November 30, 2012

ADVENT: Preparing for the coming of the Lord with prayer, kindness PAGES 2, 14, 20

COMMUNITY:

PENANCE: Bishops approve document encouraging greater use of sacrament

PAGE 9

News in pictures from around the archdiocese

CARDINALS: Pope creates 6 new cardinals from 6 countries

PAGE 13

PAGE 23

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO Newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco

SERVING SAN FRANCISCO, MARIN & SAN MATEO COUNTIES

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NOVEMBER 30, 2012

$1.00 | VOL. 14 NO. 37

High court clears path for health reform challenges

Boston to group 288 parishes into 135 ‘collaboratives’ CHRISTOPHER S. PINEO CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

BRAINTREE, Mass. – A pastoral plan approved

by Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley calls for the Boston archdiocese to organize its 288 parishes into approximately 135 groups called “parish collaboratives.”

Led by one pastor, a group of priests, deacons and lay ecclesial ministers, called a pastoral team, would provide pastoral services to parishes in the collaborative. Under the plan, each parish in the collaborative group will maintain its separate identity and retain control of its own property and assets.

Cardinal O’Malley said the new pastoral plan comes in response to current challenges faced by the Catholic Church in Boston, and could change if those realities improve. He approved the plan Nov. 15.

“The plan to implement a new model of leadership at the collaboratives does not mean that we are leaving behind the model of a priest being assigned as the pastor of one parish,” he said. “It is my fervent hope, encouraged by a significant increase in seminary enrollment during recent years, that a greater number of ordinations to the priesthood will allow us to again assign priests as pastors of individual parishes.”

SEE BOSTON, PAGE 21

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

discoveries in “space-time geometry,” prompting eminent physicists to assert the cosmos had to have a beginning and thus had to have a creator.

On the occasion of Hawking’s 70th birthday in January, physicist Alexander Vilenkin, director of the Institute of Cosmology at Tufts University, read a paper asserting just that. Science journalist Lisa Grossman, writing in New Scientist, pithily described Vilenkin’s presentation as “the worst birthday present ever.”

If the rate of expansion of the universe is greater than zero – something virtually all physicists agree on – “at the end of the day we will reach an absolute beginning point prior to which the universe

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way Nov. 26 for a federal appeals court to take up a Christian college’s challenge to the Affordable Care Act, reopening one of several lawsuits filed by religious and other groups who oppose elements of the law.

The court ordered the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to hear the argument of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., that the health care law infringes on the Christian school’s religious freedom.

The court had rejected an earlier challenge by the university, made prior to the Supreme Court’s June ruling upholding the health care law. The university appealed again, asking for its challenge to be considered in light of the June Supreme Court ruling.

The order came within weeks of separate rulings by federal courts in Washington and Oklahoma that addressed challenges to a Department of Health and Human Services mandate under the Affordable Care Act, which requires employers to include coverage for contraceptives in employee health insurance.

On Nov. 16, a Washington-based federal judge granted a temporary injunction against enforcement of the contraceptive mandate in a suit brought by an Illinois-based Christian publisher.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton ruled that Tyndale House Publishers, which produces Bibles and various Christian publications, did not have to comply with the new mandate while the group’s lawsuit against it moves forward. The mandate “affirmatively compels” the company to violate its religious beliefs, he said.

Matthew Bowman of Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing the Carol Springs, Ill., company, said in a statement that the judge’s ruling was the right one and that Bible publishers “should be free to do business according to the book that they publish.”

Tyndale objects to the HHS requirement that most religious employers provide free coverage of contraceptives, sterilization and some abortion-inducing drugs free, saying it violates the company’s moral convictions.

In another lawsuit against the mandate, a federal judge in Oklahoma City Nov. 20 denied a request for an injunction against the mandate by the Christianowned business Hobby Lobby, saying the arts-andcrafts stores must cover emergency contraceptives

SEE JESUIT, PAGE 21

SEE MANDATE, PAGE 21

(PHOTO BY RICK DELVECCHIO/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)

Saving St. Boniface glass The signature Gothic realism of the German artisans who created the art-glass windows in St. Boniface Church in San Francisco is evident in this image of King David. The windows are more than a century old and long overdue for restoration. See Page 3.

Jesuit: Science points toward created universe PETER FINNEY JR. CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

NEW ORLEANS – Jesuit Father Robert Spitzer – a philosopher, accountant, former university president and leadership consultant – always has had a fascination with the intersection of faith and reason.

He’s smart enough to have debated physicist Stephen Hawking, an avowed atheist, on national television over the scientific underpinnings of the beginning of the universe and the theological arguments for the existence of God. In a recent address in New Orleans, Father Spitzer said the exciting news for the new evangelization being called for by Pope Benedict XVI is the recent

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INDEX On the Street . . . . . . . . .4 National . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Opinion. . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Faith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Arts & Life. . . . . . . . . . .22

2 ARCHDIOCESE

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

VOX POP

What is your goal – what do you plan to do for Advent?

“I have the privilege of spending Advent with our Lord, admiring the life-size crèche the sisters put up at Cristo Rey.” DIANE DAWES, extern, Carmelite monastery, San Francisco “Typically just going to Mass every Sunday and lighting a candle every night.”

BETSY PURNER, graduate student, asked at University of San Francisco Diane Dawes

Betsy Purner

Sharon McCarthy

Russ Gumina

Lisa Kurth

Frank Lavin

Rosalina Yu

Evelyn MacEachern

Monique Gonzalez

Shanthi Prabhu

“My goal for Advent is to do works of mercy for people.”

SHARON MCCARTHY, asked outside St. Vincent de Paul Church, San Francisco “Advent is a good time for me to reflect on my commitment to being Christian. I try to go to Mass every morning.”

RUSS GUMINA, asked at the Salesian Boys and Girls Club at Sts. Peter and Paul Church “I think to do some sacrificing in an advance Lenten mentality, and we plan to do that as a whole family.”

LISA KURTH, from Fort Collins, Colo., asked outside St. Mary’s Cathedral

EVELYN MACEACHERN, from Nova Scotia, Canada, asked outside Notre Dame des Victoires Church

“I’m saying my novena, the Christmas novena.”

ROSALINA YU, asked outside Notre Dame des Victoires Church, San Francisco

“To make the Christmas novena.

There’s a novena here at 5 p.m.”

FRANK LAVIN, asked outside Sts. Peter and Paul Church, San Francisco

“Penance.”

MONIQUE GONZALEZ, asked outside the Carmelite Monastery of Cristo Rey, San Francisco

“I go to Mass every day and I usually try to give things up when I am home.”

NEED TO KNOW

“I would like to do something practical. Helping push a wheelchair, you know, to be available to my neighbor.”

SHANTHI PRABHU, asked outside St. Mary’s Cathedral, San Francisco Interviews and photos by Valerie Schmalz/Catholic San Francisco

ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS DATES TO REMEMBER

JAN. 1 A HOLY DAY OF OBLIGATION: Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013, is the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God and will be a holy day of obligation in the archdiocese. This feast has been celebrated by Christians for over 1,500 years to celebrate the fulfillment of the promise made to Mary by the angel Gabriel that she would be the mother of the savior. Although often the obligation to attend Mass on the first of the year is moved to the nearest Sunday or the obligation dispensed by the archbishop, in 2013 we will celebrate the solemnity as planned by the Catholic calendar.

LIVING TRUSTS WILLS

The new liturgical year begins with the first Sunday of Advent.

DEC. 9: Second Sunday of Advent

DEC. 26: Feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr

DEC. 2: First Sunday of Advent

DEC. 12: Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

DEC. 28: Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs

DEC. 16: Third Sunday of Advent

DEC. 30: Feast of the Holy Family

DEC. 23: Fourth Sunday of Advent

JAN. 1: Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. Holy day of obligation

DEC. 6: Feast of St. Nicholas DEC. 7: St. Ambrose, bishop and doctor of the church DEC. 8: Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Holy day of obligation. Patronal feast day of the U.S.

PROBATE

DEC. 25: Solemnity of the Nativity of Our Lord (Christmas). Holy day of obligation

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ARCHDIOCESE 3

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

Historic St. Boniface painted glass overdue for restoration

(PHOTOS BY RICK DELVECCHIO/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)

St. Boniface Parish development director Jim Baun points out cracks in an art-glass depiction of St. Cecilia.

RICK DELVECCHIO CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

Many who attend services at St. Boniface Church in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco know that sacred space has its own distinct mood.

It’s an atmosphere that owes much to the art-glass windows that fill the space with the sun’s glow illuminating detailed biblical and historical figures painted on the panes.

But these precious windows, like the church, are more than a century old. Cracked, bowed and worn from the effects of gravity and ordinary wear and tear, they are desperately in need of an overhaul.

“We’ve got a problem here,” said Jim Baun, development director for St. Boniface, as he described the scale of the repair job. “We’ve got a huge problem here.”

The parish, one of the poorest in the archdiocese, is planning a restoration project that will see all the painted panes removed, rebuilt and restored as they were when artisans for the famed Von Gerichten Art Glass Company of Columbus, Ohio, created them in 1908. There are many glories to the church that rose on Golden Gate Avenue just 26 months after the previous building was destroyed by one of the last fires that broke out after the great quake. But the Von Gerichten windows are perhaps the crowning touch.

“The windows make the church – the interior of the church, anyway,” said Baun, who has completed a five-year effort to document all the windows. Without the windows, he said, the church would be like “a perfect smile with a tooth punched out.”

The church has engaged an Oakland firm specializing in stained-glass conservation. Each window will have to be removed and restored individually, a process that will take months per window and cost millions in total.

“The project is going to restore and conserve them for future generations,” Baun said.

The story of the St. Boniface glass is part of the story of the expansion of the immigrant church in the West in the 19th century. Catholics in Germany left in part to flee religious persecution. Ludwig Von Gerich-

A detail depicting Mary Magdalene

ten of Bavaria established a business that grew with the U.S. church and eventually outfitted 850 churches, becoming known as the best in the field.

Baun pointed to one scene of St. Peter with what looked like a profile of Disneyland’s Magic Kingdom in the background. It’s actually a depiction of the eccentric Bavarian King Ludwig II’s Neuschwanstein Castle, a Von Gerichten signature.

“The windows are of great historic and artistic value,” Baun said.

As Baun toured the church recently, homeless men and women slept on the pews – they are supported by The Gubbio Project, and their presence in the pews in the morning is another example of the Franciscan spirituality that been a part of the neighborhood

since St. Boniface was founded. The light from the windows helped make for a soft and a peaceful scene.

The windows are painted in a style called Gothic realism, a term whose meaning is obvious at a glance at any figure or scene. The figures are highly detailed, with their flowing beards, finely pointed eyelashes, realistic reflections in the eyes and distinct emotions. They differ from the impressionistic representations usually associated with church stained glass.

“This is the real thing,” Baun said. “These guys got the eyelashes. It’s like looking at a Rembrandt versus a Picasso.”

The painted figures “look like real people,” he said.

He noted that “the prodigal s.on looks tired.”

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

School days, school days, learnin’s found some new ways TOM BURKE CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

Immaculate Conception Academy freshmen Maya Lane and Alyssa Balocating are getting frontline employment experience at Sonim Technologies, Inc., all part of the ICA Cristo Rey curriculum. The two will be highlighted in an upcoming newsletter from the communications tools company, ICA said. November 2 was an exciting day for the senior class of ICA Maya Lane when college admissions representatives were on campus to speak directly with prospective students.

Seniors qualifying for early acceptance include Marilyn Gutierrez who will attend Holy Names University. Other schools accepting ICA students early included Notre Dame de Namur University, University of New Mexico, University of the Pacific, Santa Clara University and Alyssa University of San Francisco. In adBalocating dition the early-admitted qualified for more than $1.6 million in scholarships at their future alma maters.

CHARITABLE COUPLE: Maureen and Craig Sullivan were recognized by the St. Anthony Foundation with the St. Anthony Spirit Award at ceremonies Oct. 4. “Craig and Maureen have been extremely effective advocates for St. Anthony’s in our campaign to build the new St. Anthony’s Dining Room,� the foundation said. Craig is a former chairman of The Clorox Company. Maureen has held positions with the Social Security Administration and both serve on numerous committees for the benefit of nonprofit work throughout the Bay Area.

NEW IDEAS: Taking classroom fundraising for the missions beyond the miter box of yesteryear is Michael Gotuaco of the Missionary Childhood Association. Michael has introduced a catapult that “launches� donations to children in need. The new device is called HELP – Happy Eagles Launching Pad. While the eagle element suggests quarters as the hoped-for currency, Michael said all coins are welcome.

SCHOLARSHIP: Congrats to John Michael Reyes now in his final year in the Master of Divinity program at the Jesuit School of Theology. John recently completed a fellowship through The Fund

BETTER HEALTH CARE FOR SENIORS WITH SPECIAL NEED OF CARE

FOR THE KIDS: San Francisco’s Holy Family Day Home held its Women’s Boutique in September. The event lets moms, grandmoms and guardians of students at the school choose through donated jewelry, clothes and such to take home and enjoy at no cost to them.

Pictured, from left, are boutique volunteers Gabriella Papale, Marilyn Jaeger Ballon, David Ballon, Kelly Ashtari and Anne Ryan. p.m. Liturgy includes music by mariachi band and homemade favorite foods afterward. Prayers please for longtime St. Thomas music director – 53 years – Mary Cervantes who took a fall in October and still is on the mend. Mission Dolores Parish will commemorate Our Lady Dec. 12 at 5 a.m. with morning Mass including singers and a mariachi band, said organizers Kati and Bob Huerta. Auxiliary Bishop William J. Justice, a former Mission Dolores pastor, will preside.

Last year more than 1,500 people attended. A light breakfast of tamales, hot chocolate and coffee follows.

REUNION: Our Lady of Mount Carmel School graduates of 1962 held a reunion Oct. 27. “Classmates traveled from Florida, Texas, Ohio and New Mexico to celebrate and reminisce about the old days and renew old friendships that seemed like a lifetime ago,� said classmate Mary Sullivan Schorr in a note to this column.

The class’s primary grade teachers, Notre Dame Sisters Cecilia Wallace, fourth from right front, and June Canoles, second from right front, were there, too. Classmate Tom Kelly is holding a mug of himself in fourth grade. for Theological Education that financed a ministry project to the Philippines. His mom, Emmy Reyes, a longtime Holy Name of Jesus parishioner and a nurse at the San Francisco Veterans Hospital, joined him on the trip. “While there I visited with Auxiliary Bishop David William V. Antonio, of the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia, Ilocus Sur, Philippines,� Michael said. They spoke on liturgical and pastoral matters, shared stories and food, and Michael even had a hand in a paper by the bishop concerning liturgy and culture in the Philippines.

HAIL MARY: St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, Balboa at 40th Avenue, San Francisco, will honor Our Lady of Guadalupe Dec. 8 with Mass and a reception at 4

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GOOD HEARTS: The first grade of San Francisco’s St. Gabriel School sold white popcorn and pink popcorn bricks to raise money for St. Martin de Porres House of Hospitality as a Thanksgiving project. They were happy to send a check for $725.

THOUGHTFUL KIDS: Students at San Francisco’s Church of the Epiphany School raised $270 in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

SMILE: Just off his splendid emceeing of the retired priests lunch Oct. 26 at St. Mary’s Cathedral, comedienne Michael Pritchard shared some thoughts on “The Art of Happiness� with the Women’s Guild of St. Robert Parish, San Bruno, Oct. 15. Lori Klingler, guild prez, invited women from surrounding parishes, too. Over 160 attended the special evening which included a special tribute to cancer survivors.

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

CCCYO opens immigration office in San Mateo VALERIE SCHMALZ CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

Catholic Charities CYO has opened a new office offering legal services to immigrants in San Mateo, responding to a growing need on the Peninsula.

The decision to open a full-time office, in addition to the existing Refugee and Immigration Services office at CCCYO headquarters in San Francisco, was driven by demand and

by CCCYO’s effort to raise its visibility outside San Francisco.

“We recognized there was a huge need in San Mateo,” said Diana A. Otero, outreach coordinator for Refugee and Immigration Services at the archdiocesan social services agency.

She said many clients were traveling to San Francisco from San Mateo as well as visiting during part-time office hours held at the St. Francis Center in Redwood City.

The decision also is recognition of the large population of Latino immigrants living particularly in the cities of San Mateo, Redwood City and East Palo Alto. The new immigration services office is located at 36 37th Ave., San Mateo, in a building which also houses CCCYO counseling services.

The office is seeking volunteers who speak Spanish to answer phones and for other tasks, Otero said. Office hours are Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

CCCYO immigration services are

‘We ensure these poor families get access to professional services.’

DIANA A. OTERO

CCCYO Refugee and Immigration Services equivalent to, or better than, those offered by many attorneys, Otero said. “We ensure these poor families get access to professional services,” said Otero, noting an immigration lawyer’s fees can easily run $10,000 to $30,000 – “all their savings.”

“Information is power – we empower them,” Otero said.

CCCYO immigration services are fully recognized by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, so employees can represent clients before the federal immigration service or the immigration court, said Christopher Martinez, program director for Refugee and Immigration Services.

“We’re very successful with our cases,” Martinez said.

CCCYO immigration services provides low cost help in obtaining visas for family unification, filing applications for asylum or for work visas, and helps with citizenship applications. It also helps with other legal issues related to immigration. It serves both documented and undocumented immigrants. Eleven million undocu-

FOR MORE INFORMATION Call (415) 972-1200 to talk to someone at CCCYO concerning the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or visit one of the agency’s three offices in the archdiocese.

SAN FRANCISCO: 180 Howard St., Wednesdays 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

SAN MATEO: 36 37th Ave., Wednesdays 10 a.m.

REDWOOD CITY: Siena Youth Center, 2625 Marlborough Ave., second and fourth Fridays of the month, 10 a.m. mented immigrants are estimated to live and work in the U.S., Martinez said.

Undocumented immigrants anxious to remain are frequently victimized, Otero said, noting there are few paths to legal residency under existing immigration law. “There’s a lot of fraud. We have a lot of people who come to us, facing deportation because they filed false asylum claims,” on the advice of an unscrupulous or ill-informed attorney, she said.

The CCCYO immigration office analyzes a client’s circumstances and advises the client. At times, the best course is to do nothing until immigration law changes, said Otero.

“We should be praying for immigra-

tion reform,” said Otero. “This is part of our faith.”

They also advise those who can to advocate for immigration reform, noting that President Barack Obama’s executive order creating a pathway to temporary legal residency for those brought to the U.S. as minors known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals was the result of the willingness of undocumented young people who came to this country as minors, known as DREAMers, to publicly advocate for the DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act. Under the proposed DREAM Act, qualifying undocumented immigrants would be eligible for a six-year conditional path to citizenship that requires completion of a college degree or two years of military service. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is a temporary solution but does not provide a path to citizenship and does not guarantee permanent residency status.

At the U.S. bishops’ fall meeting on Nov. 13 in Washington, Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Migration, reiterated the U.S. bishops’ decades-long advocacy for comprehensive immigration reform that upholds the rule of law, preserves family unity, and protects the human rights and dignity of the human person. He called on Congress and President Obama “to work together to enact comprehensive immigration reform in 2013.”

