December 6, 2013 by Catholic San Francisco

DAY OF PRAYER:

CHALLENGE:

ADVENT BOOKS:

Call for Advent atonement for Philippines victims

40 days of readings deepen Advent for St. Anselm families

A selection of recent releases suitable for spiritual reading

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO Newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco

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$1.00 | VOL. 15 NO. 34

DECEMBER 6, 2013

8th graders’ tech fast reclaims meaning of ‘present’ VALERIE SCHMALZ CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

Twenty-eight eighth graders at St. Matthew School voluntarily gave up the use of their cellphones, video games and X-boxes for two weeks in response to a “tech free challenge” from the school counselor. They stepped back in time, coordinating pickup and meet-up times with their parents without the backup of cellphones, using home phones to talk with friends, playing Clue and Monopoly board games with their families, and reading more. The idea was to help the eighth graders’ at the San Mateo parish school recognize how technology had permeated their lives by helping them experience what life could be like without constantly checking for social media updates and text messages, said Denise Uhl and principal Nancy Arnett. “We found kids were relying on it too heavily in all their relationships,” said Uhl. Parents asked, “What can I do with my child who is always on their cellphone, looking down at their cellphone everywhere?” Eighth grader Cassie Fell created a scarf on a loom and discovered she got her homework done much quicker without the distraction of

FRANCIS X. ROCCA CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

“SNAP is such an important anti-poverty support,” said Colleen Rivecca, advocacy coordinator for St. Anthony Foundation, adding that a strong food aid program helps everyone in the local community. A Congressional Budget Office analysis of poverty-reduction measures shows that for every SNAP dollar spent, roughly $1.80 in local economic activity is generated. Rivecca is working with national anti-poverty and anti-hunger groups to influence Congress to support a U.S. farm bill that boosts SNAP funding. However, in addition to the recent

VATICAN CITY – In his first extensive piece of writing as pope, Pope Francis lays out a vision of the Catholic Church dedicated to evangelization in a positive key, with a focus on society’s poorest and most vulnerable, including the Pope Francis aged and unborn. “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”), released by the Vatican Nov. 26, is an apostolic exhortation, one of the most authoritative categories of papal document. (Pope Francis’ first encyclical, “Lumen Fidei,” published in July, was mostly the work of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI.) The pope wrote the new document in response to the October 2012 Synod of Bishops on the new evangelization, but declined to work from a draft provided by synod officials. Pope Francis’ voice is unmistakable in the 50,000-word document’s relatively relaxed style – he writes that an “evangelizer must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral!” – and its emphasis on some of his signature themes, including the dangers of economic globalization and “spiritual worldliness.” The church’s message “has to concentrate on the essentials, on what is most beautiful, most

SEE FOOD, PAGE 20

SEE POPE, PAGE 20

(PHOTO BY VALERIE SCHMALZ/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)

St. Matthew School principal Nancy Arnett is pictured with, back from left, eighth graders Riley Scanlan, Joe Bevilacqua, Lucas Fayet-Faber; counselor Denise Uhl. Front from left: Eighth graders Cassie Fell, Maddie Hughes (holding artwork she made during the challenge), Maddy Scully. without video games or cellphones. They could still use computers for homework and watch movies or television with family and friends. The students are going to share their stories with the seventh graders; they spoke to the faculty and are scheduled to do a presentation to the school

checking her phone or playing video games. “I decided to do the tech challenge because I was noticing how everybody including myself was always on their cellphones,” she said. The challenge lasted from Nov. 11 to Nov. 22, and included five days of the class Caritas retreat when all the eighth graders in the school were

SEE TECH FAST, PAGE 20

Free dining halls meeting need but bracing for federal cuts EDISON TAPALLA CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

Free dining halls and food pantries in the San Francisco archdiocese are meeting the needs of the hungry but recent federal cuts have them bracing for increased demand. On Nov. 1, the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as food stamps, cut average assistance from $1.60 per person per meal to less than $1.40 – nearly $400 less a year for a typical family of four. Deadlocked over its budget, Congress did not extend the temporary boost to food aid enacted in the American Recovery and Rein-

Pope defines vision for evangelical church

vestment Act of 2009 as part of the federal stimulus package. Karl Robillard, spokesman for the St. Anthony Foundation in San Francisco, linked an increase in meals served in November to the cuts. “We’ve roughly seen an increase of about 100 served meals per day… We have to be ready to provide more meals. We have to be ready to step in and fill that gap,” Robillard said. Nearly 47 million Americans are affected by the cuts nationwide. In California the number of SNAP recipients has doubled since 2008 from approximately 2 million to more than 4.1 million program participants in September of 2013.

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INDEX On the Street . . . . . . . . .4 National . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Opinion. . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Faith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . .26

2 ARCHDIOCESE

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 6, 2013

Archbishop calls for Advent prayer, fasting, giving for Philippines disaster victims VALERIE SCHMALZ CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

“We are all one in the body of Christ” Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone told worshippers gathered at St. Mary’s Cathedral for a Nov. 30 Mass for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan. “Yes, we really are our brothers and sisters’ keepers,” the archbishop said during his homily, urging generous contributions to the archdiocesan second collection Nov. 30-Dec.1 for Catholic Relief Services disaster relief in the Philippines. The archbishop also reiterated his call for Advent fasting and prayer for those hurt by the twin natural disasters which hit the central Philippines over a three-week span, and suggested continued giving after the second collection. Hundreds of thousands of people are homeless with more than 1 million homes damaged by the Nov. 8 typhoon, which cut a swath of destruction 30 miles wide, with damage far beyond, and came on the heels of a magnitude-7.1 earthquake Oct. 15 in the central Philippines. The Philippine government now counts about 5,600 dead from the typhoon. The “Mass of Prayer for Those Suffering from Natural Disasters in the Philippines” was celebrated by Archbishop Cordileone, joined by retired Archbishop John R. Quinn, Auxiliary Bishop Robert W. McElroy and about a dozen parish priests. “It may seem like a small thing, but prayer is essential,” Archbishop Cordileone said, noting those present had taken time away from the long Thanksgiving weekend, “what is known as the biggest shopping weekend of the year.” “We are asking our people throughout the archdiocese to engage in some form of penance, some form of fasting for the people of the Philippines,” Archbishop Cordileone said in his homily, saying the disruption would be “miniscule compared to what our brothers and sisters are suffering in the Philippines. Miniscule doesn’t mean it doesn’t count. It counts a lot.” The archbishop’s call for fasting and prayer struck a chord with those who spoke with Catholic San Francisco after Mass. “We can fast not in food, but in some other ways, like shopping,” said Our Lady of Perpetual Help parishioner Vickie Gevana, who came to Mass with her husband Oscar. “This Christmas we will all need to remember those who are really suffering.” “We’re here to pray with the community for all the victims and just to unite ourselves in prayer to give support to their sufferings,” said Star of the Sea parishioner Jay Balza, who attended with his young son Paul, mother Rose and his brother Joseph.

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Archbishop Cordileone urged Catholics to fast for Philippines disaster victims, saying the disruption would be “miniscule” compared to what victims are suffering. The death toll from Typhoon Haiyan has risen to about 5,600.

CRS TYPHOON DONATIONS TOP $21 MILLION

Catholic Relief Services has received more than $21 million in donations for the recovery effort in the Philippines from Typhoon Haiyan. During November a number of Bay Area parishes reported receiving between $7,000 to $10,000 in donations from special collections, including the Archdiocese of San Francisco-sponsored CRS collection Nov. 30-Dec. 1. An anonymous donor has offered to triple the impact of gifts made up to $500,000 through a special CRS portal, donating $2 for every $1 pledged through http://donate.crs.org/goto/HaiyanMatch The Nov. 8 storm affected 10 million people, displaced 4.3 million and damaged more than 1 million homes, with more than 50,000 families still staying in evacuation centers. “We pray for all the victims of the typhoon and the earthquake – that they be comforted by the Lord,” said St. Patrick parishioner Nelly Sarmiento, with husband Mario. Their daughter Tracy sang the psalm for the Mass. “We are here to support the Filipino communi-

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Jay Balza, with son Paul, attended the Mass with his brother Joseph, right, and mother Rose. ty. We are very sad that that happened,” said St. Augustine parishioner Joriz Madrid, who was with his wife, Susan. Both said they planned to try to fast, which Joriz said is particularly challenging because eating is important culturally for Filipinos. “So that is a big sacrifice,” he said.

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone Publisher George Wesolek Associate Publisher Rick DelVecchio Editor/General Manager EDITORIAL Valerie Schmalz, assistant editor schmalzv@sfarchdiocese.org Tom Burke, On the Street/Calendar burket@sfarchdiocese.org Christina Gray, Content & Community Development grayc@sfarchdiocese.org Edison Tapalla, Content & Community assistant tapallae@sfarchdiocese.org ADVERTISING Joseph Peña, director Mary Podesta, account representative Chandra Kirtman, advertising & circulation coordinator PRODUCTION Karessa McCartney-Kavanaugh, manager Joel Carrico, assistant HOW TO REACH US One Peter Yorke Way San Francisco, CA 94109 Phone: (415) 614-5639 | Fax: (415) 614-5641 Editor: (415) 614-5647 editor.csf@sfarchdiocese.org Advertising: (415) 614-5642 advertising.csf@sfarchdiocese.org Circulation: (415) 614-5639 circulation.csf@sfarchdiocese.org Letters to the editor: letters.csf@sfarchdiocese.org

ARCHDIOCESE 3

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 6, 2013

Marin parish takes on 40 Day Advent Challenge CHRISTINA M. GRAY CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

Every evening after dinner dishes and homework are done, Elena Barbagelata and her three children, Domenica, Antonio and Lorenzo, form a cozy row on their overstuffed sofa and spend an hour together preparing for Christmas. Unlike other households where that might mean marathon shopping expeditions or long lists to Santa, the St. Anselm Parish family is counting down the days to Christmas by reading the entire New Testament, aloud and together. “We love Santa Claus here too,” said Elena, who grew up in a large Italian Catholic family in San Francisco that said the rosary together each night during Advent. “But I want my family to include traditions that have real meaning.” The Barbagelatas are among dozens of St. Anselm parishioners who have embarked on a new Advent tradition – the 40 Day Advent Challenge, a daily program of scriptural readings that began Nov. 15 and ends Christmas Eve. The challenge was conceived by Orthodox priest Father John Peck as a soul-nourishing, Christ-focused antidote to the commercial whirlwind promoted by the media every Christmas. The simple yet ambitious program has been adopted in recent years by many congregations and parishes. It caught the attention of the St. Anselm parish council, who introduced it to the parish last month.

(PHOTO BY CHRISTINA M. GRAY/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)

“Advent gives us time to anticipate Christmas and that makes it more special,” said St. Anselm School eighth grader Domenica Barbagelata, seated in the foreground with her brothers Lorenzo and Antonio and their mother Elena. The program has been undertaken by about 50 parishioners. The beauty of the program is that it is a daily time out from the secular preoccupations of Christmas and an opportunity to focus daily on the meaning of the season, said parish coordinator Ann Roggenbuck. “It’s a way for everyone, even families with children, to set some time aside to read the holy Scripture aloud together and reconnect with what is truly important in life,” she said. To call the program a challenge is no hype: The 40 daily readings,

which take participants through the New Testament in a deliberate but non-sequential path, are an admittedly ambitious undertaking for parishioners. Some, like the Barbagelatas, read together in their home. Others who are able to meet as a group and are interested in discussion of the passages meet on Tuesday nights at the parish hall. By day 11, participants interviewed by Catholic San Francisco acknowledged the rigor of the program while appreciating its rewards. “One of the reasons I really want my kids to do this is that we live in

such a narcissistic, self-centered world here,” Barbagelata said. “It’s a daily battle to remind my kids that it’s not all about them.” Fortunately, this point is not lost on the well-versed Barbagelata kids, who giggled and wiggled their way through the Advent hour with their mother, occasionally teasing her about mispronunciations or misinterpretations of biblical names or references. “Christmas is not about us getting presents,” said Lorenzo, a second grader at St. Anselm School. His sister Domenica added that the rituals of Advent “help us anticipate the birthday of Jesus” and make Christmas more special to her. Down the street from the Barbagelatas in the parish hall, Joan Thomas and Sue Maino, members of the parish council and the selfdescribed “instigator and educator” of the Advent challenge, sipped hot apple cider and met with other group members. They discussed their first week of the program and the challenges and rewards of reading and discussing the New Testament, some for the first time. The program helps Catholics become more conversant with Scripture but is not meant to be Bible study, Maino said. “This is simply a small faith community walking together for four weeks toward Christmas and drawing closer to God individually and collectively,” she said. “Hopefully we will bring a slightly new person to the crib on Christmas Day.”

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4 ON THE STREET WHERE YOU LIVE

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 6, 2013

Your feeling better could be thanks to Marin Catholic senior TOM BURKE CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

Answers to better health are at the top of the list for Marin Catholic High School senior Nick Gonella. His theories about cholesterol- reducing drugs helping in shorter stays in intensive care for people with severe infections under the title “Statin Continuation Reduces ICU Length of Stay and May Improve Survival in Bacteremia – A Pilot Study” will be published in the December issue of Critical Care Medicine. Nick will Nick Gonella also speak on the topic at a Society for Critical Care Medicine conference in January in San Francisco. The audience will include physicians from universities, private practice and industry. Kaiser Permanente critical care specialist Dr. Sridhar Prasad is math club coach at MC and collaborated with Nick on a data-analysis project pertaining to severe infections that led to the writing of the paper. “Nick’s work was a retrospective review of statin use, a medication for cholesterol, in patients who suffered bacteremia, a marker of severe infection,” Dr. Prasad said. “He found that when the statins were continued during hospitalization, patient outcomes were better in terms of reduced mortality and reduced ICU length of stay. The ramifications of this are certainly striking; we might be able to save lives and shed tens of thousands of dollars in daily expenses by continuing a drug that costs 15 cents per day.” Nick’s folks are Susan Hubbard and Michael Gonella. FIRM FOUNDATION: San Francisco Auxiliary Bishop Robert W. McElroy led groundbreaking ceremonies Nov. 1 for a new gym at St. Matthew Parish in San Mateo. The new hoops et al center is expected to welcome activities in September 2014. The ceremony included affirming comments from pastor Father Tony McGuire and parishioner Joel Wine, who has been involved with the project since inception. All Saints Day Bishop Robert Mass with Bishop McElroy and W. McElroy Father McGuire celebrating and Deacon Jim Shea assisting followed. Cost of the new facility is approximately $7 million with all but $2 million committed and collected. Supporters of St. Matt’s school annual golf tournament donated some $20,000 for use in the school athletic programs and upgrading playground equipment. This was the 50th year golfers took to the links for St. Matt’s.

