July 10, 2009

(CNS PHOTO/L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO VIA CATHOLIC PRESS PHOTO)

Pope Benedict XVI signs a copy of his encyclical, “Caritas in Veritate” (“Charity in Truth”), at the Vatican July 6. The social encyclical, released July 7, addresses the global economic crisis.

Catholic san Francisco Newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco

In new encyclical, Pope Benedict says moral values must be part of economic recovery, development The global dimension of the financial crisis is an expression of the moral failure of greedy financiers and investors, of the lack of oversight by national governments and of a lack of understanding that the global economy required internationally recognized global control, Pope Benedict said.

“In the face of the unrelenting growth of global interdependence, there is a strongly felt need, even in the midst of a global recession, for a reform of the United Nations organization, and likewise of economic institutions and international finance, so that the concept of the family of nations can acquire real teeth,” the pope wrote.

“To manage the global economy; to revive economies hit by the crisis; to avoid any deterioration of the present crisis and the greater imbalances that would result; to bring about integral and timely disarmament, food security and peace; to guarantee the protection of the environment and to regulate migration: for all this, there is urgent need of a true world political authority,” he said.

Pope Benedict insisted that the idea of the world’s richest nations scaling back development aid while focusing on their ENCYCLICAL, page 3

By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Ethical values are needed to overcome the current global economic crisis as well as to eradicate hunger and promote the real development of all the world’s peoples, Pope Benedict XVI said in his new encyclical, “Caritas in Veritate” (“Charity in Truth”), released at the Vatican July 7.

The truth that God is the creator of human life, that every life is sacred, that the earth was given to humanity to use and protect and that God has a plan for each person must be respected in development programs and in economic recovery efforts if they are to have real and lasting benefits, the pope said.

Charity, or love, is not an option for Christians, he said, and “practicing charity in truth helps people understand that adhering to the values of Christianity is not merely useful, but essential for building a good society and for true integral development,” he wrote.

In addressing the global economic crisis and the enduring poverty of the world’s poorest countries, he said, “the primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is man, the human person in his or her integrity.”

Remote India diocese links in spiritual partnership with San Francisco Archdiocese The bishop of the Diocese of Miao in the remote northeast corner of India is visiting the Archdiocese of San Francisco to advance a budding partnership between the two Catholic communities – one just four years old and growing rapidly, the other seen from the bishop’s perspective as “one of the greatest and well-established dioceses in the Catholic world.”

Bishop PK George is visiting as a guest of Archbishop George H. Niederauer and meeting with local Catholics who are interested in playing a part in a sister diocese relationship, including members of the Indian Catholic community, representatives of several parishes and members of the broader faith community. At a dinner July 9 at St. Mary’s Cathedral, the bishop was officially welcomed by the San Francisco Interfaith Council.

“This well known diocese can teach us a lot,” the Indian prelate said in an e-mail. “Miao diocese is a very new diocese with very young Catholic communities. Being connected and spiritually united with the community here will enrich us in many ways.

“The universality of the Church itself is a reality that gives much strength to the people out there in Miao,” he said.

“I am sure that my visit will help me to strengthen my own faith and when I

(PHOTO BY RORY DESMOND)

By Rick DelVecchio

Bishop PK George with a family in the Diocese of Miao, India. share my experience with the people, they, too, will gain from it. At the same time I am sure that the Catholics here in San Francisco will also be happy and encouraged to hear that there is a young and vibrant church out there, up in the Himalayas.”

The Miao-San Francisco connection stems from Bishop George’s friend-

ship with Rory Desmond, a Most Holy Redeemer parishioner and former director of parish response for Catholic Charities CYO in San Francisco.

Desmond met the bishop through a Miao diocesan priest who was stationed for three months at St. Anselm Parish in San Anselmo, where parishioners had established an outreach to India that included

children making rosaries by hand and sending them to children in Miao.

Bishop George asked Desmond to serve as his representative in the United States, to acquaint U.S. Catholics with the life and needs of the Church in Miao.

Desmond told Archbishop Niederauer of the opportunity and his desire to go to Miao to broaden the connection between the two communities.

“I supported him in his going there because I thought it was a good thing,” the archbishop told Catholic San Francisco. “It seemed promising to me to make this outreach.”

It is a good thing to recognize what very young Catholic communities are like and to be aware of the universality of the Church, the archbishop said. “I think it’s good for us to realize not that we’re unimportant but that we make up a small part of a larger whole,” he said.

Desmond spent three weeks in Miao in March and was impressed by the vibrancy of Catholic life, which he said was violently repressed as late as the 1990s. The Catholic community has grown from 3,000 worshippers in 1983 to 70,000 today. There are 1,500 baptisms a month, and schools, churches, a cathedral and a seminary are rising in a jungle region that has more rivers than roads.

Catholicism is making inroads among a tribal people whose traditional faith is INDIA, page 15

INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION On the street . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Women religious office . . . . . 6 Special needs ministry . . . . . 7 Exorcist at work . . . . . . 10-11 Archbishop’s journal . . . . . . 12

News in brief: First lady in Russia ~ Pages 4-5 ~ July 10, 2009

Father Damien relic comes to cathedral ~ Page 8 ~

Making faith interactive ~ Page 16 ~

ONE DOLLAR

Scripture and reflection . . . 14 Datebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

NEXT ISSUE JULY 24 VOLUME 11

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No. 22

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Catholic San Francisco

July 10, 2009

On The Where You Live

By Tom Burke Paulist Father Chuck Kullmann presided over the re-raising of the tower bell at Old St. Mary’s Cathedral June 25. More than 50 people crowded the corner at Grant and California for the early-morning event. The last time the hundred-year old chime was on the ground was in 1909 on the day it was first raised to the tower. In 1909 the new bell was part of repairs to OSM from the 1906 Earthquake and the recent re-hoisting follows retrofitting of the church tower in response to the Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1989. Excitement was high among the crowd that included Father Kullmann, SFFD Deputy Chief Pat Gardner, parishioners, Jim Foster and Julie Todd, as well as Paulist Center Bookstore staffer, Anita Mendoza, and bookstore manager, Tim Keller.

Everyone was invited to ring the bell before it went upward. “You only get to do this every 100 years,” Father Kullmann said, drawing laughter from all in attendance. The bell was dedicated in 1909 to SFFD Capt. James Reilly, who was “the church bell-ringer at the time,” Father Kullmann said. The bell event closes phase two of the retrofitting with several phases still to follow. Julie Todd, administrative assistant at the parish for 12 years now, first came to OSM in 1964. It’s where she met her husband of five years, Jim Foster. “I love every minute I’m at Old St. Mary’s, Julie told me. “It’s an honor to work here.” Jim Foster said he “carried away a renewed sense of how Old St. Mary’s is such an integral part of the history of San Francisco.” Now president of the OSM Parish Council, Jim has been a parishioner since 1977 and, like Julie, is in love with the place. “It was wonderful to be a part of history on this truly inspirational day,” said Anita Mendoza, a

Paulist Father Chuck Kullmann with tower bell from Old St. Mary’s Cathedral where he is pastor.

LIVING TRUSTS WILLS ●

●

All Hallows Young Ladies Institute #182 had its annual May Crowning and Living Rosary May 4 at All Hallows Church in San Francisco. From left: Father Tom Hamilton, pastor, St. Gabriel Parish and YLI chaplain; Joanna Ilaoa, Linda Gipson, Alice Guidry, Louise Winterstein, Father Daniel Carter, pastor Our Lady of Lourdes Parish and YLI chaplain, and crown bearer, Alexandra Pate. Alexandra’s grandmother is longtime member of the YLI, Lucy Scarbrough.

parishioner at OSM since the mid-seventies, and a staff member at to Vicki, the priest also spoke of countries with laws prohibiting the bookstore for the last three years. “The bell is essential to the abortion including Ireland and the Philippines and the pressure each community especially to Catholics in its role as a call to worship. gets from political organizations to change their laws in abortion’s It brings tears to my eyes,” the 1978 graduate of Lone Mountain favor…. Forming the small assembly for an Easter Monday College for Women said. Tim Keller has been manager of Old St. Mass in a chapel beneath St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome were Mary Mary’s Paulist Center Bookstore for 11 years. “Everybody digs the Jansen, a Chancery colleague and director of the Office of Young bookstore,” Tim said, noting that its inventory covers all the bases Adult Ministry, Mary’s mom, Martha and aunt, Mary Bender; for gifts including baptism, first Communion, Confirmation, ordi- Eileen Emerson, principal of San Francisco’s DeMarillac nations and priest anniverSchool; Anne Stricherz, saries. At Christmas, the faculty, St. Ignatius bookstore is “Nativity College Preparatory, and central,” he said. “If you Emily Sellars, a friend want something we’ll from Arizona. Father have it or we’ll get it for Jim Sheehan, a colyou,” he said. “We do a lege friend of Eileen’s lot of special ordering. from the Archdiocese It’s a bit of a specialty of Newark, presided. with us.” The bookstore Surprise prayer partner phone number is (415) was Andrew Spyrow, 288-3844. OSM’s main a seminarian studying number is (415) 288for the Archdiocese of Father Tom Euteneuer with San Mateo County ProLife’s Geri 3800….San Mateo Pro San Francisco at St. Travaskis, left, Jessica Munn and Vicki McNamara.

Life welcomed Father Patrick’s Seminary and Tom Euteneuer for Mass University in Menlo Park. and a talk on “The Global Pro-Life Mission: Victories and Andrew, also on-tour of the Eternal City, just happened along in Challenges” June 16 at St. Matthew Parish in San Mateo. Father search of a Mass in English…. This is an empty space without Euteneuer is president of Human Life International and gives you. Send items via e-mail to burket@sfarchdiocese.org and by more than 150 talks around the nation each year. “More than 100 ground to “Street,” One Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco 94109. people attended,” said Vicki McNamara of San Mateo Pro Life. Electronic photos should be jpegs at 300 dpi. No zip files, please.

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July 10, 2009

Catholic San Francisco

Encyclical brings moral guidance to global economy, politics, environment

n Continued from cover

own economic recovery overlooked the long-term economic benefits of solidarity and not simply the human and Christian moral obligation to help the poor.

“In the search for solutions to the current economic crisis, development aid for poor countries must be considered a valid means of creating wealth for all,” the pope said.

The economic growth of poorer countries and their citizens’ demands for consumer goods actually benefit producers in the world’s wealthier nations, he said.

The pope said that “more economically developed nations should do all they can to allocate larger portions of their gross domestic product to development aid,” respecting the obligations they made to the U.N. Millennium Development Goals aimed at significantly reducing poverty by 2015.

Pope Benedict said food and water are the “universal rights of all human beings without distinction or discrimination” and are part of the basic right to life.

He also said that being pro-life means being pro-development, especially given the connection between poverty and infant mortality, and that the only way to promote the true development of people is to promote a culture in which every human life is welcomed and valued.

“The acceptance of life strengthens moral fiber and makes people capable of mutual help,” he said.

He said the environment, life, sexuality, marriage and social relations are inextricably united.

If society does not respect human life from its conception to its natural end, “if human conception, gestation and birth are made artificial, if human embryos are sacrificed to research, the conscience of society ends up losing the concept of human ecology and, along with it, that of environmental ecology,” he said.

Development programs and offers of aid that encourage coercive population-control methods and the promotion of abortion do not have the good of people at heart and limit the recipients’ motivation to become actors in their own development and progress, the pope said.

In addition, he said, an anti-life mentality in the world’s richest countries is related to the lack of concern for the poor.

“How can we be surprised by the indifference shown toward situations of human degradation when such indifference extends even to our attitude toward what is and is not human?” the pope asked.

“While the poor of the world continue knocking on the doors of the rich, the world of affluence runs the risk of no longer hearing those knocks on account of a conscience that can no longer distinguish what is human,” he said.

Pope Benedict also emphasized church teaching that making money and being wealthy are not sins, but that the way the money is made and the way it is used can be.

The encyclical condemned corruption, the exploitation of workers, the destruction of the environment, the continuing practice of wealthy nations imposing such high tariffs on imports that they shut poor countries out of the international marketplace and, especially, an “excessive zeal” for enforcing patents, especially on medications that could save the

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Head of U.S. bishops’ Conference praises encyclical message

Pope Benedict affixes his signature to his third encyclical, “Caritas Veritate.”

lives of thousands of poor people if they were available at a reasonable cost.

Pope Benedict called for “a profoundly new way of understanding business,” which recognizes that investors are not a company’s only stakeholders, no matter how the business is structured and financed.

Employees, those who produce the raw materials, people who live in the communities where the company is based, where its products originate and where its products are sold all have a stake in the business, the pope said.

He also said that investing always has a moral as well as an economic significance.

“What should be avoided is a speculative use of financial resources that yields to the temptation of seeking only shortterm profit without regard for the long-term sustainability of the enterprise, its benefit to the real economy and attention to the advancement – in suitable and appropriate ways – of further economic initiatives in countries in need of development,” he said.

Ed. Note: Read the full text of the papal encyclical, “Caritas in Veritate,” at www.vatican.va, and find related information at www.catholic-sf.org, www.sfarchdiocese.org and www.usccb.org.

The encyclical also can be found in Origins, the Catholic News Service Documentary Service, Vol. 39, No. 9. Print and electronic versions can be ordered by calling 202-541-3290.

Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said “Caritas in Veritate,” Pope Benedict XVI’s new encyclical, provides helpful guidance for finding answers to the social, economic and moral questions of the contemporary world in a search for truth.

He commented July 7, when Pope Benedict released his third papal encyclical. In Charity in Truth, the pontiff analyzes the current global economic crisis in light of traditional moral principles – affirming the progress that has been made in world development, yet noting that other challenges exist given newly emerging problems in the global society.

Cardinal George said the encyclical offers sound reflections on the vocation of human development as well as on the moral principles on which a global economy must be based. It challenges business enterprises, governments, unions and individuals to reexamine their economic responsibilities in the light of charity governed by truth.

This new encyclical is a call to see the relationship between human and environmental ecologies, and to link charity and truth in the pursuit of justice, the common good and authentic human development. In doing so, the pope points out the responsibilities and limitations of government and the private market, challenges traditional ideologies of right and left and calls all men and women to think and act anew, the Cardinal said.

“As Pope Benedict noted the world’s current financial straits, he declared that ‘the current crisis obliges us to re-plan our journey, to set ourselves new rules and to discover new forms of commitment, to build on positive experiences and to reject negative ones. The crisis thus becomes an opportunity for discernment, in which to shape a new vision for the future.’”

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Catholic San Francisco

NEWS

July 10, 2009

in brief (CNS PHOTO/DENIS SINYAKOV, REUTERS)

4

Pope asks G-8 leaders to listen to the poor VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI asked leaders of the world’s wealthiest countries to “listen to the voice of Africa� and poor countries during their summit in Italy. The global economic crisis threatens not only to derail efforts to end extreme poverty in the world, but also could plunge other countries into ruin as well, the pope said in a July 4 letter to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, host of the Group of Eight summit. The only way to find solutions that will match the global dimensions of the crisis and have long-term positive effects for all peoples is to “listen to the voice of Africa and the countries least-developed economically,� the pope said in his letter. The G-8 summit July 8-10 in L’Aquila, Italy, was to bring together the heads of governments of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Opportunities for prayer needed for vocations VATICAN CITY – Young men need more places and more opportunities to listen to the word of God and reflect in silence so that they can better hear if God is calling them to the priesthood, Pope Benedict XVI said. The low number of priestly ordinations in some parts of the world should not lead to discouragement, he said July 1 during his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square. Instead it should be the impetus to increase the number of places dedicated “to silence and to listening to the word, and to take better care of spiritual direction and the sacrament of confession so that God’s voice, which always continues to call and confirm, may be heard and readily followed by many young people,� he said. Prayer is fundamental for the sanctification of priests and for the abundance of ordinations, Pope Benedict added. “Whoever prays is not afraid, whoever prays is never alone, whoever prays is saved,� he said. The pope asked that the whole church pray for the world’s priests and appreciate more deeply the role of the priest in the community.

Pope decries bomb blast near Philippine church VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI deplored a bomb blast that killed six people and injured dozens near a cathedral in the southern Philippines. He called the July 5

attack “an ignoble gesture� and condemned “the recourse to violence which is never an appropriate way to solve existing problems.� At the end of his July 5 Angelus address to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the pope condemned the Philippine attack and continued violence in the world. “Human blood continues to flow as a result of violence, injustice and hatred,� he said. The Philippine bomb exploded early July 5 inside a vendor stall, sending shrapnel toward the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Cotabato City and injuring at least 42 people, reported the Asian church news agency UCA News. Religious leaders in the Philippines have called for the protection of civilians in the wake of three bombings in southern areas that have taken nine lives. “Let’s spare the civilians, especially if this is related to the war between the military and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front,� Auxiliary Bishop Jose Bagaforo of Cotabato said at a church-organized forum in Manila July 7. The president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, Archbishop Angel Lagdameo of Jaro, also urged the bombers to use the proper forum to air their grievances.

Bishop draws lessons from Galileo case VATICAN CITY – The 400-year-old case of Galileo Galilei and the Inquisition still serves as a valid warning that scientists should not presume to teach the church about faith and that the church must approach scientific discoveries with great caution, said the prefect of the Vatican Secret Archives. Presenting an updated and expanded collection of Vatican documents related to Galileo’s trial for heresy during a July 2 press conference, Bishop Sergio Pagano said the case teaches Christians that they must be extremely careful in using the Bible to make judgments about science. Catholics must be cautious “not to make the same mistakes that were made then� in applying biblical texts

U.S. first lady Michelle Obama greets a nurse during her visit to St. Dmitriy Nursing College of the Sisters of Mercy in Moscow July 7.

The nursing college and order are affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church.

to scientific problems in a literal way, he said. “We must study more, be more prudent, evaluate the facts and be very attentive that the Scriptures, which are our inheritance without defect and cannot err regarding divine revelation, are correctly interpreted.� The book Bishop Pagano edited and presented, “Vatican Documents From the Trial of Galileo Galilei 1611-1741,� updates a volume published in 1984. It includes about 20 documents discovered in the last 25 years.

Tests confirm remains of St. Paul in basilica tomb ROME – Closing the year of St. Paul, Pope Benedict XVI announced that tests done on the presumed tomb of the apostle revealed the presence of bone fragments from a human who lived between the first and second century. “This seems to confirm the unanimous and uncontested tradition that they are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul,� the pope said during an evening prayer service June 28 at Rome’s Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.

The basilica has long been held to be the burial site of St. Paul, but because of the destruction and rebuilding of the basilica, the tomb’s exact location was unknown for centuries. Vatican officials announced in December 2006 that several feet below the basilica’s main altar and behind a smaller altar, they had found a roughly cut marble sarcophagus beneath an inscription that reads: “Paul Apostle Martyr.� Because part of the sarcophagus is buried beneath building material, Vatican officials determined they could not dig it out to open and examine the contents. It was decided, Pope Benedict said, to drill “very tiny perforation� into the marble so that a small probe could be inserted in order to withdraw fragments, which underwent carbon-14 analysis.

NEWS IN BRIEF, page 5

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n Continued from page 4

Catholic marriage attitudes differ by generation ST. PAUL, Minn. – Catholic attitudes on marriage in the church are different among generational groups, according to results of a 2007 survey of U.S. Catholics by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University in Washington.

Social scientist Barbara Dafoe Whitehead talked about the survey results in a keynote address June 25 in St. Paul at the annual conference of the National Association of Catholic Family Life Ministers. The survey showed that older Catholics – those who were adults before the Second Vatican Council – are more likely to look to the church as the source for meaning and expectations for marriage than are baby boomers or members of Generation X or the millennial generation. Older Catholics also are more likely to be familiar with the church’s teaching on marriage, to believe in marriage as a lifelong commitment between a man and woman, and to think of marriage as a sacrament that extends beyond the wedding day, it said. Whitehead attributed this attitude to being raised in a time of a distinct Catholic identity that included an emphasis on the church’s teachings on sex, procreation and marriage.

Bishops press leaders on poverty, climate changes WASHINGTON – Catholic bishops in the Group of Eight industrialized countries have urged their nations’ leaders to remember the poor and address the issue of global climate change during the upcoming G-8 summit in Italy involving the globe’s wealthiest countries. The Catholic leaders, who head the bishops’ conferences in their respective countries, made the request in a June 22 letter. Their plea was similar to an entreaty

from Pope Benedict XVI to Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown in preparation for the Group of 20 meeting in April in London.

“Development aid, including the commercial and financial conditions favorable to less developed countries and the cancellation of the external debt of the poorest and most indebted countries, has not been the cause of the crisis and, out of fundamental justice, must not be its victim,” the pope wrote to Brown. With the G-8 summit approaching, the heads of the Catholic bishops’ conferences seemed to continue the pope’s efforts.

They reminded government leaders of one of the main priorities of the Catholic Church: to protect human life and dignity.

NIH rejects comments on funding embryonic stem-cell research WASHINGTON – Although 30,000 of the approximately 49,000 comments on the National Institutes of Health’s draft guidelines on human embryonic stem-cell research opposed any federal funding of such research, those responses were “deemed not responsive to the question put forth,” according to the acting director of NIH. “We did not ask them whether to fund such funding, but how it should be funded,” said Dr. Raynard S. Kington in a telephone briefing with the media July 6. But Richard M. Doerflinger, associate director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, said it was “disingenuous (for Kington) to say that comments criticizing the guidelines overall were to be ignored.” The 30,000 individuals or organizations that made comments in opposition to federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research were saying, “You’re not responding to what the American people want. Start over,” Doerflinger added. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and its affiliated organization, the National Committee for a Human Life Amendment, directed nearly 9,500 comments to NIH about the draft guidelines before the May 26 close of the public comment period. NIH’s final guidelines, which took effect July 7,

Archbishop George H. Niederauer celebrated Mass at St. Paul Parish in San Francisco June 28 to mark the end of the “Year of St. Paul.”

In this photo, he is blessing a new statue of St. Paul at the Noe Valley church.

Shown with Archbishop Niederauer are (from left) Deacon Jim Myers, altar servers Michael Bulen, Jennifer Santisteban and Laura Bertone.

See Archbishop Niederauer’s homily on page 12.

are not significantly different from the draft guidelines published earlier this year.

President Obama speaks about abortion beliefs WASHINGTON – There will always be solid differences of belief over whether abortion should be legal, but that doesn’t mean common ground isn’t possible on how to reduce abortion, President Barack Obama told a round table of religion reporters July 2. In a session timed in advance of Obama’s scheduled July 10 meeting at the Vatican with Pope Benedict XVI, the president reiterated that while he continues to seek common ground on reducing the number

of abortions, he recognizes that there will always be firm differences between people who believe abortion should be legal and those who do not. The round table touched on a wide range of domestic and international policy issues. He told the eight reporters, most from the Catholic press, that he sees “an irreducible difference ... on the abortion issue. ... The best we can do is suggest that people of good will can be on either side, but you can’t wish those differences away.”

He said he has never “been under the illusion that ... we were going to simply talk all our differences away on these issues.”

Access daily news briefs from Catholic News Service online at www.catholic-sf.org.

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Catholic San Francisco

July 10, 2009

Citing economic downturn, CCCYO to close child development center Catholic Charities CYO will close its infant, toddler and pre-school program, Children’s Village Child Development Center, at its San Francisco location on 10th Street effective next June 30, the agency announced June 22.

The planned closure by the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s social services arms is part of a restructuring in response to government contract funding cuts agencywide and a 20 percent drop year-to-date in donor revenue in the wake of an unprecedented and rapid downturn in the economy, the agency said.

“This decision was especially difficult as Children’s Village is beloved in the community,” said Jeff Bialik, CCCYO executive director.

In making the announcement today, CCCYO is providing a year’s notice to the affected families to allow time for them to make alternate child care arrangements.

The agency is also committed to assisting families in identifying alternate arrangements and supporting them in their transition.

“Children’s Village, as excellent as it is, has never been

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able to cover its costs,” continued Bialik. “In its current configuration, the program is not financially sustainable.

The tough economy and the impact of loss of funding have only added to this situation.”

The Archdiocese of San Francisco, which has provided free rent to the program, intends to sell the property and CCCYO has agreed to move from the site no later than December 2010.

In recent years, Children’s Village has reduced the percentage of low income families it serves in an attempt to subsidize the program and keep it open. In its current configuration, only a third of families served at the program are low income, while the majority of families are private pay.

The agency continues to be engaged, as it has been since November 2007, in discussions with the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and Their Families, Human Services Agency and the Child Care Facility Fund in an effort to identify alternative funding and possible new facilities. No feasible alternatives have yet been identified.

Archbishop names Presentation sister to head new office of women religious

By Michael Vick Archbishop George Niederauer has appointed Presentation Sister Rosina Conrotto director of the office of women religious, a new office the archbishop created in response to requests from local women religious that culminated at a gathering with the archbishop Feb. 28.

Sister Rosina told Catholic San Francisco the archbishop fashioned the duties of the new office after studying similar offices in dioceses around the country.

Those duties include acting as the archbishop’s official representative in matters related to consecrated life within the archdiocese and addressing the needs of local women religious.

“I’m really grateful to Archbishop Niederauer for listening to the sisters expressed desire, and for naming a woman religious (to this position),” Sister Rosina said. “There has been such a need in our archdiocese to address the role of women religious. We play a really significant role in the working of the Church, and it’s important to me that that be known.”

Sister Rosina said among the first tasks she hopes to complete is a full accounting of how many women religious reside within the archdiocese. She said 185 women attended the February meeting with the archbishop, but that number did not include women in closed orders. The meeting also took place at the same time as a previously scheduled conference in Los Angeles which many local women religious attended. February’s gathering was the first large meeting of local women religious in 15 years.

(See Catholic San Francisco Feb. 13.)

Sister Rosina joined the Sisters of the Presentation

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GAVE THEM TAKE NOTHING NO MONEY TUNIC SHAKE PREACHED MANY

Sister Rosina Conrotto

of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1959. Her previous work includes time as program director and interim director at Vallombrosa retreat center in Menlo Park, and eight years as congregational president. In 1997, Sister Rosina joined Presbyterian Rev. Glenda Hope in forming SafeHouse, a ministry for women looking to escape prostitution and drug addiction. She also worked as a teacher at Presentation High School in San Francisco for 14 years.

Sister Rosina said the expansion of the role of the laity since the Second Vatican Council has opened up new opportunities for women both lay and consecrated, with religious congregations opening up to associates who take part in ministry but do not take permanent vows.

