I am grateful for their example and hope to imitate them as much as possible in my new ministry in Salt Lake City. It will not be easy leaving my family. Mom, my brother Barry, my two sisters, Nancy and Kathy, my brother-in-law Terry and my nephews and nieces are very close to me and will remain so, despite the 735 miles that will separate us. The same is true for all of my “family” in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. I feel very close to you all and will no

“I deeply appreciate the women and men religious in our Archdiocese who have supported me with their wise counsel and included me in their celebrations,” states Bishop John Wester in his letter to the Archdiocese. On Jan. 8 shortly after the announcement he had been named ninth bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, the bishop visited the Carmelite nuns at the monastery of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Holladay, Utah, accompanied by Msgr. Terrence Fitzgerald(above right), Salt Lake administrator and vicar general. There are Sisters from Puerto Rico, Vietnam, Salt Lake City and California. Two were members of the founding group of Sisters who arrived in Salt Lake City in the 1950s.

doubt experience some anxiety in saying goodbye. I remember an excerpt from T. S. Eliot’s “Little Gidding” in which he writes, “We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” I am embarking on an exploration as I leave for Utah and I have a premonition that I will be visiting my starting place for many years to come. And I take comfort in the fact that not only will I take you with me, I will be encountering you again, as if for

the first time. Thank you one and all for giving me a good start. Let us pray for one another on the journey.

Most Reverend John C. Wester Auxiliary Bishop, Archdiocese of San Francisco Bishop-designate, Diocese of Salt Lake City

St. Gabriel Church 2559-40th Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94116 (415) 731-6161

“Bishop Wester, Congratulations and thanks for being a friend for so many years to St. Gabriel Parish and School. The prayers of our community go with you to Salt Lake City!”

S AINT S TEPHEN PARISH & SCHOOL in saying fond farewell to

BISHOP JOHN WESTER

The Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Van Nuys & Our churches in the Bay Area extend you farewell wishes.

wish him all God’s Blessings in his new ministry to the people of the Diocese of Salt Lake City.

Bishop John, we wish you well in your new appointment. God grant you many years in peace health & happiness!

Thanks for the memories!

Bishop of the Eparchy of Van Nuys

Most Reverend William C. Skurla

Phoenix, Arizona

Congratulations Bishop Wester on your appointment as Bishop of Salt Lake City. We are grateful for your many years of service and extend our heartfelt prayers and best wishes to you. Vaya con Dios! Evelyn Nordberg - Principal, Faculty, Staff, & Students St. Timothy School - San Mateo

March 2, 2007

FAREWELL BISHOP WESTER ISSUE

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Farewell Bishop Wester! St. Anthony Dining Room volunteers and staff will remember your humble service to our guests with appreciation and honor. We wish you well in your new diocese.

www.stanthonysf.org

Congratulations Bishop Wester on being appointed shepherd of the Catholic communities of Utah May the prayers of your people bless you and the beauty of Utah inspire you!

Dear Bishop Wester, Our prayers and good wishes go with you as you begin your new ministry in the Diocese of Salt Lake City

The Parish of St. Catherine of Siena, Burlingame

Your friends at Vallombrosa Retreat Center

Congratulations and Prayerful Best Wishes

Bishop John C. Wester on your appointment as the Ninth Bishop of Salt Lake City THE COMMUNICATIONS STAFF OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF SAN FRANCISCO

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FAREWELL BISHOP WESTER ISSUE