WATER OF LIFE: Sulpician Father Gerald Coleman baptized his youngest cousin Savannah at Old Mission Dolores Nov. 16, the same holy spot where Father Jerry, 71 years ago, and his brother Donald, 66 years ago, were baptized by their uncle Father Paul Coleman. Now deceased, Father Paul was the founding pastor of St. Veronica Parish, South San Francisco, serving there from 1951-1977. Pictured with Savannah and Father Jerry after the rite are Savannah’s folks Tim and Jennifer Farrelly and their son, Timmy. Father Jerry, former president of St. Patrick Seminary & University in Menlo Park, is vice president for corporate ethics for the Daughters of Charity Health System. adults $50 and children under 12, $10. Proceeds go to the renovation of the historic St. Mary’s church consecrated in 1867. Mail a check payable to St. Mary’s to Kathy Drady, P.O. Box 849, Nicasio 94946, or call Kathy at (415) 662-2057. SWEET: The fifth grade class at Our Lady of Angels School in Burlingame sponsored a school-wide Halloween candy drive for troops in Afghanistan. Students collected a total of 290 pounds of candy redeeming it for $290 that went to the work of the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

ANNIVERSARY: Rita and Warren Vogel, parishioners of St. Denis, Menlo Park, for 45 years, celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary Nov. 6. The couple took their vows at San Francisco’s St. Brigid Church. Joining them for the milestone dinner were son Randy, 44 years on the faculty at Junipero Serra High School; son Scott; daughter-in-law Irene; and grandchildren Kenny, Jeffrey and Steven. WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR: With Christmas well in sight, remember to consult Calendar for events marking the season and its good will including a concert at Marin County’s St. Mary’s Church on Nicasio Square, Dec. 15 at 2 p.m., followed by wine and food reception at Druids Hall. The concert will feature Christmas and secular pieces performed by Mike Duke, Nicasio Creek Singers, Al Sailor, Timothy Murphy’s Ghost, Antonia Van Becker and Greg Lee. Tickets are

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WELL DONE: Students from St. Thomas More School raised awareness of a brutal illness and more than $2,200 during Breast Cancer Awareness Week in October. There were events every day that included a prayer service, bake and pin sale, plus a solidarity walk, a poster campaign and a memory wall banner with names of loved ones. BEEP BEEP: With all the new self-navigating automobiles, how long before we see a bumper sticker saying “My car is a better driver than you are”? Email items and electronic pictures – jpegs at no less than 300 dpi to burket@sfarchdiocese.org or mail to Street, One Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco 94109. Include a follow-up phone number. Street is toll-free. My phone number is (415) 614-5634.

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ARCHDIOCESE 5

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 6, 2013

Aiming for law career to mediate conflict, fight racism TOM BURKE

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;In order to erase racism we need to stop it where itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s starting. Most times it starts at home or at school and starts at a young age, but lasts into adulthood.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

Valerie Trigueros likes to help people find ways to agree and looks to mediating the law as a career. The Immaculate Conception Academy senior is a graduate of San Franciscoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s St. Thomas More School. Her parents are Ofelia and Alex Trigueros. For college and after Valerie is not limiting her choices. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I like to keep my options open and just take each day as it comes,â&#x20AC;? she told Catholic San Francisco via email. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am the first generation in my family to be going to college.â&#x20AC;? Valerie has participated in student council, audio-visual crew, volleyball and soccer at ICA. She is a current copresident of the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ambassadors Club that represents ICA at school and community events. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I hope to be active in college and be involved in clubs while still being able to manage and focus on my education because it will be a big transition for me,â&#x20AC;? Valerie said. She is ready to face new roads ahead. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The college transition will be a challenge especially if I move away,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have my parents or teachers giving me kind reminders of the things I have to do.â&#x20AC;? ICA is a Christo Rey school. During part of their school day students are employed in front-line office jobs with salary going to the school to help pay

SENIOR STORIES We asked the Catholic high schools of the archdiocese to share profiles of noteworthy seniors this fall. This weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s story is about Valerie Trigueros, Class of 2014, Immaculate Conception Academy. tuition and the student taking on-thejob learning experience forward for life. Valerie said the time she has spent behind the work wheel has helped her close in on what college and life might bring. Valerieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s workplaces so far have included Wells Fargo Bank and Bank of the West and the law offices of Morrison & Foerster. Other qualities of ICA have also been a help to Valerie. â&#x20AC;&#x153;ICA is a small school which is great because you get to know who everybody is and everyone is easy to talk to,â&#x20AC;? she said. Those qualities also include the faculty, Valerie said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The teachers are very approachable and supportive,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;One teacher in particular who inspires me is my ethics and morality teacher from last year Letty Cottrell. She taught me for three years and although she doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t teach me anymore she still inspires me to do well.â&#x20AC;? Prayer services and Masses â&#x20AC;&#x153;to

encourage our faithâ&#x20AC;? are regular events at ICA, Valerie said, along with religion classes and retreats to help students further understand the faith. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Being at a Catholic school helps me incorporate my faith into everything I do,â&#x20AC;? Valerie said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It has made me a better student and person by helping me maintain my priorities. God is my first priority followed by family and my education.â&#x20AC;? Valerie is aiming her mediation talents not only on the courts but on the world.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;People may not realize it, but racism needs to be acted upon,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just so deeply ingrained into some people that it almost seems as though itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in their nature. In order to erase racism we need to stop it where itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s starting. Most times it starts at home or at school and starts at a young age, but lasts into adulthood. Our job now is to try to open the minds of the ignorant people and make them realize racism shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be something they see as acceptable because itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s harming other people.â&#x20AC;?

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ARCHDIOCESE 7

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 6, 2013

CCCYO Season of Caring: A beautiful wedding, a new life TRACI MYSLIWIEC CATHOLIC CHARITIES CYO

On the crisp evening of Nov. 11 in San Francisco, Julianne and Seth were married in a ceremony held in the grand foyer of Catholic Charities CYOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s St. Josephâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Family Center. In a heartwarming display of a community coming together to create something beautiful, one resident decorated the space, another made party favors, kitchen staff prepared and served a special meal on white tablecloths, a photographer donated her services, another friend made a cake. You wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know it from the joyful setting, but this now happy couple used to be homeless. St. Josephâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Family Center is one of three emergency transitional shelters in the city. Former residents of the center, the couple returned to wed in the place where they found stability and people who gave them a chance. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The warmth of St. Joeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gave me faith in people again. My experience there showed me how good people really are,â&#x20AC;? Julianne said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why we wanted to have our wedding here; it felt like we were part of a family. I believe it was Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plan for us to have been placed here.â&#x20AC;? Julianne and Seth found their way to each other after being friends for more than 10 years, and also found a family who supported them in St. Josephâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. After years of their respective problems with substance abuse, they each followed their own path to sobriety and, once they did, realized how much they loved each other and started a committed relationship. After their engagement, Julianne moved here

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Seth and Julianne hold their baby daughter Lilith. from Tahoe to prepare for the birth of their first child. But the hardworking couple found themselves facing new challenges. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Seth, who worked in the tech industry creating video games, lost his job the day I got here. We had to find somewhere to live; I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to be pregnant on the streets,â&#x20AC;? Julianne explained. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve always been very resourceful, so I found us a spot in a shelter, but it was a frightening place in the Tenderloin. It was hard to walk by people every DEC. 13-15

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day who were struggling with their own addictions.â&#x20AC;? Julianne worked with Compass Connecting Point to pursue placement at St. Josephâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. They were overjoyed when a spot opened up just one week before their daughterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s arrival. After moving in, the couple put together a plan of action. At the center, families are provided with whatever they need and generally transition into permanent housing within six months. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The family took full advantage of all our resources: classes, therapy and job development,â&#x20AC;? said Jena Lyons, their case manager. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They were amazing. Within two weeks Seth got a job and within three months they moved into their own place.â&#x20AC;? In a serendipitous turn of events, a family they befriended at St. Joeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s moved in next door. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nice to have the continuing support here with us,â&#x20AC;? said Julianne. Now, Seth has found his new calling as a Community Ambassador, educating homeless people and helping put their lives back together â&#x20AC;&#x201C; as St. Josephâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s helped him. The creative writers also plan to put Julianneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s business skills to use raising funds to publish one of Sethâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s manuscripts. This will provide another source of income, allowing Julianne to stay home with their daughter for these first years. With a strong sense of purpose and bright future ahead, they have made the most of support available to them. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They are a shining example of how our clients benefit from a hand up on their path to self-sufficiency,â&#x20AC;? said Lyons. To read more about Julianne and Seth, visit www. cccyo.org/seasonofcaring. This is one in a series of Catholic Charities CYO Advent Season of Caring stories. CCCYO is making a difference in the lives of 35,000 people in need every year. To support Season of Caring, visit www.cccyo.org/seasonofcaring or call (415) 972-1291.

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Celebrate the season through music, prayer, and reflection as we make our way from Advent towards Christmas. The Vallombrosa Choir is directed by Patrick Feehan, a local composer, teacher, and conductor who has assembled a choir of more than 50 for liturgical celebrations throughout the year. Concert begins at 2:00 pm in the Vallombrosa Chapel. Light refreshments will be served after the performance. A donation of $20.00 per person is suggested. RSVP on the Calendar of Events/Lessons and Carols page of our website, or contact Rachel Alvelais at 650-325-5614. A Ministry of the Archdiocese of San Francisco 250 Oak Grove Ave., Menlo Park, CA 94025 www.vallombrosa.org

8 ARCHDIOCESE

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 6, 2013

Marin teens see how the Tenderloin half lives LIDIA WASOWICZ CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

Teens from one of the nation’s most affluent counties took an eye- and heart-opening tour of one of the Bay Area’s poorest neighborhoods to launch a youth group aimed at improving the lot of the less fortunate. In the kickoff event for Teen Service Corps Oct. 21, 16 Marin County high school students and six adult mentors walked the streets of San Francisco’s Tenderloin, where many of the city’s homeless dwell. The organization – inspired by two catechists for the confirmation program at St. Hilary Parish in Tiburon and instigated in September by their 15-year-old sons – co-sponsored the foray into territory most tourists avoid with the youth ministry at Westminster Presbyterian Church. Shocked by the squalor and suffering they witnessed, the visitors came away reassessing their own lives and resolving to “help those in need in our community: the homeless, the sick, the elderly, the kids next door to us in Marin City,” said Matthew Walravens, a Redwood High School freshman and Teen Service Corps co-founder. Of the stops selected by guide Del Seymour, a Vietnam War veteran and 30-year Tenderloin resident who spent a decade battling drug addiction and the elements on the streets he now includes in his tours – St. Boniface Church stood out the most, Matthew said. The 153-year-old Franciscan “peace” parish provides a sanctuary

(PHOTO COURTESY SAMANTHA WALRAVENS)

Marin County high school students and adult mentors are pictured in San Francisco’s Tenderloin Oct. 21 for the kickoff event of the students’ Teen Service Corps – an outreach inspired by two catechists for the St. Hilary Parish, Tiburon, confirmation program. They were led on a neighborhood tour by Del Seymour, a Vietnam War veteran and 30-year Tenderloin resident who spent a decade battling drug addiction and the elements on the streets. from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. each weekday for those who have no safe, silent place to lay their weary heads. “Walking into the church in San Francisco and seeing all of the homeless people sleeping on the pews … made me think about all the stuff I have,” Matthew said. “These people don’t even have a house to sleep in.” The sight of dozens of blanketwrapped forms napping on the 14-inch-wide wooden pews struck him more than any other, said John Paul Christen, Matthew’s classmate and teen corps co-founder. “The Tenderloin was a very scary

place,” he said. “What I learned is that people need help.” Providing that help is the aim of the Teen Service Corps, set up to sustain the spirit of social justice beyond the eighth grade, said Matthew’s mother and the group’s mentor Samantha Walravens. “TSC (was) formed to fill the gap in public-school education between community service requirements and faith-based service opportunities,” said Stacee Christen, John Paul’s mother and corps’ mentor. In keeping with their mission, the

teens joined the down and out at the Civic Center on Nov. 10 for a weekly outdoor “open cathedral” worship service, then passed out sandwiches they had made for the congregation. On Dec. 12, they will cook and serve dinner at the annual REST program that offers the homeless meals and a night’s lodging in the St. Hilary parish hall each Thursday from November through February. At the suggestion of Seymour, a member of San Francisco’s Local Homeless Coordinating Board, the teens will collect and distribute socks and fruit in the Tenderloin. They also plan to volunteer in the dinig room they visited on the tour, donate sports equipment to Marin City children, contribute to the St. Hilary Giving Tree and hold a Christmas toy drive. In hopes of shooting hoops and reading with Marin City youngsters, the corps wants to partner with the recreation department and Bridge the Gap College Prep, a reading and literacy program that counts Matthew and John Paul among its summer tutors. While the fledgling group is currently composed largely of last year’s St. Hilary confirmation class, its organizers are developing a website and other means to attract a broader base. “It’s good for high school kids to remember that there are other people who … don’t have all the things that we have, and sometimes it’s not their fault,” Matthew said. “We don’t plan to solve all of their problems, but we can try to make their lives a little easier.”

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ARCHDIOCESE 9

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 6, 2013

Nigerian diocese asking Californians for help reducing childbirth deaths VALERIE SCHMALZ CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

The 23-year-old woman’s uterus had ruptured, her unborn baby had died inside her, and she was bleeding to death when she finally arrived by taxi from a village 15 kilometers distant at Grimard Hospital in the Nigerian Diocese of Idah. Magnificat Maternal Health Program volunteers had just that day trained nurse midwife students at the Catholic hospital in the use of a low-tech, non-inflatable anti-shock suit developed by NASA. The garment reverses shock by pushing blood from the legs up to the vital organs. “We used the shock garment to save her life,” said Father Simeon Omale, health consultant for the Diocese of Idah. Father Omale spoke at the Archdiocese of San Francisco pastoral center Oct. 28 about his work with Magnificat Maternal Health Program, a Catholic non-government organization formed with Bay Area obstetrician Dr. Mary Davenport in 2011 to combat maternal deaths in the Diocese of Idah. The Catholic Church provides about 30 percent of medical care in Nigeria. Every day 145 women die in childbirth in Nigeria, with most mortality concentrated in rural areas; the lifetime risk of dying in childbirth in rural Nigeria is estimated at one in 13, according to the World Health Organization and the United Nations. Forty-two of every 1,000 babies are stillborn in Nigeria, the second highest infant mortality in the world, according to WHO. “Over the years, pastors in the diocese have often had to bury young parishioners who had to die because of childbirth. This is not something we can tolerate any longer because of the value we place on human life,” said Father Omale, a university philosophy professor and pastor as well as health coordinator for the Diocese of Idah. He was in the Bay Area to raise money for two maternal health projects. “One in 13 women dying in childbirth of totally preventable causes” is unacceptable, said Davenport, whose partnership with the Diocese of Idah is an extension of her pro-life work in the Bay Area. Hemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal death, followed by infection, and all are exacerbated by delays in transportation with poor or nonexistent roads and few roadworthy vehicles, Davenport and Father Omale said. While her unborn baby died from the time her uterus ruptured and she reached medical atten-

Father Simeon Omale, health coordinator for the Nigerian Diocese of Idah, is seeking support for maternal health projects in a part of Africa where pastors have often had to bury young parishioners who died in childbirth.

This Nigerian mother, pictured with her husband and their child, survived a ruptured uterus due to the use of an anti-shock garment from the Magnificat Maternal Health Program, a Catholic non-governmental organization formed in 2011 with Bay Area obstetrician Dr. Mary Davenport to combat maternal deaths in the Diocese of Idah.

tion, the young mother was able to return home with her husband and older child, Davenport said. Magnificat Maternal Health Program, a joint project of the Diocese of Idah and Maternal Life International, is focusing on two objectives: expansion of Grimard Catholic School of Midwifery, a midwifery school, affiliated with the diocese’s Grimard Hospital in Anyigba, to train registered nurses as midwives; and transformation of a clinic into a birth center in the rural area of Ankpa, the most underserved part of the diocese. The midwifery school’s most critical need is a bus to transport nurse midwives which will enable the school to double the number of students it enrolls from 25 to 50. The Ankpa clinic requires $20,000 to expand from two to 12 maternity beds, Father Omale said. The philosophy behind Magnificat Maternal Health Program is Catholic, pro-life and on a medical level geared toward persuading pregnant women to deliver in an equipped birth center or hospital, Father Omale and Davenport said. Part of that task is education during prenatal care, which is another reason locating trained Nigerian nurse midwives in rural centers is key to reducing maternal mortality.

