CSF December 2023 by Catholic San Francisco

DECEMBER 2023

O hear the angel voices!

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 2023

DECEMBER 2023 | CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Archbishop: Your light must shine

Catholic Quiz: How well do you know the Catholic Faith?

Advent: O Jesse Tree, O Jesse Tree

Celebrations: Advent traditions with the O Antiphons

Interfaith shelter: Faithful winter respite

24 30 32

Parenting workshops: Christmas Angels

Valerie Schmalz Human Life & Dignity

PRODUCTION MANAGER

CSF MAGAZINE EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

Rod Linhares Mission Advancement

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Fr. Patrick Summerhays Vicar General & Moderator of the Curia

Mary Powers (415) 614-5638 Communications & Media Relations Editor, San Francisco Católico

Chandra Kirtman

Ryan Mayer Catholic Identity Assessment & Formation Peter Marlow (415) 614-5636 Communications & Media Relations

38 40

Christian Meaning of Suffering: Peace and Joy

BUSINESS MANAGER CIRCULATION

Diana Powell

COPY EDITOR

Nancy O’Brien

Front and back cover (415) 614-5644

photos by Peter Marlow

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Catholic Near East Welfare Association assists Christians in war-torn regions

Joel Carrico

Christina Gray Phillip Monares

Faith and Reason: Eucharistic miracles help those who “lost God” find hope

Karessa McCartney-Kavanaugh

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Departed loved ones: Coping with grief during the Advent/ Christmas season

Eucharistic Revival: A five-part test for your Eucharistic beliefs

Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone

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ARCHBISHOP

Your light must shine Reclaim Christ as the center of your life BY ARCHBISHOP SALVATORE JOSEPH CORDILEONE

ach year, Advent and Christmas remind us of the centuries of prayerful expectation and hope of the people of Israel. The longing for the promised Messiah was fulfilled in the fullness of time in the city of David, the town of Bethlehem. While the Savior entered quietly into the world that first Christmas, God’s gift led even the earth to rejoice in that holy night. We too often see darkness around us as we await our Lord’s return. Wars and conflicts around the globe, violence in our streets and workplaces, broken relationships in families

and among friends seem to pervade our daily life. While the shadows of this earthly life weigh upon us, we know there is hope. As the prophet Isaiah wrote: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.”1 The light of God made visible that first Christmas continues to shine evermore brightly in our time. As the Church, we are called to be that light in the world; like our Lady, magnifying Jesus so that others may encounter Him. Over the past year, the faithful of the Archdiocese of San Francisco unveiled that light to others, lifting up those in need and sharing God’s love with a suffering world. We held prayer vigils for persecuted Christians around the world, especially in Nicaragua and Hong Kong. Through our Restorative Justice Ministry, we prayed for healing and peace with families who lost loved ones to violence as well as with perpetrators in prisons who sought forgiveness. This past January, many of us joined the Half Moon Bay community in prayer at both Mountain Mushroom Farms DECEMBER 2023 | CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

20TH ANNUAL Because Women Deserve Better than Abortion.

WALK for LIFE Photo by Dennis Callahan

The Roráte Mass is a votive Mass in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary for the season of Advent, lit only by candles.

and Concord Farms sites after the shootings to reclaim the space of death as a place of life and peace. We visited San Quentin State Prison to offer Mass, engage in Bible studies and visit with the prisoners. It is a moving experience to pray with those who have had tremendous conversion experiences, working toward healing and wholeness both with the incarcerated and with victim families. This Christmas, I encourage you to reclaim Christ as the center of your life. For peace to exist in our world, the Prince of Peace must first reign in our hearts and homes. God’s love for us and His desire for our ultimate happiness with Him in heaven surpasses our understanding. As St. John writes in his Gospel, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God › CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 2023

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At every Mass, God brings us His light and life, desiring to live with us, in us and through us in the Eucharist. Jesus, living in us, transforms us from within, becoming His presence in the world. The commonness of our daily life becomes opportunities to share the love of God and bring light to others.” Photo by Mary Powers

did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” Jesus assumed a human nature to redeem us through His passion, death and resurrection. The night before He died, at the Last Supper, He gave us His very heart – the gift of the Eucharist – so that in His love, He could transform us to live in communion with Him and one another. Over the centuries, God has allowed Eucharistic miracles to take place in many countries around the world. Eucharistic hosts miraculously transform into human flesh or bleed to show the truth behind our faith. Scientific studies on these Eucharistic miracles have confirmed that the flesh is heart tissue from a man who underwent severe trauma. Even science has shown that our Lord’s Sacred Heart is present on the altar and in every tabernacle, an everlasting reminder of God’s eternal love for His people. At every Mass, God brings us His light and life, desiring to live with us, in us and through us in the Eucharist. Jesus, living in us, transforms us from within, becoming His presence in the world. The commonness of our daily life becomes opportunities to share the love of God and bring light to others. After preaching on the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells His disciples, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” Living our faith in society today can be difficult. We may face opposition or even persecution. But being that light of God’s love in the world is needed now more than ever – affirming the dignity of every human life, loving our enemies, praying for those who do not understand our faith and reconciling with those who have wronged us or whom we have offended. In doing so, we bring peace into the world and give glory to God, through whom all things are possible. May you and your families have a blessed and holy Christmas, and may the Lord guide our feet in the way of peace. ■ 1 Is 9:1

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Elderly religious need your help. Like those pictured, nearly 25,000 senior sisters, brothers and religious order priests have dedicated their lives to serving others through prayer and ministry. Yet years of serving for little or no pay have left a profound shortage in retirement savings. Your support of the Retirement Fund for Religious helps furnish care, medicine and other necessities. Please give generously.

Please give to those who have given a lifetime.

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Please donate at your local parish December 9–10,or by mail at: National Religious Retirement Office/SFR 3211 Fourth Street NE Washington DC 20017-1194 Make check payable to Retirement Fund for Religious.

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Berta with presi Scho from the S Child of Sa Natio Real in Pr achie

VALLOMBROSA RETREAT CENTER We are open for your spiritual renewal

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CATHOLIC QUIZ

How well do you know the Catholic faith? The Ultimate Catholic Quiz by Catholic Answers’ founder, Karl Keating. Excerpted with permission and available for purchase from

https://ignatius.com/the-ultimate-catholic-quiz-ucqp/

here are no trick questions, but there are questions that will trip you up if you fail to read carefully. An answer is counted as wrong if any part of it — such as a date or name — is wrong. Your goal is not to find the answer that is least wrong, but the one answer that is wholly right, which may be “none of the above.” On average, most informed Catholics score 50%. How well did you do? 1. How many Popes have been of Jewish descent?

2. When did seminary training for priests become common?

a. at the beginning of Church history, with our Lord’s teaching in the Temple. b. after the promulgation of Pope Pius X’s encyclical “Educationis Seminarii.” c. after the Council of Trent. d. at an unknown early date, because the diocesan seminaries were in regular use by the time of Augustine. e. None of the above.

3. The four cardinal virtues are:

a. prudence, piety, faithfulness and peaceableness. b. temperance, holiness, charity and wisdom. c. courage, fortitude, bravery and fearlessness. d. fortitude, temperance, abstinence and hope. e. none of the above.

4. Original sin is transmitted by:

a. only one, Peter. b. two, Peter and his immediate successor, Linus. c. Only three of the first four Popes; after the Jewish Council of Jamnia (ca. A.D. 80), which promulgated the finalized Jewish canon of the Bible, no further Popes of Jewish descent were elected. d. more than three. e. None of the above.

St. Peter with his key.

a. imitation. b. bad example. c. bad arguments. d. the matrilineal line of Eve. e. none of the above.

5. The consecration of the Eucharist:

a. can be performed by a Catholic priest or by a priest of an Eastern Orthodox Church. b. can be performed by a Catholic priest only if he celebrates Mass with at least two witnesses. c. can be performed by Catholic priests and Anglican priests so long as they have the proper intention and pronounce the correct words of consecration. d. can be performed by deacons and specially commissioned laypersons in emergency situations. e. none of the above.