“It’s a rather exciting time for religious life because possibilities are opening,” Sister Rosina said. “It calls for creativity and a lot of dependence on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.”

The duties of the new office were previously handled

by Bishop Ignatius Wang in his role as vicar for religious. Until a new vicar for religious is named, Sister Rosina said Archbishop Niederauer asked her to handle concerns of men in religious life as the need arises.

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Although Children’s Village is not sustainable in its current configuration, CCCYO believes that providing quality child care and youth enrichment services to low income families is vital to the agency’s mission of supporting, stabilizing and strengthening families in our community. As such, CCCYO is pursuing partnerships with low income housing developers to integrate housing with pre-school and school age child care and youth services in a way that is financially sustainable. For example, CCCYO is partnering with Mercy Housing to provide school age child care and youth services at 10th and Mission in a new facility that will open in September. In addition, CCCYO is currently negotiating similar arrangements with Mission Housing for residentially based child care services in the Mission District.

In addition to closing the program site on 10th Street in 2010, CCCYO has made a number of reductions in administrative overhead, including eliminating 18 jobs.

These cutbacks are a part of ongoing agency restructuring efforts aimed at balancing maximum client services with the realities of the economic climate.

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July 10, 2009

Catholic San Francisco

7

Sister Julie O’Neill retires but program she started lives on Sister of Charity Julie O’Neill began a life-long journey from San Francisco’s Mission District and Noe Valley 58 years ago. “September, 1950 found me on a cross-country train heading for Dubuque, Iowa where the BVM Motherhouse nestles high on a bluff overlooking the great Mississippi,� Sister Julie recalled. “It was as an eighth grader at St. Paul’s grade school, that I first mentioned my early yearning to join the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary,� Sister Julie told Catholic San Francisco. “Without a doubt, it was the warmth and friendly manner of the BVMs then assigned to that school that most influenced my decision and my loving parents who always offered support for the individual interests and ambitions of the five O’Neill kids,� she said.

Sister Julie professed vows in 1953 and subsequently served for 17 tears in classrooms in Illinois, Southern California, and Arizona. Up next was “a long series of assignments in San Francisco and the greater Bay Area.� “In 1985, a group of unexpected circumstances nudged me to change from the traditional parochial school ministry to parish religious education at St. Veronica’s in South San Francisco,�

Sister Julie said. It was that assignment – one that continued for more than 20 years – that helped her become more aware “of the need to individualize religious education for some students.�

Religious Education for special needs persons soon became Sister Julie’s lifework. “During the 1990s, I had the privilege of working with several such students in a one-on-one manner,� she said. “Several of their families had been told by most sincere Church officials that children with such developmental challenges could not be expected to receive various sacraments, especially Eucharist.�

Sister Julie’s dedication helped dispel the “myth� of the students’ being ill-equipped for life in the Church. �The children with their families celebrated First Eucharist ceremonies which were truly awesome,� Sister Julie said.

“For Jesse, it was a ceremony arranged around his kitchen table because he is physically unable to travel beyond the boundaries of his family’s apartment,� Sister Julie said. “For Fiona, it was a celebration during which a single drop of consecrated wine was shared by way of a medicine dropper.�

The spring of 1999 marked, what Sister Julie called, the “birth� of the Special Needs classes in Northern San Mateo County.

Now, ten years later, the classes continue to flourish. Recently, six members of that first class had a reunion. The young people are now 16-20 years of age and continue to cherish with their families their active membership in their parish communities. “Working and sharing with these families blessed me with the assurance that our loving God chooses very special parents and very special catechists for those children and young adults,�

Sister Julie said. “As we close the books on the ‘08-’09 school year, there are classes for children and young adults with special needs in Northern San Mateo County and San Francisco County,� Sister Julie said.�In addition, there are many parishes which are able to mainstream those students within their regular religious education classes.�

Janet Fortuna has been named new coordinator of Religious Education for Special Needs Persons, a work of the Archdiocesan office of Religious Education and Youth Ministry. “Janet has already been quite active in the program as one of the volunteer

catechists in the young adult group which has met for the past three years in San Francisco,� Sister Julie said.

The continuation and expansion of the program depends upon the identification of the young people in need and more catechists to work with them, Sister Julie noted. “As I move into a new Sister of Charity chapter in my life at our Julie O’Neill BVM Retirement community in Dubuque, I am reminded of a great quote from Eleanor Roosevelt: ‘Many people pass in and out of our lives, but only a true friend leaves footprints in our heart.’� “I carry the footprints of so many of you in my heart and for that I will be forever grateful!�

If you know of a child/young adult with special challenges or if you are interested in helping to teach a student or group or if you are able to host a group in your home/parish, contact the Archdiocesan office of Religious Education and Youth Ministry at (415) 614-5650.

Presentation on priesthood Father David Anderson, pastor at St. Peter Eastern Catholic Church in Ukiah, will present “Reflections on the priesthood from the Scriptures and the Early Fathers�

July 25 at St. Sebastian Church, Bon Air Rd. at Sir Francis Drake Blvd. in Greenbrae.

Father Anderson is principal celebrant of a Byzantine Catholic Rite Divine Liturgy at 10 a.m. to be followed by brunch at 11:30 a.m. and the presentation from 12:30 to 3 p.m. Admission to the event is free, but donations will be accepted. Father Anderson is a former member of the faculty at the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s School of Pastoral Leadership. Registration appreciated: contact Mary Ann Haeuser at (415) 454-0979.

Shown here is a screenshot from the Archdiocese of San Francisco website, www.sfarchdiocese.org, which features a “Year for Priests� banner and links to resources such as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

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Catholic San Francisco

July 10, 2009

Father Damien relic will be brought to St. Mary’s Cathedral as he is canonized organizations in the Archdiocese of San Francisco so to give everyone an opportunity to take part.

Blessed Damien, as he is currently recognized by the Church, was a 19th century Belgian priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary who accepted an assignment to minister to persons with leprosy who were isolated on the Kalaupapa peninsula of Molokai, Hawaii.

He remained with this community for 16

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years, faithfully serving his flock until he, too, died of leprosy at the age of 49.

Father Damien’s remains were transferred back to Belgium in 1936. Now, on the occasion of his canonization in Rome on Oct. 11, 2009, the Diocese of Honolulu will receive a relic of the newly named saint. Along the way of its transport back to Hawaii, the relic will be brought to Detroit, San Francisco and Oakland for veneration.

In addition to hosting the relic for veneration, St. Mary’s Cathedral will also host a daytime performance of the one-man play, Damien, written by Aldyth Morris and performed by Casey Groves.

Details on the evening prayer service with the relic of Father Damien and the

daytime performance will follow. For more information on the upcoming canonization of Blessed Damien, see www. fatherdamien.com.

St. Philomena Church, built by Blessed Damien de Veuster, is seen at the former Kalawao settlement on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. Part of the Kalaupapa National Historical Park, the church and adjacent cemetery continue to attract pilgrims and other visitors. Blessed Damien served patients with Hansen’s disease on Molokai more than a century ago.

(CNS PHOTO/GREG VAUGHN)

A relic of Father Damien de Veuster, the “Leper Priest of Molokai,” currently among the rank of “blesseds” in the Church and soon to be named a saint by Pope Benedict XVI, will be brought for veneration by the faithful to Saint Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco the evening of Oct. 15, 2009.

Archbishop George H. Niederauer has asked that no other major events be planned for that date by agencies or Catholic

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July 10, 2009

Clergy appointments update In early July, additional clergy appointments in the Archdiocese of San Francisco were announced. This list supplements information in an earlier story in the June 12 issue of Catholic San Francisco.

Pastors reappointed to six-year terms included Father Lawrence Goode, St. Francis of Assisi Parish, East Palo Alto; Father Agnel De Heredia, All Souls Parish, South San Francisco; Msgr. Labib Kobti, St. Thomas More Parish, San Francisco; and Msgr. Steven Otellini, Church of the Nativity, Menlo Park.

Named to continue as pastor were Father William Brady, St. Emydius Parish, San Francisco; Father Piers Lahey, Church of the Good Shepherd, Pacifica; Father Domingo Orimaco, Our Lady of the Pillar Parish, Half Moon Bay; Msgr. Jose Rodriguez, St. John the Evangelist Parish, San Francisco; Father Paul Rossi, St. Raphael Parish, San Rafael; Father James Tarantino, St. Hilary

9

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Parish, Tiburon; and Father Joseph Walsh, St. Stephen Parish, San Francisco.

Additional priests assigned to parishes as parochial vicars included Father Gary Cappleman, O.P., St. Dominic Parish, San Francisco; Father Joseph Glynn, C.S.Sp., St. Dunstan Parish, Millbrae; Father Dominic Savio Lee, St. Matthew Parish, San Mateo; Father Armando Lopez, O.F.M., St. Boniface Parish, San Francisco; Father Jose Lucero, S.D.B., St. Boniface Parish, San Francisco.

Parochial vicar assignments for the three priests of the Archdiocese of San Francisco who were ordained in June were as follows: Father Joseph Previtali, St. Veronica Parish, San Francisco (for summer); Father Michael Quinn, St. Brendan Parish, San Francisco; and Father William Thornton, St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Novato.

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EWTN plans special broadcasts in July EWTN Catholic television plans several special telecasts in July, including “Pope Benedict XVI: A Profile,� a documentary that details the Holy Father’s life from childhood to the present. It features accounts by family and friends of the Pope and airs July 12 at 7 p.m., July 14 at 11 a.m., July 15 at 1 a.m. & July 17 at 1 a.m. “Iraq’s Christians� provides insights into Iraq’s rich Christian heritage while highlighting the struggles and faith of present-day Christians in the midst of violence and confusion. It airs July 15 at 7 p.m. and July 18 at 2 a.m. “Priceless Pearl,� is an informative and inspiring telecast about the vocation to religious life. Produced in Australia, it airs

Catholic San Francisco

July 19 at 7 p.m., July 21 at 11 a.m. and July 24 at 1 a.m. “Sudan: The Promise of Peace� is a new documentary about the violence and upheaval that has plagued Sudan in recent years. It highlights the work of the Church in providing for those in desperate need. It airs July 26 at 7 p.m., July 28 at 11 a.m. and July 31 at 1 a.m.

EWTN is carried 24 hours a day on Comcast Channel 229, AT&T Channel 562, Astound Channel 80, San Bruno Cable Channel 143, DISH Satellite Channel 261 and Direct TV Channel 370. Comcast airs EWTN on Channel 70 in Half Moon Bay and on Channel 74 in southern San Mateo County. Visit www.ewtn.com for more EWTN programming & any updates in coverage.

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10

Catholic San Francisco

July 10, 2009

July 10, 2009

Catholic San Francisco

11

A diocesan exorcist on the job: pastoral care for the “intensely suffering”

By Rick DelVecchio

A San Francisco exorcist advises “don’t wait too long.”

“T

Like Father Gary Thomas, Franciscan Father Guglielmo “William” Lauriola believes exorcism is needed now more than ever.

Father Lauriola, emeritus pastor of the former Immaculate Conception Parish in the Mission District of San Francisco, has been praying the Rite of Exorcism over sufferers since 1969.

He prays the 1953 rite in Latin rather than the revision the Vatican issued 10 years ago.

He sees 10 to 15 people a month. “Now it’s more than before – in the last two years so many are coming,” the 81-year-old priest said. “We are less positive-minded.”

Often he counsels young people who are showing “devilish” behaviors but are not really possessed. “When I treat them they are calmer and the parents are more at peace,” he said. “That is not exorcism – that is a healing moment.”

Father Lauriola said he welcomes calls at Immaculate Conception Chapel at 3255 Folsom St. “Tell them don’t wait too long because it will be hard to be free,” he said.

Father Gary Thomas, the exorcist for the Diocese of San Jose, in the reconciliation room at Sacred Heart Church in Saratoga.

Here are excerpts from the interview with Father Thomas. Some of the questions are paraphrased: How does Satan manifest in the people you pray over?

People don’t realize that either the prayers of deliverance or the prayers of the solemn rite have efficaciousness to them if they’re dealing with a demon. They will stimulate the demon. The person will begin to have symptoms, seizures, eyes roll in the back of the head.

Sometimes they will take on a reptilian appearance. They can easily speak a language they would have no prior proficiency in. It all depends on the power of the demon that may have infiltrated them.

What you’re describing is the demon’s response to the rite?

Absolutely. Demons are deceivers and they’re deceivers by nature because Satan’s greatest deception is to convince the human race that he doesn’t exist – and a lot of people believe he doesn’t exist. Even before an exorcism or prayers of deliverance are prayed over a person there can be manifestations by the very appearance of a priest who’s an exorcist.

Most of them would happen once the prayers begin, but not always.

Any manifestations that have proved difficult to confront – physically or emotionally?

I always have another priest with me. Demons attack the exorcist and they attack where the exorcist is weakest. It’s not so much a physical attack, although down through the ages there have been recorded appearances where saints claimed they had been attacked by demons. I never experienced a physical attack. Mine have been more spiritual, psychological, emotional.

St. Francis exorcising demons in Arezzo, in a depiction on a fresco by Giotto.

Is the demon trying to destroy you?

Certainly Satan would not want to have any person with any kind of credibility that would call attention to his diabolical presence in the world and then trying to expel those presences.

