November 21, 2003

Pope speaks out

Catholic san Francisco

Criticizes Israel for wall; condemns deadly attacks in Iraq and Turkey

Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper

VATICAN CITY — Pope John Paul II criticized Israel’s building of a wall to keep out Palestinians, and he called for a global movement against terrorism following deadly attacks in Iraq and Turkey.

“In reality, the Holy Land does not need walls, but bridges. Without reconciliation of souls, there can be no peace,” the pope said at a Sunday blessing Nov. 16.

He renewed his “strong condemnation” of all acts of terrorism in the Holy Land and said it was disappointing that the peace process seemed blocked.

“The construction of a wall between the Israeli and Palestinian people is seen by many as a new obstacle on the road to peaceful coexistence,” he said.

POPE SPEAKS OUT, page 22

(CNS PHOTO FROM REUTERS)

By John Thavis Catholic News Service

Police and rescue workers search debris from car bomb blasts at two synagogues Nov. 15 in Istanbul, Turkey. Suicide bombers drove vehicles loaded with explosives into two synagogues where worshippers were attending bar mitzvahs.

Bishops’ meeting covers sex abuse crisis, farms, budget and devotions WASHINGTON (CNS) — The U.S. bishops opened their annual fall meeting with a challenge from their president to direct “the energy of the whole church” to the eradication of sexual abuse and the healing of its victims. They also heard from the review board they established to respond to the abuse crisis.

During general sessions the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops also discussed and voted on a vast array of issues from same-sex unions, agricultural concerns, popular devotions, socially responsible investment, stewardship, conflict-ofinterest policy and several liturgical matters. The bishops elected a new secretary, a pro-life committee chairman and chairmen-elect for eight other committees.

The meeting, initially scheduled for Nov. 10-13, finished one day early as the bishops moved up their scheduled items of business to conclude at the end of the day Nov. 12.

The bishops heard a presentation on the work of their National Review Board, formed last year in the wake of the clerical sex abuse crisis, and were told of major national studies on the crisis and the U.S. bishops’ response to it that will be released early next year.

The studies will include a report on the extent of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic

(CNS PHOTO BY PAUL HARING)

By Catholic News Service

Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius Wang of San Francisco leads his fellow bishops during morning prayers at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' general fall meeting in Washington Nov. 12. priests and deacons since 1950 by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York and the review board’s consensus report on interviews with bishops, priests-abusers, victims and a wide array of professionals regarding the “causes and context” of the abuse crisis.

On Nov. 12, the bishops overwhelmingly approved a short teaching document on why same-sex unions should not be given the social or legal status of marriage. The

bishops were told that rapid developments on the issue across the country led the USCCB Administrative Committee in September to seek development of the statement in time for the November meeting.

The 2,000 word statement, “Between Man and Woman: Questions and Answers About Marriage and Same-Sex Union,” states that marriage between a man and a woman is God’s plan, seen in nature and in divine rev-

elation. It was approved in a 234-3 vote.

The same day, they also unanimously approved their first new document on agriculture in 14 years: “For I Was Hungry and You Gave Me Food: Catholic Reflections on Food, Farmers and Farmworkers.” The document, which examines agricultural issues from genetically modified crops to crop subsidies and market forces affecting rural life both in the United States and in the nation’s trading partners, passed with a 237-0 vote.

The bishops spent time Nov. 10 discussing the need for guidelines on how they should handle relationships with Catholics whose actions in public life are not in accord with church teaching.

The guidelines, which are not expected to be in final form until after the 2004 elections, are meant to help bishops make distinctions between “respect for the office and approval of the officeholder ... to distinguish between fundamental moral principles and prudential judgments on the application of those principles,” said Bishop John H. Ricard of PensacolaTallahassee, Fla., chairman of a new task force charged with addressing the issue.

On other political matters, Mark Chopko, the bishops’ general counsel, told the bishops Nov. 12 that the church faces a BISHOPS’ MEETING, page 22

INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION Massachusetts court . . . . . . 3 Fighting poverty. . . . . . . . . 8 Thanksgiving special . . 12-13 Catholic immigrants . . 16-17 St. Charles celebrates. . . . 18

First sunday of advent: November 30 November 21, 2003

Tom Burke’s Column

Vatican conference

Joan of Arcadia. . . . . . . . . 21

~ Page 2 ~

~ Page 5 ~

www.catholic-sf.org

FIFTY CENTS

VOLUME 5

•

No. 38

2

Catholic San Francisco

November 21, 2003

On The Where You Live

by Tom Burke It’s happy 70 years married to Our Lady of the Pillar parishioners, Mary and Joe Garcia. “They’re still going strong,” the parish said…. Father Bill Brown, pastor, Our Lady of Mercy Parish, Daly City, leads an all hats off for “loving and generous parishioners” Bertha and Joseph Schur who died last year. The couple remembered the parish with a $5,000 bequest. “Please remember these

Hats off to St. Ignatius College Preparatory seniors, Katie Lawson, seated, and Kelly McGee who traveled to Lourdes this summer to help the ill on their journeys to the miraculous site’s healing waters. Also lending a hand was SI grad and now Regis University freshman, Julianne Taylor.

Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper

Official newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco

Most Reverend William J. Levada, publisher Maurice E. Healy, associate publisher & editor Editorial Staff: Jack Smith, assistant editor; Evelyn Zappia, feature editor; Tom Burke, “On the Street” and Datebook; Patrick Joyce, contributing editor/senior writer; Sharon Abercrombie and Jayme George, reporters Advertising: Joseph Pena, director; Mary Podesta, account representative Production: Karessa McCartney, manager; Rob Schwartz

two dear hearts in your prayer,’ Father Brown said in a recent bulletin…. Happy anniversary to Elizabeth and Dickson Buxton of St. Anthony Parish, Novato who celebrated 50 years of wedded life July 18th. Thanks to their son, Brian for the good news….Congrats to shutterbug Elizabeth Franczak, a Convent of the Sacred Heart grad, for her picture of the year award from the National Scholastic Press Association.

The winning shot captured the excitement of her school’s championship girls basketball team last year after they took the cup in Division V play. Elizabeth, now a freshman at Bard College in New York, competed among more than 500 entries….Along the way of St. Anne of the Sunset’s now-99 years, many good souls have come to the aid of parishioners. Hats off says Susan Tadaro to parish volunteer, Tony Galarza, who A spontaneous collection after September 11 memorial rites at recently assisted her in expanding her partic- Junipero Serra High School raised more than $600 from the generipation at St. Anne’s. “Tony is very patient ous student body for the toy fund of the Millbrae Fire Department. and always has a warm and friendly smile,” Steve Barbieri, student prez, presents the proceeds to Ron Lavezzo, Susan said. “I haven’t known him very long a Serra alum and division chief with the MFD. but from what I can tell, he wears many hats Campus minister, Cathy Pickerel, assists and works very hard.”…Welcome at Mercy High School, Burlingame to half-a-dozen freshman of Merit. Those honored include Bill Keller ’66, executive whose moms also attended the school. The parade of prog- editor, New York Times; David Littlejohn ’54, author and eny includes Allison Kim Harms, daughter of Kathleen retired UC Berkeley professor; Michael Hackworth ’59, ’69; Nicole Marie Grady, daughter of Colette ’82; Danna co-founder of Cirrus Logic; David Giuliani ’64, inventor Primeaux Diskin, daughter of of Sonicare toothbrush; John Joan ’77; Jessi Idell Shields ’50, former Trader Gutierrez, daughter of Lori Joe’s president; Bart Araujo Lynn ’78; Sheila Catherine ’61, Araujo Estate Wines; Cook, daughter of Jeanne Ruben Barrales ’80, deputy ’72; Danielle Juanita assistant to President Bush; Ribotta, daughter of Diane Edward Keller ’47, retired ’79. Congrats to new from the State Parents’ Club Officers Department….Remember Maureen Gates, prez; Kathy that there’s no CSF next Nagle, veep, Caroline week.

Happy Bottoms, secretary; Jodi Thanksgiving!!!…Birthdays, Duke, treasurer. Nancy births, anniversaries, marBrown, parent coordinator; riages, engagements, new Jan Philip, club liaison. jobs and all kinds of goings-on Taking their position as are welcome here. Remember Mercy Student Body officers this is an empty space without are seniors, Ellen Thompson, ya’. Send items and a follow Ashley Crandall, Evie Sim, up phone number to On the Betty and Dickson Buxton Michelle Viscarra, Claire Street Where You Live, One Reitmann-Grout. New faculPeter Yorke Way, SF 94109. ty include Michelle Peterson, Susan Cordes, and Keelyn Fax (415) 614-5633; e-mail tburke@catholic-sf.org. Do Healy….Junipero Serra High School recently saluted not send attachments except photos and those in jpeg, some of its “outstanding alumni” with the Alumni Award please. You can reach Tom Burke at (415) 614-5634….

Donate Your Car To Catholic Charities CYO We’ll give 50% of the sale price to your parish church or school

Call (415) 592-9266 HELPLINES FOR CLERGY/CHURCH SEXUAL ABUSE VICTIMS

Business Office: Marta Rebagliati, assistant business manager; Virginia Marshall, advertising and promotion services; Judy Morris, circulation and subscriber services

415-614-5506 This number is answered by Barbara Elordi, Archdiocesan Pastoral Outreach Coordinator.

This is a secured line and is answered only

by Barbara Elordi.

Advisory Board: Jeffrey Burns, Ph.D., Noemi Castillo, James Clifford, Fr. Thomas Daly, Joan Frawley Desmond, Fr. Joseph Gordon, James Kelly, Deacon William Mitchell, Kevin Starr, Ph.D., Sr. Christine Wilcox, OP.

415-614-5503 If you wish to speak to a non-archdiocesan employee please call this nunmber. This is also a secured line and is answered only by a victim survivor.

Catholic San Francisco editorial offices are located at One Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco, CA 94109. Tel: (415) 614-5640 Circulation: 1-800-563-0008 or (415) 614-5638 Advertising: (415) 614-5642 News fax: (415) 614-5633; Advertising fax: (415) 614-5641 Adv. E-mail: jpena@catholic-sf.org Catholic San Francisco (ISSN 15255298) is published weekly except the Fridays after Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas and the first Firday in January, twice a month during summer by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, 1500 Mission Rd., P.O. Box 1577, Colma, CA 94014. Annual subscription rates are $10 within the Archdiocese of San Francisco and $22.50 elsewhere in the United States. Periodical postage paid at South San Francisco, California.

Postmaster: Send address changes to Catholic San Francisco, 1500 Mission Rd., P.O. Box 1577, Colma, CA 94014 If there is an error in the mailing label affixed to this newspaper, call 1-800-563-0008. It is helpful to refer to the current mailing label.

GIVE US YOUR CAR AND WE’LL GIVE THEM HOPE Donate to

S VD P

St. Vincent de Paul Society Marin – San Francisco – San Mateo Serving the poor since 1860 Donate your Car, Boat or RV

1-800-YES-SVDP

LIVING TRUSTS WILLS ●

●

PROBATE

MICHAEL T. SWEENEY ATTORNEY AT LAW 782A ULLOA STREET SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94127

(415) 664-8810

www.mtslaw.info

FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION

DONATE YOUR OLD AUTO To help St. Denis Catholic High School in Uganda Father Joseph tells us 60% of his students are orphans from AIDS and need your love and help!

Classics to Clunkers, running or not.

We do everything for you and you’ll receive a tax deduction for your car.

Please give us a toll free call today. God Bless!

800-511-4409 www.unchildren.org • United Fund For Children, Inc.

McCoy Church Goods Co. Inc 1010 Howard Aveune San Mateo, CA 94401

(650) 342-0924 Competitive Prices & Personalized Service

Catholic San Francisco

November 21, 2003

3

Reversal urged for Massachusetts decision on same-sex marriage WASHINGTON (CNS) — The decision

by Massachusetts’ highest court to overturn a ban on same-sex marriages “defies reason� and rejects “an understanding of marriage tested over thousands of years and accepted nearly everywhere as the key to a stable society,� the Massachusetts Catholic Conference said immediately after the Nov. 18 ruling.

The agency representing the commonwealth’s Catholic bishops said in a brief statement that the decision of the Supreme Judicial Court in the case of Goodridge vs.

Department of Public Health “must be reversed.� “As devastating as the ruling is, it will not end the debate,� the statement said. “We urge the state Legislature to send the Marriage Affirmation and Protection Amendment Act to the 2006 ballot. Thus the people of Massachusetts can reaffirm marriage as the union between one man and one woman, overriding the court’s misguided decision in furtherance of sound public policy.�

In its 4-3 decision, the court said that “barring an individual from the protections,

(CNS PHOTO BY GREGORY L. TRACY, THE PILOT)

By Nancy Frazier O’Brien Catholic News Service

benefits and obligations of civil marriage solely because that person would marry a person of the same sex violates the Massachusetts Constitution.�

The court stayed the opinion for 180 days “to permit the Legislature to take such action as it may deem appropriate in light of this opinion.�

Calling marriage “a vital social institution� that both “provides an abundance of legal, financial and social benefits� and “imposes weighty legal, financial and social obligations,� the majority opinion by Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall said the Massachusetts Constitution “forbids the creation of second-class citizens.�

The commonwealth, the court said, “has failed to identify any constitutionally adequate reason for denying civil marriage to same-sex couples.� “We are mindful that our decision marks a change in the history of our marriage law,� the decision said.

“Many people hold deep-seated religious, moral and ethical convictions that marriage should be limited to the union of one man and one woman, and that homosexual conduct is immoral,� it said. “Many hold equally strong religious, moral and ethical convictions that same-sex couples are entitled to be married, and that homosexual persons should be treated no differently than their heterosexual neighbors.

Neither view answers the question before us.�

If it takes effect in 180 days, the decision changes the law only in Massachusetts.

The majority decision said the Massachusetts Constitution “is, if anything, more protective of individual liberty and equality than the federal Constitution; it may demand broader protection of fundamental rights; and it is less tolerant of government intrusion into the protected spheres of private life.�

Boston Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley addresses religious and secular leaders in Massachusetts at a summit on marriage in Wayland, Mass., Oct. 2.

He told the audience that the institution of marriage is "in crisis."

“Proclaiming the Gospel� Documentary The 30-minute television documentary of the 150-year history of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, which aired on KRON-4, now is available in VHS or DVD format.

Orders for copies of the documentary are now being accepted by the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Send your request (specify VHS or DVD) and a donation of $20 to: History Documentary Office of Communications Archdiocese of San Francisco One Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco, CA 941098

3TUDIES SHOW THAT THE BEST CARDIAC OUTCOMES OCCUR IN HOSPITALS WITH THE MOST EXPERIENCE /UR PHYSICIANS HAVE PIONEERED ADVANCES IN ANGIOPLASTY

LASER TREATMENT AND INTERVENTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES /UR YEARS OF EXPERIENCE WILL MAKE YOU FEEL CONlDENT YOUR HEART IS IN CAPABLE HANDS HOUR 0HYSICIAN 2EFERRAL

3AN &RANCISCO (EART 6ASCULAR )NSTITUTE AT

6HWRQ 0HGLFDO &HQWHU ZKHUH

([SHULHQFH &RXQWV VP s WWW SETONMEDICALCENTER ORG 3ULLIVAN !VENUE s $ALY #ITY #!

4

Catholic San Francisco

NEWS

November 21, 2003

in brief

Bishop says ecclesiology needed is to be found in future, not past,

(CNS PHOTO FROM REUTERS)

NEW YORK — Bishop Kenneth E. Untener of Saginaw, Mich., said in an address Nov. 13 that the ecclesiology — or understanding of the church — Catholics need is something to be found in the future rather than in the past. Delivering the keynote address on “An Ecclesiology for Our Time” to the annual convention of the National Pastoral Life Center, he said people in the church should first ask, “What are we meant to do?” and then talk about “the structures that fit what we are meant to do.” The church’s purpose, he said, is “to bring about the reign of God,” an action that will “move the human race to a new level.” Bishop Untener said an ecclesiology built on that concept is something which will come in the future, and the church now has “an emerging ecclesiology that hasn’t emerged yet.” Noting problems in all historical periods of the church’s life, he said, “We’ve always needed a new ecclesiology. There’s no golden age we want to go back to.”

Congress urged to adopt higher funding levels for foreign aid WASHINGTON — The House-Senate conference committee negotiating the foreign operations appropriations bill should fund programs to help the world’s poor at the maximum possible levels, the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Policy and the executive director of Catholic Relief Services told members of Congress. Bishop John H. Ricard of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Fla., who is chairman of the international policy committee, and Ken Hackett of CRS, urged the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee to fight for higher funding for programs to combat infectious diseases including HIV/AIDS and for the Millennium Challenge Account, which will provide financial assistance to poor countries that are working to fight poverty and corruption.

Central African bishops call for U.S. help in peace-building WASHINGTON — Bishops from Central Africa’s Great Lakes region have outlined a plan the United States and other countries should follow to promote peace in their war-torn countries. Bishops from Congo, Burundi and Rwanda presented the plan to U.S. State Department officials Nov. 10 and discussed their proposal during a Nov. 12 symposium at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington. During their Washington visit, the bishops and a representative of the Southern African Bishops’ Conference also met with U.S. bishops, who were in town for their fall general meeting. The U.S. bishops heard a proposal for a major effort to fund the pastoral work of the church in Africa.

During the Nov. 12 symposium, the African bishops stressed that chief among their requests was increased support in rebuilding democracy and promoting peace programs.

President Bush shakes hands with St. John's University football coach John Gagliardi in the East Room of the White House Nov. 17. The president hosted NCAA champions from around the country. With 409 wins, Gagliardi set the all-time NCAA winning record for a football coach.

said rights were “intrinsic to human nature” and religious freedom lay “at the foundation of the edifice of human rights because it affects the primordial relationship of the human being with the Creator.” Speaking at U.N. headquarters in New York, he said freedom to profess religious faith was necessary to “a right social order.” He said, “When religious faith is freely chosen and lived in a coherent way, religions play an essential role in ensuring security and in promoting peaceful coexistence of peoples.”