Only 1,800 out of a total of 3,000 clinic patients annually deliver at Grimard Hospital, even though it is the superior facility in the region, with only one maternal death recorded in 2011, Father Omale and Davenport wrote in a report about the incident. While Africa is the recipient of large amounts of aid aimed at reducing maternal mortality and early child death, most U.S., U.N. and international aid organization funds come with strings attached and are tied to family planning and abortion, which the Diocese of Idah rejects, Father Omale said. “Africa is being assaulted by American and international population control groups,” Davenport said.

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 6, 2013

Catholicism is a ‘we and God experience.’ VALERIE SCHMALZ CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

The rosary, the Sign of the Cross, holy water, the pope – the ways that Catholics set themselves apart are myriad and unmistakable, says a Chicago-based catechist and author. “The practicing Catholic relies on tangible, visible, outward signs to encounter the intangible, invisible, inner reality of the mystery of God,” Joe Paprocki told a room of religious educators at the Faith Formation Conference at the Santa Clara Convention Center Nov. 22. “We need to teach our kids our language,” Paprocki said, suggesting religion teachers bring sacramentals and the language of Mass into the classroom. The annual Faith Formation Conference is hosted by the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the dioceses of San Jose, Oakland, Monterey and Stockton. In talking to the catechists, Paprocki urged the teachers to share the symbols and actions of Catholicism with their students, saying

those actions reinforce and strengthen faith. Catholicism’s reliance on tradition and Scripture sets it apart from the Protestant faith, which only relies on Scripture as the source of God’s truth, posits the primacy of a one-toone relationship between a human being and God, and eschews most of the Catholic outward signs of faith, said the author of “A Well-Built Faith: A Catholic’s Guide to Knowing and Sharing What We Believe” (Loyola Press, 2008). For Catholics, God speaks through the church, he noted. Catholics are set apart by the magisterium of the Catholic Church, which includes the church’s teaching authority as well as a body of received truths that all Catholics believe, and by the seven sacraments and the holy sacrifice of the Mass. “Catholicism is not a ‘me and God experience’ but a ‘we and God experience,’” Paprocki said. “Our sense of community is so strong, that even death can’t separate us,” he said, noting that the church believes in

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the communion of saints and prays for the faithful departed, the souls in purgatory. “We talk to dead people all the time—we’re not crazy,” said Paprocki, who blogs at catechistsjourney. loyolapress.com. The sacraments are the most visible sign of the concreteness of Catholicism, Paprocki said in his talk “21 Ways to Build a More Robust Catholic Identity.” In addition, Catholicism is marked by sign and symbol such as special blessings, holy water, incense, scapulars, rosaries and medals, he said. Most recently, the white smoke from the Vatican – a sign – announced the selection of a pope, followed by the announcement of Pope Francis as, led by a crucifix, he stepped out onto the balcony above St. Peter’s Square March 13, 2013. “The pope put on a robe, symbol of his role,” Paprocki said, adding Pope Francis began his pontificate by asking all to pray with him, creating the indelible image of thousands of Catholics with hands pressed together in prayer, “a wonderful experience of teaching the world about sacramentality.” “Why use this language of sacramentality?” asked Paprocki. “This is God’s language, we are trying to speak his language.” In our own lives, Paprocki said, sacramentality can be as simple as telling a friend who needs prayers, “Oh, I’ll light a candle for you.”

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The National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi announced Nov. 22 that it terminated the service of its volunteer board chair, William McLaughlin, and will undertake a comprehensive investigation of alleged improper behavior on the part of McLaughlin and a former shrine employee, Jhona Mathews. The shrine was alerted to this issue via a complaint Mathews filed with California Department of Fair Employment and Housing and alleging retaliation, discrimination and harassment, according to a statement by shrine spokesman Larry Kamer. Mathews was terminated for cause and for reasons having nothing to do with her allegations, the statement said. “Nonetheless, we have today learned facts that give us reason to believe Mr. McLaughlin has acted in a manner unbecoming of his position,” the statement said. “The shrine has informed Mr. McLaughlin that his services as board chair have been terminated, effective immediately.” The shrine, in conjunction with the archdiocese, will launch a complete investigation and will communicate its actions and findings thoroughly and in a timely manner, the statement concluded.

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 6, 2013

Lori: Mandate aims to split church’s faith, worship SEAN GALLAGHER CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

NEW ALBANY, Ind. – Defending the religious rights of the Catholic Church against the government’s contraceptive mandate is tied to the church’s ministry to those in need, Baltimore’s archbishop said Nov. 29. The church’s worship life and its faith-driven ministries to the poor and others cannot be separated from one another, Archbishop William E. Lori said in a presentation to members of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, the parish of his youth. Like many people around the country, he was visiting family for Thanksgiving. He spent the holiday with his parents, Francis and Margaret Lori, who are members of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Clarksville. Archbishop Lori is chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty. His presentation, “The Defense of Religious Liberty and Service to the Poor,” took place just days after the U.S. Supreme Court chose to take up two legal cases brought by for-profit companies that challenge the Health and Human Services’ mandate that all employers, including most religious employers, provide employees with insurance coverage of contraceptives, abortifacients and sterilizations. The court will take up the cases of Hobby Lobby, an Oklahoma-based, family-run arts-and-crafts chain, and Conestoga Wood Specialties, a Pennsylvania family-run company that makes cabinets. The companies’ Christian owners object to all or part of the mandate on moral grounds. Archbishop Lori explored his topic in light of Pope Francis’ “unmistakable emphasis ... on the role of the church in serving the poor.” He described the challenges of those in need in Baltimore, how he lives close to them and how the Catholic Church there serves them in, among other ways, a homeless shelter for women and in a soup kitchen close to his home. “Is there any way the church could be the church and not respond, not only with prayers and personal concern but also with practical assistance?” Archbishop Lori asked. “Who would ever want to endanger such an operation in the face of such great need? “Yet as the church has struggled against the Health and Human Services’ so-called preventive services mandate, this question has come to the fore.” The mandated coverage also includes services such as mammograms, prenatal care and cervical cancer screenings. CASA FUGAZI 678 GREEN STREET SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94133 TEL: 415.362.6423 FAX: 415.362.3565 INFO@ITALIANCS.COM WWW.ITALIANCS.COM

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Archbishop Lori: Religious liberty and charity intertwined. He went on to note that the Catholic Church is “looking for every legal avenue to provide good health insurance to our employees that is also in accord with the church’s teaching while robustly carrying forward our ministries of service.” The HHS mandate includes an exemption for some religious employers that fit its criteria and has an accommodation for others that allows some employers to use a third-party to provide the contraceptive coverage they find objectionable, but Catholic entities say the accommodation still does not solve their problem over being involved in providing coverage they reject for moral reasons. Multiple lawsuits working their way through the courts have been filed to fight the mandate on behalf of church entities, religious colleges and faith-based institutions.

In trying to show that the effort to defend religious liberty is tied closely to the church’s ministry to those in need, Archbishop Lori recalled an address given in 2009 by the future Pope Francis in which he said that the church, in caring for the poor, must treat them like subjects, not as objects “‘targeted by paternalistic and interventionist action of the state and other organizations.’ “When we view those we are privileged to serve not as objects of our largesse but rather as subjects,” Archbishop Lori said, “then the importance of religious liberty becomes clear. Subjects – human beings – have rights and liberties. Objects – commodities, statistics and trends – do not.” He also noted that, because the people served by the Catholic Church through its ministry of charity are human subjects, the church must seek their “integral human development,” which includes nurturing their relationship with God and protecting their “transcendent dignity.” He said religious liberty and the ministry of charity are closely interrelated: “The same Gospel that impels the church to offer compassionate care to others also constrains it from acting in ways contrary to human dignity.” Archbishop Lori noted that the HHS mandate seeks to drive a wedge between the church’s faith and worship, on the one hand, and its service to those in need on the other. “But that’s not what it means to be Catholic,” he said. “As Pope Francis has said, we can’t be ‘part-time Christians.’ We must ‘live out our faith at every moment of every day.’”

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Italy/Switzerland: Apr. 5-17, Apr. 12-24, Apr. 19-May 1, Apr. 26-May 8, May 3-15 ... Italy Regular: Apr. 5-13, Apr. 12-20, Apr. 19-27, Apr. 26-May 4, May 3-11, May 10-18... Holy Land: Mar. 10-20, Mar. 31-Arp. 10, Apr. 7-17, Apr. 14-24, Apr. 21-May 1 ... Holy Land/Italy: Mar. 31-Apr. 13, Apr. 7-20 ... Italy South: Apr. 26-May 8, May 3-15, May 10-22. Italy/Lourdes/Fatima: Apr. 5-17, Apr. 12-24 ... Poland: Apr. 5-16, Apr. 12-23, Apr. 19-30 ...

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SEND PETITIONS TO: Fr. Allen Duston, O.P. PO Box 15368 SF CA 94115-0368. www.stjude-shrine.org 415-931-5919 ͻ fax 415-593-0350

12 NATIONAL

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 6, 2013

Bishops: Immigration status quo ‘offense against God’ JORDAN MCMORROUGH CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

SAN ANTONIO – In a new pastoral letter “Family Beyond Borders,” the bishops of the border region of Texas, New Mexico and Mexico humanize the immigration debate by placing it in a moral context with specific illustrations of struggling children and families. It addresses the misconceptions concerning undocuArchbishop mented immigrants and their Garcia-Siller contribution to society in the United States, while outlining the serious threats facing immigrant families and tragic conditions under which children have been separated from their mothers and fathers. Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller of San Antonio held a news conference Nov. 26 in which he joined with his brother bishops in urging Catholics, national, state and local leaders, and all people of good will to engage in dialogue, advocacy and action to protect the human rights of immigrants and to help keep their families together. Archbishop Garcia-Siller began his comments by saying the bishops of the border region have published and are distributing “Family Beyond Borders” with a sense of urgency. Dated for Thanksgiving, Nov. 28, “Families without Borders” was made available on the Archdiocese of San Antonio website at www. archsa.org, and was being printed in English and Spanish in the Nov. 29 issue of Today’s Catholic, the archdiocesan newspaper. It also was being distributed to President Barack Obama, U.S. senators and representatives from Texas, and a number of civic and faith leaders. “We believe it is imperative that the people of the United States see that the broken immigration system of this land comes with

tragic human cost,” he explained. “Families are torn apart, children are separated from their mothers and fathers, husbands are divided from wives, not just for days or weeks, or even months. Many may never see their families for decades, if ever.” The San Antonio prelate said the border bishops acknowledge the right and responsibility of a nation to secure its borders. “But at what price?” he questioned. “Immigration reform has evolved from an honest discussion about national security, to a partisan politics issue, thus blinding some Americans from seeing immigrants as suffering people who live among us, on our streets and in our neighborhoods. “The fear that comes from misinformation denies their dignity and the positive contribution the undocumented immigrants make to our lives every day.” The archbishop spoke emotionally about undocumented immigrant children – some as young as 5 years old – who brave the dangers of the desert and coyotes and hide from authorities as well as human traffickers in an attempt to reach the safety of a new home of hope. In “Family Beyond Borders,” he said, “we attempt to help our people see these children who cry in the darkness of isolation and often abuse.” Archbishop Garcia-Siller stated that in fiscal year 2012, the U.S. Border Patrol reported apprehensions of more than 24,000 unaccompanied juveniles along the Southwest border. “These children who are apprehended are often initially placed in short-term detention centers, where the lights stay on 24 hours a day and there are no showers or recreation spaces. At times, the facilities are so crowded with juveniles that the children have to take turns just to lie down to sleep on the concrete floor,” he said of conditions at some facilities. “Moreover, when unaccompanied minors are apprehended and deported to their countries of origin, this is often done in ways that put them at additional risk.”

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CARDINAL: POPE RESTORING HEART OF CHURCH

YONKERS, N.Y. – Pope Francis’ words are an examination of conscience and a necessary prodding that keeps New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan tied to the vision and mission of Pentecost. Speaking Nov. 24 at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, the cardinal quipped, “Every morning, I’m almost dreading to see what he preached about, because I know it’s going to be a push, I know it’s going to be just a little bit of a prod.” Speaking at the final event of a lecture series at the seminary celebrating the Year of Faith, Cardinal Dolan said the three most recent popes exemplify the soul, mind and heart of the mystical body of Christ.

CATHOLIC SEES COMEDY AS FORM OF EVANGELIZATION

INDIANAPOLIS – Catholics should embrace comedy because it’s part of life, comedian Judy McDonald said Nov. 23 during a session at the National Catholic Youth Conference. “Life is life,” said McDonald, a lifelong Catholic and former youth and campus minister who has struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder for the last three years. “I think we tend to compartmentalize God into a separate area, and he doesn’t want that,” she said. “He wants all of it,” she continued. “So I think, why not put Catholicism in comedy and comedy in Catholicism? It’s part of our life.” McDonald, who lives in San Diego, sees comedy as a form of the new evangelization. “I integrate a funny talk with sharing my faith,” she said. “I did that even in secular clubs. I was part of the new evangelization, and I didn’t even know it.”

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 6, 2013

We Light a Candle in Memory ... W e invite you to gather with us on Saturday, December 14th at 11:00 a.m. in All Saints Mausoleum Chapel at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery, Colma .THS. John Talesfore will facilitate our Christmas Remembrance Service as you join with others to remember and share griefs journey and be comforted. During this holiday service, the names of those you wish to remember and your message of love may be written on ornaments made by school students. You will be invited to place your ornament on our Memory Trees during the service. These Chistmas Trees represent the ongoing hope of life and will remain in All Saints Mausoleum Chapel from December 14th until January 7th. If you are unable to attend the service, please stop by the Cemetery Office to pick up an ornament and write your greetings. We will be happy to hang the ornament for you. There is always a staff member available in All Saints Mausoleum on weekends and holidays to assist you. They will also have memory tree ornaments available for your messages through December 31st.

Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery Santa Cruz Ave. @ Avy Ave., Menlo Park, CA 650-323-6375

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

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

Tomales Catholic Cemetery 1400 Dillon Road, Tomales, CA 415-479-9021

St. Anthony Cemetery Stage Road, Pescadero, CA 650-712-1679

Our Lady of the Pillar Cemetery Miramontes St., Half Moon Bay, CA 650-712-1679

14 WORLD POPE: ONLY MEN CAN BE PRIESTS BUT WOMEN MUST HAVE VOICE

VATICAN CITY – The Catholic Church is not going to change its position on the inadmissibility of women priests, Pope Francis said, but it does have to stop linking all decision making to ordination and allow women to have a voice in deliberations. In his apostolic exhortation, “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”), Pope Francis wrote that the involvement of all Catholics is needed – both as missionaries and in revising structures and pastoral programs to ensure they are focused on mission. “I readily acknowledge that many women share pastoral responsibilities with priests, helping to guide people, families and groups and offering new contributions to theological reflection,” the pope wrote. At the same time, he said, “demands that the legitimate rights of women be respected, based on the firm conviction that men and women are equal in dignity, present the church with profound and challenging questions which cannot be lightly evaded.” “The reservation of the priesthood to males, as a sign of Christ the spouse who gives himself in the Eucharist, is not a question open to discussion,” the pope said, “but it can prove especially divisive if sacramental power is too closely identified with power in general.” “The configuration of the priest to Christ the head – namely, as the principal source of grace – does not imply an exaltation which would set him above others,” Pope Francis wrote. “In the church, functions ‘do not favor the superiority of some vis-a-vis the others.’”