Christ uses me as a vessel. It’s Christ who’s the deliverer. The exorcist is the vessel. Why Christ chooses to deliver is a mystery, although it’s all related to the greater glory of God. Is the victim a vessel of evil?

No. The vast majority I have prayed over have become exposed to the diabolical or the preternatural more often than not out of curiosity. You have to open yourself. You have to create a doorway for a demon to enter. The vast majority of times a demon is not going to approach someone and tempt or enter them unless they have been in some way invited. I’m always telling people if you have a prayer life and you are in close to the Lord, you have nothing to worry about. That doesn’t mean there are not other levels of temptations.

EXORCIST, page 20

Here are highlights of Diocese of San Jose Bishop Patrick J. McGrath’s responses to questions from Catholic San Francisco about Father Gary Thomas’ exorcism ministry in the diocese and exorcism in general. Bishop McGrath is a canon lawyer.

• There has always been an exorcist, or a priest trained to deal with this.

Usually this is not publicly known but more of an internal matter known to the bishop and other clergy should the need arise.

• Exorcisms are not public but there is “no great secrecy about exorcism” in as much as it is “part of the teaching and tradition of the Bishop Patrick Church.”

J. McGrath • Exorcism is rare, and rightfully so – more and more is now known about mental illness which could account for “exorcisms” of the past.

• Canon 1172 specifies the role of the bishop regarding exorcism, including the idea that the Code says “you’re supposed to have one, in case.” “Every bishop must have someone available.

The ultimate point is that we help people” when medicine and psychiatry are not able to.

• Father Thomas has a team – medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist, and two priests who deal with spirituality. The team members “are people of faith who believe in an entity called Satan,” and evaluate the possibility of “possession” very thoroughly. Then, permission has to be given for an exorcism.

• Bishop McGrath is impressed positively with how Father Thomas and the team are looking at cases. “Gary and the team don’t believe everyone who comes in is possessed. In fact, after scrutiny, there are very few cases…Satan is not rampant in the Diocese of San Jose.”

• There is no urgent need to have a second exorcist. “It would have to be proven to me that we need more of this in pastoral ministry.”

• As to Father Thomas’ remarks about the bishops all having exorcists and the U.S. bishops’ conference putting exorcism on its agenda, McGrath simply said, “Well, that’s Gary’s opinion.” He said the bishops have more pressing concerns.

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For example?

Sexual temptation, trying to really jeopardize my celibacy, creating emotional disturbances in me where I might not trust certain people who are very significant in my life, particularly in the life of the parish. The temptation to seek inappropriate ways to gain intimacy with others. Exacerbating the experiences of loneliness that appear in a priest’s life at times. Those are all ways.

“The ultimate point is that we help people:” San Jose bishop

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he Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist,” (Doubleday, 2009), by journalist Matt Baglio describes San Francisco-born Father Gary Thomas’ training under a master exorcist in Rome and his return to his Bay Area parish to take up what may be the most misunderstood healing ministry in the Church.

What sets exorcists apart from priests who are skeptical of the ministry may be their biblical belief in the physical reality of evil and the power of prayer and the sacraments to vanquish it.

Father Thomas, 55, who was raised in South San Francisco and is a long-time pastor in the Diocese of San Jose, is one such priest. Some of the strongest passages in the book show his dawning realization of evil’s power to penetrate a person’s being deeper than any physical condition.

The disturbed Sister Janica, for example, growls like a dog ready to bite, then emits an otherworldly scream. As Father Thomas witnesses the master Father Carmine De Filippis, a Capuchin, calmly recite prayers and lay hands on the victim, he feels the sounds are not human in their character and source.

Another victim, Giovanna, makes a sound that seems to come from the depths of her stomach – a sound the author describes as one a dog might make if it were able to speak. At one point she turns to Father Thomas with black, hate-filled eyes that appear to be as thick as Coke bottles. Father Thomas had worked as an embalmer as a young man, and the eyes remind him of the eyes of the dead.

Such experiences move Father Thomas to embrace the ministry as few other U.S. priests have done. He comes to see it as a means of relieving a type of suffering that seems to go beyond pain, and to help friends and family members as well. He sees how exorcists restore grace to vexed souls, and he sees the power of simple prayer and the administration of the sacraments to reclaim victims from the desperation and isolation Satan has in store for them. He learns that although the exorcist may undergo physical and mental trials as he battles the deceiver, he has the stronger hand because the Kingdom of God is above that of God’s fallen angels.

Father Thomas’ perspective had come to be similar to that of Pope John Paul II, whose papacy saw a return to the view that exorcism is a pastoral task with roots in Jesus’ work as described in Mark’s Gospel. In 1999, the Vatican revised the 400-year-old Rite of Exorcism and recommended it to priests, under legal guidelines that require it to be used judiciously through the authority that Jesus gave his Church.

In 2005, Father Thomas’ bishop in the Diocese of San Jose, Patrick J. McGrath, picked him to go to Rome to train as an exorcist after a fellow priest in line for the assignment was unavailable.

He completed a 40-hour course and observed 80 exorcisms as Father Carmine’s apprentice.

Since returning to San Jose as pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Saratoga, he has led an allCatholic exorcism team made up of two other priests, a physician, a psychiatrist and psychologist.

He also assists the Diocese of Oakland on the rare occasions when a possible case arises there.

In the Archdiocese of San Francisco, Franciscan Father Guglielmo “William” Lauriola has performed exorcisms for 40 years (see related story.) Officially, inquiries about exorcisms in the Archdiocese were referred to Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius Wang before the bishop’s recent retirement, Archbishop George H. Niederauer said. The archbishop said he is discussing the matter with Bishop Wang to determine future policy.

True exorcisms are rare. The book notes that in the 24 years before Father Thomas began his training, only two investigations into possible possession had been conducted in the Diocese of San Jose. Father Thomas has gone to his bishop for approval to pray the rite in five cases, two of which are ongoing.

The first three cases had their roots in a history of abuse, involvement with occult practices or addiction. The fourth concerns a scientist is his 40s who learned to “channel spirits” and who showed increasingly intense manifestations early in Father Thomas’ work with him. Lately, the victim has been improving.

Father Thomas said he has just received approval to perform a fifth exorcism. The victim is a woman who believes herself cursed by a man trying to extort her for money. She has psychotic symptoms that have not responded to medication, leading the exorcism team’s psychiatrist to suspect that something other than disease is at work. Father Thomas agrees: “I just sense a presence where there’s just something else that happens to her.”

Father Thomas prays the rite in the private reconciliation room at the parish church, with the subject seated and a second priest present.

Exorcism treats the “intensely suffering” and deserves a greater role in pastoral ministry and in the training of priests, Father Thomas maintains. He is nothing if not outspoken in his view that the U.S. Church is fearful and dismissive of exorcism and owes it to the sufferers to do more.

“Most of these situations are not diabolical but our Church has a responsibility to minister to these people because they end up going to evangelicals, going to charlatans, and they get in more trouble,” he said in an interview with Catholic San Francisco. “It leads them to conclude we don’t believe, and quite honestly they’re right.”

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12

Catholic San Francisco

July 10, 2009

Archbishop’s Journal

Seeing with eyes of faith in Jesus Christ Common sense has a good reputation. For example, most people agree, especially after the events of these last nine months, that this saying is correct: “If a business deal sounds too good to be true, it’s probably because it is!”

But common sense has its limits. For example you can see with your eyes that the sun rises each morning and sets each evening, so it’s common sense to conclude that the sun moves around the earth. However, Galileo proved that the opposite is true: the earth revolves around the sun.

Still, old common sense conclusions die slowly: more than three hundred years after Galileo, people still don’t refer to “earth turn;” instead they refer to “sunrise” and “sunset.” It still seems to people that the sun moves around the earth.

That’s what it looks like. It just isn’t true.

In today’s story from the Gospel of Mark there are several examples of mistaken common sense. As we hear about Jesus curing the woman with the hemorrhage and his raising of the daughter of Jairus from the dead, we see examples of a struggle between common sense (common prejudice, really) and the risk of faith in Jesus Christ.

For instance, Jairus is a synagogue official, probably a Pharisee, but he still falls to his feet and begs Jesus to cure his daughter, apparently not caring what other people will think. The woman with the hemorrhage has given up on doctors, but she goes against common sense by refusing to stay home; she takes the risk of embarrassing herself by putting her trust in a traveling healer, Jesus. The woman is cured, and Jesus tells her it is not some “magic” in touching him or his garment, but the power of her faith that has healed her.

The friends of Jairus sound like they have a lot of common sense; they tell him, “Your daughter is dead.

Why bother the teacher further?” But the teacher, Jesus, tells Jairus: “Fear is useless. What is needed is trust.”

Then Jesus tells the mourners at the house of Jairus that the child is not dead, just asleep, and they laugh at him.

They have common sense after all. Finally, at the end of the story, we get a good example of common sense: Jesus takes the little girl by the hand, gives her to her parents, and tells them to give her something to eat. Children are almost always hungry.

This struggle between common prejudices (“what everybody knows”) and faith in the Word of God made

flesh in Jesus Christ goes on all the time in our lives as Catholic Christians. For instance, there’s lots of evil and death in the world, so common sense tells us that God must have created it. However, our first reading, from the Book of Wisdom in the Old Testament, tells us: “God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living. For God formed man to be imperishable . . . But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world, . . .”

A common piece of wisdom is that each of us should take care of Number One, our own self, because nobody else is going to. However, St. Paul the Apostle, patron of this parish, whose special Year of St. Paul will end tomorrow, teaches us in our second reading that we should not put ourselves at the center of our lives. Instead, Paul urges us to consider what Jesus did for us, and then let that teach us how to treat others in our lives. St. Paul says: “You are well acquainted with the favor shown you by our Lord Jesus Christ: how for your sake he made himself poor, though he was rich, so that you might become rich by his poverty.” Paul means that the divine Son of God became human like us and for us, so that by his life, his death on the Cross and his resurrection we might be freed from the slavery of sin and death and share in his life now and forever. In gratitude, Paul teaches, we should use any surplus of this world’s goods to help other who are more needy than ourselves.

St. Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles, the great first preacher of the Gospel to all peoples of all nations. He proclaimed the Good News that we can all be saved by faith in Jesus Christ, and by putting that faith to work in our daily lives.

The Gospel as proclaimed by Jesus Christ, and then taught by St. Paul, teaches many things that are the opposite of common wisdom or prejudice: advice like “Don’t get mad, get even” must yield to turning the other cheek, to forgiving people and giving them another chance, just as God forgives us, and just as we pray for each time we say the Our Father. For us followers of Jesus Christ, all kinds of prejudices in the world around us have to give way to God’s love for all his children, of every race or religion or economic status.

In his letters, St. Paul is constantly challenging us to move beyond what “everybody says” and what “every-

Catholic san Francisco Newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco

Forgotten Christians

Questions headline

Regarding the story (CSF June 12) on President Obama’s speech in Cairo, Egypt, I was dismayed that so many Christian leaders applauded the president and not one, as far as I know, was disturbed that he did not talk about the plight of Christians in the Holy Land. He only stressed the division between Jews and Muslims and a call for peace. This is a human issue and his leaving out a group that has diminished from 19 percent of the total population to less than 9 percent in the past 60 years (in the Levant) is not very enlightened for a secular-humanist president. Also, where are the Christian leaders who will speak out for their own people? When they can’t take care of their own house, how can they speak about the actions of others? Christians must demand to be welcomed at the table. If they don’t, they will be an afterthought to those with the political clout and/or firepower.

Christian Clifford San Mateo

I write to object to a very poor choice of words in the headline to the page one article on Bishop Kevin Dowling in the June 12 edition. Bishop Dowling is not a “dissenting” bishop as that term is normally understood. He is and has always been a bishop in good standing with Rome. In the article the Bishop makes it absolutely clear that he supports the Church’s teaching on sexuality. The headline, as it stands, is both misleading and untrue.

It seems to me that Catholic San Francisco owes an apology to Bishop Dowling, the diocese of Rustenberg and USF for this misleading and damaging characterization and should publish a correction in its next edition.

Stephen A. Privett, SJ President, University of San Francisco

Letters welcome Catholic San Francisco welcomes letters from its readers.

Please send your letters to: Catholic San Francisco One Peter Yorke Way San Francisco, CA 94109 Fax: (415) 614-5641 E-mail: healym@sfarchdiocese.org or visit our website at www.catholic-sf.org, Contact Us

An alumnus laments As an alumnus of the University of San Francisco (1953), I am nostalgic for the good old days when Father William Dunn was president. Then USF was a small Catholic college. Now it’s not so small and not so Catholic. Professor Ray Dennehy put things in their right perspective when he said, “Calling USF a Catholic school is like saying Hillary Clinton is a Carmelite nun.”

Brian J. Kavanagh San Francisco

Flags in church?

Recently a parishioner asked me why some Catholic parishes display the

body thinks” and what “everybody does.” We need to look at reality with the eyes of faith in Christ and not only with the eyes just above our noses.

Wrong is wrong, even if everybody does it, and right is right, even Archbishop if nobody does it.