Photos: (c) Gabriel Harber

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

Catholic advocates monitoring issues facing lame-duck Congress MARK PATTISON

KEY ISSUES FOR CATHOLIC ADVOCATES

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON – The 2010 lame-duck session of Congress handled a huge workload two years ago, but it may seem like a trifle compared to what’s on the agenda for the 2012 lame-duck session.

Foremost on many people’s minds is the impending expiration of several tax cuts and tax breaks – which, when coupled with budget deficits and the need to raise the nation’s debt ceiling yet again, has led to the popularization of the term “fiscal cliff ” to describe the situation.

Catholic advocates have joined a multifaith effort calling for a “circle of protection” around the poorest and most vulnerable Americans.

The effort started in 2011, even before last year’s midsummer debt showdown between the Democratic-occupied White House, the Republicandominated House, and a Democratic-led Senate that had a large Republican minority threatening to invoke filibusters. Not to mention the HouseSenate “Gang of Six” and the “supercommittee” bids to present palatable debt-relief options after the 2010 Simpson-Bowles debt reduction commission’s recommendations went largely ignored by lawmakers.

During a Nov. 20 conference call with reporters, “circle of protection” advocates pointed out that during debate on last year’s Budget Control Act, they were able to take off the table programs benefiting the poor, and were hopeful they could repeat that success in the month ahead.

Any fiscal deal “must be comprehensive and balanced,” said Kathy Saile, director of domestic social development for the U.S. bishops. “It must involve deficit reduction. It must require tax increases. It must protect the poor and vulnerable.”

And to accomplish all that, she added, “it must be bipartisan.”

The Rev. Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, wanted to debunk the notion that government programs that help the poor promote dependency.

“My father was a hardworking man. He had two jobs. He was a pastor,” he said.

“My mother was working. We were on food stamps. It helped us,” Rev. Salguero added. “If it didn’t help us, we’d go hungry. It’s not anecdotal, it’s straight from human experience.”

CREATING A ‘CIRCLE OF PROTECTION’ around the nation’s most vulnerable ENSURING A ‘COMPREHENSIVE AND BALANCED’ deal on the nation’s fiscal crisis FARM BILL REAUTHORIZATION, which includes food stamp and school lunch benefits COMMUNITY ACCESS SAFEGUARDS in public broadcasting

But deficit cutting isn’t the only item on the agenda.

For one thing, there’s still a farm bill to approve. The measure is a reauthorization bill that comes up every five years or so.

The National Catholic Rural Life Conference is a member of the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. “There’s a lot of groups out there, sustain agriculture groups, farm groups, conservation groups, even the administration and folks in the Democratic wing saying we need a 2012 farm bill in the current year,” said rural life conference policy adviser Bob Gronski.

“But the reality is how do we get it done?”

The farm bill’s scope is wide-ranging, covering not only American farms, big and small, but also the nation’s school lunch programs and the Supplemental Nutritional and Assistance Program, or SNAP, the renamed food stamp program, which benefits families in need. Conservation and trade are among the farm bill’s other components.

In another arena, the U.S. bishops are behind the CAP Act. CAP stands for Community Access Programming, which would safeguard the public, educational and governmental access channels that were established when cities and counties first awards franchises to cable operators.

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H A Workshop led by Carol Kaplan, MFT Saturday, December 8, 2012 s 9:30am–4:00pm S F many people the holidays can be difficult.

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MARYKNOLLER DISMISSED FOR SUPPORTING WOMEN’S ORDINATION WASHINGTON – The Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has dismissed Roy Bourgeois from the priesthood because of his participation in the invalid ordination of a woman and “a simulated Mass,” the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers announced Nov. 19.

The order said in a statement the canonical dismissal came Oct. 4.

Citing Bourgeois’ participation in the invalid ordination in Lexington, Ky., Aug. 9, 2008, the Maryknoll statement said, “With patience, the Holy See and the Maryknoll Society have encouraged his reconciliation with the Catholic Church.”

Bourgeois could not be immediMaryknoll ately reached for comment.

Father Roy “Instead, Mr. Bourgeois chose Bourgeois to campaign against the teachings of the Catholic Church in secular and non-Catholic venues,” the statement said. “This was done without the permission of the local U.S. Catholic bishops and while ignoring the sensitivities of the faithful across the country. Disobedience and preaching against the teaching of the Catholic Church about women’s ordination led to his excommunication, dismissal and laicization.”

The church holds that it has no authority to ordain women. This year at his Holy Thursday chrism Mass at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed the church’s ban on women priests.

The Maryknoll statement said, “Mr. Bourgeois freely chose his views and actions, and all the members of the Maryknoll Society are saddened at the failure of reconciliation. With this parting, the Maryknoll Society warmly thanks Roy Bourgeois for his service to mission and all members wish him well in his personal life.

“In the spirit of equity and charity, Maryknoll will assist Mr. Bourgeois with this transition.”

Maryknoll spokesman Mike Virgintino declined further comment in a brief interview with Catholic News Service.

Bourgeois first gained the attention of Vatican authorities after participating in the attempted ordination of Janice Sevre-Duszynskaa sponsored by Roman Catholic Womenpriests Aug. 9, 2008, in Kentucky. In a meeting with his Maryknoll superiors nine days after the ceremony, he received a canonical warning related to his role. At the time, then-Father Bourgeois said he hoped the issue was settled because he had no intention of participating in any other such event.

Subsequently, he spoke about his support for women’s ordination, saying it was a matter of sexism within the church that caused him to speak out.

The former priest was excommunicated Nov. 24, 2008, “latae sententiae” – automatically – for not recanting his public statements supporting the ordination of women. He has said that his beliefs are based on his understanding of justice and equality as expressed in the Gospel, but the Catholic Church teaches it cannot ordain women because Jesus chose only men to be his apostles. ©CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

Our Lady of Guadalupe PRO-LIFE PROCESSION Join our rosary-praying procession beneath Our Lady’s banner starting from St.Matthew, San Mateo (El Camino Real & 9th Ave) north up El Camino to Planned Parenthood (35 Baywood Ave) and return. [about 1.5 mile round-trip] Rain or shine!

Sunday Dec. 9, 2012 2:00 PM Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Pre-born, Pray for us!

NATIONAL 7

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

Bishops OK document encouraging greater use of penance MARK PATTISON CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

BALTIMORE – The U.S. bishops Nov. 13 overwhelmingly approved an exhortation encouraging Catholics to take advantage of the sacrament of penance, also known as reconciliation.

The vote, which required approval of two-thirds of the bishops, was 236-1.

The text was prepared by the bishops’ Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, chaired by Bishop David L. Ricken of Green Bay, Wis. The exhortation quotes from the Gospel of John after Jesus arose and told the Apostles: “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them.�

In so doing, the exhortation says, Jesus was “proclaiming that all the suffering he had just endured was in order to make available the gifts of salvation and forgiveness.�

It adds, “In the sacrament of penance and reconciliation, we meet the Lord, who wants to grant forgiveness and the grace to live a renewed life in him. In this sacrament, he prepares us to receive him with a lively faith, earnest hope, and sacrificial love in the Eucharist. By the grace of the Holy Spirit, we repent, let go of any pattern of sin, grow in the life of virtue and witness to a joyful conversion.�

Bishop Ricken, in remarks Nov. 12, said the document was prepared so that it “might assist in the conversion of hearts for Jesus Christ, which is at the heart of evangelization.�

He added the exhortation is “rooted in the teachings� of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The

(CNS PHOTO/GREGORY A. SHEMITZ)

At their annual fall meeting in Baltimore, the U.S. bishops issued a call to Catholics to take advantage of the sacrament of penance, especially those who have not gone to confession for some time. In a 2009 file photo, Bishop Michael O. Jackels of Wichita, Kan., hears confession during a youth rally in Washington. brevity of this statement is intended to foster a wide dissemination in parish bulletins, diocesan publications and social media. In response to a question, Bishop Ricken said the document, if approved, would be published as a pamphlet.

The exhortation tries to ease the fears of Catholics who have not gone to confession for some time. “We bishops and priests are eager

The exhortation tries to ease the fears of Catholics who have not gone to confession for some time: ‘We bishops and priests are eager to help you if you experience difficulty, hesitation, or uncertainty about approaching the Lord in this sacrament. If you have not received this healing sacrament in a long time, we are ready to welcome you.’ to help you if you experience difficulty, hesitation, or uncertainty about approaching the Lord in this sacrament,� it says. “If you have not received this healing sacrament in a long time, we are ready to welcome you. We, whom Christ has ordained to minister this forgiveness in his name, are also approaching this sacrament, as both penitents and ministers, during Lent. We want to offer ourselves to you as forgiven sinners seeking to serve in the Lord’s name.�

The exhortation reminds Catholics

that “Pope Benedict XVI has said, ‘The new evangelization ... begins in the confessional!’�

One change in the text of the exhortation as proposed will be the inclusion of a reminder to Catholics – still to be written – that they are obliged to go to confession at least once a year.

Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan of Santa Fe, N.M., complained that such language did not appear in the exhortation and that a bid to include it had been rejected by the committee.

Without such language, “it becomes a bit of a vague statement,�

Archbishop Sheehan said. “Catholics shouldn’t have to go to the website to find out such basic things about our Catholic faith.�

Bishop Ricken replied it was the committee’s intent to make the exhortation “invitational� in nature. “We didn’t want it to be seen as ‘You’re invited, but you have to come.’� But, with the objection raised by Archbishop Sheehan and other bishops, he said he would take the exhortation back to the committee to find a way to incorporate details of the once -a-year requirement into it.

The exhortation would be made public in time to allow for dioceses to prepare for Lent 2013 and to offer the sacrament at times that are “convenient and plentiful,� according to a background document on the exhortation.

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8 WORLD

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

SPAIN’S BISHOPS URGE UNITED FRONT AGAINST SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

MADRID – Spain’s Catholic bishops urged political parties to unite against same-sex marriage, after it was confirmed as legal by the Constitutional Court.

“Spanish legislation on marriage is gravely unjust – it does not protect the parties’ right to be recognized in law as husband and wife, nor the right of children and young people to be brought up as future husbands and wives, and to enjoy a father and mother in a stable family,” the bishops’ conference said after its Nov. 19-23 plenary in Madrid.

“We call again on politicians to take responsibility. Right reason demands everyone act according to conscience and beyond party discipline in this key area and that no one votes to endorse a law which so badly damages society’s basic structures.”

The statement follows the Nov. 6 court judgment rejecting legal challenges to the 2005 law.

The bishops said the country was “witnessing the destruction of marriage by legal means,” adding that all politicians should uphold the common good by changing the law.

More than 22,000 same-sex marriages have been recorded under the law, which was constitutionally challenged after the 2011 election victory of the People’s Party under Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

The bishops’ conference spokesman, Madrid Auxiliary Bishop Juan Martinez Camino, said Nov. 22 that the Constitutional Court had “submitted a correct interpretation of the law.”

However, he added that the Catholic Church believed the law needed “urgent reform” and was calling on the government to “form a coalition” with Catholics from all parties to abolish same-sex marriage.

The church upholds the traditional definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.

Besides Spain, same-sex marriage is allowed in Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa and Sweden.

A Socialist-backed law to permit same-sex marriage and adoption, scheduled for parliamentary debate in January, faces bitter opposition from the Catholic Church and other faith groups in neighboring France.

More than 17,000 town mayors and officials have declared themselves against the law, which was protested by 200,000 people at a Nov. 17 demonstration in Paris. ©CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

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(CNS PHOTO/LEONHARD FOEGER, REUTERS)

Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt walks next to Abdullah Al Turki, president of the Islamic League; U.N. Secretary-General Ban Kimoon; Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal; Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger; Spanish Foreign Minister Manuel Garcia-Margallo Marfil; and Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, during the opening ceremony of the King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Center in Vienna Nov. 26. The new Saudi-backed interfaith center will provide an opportunity for the church to promote religious freedom for Christians and others around the world, said Cardinal Tauran.

Vatican backs religious liberty in Saudi-funded center CAROL GLATZ CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

VATICAN CITY – A new Saudi-backed interfaith center will provide an opportunity for the church to promote religious freedom for Christians and others around the world, said the head of the Vatican’s office for interreligious dialogue.

The King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Center will offer “another opportunity for open dialogue on many issues, including those related to fundamental human rights, in particular religious freedom in all its aspects, for everybody, for every community, everywhere,” said Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran during the opening of the center in Vienna Nov. 26.

“The Holy See is particularly attentive to the fate of Christian communities in countries where such a freedom is not adequately guaranteed,” said the cardinal, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

Cardinal Tauran joined U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and other dignitaries in Vienna for the inauguration of the center, which is named for and financed by the king of Saudi Arabia.

The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Spain and Austria – the center’s founding nations – also

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attended. The Vatican is assisting the project as a “founding observer.”

Saudi Arabia forbids the practice of any religion except Islam, even in private. Groups of liberal Muslims and members of the Austrian Green Party protested the center in the days leading up to its inauguration.

Cardinal Tauran said there were high expectations that King Abdullah’s new initiative would be marked by “honesty, vision and credibility.”

The center will act as a clearinghouse to gather information, new ideas and initiatives as well as be a kind of watchdog, to verify and act on human rights’ “failures,” the cardinal said, so that no one might be “deprived of the light and the resources that religion offers for the happiness of every human being.”

The Vatican will use its role in the center to call for the “effective respect of the fundamental rights of Christians who live in countries with a Muslim majority, in order to promote authentic and integral religious liberty,” Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said in a statement Nov. 23.

He said the Vatican was participating in the center “in order better to put to use her experience and trusted expertise in the field of interreligious dialogue.” He also noted that the center’s co-founding states, Austria and Spain, “have centuries-old Christian traditions.”

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WORLD 9

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

Irish bishops reiterate teaching on right to life of mother, child CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

DUBLIN – Expressing anguish and sorrow over the death of a pregnant woman in an Irish hospital, the country’s Catholic bishops said that pregnant women must receive all treatment to save their lives, even if it results in the unintended death of an unborn child.

The statement Nov. 19 came three weeks after the deaths of Savita Halappanavar, 31, who died after a miscarriage, and her unborn child. Halappanavar died after hospital medical staff determined they could not end the child’s life because they could detect a fetal heartbeat, even as the woman’s husband, Praveen, urged them to save his wife’s life.

Halappanavar’s death Oct. 28 at University Hospital Galway has led to an outpouring of public anger. Thousands of people have taken to the streets calling for the country’s constitutional ban on abortion to be overturned.

In its statement, the Standing Committee of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference described the case as “a devastating personal tragedy” for the Halappanavar family and acknowledged that the circumstances of her death had “stunned our country.”

The bishops’ statement sought to clarify church teaching on the need for medical intervention to save the life of a mother. The bishops said they believe Ireland’s medical guidelines contain adequate ethical provisions to allow medical staff to intervene as long as necessary steps have been taken to save both mother and unborn child.

The bishops insisted that the Catholic Church has never taught that the life of a child in the womb should be preferred to that of a mother.

“Whereas abortion is the direct and intentional destruction of an unborn baby and is gravely im-

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‘Whereas abortion is the direct and intentional destruction of an unborn baby and is gravely immoral in all circumstances, this is different from medical treatments which do not directly and intentionally seek to end the life of the unborn baby,’ the bishops said in their statement.

(CNS PHOTO/REUTERS)

Savita Halappanavar is seen on her wedding day in this photo from a family album. She miscarried and died Oct. 28 at a hospital after medical staff determined they could not end her unborn child’s life. moral in all circumstances, this is different from medical treatments which do not directly and intentionally seek to end the life of the unborn baby,” the bishops said in their statement.

The bishops also reiterated a statement made by Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin to Catholic News Service Nov. 18 that Ireland is a safe place for expectant mothers.

Pointing to international health care data, the bishops said “Ireland, without abortion, remains

one of the safest countries in the world in which to be pregnant and to give birth. This is a position that should continue to be cherished and strengthened in the interests of mothers and unborn children in Ireland.”

The maternal mortality rate in Ireland stands at 4.1 per 100,000 births and is among the lowest in Europe.

Archbishop Martin told CNS he believed doctors, nurses and midwives “set out always to save lives.”

“The fact that our maternal mortality is so low is a sign that there is something that is working well in the system,” he said.

Meanwhile, pro-life campaigners have expressed concern at the appointment of Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, head of obstetrics and gynecology at St. George’s, University of London, as chairman of a Health Service Executive inquiry into Halappanavar’s death. They cited a 2009 statement in which he argued that abortion should be a legal right for women.

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Friday, December 7th at 7:30 pm Sunday, December 9th at 3:30 pm & 7:30 pm A snowstorm? In San Francisco?! Grab your nearest and dearest and head on down to the SHC airport and depart for the silliest trip of the holiday season!

The SHC Chorus imagines what it would be like if it snowed in San Francisco—and grounds all flights due to inclement fun! A bevy of characters—from the woebegone ticket salesman, the harried mother, and battling lovers—sing a variety of your favorite pop, classic, oldie and holiday songs. Grab your cozy coat (and that last Cinnabon from the gate!) and transport yourselves to an exciting holiday adventure with SHC’s A Christmas Getaway, piloted by Christian Bohm. You’ll be cruising at a comfortable speed of mirth and delight.

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10 WORLD

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

Pope: Protecting marriage, life part of serving common good CINDY WOODEN CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

VATICAN CITY – Catholics are called to serve the common good of society, including by protecting traditional marriage and defending human life, Pope Benedict XVI told bishops from France.

Being Catholic means being faithful “to the moral teaching of the church” and having “the courage to demonstrate their Christian convictions – without arrogance, but with respect – in the various spheres in which they work,” the pope said Nov. 17 as he welcomed a group of bishops making their periodic “ad limina” visits to the Vatican.

“With the bishops, they must pay attention to proposals for civil laws that can undermine: the safeguarding of marriage between a man and a woman,

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(CNS PHOTO/CHRISTIAN HARTMANN, REUTERS)

Opponents of same-sex marriage demonstrate in Paris Nov. 18 against the French government’s draft law to legalize marriage and adoption for same-sex couples. the protection of human life from conception to death, and the correct orientation of bioethics in faithfulness to the documents of the magisterium,” the pope said.

In several French cities Nov. 17-18, thousands of Catholics took to the streets to protest government plans to legalize same-sex marriage. President Francois Hollande said he wanted to legalize gay unions by mid-2013.

Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois of Paris told the Vatican newspaper Nov. 17 that the church has been express-

ing its opposition to the proposed law and “we have warned about the dangers” such a change can bring.

In the interview with L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican paper, he said the law, which would include allowing gay couples to adopt, “risks producing devastating effects,” particularly for children who would grow up not having both a male and female parent.

Early in November, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, talked about gay marriage proposals in Spain, France and several U.S. states.

In an editorial comment for Vatican Radio, Father Lombardi said it is “clear that in Western countries there is a widespread tendency to modify the classic vision of marriage between a man and woman, or rather to try to give it up, erasing its specific and privileged legal recognition compared to other forms of union.”

“It is not, in fact, a question of avoiding unfair discrimination for homosexuals, since this must and can be guaranteed in other ways,” he said.

The history and development of modern marriage between one man and one woman was “an achievement of civilization,” he said. If it is not what is best for individuals and for society, “why not also contemplate freely chosen polygamy and, of course, not to discriminate, polyandry,” which is when a woman has more than one husband.