Two Iraqi priests concerned Iraq slipping into chaos under U.S. VATICAN CITY — Two Iraqi priests said they are deeply concerned that their country is slipping into chaos and terrorist violence under U.S. occupation. One of the priests said Catholic institutions were being targeted for intimidation in the northern part of the country, presumably by Muslim extremists. The priests made their comments in interviews in mid-November with the Vatican missionary news agency, Fides. “We do not want Iraq to be another Palestine — without a state, abandoned and left to the mercy of terrorist groups, and its people dying of hunger,” said Father Denka H. Toma, superior general of a Chaldean-rite order of 45 monks.

“Everything depends on the United States, which has absolute power. It can do our nation good or cause it harm,” he said.

Religious freedom crucial to world Vatican official offers prayers for peace, says Vatican’s U.N. nuncio Muslims at end of Ramadan fast UNITED NATIONS — The Vatican called on the international community Nov. 14 to recognize religious freedom as an intrinsic right of every person and a force for world peace.

Archbishop Celestino Migliore, nuncio to the United Nations,

VATICAN CITY — A top Vatican official offered his prayers for peace as Muslims prepared to celebrate the end of their monthlong Ramadan fast. Archbishop Michael

Fitzgerald, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, offered a special prayer for Muslims “who have suffered, or who are still suffering, on account of armed conflict.” The archbishop’s message to the world’s Muslims for the celebration of Eid al-Fitr, the feast marking the end of the Ramadan period of fasting from dawn to dusk each day, was released Nov. 17 at the Vatican.

The feast was to be celebrated Nov. 26 this year. Archbishop Fitzgerald praised the growing practice of Muslims inviting Christians to join them in breaking the fast and the practice of Christians organizing dinners for Muslims.

Iowa bishops say poor a priority, taxes must aid common good DES MOINES, Iowa — In a new statement on taxation, the Catholic bishops of Iowa urged the state to approach spending the way a prudent family would. “As do prudent families, the state of Iowa should maintain savings for periods when revenues are less than needed,” they said in the 1,000-word statement. “Tax cuts, while popular, should result from a reduction in revenue needs, not as a result of providing favors for special interests,” they said. The statement also called the collection of taxes “an important and justifiable role of government” and said taxation “can be used as an economic strategy to level income distribution in a society.” But the bishops said spending decisions should give priority to “the basic needs of all people — especially those who are poor and vulnerable.” “Just as in a family’s budget, spending for recreation and entertainment should come only after paying for shelter, food, clothing and other necessities,” they said.

– Catholic News Service

Special Needs Companion Services The Choice of Discriminating Families for Assisted Living at Home ● ● ● ●

Personalized and compassionate Caregivers are carefully selected, trained and employed by us Locally owned and operated by Jeannie McCullough Stiles, R.N. Services include: meal preparation, light housekeeping, daily exercise, medication reminders, shopping, and assistance with bathing

Call us for a needs assessment

Give to the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.

Please give generously to the Catholic Campaign for Human Development collection in your parish on November 23rd! Thank you for your support.

(415) 435-1262 E-Mail: info@specialneedscompanionservices.com www.specialneedscompanionservices.com

Join the Church in bringing a lasting end to poverty across this nation.

GivethetoChurch the Catholic Campaign Development.

Join in bringing a lasting endfor to Human poverty across this nation.

Special Needs Companion Services

© 2003, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Inc., Washington, D.C.

Catholic San Francisco

November 21, 2003

5

Vatican meeting on depression stresses spirituality’s importance VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Clinical depression is a serious illness that requires medical treatment, but religious assistance can play a key role in recovery, said speakers at a Vatican conference.

Pope John Paul II told participants at the Nov. 13-15 conference that depression is a spiritual trial, and those suffering from the illness should receive special support from their priests and parish communities.

“The illness frequently is accompanied by an existential and spiritual crisis that causes one to no longer see the value of living,” he told the gathering sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers.

Dr. Bengt J. Safsten of Sweden’s Uppsala University Hospital said the World Health Organization estimates that 1 million people will commit suicide this year and that the rate is 60 percent higher than it was 45 years ago.

The pope told the conference that growing rates of depression around the world are a cause for alarm and indicate that “human, psychological and spiritual fragility” are increased by societal factors, including consumerism and the idea that every desire could and should be satisfied immediately.

In caring for people with depression, the important role of family members, ministers and parish communities “consists above all in helping (the patient) recover self-esteem, faith in his own abilities, interest in the future and the desire to live,” the pope said.

“It is important to extend a hand to the sick, help them perceive the tenderness of God, integrate them in a community of faith and life where they can feel listened to, understood, supported and worthy — in other words, able to love and be loved,” the pope said.

Pope John Paul said reading the Book of Psalms, “in which the sacred author expresses in prayer his joys and anguishes, can be of great help.”

(CNS PHOTO FROM CATHOLIC PRESS PHOTO)

By Catholic News Service

Pope John Paul II speaks at the Vatican Nov. 14 to participants of a three-day Vatican health care conference on depression. The pontiff told participants that growing rates of depression around the world were a cause for alarm.

Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, head of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, illustrated expressions of depression and of an even stronger faith found in the psalms.

The text of several psalms could be read as “expressions of a depressive state,” with symptoms of sadness, lack of interest, diminished capacity for work, sleep disturbances, loss of weight, sense of guilt, desire to cry and suicidal thoughts, he said.

The cardinal quoted several examples, including Psalm 55: “My heart pounds within me; death’s terrors fall upon me.

Fear and trembling overwhelm me; shuddering sweeps over me.” He cited the distressed author of Psalm 102, who wrote: “I am withered, dried up like grass, too wasted to eat my food.”

At the same time, he said, many psalms exalt the goodness of God and the created world and, in that way, offer a response and a remedy: the conviction that “man is

always loved and appreciated by God,” that the world is not hostile but good, and that is it normal to express one’s emotions.

Dr. S. Cervera Enguix, a physician and professor at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain, told the conference that clinical depression is not simply an emotional state of unhappiness or sadness in reaction to difficult situations and events in life.

Unlike normal sadness, clinical depression is not transitory; the patient feels paralyzed and loses hope of ever feeling any better, he said. It is not simply an emotional or spiritual imbalance, but often includes biological or chemical imbalances, he said.

While medical treatment is essential, he said, spiritual assistance and family support also are necessary because depression creates a feeling of absolute hopelessness and complete abandonment.

Retired Chilean Cardinal Jorge Medina Estevez told the conference that a spiritual

guide could complement the work of therapists by helping the patient regain a sense of God’s goodness and wisdom, God’s desire for each person to be happy, God’s merciful love demonstrated by the sacrificing of his son for the salvation of all, God’s knowledge of every human limitation and sin and his desire to forgive.

“One who is living the harsh experience of depression needs, from a spiritual point of view, to recover a profound sense of trust in the God who saves and whose grace is powerful enough to overcome the most rending trials,” the cardinal said.

During the three-day conference, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist leaders also emphasized the important role of religious practice and the virtue of hope in helping clinically depressed patients recover.

Dr. Kamel Ajlouni, a Muslim physician in Jordan, told the conference that worship and an attitude of total reliance on God provide protection from depression, as does belief in the hereafter.

Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, told reporters Nov. 12 that the Vatican was discussing the treatment and pastoral care of clinically depressed patients because the illness is striking an increasing number of people around the world.

“They say depression is the principal killer of our age, and I don’t think one should be surprised,” the cardinal said.

“Unfortunately, the post-modern culture is a culture empty of values, founded on wellbeing and pleasure, in which economic profit counts as the supreme goal.”

For all its progress, he said, modern culture has not been able to do away with death. The fact that the Christian faith faces the meaning of life and death and offers transcendent answers means that it also has much to offer about the topic of depression, he said.

6

Catholic San Francisco

November 21, 2003

Seton Medical Center Charity Ball Seton Medical Center’s 16th Annual Charity Ball was held on October 25 at the Fairmont Hotel.

Proceeds from the event titled “Cornettes and Top Hats” benefit the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul’s two hospitals, Seton Medical Center in Daly City and Seton Medical Center Coastside in Half Moon Bay. KTVU News reporter John Sasaki and Karolyn Grimes, who played James Stewart’s daughter, Zuzu, in the classic movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, co-hosted the Charity Ball.

Sister William Eileen Dunn, Seton’s Vice-President of Mission Services, and Daly City Mayor Adrienne Tissier presented certificates of recognition to business enterprises and Chamber of Commerce representatives from Colma and Daly City. A special tribute was paid to Serramonte Motors owners Lenore Verducci and family for their long time support of community programs and Seton Medical Center.

The theme for the annual event was “A Celebration of the Human Spirit,” paying tribute to one aspect of the mission of the Daughters; that of offering compassionate care to the sick and disadvantaged in spirit, as well in body and mind.

Homebound, ill or incapacitated?

Watch the TV Mass each Sunday morning at 6:00 a.m. with Msgr. Harry Schlitt.

The TV Mass airs on WBChannel 20 (cable viewers Channel 13) and Channel 26 (cable viewers Channel 8).

Christmas at Kohl ‘03

Internationally acclaimed violinist, Linda Wang, opened the music, song and dance program with the “Meditation” from Massenet’s Thais.

Wednesday, December 3rd 5:00 p.m. * 9:00 p.m.

Holiday Gift Guide

Mercy High School 2750 Adeline Drive, Burlingame Visit our Holiday Boutique full of gifts & treasures.

Join us for live holiday music, food & drink.

Enjoy a tour of the beautifully decorated Kohl Mansion, which is part of Mercy High School.

Your Student’s Best Gift

Ambassador Services

Customized college & University placement ●

● Discover our keys for success ● Academic evaluation Empowerment counseling ● Special needs & transition issues ● Admission & financial aid strategies

Sponsored by the Mercy High School Alumnae Association Donation $5.00

Catholic College & University Specialists 1st Hr. consultation free Sliding scale fees available Barbara Burns-Savage, Ph.D. Call 415-435-1783 or fax 415-435-4971

Extra parking will be available at Our Lady of Angels Church, 1721 Hillside Drive • Burlingame, from 5:15pm, with a shuttle to Mercy High School every 15 minutes starting at 5:30pm.

License: # 020125749 & # 73765 Pastoral Ministry Credential 1996

College is a student’s best investment!

R ELIGIOUS SUPPLY Serving The Catholic – Christian Community since 1904 AUFER’S

Our 100th Year Fontanini 5” Nativity

Home Advent Candle Sets

Sets & Stables

3 pc. Nativity Figure Set and Stable #54518

From $6.25 to $24.00

$60.00 set Many More Nativity Sets & Stables Available

69-0985 $6.95 • 4” x 5” Porcelain Nativity Set

Florentine Collection Infant Jesus

Resin Infant Jesus In Crib.

Fontanini 5” Open Stock Figures $16.50 # 72572, # 52587, # 72551, # 72563, # 72558

Please contact us or visit our new website featuring the most comprehensive selection of religious goods and gifts. www.kaufers.com

Hand Painted. #61494 #61594 #61694 #61794 #61894

4” 5” 6” 8” 11”

$11.95 $15.95 $21.50 $34.95 $49.95

Church Advent Candles 1 1/2” x 16” 51% Beeswax 3 Purple, 1 Pink $49.95 Set Many More Candle Sets Available

55 Beverly St., San Francisco • 94132 415-333-4494 • FAX 415-333-0402 • E-mail: sales@kaufers.com Our New Website: www.kaufers.com

November 21, 2003

Catholic Radio Hour Week of Nov. 24-28

Catholic San Francisco

Holiday Gift Guide

Weeknights at 7 p.m. – KEST 1450 AM Radio Pray the Rosary – hosted by Fr. Tom Daly One half-hour of prayers, reflections and music Monday:

Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary; Sunday Soundbite; Scripture readings commentary; Fact of Faith: Is the end of time near?

Tuesday:

The Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary; City of Angels Film Festival: Rev. Scott Young.

Wednesday: Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary; Faithful Citizenship: Joan Rosenhauer.

Thursday: Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary; Three-Minute Theologian; Catholic Relief Services in Bolivia.

Friday:

Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary; Spiritual success at work; book reviews.

Unlike Lumps of Coal, Sacred Stones Make Great Christmas Gifts Chapter House Church

The Chapter House is the centerpiece of an ambitious effort to build a complex including an archival library, visitor center, cloister, pastoral center, and new Abbey church.

Visitor Center

Won’t you consider joining hundreds of supporters in making this historic project a reality?

The names of those donating $360 or more will be recognized in the Donor’s Gate area. All donor names will be calligraphed in a “Friends of the Monastery” book that will be permanently displayed in the archival library. These same names will be placed below the granite altar in the new Abbey church where the monks will remember these individuals in perpetuity as they gather for daily Eucharist.

In addition to a Christmas gift, donating a stone is a special way to honor a loved one who has died or to commemorate a birthday, wedding anniversary, the birth of a child, or other significant occasion.

N

estled among the orchards in the Sacramento Valley between Chico and Red Bluff is the Abbey of New Clairvaux, site of the former “Great Vina Ranch” of Leland Stanford.

As Catholic Cistercian monks, we are in the process of resurrecting an ancient Spanish Chapter House using stones from an 800-year old Cistercian monastery, Santa Maria de Ovila, brought to California by William Randolph Hearst.

The Chapter House is part of a larger building project (see artist rendering) that includes a cloister, archival library, pastoral center, and a new Abbey church.

Thanks to generous supporters from around the world, we’ve broken ground and construction is underway.

But we still have a long way to go to complete the project.

Ye s , I wa n t t o s u p p o r t t h e S a c r e d S t o n e s p r o j e c t Gifts of any size are appreciated. $360 Stone Sponsor $1,000 Journeyman $1955 Pillar of Support $5,000 Associate $500 Apprentice $10,000 Master I wish to pledge $_________________; an initial payment of $ ___________ is enclosed.

The balance will be paid: quarterly yearly.

A check for the full amount of my gift is enclosed.

Please bill $ _____________________ to my: VISA Card MasterCard Account Number _____________________________________ Expiration date _______________________________________ Signature ____________________________________________

Name_______________________________________________ Address_____________________________________________ City/State/Zip________________________________________ Phone______________________________________________ email_______________________________________________ I am making this gift in: Honor of: _________________________________________ Memory of: _______________________________________ Your relationship to person honored: ___________________________________________________ Please notify: (optional) Name:______________________________________________ Address:_____________________________________________ City/State/Zip:________________________________________ An acknowledgement letter will be sent immediately with no amount mentioned.

7

Please send me information on making an estate gift to the Abbey of New Clairvaux.

Please contact me about Naming Opportunities.

Please contact me about showing the PBS documentary “Sacred Stones,” to my parish community, organization, company, or other group Add me to your newsletter mailing list Send me information on vocations Send me information on making a retreat at the Abbey For additional information please contact: Sandy Goulart, Campaign Coordinator, 530-839-2243 or sgoulart7@netscape.net

Sacred Stones Project Abbey of New Clairvaux P.O. Box 80 Vina, CA 96092

8

Catholic San Francisco

November 21, 2003

Bishops’ collection returns much to Bay Area communities

By Jack Smith The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), the national anti-poverty campaign of the church in the United States, will distribute grants totaling $198,000 to nine community organization programs within the Archdiocese of San Francisco for 2003-2004.

CCHD, founded in 1969 by the U.S. Catholic Bishops, focuses on “social change versus social service. Grants are designed to offer people a way out of poverty for a lifetime, not just for a day,” according to CCHD executive director, Father Robert Vitillo.

The campaign is almost entirely financed by an annual collection in all U.S. parishes. Twenty-five percent of locally collected funds are kept for distribution at the discretion of the local diocese. Grants made by the national office are also distributed with strong local input and oversight, according to Melanie Piendak, local coordinator for the Campaign for Human Development. “The Campaign usually returns more to the San Francisco area through grants than is collected from parishes in the Archdiocese,” she said. Last year’s collection was nearly $100,000 and grants to local groups exceed that amount by nearly $100,000.

Ms. Piendak said that local grant selection is done from the “bottom up” and that priority is given to agencies “with strong local support and the best chance of succeeding.” Those receiving grants must make semi-annual reports on their progress, which is kept track of by the local diocese, she said.

National grants are made on a competitive basis in two broad categories, community organization and economic development. Community organizing grants support “grassroots projects of and for low-income people working for institutional change on a community or social issue,” Ms. Piendak said. Economic development grants have a similar goal but vary in that they are focused on job creation, worker ownership and worker participation in a business or project.

Chinatown Coalition for Better Housing (CCBH) will receive a $35,000 grant this year. CCBH is a collaborative of six grassroots community organizations that work to improve the quality and availability of affordable housing in Chinatown. This year CCBH will mobilize residents of Single Room Occupancy (SRO) Hotels, through their “peers” or fellow residents, to work toward minimizing health and safety hazards in SRO housing.

Other community organizing grants of $35,000 each go to the Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights (ICIR) and San Francisco Organizing Project (SFOP). The ICIR will be using the funds to educate and organize for the rights of immigrants and refugees and advocate for family integrity and reunification, Ms. Piendak said. The grant to SFOP

Volunteers with the Chinatown Coalition for Better Housing, (l-r), Rev. Norman Fong, Paili Wai, Xiao Qiong, Yu Zhen Wu and Angela Chu.

will support its efforts working through more than 40 local congregations to advocate for affordable housing and other priorities identified by member congregations.

CAMINOS/Pathways Learning Center will receive an economic development grant again this year to support its program empowering low-income, immigrant Latinas and their families by expanding their access to computer technology and the Internet. A second year economic development grant also goes to POOR magazine, which will support its JOBS program providing occupational training and job placement in the field of media for homeless, at risk and the working poor.