George H. St. Paul was the first Christian teacher Neiderauer to describe in writing Christ’s gift to his Church of the Eucharist, his own Body and Blood. Even before the four Gospels, St. Paul, writing in his First Letter to the Corinthians around 57 A.D., tells us about the Last Supper and the Lord’s Supper in Eucharist, where we must look with the eyes of faith and see in the bread and wine the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Just as the eyes of science can help us see past sunrise and sunset, so the eyes of faith can help us see Jesus Christ in Eucharist and see him in all people. That is the teaching us Jesus: if we reach out to the hungry, the thirsty, the sick, the imprisoned, the homeless and the stranger, we reach out to Christ himself. And when we turn away from them, we turn away from Jesus Christ.

So we have choices to make. We can respond to situations in life like Jairus’s friends, telling him it’s common sense to give up, or like the mourners at his house, laughing at the teacher who pretends that the dead girl is just asleep. Or, we can look at people and situations with the eyes of faith and take the risk of faith. Not every sick person is healed and not every dead child comes back to life. That is good sense. However, Jesus Christ died and was raised so that everyone – the sick and the healthy, the dead and the living – everyone, might have life with him here and life with him forever. That’s not common sense; that’s the faith of Christians everywhere, and it’s true.

Marking the end of the “Year of St. Paul,” San Francisco Archbishop George H. Niederauer delivered this homily June 28, 2009 at St. Paul’s Church in San Francisco.

American flag in the sanctuary and others do not. As this question comes up frequently, I consulted the website of the American Legion, which provides the official regulations of the United States Flag Code: “When displayed from a staff in a church or public auditorium, the flag of the United States of America should hold the position of superior prominence, in advance of the audience, and in the position of honor at the clergyman’s or speaker’s right as he faces the audience.”

The U.S. Flag Code and the Catholic Church do not require or encourage us to display any flags in church (Papal, Californian, American, etc.), but if we do, there is a certain protocol in this country that must be followed out of respect for the flag of the United States of America. Following this protocol, however, puts Catholics in a difficult situation, because for us “the position of superior prominence” in our churches is reserved for items that point to Jesus: the Altar, the Tabernacle, the Crucifix, etc. Those churches which place the American flag back in the corner of the sanctuary are violating the Flag Code; churches which obey the Flag Code risk making the American flag seem more important than the symbols of our faith.

Perhaps this is why many parishes simply stick to the Catholic Church’s teaching about what should always be the focal points in our worship space: the Ambo, the Celebrant’s Chair, the Altar, etc.

Father William E. Brown Pastor, Our Lady of Mercy Parish, Daly City

Conception (mentioned in the story) in Washington, D.C. also is impressive. Visitors should allow plenty of time to see both in order to fully appreciate these Catholic sites.

Hugo L. Phillips San Rafael

Provide balance to Weigel I have just completed reviewing George Weigel’s recent articles in Catholic San Francisco. I ask the same question I have asked myself for some time: why does a Catholic newspaper subscribe to (and publish) the writings of such a meanspirited, sarcastic writer whose work reflects a non-Christian, intolerant spirit?

Catholic San Francisco needs to provide some balance to Weigel’s analysis. It seems for Weigel, the world is made up of two types of people – good and bad; there is no center. Among the “good” are politically extreme conservatives, Catholic bishops who would deny some Catholics Holy Communion, Harvard Law Professor Mary Ann Glendon, who refused to accept Notre Dame University’s Laetare Medal on the day President Obama spoke there, and Weigel himself. The “bad” include liberals, Jesuits, outspoken women religious, Europeans (all “socialists,” of course) and President Obama. In my opinion, the mention of Catholic issues and other cultic matters in his writing, serves as a cover up for his largely political polemics.

To provide readers with a balanced view of important issues facing the American citizenry, especially Catholics, it seems reasonable that other Catholic writers (e.g. Peter Steinfels) who hold different views would assist thinking readers to form their opinions on current issues. A balanced, thoughtful perspective is crucial in considering topics of importance, especially for today’s American Catholics.

Joseph C. Barbaccia MD Millbrae

L E T T E R S

Best Catholic Sites In response to the brief story (June 26) about the best U.S. Catholic sites to visit, I recommend the Cathedral of St. Louis in St. Louis, MO. This cathedral (www.cathedralstl. org) contains the most gold-leafed mosaics of any church in the nation, and possibly the world. The Basilica of the Immaculate

July 10, 2009

Catholic San Francisco

13

For for Journey

Bracing for an empty nest “OK, we’re going to cuddle.”

It was my 18-year-old daughter speaking, my beautiful baby who’s leaving for college soon. I put down my book and stretch out my arms. We make an incongruous pair, me, very small, holding Maria, about six inches taller, cradled as a baby in my arms.

But, oh, how I cherish these moments! My thoughts go back 18 years when, at the other end of the same couch, I held Maria when I first brought her home from the hospital.

“My gentle little Maria,” I crooned to her then. “Gentle” is probably not the first epithet that would come to mind to describe Maria now. She’s an assertive woman who can stand up for herself.

But still, my arms wrapped around her on a summer’s evening, I feel that same maternal instinct.

I remember how, after the birth of my second child, a son, I desperately wanted another daughter. But it had taken us six years to produce Mike, and I thought my time was up. Still, I daydreamed about baby girls, fantasized wildly about receiving imaginary calls from someone who really needed me to adopt a baby girl in need.

Then, to our amazement, when Mike was not even 2, I learned I was pregnant. I was sure it was a girl and that this time she’d look like my side of the family.

I wasn’t 40 yet, but I was drawing near, and I remember at the time there was a mug available in stores that read, “I’d rather be 40 than pregnant.” Every time I saw that mug I’d think, “I’d much rather be pregnant than 40, but if I get to be both that’s great too.”

And she did look like my family. One day when she was tiny, I was playing with her, lifting her over my head. I hadn’t thought about my father, who’d been dead over 20 years, in a long time. But as I looked up at Maria, I saw my father looking down at me. I cried.

Ah, I’m in the grip of empty-nest syndrome. Can you tell?

Earlier, Mike phoned. He’s inching his way through college and searching for a summer job away from home. He’s 21 now, and keeps 21-year-old hours. Probably a good decision to live away for the summer, but still, I miss his friendly banter.

When I find out he’s eating Hamburger Helper while we had cod and shrimp on the grill, I know we both silently question this summer setup.

Then there was the other call from the older daughter planning a wedding far away.

So, all these futures are being planned, these youthful dreams playing out upon the stage of life. And here I am, Mama

Bird holding this lousy worm nobody needs.

Do I sound whiny? I have a new job, I’m close to a master’s degree, I’m back in Weight Watchers.

If we can farm out this dog the kids wanted, my husband and I can travel.

Effie Caldarola But I realize the tough thing about the empty nest isn’t just the kids leaving. It’s looking back at the old pictures, me with them. Who was that slim young woman with the killer smile and the thick brunette hair?

It was that trade I made with God, you know. I’d give my life, my youth, my body and blood in return for raising those wonderful kids. I’m grateful every day for what God gave me.

But once in awhile, looking at those pictures, I wish that as the kids walk out the door, that cute, young gal could walk back in!

Effie Caldarola writes for Catholic News Service.

She is based in Anchorage, Alaska.

Coming of Age

Cultural ‘memes’ that should be deleted During the 1950s and 1960s, American civil rights activist Medgar Evers fought for the desegregation of public colleges and universities in Mississippi. During this historic campaign, Evers said: “You can kill a man, but you can’t kill an idea.”

It turned out to be a prophetic statement. Evers was murdered for his ideas, but nowadays Mississippi universities admit both black and white students – just like he dreamed.

Integration is now the law of the land. No school in the United States can refuse admission on the basis of race.

Yet, it still seems that some people are perfectly fine with the very ideas Evers struggled to change. High schools nationwide have lunch rooms where Hispanic, African-American and white students sit in separate groups. They also go to segregated churches, worshipping God separately.

Evers’ ideas have prevailed, but the idea that segregation is a good thing somehow persists.

Some people call these ideas “memes,” and they affect everyone.

Here’s an example. These days you can’t turn on a computer without hitting a seemingly unkillable meme. Who hasn’t seen cat pictures, Rickrolled a friend or typed “O RLY” (“Oh, really?”) into an instant message conversation? You send them on to your friends. You reference them in conversation.

Eventually, they become part of the culture.

The very same thing happens with cultural ideas and

memes. They are transmitted through how we live and what stories we tell, and we choose whether or not we tell the good ones or the gross ones.

Some of these memes, like Evers’ dreams of desegregation, are beneficial; others aren’t. Here are some cultural memes we should delete: – Racism and sexism. There’s no reason why anybody should be treated any differently because of his or her gender or color of skin. Yet the idea persists that people are stupider, smarter or less equal simply because of how they look.

– Violence. We somehow still think it’s smart to solve our problems with guns and violence even though history tells us otherwise.

– Cliques. Why do we still accept that you have to wear clothing from a certain store, act a certain way or turn up your nose at what you love in order to be friends with someone?

Why do boys sublimate their science smarts to fit in with lesser achievers? Why do some girls let their grades drop to impress boys?

In the words of another Internet meme: Do Not Want!

This choice explains why we’re still singing the Numa Numa song – people simply press “forward” when it comes to memes both bad and good.

It explains why we still shrug our shoulders when we hear about things like the war in Darfur.

It explains why we’d rather sit at lunch with people who look like us.

It explains why it’s not a hardship to buy a new cell phone, but why it’s always hard to come up with money to donate to charity.

Karen Osborne We’re telling the wrong stories. We’re forwarding the wrong things.

But Evers’ quote also explains why the words of people who speak peace – people like Jesus, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Teresa – last even in the face of a world that seems like it wants to ignore them.

The thoughts of people who speak of truth and justice last far longer than ideas that kill.

People used to ask others what legacies they’d like to leave for the future. In the modern world, though, I think we can read it in a different way: “Which meme are you going to forward?”

Karen Osborne writes a column for Catholic News Service.

The Catholic Difference

After Notre Dame Where do things stand, two months after the University of Notre Dame defied the bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend and some 80 of his fellow-bishops by awarding an honorary doctorate of laws to the university’s 2009 commencement speaker, the president of the United States?

From the administration’s point of view, President Obama’s Notre Dame speech was an unmitigated success. The president was eloquent, high-minded, and decent-spirited. He also did something no previous president had ever done—he injected himself into the ongoing debate among U.S. Catholics over Catholic identity, by suggesting that the “real” Catholics were those who, like Notre Dame, welcomed him for “dialogue.” This story-line—that the Notre Dame controversy was about openness and dialogue, on the one hand, versus narrow-mindedness and fanaticism, on the other—was successfully sold to the national media by the administration, aided and abetted by the president’s Catholic intellectual acolytes. That, in the process of fostering “dialogue,” the administration was playing wedge politics, dividing a significant number of the Catholic bishops of the United States from their people, went largely unremarked.

But that is, was, and remains the issue here: to vary James Carville on the 1992 election, “It’s the ecclesiology, stupid.” That the vast majority of Catholics in the U.S. never understood that this entire affair was about the nature, structure, and discipline of the Church, not about politics, demonstrates just how attenuated Catholic identity in America has become, and just how poorly catechized many Catholics are.

This bodes poorly for the future. In the Obama affair, Notre Dame claimed not only an internal liberty to order its academic life according to its own best lights, but also a liberty against the local bishop. In effect, Notre Dame declared itself independent of the Catholic Church, as the Catholic Church is embodied in South Bend, Ind., by the bishop of Fort WayneSouth Bend. The administration and trustees of Notre Dame would doubtless protest that they are proudly Catholic. But the question remains: What is the embodiment, the instantiation, the living reality of the Catholic Church to which they profess loyalty? Where is it? Who speaks for it? What difference does it make what he says?

As for the bishops, they must now face the ecclesiological facts of life caused by four decades of ineffective catechesis compounded by the afterburn of the Long Lent of 2002 and its revelations of episcopal irresponsibility. One of the primary purposes of Vatican II was to lift up the local bishop as a genuine shepherd and father of the local Church, not simply a branch manager assigned by the Roman corporate GHQ. Very few Catholics in the United States understand this, however.

They may revere the pope; they may love their pastor; but they have little sense of ecclesial connection to the local bishop or understanding of his responsibilities. So when crunch time comes and bishops try to defend the Catholic identity of Catholic institutions (medical, charitable, or educational), the default response of too many Catholics in the U.S. is that “this is just politics.” The same default kicks in when a bishop reminds a

politician that he or she is in spiritual jeopardy if they receive holy Communion while being in a defective state of communion with the Church on grave moral issues.

This default badly George Weigel limits the bishops’ maneuvering room. Were a bishop to summon the courage to deploy his canonical authority and declare that the University of X can no longer be considered a Catholic institution, he would almost certainly be misunderstood by a large majority of his people as acting politically, not ecclesiastically—as a partisan, not as a shepherd defending the integrity of the flock. That doesn’t mean that such things shouldn’t be done. But doing them requires careful catechetical preparation and an effective communications strategy for explaining what was done, and why.

In sum, and to revert to my opening question: how do things look, two months after the Notre Dame affair? Bullish, for the administration and its wedge agenda. Bearish indeed for those concerned about religious freedom, Catholic identity, and the recovery of episcopal leadership in the United States.