POPE: OPPOSITION TO ABORTION ISN’T ‘CONSERVATIVE,’ IT’S RESULT OF FAITH

VATICAN CITY – Defending human dignity and protecting society’s most vulnerable necessarily means protecting the unborn and defending their right to life, Pope Francis said in his apostolic exhortation. Writing in “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”), Pope Francis said the church’s opposition to abortion is not a “conservative” political position, but is a key part of its claim that God created and loves each person and that believers have an absolute obligation to defend those whose basic right to life is under attack. Acknowledging confusion in the general public between the reforms of church structures he has called for and expectations that he could change some church teaching, he said the church’s opposition to abortion “is not something subject to alleged reforms or ‘modernizations.’” “A human being is always sacred and inviolable, in any situation and at every stage of development,” he wrote, adding that the “defense of unborn life is closely linked to the defense of each and every other human right.” While some people ridicule the church’s opposition to abortion or present it “as ideological, obscurantist and conservative,” he said, “it is not ‘progressive’ to try to resolve problems by eliminating a human life.”

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 6, 2013

To spark evangelization, pope urges change within church FRANCIS X. ROCCA CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

VATICAN CITY – When the Synod of Bishops on the new evangelization met at the Vatican in October 2012, among the top items on the agenda was the threat of militant secularism in a postChristian West. “It is as if a tsunami of secular influence has swept across the cultural landscape, taking with it such societal markers as marriage, family, the concept of the common good and objective right and wrong,” and posing new impediments to spreading the Gospel, Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, the synod’s relator, told the gathering at its first working session. The same topic arose repeatedly in addresses by synod fathers, especially those from Europe and North America, and in the final propositions they gave the pope as the basis for his post-synodal apostolic exhortation. But Pope Benedict XVI resigned before he could write such a document, leaving the task to his successor, who finally responded with “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”), published Nov. 26. In writing the apostolic exhortation, Pope Francis departed from usual practice and declined to use the draft provided by synod officials. The result is a text in the pope’s distinctive voice and focused on his particular concerns. Among the features that distinguish “Evangelii Gaudium” from the synod that gave rise to it, none is more striking than how little attention it pays to the problem of secularism. The pope criticizes contemporary society and culture, especially in the world’s richer nations, for their “idolatry of money” and an “economy of exclusion and inequality.” But he makes only a few broad references to the “crude and superficial” intolerance of unbelievers and the danger a distorted pluralism poses to religious freedom. By contrast, Pope Francis devotes much of his exhortation to the short-

(CNS PHOTO/ALESSANDRO BIANCHI, REUTERS)

A copy of the apostolic exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”) by Pope Francis is seen during a news conference at the Vatican Nov. 26. comings of the church itself. He laments its “excessive centralization” in the Vatican, which he finds a hindrance to the church’s “missionary outreach.” He complains about members of religious orders who show an “inordinate concern for their personal freedom and relaxation,” and about priests “obsessed with protecting their free time.” The pope criticizes those who show an “ostentatious preoccupation with the liturgy, doctrine and the church’s prestige, but without any concern that the Gospel have a real impact on God’s faithful people and the concrete needs of the present time.” He upbraids Catholics with a “business mentality, caught up with management, statistics, plans and evaluations, whose principal beneficiary is not God’s people but the church as an institution.” And he regrets that women do not yet have a sufficient role in decision-making within the church. Pope Francis also deplores divisiveness within the ranks, writing: “It always pains me greatly to discover

how some Christian communities, and even consecrated persons, can tolerate different forms of enmity, division, calumny, defamation, vendetta, jealousy and the desire to impose certain ideas at all costs, and even persecutions which appear as veritable witch hunts. Whom are we going to evangelize if this is the way we act?” Most remarkably, the pope devotes nearly a tenth of the entire document to suggestions for improving priests’ homilies, which in his telling are all too often moralistic, unlearned, disorganized and verbose. These problems matter, the pope makes clear, insofar as they impede efforts to make the church’s structures “more mission-oriented, to make ordinary pastoral activity on every level more inclusive and open, and to inspire in pastoral workers a constant desire to go forth and in this way to elicit a positive response from all those whom Jesus summons to friendship with him.”

Pope’s words on economy stir controversy FRANCIS X. ROCCA CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

VATICAN CITY – In enunciating the principles of Catholic social teaching, popes have long stressed the church’s special concern for the poor and the need for state intervention to promote economic justice. Yet the international response to Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”), published Nov. 26, has seemed to suggest the current pope wrote something shockingly new. The document has excited ardent praise and criticism from Catholics and non-Catholics alike, especially for its words condemning an “economy of exclusion and inequality” based on the “idolatry of money.” An editor of Britain’s Guardian newspaper praised the pope for giving “form to the emotion and injustice of post-financial-crisis outrage in a way that has been rare since Occupy Wall Street disbanded,” while the radio show host Rush Limbaugh denounced what he called “pure Marxism coming out of the mouth of the pope.” Oblate Father Seamus Finn, director of the U.S. Missionary Oblates’ office for Justice, Peace and Integrity of

Creation, said the pope’s exhortation is distinguished by its special focus on economic inequality’s impact on the poor and by its call on Christians to have “actual living contact with people who are poor or unemployed or struggling.” Where the document has proven especially controversial is in its description and explanation of present-day economic realities. Pope Francis writes of an “exponentially” growing gap between rich and poor, which he blames for environmental degradation and rising violence, among other evils. He attributes this gap to the influence of bad economic ideas. “This imbalance is the result of ideologies which defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation. Consequently, they reject the right of states, charged with vigilance for the common good, to exercise any form of control,” the pope writes. He rejects “trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world.” Catholics who support free-market

economic policies have disputed the factual assertions behind the pope’s analysis. “There’s plenty of evidence out there, from the World Bank for example, suggesting that the number of people in absolute poverty over the past 30 years has shrunk dramatically, that in parts of the world, such as East Asia, we’ve seen a lot of people get out of poverty, and we’ve seen the emergence of large middle classes in countries like China and India,” said Samuel Gregg, research director at the Acton Institute and author of “Tea Party Catholic.” But Father Finn said the last two decades in the United States have witnessed a “growth in wealth in assets for the top 1 percent and stagnation of wages and assets for the middle class,” resulting in “widening gaps between a very, very small number of people at the top, a middle class that’s holding its own, and an impoverished sector that is barely hanging on and very dependent on the charity of others.” Father Finn said Pope Francis’ portrayal of the ideological struggle over state intervention in the economy is realistic, as exemplified by current debates in the U.S. particularly in education and health care.

WORLD 15

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 6, 2013

Pope will help launch global ‘wave of prayer’ against hunger CAROL GLATZ CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis will help launch a global campaign of prayer and action against world hunger. Organized by Caritas Internationalis, the Vatican-based federation of Catholic charities, the global “wave of prayer” will begin at noon Dec. 10 on the South Pacific island of Samoa and head west across the world’s time zones. Pope Francis will offer his blessing and support for the “One Human Family, Food For All” campaign in a five-minute video message being released on the eve of the global launch. Caritas Internationalis invited its 164 member organizations and local churches to pray for an end to hunger and malnutrition as well as to act on a local, national or global level against food waste and promote food access and security worldwide. Nearly 1 billion people – or about one in eight people – experienced chronic hunger or undernourishment during 2010-2012, according to the Caritas website. “One of the worst sounds a parent can hear is their child crying at night tormented by hunger. Many parents living in poverty hear this cry and yet they have no food to give them,” Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, president of Caritas Internationalis, said in a video message. “There is enough food to feed the

(CNS PHOTO/JONATHAN ALCORN, REUTERS)

People wait in line for an early Thanksgiving meal at the Los Angeles Mission in Los Angeles Nov. 27. Pope Francis will help launch a global campaign against world hunger. planet. We believe that with your help and the help of governments and the U.N. we can end hunger by 2025,” he said. Caritas is urging Catholics to take a few moments at noon Dec. 10 to join the world in praying against hunger as well as engage in long-term action through raising awareness, advocacy, charitable work or other efforts supporting food security. The right to food is part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the “Food For All” launch-date of Dec. 10 marks the U.N.’s Human Rights Day.

The Caritas campaign is calling on the United Nations to hold a session on the right to food at its 2015 General Assembly and is asking governments to guarantee the right to food in national legislation to help alleviate their own citizens’ hunger. The campaign will continue with a “global week of action” in October 2014 with events aimed at pressuring national governments to support laws for the right to food. People can contact their local Caritas organization for more information or the campaign’s main site at www.food.caritas.org.

Pope tells parishioners he once was a bouncer CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

VATICAN CITY – In addition to having worked sweeping floors and running tests in a chemical laboratory as a teenager, Pope Francis revealed he also used to work as a bouncer. No longer kicking troublemakers out of clubs, he has discovered the secret to bringing people back, this time, into the church, according to the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, Dec. 2. The pope spent four hours at a parish visit of the church of San Cirillo Alessandrino in a working-class neighbor-

hood on the outskirts of Rome Dec. 1. He chatted informally with a large number of parishioners before and after celebrating Mass. He told one group that when he was young, he worked as a bouncer, and that his work later in life, teaching literature and psychology, taught him how to get people back into the church. He said it’s enough to be a witness of hope and, as St. Peter said, “always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.” Recounting how he discovered his

vocation to the priesthood after confession with a priest he had never met before, the pope joked it was common knowledge that the best confessors are priests the penitent does not know and priests who are deaf. “Hypocrisy is a grave sin,” he said, underlining how important credibility was in helping the church grow, not through proselytism, but by attraction. He also confided that he prayed “for the grace of simplicity for me and the church” when he prayed at the tomb of his namesake, St. Francis of Assisi, Oct. 4.

Sainthood expected for Jesuit companion of St. Ignatius CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis is expected to issue a decree declaring one of his favorite Jesuits, Blessed Peter Faber, a saint. The decree is likely to take the form of what the Vatican terms an “equivalent canonization,” in which the pope inserts the name of the new saint in the universal calendar of saints without verifying a miracle performed through his intercession and without holding a formal canonization ceremony. Jesuit Father Marc Lindeijer, vice postulator or promoter of Jesuit sainthood causes, told Catholic News Service Nov. 27 that “more or less right after his election” in March, Pope Francis asked that the process be started for the canonization of Blessed Faber, who with St. Ignatius of Loyola

(CNS PHOTO/COURTESY OF JESUIT GENERAL CURIA)

St. Ignatius’ Jesuit companion Blessed Peter Faber, right, is in line for sainthood.

and St. Francis Xavier, was a founding member of the Society of Jesus. While according to church law Pope Francis could have signed a decree immediately, Father Lindeijer said the pope asked that the cause “be studied and evaluated on its merits.” The “equivalent canonizations” – used most recently for St. Angela of Foligno and St. Hildegard of Bingen – recognize the candidates’ widespread fame of holiness and veneration by Catholic faithful sustained over centuries. For modern Jesuits, he said, the canonization would be another step forward in recognizing that the Society of Jesus was founded by a group of companions and not only by St. Ignatius. “Many feel there has been too much focus on one man, one founder, as if Ignatius embodied the whole charism” of the Jesuits, Father Lindeijer said.

POPE PRAYS FOR ABUSE VICTIMS

VATICAN CITY – In his clearest public reference as pope to the subject of clerical sex abuse, Pope Francis urged bishops to support abuse victims while also reaching out to priests who have “fallen short of their commitments.” The pope made his remarks Dec. 2 to bishops from the Netherlands making their first visits “ad limina apostolorum” (“to the threshold of the apostles”) since they met with Blessed John Paul II in 2004. “Like fathers, find the necessary time to welcome (your priests) and listen to them, every time they ask,” the pope said. “And do not forget to go out to meet those who do not approach you; some of them unfortunately have fallen short of their commitments. In particular, I want to express my compassion and assure my prayers to all victims of sexual abuse and their families; I ask you to continue to support them along their painful path of healing, undertaken with courage.”

POPE: RESPECT OTHER RELIGIONS

VATICAN CITY – In societies increasingly made up of people of different cultures and religions, people must learn the art of dialogue and reach out to others with respect and friendship, Pope Francis said. “Dialogue does not mean renouncing your identity” or “accepting compromises on faith and Catholic morals,” the pope told members of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. Meeting council members Nov. 28 at the end of their plenary meeting, which focused on the role of religions in society, Pope Francis said true dialogue is not a negotiation, but requires participants to share who they really are and ask others to do likewise. “Interreligious dialogue and evangelization are not mutually exclusive,” the pope said, but they actually strengthen each other. “We don’t impose anything, we don’t use some subtle strategy to attract the faithful, but rather we give witness to what we believe in and who we are with joy and simplicity.”

GERMAN BISHOPS EYE GUIDELINES FOR DIVORCED CATHOLICS

WARSAW, Poland – Church officials in Germany defended plans by the country’s bishops’ conference to allow some divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion, insisting they have the pope’s endorsement. “We already have our own guidelines, and the pope has now clearly signaled that certain things can be decided locally,” said Robert Eberle, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Freiburg. “We’re not the only archdiocese seeking helpful solutions to this problem, and we’ve had positive reactions from other dioceses in Germany and abroad, assuring us they already practice what’s written in our guidelines,” he said. Eberle’s comments followed the disclosure by Bishop Gebhard Furst of Rottenburg-Stuttgart Nov. 23 that the bishops’ would adopt proposals on reinstating divorced and remarried parishioners as full members of the church during their March plenary. In a Nov. 27 interview with Catholic News Service Eberle said “many points” in the pope’s apostolic exhortation, “Evangelii Gaudium,” (“The Joy of the Gospel”) suggested the German church was “moving in the right way” in its attitude toward remarried Catholics.

16 OPINION

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 6, 2013

Preparing for Jesus’ birthday

Kringle or Christkindl, who will perform acts of kindness for the person and perhaps offer a special gift at Christmas. On Christmas Eve each tries to guess who played Kris Kringle for them.

hat do you do – besides shopping – to prepare for Christmas? Anything that is really connected with appreciating the real meaning of Jesus’ birthday? What does Advent mean for you? How can we prepare well for the arrival of Jesus at Christmas? Are you familiar with any practices BROTHER JOHN or customs M. SAMAHA, SM that help make Christmas truly Christcentered? Remember that Jesus is the reason for the season. Here are some ideas to consider personally, with your family and with friends and colleagues. Do something really connected with the meaning of Advent to make Christmas truly Christ-centered. Set priorities.

1. Daily reading and reflection

Set aside 10 minutes or more daily to read and ponder the inspired word of God in the daily Mass readings or in other Old Testament and the New Testament stories that present the faith of the great characters, men and women, waiting in expectation for the coming of the promised redeemer.

2. Receive Jesus in the sacraments

Consider participating in Mass several times during the week, or daily if possible. Take advantage of the wonderful opportunity to receive in holy Communion the Jesus who became human like us to redeem us. The penitential season of Advent is also a special time to receive God’s

5. Other Advent practices

(CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING)

Emannuele Alberti, 6, holds a baby Jesus figurine in St. Peter’s Square during Pope Benedict XVI’s Angelus in 2011 at the Vatican. Advent began Dec. 1 this year. mercy in the sacrament of reconciliation. Participate in a parish communal penance celebration.