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WORLD 11

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

Health is universal good to be defended, pope says CAROL GLATZ CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

VATICAN CITY – Good health is a benefit that needs to be defended and guaranteed for all people, not just for those who can afford it, Pope Benedict XVI told hundreds of health care workers.

The new evangelization is needed in the health field, especially during the current economic crisis “that is cutting resources for safeguarding health,” he said Nov. 17, addressing participants at a conference sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry.

Hospitals and other facilities “must rethink their particular role in order to avoid having health become a simple ‘commodity,’ subordinate to the laws of the market, and, therefore, a good reserved to a few, rather than a universal good to be guaranteed and defended,” he said.

Nearly 600 people who work in the field of health care attended the council’s Nov. 15-17 international

conference, which focused on the theme: “The Hospital, Setting for Evangelization: A Human and Spiritual Mission.”

The pope told them that, on the one hand, advancements in science and medicine have led to greater possibilities for curing the physical ailments of those who are ill.

“But on the other hand, it seems to have weakened the ability to care for the whole and unique person who suffers,” he added.

Such advancements, the pope said, seem “to cloud the ethical horizons of medical science, which risks forgetting that its vocation is serving every person and the whole person, in its different phases of existence” from conception to its natural end.

It is important that the Christian concepts of “compassion, solidarity, sharing, self-denial, generosity and giving oneself ” become part of the vocabulary of all people involved in the world of health care, he said.

“Only when the well-being of the person, in its

most fragile and defenseless condition and in search of meaning in the unfathomable mystery of pain, is very clearly at the center of medical and assisted care” can the hospital be seen as a place where healing isn’t a job, but a mission, the pope said.

Bringing life-giving and evangelizing assistance to others will always be expected of Catholic health workers, he said.

“Now more than ever our society needs ‘good Samaritans’ with a generous heart and arms open to all,” he added.

Being Catholic brings with it a greater responsibility to society, and Catholics need to live their lives with courage as a true vocation, he said.

Professionals and volunteers working in health care represent “a unique vocation, which necessitates study, sensitivity and experience,” he said.

However, it’s also necessary to go beyond academic qualifications and develop a true capacity to respond to the mystery of suffering and see one’s work as a human and spiritual mission, he said.

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12 WORLD

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

Bishop: Environment, sacramental life linked DENNIS SADOWSKI CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON – The link between respecting the environment and the sacramental life of the church is inseparable for one bishop overseeing a diocese that encompasses a collection of small islands in the South Pacific.

Bishop Bernard Unabali of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, considers the link so unfaltering that when he baptizes a new member of the church or confirms someone or even when he ordains a priest, he asks individuals to plant 10 trees as a way to give rise to new life.

Such an act of faith, he told Catholic News Service Nov. 8, is one way he prayerfully encourages people to pursue to help stem the rapid pace of climate change. “(I) use this situation, which is going to be affecting us more drastically than probably in the past, to help people recapture our relationship to the environment,” he said. “We must entrench something in our lives to continue this environmental concern, respect and care.”

Bishop Unabali was in Washington to open a threeday symposium highlighting the urgent calls from Pope Benedict XVI on the importance of Catholics acting on behalf of an increasingly fragile environment in the face of climate change. The event, hosted by The Catholic University of America Nov. 8-10, brought together a dozen Catholic theologians and philosophers to discuss the implications of Pope Benedict’s biblically-based ecological vision for the Catholic Church, particularly in the United States.

The symposium was sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change, and the university and its Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies.

Bishop Unabali explained that care for the environment and encouragement of sustainable development for Bougainville have become priorities under the pastoral plan he developed alongside lay parishioners.

The plan, he said, is helping foster a greater awareness of the generations-long relationship with the environment that he believes each person is responsible for maintaining.

Integrating Pope Benedict’s themes for the church’s

(CNS PHOTO/NANCY PHELAN WIECHEC)

Bishop Bernard Unabali of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, aided in the relocation of Carteret Islanders who were among the world’s first climate refugees. He is pictured at the Marist Center Nov. 8 during a visit to Washington, where he was addressing an audience of Catholic theologians on the topic of climate change.

Year of Faith, Bishop Unabali’s pastoral plan mixes Catholic and traditional spirituality with educational components that stress the responsibility each person has for stewardship of the earth.

“It’s right relationships,” he told the audience during his keynote presentation. “Right relationship is love. Society is based on relationships and, by nature, people are related to the environment.”

Bishop Unabali’s concern about the environment and climate change has taken shape throughout the 27 years of his priesthood. Named in 2009 to guide the Bougainville diocese’s 160,000 Catholics after serving for three years as auxiliary bishop, the soft-spoken, slightly built prelate told CNS it was his visit to the Carteret Islands that spurred him to decisive action.

Spending two weeks in 2007 with the Halia people who inhabit the atolls 50 miles north of the autonomous region’s main island, Bishop Unabali saw evidence of the rising ocean: One atoll had been cut in two, with the lowest areas under several feet of water.

Hundreds of people were displaced.

As many as 700 Halia have relocated in recent years to the main island of Bougainville, an autonomous

region of 200,000 people in Papua New Guinea northeast of Australia. They are widely believed to be the world’s first climate refugees.

Bishop Unabali was so concerned for the Halia people’s safety that he spearheaded an effort for the diocese to sponsor five families.

Despite their move, the Halia continue to struggle as the Papua New Guinea government offers minimal support. To help, the Bougainville diocese has secured funding from a variety sources – some Catholic, but most not – to assist the Halia adjust to their new lives.

The bishop said the 3,300 Halia remaining on the atolls are coping with their dwindling land, but that he expects within two or three decades all of the atolls’ residents will be forced to live elsewhere.

Complicating the bishop’s concerns for the environment are underlying tensions that endure 15 years after the region’s nearly decade-long civil war ended.

Almost since the day Papua New Guinea gained its independence in 1975, the people of Bougainville have sought independence for themselves. Frustrated by more than a century under German and Australian administration – interrupted only by a Japanese invasion during World War II – and exploitation of rich copper and gold reserves that yielded few benefits for local communities, Bougainville rebels began a fight for independence in 1988.

It was three years after the war ended before a peace agreement was finalized in 2000. It led to the establishment of an autonomous government for the region and for a referendum at some point in the future on whether the region should become politically independent.

The diocese does its share to help keep the peace through a reconciliation program that Bishop Unabali said attempts to “plant the seed for a better foundation for the future.”

Still, it’s a deep concern about climate change that guides Bishop Unabali’s work. He said he agreed to address the symposium to urge American Catholics to integrate biblical values of environmental justice into their lives.

“We need to discover deeper symbols and meaning in those words (of Pope Benedict) and how to make them practical in our liturgy, our educational system, how we talk, think, speak, so it becomes part of our deep core Catholic values,” he said.

The ‘green’ pope: Benedict’s calls for creation care earn notice DENNIS SADOWSKI CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON – Care for creation has been a hallmark of Pope Benedict XVI’s papacy.

From his 2009 encyclical “Caritas in Veritate” (“Charity in Truth”) to his leadership in guiding the Vatican to reduce its carbon footprint, Pope Benedict continues an 800-year Catholic tradition of holding up the environment as a gift from God that must be protected and sustained.

His writings on the environment are so extensive that some Catholics call him the “green” pope.

Taken collectively, Pope Benedict’s unwavering writings on the importance of protecting God’s creation and the need to address climate change offer a starting point for Catholics to respond to the ecological dangers facing the world.

In an effort to consider the fullness of those teachings, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change and The Catholic University of America’s Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies hosted a symposium Nov. 8-10 in Washington to examine what the U.S. Catholic response to environmental concerns might entail.

Dan Misleh, executive director of the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change, told Catholic News Service that the time was right for Catholics to share the rich tradition of Catholic teaching on the environment in an effort to shape how the world addresses climate change and other environmental concerns.

“We do not have time,” he said. “We have to begin to do this.

“If we don’t do it right, if we’re not faithful to who we are as Catholics, then we cede the issue to the environmental groups. The solutions (they offer) won’t be as attentive to the needs of people, particularly poor people,” he said.

Overall, about 60 people attended the event to hear a dozen presenters on a wide range of topics: the influence of works by St. Francis of Assisi, St.

Bonaventure, St. Thomas Aquinas, Pope Paul VI and Blessed John Paul II on Pope Benedict’s writings; biblical images of creation; the prayers and ritual in the celebration of Mass that call to mind God’s creation; the American lifestyle and the nature of sin; and everyday habits people can adopt in an effort to take better care of the environment.

Some speakers called for the pope’s teachings to be explored in Sunday homilies, school curricula and parish Bible study and discussion groups. The environment, they said, is far too important to be ignored by church institutions.

Underlying the symposium was a special focus on the impact of climate change on poor people around the world and Pope Benedict’s distinctive concern for them. Presenters noted it is poor people who suffer most because of climate change and benefit least from industrialization and economic globalization, major contributors to environmental degradation.

“The church can gain an understanding of what love for your neighbor means today, and love for your neighbor means caring for the environment that the global neighbor lives in,” said attendee Erin Lothes Biviano, assistant professor of theology at College of St. Elizabeth in Morristown, N.J. “It means protecting people from hunger, drought, increases in tropical diseases, dislocation of climate refugees,” she said. “It is essential that the church’s powerful social justice tradition bring light to that.”

Christiana Z. Peppard, assistant professor of theology and science and ethics at Fordham University, raised ethical questions surrounding the evolution of water as a commodity to be bottled and sold as opposed to being a gift of the earth that is a necessity for life.

Citing a statement from the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, she identified fresh water as a right-to-life issue. “This is powerful language in an American context,” she told the symposium.

David Cloutier, associate professor of theology at Mount St. Mary’s University, on sabbatical as he writes a book on the morality of luxury, examined

how Pope Benedict ties environmental concern to traditional Catholic moral values as expressed in the concern for hungry, poor and marginalized people.

“The bottom line is taking care for the environment is a serious commitment that is required of Catholics,” he told CNS. The symposium also pointed to the long history of church teaching on creation’s goodness.

Scott Hefelfinger, doctoral candidate at the University of Notre Dame, called for Catholics to tap that history on behalf of the common good, as expressed in the Second Vatican Council document “Gaudium et Spes,” the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World.

The celebration of the Eucharist at Mass can inspire Catholic values on creation as well when worshippers understand the meanings of prayers and see the gifts of bread and wine as gifts of the earth, explained Msgr. Kevin W. Irwin, professor of liturgical studies at The Catholic University of America.

“If liturgy is what we pray and what we believe, then it ought to impact on how we live,” he said “We use the things of this world to worship God and worship of God is about a common celebration. Therefore, how does that celebration help us revere and share with the world?”

In the end, the conference offered no definitive solutions, but held out a wide range of actions and reflections for Catholics to consider in raising their awareness of the church’s respect for creation.

Speaker Mary Ashley, doctoral student at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, said there are many ways for Catholics to “plunge in” on behalf of the environment.

“We image God when we love God’s creation,” she said.

Misleh said the symposium’s proceedings will be published some time in 2013, with the goal of making it available to parishes, schools and environmental groups interested in putting the pope’s teachings into action.

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

6 new cardinals from 6 countries: No Europeans CINDY WOODEN CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

VATICAN CITY – Shortly after announcing he was creating six new cardinals, Pope Benedict XVI said he was doing so to show that “the church is a church of all peoples, (and) speaks in all languages.”

The six new “princes of the church” hail from six different countries in North America, Latin America, Africa and Asia, and represent both the Latin-rite of the Catholic Church as well as two of the Eastern Catholic Churches.

Inducting them into the College of Cardinals Nov. 24, Pope Benedict brought up to 120 the number of cardinal-electors – those under the age of 80 and eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope.

With the exception of the Catholic newspaper Avvenire, the headlines in Italian newspapers the morning after Pope Benedict announced the new cardinals all pointed out the absence of new Italian or new European cardinals.

Painting the pope’s move as drastic and trying to make sense of it, Il Foglio and several other papers jumped to the conclusion that the pope deliberately excluded Italians because of the “VatiLeaks” scandal. The scandal saw the publication of private Vatican and papal correspondence, much of it painting a picture of careerism and corruption in the Vatican, mostly involving Italian curial officials and bishops.

Il Foglio’s headline was: “A consistory to lead the church out of its Roman misgovernance.”

The new cardinals will make up only 5 percent of the electors in the College of Cardinals, but they shift the continental balance, even if just slightly.

The percentage of European electors will drop from almost 55 percent Nov. 16 to just over 51 percent Nov. 24; the figure contrasts sharply with the fact that, according to Vatican statistics, less than 24 percent of the world’s Catholics live in Europe.

The new consistory will bring the percentage of Asian electors from 7 percent to 9 percent. Catholics in Asia account for just over 10 percent of the worldwide Catholic population.

Naming two prelates in their 50s to the college also will lower the average age of the cardinal-electors; as of Nov. 16 the electors’ average age was just over 72.

The six new cardinals slated to receive their red hats and cardinal rings are: U.S. Archbishop James M. Harvey, 63, prefect of the papal household; Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai, 72; Indian Archbishop Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, 53, head of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church; Nigerian Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja, 68; Colombian Archbishop Ruben Salazar Gomez of Bogota, 70; and Philippine Archbishop Luis Tagle of Manila, 55.

When Pope Benedict created 22 cardinals in February, 16 of them were Europeans.

Obviously, the pope does not make his choice based on geography first of all. Most of the cardinals hold positions that by Vatican norms or by ancient tradition are held by cardinals.

LATE ITALIAN CARDINAL HONORED FOR HELPING RESCUE JEWS DURING HOLOCAUST

JERUSALEM – The late archbishop of Florence, Italian Cardinal Elia Dalla Costa, has been recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem for the role he played in a widespread network set up to rescue Jews following the Nazi occupation of Italy.

During World War II, Florence was the scene of a major rescue mission in a joint effort by Jewish leaders and members of the Catholic Church.

Described in testimony of one of the Catholic rescuers as “the soul of this ‘activity of love,’” Cardinal Dalla Costa guided, initiated and encouraged Catholic clergy to participate in the network.

He recruited rescuers from among the clergy, supplied letters to his activists so they could go to heads of monasteries and convents to ask them to shelter Jews, and sheltered fleeing Jews in his own palace for short periods until they were taken to safe places.

Following the December 1943 arrest of the Jewish activist members of the network, the church under Cardinal Dalla Costa continued in its rescue efforts, despite the arrest and torture of some clergy.

Through its joint work, the network managed to save hundreds of local Jews as well as Jewish refugees from other countries.

POPE APPEALS FOR PEACE IN MIDEAST

VATICAN CITY – Greeting hundreds of Christians from Lebanon, Pope Benedict XVI encouraged their presence in the Middle East and launched a fresh appeal for peace in the region.

“The church encourages every effort aimed at bringing peace to the world and the Middle East,” he said Nov. 26 during an audience with new cardinals and their guests, adding that real peace must be “based on an authentic respect for each other. I wish to encourage the life and presence of Christians in the Middle East where they should be able to live their faith freely and to launch once again an urgent appeal for peace in the region,” he said.

MEXICAN BISHOPS ELECT GUADALAJARA CARDINAL

MEXICO CITY – The Mexican bishops’ conference has elected Cardinal Francisco Robles Ortega

Given the large number of Italians heading Vatican offices and the numerous Italian archdioceses traditionally led by cardinals, the Italians would have a numerically powerful bloc of votes in a conclave to elect a new pope. In fact, after the consistory is over and the six new cardinals are welcomed into the group, the Italians still will have 28 voters, 20 of whom were created cardinals by Pope Benedict.

With the exception of Europe, no single continent has the number of electors Italy has; Latin America comes closest with 21 electors.

But sometimes those who should be cardinals are kept in an archbishop’s magenta for a while; the most obvious example of that is Archbishop Gerhard L. Muller, who was named prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in July.

Vatican norms – and the practical responsibilities of a job that involves doctrinal oversight of Vatican offices headed by cardinals – dictate that the prefect be a cardinal. He’ll just have to wait a bit.

Of the 120 electors who will be part of the college Nov. 24, 40 of them work in or have retired from positions in the Roman Curia. The other 80 are archbishops who head dioceses or patriarchs and major archbishops who head Eastern churches.

Cardinal-designate Rai, the Maronite patriarch, will bring to 21 the number of cardinal-electors who entered the priesthood and ministered as members of religious orders. The Salesians top the list with four cardinals – three of them, including Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state – work in the Roman Curia. The group of electors also includes three Franciscans and two Jesuits.

A greater variety of nations, languages, spiritual and liturgical traditions in the College of Cardinals obviously means a more “catholic” group of participants in the cardinals’ most solemn responsibility: electing a new pope. But the variety also has a very real impact on the Roman Curia because each cardinal becomes a member of one or more Vatican congregations or councils, bringing his experience to bear on decisions that impact the universal church.

and was even invited to the Vatican in 2009 by the bishops of Mexico state for a pre-Christmas audience with Pope Benedict XVI. The Archdiocese of Mexico City also annulled the marriage of his then-girlfriend, soap opera star Angelica Rivera, so the pair could marry in a Catholic ceremony.

ABUSE VICTIMS TO BE PRIORITY, SAYS NEW BISHOP OF TROUBLED IRISH DIOCESE

(CNS PHOTO/ANTO AKKARA)

Bejeweled Catholic shrine The Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Dolours in Thrissur, India, is bejeweled in colorful lights Nov. 25 for the annual feast marking the consecration of the church. The Syro-Malabar minor basilica is located in the southern Indian state of Kerala.

of Guadalajara as its president, tapping a prelate known for his positive relations with the country’s incoming president. Cardinal Robles was elected Nov. 14 at the bishops’ semiannual meeting, replacing Archbishop Carlos Aguiar Retes of Tlalnepantla. His elevation to conference president came less than three weeks before President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto takes office Dec. 1, bringing back the once-staunchly anti-clerical Institutional Revolutionary Party to power after 12 years in opposition.

The party has discarded much of its public disdain for the prelates, and Pena was scheduled to meet with the bishops at their meeting.

Pena fostered cordial relations with Catholic leaders during his 2005-2011 term as governor

DUBLIN – The newly appointed bishop of Cloyne vowed he would make healing the lives of victims of abuse in the diocese a priority.

The Vatican announced Nov. 24 that Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Father William Crean, 60, to lead the diocese.

Cloyne has been without a bishop since Bishop John Magee, a former secretary to three popes, resigned in 2010. A year earlier, following sharp criticism of his handling of clerical sex abuse, Bishop Magee requested an apostolic administrator for the diocese. A government inquiry begun in 2009 later reported that Bishop Magee covered up allegations of abuse against priests in his diocese.

Speaking at St. Colman’s Cathedral in Cobh, County Cork, the bishop-designate said he had mixed feelings about his appointment.

“I am apprehensive because I am deeply conscious of the trauma of these years past – so much suffering endured by young people at the hands of a few – sufferings compounded by the failure of those who didn’t believe them and those who didn’t hear their cry for help,” he said. “One thing I ask, however, is your patience to allow me time to grasp the full measure of this deep hurt.

“I commit myself to do all that I can with others in the diocese to continue to bring healing and new hope to the lives of all victims of abuse and their families,” he said.