Answer highlights can be found on page 46. OPEN THIS QR CODE FOR COMPREHENSIVE ANSWERS or visit https://sfarchdiocese.org/ december-2023-catholic-quiz/ CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 2023

ADVENT

O Jesse Tree, O Jesse Tree

Marin pastor embraces ancient Advent tradition to give parishioners a deeper understanding of salvation history and their part in it BY CHRISTINA GRAY Lead writer, Catholic San Francisco grayc@sfarch.org

“I

like Christmas ornaments,” Father Pat Michaels said when he heard the gasp. We had just caught sight of the fully trimmed Christmas tree in the vestibule off the entrance of the rectory at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel parish. It was mid-September. Nearly all of the intricate religious

ornaments — angels swinging from fluffy clouds, filigreed saints, delicate Nativity scenes and more — were handmade by the longtime pastor of the Mill Valley parish using vintage Polish, German, Czech and Austrian glass. He crafts them from a makeshift workshop, a rectory utility closet stacked

precipitously high with boxes of baubles, balls and beads and other tiny, shiny things. Father Michaels’ master craftsmanship of religious ornaments is a story unto itself. But today, we have come to talk to him about his parish Jesse Tree. For more than 15 years, the pastor has been deliberate and intentional about the use of the Jesse Tree at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish as an Advent devotion. Father Michaels told Catholic San Francisco that the ancient custom of the Jesse Tree can draw the faithful into a fuller understanding of the salvation story — one that began, in

THE JESSE TREE ORIGIN AND PURPOSE The Jesse Tree is a centuries-old Christmas tradition that predates the Christmas tree as we know it. It is essentially Jesus’ family tree. The name and tradition are rooted in Isaiah 11:1: “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” Jesse was the father of David, Israel’s greatest king. And Jesus is descended from the line of David. He is the branch God promised would grow from Jesse’s family tree. In a 28-page color booklet on the Jesse Tree produced by Father Michaels for his parish, he explained

You can’t talk about the coming of Jesus, without talking about why he came.” FATHER PAT MICHAELS, pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel parish fact, in the Garden of Eden, not in a manger in Bethlehem. “You can’t talk about the coming of Jesus, without talking about why he came,” said Father Michaels, who has crafted Jesse Tree ornaments for the parish Jesse tree with as much care and forethought as he creates his glass ornaments. Each is a mobile of combined images or components that he has either hand-drawn or -painted or borrowed with credit from established artists. He said the placement of ornaments by parishioners on the parish Jesse tree throughout Advent, along with the readings that go with each one, is meant to serve as visual invitation into the fullness of salvation history. “You can’t celebrate Christmas without realizing that it’s actually part of the paschal journey,” he said. “The Jesse Tree helps us understand how that journey happened in Scripture, and how it happens for each of us.”

that the accounts of the birth of Christ in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke are constructed from the prophesies of the Old Testament, fulfilled in history by Jesus Christ. “They relate to us how the Incarnation of Jesus is the fulfillment of these prophesies, the turning of salvation history,” he said. Art from the early Church depicted prophets as present for Christ’s birth. In the Middle Ages, “mystery plays” at Advent were meant to entertain and educate and were centered on prophesies of the coming Messiah and depictions of Adam and Eve, which spelled out the necessity of a Messiah. Each symbol on a Jesse Tree, whether it be an apple and serpent representing the fall in the Garden of Eden, a ram representing the faithfulness of Abraham or Mary cradling the Child Jesus in her womb, is a step leading toward the birth of Jesus. “The Jesse Tree, even though it starts with Jesse and looks at his ›

progeny, is actually a way of looking back at salvation history,” said Father Michaels. “It answers the question of why Jesus needed to come in the first place.” He said it’s unclear when particular biblical events or individuals began to appear in Jesse Tree traditions. To this day, there is a great deal of variation and “no absolutes” in the practice of the Jesse Tree. The fluctuating days in Advent also means there are more ornaments on the tree some years than others, he said. The Church doesn’t have a teaching or guidance about how a parish or person uses a Jesse Tree during Advent, according to Father Michaels. Because they are devotions, they are not “set in stone.” “The purpose of our present Jesse Tree is to think about how we enter into a relationship, setting up walls that diminish the connection, the struggle people have had through history to reconnect with God, what God did to help (most significantly

by sending his Son Jesus) and what we still need to do,” Father Michaels said. CHILDREN AND FAMILY “Mom did a Jesse Tree with us when I was a kid,” said Father Michaels, an explanation, perhaps, for his fondness and dedication to the Jesse Tree at his parish. “The parishioners love it,” he said, leafing through one of the seven binders he has organized according to the number of days in Advent in a given year. “The Jesse tree becomes the focal point for a whole season, and it’s growing all the time.” The binder for the year sits on a stand near the parish Jesse tree, beginning with the first Sunday of Advent. There is an ornament for each day of Advent and an accompanying prayer. On weekdays, anyone can read the prayer and put the ornament with scriptural text on the tree. “On Sundays, we do it formally with a

Jesse Tree Advent Calendar

Father Michaels also likes to create a Jesse Tree Advent Calendar for families. The “door” for each day in Advent is one of the images from his ornaments. It opens up to an intention, such as “Today I will be kind in a special way to someone I do not like very much,” or “Today, I will ask Mary to help me find more room in my heart for Jesus.”

Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption Christmas Eve

Sunday, December 24, 2023

A few of the Jesse Tree ornaments produced by Father Pat Michaels that symbolize biblical events leading up to the birth of Jesus.

family at the 10 a.m. Mass,” said Father Michaels. The parish wraps two other devotions into its Jesse Tree each year. On the Monday before Christmas, a reconciliation service is held in preparation for Christmas Day. Parishioners are invited to put a special reconciliation ornament on the tree, inscribing the back with what they want God’s help with before they go to confession. Those ornaments join the Jesse Tree ornaments on the tree. “The idea is to underline that you are celebrating the forgiveness of God that is already yours,” Father Michaels said. Also on the tree are pledge ornaments representing a financial gift to Tribe Rising India, a parish project with the Jesuits of West Bengal, that began as an Advent opportunity six years ago. “On Christmas Eve, I rearrange the Jesse Tree ornaments from wherever they were placed, starting at the top with the creation story and moving down the tree sequentially,” said Father Michaels. The reconciliation ornaments from the current year and past years are added back to the tree, too. “They become part of the whole salvation story,” he said. “The whole thrust of Advent is to grow in anticipation of this birth that has already taken place, but to allow that birth to be born again in us.” ■ CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 2023

Regular Sunday Mass Schedule 7:30 AM, 9:00 AM, 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM (Español) 5:00 PM Caroling by the St. Brigid School Honor Choir 5:30 PM - Christmas Vigil Mass 11:30 PM Caroling by the Cathedral Choir and Golden Gate Brass Ensemble 12:00 AM - Midnight Mass

Christmas Day

Monday, December 25, 2023 No 7:30 AM Mass 9:00 AM - Gregorian Chant Mass with Cathedral Schola Cantorum 11:00 AM - Solemn Mass with Cathedral Choir 1:00 PM - Misa en Español, Schola Hispana

New Year’s Eve

Sunday, December 31, 2023 7:30 AM Regular Sunday Mass 9:00 AM - Gregorian Chant Mass with Cathedra Schola Cantorum 11:00 AM - Solemn Mass with Cathedral Choir 1:00 PM - Misa en Español, Schola Hispana

New Year’s Day Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God Monday, January 1, 2024 Not a Holy Day of Obligation this year 8:00 AM Holiday Schedule Mass Cathedral open for prayer until 4:00 PM

The Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord Sunday, January 7, 2024

Regular Sunday Mass Schedule 7:30 AM, 9:00 AM, 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM (Español) 4:00 PM - Epiphany Lessons and Carols featuring the St. Brigid School Honor Choir and Golden Gate Boys Choir and Bellringers 11

