September 4, 2009 by Catholic San Francisco

Wildfires bring devastation, death, worry

Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper

(CNS PHOTO/ROD SEWARD, REUTERS)

By R. W. Dellinger and Paula Doyle Special Report from The Tidings

Flames from a wild fire are seen above La Canada, a dozen miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles. Wildfires in the foothills of Los Angeles roared out of control this week, destroying homes, forcing tens of thousands to evacuate, and claiming the lives of two firefighters.

Vatican denies rollback of Vatican II VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, has dismissed fears that Pope Benedict XVI plans to roll back major ecclesial changes introduced by the Second Vatican Council. On the contrary, the German pontiff has demonstrated his commitment to the council during his more than four years as pope, Cardinal Bertone told the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano. In the wake of recent reports about a planned move to reverse liturgical changes made since Vatican II, Cardinal Bertone said reporters and observers should

stick to the actual actions undertaken by the pope since his election. Cardinal Bertone pointed to several areas in which he said Pope Benedict had promoted the teaching of Vatican II “with intelligence and depth of thought,” including relations with Eastern and Orthodox churches and dialogue with Judaism and Islam. He said the pope has also favored an increasingly direct and fraternal relationship with the world’s bishops, as evidenced during their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican and in the freer discussions during synods of bishops.

For Father Richard Krekelberg, pastor of St. Rita Church in Sierra Madre, 20 miles northeast of Los Angeles, the Station Fire that destroyed more than 50 homes, threatened 12,000 more and led to two firefighters’ death was a painful reminder. A wild conflagration in April 2008 raced across ridges and down canyons to the very last foothill before the cozy town and St. Rita’s on Baldwin Avenue. “Well, this fire has been a real close parallel for me,” he told The Tidings. “Back then we had to cancel Confirmation, although this time we didn’t have to close anything. You want to be responsible, and yet you want to be a place where your parishioners and others in the community might be able to come for safe haven.” Father Krekelberg said the “regulars” have still been showing up for the 8 a.m. daily Mass he celebrates, but a number of elderly parishioners complained about how it was hard to breathe. As of midday Sept. 1, the Station Fire — the largest of the half-dozen major fires in Southern California — had burned more than 122,000 acres in the Angeles National Forest and was only 5 percent contained along a fire line stretching 30 miles manned by nearly 7,000 firefighters from La Crescenta to Acton. It has destroyed 53 homes and structures. Most tragically, the fuel-driven unpredictable fire claimed the lives of two Los Angeles County fire-fighters: Capt. Tedmund “Ted” Hall, 47, and Firefighter Specialist Arnaldo “Arnie” Quinones, 34. They were killed last Sunday while trying to find an escape route for 55 inmates at a corrections camp high in the Angeles National Forest. The devastating fire also caused parishioner evacuations at several local Catholic churches, including the Benedictine monastery at Valyermo, north of Angeles National Forest, and resulted in the closure of some Catholic schools just beginning the new school year. Home evacuations of parishioners were reported by WILDFIRES, page 13

Immaculate Conception Academy becomes a ‘Cristo Rey’ school San Francisco’s Immaculate Conception Academy entered its first semester as part of the innovative Cristo Rey school network with an opening day Mass Aug. 25 celebrated by Jesuit Father John Foley, founder of the Cristo Rey model. Cristo Rey schools include 24 institutions and 6,000 students across the United States where students help pay their tuition and gain job and life experience with school-day jobs in the private and public sector. At full enrollment, the schools recover up to 90 percent of the cost of educating each student “Ladies, this is not about anything mediocre or half-hearted,” Father Foley told the assembly of 300 in his homily. “This journey is our response to Christ’s invitation to walk on water. You are here to develop all the talent God has given you. That’s what will change our world. That’s what will hasten the coming of the Kingdom.” Immaculate Conception Academy held what it called “Camp Rey” for all students in the week before school started. “The program focused on teaching the young women the hard and soft skills vital to their

success in the corporate world,” the school said. “Classes focused on all aspects of the corporate world including shaking hands, looking people in the eye, public speaking, financial literacy, and the importance of confidentiality.” Currently, Immaculate Conception Academy has 50 positions for its students with businesses and non-profits across the Bay Area, the school said. Four students share one full-time position working five days a month. Among the sponsors are Academy of Art University, American Red Cross, the Department of Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, Borel Private Bank and Trust Co., City of San Francisco – office of Supervisor David Campos, Kaiser Permanente, St. Mary’s Medical Center, and KPIX- CBS 5 where duties include assisting in organizing the news library, dubbing tapes and logging news stories. More than 1,500 entities sponsor jobs across the Cristo Rey network. In school year 2008-09, students contributed more than $27 million to their education cost.

Dominican Sister Mary Virginia Leach, ICA president, Jesuit Father John P. Foley, founder of the Cristo Rey model, Lisa Graham, ICA principal; Rob Birdsell, Cristo Rey Network president.

Immaculate Conception Academy, an all-girls school, has a student enrollment of 248. Mission San Jose Dominican Sister Mary Virginia Leach is president. Lisa Graham is principal. “The Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose are excited to be a new sponsor with the Cristo Rey network,” the

congregation said. The Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose founded Immaculate Conception in 1883. For more information or to learn about becoming a Cristo Rey job sponsor, contact Jonathan Wang at jwang@icacademy.org or (415) 824-2052, ext. 27.

INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION Notre Dame controversy. . . . 3 Help in pregnancy. . . . . . . . . 6

Remembrance USF’s Burl Toler ~ Page 8 ~ September 4, 2009

Journey of faith ‘Never the obvious’ ~ Page 15 ~

Labor Day Guide. . . . . . 10-14 Editorial and letters . . . . . . 16 Scripture and reflection . . . 18

Opus Dei film begins production ~ Page 20 ~

ONE DOLLAR

Datebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Classified ads . . . . . . . . . . . 23

www.catholic-sf.org VOLUME 11

•

No. 26

Catholic San Francisco

September 4, 2009

St. Vincent de Paul; Andrew Ferrero, Stephen Everest, and Nick Stinn, students at Stuart Hall schools; and Jackson Smith, who attends Cathedral School for Boys. Proud parents include Catherine and Jeffry Schmitz, Alice and Charles HolbornWelsh, Patsy and Joe Ferrero; Janan New and Lawrence Smith, By Tom Burke Sally and Chris Radich, Jessie and Mark Mahoney, Teri and Mike O’Donnell, Michelle and Happy 100th Birthday to Mary Holian June 9. Mary, Scott Heidohrn, Elaine and Dan a longtime parishioner of San Francisco’s St. Gabriel’s, Everest, Jill and Brad Stinn, and enjoyed visits from pastor, Father Tom Hamilton and parish Andreas Oropeza. “This season Deacon Tom Reardon as she celebrated the milestone among concluded seven or eight years of the good wishes of more than 50 family members. Mary was the boys’ playing San Francisco baptized and educated at the now-closed St. Joseph Parish, Little League and we wish them and lived in St. Charles Parish on South Van Ness for many much success in their future acayears until moving to St. Gabe’s over 60 years ago, her niece demic and baseball endeavors,” Maryann Smyth, told me. “I am one of Mary’s nieces,” Mary said Catherine Schmitz, whom, affirmed. “She is the beloved aunt to four generations of nieces with Chris Radich, we can thank Participants in a recent Knights of Columbus installation Mass included and nephews.”… Happy birthday, too, to Mani Glanz, for the good news…. Clarence Robert Villalobos, front left, Carol Villalobos, Vincent Pacis, Angie Pacis, longtime Holy Name of Jesus parishioner and volunteer, and Mary Cravalho of Our Father Nestor Rebong, Sharon Reek, Ivan Reek, Charles Clark, who was 90 years old Aug. 5…. The Archdiocese of San Lady of Angels Parish were and Sandra Clark, with Purita Warriner, back left, Raymond among guests at the 50th wedding Francisco was well represented at recent All Star games for Warriner, Timothy Carvalho, and Stephanie Carvalho. San Francisco Little League District 3. Rounding the bases anniversary of Al and Sydne were Cole Schmitz, Nick Radich, Slade Mahoney, and Sean Chanteloup now of Arnold, Calif. O’Donnell of St. Cecilia Parish; Dylan Holborn-Welsh of Al was raised in San Mateo and St. Gabriel’s; Marc Heidohrn and Brandon Oropeza, St. attended school at St. Matt’s and Junipero Serra High parishioners of San Francisco’s Church of the Epiphany, Philip’s; Declan Ebling, St. Peter and Paul; Steele Meyer, School. San Mateo’s Chanteloup Field bears the family took part in the parish Over 50 Club’s celebration of Blessed name. Al and Clarence met at Santa Mother’s Month in May. Rites included a crowning of the Clara University later serving in the Mary with flowers following a Mass with pastor, Father Army together. Mary and Clarence, Eugene Tungol, presiding. Thanks to Barbara Bottarini for both lifelong Burlingame residents, the good news.….This is an empty space without you. Send were married at OLA on July 9, items via e-mail to burket@sfarchdiocese.org and by ground 1960…. Congrats to Vincent Pacis of to “Street,” One Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco 94109. Holy Angels Parish in Colma, newly Electronic photos should be jpegs at 300 dpi. No zip files, elected State Deputy for The Knights please. Hard copy photos are also welcome sent to the Peter of Columbus of California, leading a Yorke Way address. I can be reached at (415) 614-5634. corps of more than 65,000 members and 650 councils in the Golden State. Mighty proud are Vincent’s wife, Angie, and their children, Estrellina, Lareina and Roderick, all three graduates of Holy Angels Elementary School. Vincent and other state officers were installed July 11 at Holy Angels Church with Father Nestor Rebong, State Chaplain, as principal celebrant. Holy Angels pastor, Father Manuel Curso, concelebrated. With more than Students from Novato’s Our Lady of Loretto Parish “Summer School” took 1.75 million members in more than “Christmas in July,” including arts and crafts gifts as well as treats, 14,000 councils around the world, the to residents of nearby Creekwood Senior Care Facility. Resident Knights of Columbus annually donates centenarians, Ann Faul and Mario Bandietti, both102, and over $144 million and 68 million hours youngsters, Thea Falvey, Toula Falvey and Ikaria Falvey all seem of service to charitable causes. Claudia Claudia Lippi and Yolanda Actis to have enjoyed the event. Thanks to Toni Basich for fillin’ us in. Lippi and Yolanda Actis, lifelong

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Catholic San Francisco

Three U.S. bishops revisit controversy over Obama honor at Notre Dame by that strategy are that the bishops “function as partisan political actors in American life”; that they are WASHINGTON (CNS) – In “ratifying the ‘culture war mentaltwo national Catholic publications, ity,’ which corrodes debate both in two U.S. archbishops and a bishop American politics and in the internal are revisiting the controversy over life of the church”; that they are the honorary degree conferred on “effectively indifferent to all grave President Barack Obama by the evils other than abortion”; and that, in University of Notre Dame. the case of Obama, they are “insensiRetired Archbishop John R. Quinn tive to the heritage and the continuing of San Francisco and Bishop John existence of racism in America,” the M. D’Arcy of Fort Wayne-South retired archbishop said. Bend, Ind., the diocese in which Archbishop Quinn urged the U.S. Notre Dame is located, wrote sepahierarchy to follow the “policy of rate articles about the matter for the cordiality” practiced by the Vatican, Aug. 31-Sept. 7 issue of America Archbishop John R. Quinn Bishop John M. D’Arcy Archbishop which “proceeds from the conviction magazine. Michael J. Sheehan that the integrity of Catholic teaching Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan of Santa Fe, N.M., talked about the controversy degree, with some saying it violated the letter “This is what universities do,” he said. “No can never be sacrificed” but “consistently favors engagement over confrontation.” and how it was handled at a June meeting of and spirit of their 2004 statement “Catholics in bishop should try to prevent that.” the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Political Life.” “The Vatican shows great reluctance to pubThe central question, Bishop D’Arcy said, an interview with National Catholic Reporter, That document states: “The Catholic com- is: “Does a Catholic university have the respon- licly personalize disagreements with public offipublished in the newspaper’s Aug. 26 edition. munity and Catholic institutions should not sibility to give witness to the Catholic faith and cials on elements of church teaching,” he said. Archbishop Quinn said he felt the U.S. honor those who act in defiance of our funda- to the consequences of that faith by its actions Archbishop Sheehan said in the interview bishops’ response to the controversy “commu- mental moral principles. They should not be and decisions – especially by a decision to that he spoke out strongly in executive session nicated several false and unintended messages” given awards, honors or platforms which would confer its highest honor?” at the bishops’ June meeting against those who to the U.S. public, while Bishop D’Arcy said his suggest support for their actions.” Bishop D’Arcy said that, in his 24 years as opposed the university’s granting of an honorary refusal to attend the commencement ceremonies Critics of Obama said his support of legal head of the diocese in which Notre Dame is degree to Obama. at which Obama was honored arose from his abortion and embryonic stem-cell research also located, “I have never interfered in the internal “I said we’ve gotten more done on the proresponsibility to see that Catholic universities made him an inappropriate choice to be com- governance of Notre Dame or any other institu- life issue in New Mexico by talking to people “give public witness to the fullness of Catholic mencement speaker at a Catholic university. who don’t agree with us on everything,” he tion of higher learning within the diocese.” faith.” The bishops discussed the controversy in But he said a bishop “must be concerned said. “We got Gov. (Bill) Richardson to sign off Archbishop Sheehan, as part of a wide- executive session at their June meeting in San that Catholic institutions do not succumb to the on the abolition of the death penalty for New ranging interview with the independent Catholic Antonio, and passed a resolution expressing secular culture, making decisions that appear to Mexico. ... But you know, he’s pro-abortion. So? weekly, said he believed the majority of U.S. “appreciation and support” for Bishop D’Arcy many, including ordinary Catholics, as a sur- It doesn’t mean we sit and wait, that we sit on bishops agreed with him that “we don’t want to and affirming his “solicitude for (Notre Dame’s) render to a culture opposed to the truth about the sides and not talk to him.” isolate ourselves from the rest of America by our Catholic identity and his loving care for all those life and love.” Archbishop Sheehan said the U.S. Catholic strong views on abortion and the other things. We the Lord has given him to sanctify, to teach and Archbishop Quinn, however, said there is Church would “be like the Amish, you know, need to be building bridges, not burning them.” to shepherd.” “deep and troubled disagreement” among the kind of isolated from society, if we kept pulling “To make a big scene about Obama – I think In his America article, Bishop D’Arcy said U.S. bishops about how they should speak about back because of a single issue.” a lot of the enemies of the church are delighted the controversy was not about Obama, a replay abortion, which he called the “most searing and Asked if there were others who agreed with to see all that,” he said. him, he said, “Of course, the majority.” of the 2008 elections or “whether it is appro- volatile issue in American public life.” More than 70 U.S. bishops voiced their priate for the president of the United States “The bishops don’t want to have a battle in “A strategy of condemnation” that sanctions disapproval of Notre Dame’s invitation to to speak at Notre Dame or any great Catholic public officials because of their stand on abor- public with each other, but I think the majority Obama and its decision to give him an honorary university on the pressing issues of the day.” tion “undermines the church’s transcendent role of bishops in the country didn’t join in with that, would not be in agreement with that approach,” in the American political order,” he added. Among the false impressions conveyed he added.