Cardinal Sean Brady of Armagh, Northern Ireland, the primate of all Ireland, congratulated Bishop-designate Crean on his appointment. Speaking from Rome, Cardinal Brady said: “I am confident that his ability and experience will greatly benefit the pastoral life of the diocese and, in addition ... the Irish bishops’ conference.” ©CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

‘A time of simplicity, focus and sacred longing’

ADVENT: PRACTICAL WAYS TO HELP IN THE ARCHDIOCESE

Reflection, contemplation are the keys to a meaningful Advent season DAVID GIBSON CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

Pull yourself together!

Advent is a welcome season if you ever feel, like so many others, that the parts of your “self ” are disjointed and not working together.

Perhaps your work life seems out of sync with your home life.

Maybe you worry that time devoted to friends or even your parish competes against time for children or other family members.

Some are disturbed at having no time to themselves. They wish they had time to reflect on personal goals, ways to grow and their truest sources of satisfaction.

It is hard to do this when it seems your life is broken up into fragments that enjoy their best successes separately. Can balance be restored to a fragmented life?

Countless voices tell us that quiet time in some measure is required for achieving a more balanced life. Without reflection, the competition continues between life’s fragments.

Can you reflect or contemplate in a noisy room? Some can, but I suspect most cannot.

Advent offers encouragement for quieting down, at least a little.

Despite the pre-Christmas season’s busyness and shopping, Advent invites quiet recollection. It is a good time to re-collect the fragmented parts of life, whether personally or in a family or another community.

A unique perspective on contemplation’s value was offered by the October 2012 world Synod of Bishops. It spent three weeks in Rome contemplating the many dimensions of the new evangelization.

Credibility and authenticity are needed by those hoping to communicate their faith to their families or others, according to the synod.

Two complementary aspects of the life of faith that shape agents of the Gospel who are credible and authentic in others’ eyes were discussed in a section of the synod’s concluding message.

These two aspects of faith life – contemplating God and remaining at the side of the poor – encompass both prayer and action in the world. Let me

FINDING PEACE IN THE ‘INTERIOR SANCTUARIES’ In the secular world, Advent seems an oddly timed observance. The expectations of the holidays are upon us at this season and they are great. They involve increased demands on our time and energy: more cooking, more traveling, more trips to the supermarket and the mall. Multiply this by all the people in a city or town doing the same and it

HISTORY OF ADVENT

Advent 2012 begins on Sunday, Dec. 2.

The word Advent is from the Latin adventus for “coming” and is associated with the four weeks of preparation for Christmas. Advent always contains four Sundays, beginning on the Sunday nearest the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle, (Nov. 30) and continuing until Dec. 24.

It blends together a penitential spirit, very similar to Lent, a liturgical theme of preparation for the second and final coming of the Lord, called the parousia, and a joyful theme of getting ready for the Bethlehem event.

Since the 900s Advent has been considered the beginning of the church year.

EWTN

highlight what the synod said about contemplation.

“A testimony that the world would consider credible” will arise “only from the deep silence” in which Christ can be welcomed, the synod said. It added that “prayerful silence” is essential for preventing “the word of salvation from being lost in the many noises that overrun the world.”

The synod’s conviction was that “moments of contemplation must interweave with people’s ordinary lives.”

That means people need “spaces in the soul” along with “physical” spaces in which to be reminded of God. Contemplation in these spaces keeps “us from losing ourselves in a flood of experiences,” the synod insisted.

Two questions are common whenever the value of reflection and contemplation are discussed. Can we quiet down in this 21st century, even for a bit? Once quieted down, what will we contemplate? Walking is my preferred form of exercise. My usual means of quieting down is to go for a walk.

Others quiet down by listening to beautiful music. Some turn off the television and cellphone. There are those, too, who quiet down by making their way inside a church.

Contemplation and prayer might

builds a world of stress and chaos.

Maybe Advent isn’t so ill-timed, as it asks us to enter into contemplation during stressful days. We contemplate the birth of Christ and why he came to this world for us.

“Only this prayerful silence can prevent the word of salvation from being lost in the many noises that overrun the world,” a group of bishops recently wrote in a document marking the end of the Synod of Bishops in October.

flow freely once people actually quiet down. For many, however, the mind goes blank, which is not always bad.

Their quiet time could be spent listening for God’s voice.

Still, a mantra of sorts might help get the juices flowing. Repeating a brief prayer several times can settle the mind and spirit. One of my favorites is derived from the Litany of the Saints: “All you holy men and women pray for us.”

This Advent, many possible mantras suggest themselves in Mass responses for responsorial psalms.

“To you, O Lord, I lift my soul” is the response on Advent’s first day. This one is offered Dec. 13: “The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.”

But what will be the content of any ensuing contemplation?

Advent is a season of expectation and hope related to Christ’s coming.

Thus, hope’s meaning in our own situation deserves reflection.

The good thing is that contemplating hope may well prompt the unanticipated realization that we are more hopeful than we imagined. Who gives you hope?

What renews hope when you feel down?

In Advent 2008, during the economic crisis, Cardinal Adam J. Maida, thenarchbishop of Detroit, proposed that people reflect on their power.

We may “feel we have little power over the circumstances around us,” he observed. Yet, people have the power “to express concretely and creatively our solidarity with our brothers and sisters, many of whom are profoundly suffering.”

He recommended making good use of the power of a thank you or of a smile, for example.

There is no single recipe for what author Lisa Hendey calls “a well-kept Advent.” Her “O Radiant Dawn,” a new booklet of five-minute prayers around an Advent wreath, recommends private reflection or shared conversation during this season about “what matters most.”

Hendey advises readers to “put away unhelpful expectations of what you think Advent should be, and allow this to be a time of simplicity, focus and sacred longing.”

GIBSON served on Catholic News Service’s editorial staff for 37 years.

It’s possible to find peace amid chaos in “interior sanctuaries and temples of stone that, like crossroads, keep us from losing ourselves in a flood of experiences,” the bishops reminded us. These interior sanctuaries are, the bishops said, “opportunities in which all could feel accepted, even those who barely know what and whom to seek.” ©CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

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A sculpture showing an expectant Mary with Joseph en route to Bethlehem is seen in a church during the season of Advent, the time of anticipation and hope before Christmas. The first Sunday of Advent is Dec. 2 this year.

Nativity story’s significance still unfolds, pope writes CAROL GLATZ AND FRANCIS X. ROCCA CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

VATICAN CITY – The Nativity story, like the whole story of Christ, is not merely an event in the past, but has unfolding significance for people today, with implications for such issues as the limits of political power and the purpose of human freedom, Pope Benedict writes in his third and final volume on the life and teachings of Jesus.

“Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives” is only 132 pages long, yet it includes wide-ranging reflections on such matters as the significance of the virgin birth and the distinctive views of nature in ancient pagan and JudeoChristian cultures.

The book was formally presented at the Vatican Nov. 20, and was scheduled for publication in English and eight other languages in 50 countries Nov. 21.

In the book, Pope Benedict examines Jesus’ birth and childhood as recounted in the Gospels of Sts. Matthew and Luke. His interpretation of the biblical texts refers frequently to the work of other scholars and draws on a variety of academic fields, including linguistics, political science, art history and the history of science.

The book’s publication completes the three-volume “Jesus of Nazareth” series, which also includes “From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration” (2007) and “Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection” (2011).

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said at the Nov. 20 book launch that the three books are the “fruit of a long inner journey” by Joseph Ratzinger, whose personal views they represent. While much of what the pope says is accepted Catholic dogma, the texts themselves are not part of the church’s magisterium and their arguments are free to be disputed, Father Lombardi said.

In his new book, the pope argues that Matthew and Luke, in their Gospel accounts, set out to “write history, real history that had actually happened,

admittedly interpreted and understood in the context of the word of God.” The pope calls the virgin birth and the resurrection “cornerstones” of Christian faith, since they show God acting directly and decisively in the material world.

“These two moments are a scandal to the modern spirit,” which expects and allows God to act only in ideas, thoughts and the spiritual world, not the material, he writes. Yet it is not illogical or irrational to suppose that God possesses creative powers and power over matter, otherwise “then he is simply not God.” The pope enriches the Gospel accounts with personal reflections as well as questions and challenges for his readers.

For example, considering the angel’s appearance to the shepherds, who then “went with haste” to meet the child Savior, the pope asked “How many Christians make haste today, where the things of God are concerned?”

“The only way (God) can redeem man, who was created free, is by means of a free ‘yes’ to his will,” the pope writes.

It is precisely “the moment of free, humble yet magnanimous obedience,” such as Mary and Joseph showed when listening to God, “in which the loftiest choice of human freedom is made.”

Jesus, too, in his human freedom, understood he was bound to obedience to his heavenly father, even at the cost of his earthly life.

The missing 12-year-old, rediscovered by an anxious Mary and Joseph in the Temple, was not there “as a rebel against his parents, but precisely as an obedient (son), acting out the same obedience that leads to the cross and the resurrection,” the pope writes.

Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection is a story filled with contradiction, paradox and mystery, the pope writes, and “remains a sign of contradiction today.”

“What proves Jesus to be the true sign of God is he takes upon himself the contradiction of God,” Pope Benedict writes, “he draws it to himself all the way to the contradiction of the cross.”

Donations: 25th annual curbside donation program, 150 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco. For Christmas: Dec. 22-24, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. All year: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4:15 p.m. at free clothing program, Eighth and Mission streets.

Wish list: Hams, pantry items, hygiene items, new socks, hand-knit scarves and hats.

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY OF SAN FRANCISCO svdp-sf.org , (415) 977-1270 Donations: Vincentian Help Desk, 1175 Howard St.; Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, 9 a.m.- 2:30.

To organize a donation drive at your

SOCIETY OF ST. VINCENT DE PAUL OF SAN MATEO COUNTY svdp-sanmateoco.org, (650) 373-0622 Mail or drop off donations: Society of St. Vincent de Paul District Office, 50 North B St., San Mateo 94401.

Volunteer: svdpinfo@yahoo.com to register for monthly volunteer orientation.

If you would like a collection barrel for your school or office, call (650) 373-0622.

Wish list: Monetary donations to help with rent and utility assistance; tuna, peanut butter or protein rich foods; scarves, hats and gloves for cold weather; white T-shirts and socks; razors, toothpaste, toothbrushes; travel size shampoo, lotion; sleeping bags and backpacks; diapers and baby wipes, powder, lotion; gift cards for shoes.

ST. ANTHONY’S PADUA DINING ROOM paduadiningroom.com, (650) 3659664, maxtorres@covad.net Mail or drop off donations: 3500 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025

Volunteer: (650) 365-9665 Wish list: Monetary donations give flexibility. Food items include frozen turkeys, large restaurant size canned foods, fresh fruits and vegetables in crates, dry goods including beans, white rice, egg noodles, flour. Clothing items include new socks, warm outerwear particularly gloves, hats and coats and sleeping bags.

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY OF MARIN COUNTY vinnies.org, (415) 454-3303 Monetary donations: P.O. Box 150527, San Rafael, CA 94915 Wish list: Monetary, stock or vehicle donations. Donations of food and necessities can be made to the 820 B Street kitchen, San Rafael, CA 94901; 7 a.m.–1 p.m. daily. Especially in need of meat, canned tuna, peanut butter, fresh fruit and vegetables, nutrition bars, new men’s white athletic socks, toothbrushes, toothpaste, dental floss, sleeping bags.

SAN FRANCISCO AND MARIN FOOD BANKS sffoodbank.org, (415) 282-1900 To donate, to find drop off locations or to volunteer: sffoodbank.org.

Wish list: Monetary donations: for every $1 you donate, the food bank can distribute $6 worth of food.

The food bank’s most needed food drive items include the following: soup, chili, baked beans, canned vegetables, tuna, canned meat, cereal, peanut butter and granola bars (no glass or perishable items).

ADVENT RETREAT OPPORTUNITIES Vallombrosa Center

DEC. 4, 8, 13: Advent Days of Renewal, $30, includes lunch and ends with Mass; Dec. 4 with Franciscan Father Evan Howard; Dec. 8 with Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet Joann Heinritz; Dec. 13 with Rena Grant

250 Oak Grove Ave., Menlo Park, CA 94025; vallombrosa.org; (650) 3255614, ext. 14. Scholarships available.

Contact Rachel Alvelais.

DEC. 2: “Sacred Music for the Holidays,” Mary McLaughlin’s Cór Ainglí Singers and Zambra, 4-6 p.m.

DEC. 7-9: Silent retreat, presented by Franciscan Father Tom West

DEC. 7-9: Advent silent private retreat weekend. Includes spiritual direction, morning and evening prayers

Santa Sabina Center 25 Magnolia Ave., San Rafael, CA 94901-2200; santasabinacenter.org; (415) 457-7727

DEC. 8: “Holidays Alone?” Workshop led by Carol Kaplan, 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

DEC. 4: “Through the Ear to the Heart:” Singing the music of Hildegard of Bingen as contemplative practice, 7-8:30 p.m.

DEC. 16: Christmas lessons and carols with the Vallombrosa Choir, 2-4 p.m.

300 Manresa Way, Los Altos, CA 94022; jrclosaltos.org; (650) 948-4491

DEC. 7-8: Advent retreat in Chinese, led by Mercy Sister Janet Chau

DEC. 5: Day of prayer. Society of the Precious Blood Father Joe Nassal will facilitate the day which includes a conference, reflection and Eucharist; 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m.

DEC. 7-9: Men’s recovery retreat. Nonsilent retreat for men

DEC. 14: Advent day of prayer, “Lighting Our Way,” led by Mercy Sister Lorita Moffatt and Rosemary Robinson

DEC. 14-16: “Waiting with Mary,” retreat weekend with Benedictine Father Michael Fish

Jesuit Retreat Center of Los Altos

NOV. 30-DEC. 2: Advent retreat. Nonsilent retreat for women and men

Mercy Center Burlingame 2300 Adeline Drive, Burlingame, CA 94010; mercy-center.org; (650) 3407474; csoracco@mercywmw.org

DEC. 15: Advent day of prayer in Spanish

Mercy Center Auburn

San Damiano Retreat

535 Sacramento St., Auburn, CA 95603; mercycenter.org; (530) 887-2019

710 Highland Drive Danville, CA 94526; sandamiano.org; (925) 837-9141; katerik@sandamiano.org

DEC. 15: Silent day of prayer, with facilitator Mercy Sister Katherine Doyle

16 OPINION

Christmas is coming: Remember Jesus?

I

am not a Scrooge, but all the activity during this time of year depresses me. People are running around frantically buying things they often do not need or cannot afford. Stores ply Christmas carols even before the Halloween decorations are taken down, and lots of people put up their Christmas trees before the turkey is cooked on Thanksgiving.

The malls are crowded and some people will actually get up at four in the morning to stand in long lines for Christmas specials.

And you probably can give SISTER MARGIE other examples. I want to LAVONIS tell them whose birthday it really is and why we celebrate.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not against Christmas or gift-giving. Gifts are important expressions of appreciation and love. However, trying to outdo one another or giving gifts only because someone else is giving them to us seems ridiculous.

In most of the Western Hemisphere we have the tendency to think that more is better. Our culture is very materialistic. Our wants have become our needs. Many want the best and the latest of everything. Children often hound their parents and Santa for the most popular toys. I know parents who agonize because they can’t afford these items and will go into debt just to give their children what “everybody else” is getting.

Sometimes I wonder who this “everybody” is.

We often can lose sight that “Jesus is the reason for the season.” Christians should remember and remind others about why we celebrate.

It is Christ’s birthday, not ours. Hopefully our gifts are expressions of God’s love and Jesus is the greatest.

You might wonder what you could possibly do to turn the tide. Every year I ask myself the same thing. The following are a few suggestions that might help us all.

Examine your gift giving. Think of those who are on your Christmas list and why you give them gifts. Maybe you do it because you feel obliged or have always done so. Hopefully your giving is out of love and that more is not better than less.

Reinforce with your family, especially your children and grandchildren, that the joy of Christmas does not depend on how many or what gifts we receive or give. Suggest to your children that gifts don’t always have to be things. They can give the special gift of service, like giving a card with a promise to shovel the person’s driveway and sidewalks this winter or offer a couple with little children some days of free babysitting. Let them use their imaginations. Emphasize that their time can also be a precious gift.

Gifts also can be made. Giving baked Christmas goodies or homemade candy is appreciated by all. It is very special when someone takes the time to make something delicious to give to you.

Send Christmas cards to people who live far away and won’t see you during the holidays.

Share the gift of your time by letting friends know what has happened in your life. It seems a waste of paper and postage to just sign your name. Also, remember that the church’s Christmas season goes far beyond December 25 so cards don’t have to make it to them by Christmas day.

Changing our materialistic way of celebrating Christmas will not happen overnight, but each of us can do our part to keep in focus whose birthday we celebrate. It also will help us to more appreciate the meaning of Advent and relieve a lot of stress so we can truly enjoy this beautiful season of preparation for the birth of Jesus, not primarily Santa.

HOLY CROSS SISTER MARGIE LAVONIS is a freelance writer in Notre Dame, Ind.

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

LETTERS

Church came before party: Jesus started with 12 In response to Mr. (David) DeSantis (“Church should not associate itself with one party,” letters, Nov. 16): The Catholic Church is not becoming “increasingly tied to the Republican Party.” The Catholic Church came first! The Republican Party platform is more closely aligned with the teachings of the Catholic Church. Abortion is a nonnegotiable. An estimated 55 million babies have been aborted in this country since abortion became legal. Do you want the Catholic Church to lead us to heaven or to hell?

Our church is not spending political capital; it is teaching the truth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Jesus started with 12. Don’t worry about how many people choose to stay in the pews. Pray for those who walk in darkness to receive the graces of the Holy Spirit.

Our Catholic Church is the bride of Christ. Trust in Jesus to take care of his bride.

Dolores Tulkoff San Francisco

Time to close the cafeteria door a little I am compelled to respond to David DeSantis’ well-intentioned letter because it is nevertheless ill-informed on so many levels. The data actually show Obama’s support among practicing Catholics and citizens of other faiths is much less than among those non-practicing or wholly secular folks. “Compassion for women”? Women who really understand the horror abortion visits – on the unborn child and the mother – didn’t vote for Obama. How many are aware that since Roe, abortion in the U.S. has decimated at least one generation of African-Americans, and large numbers of people of color? Obama’s voting record on abortion – including partial-birth abortion – has been public record for years. As for the HHS contraception mandate and gay marriage – really? The Catholic Church “looks bad” trying to uphold religious freedom? Looks bad to whom? Mr. DeSantis may have missed the “No H8” peace-lovers who trashed churches and private citizens’ homes only because they supported Prop. 8. What does it take to qualify as persecution in his eyes? Perhaps

Intended letter to be fair and balanced Thanks to Mr. (Eugene) Benson for his challenging response (Nov. 2) to my Oct. 19 letter. Apologies to Catholic San Francisco to the extent they were besmirched printing my letter. I am humbled because my choice of words prevented my message from being received. This letters column has enough tit-for-tat, and I intended to be fair and balanced, criticizing both major political parties.

Since Mr. Benson’s letter requires substantiation of my negative characterization of the policies of one party, as devil’s advocate I will do that: Republicans have promoted “decreased spending” by cutting Head Start, WIC, public housing and Pell Grants while ignoring other, more costly programs.

Cuts to these programs hurt only the poor.

As for Barack Obama, it would seem he reached out to inner-city youth, attempting to empower them to improve their condition, on Chicago’s South Side as a community organizer.