SAINT AUGUSTINE CHURCH 3700 CALLAN BLVD. SSF, CA 94080 www.staugustinessf.org

CHRISTMAS 2023 Advent Communal Penance with Individual Confessions Tuesday, December 12 at 7:00pm Novena of Masses (Simbang Gabi) December 15-23 at 7:00pm (Live Streamed) December 16-24 at 6:00am Christmas Vigil Sunday, December 24 4:30pm Vigil Mass 7:30pm Children's Caroling 8:00pm Children's Mass 11:00pm Caroling 12:00 Midnight Mass Christmas Day Monday, December 25 7:30am, 9:00am, 11:00am and 12:30pm There is NO 5:30pm Mass on Christmas Day New Year's Eve Sunday, December 31 at 5:30pm New Year's Day Monday, January 1 at 9:00am Confessions by Appointment, please call (650) 873-2282

Mass Schedules Dec 23 5pm

4th Sunday of Advent

Dec 24 8am | 10am Christmas Eve Dec 24 9:30pm Carols | 10pm Mass Christmas Day Dec 25 10am

100 Diamond St. @ 18th, San Francisco, CA 94114 415.863.6259 12 www.mhr.org

ST. DUNSTAN CATHOLIC CHURCH CHRISTMAS MASSES Sunday, December 24 - Christmas Eve: 4:30 PM & 9:00 PM Monday, December 25 - Christmas Day 7:00 AM, 10:00 AM & 11:30 AM

1133 Broadway, 94030 DECEMBER 2023 Millbrae, | CATHOLICCA SAN FRANCISCO

CELEBRATIONS

Advent traditions with the O Antiphons

BY AARON LAMBERT Writer from Denver

hile the hustle and bustle of the preChristmas season brings with it a sense of urgency, we as Catholics are called to the opposite sort of mentality as we prepare for the birth of Our Savior. The days leading up to Christmas are to be days of prayer, penance and preparation, which is why the Church gives us the season of Advent to properly ready our hearts for Christmas. The season of Advent is rich with meaning and purpose, which are often overshadowed by the impending Christmas holiday. The liturgies during Advent are beautiful, bated-breath celebrations that are meant to draw the faithful into the true meaning of Christmas: when God became one of us and began his work of salvation here on earth. There are many ways families can more intentionally celebrate Advent. Creating an Advent wreath at the start of the season and lighting the candles each week is one way to impart the significance of the season to your children. During the final days of Advent,

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 2023

however, the Church offers an ancient and timeless way of anticipating the celebration of Christmas: the O Antiphons. These are special prayers that recall the whole of salvation history and anticipate the birth of Christ. Starting on Dec. 17 and leading up to Christmas Eve, the O Antiphons are recited during evening prayer in the Church’s Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) before and after the Magnificat. The O Antiphon is also the Alleluia verse before the Gospel at each day’s Mass. Each antiphon refers to one of Christ’s Messianic titles. In the original Latin, when these names are put in reverse order, the first letters of the names form an acrostic: the Latin words ERO CRAS, which translates to “Tomorrow, I will come.” The O Antiphons are a simple yet profound way to pray together as a family and enter into the Advent season more intentionally. We’ve listed each O Antiphon below along with a suggested activity for each one to help form family traditions that will last a lifetime. ›

DEC. 17: O WISDOM (O SAPIENTA) O Wisdom, O holy Word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care. Come and show your people the way to salvation. While the start of the O Antiphons happens to fall on a Sunday this year, this is not always the case. One concrete way to mark the beginning of these prayers is to find a way to attend daily Mass as a family on this day. Going to Mass is a great way to start the seven days leading up to Christmas Eve and will serve you and your family well in preparing your hearts to welcome Jesus on Christmas Day.

DEC. 18: O LORD AND RULER (O ADONAI) O Lord and ruler of ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush, who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain: come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free. This day’s antiphon recalls when God appeared to Moses in the burning bush. One way to bring this narrative to life is to pray evening prayer by candlelight as a family. Lead your family in a meditation on how the burning bush and the flame from the candle represent Jesus as the light of the world.

DEC. 19: O ROOT OF JESSE (O RADIX JESSE) O root of Jesse’s stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid. Jesse Trees are a very popular Advent tradition, and perhaps making one is

already part of your family’s Advent traditions. However, there is another tree that is an important symbol during the Christmas season — you know the one! While there is no right time to set up your Christmas tree, consider waiting until this day to set it up. Then, after doing so, pray a blessing over it. The USCCB offers a beautiful Christmas tree blessing that can be found at usccb.org/prayers/blessingchristmas-tree.

DEC. 20: O KEY OF DAVID (O CLAVIS DAVID) O Key of David, O royal Power of Israel controlling at your will the gate of heaven: come, break down the prison walls of death for those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death and lead your captive people into freedom. The antiphon for today refers to those who are held captive and calls upon the Lord to free them from their bondage. One way to serve those who may be suffering in such a way is to volunteer at a homeless shelter or soup kitchen as a family and share the love of Christ with those who are there. This is a tradition that’s sure to bear fruit for many years to come.

DEC. 21: O RADIANT DAWN (O ORIENS) O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: come, shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. Christ’s messianic title for today is Rising Dawn. To bring this image to life, wake up before sunrise and pray morning prayer as a family. As the light from the sun begins to fill the sky and illuminate the world, lead your family in a meditation using the words from today’s antiphon. DECEMBER 2023 | CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI CHURCH 1425 Bay Road, East Palo Alto

650/322-2152

The O Antiphons are a simple yet profound way to pray together as a family and enter into the Advent season more intentionally.”

DEC. 22: O KING OF THE NATIONS (O REX GENTIUM) O King of the nations, the only joy of every human heart; O Keystone of the mighty arch of man, come and save the creature you fashioned from the dust.

Mass Schedule For Christmas and New Year Confessions

Saturday, December 23, 2023 10:30 am to12:00 pm and 3:30 pm to 6:00 pm

Christmas’ Eve & Day Masses

New Year’s Eve & Day Masses

Sunday, December 31, 2023 7:30 am English , 9:30 am Spanish Mass 11:30 am Engish, 1:30 pm Spanish Midnight Bi-lingual Mass Holy Hour on new years eve 11pm-12am

Sunday, December 24, 2023 7:30 am English 9:30 am Spanish 11:30 am English 1:30 pm Spanish 6:00 pm Bi-lingual Children’s Mass on Followed by Pastorela napole uffs * p e m Monday, January 1, 2024 è k r Midnight Bi-lingual Mass g ca e s* c weddin annoli 9:30 cEnglish Monday, December 25, 2023 * s 7:30 am am Spanish e * s crème aguett eclair * b 1:30 pmcSpanish nnolis * dsEnglish 7:30 am English 9:30 am Spanish a a e iscotti * 11:30 am r b b * aguett italian ies * eclairs * b 11:30 bam er cook1:30 pm Spanish uttEnglish runch * breads otti *

Baking treats to share with others is a timeless and tasty way of celebrating the holidays. In honor of today’s antiphon, bake crown-shaped treats to share with your c neighbors. You could even leave a note or isc italian dutch clairs * * b asion * nch * cookies i * e ough * all occ u r r d e r c o tt r f h explain why you made them in the shape u u o s b biscott tc s e u k d a c italian * * * s y n ia lt nch * occasio r cookie specia of e * foccac dough * u e r ll r tt c u a u o of a crown — to represent the *kingship h b r s bis o or dutc n * s * akes f ia * much m occasio ough * ialty c r cookie foccac d e ll r a tt u u r o Christ. The best part is that crowns b o pies * needs * spec s * f dut s ore n * ia * h * ake y cake much m ay cfor occasio foccac r doug ll pecialt u a s o s r ies * decorating, making this a fun activity * birthd b e o p r f o n * ia * cakes ns * cakes * much m foccac occasio apoleo ecialty thday n * s ll p ir a s ie b p r the whole family. * e o r f * ch mo kes * acia * ons * akes * cakes

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INTERFAITH SHELTER

St. Mary’s Cathedral Patron’s Hall is one four host sites for the annual Interfaith Winter Shelter.