March 2, 2007

Parishioners express appreciation for ‘a great bishop’ By Tom Burke SAN FRANCISCO – When asked – and sometimes even without being approached — persons attending the Feb. 20 “Mass of Gratitude and Farewell for Bishop John Wester” at St. Mary’s Cathedral were universal in their appreciation for the man they have known as friend, pastor, teacher, counselor, administrator and even pilgrimage leader. On her way to the Mass, Mildred Lee, a parishioner of Church of the Visitacion Parish in San Francisco, commented, “I’m here to honor Bishop Wester and say goodbye. He’s been a great bishop. I’ve been very impressed with him.” Lee is the aunt of Father Thomas Daly, archdiocesan vocations director and president of Marin Catholic High School. Several other persons attending the Mass shared their thoughts with Catholic San Francisco: Deacon Roy Twitty, St. Catherine of Sienna Parish, Burlingame, was one of six deacons of the Archdiocese who assisted in seating the 2,000-member assembly at the farewell Mass. “Bishop Wester was present for my wife, Mary’s, funeral five years ago and he is a great supporter of deacons. I’ve come here to support him at this time. I wish him well. My prayers are with him. I will really miss him.” Rosemary Bellan of St. Sebastian Parish, Kentfield, is co-director of the docent program at St. Mary’s Cathedral and was in uniform to assist at the farewell Mass. “Bishop Wester is very well versed on many subjects and sensitive to issues,” she said. Joanna Ilaoa is a member of the Samoan community at Our Lady of Lourdes/All Hallows Parish, San Francisco. “The ethnic groups are helping sponsor this Mass today and I am here in that capacity. Bishop Wester is a very good speaker and has touched my heart. We’ll really miss him.” Garrick and Elizabeth Law are of Burmese descent and parishioners of St. Stephen Parish in San Francisco where Bishop Wester was pastor from 1993 – 97. “We are happy to say we know Bishop Wester,” Mrs. Law said. “He has been very special to us. We remember the blessing he gave us at our 25th anniversary Mass in 1995. We will miss him very much.” Members of St. Cecilia Parish, San Francisco, Maureen

Ecumenical, inter-faith presence at farewell Mass outstanding Nearly 20 Christian denominations, faiths and interreligious organizations were represented at the Feb. 20 farewell Mass celebrated at St. Mary’s Cathedral for Bishop John Wester, many of whom took part in the liturgy’s opening procession. His Eminence, Metropolitan Gerasimos, represented the California Greek Orthodox Diocese as did Father Dimitrios Cantos, its chancellor. Rabbi Harry Manhoff of the Northern California Board of Rabbis was present on behalf of the Jewish community as was Rabbi Stephen Pearce, Congregation Emanu-El. Muslim representatives included Iftekhar Hai of the United Muslims of America. Others present included Rev. Jan Cazden, Episcopal chaplain, St. Luke Hospital; Rev. James Delange, chair, San Francisco Interfaith Commission; Sister Mary Friedland, Brahma Kumaris; Dr. P.T. Mammen, San Francisco Association of Evangelicals; Bishop David Mullan, Sierra Pacific Synod, ELCA; Rita Semel, executive director, San Francisco Interfaith Council; Camilla Smith, NCCJ-LDS Mormon Church; Rev. Heng Sure, director of Berkeley Zen Monastery; Bishop William Swing of the United Religious Initiative; and Rev. Paul Chaffee, executive director, Interfaith Center at the Presidio. and Frank Petiti said they had taken part in pilgrimages with Bishop Wester. “We’ve been on pilgrimages with Bishop Wester to Rome and Fatima and are very glad to have gotten to know him,” Mrs. Petiti said. “He is very uplifting,” Mr. Petiti added. Two other St. Cecilia members, Gene and Dale Gard, have also traveled with Bishop Wester on pilgrimages to