While I hope I have substantiated my criticism and answered his challenge, I would like to point out that Mr. Benson’s reflexive defense was equally unsubstantiated.

Carol Mantelli Valls San Rafael

Weigel and the unions Paul D. Jones (letters, Nov. 9) asks where George Weigel’s column – the most thoughtful Catholic opinion published in the United States – is, and adds that it should be included in Catholic San Francisco every week. I’ll tell you where it is: George Weigel has become persona non grata to Catholic San Francisco ever since he came out supporting Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker when he moved against unions.

when Christians are arrested or maimed on our soil for publicly witnessing their faith? Many among us claim the faith, but deep down, they just don’t care all that much about it. Sorry, I think it’s time to close the cafeteria door a little. I think the church will continue to share the Gospel and attempt to change hearts and minds. Our Lord warned us many would not accept him. If the church shrinks before it grows again in the U.S., so be it. Deeply saddening.

J.R. Hermann San Mateo

The church is pro-life, not partisan Re David DeSantis’ letter: The Catholic Church does not associate itself with one party. (Catholics) associate themselves with those who are pro-life, which happens to be the Republican Party since the Democratic Party has sold out to Planned Parenthood. The Catholic Church associates itself with the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You say Obama’s position is based on compassion for women and not that he is a pawn of the abortion industry. Obama is the poster boy for abortion. He is their favorite person. He receives a 100 percent mark for his abortion stance. Abortions kill women. They kill unborn baby girls. Abortions not only hurt women physically but mentally. Obama also pushes birth control, which not only hurts women but has made women slaves of men. Birth control has caused an increase in breast cancer, cervical cancer, heart attacks and high blood pressure in women.

How can you call this compassionate? Thousands of women are dying each day in abortion clinics but nobody knows about it because the media are also in bed with Planned Parenthood. We, as Catholics, should follow the Catechism of the Catholic Church and never vote for any politician (Democratic or Republican) who is in favor of abortion. Abortion is an intrinsic evil and a grave sin. Those who vote for pro-abortion politicians are committing a grave sin.

Mary Ann Rouse Redwood City

San Francisco being a union town, many locals including priests I daresay were incensed at Walker’s move because it was against the unions never mind the distinction made between public and private unions. Many of us come from working class families, i.e., union families, which must include many priests and therefore they think I suspect like union men do.

When I first started receiving Catholic San Francisco, Mr. Weigel’s column was in every issue unless he was on vacation and then a note was added saying he’d be back the following week. About a year ago I noticed his column appeared less and less often. When I inquired about it I was told the column appeared “occasionally” in CSF. Since then it has never appeared again. When the Labor Day issue came out this year with all the advertisements by the various unions in town and all the articles in support of unions I knew who had put the pressure on CSF to omit Weigel’s column altogether – never mind his most thoughtful Catholic opinion.

Virginia B. Hayes San Francisco

Set aside dispute, celebrate ‘the never-ending feast’ As if the church wasn’t assailed enough in its stand against abortion and gay marriage during the last election, two writers tried piling on their own irrelevancies in (the Nov. 9) issue.

First, (columnist) Stephen Kent cites a questionable “Public Religion Research Institute” conclusion that Catholics prefer supporting the poor over right to life, as if the church’s position is too unpopular.

Then, (letter writer) Alex M. Saunders of San Carlos lists four of his homemade points correcting SEE LETTERS, PAGE 17

LETTERS POLICY EMAIL letters.csf@sfarchdiocese.org WRITE Letters to the Editor, Catholic San Francisco, One Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco, CA 94109

NAME, address and daytime phone number for verification required SHORT letters preferred: 250 words or fewer

OPINION 17

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

A need for proactive ethics

I

t is not difficult to imagine a time, centuries – even millennia – ago, when humans gathered outside a cave to discuss the ramifications of their newest weapon.

They admired its efficiency. A string could be tied between the ends of a supple branch to form a bow which, when pulled back and released, would propel a sharp-tipped arrow. Killing at a distance had arrived. It brought new concerns, of course. Was it right to use this distance rather than bashing the opponent with STEPHEN KENT the traditional club?

There was plenty of time to think of this as the elders of the tribe pondered the ethical questions involved.

It was much the same scene some centuries later when the discovery of an explosive powder that propelled a hunk of metal distances farther than an arrow would have, opening the way to killing at a greater distance. There was time for the ethics to be considered and applied.

And so it continued, down through the ages: nuclear weapons delivered by aircraft, and later capable of delivery by intercontinental missiles, chemical biological warfare, drone aircraft. Each produced its own questions and concerns, but there seemed to be time for society to filter it through ethical norms.

Now technology is moving at a much faster rate than our ability to keep up with it ethically.

These days, science is creating personalized bioweapons. The genetic code can be translated into the ones and zeroes of binary code, allowing for the easy manipulation of genetic information, according to an extensive article in The Atlantic magazine.

“With this development, biology has turned a corner, morphing into an information-based science

and advancing exponentially,” author Marc Goodman writes in the article.

Goodman uses information technology as an example of what is meant by exponential growth. The most powerful supercomputer in the world in 1970 required a small room and cost $8 million. Today’s pocket-sized iPhone is 100 times faster and 12,000 times cheaper than the 1970s machine.

Exponential growth provides less and less time to ponder, reflect, to agree upon ethics. Medicine and pharmaceuticals are now producing targeted technology to attack specific cancer mutation. That is lifesaving. But it also has the ability to take DNA from anyone and modify it to produce disease or even personality change.

Scientists are only a few years away from using genetic modification to develop attacks by disease or to affect a person’s personality or behavior. This is not the mad scientist of movies working alone in a laboratory. It is mainline.

What are the questions? It can be done. Should it be done? Who thinks about these things? Who counsels the button-pushers?

These are not issues that can remain confined to think tanks and seminars when the need is for proactive ethics to deal with these issues.

Ethics are based on values. Values arise from foundational beliefs, the primary ones being the dignity of the human person and the sanctity of life as God’s creation. What advances this ideal is good, what hinders it is wrong.

A common criticism of military strategy and tactics is that the generals are always fighting the last war. Science and technology are moving faster than our ability to set rules to control developments.

The need to openly address the new ethics is immediate so that exponential growth does not run away before there is time to assess and control it.

KENT is the retired editor of archdiocesan newspapers in Omaha and Seattle. He can be contacted at Considersk@gmail.com.

LETTERS FROM PAGE 16

what bishops do with the teaching homily, as if they get it all wrong.

But I thank God for the power of Pope Benedict XVI’s Angelus reflection on All Saints’ Day, which wipes away all that ugliness with these inspiring words: “And so this feast day helps us to think about the church: the church journeying in time, and the church that celebrates the never-ending feast.”

Robert Jimenez Burlingame

The state’s duty is to protect and exact justice In the aftermath of dreary election results one crucial vote succeeded: The death penalty was not repealed.

Its suggested replacement of life without possibility of parole is a flawed concept exemplified time and again by prisoners who, even with lengthy sentences, are released for having been model prisoners or perhaps having found Jesus. We then have the sickening repetition of their criminality with additional victims. It is this reality which informs and motivates voters to retain the death penalty. Proponents for repeal argue that, as a lifer, the killer has time to repent. Here is the best stimulus: a date of execution.

Christians have a mandate to forgive; the state has a mandate to protect and to exact justice. The humane lethal injection is in sharp contrast to the terrified, tortured final days or moments of the murdered. Justice is clear: Take a life, forfeit your own.

Blanche F. Smith Atherton

Abortion’s wrong inspires prayer I have always thought abortion was wrong, but I never really gave it a whole lot of thought, or a whole lot of prayer. In just the past few weeks however I have begun to ask God to help me to see more clearly what is going on and what is really happening in this country and help me care.

So, I have begun to take a little more seriously my prayers for abortionists and for all of us that can-

not really see, understand or perceive the seriousness of it – myself included.

Then, a few nights ago I was praying longer than usual for our eyes to be opened to how real this is and when I opened the Bible it was to a passage against “infanticide.” This was very striking. That abortion does not just happen but there is legislation to make it possible is also striking.

Alaish Wren San Francisco

Disconnect between pulpit and pews I along with many of my family and friends have all but abandoned the Masses due to many factors, but one critical factor is the disconnect between the pulpit and the congregation. Painful when you see teenagers in the pews listening to dialogue an average adult couldn’t comprehend.

Brian McGuire San Rafael

Seeing priests in collars would change landscape A few weeks ago, while in England, I read that the recently consecrated Bishop Egan of Portsmouth was calling on congregations to manifest their Catholic faith in various public ways to mark the Year of Faith. He encouraged the faithful to display a rosary or devotional item in their cars, also suggesting, among other things, that they wear a crucifix or religious symbol, and to make the sign of the cross when out for a meal. I have a further suggestion. How about our priests wearing their holy collars to manifest their faith and setting a good example to the rest of us? It would be a marvelous witness for the Year of Faith! I don’t know why it has become the norm for priests to go out in public without their holy collars and I think it is a shame that they don’t. When a priest is immediately recognized as such because of his collar, I believe it inspires respect and a certain regard for him. If our clergy wore their collars in the community it could change the whole landscape for the better. Hopefully, it would also encourage priests to continue to wear their collars indefinitely.

Vivienne Beasley San Carlos

The dark age of science

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here is an ancient human desire to pin the blame on someone – anyone – when things go wrong. In the Dark Ages, some Christian Europeans blamed Jews for the Black Death, or the plague. As late as the 17th century, suspected witches were executed to mitigate real and perceived evils in New England communities.

Today, it’s scientists who are taking the fall.

In the Italian city of L’Aquila, in the forested region of Abruzzo, earthquakes are common. They have been for hundreds JOHN GARVEY of years. Big ones struck in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. Thousands died in the earthquake of 1703. The city is built on an ancient lake bed, and the soil structure amplifies seismic waves.

In 2009, a few small tremors caused locals to worry that a much bigger quake was coming. Government scientists from Italy’s National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks were called in to weigh the risks. After studying the situation, the scientists downplayed the possibility of a big quake, arguing that there was “no danger,” and that locals should “remain alert, without panicking.”

As the attorney for scientist Franco Barberi later explained to The Wall Street Journal, the tremors did not necessarily signify an unusually risky situation. “In a very high percentage of 980 out of 1,000 cases, seismic tremors don’t evolve into a destructive quake,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that in one of Italy’s most seismic areas there won’t be a strong earthquake.”

When a big quake did hit, in the early morning of April 6, 2009, it registered 6.3 on the Richter scale.

It killed 308 people and injured 1,500. The scientists were not just blamed. They were hauled into court, convicted and given six-year prison sentences for manslaughter. The judge went beyond the four-year sentences the prosecutors had sought.

Scientists have never been able to predict earthquakes. Nor is it clear that a warning would have been all that helpful, unless everyone agreed to abandon the town until a quake occurred – if it ever did. (After all, no one could have known when the quake would hit.)

This verdict cuts against what we rightfully refer to in university life as academic freedom. It was a scientific judgment based on experience and observation, with which many other scientists agreed.

In the late 17th century, the Salem witch trials appealed to false popular superstitions among a relatively uneducated populace. Puritanical magistrates and ministers whipped up panic and warned of a supernatural, satanic inspiration in their midst.

Their efforts elicited false accusations and confessions of witchcraft from among their flock.

Within a few years, the absurdity of it became clear, and the credibility of those religious leaders was destroyed. As historian George Lincoln Burr put it centuries later, “The Salem witchcraft was the rock on which the theocracy shattered.”

This ruling in L’Aquila is not an exact parallel, but it represents an abuse of science not unlike the Puritans’ abuse of faith. And it will have the same damaging effect on science, as seismologists and other scientists in Italy avoid making public judgments – or (perhaps more likely, and worse) begin exaggerating risks on purpose, lest they face criminal charges later. When the warnings are real, no one will know.

We rightly criticize religious fundamentalists who reject observed scientific truths on doctrinal grounds. But just as they harm the faith of believers, one can also harm the conduct of science by placing inordinate faith in its ability to give answers where it cannot.

GARVEY is president of The Catholic University of America in Washington. ©CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

18 FAITH

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

SUNDAY READINGS

First Sunday of Advent ‘Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy … and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.’

LUKE 21:25-28, 34-36 JEREMIAH 33:14-16 The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and Judah. In those days, in that time, I will raise up for David a just shoot; he shall do what is right and just in the land. In those days Judah shall be safe and Jerusalem shall dwell secure; this is what they shall call her: “The Lord our justice.”

PSALM 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14 To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.

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

To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.

Good and upright is the Lord; thus he shows sinners the way. He guides the humble to justice, and teaches the humble his way.

To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.

All the paths of the Lord are kindness and constancy toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees. The friendship of the Lord is with those who fear him, and his covenant, for their instruction.

To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.

1 THESSALONIANS 3:12-4:2 Brothers and sisters: May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we have for you, so as to strengthen your hearts, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones. Amen. Finally, brothers and sisters, we earnestly ask and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that, as you received from us how you should conduct yourselves to please God and as you are conducting yourselves you do so even more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.

LUKE 21:25-28, 34-36 Jesus said to his disciples: “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand. “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Whether you live in fear or comfort, ask ‘what’s next?’

I

s the end of the world imminent? I remember watching the clock in high school history class.

At 10:10 a.m. the world was supposed to end. The history lesson went on oblivious to some cult’s predictions about California sliding off its fault lines into the Pacific. That day I became a permanent skeptic about scenarios for the end of the world.

So what meaning can we draw from the evangelist’s talk about the sun, moon and stars gyrating like Van Gogh’s painting “Starry Night”? What’s the most sensible spirituality that a Christian can bring to apocalyptic predictions, such as the Mayan calendar supposedly identifying this SISTER ELOISE 21 as a cataclysROSENBLATT, RSM December mic turning of the times?

Is the world as we know it ending, or is a season of change under way? I asked a woman who had been in great emotional distress for some time, “What’s next?” In other words, I suggested that a plan for the future might

SCRIPTURE REFLECTION

POPE BENEDICT XVI SCIENCE IS KEY BUT FAITH ‘OPENS THE HORIZON’

Belief in God is not only compatible with science, it is ultimately necessary for the preservation of human life on earth, Pope Benedict XVI said during his weekly general audience Nov. 21 in Vatican City. “Faith, truly lived, does not conflict with science, rather it cooperates with it, offering it basic criteria so that it promotes the good of everyone, asking that it forsake only those efforts that – by going against God’s own plan – can produce effects that backfire against humanity,” he said.

The pope spoke about “the reasonableness of faith as an encounter with the splendor of God’s truth,” saying “it is reasonable to believe.” Science seeks new truths about man and the cosmos but faith reveals what is truly good for humanity and “opens the horizon toward which (humanity) must direct its journey of discovery,” he said.

be one way of dealing with oppressive, insupportable circumstances right now. She was resistant to my question at first. The present situation, bad as it was, comprised a list of complaints that were pretty compelling as a demand for any decent person to help her. But I pressed the question, “What’s next”? At some deep level she broke free. She started reciting a list of things she wanted to do, and felt good about doing. She would need some help, she knew, but she had broken out, if only momentarily, from the confines of a dark, oxygenless basement.

There are a number of ways this Gospel invites hearers to “break out” of their self-limiting way of life. Some people are obsessed with controlling and managing what they think should be stable in their lives — the sun, moon, and stars in the heavens, the “powers that be.” When those stabilities shake or change, they get consumed with fright and anxiety.

Another group of people can’t deal with political, relational, or natural storms near at hand that touch their lives directly. They can’t adapt. They can’t move on. A third group are so insulated from real life, inebriated by their self-indulgent distractions, or so narrowly focused, that they don’t pay attention to what’s happening around them.

The evangelist has an alternative message for Christians. First, a dramatic change in your life is

near, because Jesus, the son of man is alive. Even if you feel the “winds of war” blowing, that the Roman military will invade Jerusalem and crush rebellious Jews as they did in A.D. 68-72, your response does not have to be terror. Rather, think about your vindication. “Stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.” This counsel must have struck some in the evangelist’s audience as irrelevant because the instinctive reaction is to fight or flee in the face of danger.

On the other hand, the evangelist also addresses people who enjoy material comfort without feeling too much urgency to live a disciplined moral life with a focus on God. This may have included quite a number of people in Luke’s audience, a post-A.D. 70 community. “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life.”

In both cases, the question is really, “As you look at your life, what’s next for you?” The church poses this Gospel to Christians at the beginning of Advent, whether they live in fear or in comfort. If you are expecting the son of man as “what’s next” in your life, how do you shape your life around that expectation?

MERCY SISTER ELOISE ROSENBLATT is a theologian and lawyer practicing in San Jose. Her email is eloros@sbcglobal.net.

LITURGICAL CALENDAR, DAILY MASS READINGS MONDAY, DECEMBER 3: Memorial of St. Francis Xavier, Priest. Is 2:1-5. Ps 122:1-2, 3-4b, 4cd-5, 6-7, 8-9. Mt 8:5-11.

AMBROSE c. 340-397 December 7

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4: Tuesday of the First Week of Advent. Optional Memorial of St. John Damascene, priest and doctor. Is 11:1-10. Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17. Lk 10:21-24.

The son of a Roman official in Gaul, Ambrose was practicing law in Rome when the emperor appointed him governor of the province whose capital was Milan. When that church see became vacant, Ambrose was chosen bishop by acclamation. A catechumen like many of his people, Ambrose was baptized, ordained and consecrated bishop on the same day, Dec. 7, 374. He battled paganism and the Arian heresy and publicly challenged rulers in the Western and Eastern empires.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5: Wednesday of the First Week of Advent. Is 25:6-10a. Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6. Mt 15:29-37.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6: Thursday of the First Week of Advent. Optional Memorial of St. Nicholas, bishop. Is 26:1-6. Ps 118:1 and 8-9, 19-21, 25-27a.

Mt 7:21, 24-27.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7: Memorial of St. Ambrose, bishop and doctor of the church. Is 29:17-24. Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14. Mt 9:27-31.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8: Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Gn 3:9-15, 20. Ps 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4. Eph 1:3-6, 11-12.

Lk 1:26-38.

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

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Sexuality: Its power and purpose

e are all powerfully, incurably and wonderfully sexed. This is part of a conspiracy between God and nature. Sexuality lies right next to our instinct for breathing and it is everpresent in our lives.

Spiritual literature tends to be naive and in denial about the power of FATHER RON sexuality, as ROLHEISER if it could be dismissed as some insignificant factor in the spiritual journey, and as if it could be dismissed at all.

It cannot be. It will always make itself felt, consciously or unconsciously. Nature is almost cruel in this regard, particularly to the young.

It fills youthful bodies with powerful hormones before those persons have the emotional and intellectual maturity to properly understand and creatively channel that energy. Nature’s cruelty, or anomaly, is that it gives someone an adult body before that same person is adult in his or her emotions and intellect. There are a lot of physical and moral dangers in a developing child walking around in a fully adult body.

Further, today this is being exacerbated by the fact that we are reaching puberty at an ever younger age and are marrying at an ever later one. This makes for a situation, almost the norm in many cultures, where a young girl or boy reaches puberty at age 11 or 12 and will get married only about 20 years later.

This begs the obvious question: How is his or her sexuality to be emotionally and morally contained during

all those years? Where does that leave him or her in the struggle to remain faithful to the commandments?

Admittedly, nature seems almost cruel here, but it has its own angle.