Locally allocated grants totaling $28,000 will be shared by the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA), Myanmar Community of the U.S., Inc., San Francisco ACORN and Senior Action Network (SAN). POOR Magazine, which receives a national grant, will also receive a local grant of $7,000.

Chinese Progressive Association is receiving its first local CCHD grant this year. They will receive $7,000 to help build the “collective power” of low wage Chinese workers “to improve their working conditions and advance social and economic justice,” Ms. Piendak said.

heaven can’t wait

Myanmar Community of the U.S. is also a first time recipient. The grassroots organization is dedicated to strengthening the Myanmar (Burmese) community through adult education, social benefit and community leadership workshops, and cultural events.

The CCHD collection is November 22-23. For more information on CCHD projects contact Melanie Piendak at 415614-5570 or visit the website of the Archdiocesan Office of Public Policy and Social Concerns, www.sfjustlife.org.

NOW IS THE TIME TO REFINANCE! “NO CLOSING COSTS” & ZERO POINT LOANS WE WILL PROVIDE THE LOWEST INTEREST RATE FOR YOU! For experience, knowledge & integrity call

Kara Fiore PACIFIC GUARANTEE MORTGAGE

650-212-5050

C O R P

We offer

Extension 878

The Symbol of Very High Customer Satisfaction

• PURCHASES, REFINANCES • FREE 45 Day Rate Locks • Cash Out to Pay Off Debts • Lender Paid Closing Cost Loans • No Documentation Loans Serving the Peninsula Since 1986 Web Site: www.LoansByKara.com

Real Estate Broker, Calif. Dept. of Real Estate (tel. 915-227-0931). License #00930036

Serra for Priestly Vocations

Mercy High School Burlingame Announces Parent & Student Open House

Mercy . . . the place to be!

Tuesday December 2, 2003 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. for more information contact Admission Director, Mrs. Betty Duran at 650.762.1114 or e-mail bduran@mercyhsb.com Mercy High School, Burlingame 2750 Adeline Drive • Burlingame, CA 94010

Storage & Utility Solutions $

1119

from Good thru 11/30/03

All Wood Construction

80 Models & Sizes Available Building the best value in the backyard & commercial storage has been Heartland’s primary objective for over 26 years.

Price includes We build throughout on-site construction the Bay Area & 10-year Heartland warranty

Sales Center

30600 Union City Blvd.

Union City

(510) 489-3690

November 21, 2003

Catholic San Francisco

9

Veterans’ Day at Holy Cross Nearly 200 people attended the annual Veterans’ Day Memorial Service at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Colma honoring the uniformed services of the armed forces of America. Active and retired military chaplains from throughout the Archdiocese participated in the service held outdoors in front of the Flags in the Star of the Sea Military Section of Holy Cross.

Travis Air Force Base Military Honor Guard conducted a 21 gun salute. John Capobianco sounded taps following the rifle volley.

John Capobianco sounds taps following a 21 gun salute.

Pictured right: l-r Command Sergeant Major Roger Appleby, General Manager of Holy Cross; Chaplain Michael Padazinski, Major, U.S. Air Force; Chaplain Edward McTaggart, Colonel, U.S. Army (Ret.); Chaplain Alex Legaspi, Commander (SEL) U.S. Navy; Chaplain Eduardo Dura, Lieutenant, U.S. Navy; Mrs. Kathy Atkinson, Director of Cemeteries; Chaplain Albert Vucinovich, Captain, U.S. Navy (Ret).

Senior Living

Probates, Conservatorships, Guardianships and Adoptions

MARGARET LAUGHLIN MARTIN ATTORNEY AT LAW

LIBERTY HOME CARE PROVIDER “For All Your Home Care Needs”

Caregiver/Homemaker/Companion Personal Care & Hygiene ● Assistance in Daily Activities ● Medication Reminders ● Housekeeping & Laundry ● Meal Preparation ● Grocery, Shopping & Errands ● Escorts to Doctors Visits ● Bonded/Fully Insured/Affordable ● Long-Short Term/Live-In/Live-Out 1550 Rollins Rd., Suite B Burlingame, CA 94010 ●

650-796-2273 800-898-6556

THE BROADMOOR Welcome to the Security, Comfort & Elegance of America’s Finest Retirement Hotel Centrally Located

A Referral Agency Elderly Care/Housekeeping

●

Overlooking Cathedral Hill

(415) 771-9119 1499 Sutter Street

●

San Francisco, CA 94109

Telephone (650) 340-1166 Facsimile (650) 342-9560

The Westlake Building 520 South El Camino Real Suite 700 San Mateo, CA 94402-1720

Confidential Consultation and Referrals • protection for loved ones of all ages • suggestions for managing a difficult relative • guidance in closing down or selling a home • assistance with trust transfers and probate • mediation of elder care and/or visitation disputes

QUALITY HOME CARE REFERRAL SERVICE SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 1995 We provide:

License #380500593 COA#097

• Attendants • Companions • Hospice/Respite Care • Housecleaners Competitive Rates.

All Service Providers carefully screened We are insured and bonded For more information:

Tel: (415) 759-0520 Fax: (415) 759-8924 549 Taraval Street • E-Mail: IrishHlp@aol.com

In San Mateo, California

THE GIFT OF FREEDOM Members of the Peninsula Regent, freed from the responsibilities of managing a household, discover precious new freedoms from the burdens of meal planning, housekeeping and security. Life at the Peninsula Regent offers its members freedom to spend time in any way that pleases them as well as the oppourtunity to enjoy home ownership and comprehensive heath care.

www.ncphs.org

BRIDGES You’ve crossed so many in your life. And you’re eager to cross more. The Sequoias in San Francisco. We’re home to the adventurer in you.

Accredited Life Care Community Spectacular Views • Cosmopolitan Charm • Lifetime Healthcare • Fitness Programs • Cultural Activities San Francisco’s premier community for seniors

Come in to discuss the six new freedoms and s e e f o r y o u r s e l f . C a l l f o r a p r i v a t e t o u r.

The Peninsula Regent One Baldwin Avenue, San Mateo, CA 94401

(650) 579-5500 FAX (650) 579-0446 www.peninsularegent.com RCFE #410508359

Call Nadine Naughton at (415) 922-9700 1400 Geary Boulevard San Francisco, CA 94109

10

Catholic San Francisco

November 21, 2003

with our call to justice,” said Melanie Piendak, of the Office of Public Policy and Social Concerns. “It is an opportunity for parishioners and leaders to network and learn more about solutions to the many social issues that we face today.” With the addition of Ken Hackett to this year’s conference, the theme will focus more on the international scene and challenges that face the Catholic Church all over the world, she said.

Registration for the conference is $15 per person, but scholarships are available.

For more information regarding registration, or for directions to the USF Lone Mountain Campus, call Mary Peterson at 415-614-5567. Registration information and fees are due by December 1 to the Archdiocese of San Francisco Office of Public Policy.

Visit website www.sfjustlife.org for more information.

Catholic Relief Services President Ken Hackett will be keynote speaker at the 2003 Justice and Peace Conference sponsored by the Archdiocese of San Francisco Office of Public Policy and Social Concerns.

Hackett will give a speech entitled “The Sacred Connection to the World’s Poor” in which he inspires individual Catholics and parishes in the United States to reach out to the world’s poor.

The conference will be held on December 6 at the University of San Francisco Lone Mountain Campus from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

This year’s conference will also feature six workshops, touching on issues such as affordable housing, immigration, Africa, war, and Muslim/Catholic dialogue.

“The annual Justice and Peace Conference is about connecting faith

Senior Living

(PHOTO BY GERRY LEWIN)

Catholic Relief Services chair headlines Justice and Peace Conference

Archbishop William J. Levada installs Mr. John McGuckin as Third Lieutenant of the Northwestern Lieutenancy of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre.

New leader for Knights of the Holy Sepulchre Mr. John McGuckin was invested as the Third Lieutenant of the Northwestern Lieutenancy of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem last month in Portland, Oregon.

Mr. McGuckin was installed by Archbishop William J. Levada at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Portland.

The Order traces its history to the 11th century to Knights whose responsibility was to protect the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Today the Order has a threefold goal of fostering in its members the practice of Christian life, preserving and spreading the Faith in Palestine, and defending the rights of the Church in the Holy Land.

The Northwest Lieutenancy covers Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. Archbishop Levada is Grand Prior. Mr. McGuckin succeeds Mr. Robert Begley as Lieutenant.

Mr. McGuckin is General Counsel and Vice-President of Union Bank of California and chairman of the American Corporate Counsel Association. The San Francisco resident serves on the boards of numerous charitable and non-profit organizations, including the board of St. Anne’s Home and the Finance Council of the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

OPEN 365 DAYS A YEAR

BUENA VISTA MANOR IS GRACIOUS LIVING, LOCATED WITHIN A SPECTACULAR

ACE PHARMACY HOME CARE SPECIALISTS

Serving San Francisco Since 1933 Reasonable Rates – Quality Service Mon-Sat 9 to 6:30 – Sun & Holidays 10 to 4 Prescriptions • Crutches Diabetic & Convalescent Supplies • Canes & Wheel Chairs Prompt City-Wide Delivery

PERSONALIZED NON-MEDICAL IN-HOME CARE ●

● Specializing in Senior and Special Needs Care ● Assistance in Hygiene Joyful Companionship ● Meal Preparation ● Light Housekeeping ● Errands and shopping ● Hourly, Daily, Temporary or Long Term care ● Respite for family care givers

SCREENED, BONDED, and INSURED Please call us now for a FREE in-home consultation!

731-3535

415-499-1200

2505 Noriega at 32nd Ave.

S C H O E N S T E I N

363 A Main Street Redwood City, CA 94063 phone 650-599-9482 fax 650-599-9788 email schoensteinpt@earthlink.net www.schoensteinpt.com

(415) 565-3639

New Beginnings Built on NOW OPEN! 130 Years of Tradition

Ask Us About Our Charter Member Incentive.

Elder Care Alliance Communities

Elder Care Alliance is a nonprofit faith centered organization sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, Regional Community of Burlingame, and the Sierra Pacific Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

AlmaVia of San Francisco

■

Assisted Living

■

Dementia Care

Large one bedroom and alcove apartments 24-hour staff and state-of-the-art security systems Spiritual care services Assisted living and dementia care programs

Call Today for More Information!

One St. Thomas More Way (Off of Brotherhood Way)

■

San Francisco, CA

415.337.1339 ■ www.almavia.org RCFE Lic # 385600270

For more information or to arrange a visit please call 415-863-1721

BUENA VISTA MANOR RCI # 380540203

Senior Living Please call

George E. Schoenstein, P.T. Physical Therapist

Assisted Living Private & Shared Suites with panoramic views Nutritionally Balanced Meals Security with a well trained 24 hr staff Induvidual Assistance Because you deserve the best.

399 Buena Vista East, San Francisco, CA 94117

For information about

Physical Therapy and Worker Selection Testing, Inc.

SAN FRANCISCO SETTTING

A community where residents can be assures of the most elegant, caring enviorment. Here is a lifestyle that nourishes the heart and mind, allowing independence, peace-of-mind and companionship to flourish.

Non Medical, In In Home Care Home Care Support Services Personal Care Assistance Light Housekeeping Meal Preparation Companionship

Dependable Care for Independent Living

(800) 631-6550 (650) 631-3735 1139 San Carlos Avenue Suite 306 San Carlos, CA 94070 pcc_gs@hotmail.com

TO SENIOR CITIZENS:

Don’t live alone!

Don’t spend your precious remaining years in terrible loneliness. Why not live where you can choose friends from 150 active men and women sharing a fashionable address – and sharing fun of planned and unplanned social activities?

We’ll prove to you that living in lovely surroundings, dining tastefully and being pampered costs no more. A single monthly payment (starting at $995 a month) provides three meals per day seven days a week, including holidays . . . room cleaning service . . . sunny rooms (most with baths), suites, too, in a 10-story concrete building . . . 24hour desk attendant . . . physician on call . . . color TV . . . hobby rooms . . . card games and parties . . . a splendid location on major bus lines, only blocks from Union Square . . . and much more. Managed by the West’s specialists in residence hotel hospitality.

Visit us today or call for brochure.

FOR DISTINGUISHED SENIOR CITIZENS

1000 Sutter Street, San Francisco, California 94109 Corner of Sutter and Hyde • (415) 673-2511 • www.granadasf.com

November 21, 2003

Catholic San Francisco

11

Acclaimed author chats with grade school fans Migrant turned professor visits Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

By James Clifford Award-winning author Francisco Jimenez, who chronicled his childhood as a migrant farm worker, reminded a rapt audience of middle-class youngsters that they too are part of the immigrant experience.

All ethnic groups have much in common, Jimenez told about 125 sixth, seventh and eight graders at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Redwood City recently.

Jimenez spoke under a welcome banner made by the students, which featured paper butterflies to represent the title of his book “Mariposa.” The wall was lined with 12 posters depicting chapters from “The Circuit,” another of his books.

Jimenez, a professor at Santa Clara University, has won several awards, including the California Library Association’s John and Patricia Beatty Award. He is also the author of “Breaking Through.”

The students, who read all three books, lined up after the more than hour-long talk to have Jimenez sign their books.

“We are all part of the same family,” the writer said. “All immigrant groups - Italian, Jewish, Polish - contributed to the American dream.”

He cautioned the children not to take their good fortune for granted, telling them that many people made sacrifices to give them a comfortable life.

The youngsters’ questions focused on his life moving with the crops, a difficult existence but one that taught him the “value of love, hard work and faith.”

One student asked which crop was the easiest to pick.

Jimenez hesitated and answered: “None of them was easy.”

Unfortunately, some families still work for low wages in the fields from “sunrise to sunset,” he said. The writer then asked the children to think about them when they enjoy the food that was picked for their table.

Jimenez, the first member of his family to go to college, urged the children to work hard and “develop your Godgiven talents.”

SL e i n v i i o n r g

Author Francisco Jimenez takes questions from students at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Redwood City.

He praised the education he received at Santa Clara University, which he attended on a scholarship. Jimenez prayed every day at the school’s chapel.

“The school supported the values we had at home,” he said.

Janet’s Residential Facility For The Elderly Alzheimer’s/Wheelchairs Licensed and able to meet many of the dependent needs of the elderly Janet Spires, R.N. Owner/Operator

Call Today 415-759-8137 2970-25th Ave.(Near Stonestown) San Francisco, CA 94132

Do your parents need assisted living?

Transitions are tough. Making a life decision for someone isn’t easy, but Áegis experts will make your family members feel at home. Áegis specializes in assisted living and Alzheimer’s care. of South San Francisco

Call or stop by for a personal tour.

2280 Gellert Blvd.

650-952-6100 www.aegisal.com

Need a friend to be in step with?

■ ■ ■

An Elder Care Alliance Community A nonprofit faith centered organization sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, Regional Community of Burlingame, and the Sierra Pacific Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

We l l n e s s Education S p i r i t u a l C a re

Call Today for More Information

M e r c y Re t i re m e n t & C a re C e n t e r w w w. m e rc y re t i re m e n t c e n t e r. o r g

510.534.8540 RCFE Lic # 015600255

■

SNF Lic # CA020000237

S a l e m L u t h e ra n H o m e w w w. s a l e m l u t h e r a n h o m e . o r g

510.534.3637 RCFE Lic # 015600254

■

One student asked Jimenez if he had “made a lot of money” from the books.

“No,” he said as he looked around his audience. “But that’s all right. This is my reward.”

SNF Lic # CA020000442

■

CCRC Lic #178

Since 1985 C.S.L. # 380540408

Free Time Time Out for women for men Come in and have your feet measured. We have a large selection of sizes and widths to fit your foot in SAS Shoes.

SAS SHOES 280 METRO CENTER, 9 COLMA BLVD. COLMA, CA 94014 ● (650) 991-2330

12

Catholic San Francisco

November 21, 2003

What are you grateful for on Thanksgiving

Family, faith and friends top the list fo Catholic San Francisco asked grade school students around the archdiocese what they are grateful for this Thanksgiving. While family, faith and friends were first on most minds, student’s also mentioned teachers and Catholic schools for what they do and for giving them a sense of thankfulness. Many students also expressed awareness of the privilege and responsibility of living with health, peace and relative prosperity.

While the culture at large may push faith from the spotlight, these students spoke freely about the blessings God gives and their thankfulness to and for Him. Photos and interviews by Catholic San Francisco Staff

Sandra Kelly 8th grade St. Monica, San Francisco “During Thanksgiving, I thank God for many things, but at the top of the list is my family. My parents are always there for my sister and me, and when it comes to what is best for us, no sacrifice is too great. They constantly consider what is in my best interest, and I am certain that they would bend over backwards for me because they do so every day. It is through my family that I am able to live in such a great environment: a good home, a good school with great teachers and good friends. The list goes on and on. So without my family, I would be nowhere, and I remember that all through Thanksgiving.”

Dominic Belettini 7th grade St. Anselm, San Anselmo “One thing that I am thankful for is the beautiful place we live in. Rather than living in a horrible war place, God gave us a nice, peaceful place to live in. I am also thankful for the great education I get.

Some countries in the world do not have schools, but I attend one that gives me a great education.”

Kathy Pizza 8th grade St. Anselm, San Anselmo “This Thanksgiving I am thankful for so many things. I am thankful for having many family and friends to share this holiday season with. I am also thankful for being healthy enough to do all the things I enjoy, such as soccer and basketball.

Although I take food and shelter for granted, I am also very grateful for these this Thanksgiving.”

Kim Ou 5th grade St. Brigid, San Francisco

Annette Molina 8th grade St. Robert, San Bruno

“I am thankful for my family because they love and care for me. They give me what I need and sometimes what I want. I am proud I have a family that loves me. I love them so much, and I am very thankful for my great family!”

“I’m most thankful for my family and that I can be with them on Thanksgiving. I’m also thankful for coming to this school. Our teachers are great and don’t just teach us about the subjects but how to use them in life. Love one another, and try to treat each other like you want to be treated. My favorite Thanksgiving foods are the turkey because my grandmother makes it a special way, and Baker’s Square pumpkin pie.”