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Catholic San Francisco

NEWS

September 4, 2009

in brief (CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING)

Kennedy praised, faulted WASHINGTON – Catholic leaders from coast to coast praised the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy for his nearly 50 years of public service, and others expressed sorrow that his commitment to the less fortunate did not extend to the unborn. The Massachusetts Democrat and son of one of the nation’s most famous Catholic families died late Aug. 25 at his home on Cape Cod after a yearlong battle with a malignant brain tumor. “For nearly half a century, Sen. Kennedy was often a champion for the poor, the less fortunate and those seeking a better life,” said Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston. “Across Massachusetts and the nation, his legacy will be carried on through the lives of those he served.” Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, who worked with Kennedy in an unsuccessful effort to achieve comprehensive immigration reform in 2007, said “the voiceless, the powerless and the most needy of our citizens have lost a great champion” with the senator’s death. “His deep and personal commitment to causes affecting the poor and needy among us flowed from his deep Catholic faith, and the life and outreach of Jesus Christ,” he added. “Over the years, however, I was never able to bring him to promote fundamental rights for one important group in our society – the unborn,” Cardinal Mahony said. “But he did struggle with this aspect of his Catholic faith, and I was hopeful that at some point he would see that all of his work for the most needy had to begin with a commitment to every person – born and unborn.”

Episcopal nuns, priest convert BALTIMORE – After seven years of prayer and discernment, a community of Episcopal sisters and their chaplain were received into the Catholic Church during a Sept. 3 Mass celebrated by Baltimore Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien. The archbishop welcomed 10 sisters from the Society of All Saints’ Sisters of the Poor. He administered the sacrament of confirmation and the sisters renewed their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in the chapel of their convent in suburban Catonsville, Md. The Rev. Warren Tanghe, an Episcopal priest, also was to be received into the church and is discerning the possibility of becoming a Catholic priest. Mother Christina Christie, superior of the

religious community, said the sisters are excited about joining the Catholic Church. The women religious have been studying the church’s teachings for years, she said. The sisters expressed deep affection for Pope Benedict XVI. The pope exercises an authority that Episcopal leaders do not, they said, adding that the unity Christ called for can be found in the Catholic Church under the leadership of the pope. Orthodoxy and unity were key reasons the sisters were attracted to the Catholic faith. Many of them were troubled by the Episcopal Church’s approval of women’s ordination, the ordination of a gay bishop and what they regarded as lax stances on moral issues.

Rift in Lutheran denomination WASHINGTON – A vote to permit the ordination of homosexuals in committed monogamous relationships for the United States’ largest Lutheran denomination may provoke a rift among its members and leaders. The 559-451 vote Aug. 21 during the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s biennial churchwide assembly in Minneapolis approved a resolution to allow gays in “publicly accountable, lifelong, monogamous same-gender relationships” to serve as clergy. The denomination had previously permitted celibate gay men and women to be ordained. The 4.6million-member denomination joined the Episcopal Church and the United Church of Christ in accepting sexually active homosexuals as clergy. The ELCA – formed in 1989 from the merger of the Lutheran Church in America, the American Lutheran Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church – had voted in 2005 against allowing sexually active gays to serve as ordained clergy. The churchwide assembly is the chief governing authority of the denomination, and the Aug. 21 vote reverses the 2005 action. However, some clergy serving as assembly delegates indicated they would leave the denomination, or at least reconsider their

Cardinal Roger M. Mahony and U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy address a Capitol Hill press conference on immigration in Washington March 6, 2007. Kennedy, who died Aug. 25, was a major figure in the Democratic Party. He was 77.

membership. Leaders from about 400 Lutheran congregations have planned a meeting for September in Indianapolis on how to deal with the situation, but without breaking with the church.

Immigration reform hopes WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama and his administration want to see comprehensive reform of the nation’s immigration system “happen sooner than later,” according to a Catholic immigration advocate. “I would be surprised if this wasn’t taken care of by the end of 2010,” said Mark Franken, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc., known as CLINIC. Franken, who made the comments in an interview with Catholic News Service, was part of a group of immigrant advocates, faith leaders, and labor, business and law enforcement officials who met in a closed-door meeting on immigration in Washington Aug. 20. The meeting was the first in a series of conversations aimed at getting input from those who have a stake in the issue, according to Franken. Representatives from the White House and the Department of Homeland Security participated in the discussion hosted by Secretary Janet Napolitano. Obama arrived at the end of the meeting to reiterate many of Napolitano’s points, including the need for increased efforts to push immigration reform. Franken told CNS the meeting demonstrated the president’s commitment to the issue as well the administration’s need to hear from constituents and people who are educated about reform.

USCCB launches Web site explaining missal translation WASHINGTON – A new Web site launched Aug. 21 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was produced to NEWS IN BRIEF, page 5

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educate Catholics about the forthcoming English translation of the new Roman Missal, the book of prayers used for Mass. The site, www.usccb.org/romanmissal, has background material on the process of development of liturgical texts, sample texts from the missal, a glossary of terms and answers to frequently asked questions. Content will be added regularly over the next several months, according to an Aug. 21 news release from the USCCB. The bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship hopes the site will be a central resource for those preparing to implement the new text, the release said. In the years since the Second Vatican Council, “we have learned a lot about the use of the vernacular in the liturgy and the new texts reflect this new understanding,” said the committee’s chairman, Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli of Paterson, N.J., in a video that welcomes visitors to the site. “The new texts are understandable, dignified and accurate,” he said. “They not only strive to make the meaning of the text accessible for the listener, but they also strive to unearth the biblical and theological richness of the Latin text.”

New US ambassador to Vatican arrives in Rome ROME – The new U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, Miguel Diaz, arrived in Rome and said he was eager to help expand the “special relationship” between the United States and the Holy See. Diaz, a 45-year-old Catholic theologian, arrived with his wife and four children at Rome’s Fiumicino airport Aug. 27, six days after he was sworn in as ambassador in Washington. Miguel Diaz He will present his credentials to Pope Benedict XVI at a ceremony later this summer. “I look forward to the coming weeks as my family and I put down new roots in Rome. I will be honored to serve President Obama and the American people in my new role, and it will be a unique honor to meet his holiness, Pope Benedict XVI,” Diaz said in a statement released by the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See. “I welcome the opportunity

to deepen and expand upon the special relationship that has evolved between the United States and the Vatican over the past 25 years of formal diplomatic ties,” he said. Diaz, a professor at St. John’s University and the College of St. Benedict, both in Minnesota, is the first Hispanic and the first theologian to represent the U.S. at the Vatican.

(CNS PHOTO/AMM AR AWAD, REUTERS)

News in brief . . .

Catholic San Francisco

Vocations: ‘spiritual terrain’ CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy – Pope Benedict XVI said Catholic parents should make sure to create a “fertile spiritual terrain” for priestly vocations as they educate their children in the faith. The pope, speaking at a Sunday blessing at his summer residence outside Rome Aug. 30, said he hoped for a vocations revival in the Year for Priests, which began in June. The year marks the 150th anniversary of St. John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests. “When couples dedicate themselves generously to the education of their children, guiding and orienting them toward the discovery of God’s design of love, they prepare that fertile spiritual terrain where vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life arise and mature,” the pope said. He offered a prayer that in the Year for Priests, “Christian families may become small churches in which all the vocations and charisms given by the Holy Spirit will be welcomed and valued.” The pope said the history of Christianity features innumerable examples of saintly parents and families, including Blessed Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi, who were beatified in 2001. The couple had four children, including two sons who became priests.

U.S. bishops visit South Africa JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – A U.S. bishops’ delegation touring some of Johannesburg’s poorest areas saw an active Catholic parish as well as some of the migration problems facing South Africa’s largest city. In Johannesburg’s Alexandra Township, the delegation visited St. Hubert’s Catholic Church, where about 10 members of a youth choir were rehearsing. Oblate Father Ronald Cairns told the two U.S. bishops and other delegation members that his parish is thriving, with between 500 and 700 of its members involved in church activities. “We have a strong parish council,” about 400 young people in catechism classes, active sodalities and parishioners training for the priesthood, Father Cairns said Aug. 29. Johannesburg’s oldest township is four square miles and is home to about 540,000 South Africans as well as people from other African countries, the priest said. It has a 70 percent unemployment rate. Johannesburg was the first stop on an Aug. 28-Sept. 6 visit to South Africa by a church delegation that included Bishop John H. Ricard of

A Palestinian woman prays on the first Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in front of the Dome of the Rock in the Old City of Jerusalem Aug. 28. The Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine, also has significance to Jews and Christians.

Pensacola-Tallahassee, Fla., and Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City. Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington, was to join them Aug. 31.

Vatican highlights infant mortality VATICAN CITY – Efforts to reduce infant mortality around the world are showing positive results, but maternal death rates remain very high in many developing nations, according to a report by the Vatican news agency Fides. In addition, the number of neonatal deaths – babies who die within 28 days of birth – is improving but at a very slow rate, the report said. The document demonstrated the huge gulf that continues between industrialized and poorer countries in maternal, neonatal and pediatric care. Fides, the news agency of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, issued a dossier Aug. 27 that summarized statistics from international organizations, including UNICEF, the World Health Organization and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. Infant mortality, defined as child deaths before they reach the age of 5, claimed an estimated 9.2 million lives in 2007, the dossier said. That number is a significant improvement from 1990 when death claimed some 13 million children under 5. The hardest-hit areas remain sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia, while the greatest improvement came in Southeast Asia and North Africa.

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Catholic San Francisco

September 4, 2009

Parish help for women in difficult pregnancies goal of training Sept 12 A “Gabriel Project” conference to train volunteers in ways to support women in difficult pregnancies takes place at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption in San Francisco, 1111 Gough St., on Sept. 12. An 8:30 a.m. continental breakfast will be followed by the program running from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The Gabriel Project uses signs, pamphlets, bumper stickers and a toll free hotline to alert pregnant mothers about available help. Callers to the hotline are referred to the local Gabriel Project Coordinator, who connects them to a trained mentor. The mentor, one of the parish’s “Gabriel Angels,” is responsible for ongoing contact with the mother throughout her pregnancy and somewhat beyond. Through these mentors and the assistance of the parish community, mothers receive needed spiritual, material and emotional support during their pregnancy.

Conference organizers said, “Gabriel Project parishes embrace each pregnant woman who comes to them as their daughter, sister and friend.” In an August 24 letter to pastors and parochial vicars, San Francisco Archbishop George Niederauer said clergy and parishes must reach out to women in difficult pregnancies with “real, concrete help.” He endorsed the Gabriel Project as a practical and effective means to fulfill that task, explaining that it was first introduced into the Bay Area in 1997 under Cardinal William Levada. The archbishop also encouraged clergy to consider the ministry for their parish and to send a small team of interested parishioners to the conference. He noted that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’

Young adult group takes on new life Sept. 16 The Young Adult On-the-Go program at St. Gabriel Parish in San Francisco has been reformed with a kick-off wine and cheese social scheduled for Sept. 16 at 6:30 p.m. in the parish hall. The group welcomes men and women ages 21 to 35 years. “The Young Adult-On-The-Go program is designed for young adults to meet new friends, and reflect on faith in a comfortable environment,” said director Yasmine Kury. Young Adult-On-The-Go will offer many activities based on common interests, the opportunity to share experiences, and host guest speakers, Kury said. Proposed events include volunteering time on behalf of Mercy Beyond Borders, a non-profit organization founded by Mercy Sister Marilyn Lacey. The group works to alleviate poverty in Sudan by supporting the education of displaced women and young girls. Kury has been Youth Minister at St. Gabriel Parish for the past three years assuming Young Adult leadership in the parish just recently. “As Youth and Young Adult Minister I prepare the high school parish youth for Confirmation, plan and minister to the Youth Group, and

now plan and minister the Young Adult group,” she said. Mary Jansen, director of Young Adults Ministry for the Archdiocese of San Francisco said young adult groups are currently active at parishes including St. Vincent de Paul, St. Dominic, Mission Dolores, Notre Dame de Victoires, St. Thomas More, Most Holy Redeemer, St. Agnes, Sts. Peter and Paul, and St. Bruno Singles for Christ. In addition, Mercy Center in Burlingame has a young adult gathering prior to its Taize Prayer service each first Friday of the month. “All of these young adult communities are open to young adults 20s and 30s – not just parishioners in hopes that they become parishioners,” Jansen told Catholic San Francisco. Contact information can be found at the Young Adult Office website, www.sfyam.org The Archdiocese of San Francisco along with the Diocese of San Jose and Oakland is hosting a Young Adult Leaders’ Forum on Saturday, October 17 at Vallombrosa Retreat Center. Information is available from Mary Jansen at (415) 6145596 or e-mail her at jansenm@sfarchdiocese.org.

Concert in San Francisco heralds novena of ‘Simbang Gabi’ A concert by the internationally known Philippine Madrigal Singers heralds Advent and the centuries-old Filipino tradition of Simbang Gabi Oct. 23 at Holy Name of Jesus Church in San Francisco. “From my perspective, the concert will bring memories of the Philippine celebration of Simbang Gabi,” said Nellie Hizon, a member of St. Stephen Parish. “Here are world-renowned Filipino artists contributing their efforts to the San Francisco celebration of Simbang Gabi. Though a tradition of the Philippines, Hizon said there is room for all. “Simbang Gabi is a celebration that speaks to all people of every ethnicity,” she pointed out. “We are celebrating a novena of Masses in the early morning hours leading up to Christmas. Add to that the natural hospitality of the Filipinos and an experience coming from the rural Philippines in ancient days.” Hizon said she became aware of the celebration taking hold here some 15 years ago and that the nine-day prelude to Christmas has been a part of St. Stephen Parish since 1996. The organization of the novena is a grass-roots project, Hizon said. “This model, where the leadership comes from the people, speaks of the Vatican II encouragement for lay

people to take leadership roles in the life of the Church.” Today, according to Hizon, more than 30 parishes throughout the Archdiocese of San Francisco, including St. Stephen, participate in the Simbang Gabi novena. “Most churches are filled whether their liturgies are in the morning or evening,” Hizon said, noting that the traditional early-morning schedule has been amended due to “demands on our time.” Hizon said the increasing awareness of Simbang Gabi should lead to larger crowds this year. San Francisco Auxiliary Bishop William J. Justice is principal celebrant of a Mass of Thanksgiving celebrating the Simbang Gabi ministry Dec. 13 at 5:30 p.m. at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Gough and Geary Blvd. in San Francisco. Hizon said that more than 20 priests concelebrated the Mass in 2008. Simbang Gabi celebrations begin Dec. 15 in parishes with an evening schedule and Dec. 16 in those with a morning schedule. Parishioners should watch parish bulletins for further information, Hizon said. Hizon can be reached at nelliehizon1@gmail.com. Tickets for the Madrigal Singers concert are $25 each. Call (415) 699-7927, (415) 564-0323, or e-mail paribolmusic@ yahoo.com.

“Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities” states that a parish prolife committee should aim to develop a ministry to pregnant women and their children. “The Gabriel Project answers this call. It embodies the practical support that the bishops promise pregnant women,” Archbishop Niederauer said. He added, “The parish community assists with unconditional love. Through them, mothers receive the spiritual, material and emotional support needed during pregnancy.” Information about the conference is available from the San Francisco Archdiocesan Respect Life Program of the Office of Public Policy & Social Concerns, which is organizing the gathering. To register call Vicki Evans at 415- 614-5533 or email her at evansv@sfarchdiocese.org.

Catholic author on ‘Mosaic’ TV program Sept. 6 Dr. Jeffrey Burns, historian and author, talks about notable people and events in the history of the Archdiocese of San Francisco on the “Mosaic” television program airing Sept. 6 at 5 a.m. on KPIX-Channel 5. Dr. Burns is director of the Academy of American Franciscan Dr. Jeffrey Burns History and teaches at the Franciscan School of Theology and St. Patrick Seminary and University. He is the editor of “Catholic San Francisco Sesquicentennial Essays.” Mosaic – A Catholic Perspective is a co-production of KPIX and the Communications Office of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, partially funded by contributions to the Catholic Communications Campaign. Mosaic is hosted by Tom Burke. Taking his place on this program is Director of Communications and Outreach Maurice Healy. SEPT. 22-24 LATER ADULT LIFE WORKSHOP Fr. Rusty Shaughnessy, OFM Sr. Kristin Cholewa, CSJ

The Politics of Faith in the Workplace ADSAD

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September 4, 2009

Catholic San Francisco

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Catholic San Francisco

September 4, 2009

Remembrance Burl Toler, 1928-2009, teacher and friend In the crowd were those whose lives had touched Burl’s during his decades as teacher and educator in San Francisco’s public schools and community college district. Colleagues and former students were there. And, just a small group now, men of 80 or so – Burl was 81 – who had known the physical and emotional camaraderie of playing football with and against him, at City College of S.F. and USF. Some were survivors of those undefeated, untied Dons of 1951, “a true band of brothers,” as the funeral Mass celebrant, Jesuit Father John Lo Schiavo, called them. Not just for their all for one, one for all style of play, but because they stood tall in rejecting a New Year’s bowl bid from a southern state. It required leaving two African American teammates, running back Ollie Matson and center/linebacker Toler, at home – a condition the entire team flatly refused to accept. In the crowd, you couldn’t miss a generous sprinkling of 20 and 30 somethings. Next to me, a young woman, listening to the tributes, industriously took notes in a composition book, as when Father Lo, as he’s known, recalled an occasion when teammate Bill Henneberry had to fill in for an injured Toler. The Dons’ opponent that day later voted Toler the toughest linebacker they’d met. Bill, unmistakably a Mick, collared Burl: “How By James Kelly come you get the credit when I played the game? I don’t even look like you.” Burl: He taught me the joy of obligation. I “You’re right, I’m taller.” don’t think he thought of me as a student. In Denver right after the war, to begin I could be wrong, for Burl Toler had that newspapering, I missed seeing that great instinct good teachers share – they know team play. But I did get a chance to see when their message is getting through and the 1950 club, much the same lineup. On when to try harder. a bright fall day the Dons beat a talented More than a master teacher, Burl was a Denver U. on the Pioneers’ home field. Two friend. Since our paths rarely crossed, how adult and two little Kellys cheered for the could I tell? Because he always remembered green and gold. Matson scored with that who and what I was, always looked me effortless gliding gait – it ate up yards faster straight in the eyes, and made me feel at than the eyes could grasp. Not till I read that moment I was someone important to next day’s Denver Post did I realize how him. Mainly it was at alumni events. We often Burl Toler cleared the way. each had degrees from the University of Burl Toler One day in the mid-eighties, while with San Francisco, about ten years apart, and were of the old school. We had learned from Jesuit scholars the old San Francisco Progress, I had a call from Burl. “Come on over, let’s talk,” he said from his South o’Market skilled in molding mind and spirit together. Thoughts like those came back the other day. On the college district office. We covered a lot of ground. I learned USF campus, in cavernous old St. Ignatius Church with its how strongly he felt about setting an example for whatever jeweled windows, once called the Jesuit cathedral (I can hear he deemed important to teach, especially values like selfa black-robed philosophy professor observing drily, “That’s discipline. It was key to his personal bottom line: Learning a contradiction in terms”), close to a couple of thousand should be lifelong: Since God endowed me with certain mourners gathered to bid Burl Toler a final farewell. At least abilities, it’s my obligation to hone and use them, not just half were, like Burl, African Americans. It’s one measure of for my sake but for the benefit of others, starting with fama man when he can command so much love and affection ily. (Two sons and a grandson, speaking at SI, said that from within his own ethnic group. There was no mistaking message from “B.T.” came through loud and clear while Burl’s African-ness or his pride in it. He had the features they were growing up.) It struck me then, this man really feels obliged, first to and the hue, sort of like a polished coffee bean, dark roast, be the best he can be at every stage of life, then to go about only far deeper and richer. Burl Toler, a star lineman and linebacker on the University of San Francisco’s famous 1951 football team and the first African-American game official in NFL history, died Aug. 16 at the age of 81 in Castro Valley. A story in the Sept. 28, 2001 issue of Catholic San Francisco, “Undefeated, untied, and uninvited,” told of the Dons’ 1951 football team that was denied a bowl bid despite a 9-0 record because it refused to leave its two black players – Toler and Ollie Matson – behind. Born in Memphis, Toler was an All-American football player at City College of San Francisco before attending USF. He graduated from the Jesuit school with a bachelor’s degree in 1952 and a master’s in 1966. Toler was a longtime educator in the San Francisco school district, a director of personnel for the San Francisco community college district and a USF trustee. He is survived by a brother, Arnold; six children, Valerie, Burl Jr., Susan, Gregory, Martel and Jennifer; and eight grandchildren. His wife, Melvia, died in 1991. A funeral Mass was celebrated Aug. 26 at St. Ignatius Church in San Francisco. A scholarship in Toler’s memory has been established at USF.

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reaching his goals. From the smile on his face, clearly he’s got joy in his heart. In playing days, Toler was known for the hits he put on foes. Teammates say only a blown-out knee kept him from starring in the National Football League, along with five others from that 1951 team. For 25 years, he officiated at pro games, the first black to do so. His signature then: A fatherly smile, and maybe a pat, for miscreants he whistled down. It was good knowing him – even better, when he’d beam that smile my way. Burl Toler set the bar high but always stood ready to help those willing to make the leap. Kelly is a retired newspaperman who lives in St. Robert’s Parish in San Bruno. He is a former member of The Monitor newspaper staff and currently serves on the Catholic San Francisco Advisory Board.

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May 19, 2006 file photo: Burl Toler, right, and Ralph Thomas, members of the undefeated 1951 University of San Francisco football team, applaud after the school’s 147th annual commencement exercises in San Francisco, where team members were awarded with an honorary degree for refusing to play a bowl game without two of their black players during the segregation era.

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September 4, 2009

Catholic San Francisco

‘Project Rachel’ Mass set obituary for Holy Cross Cemetery Sister of Charity Rosemary Sage dies at 96 A memorial Mass for children who died before, during or after birth will be celebrated Sept. 19 at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma at 11 a.m. San Francisco Auxiliary Bishop William Justice will be principal celebrant. The bi-lingual liturgy takes place outdoors at the cemetery’s Rachel Shrine. The Mass is sponsored by Project Rachel Ministry of the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the cemetery department. Project Rachel is a post-abortion healing ministry for men and women. The Masses are celebrated every two years and this is the seventh of the series, said Mary Ann Schwab, Project Rachel director. Schwab is a pioneer in Respect Life work with an association to the ministry that goes back to 1973 and the historic Roe v Wade decision legalizing abortion. “The Mass is for anyone who has lost a child,” said Schwab, who herself, with her now-late husband, Frank, lost a daughter at age four and a half years, and a son at age three and a half months. “We all pray together whatever the circumstances of our loss.” Project Rachel was founded some 20 years ago, Schwab said, and today has branches in approximately 170 dioceses in the United States. For more information, call (415) 7176428 or (415) 614-5572.

Sister Rosemary Sage, BVM, a San Francisco native, ticipated and took responsibility. I guided and they did it.” died August 24, 2009, at the age of 96 in Dubuque, Iowa. As a Sister of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, she A funeral Mass was celebrated Aug. 28 in was known as Sister Michael David for the motherhouse chapel with interment in many years. She also taught and worked Mount Carmel Cemetery. in Glendale and Granada Hills, Calif.; Sister Rosemary was a graduate of Des Moines, Iowa; and Boulder, Colo. St. Paul Elementary and St. Paul High She was a congregational employee in School, entering the Sisters of Charity of Chicago and Dubuque for several years the Blessed Virgin Mary Sept. 8, 1933, as well. from St. Paul Parish. She professed first Surviving are two sisters, Barbara Jane vows on March 19, 1936, and final vows Russell from Guerneville and Bernardine on Aug. 15, 1941. Washburn from San Francisco; a cousin, The late religious, who held a master’s David McGrath from Danville; a nephew, degree in English from Catholic University George Washburn from Milpitas, and the in Washington, D.C., taught at St. Brigid Sisters of Charity, BVM, with whom she High School from 1939-45 and St. Paul shared life for 75 years. High School from 1947-67. Remembrances may be sent to the “I loved teaching at St. Paul’s for 20 Sister Rosemary Sage, BVM Sisters of Charity, BVM Retirement Fund, years,” Sister Rosemary said when speaking 1100 Mt Carmel Drive, Dubuque, Iowa of her vocation and service. “I loved the parish, the people 52003 or online at www.bvmcong.org. and the students. I liked the kind of activity that involved a big group – career days and such – when many students par- IAR LIVESCAN & ANS NOTARY SERVICES

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Catholic San Francisco

September 4, 2009

Labor Day Guide Labor Day 2009 A pro-labor priest reflects on the often competing claims of unions and the Church n these highlights from an interview with Catholic San Francisco Assistant Editor Rick DelVecchio, Jesuit Father George IUniversity, Schultze, an adjunct faculty member in moral theology and director of field education at St. Patrick’s Seminary and reflects on Labor Day in light of Catholic social teaching. Father Schultze considers the late Cardinal Joseph

Father Schultze, who grew up in a declining share of U.S. economic proa middle-class union household in ductivity, Father Schultze also is critical Mountain View, describes himself as “a of capital’s role in the nation’s growing income inequality. The baby boomer who has with age become aware Related story, Page 14 questions and answers presented here have been of the demands of life and the responsibility it requires on the part edited for clarity. Contact Father Schultze of all of us – workers, employers, and at georgeeschultze@aol.com. consumers.” He supports worker rights but is vocal about his disagreements with What are your thoughts on Labor Day in unions on political choices and sometimes light of Cardinal Bernardin’s teaching? tactics. But at a time when workers enjoy Catholic social teaching is really a seam-

Theatrical Stage Employees Local 16 San Francisco

less garment, as Cardinal Bernardin was often quoted as saying. Where we do find some confusion today in the area of the dignity of the human person and respect for life, is that there is a wholeness in how we see life from its conception to a natural death. And that means that in the promotion of work life and a good economy we are concerned about the housing of people and the education of God’s sons and daughters, and the health care they receive, but we’re also concerned about life from its conception; God has given children to us, they are foreigners in a foreign land, and we treat them with respect, so abortion is always wrong. People wrongly infer from the “seamless garment” metaphor that abortion is just one issue among other social issues. Cardinal Bernardin was staunchly pro-life. From the womb we pass into the period of education and adult life and work life, retired life, to the point of death. A good

(PHOTO BY FATHER ROBERT DOLAN, S.J.)

Bernardin’s teaching on the relationship between moral principles and political choices. He gives a close reading of Pope Benedict XVI’s new encyclical on the economy, “Caritas in Veritate” (“Charity in Truth”), which underlines the Church’s traditional support of unions but urges unions to look beyond their narrow interests to advance integral human development globally. Spiritual, not just material, growth is essential to human development, the Holy Father states.

Jesuit Father George Schultze: “How do we transcend ourselves, that living is not only about us, but that good living is universal?”

unionist understands this and the union itself promotes the wages, the benefits, retirement and all of the other needs that a human being has in his or her life. This means that unions FATHER SCHULTZE, page 11

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September 4, 2009

Father Schultze . . . n Continued from page 10

and their members have to take an active role in promoting life. How does the Holy Father treat these issues in his economic encyclical? Openness to life is the center of true development according to Pope Benedict. When a society moves toward the denial or suppression of life it ends up no longer finding the necessary motivation and energy to strive for man’s true good. So whatever we do as workers, as members of a larger economy, it’s essential that we see our relationship to Christ. I think the tension that we feel is that we are Christian humanists, we are acknowledging the reason we possess but we are also acknowledging our dependence on Christ, on God, and this distinguishes us from secular unionists who don’t see that relationship to the transcendent. And the tension we face as Christians is we do have desires to have good homes and adequate incomes but at the same time the tension on the other side is how do we transcend ourselves, that living is not only about us, but that good living is universal, so we are not only self-centered and egotistical. Nowhere is this tension more deeply felt than on marriage and family issues. What are your thoughts? One of my concerns about the labor movement is that many of the more progressive unions have begun to promote same-sex marriage, to invest resources into changing our society’s understanding of marriage. The California State Federation of Labor and at least three Bay Area labor councils came out against Proposition 8 and the parental notification initiative – initiatives that the bishops supported. I would have to go back to my basic understanding of who we are as human beings and perhaps play on Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. When the Pharisees confronted Jesus about divorce, he said that in the beginning, meaning in Genesis, man and woman were

made for each other. The two are bound together. It’s the primordial sacrament of our faith, and we can defend it by our natural law understanding of procreation and the complementarity that happens in the family of a man and a woman, the creation of new life, the birth of children and their formation. My basic disagreement with the labor movement is that the activists feel that it’s simply a civil right, that somehow having children and being in a same-sex household makes it all the same. In fact it doesn’t. You need a man and a woman to create life. Children have a right to a mother and father. If we further diminish or dilute what we understand marriage to be, we are going to see a further pulling apart of the social fabric.