Its dominant concern is to get each of us into the gene pool and all those powerful hormones it begins pouring into our bodies at adolescence and all those myriad ways in which it heats up our emotions have the same intent, it wants us to be fruitful and multiply, to perpetuate ourselves and our own species. And nature is uncompromising here: At every level of our being (physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual) there is a pressure, a sexual one, to get us into the gene pool. So when you next see a young man or woman strutting his or her sexuality, be both sympathetic and understanding, you were once there, and nature is just trying to get him or her into the gene pool. Such are its ways and such are its propensities, and God is in on the conspiracy.

Of course getting into the gene pool means much more than physically having children, though that is a deep, deep imperative written everywhere inside us that may be ignored only in the face of some major psychological and moral risks. There are other ways of having children, though nature all on its own does not easily accept that. It wants children in the flesh. But the full bloom of sexuality, generative living, takes on other life-giving forms. We have all heard the slogan: Have a child.

Plant a tree. Write a book. There are different ways to get into the gene pool and all of us know persons who, while not having children of their own and neither writing a book nor planting a tree, are wonderfully generative women and men. Indeed the religious vow of celibacy is predicated on that truth. Sexuality also has a powerful spiritual dimension.

But, with that being admitted, we may never be naive to its sheer, blind power. Dealing with the brute and unrelenting power of our sexuality lies at the root of many of our deepest psychological and moral struggles. This takes on many guises, but the pressure always has the same intent: Nature and God keep an unrelenting pressure on us to get into the gene pool, that is, to always open our lives to something bigger than ourselves and to always remain cognizant of the fact that intimacy with others, the cosmos and God is our real goal. It is no great surprise that our sexuality is so grandiose that it would have us want to make love to the whole world. Isn’t that our real goal?

As well, sexuality wreaks havoc with many people’s church lives. It is no secret that today one of the major reasons why many young people, and indeed people of all ages, are no longer going regularly to their churches has to do, in one way or the other, with their struggles with sexuality and their perception of how their churches view their situation. My point here is not that we and the churches should change the commandments regarding sex, but that we should do a couple of things: First, we should more realistically acknowledge its brute power in our lives and integrate sexual complexity more honestly into our spiritualties. Second, we should be far more empathic and pastorally sensitive to the issues that beset people because of their sexuality.

Sexuality is sacred fire. It takes it origins in God and is everywhere, powerfully present inside creation.

Denial is not our friend here.

OBLATE FATHER ROLHEISER is president of the Oblate School of Theology, San Antonio, Texas.

Pastoral care as an important part of health care

T

here is an interesting discussion, some might call it a debate, making the rounds in Catholic health care circles these days relative to what the department or board committee that deals with the sacramental and spiritual needs of patients should be called.

Traditionally, this FATHER WILLIAM service has J. BYRON, SJ been known as “pastoral care.” Some are suggesting that it now be called “spiritual care.”

Some hospitals say they are changing because so many others are changing the name. It’s hardly a convincing rationale. Others explain that they are sensitive to the spiritual needs of patients who are not Catholic. A growing number of faith-committed patients are not Christian but have spiritual needs.

To them, “pastoral” might sound too exclusively Catholic, hence the recommended change.

I haven’t heard anyone say so, but I suspect that for some, the word “pastoral” carries a male connotation.

There are in fact many women, lay

and religious, providing a welcome faith-based ministry to patients and their families in Catholic health care today. The descriptive title for both paid and volunteer ministers should accommodate itself to this fact.

Some Catholic hospitals have a 24-hour medical-ethics consultation service available to concerned patients or those who are making life-death decisions for them. Some of the hospitals that do not have this service consider it useful to add an ethical portfolio to the spiritual and create an ethics-and-spirituality department or a similarly named committee of the board.

A second-layer consideration in this discussion is how effectively the hospital deals with the reality of death and preparation for death while a patient is under its roof.

Catholic hospitals pride themselves in their participation in the “healing ministry of Jesus” and often say so in their mission statements.

They are less explicit, however, about the fact that everyone Jesus healed subsequently died, even those he first brought back to life.

And they know, but again, are less explicit on this point, that every patient will certainly, sooner or later, die.

They also know, as Renee Fox, the medical sociologist, put it in her famous book many years ago, that for

many, if not most physicians, death is failure, but there are times when medical providers should have “the courage to fail.”

Hence, there’s the need to be there in the face of death, in a speaking, hearing, praying, touching way, with the dying patient. Pulling the curtain around the bed and “looking in” from time to time just doesn’t do it.

Most priests make frequent hospital visits; some work there full time. They typically carry “the oils” in their pocket along with a booklet titled “The Pastoral Care of the Sick.”

I like the term “pastoral” and am grateful that there are “clinical pastoral education” programs to certify men and women for this ministry.

I do not know what is expected by way of certification for “spiritual” ministry in hospitals.

It should be remembered that visiting the sick, along with feeding the hungry and sheltering the homeless, is a corporal, not spiritual, work of mercy. “Pastoral” brings together the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. I would hate to see that word disappear from Catholic health care.

JESUIT FATHER BYRON is university professor of business and society at St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia. Email wbyron@sju.edu. ©CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

Can a non-Catholic Christian receive a sacrament?

Q.

My mother, a baptized member of the Baptist tradition, is 92 years old.

She is currently hospitalized with some very serious health issues that may result in the end of her natural life.

I am a Roman Catholic, an ordained permanent deacon. I would like to know your view on whether to have my parish priest administer the sacrament of anointing of the sick to my mother.

She is not asking for this, is likely not sufficiently lucid to understand FATHER and would not have KENNETH DOYLE understood the sacrament even before the deterioration of her health.

At some level, I suppose having her anointed would provide a sense of peace to my wife and me. Are we off base?

(Evansville, Ind.) The church’s Code of Canon Law, in No. 844, speaks to your situation. In reference to the sacraments of penance, Eucharist and anointing of the sick, that canon provides that “if the danger of death is present ... Catholic ministers administer these same sacraments licitly also to other Christians not having full communion with the Catholic Church, who cannot approach a minister of their own community and who seek such on their own accord, provided that they manifest Catholic faith in respect to these sacraments and are properly disposed.”

The effects of the sacrament of anointing include, among others, “the forgiveness of sins, if the sick person was not able to obtain it through the sacrament of penance; the restoration of health, if it is conducive to the salvation of his soul; (and) the preparation for passing over to eternal life” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1532).

Given those effects, I can understand why it would be of great comfort to you to have your mother anointed. However, a key element here is that your mother never asked to be anointed, and I would consider it a violation of her privacy and privilege to confer the sacrament on someone who (as the canon stipulates) has not sought it on her own accord.

Certainly it would be proper for you and/or your parish priest to pray at your mother’s bedside that God will bless her with strength and peace. I would suggest, too, out of respect for your mother’s religious preference, that you might invite a Baptist minister to pray over her. (I’m not sure of her state of awareness, but that might give her added comfort.)

Be at peace. No doubt your mother has lived a good life (including raising a deacon for the church). I’m quite sure that God has this all figured out and is waiting to bring her home.

QUESTION CORNER

A.

Send questions to Father Kenneth Doyle at askfatherdoyle@gmail.com and 40 Hopewell St., Albany, NY, 12208.

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

Now is the time to slow down: It is essential to our survival NANCY DE FLON CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

Wilmington Wild Forest in New York’s Adirondack Mountains is one of my favorite places. A sense of peace and serenity prevails that’s enhanced by the benevolent presence of the trees, and the trails offer a boost to your physical well-being as you walk for miles enjoying the beauty around you.

Late one November, I watched winter arrive in this forest as snow moved in and covered everything in white, but on the tree branches tiny red bumps that would later bud into new life held the promise of spring. Nature slows down, but it doesn’t stop.

Here we are at that time of year again. It would do us well to join the rest of nature and slow down, but instead a whirlwind of holiday-related activities encroaches on our time: shopping, writing cards, planning meals and so forth.

We experience considerable tension between the external demands of the holiday season and the need to slow down. Yet, it’s precisely now that we thirst for a spiritual oasis.

We normally associate an oasis with the desert – a place of refreshment and rest within a landscape of emptiness and dryness.

And yet it’s in this December rush of plenty (of too much, dare we say?) that we need to carve out a spiritual oasis for ourselves: to slow down and introduce an element of reflection into our lives. It’s not an option. It’s essential to our survival.

Advent couldn’t come at a better time. It’s the start of a new liturgical

(CNS PHOTO/MIKE CRUPI, CATHOLIC COURIER)

“Nature slows down (in the winter) but it doesn’t stop,” writes Nancy de Flon. “It would do us well to join the rest of nature and slow.” year and, more than Jan. 1, the ideal time for “New Year’s” resolutions.

The readings at Mass during Advent set us up spiritually for the year. They ring with the promise of the longawaited savior, the redeemer who comes to free us from whatever is holding us captive in our lives. But they also energize us, shining bright lights into our darkest corners.

For me, one word sums up the Advent readings: vindication. They herald an end to suffering, a putting aside of the past with its pain, its faults and mistakes, because God promises us to “make all things new.”

In the readings for the second Sunday of Advent, the prophet Baruch exhorts Jerusalem to “stand upon the heights,” for “God will show all the earth your splendor.” Jerusalem, which has been overrun, emptied of its people, occupied by foreign powers, will be restored to its former glory. In the Gospel, John the Baptist preaches repentance: throw off the old, not because this is a time of self-judgment, but because wonderful things are coming. Luke quotes God’s promise made through Isaiah, “All flesh shall see the salvation of God.” In the Liturgy of the Hours, the stun-

ningly beautiful responsory for morning prayer foretells that Jerusalem’s light will come: “The Lord will dawn on you in radiant beauty.” Substitute your name for Jerusalem: That’s God’s promise to you. I hope you find it as exhilarating as I do.

What can be more compelling motivation to wade into our spiritual oasis than to be energized by the promise of vindication?

Let’s slow down; let’s enjoy and take a lesson from the natural world. You can’t stop and smell the flowers in December, but perhaps you can walk in a park or in the woods, regard a tree with gratitude and realize that its beauty isn’t gone because of winter – it’s just changed.

There is beauty in the bareness. If you enjoy taking pictures, take your camera. You don’t have to be Ansel Adams; it’s your own focusing on (both figuratively and literally) the subject that matters. It calms your mind.

No time to get outdoors? Slow down by spending time with a beautiful image in a book, or buy a calendar with scenic photography or other art that appeals to you and keep it handy for enjoyment during your oasis. Music?

Treat yourself to an early Christmas present. Buy a CD of relaxing classical music and choose pieces that particularly speak to you.

Psalm 46 enjoins us, “Be still and know that I am God.” Now, Advent, is the time to do this; in St. Paul’s words, “Now is the time of salvation.”

DE FLON is an editor at Paulist Press and the author of “The Joy of Praying the Psalms.”

This Advent, take a moment each day to say a special prayer DANIEL S. MULHALL

‘THIS WAITING IS FAR FROM EMPTY’

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

My daughter learned this little song when she was in kindergarten: “Advent is a time to wait, not quite time to celebrate. Light the candles one by one, ‘til this Advent time is done.

Christmas day will soon be here, time for joy and time for cheer.”

The song provides an apt description of Advent, the season that marks the beginning of the church’s liturgical year. It is a time to begin anew. Not a penitential season like Lent, Advent is, instead, a time for taking stock, for looking to the coming year with hope, for establishing resolutions of how we can grow in our faith over the next 12 months.

Advent also is a time when we should take time to consider what we truly value. During this time of waiting, we are encouraged to be in touch with what we hold most dear. We don’t simply use the time to catch our breath before the Christmas rush. Rather, we slow down to recognize how God touches our lives in so many ways. To do what busy people are often counseled to do: Stop and smell the roses.

It is worth thinking about, reflecting on and taking action on what’s important in our world during this season of Advent.

Begin by remembering people who are dear to you. Create a list of every person who has ever been a blessing in your life. How many can you identify?

Then, during these weeks of Advent, take a moment each day to say a special prayer for some of these people until you have prayed for each person on the list. As you are creating the list or praying for the people on it, be

(CNS PHOTO/KAREN CALLAWAY).

Nikki Serrano helps Vanessa Zepeda light the first candle of Advent in their school chapel at St. Casimir in Hammond, Ind., in this file photo. mindful of what each person means to you and what a difference he or she has made in your life.

If you do this activity before you send out Christmas cards, you might want to add some of these people to that list as well.

Also, if you’re one of these people who can’t seem to find beauty anywhere during winter, make an effort to look for it. Take the time to look for beauty everywhere. When you find it, enjoy it. Let it fill your soul and lift your spirits. Be sure to let people know that their efforts to create beauty are appreciated.

Another worthy endeavor is making an effort to make new friends. Try to make at least one new friend during Advent. Who among your neighbors,

fellow church members or co-workers would you like to know better? Do something special to invite that person into your life.

Although everyone seems to be busy, slow down and be attentive to someone who might need you. It is so easy to get caught up in our own thoughts and problems. One way to break out of that is to start paying closer attention to others. Try to be aware of all the ways God speaks to you every day and ways that you might be able to help others.

What have you been missing?

Advent is a great time to start to change your spiritual life. Just as when you diet you learn to eat and drink more responsibly, so, too, during Advent we can take responsibility for praying more intently.

In an online reflection about Advent, D. Todd Williamson, director of the Office for Divine Worship for the Archdiocese of Chicago, puts forth two examples of waiting.

There’s the type of waiting at the post office line, where tempers flares, sighs abound and people constantly check their watches. When will the waiting end? Then there’s the type of waiting where people happily queue up to buy tickets for a concert, a sports event or a product. “This second example is the kind of waiting we are called to in Advent,” Williamson writes. We choose this option by looking for beauty in creation, focusing more deeply toward prayer, showing more kindness to those around us and learning how to wait with joy. “This waiting is far from empty,” Williamson writes.

“Rather, it is full of the hope that God promises us as we prepare for Christ in the feast of Christmas.”

God is revealed to us in the beauty and grandeur of so many people and so many things throughout the year.

Take the time during Advent to slow down so as to appreciate this beauty as much as possible. Then, celebrate with joy at every liturgy and social engagement you experience, recognizing that everything is a gift from God.

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

BOSTON: Reorganizing parishes into groups FROM PAGE 1

Called “Disciples in Mission,” the plan identified parishes’ main challenges: declining Mass attendance, shrinking numbers of priests and trained laity, and an increasing number of parishes unable to sustain themselves financially.

Published in September, the plan contains the final recommendations of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Planning Commission based on research and information gathered through 40 consultations held from December 2011 through March 2012 throughout the archdiocese with priests, church staff and volunteers.

“Though the challenge of renewing the church will call for significant effort and a new way of staffing our parishes, we are committed to re-engaging the culture, the current generation of Catholics and providing a strong foundation for those who will follow us. Our Catholic faith is our most precious gift,” the cardinal said.

“Parishes are the heart of the new evangelization; they must be well staffed and financially sound so as to be effective in this mission,” the cardinal said.

The new collaboratives will be made up “usually of two or three parishes, but sometimes only one, and, in rare occasions four parishes.”

Each collaborative, the plan says, is a means for fostering common pastoral action and a common vision, not a structure “above” the parish, or coming between the parish and the diocesan bishop. The collaboratives will take shape in four phases over the course of five years.

That first phase will be comprised of about a dozen collaboratives. Their experiences will be studied to hone the process as the phase-in continues.

The proposal also calls for parish pastoral and finance councils to be consolidated to allow each to serve the collaborative as a whole, with subcommittees capable of acting on behalf of each parish.

The pastoral plan also outlines training objectives to prepare pastoral teams and archdiocesan staff

AT A GLANCE

Boston’s proposal to combine parishes into groups responds to declining Mass attendance, shrinking numbers of priests and trained laity and an increasing number of parishes unable to sustain themselves financially. Under the plan: EACH PARISH will maintain its own identity and control of assets.

MOST COLLABORATIVES will be made up of two or three parishes.

PARISH PASTORAL AND FINANCE COUNCILS will be combined.

CARDINAL SEAN O’MALLEY said he hopes an increase in seminary enrollment will provide enough priests in the future to allow the archdiocese to staff all parishes with pastors. in theology, practices, management and leadership skills integral to the Catholic Church’s efforts for the new evangelization.

The commission proposed that the Office of the Episcopal Vicar for the New Evangelization, the Catholic Leadership Institute and the Pastoral Planning Office form a partnership to promote training objectives in each collaborative.

Training will take place in six stages geared to each level of participation in the archdiocese, from Pastoral Center staff to the pastors and the teams supporting them in the parishes. The Theological Institute for the New Evangelization will grant certificates to participants upon completion of training.

A new website, www.DisciplesInMission.com, will provide blogs, information and daily updates to keep laity informed on developments as the process continues.

JESUIT: Evidence supports created universe FROM PAGE 1

and multiverse (a combination of universes) were nothing,” said Father Spitzer, founder and president of the Spitzer Center for Ethical Leadership in Ann Arbor, Mich.

“Physical reality itself was nothing, and the one thing we know about nothing is that it’s nothing,” he said, eliciting laughter from his audience at the annual dinner of the Catholic Foundation of the Archdiocese of New Orleans Nov. 8.

“The second thing we know about nothing is that nothing can only do nothing, and if the only thing nothing can do is nothing, then the whole of physical reality, configured as universe or multiverse, was nothing. It could never have moved itself to something by itself, because the only thing that it could do when it was nothing is nothing.”

The scientific evidence points only toward a created universe, he said.

“There is something else, and that something else has to transcend the universe and be powerful enough to literally create it,” he continued.

“And then, as you begin to investigate the cosmological constants, the initial conditions of the universe and multiverse, and when you look at the fine-tuning paradoxes that virtually every physicist, including Stephen Hawking, has admitted, then that creator is not just transcendent and powerful but really, really smart.”

Why this is important, Father Spitzer said, is that it gives Catholics another reason to evangelize a culture that is mired in materialism and “its loss of the sense of eternal dignity.”

Father Spitzer said when he teaches college students, someone usually poses the question about the existence of God and whether we really know “that Jesus walked and talked upon this earth.”

“And then the rest of the classroom goes, ‘Yeah, do we really know?’” said Father Spitzer, who retired in 2009 as president of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash.

“The answer is, ‘Yes, I think we do know,’” he said.

“What’s my point? This contemporary approach

‘There is something else, and that something else has to transcend the universe and be powerful enough to literally create it.’

JESUIT FATHER ROBERT SPITZER is given to us almost as a gift from God. Alexander Vilenkin says in the final part of his essay that a good argument will convince a reasonable man and that a proof will convince even an unreasonable one.

Well, now that the proof is in place, cosmologists cannot even hide behind the possibility of a past eternal universe. They must confront the reality.”

All this allows us to answer “our kids’ questions” about the evidence for God. Father Spitzer said even recent studies about near-death experiences point to God. Dr. Eben Alexander, a Harvard-trained neurosurgeon, wrote about his experiences after being in a coma for seven days with his cortex completely shut down.

“He was clinically dead and he was monitored the whole time and he actually had these experiences,” Father Spitzer said. “He could show definitively there was no physical activity that produced it. There are really good studies taking place in multiple hospitals that give evidence that human beings survive bodily death, that we have a soul that literally leaves the body.”