FAITHFUL WINTER RESPITE

Photo courtesy of Episcopal Community Services

For 35 years, San Francisco’s faith community has worked in unison to bring the homeless in out of the cold BY CHRISTINA GRAY Lead writer, Catholic San Francisco grayc@ sfarch.org

an Francisco’s homeless crisis has not changed substantially since December of 1988, when then-Mayor Art Agnos beseeched the faith communities of San Francisco for help with what he called “a very serious, dire and complicated situation.” Cuts to federal and state mental health services and public housing, a wave of Vietnam vets in need of help, skyrocketing housing costs and a spike in unemployment caused by a national recession were said to have converged to hit the city hard, leaving thousands of vulnerable San Franciscans out in the cold. The need for shelter beds, especially during the cold and rainy winter months, far exceeded those available in city shelters. “They responded immediately and magnificently,” Agnos said in a video at the time sitting next to Rita Semel, longtime member of Congregation Emanu-El and inarguably the face of the city’s interfaith community.

“We were called in to do this, and it was an emergency,” Semel, now 102, said at the time. “So we sent out the word and the congregations responded.” The response, which included Catholics, Jews, Protestants, Buddhists, Mormons, Hindus, Muslims and nondenominational Christians and spiritualists, gave birth to the San Francisco Interfaith Council and the Interfaith Winter Shelter the same year. “IT’S A LABOR OF LOVE” “What started out to be a one-year emergency shelter is entering its 35th year,” said Michael Pappas, who succeeded Semel as executive director of the San Francisco Interfaith Council 18 years ago. Pappas said the city depends upon the Winter Shelter to augment its facilities during the colder seasons. “It’s a labor of love, there really is no other way to explain it,” he said. It’s a place, he said, where guests get what other shelters, and certainly the DECEMBER 2023 | CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

We were called in to do this, and it was an emergency. So we sent out the word and the congregations responded.” RITA SEMEL, longtime member of Congregation Emanu-El and former executive director of the San Francisco Interfaith Council

streets, don’t offer: a warm, dry place to sleep in safety, with good meals and the kindness and fellowship of the local faith community. “The late Mayor Ed Lee used to call it the Four Seasons of shelters for these very reasons,” Pappas said. The Winter Shelter is a highly coordinated partnership between the city’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, Episcopal Community Services, the interfaith council and more than 40 participating local congregations. It is not one site, but four host sites that from November through March alternate as a sort of “pop-up” overnight shelter for from 70-100 unhoused guests of all ages and both sexes. Unhoused individuals are able to take respite from the streets on a clean cot after a warm meal and get breakfast before they leave the next morning. The city and the Episcopal agency are responsible for the administrative and logistical needs of the shelter, such as supplying cots, blankets, security and sanitation. The interfaith council is tasked with finding and securing the host sites each year. St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco, Canon Kip Senior Center and St. Mary’s Cathedral are the sites for the 2023/24 winter season. “Many members look forward to this ministry year after year,” said Hanna Hart of the Universalist Society host site. › CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 2023

MONDAY, DECEMBER 18: CHRISTMAS CONCERT with a musical version of Charles Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol” 7:30* pm TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19: RECONCILIATION SERVICE 12:00 Noon – 1:00 pm TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19: MERCY NIGHT WITH RECONCILIATION SERVICE 7:30 pm WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 20: CANDLELIT COMPLINE with meditations on the great “O” Advent Antiphons 7:30* pm SUNDAY, DECEMBER 24: ADVENT IV 7:30, 9:30* & 11:30 am Masses; 1:30 pm (in Spanish) SUNDAY, DECEMBER 24: CHRISTMAS EVE 4:00* & 6:00 pm Masses 11:15* pm Carol Service followed by Mass at Midnight MONDAY, DECEMBER 25: CHRISTMAS DAY 12:00* am Solemn Christmas Midnight Mass 8:30 & 11:00* am Masses, (No 5:30 pm Masses) SUNDAY, DECEMBER 31: HOLY FAMILY/NEW YEAR’S EVE 7:30, 9:30* & 11:30 am; 1:30 & 5:30 pm MONDAY, JANUARY 1, 2024: MARY, THE MOTHER OF GOD 8:30* am Morning Prayer, 9:30* am Parish Mass 5:15* pm Evening Prayer, (no evening Mass) Visit our website www.stdominics.org for any and all updates. All liturgies and events subject to change. *livestream 2390 BUSH STREET AT STEINER, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94115, 415.567.7824

29 Rockaway Avenue, SF, CA 94127 • 515.681.4225 17 www.stbrendanparish.org

Photo courtesy SFIC

The SFIC encourages local congregations to take on responsibility for buying, making and serving dinner and breakfast to homeless guests on a given date. Paige Hosking with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is tasked with this organizational feat. “It’s a lot of work with a lot of moving pieces,” she said, but getting volunteers from local faith communities to participate is the easiest part. “This is one of the most popular service opportunities in our church,” said Betsy Dodd of Calvary Presbyterian Church. The youth group takes responsibility for one night themselves. “The guests are always so appreciative of our meals and our attentions,” she said. Ariana Estoque said Congregation Emanu-El takes eight nights each January to make and serve food, an “immersive teaching opportunity that breaks down barriers and stereotypes” about the homeless. “Our teens have face-to-face interaction with people they would normally walk by on the street,” she said. “Their eyes are opened.” Whole families come to cook and serve together, she said. Tables are set with placemats decorated by younger students, fresh flowers put on each table. “We want our unhoused guests to feel welcome, and seen,” she said. CONTINUOUS CATHOLIC COMMITMENT St. Mary’s Cathedral, with its large Event

In an undated photo, SFIC executive director Michael Pappas, back left, and his twins, Julia and Paul, foreground, help prepare a warm meal in the kitchen of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church for guests of the Interfaith Winter Shelter.

Center and Patron’s Hall, has been a host site from the very beginning of the Winter Shelter, Pappas said. During the fraught days of the pandemic, it served as the only host site for a period of three months. It also is the largest host site venue. “We are indebted to the Archdiocese of San Francisco, and to St. Mary’s for its commitment as a continuing host site,” he said. He credited the parish and Event Center director Diane Luporini for making the Winter Shelter at St. Mary’s “a well-oiled machine.” St. Ignatius, St. Stephen, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Vincent de Paul, Holy Name, Old St. Mary’s, Sts. Peter and Paul, Mission Dolores Basilica and the Knights of St. Francis are among the Catholic parishes and organizations that provide meals and more to the Winter Shelter. Pappas said that while different faith communities don’t interact much with each other during the Winter Shelter, their common goal of service to the homeless often manifests itself into generosity and goodwill toward each other. “Our synagogue always tries to provide food on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so that host church members can focus on their Christmas observance,” said Nancy SheftelGomes of Congregation Sherith Israel. ■ SCAN HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE WINTER SHELTER, or visit sfinterfaithcouncil.org/ interfaith-winter-shelter DECEMBER 2023 | CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

2023 SCHEDULE Christmas Mass Schedule Christmas Eve 4:00 pm: Christmas Eve Family Mass 6:30 pm: Christmas Eve Mass Midnight Mass 11:00 pm: Christmas Midnight Mass Carols begin at 10:30 pm Christmas Day 8:00 am: Christmas Morning Mass 10:00 am: Christmas Day Mass 12:00 pm (noon): Christmas Day Mass 650 Parker Ave., San Francisco | stignatiussf.org

Lessons and Carols for Advent December 17 | 4:00 p.m. | Adult Choir Advent Novena Masses (Simbang Gabi) December 15, 18-22 | 5:30 p.m. December 16,17,23 | 5:00 p.m. Christmas Eve Masses Sunday December 24 5:00 p.m. | Adult Choir with Orchestra Carol prelude at 4:15 p.m. 8:00 p.m. Sung Mass with Cantor Piano and Guitars Christmas Day Masses | Monday December 25 7:30 a.m. 9:30 a.m. | Adult Choir with Orchestra Carol prelude at 9:10 a.m. 11:30 a.m. Sung Mass with Cantor and Organist