Johncy Yuzon 8th grade St. Raymond, Menlo Park

Eugene Kung 6th grade St. Brigid, San Francisco

“I’m thankful for my family and my parents who work really hard to get me a good education.

Thanksgiving is a really special day unlike other days. It lets us remember all the good things God gave us like homes and food and how we should be thankful for them. I think about people in the Philippines, where there is a lot of poverty, and how difficult it is for them.”

Nicholas David 8th grade Good Shepherd, Pacifica “There are many reasons in life for being thankful. Having good health is very important, and I am thankful that I am healthy. I am lucky to be able to go to a great Catholic school, and I am very lucky to have a loving family. I am thankful that God gave me many talents that I am willing to share with others. All these things are important to me but the most important thing is that I was born believing in God and I will die still believing in God.”

“I am mostly thankful for my whole family, since without them, it would be hard to be living. I am also thankful for God. He is the one who created me and sacrificed Himself so we may have a better life. The last thing I am thankful for is my friends. They have comforted me and helped me in my time of need. My friends are worth more than money since you can’t buy friends.”

Katlyn Doran 8th grade St. Raymond, Menlo Park “I’m thankful for the family I have. We are close and I like that. I also realize how lucky I am to be born healthy. I am also thankful to be comfortable and happy when I go to bed at night because there are many people in the world who are not.” Katlyn’s favorite holiday foods are “turkey and Honey Baked Ham” and “the pumpkin pie with stuff on top like a cake. It’s so good.”

November 21, 2003

Catholic San Francisco

13

g?

or Catholic grade school children Bambi Seltenrich 7th grade St. Monica, San Francisco

Max Proano 8th grade St. Robert, San Bruno

“In a world where war resolves problems, where money can buy happiness, and where the sick are left on the streets to die, there can sometimes be very little to be thankful for. I consider myself very lucky to have everything I do right now; so I have a lot to be thankful for. I am thankful for America’s freedom and the brave men and women who give their lives for us, and for my family and friends who support me in my times of need. I am also thankful for the teachers who educate us about the world and ourselves, the people who work hard everyday to try and make our lives easier, and nature’s beautiful scenes that inspire artists, poets, and musicians around the world.”

“The first thing I’m thankful for is my family and the chance to visit with family members I don’t see that often. I’m also thankful that we have enough to eat. I know that in places like Haiti, children are starving.” Max said his “aunt’s pumpkin pie and the special whipped cream” she makes are Thanksgiving favorites of his. “I don’t know what she does but it tastes great.”

Arthur Lei 6th grade St. Monica, San Francisco “I am thankful for St. Monica School. It all started a week before the 2003 summer vacation. I found out that I was sent to a public school 5 miles away. My parents and I agreed that we should try to go to a closer school, St. Monica School. When we got there, we were told it was full. One week later, they told us to come over and take a test to see my progress. Later, they accepted me. We were so happy! We wanted to thank God. Before I went to St. Monica School, we had no idea of what God was. Now, I attend St. Monica School.

The teachers, my classmates, and everybody related to St. Monica School are so nice!

Soon enough, I was happy at school and at home. My dad said that God had given me all the happiness and that God’s ray of sunlight has shone upon us making us very happy.”

Hailey Stephens 5th grade St. Isabella, Terra Linda “Thanksgiving is a time of love, happiness, and forgiveness. What I’m most thankful for is my parents and my teachers. My parents support me and they are very kind to me. They also give me shelter, food, clothes, and they send me to a great school. I’m also thankful for my teachers who do a wonderful job educating me. They are very nice and they spend equal time with every student. I’m most thankful for my parents during Thanksgiving because they always have this big Thanksgiving feast with great food. My teachers are very cool. They teach a certain way that educates everyone a lot better. I’m very lucky.”

Taylor Gowan 7th grade Good Shepherd, Pacifica “I am thankful for so many things. Not only am I thankful for my family, I am thankful for my school, my teachers, my fellow classmates, and my parish. If I didn’t have a school to learn in, peers and adults to look after me, and a wonderful parish to pray and go to festivals and picnics with, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. Not only am I thankful for people and things, I am appreciative for all the love, care, and kindness everyone bombards me with. I couldn’t be more gratified with all of the people and warm hearted gifts that people kindly share with me.”

Jordon Lemus 8th grade St. Brigid, San Francisco “I am thankful for my God who has given me a family, love, and a home. I am thankful for my freedom in America, and that I live in a country where women have rights and career options. I am thankful for my life in which I try to live to the fullest.”

Henry Bultman 6th grade St. Isabella, Terra Linda “I am thankful for my family and friends. My family is always there for me and they are always caring. They also gave birth to me. My friends are also there for me and they are always nice and honest. I’m also thankful for where I live, and the neighborhood I live in. Everyone is nice and everyone is loving. The last thing I’m thankful for is my ability to do things and my talents. They help me do many things and those are the things I’m thankful for.”

Lauren Chin 5th grade St. Monica, San Francisco “I am thankful for my family because they love me, care for me, and provide for me. I’m thankful for my teachers because they teach me about God. I’m also thankful for my friends because when I’m sad, they make me feel better. Finally, I’m thankful for the world, for providing me everything; friends, family, teachers, and knowing God blesses us.”

Vincente Patiño 7th grade St. Brigid, San Francisco “Although Thanksgiving is a dedicated holiday, we should thank God every day. We must thank God, most of all for giving us Himself and His forgiveness.

God is the best friend we will ever have. Give thanks for the gift of our God everyday.”

14

Catholic San Francisco

November 21, 2003

Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper

View from the Top

By Fred D’Alessio “If you scored Republican . . . You’ve now proved you’re a true-blooded American who not only understands that there is a right and a wrong, but has the brains to know the difference between the two.” So says Adam Sparks in his article “Arnold’s Quiz To Determine Political Affiliation — VIEW FROM THE RIGHT” (SFGate.com 10/27/03).

The quiz instructs you to score one point as a Democrat or a Republican each time you align yourself with one party or the other on the following issues: Taxes, Regulation, Environmentalism, Media Bias, Trade Policy, Fighting Tyranny, Affirmative Action, Education, Sexual Abuse, Purpose of Government, World and U.S., Immigration, Crime and Punishment, Corporations and Unions, and Families.

The problem is that neither political party demonstrates that it “not only understands that there is a right and a wrong, but has the brains to know the difference between the two.” Or is it that they do understand that there is a right and a wrong, but their selfish, superficial and shortsighted ideologies inhibit their ability to know the difference between the two?

Either way, something vital is lacking in the political arena. And not just at a political party level, but also at a personal level.

It is my opinion that there is an absence of knowledge regarding God’s perspective — or even an awareness, much less a concern, that He has one. Despite all the rhetoric we hear about “In God we trust,” nothing is more apparent than the fact that we do not trust in God. If we did, we wouldn’t continually disregard God’s Statutes and try to usurp God’s Throne. It should be of no surprise that the aforementioned void has been filled with injustice and immorality.

We should not be viewing the world from the Left, Center or Right. It is imperative that we view it from the Top - from the perspective of its Creator. We can only do that with eyes of love. First, love of our Creator and second, love of all his creatures.

We also must acknowledge that we do not own what God has created. In the beginning God entrusted the earth and its resources to the common stewardship of mankind to take care of them, master them by labor, and enjoy their fruits. The goods of creation are destined for the whole human race.

Although, mankind is called to respect both the universal destination of goods and the right to private property, the right to private property does not do away with the original gift of the earth to the whole of mankind. Further, we must acknowledge that God loves everyone equally. If we are to love them as well, we must not only share their joys, but also their sorrows.

As the antidote to selfish, superficial and shortsighted ideologies, I present the following reflection by Pope John Paul II on praying the Rosary: “The Rosary is also a prayer for peace because of the fruits of charity which it produces. When prayed well in a truly meditative way, the Rosary leads to an encounter with Christ in his mysteries and so cannot fail to draw attention to the face of Christ in others, especially in the most afflicted.

How could one possibly contemplate the mystery of the Child of Bethlehem, in the joyful mysteries, without experiencing the desire to welcome, defend and promote life, and to shoulder the burdens of suffering children all over the world?

How could one possibly follow in the footsteps of Christ the Revealer, in the mysteries of light, without resolving to bear witness to His Beatitudes in daily life?

And how could one contemplate Christ carrying the Cross and Christ Crucified, without feeling the need to act as a Simon of Cyrene for our brothers and sisters weighed down by grief or crushed by despair?

Finally, how could one possibly gaze upon the glory of the Risen Christ or of Mary Queen of Heaven, without yearning to make this world more beautiful, more just, more closely conformed to God’s plan?”

The Holy Father has succinctly presented us with the domestic and foreign policy we are called by God to embrace. Whatever one’s religion, if we believe that God is the giver of life, we must ascend the Holy Mountain, view the world from the top, shout from it “In God we trust,” and descend from it filled with Wisdom and Love.

I personally am not a Democrat or a Republican. I am an American. One who believes that we are not called to possess great things, but that we are called to be a great people. That should be our intention when we say “God bless America.”

Fred D’Alessio is a member of Helpers of God’s Precious Infants, St. Francis of Assisi Chapter, California USA.

Thanks for Jubilarians Well Done! Your feature, “2003 Jubilarians - Women Religious,” was well deserved recognition of these outstanding women who represented about 10,000 years of dedicated service to our Country’s future.

Those of us who were fortunate enough to have had them as teachers (in my case, Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Most Holy Redeemer School 1925-1934) owe them a debt we can never fully repay for the contributions they made to our lives.

I’m sure many native San Franciscans had fond memories after reading the article.

James V. Grealish Daly City

History documentary Thanks to the Archdiocese of San Francisco for presenting the documentary of the 150-year history of the Catholic Church in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was so interesting to be able to see how important a place the Catholic Church held in the formation of the San Francisco Bay Area. We truly enjoyed the program.

We also enjoy the weekly historic articles in the Catholic San Francisco about the Catholic Church in our area.

Josephine and Alfred Romine South San Francisco

Reason suffices

Catholic San Francisco welcomes letters from its readers. Please:

➣ Include your name, address and daytime phone number. ➣ Sign your letter. ➣ Limit submissions to 250 words. ➣ Note that the newspaper reserves the right to edit for clarity and length.

Send your letters to: Catholic San Francisco One Peter Yorke Way San Francisco, CA 94109 Fax: (415) 614-5641 E-mail: mhealy@catholic-sf.org

Schiavo correction The National Catholic Register (Nov. 9-15, 2003) ran an interview with the priest who tried to give Terri Schiavo viaticum. In it is an important detail that corrects something I wrote in my Oct. 31 column. Since the Register quotes come from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, I think a clarification is in order.

In doing research for my column, I had read in another source that for the last three years Msgr.

Thaddeus Malanowski had been visiting Schiavo and giving her Communion. The Register interview confirms that the priest has been visiting Terri, but he always has been forbidden by court order from giving her anything by mouth. He therefore has been administering spiritual Communion, meaning praying special prayers over her.

After the feeding tube was removed, however, and Terri was dying of starvation, Malanowski sought the permission of her husband, Michael Schiavo, to give her a tiny particle of the host on the tongue. Mr. Schiavo’s lawyers communicated his consent, Malanowski said, but when the priest arrived at Terri’s room, three police officers stood outside her door and two beside her bed, and they told him he could not have “access to her mouth.”

This information does render erroneous the implication that by receiving Communion Terri already has been swallowing on her own. Though it does not change the substance of my column in defense of Terri and the disabled, I regret this inaccuracy.

Vivian W. Dudro San Francisco

L E T T E R S

“In public life I did not seek to compel non-Catholics to conform to my religious convictions on abortion or other subjects.”

What are we to make of Leo McCarthy’s words? (Catholic San Francisco Oct. 24 “Letters”). The charitable interpretation is that he was poorly schooled in Catholic doctrine. Otherwise he would not have confused Church teaching that is based on faith, such as Papal Infallibility and the Immaculate Conception, with Church teaching that can be known by unaided, natural reason, such as its condemnation of deliberately killing innocent human beings. The claim that individual human life exists from the moment of conception happens to be the position of the sciences of embryology and biology. That it also happens to be the position of the Catholic Church is relevant only in the sense that McCarthy learned this truth from the Church’s public witness.

One wonders if politicians understand that the success of the pro-abortion movement has largely depended on creating a fog of confusion over the status of the fetus and that the ploy of being unwilling to impose Catholic belief on others only feeds that confusion. We can praise elected public officials for their legislative achievements on behalf of the

Letters welcome

poor, the elderly, and the disenfranchised. But the failure of these same public officials to denounce abortion legislation drastically shortens the life-span of those achievements. A society that fails to protect the right to life of the innocent is surely not going to scruple over the rights of the poor, the elderly, and the disenfranchised.

Raymond Dennehy San Francisco

What’s extraordinary?

The parents of Terri Schiavo are to be commended in trying to keep their brain-dead daughter alive. Terri has been afflicted for ten years and cannot continue to live without her feeding tube. Her husband is seeking to have the feeding tube removed against the wishes of her parents who wish to try to spoon feed her. The husband is depicted as greedy, adulterous and murderous. He wants the $750,000 insurance settlement; he has two children out of wedlock; he wishes to let her starve to death.

Fifty years ago we discussed this type of problem in Theology class (without all the lurid details). The problem is how much must we do to preserve life.

Ordinary means are required by God and Church. We must provide food, clothing, housing, education and ordinary medical care for ourselves and those for whom we are responsible. Now, is feeding someone through a tube ordinary or extraordinary care? Fifty years ago it was considered extraordinary care. If Fr. Ron Rolheiser had addressed this problem in his column and stated that this was now considered ordinary care, I would readily accept his Theological opinion. Lacking that, the husband, in spite of all his faults is within his right in removing the feeding tube. I do not say this is the most desirable solution but it is permissible.

Robert J. Theis Daly City

November 21, 2003

Catholic San Francisco

15

The Catholic Difference Ambrose, Augustine, and Bonaventure; Charles Borromeo and Francis de Sales; Felix Dupanloup and Wilhelm von Ketteler – the tradition of scholar-bishops runs deep in Old World Catholicism and continues to the present in men like Cardinals Jean-Marie Lustiger, Karl Lehmann, and Christoph Schoenborn, OP. The scholar-bishop model is not as well-established in the United States, though. Over the past two centuries, far more Catholic bishops in the U.S. have been appointed for their administrative skills than for their intellectual accomplishments.

There have been exceptions. Francis Patrick Kenrick, Bishop of Philadelphia and later Archbishop of Baltimore in the years just before the Civil War, was one of the leading moral theologians of his day and personally translated the entire Bible into English (his cantankerous brother, Peter Richard Kenrick, Archbishop of St. Louis, argued against the bishops of the United States sponsoring his brother’s translation!). The most prominent scholar-bishop in the U.S. today is the Archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Francis George, OMI, whose two doctorates (one in theology, the other in American philosophy) have given him a penetrating insight into American culture and its impact on the Church’s identity and mission.

Speaking at the U.S. bishops’ summer meeting this past June, Cardinal George said several things that deserve a wider audience. For while he was thinking out loud with his brother bishops as they tried to get a firmer grip on their distinctive responsibilities, the cardinal’s analysis of the Catholic situa-

tion in twenty-first century America bears on all of us – because all of us are responsible for the new evangelization.

Cardinal George suggested that certain cultural default positions and the attitudes they inspire make Americans nervous about the relationship between an “almighty God” and human freedom. “Since freedom is our primary cultural value,” the cardinal proposed, “claims that God has power over us are very problematic.” Yet biblical faith, a response to God’s revelation of himself, testifies to the power of a God “who creates us from nothing,” a God whose “power... saves us from sin.”

We are who and what we are, the cardinal concluded, because of God: “God’s power constitutes us.” But in a culture that misidentifies freedom with doing things “my way,” an almighty and all-powerful God – even an almighty and allpowerful God who reveals himself as radical Love – can “be seen as a rival, a competitor to human beings, a threat.”

Cardinal George also had an interesting take on how American culture had shaped the American reception of Vatican II, forty years after Blessed John XXIII and the Council Fathers challenged the Church to a new evangelical fervor: “The greatest failure ... of the post-Vatican II Church is the failure to have formed and called forth a laity engaged in the world in order to change it, a laity engaged in the world ... on faith’s terms, not just on the world’s terms. If perhaps we paid less attention to ministries and to expertise and to functions, necessary though all of that is, and more to mission and purpose, then we might recapture the sense of what should be gen-

uinely new as a result of the Council. The novelty, the change [the Council] sought was in the world and only secondarily in the Church.

“Not that the Church doesn’t need to change. Of George Weigel course the Church must constantly change to be obedient to the Lord who calls her . . . to constant conversion. But the purpose of the Church itself is not just to comfort individuals, celebrate events, or be a voluntary association for people who like to spend their leisure time in that way. The purpose of the Church is to tell the world with one united voice that an alternative way of life is possible, that we do not have to live in the despair that more and more contains us inside traps of our own making. The purpose of the Church is to be Christ’s judgment on the world.”

Catholicism is not a hobby. Catholicism is not a life-style choice. Catholicism is a way of life – a life lived in the obedience of faith. Countercultural? To be sure. Challenging?

Certainly. But it’s the truth of the matter, and we won’t be the Church of the new evangelization without embracing that truth.

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

Family Life

Faith and family bind long after death The most poignant and memorable thing we did on our summer vacation was visit the grave of my great, great grandmother, who homesteaded in the Dakota Territory in the 1800s.

I know very little about Hannah Costello, except that she was born in Scotland and sailed across the Atlantic to Boston Harbor, where she met my great, great grandfather, Michael Costello, an Irishman.

Not long after meeting each other, Michael and Hannah were married and headed west in a wagon. They eked out a living off of the prairie and had one child, a daughter named Mary.