3. An Advent wreath

Each evening before the family’s main meal light the appropriate candles on an Advent wreath and offer a brief Advent prayer. This is a time-honored practice. The symbolism of the wreath and candles presents an occasion for learning the meaning of this season. The color of the purple candles signifies the sorrow we feel for our sins, while the pink one indicates happiness for the imminent birth of Jesus. The evergreens symbolize the

unchanging nature of God, and the circle indicates that God is eternal, without beginning or end. The light of the candles reminds us that Jesus is the light of the world.

4. Play Kris Kringle

The spirit of caring and giving for another member of a family or group is another revered Advent custom. Each family member draws the name of another family member written on a slip of paper, for whom he or she will secretly play the role of Kris Kringle (Santa Claus), or Christkindl (the Christ Child). The person whose name was drawn is now in the special care of the Kris

Keep an Advent calendar to count down the days until Christmas. A door or window is opened every day of Advent to reveal some aspect of the season in an image or text. Such a calendar can be purchased at a religious bookstore, or another option would be simply to mark each day on an ordinary calendar. Make a Jesse Tree to trace the family tree of Jesus. This is done by making ornaments to symbolize the ancestors of Jesus, beginning with Jesse, the father of King David. The tree can be made of an actual limb, felt or burlap, or construction paper. Many can participate in such a project. Putting straw in the manger is another Advent practice in which the family and other groups can participate. Each time a good deed or a work of mercy is performed a piece of straw is placed in the manger. Opportunities abound for doing good deeds or works of mercy for the needy at home, at school, at work, in the neighborhood, in the parish. The straw symbolizing our charity will provide a warm and comfortable crib for the baby Jesus on Christmas morning. Information and materials for Advent practices are generally obtainable at religious bookstores. MARIANIST BROTHER JOHN M. SAMAHA lives in Cupertino. Editor’s note: See Page 21 for a selection of recent books that might be suitable for your spiritual reading during Advent and the Christmas season.

Help needy families afford Catholic education

rchdiocesan family grants for elementary students and high school scholarships have been allocated and awarded for next school year. Thank you to all donors, past and present, who make these awards possible. In the 2013-14 academic year, the archdiocese provided more than $1 ANNETTE BROWN million to 1,149 Catholic school students. This year, there were nearly 3,500 applications for financial assistance, and we were able to fund over 1,100 in amounts of $400, $550, $800 or $1,500 depending on family income, school tuition and available resources of the archdiocese. The families who qualified presented financial statements, most commonly their tax returns, and were placed in a tiered ranking system. Aid was distributed to the neediest families until all funds were allocated. Aid was offered to families with an average income of $27,228 per year – far below the median income in our archdiocese. So, a family earning the

CHRISTMAS GATHERING FOR SF CATHOLIC SCHOOL ALUMNI

San Francisco Catholic school alumni will gather at the United Irish Cultural Center, 2700 45th Ave., Dec. 13 to celebrate Christmas together. Kevin Birmingham, organizer of the Facebook group “I went to Catholic School in San Francisco,” is organizing a lunch, with $15 of the $45 cost going toward archdiocesan family grant and scholarship funds. Student ambassadors from many San Francisco Catholic schools will greet alumni at 11 a.m., followed by

median income of about $67,000 in the archdiocese would not qualify for archdiocesan financial aid, even though simple budgeting would indicate that these families too need financial assistance to afford to live in the Bay Area and pay tuition. However, the archdiocese is not the only source of funding for financial aid. The BASIC Fund provided over $3 million to our elementary students. There are other foundations and charitable organizations that support our families and our schools by providing tuition assistance. Many

mingling and no-host cocktails, a Christmas music concert by the St. Gabriel School choir at noon and lunch at 12:15. For tickets, email Birmingham at kevin@parknorth. com or visit the “I went to Catholic School in San Francisco” Facebook page. RSVP requested. For those unable to attend, donations may be made on Facebook or to the archdiocesan Department of Catholic Schools, Scholarship Fund, One Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco, CA 94109.

individual schools have endowments and scholarships specifically for their students. Our schools’ expenses are not fully funded with tuition payments. The average school “gap” – the difference between the average tuition and the cost to educate the children – is $800 per year per child. This difference is made up with fundraising. There are many ways that you can help individual families and individual schools provide a Catholic education for their children. – If you have a student in our

schools, and are financially well off, consider paying “the gap” in addition to your tuition. It will be a tax deduction for you, and a boon to your local school. – If you are a parishioner, consider sponsoring a student by paying all or part of the tuition to a particular student or anonymous student. – If you have the wherewithal to start a campaign, consider meeting with your principal and pastor and start a scholarship fund to be used for the education of current students or for general school expenses. Help the poor in the best way shown to break the cycle of poverty: Educate a child. Studies prove that Catholic school-educated children are more likely to graduate from college and more likely to give back to their communities as adults. Persons or organizations wishing to contribute to the Catholic School Scholarship Fund or the schools endowment, can contact the archdiocesan schools department’s planning and finance office or a specific school’s pastor or principal. BROWN is assistant superintendent of planning and finance for the archdiocesan Department of Catholic Schools. Contact her at (415) 614-5662 or browna@sfarchdiocese.org.

OPINION 17

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 6, 2013

Waiting for a baby: Advent and adoption

or years folks told Mike and Maria Slavik that their blue colonial-style house looked like a Christmas card. Maria would be out mowing the lawn in the middle of July and someone would stop to say he loved the way it was decorated for the holidays. So they decided to make it into a card, editing a picture to resemble a paintCHRISTINA ing, blurring CAPPECCHI the lights into longer strokes, darkening the red poinsettias in the window boxes and the red bows on the wreaths. Their romance was kindled on Wednesday nights at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Hastings, Minn., a river town on the southern outskirts of the Twin Cities, where Maria led youth-group gatherings and Mike attended choir practice. They’d linger until it was time to lock up the church and then they’d take it to Tamales Mexican restaurant down the road, nursing margaritas, munching on chips and continuing the conversation. There were never enough hours. Mike was drawn to Maria’s deep faith, compassionate nature and beautiful brown eyes. Maria admired Mike’s willingness to help anyone in need, manifest in his bright smile and the friendly tilt of his eyebrows. They married four years ago and settled into an 85-year-old house with hardwood floors, cast-iron radiators and builtins, plus a fenced-in backyard where Maria planted two vegetable gardens. Decorating for Christmas became one of their favorite things to do together. They begin the weekend after Thanksgiving. The first ornaments they hang on the tree are their matching “Baby’s First Christmas” satin balls, a kitten and a teddy on clear

(PHOTO COURTESY CHRISTINA CAPECCHI)

Faith, hope and love guided Mike and Maria Slavik on the path of adoptive parenthood. plastic framing the year 1978. The rest of the ornaments, along with the wrapped gifts below, are all silver and gold, like icicles dipped in honey. But there is something missing from the happy scene: a baby of their own. Over the past three years, Maria has miscarried four times. She is one of 6.7 million American women – nearly 11 percent – who struggles to either conceive or carry a baby to term. The decision she and Mike made to pursue adoption through Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis gave her a new sense of purpose. “One of the things that was so difficult for me, spiritually, with the pregnancy loss was this feeling of losing hope,” she told me. “Our Catholic faith is such a hope-based faith – it’s an Easter faith. The dark Friday eventually turns into Easter morning. When we moved into adoption, it was like, ‘There’s going to be some sun again.’” Maria poured herself into creating a profile for prospective birth parents, curling up with her laptop in the threeseason porch every evening for two weeks. She wrote about what kind of parents she and Mike intend to be and sprinkled in photos. With some editing from Mike, she went through several

drafts. “The whole thing felt like a prayer,” she said. Their profile is part of a personal website they built, MikeAndMariaAdopt.com, and it went live on Catholic Charities’ website two weeks before Thanksgiving. It is one of 10 in a book that birth parents who visit the agency can review. In this open-adoption era, some adoptive couples launch ambitious marketing campaigns, securing newspaper ads, Craigslist notices, even billboards to reach women considering placing their babies for adoption. But Mike and Maria trust that their simpler approach will speak to the right woman. Ultimately, it’s difficult to convey the three things that remain from their protracted quest to become parents: faith, hope and love. For now Mike and Maria are embracing Advent, a season of anticipation, of waiting and praying for a baby that changes everything. Each Sunday they light their Advent wreath, trusting that light will one day conquer the darkness. CAPECCHI is a freelance writer from Inver Grove Heights, Minn. She can be reached at www.ReadChristina.com.

Advent: A call to patient waiting

hen I was a campus minister at St. Mary’s Student Parish at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, I heard something in an Advent homily that always comes back to me during this time of the church year. The homilist shared what he was doing for Advent to help him appreciate the true meaning of the seaSISTER MARGIE son. In Advent LAVONIS he would slow down and stop at every yellow light and wait patiently for it to turn green. This little exercise would hopefully remind him of the people of God who waited so long for the Messiah to come and save them. Advent is always a good time to reflect upon the virtue of patience and how much we need to exercise it in our often hectic life. Like many people in our society, waiting does not come naturally to most of us. Our culture promotes instant results. We want to lose ten pounds in ten days! We often gobble down our meals or eat on the run. (Just

look at the drive-through windows at the fast food restaurants around meal time). We take medicines that promise quick relief from whatever ails us and look for the express check out lanes in the grocery store. We upgrade our computers so they go faster and faster and we use social media hoping for instant communication. Slow traffic and slow people tend to frustrate us. Often we do not get our prayers answered on our time schedule. It boils down to the fact that many of us just do not like to wait for anything or anybody. We want to see results right away and usually on our terms. For Catholics, Advent affords us the opportunity to exercise the virtue of patience. In the midst of the hustle bustle of this often frenetic pre-Christmas time the church gives us the opportunity to slow down and to reflect upon the true meaning of the season. We celebrate the coming of Jesus at his birth and the fact that he will come again, but we also celebrate the many ways he comes to us daily in our lives. Like the Hebrew people, it takes patient waiting and a quiet spirit to discover God’s presence in our daily lives. Now, more than ever, we need to eke out those quiet times when we can calm down and reflect upon God’s activity in ourselves and in our world. Without patience and willing-

ness to wait, we may miss his presence in our lives. When we are constantly in a hurry we miss the beauty of nature or the twinkle in the eye of a child. When we rush from one activity to another we often do not see the people around us who silently cry out for our attention. When we are too busy to pray or just be with the Lord, we miss the deep peace and sense of security and trust that comes with a close relationship with our God. Yes, Christmas is coming but so does God come every day. Let us try to slow down so we can recognize the one who loves and saves us. Say a little prayer the next time you wait for the light to turn green or are in a long line while shopping for Christmas. Use the precious time to remind you of the gift of life in Jesus that God has given to each of us. Hopefully it will become a habit. When it comes right down to it, it is kind of unusual to celebrate the birthday of a person one doesn’t really know. Find ways during this time before Christmas to get to know Jesus better. Slow down, look around and recognize Him in the people and events of your life. You may even find him in the shopping mall with Santa Claus. HOLY CROSS SISTER MARGIE LAVONIS is a freelance writer living in Notre Dame, Ind.

LETTERS Shelter for homeless women

Yesterday (Nov. 23) I talked with a homeless woman in my neighborhood, West Portal. She told me of all the difficulties confronting women seeking shelter in San Francisco, including the fact that women are not allowed in the Interfaith Winter Shelter. I was speechless before her need. Today (Nov. 24) I read Msgr. Talesfore’s letter in Catholic San Francisco, extolling the Interfaith Winter Shelter for providing “during the coldest months of the year ... dinner, breakfast and a safe and warm overnight rest for up to 100 homeless men each night” and requesting donations and support. The letter ran at the bottom of a page dominated by a long excerpt of a recent speech by Pope Francis. The pope talked about the broad topic of evangelization, not specifically sheltering the homeless, yet the headline quoted him as asking, “Are we still a church capable of warming hearts?” (No gender specified.) He referred to the church as “my mother, our mother.” I was dumbfounded at this juxtaposition of messages, and still don’t know what I could have said to the woman at West Portal. Can you shed any light? Susan Black San Francisco Editor’s note: Catholic Charities CYO, the social services arm of the archdiocese, provides a continuum of housing programs and services for families in San Francisco. Many of the families CCCYO serves are single mothers. CCCYO’s Star Community Home and St. Joseph’s Family Center offer refuge for homeless families, with Star focusing on single mothers and St. Joseph’s sheltering families. All of the referrals for these two programs are made through Compass Connecting Point, San Francisco’s centralized intake for all families seeking shelter, at (415) 644-0507. CCCYO also offers a number of other permanent supportive housing solutions, including Rita da Cascia and Hazel Betsey Communities, which offer permanent housing for single mothers and children living with chronic illness. CCCYO’s 10th and Mission Supportive Housing and Edith Witt Senior Community programs provide permanent housing for formerly homeless and very low income families with children and seniors respectively. Visit www. cccyo.org to learn about the full range of CCCYO’s programs and services. Emergency shelters for single women include: A Woman’s Place, call (415) 293-7360, visit 211 13th St. to see about shelter; Missionaries of Charity, 55 Sadowa St. (between San Jose and Plymouth), call (415) 586-3449 9-11:30 a.m., 3:30-5:30 p.m.

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

18 FAITH

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 6, 2013

SUNDAY READINGS

Second Sunday of Advent John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’ MATTHEW 3:1-12 ISAIAH 11:1-10 On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord, and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord. Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, but he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land’s afflicted. He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips. Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. The cow and the bear shall be neighbors, together their young shall rest; the lion shall eat hay like the ox. The baby shall play by the cobra’s den, and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair. There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord, as water covers the sea. On that day, the root of Jesse, set up as a signal for the nations, the Gentiles shall seek out, for his dwelling shall be glorious. PSALM 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17 Justice shall flourish in his time and fullness of peace for ever. O God, with your judgment endow the king, and with your justice, the king’s son; he shall govern your people with justice and your afflicted ones with judgment.