List, same-sex marriage causes and other areas where a great many Californians are simply not on the same page. In some cases they want their cake and eat it, too. They’re whipsawing the public, and this is unfair. What can individual unionists do if they disagree with their unions’ political choices? There is a Supreme Court precedentsetting case called Communication Workers of America vs. Beck. It happened in the mid1980s, and the Supreme Court ruled that a union member can ask that his or her portion of dues not be used for political purposes. Some researchers have estimated that up to 80 percent of dues – although this is probably an extreme

Some people say we can be friends but maybe we have to be enemies at other times. That’s baloney. – Father George Schultze Another disagreement you have with unions is on school vouchers. By and large public employees have been doing better for awhile. Private employers providing retirement plans to their employees have declined at least 20 percent in the last 10 years. And that’s not the case in the public sector. Public sector employees are often lifetime employees. In the case of teachers, they’re tenured in some cases. They’re very hard to move because of the monopolistic position they hold. And this is where I would also make a political point with the National Education Association and the California Federation of Teachers. They adamantly oppose school vouchers in California. We live in a pluralistic society. You’d think they would permit pluralistic education. But again and again the teachers unions will fight any attempt to provide vouchers that would be supportive of parochial schools. So they allow no choice when it comes to education, and yet these same unions are putting money into Emily’s

number – are being used for political purposes, not for direct collective bargaining agreement purposes. So that’s something Catholics should realize. It would be useful for them to know if they ever want to challenge the use of their dues for causes that aren’t supporting their Catholic values. The unions have a form they can ask you to fill out saying you’d like to have your dues money not be used for political purposes, for ideological purposes. It’s the law. In addition to your disagreements with unions on moral issues you have had your differences with them on tactics. The problem with some labor organizers is that they want you to come out and support them but it’s simply a short-term relationship to get something done. There is no reflective thinking about what does this mean, like the Holy Father is doing in his encyclical. It’s like,

Catholic San Francisco

I need these people because my union says we need them as members and the employer is unjust and you’re a priest, get out here. I’ve told them, no, I couldn’t do it, because I think labor sometimes strong-arms. At the same time I support the Employee Free Choice Act because the National Labor Relations Act is not protecting workers. Labor organizers and employers can be equally nefarious in trying to get a win. At times some organizers will tell you Catholic social teaching says to support worker associations and then when it comes to culture-war issues their unions go off in a direction diametrically opposed to Church values. The question is: are you my friend or my enemy? Some people say we can be friends but maybe we have to be enemies at other times. That’s baloney. You are tough on unions but also a harsh critic of unequal income distribution in the U.S. economy. We’re all workers, whether we’re employers or employees. But sometimes there are structural injustices that occur, and one that recently crossed my computer screen is the great inequity in terms of salaries. There was a recent Wall Street Journal article that said highly paid employees received nearly $2.1 trillion of the $6.4 trillion in total U.S. pay. This means that a third of the total pay in the United States went to highly paid employees. And at the same time banks, having engaged in unsound and unwise decisions around mortgages and lending, are asking the public to bail them out. Again and again whether it’s the outsourcing of work without dialogue with workers as happened in the 1980s with plant closures or the failure of businesses to accept the workers’ right to representation, people on the employer side, too, at times engage in unethical or unwise decisions in terms of the common good. We have to be evenhanded in all of this. There are many good employers and we’re dependent on them and they are experiencing great tension and turmoil during this downturn, but at the same time we have to work for justice as the pope’s recent encyclical says.

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Catholic San Francisco

September 4, 2009

Tough times: Congregations play key role in helping jobless members cope By Connie D’Aura and Rick DelVecchio Faith communities can organize to help unemployed members cope with issues ranging from grief and anger to finding job leads. Prayer and special donations for struggling families can go a long way toward hope and recovery. Those were among the themes of a San Francisco Interfaith Council meeting Aug. 25 on “Navigating the Unemployment Crisis: Helping Congregations Help Their Members.” Held at St. Dominic Church in San Francisco, the event drew 50 people and featured presentations by representatives of Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim congregations.

I don’t think we’ve seen the worst of it yet – Bill Tauskey During the meeting eight congregations pledged to start job help programs, adding to such ongoing efforts as the inter-parish Catholic Networking, which meets at St. Dominic three times a year, Edgewood Works at St. Matthias Parish in Redwood City and a support network of five parishes in San Mateo County. The interfaith effort comes at a time when the job market in the Bay Area remains in deep recession even as economic productivity shows signs of life. In San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties, 90,800 people were unemployed as of July, out of a civilian labor force of 976,000. The contrast from the low point of joblessness during the last economic boom is stark: in October 2006, just 32,900 people were looking for work, and the labor force was smaller. The Bay Area as a whole lost 8,700 jobs in July, the EDD said. The downturn is affecting all industries and income levels. Abby Snay, executive director of Jewish Vocational Services, gave an overview of unemployment in the Bay Area and explained her organization’s role in helping people cope with job change. JVS offers job placement and skills training and expects to assist 7,500 people this year. Its services are available to anyone who needs help finding a job.

Thanks to the

Archdiocese of San Francisco for your past, present and future support of

Labor Day novena and prayer at parishes Parishioners in the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s central San Mateo County deanery will pray a novena to St. Joseph from Sept. 5-13, to mark Labor Day and focus spiritual support on community members who are out of work. The novena begins Sept. 5 at St. Mark Parish and continues on consecutive days at St. Matthew, Our Lady of the Pillar, Our Lady of Angels, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Luke, St. Timothy and Immaculate Heart of Mary. It concludes Sept. 13 at St. Gregory. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at each church. In addition, parishioners will receive a holy card with a special Labor Day novena prayer printed on it and will be encouraged to say the prayer at home for each day of the novena. “We’re now coming up on a year since the collapse of the market, and people are still suffering greatly,” said Msgr. Robert McElroy, pastor at St. Gregory. “We want to have a way of showing the solidarity of the parish community with those who are suffering, and especially with those who have lost homes, lost their life savings.” Here is the text of the Labor Day prayer: Lord, we come to you in a time of great sadness in our land; a time of dreams shattered and homes lost; a time of seniors plunged into worry and young people despairing of finding jobs; a time families are in upheaval and children in want. Lord, stand with us in these days of economic distress. Help the jobless to find work to earn their daily bread. Bring food to the hungry and shelter to the homeless. Bring hope to the desperate and love to the dispossessed. Teach us that when one suffers in our midst, You are suffering with us. Challenge us to move to action to assist those most in need in these hard times. Remind us that there is no true security in the world except the security of Your love and the Life of the Gospel. Bring our world from this time of economic turmoil to the just society that You seek for all Your children. Amen.

Snay moderated a panel that focused on ways that any congregation can help jobless members. Common themes: • Offer help and recognize that a job loss involves grief, anger and despair, followed by hope. Hope comes sooner if a congregation’s pastoral staff offers first-person help. • Make certain the job seeker is aware of all city resources and enrolls for benefits. • Involve the whole congregation. Leaders are a natural resource for help with job leads and business trends. All members can pray for job seekers and make special donations for affected families. • Be aware of individual needs. A workshop on how families or couples cope with unemployment may be warranted.

Participants said it is important that a congregation’s spiritual leader take the lead. Congregations need to hear from the pulpit that help is available and that job loss now is the norm and should not be seen as shameful. Ways congregations can help, participants said, include providing how-to workshops, using e-mail to connect with job seekers, organizing small “Success Teams” who meet weekly and keep job seekers on track and providing child care and elder care to help members schedule job interviews. Next steps for the interfaith effort on job help include offering a citywide workshop and a best-practices seminar TOUGH TIMES, page 13

Labor Day Guide Our best wishes to Catholic San Francisco as we celebrate Labor. ------------JOINT COUNCIL NO. 7 Executive Board Rome Aloise, President Stephen Mack, Vice President Robert Morales, Secretary-Treasurer Carlos Borba, Recording Secretary Ernie Yates, Trustee Bill Hoyt, Trustee Joseph Lanthier, Trustee and its affiliated Local Unions Local 70 Local 85 Local 278 Local 287 Local 315 Local 350 Local 624 Local 665 Local 853 Local 856 Local 890 Local 896 Local 912

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September 4, 2009

Wildfire . . . â&#x2013; Continued from cover parishes near the 210 freeway, including St. Bede in La CaĂąada, St. James the Less in La Crescenta, Holy Redeemer in Montrose, and Our Lady of Lourdes in Tujunga. On Tuesday morning, staff at St. James could see flames and smoke from control fires set by firemen in the hills above the parish, where three recreational vehicles owned by evacuated parishioners were parked in the parking lot. St. James School, which opened for fall semester on Monday, planned to close Wednesday until further notice due to ongoing hazardous air quality from smoke and falling ash. The Benedictine monks at St. Andrewâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Abbey in Valyermo were evacuated Monday night, and parochial missions associated with St. Mary Church in Palmdale â&#x20AC;&#x201C;- the Acton Mission which holds Sunday services at High Desert Junior High School on the southeast side of the 14 freeway and Our Lady of the Desert Mission in Little Rock â&#x20AC;&#x201C;- had parishioners who had been evacuated during the weekend. Last weekendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mass attendance at Holy Redeemer located below the 210 freeway was down by 25 percent, said Doug Sinning, parish business manager.

Tough times . . .

Catholic schools in Glendale were closed Monday due to hazardous air quality, including Incarnation School, Holy Family School and Holy Family High School. Our Lady of Lourdes School in Tujunga, which had started the new academic year Aug. 26, also closed Monday and wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t expected to open until at least Thursday of this week due to poor air quality exacerbated by ash falling since Saturday. Mass attendance over the weekend was light, according to Father Freddie Chua, pastor. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re just watching and waiting,â&#x20AC;? said Father Chua, who added he received a courtesy call from a Catholic Charities representative as well as many calls from concerned parishioners inquiring about the parish. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been a good response from the people,â&#x20AC;? said the priest. At St. Lucyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Priory High School for girls in Glendora, which has remained open, Benedictine Sister Monica Collins, principal, said the main problem was air quality. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We had to stop any outdoor activity in terms of P.E.,â&#x20AC;? she reported. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sports have been canceled. The air got bad last Tuesday because of the Morris Fire started directly behind us in Azusa. Then the fire died down and the smoke started clearing out when this new fire started. So the smoky air has been with us for us for a week. You can not only smell it, but if affects your eyes and ears, too. And the valley is still full of it today.â&#x20AC;?

Catholic San Francisco

Smoke from the Station Fire has also been a problem for the parishioners of Sacred Heart Church in Altadena. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re worried, and theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re staying indoors,â&#x20AC;? said Emma Mendez, office manager. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A lot of our parishioners are elderly, so the weekend Masses werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t as full, which is understandable.â&#x20AC;? Looking out the window last Friday, she could see flames licking the brown foothills. But even now, when she has to go outside, she wears a mouth and nose protective mask. Many parishioners of St. Bede the Venerable Parish in the hillside community of La CaĂąada Flintridge had to be evacuated, according to Msgr. James Gehl. The pastor said this was one of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;strugglesâ&#x20AC;? for his families who had been away from their homes now for a number of days. Also, the elementary school was closed Tuesday. Msgr. Gehl said the good news was no homes had been destroyed and credits that to the lack of any Santa Anas. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If there was wind, we would have been in major peril,â&#x20AC;? he stressed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It could have been tragic. Absolutely tragic.â&#x20AC;? The veteran pastor said he was proud of his parishioners for offering their homes to people who had been displaced, although most evacuees wound up staying with relatives. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The firefighters have also been doing an incredible job,â&#x20AC;? Msgr. Gehl reported. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to post a banner on the front of the church: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Thank you, firefighters. God bless you.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;?

Bay Area faith community resources

â&#x2013; Continued from page 12 on finding a job, and helping smaller and larger congregations combine forces. In an independent effort, five parishes in the Archdiocese of San Franciscoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s central San Mateo County deanery have formed an employment support group. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The individual parishes have to step up and provide the first line for their community members,â&#x20AC;? said Bill Tauskey, a parishioner at St. Gregory in San Mateo. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There are things that make sense to do in a combined fashion.â&#x20AC;? The network is planning a county-wide jobs board and other resources for what Tauskey sees as a growing crisis. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen the worst of it yet,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I know people who are losing their jobs and struggling to keep their homes. The biggest issue is emotional but right behind that is the issue of, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;How do I manage?â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? Editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s note: Connie Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Aura participated on a panel at the interfaith meeting.

Here is a partial list of job help resources in the Bay Area faith community: Catholic Networking, a diocesan program, meets at St. Dominic Church three times per year. The next meeting is Sept. 8, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Saint Dominic Church. Contact Connie Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Aura at daura@ccwear.com. Five parishes in San Mateo County â&#x20AC;&#x201C; St. Gregory, St. Matthias, St. Luke, St. Bartholomew and Immaculate Heart of Mary â&#x20AC;&#x201C; have formed an employment support network. The network will sponsor a one-day â&#x20AC;&#x153;Impact Labâ&#x20AC;? on Sept. 12 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at St. Gregory, 2715 Hacienda St., San Mateo. Email to inquiries@careerinnovate.com or call Bill Tauskey at (650) 340-9254. Other resources include: San Francisco Interfaith Council, www.sf-interfaith.org; Jewish Vocational Services, www.jvs.org; Grace Cathedralâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Grace Works, www.ministriesofgrace.org/graceworks/; Menlo Park Presbyterian Careers Action Team, www.mppc.org/calendar/career-actions-ministry; Community Presbyterian Church, Danville, www.jobconnections.org/index.shtml; St. Matthias Edgewood Works at ckgammer@aol.com; St. Isidore Networking Group (SING), Danville at je.hartung@yahoo.com

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Labor Day Guide

Catholic San Francisco

September 4, 2009

Holy Father “to the left of Obama” on economy: Jesuit erning body with “real teeth” to guide the global economy and sets a goal of decent Pope Benedict XVI’s recent teaching employment for every person. on the world economy extols the virtues of “In some sections Benedict sounds government intervention in the marketplace like a union organizer,” Father Reese said and calls for an economic of the encyclical, which system based on the comechoes themes of Pope mon good, Jesuit Father Paul VI’s 1967 Populorum Thomas Reese told an Progressio. “Benedict, like audience at the University Paul VI, decries the scanof San Francisco Aug. dal of glaring inequalities 16. in the world and sees a “Benedict is to the left role for government in the of almost every politician redistribution of wealth.” in America,” said Father On that point, the Jesuit Reese, former editor of referred to a section of the America magazine and teaching in which the pope a fellow at Georgetown calls for distributive justice Jesuit Father University’s Woodstock and social justice in the Thomas Reese Theological Center in marketplace. Washington, D.C. “I will use a lot of quotes Father Reese, quoting the pope, said, from the encyclical, because frankly, I “Grave imbalances are produced when don’t think you would believe me if I economic action, conceived merely as an simply told you how liberal Benedict is in engine for wealth creation, is detached this encyclical.” from political action conceived as a means Father Reese quoted heavily from the of pursuing justice through redistribuencyclical letter “Caritas in Veritate” tion.” (“Charity in Truth”), which the pope gave Father Reese said the pope went further in Rome June 29. It was the Holy Father’s in his social teaching than most politicians third encyclical and first social teaching. are able. The priest’s talk was the second in a “What politician would casually refer series of lectures for the University of to redistribution of wealth or talk about an San Francisco’s Lane Center for Catholic international governing body to regulate Studies and Social Thought. the economy?” Father Reese asked. “Who As evidence, the Jesuit cited passages would call for increasing the percentwhere the pope warns against economic age of GDP devoted to foreign aid? On development based on massive consumer economic issues, the pope is to the left spending, calls for an international gov- of Obama.”