When Mary was 8 years old, Hannah was kicked by a cow and died of the infected wound. A Catholic priest had been called for, but he did not arrive in time to give Hannah her last sacraments. I do not know if she received a proper Catholic burial or not, for Michael Costello, bitter with grief, vowed he would never again step foot in a Catholic Church.

Mary eventually married and had children of her own, one of whom was my grandfather. She practiced no religion,

but when her Irish maid found out that she had been a Catholic and yet had neglected to baptize her children, she shamed her into permitting them to be initiated into the Church.

I knew nothing of this Catholic history until after I entered the Church and one of my grandfather’s sisters told me the whole saga. She also described driving her mother from Chicago to South Dakota in order to see the remains of the old homestead and Hannah’s final resting place. She became tearyeyed when she said that her mother died not long after that trip.

My great aunt’s story had an unendurable sadness about it – two generations of daughters mourning their mothers, yet cut off from the Faith that dares to pray for the dead, ask for God’s pardon, and hope in life everlasting.

When my husband, children and I found Hannah’s weather beaten headstone in a quiet, neglected graveyard, we did the most natural thing in the world; we knelt and bowed our heads.

We asked God to forgive all of her sins. We asked for a good death for Michael Costello, that wherever he ended up he had

been given the chance to make his peace with God before he closed his eyes for the last time. And we prayed for all of the deceased descendents of that pair, who were alienated from God because of one man’s heartbreak.

As we walked Vivian W. Dudro back to the car, my 13year-old son said, “Mom, that is one of the best things we have ever done as a family.”

“Yeah, Mom,” agreed the other children.

Vivian W. Dudro is a parishioner at St. Mary’s Cathedral and the mother of four children, ages 7 to 16.

Spirituality

Purgatory revisited “A common soldier dies without fear, Christ died afraid.”

Iris Murdoch wrote those words. Among other things, they unmask the simplistic notion that if one has faith and a clean conscience he or she will face death more serenely than someone who dies in bad conscience or dies lacking faith and virtue.

Sometimes faith and good conscience do ease the passage into the next life, but the reverse can be just as true. People who are sick of heart or warped in conscience can welcome death as a friend, even as people who have faith and virtue fear death because, like Jesus, everything in them cherishes living.

Murdoch’s adage reveals something else, too, about the old doctrine on purgatory. Purgatory? Yes. If Jesus was afraid of death, then a healthy fear of death is indicative of something. Of what? Of a certain pain that comes with death and which Roman Catholics have classically called purgatory. What’s purgatory?

Protestants have always, for good reasons, rejected this notion, at least as it has perennially been understood in the popular mind, namely, that there exists, outside of heaven and hell, a third place, purgatory, where we go after death and spend time in painful purification, readying ourselves for heaven. Biblically, of course, this doesn’t wash.

Protestants are right; there’s no state after death outside of heaven or hell. We’re either at God’s right hand or at God’s left hand, sheep or goats. There’s no third option.

But Roman Catholics are right, too. While there’s no place between heaven and hell, there’s a painful, transformative experience that has to be undergone between enjoying the health and bloom of our natural lives and eventually bursting into full ecstasy within the embrace of God and the communion of saints in heaven. Purgatory isn’t a place; it’s an experience, that of enduring a necessary, purifying

pain that readies us for the full joy of heaven. What does this pain consist in and why is it necessary?

The pain of purgatory is two things. First, it’s the pain of being unconditionally embraced by selflessness while we are still selfish, the pain of being enfolded by goodness while we are still sinful. We already experience this, partially, in our daily lives where, as we know, few experiences are as humbling, painful, and purifying as is the experience of being undeservedly loved and gratuitously forgiven. Love purifies, that’s why love hurts.

But there’s a second pain, too, that makes for purgatory. Purgatory is also the pain of letting go of the everyday securities, attachments, and pleasures of this life. Purgatory is the pain of letting go of this life in order to live in the next. That’s not an abstract concept.

We see it in those facing death. The pain in dying is more about saying goodbye to this world and our loved ones than it is about facing the unknown on the other side. It’s hard to die because it’s hard to shake a hand and say goodbye for the last time to a loved one, a loved home, a cherished routine, a healthy body. Letting go like this isn’t like purgatory; it is purgatory.

Imagine dying a sudden death, by an accident or heart attack. One minute you’re alive, tangibly connected to family, friends, a home, a routine, a healthy body, plans for a future, an anticipated dinner that evening, your favorite sports team on a wonderful playoff run. Wham!

Death! The next minute you’re on the other side, in heaven, yes ... but, in one instant, stripped of everything you’ve drawn your life from. You’re in God’s arms, secure, loved, forgiven, but with a lot of suddenly severed attachments and unfinished business on earth. You’re living in the eternal but it’s been quite a jolt exiting the natural. Full ecstasy doesn’t come

instantly, even when it’s offered unconditionally.

The pain of purgatory is the pain of the ascension, the pain of standing where Mary of Magdala stood on the morning of the resurrection and hearing: “Do Father not cling to what was!

Ron Rolheiser Eternal life is infinitely richer, but it’s not your old life!” Letting go of this world with its joys, its beauties, and its wonderfully solid flesh, is the pain of purgatory.

And our prayers for our deceased loved ones need to reflect that. More immediately after their deaths, they still want and need our former contact. Slowly though, as time passes, our prayers must more and more invite the ascension and must work at freeing both them and us from how we once had each other (“Do not cling! Let the old ascend!”).

Eventually our prayers must give our loved ones permission to be free from how things used to be with us and the world, so that they can enter fully into that final ecstasy of love which, though dimly glimpsed in faith, is beyond our imaginings and which we, too, will one day enter, though only after having, through purgative pain, ourselves let go of the marvels of earthly, natural life, with all its wonderful tangible solidity.

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

JOHN EARLE PHOTO

More than a hobby

16

Catholic San Francisco

November 21, 2003

Catholic immigrants helped shape Marin County

Sausalito in 1917 with the first Star of the Sea church at Bonita and Litho Streets.

By Heather Steil In the mid-nineteenth century, as California was becoming a state, Marin County was being transformed from a wide open frontier land into a desirable destination for hopeful immigrants, who came to the Bay Area trying to make a new life for themselves. Marin proved to be a desirable place to settle because of its climate, open land, access to the bay and the ocean, and its proximity to San Francisco. A significant number of the immigrants who came to Marin were Catholic, coming as they did from Mexico, Ireland, Portugal, Italy and Switzerland.

Their Catholic faith played an important part in preserving their cultural identity and in easing their transition into a new world.

Marin’s Catholic immigrants helped shape the county’s development. Many, particularly the Portuguese, established themselves in the thriving dairy ranching industry in West Marin. Poultry and cattle were also successful businesses. Others, such as the Italians, found work as laborers helping build county roads or laying track for the railroad that came to Marin in the 1860s.

Irish immigrants participated in Marin’s civic development as some of the county’s first government officials.

As Marin evolved from a rural land into a more urban society, Catholic immigrants established recreational businesses such as restaurants and hotels. In many ways, Catholic immigrants contributed significantly to Marin’s growth.

During the last half of the nineteenth century, thousands of immigrants from Europe and Asia found their way to Marin. With so many different languages and customs existing in one place, it is not hard to imagine the tension and strife that sometimes occurred between the many immigrant communities. For Catholic immigrants of various nations, the Church was common ground, a place where all Catholics worshipped alike.

Religion was more than just a valuable source of comfort and familiarity in a strange new world. It was also an important connection with other immigrant groups. In the 1830s and 1840s, Mexico controlled Marin and the government was generally unwilling to allow foreign settlers. However, some Irish immigrants, such as John Reed, James Berry and Timothy Murphy, were able to acquire land grants because the Catholicism they shared with the Mexican authorities provided an opportunity to establish friendly relations.

In later years, the shared faith of many different cultural groups brought them together as a single Catholic community. Because Marin’s population was so widespread and sparse, it was common for several Catholic communities to share the same priest. Marin’s first post-Mission Era priest arrived at the newly estab-

lished St. Vincent’s Seminary (now known as St. The Irish were also influential in Marin’s developVincent’s School for Boys) in 1855. For several years St. ment as a tourist destination. Peter Donahue brought the Vincent’s resident priest was solely railroad to Marin in the late 1860s responsible for ministering to all the and 1870s. George Dillon took Catholics in the county and as far advantage of the tourist traffic genernorth as Petaluma. ated by the railroad and established As Marin’s Catholic population the county’s first seaside resort on grew, new parish and mission churches Bodega Bay. Donahue’s son, James, were built. Even though new buildings helped build the upscale Hotel Rafael were erected, additional priests were in in San Rafael, which became a short supply. Consequently, a priest favorite weekend and summer destiwho served in Marin spent much of his nation for wealthy San Franciscans. time traveling by foot, horse, or even As more Irish immigrants poured by bicycle to make his rounds. Father into Marin, their influence spread John Valentini, pastor at Star of the Sea from agriculture and tourism into the in Sausalito in the 1880s and 1890s, realm of politics. When California traveled by horseback to say Mass in became a state, San Rafael was Mill Valley, San Rafael and Bolinas. selected as Marin’s County Seat of Geography was not the only challenge Justice. According to historian priests faced; language was another.

Patrick J. Dowling, the court was Father Valentini was able to preach referred to “as a miniature Tammany two sermons if needed – one in Hall because the Irish received the English and one in Portuguese. first political patronage plums.” Men Although their Catholic faith creof Irish birth held many of the counated common ground for the many ty’s positions of power such as different immigrant groups, each County Treasurer, Marshall, District brought something unique from their Attorney, and Judge. own culture. Catholic immigrants The Irish in Marin achieved a contributed not only to the civic happy and prosperous lifestyle not development of Marin, but also to the experienced by most Irish outside of diverse cultural traditions that Marin California. However, as more enjoyed in the nineteenth century.

Famine immigrants arrived in the Father John Valentini served Two examples will demonstrate how United States in the 1850s and made Marin’s Catholic immigrants relied their way west, they brought with immigrant communities upon their religion to preserve their them a sense of Irish pride that had from Sausalito to Bolinas. cultural identity, while at the same not been ignited in California time embrace and give thanks for their new life in Marin. before. A new Irish-American identity evolved. It was As mentioned earlier, Irish immigrants based on being proud of their Gaelic heritage, being were some of the first non-native landhold- faithful Catholics, and being staunchly anti-British. All ers in Marin. The 1850s saw an increase in of these qualities were best expressed on Saint Patrick’s the number of Irish immigrants who settled Day, the biggest day of the year for Irish-Americans of in the county. Up until 1900, Irish immi- the late nineteenth century. grants made up the bulk of foreign-born votThe holiday was a celebration of not just Irish pride, ers in Marin County. Men like John Keys, but also Catholic pride. The festivities reflected the James Fallon and William Roland found social and religious freedom Irish-Americans enjoyed wealth during the Gold Rush and settled in and appreciated because their cousins in Ireland did not Marin. These new immigrants, drawing on yet have those freedoms. In the late nineteenth century, their rural Irish heritage, proved to be highly being Irish was synonymous with being Catholic and successful farmers and ranchers. In fact, as Saint Patrick’s Day was an important demonstration of the potato famine was winding down in the Irish Catholic identity.

Ireland, Keys harvested a crop of potatoes in The first known observance of Saint Patrick’s Day in Bodega in 1851 and made good money sell- the Bay Area was a disorganized party at Hayes Park in ing them in San Francisco. Those immi- San Francisco in 1851. The celebrations became more grants who did not have the means to buy or sophisticated and elaborate with each passing year. The lease land found work as hired hands. Others holiday officially began with Mass, and then turned festook jobs as prison guards at San Quentin State Prison.

IMMIGRANTS SHAPE MARIN, page 17

November 21, 2003

Immigrants shape Marin . . .

■ Continued from page 16 tive with a parade of Irish fraternal societies, Catholic organizations, and musicians all marching with militarystyle precision. Irish music and dancing was enjoyed throughout the festivities. The day culminated with a number of large banquets hosted by the Fenian Brotherhood, the Sons of the Emerald Isle Benevolent Association, and other similar Irish and Catholic organizations.

In addition to attending the festivities in San Francisco, Marin’s Irish community hosted its own small celebrations.

One of the first recorded observances in Marin was in Bolinas in 1860. According to Dowling, a “joyous holiday with the many transplanted Gaels residing there” was big enough to attract other Irish immigrants in the Bay Area to Bolinas. In the 1870s Saint Patrick’s Day was regarded important enough that some of Marin’s public schools gave their students the day off. For the adults, the Nicasio Hotel hosted an annual Saint Patrick’s Day Ball throughout the 1870s. Small processions and celebrations continued in Marin throughout the 1880s and 1890s, but the Marin Irish usually chose to contribute to the show of force in the larger San Francisco festivities.

Perhaps over time the civic significance of the holiday has overshadowed its religious origin. But in the nineteenth century, Saint Patrick’s Day was an important reaffirmation of Irish Catholic identity. Similarly, Marin’s Portuguese immigrants clung to their Catholic identity by honoring their own patron saint, Queen St. Isabella, through the observance of the Holy Ghost Festa.

The holiday has been celebrated by Marin’s Portuguese community since the mid 1880s and is still observed today. The Festa is primarily an expression of gratitude to the Holy Spirit, but it is also a time to honor the values and traditions of the Portuguese heritage.

17

Portuguese immigrants first trickled into Marin in the 1860s. They came from a small group of islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean called the Azores. As devout Catholics, they relied heavily on their faith for consolation, identification and spiritual nourishment. Among the Catholic communities in Marin, the Portuguese were unique in their passionate adoration of the Holy Spirit.

The Azores were frequently afflicted with natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and storms.

Consequently, the Azoreans developed customs designed to petition the Holy Spirit to prevent such disasters, and also to give thanks for blessings received during the year.

It was only natural that the Portuguese brought this devotion with them to Marin.

Saint Mary Magdalene Church in Bolinas, dedicated in 1878, and the adjoining cemetery, established in 1853, reside on land donated to the Archdiocese by the Briones family.

Saint Mary’s Church in Nicasio was established in 1867.

Old Saint Hilary’s Church in Tiburon was built in 1888 on land once owned by Marin pioneer John Reed.

Catholic San Francisco

Although officially recognized by the Catholic Church, the Holy Ghost Festa is distinctly Portuguese. The focal point of the Festa is a legend from the late thirteenth century. Portugal was experiencing a severe famine and many people were starving. Queen Isabella prayed to the Holy Spirit to relieve her country’s famine. Her prayers were answered when ships carrying wheat and other staples arrived in the harbor on Pentecost Sunday. The queen arranged for a thanksgiving Mass and a feast for the people. On the way to church, she took off her crown and placed it on the head of a peasant girl. Once inside the church, Queen Isabella offered the crown and other royal jewels as tokens of gratitude to the Holy Spirit. (St. Isabella Catholic Church in Terra Linda was named after Portugal’s beloved queen and saint. It resides on land donated by the Freitas family, descendents of Portuguese immigrants.)

1917 Holy Ghost Festa at Star of the Sea, Sausalito.

One of the first known public observances of the holiday in California occurred in Sausalito in 1886. The Festa began with a Mass, during which the “queens” (young girls chosen to represent Queen Isabella and the peasant girl from the legend) were symbolically crowned. After a parade through the streets, the celebration would erupt into music, dancing and feasting. A traditional Portuguese dance called the Chamarita was the highlight. The festivities lasted all day and night.

In later years many non-Portuguese members of Marin society joined in the festivities. While the Holy Ghost Festa is considered to be a Portuguese celebration, it is grounded in Catholicism. Because of its religious significance, the Festa attracted many non-Portuguese Catholics. It was the shared faith of the Portuguese and other Catholic Marinites that opened the door for eventual participation in the Festa by members of the larger community.

Celebrations such as Saint Patrick’s Day and the Holy Ghost Festa were public manifestations of the religious faith and identity of Marin’s Catholic immigrants. There are other legacies as well. St. Vincent’s School for Boys is a beloved landmark made possible by the deathbed wish of Marin’s pre-eminent Irishman, Timothy Murphy. Additionally, several of Marin’s early churches that were built on land donated

by Catholic immigrants still stand: Old Saint Hilary’s Church in Tiburon, Saint Mary Magdalene’s Church in Bolinas, and Old Saint Mary’s in Nicasio. They remind us that Marin’s early Catholic immigrants relied on their faith to endure the hard times and give thanks for the good times.

Heather Steil recently received her Master’s degree from Dominican University.

This is one in a year-long series of articles marking the 150th anniversary of the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Jeffrey Burns, archdiocesan archivist and author of a history of the Archdiocese, is coordinating the series.

18

Catholic San Francisco

November 21, 2003

Saint Charles celebrates 75 years as peninsula faith community

By Tom Burke History and homage joined hands last month as parishioners of St. Charles Parish, San Carlos gathered around the parish’s first 75 years as a principal Peninsula faith community. The two-day celebration included an anniversary Mass and reception October 19, plus photo displays tracing St. Charles’ more than seven decades and music from throughout the 75 years performed by the parish choir on October 18.

“Parishioners of St. Charles feel themselves to be a real community and like to get to know each other and enjoy being with each other,” Father Kieran McCormick, pastor of St. Charles since 2000, said. “There is a lot of delight in gathering.”

“We had a nice turnout for both days,” Father McCormick, said, noting that almost 300 people took time to view the historical exhibits on Saturday and more than 600 people attended Sunday’s anniversary Mass.

The parish’s growth since 1928 can be tracked by its need for larger and larger worship sites through the years, Father

McCormick pointed out. A building in downtown San Carlos, now owned by the San Carlos Garden Club and the site of the history displays and concerts, acceded to a newer church at the present parish site in 1951. That church became the parish school’s auditorium and gym when the current church was completed in 1966. Father McCormick said all three sites have had the opportunity to serve “a wonderful community of outstanding people.”