Justice shall flourish in his time and fullness of peace for ever. Justice shall flower in his days, and profound peace, till the moon be no more. May he rule from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. Justice shall flourish in his time and fullness of peace for ever. For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out and the afflicted when he has no one to help him. He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor; the lives of the poor he shall save. Justice shall flourish in his time and fullness of peace for ever. May his name be blessed forever; as long as the sun his name shall remain. In him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed; all the nations shall proclaim his happiness. Justice shall flourish in his time and fullness of peace for ever. ROMANS 15:4-9 Brothers and sisters: Whatever was written previously was written for our instruction, that by endurance and by the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another, in keeping with Christ Jesus, that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I say that Christ became a minister of the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, to confirm the promises to the patriarchs, but so that the Gentiles might

glorify God for his mercy. As it is written: Therefore, I will praise you among the Gentiles and sing praises to your name. MATTHEW 3:1-12 John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said: A voice of one crying out in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins. When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones. Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Get ready for the experience of a lifetime

ver 20 years ago, as my wife and I prepared for the birth of our first child, we did our best to get ready for the big changes that we knew were coming our way. We stocked up on diapers, prepared his room, bought all of the latest and greatest baby gear. Mostly though, we read a ton of books, hoping to figure out what it would be like after this new little human being entered our lives. Each book described in detail what to expect and the many challenges we would face. In our novice opinion, it all seemed pretty straightforward. As the day approached, we felt we were ready. On a wonderful day in December, on a day we DEACON MICHAEL will celebrate forever, our son was born. MURPHY After a month or so, when I could finally take a break, one of the first things I wanted to do was return all those baby books and ask for re-

SCRIPTURE REFLECTION

POPE FRANCIS BEST GIFT IN LIFE IS ENCOUNTERING CHRIST

The best present in life is encountering Jesus – an encounter that will last a lifetime, Pope Francis said in a homily given at a Rome parish Dec. 1. A Christian’s whole life “is an encounter with Jesus: in prayer, when we go to Mass, when we do good works, when we visit the sick, when we help the poor, when we think of others, when we’re not self-centered, when we are amiable,” he said.

funds. Considering how hard we’d studied, it’s amazing how clueless we were as first time parents. All the preparation we’d done, all the books we’d read, all the people we’d talked to, had been great, but it had come nowhere close to describing the extraordinary realities of parenthood. The challenges discussed were actually far more challenging; the joys were actually far more joyful. The realization that our son was coming had allowed us to get ready, but it was only through actually experiencing him and getting to know him that we came to understand how deeply and profoundly our lives had been touched and changed. Something similar happens in Advent. We know Christ is coming, we are getting ready for his birth at Christmas, but absolutely nothing can adequately prepare us for what’s about to rock our universe. Isaiah comes close in the first reading, describing a wonderful, peaceful world in which the calf and the lion lie together, with a little child to lead them. Isaiah appeals to our appreciation of beauty and sense of justice. In the Gospel, John the Baptist takes another tack, using some very graphic images to demonstrate that nothing is ever going to be the same, that radical change is right around the corner. Yet even these magnificent prophets fall short of the mark. For when Jesus comes into our lives at Christ-

mas, when we open ourselves to him with the confidence and certainty shown by Isaiah, with the wild abandonment of John, we’re not going to be tweaked or just touched a little bit, but will instead become entirely new people! We will now see everyone and everything with different eyes, hear with different ears, love with a different heart. Nothing in our lives will ever be the same. But of course, that’s obvious. God is now walking with us, talking directly to us, literally wrapping his arms around us and letting us know how deeply he loves us. The infinite God who willed the universe into existence is coming into the world as a little child in order that we might take him into our hearts and into our lives. All of history will be forever altered, our lives will be forever changed. Isaiah, John the Baptist, Advent all do their best to give us an idea of what it will be like, but when we first truly know that Jesus has come into the world, that he holds us in his heart, that he adores us, that he treasures us – well, I’d let you know what happens, but my words just won’t come close to doing the job. It’s your turn now! Our Lord is coming; get ready for the experience of a lifetime! DEACON MURPHY serves at St. Charles Parish, San Carlos, and teaches religion at Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton.

LITURGICAL CALENDAR, DAILY MASS READINGS MONDAY, DECEMBER 9: Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, patronal feast day of the United States of America. Gn 3:9-15, 20. PS 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4. Eph 1:3-6, 11-12. Lk 1:26-38. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10: Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent. Is 40:1-11. PS 96:1-2, 3, 10ac, 1112, 13. Mt 18:12-14. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11: Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent. Optional Memorial of St. Damasus I, pope. Is 40:25-31. PS 103:1-2, 3-4, 8, 10. Mt 11:28-30.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12: Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Zec 2:14-17 or Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab. Jdt 13:18bcde, 19. Lk 1:26-38. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13: Memorial of St. Lucy, virgin and martyr. Is 48:17-19. PS 1:1-2, 3, 4, 6. Mt 11:16-19. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14: Memorial of St. John of the Cross, priest and doctor. Sir 48:1-4, 9-11. PS 80:2ac, 3b, 15-16, 18-19. Mt 17:9a, 1013.

FAITH 19

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 6, 2013

Misguided loyalties

nyone familiar with the life and writings of Simone Weil will, I am sure, agree that she was a woman of exceptional faith. She was also a woman with an unwavering commitment to the poor. But, and this may seem anomalous, she was also exceptional and unwavering in a certain resistance she had toward the FATHER RON institutional ROLHEISER church. During her lifetime she longed for daily Eucharist, even as she resisted baptism and membership in the church. Why? It wasn’t the church’s faults and failings that bothered her. She was a realist and accepted that every family and institution has its infidelities, flaws and sin. She had little problem forgiving the church for its shortcomings. Her resistance to full genuflection within the institutional church had its root instead in a particular anxiety she felt before any social institution – that is, she saw how an uncritical patriotism or misguided loyalty often leaves individual members of an institution unable to see the sins and shortcomings within that institution. For instance, fiercely patriotic citizens can be blind to the injustices done by their

Blind loyalty can easily become idolatry, despite its sincerity and high motives. own countries and deeply pious people can be constrained by their loyalty to the church so as to turn a blind eye on the church’s faults, as was the case with many saints who supported the Crusades and the Inquisition. Blind loyalty to country, church, family or anything else, Weil believed, becomes a form of idolatry. She’s right. Blind loyalty can easily become idolatry, despite its sincerity and high motives. It might seem wrong to criticize loyalty, but we can be too loyal, loyal to the point where our loyalty blinds us from seeing the real harm sometimes being done by those to whom we are uncritically giving that loyalty. We are all familiar with certain axioms which each in their own way, would have loyalty trumping everything else: My country, right or wrong! The church, love it or leave it! A family’s dirty secrets need to remain inside the family; they’re nobody else’s business! But these axioms, with their naïve and uncritical call for loyalty to one’s own, are neither wise nor Christian. Both human wisdom and Christian discipleship call us to something deeper. All families, all countries and all churches have their sins and shortcomings, but we show our love and

loyalty when, instead of blinding our eyes to those faults, we instead challenge ourselves and everyone within that circle to look at and correct those sins and shortcomings. We can learn lessons here from recovery and 12-step programs. What they have learned through years of experience in dealing with dysfunction of every kind is that the loving thing to do in the face of sickness, inside of any group or relationship, is to confront that pathology. To not confront it is to enable it. Real love and real loyalty do not remain uncritical. They never say: This is my family, my country or my church – right or wrong! Instead, when things are wrong, they tell us to show love and loyalty not by protecting our own, but by confronting what’s wrong. That’s in fact the biblical tradition of the prophets, exactly what the prophets did. They loved their people and were fiercely loyal to their own religious tradition, but they were not so blindly loyal so as to be uncritical of the real faults inside that religious community. They were never constrained by false loyalty so as to be blind to the sins within their own religious structures and remain muted in the face of those faults. They never said of their religious tradition: Love or leave it! Instead, they said: We need to change

this – and we need to change it in the name of loyalty and love. Jesus followed in the same path. He was faithful and loyal to Judaism, but he was not silent in the face of its faults and wrongdoings in his time. In the name of love, he challenged everything that was wrong. He taught, and taught strongly, that blind religious loyalty can be idolatry. He would be the last person to teach that loyalty and love mean never criticizing your own. Indeed, he de-literalizes the meaning of family, country and church and asks us to understand these in a higher way. He asks: Who is my mother and who are my brothers and sisters? And he goes on to say that these are not to be defined by biology, country, or religious denomination. Real family, he says, is made up by something else, namely, by those who hear the word of God and keep it, irrespective of biology, country or religion. Consequently biology, country, and religion must be criticized and opposed whenever they stand in the way of this deeper union in faith and justice. Blood may be thicker than water. But, for Jesus, faith and justice are thicker than blood, country and church. Moreover, for him, genuine love and loyalty manifest themselves in a commitment to challenge things that are wrong, even when that means seeming to be disloyal to one’s own. OBLATE FATHER ROLHEISER is president of the Oblate School of Theology, San Antonio, Texas.

Advent reflection: Making room for Jesus It is no use saying that we are born 2,000 years too late to give room to Christ. Nor will those who live at the end of the world have been born too late. Christ is always with us, always asking for room in our hearts. But now it is with the voice of our contemporaries that he speaks, with the eyes of store clerks, factory workers, and children that he gazes; with the hands of office workers, slum dwellers, and suburban housewives that he gives. It is with the feet of soldiers and tramps that he walks, and with the heart of anyone in need that he longs for shelter. Giving shelter or food to anyone who asks for it, or needs it, is giving it to Christ. DOROTHY DAY in The Catholic Worker

s we celebrate another Advent season, a period legendary for joy and peace, we turn our minds and hearts to a heartwarming awareness of Christ’s presence in our life. We perceive his presence not as something that we have been accustomed to in the past and have grown cold toward, but as something dynamic, filled FATHER CHARLES with fresh PUTHOTA energy and passion, as a reality that engages our attention in an ongoing way at the present juncture of our life. That is why we call Jesus’ presence a coming. Any Advent season is so important that we can consider our lives by the number of Advents we have celebrated, even as the Native Americans sometimes view their lives by the number of winters they have seen, enjoyed – and survived. Christmas will come

(CNS PHOTO/BOB ROLLER)

A lit candle is seen on a wreath Dec. 2, the second day of Advent, during Mass in the Crypt Church at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. The wreath, which holds four candles, is a main symbol of the Advent season, with a new candle lit each Sunday before Christmas. and vanish from our sight in less than 24 hours, some of which we’ll lose in many of our distractions. Even after the Christmas day has come and gone, we’ll still be gripped by the need for encountering Jesus who will continue to come into our lives, dialoguing with us and shepherding us to a new vision he wants us to acquire and the new values he urges us to live by. In this sense, we live in a never-ending Advent spirit, always being ready, aware, alert and watchful, waiting for him as lovers longing for each other. This Advent as usual we will become busy with many things, sometimes even to the point of being stressed out. What an irony it is to lose peace when we await the Prince of Peace! When “peace to his people on earth” will be announced soon, we insist on not being part of this peace which only God in

Jesus can give us. In the midst of our hectic time before Christmas, we need to practice some measure of asceticism to tear ourselves away from the external preoccupations that can vex our spirits – to practice contemplation by fixing our hearts on the one on account of whom we claim to get busy. He is the driving force of this season and every season. He it is who stirs in a new way in our consciousness and dreams. He it is who charms us with his mysterious, infectious smile. He it is who glances at us in a way we cannot resist. If we can attune ourselves to becoming conscious of the one who claims our attention and awareness despite the multifarious preoccupations this Advent, we may succeed in making room for him. As Dorothy Day puts it powerfully, it’s not too late to make room for him 2,000 years after his first

coming. There are three comings of Jesus. The first coming happened about 2,000 years ago. The second coming will come no one knows when. When it comes, Jesus will tie up the loose ends and offer the whole creation to his father and rule over everything and everyone. Oscillating between these two comings is the present coming of Jesus, which is what matters to us now. We celebrate the first coming as a way of attuning ourselves to the coming of Jesus at present. We view the end times as a means of inserting ourselves more deeply into the reality of Jesus coming here and now. With the help of the Scriptures, theology, spirituality, tradition and rituals, we have a very good chance of encountering Jesus as he comes into our life. He comes to us in a special way in people. The devotional and sacramental practices embodying the mystery of his coming impel us to the recognition of the embodiment of Christ in the people we encounter. The holy practices we observe sharpen and deepen our awareness of Christ coming to us through all kinds of people we encounter in personal relationships as well as those outside our spheres of life. ACTION: This Advent, as you feel swamped with the demands and anxieties that come with social expectations, take comfort and consolation in seeing Jesus’ coming in everyone you see, meet and relate to. Do not miss the truth that Jesus’ coming to you is made most sacred and unmistakable when you meet the poor, vulnerable, disadvantaged and marginalized – the least of Jesus’ sisters and brothers. FATHER PUTHOTA is pastor of St. Veronica Parish, South San Francisco.

20 FROM THE FRONT

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 6, 2013

POPE: Exhortation outlines positive Gospel vision FROM PAGE 1

grand, most appealing and at the same time most necessary,” he writes. “In this basic core, what shines forth is the beauty of the saving love of God made manifest in Jesus Christ who died and rose from the dead.” Inspired by Jesus’ poverty and concern for the dispossessed during his earthly ministry, Pope Francis calls for a “church which is poor and for the poor.” The poor “have much to teach us,” he writes. “We are called to find Christ in them, to lend our voices to their causes, but also to be their friends, to listen to them, to speak for them and to embrace the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them.” Charity is more than mere handouts, “it means working to eliminate the structural causes of poverty and to promote the integral development of the poor,” the pope writes. “This means education, access to health care, and above all employment, for it is through free creative, participatory and mutually supportive labor that human beings express and enhance the dignity of their lives.” Yet he adds that the “worst discrimination which the poor suffer is the lack of spiritual care. ... They need God and we must not fail to offer them his friendship, his blessing, his word, the celebration of the sacraments and a journey of growth and maturity in the faith.” Pope Francis reiterates his earlier criticisms of “ideologies that defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation,” which he blames for the current financial crisis and attributes to an “idolatry of money.” He emphasizes that the church’s concern for the vulnerable extends to “unborn children, the most defenseless and innocent among us,”

REACTION TO “EVANGELII GAUDIUM” (“THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL”)

BISHOP DAVID L. RICKEN OF GREEN BAY, WIS.: “Pope Francis is a living model of the new evangelization. “The pope “is showing us how to live the Gospels and reach out to the world with what every person needs, a relationship with God.” RABBI DAVID ROSEN, THE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE’S INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR OF INTERRELIGIOUS AFFAIRS: “His emphasis on the ongoing divine presence in the life of the Jewish people and on the importance of the ‘values of Judaism’ for Christians, is particularly significant in further advancing the historic transformation in the Catholic Church’s approach towards the Jewish people.” SUPREME KNIGHT CARL ANDERSON: An “important and timely contribution to the cause of the new evangelization … If this document is embraced by the church throughout the world, it could mark a key moment for a reinvigorated new evangelization of our culture.” whose defense is “closely linked to the defense of each and every other human right.” “A human being is always sacred and inviolable, in any situation and at every stage of development,” the pope writes, in his strongest statement to date on the subject of abortion. “Once this conviction disappears, so do solid and lasting foundations for the defense of human rights, which would always be subject to the passing whims of the powers that be.” Pope Francis characteristically directs some of his strongest criticism at his fellow clergy,

among other reasons, for what he describes as largely inadequate preaching. He devotes several pages to suggestions for better homilies, based on careful study of the Scriptures and respect for the principle of brevity. Pope Francis reaffirms church teaching that only men can be priests, but notes that their “sacramental power” must not be “too closely identified with power in general,” nor “understood as domination”; and he allows for the “possible role of women in decision-making in different areas of the church’s life.” As he has done in a number of his homilies and public statements, the pope stresses the importance of mercy, particularly with regard to the church’s moral teaching. While lamenting “moral relativism” that paints the church’s teaching on sexuality as unjustly discriminatory, he also warns against overemphasizing certain teachings out of the context of more essential Christian truths. In words very close to those he used in an oft-quoted interview with a Jesuit journalist in August, Pope Francis writes that “pastoral ministry in a missionary style is not obsessed with the disjointed transmission of a multitude of doctrines to be insistently imposed,” lest they distract from the Gospel’s primary invitation to “respond to the God of love who saves us.” Returning to a theme of earlier statements, the pope also warns against “spiritual worldliness, which hides behind the appearance of piety and even love for the church, (but) consists in seeking not the Lord’s glory but human glory and personal well-being,” either through embrace of a “purely subjective faith” or a “narcissistic and authoritarian elitism” that overemphasizes certain rules or a “particular Catholic style from the past.”