By Michael Vick

Highlights from “Caritas in Veritate” (“Truth in Charity”), the Holy Father’s recent encyclical on the global economy • Life in Christ is the first and principal factor in development • When the Church acts and celebrates, it promotes integral human development • Economic growth has lifted billions of people out of misery but is weighed down by malfunctions and dramatic problems • The current economic crisis is an opportunity for discernment in which to shape a new vision • Authentic human relationships can be conducted within economic activity • The economy needs people-centered ethics to function effectively • Decent work permits workers to organize freely • Unions should look outside their narrow interests to defend the rights of workers in developing countries • Development must include not just material growth but also spiritual growth

The encyclical also deals with environmental protection, and Father Reese focused specifically on the pope’s call for advanced nations to help the developing world in this area. “The pope argues for conservation and the development of alternative sources of energy, but is also concerned about those countries that cannot acquire these means for themselves,” Father Reese said. “The pope asks more of developed countries than any politician would dare.” Father Reese said the economy the pope

seeks is one driven not by profit, but by ethical considerations. “Economics must be guided not simply by profits but by an ethics which is peoplecentered,” Father Reese said. “Profit is not an end in itself but a means toward the common good.” The full text of Pope Benedict’s encyclical “Caritas in Veritate,” along with that of his previous encyclicals “Spe Salve” and “Deus caritas est,” can be found at the Vatican website, www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/index_en.htm.

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David De La Torre Recording Secretary 3271 18th Street San Francisco, CA 94110

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WISHING YOU A SAFE & HAPPY LABOR DAY! The Building & Construction Trades Council of San Mateo County

September 4, 2009

Catholic San Francisco

Journey of faith ‘It’s never about the obvious in the Catholic faith’ Earlier this year on the vigil of Easter, the author of this article completed the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) process and was welcomed into the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. This is her testimony. I bowed my head over the crystal glass bowl as my pastor poured a new life for me: “In the name of the Father” – I felt the water of God’s forgiveness. “And of the Son” – I felt the water of Jesus’ love. “And of the Holy Spirit” – I no longer felt the water; everything disappeared. [Our Father, who art in heaven…] Receiving the Sacraments of Initiation will always be one of the greatest moments in my life. At the same ceremony, witnessing my daughter’s Baptism and my husband receiving his Confirmation and the Eucharist is my greatest joy. They are my inspiration to be the wife and mother God wants me to be. [hallowed be Thy name…] My daughter gently put her two small hands over the side of the bowl as she received the blessed water over her head. Her fingers around the bowl seemed in the forefront. She was just tall enough to have her chin above the bowl. When she was looking in the bowl, she smiled with a gentle grace, as if she could see her reflection. I was in awe at her glow and the apparent blossoming growth of our baby that is now a little lady. I remember so keenly the days of her tiny fingers curled into mine, and her firm grip, squeezing and holding them tight. The best feeling was I now have great comfort knowing God will be the one to hold her hands during the times she will not be holding mine or her dad’s. I pray she remembers this day and will hold that reflection in the bowl in her heart. While my husband’s journey has been more silent in words, it has been exceptionally more apparent in his actions. I feel blessed that he has taken the leap of faith with us and has shown his support by always being there. He goes the extra mile every day without hesitating, just as Joseph did for his family. A deeper appreciation of my Baptism came the next morning when I cupped my hands under the stream of water at the bathroom sink. As I splashed my face, I was refreshed and recalled the blessing of the Sacrament; a gift, for a long time, I felt unworthy of. To be graced by God as his daughter has great meaning for someone who grew up without a dad. I wasn’t really aware (during the formative years) that my

I am not sure one can fully comprehend the eternal love of Jesus until one has received the body and blood of Christ. [Give us this day our daily bread…] Taking only a few steps up out of the pew and tripping – God’s signal I am not perfect – I bowed my head and cupped my hands to receive my first Eucharist. I just couldn’t put it in my mouth right away. I wanted to feel it and stare at it. It was a thin wafer, quite pasty and doesn’t seem like much if you’re there just for the taking. The last eight months of scripture study, prayers, and sharing of stories through the RCIA process were wrapped up in this amazing little circle of life. It seems to me that it’s never about the obvious in the Catholic faith. It challenges you to dig beneath the ego’s surface to find the deeper relationship in your heart. You have to let go of yourself and spill open to experience how the Sacraments (the invisible), become visible. I used to think my personal relationship with God didn’t need to be shared. When Jesus broke the bread with his people, he was giving them a part of him to carry on in their own lives. He wasn’t teaching them about his relationship with God. He was teaching them about their relationship with each other. [and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us…] For the first time my family and I have experienced an “honest to God” sacred ritual, one that was witnessed and blessed by a warm community of people who have come before us in their own faith journey. The dark and cool chill of the church [And lead us not into temptation…] was transformed by the assembly of people. My RCIA comrades and I, gathered with our Godparents, stood together on the steps of the sanctuary, ready for acceptance into the Catholic family.

true Father had been walking by my side all along. I must give great thanks to my loving mother, as her deep faith and encouragement was indeed the best substitute. The simple, yet profound act of pouring water is relational. I am compelled to pour myself back into the loving God who has given so much to me. As my pastor used chrism oil to mark the Trinity across my forehead with purpose and care, I felt the lightness at the bowl shift to the root of a great responsibility, as Priest, Prophet and King. Wow, what duties! I have to admit I am a little nervous about how I am going to fill such shoes. [Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done…] I cannot, not mention the moment of Jesus at the well with the Samaritan woman with this deeper understanding of water. He wasn’t looking for a drink of water, he had hope she would believe in him and be open to his love. The moment Jesus realized she was open to receiving him, his thirst was quenched. [on earth as it is in heaven…]

The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults is a program for nonChristian adults who feel called to the Catholic faith; and for adults who are baptized Christians and wish to attain the fullness of the Catholic faith through reception of the sacraments of Holy Eucharist and Confirmation. Contact a parish for more information.

Parish Diary

A question to myself I am a mystery to myself. present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then (in us to feed his sheep, not to count them. That does not make me unusual. It is part of the heaven) face to face” (1 Cor 13:12). People come human condition. But faith gives us some peace. It gives us enough If you stop to think about it, you are a mystery to of an answer to life’s mystery that we have the courage from all different kinds of backgrounds. yourself too. to go on even in doubt. We wake up in the middle of the night with a Faith, says the Letter to the Hebrews (11:1), “is the Sometimes life has vague sense of unease. We lie there thinking: What am realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things beaten them up pretty badly with the death I doing? What is my life for? Am I wasting my time? not seen.” Father Peter of a loved one or the Am I a failure? We trust that there will be an answer someday. Even in the middle of the day, we stop and stare out Helping people find an answer to this mysterious failure of a career. J. Daly Sometime they want a the window. Our thoughts drift. While we are driving, quality of our lives is the basic work of the Church. greater unity watching TV or eating dinner, we wonder, with their spouse. Sometimes they want to “What difference does all this make? How say something to their children by their lives. often have I done these routine tasks? Is life We point to Christ, the answer to the unease Sometimes they don’t even know why they more than just a series of routine chores and of the human heart and human questioning. come. minor pleasures? What really matters?” When I feel discouraged with my own Sometimes people come to church just to life, I take comfort in this process. By helping sit. That is why we leave church open during the day. People need a place to focus their thoughts. As our new year of classes for the Rite of Christian people to answer this basic mystery of their lives we are They want to concentrate on this mystery of their lives Initiation of Adults begins, my parish is setting out doing something significant. It gives my life meaning. The answer we offer is not complex. It can be and bring it before the mystery of God. again on the “journey in faith.” We are getting ready to Being human means wondering – wondering about welcome seekers. We will walk with them from ques- summed up in one living word: Christ. We point to what we are for and how we will end. We want to “tran- tions of “ordinary time” to the answers of Easter and Christ, the answer to the unease of the human heart and scend” ourselves and find final and fulfilling answers the pascal mystery. (It is interesting that our answer is human questioning. It is the most important work the church does. It is about ourselves. But “man is a question to himself, and itself a mystery.) only God can give him the full and ultimate answer,” This eternal questioning is why we always have the most important work anyone can do. states the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the another class. Every year I wonder if any adults will Father Peter J. Daly, pastor of St. John Vianney Modern World (“Gaudium et Spes”). come to RCIA. But every year the Holy Spirit brings Church in Prince Frederick, Maryland, writes The problem is that we don’t get all of the answers them. Sometimes we get half a dozen, sometimes a we seek. We only get glimpses. As St. Paul says, “At couple dozen. The numbers are not important. God sent a column for Catholic News Service.

Catholic San Francisco

September 4, 2009

Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper

Guest Commentary The love of husband and wife By Bishop William J. Justice If I would ask you where do you meet God? Where do you deeply sense his presence? I am sure I’d hear many unique answers. Some may say, “I meet God when I walk the beach along the Great Highway or at Stinson Beach. The power of the waves and the salt air give me a sense of God’s majesty.” Others may say, “I meet him when I’m hiking along a trail in Marin, or when I walk through a grove of Redwoods, or in the majesty of the High Sierra.” A further response could be in the love of family and friends. And some may respond, “In the quiet of prayer and the scripture.” God meets us in many ways. In the letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians, we hear of a very special place where God meets us, touches us: it is in the love of husband and wife. The author of Ephesians is reflecting on the love of husband and wife and he sees in this relationship Christ’s love for his Church, his body: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her…that he might present to himself the Church in splendor.” As Christian married couples care for one another, struggle to grow in the oneness of love, share the healing power of forgiveness and service they are living the love of Christ who does the same thing for them and all the members of his body the Church. This mutual love in marriage brings about the fulfillment of the challenge of the book of Genesis, “…the two shall become one flesh” and is the image, or as we might say today, is the sacrament, of Christ’s union – presence – with us as members of his body the Church.” This is an incredible reality, especially because the daily routine and challenges of marriage can begin to dull the realization of how intimate is the marriage relationship not only between husband and wife but also between Christ and them, and the power of their Christ – like love to help us to see and touch the selfless love of Christ for us. God can be found in the sea, in the mountains, in the events of our lives, in prayer and quiet and in the presence of those who love us. This profound daily presence is also revealed to us in the day in and day out faithful presence of husband and wife to one another and family. The Letter to the Ephesians states that this is a great mystery. Remember that Greek was the language in which the Christian Scriptures were written. In Greek, “mystery” has a much deeper meaning than in other languages. It does not necessarily mean a mystery novel revealing who committed the crime. Instead, it means that the reality of which it speaks is a mystery that is so profound, so awesome, that you can never come to fully understand the reality. But, and this is very important, you can understand something of it. Love itself is a mystery. We can never fully understand why we fell in love with a particular person, but we know we have and rejoice in it. Husband and wife will never touch the limit of their love for one another if they are open to one another, but they do know they can sense the mystery by continuing daily to say “yes” to one another. Ephesians is telling us that we will never touch the limit of Christ’s love for us because there is no limit. Yet in viewing the journey of the love of husband and wife we touch, have a taste of, this limitless divine love. What a profound and wonderful mystery! As the people of God in today’s first reading and the disciples of Jesus in the Gospel, we say “Yes” to the mystery of God’s love and the presence of that love in our lives, especially in husbands and wives. We join Saint Peter and declare, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” You, Master, are love. Jesus offers us himself in the Eucharist. Let us prepare to take, bless, break and receive the mystery of Christ’s sacrifice so we might be faithful to our commitment to follow him: to hear the words of eternal life, which we see, here on the altar and in the love of husband and wife.

Most Reverend William J. Justice, Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco, delivered this homily for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time at St. Anne of the Sunset Church and St. Monica Church in San Francisco.

Eucharist and vessels It was very disturbing to read Mary-Alice Eldon’s well intentioned letter (CSF Aug. 7). She suggests using disposable cups as an answer to hygiene concerns regarding receiving the chalice. When we receive the Communion Cup, however, we are truly receiving the Blood of Christ. It is a not just a symbol. Perhaps the writer has not noticed how carefully a priest cleanses the chalice so that not one drop of the Precious Blood remains. The use of individual cups later sent to recycling is not appropriate for Catholic Communion. Since we receive Our Lord fully, even when we receive only the Host, we can simply refrain from receiving under both species when we feel sick or are concerned about our health. Perhaps our bishop and pastors should remind us all of the proper respect due to the Body and Blood of Our Lord and to the vessels used at Mass. Carolyn Rae Lemon San Francisco

Charismatic renewal Catholic San Francisco captured the heart of the upcoming Holy Spirit Conference (Sept. 18, 1920 at Archbishop Riordan High School) very succinctly in the Aug. 7 issue. Well done! Thanks for the excellent publicity, Ernie von Emster Catholic Charismatic Renewal San Carlos

Sees unjust criticism

L E T T E R S

I appreciate the “absolute indifference” approach proposed by Ms. Ring in her “complaining” letter to the editor, “Misanthropic columns” (Aug. 7). Hopefully, all those of the same sentiment who feel Mr. Weigel’s “misanthropic columns” give them “a bad case of indigestion,” will refrain from reading his column. This will allow the rest of us who truly enjoy Mr. Weigel’s insight/ opinion about the Church, to not have to endure seeing type-space taken up in the “Letters” column by close-minded individuals, who are afraid of the truth, which is still permitted to be disseminated in a democratic society – at least for the time being. Maybe the writer would like CSF to publish a column by Michael Moore or Al Gore, to ensure the “TRUTH” is presented in this paper. Better yet, the letter writer should refrain from reading any of the Articles offered in the CSF and just concentrate on the Chronicle, which I’m sure, complies with her type of preferred journalism. I have refrained from commenting on the many readers who object to Mr. Weigel’s column. However, I feel that my response here will address all those readers, who, in the past, have unjustly heaped criticism upon Mr. Weigel. Michael C. Diliberto Tiburon

Development or reversal? In the Aug. 21 issue of Catholic San Francisco, you will find a review, written by Fr. Basil De Pinto, of John Noonan’s book, “A Church That Can and Cannot Change: The Development of Catholic Moral Teaching.” Mr. Noonan gave a lecture earlier this year at USF on this same book. Despite what Father De Pinto says about Noonan’s book, that “Nothing here is opposed to established teaching,” others beg to disagree. I suggest that before you run out and buy this book, you should read the scholarly review of it by theologian Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J. (God rest his soul), published in First Things Magazine (October 2005 – “Development or Reversal?”).