“St. Charles parishioners are great for pitching in and doing things,” Father McCormick said. “You get a lot of response for whatever the need.” The total number of people who assisted in some way with the anniversary events “is probably more than a hundred,” Father McCormick said.

“Children of the parish were the ones who assembled the history displays by each decade, the parish’s life over 75 years,” he said.

Father McCormick said the two days were valuable to the parish as a community.

“One part of it that was interesting was people getting together and getting a chance to talk who don’t usually do it,” Father McCormick said. “Some people came from

Paula Molino and Willie Neve are one of 864 couples who have married at St. Charles since its founding in1928. This picture of their Aug. 30, 1953 nuptials was among images recalling the history of the parish at 75th anniversary events in October.

Father Kieran McCormick, left, and Msgr. Harry Schlitt accept gifts at St. Charles anniversary Mass Oct. 19th. Also concelebrating were former pastor, Father John Ryan, and parochial vicar, Father Tony LaTorre. Gift bearers included Sue and Dennis Thompson, Mary Sliwkowski, Matthew Pace, Dorthey Kavaliunas, Dorothy Smith, Marnie Barrett. Photo by Sal Casente.

Catering ●

●

Full Service Event Productions Social & Corporate Catering

out of town and some shut-ins came for different parts of the celebration – people who wouldn’t normally get out for Mass on another weekend.”

“People really enjoyed getting together and seeing each other,” Father McCormick said. “You also had that convergence of people who might usually go to Mass at different times now being at the same Mass.

That was a very nice part of it.”

“I think these kinds of moments in time let us focus on what’s going on in the parish and can be very helpful,” Father McCormick said. “You look back at what has been and the different challenges the parish has faced and how parishioners overcame them. It gives people a sense of solidarity.”

Beyond their historical significance, parish milestones help recognize the importance of the parish in the scheme of the larger Church, Father McCormick said. “I met a man today who delivered some things here,” Father McCormick said. “He told me right away that he grew up in Epiphany

Restaurant Directory

Wedding Receptions

Experience is Everything Since 1963

(650) 635-1800 3963 Callan Blvd., So. San Francisco, CA 94080 FAX (650) 635-1805 www.knightscatering.com

Villa D’Este

For Advertising Information Call 415-614-5642

Dee Bag Lady A Catering Division of Dee-Delicious Cafe 7317 Mission Street Daly City, CA 650-757-7437

●

Parish. He didn’t say he grew up in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, he remembered his roots at the parish.” The parish as pillar of the Church was also a main element of a homily at the anniversary Mass

by Msgr. Harry Schlitt, Vicar for Administration of the Archdiocese.

“I am so pleased with the two days, “ said Pat Cauterucci, who served with her husband Frank on the planning committee. They have been parishioners of St. Charles for 33 years. “Everything went so well and I am honored to have been part of it.” Additional committee members include Sal Casente, Jeff Weidell, Tom Kramer, Carole Gianuario and Lynette York.

Father Kieran said “outreach” is a key word in the mission of St. Charles Parish.

“We are continually expanding our outreach programs to broaden the parish vision. We are making sure we’re not too focused on ourselves. We are taking our faith and going out to serve where there is a need.”

www.deebaglady.com

Dee Bag Lady Provides Complete Catering and Event Planning From the Traditional to the Unique!

Dee Callero-Canepa Founder and President 2003 Smal Business of the Year Daly City-Colma Chamber of Commerce

Lunch 11:30 - 2:30 Monday - Friday Dinner 5-10 7 days a week Early Bird 5-7 Dinner for Two (including wine) $35.00 Enjoy our Sunday Champagne Brunch 11-3 Live Music on Weekends Available for Private Parties Mention this ad for 10% off

2623 Ocean Avenue, San Francisco 415-334-0580 When in Vacaville, visit us at Vaca Joes Leisure World Rd at I-80

“IF YOU LIKE ITALIAN FOOD, EAT WHERE THE ITALIANS EAT” Since 1956

www.caesars.citysearch.com

415-989-6000

Valet Parking 2299 Powell St • San Francisco Close To The Powell & Mason St. Cable Car

FAMOUS FOR OUR 7 COURSE DINNERS

November 21, 2003

Catholic San Francisco

19

Good Grounds

Giving thanks for humor “I don’t believe in miracles. I depend on them,” reads one of my buttons. The miracle of gratitude is my favorite one of all. Oh, and humor.

A year after she started chemo, I found myself with my mom at her oncologist’s office. The newest round of quarterly scans were finished and we were there for the report. The report was fine, in that the cancer hadn’t grown since she started her three weeks on, one week off, regimen. Asking the doctor what would likely happen next, he reminded us that he is not God (and he knows it.) He continued to say that likely the cancer in her abdomen would one day metastasize to her lungs or her brain. Not missing a beat Mom said, “I’ll take lungs.” He smiled and so did I: chuckling as he noted it wouldn’t, finally, be up to her.

“Brain scan.” A couple of months ago, we started noticing some changes in Mom’s balance and vision. Time to talk to Dr. Cohen about it, we said. We, her hope-filled children, thought, maybe she just needs new glasses, but Dr. Cohen is not messing around when it comes to neurological issues. So brain scan it is.

Early on, I went with Mom to one of her Wednesday appointments. After the blood work was drawn, we sat in the comfortable waiting room. We were discussing her recent dramatic increase in fatigue. “It’s three things,” she quoted Dr. Cohen’s explanation, “the chemo, the steroids….

Ummm, what’s the third thing? I can’t remember.”

“Let’s see… what could it be? Hmmm…. could it be the Cancer?” I asked drawing it out like the Church Lady of Saturday Night Life fame.

Don’t think that joke hasn’t come back again and again: she forgot that she has cancer even as we we’re sitting in the oncologist’s waiting room, awaiting the harsh chemical treatment that robs her energy but provides time. “Drug induced aphasia,” we tease as she continues to once in a while forget things.

When she was diagnosed about two years ago, they said it was pancreatic cancer. Talk about devastation. Not much medically minded, even I knew that pancreatic cancer is commonly considered a rapid death sentence. My sister and I stood in the hospital corridor and for the first time I can ever remember cried together, helplessly looking into each other’s eyes.

A day later, same sister, Jeanne, comes dashing into Mom’s hospital room where my brother and I are keeping vigil with our drugged and sleepy mother. In a rush she told us she’d run into Mom’s surgeon in the cafeteria. Lunch tray in hand, he’d blurted out to her that they’d been wrong.

Not pancreatic cancer, after all, but breast cancer that had metastasized to her abdomen.

Woo Hoo!, we shouted. The happiness, the miracle – like she’d been given a “life sentence” to counteract that deadly one of a day before. We hugged one another and were so grateful, knowing as we rejoiced: how ironic.

“Yay! Mom has breast cancer!”

I always thought that the roller coaster metaphor for life was a corny one – feelings aren’t like a roller coaster – except that they are. For the last two years, we’d coast along, the chemo for three months then scans to see if the cancer cells had grown or spread. Then whoosh, the fast exhilarating descent, hands out over our heads in joy that it hadn’t. Then three months more chugging up the hill toward the next round of scans. A few sharp sudden turns in the midst – the blood clot that meant no more long distance travel. The change in the cocktail of pumped in poisons. The family side trips towards despair then the whipping back or the gradual gaining of the momentum of encouragement.

So, “brain scan.” What’s that going to do to the whole ride? My niece, living in Mexico City at the time of diagnosis, says she went to her local parish and prayed to St. Jude.

And the next day, Mom, her grandmother, got the breast can-

cer reprieve. Did St. Jude intercede? We all felt the miracle of the change in diagnosis And the rush of gratitude that follows awareness of God’s gentle work in our lives or the world.

The too many to Sister count miracles: two years of them. Some honest Christine Wilcox conversations six children and one adult grandchild have had with each other and our Mom. A family website that connects us from all the points of the world we’ve scattered.. Visits from an estranged child. Reconciliation, peace and moments of great fun and laughter in Mom’s presence.

The calm of a morning after a night of despair. And the humor.

Brain scan? So what. From one day to the next a life sentence can be converted. Can be extended to a real life.

Time to live it and know it and best of all to make fun of it.

And time to be grateful. And time to laugh about it.

This time the brain scan came back negative and the best response comes from Mom’s favorite nurse at the chemo center, “So, um, congratulations. Your brain scan came back negative,” she teased, “you don’t have a brain.”

There’s a bumper sticker that reads, “Expect a mackerel.” And I do.

Dominican Sister Christine Wilcox is director of Young Adult Ministry and coordinator for university and college campus ministry for the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

Family Life

Time to celebrate the Light of Christ “Seems dark tonight,” said my husband Steve as we headed home from the library.

We turned onto our street. The street light was out. The house was dark. All at once we knew: “The power’s out.”

“How could the power be out again?” sighed Steve. “It wasn’t that windy.”

I pushed the garage door opener, then remembered it wouldn’t work. “Guess we’ll have to leave the car in the driveway.” I took the flashlight out of the glove compartment. “Come on, guys. Let’s go.”

The clock on the stove was stopped at 6:15. Two hours ago. We rummaged through the hall closet and found two more flashlights and a couple candle stubs.

Gabe sat on the couch, shivering more from anxiety than from cold. “I can’t find my flashlight,” he whined.

I gave him a hug. “Tell you what,” I said, “Let’s go down to the store and buy another flashlight. Then you’ll have one. We need some more candles, too.”

Down at the shopping center, most people didn’t know that many of their neighbors were without power. Gabe chose a flashlight that glowed in the dark even when it was off, and I picked up spare batteries and a couple emergency candles.

Back home, I lit the candles and set them on the kitchen table. Gabe wrapped up in a blanket and clutched his flashlight.

Lucas wrapped our guinea pig Coco in a towel and held him on his lap so he wouldn’t be cold or afraid. Steve went to bed.

I flipped on the radio. Eighty-thousand homes throughout the county had lost power in the windstorm. Thirty-five crews were out repairing the lines. It could be a long wait.

Well, I thought, at least we could eat.

“Want a snack?” I asked the boys. “We can’t open the refrigerator, but there’s fruit on the counter and chips in the pantry.”

The candles cast a warm glow over the kitchen as we ate.

“They say Abraham Lincoln studied by candlelight,” I remarked.

“Mom,” sighed Lucas. “I already finished my homework.”

“Lucky thing, too. . . . You know, eating by candlelight reminds me of Advent, when we have the Advent wreath on the table.”

“This is like the first week of Advent, when it’s still pretty dark,” said Gabe. “The second and third weeks, you can see your food better.” He took another handful of chips.

I could see he was starting to relax.

Later, we moved the candles into the living room. The boys played cards. I used my flashlight to browse through a new bird book I’d found at the library.

“Maybe school will be canceled tomorrow,” Lucas said.

“Maybe, but don’t count on it. You need to be in bed by 10, whether the power is back on or not.”

“Let us stay up a little later, please, Mom.” “Yeah, Mom,” said Gabe. “It’s fun when the power’s out!” Christine Dubois “OK. 10:15, but that’s it.”

At 10:15, the lights came on.

Electricity may fail us, but we’re never left in the dark.

Our faith, like a flashlight, helps us find our way. Our loved ones encourage us. Most of all, God’s love, like the glowing candles, fills our life with warmth and light.

Advent was coming—the time to celebrate the Light of Christ that overcomes the darkness. Looks like I’ll need some more candles.

Christine Dubois is a widely published freelance writer who lives with her family near Seattle.

Contact her at: chriscolumn@juno.com.

PUT YOUR BUSINESS CARD IN THE HANDS OF

265,000

READERS OF CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

white-collar workers needed.

Serra for Priestly and Religious Vocations

For only $99.00 per month in our New business card section now appearing the first Friday of each month.This new section is certainly less expensive than the $57,000 it would cost to print and mail your business cards to all our readers. Only $84.00 per month on a 4-month contract.

Attach Card Here Deadline for December 5th Issue is November 24th.

Deadline for January 9th Issue is December 29th.

Please do not write on your card.

Ad Heading Name Address City ZIP Signature

State Phone Mail to:

Catholic San Francisco, Business Card One Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco, CA 94109

20

Catholic San Francisco

Advent/Holiday Opportunities

November 21, 2003

Datebook

St. Vincent de Paul Society of San Francisco needs men’s clothes for its Vincentian Desk that serves more than 800 people a month most of whom are men.

Items most needed are pants, shirts but not tee shirts, coats, sweaters, sweat shirts, shoes, belts, underwear and socks. Drop off station is 425 4th St at Harrison, SF, M – F from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Call (415) 202-9955.

Nov. 21, 22: Holiday Boutique at Marian Center, 2300 Adeline Dr., Burlingame, featuring “beautiful handmade items including great gift baskets and crocheted blanCatholic Marin Breakfast Club gathers kets made by the Sisters.” Benefits the Mercy Sisters.

December 5th for Mass and talk by special Call Debbie Halleran at (650) 340-7426. guest Archbishop William J. Levada. Now in its Nov. 22: Annual Holiday Boutique fundraiser benefiting San Francisco’s Immaculate Conception Academy, 10th year, the morning begins at 7 a.m. in St. 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., in the school’s auditorium 24th and Sebastian Church, Bon Air Rd. and Sir Francis Guerrero St. “Enjoy a day of holiday shopping, refreshDrake Blvd., Kentfield. Breakfast and presentaments including homemade baked goods, raffles and a visit with Santa,” said Liz Avila, of the ICA advisory tion follow in parish hall. Reservations required board. Sponsored by the ICA Parents’ Guild. to Sugaremy@aol.com or (415) 461-0704 daily.

Nov. 22: Mercy High School, San Francisco’s Members $7, others $10. Dues $20 per year. annual Holiday Boutique, 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. in the school’s McAuley Pavilion, 3250 19th Ave., across from Stonestown Galleria. “Enjoy refreshments, gift St. Gabriel’s, St. Finn Barr. “Everyone invited.” Call baskets, and a raffle,” said Anne Riley, of the Mercy Manolito Jaldon at (415) 681-2444, ext. 26.

Parents Guild. “Families encouraged to attend.” games, food and wide selection of holiday gifts, Breakfast served 8:30 – 11 a.m. for $5. Call Hazel gourmet baskets and a new vendor bazaar.

Sat. 10 Beck at (415) 334-0525, ext. 210. a.m. – 6 p.m.; Sun. 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. in St. Brendan Nov.22. 23: Holiday Boutique benefiting Dominican Church Hall, Ulloa and Laguna Honda Blvd., SF. Dec. 5: Catholic Marin Breakfast Club gathers for Sisters of Mission San Jose, at the congregation’s Call (415) 731-2665.

Mass and special presentation by Archbishop William J. motherhouse 43326 Mission Blvd., Fremont behind old Levada. Now in its 10th year the morning begins at 7 Dec. 6, 7: St. Pius Gift Boutique benefiting charitable Mission San Jose. Items include homemade fruitcakes, a.m. in St. Sebastian Church, Bon Air Rd. and Sir programs of the St. Pius Women’s Club, Items include oil paintings, ceramics, handmade knitwear, cards plus Francis Drake Blvd., Kentfield. Breakfast and presentatoys, clothing, jewelry, crafts, gift baskets from 70 artiChristmas and novelty gifts. Open both days 10 a.m. – tion follow in parish hall. Reservations required to sans and craftspeople. Sat. 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Sun. 9 a.m.

4 p.m. (510) 657-2468.

Sugaremy@aol.com or (415) 461-0704 daily. Members – 3 p.m. Holiday entertainment, raffle, silent auction and Nov. 22, 23: Mount Carmel Shop’s Noel Notions, a $7, others $10. Dues $20 per year. delicious food, too. 1100 Woodside Rd. at Valota, Christmas Bazaar benefiting Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Redwood City. Call (650) 364-5204.

Dec. 8: The St. Thomas More Society, an organParish, Mill Valley. Sat. 10 a.m.- 4 p.m.; Sun: 9 a.m. – Dec. 7: A Joyous Organ Concert of Advent and ization of Catholics serving in the legal profession, noon. Bake booth, toy booth, gift items, collectibles, Christmas Music by Maryliz Smith, music director, hosts its annual Christmas Mass and Luncheon. antiques plus raffle. Lunch available on Saturday.

St. Stephen Church, 601 Eucalyptus Dr., SF at 4 Winners of essay contest announced. Call Stacy Nov. 22. 23: Holiday Boutique/Raffle benefiting charip.m. “A wonderful way to welcome the holiday sea- Stecher at (415) 433-1400 for reservations. table works of St. Gabriel Sodality of Our Lady of the son.” Suggested donation of $10 benefits parish Dec. 13: Noel Ball, an evening sponsored by the De Miraculous Medal following weekend Masses in school music ministry.

Paul Club Auxiliary and benefiting sports programs of library. 40th Ave. at Ulloa St., SF. Items include gift basDec. 7: Christmas Boutique and Breakfast at St. St. Vincent de Paul Elementary School. This 49th annukets, gourmet food baskets, jewelry, ornaments, crafts Dominic Church, Bush and Steiner St., SF, 8:30 al gala begins at 6 p.m. in the Fairmont Hotel’s Venetian for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Call (415) 564-7995; a.m. - 1 p.m. “Great items and bargains for Room. Evening includes Dinner, silent auction, and 664-2928; 681-7169; 731-3122 for raffle tickets.

Christmas shoppers.” Choose from “baked goods, dancing to the music of Larry Lynch and the Mob. Nov. 30: Advent Carol Service featuring the Tickets $135 per person. Call (415) 922-8432. handcrafts, and former cherished possessions.”

Shrine’s Schola Cantorum at 4 p. m. at National Proceeds benefit Sacred Heart/St. Dominic Shrine of St. Francis of Elementary School. Call Assisi, Vallejo and (415) 346-9500.

Columbus, SF. Call (415) Admission free unless otherwise noted.