George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

14

Catholic San Francisco

July 10, 2009

Fifteeneth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Scripture reflection

Amos 7:12-15; Psalm 85:9-10, 11-12, 13-14; Ephesians 1:3-14; Mark 6:7-13 A READING FROM THE BOOK OF AMOS AM 7:12-15 Amaziah, priest of Bethel, said to Amos, “Off with you, visionary, flee to the land of Judah! There earn your bread by prophesying, but never again prophesy in Bethel; for it is the king’s sanctuary and a royal temple.” Amos answered Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor have I belonged to a company of prophets; I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores.

The Lord took me from following the flock, and said to me, Go, prophesy to my people Israel.”

RESPONSORIAL PSALM PS 85:9-10, 11-12, 13-14 R. Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.

I will hear what God proclaims; the Lord —for he proclaims peace.

Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him, glory dwelling in our land.

R. Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.

Kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss.

Truth shall spring out of the earth, and justice shall look down from heaven.

R. Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.

The Lord himself will give his benefits; our land shall yield its increase.

Justice shall walk before him, and prepare the way of his steps.

R. Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.

A READING FROM THE LETTER OF PAUL TO THE EPHESIANS EPH 1:3-14 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. In him we have redemption by his blood, the forgiveness of transgressions, in accord with the riches of his grace that he lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight, he has made known

to us the mystery of his will in accord with his favor that he set forth in him as a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth.

In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ. In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, which is the first installment of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s possession, to the praise of his glory.

A READING FROM THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK MK 6:7-13

Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick — no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic. He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave. Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.” So they went off and preached repentance. The Twelve drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

FATHER BILL NICHOLAS

Year for priests – Sometimes they just don’t listen After the great schism of the Israelite Kingdom between north (Israel) and south (Judah), Amos, a southerner, was called by God to be a prophet to the Northern Kingdom.

The response to his preaching, as expected, was hostile, as the religious, political and prophetic leaders rejected him and commanded him to return to his home country, the Southern Kingdom of Judah. In a bold response to this admonition, Amos asserted himself, declaring that it was God who called him to prophesy.

Therefore he would not relent (Amos 7:12-15).

Amos was one among many prophets of the Old Testament commissioned to preach, call, and admonish God’s people. All met with varied responses. Some, like Isaiah, would enjoy great notoriety while others, like Jeremiah, would be tragic figures of the Old Testament because the people just didn’t listen.

In giving His instructions to the Twelve, as He sent them out two by two, Jesus insinuated that there would be times when the people simply wouldn’t respond to the proclamation of the Kingdom of God. The response of the Apostles was to be subtle yet dramatic; they were not to spend too much time if a “place does not welcome...or listen…” Rather, they were to “shake the dust off [their] feet” and move on.

St. Paul had such an experience with his own people. After zealously opposing the new Christian movement, even to the point of concurrence in the stoning of one of their deacons, he had very little credibility with his fellow Jewish people when later he became one of Christianity’s steadfast advocates. Paul’s complete change of heart was met with utter skepticism to out-and-out violence and threats to his own life. In short, they just didn’t listen.

Having minimal success with the Jews, Paul metaphorically shook the proverbial dust from his feet, declaring, “from now on I will go to the Gentiles” (Acts 18:6). In doing so, Paul did not abandon the Jews to a doomed spiritual fate.

Rather, in recognizing his limitations with them, he let go, and moved on to where his preaching would bear fruit, leaving the Jewish people to those Apostles who would have better success.

This is the same for all preachers of the Gospel. In this “Year for Priests” called by Pope Benedict XVI, we will remember in a special way the many priests who serve the diverse communities of our Church throughout the world.

Like the Apostles who went before them, they experience a wide range of success and failure,

just as Jesus promised, just as the prophets experienced, and just as Paul and all of the Apostles endured among the varied communities of faith they founded and nurtured. There may be scarcely a priest who has not experienced this range of receptions from the communities they serve, both positive and negative, both successful and less productive; ranging from those who think of them as God’s gift to the priesthood, to its bane, and every sentiment in between; from people who hang on their every word to others who simply don’t listen.

This also is true of the reception of the Church throughout the world and throughout history. The diversity of those called to bear witness to the Good News of Jesus Christ, is complementary to the diversity of those who hear it. As Jesus hinted in the instructions to the Apostles, the Gospel message preached by the Church will be received by some, and not received by others.

The Church has enjoyed great success in some places and great challenge in others, but never outright failure. As priests and preachers of God’s Word, we are not to loose heart when the people just don’t listen; when the message we preach with our words or our actions falls on deaf, sometimes even hostile ears. Jesus said that such things are bound to happen and instructed us not to lose hope, but to let go and move on when it does, recognizing that others, equally called to bear witness, may have better success.

As with Paul and the Jews, we see that perhaps we may be called to preach elsewhere with greater success, bearing richer fruit. Like the example of the Apostles we recognize that there will always be someone else, also called by God, who may yield better results with those for whom we may have had minimal achievement, or outright failure.

In letting go and putting all things in the hands of God, we serve as better stewards of the mission given us to accomplish. Whether priest to their flock or the general faithful in our dayto-day living of the Gospel, we recognize that we are but the instruments; that it is God “who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist (and work) for the praise of his glory…” (Eph 1:11).

Father William Nicholas is parochial vicar at Our Lady of Loretto Parish in Novato. Visit his website at www.frwcnicholas.com.

Spirituality for Life

Our one great fidelity In one of his sermons on the Eucharist, Ronald Knox made this observation: Throughout two thousand years of history, Christians, both whole churches and individual believers, have consistently been able to ignore many of Jesus’ key commandments and invitations. We have either been too weak to follow his counsels or we have rationalized them away in some way.

And so, to a large extent, we have exempted ourselves from the demand to love our enemies, to turn the other cheek when attacked, to forgive 70 times 7, to leave our gift at the altar and first go and seek reconciliation with our brother before we worship, to place justice on the same level as worship, to see mercy as more important than dogma, to not commit adultery, to not steal, to not call someone a fool, to not tell lies, to not give in to jealousy. We have, in virtually every one of these areas, individually and collectively, a history of infidelity and rationalization.

But we have, for the most part, been faithful and consistent

throughout all the years to one of Jesus’ commands, to celebrate the Eucharist, to meet together in every circumstance and share his word and break bread and drink wine in his memory.

The older I get, the more this bald fact becomes more meaningful to me, both as it pertains to the church and as it pertains to me personally.

Whenever possible, I try to celebrate Eucharist every day, for many reasons. The Eucharist contains and carries many deep realities: It helps continue the incarnation of God in history, it is God’s physical embrace, it is an intensification of our community together as Christians, it is the new manna which God gives to nurture his people, it is our family meal together as believers, it is Christ’s sacrifice which we commemorate ritually, it is God’s gift of reconciliation and forgiveness, it is an invitation to a deeper discipleship, it is a banquet table opened up for the poor, it is a vigil service within which we wait for Christ to return, and it is Christ’s priestly prayer for the world.

But I go to Eucharist daily too for another reason, a

more personal one: This is the one place where I can be faithful, where I can essentially measure up. I can’t always control how I feel or how I think and I can’t always measure up morally and spiritually, but, inside of Father my perpetual inadequacy Ron Rolheiser and occasional doubt and confusion, I can be faithful in this one deep way.

I can go to the Eucharist regularly.

The older I get, the more meaningful this becomes.

With age, I am growing less confident or sure about my knowledge of God, religion, and life. As knowledge deepens, SPIRITUALITY FOR LIFE, page 18

July 10, 2009

Catholic San Francisco

15

India Diocese-San Francisco Archdiocese partnership nature worship. In the district of Dunbar, for example, which has a tradition of hostility to the Church, tribal leaders have asked the bishop to form a parish and school.

The new parish will be dedicated to St. Patrick.

“The people are very attracted to the Catholic Church because our approach to God is very similar,” Desmond said, adding that he met many converts who were compelled by Catholic liturgies, the sacraments, the rosary and the Communion of the Saints.

facing an epidemic of suicide among teens and young men.

Desmond sees the next phase of the partnership as building on parish mission work at St. Anselm and other parishes in the archdiocese.

“We’re going to support that so their work can be directed through proper channels and so we can assure any donations they make actually reach the people they’re meant for,” said Desmond, who will lead a workshop for prospective volunteers on July 11 from 10 to 1 at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center, One Peter Yorke Way in San Francisco.

(PHOTO BY RORY DESMOND)

n Continued from cover

“The universality of the Church itself is a reality that gives much strength to the people out there in Miao.”

He noted that one woman he met had walked eight hours through the heat of the day to pray and attend Mass.

“She had to do that on her own,” he said.

“It took raw courage to do that. I was mesmerized by this woman, and when I’ve come back here and shared her story with parishioners I have seen people come to life, I have seen people have their faith reawakened.”

The Miao diocese is not without problems. Illiteracy runs more than 50 percent.

The remote villages where most people live have no health care. People resort to faith healers to exorcise ghosts. The tribes are

As the partnership develops, Desmond hopes to create opportunities for cultural exchange.

“We really want this to be a partnership of equals,” he said. “We don’t want this to be a situation where a wealthy church is just sending money to a developing church. We want this to be a coming together of two churches and a sharing between the two churches.”

Bishop George sees the relationship developing along similar lines.

“Ours is a remote place, tucked away into almost an unknown corner of the world,

The people of Miao live in one of the remotest parts of India and “very much love any contact with the outside world,” says Bishop PK George.

hardly visited even by the people of India,” he said. “Any contact with the outside world is very much loved by our people. They enjoy having people come over to them.

Who knows, one day some of them may come over to San Francisco as well! As we establish this ‘bonding together,’ there will be also people who may want to do

something for the people there, especially for their education and spiritual growth.

They will find enough opportunity for it in Miao.”

Ed. Note: Rory Desmond can be contacted at desmondrory@yahoo.com or (415) 875-9862. For a related slideshow, “Mission in Miao,” visit www.catholic-sf.org.

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16

Catholic San Francisco

July 10, 2009

Music TV

Books RADIO Film

stage

What would Jesus play? Local gaming company makes faith interactive

By Michael Vick Christian is not the first word most would use when describing video games. Many of the most popular titles are full to the brim with senseless violence. Some, like “Grand Theft Auto,” actually promote lawlessness, with players stealing cars, killing police and even initiating gang warfare. Even those games that do not promote such wanton destruction are often so trivial that Christian parents and gamers are left wondering if such pursuits are the best use of time.

On the other hand, some family friendly titles focus on message to the detriment of gameplay. Nobody wants to play a boring game, no matter how spiritually redeeming it might be.

Such is not the case with “Guitar Praise,” among the latest offerings from Newark, Calif. based Christian gaming company Digital Praise.

The game is similar to mainstream title “Guitar Hero,” but features Christian rock bands like Petra, tobyMac, dc Talk, Newsboys and Skillet.

Players use a wireless guitar and try to hit the right notes as the song progresses, gaining points along the way that unlock new songs and new guitars.

In tests with local teens from St. Ignatius College Preparatory and St. Raymond Parish’s youth group, players found the game fun and the controls responsive.

Mike Totah, a junior at St. Ignatius, said the game is virtually identical to the popular “Guitar Hero,” though he enjoyed the animated background on the mainstream title more than the static background of “Guitar Praise.” He also said the addition of lyrics in the background was a welcome feature, especially since he had never heard the songs before.

Ryan Karl, a member of St. Raymond’s youth group, also gave the game high marks, and said he hoped “Digital Praise” would follow up the title with a sequel featuring more musical instruments similar to the mainstream game “Rock Band.”

Catholic San Francisco visited Digital Praise’s headquarters to ask about future plans for the title and to get a sense of what motivates

the team to create wholesome games in a market dominated by anything but.

“Our premise is to build fun games that people can feel good about their kids playing,” said Tom Bean, president and CEO of Digital Praise. “Other game developers who are trying to introduce faith into their games sometimes seem to lose sight of the fun part of gaming, and get a little message heavy. We try to keep that priority right without violating our mission.”

The company began in 2003 as the brainchild of Peter Fokos, Digital Praise’s chief technical officer and creative director. Prior to founding Digital Praise, Fokos was director of software engineering at The Learning Company. Fokos said much of the early success of the company came from deftly adapting popular characters from other media, like “Adventures in Odyssey” and “VeggieTales,” for interactive gaming.

“I’m not an expert in writing a great sermon, but there’s someone else who is,” Fokos said. “I can turn that into a piece of interactive media that people can enjoy playing.”

Echoing Bean, Fokos said an essential part of creating a successful Christian game was in maintaining a balance between message and gameplay.

“If the game isn’t fun, people aren’t going to play it,” Fokos said. “But if there’s no (Christian) message in there, I might as well be working at any family friendly game company.”

Other than that faith focus, one major difference between “Guitar Praise” and its mainstream cousin is on what platforms the game is released. While many mainstream games are released for gaming consoles like Sony’s Playstation 3, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Nintendo’s Wii, Digital Praise’s lineup of games have been released for Windows and Apple computers.

Bean said the approval process to get a game released on a gaming console is both arduous and expensive. A small company like Digital Praise cannot afford the process, he said, especially given that the hefty monetary outlay must be made whether or not the game is ultimately approved by the console makers.

He said that approval may not be forthcoming for a Christian developer.

Teens play new video game “Guitar Praise.”

“To date, they don’t seem really open to Christian faith elements in platform games,” Bean said, adding that other anti-Christian elements fare much better. “If it’s pagan ritualistic murder, then that’s totally cool. However, if you have the golden rule as part of the picture, that’s religious, you just cannot have that.”