This is riveting evidence that God exists and is moving in the world, and Father Spitzer said, “it’s a chance for re-evangelization.”

“But then it comes right back to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the resurrection into glory, into unconditional love,” he said.

“We do have to make it contemporary … It falls upon us, as church, to move once again to begin the process of re-evangelization, of healing the culture and of reminding everyone that they are transcendent. You are not simply molecules and atoms.”

MANDATE: Suits move ahead FROM PAGE 1

in their insurance policies even though the company argued that some are abortion-inducing drugs.

A day later lawyers for Hobby Lobby appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, asking for “emergency relief ” from fines of more than $1 million a day the company says it will face if it doesn’t comply with the mandate.

The family-owned company said in a statement it has no moral objection to “the use of preventive contraceptives” and will continue to cover those for employees.

The HHS mandate has a narrow exemption that applies only to those religious institutions that seek to inculcate their religious values and primarily employ and serve people of their own faith.

The mandate does not include a conscience clause for employers who object to such coverage on moral grounds.

Tyndale House, which has 260 employees, does not meet the religious exemption even though it publishes Bibles and other Christian materials.

It is primarily owned by the nonprofit Tyndale House Foundation, which provides grants to help meet the physical and spiritual needs of people around the world.

In his ruling, Walton, of the District Court for the District of Columbia, wrote that the contraceptive mandate “affirmatively compels the plaintiffs to violate their religious beliefs in order to comply with the law and avoid the sanctions that would be imposed for their noncompliance.”

The judge acknowledged that the government has broad, compelling interests in promoting public health and ensuring that women have equal access to health care, but he said the question “is whether the government has shown that the application of the contraceptive coverage mandate to the plaintiffs furthers those compelling interests.”

He also ordered the parties to appear at an undetermined date for arguments on whether to make the injunction permanent.

Alliance Defending Freedom, formerly the Alliance Defense Fund, is a Christian-based organization based in Scottsdale, Ariz., that provides legal defense against attacks on religious freedom. The group represented Hercules Industries in Colorado, a Catholic-owned company that provides heating, ventilation and airconditioning. In July, Hercules Industries was granted a temporary injunction from the HHS contraceptive mandate by a federal judge.

In the Hobby Lobby suit, Judge Joe Heaton of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, rejected both First Amendment and Religious Freedom Restoration Act claims by the store owners, saying that “secular, for-profit corporations do not have free exercise rights.”

Hobby Lobby, based in Oklahoma City, has more than 500 retail stores in 41 states. Its business practices include being closed on Sundays and hiring company chaplains to minister to employees.

“We have always operated our company in a manner consistent with biblical principles, including integrity and service to others,” said David Green, an evangelical Christian who is founder and CEO of Hobby Lobby. “We simply cannot abandon our religious beliefs to comply with this mandate.”

About 50 Catholic dioceses, universities and church entities throughout the U.S. have filed lawsuits against the mandate.

The Nov. 26 order by the Supreme Court is in a case challenging the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that most individuals obtain health insurance or pay a penalty. The case also challenges a provision requiring most employers to provide health insurance to their staff.

The HHS mandate does not include a conscience clause for employers who object to such coverage on moral grounds.

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

3 books offer insights on church teachings REVIEWED BY DANIEL S. MULHALL CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

“ONE FAITH, MANY FAITHFUL: SHORT TAKES ON CONTEMPORARY CATHOLIC CONCERNS”

by William J. Byron, SJ. Paulist Press (Mahwah, N.J., 2012) 138 pp., $15.95.

“HOW TO DEFEND THE FAITH WITHOUT RAISING YOUR VOICE: CIVIL RESPONSES TO CATHOLIC HOT-BUTTON ISSUES” by Austen Ivereigh. Our Sunday Visitor (Huntington, Ind., 2012).

160 pp., $13.95.

“THE SEEKER’S CATECHISM: THE BASICS OF CATHOLICISM” by Michael Pennock. Ave Maria Press (Notre Dame, Ind., 2012). 150 pp., $6.95.

Although similar in some ways, these three books are vastly different in substance and style.

Only one, “The Seeker’s Catechism,” fits the traditional catechism approach of offering questions and then providing answers, yet the other two are, in their own unique ways, catechetical. They each offer thoughtful yet easy-to-understand responses to questions of faith.

“One Faith, Many Faithful” is by Jesuit Father William J. Byron, a professor of business and society at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, and the past president at such distinguished Catholic institutes of higher education as the University of Scranton, The Catholic University of America and Loyola University in New Orleans. He is a prolific writer on a wide assortment of topics.

This book is no exception; Father Byron offers 59 short essays on topics of religion and ethics, business and politics, education and family, and

people and ideas. Each of the essays is clearly written and presented; each offers more than a few kernels for thought. This book would make for spirited conversations in book clubs and discussion groups, whether in or outside the church.

Father Byron evangelizes here using the critical social issues of our time.

“How to Defend the Faith Without Raising Your Voice” by Austen Ivereigh is another book that will be of interest to book clubs and discussion groups. Ivereigh is a journalist and author on Catholic issues. He formerly served as a deputy editor of the British Catholic magazine, The Tablet. He is the founder of Catholic Voices, a group that prepares people to speak to the media on Catholic issues. The book is a product of that group.

Ivereigh’s premise is simple: Catholics are continually being asked by friends and colleagues to speak on behalf of the church; this book provides us with the language and information we need to present the church’s teaching to the best of our abilities. The book is “the result of a group of Catholics getting together to prepare themselves” to address important issues. It reflects the method

Inclusion of disabled benefits all, author shows REVIEWED BY REGINA LORDAN CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

“AMAZING GIFTS: STORIES OF FAITH, DISABILITY, AND INCLUSION” by Mark I. Pinsky. Alban Institute (Herndon, Va., 2012). 312 pp., $18.

Mark I. Pinsky’s “Amazing Gifts: Stories of Faith, Disability and Inclusion” offers readers practical and inspiring stories about religious institutions that successfully have included people with physical, cognitive, developmental and mental disabilities into their faith communities.

The book shows that sometimes the simplest, most common-sense solutions can create an opportunity for people with disabilities to fully participate in their faith.

Pinsky, a religion writer and author, organized his book into 64 short stories about Catholic, Protestant, nondenominational, Jewish, Hindu and Muslim communities that welcomed and included families and individuals who had been ostracized and segregated in their search to find welcoming places of worship. Pinsky addressed different perspectives in the book, including stories that focus on ministering to people with disabilities and their families as well as people with disabilities and their families who themselves minister to faith communities.

Federal law requires that children with disabilities be included to the fullest extent possible in public school classrooms, and the Americans with Disabilities Act provides legal protections and assurances for individuals with disabilities throughout many aspects of adulthood. However faith institutions are often exempt from these requirements.

Since most churches include people with disabilities based solely on congregants’ initiatives and a requirement of faith rather than federal laws, resistance can be met and progress can be slow. However, as the book suggests, working to build friendships and awareness are key to making faith communities inclusive and welcoming.

The stories of inclusion typically consist of a few similar elements: A person with a disability stumbles upon or seeks out a home to practice his or her faith, at least one parishioner acts as a friend and advocate, and a small congregation makes common-sense changes to worship for inclusion. Pinsky highlights how individuals with autism, developmental disabilities or physical disabilities add wonderful talents, faith and joy to the communities through their ministry.

Included in the book is the story of Karen Jackson and her daughter, Samantha. Samantha has autism, a disorder encompassing a wide range of symptoms, including deficits in social interactions and communication.

For a time, Jackson and her husband would take turns attending Mass to care for Samantha at home. When Jackson and Samantha started participating together in their religious education and Mass, Jackson became emboldened to ensure that others with disabilities could worship in an inclusive setting. Now director of a faith inclusion network, Jackson is reaffirmed in her faith time and again because of her daughter’s eagerness to participate in church life.

One of the most poignant stories in the book is about an elderly Jewish man who was not accepted into his faith community until his final days on earth. Isadore Rosen was institutionalized at a state center for people with intellectual disabilities at age 12 and hadn’t heard from any family members since then. Now in his 90s and planning for his death, he wanted to be buried with his parents but could not remember their first names to find where they were buried.

With the help of a young woman working for a Jewish inclusion program, he was finally brought into his faith. The woman invited Rosen to Passover Seder and was reacquainted with Jewish traditions.

His parents’ burial site – ironically located only two miles away from his residence – was found, and just a day after a rabbi visited with Rosen, he died.

The story highlights that through dedication and friendship, an elderly man long rejected and ignored because of his disabilities was finally welcomed and included into his Jewish faith.

These stories are an appropriate read for ministers, religious educators, parish staff and interested parishioners seeking to enrich their outreach to people with disabilities. The stories are inspirational and helpful, constantly reminding the reader that God’s gift of faith community is intended for all individuals.

LORDAN is former assistant international editor of Catholic News Service.

they have developed to present answers “quickly, compellingly, and sound(ing) like a human being.”

The book offers clear, well-thought-out presentations on topics of the church and politics, homosexuality, contraception, religious freedom, assisted suicide, sexual abuse by clergy and several others, all from a thoroughly Catholic point of view.

Michael Pennock’s “The Seeker’s Catechism” is a revision of the original book, first published in 1994. Pennock, who died in 2009, was a Catholic high school religion teacher for more than 35 years and the author of numerous high school religion textbooks. From this experience he developed a delightful way of explaining difficult and complex concepts in such a way that his reader would understand without feeling talked down to or belittled.

That style is clearly present here as he answers 210 questions about the faith. This is an abridged catechism, meaning that while it covers many important topics, it also ignores many more. It would make a valuable handbook for people entering the church and those looking for a personal reflection; it may not be complete enough to use as a text.

The book ends with a collection of standard Catholic prayers, which makes it an even more valuable resource for someone entering the church.

Also of interest: “The Seven Big Myths About the Catholic Church: Distinguishing Fact from Fiction about Catholicism” by Christopher Kaczor. Ignatius Press (San Francisco, 2012). 164 pp., $17.95.

“The Best of Being Catholic” by Kathy Coffey.

Orbis Books (Maryknoll, N.Y., 2012). 168 pp., $17.

MULHALL is a speaker and writer on topics related to evangelization, catechesis and pastoral planning.

TV PROGRAM NOTES, FILM FARE SUNDAY, DEC. 2, 8-10:15 P.M. EST (TCM) “LITTLE WOMEN” (1949). Charming remake of the Alcott classic of adolescents – studious Jo (June Allyson), practical Meg (Janet Leigh), flighty Amy (Elizabeth Taylor) and sickly little Beth (Margaret O’Brien) – being raised by their mother (Mary Astor) during the Civil War. Director Mervyn LeRoy’s version is nicely cast, makes good use of color in filming the lush period costumes and settings and tempers the sentimental nature of the narrative with some lively action. Fine family entertainment.

TUESDAY, DEC. 4, 8-9 P.M. EST (CBS) “RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER.” Narrated by Burl Ives, this digitally remastered holiday special recounts the tale of a shy reindeer whose Christmas spirit is dampened because his shiny nose has made him the laughingstock of Christmasville.

SATURDAY, DEC. 8, 10-10:40 A.M. EST (EWTN) “HOMAGE TO THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.” Pope Benedict XVI celebrates the traditional homage to the Blessed Mother in Rome’s Piazza di Spagna.

SATURDAY, DEC. 8, NOON-1:30 P.M. EST (EWTN) “SOLEMN MASS OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.” Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington celebrates the liturgy for the feast of the Immaculate Conception, broadcast live from the capital’s Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

SATURDAY, DEC. 8, 8-11 P.M. EST (AMC) “MIRACLE” (2004). Inspirational crowdpleaser which tells the real-life Cinderella story of the U.S. Olympic hockey team’s against-allodds victory over their much-vaunted Russian rivals at the 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid, N.Y., and the coach (Kurt Russell) whose uncompromisingly winning attitude helped lift the sagging patriotism of a nation and give it something to believe in. Director Gavin O’Connor scores a cinematic hat trick, with good writing, good acting and good direction, resulting in a movie that transcends sports.

©CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

COMMUNITY 23

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

1

THANKSGIVING BOUNTY: Most Holy Redeemer Parish, San Francisco, tries to have a parish breakfast once a quarter. At its most recent breakfast the parish decided not to charge admission but instead invited guests to bring five canned goods to give to Catholic Charities CYO for the Peter Claver Community. The event drew about 200 people and gathered more than 800 cans. Pictured are servers Greg Davis, Maureen Flaherty and Tom McAdams.

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ATTENTION! The Air Force Color Guard from 129th Rescue Wing, Moffett Federal Field, presented formal colors at St. Anselm School, San Anselmo, in honor of Veterans Day as students pledged allegiance to the flag. Troops from the group recently returned from helping victims of Hurricane Sandy and have also served in Africa. Teacher Janine Brillrade, herself a veteran, requested the presentation of colors. St. Anselm students wrote poems, letters and reflection for a wall of honor to the troops.

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(PHOTO COURTESY DENNIS CALLAHAN)

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RED MASS: San Francisco Auxiliary Bishop Robert W. McElroy was principal celebrant of the St. Thomas More Society Red Mass Oct. 18 at Sts. Peter and Paul Church, San Francisco. Attorney J. Dennis McQuaid, a former St. Thomas More Society president, was honored with the group’s namesake award. McQuaid, a graduate of University of San Francisco Law School, has advised the Archdiocese of San Francisco in matters of finance and today is a member of St. Leo Parish in Sonoma.

(PHOTO BY JOHN RAVNIK)

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SERVING SENIOR CITIZENS: As part of their community outreach and service projects, the Our Lady of Loretto School, Novato, eighth grade hosts two luncheons each year for local senior citizens. A record 100 people attended the fall luncheon Nov. 2. Pictured are student servers with pitchers at the ready.

SHOES FOR GUATEMALA: At the 9 a.m. Mass Nov. 7, the St. Rita School seventh grade religion class and their “saints” celebrated the latest collection of donated shoes for the Fairfax school’s Guatemala program.

5

MILITARY CHAPLAINS HONOR VETERANS DAY: Pictured at Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma, on Veterans Day, Nov. 12, are Archdiocese of San Francisco military chaplains retired Army Capt. Msgr.

Edward McTaggart; Navy Cmdr.

Father Alex Legaspi; Air Force Col. Msgr. Michael Padazinski; Army Capt. Father Alner Nambatac.

6 (PHOTO BY MARISA DAVIDSON)

(PHOTO COURTESY HOLY CROSS CEMETERY)

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‘FEED MY SHEEP’: St. Robert School, San Bruno, seventh grade teacher Yasmine Kury stands by her class all of whom came together to plan “In One Day We Can,” an effort that gathered nonperishable foods for the San Bruno Catholic Worker House. “The seventh grade was in charge of morning assembly that included information about helping the needy, and led everyone in prayer for this very special day,” said Margo Wright, principal.

7

SWEET STUFF: St. Raymond School, Menlo Park, junior high science students held a two-day bake sale for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. The $700 raised was sent to Catholic Charities CYO. “The students learned that Catholic social teachings aren’t only practiced in religion class, but in every subject,” said science teacher Kathleen Hamilton.

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24 COMMUNITY

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

Local priest asks community’s help in providing mosquito screens for Carmelite monastery in Congo FATHER GHISLAIN C. BAZIKILA

The church of the Democratic Repulic of Congo, Africa, is pleased to have the presence of the Carmelite nuns within the Archdiocese of Brazzaville, the metropolitan city of the Congo. The Carmelite monastery is located in Kinsoundi near the major and minor seminaries of St. John’s and Cardinal Emile Biayenda. Mount Carmel was established in 1966 at the request of Cardinal Biayenda, the first and only Congolese cardinal, who died in 1977.

The Carmelite monastery of Brazzaville was established by Sister Michelle from Switzerland and she has lived in Brazzaville since 1967. Sister Chantal Desmarin from France has lived there since 1967, and Sister Giselle from Italy has lived there since 1968. They have never visited or returned to their home countries. They said that they love the Carmel and are happy in Africa and they have already learned some African dialects to better chat with the people, especially the children and women who visit them. The monastery has several other nuns from Senegal, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo-Brazzaville, Togo and the Ivory Coast. The community has a total of 17 nuns, who garden flowers and vegetables on the large grounds.

I have known the Carmelites since 1988 when I was a seminarian at St. John’s in Brazzaville and I used to visit and pray with the nuns at the weekend Masses and evening prayers. They are very aware of world issues and deeply rooted in prayer. I visited them when I was in Brazzaville in July and prayed with them in their chapel.

A very dramatic thing occurs at chapel at midnight prayer every night. A swarm of mosquitoes enters from the forest beyond, visibly flying around and biting. It is dangerous because malaria is sometimes a terrible disease. The mosquitoes bit me on my legs and head occasionally and I was making slight nois-

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Carmelite sisters are pictured at their monastery in Brazzaville, Congo. The author says mosquito screens for the monastery chapel would help the sisters and their many visitors pray comfortably at any given time. es with my hands. One of the Carmel nuns heard and looked back at me. She came and simply told me with a gentle voice that “you are welcome but you are also free to leave us to rest if you would want to because it is late for you.” I felt greatly relieved and went out of the chapel after praying for a while. In my bedroom, I could not sleep. I was still worried about the Carmel nuns at their midnight prayer. I did not understand how they dealt with the rage of the mosquitoes in the monastery chapel.

In the morning during Mass I was celebrating for them, I had mixed emotions while looking at the wonderful nuns and multicultural monastery and remembering what they had endured with the mosquitoes the night before. After Mass, we gathered outside the chapel for a farewell talk. I recounted the scene of the mosquito parade in the chapel according to my own experience. One of the sisters said that she was embarrassed by the way I was moving my legs and hands. She told me that they were used to the mosquitoes regardless of their nocturnal attacks. Another nun said that each of them had had malaria at one time or another.

I asked them how long they had been without the monastery chapel’s doors and windows closed to the

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FATHER BAZIKILA is a deaf priest of the Archdiocese of San Francisco and a native of Congo. He graduated from St. Patrick’s Seminary & University in Menlo Park in 2008 and ministers to the deaf community in Northern California. His email is goodpastorale@yahoo.com.

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mosquitoes. The Carmelites responded that it had been that way from the beginning.

The mosquito parade is a great challenge at the monastery chapel, a challenge not only for the nuns but also for the priests or nuns, lay visitors or the faithful people who like to stay overnight for their retreat program. The massive mosquito presence in the chapel inspires a few to fear for the longevity and the good health of the nuns.

I think that it may be great to offer some assistance to the nuns to improve their monastery chapel so that they can pray comfortably at any given or scheduled time according to the monastery rule and program. Putting screens on the chapel’s doors and windows can considerably limit the mosquitoes’ access.

As a Congolese priest, a former seminarian who has known the Carmelite nuns and as a person who has experienced the drastic biting of the mosquitoes at the Carmel chapel, it is my pleasure to share this story with the people of our archdiocese. It is my hope that compassionate people and generous faithful people can understand and help to improve and relieve the nocturnal challenge of the mosquitoes at the Brazzaville Carmelite chapel. The help that the nuns need and look for is to get charitable donations to improve their monastery chapel with adequate screens for doors and windows. The chapel has only two main entrance doors and eight large windows. I am trustful that together we can relieve the suffering of the Carmel monastery nuns from mosquitoes.