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

In his article, Cardinal Dulles states that the thesis of Noonan’s book seems to be that “doctrinal change is in many cases an aboutface, repudiating the erroneous past teaching of the Magisterium itself.” The Cardinal does admit that Noonan is quite knowledgeable about the subject matter of his book (slavery, usury, religious freedom and divorce), and is a skilled historian, lawyer “and to some degree a theologian.” But he also warns us that, “Noonan manipulates the evidence to make it seem to favor his own preconceived conclusions. For some reason he is intent on finding discontinuity…” Despite Father De Pinto’s disingenuous reassurances that everything in the book is “within a framework of complete adherence to the authority of the Church,” it is clear that Noonan’s unspoken reason for looking for discontinuity, or change in doctrine, is to make the case for changing any Church doctrine. Is this adherence to the Magisterium, the teaching authority of the Catholic Church? If you don’t believe me, just talk to one of the many dissenting Jesuits you will find today, and ask them about the infallibility of the Magisterium. They will invariably cite one of the “manipulated” subjects of Noonan’s book to show that the Magisterium is not infallible, a direct contradiction of the teachings of Vatican II and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Manipulating the Truth makes it a half Truth, and therefore a lie. The “father of lies” would love to see the teachings of the Church become corrupted, to disprove Our Lord’s promise that He would be with the Church until the end of the world, and that the gates of Hell would not prevail against her. Mr. Noonan, in his book, seems to be intent on helping him out. Robert Johnson Fairfax

Call to Catholics

Where’s the outrage? Some weeks ago during his visit to the Vatican, President Obama assured Pope Benedict, the Vicar of Christ, that he would work to reduce the number of abortions in the United States. Just a short time later, however, the White House is leading the charge for health care legislation that would do exactly the opposite. Are Catholics so misinformed and disorganized that Obama need not fear a backlash? Let’s hope not. The earthly lives of countless thousands of innocent unborn children are at stake! Obama and members of Congress should be deluged with phone calls, letters and e-mails insisting that abortion be specifically excluded from health care legislation. Only such a provision will prevent the huge increase in abortions that is predicted if killing the unborn becomes a federally insured procedure. James Quinn Burlingame

‘Real’ help suggested It was irresponsible and shameful for Catholic San Francisco to run the article on Enrique Lora (“His Pockets often empty, a day laborer copes with the recession,” Aug. 7). The article encourages illegality, irresponsibility and ignorance. It is a story of Mr. Lora, a day laborer, who leaves his wife and children in Mexico and illegally moved to the Bay Area about five years ago. He seldom works, primarily living off charity, although he endlessly stands on street corners waiting for work. What Mr. Lora probably doesn’t understand is that the little work he does pick up comes from dishonest employers who pay low wages, do not pay taxes or workers compensation insurance nor abide by health or safety standards. His work harms honest businessmen and he undercuts legal workers. His remark that U.S. workers would not take a plumbing job because there was an odor would have been insulting but for Mr. Lora’s ignorance of American workers and culture. From every moral, legal and common sense standpoint it would be best if Mr. Lora returned home. Of most importance, he would be reunited with his wife and two children and he could start being a husband and father again. LETTERS, page 19

September 4, 2009

Catholic San Francisco

Consider This

Labor Day: Time for reflection There is no little irony in celebrating Labor Day this year, when our unemployment rate tops 9 percent. Reflecting rather than celebrating might be more apt for this year’s observance. In better times Labor Day observances emphasized sharing in the boom economy. But this year people who never expected to be out of work find themselves part of a growing demographic of the unemployed. What went wrong? What kind of labor will we do? What type of jobs disappeared, never to return? Although Labor Day is a secular holiday with origins in the labor movement, there are parallels to Catholic social teaching. Work is not just a job to make money, the Church teaches; it is essential to human dignity for persons to be able to provide for themselves and their families. Work is also a sharing in the creative actions of God. Part of what went wrong was greed, chasing profits. The economy depended heavily on consumers consuming in the true sense of the word: using up, exhausting, depleting, so that more could be made and sold. Catholic social teaching has consistently spoken against consumerism because of its premise that possessing material things is the basis of happiness. If consumers now have less money to spend, what will replace consumerism as the keystone of an economy? Money will seek markets.

What is the new growth field? Poverty. Simply by moving the millions of tons of surplus food from one continent to another to feed millions of starving people would be a major enterprise. Projects to supply clean and abundant water to the world would employ additional hundreds of thousands. A society that can put the power of a computer in the palm of a hand, record hundreds of hours of music on matchbook-size devices, can certainly handle this challenge. “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,” Pope Benedict XVI said in his latest encyclical, “Charity in Truth.” This requires a sustained commitment, he said. Globalization must be judged by what it does for the unity of the human family and its development toward what is good. Globalization must also “promote a person-based and community-oriented cultural process of worldwide integration that is open to transcendence,” he said. Outsourcing has brought jobs to Third World countries because of the opportunity to use cheap labor, simply shifting unemployment from one country to another. A no more eloquent definition of the meaning of decent work can be found than in Pope Benedict’s encyclical: “It means work that expresses the essential dignity of every man and woman in the context of their particu-

lar society: work that is freely chosen, effectively associating workers, both men and women, with the development of their community; work that enables the worker to be respected and free from any form Stephen Kent of discrimination; work that makes it possible for families to meet their needs and provide schooling for their children without the children themselves being forced into labor; work that permits the workers to organize themselves freely and to make their voices heard; work that leaves enough room for rediscovering one’s roots at a personal, familial and spiritual level; work that guarantees those who have retired a decent standard of living.” Contemporary crises provoke the statement “the world will never be the same.” Reflecting upon, and then acting upon, the true nature of work may one day make that statement accurate. Stephen Kent, a former editor of archdiocesan newspapers in Omaha and Seattle, writes a column for Catholic News Service.

Twenty Something

Grace pouring down, how a family grows This is it. This is the month that set the orbit for our entire year. We are gearing up for two events that will happen in the span of a week, the blink of an eye: My younger brother, Tony, is getting married and my older sister, Angie, is having a baby. The countdown we launched last winter, the number that felt so big and distant, is rapidly dwindling. Now we are scurrying around, setting things in place, whitening our teeth and watching our waistlines – especially Angie’s. There is a headcount to finalize and a nursery to complete, plus final check-ins with the deejay and the doctor. We will try to keep it all together, but it is all so tightly wound: steamed dresses and high hopes, shined shoes and tangled nerves. My final wedding task – scanning old photographs and arranging them into a slideshow – has made me aware of the swift passage of time. There is Tony, with all those freckles and the dimples in his upper cheeks. He is a ring bearer, a prom date, now a groom. There is Jodie, with those round brown eyes and that button nose, riding in a Huggies box, visiting Santa, traveling to South Africa, walking down the aisle. The snapshots play out just as the years did, in fast forward. But my nostalgia isn’t wistful; it is tinged with cheer, a sense that these two people belong together and that this growing baby belongs in our family. What looks like change,

in many ways, is a continuation of what has been: the same traditions, the same sacraments, the same stories and songs. I was reminded of that last weekend, when my dad took Angie’s firstborn, two-year-old Isaac, to the zoo we visited every summer as kids. Dad is still a superb guide, whistling at the orangutans and pointing out the tigers. Sparky the Seal performed the same tricks, and Isaac clapped from Dad’s lap. We revisited the carousel we used to adore. Isaac looked timid on the big painted horse, but after making several rounds and finding us waving from the same spot each time, he finally broke into a smile. The band organ hummed Cat Stevens’ “Another Saturday Night,” and Dad sang along. The next day the aunties threw Jodie a bridal shower, where we supplied her with towels and blankets and Tony trivia. I watched everyone greet her with genuine affection, and I knew, as Teresa wrote in her card, that Jodie already has become a part of our family, just like that little baby, whose face and name we long to know. Isn’t that how life goes, that God showers down double blessings, and our thirsty souls are not only quenched, they are doused. We blink and quiver, stunned by how much the human heart can hold. Pope Benedict XVI says our families provide “living

images of God’s love,” flesh-and-blood examples of divine mercy and undeserved kindness. When we learn to share bedrooms and bathrooms, attention and dreams, we serve as a “sign and instrument of unity for the Christina entire human race.” This month my famCapecchi ily will be thrilled by new additions and comforted by their familiar forms. We are building on what has come before, blessed and ordained by the same everlasting God. Soon we’ll enter into a flurry of camera flashes and Hallmark cards, hugs and toasts, and somewhere between the chicken dance and the contractions, there will be grace pouring down. Christina Capecchi is a freelance writer from Inver Grove Heights, Minn. Email her at christina@readchristina.com.

The Catholic Difference

Faith and reason, irrationality and terror The media’s obsession with salvation-through-latex in the matter of AIDS prevention in Africa so dominated the coverage of Pope Benedict XVI’s March pilgrimage to Cameroon and Angola that one of the most impressive addresses of the pontificate was virtually ignored. Delivered to the Muslim leaders of Cameroon at the apostolic nunciature in Yaounde on March 19, Benedict’s concise remarks represented perhaps the most refined statement of the point the Pope has been making since his September 2006 Regensburg Lecture sent the world press into another tailspin. Here are the key passages: “My friends, I believe a particularly urgent task of religion today is to unveil the vast potential of human reason, which is itself God’s gift and which is elevated by revelation and faith. Belief in the one God, far from stunting our capacity to understand ourselves and the world, broadens it. Far from setting us against the world, it commits us to it. We are called to help others see the subtle traces and mysterious presence of God in the world which he has marvelously created and continually sustains with his ineffable and all-embracing love. Although his infinite glory can never be directly grasped by our finite minds in this life, we nonetheless catch glimpses of it in the beauty that surrounds us. When men and women allow the magnificent order of the world and the splendor of human dignity to illumine their hearts, they discover that what is ‘reasonable’ extends far beyond what mathematics can calculate, logic can deduce, and scientific experimentation can demonstrate; it includes the

goodness and innate attractiveness of upright and ethical living made known to us in the very language of creation. “This insight prompts us to seek all that is right and just, to step outside the restricted sphere of our own self-interest and act for the good of others. Genuine religion thus widens the horizon of human understanding and stands at the base of any authentically human culture. It rejects all forms of violence and totalitarianism: not only on principles of faith, but also of right reason. Indeed, religion and reason mutually reinforce one another since religion is purified and structured by reason, and reason’s full potential is unleashed by revelation and faith.” For three years now, the Holy Father has been quietly insisting that the problem of jihadist terrorism and the lethal threat it poses, both to the West and to Muslims of moderate temperament, is rooted in the detachment of faith from reason. Cut that cord theologically, and you end up with a God of sheer willfulness who can command anything, including the murder of innocents. Tighten the cord that binds faith and reason in a mutually supportive synthesis and the religious case for jihadist terrorism collapses of its own irrationality. No one knows why Islam, which in the early Middle Ages created cultures open to philosophical inquiry and respectful of the canons of reason, underwent what seems to have been a kind of intellectual shut-down, so that by the 14th century the wellsprings of intellectual imagination had largely dried up throughout the Islamic world, leaving only the endless

exegesis of Islamic law by Muslim lawyers. Whatever its causes, however, this desiccation was a crucial factor in creating the irrationalism of contemporary jihadism, embodied in the Taliban slogan, “Throw George Weigel reason to the dogs – it stinks of corruption.” It would be helpful if western governments took this history seriously – and took the Pope’s analysis of the problem of faith and reason seriously. It is not government’s task to foster the kind of interreligious dialogue implied by Benedict’s speech in Yaounde: an interreligious dialogue that aims to understand revelation through reason, thus opening up the prospects of a joint exploration of the “splendor of human dignity” and the implications of that dignity for religious freedom and the governance of just societies. On the other hand, governments that don’t recognize that the detachment of faith from reason defines the fault-line between the jihadists and the rest of us are likely to misread what remains a mortal threat, eight years after 9/11. George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

Catholic San Francisco

September 4, 2009

A READING FROM THE BOOK OF ISAIAH IS 35:4-7A Thus says the Lord: Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing. Streams will burst forth in the desert, and rivers in the steppe. The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water. RESPONSORIAL PSALM PS 146:7, 8-9, 9-10 R. Praise the Lord, my soul! The God of Jacob keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets captives free. R. Praise the Lord, my soul! The Lord gives sight to the blind; the Lord raises up those who were bowed down. The Lord loves the just; the Lord protects strangers.

Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Isaiah 35:4-7a; Psalm 146:7, 8-9, 9-10; James 2:1-5; Mark 7:31-37 R. Praise the Lord, my soul! The fatherless and the widow the Lord sustains, but the way of the wicked he thwarts. The Lord shall reign forever; your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia. R. Praise the Lord, my soul! A READING FROM THE LETTER OF JAMES JAS 2:1-5 My brothers and sisters, show no par-

tiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if a man with gold rings and fine clothes comes into your assembly, and a poor person in shabby clothes also comes in, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here, please,” while you say to the poor one, “Stand there,” or “Sit at my feet,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil designs? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Did not God choose those who are

here’s a logical meaning as to why Jesus told the people not to tell anyone or announce to anyone what happened when he healed the deaf and dump man. But, it is against human nature not to announce good news, even with not so good news we can’t wait to call friends and relatives to tell them about it. The people in the Mark’s Gospel are able to witness only what they see: the healing. Their hearts are hardened to see the actual deeper meaning – that, as the prophet Isaiah proclaimed, his prophecy of peace and restoration was being fulfilled in Jesus before their very eyes. Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone in order that the healing can be kept in perspective. The perspective is that God’s salvation has come in Christ Jesus. The focus is not the miracle, but that God’s salvation is at hand. Psalm 146 is one of many psalms that shout of praise to the God who throughout all human history continually, saves the people, transforming the poor and weak to wholeness; the Lord raises up those who were bowed down, from injustice to righteous, and turns distress and sorrow to joy. The Gospel story of the healing of the deaf-mute confirmed the promise that came through in the first reading, which becomes fully incarnate, touching and touchable, in Jesus. Most of us think that blindness is worse than deafness. But Helen Keller, who was blind and deaf said, that deafness is a far greater handicap. When you cannot hear, a lot of doors in the normal world slam shut. Turning radio or television on is useless and pointless. Conversation with someone is next to impossible.

Scripture reflection DEACON FAIVA PO’OI

The healing touch of Jesus Thank goodness we have sign language, but only a few know sign language. After a while you feel alone and marginalized, abandoned and neglected.