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Merry Christmas

t Robert’s Church CHRISTMAS MASSES

380 Crystal Springs Road, Eve San Bruno, Christmas CA 94066 (650) 589-2800 Sunday, December 24th

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HRISTMAS MASSES

Monday,Eve December 25th Christmas 7:30 am, 9:30 am & 11:30 am urday, December 24th 0pm, 6:00pm & 9:00pm No Evening Mass

Christmas Day, NEW YEAR'S DAY New Year’s Eve Saturday, December 31, 2022 nday, December Monday, 25th January 1, 2024 4:30 pm am, 9:30 am & 11:30 am 9:30 am No Evening Mass New Year’s Day

Sunday, January 1, 2022 Feast Of The Epiphany

7:30am, 9:30 am, 11:30 am Saturday, January 6th NO EVENING MASS 4:30 pm Sunday, January 7th CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 2023 7:30am, 9:30 am, 11:30 am

PARENTING WORKSHOPS

Photos Courtesy of Julio Escobar

DECEMBER 2023 | CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

CHRISTMAS ANGELS:

A day of Christmas joy for children whose lives have been changed by violent crime caps a year of archdiocesan “restorative parenting” workshops

BY CHRISTINA GRAY Lead writer, Catholic San Francisco grayc@ sfarch.org

picture with Santa. Glittering Christmas lights. Holiday goodies. A wrapped present to open. Laughter and carefree fun. The Advent and Christmas spirit and traditions so many of us take for granted may be only a dream for families splintered by domestic violence, separated by the incarceration of a parent or grieving a loved one lost to violent crime. In fact, the holidays can be a painful reminder of the family life they may have once had, but lost. Thanks to the Archdiocese’s Restorative Justice Ministry, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone and a bounty of private and parish donors and volunteers, families served by the ministry have an opportunity to enjoy a carefree day of preChristmas spirit on Dec. 22 from noon-4 p.m. The aptly named “Christmas Angels” event transforms St. Mary Cathedral’s Patron’s Hall into a playful holiday wonderland complete with towering Christmas trees, a visit with Santa Claus and his elves, a giant inflatable Nativity scene, song and dance, festive foods and a gift for everyone — including parents. “Our goal was to bring the love of Jesus to these children, to make Christmas a true celebration of love with tangible gifts to each of the little ones, the teens and their parents,” said Julio Escobar, longtime coordinator of the ministry that operates under the Office of Human Life & Dignity. The ministry’s mission

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 2023

is to help people affected by crime — victims and offenders — heal and rehabilitate through prayer, prevention, intervention and education. SPECIAL PROJECT FUNDED BY ARCHBISHOP CORDILEONE The Archbishop dedicates funds from his Archbishop’s Circle patrons to help underwrite the Christmas Angels program and will also attend this year’s event. The Archbishop’s Circle consists of a group of local Catholics who support special programs identified by the Archbishop. Christmas Angels is also supported by many local parishes who take up collections for the event, host gift card drives and provide volunteers who, some dressed as Santa’s helpers, decorate, wrap presents, serve food and clean up. “We are really happy because my children received gifts, and I also received a gift,” a woman said in Spanish in a video of last year’s event. “I love that they are helping to provide good moments to children.” A teenage guest expressed gratitude on behalf of her family. “It helps us to be in the Christmas spirit and be united with our families and to value being in good health and give thanks for what God has given us.” Escobar wears many hats as coordinator of the Restorative Justice Ministry. He holds public prayer services at the sites of violent crimes, fosters victim-offender dialogues for ›

We ultimately aim to restore connection to one’s faith community, where a spiritual life and strong values can be nourished.”

Photo Courtesy of Julio Escobar

Julio Escobar, center dressed as a nutcracker, with some of the children, parents and volunteers who participated in the 2022 Christmas Angels event. The families have all been affected by violent crime.

the purposes of restorative justice, serves Thanksgiving meals and distributes Christmas cards to prisoners, mentors the formerly incarcerated by organizing an annual Reentry Conference and Resource Fair and much more.

JULIO ESCOBAR

RESTORATIVE PARENTING WORKSHOP He conceived of the Christmas Angels program last year as a natural outgrowth of the “Restorative Parenting” workshops he has facilitated for the Archdiocese since 2018. The parents of most of the more than 150 children who received a gift at last year’s event have attended the workshops he believes can help “prevent the cycle” of violence and crime by encouraging a strong parental model. Parents are challenged by a world where violence is increasingly prevalent, and social alienation abounds, said Escobar. Children and young people are very vulnerable to negative values presented in digital media, video games and pornography. The Restorative Parenting Workshops include training in restorative practices rooted in relationship to God and recognition of His love for parents and children alike. “We ultimately aim to restore connection to one’s faith community, where a spiritual life and strong values can be nourished,” said Escobar. The second part of the workshop is focused on the development of concrete parenting skills.

HOW TO HELP Parents intending to attend the Christmas Angels were asked to register for the event and request a gift for their child by going to a special webpage, sfarch.org/ christmasangels from Sept. 30 to Nov. 30. Individuals can go to the same secure page until Dec. 20 to “Adopt a Child” by making a general cash donation, or by funding the purchase of a specific toy from a list ranging in price from $15 to $100. The same workhorse webpage can also be used to host a gift card drive, this one for parents. Gift cards in the amount of $25 can be purchased for gas, groceries, clothes, gifts, restaurants, sporting goods and more. While there is a Dec. 12 deadline for delivery of gift cards to the archdiocesan offices in time for the Christmas Angels event, gift cards received after this date will support families in the restorative justice parenting program after Christmas. Escobar paraphrased the sentiments of Sonia Batres, a domestic violence and immigration services coordinator with San Francisco’s Homeless Prenatal nonprofit. Batres recommends the Restorative Parenting Workshop to the mothers she sees, and she spoke last year of the value of the Christmas Angels to children. “You never know what children will remember,” he echoed. “What many will remember years from now is the feeling they had that day.” ■ SCAN HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CHRISTMAS ANGELS, or visit sfarch.org/christmasangels.

DECEMBER 2023 | CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

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SE E I NG WHAT IS H I DDE N

CATHOLIC FAITH, FICTION & FILM BY DR. MARGARET TUREK Academic dean and professor of theology at St. Patrick’s Seminary & University in Menlo Park, California, Dr. Turek earned a doctorate in sacred theology at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. Prior to her theological studies, she received spiritual formation as a Carmelite for six years. Her new book, “Atonement: Soundings in Biblical, Trinitarian and Spiritual Theology,” is published by Ignatius Press.

ll “serious” fiction writers imbue their works with a vision of life: a vision often indebted to a philosophy or a religious creed. This is the case whether the writer is a rationalist, an atheist, a Buddhist or a Christian. Against the horizon of his vision of life or belief structure, the fiction writer will grapple with such questions as: What makes a life fully human, truly humane? What debases or even ruins a human life? Is there an ultimate and absolute meaning and goal of human existence? Indeed every “serious” writer of fiction is in the business of revelation – of revealing something significant about the human condition. Of course I don’t mean that every fiction writer proclaims a revelation that is “divine” in origin and nature, as did Moses, the ancient prophets and the apostles. I mean only that every great fiction writer invests his imaginative and literary skills in the task of bringing others to see. The American-born novelist, Flannery O’Connor, sums up the aim of the fiction writer in these words: “My task … is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel – it is, before all, to make you see.” To see something more than a graphic portrayal of war or a poignant drama of dying young. A great story, she insists, is concerned with nothing less than the whole point of living, and therefore a great writer aims to bring others “to see the meaning of life as he sees it.” But now if a believer should take up the task of a fiction writer, his first responsibility is to see as God sees. (Faith, after all, is a God-given capacity to share in God’s “vision of life,” so to speak.) Such a task involves a good deal more than taking into account the results of an online survey. The Catholic fiction writer