Europe. “Bishop Wester was very nice to Gene,” Mrs. Gard said. “He said a Mass for him before Gene underwent serious surgery.” “I think his prayers saved my life,” Mr. Gard nodded. Nelly Salem, a member of St. Thomas More Parish in San Francisco, stated, “I know Bishop Wester from my earlier membership at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Daly City where he grew up. I love him dearly. He is adorable.” Missionaries of Charity Sisters attended the Mass in great number. “Bishop Wester has been just like our father,” one of the Sisters said not wishing to give her name. “He is always there when we need him. We can count on him at anytime.” Matthew Hysell of St. Benedict Parish for the Deaf in San Francisco, said, “I first met Bishop Wester during my three years as a seminarian at St. Patrick’s in Menlo Park. I know personally that Bishop Wester has always made time for people who needed to see him.” “Bishop Wester was a member of my staff when I became superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of San Francisco 20 years ago,” said Dominican Sister Glenn Anne McPhee, now chancellor for the Diocese of Oakland. “He is the best there is – concerned about people, present to people. He is incredible. I’m sure going to miss him, but I’m delighted for him. I wish him the very best in all the world and hope he comes back often to visit.” Bill and Chris Hansen have known Bishop Wester since his earliest days as a priest and his assignment to St. Raphael Parish in San Rafael where they are members. “Our third child, Damien Joseph Hansen, was his first baptism as a priest 30 years ago and we’ve been friends ever since,” Mrs. Hansen said. “He is like our brother,” Mr. Hansen said. “We love him.” Dominican Sister Leonarda Montealto, principal of Colma’s Holy Angels Elementary School, observed, “We are here to be with Bishop Wester, to pray with him, and wish him the best in his new assignment. He’s been very cordial and very helpful in a lot of ways.” Claudia and Bill Young are parishioners of Our Lady of Loretto in Novato. “I’d follow Bishop Wester to the ends of the earth,” Mrs. Young said. “I love to hear him preach. I think he’s awesome.”

W e extend our farewell and best wishes to

Bishop Wester,

Most Reverend John C. Wester,

To Bishop John Wester

as you depart to become the 9 th Bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake.

The staff of the

California Catholic Conference

Prayers & Best Wishes from the Priests and People of St. Pius, Redwood City

wishes you Farewell and Godspeed in your new assignment as

Bishop of Salt Lake City THE JESUIT RETREAT CENTER

LOS ALTOS

Congratulations to Dear Bishop Wester, May the love of Christ you have demonstrated in your service to the Archdiocese of San Francisco be returned to you in many ways. As a parish community, we join you in prayer for happiness in your new appointment. It is our prayer that the rich blessings of our loving Lord continue to be with you. Mater Dolorosa Church and School

BISHOP JOHN C. WESTER THE JESUIT COMMUNITY AND STAFF AT THE JESUIT RETREAT CENTER OF LOS ALTOS

wish you many blessings and prayers, on your new mission as the 9th Bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City

Bishop William K. Weigand Bishop Emeritus Francis A. Quinn Retired Bishop Joseph Madera Clergy, Religious, and People of God of the Diocese of Sacramento

Congratulations and Best Wishes

Bishop John C. Wester!!! The parish community of HOLY NAME OF JESUS CHURCH

FAREWELL BISHOP WESTER ISSUE

March 2, 2007

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Bishop John C. Wester ‘factoids’ Friends, relatives, and co-workers have shared insights into Bishop John C. Wester that are unlikely to be found in his curriculum vitae:

Bishop Wester, an accomplished pianist, at the keyboard with his nephew, Robert Barbi. ●

Bishop Wester serves guests at St. Anne’s Home, San Francisco.

●

He is a fan of practical jokes.

●

He loves to laugh.

●

He started a reading club at St. Stephen Parish in San Francisco with classical novels discussed weekly.

●

He likes poker, crossword puzzles and Sudoku.

●

He has been known to become extremely emotional when catching a big fish and yells at ear-piercing levels: “Get the net, get the net.”

●

He enjoys high-tech gadgetry.

He plays the piano and violin.

●

He has a nephew named after him, “John O’Sullivan.”

●

He is colorblind and dabbles in electrical repair – it’s believed he broke his reported “lights out” record of one to “a few more” these past few years.

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He loves to cook. Pasta is his specialty – the more garlic the better!

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His pesto sauce remains a secret.

●

He believes he will master the game of golf – someday.

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He thinks he is a chef but friends think of him as a cook.

●

He loves carpentry work.

●

He plays racquetball once a week.

THE KNIGHTS AND LADIES OF THE NORTHWESTERN LIEUTENANCY OF THE

The Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley

Congratulations

AUXILIARY BISHOP JOHN C. WESTER on his appointment as Bishop of Salt Lake City

EQUESTRIAN ORDER OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE OF JERUSALEM WISH AD MULTOS ANNOS TO

MOST REVEREND JOHN C. WESTER MAY OUR LADY OF PALESTINE BLESS YOUR MINISTRY IN UTAH.