The story of the deaf man who had a speech impediment in the Gospel gives us an insight of how the deaf and mute man felt after Jesus healed him. He prob-

ably felt for the first time that he was part of life. This Gospel teaches us something personal about Jesus: that he is filled with compassion. We see this especially in the way he heals the man. He took him away from the crowd, knowing that he might be embarrassed, and feel different and out of place. Jesus shows a real compassion for him. The healing of the deaf and mute man gives us hope in our spiritual journey. The deaf and dumb man’s plight is not unlike our own plight. Many of us today are deaf and dumb – not physically, but spiritually. I have talked to many married couples and others who find that they don’t pray as often as they used to. They come to Mass just to fulfill the Church’s obligation. My advice to them is that they need to pray often, especially at home with family, and privately – in driving, moments at

poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him? A READING FROM THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK MK 7:31-37 Again Jesus left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!”— that is, “Be opened!” — And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” work and at other times. Also, we may need to refocus and readjust our way of praying. We all feel the same as those people who cannot pray often. We, too, sometimes find it hard to pray as we used to. We, too, find it hard to speak to God or hear the voice of God, especially in a life situation. What can we do? We can do what the Syrophoenician woman did when she stopped Jesus (on the same route before they brought the deaf-mute man) and prayed aggressively for the afflicted child. Or, we can do what the deaf-mute man did. We can seek out Jesus, go off with him, away from the crowd, and spend some quality time in his healing presence. This Sunday’s Gospel invites us to give Jesus an opportunity to touch our tongue to loosen it, spiritually, and to put his fingers in our ears, and open our minds and heart to the Lord, and let Jesus do for us what he did for the deaf and dumb man. We need to let our Lord Jesus touch us and heal us of our deafness and dumbness. This is the message of this Sunday’s scriptures set before us. This is the mystery that this Sunday liturgy celebrates. This is the invitation that Lord Jesus makes to each one of us. Jesus offers the simple word that unlocks our hearts and minds, brings family and friends together, and opens our eyes and hearts and re-introduces us all to the beauty of God’s creation—“Ephphatha! Open up!” Deacon Faiva Po’oi serves at St. Timothy Parish in San Mateo and also is the Archdiocesan liaison to the Tongan community.

Spirituality for Life

Love - Illusion and reality In her novel, “Brief Lives,” Anita Brookner makes this observation: When we are young, she says, and hear sad love songs we think that the sadness and disappointment are a prelude to the experience of love rather than the result of experience in love. This happens, she suggests, because we are young and still aspire to sublimity, but when we get older we realize that sublimity is in devastatingly short supply, that the act of love is finite, that we are disappointed about this, and that what we long for is permanent transformation. I’m not sure that I agree completely. Most certainly, sadly, sublimity is in devastatingly short supply and this brings more sadness to our lives than we ever consciously realize, but I’m less certain whether the sadness expressed in sad love songs speaks of love’s finitude or of something else. Most sad love songs do in fact express a frustration or disappointment that is a prelude to love. Of what do sad songs speak? Frustration, betrayal, impossibility, jealousy, regret, separation, death: The frustration of loving someone who doesn’t love you; the heartache of longing for someone when the situation is impossible; regret over some mistake; the bitterness of being betrayed in

love; the anguish of separation; the death of someone before the love could be complete; the pain of jealousy. All of these in some way are a prelude to love, at least to full love. All speak of the sadness that comes from not being able to fully actualize love. But Brookner speaks of something else. The sadness and disappointment she names come from the experience of a love that is not frustrated, betrayed, impossible, jealous, separated, or cut off by death. The sadness and disappointment she articulates come from the experience of love’s finitude, from love’s congenital inadequacy on this side of eternity, and from the realization that anyone that we love on earth, no matter how good or wonderful he or she might be, isn’t God and can never, all alone, be enough for us. What Brookner describes is what we feel at the death of a honeymoon. All honeymoons end, some for bad reasons - disinterest, boredom, over-familiarity, lack of emotional discipline, or flat-out infidelity by one or both of the partners. But honeymoons end too for good reasons. A honeymoon can have done its work, served its time, and the disillusionment and disappointment that set in are then a positive invitation to

move the relationship to a deeper level. How? Disillusion can be good or bad. To be disillusioned is have “an illusion dispelled”. The love that we feel when we are on a honeymoon is not an illusion. It’s real, masFather sively real, sometimes to Ron Rolheiser the point of suffocation. But something isn’t real on a honeymoon and that illusion must eventually be dispelled. What isn’t real? When we are in the honeymoon stage of love with someone, we aren’t so much in love with that person (though we think we are) as we are in love with love itself, with the experience of being in love, with what being in love is doing to us. We’re in love with a wonderful, powerful, fiery energy inside of us. We’re SPIRITUALITY FOR LIFE, page 19

Catholic San Francisco

September 4, 2009

Letters . . .

n Continued from page 16 Although Mexico is also having tough economic times, no one is starving, and that economy has a much greater need for Mr. Lora’s skills. His home is Mexico City, a thriving metropolis of 18 million. And even if he would need to live off charity, we could help, and it would be less expensive than in the U.S. But he stays, it seems, because the open borders lobby and CSF are using Mr. Lora and tempting him with an uncertain “Immigration Reform.” The article comes to its conclusion with Mr. Lora being quoted, “We ask the government to sign an immigration reform.” And certainly with legalization, Mr. Lora could sign up for additional government programs, welfare and handouts, and could bring in his wife, children and parents who could do the same. Unfortunately for Mr. Lora, he’s too late. The State and Nation are broke. Too few people contributing, too many taking, and a recession

Spirituality for Life . . . n Continued from page 18

in love with an archetype: When John falls in love with Mary, initially he is not so much in love with Mary as he is in love what she is carrying, all of femininity, the feminine side of God. That’s why when we are first in love with someone that other person alone is sufficient to take away our restlessness and loneliness. It is enough just to be with him or her. Functionally, he or she is God for us. That’s why obsessions in love can be so paralyzing. But always, even if we are wonderfully faithful to each other, this feeling eventually disappears. No matter how good someone is, eventually he or she will not be enough for us. A certain necessary disillusionment sets in and, with it, a certain disappointment and sadness. We discover that we have married a human person, not God. Only God is enough. Our disillusionment is an invitation to move from being in love with an archetypal

has put the country into a giant financial hole. The lead article in that same edition of CSF quotes the Bishops’ lobbyist of the dire cuts in the State’s welfare programs with the lobbyist trying to convince us that there is only a little bit of fraud and abuse going on in these programs. Regarding illegal immigration, many Americans are feeling like fools and chumps. While Americans are paying their taxes and making charitable contributions to the very programs that allow Mr. Lora to stay here, his wealthy and middleclass countrymen (almost all of whom are Catholic) have all but washed their hands of him. They pay little taxes to educate or provide for their poor, even as they urge more of their citizens, like Mr. Lora, to emigrate with seemingly little more care than throwing out the daily trash. In addition, this type of immigration is unsustainable. Surveys show that almost half of Mexico’s 110 million people want to move to the U.S. There are also 160 other countries in the world. Father Luis Cobacame, a priest in Hermosillo Archdiocese of Mexico, says much the same thing energy (with God as manifest in a human person) to actually loving and caring about a concrete, singular, human being. This is akin to what the apostles felt at the transfiguration when, after the beauty that Jesus had displayed in his transfigured body disappeared, they realized that what remained “was only Jesus”. Many is the man or woman who, at the end of a honeymoon within which they had been looking at a transfigured partner, realizes: “It’s only Mary! It’s only John!” Initially this is felt as sadness, disappointment. But it’s not an invitation to lowered, stoic expectations. On the contrary, it’s an invitation to a deeper journey into that relationship, one within which eventually, without illusion, we will again see the other person as transfigured, as we first saw him or her on the honeymoon as eternal, as Godlike, as enough. Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser, theologian, teacher, and award-winning author, is president of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, TX.

from a Mexican perspective and questions the wisdom of lobbying for U.S. immigration reform. According to The Pilot, official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston, Father Cobacame says that the Mexican government should tend to the social and economic needs of Mexico instead of lobbying for immigration reform in the U.S. which won’t resolve the poverty issues of Mexico. He goes on to say that lobbying for immigration reform has been a pretext for delaying development, mainly in education in the countryside. Instead, an economy has developed that is based on migration and remittances. But we, as Catholic Americans can help, not only Mr. Lora, but the poor of the predominantly

Catholic region of Mexico and Central America as well, which is the primary source of illegal immigrants. Let’s start a sister-to-sister parish program where each U.S. parish adopts a Mexican or Central American parish. Money is only a small part of what American Catholics have to offer. More importantly, we can offer hope, selfrespect, education, democracy, respect for the law and help with the fight against corruption. This is truly how we can provide justice for our poorer brothers and sisters. Let’s help Mexicans make Mexico such a great country that Mr. Lora would never think of running away again. John J. Wallace Menlo Park

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September 4, 2009

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Author explores how U.S. churches reach out around the world “BOUNDLESS FAITH: THE GLOBAL OUTREACH OF AMERICAN CHURCHES” by Robert Wuthnow. University of California Press (Berkeley, Calif., 2009). 345 pp., $26.95.

Reviewed by Brother Jeffrey Gros, FSC From its earliest centuries the church has confessed its global, catholic nature, connecting all of its people and reaching out to all peoples of the world. The modern interconnected communication, transportation, cultural and economic systems have made it possible for Christians to relate to the world’s peoples in wholly new and immediate ways, intensifying the possibilities of catholicity. The ecumenical and missionary movements have enabled Orthodox and Protestant Christians, often defined by national boundaries, to participate in this global catholicity in new and dynamic ways. In “Boundless Faith: The Global Outreach of American Churches,” Robert Wuthnow, one of the leading Protestant sociologists of religion, documents how the U.S. churches participate in this missionary catholicity. The author begins by questioning a number of myths about American religion: 1) that faith is declining because of secularization, a phenomenon that is occurring in Europe; 2) that congregations are turning in on themselves and abandoning their commitments to global mission, relief and advocacy, and 3) that the primary actors in sociopolitical advocacy are conservative evangelicals, eclipsing the influence of Catholic social teaching and that of the ecumenically oriented Orthodox and Protestant churches. He carefully documents by his sociological research the fallacies in these three misunderstandings of the American churches. The book includes chapters on changes in American religion, developments in global Christianity, four ways

of assessing globalization, transformation in international church relations, the direct engagement of local parishes in global outreach, the roles of the churches in U.S. foreign policy, and finally some challenges before the churches in this contemporary culture. The volume is well documented and gives a fair balance among Catholic, evangelical Protestant and historic Protestant churches, their styles, influence and different approaches to global outreach. The partnership between the U.S. government and faith-based communities such as Catholic Relief Services has more than a century of experience. While evangelical voices seem to be the loudest in recent years, Catholic social teaching and that of ecumenical communities, like the National Council of Churches, may have more influ-ence on peace and justice witness becausee they are better connected with governmental al agencies at all levels, over decades of mutual al collaboration, lobbying and listening. In American work on hunger relief, Catholic agencies distribute more resources than those of any other U.S. church agency. The author proposes four social factors that have contributed to the increased global outreach of the churches – shrinkage of distance because of communication and transport; enhanced cultural interchange, with the dominance of English and pervasiveness of the media; the effectiveness of the myriad of faith-based humanitarian agencies like those of the Catholic and other churches; and the global consciousness and energy of parishes and congregations. While the Catholic Church claims a global catholicity, this

trait – the interdependence and responsibility of Christians worldwide – is shared by other communities, and demonstrated by their extensive engagement across the globe. The author concludes with five tensions that challenge U.S. churches’ effectiveness in their th outreach: 1) connecting the global and local; 2) balancing service and spirituality; tual 3) “doing for” versus “partnering with”; wit 4) dealing with a legacy of international tio intervention and economic dominance na by our country, which is often seen as a counter-witness to Christian values as they affect peoples in other parts of the th world; and 5) the ambivalent task of being the conscience of the nation. b This volume provides a rich synthesis of sociological teachings that t affirm a great tradition of the American churches, provide good news about how the Gospel is being lived out, and yet outline admonitions that can well enhance enha the global mission of the churches as they move forward together. It is a well-written and researched volume, bringing together for the general reader a heartening story often overlooked when the only resource used to understand the U.S. churches is the secular press or even denominational periodicals. Brother Gros, a member of the Christian Brothers, teaches ecumenical and historical theology at Memphis Theological Seminary in Memphis, Tenn. For the 2009-10 academic year, he is the Kenan Osborne visiting professor at the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley

Filming starts on biography of Opus Dei founder WASHINGTON (CNS) – Filming has begun in Argentina on a biography of St. Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, the founder of Opus Dei. The movie, “There Be Dragons,” is expected to be released in the summer or fall of 2010. Directing the film is Roland Joffe, whose past films include “The Mission” and “The Killing Fields.” Joffe, who also wrote the screenplay, said he was not told what to write or how to present either the saint or the group, a personal prelature within the church, after earlier rejecting an offer to film a script provided by Opus Dei. The film is set at the time of the Spanish Civil War, which tore apart the European nation during the second half of the 1930s.

SCRIPTURE SEARCH Gospel for September 6, 2009 Mark 7:31-37 Following is a word search based on the Gospel rd reading for 23 Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B: Jesus healing the deaf man who could not speak. The words can be found in all directions in the puzzle. TYRE DECAPOLIS HIS HAND TOUCHED EPHPHATHA PROCLAIMED ALL THINGS

SIDON DEAF FINGER TONGUE BE OPENED ASTONISHED HEAR

GALILEE SPEECH EARS HEAVEN TO TELL HAS DONE SPEAK

And, likening it to his own creative freedom, Joffe said St. Josemaria “made no attempt to influence the people he worked with in terms of their politics.” The director spoke at an Aug. 23 press conference in Argentina that was conducted in English, Spanish and Portuguese. “At that time, that’s pretty heroic. That’s a time when almost all human beings were faced with making extraordinary choices,” he said. Charlie Cox, whose past film credits include “Stardust” and “Casanova,” plays the priest. Wes Bentley, who had parts in “Ghost Rider” and “American Beauty,” plays Manolo, a friend of Josemaria’s who goes in and out of his life. Ukrainian actress Olga Kurylenko, who has EVENTS GALA AUCTION acted in “Quantum of Solace,”

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St. Mary’s Cathedral Gough and Geary Blvd. in San Francisco. Call (415) 567-2020 Oct. 1-4: Cathedral Festival of Flowers- The International Year. The Cathedral Festival of Flowers was founded in 2007. In 2009, Cathedral Festival of Flowers – The International Year will welcome some of the most renowned floral artists from the Bay Area alongside special guest designers from the Northern Ireland Group of Flower Arranging Societies, the National Association of Floral Arrangement Societies of England, and the Association of Irish Flower Arrangers. The Festival will conclude on Oct. 4 at 4 p.m. with a Festival of Choirs. A complete schedule of events for the festival can be found at: www.cathedralflowers.org. Oct. 15: St. Damien’s Day at the Cathedral with events at 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. The Belgian born Father Damien (priest to the lepers of Molokai and later becoming a leper himself and dying from the disease) will be canonized on October 11, in Rome. On October his relic will be brought to the Cathedral, en route to the Cathedral in Honolulu where the relic will remain. 1:30 p.m.: “Damien”: A one man Performance by New York actor Casey Groves for young people. 7:30 p.m.: Reception and Veneration of the Relic of St. Damien of Molokai. Archbishop George H. Niederauer will receive the relic of St. Damien with prayer, word and song led by Bay Area members of the Pacific Islands, all are invited to attend. Oct. 24, 5:30 p.m.: Cathedral Gospel/Jazz Mass: This very spirited, annual Celebration of the Liturgy, led by the Bay Area Gospel Mass Choir, will include the St. Ignatius College Preparatory Jazz Ensemble and a special appearance by Edwin Hawkins. Oct. 24, 8:30 p.m.: “Hope for the World Concert” featuring: Edwin Hawkins and The New Edwin Hawkins Singers celebrating 40 years of their well-known hit song, “Oh Happy Day.” Hawkins will be joined by fellow Grammy award winning Gospel singer, Yolanda Adams, as he launches a World Tour, which will include prayer for world harmony and peace by leaders of all faiths. Tickets for this event are $25 and will be on sale at the Cathedral Office. Call (415) 567-2020. Oct. 25, 3:30 p.m.: Organ Symphony Concert featuring Anthony Hammond with the works of Pierre Cochereau (1924-1984), one of the most significant organists of the last century famous for his improvisations and compositions. In 1974, the artist came to St. Mary’s Cathedral to improvise an organ symphony. Anthony Hammond, a doctoral candidate at Bristol University in England, has reconstructed the symphony and will perform it here, on the original instrument. Admission is free.