Bean said the company is still open to the idea of releasing games for consoles, but the hurdles involved present unique challenges to small companies like Digital Praise. No such approval process exists for the personal computing marketplace, making it a more attractive platform for small developers.

The company’s main move into uncharted waters comes this year with the introduction of its first iPhone game, “Dance Praise.” The game is an iPhone version of its popular dance game of the same name, and was released June 29.

Bean said two more iPhone games will follow – an adaptation of “Guitar Praise” and a casual maze game called “aMazing Bible.”

Bean’s brother Bill Bean, vice president of marketing and sales, said the company’s goal of producing quality games has paid off in spiritually uplifting ways. He said he has read letters from missionaries who have taken Digital Praise’s dance game to foreign countries and have shared the gospel with people prompted by lyrics mentioning Jesus. He also received a letter from a mother who had gotten the company’s “Dance Praise” game as a gift.

The game brought the woman and her teenage daughter together.

“She and her daughter had not been speaking for the last couple years because everything turned into a screaming match,” he said. “They were listening to music they had listened to all their lives, and they started talking again. If you read the letter it would choke you up. It’s great to see when people can use the games as a tool.”

For more information about Digital Praise, visit www.digitalpraise.com.

Author traces the sociological history of ‘making marriages work’ “MAKING MARRIAGE WORK: A HISTORY OF MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE IN THE TWENTIETHCENTURY UNITED STATES”

by Kristin Celello. University of North Carolina Press (Chapel Hill, N.C., 2009). 232 pp., $29.95.

Reviewed by Christopher Fenoglio The main title of “Making Marriage Work”

implies that readers will find inside yet another collection of “how to” tips and tales with which to create a successful marriage.

Fortunately for the reader, especially those interested in American social history, Kristin Celello’s book is much, much more.

Based upon extensive and heavily footnoted research, Celello offers a lucid description of the rise and sociological impact of the concept that spouses must work hard to make their marriage work.

The origins of this concept can be traced to 19th-century preachers and physicians, the primary marriage counselors of the day. They saw a wide chasm between the idealism of romantic love and its ability to sustain a marriage and the inherent differences in Victorian-era men and women. They sought a more pragmatic approach to describing how couples could make a successful marriage.

This history of this concept was greatly influenced by two opposing forces: “a deep-

seated anxiety about divorce on the one hand, and Americans’ desire to have stronger, more satisfying marital relationships, on the other,” she says.

Celello traces the concept from its roots through the tumultuous 1920s and ‘30s when marriage education classes were begun and marriage counseling clinics were created.

Following a sharp rise in divorce cases from “war marriages,” the marriage advice industry MAKING MARRIAGE WORK, page 18

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St. Mary’s Cathedral Gough and Geary Blvd. in San Francisco in (415) 567-2020. Ample parking is available free of charge in the Cathedral lot for most events.

July 21, 7 p.m.: Reading St. Paul with St. Bonaventure, a free lecture series presented by Stephen C. Cordova of the St. Anthony of Padua Institute in the Cathedral Event Center. For more information, contact stephencordova@yahoo.com. Ample parking is available free of charge in our Cathedral lot.

July 29, 10:30 a.m. – noon: A free Grief Support Workshop in the Cathedral Event Center with Barbara Elordi, MFT, Director of the Archdiocesan Grief Care ministry. For further details, please contact Sister Esther McEgan at (415) 567-2020 x 218.

Third Tuesdays through September, 7:15 p.m.: The Year of St. Paul Lecture Series features Professor Stephen C. Córdova of the St. Anthony of Padua Institute, and Conventual Franciscan Father Francisco Nahoe of the Franciscan Spirit and Life Institute. Talks are free of charge. Information and lecture dates are available online at www.stanthonypaduainstitute.org/stpaul.pdf Sundays, 3:30 p.m.: Concerts featuring local and musical artists from around the world. Open to the public. Free will offering helps support Cathedral’s music ministry. Call (415) 567-2020, ext. 231.

Good Health July 15, 2:30 – 3:30 p.m.: “Cancer 101,” a free 450 health seminar at St. Mary’s Medical Center, 450 Stanyan St. at Fulton, Doctor’s Dining Room, Level B, in San Francisco. Learn about cancer and cancer prevention. Doctors will discuss the value of diet and lifestyle factors in preventing cancer as well as cancer treatment options. Question and answer segment, too. Refreshments will be served. To register, call (415) Oct. 15: A relic of St. Damien of Molokai visits St. Mary’s Cathedral, Geary Blvd. at Gough, in San Francisco. Tentative plans for the day include a dramatization of the saint’s work by actor Casey Groves as well as a prayer service and a chance for the faithful to venerate the relic.

Archbishop George H. Niederauer has asked that no other major events be planned for that date by Catholic organizations in the Archdiocese of San Casey Groves Francisco so to give everyone an opportunity to take part. Blessed Damien will be canonized Oct. 11 in Rome and the relic’s stop in San Francisco is one of only three it will make on its way to Hawaii for special ceremonies at the end of the month. Blessed Sister Jeanne Jugan, founder of the Little Sisters of the Poor, will also be made a saint Oct. 11 in the Rome rites. The Little Sisters of the Poor have been in service to the elderly for more than 100 years at St. Anne’s Home in San Francisco. Watch Catholic San Francisco for updates.

17

and Obama: Bishops, People and Issues (Maraschi Room) Admission is free. All are welcome. Talks are in Fromm Hall directly behind the church. For more information, contact Daniel Faloon at (415) 422-2195.

July 28, 29, 30, 5:15 – 6:45 p.m.: St. Paul the Apostle and St. Ignatius Loyola: Stories of Conversion, Mission and Education in preparing for the Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola July 31. Schedule of event days: Mass in St. Ignatius Church on campus of the University of San Francisco at 5:15 pm with a 15 minute homily followed by a short session in the parish offices on Ignatian Prayer and Spirituality All are welcome. For more information, contact Daniel Faloon at (415) 4222195. Quentin Dupont, S.J., a Jesuit scholastic of the California Province of the Society of Jesus and currently teaching at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, is presenter. Admission is free. All are welcome.

Saturdays: San Mateo Pro-Life prays the rosary at Planned Parenthood, 2211 Palm Ave. in San Mateo at 8 a.m. and invites others to join them at the site.

The prayer continues as a peaceful vigil until 1 p.m.

The group is also open to new membership. Meetings are held the second Thursday of the month except August and December at St. Gregory Parish’s Worner Center, 138 28th Ave. in San Mateo at 7:30 p.m. For more information, call Jessica at (650) 572-1468.

Datebook

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Support Resources Relevant to the Economy Edgewood Works, an employment support group, meets Mondays 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. and 4th Thursdays from 7 – 9 p.m. in Merry Room at St. Matthias Church, 1685 Cordilleras Rd. in Redwood City There is no cost to attend. Drop-ins welcome. Call (650) 906-8836 or e-mail edgewoodworksstm@gmail.com for more information.

Tuesdays, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.: Stress Management Group - Benefit from relaxation techniques, mind and body awareness practices, group support. Takes place at Catholic Charities CYO, 36 West 37th Avenue, San Mateo. Cost is $15 per session. Enroll by calling Catholic Charities CYO at (650) 295-2160, ex.199. Pamela Eaken, MFTI, and Natasha Wiegand, MFTI, facilitate the sessions. The program is supervised by David Ross, PhD.

Catholic San Francisco

The class of ’69 from Our Lady of Perpetual Help Elementary School enjoyed a reunion at the school’s annual Development Department Auction and Dinner in March. Special guests for the evening included Susan Voltaw, who taught the youngsters in 1965, and sports coach, Dan Cross. Front from left: Dennis Pustelnik, Twila Foster, Peter Martin, Christine Daniele. Back from left: Susan Votaw, Nisa Valcazar Monterrey, Wayne Bascom, Valerie Blasi Hansen, Rick Pacheco, Ramona Murray Prieto, Susan Radiotes Sanz, Dan Cross.

750-5524 or e-mail christina.hayeschandler@chw.edu Reduced rate parking onsite or MUNI 5, 21, 33.

The Ministers of Light, a recently formed Catholic group assisting abused women, announces a 10-week confidential Christian support group for women who have ever been in an unhealthy, controlling, or abusive relationship. The meetings are for women seeking Christcentered healing through faith sharing, biblical reflections, prayer, meditation, peer support, group learning activities, and referrals. Because Justice Matters, a group based in the Episcopal faith, is a co-sponsor. The series is free. For more information, please contact Marisela or Ruthie at (415) 885-6543. Phones are usually staffed during regular business hours or leave a message with a safe number to which someone may return your call.

Trainings/Lectures/Respect Life

Taize/Chanted Prayer 1st Friday at 8 p.m.: Mercy Center, 2300 Adeline Dr., Burlingame with Mercy Sister Suzanne Toolan.

Call (650) 340-7452; young adults are invited each first Friday of the month to attend a social at 6 p.m. prior to Taize prayer at 8 p.m. The social provides light refreshments and networking with other young adults. Convenient parking is available. For information contact mercyyoungadults@sbcglobal.net.

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

3rd Friday, 8 p.m.: Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose, Motherhouse Chapel, 43326 Mission Blvd in Fremont. Contact Maria Shao at (408) 839-2068 or maria49830@aol.com or Dominican Sister Beth Quire at (510) 449-7554 or beth@msjdominicans.

Food & Fun July 11, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.: Rummage Sale benefiting work of San Mateo Pro-Life at Alameda de las Pulgas and Ralston Ave. in Belmont. Call Vicki at (650) 3655718 or Jessica at (650) 572-1468.

July 23, noon: Regular luncheon of the Serra Club of San Francisco at Italian American Social Club, 25

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Guest speaker is Deacon John Norris who will talk on building “an engaged church” creating active and committed parish communities. Cost: $16 for lunch.

Non-members welcome. Contact: Paul Crudo at (415) 566-8224 or e-mail pecrudodds@aol.com July 25, 5:30 p.m.: The Women of St. Paul invites you to its annual Pasta Dinner to be held at St. Paul Church, Father Mario P. Farana Parish Hall, 29th and Church Streets, San Francisco. The meal includes salad, bread, pasta, meatballs and ice cream. No host bar opens at 5:30 p.m. Dinner starts 6:30 p.m. Cost: Adult $15.00; Child 12 years and under $5.00. For reservations contact St Paul Rectory at (415) 648-7538.

July 15, 22, 5 – 6:30 p.m.: Margaret O’Brien Steinfels, co-director of the Center on Religion and Culture at the Jesuits’ Fordham University, is featured lecturer at University of San Francisco’s Summer Scholar in Residence series. The noted author’s topic July 15 is “In a Church without Enemies, What is the Defender of the Faith to Margaret O’Brien Do?” July 22’s topic is Steinfels “Reinventing Catholic.” Talks take place at Fromm Hall on the USF campus with entrance at Golden Gate Ave. and Parker. The evenings are free and open to the public. For more information, call (415) 422-2404 or e-mail duffy@usfca.edu July 19, Aug. 16, 23, 10:45 am - 11:45 am: Jesuit Father Tom Reese, former editor of America, the Jesuits’ weekly magazine, speaks at St. Ignatius Church on the campus of the University of San Francisco. July 19, Religion and Politics: What is forbidden, what allowed, what prudent? (Maraschi Room) August 16, Eucharistic Prayers: The Heart of the Eucharist (Xavier Chapel) August 23, Catholics

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July 11, 7:30 p.m.: “A Midsummer Interlude” at Mater Dolorosa Church in South San Francisco.

Cellist Wilfredo C. Pasamba and the Mater Dolorosa Hallelujah Chorale are the evening’s featured performers. Pasamba is a graduate of Julliard and also studied at Moscow State University.

He has performed at venues Wilfredo C. including Lincoln Center’s Pasamba Alice Tully Hall and plays with the Des Moines and Omaha Symphony Orchestras. The choir under the direction of Angelita C. Pasamba is the “core of the music ministry” at Mater Dolorosa Parish.

The evening’s program includes selections from the classics as well as modern and Philippine repertoire.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Call (650) 583-4131 or e-mail MDConcert09@yahoo.com July 23, 8 p.m.: The Roskilde Boys Choir from the cathedral of Roskilde, Denmark will be performing a concert of sacred music at Sts. Peter and Paul Church, 666 Filbert St at Washington Square in San Francisco.

Admission is free but donations are gladly accepted.

For more information call (415) 421-0809.

Special Liturgies July 18 – 26: 102nd Novena to Good St. Anne at St. Anne of the Sunset Church, 850 Judah St. between Funston and 14th Ave. in San Francisco Participate in Mass, prayer, inspirational talks, spiritual direction, sacrament of reconciliation, anointing of the sick, blessing of children, blessing with the St. Anne’s relic. Weekdays: 8:45 a.m.; 2:30 and 7 p.m.

Saturday: 8:45 a.m.; 2:30 and 5 p.m. Sunday: 9 and 10:30 a.m. Sunday’s Mass at 10:30 a.m. includes the Solemn Novena Procession. For more information, call (415) 665-1600 or visit www.stanne-sf.org.

Datebook is a free listing for parishes, schools and non-profit groups. Please include event name, time, date, place, address and an information phone number.