“Help your homeless neighbors Dec. 13: Breakfast with 983-0405 or celebrate Thanksgiving without getNov. 23, 24: Peace in your heart, family, world, a conSanta at Sisters of the www.shrinesf.org. Open to ting out of your car,” says the St. cert by acclaimed singer, storyteller, Michael John Presentation Motherhouse, the public. Dec. 7: Organ Anthony Foundation in announcing its Poirier, 7 p.m. at St. Gregory Church, 2715 Hacienda St., 2340 Turk Blvd., SF, 9:30 – Recital by Larery Marietta, annual Curbside Donation Drop Off at 11:30 a.m. “Everyone is wel- San Mateo on the 23rd; and at St. Dominic Church, 2390 First Congregational 119 Golden Gate Ave. near Jones, SF. come – families, Presentation Bush St. at Steiner, SF on the 24th. Call (415) 614-5680 Church, Berkeley. for ticket information. Sponsored by St. Gregory, St. alumnae, new and longtime Nov. 22, 23, 27: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Dec. 6: Join Birthright of San Dominic, and the Office of Marriage and Family Life. friends.” Pancake breakfast will Nov. 24, 25, 26: 7:45 a.m.

– 6 p.m.

Francisco for its Holly and Ivy be served and pictures with Sundays: Concerts at 4 p. m. at National Shrine Foundation staff and volunteers will Luncheon at the Presidio Golf Santa will be taken. Children of St. Francis of Assisi, Vallejo and Columbus, SF. wear red jackets. Donations of money Club. Tickets at $45 “support $5/Adults $7. For info or to let Call (415) 983-0405 or www.shrinesf.org. Open to should be left at 121 Golden Gate Ave., Birthright in its work with moththem know you’ll be there, call the public. Nov. 9: Music for Bassoon and Organ 2nd Floor.

Items most needed include ers facing unexpected pregHelen Harwood at (415) 422- with Jolene and William Davis from the University of coats, shoes, socks, underwear, nancies.” Special presentation 5021.

Georgia; Nov. 23: Music for Flute and Organ with gloves, hats, raingear, blankets, sleepby florist/educator Sally Clark Dec. 13: Christmas Harry Bernstien and Brian Swager; ing bags, as well as supplies such as on “easy and exciting arrangeRemembrance Prayer Sundays: Concerts at St. Mary Cathedral at 3:30 toothpaste, soap, toothbrushes, shamments for the holiday season.”

Service in All Saints p.m. Gough and Geary Blvd., SF. Call (415) 567poo and toys. Non-perishable foods are Call (415) 664-9909.

Mausoleum Chapel of Holy 2020 ext. 213. Concerts are open to the public. also welcome. They include whole grain Dec. 6: First Saturday of Cross Cemetery, Colma at cereals, instant potatoes, pastas, the month Mass in the 11 a.m. Father John canned fruits and vegetables, stews, chapel of All Saints Talesfore, pastor, St. Mary’s soups, frozen meats.

Call (415) 241Mausoleum at Holy Cross Cathedral, presiding. “Come —— Vallombrosa Center —— 2600.

Cemetery, 1500 Old Mission to remember and be com250 Oak Grove Ave., Menlo Park. For fees, Rd., Colma, at 11 a.m. forted.” Inspirational music times and details about these and other offerFather Stephen Howell, and time for reflection. Call ings call (650) 325-5614. Presentation Sister chaplain, Notre Dame High School, Belmont, and (650) 756-2060.

Rosina Conrotto, Program Director. administrator Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Dec. 16 – 24: The beloved Filipino tradition of Belmont, presiding. Call (650) 756-2060.

Nov. 30: An Evening with Ron Rolheiser, an Simbang Gabi will be prayed each day at 6 a.m. at Oblate of Mary priest and syndicated faith columnist Dec. 6, 7: Passport to Christmas, St. Brendan St. Stephen Church 601 Eucalyptus Dr., SF. whose work appears in Catholic San Francisco. 7 Boutique benefiting the parish school and spon- Complimentary breakfast follows. A cooperative sored by the Mothers’ Club. Enjoy raffles, kids’ liturgical work of parishes including St. Stephen’s, 9 p.m. $15 per person.

Food & Fun

Performance/Auditions

Retreats/Days of Recollection

Dec. 10: An Advent Retreat, What gift did Jesus give to the Magi? Do we share it? Day includes time for private prayer, sharing, Eucharist, and reconciliation. Facilitated by Vallombrosa pastoral associate, Sister Toni Longo.

Dec. 31 – Jan 1: Wisdom of the Ages: A New Year’s Eve Retreat with Patrick Collins, noted retreat leader, liturgist, musician.

Consolation Ministry Groups meet at the following parishes. Please call numbers shown for more information.

St. Catherine of Siena, Burlingame. Call Elaine Yastishock at (650) 344-6884; Our Lady of Angels, Burlingame. Call Louise Nelson at (650) 343-8457 or Barbara Arena at (650) 344-3579. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Redwood City. Call (650) 366-3802; Good Shepherd, Pacifica. Call Sister Carol Fleitz at (650) 355-2593; St. Robert, San Bruno. Call (650) 589-2800.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, Belmont. Call Ann Ponty at (650) 598-0658 or Mary Wagner at (650) 591-3850.

St. Isabella, San Rafael. Call Pat Sack at (415) 4725732. Our Lady of Loretto, Novato. Call Sister Jeanette at (415) 897-2171. St. Gabriel, SF. Call Barbara Elordi at (415) 564-7882. St. Finn Barr, SF in English and Spanish. Call Carmen Solis at (415) 5840823; St. Cecilia, SF. Call Peggy Abdo at (415) 5647882 ext. 3; Epiphany, SF in Spanish. Call Kathryn Keenan at (415) 564-7882.

Ministry for parents who have lost a child is available from Our Lady of Angels Parish, Burlingame. Call Ina Potter at (650) 347-6971 or Barbara Arena at (650) 344-3579.

Young Widow/Widower group meets at St. Gregory, San Mateo. Call Barbara Elordi at (415) 564-7882.

Information about children’s and teen groups is available from Barbara Elordi at (415) 564-7882.

Returning Catholics Programs for Catholics interested in returning to the Church, have been established at the following parishes: St. Philip the Apostle, 725 Diamond St. at Elizabeth/24th, SF. Call the parish office at (415) 2820141; St. Hilary, Tiburon, Mary Musalo, (415) 435-2775; St. Anselm, Ross, parish office at (415) 453-2342; St. Sebastian, Greenbrae, Jean Mariani at (415) 461-7060; Old St. Mary’s Cathedral, SF, Michael Adams at (415) 695-2707; St. Dominic, SF, Lee Gallery at (415) 2211288; Holy Name of Jesus, SF, Dennis Rivera at (415) 664-8590; St. Bartholomew, San Mateo, Dan Stensen at (650) 344-5665; St. Catherine of Siena, Burlingame, Silvia Chiesa at (650) 685-8336, Elaine Yastishock at (650) 344-6884; Our Lady of Angels, Burlingame, Dorothy Heinrichs or Maria Cianci at (650) 347-7768; St. Dunstan, Millbrae, Dianne Johnston at (650) 697-0952; Our Lady of the Pillar, Half Moon Bay, Meghan at (650) 726-4337; St. Peter, Pacifica, Chris Booker at (650) 7381398; Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Mill Valley, Rick Dullea or Diane Claire at (415) 388-4190; St. Mary Star of the Sea, Sausalito, Lloyd Dulbecco at (415) 331-7949.

Taize Prayer 3rd Wed. at 7:30 p.m. with the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in their Province Center Chapel, 1520 Ralston Ave., Belmont across from Ralston on the college campus. Call (650) 593-2045, ext. 350 or www.SistersofNotreDameCa.org.

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

A History of the Archdiocese of San Francisco VO L U M E I 1776 -1884 From Mission to Golden Frontier

VO L U M E 2 1885 -1945 G l o r y, R u i n , and Resurrection

Volume 1.................$12.00 Each Volume 2.................$12.00 Each Volume 3.................$12.00 Each Prices Include Shipping & Handling

E 3 M U L 00 VO 5 - 2 0 e y 4

urn Jo pe A Ho f o

19

Indicate Which Volume You Would Like ❑ Vol. 1 ❑ Vol. 2 ❑ Vol. 3 Method of payment: ❑ Visa ❑ Mastercard ❑ Check Credit Card # Name Address City Phone # Signature Total Payment

Exp. Date

Zip Code

Please Mail To:

Catholic Communication, One Peter Yorke Way San Francisco, CA 94109 Attn: Judy Moris

November 21, 2003

Music TV

Catholic San Francisco

Books RADIO Film

21

Stage

Reviewed by Jayme George Reality television is an entity that deserves nothing less than total destruction, yet it continues to grow and become more powerful, like some horrible pulsating alien that feeds off the brain cells of humans. It is not clear who allowed this disgusting trend into the homes of millions of Americans every day, but it seems to have something to do with the creative paralysis that has struck almost all of Hollywood’s television writers.

Case in point: NBC recently premiered a show that was a copy of a British show. That British show was a copy of the original NBC series “Friends.� Hence, the critically panned show “Coupling� was born. Since the networks are all about making as much money as possible, once a series becomes a hit, every other network starts kicking out the clones. The American television-watching public has shown great interest in family sitcoms, crime dramas, and groups of friends who live in New York. Now everything on television is a clone of “Everybody Loves Raymond,� “CSI,� and “Friends.�

However, there is at least one new show this season that is not as easily defined. Though the media has tried to pigeonhole it under the category of “spirituality,� the CBS drama “Joan of Arcadia� is not just another “Touched by an Angel.�

The success of “Touched by an Angel�—also a CBS show—revealed a market for spirituality in television that had previously gone untapped by the big networks. In “Joan of Arcadia,� God becomes a reoccurring character in the life of teenager Joan Girardi. Like her heroic namesake, Joan is on very casual speaking terms with God, who asks her

to perform unthinkable tasks for a girl her age. Tasks like, getting a job, cleaning out the garage, and becoming a cheerleader. Oh the humanity.

The show stars former soap opera actress Amber Tamblyn as Joan, the new girl in school, her dad (Joe Mantegna) having just moved the family to the fictional town of Arcadia. Her family is also coping with the accident that left her older brother (Jason Ritter) in a wheelchair. And God, who appears in the shapes of average people, tells her to do things. The purposes of God’s weekly tasks for Joan are mysterious at first, but they always end up bringing Joan’s family closer together.

In this day and age, people who claim to have spoken to God and gotten a response are not considered prophets, they are considered crazies. So it’s no wonder that Joan entertains God’s advice with some skepticism and ambivalence.

The 20-year-old Tamblyn gives winning performances as an angst-y teen with more wit and wisdom than the entire cast of Fox’s teen drama “The O.C.� combined. According to Tamblyn, the true message of this show is to examine the mystery and beauty of life. It’s not just about looking to God to solve all the world’s problems. “Joan of Arcadia� creator Barbara Hall has concocted a show that blends humor, drama, and spirituality in a way that is accessible to everyone. The show is not about one religion, nor is it about The Bible or God. It is about one girl’s search for an understanding of herself through God. As she is faced with the challenge of doing God’s work, Joan reminds us that we should do the same every day. “Joan of Arcadia� airs Fridays at 8 p.m. on CBS.

(CNS PHOTO FROM CBS)

Joan of Arcadia brings spirituality back to television

Joe Mantegna, Amber Tamblyn and Mary Steenburgen star in "Joan of Arcadia," a new CBS drama about a typical family facing atypical situations -- especially their daughter's sudden, unexpected conversations with God.

6 ĂŠ ĂŠ "" - / ", - ĂŠ

Catholic San Francisco invites you

to join in the following pilgrimages LOURDES and the GREAT SAINTS of EUROPE June 7, 2004

Departs San Francisco 12-Day Pilgrimage

only

$

2,699

Fr. Michael Lacy Spiritual Director St. Bernadette

Visit: Paris, Lisieux, Normandy, Versailles, Chartres, Nevers, Paray-LeMonial, Ars, Lyon, Toulouse, Lourdes

For a FREE brochure on these pilgrimages contact: Virginia Marshall – Catholic San Francisco

(415) 614-5640 Please leave your name, mailing address and your phone number California Registered Seller of Travel Registration Number CST-2037190-40 (Registration as a Seller of Travel does not constitute approval by the State of California)

"7 t

/Â…iĂŠ*ÂœiĂŒĂ€ĂžĂŠÂœvĂŠ ÂœÂ…Â˜ĂŠ*>Ă•Â?ĂŠ 2OMAN 4RIPTYCH -EDITATIONS

)

N HIS THIRD BOOK AND HIS FIRST VOLUME OF POETRY

*OHN 0AUL REFLECTS ON 'OD AS THE BEGINNING AND END OF HUMAN LIFE AND ALL CREATION ˆ4HE 7ASHINGTON 0OST )N THE FIRST POEM TAKE A JOURNEY OF WONDER TO THE SOURCE OF LIFE IN h4HE 3TREAM v 3TAND IN THE DOOR WAY OF THE 3ISTINE #HAPEL WITH HIM AS HE REFLECTS ON THE CREATION STORY OF 'ENESIS IN THE SECOND POEM

h-EDITATIONS ON THE "OOK OF 'ENESIS AT THE 4HRESHOLD v )N THE FINAL POEM h! (ILL IN THE ,AND OF -ORIAH v LET YOURSELF BE DRAWN INTO A RETELLING OF THE STORY OF !BRAHAM AND )SAAC )T BECOMES A PERSONAL CONVERSA TION BETWEEN THE 0OPE AND THE 6OICE OF 'OD 4HIS BEAUTIFUL HARDCOVER BOOK ALSO INCLUDES MAGNIFICENT COLOR ARTWORK FROM THE #ASA "UONAROTTI AND !LBERTINA -USEUM SEVERAL PAGES OF THE 0OPE S ORIGINAL HAND WRIT TEN TEXT AND A SPECIAL PRESENTATION BY *OSEPH #ARDINAL 2ATZINGER

h4HIS BEAUTIFUL PRESENTATION OF HIS POETRY IS CERTAINLY A WONDERFUL SOUVENIR OF THE THOUGHT AND THE PRAYER OF A HOLY MAN v ˆ4(%/$/2% % #!2$).!, -##!22)#+ !2#(")3(/0 /& 7!3().'4/.

4/ /2$%2 4()3 2%3/52#% /2 4/ /"4!). ! #!4!,/' /& /4(%2 53##" 4)4,%3

#!,, 4/,, &2%% 6)3)4 /52 7%"3)4% !4 777 53##" /2'

53##" 0UBLISHINGG &OURTH 3TREET .% 7ASHINGTON $#

° *Ă€ÂˆVi\ĂŠf£™°™x ˜}Â?ÂˆĂƒÂ…\ĂŠ - Ê£‡xÇ{xx‡xxĂˆÂ‡ÂŁĂŠ -ÂŤ>Â˜ÂˆĂƒÂ…\ĂŠ - Ê£‡xÇ{xx‡n™Ó‡Ç

For Advertising Information Please Call (415) 614 – 5642

22

Catholic San Francisco

November 21, 2003

Pope speaks out . . .

■ Continued from cover The Vatican has stepped up criticism of the Israeli security barrier, which when completed will stretch more than 200 miles along the Israeli border and deep into sections of the West Bank. Earlier in the week, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, a Vatican envoy, said the wall would institute a “geography of apartheid” and foment more violence.

The papal comments came on the eve of a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to Italy. Sharon was not scheduled to meet with Vatican officials.

In his remarks from his apartment window above St. Peter’s Square, the pope said he was concerned that in recent days “terrorism has once again accomplished its wicked work.” He spoke the day after two synagogues were bombed in Istanbul, Turkey, and in the wake of a suicide attack that killed 19 Italian soldiers and more than a dozen civilians in Iraq.

While condemning the attacks, the pope said the reaction cannot be one of more violence.

“No one can abandon themselves to the temptation of discouragement or of revenge. The respect for life, international solidarity and the observance of the law should prevail over hatred and violence,” he said.

Bishops’ meeting . . .

■ Continued from cover “multifaceted affront” to its integrity and identity from regulatory and legislative pressures.

Those pressures include laws that require church-run social service agencies to include contraceptives in prescription drug plans for employees, or that seek to use charitable trusts or tax exemptions as ways of forcing changes in policies based on church teachings.

He warned that if Catholic and other faiths’ agencies are confronted by the choice of conforming to some societal standards or withdrawing from society, they might have to stop serving the poor, the vulnerable and needy.

That same day, the bishops approved, in 236-6 vote with two abstentions, a pastoral statement encouraging popular devotions but cautioning that those devotions should never supplant the liturgy, the primary form of the church’s worship and sacramental life. The 21-page statement is called, “Popular Devotional Practices: Basic Questions and Answers.”

During the meeting the bishops also approved: — A stewardship document that encourages young adults to change the world by using their gifts and skills to embrace the church’s social teachings.

In a telegram, the pope deplored the synagogue bombings that left at least 20 people dead and more than 300 injured.

The synagogues were filled with Jewish families attending bar mitzvahs; the blasts also killed 11 Muslims in the vicinity.

Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country with a Jewish community of about 30,000, has close ties to the United States and Israel.

The pope sent his “deepest condolences to the entire country and to all those concerned” and said he was praying for the dead, the wounded and their families, and for “all believers touched by this new drama.”

He urged “men and women of the whole world to mobilize in favor of peace and against terrorism, in the respect for the freedom of personal beliefs and convictions.”

“Never again should religious identity be a source of conflict that bloodies and disfigures humanity,” the telegram said.

The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, called the Istanbul attacks especially “vile” because they took place on the Jewish Sabbath, in an attempt to kill the greatest number of worshippers.

The newspaper said the bombings in Turkey appeared to be part of an attempt to increase terrorism and fear throughout the region, in order to cause “more hatred, division and violence.”

As Italy held a state funeral for 19 Italians killed in a suicide bombing in Iraq, Pope John Paul II expressed

his condolences and said the victims had died while performing a service to the Iraqi people.