Year for Priests Events Sept. 18, 6 p.m.: St. Patrick’s Seminary and University Gala 2009 honoring Most Reverend William J. Justice, Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco at Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, Gough and Geary Blvd. in San Francisco. Tickets at $150 each include hosted cocktail reception and dinner. Evening also features a silent wine and art auction as well as a live auction. Black tie is optional. Proceeds benefit seminary programs. Call (650) 289-3321 for information or to purchase tickets. St. Patrick’s Seminary and University announces its Year for Priest Speaker Series. Takes place at 7 p.m. beginning Oct. 7 in Olier Hall at the seminary, 320 Middlefield Rd. in Menlo Park. Oct 7: “Priest in the New Testament” with Ruth Ohm. Dr. Ohm teaches New Testament at St. Patrick’s with special interest in Pauline material and ancient Byzantine Rite liturgy. Tickets are $10 per session or $35 for all four. Seating is limited. Register on-line at www.stpatricksseminary. org under Speaker Series. Register by mail with payment to: Speaker Series, St. Patrick’s Seminary and University, 320 Middlefield Road Menlo Park 94025.

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,

Vocations

Datebook

September 13: Retreat for Serious Discerners! The Sisters of Nazareth invite young women seriously considering religious life to Discerners’ Retreat at Nazareth House, Los Angeles. Please contact Sister Fintan, CSN for reservations, more information. E-mail: vocations@nazarethhousela.org or call (310) 216-8170.

Special Liturgies Sept. 5, 11 a.m.: First Saturday Mass at Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma, All Saints Mausoleum Chapel. Call (650) 756-2060 or visit www.holycrosscemeteries.com.

Food and Fun

Knights of Columbus from St. Augustine Council #9714 visited the St. Vincent de Paul Society of San Francisco’s Multi-Service Center - South. The facility is the largest shelter in Northern California. “It is a prelude to our doing some volunteer work there in the coming months,” said Anthony Peligrino. The facility helps almost 340 people each night and 150 during the day. Assistance can include a place to stay as well as meals, help in finding a job and housing, and use of a computer lab. SVDP staffer, Lynea White, led the tour. Back from left: Anthony Peligrino, Eddie Bean, Loy Ibanez, Lynea White, Nestor Cu, and Mel Zagala. Middle from left: Fale McMullin, Nestor Dimailig, Larry Formalejo, Ed Oraa, Joe Santos, Joe Torres, Martin Maralit. Sandy Alipio is kneeling. 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 sessionEnroll 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, Ph.D.

Pauline Books and Media Daughters of St. Paul, 2640 Broadway, Redwood City (650) 369-4230 - Visit www.pauline.org Second Wednesday of the Month, 7 p.m.: Catholic Fiction Book Club. Delve into some of the greatest Catholic novels of our times and times past. Discover the beauty of the written word and the power of literature to nourish faith. Discuss various works of Catholic literature and how their timeless themes relate to our own lives. Oct. 14, “A Thread of Grace” by Mary Doria Russell; Nov. 11, “Helena” by Evelyn Waugh

Reunions Class of ’60 from Holy Angels Elementary School in Colma is planning a reunion. Classmates should be in touch with Linda Brewer at brewer@sbcglobal.net. Sept. 6, 12:15 p.m.: Centennial Mass commemorating first century of Star of the Sea Elementary School and its now closed sister-school, Star of the Sea Academy, at Star of the Sea Church, 8th Ave. at Geary Blvd. in San Francisco. Archbishop George H. Niederauer will preside with Msgr. Floro Arcamo, pastor, among the concelebrants. Reception and

rededication rites follow the liturgy. Call (415) 221— 3399 or e-mail alumni@staroftheseasf.com. Sept. 19, 11:15 a.m.: St. Brigid High School all-school reunion at Presidio Golf Club. Contact Eleanor Matheu at (415) 566-5331. Sept. 19, 20: Mercy High School, Burlingame, class of ’59. Celebration begins Sept. 19 in Millbrae at home of Kathy O’Marie. Call (650) 697-1093 by Sept. 10. Events Sept. 20 begin with Mass at 10:30 a.m. in Motherhouse Chapel and buffet lunch later in Kohl Mansion. Contact school alumnae office at (650) 762-1190 or visit www.mercyhsb.com. Sept. 20 with Mass at noon: Our Lady of Mercy Elementary School, class of ’68. Contact Jean Anderson at (650) 756-3395 or jeananders@aol.com. Oct. 3, 11 a.m.: Members of the eighth grade graduating class of 1954 from San Francisco’s Holy Name of Jesus Elementary School will gather at Caesar’s Restaurant, Powell and Bay Street at 11 a.m. with lunch is at 12:30. If interested, please call Claire Cook Norton (916) 791-2215 or email clairelvstns@surewest.net.

St. Thomas More Society Club is oldest fellowship of Catholic lawyers, law students, paralegals and judges in the West. Visit www.stthomasmore-sf.org, or e-mail gschopf@nixonpeabody.com. Sept. 24, noon: Monthly luncheon of St. Thomas More Society at the Family Club, 545 Powell Street, San Francisco, honoring all past St. Thomas More Award recipients and past presidents of the group. Jesuit Father Stephen Privett, president, University of San Francisco, will speak on Catholic education and the USF mission. For more information about the Society, luncheons and other events, and how to become a member, visit www. stthomasmore-sf.org, or contact Society President Greg Schopf, gschopf@nixonpeabody.com.

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Sept. 10, noon: Luncheon of Serra Club of S.F. honoring our three newly ordained priests for the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Italian American Social Club, 25 Russia St., San Francisco. Non members welcome. Cost $16. Contact: Paul Crudo at (415) 566-8224 or pecrudodds@aol.com Sept. 12: Serra Clubs of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin honor seminarians and their families at our annual Mass and bar-b-que at St. Patrick’s Seminary , 320 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park. Mass at noon followed by bar-b-que. Cost $20. Contact Art Green by Sept.7 at (650) 576-1255 or artgre@gmail.com Sept. 16, noon: Spaghetti and meatball lunch at Immaculate Conception Chapel, Folsom off Cesar Chavez/Army St. in San Francisco. Tickets are $8 per person. The family-style meal includes salad, bread, pasta and homemade meatballs. Beverages are available for purchase. The meal is served in the church hall, beneath the chapel. Call (415) 824-1762. Sept. 18, 19, 20: “San Francisco - City by the Bay,” annual St. Robert Parish festival, Fri. 6 – 11 p.m.; Sat. 1 – 11 p.m.; Sun. 12:30 – 6 p.m. Come enjoy festive entertainment all weekend long. A variety of delicious foods, games, rides for kids, raffle prizes and bingo. Valet parking available. Located at 1380 Crystal Springs Road, San Bruno For more information please call (650) 589-2800. Sept. 25, 26, 27: 71th Annual St. Philip School Festival and Centennial Parish Celebration- Festivities start with parish dinner Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. Then two days of games, activities and free entertainment Sept. 26, 27 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Teen dance Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. Fun takes place on parish campus at 24th and Diamond Street in San Francisco’s Noe Valley. Visit www.stphilipfestival.org or call (415) 824-8467. Sept. 26, 6 – 10 p.m.: Aloha, an evening at St. Thomas More Church, Brotherhood Way at Thomas More Way in San Francisco, featuring the best of Hawaii - Roast Pig and a Polynesian dinner show. Tickets are $25 for adults and $10 for children 6-12 years old. No-host bar. Proceeds benefit the parish. Call (415) 452-9634. Sept. 26, 8 a.m.: Friends of the Poor Walk: The St. Vincent de Paul Society of San Francisco invites you to participate in the Friends of the Poor Walk. The 5K walk around Lake Merced will raise awareness and funds for food, clothing, beds, and basic utilities for the poor in San Francisco. Outdoor Mass at the intersection of Sunset Blvd. and Lake Merced Blvd. (parking will be available) opens the day. You can participate as a walker, pledger, volunteer, or all three. To register, or for more information, call (415) 977-1270, x3088, and leave a message with your contact information or go online at www.sf-friendsofthepoorwalk.org and select: “Council of San Francisco 94107.”

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

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September 4, 2009

Opus Dei founder . . . n Continued from page 20

betrayal and mistakes,” Joffe said. Further, “I don’t know if there’s anybody who wants to live his life without meaning. So it’s also a story about people trying to find meaning about their lives, and that’s a powerful kind of story.” Responding to a question about source material for the script, Joffe said, “I researched as much as any writer can. History is not available to us; attempts at history are available to us. As an artist, one takes a difficult step that fiction is a way of understanding the truth. “There were certain liberties I could take if those liberties could take us to the personal issues that people felt,” Joffe continued, saying he was taken with St. Josemaria’s idea that “a way to God is found through everyday life. And that life is also found through the Spanish Civil War. That is still felt by Spaniards very much today.” “I’ve been to many Opus Dei centers, and met many Opus Dei members (in doing research for the movie). And I’ve yet

Elderly Care

to encounter anything odd-seeming,” said Cox. “I’ve been brought up a Catholic. I’m not a great practicing Christian. I’ve been to church infrequently, but I’ve never stopped going.” Cox added there is “an inner journey I’ve been going on during this film. I don’t know where it will lead. My relationship with the Catholic Church and with God has certainly been profoundly affected for the better throughout this process,” he added. Asked whether he thought St. Josemaria was really a saint, Cox answered, “It’s an impossible question to answer. ... I have to leave that up to the Catholic Church and not to myself.” Joffe recalled that when he made “The Mission,” which dealt with Jesuit missionary activity in South America at the time of the slave trade, he used two Jesuits as advisers: a “very, very right-wing Jesuit – those things do exist – and a left-wing Jesuit, Father Daniel Berrigan.” He said he asked Father John Wauck, an Opus Dei priest who is a professor of literature and communication of the faith at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, “whether he’d serve the same purpose as Daniel Berrigan –

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explain to Charlie (Cox) what he knew about Josemaria ... in as open and honest way as he could, what it means to be a priest. That’s what he gave up his rather precious time to do, and I’m grateful for it.” When one questioner asked whether he thought “There Be Dragons” was some kind of response to the movie “The Da Vinci Code,” which characterized Opus Dei as a bizarre cult, Joffe replied, “Well, it’d be a very expensive response.” The price tag of “There Be Dragons” is estimated at $30 million. “’The Da Vinci Code’ stands on its own legs, whatever they may be,” he added. “I think they took a rather clichéd view and created a character and said he came from Opus Dei, and that is a bit much. But it’s a fine movie.” Editor’s note: Opus Dei is a Catholic institution with the mission of helping people turn their work and daily activities into occasions for growing closer to God, for serving others, and for improving society. Opus Dei complements the work of local churches by offering classes, talks, retreats and pastoral care that help people develop their personal spiritual life and apostolate. See www.opusdei.us.

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September 4, 2009

Catholic San Francisco Classifieds

FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION

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

Vocations

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N OV E N A S Pre-payment required Mastercard or Visa accepted

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If you wish to publish a Novena in the Catholic San Francisco You may use the form below or call 415-614-5640 Your prayer will be published in our newspaper

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

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

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

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

Help Wanted We are looking for full or part time

RNs, LVNs, CNAs, Caregivers In-home care in San Francisco, Marin County, peninsula Nursing care for children in San Francisco schools If you are generous, honest, compassionate, respectful, and want to make a difference, send us your resume: Jeannie McCullough Stiles, RN Fax: 415-435-0421 Email: info@sncsllc.com Voice: 415-435-1262

Music

Schola Gregorianum, formerly the music ministers of the National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi, is available to provide music for weddings, funerals, and other liturgical rites. The quartet is especially trained in Gregorian chant as well as other early sacred music of the Catholic Church. For rates and more information, contact For rates and more information, contact schola Joseph Murphy Murphy scholamanager, manager, Joseph atat (415) (415)468-1810 468-1810or orvisit visitwww.sfschola.net. www.sfschola.net.

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Catholic San Francisco

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

S.C.M.

Prayer to the Blessed Virgin never known to fail.

Most beautiful flower of Mt. Carmel Blessed Mother of the Son of God, assistme in my need. Help me and show me you are my mother. Oh Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and earth. I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to help me in this need. Oh Mary, conceived without sin. Pray for us (3X). Holy Mary, I place this cause in your hands (3X). Say prayers 3 days. C.O.

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. Space has access to kitchen area and restroom facilities. Parking spaces negotiable. Ready for immediate occupancy with competitive terms. Come view the space. For more information, contact

Katie Haley, (415) 614-5556 email haleyk@sfarchdiocese.org.

Catholic San Francisco

September 4, 2009

Seek Comfort in Prayer Together at the Rachel Mourning Shrine. Remembering our babies who died before, at, or after birth. We hold these children gently in our hearts and pray for all those who mourn for them. “For I will turn their mourning into joy.” Jeremiah 31:13

Mass and Healing Liturgy in memory of our Little Children sponsored by The Archdiocesan Project Rachel Ministry and Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery

Saturday, Spetember 19, 2009 – 11:00 a.m. Bishop William Justice, principal celebrant Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery 1500 Mission Road Colma, CA Rachel Shrine

A gathering and light luncheon will follow the Mass. For further infomatuon, please contact the Project Rachel Ministry at 415.717.6428 or the Respect Life Program at 415.614.5572

To reach the Rachel shrine, please enter by the Main Gate at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery, 1500 Mission Road, Colma. Signs will be posted to direct you.

The Catholic Cemeteries Archdiocese of San Francisco www.holycrosscemeteries.com HOLY CROSS CATHOLIC CEMETERY 1500 Mission Road, Colma, CA 650-756-2060

HOLY CROSS CATHOLIC CEMETERY Intersection of Santa Cruz Avenue, Menlo Park, CA 650-323-6375

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OUR LADY OF THE PILLAR CEMETERY Miramontes St., Half Moon Bay, CA 650-712-1679

A Tradition of Faith Throughout Our Lives.