does more than depict the popular mindset of his times. His task is something like the prophet’s, that is, he is to speak of what is true, whether or not there are eyes that will to see it, or ears that will to hear it. Indeed a Catholic fiction writer in our day is faced with a peculiar challenge – a challenge that a prophet of ancient Israel was spared. Whereas a prophet of ancient Israel could express his message by using words and notions that he shared in common with his audience (e.g., covenant, sin and holiness), a Catholic fiction writer today is deprived of these advantages. How is one to speak of such things as holiness and redemption from sin, when the religious vocabulary of the JudeoChristian tradition strikes so many of one’s contemporaries as alien, meaningless or embarrassingly primitive? How do you speak of the Incarnation of the Word of God, of his atoning death and resurrection, of sin and grace, of heaven and hell to an audience that has acclimated itself to scientific rationalism, materialism and atheism? How do you portray the nearness of God for an audience who is no longer conscious of God? How do you talk of light to a bat? We cannot stop to answer these questions in this brief article. That discussion must wait for our online course in the School of Pastoral Leadership (Jan. 2–30, 2024), when we will consider how Catholic fiction writers tackle this problem. For now, it’s worth noting how excited O’Connor was when she discovered clues to the vocation of the Catholic novelist in reading St. Thomas Aquinas’ “Summa Theologica.” “According to St. Thomas, prophetic vision is not a matter of seeing clearly, but of seeing what is … hidden.” And in our day, there may be nothing

DECEMBER 2023 | CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

My task … is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel – it is, before all, to make you see.” FLANNERY O’CONNOR, American-born novelist

CNS photo/Floyd Jillson/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, via AP, courtesy “Flannery”

less clearly seen – there may be nothing more hidden — than God. The Catholic fiction writer, therefore, requires a kind of prophetic vision if she is to use her literary gifts to bring others to see that God is present though hidden in our world. O’Connor also learned from St. Thomas that “the beginning of human knowledge is through the senses, and the fiction writer begins where human perception begins. He appeals through the senses, and you cannot appeal to the senses with abstractions; he works through the limitations of matter.” The Johannine writings make this point repeatedly. If God is love, we know this not on the basis of an innate, abstract idea of “love,” but because eyewitnesses testify that God sent His Son as atonement for our sins CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 2023

Catholic writer Flannery O’Connor in a Sept. 22, 1959, photo, sitting on the steps of her home in Milledgeville, Georgia.

(cf. 1 Jn 1:1-3; 4:8-10). We know God to be love through beholding the Pierced One: divine love enfleshed and crucified for us. Similarly, for O’Connor, the good fiction writer imitates God by not being content “with unfleshed ideas and emotions.” “As a novelist,” she explains, “the major part of my task is to make everything – even an ultimate concern (like everlasting salvation or spiritual ruin) – as solid, as concrete, as specific as possible.” She undertakes this task, not by forging a chain of syllogisms, but by crafting dramatic action and dialogue. “Fiction is the concrete expression of mystery – mystery that is lived.” Like the Word made flesh, truth presses toward embodiment: not only in the flesh-andblood lives of human beings, but also in ›

the imaginative portrayal of human lives by novelists, poets and screenwriters. The power and importance of fiction as a prophetic vision and a shaping force was recognized at the Second Vatican Council. The pastoral constitution “On the Church in the Modern World” begins by identifying the raw material with which great fiction is crafted.

“The joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the men of our time … are the joy and hope of the followers of Christ as well. Nothing that is genuinely human fails to find an echo in their hearts. … (The world that the council has in mind) is that world which is the theater of human history, bearing the marks of man’s travail, his triumphs and failures.

The joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the men of our time … are the joy and hope of the followers of Christ as well. Nothing that is genuinely human fails to find an echo in their hearts. … We must recognize and understand the aspirations, the yearnings and the often dramatic features of the world in which we live.” This raw material is the real world, and above all the human condition. The attitudes and aims with which the Catholic faithful (especially as evangelizers) ought to approach the modern world are the very attitudes and aims that the Catholic writer brings to his fictional representation of the world.

…. Men are today troubled and perplexed by questions about current trends in the world, about their place and their role in the universe, and finally about the nature and destiny of men. … At all times, the Church bears the responsibility of scrutinizing the signs of the time and of interpreting them

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within the light of the Gospel, if it is to carry out its task. … We must recognize and understand the aspirations, the yearnings and the often dramatic features of the world in which we live. (#1-4) “In their own way literature and art are very important in the life of the Church. They seek to give expression to man’s nature, his problems and experiences …; they try to reveal man’s place in history and in the universe, to illustrate his suffering and joy, his needs and his potentialities and to foreshadow a happier destiny in store for him. Hence they can elevate human life, which they express under many forms in various times and places. … The faithful ought to work in close conjunction with their contemporaries and try to get to know their ways of thinking and feeling, as they find them expressed in culture. … In this way they will succeed in evaluating everything with an authentically Christian sense of values. (The Catholic fiction writer or artist ought to understand and contribute to the uniquely human search for meaning, so that) the knowledge of God will be better known;

the preaching of the Gospel will be rendered more intelligible to man’s mind and will appear more relevant to his situation.”(#62) This suggests that our task as evangelizers is similar to the task of Catholic fiction writers in this respect: we have in common the task of bringing others to see. And as we noted before, what makes this task especially difficult today is that we have to help people to see “in the dark.” We have to help them develop “night vision.” O’Connor confirms this when she says, “Right now the whole world seems to be going through a dark night of the soul.” The (seeming) absence of God is a hallmark of our time, a distinctive mark of our secular age. God has been relegated to the margins of our minds and all but forgotten. This claim is borne out by the simple observation that the majority of our novels, short stories and screenplays portray the human drama without any reference to God. And this is a matter of ultimate concern. For if we build our societies and live our lives as if God does not exist, we lose sight of the whole point of living. As Pope Francis ›

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warns us: “If we don’t think of God, everything ends up flat. … When we no longer remember God, we ourselves become unreal, we ourselves become empty.” Pope Benedict XVI says much the same: “When God is not there, the world becomes desolate, and everything is emptied of meaning.” The journey of life becomes increasingly like a journey in a desert, a wasteland, or (as in the movie “Gravity”) a journey in outer space. It is a journey in which the human heart feels increasingly thirsty, hollow and disoriented. Yet this desert-like experience can actually serve to prepare the way for evangelization. For those who have eyes to see, there are numerous signs that can prime the human heart to believe in the Gospel. Often these signs are expressed negatively – in the form of unhappy lives or dissatisfied hearts, which suggest a deep-seated yearning for God. Prophetic vision is needed to rightly interpret these negative signs that can serve as catalysts for a spiritual awakening to what is essential for living. One might wonder: how honest, how fair, are the portrayals of this desert-like experience in works of Catholic fiction? No writer should resort to refashioning reality to suit his creed. “Your beliefs,” says O’Connor of the novelist, “will be the light by which you see, but they will not be what you see and they will not be a substitute for seeing.” Our fundamental expectation of a novel, short story or screenplay is that it be an honest fictional representation of life. If the Catholic writer’s work is to succeed, he must be able to establish a recognizably realistic world – without “stacking the deck” against atheism or nihilism. This criterion brings to mind Dostoevsky, who was criticized by some for his depiction of atheists in his final novel, “The Brothers Karamazov.” He responded to this criticism in his personal journal: “These dolts have ridiculed the ‘reactionary’ character of my faith. These fools could not even conceive of so strong a denial of God as the one to which I gave expression. … You might search Europe in vain for so powerful an expression of atheism. Thus it is not like a child that I believe in Christ and profess Him. My hosanna has come forth from the crucible of doubt.”

Portrait of Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky by Vasily Perov c. 1872.