FOOD: Dining halls meeting need, bracing for cuts FROM PAGE 1

$5 billion rollback, Congress is considering House and Senate bills that would cut between $4 billion and $40 billion from the program over the next 10 years. Catholic leaders have expressed concern about the impact of the cuts on the poor. “SNAP is one of the most effective programs to combat hunger in our nation. It is also one of the best-run programs that targets seniors, children, persons with disabilities, unemployed and underemployed workers,” said Atlanta Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory and Savannah Bishop Gregory J. Hartmayer to lawmakers in Congress in an op-ed published Nov. 13 in the Savannah Morning News daily newspaper. “The Catholic Church runs many food pantries and other programs that help the hungry. However, all the food pantries out there are not going to be able to fill the hole that cuts to SNAP will leave,” they said. Support organizations in the Bay Area are not waiting on the actions of Congress to plan moving forward. “The difference is made by those

(PHOTO BY EDISON TAPALLA/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)

St. Anthony’s Dining room has served the poor and homeless in San Francisco’s Tenderloin since the 1950s. Of the more than 2 million pounds of food the dining room serves annually, 75 percent is donated or provided free by community partners. people who touch the ground and work directly with the hungry,” said Maximiliano Torres, operations manager for St. Anthony of Padua Dining Room in Menlo Park, a parish program that serves 450 to 600 meals daily, six days a week.

“There is no alternative. We figure out how we can serve a hot meal and give people food to take,” said Bob Dehn, St. Anthony of Padua volunteer coordinator. “We are here to help no matter what is going on in Washington.”

TECH FAST: 8th graders rise to challenge FROM PAGE 1

parent board. The school plans to make the tech fast an annual junior high project, Arnett said. Cassie said she turns off her phone to do homework now. Maddie Hughes said her mom found her more “present” without a cellphone and, with a grin and using her two hands to form quote marks, Maddie said she is working on being “present” and not on her phone. She painted a painting using acrylic paints, her goal for the “tech free challenge.” “I think how seriously these kids took it was really inspiring,” said Uhl, who conducted an anonymous survey of technology usage among the eighth graders before proposing the idea. “Eighty-four percent said they didn’t like it when everyone was on their cellphones, but they didn’t know what to do about it.” She talked to the eighth graders and asked, “Given what you are telling me, how many of you are willing to go without your cellphones, and gaming and video games for about two weeks? A bunch raised their hands.” Uhl then said they needed to sign a commitment form and to get their parents to sign on. “I was thinking if I can get 10 kids, that’s all I wanted. There were 28 who actually signed the permission slips,” she said. “It was important parents signed the permission slips,” she said because parents were accustomed to being able to reach their children instantaneously. She met with each student individually before they started the challenge, and then met with them in two groups of 14 for a total of four times during the experience. Each student wrote a journal that was private and not graded, during the experience, she said. “I wanted to sign up for the tech free challenge because it was just really a good idea to do it,” said eighth grader Joe Bevilacqua. “I wanted to get closer to my family. And it really worked. I started to hang out with my family more. We did more family movies, we played a lot of board games.” Maddie Hughes got her homework done faster and went to bed earlier, she said. “My mom had a little trouble – we had no way to contact each other,” she said. Riley Scanlan wanted to read more and read a history of the Disneyland railroad and how it changed Disneyland. “It was much more difficult than I thought. I didn’t think I was on my phone that much,” said Lucas Fayet-Faber, who said he spent much more time outside, picked lemons from their lemon tree and raspberries from their raspberry bush. On the last evening of the two weeks, Uhl took the group to a trampoline park in San Carlos. “I wanted them to experience being out without anyone taking self-portraits,” she said. “I told the parents ‘pick them up at 9 o’clock.’ It was nice and free, nothing in the back pocket, nothing in their boot.”

ARTS & LIFE 21

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 6, 2013

New books offer options for Advent spiritual reading – “Prayer: Our Deepest Longing” by Ronald Rolheiser. Franciscan Media (Cincinnati, 2013). 64 pp., $8.99. – “Running Hard, Finishing Strong: 7 Steps to Building Momentum in Your Spiritual Life” by Rick Sarkisian. Our Sunday Visitor (Huntington, Ind., 2013). 111 pp., $12.95. – “Carry On In Faith” by Thomas P. Leiker. Liguori Publications (Liguori, Mo., 2013). 105 pp., $10.99. – “Six Sacred Rules for Families: A Spirituality for the Home” by Tim & Sue Muldoon. Ave Maria Press (Notre Dame, Ind., 2013). 160 pp., $14.95.

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON – Here is a selection of recent releases that might be suitable for your spiritual reading during Advent, which begins Dec. 1, and the Christmas season: – “Advent and Christmas Wisdom from St. Augustine” by Agnes Cunningham, SSCM. Liguori Publications (Liguori, Mo., 2013). 102 pp., $11.99. – “The Art of Pausing: Meditations for the Overworked and Overwhelmed” by Judith Valente, Brother Paul Quenon, OSCO and Michael Bever. ACTA Publications (Chicago, 2013). 215 pp., $14.95. – “Encountering Jesus in Word, Sacraments and Works of Charity” by Msgr. Peter J. Vaghi. Ave Maria Press (Notre Dame, Ind., 2013). 128 pp., $12.95. – “God’s Bucket List: Heaven’s Surefire Way to Happiness in This Life and Beyond” by Teresa Tomeo. Image Books (New York, 2013). 176 pp., $17.99. – “Faith Beginnings: Family Nurturing From Birth Through Preschool” by Michele E. Chronister and Amy M. Garro. Liguori Publications (Liguori, Mo., 2013). 140 pp., $14.99. – “Startled by God: Wisdom From Unexpected Places” by Joe McHugh. Franciscan Media (Cincinnati, 2013). 122 pp., $14.99. – “On a Mission: Lessons From St. Francis de Sales” by Patrick Madrid. Servant Books (Cincinnati, 2013). 138 pp., $15.99. – “Open Mind, Faithful Heart: Reflections on Following Jesus” by Pope Francis. Translated by Joseph V. Owens, SJ. Herder & Herder (New York, 2013). 297 pp., $29.95. – “When Faith Feels Fragile: Help for the Wary, Weak and Wandering” by R. Scott Hurd. Pauline Books and Media (Boston, 2013). 208 pp., $12.95. – “The Catholic Prayer Book,” compiled by Msgr. Michael Buckley and edited by Tony Castle. Servant Books (Cincinnati, 2013). 319 pp., $14.99. – “Advent with St. Francis: Daily Reflections” by Diane M. Houdek. Franciscan Media (Cincinnati, 2013). 98 pp., $3.99. – “The Advent of Christ: Scripture Reflections to Prepare for Christmas” by Edward Sri. Servant Books (Cincinnati, 2013). 99 pp., $12.99. – “Atchison Blue: A Search for Silence, a Spiritual Home and a Living Faith” by Judith Valente. Sorin Books (Notre Dame, Ind., 2013). 181 pp., $15.95. – “The Transforming Power of Faith” by Pope Benedict XVI. Ignatius Press (San Francisco, 2013). 109 pp., $14.95. – “Mind Your Body, Work Your Soul” by Clare

Strockbine. Liguori Publications (Liguori, Mo., 2013). 143 pp., $14.99. – “Goulash, Garage Sales & God” by Bernadette McCarver Snyder. Liguori Publications (Liguori, Mo., 2013). 123 pp., $9.99. – “The Power of Daily Prayer: The Way to Experience God’s Love” by Bert Ghezzi. Word Among Us Press (Ann Arbor, Mich., 2013). 159 pp., $11.95. – “The Miraculous Medal: Stories, Prayers and Devotions” by Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle. Servant Books (Cincinnati, 2013). 131 pp., $14.99. – “One in the Lord: Living Our Call to Christian Community” by Susan Muto. New City Press (Hyde Park, N.Y., 2013). 110 pp., $12.95. – “The Prayer: Unlock a Life Full of Miracles, Unconditional Love and Answered Prayers” by Jacqueline Mary von Zwehl. Johann Press (Fort Lauderdale, Fla., 2013). 241 pp., $14.95. – “Walking the Disciple’s Path: Eight Steps That Will Change Your Life and the World” by Linda Perrone Rooney. Ave Maria Press (Notre Dame, Ind., 2013). 160 pp., $13.95. – “Honoring the Void: Meditations on the Meaning of Life from Maryknoll Magazine” by Joseph R. Veneroso. Orbis Books (Maryknoll, N.Y., 2013). 167 pp., $20. – “Strange Gods: Unmasking the Idols in Everyday Life” by Elizabeth Scalia. Ave Maria Press (Notre Dame, Ind., 2013). 168 pp., $14.95. – “Real Men Pray the Rosary: A Practical Guide to a Powerful Prayer” by David N. Calvillo. Ave Maria Press (Notre Dame, Ind., 2013). 134 pp., $12.95. – “Eyes of the Heart: Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice” by Christine Valters Paintner. Sorin Books (Notre Dame, Ind., 2013). 143 pp., $15.95. – “Winning the Battle Against Sin: Hope-Filled Lessons from the Bible” by Father Mitch Pacwa, SJ. Word Among Us Press (Ann Arbor, Mich., 2013). 180 pp., $12.95.

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22 COMMUNITY

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 6, 2013

Around the archdiocese

ST. RITA SCHOOL, FAIRFAX: In the spirit of Thanksgiving, students Nov. 27 collected hundreds of pairs of shoes as part of the parish’s annual shipment of clothes and supplies to impoverished communities in Guatemala. The first and fourth grade classes are pictured with pastor Father Kenneth Weare.

ST. ANTHONY’S DINING ROOM: Helping prepare Thanksgiving dinner at the dining room in San Francisco’s Tenderloin were Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone, pictured with Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White and Police Chief Greg Suhr. The dining room serves a million meals a year to a variety of individuals and families who have slipped through the safety net. St. Anthony’s provides 40 percent of all free meals served in San Francisco.

(PHOTO COURTESY BEN DAVIDSON)

TRANSITIONAL DEACONS: Five Archdiocese of San Francisco seminarians were ordained transitional deacons Nov. 9 at St. Pius Church, Redwood City, with San Jose Bishop P. J. McGrath presiding at the rite of ordination. The deacons’ rite of ordination to the priesthood will be held June 7. From left: Rev. Mr. Mark Doherty, Rev. Mr. Tony Vallecillo, Father David Schunk, archdiocesan vocation director; Rev. Mr. Andrew Spyrow; Rev. Mr. Roger Gustafson.

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COMMUNITY 23

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 6, 2013

OBITUARIES

Sister Rosemary Dewey, RSCJ – religious for 62 years Religious of the Sacred Heart Sister Rosemary Dewey, 84, died Nov. 13, at Oakwood, the Society of the Sacred Heart’s elder care center in Atherton. Called to religious life from the age of 8, Sister Rosemary was a religious for 62 years. Sister Rosemary Sister Rosemary attended Sacred Dewey, RSCJ Heart schools in Illinois and New York and later taught at a Chicago school of the congregation in one of her first assignments as a sister. She also taught at schools in Ohio and Omaha. “Sister Dewey had an even tempered disposition and natural ease with people that made her a natural leader who won the trust of those

around her,” the congregation said in an announcement of her death. She directed the society’s novitiate and later served as provincial of the Chicago province when provinces in the United States joined to become one. Sister Rosemary “had a gift for friendship,” the sisters said. “Her loyalty was demonstrated in her lifelong devotion not only to her friends but to the Chicago Cubs.” They called her a “lifelong learner” with interests in areas from “spirituality to human relations and ministering to people with AIDS.” A funeral Mass was celebrated Nov. 23 at Oakwood with burial in the sisters’ cemetery there. Memorial contributions may be made to the Society of the Sacred Heart, 4120 Forest Park Ave., St. Louis, MO 63108.

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24 COMMUNITY

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 6, 2013

Around the archdiocese

ST. HILARY SCHOOL, TIBURON: A Nov. 19 fundraiser collected $2,571 for Typhoon Haiyan aid and Catholic Relief Services. Pictured are students Mattie Reale and Chloe Faust, who collected donations from the classrooms. Chloe’s jacket shows the Philippine flag.

ST. JAMES SCHOOL, SAN FRANCISCO: A fundraiser Nov. 15 raised $600 for typhoon relief. The student donations will be sent to Franciscan Father Erwin Schoenstein who has served in the Philippines for more than 50 years. “Father Erwin’s community suffered great loss,” the school said, “losing their chapel.” In addition, they are providing food and shelter for people in the aftermath. Father

Erwin is the brother of Dominican Sister Mary Mark Schoenstein. The two are native San Franciscans and grew up in St. Anthony of Padua Parish. Pictured, back from left, are students Angela Vallejo, Jaisey Joseph, Diego Ochoa; front from left, Cologero Harrington, Briana Bolanos. ST. ANNE OF THE SUNSET SCHOOL, SAN FRANCISCO: Students rallied a three-day mission collection for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, which struck the Philippines Nov. 8. The students collected $3,753. Tallying the returns, from left, are student officers seventh grader Riley Dunn and eighth graders Chris Nip and Madison Anderson.

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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. B.G.

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

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.

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

CLASSIFIEDS

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HELP WANTED In 1854, a small group of Mercy Sisters landed in San Francisco to begin a system of healthcare, education and ministry to the poor. Today, over 150 years later, the SISTERS OF MERCY IN BURLINGAME are seeking an experienced Administrator to manage the care and operations of their assisted living center, Marian Oaks, which provides care and services to Sisters. If you have expertise in management of assisted living, long term care or other elder services and and have the desire to give back to those who given so much, please consider applying for this unique and rewarding position. Requirements include: Eldercare and management experience, minimum of bachelor degree in healthcare, administration, social work or related field. Registered Nurse a plus. PLEASE SEND YOUR RESUME TO: Paula Ruggiero Sisters of Mercy of the Americas 2300 Adeline Drive, Burlingame, CA 94010 jobs@mercywmw.org fax (650) 548-0673

SCHOOL PRESIDENT

PRESIDENT CHAMINADE COLLEGE PREPARATORY (Los Angeles, California) July, 2014 Chaminade College Preparatory is seeking a collaborative and visionary leader as its next President. An independent Catholic school in the Marianist Tradition, Chaminade College Preparatory currently serves approximately 2000 students in grades 6 – 12 on two beautiful campuses in the San Fernando Valley. Chaminade prepares college-bound students throughout their middle and high school years in a rigorous program of academic excellence and an active and varied curricular and extracurricular program. The mission of Chaminade College Preparatory is to form morally aware and academically capable people to be outstanding contributors to the future. For more information about the school, please visit the website at www.chaminade.org.

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HELP WANTED

Associate Academic Dean at JST-SCU Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University (located in Berkeley) seeks candidates for a faculty administrative post at the rank of senior lecturer. Renewable term appointment, doctorate required. Experience in graduate theological education preferred. Responsibilities include course scheduling, program review, liaison to Graduate Theological Union consortium. Competitive salary, full benefits. Review of applications begins in January; position starts in June.

Contact Lisa Maglio lmaglio@jstb.edu. Visit http://scu.edu/hr/careers/faculty.cfm?id=3937 CSF CONTENT IN YOUR INBOX:

Visit catholic-sf.org to sign up for our e-newsletter.

As the Chief Executive Officer of Chaminade College Preparatory, appointed by and reporting to the Board of Directors, the President will have overall authority and responsibility for the management of the school. The President will provide leadership to the school’s educational mission and the campus ministry consistent with the Marianist Tradition. Supported by the Principals, the President is charged with sustaining the school’s impressive academic reputation and strengthening ongoing relationships within the community. The President should have a genuine commitment to Catholic education and have the ability and willingness to relate well to students and interact with them regularly on campus and at school events. He/She will be a creative person who will lead all fundraising efforts and increase revenue from fundraising, admissions, auxiliary services and new programmatic sources. Candidates should have teaching experience and a strong background in K-12 or higher education administration, preferably in Catholic institutions. Strong financial management expertise should be accompanied by the ability to execute sound fiscal planning. Candidates should have experience that demonstrates strategic, visionary and compelling leadership and successful management within a dynamic organization. An earned bachelor’s degree and advanced degree or equivalent is required.