The Jesuit School is the only Ecclesiastical Faculty of Theology in the Western U.S. accredited by the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education to grant degrees in the name of the Pope, training religious and lay leaders for ministry in today’s Church.

Together, let us kindle faith and justice in the world. The Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley is a member ofthe Graduate Theological Union 1735 Le Roy Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94709 + 510-549-5000 + www.jstb.edu

The people of Serving the Archdiocese of San Francisco

Most Holy Redeemer wish peace and blessing to

Congratulates Bishop John C. Wester on his appointment as the Bishop of Salt Lake City

Bishop John Wester

For printing information call 714-237-0980 1130 Hawk CircleAnaheim, CA 92807 E-mail: rod@progressiveusa.com

and the fortunate people of Utah.

W18

FAREWELL BISHOP WESTER ISSUE

March 2, 2007

New ‘coat of arms’ adds elements of Salt Lake crest Bishop John C. Wester’s coat of arms will be undergoing a change of design as he becomes the new bishop of the Salt Lake City Diocese. Known more accurately as the bishop’s “heraldic achievement,” the new coat of arms will incorporate aspects of the Salt Lake City Diocese’s crest. Original elements of Bishop Wester’s coat of arms will be retained and moved to the righthand side (as viewed from the front) — the heart surrounded by thorns and surmounted by flames, the traditional symbol of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; the red rose, or rosette, an ancient symbol of Mary, the Mystical Rose; and the Scriptures opened to the first words of the Gospel of St. John the Evangelist, Bishop Wester’s patron saint. On the visual left side of the new coat of arms will be an ancient sailing ship – an image that dominates the Salt Lake City Diocese’s crest. According to diocesan officials, that symbol dates to Bishop Lawrence Scanlan, the first bishop of Salt Lake City. The star in the diocesan crest itself is a symbol from the crest of Pope Leo XIII who established the diocese in 1891. Joining the two symbols creates a sailing vessel being guided by a star, the star representing the light of Christ.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus symbol in both the old and new renditions of Bishop Wester’s coat of arms represents his personal devotion to the Sacred Heart and his reliance on Christ’s ineffable and unfathomable love. It was on Friday, June 19, 1998, the Feast of the Sacred Heart, that Bishop Wester received news of the Holy Father’s call to become a bishop. Devotion to Mary, the Mother of God, has deep roots in his family – which often recited the rosary — and childhood parish formation at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Daly City where he attended grammar school. The pronounced use of blue and green give witness to Bishop Wester’s Swedish and Irish heritage, and so honors his father and mother, Charles and Helen, the first teachers of their son in the ways of faith and love. Bishop Wester’s motto, “Abide in Christ,” continues in the new “episcopal achievement” and also honors the Evangelist of the Fourth Gospel and is taken from Jesus’ discourse at the Last Supper, John 15:4, “Abide in me, as I abide in you.” The coat of arms also includes the traditional symbols of a bishop: the gold processional cross behind the shield, the pontifical hat, or “gallero,” and the six tassels in green, placed in three rows.

We Only Send the Best!

Bishop Wester’s first coat of arms.

Salt Lake City’s Diocese’s Crest

“The Community of St. Patrick’s

Congratulations to

Seminary & University

Bishop John Wester

thanks you for your

on his appointment to the

leadership, commitment to

Diocese of Salt Lake City.

priestly formation and prayer-

Love and prayers from all the members of

ful support.

Saint Monica’s Church.

Our prayers go with you.” 320 Middlefield Road Menlo Park, Ca 94025 650-325-5621

Bishop Wester To Bishop John Wester From where you began your priestly ministry we wish you many blessings as you begin your new ministry as the Bishop of Salt Lake City The Parish Community of Saint Raphael Church & Mission San Rafael Archangel San Rafael, CA

We send you our love, thanks and best wishes.

The Saint Robert Community hope you enjoy your new ministry!