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Catholic San Francisco

July 10, 2009

Spirituality for life . . . n Continued from page 14

it also widens and begins to take on softer edges. Unlike the more-confident years of my youth, I now live with the sense that my understanding of God’s ways are a long ways from being adequate, let alone normative. The mystery we live in is huge and the more we grasp the magnitude of the cosmic and spiritual world, the more we grasp too how ineffable is God. God truly is beyond us, beyond language, beyond imagination, and even beyond feeling. We can know God, but can never understand God. And so we must be more humble, both in our theology and in our ecclesiology. Mostly we don’t know what

Making Marriage Work . . . n Continued from page 16

flourished in the 1950s. Once again the “marriage is work” theme received national press and acceptance.

Changes in divorce laws in the 1960s and 1970s, along with the corresponding social unrest and the burgeoning feminist movement, created intense debates over the validity of marriage as society’s cornerstone. These debates continue somewhat today in the pages of popular magazines, as a topic

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we are doing. The Eucharist, since it is the one ritual given us

by Jesus himself, is one of our places of confidence.

Moreover, the older I get, the more I see too how blind I am to my own hypocrisies and how weak and rationalizing is my human nature. I don’t always know when I’m rationalizing, or biased, or following Christ properly. And, even when I do, I don’t always have the strength or will to do what I know is right. And so I lean heavily on the invitation that Jesus left us on the night before he died, to break bread and drink wine in his memory and to trust that this, if all else is uncertain, is what I should be doing while I wait for him to return.

Sometimes when he was instructing a couple for marriage, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the great Lutheran priest and martyr, would caution them with words to this effect: Right now, you

are in love and you believe that your love can sustain your marriage. It can’t. But your marriage can sustain your love!

The Eucharist is such a ritual-container for Christians. We can’t sustain our faith, charity, forgiveness, and hope on the basis of feeling or thought, but we can sustain them through the Eucharist. We can’t always be clear-headed or warm-hearted; we can’t always be sure that we know the exact path of God; and we won’t always measure up morally and humanly to what faith asks of us. But we can be faithful in this one, deep way: We can go to the Eucharist regularly.

on numerous talk shows, and in the public consciousness (the news coverage given to Jon, Kate and their eight children immediately comes to mind).

Concurrent with the telling of this history, Celello ably exposes a gross inequality in the public discussion of roles men and women play in their marital relationship. For decades, a majority of marriage counselors have assumed that women need a successful marriage more than their spouses. Since women “naturally” have more emotional and financial needs for a successful union, they should shoulder the responsibility of making it work.

Throughout this entire work there’s an encouraging undercurrent of belief that nearly every marriage is worth saving, as long as the participants do the work. This optimism is bolstered by statistical research that shows that number of American divorces has steadily declined since reaching its zenith in the 1980s.

Perhaps now, more than ever, Americans are indeed making their marriages work.

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OFFICE SPACE AVAILABLE Approximately 2,000 to 10,000 square feet first floor office space available (additional space available if needed) at One Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco (between Gough & Franklin), is being offered for lease to a non-profit entity. Space available includes enclosed offices, open work area with several cubicles, large work room, and storage rooms on the lower level of the Archdiocese of San Francisco Chancery/Pastoral Center. We also have mail and copy services available, as well as meeting rooms (based on availability). Reception services available.

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

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

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

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

Help Wanted We are looking for full or part time

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Director of Youth Ministry/Parish Staff Member Reports to: The Pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church Redwood City, CA Job Description: The position of Director of Youth Ministry is an integral part of developing the faith formation of our youth at this church’s active, multi-cultural, multi-generation parish community. The director provides a vision and plan for overall coordination of the parish’s ministry of or youth programs – a Jr High group and a High School group. The director will organize youth around monthly or bi-monthly leadership and planning sessions, social activities, parish events and Confirmation. The director is the advocate for our parish youth and for their involvement in parish programs such as St. Vincent de Paul, Liturgy and planning, youth masses and ad hoc parish planning activities.

Requirements / Experience: • Active member of a Catholic parish faith community • Youth Ministry experience in a Catholic parish • Bachelor’s degree in a related field • Demonstrated ability to work with and relate to our youth • Computer literacy to facilitate outreach to our youth • Spanish speaking and writing skills a plus but not required Salary: Commensurate with the candidate’s education and relevant experience consistent with Archdiocese guidelines.

The position is a full-time position.

Timing: The position is currently open; the candidate could start as early as summer months but there is flexibility for the ideal candidate.

Please send your resume of qualifications to: Reverend John A. Balleza, Pastor Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church 300 Fulton Street Redwood City, CA 94062

For more information please call 650.366.3802.

20

Catholic San Francisco

July 10, 2009

A life changed by witness to death’s spirituality

By Rick DelVecchio

“A

(PHOTO BY RICK DELVECCHIO/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)

ny sense of spirituality usually results in an easier death – the sense that this is part of some kind of a cosmic plan,” says San Francisco writer Stan Goldberg, a practicing Buddhist whose views on compassionate care at the end of life will resonate with those familiar with Catholic teaching.

In his book “Lessons for the Living: Stories of Forgiveness, Gratitude and Courage at the End of Life” (Trumpeter Books, an imprint of Shambhala Publications, 2009), Goldberg recounts his experiences as a hospice volunteer who has been present with more than 200 people at the end of life. Goldberg says there is as much variety in death as there is in life but certain experiences occur time and again for the dying.

The dying focus on relationships as other attachments fall away. They want to finish up business, say goodbye, say thanks and ask for forgiveness, Goldberg says. Hospice volunteers play an important role in helping the dying take care of these ultimately spiritual matters, says Goldberg, who includes a chapter of practical suggestions.

“Genetically, we know what to do,” writes Goldberg, who found himself drawn to hospice work after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. “We just need to get out of the way of our ego and let our heart take over.”

Goldberg’s book is timely as the nation debates health care reform. The new chairwoman of the Catholic Health Association’s board of trustees told a Capitol Hill briefing June 15 that concern for the psychological, social and spiritual needs of suffering and dying patients should be a part of health care reform.

Here are excerpts from Rick DelVecchio’s interview: What concerns consistently come up for the dying in their last weeks?

Being forgiven is a big one. I see people who get closer to death who feel they’ve done something really horrendous. They feel they can’t be forgiven or the person who’s in a position to forgive them won’t. That’s a real hard one. What I’ve seen is that when someone is getting close to death they become incredibly honest. The words they use are very carefully chosen, not for impact but for describing what they believe at that minute.

You write about a difficult case where a dying man became delusional and thought you were his son.

An AIDS patient had alienated his family – his wife and his son. He had gone down to Los Angeles. He started doing drugs in Northern California then went to LA because the surfing was better. He got high and he surfed. He pretty much had burned most of his bridges when he came back up here. His family didn’t want to take him back in. He was concerned about dying alone.

He thought I was his son, and I really didn’t know what to do. I had to make a decision. Do I do something that I think might be over the boundary or do I do something that I’m pretty sure will give him comfort? I chose the latter. I found out the day that he died from a friend that I’d made the right decision. So he thought I was his son. He forgave me for not bringing him in. The next Saturday, he died in my arms. It was a very moving event, as it always is when someone dies.

You write about a wife and mother’s deathbed quest for forgiveness.

The woman left her two teenage kids and her husband for another man. They wouldn’t talk to her even though they knew she was dying. She wanted to be forgiven. She spent three weeks writing them a letter. After three weeks it was just two lines: “I love you. I’m sorry for what I did to you. ‘Please forgive me.’ She didn’t know if they would ever read it. But by writing it down it significantly helped her.

How do you open the conversation about dying with a client?

I had a patient a few months ago who had coronary failure. He was dropping rapidly. He had a few months max but he wasn’t ready to talk about that so the conversation he and I had all had to do with his fly fishing up in the Sierra, which I love doing. So all the discussions for a quite a while had to do with positive things. So there came a time, about three weeks before he died, when he said, “You know, I think they’re right, I think I am dying.” It’s almost like he’s opening the door and he’s now ready to talk about it. He was getting his life in order to go wherever he had planned to go.

If compassionate care adds so much to the quality of one’s dying and death, what about all the people who do not have access to it or who do not know how to reach out for it?

The latest figures I heard are that for every five people who have requested to be in hospice there’s one bed. Hospice is also not something that many physicians recommend even when they know someone is terminal. I think there are number of reasons for that. One is physicians

For more information Stan Goldberg welcomes e-mails from people who want to know more about hospice.

Contact him at stan@stangoldbergwriter.com. His website is www.stangoldbergwriter.com.

To hear an audio clip of Goldberg’s thoughts on spirituality and dying, click on “Hospice Volunteer” on the homepage of Catholic San Francisco Online: www.catholic-sf.org.

Exorcist . . .

n Continued from page 11 How do people create a doorway to evil?

People think that Ouija boards are harmless. They are not, because what people do is they begin tapping into a realm that’s beyond science, that’s beyond the physical nature of human existence.

They don’t know what they’re tapping into, really. The person I’m presently praying over channeled spirits. He learned how to channel spirits from his clinical-psychologist therapist, if you can believe that. And he tapped into a world that he has not been able to be completely freed from.

We’ve delivered a lot of demons out of him – big, huge manifestations. He’s better but he’s not completely free. He opened a door that we have not been able to absolutely, positively close.

You say most of the work of an exorcist is discernment. What is the process?

In every case I have to ask a variety of questions, much like a detective would. Have you ever been involved with the occult, satanic practices? What was it like growing up in your home? Abuse, pornography, violence? All of those kinds of questions are asked at the beginning to see if there might have been a doorway opened to something outside the physical. It takes a lot of time. We start with the lowest common denominator. Do people have a prayer life? Sacramental life? A relationship with the Lord? I may have them celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Eucharist, I encourage them to go at least weekly if not more.

Stan Goldberg

are generally afraid of death. Patients who are dying, what that means to them is they have failed rather than this is a natural part of living. Families have problems from two angles. One is they don’t want to admit the loved one is dying. The other is they don’t want to the love one to know he’s dying. There’s a reluctance to talk about the concept of death on everyone’s part.

It’s the 800-pound gorilla that’s in the room. One of the purposes of my book is to make people more aware that this is something that is not dreadful. This is a positive approach to dying. I think it’s a matter of re-education. Anyone can die with dignity, in their home or in a nursing home. Almost all the care I gave is in people’s homes, which is wonderful, it’s the best setting.

Even in nursing homes, hospice can still be there for patients and help them to die.

In your book you describe the elevated intensity of the sensations you have experienced at the moment of death.

I still have difficulty even coming up with words to describe the moment of death. Things smell more intensely. Light is more intense than normal light. Often I’ve experiences this profound silence – the departing of something that was alive. The person that dies becomes very peaceful, the expression is incredibly peaceful. For everyone I’ve been with it was an expression I never saw on their face. It’s been the most profound spiritual experience I’ve ever had, being with someone who has died.

You write about cases where dying people have unexplained experiences, such as seeing and talking to people who are not there.

I don’t think they can be explained by any rational means. Neuroscientists talk about how the neurons are starting to fire off and everyone sees the white light. I think you can take that explanation just so far. That’s not what’s happening all the time. I’ve never had anyone tell me they saw a white light and someone beckoned me. There were a lot of other things that happened and they were all so different. It makes me think something’s going on here. I had man who while completely awake told me he saw his wife at the end of his bed. There was nothing that would have made him delusional. He had no sense of spirituality. He thought: ‘It’s over.’ That was hard for him to explain away.

What advice do you have for someone who has received a terminal diagnosis?

I think what you need to do is make sure you live every day as if it were your last. Stay in the moment. And also finish any business that needs to be finished. For families they need to be honest about how they feel about the person who is dying and express that to them. People who are dying generally know that. Be honest, talk about someone’s life. Talk about the wonderful things they’ve done and given to you. The other thing about the person who is dying is they need to give family and friends permission to talk about death. It not only makes the person’s death better but it leaves the family with much better memories of the last few months of the person’s life.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on a new book called “I Want My Life Back.” It’s about rebounding from traumatic loss. How do you get your life back? It’s a little different approach than most approaches on grief. With most grief counseling it’s focused on what you lost. I never really understood that. I’m much more interested in what you’ve got left and where you can go from that.

When you’re contending with possession or obsession, how do you gain the upper hand?

Demons will hide. They’ll go away. They do those things to conceal themselves. It’s all about the lie. But once you get them to divulge their name, they lost. But it takes time. Once you know they’re identity it’s the first step toward their eventual expulsion. It depends on the power of the demon, depends on how long the demon has been infested in the person.

It depends on what the person has done. It depends on the cooperation of the person.

What are the demons’ names?

Beelzebub. Lust. Fear. I delivered recently a very powerful demon whose name was Shroud. I got attacked and so did the other priest who was with me. He had a numbness down his leg for weeks.

Some kind of nerve damage. He’s better but he had this nerve problem for about a month. In my case it was all emotional. We had a very hard delivering this demon. He just wouldn’t come out.

Physically, mentally, emotionally, is this work sustainable for you?

I don’t see this not being part of what I do for the rest of my priesthood. Once you start doing this you kind of end up doing it for life. But I’m going to see (Bishop McGrath).

He needs to appoint another guy besides me. There’s too many people coming. It isn’t just here. The guy in Chicago told me the same thing – more and more people come. I’m not surprised, the times that we live in.

For an audio clip from the interview, click on “Outspoken Exorcist” on the homepage of Catholic San Francisco Online: http://www.catholic-sf.org.