Chaminade College Preparatory has retained Morris & Berger to conduct the search for the President. To apply, please submit application, including resume and a letter of interest, in confidence to Morris & Berger through their website: www.morrisberger.com/currentsearches/chaminade. Direct inquiries or nominations to Morris & Berger by emailing mb@morrisberger. com or calling (818) 507-1234.

26 CALENDAR

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 6, 2013

SATURDAY, DEC. 7

FRIDAY, DEC. 6 SIMBANG GABI MASS: Commissioning Simbang Gabi Mass, 7:30 p.m., Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, principal celebrant, Cathedral of St. Mary of the Archbishop Assumption, Salvatore J. Gough Street Cordileone at Geary Boulevard, San Francisco. Nellie Hizon, (415) 699-7927; nelliehizon01@gmail.com. MASS AND TALK: Catholic Marin Breakfast Club, St. Sebastian Parish, Bon Air Road and Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, Greenbrae, 7 a.m. Mass Cardinal William followed by J. Levada breakfast and talk by Cardinal William J. Levada, retired prefect, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and former archbishop of San Francisco. (415) 461-0704; sugaremy@aol.com. FIRST FRIDAY: The Contemplatives of St. Joseph offer Mass at Mater Dolorosa Church, 307 Willow Ave., South San Francisco, 7 p.m. followed by healing Father Brian service and Costello personal blessing with St. Joseph oil from Oratory of St. Joseph, Montreal. Congregation founder Father Vito Perrone presides.

SATURDAY, DEC. 7

2-DAY BOUTIQUE: St. Brendan School Christmas children’s carnival and boutique Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Laguna Honda and Portola Drive, San Francisco. Carnival games and prizes, shopping, gourmet booth. SBCBoutique2013@gmail.com. HANDICAPABLES MASS: All disabled people and their caregivers are invited to a Marin County chapter Handicapables Mass and lunch, noon, Marin Catholic High School, Bon Air Road and Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, Kentfield. Volunteers are always welcome to assist in this ongoing tradition of more than 40 years. Randy Devoto, Knights of Malta, (415) 321-1100. ICA FOOD FEST: International food festival at Immaculate Conception Academy, 3625 24th St. at Guerrero, San Francisco, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Food from the cultures of Hispanic, Filipino, Korean, African-American, Italian and Indian. Tickets $8 advance, $10 at door for adults; $5 advance, $7 at door for children. Entertainment, games and raffle are all part of day. Brian Marston, (415) 601-3380; www. icacademy.org. WORKSHOP: Martin Luther’s life and journey with Paulist Father Terry Ryan, Old St. Mary’s Paulist Center, 614 Grant Ave. at California Street, San Francisco, 9 a.m.-noon. Coffee and treats begin at 9 a.m. Workshop is free, freewill donations welcome. (415) 288-3845. ROSARY FOR LIFE: Join lay Catholics, priests, and seminarians to pray the rosary for life. Joyful meeting on sidewalk outside the old Chevy’s, 2907 El Camino Real, Redwood City, where a Planned Parenthood clinc is planned to open. The event is peaceful and begins at 9 a.m. Nativitymenlorespectlife@yahoo.com. GUADALUPE MASS: St. Thomas the Apostle Church, 40th Avenue and Balboa Street, San Francisco, 4 p.m., with Mariachi music and dinner after Mass.

CEMETERY MASS: Holy Cross Cemetery, 1500 Old Mission Road, Colma, All Saints Mausoleum, 11 a.m. Father Brian Costello, pastor, Most Holy Father Vito Redeemer Perrone Parish, San Francisco, principal celebrant. (650) 7562060; www.holycrosscemeteries.com.

BIBLE STUDY: St. Hilary Parish, Tiburon, Tarantino Hall, following all weekend Masses, Saturday 5 p.m.; Sunday 7:30, 9, 11 a.m., 5 p.m. Preview Jeff Cavin’s special introductory video, review study materials, sign up to begin the New Year by taking part in this bible study, “The Great Adventure - A Journey Through the Bible.” Produced by Ascension Press, http:// ascensionpress.com/

FAMILY AND COSMETIC DENTISTRY

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TV MASS: A TV Mass is broadcast Sunday at 6 a.m. on the Bay Area’s KTSF Channel 26 and KOFY Channel 20, and in the Sacramento area at 5:30 a.m. on KXTL Channel 40. It is produced for viewing by the homebound and others unable to go to Mass by God Squad Productions with Msgr. Harry Schlitt, celebrant. Catholic TV Mass, One Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco 94109, (415) 614-5643, janschachern@aol.com.

TUESDAY, DEC. 10

BOUTIQUE: St. Robert Parish, San Bruno, Hennessy Hall, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Admission free, refreshments available. All are invited to come and do some Christmas shopping. (650) 589-2800. BAZAAR: St. Timothy Church “Breakfast with Santa,” 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Pancake breakfast, photos with Santa Claus, foods from around the world, gift booths, kids’ activity room, and raffle drawings, 1515 Dolan Ave, San Mateo, near Third Avenue and Norfolk. (650) 342-2468. CONCERT: Vytenis Vasyliunas, Organist, St. Mary’s Cathedral, Gough Street at Geary Boulevard, San Francisco, 3:30 p.m., (415) 567-2020, ext. 213. All recitals open to the public. Freewill offering accepted at the door, ample free parking; www.stmarycathedralsf.org.

DIVORCE SUPPORT: Drop-in support groups, Separated and Divorced Catholic Ministry, Archdiocese of San Francisco, St. Bartholomew Church, Spirituality Center, 600 Columbia Drive., San Mateo. 7 p.m.: Evenings begin and end with prayer and include introductions and conversation, moderated by Jesuit Father Al Grosskopf, (415) 422-6698; grosskopf@ usfca.edu.

FRIDAY, DEC. 13 CONCERT: Choirs of St. Charles Parish, 880 Tamarack Ave., San Carlos, 7 p.m. Program includes carols, old and new and the original children’s musical, Bright Lights. Admission free. Sara Murphy, (650) 591-7349; www. stcharlesparish.org.

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COUNSELING

Dr. William Meza, DDS,

San Mateo 650.347.6903

TV MASSES: EWTN airs Mass daily at 5 a.m., 9 a.m., 9 p.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. EWTN is carried on Comcast 229, AT&T 562, Astound 80, San Bruno Cable 143, 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.

SUNDAY, DEC. 8

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CALENDAR 27

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 6, 2013

SATURDAY, DEC. 14 CHRISTMAS REMEMBRANCE: Holy Cross Cemetery, 1500 Old Mission Road, Colma, All Saints Mausoleum, 11 a.m., Msgr. John Talesfore, pastor, St. Msgr. John Mary’s CatheTalesfore dral, presides. (650) 756-2060; www.holycrosscemeteries.com.

SATURDAY, DEC. 14 ROSARY FOR LIFE: Join lay Catholics, priests, and seminarians to pray the rosary for life. Joyful meeting on sidewalk outside the old Chevy’s, 2907 El Camino Real, Redwood City, where a Planned Parenthood clinic is planned to open. The event is peaceful and begins at 10 a.m. Nativitymenlorespectlife@yahoo.com.

SUNDAY, DEC. 15 CONCERT: “Advent Lessons and Carols,” St. Mary’s Cathedral Choir and St. Mark’s Lutheran Church Choir, works by Stanford, Victoria and others. St. Mary’s Cathedral, Gough Street at Geary Boulevard, San Francisco, 3:30 p.m. (415) 567-2020, ext. 213. All recitals open to the public, freewill offering accepted at the door; www.stmarycathedralsf.org. Ample free parking. CONCERT: Marin County’s St. Mary’s

Church on Nicasio Square, 2 p.m., followed by wine and food reception at Druids Hall. The concert will feature Christmas and secular pieces performed by Mike Duke, Frolicking at the Crossroads, Nicasio Creek Singers, Al Sailor, Timothy Murphy’s Ghost, Antonia Van Becker and Greg Lee. Adults $50; children under 12, $10. All proceeds go to the renovation of the historic church consecrated in 1867. Reservations can be made by mailing a check payable to St. Mary’s to Kathy Drady, P.O. Box 849, Nicasio, CA 94946 or call (415) 662-2057. PRO-LIFE WALK: San Mateo ProLife under the banner of Our Lady of Guadalupe, 2 p.m., meeting at the large doors of St. Matthew Church, El Camino Real and Ninth Avenue, San Mateo and continuing on El Camino Real from the church to Planned Parenthood, 35 Baywood Ave, rain or shine. Walk is about 1.5 miles. Rosary will be said during walk. All pro-life people are invited to join in the procession. Jessica Munn, (650) 572-1468. CONCERT: Choirs and musicians of St Bartholomew Parish, Alameda de las Pulgas at Crystal Springs Road, San Mateo, 3 p.m. Program of Christmas favorites old and new accompanied by a 15-piece orchestra. Freewill donations appreciated.

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 18 DIVORCE SUPPORT: Drop-in support groups, Separated and Divorced Catholic Ministry, Archdiocese of San Francisco, St. Stephen Church, O’Reilly Hall, 451 Eucalyptus Drive, near Stonestown Mall, San Francisco, 7:30 p.m. Evenings begin and end with prayer and include introductions and conversation, moderated by Jesuit

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Father Al Grosskopf. (415) 422-6698; grosskopf@usfca.edu. GRIEF SUPPORT: A free holiday grief support workshop, 10:30 a.m.-noon, Msgr. Bowe Room, St. Mary’s Cathedral, Gough Street at Geary Boulevard, San Francisco, with information on the grief process, and tools on coping with the loss of a loved one during the holidays plus support, connection and prayer. Deacon Christoph Sandoval leads. Sister Esther, (415) 567-2020, ext. 218.

SATURDAY, DEC. 21 TURKEY DRIVE: St Emydius Church, San Francisco, 9 a.m.-noon, 260 Ashton Ave. All turkeys and monetary gifts benefit St Anthony’s Dining Room. (415) 587-7066; stemydius@sbcglobal. net; sfpierre@aol.com.

TUESDAY, DEC. 24 DIVORCE SUPPORT: Drop-in support groups, Separated and Divorced Catholic Ministry, Archdiocese of San Francisco, St. Bartholomew Church, Spirituality Center, 600 Columbia Drive, San Mateo. 7 p.m. Evenings begin and end with prayer and include introductions and conversation, moderated by Jesuit Father Al Grosskopf. (415) 4226698; grosskopf@usfca.edu.

WEDNESDAY, JAN 15 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 archdiocese and include prayer, introductions, sharing. It is a drop-in support group. Jesuit Father Al Grosskopf, (415) 422-6698, grosskopf@usfca.edu.

TUESDAY, JAN. 14 FERTILITY SUPPORT: San Francisco Catholic Infertility Fellowship meets monthly to provide emotional, spiritual, and practical support to married individuals and couples who have been struggling to conceive a child for six months or more. Meetings are second Tuesdays, 7 p.m., Siena Room, St. Dominic Parish, Bush Street at Steiner, San Francisco. http://sfcatholicif.blogspot.com/ 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 include prayer, introductions, sharing. It is a drop-in support group. Jesuit Father Al Grosskopf, (415) 422-6698; grosskopf@usfca.edu.

SATURDAY, JAN. 18 CRAB FEED: Archbishop Riordan High School crab feed dinner benefiting Crusader athletics. Enjoy delicious fresh crab, good fun, and good company, $60 per person. More information: www.riordanhs.org; Sharon Udovich, (415) 586-8200, ext. 217. Event will sell out – book early.

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CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 6, 2013

In Remembrance of the Faithful Departed Interred In Our Catholic Cemeteries During the Month of October

HOLY CROSS, COLMA Maria Anna Abundo Rose Marie Helen Adamski Ruth Julia Aguiniga Reynaldo S. Aguiniga, Jr. Henry W. Ahrens Adelita Alcala Valeria Perez Alvarez Dionisio V. Amores, Jr. Jaime Arcila Louis G. Armanino Virginia Badgis Palmira M. Balestreri Margie Barela Ann M. Barrios Esperanza Bermudez Inez G. Bertini Maurice P. Bessiere Edith Marie Bonelli Vito Borella Esther D. Borges Gloria R. Braganza Attilio L. Brunello Elizabeth M. Brunello Margaret L. Cardinale Patricia Dorothy Carlin Louise Cerri Teodoro M. Coloma Anne Carlin Cottrell John J. Curtin Denis Paul Deering Jessie R. Deleon Juan Esain Josefa G. Espina

Ester Fischer Alberto Fox Abadesa Galatoire Virginia Garibaldi John Gonzales Narcisa E. Gonzales Velia (Val) Grassi Nora Catherine Griffin Christina Guillen Jacquelyn A. Gustafson Robert J. Haskins Patrick Carroll Heard David Heffelfinger Gertrude V. Holderman Philip D. Ignacio Clara G. Julian Barbara J. Kelley Elisa M. Kennedy John C. Klobuchar Sr. Lillian Catherine Knudsen, PBVM Louis Charles Legac Sr. Mary Noel Lehman, S.H.F Beverly J. Lehr Lauren L. Lehr Helen M. Lemos Vera Lou Lilja James F. Loeffler Eladio M. Lopez Francis J. Mahoney Ildefonson N. Manabat, Jr. Raymond T. Masini Debra Mathews Manuel Antonio Mendoza, Sr. Alexander Livio Menicucci Julio D. Militar Mary C. Moreno

Louise M. Muniz Cesar Santa Maria Muñoz William Novales Mary R. O’Rourke Steven John Olcese John M. Ortega Eleuterio C. Padilla Valeriano Sagnip Pagaduan Barbara Ellen Perez Joseph Piazza Yola L. Picchi Mary Ann Plunkett Patricia M. Quinn Doris M. Raffetto Mary W. Reidy Florence E. Reisner Josefina Rodriguez Estella L. Rowell Archie Rozzi Egina M. Ruocco Leon A. Ryder Petra Sanchez Jana M. Scandurra Marilyn L. Schwarz Irene L. Serna Carlos Serrano Doris Sneler Helen Souza Christina Spencer Jeanne M. Stoyko Guido G. Tevini Robert Paul Torrao Ann Torre Rose I. Turner Debra Rose Uhrig Wene A. Vengco Virginia M. Weber

Alex Zamora

MT. OLIVET, SAN RAFAEL Edward James Chavez Regina Maud Hallquist Eileen K. Harriman Thomas R. Harriman Lucy Robert M. Morris Elvia Josefina Quesada Catherine P. Walsh

HOLY CROSS, MENLO PARK Adelina Avina Francis J. Collin Alice Gilbert Yanitza Lopez Nivaleti Mahoni

HOLY CROSS, MENLO PARK Adelina Avina

OUR LADY OF THE PILLAR John Manuel Costa

HOLY CROSS CATHOLIC CEMETERY, COLMA CHRISTMAS REMEMBRANCE SERVICE Saturday, December 14, 2013 All Saints Mausoleum Chapel – 11am |

Msgr. John Talsefore, Officiate

FIRST SATURDAY MASS Saturday, January 4, 2014 All Saints Mausoleum Chapel – 11am

A Tradition of Faith Throughout Our Lives.