Our fundamental expectation of a novel, short story or screenplay is that it be an honest fictional representation of life. If the Catholic writer’s work is to succeed, he must be able to establish a recognizably realistic world – without ‘stacking the deck’ against atheism or nihilism.” DECEMBER 2023 | CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

Many a portrayal of unbelief in Catholic fiction is built with the raw materials of the writer’s own inner struggles because, as O’Connor recognizes, for anyone who lives in today’s world, unbelief “is the gas you breathe in.” Not surprisingly then, if “all good stories are about conversion,” it is often the case that these stories depict aspects of the writer’s own transformation of vision and way of life. What’s more, these stories are not only about conversion; they also mean to spur conversion in the reader. Their aim is both to explore and to facilitate the mystery of grace-induced transformations of human existence. It has been said of Dostoevsky that “the real plot of his stories is none other than the spiritual adventure to which he summons us.” Yet if Catholic fiction is to do justice to the mystery of grace, then its own portrayal of the workings of grace must be as noncoercive as is grace itself. Just as God, in offering grace, leaves the person free to accept or reject the gift, so the Catholic writer, in telling her story, should leave the reader free … to see or remain blind to the grace-informed depth of the story. This means that the writer deliberately takes the risk of not being understood, no matter how many clues or signs she provides along the way. The reader is left free to decide whether or not the behavior of the grandmother in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is, at the end, influenced by grace or senility; whether or not Raskolnikov in “Crime and Punishment” and Sarah in “The End of the Affair” undergo genuine conversions; whether or not the country priest who keeps a diary in Bernanos’ novel really is a model of holiness. Great writers of Catholic fiction confront us with the question: “What do you say really happened?,” and thereby bring to mind the central question that Jesus Christ asks of us all: “Who do you say that I am?” ■ SCAN TO JOIN AN ONLINE COURSE, “CATHOLIC FAITH, FICTION AND FILM,” in the School of Pastoral Leadership of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, meeting on Tuesdays 7–8:30 p.m., Jan. 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30, 2024 or visit https://sfarchdiocese.org/ospm/ CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 2023

DE PARTE D LOVE D ON ES

For those who can’t be here: Coping with grief during the Advent/ Christmas season BY FATHER RAYMOND TYOHEMBA Chaplain at Mission Bay Hospital

he title of this article, borrowed from the heartfelt performance of “For Those Who Can’t Be Here” by the Duchess of Cambridge and Tom Walker at the 2021 “Royal Carols: Together at Christmas” event, resonates deeply with me. It’s not because I had a personal connection with the Duke of Edinburgh, but because I understand firsthand how challenging the holiday season can be for those who have experienced the loss of a loved one or a significant relationship. As the Advent season brings us closer to the joyful celebration of Christmas with bright decorations and merry carols in December, those who are dealing with grief may find themselves surrounded by a different kind of darkness – one that constantly reminds them of the absence of their loved ones. The empty seats at the dinner table, the once-joyful decorations now devoid of meaning and the memories of past holidays spent together can all weigh heavily on the heart. This can trigger a complex mix of emotions, including deep sadness, loneliness, emptiness and dread. Often these emotions can intensify grief, leading to common symptoms such as sleep disturbances, decreased energy, increased fatigue, irritability, changes in appetite, difficulty concentrating, social withdrawal and a sense of feeling lost or helpless. “Since losing my mom,” one woman expressed,

I’ve been overwhelmed by the Christmas cheer all around me. There’s no store, radio station or gathering where I can find solace.” For many people, including myself, grief can feel incredibly isolating. Yet no two people grieve the same way. Your journey through it will have its own unique twists and turns. As C.S. Lewis said, “Grief is like a long, winding valley, where any bend may reveal a totally new landscape.” There is no set timeline or way to heal, as everyone’s experience is different. It’s important to remember that the way you grieve is your own, and it’s OK if it doesn’t match someone else’s. However, we can gain valuable insight from the experiences of shepherds in the ancient Near East, where shepherding was often a perilous job, typically undertaken by those considered expendable, with the constant danger of defending their flocks from wild animals and thieves, even risking their lives in the process. The shepherds in the Gospel story, far from the serene depictions in Christmas movies, lived a life of vigilance, always listening to the night, prepared for danger to emerge from the darkness. That night near Bethlehem, an angel’s reassuring words pierced the darkness with “Fear not!” as they received the news of Jesus’ birth, embarking on a journey into the unknown night. Grieving during Advent can feel a lot like the part DECEMBER 2023 | CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

of the Christmas story where danger is lurking in the darkness. While most people are singing carols and decorating Christmas trees, those who are grieving are anticipating a Christmas without their loved one and dreading its arrival. The feeling of isolation can be overwhelming and make it seem as though grief has no place near celebrations, Advent services or even Christ Himself. However, the story of the shepherds proves to us that God believes the opposite. An angel found the shepherds at night, and an invitation to meet Jesus was offered to the fearful, the outcast, the expendable. After the angel left, the shepherds traveled through the night to meet their Savior. The danger was still there, the fear still lurking, but they took steps that led them closer to Christ. If you are grieving this Advent, embrace what the shepherds have taught us and what the candles we use to light the season help us remember. Peace comes from knowing that God can still find us, even in the midst of our darkest nights. Steadfast love is displayed by a God who saw humanity’s suffering and chose to experience it firsthand. Joy can show up unexpectedly, not in the form of happiness, but with gratitude that our grief is seen and felt by God. On Christmas, hope was born into flesh in the form of a baby whose life, death and resurrection would bring life to all. Grief does not disqualify us from Advent; grief can highlight what Advent is about. May I suggest that during Advent through Christmas, remember to be gentle with yourself. Don’t push yourself too hard to be in a festive mood. Take care of your physical health by eating well, limiting alcohol, staying active and getting enough rest. Surround yourself with supportive friends who let you talk about your feelings, cry or

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Peace comes from knowing that God can still find us, even in the midst of our darkest nights. … Grief does not disqualify us from Advent; grief can highlight what Advent is about.” even enjoy yourself when you can. Choose which holiday traditions you want to continue and add new ones that feel meaningful. Don’t be afraid to mention your loved one who has passed away, as it’s part of the healing process. Spend time looking at old family photos or videos together and consider creating simple rituals to express your grief and emotions. ■ CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 2023

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Modern-day Eucharistic miracles help those who have “lost God” find hope (and evidence) that Jesus is the Eucharist BY CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

r. Scott French, who has managed emergency departments in multiple states throughout his career, believes the current exponential rise in anxiety, depression, loneliness and suicides among youth and young adults is a symptom of the emergence of an anti-Christian culture that proclaims humanity doesn’t need God. “I saw that there was a severe behavioral health problem in our youth,” he said. “Emergency medicine physicians are like a canary in the coal mine. I wanted to know what was behind the devastation of our youth.”

false narrative has been building for a long time,” he told Catholic San Francisco. Between 2007 and 2017, a scientific study demonstrated that there was a 55% increase in youth suicide attempts, he said, something “you’ll never hear on the news.” “People have lost the truth that they are beloved children of God,” said French, “and that life doesn’t come from the material world. Current cultural narratives claim that science has proven there is no God; yet the truth is precisely the opposite. We’re now living in an age where we have to reclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.”