“I join with you spiritually to invoke the gift of peace for a humanity that is tormented by so many bloody conflicts,” the pope said in a message read to Italian bishops who were meeting in Assisi Nov. 17.

“Together with you, I entrust to the Lord the Italians who have fallen in Iraq, fulfilling their duty at the service of those populations,” he said.

The Italians killed in the bombing of a military headquarters in An Nasiriyah Nov. 12 included 12 military policemen, five soldiers and two civilians. The attack also killed 14 non-Italians and left more than 80 others wounded.

The suicide bombing was condemned as “terrorism” by the Italian bishops and denounced as a “vile attack” by the pope, who said the Italian contingent was carrying out a “mission of peace.”

The deaths prompted a display of national grief. In central Rome Nov. 17, more than 100,000 people filed past the flag-draped caskets of those killed. Many watched the nationally televised funeral the next day, held in the packed Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.

The Italian government, which supported the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, sent 2,700 troops to help bring order to the country after the war was over. Many Italians view the troops’ presence in Iraq as a humanitarian mission.

— A policy to prevent conflict of interest in conducting business and an updated version of their guidelines on socially responsible investing, by voice vote.

— A revised edition of “Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest” and a revised edition of “Guidelines for the Concelebration of the Eucharist.”

— A 2004 budget for the USCCB that shaved $4.5 million off the 2003 expenditures.

The bishops elected Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan of Santa Fe, N.M., as the new secretary of the USCCB, succeeding Bishop William B. Friend of Shreveport, La., who completed a three-year term.

They also elected Cardinal William H. Keeler of Baltimore to a three-year term as the new chairman of their Committee on Pro-Life Activities. He succeeds Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, now retired archbishop of Philadelphia. They also chose new chairmen-elect for eight other committees who will automatically succeed the current chairmen at next year’s fall meeting.

The bishops also agreed to extend for another three years 14 USCCB ad hoc committees, including stewardship, Spanish-language Bible, sexual abuse, Native American Catholics and aid to the church in Central and Eastern Europe. They disbanded the Ad Hoc Committee on Agriculture Issues since the conference approved a state-

ment raising concerns about the ethical dimensions of policy on agriculture and trade.

They heard a report Nov. 10 on plans for their 2004 special assembly in Denver, which will involve discussions of a possible plenary council of the U.S. church. No decision will be made on that issue at the June assembly, however, said Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein of Indianapolis, chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Plenary Council.

Another report, given by Archbishop Alexander J. Brunett of Seattle, Catholic co-chair of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, spoke of Anglican-Catholic dialogue and urged bishops to remain committed to dialogue despite challenges raised by the recent ordination of an openly gay bishop in the U.S. Episcopal Church.

Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stockton, Calif., chairman of the Catholic bishops’ Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, gave a report on the preparations for a new ecumenical forum in the United States that would embrace a wider range of churches than the National Council of Churches currently does. He said the bishops may be asked to make a decision about joining this body next year.

The bishops were also asked to consider formalizing economic support for pastoral programs in Africa similar to what they now provide to the Catholic Church in Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America.

SERVICE DIRECTORY For Adver tising Information Call 415-614-5642 • E-mail: jpena@catholic-sf.org

PAINTING

COUNSELING PAULA B. HOLT, LCSW, ACSW Adult, Family, Couple, Psychotherapy, LCS 18043

Interior painting.

35 years experience.

Reasonable prices.

Fast, clean & reliable.

Peninsula area.

Free estimates.

Divorce resolution, Grief resolution, Supportive consultation.

Substance abuse counseling, Post trauma resolution, Family Consultation.

Support and help a phone call away!

121 Clement Street, San Francisco, CA 94118

415-289-6990

(650) 355-5588 Not a licensed Contractor

Healing Your Inner Child

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

Barbara Elordi, MFT Licensed Marriage, Family and Child Therapist.

Offers individual, couple + family and group counseling.

The Peninsula Men’s Group, now in it’s 7th year, is a support group which provides affordable counseling in a safe and nurturing setting. Interested candidates may call for a free brochure.

(650) 591-3784 974 Ralston Ave. #6, Belmont, CA 94002

PLEASE

PATRONIZE OUR ADVERTISERS

All purpose: Painting, Fencing, Carpenter, Small Roofing Repairs, Skylight Repairs, Demolition Work, Rain Gutter Repair & Cleaning, Landscaping, Gardening, Hauling, Moving, Janitorial.

Tax Preparation

HIGH QUALITY SERVICE AT REASONABLE RATES

415-239-8491 not a licensed contractor

Call (650) 757-1946

650-589-9225

not a licensed contractor

Sound Systems Intelligent Sound and Communications Solutions Since 1985

KANSORA COMMUNICATIONS

SOUND SYSTEMS CHURCHES – SCHOOLS – THEATRES COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS – SPORTS FACILITIES ●

Intercoms / Paging Systems Digital Carillons / Bells Cable TV & Data Systems ●

●

415-472-3503

WWW.KANSORA.COM CA LICN # 747210

Free Consultation Free Estimate Lic. 69547

Corporation #1960448

RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL

Professional Installation & Refinishing Specialist • New Floor Installation • Refinishing • Water & Fire Restoration • Patching • Sanding • Staining

415-720-1612 415-387-9561 (home)

John Bianchi

www.hitechhardwoodfloor.com

Phone: 415.468.1877 Fax: 415.468.1875

SERVING THE BAY AREA • MANY LOCAL REFEFERENCES

Insured PL, PD & Workmen’s Comp.

100 North Hill Drive, Unit 18 • Brisbane, CA 94005 Lic. No. 390254

Expert Plumbing Repairs ●

HI TECH HARDWOOD FLOOR

Free Estimates. Call Anytime

Plumbing • Fire Protection • Certified Backflow

P.O. Box 214 San Bruno, CA 94066

St. Robert’s Parish San Bruno

By CPA

PLUMBING

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

Confidential • Compassionate • Practical (415) 921-1619 1537 Franklin Street • San Francisco, CA 94109

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

Se habla Español & Tagalog.

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

415-337-9474 • 650-888-2873 www.innerchildhealing.com

• Relationships • Addictions

FLOORS

Auto Broker

•Individuals, Couples, Family •Addictions; Food, Chemical, Love •Enneagram Personality Work •Spiritual Direction• Sliding Scale

• Family • Work • Depression • Anxiety

Tax Preparation

Wally Mooney

Christian Family Counselo r

When Life Hurts It Helps To Talk

HANDYMAN

Auto Sales

Lila Caffery, MA, CCHT

St. Dominic’s Parishioner

HANDYMAN

General Repairs Clean Drains & Sewers Water Heaters ●

●

SANTI PLUMBING & HEATING San Francisco Only, Please

415-661-3707

FAMILY OWNED Lic. # 663641

24 HR

Residential Facility Janet’s Residential Facility For The Elderly Alzheimer’s/Wheelchairs Licensed and able to meet many of the dependent needs of the elderly Janet Spires, R.N. Owner/Operator

Tell our advertisers you saw their ad in

Call Today 415-759-8137

Catholic San Francisco

2970-25th Ave.(Near Stonestown) Since 1985 San Francisco, CA 94132 C.S.L. # 380540408

LEGAL SERVICES When You Don’t Know What To Do We Can Help.

Guagenti & Damsky Attorneys Elizabeth Guagenti Wills ● Living Trusts ● Injury Claims ● Other Legal Services

●

415-388-7597 Mill Valley

IT’S A SAFE BET!

For Just $40 An Issue* You Can Reach 90,000 Catholic Households with this Ad! Call

415-614-5642 *One year agreement

November 21, 2003

Catholic San Francisco

Catholic San Francisco

23

C L A S S I F I E D S

Call (415) 614-5642 or Fax: (415) 614-5641 e-mail: jpena@catholic-sf.org

Lake tahoe rental

NOVENAS PUBLISH A NOVENA Pre-payment required Mastercard or Visa accepted

Vacation Rental Condo in South Lake Tahoe.

Cost $25

Sleeps 8, near Heavenly Valley and Casinos.

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

Call 925-933-1095 See it at RentMyCondo.com#657

Your prayer will be published in our newspaper

House Cleaning Elder Care

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

Irish Girl Available for House Cleaning and Elder Care.

References.

415-424-7285

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

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

St. Jude Novena May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be praised, adored, glorified and loved throughout the world now & forever. Sacred Heart of Jesus have mercy on us. St. Jude Apostle of miracles 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.

S.M.

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

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

Organist

Prayer to the Blessed Virgin never known to fail.

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

Pray for us (3X).

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

Say prayers 3 days. M

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.

R.G.

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

Academic Education Counseling Ambassador Services Invites you and you student to use our proven keys for successful

College and University placement We offer academic evaluation empowerment counseling.

Proven admission and financial aid strategies.

Catholic college and University specialists Call 415-435-1783 or Fax 415-435-4971 For free 1 hour consultation until Christmas 2003.

Business Lic # 017840 Credential Licenses #020125749 & #73765

room for rent

Cook Needed

Room on Richmond Ave. in San Francisco available.

A San Francisco Men’s Religious Community seeks a full time experienced cook. Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Monday – Friday.

Applicants must have the ability to prepare a variety of menus both for lunch and dinner. Numbers vary from 12 at Lunch to 2 to 8 at dinner.

Full benefits package available.

Please make your interest known by writing to PO Box 640009, San Francisco, CA 94164-009.

Kitchen and bathroom priveledges. Looking for clean and honest person.

Good credit references required. $580/month.

Call eves. 415-387-1061

Help Wanted

Special Needs Companion Services We are looking for you.

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

Work Full or Part-time in San Francisco – Marin County • Provide non medical elder care in the home • Generous benefit package Fax your resume to: Jeannie McCullough Stiles, RN 415-435-0421

Irish Handyman Irish Handyman available. Carpentry, plumbing, stone work, landscape construction.

Send your resume: Jeannie McCullough Stiles, RN Special Needs Nursing, Inc. 98 Main Street, #427 Tiburon, Ca 94920

415-652-2094 Not a licenced contractor

Administrative Assistant

Special Needs Nursing, Inc.

The School of Pastoral Leadership of the Archdiocese of San Francisco is looking for a full-time administrative assistant to provide general secretarial support, office management, and various services related to the operation and maintenance of an archdiocesan adult religious education and lay ministry training program. Some evening and weekend work, and own vehicle required.

RNs or LVNs We are looking for you.

Work FULL or PART time while your children are in school.

Nurses are needed to provide specialized nursing care for children in the San Francisco Public School setting.

Send resumes with references to Katy Andrews, Office of Human Resources, One Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco, CA 94109.

E-mail: andrewsk@sfarchdiocese.org FAX (415) 614-5536.

Detailed job description available upon request.

Generous benefit packages for generous nurses.

Fax your resume to: Jeannie McCullough Stiles, RN 415-435-0421 Send your resume: Jeannie McCullough Stiles, RN Special Needs Nursing, Inc. 98 Main Street, #427 Tiburon, Ca 94920

CLASSIFIED AD INFORMATION

DEADLINE THURSDAYS - 3 PM

TO PLACE AN AD: By phone, call (415) 614-5639 or (415) 614-5640 or fax (415) 614-5641 or e-mail: vmarshall@catholic-sf.org; Mail or bring ads to Catholic San Francisco, One Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco, CA 94109; Or by (please include credit card number & expiration date).

COMMERCIAL ADS: (Four line minimum) $15 for four lines, $2 per EXTRA line – applies to Business Services, Real Estate, Buying or Selling for profit, and Transportation Dealers.

PRIVATE PARTY ADS: (Four line minimum) $10 for four lines, $1.00 per EXTRA line – applies to

by telephone, mail, or fax. ONLY VISA or MASTERCARD ACCEPTED.

PAYMENT: All ads must be paid in advance. Money order, or imprinted checks. Credit Cards

individuals only, Garage Sales, Help Wanted, Transportation / Vehicles.

1st line has 19 spaces, subsequent lines have 26 spaces. Every letter, punctuation mark or spaces between words counts as a space.

START HERE

CATEGORIES:

Announcements Appliances Business Opportunities Child Care Children’s Misc.

Collectibles Counseling Education/Lessons Electronics Employment Financial Services For Sale Garage Sales Health & Fitness Home Furnishings Miscellaneous Office Equipment Personals Pet Supplies Professional Services Religious Articles Wanted to Buy Automotive Real Estate

☛

PRIVATE PARTY

(Please Print Legibly)

COMMER.RATES

Classified display ads may be prepaid or billed.

RATES

NAME CITY METHOD OF PAYMENT

❏

VISA

CREDIT CARD # SIGNATURE

ADDRESS ZIP

$15 $17 $19 $21 $23 $25

ADD $1 PER EACH ADDITIONAL LINE

ADD $2 PER EACH ADDITIONAL LINE

TOTAL ENCLOSED:

PHONE

❏ CHECK ❏ MASTERCARD

$10 $11 $12 $13 $14 $15

❏ MONEY ORDER EXP. DATE REFERENCE # leave blank please

CATEGORY:

❏ ❏

CLASSIFIED DISPLAY 25 per column inch – 1 time $ 20 per column inch – 2 times $

TERMS We reserve the right to reject or cancel advertising for any reason deemed appropriate. We want our readers to know that it is not always possible to verify promises made by our advertisers.

24

Catholic San Francisco

November 21, 2003

In Remembrance of the Faithful Departed Interred In Our Catholic Cemeteries During the Month of October HOLY CROSS COLMA Anthony Abdilla Stella Aless Eldera M. Altmann Kevin Omar Ancco Amparo B. Angeles Peter Henry Astiz Karla Vanessa Avila Sun Chu Baker Aurea M. Baptista Elsie Baroncini Ziney M. Barulich Angel R. Bautista, Jr. Angie Beatty Amelia Casassa Bellafronte Emily J. Bommarito Manuel Borg Arsenio N. Borlaza Ethel M. Branam Fred G. Breining Lillia Buitrago Jose C. Campos Jose E. Cantiller Edward A. Cassou Joseph A. Cereghino Peter T. Chun Emily C. Chung Milagro Cienfuegos Virginia M. Clower Lena Coli Virginia L. Conlan Ellen Connelly Marjorie Z. Corbin Cosimo "Gus" Cosenza Jeannette M. Cronander Elizabeth J. Cronin Bridie D'Ambrogio Elain Joy Aton de la Cruz Marie P.S. de Souza Lucrecia C. Diego

Terence S. Dolan Paula R. Dolder (Fassler) Rosanna Bramwell Douglas Basilissa Dow-Benard Michael J. Driscoll, Sr. Anthony "Tony" Paul Duenas William J. Dunne Hieu Thi Duong Betty Steelman Ereno Rosa A. Estrada Aldo George Fanucci Lydia Federighi David Freed Rose M. Galvez Augustine Gamez Annie M. Garkus Julia Maria Gavello John J. Geaney John S. Gilmore Olga A. Gregory Maria Graciela Guerra Maria Elena Gutierrez Wilson P. Hansen Robert E. Hardin Evelyn M. Harrison Dorothy F. Johnson Elena J. Kaarls Linda E. Kamariotis Boutte Elias Kaprielian Robert C. Kelleher Thomas F. Kelly Katarina Baumann Kovacic Anne E. Lawless Augustine (Bianchi) Liberti Jose M. Lopez Ernest Luckhardt Anna Dorothy Lynch Pauline Mainz Marietta Manfreda Emelina G. Marcos

Martha A. Martinez Frank X. Marty Cristino P. Matias Loretta C. McCormick Tyler S. McGill William D. McLaughlin Edith E. Meagles Maria I. Mendez Lorraine F. Meyer Jamileh Mogannam Ann Mullen Francis G. Murphy John F. Murphy Edward Henry Nervo Graciela Nunez Thomas O'Neill Leola Oliver Susan Marie Ormando Angelina Ortiz Pacita D. Pena Phyllis Hurley Porter Geoffrey O. Preston Antonio Cano Pretel William Grady Proctor Kathy Quilter Frank R. Quinn Gertrudis D. Redito Nazario N. Reyes James S. Ribero Almedia A. Riccomi Mary K. Robbins Justina E. Saballos Leona T. Salcedo Bernard Sallaberry Marilyn N. Salvame Joseph Scarabosio Helen Deasy Schulz Richard E. Shawyer Alice T. Silvestri Pedro M. Sim Harry G. Smith Hugh D. Smith Sally Ann Spehar

Maria Spingola Peter J. Sturiale Frank J. Surina Doroteia M. Tang Pauline D. Thorsen Nolan N. Thrailkill, Jr. Lupe Torres James Robert Trelut Alipio C. Uy Sr. Mary Roberta Van Woerkom, SHF Slavko (Sam) Viducich Marie E. Walters Bridget (Beatrice) M. Wasson Joseph Willman Ann Marie Xavier Paciencia T. Zacarias Interred in the month of September: Anna F. Acevedo

HOLY CROSS MENLO PARK Kelekolio (Gregory) Latu Constance Grennan McCarthy Louis John Molteni

MT. OLIVET SAN RAFAEL Olivia S. Cooney Margaret H. Fletcher George B. Geramoni Irene V. Lefevre Giovanni B. Repetto Thomas E. Stanton, IV

HOLY CROSS CATHOLIC CEMETERY, COLMA 1st Saturday Mass

Christmas Remembrance Service

All Saints Mausoleum Chapel Saturday, December 6th – 11:00 a.m.

Rev. Stephen H. Howell, Celebrant Immaculate Heart of Mary

All Saints Mausoleum Chapel (No Mass) Saturday, December 13th – 11:00 a.m.

Rev. John Talesfore, Officiating

The Catholic Cemeteries Archdiocese of San Francisco Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery 1500 Mission Road, Colma, CA 94014 650-756-2060

Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery Intersection of Santa Cruz Avenue, Menlo Park, CA 94025 650-323-6375

Mt. Olivet Catholic Cemetery 270 Los Ranchitos Road, San Rafael, CA 94903 415-479-9020

A Tradition of Faith Throughout Our Lives.