BISHOP JOHN C. WESTER CONGRATULATIONS & BEST WISHES Affordable Solutions Funeral and Cremation Services

March 2, 2007

“Be Not Afraid...”

FAREWELL BISHOP WESTER ISSUE

W19

Our Prayers and Best Wishes to

Proverbs 3, 25, 26

BISHOP JOHN WESTER Phone 415•567•2293

Good Shepherd With our Prayers & Best Wishes Bishop John C. Wester

SAN FRANCISCO Congratulations, Prayers and Good Wishes

Bishop Wester from the thanks BISHOP JOHN C. WESTER for his long service in San Francisco, and wishes him a happy sojourn among our friends as the 9th Bishop of Salt Lake City, with great warmth and looking forward to his success. We know the Salt Lake City LDS community looks forward to welcoming him there.

G OOD S HEPHERD S CHOOL wishes The Most Reverend John C. Wester the greatest success on his appointment as the Bishop of Salt Lake City. We pray that his faith, intellect, leadership, and goodwill will bless the Diocese of Salt Lake City. May God bless him in his new position.

Board of Directors, Staff and Sisters of the Good Shepherd Providing prevention, protection and rehabilitation in San Francisco since 1932

Prayers and best wishes to Bishop John Wester as 9th Bishop of Salt Lake City

The Auxiliary of Little Children’s Aid 100 years of volunteer service to the children of S. F. A support to Catholic Charities CYO Membership? Call Carmelita Arburua: (415) 386-3243

With love & prayers from the clergy, staff and parishioners of your home parish in Westlake!

Many Thanks and Continued Blessings For Your Years of Service to San Francisco

Our Lady of Mercy Parish One Elmwood Drive Daly City, CA 94015 www.olmcath.org

From Rev. Paul Warren and the Staff of St. Teresa’s Church

WITH THANKS FOR YOUR MINISTRY IN OUR MIDST

One Trinity Way, P.O. Box 6166 San Rafael, California 94903 (415) 479-1560

Bishop Wester, With Prayers and Best Wishes,

Sisters of the Holy Names

With prayers and gratitude for your service... and friendship! of Jesus and Mary

Congratulations and Best Wishes to the ninth

Bishop of Salt Lake City Bishop John C. Wester from

St. Peter Parish Community 700 Oddstad Blvd., Pacifica, CA 94044

San Francisco County Council of Catholic Women Margaret McAuliffe, President San Mateo County Council of Catholic Women Carol Gianuario, President

Congratulations & God’s Blessings! Bishop John C. Wester Fr. Alex L. Legaspi, Fr. Dominardor R. Corrales, the Staff and Parishioners of

~ God bless you, Bishop Wester ~

St. Isabella’s Parish Community

San Francisco Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women Gloria Kryzyanowski, President

On your appointment as Bishop of Salt Lake City

ST. TERESA OF AVILA CHURCH 390 MISSOURI STREET SAN FRANCISCO, CA. 94107

Church of St. Isabella

Upon his appointment as the ninth Bishop of Salt Lake City

The Church of St. Vincent de Paul San Francisco, California

East Palo Alto wishes you well, B ISHOP J OHN .

Congratulations, Felicidades, Fakamonuia Atu, from all of us at St. Francis of Assisi Church

St. Andrew Catholic Church 1571 Southgate Avenue Daly City, CA 94015 Wish you all the best. You’ll be missed!

W20

FAREWELL BISHOP WESTER ISSUE

March 2, 2007

Beloved

most Reverend John C. Wester

Our love, prayers and memories go with you. Enjoy Salt Lake City but leave your heart in San Francisco.

Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery The Catholic Cemeteries | Archdiocese of San Francisco Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery Santa Cruz Ave. @ Avy Ave., Menlo Park, CA 650-323-6375

Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery 1500 Mission Road, Colma, CA 650-756-2060

Mt. Olivet Catholic Cemetery 270 Los Ranchitos Road, San Rafael, CA 415-479-9020

A Tradition of Faith Throughout Our Lives.