Donations may be made and sent to Father Ghislain C. Bazikila, St. Benedict residence, 1801 Octavia St., San Francisco, CA 94109. After donations are received and given to the Carmelite nuns in Brazzaville, a letter of gratitude written by the Carmelites will be sent to the archdiocese.

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See it at RentMyCondo.com#657

25

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

WINTER BOUTIQUE

Winter Boutique

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

TO ADVERTISE IN CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO: CALL (415) 614-5642

LIVE-IN CARE Dec. 1, 10:00am Join us at the Saint Hilary School Winter Boutique, 765 Hilary Drive, Tiburon Open To The Public!

A wonderful community event with over 20 vendors selling Holiday items for all ages.

See children’s entertainer “Daffy Dave” 11:00am-12:00pm.

Free admission.

Parking is available in church and school lot.

Visit www.sainthilaryschool.org

PUBLISH A NOVENA

Pre-payment required Mastercard or Visa accepted

Cost $26

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

SF lady seeks living arrgmt.

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CHORUS CONCERT sacred heart cathedral preparatory and the Department of Visual & Performing Arts present

ristmas Getaway h C A n c ert us Co Chor

Chorus Concert

Friday, December 7th at 7:30 pm Sunday, December 9th at 3:30 pm & 7:30 pm A snowstorm? In San Francisco?! Grab your nearest and dearest and head on down to the SHC airport and depart for the silliest trip of the holiday season!

The SHC Chorus imagines what it would be like if it snowed in San Francisco—and grounds all flights due to inclement fun! A bevy of characters—from the woebegone ticket salesman, the harried mother, and battling lovers—sing a variety of your favorite pop, classic, oldie and holiday songs. Grab your cozy coat (and that last Cinnabon from the gate!) and transport yourselves to an exciting holiday adventure with SHC’s A Christmas Getaway, piloted by Christian Bohm. You’ll be cruising at a comfortable speed of mirth and delight.

Book your trip now at www.shcp.edu.

$12Tickets General Hdetails $7 Students & Seniors and at www.scp.edu Call 925-933-1095

Sister Caroline Collins, DC, Theater 1100 Ellis Street, San Francisco, CA

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Your prayer will be published in our newspaper

SERVICES

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THE ARCHDIOCESE OF SAN FRANCISCO Joy Kensic CATHOLIC CEMETERIES OF – CONTROLLER – 415-823-8724

Select One Prayer: ❑ St. Jude Novena to SH

❑ Prayer to the Blessed Virgin

JKensic17@yahoo.com

❑ Prayer to St. Jude

❑ Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Walking, Exercising Dog sitting (vacations)

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

Prayer to St. Jude

PARTY PLANNING Parties for Adults & Kids

PERSONAL TRAINING References available upon request

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

Help me in my present and urgent petition. In return I promise to make you be invoked. Say three our Fathers, three Hail Marys and Glorias. St. Jude pray for us all who invoke your aid. Amen.

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

L.V.

DOG CARE

Responsible & Reliable

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.

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Prayer to the Holy Spirit

St. Jude Novena

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.

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

St. Jude helper of the hopeless pray for us.

Say prayer 9 times a day for 9 days.

Thank You St. Jude.

Never known to fail.

You may publish.

L.S.

CHILD CARE

INFANT CARE In my home in Marin County.

Weekdaysweekends References.

Licensed child care provider # 214005188 Licensed RN Call Peggy at 415.924.1727

The Cemetery Department of the Archdiocese of San Francisco seeks a full-time Controller. This is a professional “exempt” level position that reports to the Director of Cemeteries and offices at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma.

Job Description: The Controller assists the Director of Cemeteries with the stewardship of the physical, financial and personnel resources of the Cemetery Department, in accordance with the Archdiocesan policies and guidelines. The Controller is a person of faith committed to Gospel values. He or she values the organization and responsible management of resources and helps the Cemetery Department fulfill its mission and purposes.

Job Requirements: • Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Public or Non-profit Administration or equivalent, relevant work experience. Master’s degree a plus.

• Certified Public Accountant; experience in working with non-profits a plus • Extensive knowledge of generally accepted accounting principles and best practices • Strong knowledge of accounting software applications, including spreadsheets, word processing and database programs (Access, Excel, Word), Unix, Quickbooks, and the ability to learn new software.

• Ability and experience in hiring, supervising and coaching employees • Ability to plan, organize, set schedules, prioritize tasks, and work with other members of the staff in a collegial and collaborative manner • Must be highly detail oriented, well organized, resourceful, sensitive to confidentiality issues, self-motivated and professional • Active practicing Roman Catholic who understands and supports the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, preferred

Please send cover letter and resume to Monica Williams, Director: email mjwilliams@holycrosscemeteries.com or fax 650.757.0752

26 CALENDAR

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

FRIDAY, NOV. 30

SUNDAY, DEC. 2

SATURDAY, DEC. 1

FIRST FRIDAY: Contemplatives of St. Joseph offer Mass at Mater Dolorosa Church, 307 Willow Ave., South San Francisco, 7 p.m. followed by healing service and personal blessing with St. Joseph oil from Oratory of St. Joseph, Montreal.

WEEKEND RETREAT: Rachel’s Vineyard post-abortive retreat in Los Altos at the Jesuit Retreat Center for women and men, therapy for the soul, Shirley (650) 964-8093, (650) 814-6185. shirley@mycpc.org. www.rachelsvineyard.org.

DAILY TV MASSES: EWTN airs Mass daily at 5 a.m., 9 a.m., 9 p.m. EWTN is carried on Comcast 229, AT&T 562, DISH Satellite 261 and Direct TV 370. In Half Moon Bay EWTN airs on Comcast 70 and on Comcast 74 in southern San Mateo County.

SATURDAY, DEC. 1 PORZIUNCOLA GIFTS: Holiday Open House, Francesco Rocks Gift Shop, Porziuncola Nuova, Columbus at Vallejo, San Francisco 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Light refreshments will be served as you enjoy shopping among the treasures of near and far including holiday decorations, music, books and gifts. The music of newly discovered singer Friar Alessandro will be playing and available for purchase.

2-DAY BOUTIQUE: St. Brendan School Christmas Children’s Carnival and Boutique, Dec. 1, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Dec. 2, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Laguna Honda and Portola Drive, San Francisco. SBSBoutique2012@gmail.com.

FATIMA MASS: Mission Dolores Basilica, 9 a.m., 16th Street at Dolores, San Francisco, Father Arturo Albano, pastor, celebrant and homilist. (650) 269-2121.

CHRISTMAS CONCERT: St. Thomas More Choir, 1300 Junipero Serra Blvd., San Francisco off Brotherhood Way, 8 p.m. featuring excerpts from Handel’s Messiah and carols, Lala SegismundoJiang (650) 296-0509. $15.

MASS: Holy Cross Cemetery, 1500 Old Mission Road, Colma, 11 a.m., All Saints Mausoleum Chapel, Father Brian Costello, pastor, Most Holy Redeemer Parish, Father Brian San Francisco Costello celebrant, homilist. (650) 756-2060.

MONDAY, DEC. 3 4-DAY ADVENT RETREAT: St. Hilary Parish, 761 Hilary Drive, Tiburon, led

by Dominican Father Jude Siciliano and Dominican Sister Patricia Bruno. Daily schedule: Sister Patricia 8:30 a.m.

Bruno, OP Mass, 9 a.m. scriptural reflection and meditation session, 7:30 p.m. evening of ritual and prayer.

All are welcome. (415) 4351122. No fee or reservation required. Free will offering accepted.

SWEDISH CHRISTMAS FAIR: Cathedral Event Center, lower level, St. Mary’s Cathedral, Gough Street at Geary Boulevard, San Francisco, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Christmas festivities, gift fair, traditional Swedish delicacies, and Santa Lucia pageant. Admission is $8 adults/$5 Seniors/$3 children. Visit www.swea.org/christmasfair___7484. aspx.

HOLIDAY BOUTIQUE: St. Robert Church, Hennessy Hall, 345 Oak Ave, San Bruno, 9-3 p.m. Admission and parking are free. Proceeds benefit the Women’s Guild, (650) 589-2800 CONCERT: Schola Seraphica performs at St. Patrick’s Seminary & University, 320 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park. 2:30 p.m. Program features Sacred Christmas music from the Renaissance to the present. Tickets are $20 general, $15 Senior/ Students. Call (650) 323-7914.

CONCERT: Golden Gate Boys Choir & Bellringers, 2 p.m., Cristo Rey Monastery Chapel, 721 Parker Avenue, San Francisco, Christmas songs in a serene prayer space with procession, soloists, and English bells. Adults $10, children $5.

ORNAMENT PARTY: Ornament exchange party benefiting Alpha Pregnancy Center, noon at City Forest Lodge, 254 Laguna Honda Blvd., San Francisco. $30 tickets include lunch. Please bring wrapped ornament and a gift for an infant layette. Ornament designed by Gina Wood will be raffled. Contact Patti Wood, Pmemo65@aol.com. (415) 648-4522.

CONCERT: The choirs and musicians of St Bartholomew Parish, 300 Alameda de las Pulgas at Crystal Springs Road, San Mateo, 3 p.m. Program features Christmas favorites old and new accompanied by a 14-piece orchestra. Free-will donations appreciated.

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CHRISTMAS STORY: St. Catherine of Siena School, Dec. 7, 8, 14, 15, 7:30 p.m. school auditorium, 1300 Bayswater Ave., Burlingame. $10, $8 students/children, $25 VIP seating in first two rows. Cast and crew feature students from junior high classes. To purchase tickets in advance, www.stcos.com. Tickets also sold at the door on performance days. (650) 344-7176.

FILM NIGHT: “Maldonado Miracle� and Year of Faith, 6:30 p.m., Pauline Books & Media Center, 935 Brewster Ave., Redwood City, 7-8:30 p.m. (650) 369-4230. redwood@paulinemedia.com.

CLASSIC CAROLS: Holiday concerts, Dec. 7 and 8, at Mater Dolorosa Church, 307 Willow Ave., South San Francisco, 7:30 p.m., featuring Mater Dolorosa Hallelujah Choir and children’s choir. Tickets $20 at door and $15 in advance. (650) 878-1715. mdssf50@yahoo.com.

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FIRST FRIDAY: Adoration 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Blessed Sacrament Shrine, St. Mary’s Cathedral, Gough Street at Geary Boulevard, San Francisco. Contact the cathedral office (415) 567-2020.

SEPARATED DIVORCED: Meeting takes place first and third Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m., St. Stephen Parish O’Reilly Center, 23rd Avenue at Eucalyptus, San Francisco. Groups are part of the Separated and Divorced Catholic Ministry in the

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Breen’s Mobile Notary Services Timothy P. Breen

BOOK CLUB: Study of Vatican Council II: 50 Years, implications of the council for continuing renewal of the church in the 21st century. New members welcome, Pauline Books & Media Center, 935 Brewster Ave., Redwood City, 7-8:30 p.m., (650) 369-4230. redwood@paulinemedia.com.

BREAKFAST TALK: Catholic Marin Breakfast Club, Mass, 7 a.m. talk following at St. Sebastian Church, Sir Francis Drake Boulevard and Bon Air Road, Greenbrae, Presentation by Rev. James McDonald, president, San Francisco Theological Seminary. (415) 461-0704.

Sugaremy@aol.com. Member breakfast $8/nonmembers $10.

BREAKFAST WITH SANTA: All Souls School cafeteria after 9 a.m. Mass, 315 Walnut Ave., South San Francisco, $10 adults and $8 children, pictures with Santa $5. (650) 871-8944.

THE PROFESSIONALS COUNSELING

archdiocese. Evening begins with prayer, introductions, sharing. It is a drop-in support group. Jesuit Father Al Grosskopf (415) 422-6698, grosskopf@usfca.edu.

(650) 580-6334 / (925) 330-4760

Individuals, Couples, Families, and Children Experience working in a Catholic environment with school & families Burlingame, California 650.523.4553 gsilversteinmft@gmail.com

CALENDAR 27

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

SUNDAY, DEC. 9

CRAFT FAIR: All Souls Parish, 315 Walnut Ave., South San Francisco Dec. 8, 9, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. in school cafeteria. Call (650) 8718944.

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE MASS: St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, Balboa at 40th Avenue, San Francisco, will honor Our Lady of Guadalupe with Mass and a reception at 4 p.m.

Liturgy includes music by mariachi band and homemade favorite foods afterward.

REMEMBRANCE SERVICE: Holiday Prayer Service, Holy Cross Cemetery, 1500 Old Mission Road, Colma, 11a.m. All Saints Mausoleum Chapel, Msgr. John Talesfore, presides. (650) 756-2060.

PRO-LIFE PROCESSION: Our Lady of Guadalupe pro-life procession, 2 p.m. rain or shine, leaving from St. Matthew Church, El Camino Real and Ninth Avenue, San Mateo to Planned Parenthood, 35 Baywood Ave., San Mateo, about a 1.5-mile round trip. smprolife@ yahoo.com. (650) 572-1468.

TUESDAY, DEC. 11 SEPARATED DIVORCED: Meeting takes place second and fourth Tuesdays, St. Bartholomew Parish Spirituality Center, Alameda de las Pulgas at Crystal Springs Road, San Mateo, 7 p.m. Groups are part of the Separated and Divorced Catholic Ministry in the archdiocese and begin with prayer,

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CHRISTMAS CONCERT: St. Charles Parish. 880 Tamarack Ave., San Carlos, 7 p.m. Adult and children’s choirs sing stories of Christmas and present an encore performance of “Bright Light,” an original children’s musical with music

by Patti Beale Kelii and words by God. Bring your sunglasses! Admission is free.

An offering will be taken for the support of the music ministries at St. Charles.

ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY: Conversation group on ancient philosophical texts, St. Mary’s Cathedral, Gough Street at Geary Boulevard, San Francisco, Msgr. Bowe Room, 7:30-10 p.m. reynaldo.miranda@gmail.com. (415) 584 8794.

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CARDINAL LEVADA ON VATICAN II: “Vatican II at 50: Looking back, moving forward,” an evening with Cardinal William J. Levada, archbishop emeritus, Archdiocese of Cardinal William San Francisco, and retired J. Levada prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 7 p.m., St. Rita Church, Sir Francis Drake Boulevard and Miranda Drive, Fairfax. Ordained to the priesthood in Rome’s St. Peter’s Basilica in 1961 and ordained bishop in 1983, Cardinal Levada has held leadership positions at all levels of church life and on major works including the Catechism of the Catholic Church. All are invited. (415) 456-4815.

FICTION BOOK CLUB: Discussion based on C.S Lewis’ “The Great Divorce,” Pauline Books & Media Center, 935 Brewster Ave., Redwood City, 7-8:30 p.m.. (650) 369-4230. redwood@paulinemedia.com.

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HOME SERVICES

ROOFING

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 19

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SATURDAY, DEC. 8

LESSONS AND CAROLS: St. Ignatius Church, 650 Parker St. at Fulton, San Francisco, 3:30 p.m. Afternoon of Advent readings, prayer and music includes choirs from St. Ignatius Parish, St. Agnes Parish, St. Ignatius College Preparatory, Jesuit School of Theology and University of San Francisco. (415) 422-2188. www. stignatiussf.org.

introductions and sharing. It is a dropin support group. Jesuit Father Al Grosskopf (415) 422-6698, grosskopf@ usfca.edu.

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PUBLICIZE YOUR EVENT: Submit event listings by noon Friday. Email calendar.csf@ sfarchdiocese.org, write Calendar, One Peter Yorke Way, SF 94109, or call Tom Burke at (415) 614-5634.

28

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 30, 2012

In Remembrance of the Faithful Departed Interred In Our Catholic Cemeteries During the Month of October HOLY CROSS COLMA Gavina S. Abello Ethel Mabares Abello Maria S. Aguirre Marge Casey Ahlquist Ethel A. Alas Aida E. Alas Enriqueta Alcantar Andres E. Aspiras Gino Baccin Luke Gerard Baldomero Kathryn Barsanti Luis Becerra, Jr. Pierre Begorre Alexander Beltrami Bonifacia Bestudio Kathleen T. Blanchard Thomas James Blanchard William E. Britt Lucy Bywater Michael C. Callahan Esperanza Calonje Margaret A. Carroll Servando “Tony” Castaneda Anne E. Castillo Rita A. Castro Benny Acosta Cazar Joan Chasseur Rev. Robert P. Cipriano Vincent J. Cirelli Richard P. Cucinotta Sister Mary Marian Curran Ann Cush Efren (George) Dasco Frank De Benedetti, Jr. Dianne Dizon

Darlene Joy Henning Dolores Gloria D. Donohoe Marie C. Donovan Anna May Fernandes Hilda Totah Field Phillis L. Flinn Ernest A. Franco Giuliana M. Franzoia John B. Gauci Lena Giotto Julio Cesar Gonzalez Elva Gray Pauline Hilsz Rosalie E. Hollasch Michael Howley, Jr. Mary Hunter Remedios “Remy” P. Jameson Isabella S. Jenks Barbara Kettell Jessie Doung Lai Desmond T. Lewin Eugene Maffei Anthony “Tony” Magri Vera S. Maher Viola U. Mahoney Michael J. Malone Jesus Palad Manacmul Hector B. Manansala Carroll W. May Gregory B. McCaughan Beverly McCullough Bernetta A. McKay Winifred M. McManis Remedios V. Miguel Lucena T. Mobo Mary Leah Morch Martin “Ben” Murphy

Jeremy M. Nacion Jeremaine M. Nacion Beatriz P. Navarrete Lega Niumalelega Edward O’Malley Carlos Andres Ortiz Mario A. Partida Angelo Antonio Perin Emily J. Ponzini Efrain Prado Barbara A. Prevot Anthony Rampone Thomas Baker Reed Misael Reyes Myra Rodgers Bernhardt Crane Rosen Angelo Rosi Gemma M. Rossi Renato A. Salvoni Eduardo Cortez Sanchez David M. Sandoval Teresita P. Sarmiento Emilia R. Sayson James Patrick Scallon Daniel O. Scharetg Marion T. Scharetg Timothy J. Scully Yvonne Patricia Sharp Chester M. Sincich Nicholas Sindicich Theresa Solis Isabelle Mary Stevens Munir K. Suleiman Edward Merritt Vejmola Ricardo J. Wassmer Dan Wendland Betty Ann Wolfe

James R. Wolff Melva Won Mercedes Yepez

HOLY CROSS MENLO PARK Filiberto Chavez Joan M. Cox Rafaela Flores Mary Ellen Goode Sophia Wanda Lipinski Lucila P. Rangel Lucy Walker

MT. OLIVET SAN RAFAEL Maria Leone Alessi Doris A. Finnerty Wilhelm Catherine L. Hidalgo Evelyn Marie Luiz Lucien Mathias Perez Ernesto R. Villa Maria de lalus Villanueva

OUR LADY OF THE PILLAR HALF MOON BAY Maria A. Mendes

HOLY CROSS CATHOLIC CEMETERY, COLMA FIRST SATURDAY MASS – Saturday, December 1, 2012 All Saints Mausoleum Chapel – 11:00 am.

Rev. Brian Costello, Celebrant

Christmas Rememberance Service– Saturday, December 8, 2012 All Saints Mausoleum Chapel – 11:00 am.

Rev. Msgr. John Talesfore, Officiant

A Tradition of Faith Throughout Our Lives.