SPIRITUAL BATTLE OVER TRUTH “This crisis of meaning and purpose for our youth seems like it happened overnight, but the

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Center survey. Millennials are abandoning religious affiliation (becoming agnostic or atheistic) at a much higher rate than previous generations. The survey reported 63% of millennials said they left religion because of a “lack of evidence.” A 2023 study published by Georgetown’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate and commissioned by the University of Notre Dame’s McGrath Institute for Church Life found that a large percentage of Catholics don’t believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, which the Catechism of the Catholic Church describes as the “source and summit” of the faith. French is on a spirit-led mission to share the scientific evidence of the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. “To a world that has come to believe over time that ‘man is God,’ we need to enlighten people, and the youth in particular, to see that their dignity is grounded in being made in the image and likeness of God,” said French. “And that God wants to dwell in our bodies as He once dwelt in the temple in Jerusalem. Our true home is not on this earth, but in heaven.” An emergency medicine physician and former Stanford professor may seem to be an unlikely messenger. But French is a member of the advisory board of Jesuit Father Robert J. Spitzer’s Magis Center, whose mission is to turn the rising tide › CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 2023

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Dr. Scott French presents 21st Eucharistic miracles to the faithful attending the Eucharistic Congress in June at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption.

of unbelief in our culture through contemporary, rational and science-based evidence. Father Spitzer is the author of many books, including the newly published “Science at the Doorstep to God.” He is a regular on EWTN, hosting “Father Spitzer’s Universe,” which demonstrates how science points to a loving creator God of both the material and supernatural world. Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone invited French to speak about “21st-Century Eucharistic Miracles” at the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s Eucharistic Congress held this past June at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption. In his presentation, French linked similarities between 21st-century Eucharistic miracles, biblical passages and the Shroud of Turin, which he viewed in 2015. 21ST-CENTURY EUCHARISTIC MIRACLES In one sense, a Eucharistic miracle occurs at every Catholic Mass when the substance of bread and wine is changed into the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus, said Father Spitzer. However, 21st-century Eucharistic miracles provide us with validated scientific evidence that it truly is the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus. These more recent Eucharistic miracles demonstrate that the consecrated hosts not only miraculously “bleed” human type AB blood but

are living cardiac muscle tissue possessing living white blood cells. White blood cells do not exist outside the body for more than 30 minutes! In his presentation, French shares the following insights on four modern-day Eucharistic miracles showcasing how these remarkable characteristics are revealed by scientists and physicians: • 1996 in Buenos Aires, Argentina: This was the first 21st-century Eucharistic miracle that was extensively studied by multiple physicians and scientists, including Dr. Frederick Zugibe, a renowned cardiologist and forensic pathologist at Columbia University in New York. His findings were published in 2005. When interviewed about his findings, Zugibe stated his amazement about the sample he had just examined in his forensic lab: “When I was later told that the heart tissue was kept in tap water for about a month and transferred to sterile, distilled water for three years, I indicated that it would be impossible to see white blood cells or macrophages in the sample. Moreover, it would be impossible to identify the tissue per se, as there would be no morphological characteristics.” • 2006 in Tixtla, Mexico: A consecrated host began to effuse a reddish substance during a Mass. DECEMBER 2023 | CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

The Holy Spirit has given us 21st-century Eucharistic miracles, which provide scientific evidence that Jesus lives among us and desires to intimately unite His humanity and divinity with us. These Eucharistic miracles also are evidence of Jesus’ passion, death, resurrection and ascension, which is the defeat of sin and death.” DR. SCOTT FRENCH

Dr. Castanon Gomez, clinical psychologist from Bolivia who specializes in brain biochemistry, led a team of eight scientists from four continents in an in-depth investigation. The former atheistscientist-turned-Catholic reported the following: “Real blood with cells originating from live tissue is being exuded from the consecrated host. The source of that blood is live cardiac tissue in the center of the host. The blood is being exuded from the inside-out (with the liquid blood being inside and flowing toward the exterior where it is coagulated).” • 2008 in Sokolka, Poland: A priest accidentally dropped a host while distributing Holy Communion, and it was placed into a container of water. A week later, the host had a red stain on it. Two separate medical schools in Poland examined the consecrated host and found: “The substance of the host and the substance of the heart tissue are so closely intermingled as to be virtually inseparable and unproducible by current technologies. The tissue part of the Sokolka host is cardiac tissue. The cardiac tissue is that of a dying man—the tissue is still alive.”

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Laboratory analyses confirm that the structure of the cardiac muscle fibers and the structure of the bread are intertwined in a way impossible to reproduce by human means.

The Medicine of Immortality St. Ignatius of Antioch (30–110) was a child at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion and had grown to maturity when the apostles were preaching the Gospel. Here is what he wrote about the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist: “I have no taste for corruptible food nor for the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ . . . and for drink I desire His blood, which is love incorruptible” (Letter to the Romans 7:3 [A.D. 110]). “Take note of those who hold heterodox opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ which has come to us, and see how contrary their opinions are to the mind of God. . . .They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which that Father, in His goodness, raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes” (Letter to the Smyrnaeans 6:2–7:1 [A.D. 110]). St Ignatius drew strength from feeding on Christ’s own Eucharistic flesh and blood, which he called the “medicine of immortality.”

The Department of Forensic Medicine states, “In the histopathological image, the tissue fragments were found which contained the fragmented parts of striated muscle. The whole image is most similar to cardiac muscle…with changes that often accompany agony.” The DNA tests indicate the tissue is of human origin.

21st-century Eucharistic miracles, the Shroud of Turin and neardeath experiences that provide scientific evidence for us to ‘see’ that God is the author of life, and our true home is in heaven with the Trinity. These Eucharistic miracles also are evidence of Jesus’ passion, death, resurrection and ascension, which is the defeat of sin and death. Every time we celebrate Mass, heaven is celebrating with us at the altar, and we get a foretaste of heaven.” The bishops of the United States have called for a three-year grassroots revival of devotion and belief in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. This revival launched nationally on the feast of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) June 19, 2022. The National Eucharistic Revival is a movement that renews the Church by enkindling a living relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist. When Archbishop Cordileone launched the Eucharistic Revival in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, he said, “The Church draws her life from the Eucharistic sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We cannot separate the Eucharist from sacrifice – just as we cannot separate sacrifice from the holy Mass. A revival of the Eucharist, then, is nothing less than a revival of that which is the very life of the Church, which is found in her greatest prayer: the holy sacrifice of the Mass. In rediscovering the vital role of the Eucharist, we are at the same time rediscovering the place of the holy Mass in the life of the people of God.” ■ Dr. Scott French has dedicated 2023 and 2024 to making presentations on 21st-century Eucharistic miracles at parishes and schools within the Archdiocese. To bring this compelling presentation to your parish, contact Nicolle Dougherty at nicolle@sfeucharistrevival.com. SCAN HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT 21ST CENTURY EUCHARISTIC MIRACLES or visit www.magiscenter.com

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EUCHARISTIC REVIVAL

A five-part test for your Eucharistic beliefs Editor’s Note: The following excerpt is from “The Eucharist is Really Jesus” by Catholic Answers apologist Joe Heschmeyer. This is one of many Eucharistic reflections that will be published by Catholic San Francisco magazine as part of the U.S. Catholic Church’s Eucharistic Revival (eucharisticrevival. org) that began on June 19, 2022, on the feast of Corpus Christi, and continues through Pentecost 2025.

ow can you tell if you have the right understanding – the biblical interpretation, Jesus’ interpretation – of the Eucharist? I’d suggest five things to look for: your beliefs should be strange, sacrificial, serious, sacramental and shocking. First, as we’ve already seen, the proper Christian understanding of the Eucharist must be strange and hard to accept. That’s how it was initially received, and Jesus did nothing to dispel this impression. If He was trying to present an easy teaching and was just being misunderstood, why would He not clarify? And this teaching is not just strange to the world, but even to Jesus’ own followers. John tells us that after the Bread of Life discourse, “many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with Him” (Jn 6:66). These are people who didn’t leave after Jesus “called God his Father, making himself equal with God” (5:18). Some people who are perfectly willing to embrace the divinity of Christ find his Eucharistic teaching too extreme. And Jesus responds to this by challenging even the 12, “Will you also go away?” Simon Peter’s response, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,” is one of tremendous faith, but Peter doesn’t pretend that even he gets what Jesus means by these strange words (6:67-69). If your Eucharistic beliefs aren’t strange, even to other Christians, they’re not the beliefs Jesus taught in John 6. Second, the proper Christian understanding of the Eucharist must be sacrificial. St. Paul compares the Eucharistic sacrifice to the pagan and Jewish sacrifices of his day, pointing out that “those who eat the (Jewish) sacrifices” become “partners in the altar” whereas those who eat the pagan sacrifices become “partners with demons” (1 Cor 10:18-20). He draws a clear parallel between “the cup of the Lord” and “the cup of demons,” as well as

between “the table of the Lord” and “the table of demons.” Read that again: he describes what’s happening in the Eucharist by comparing it with what takes place at demonic altars (v. 21). If your understanding of the Eucharist isn’t a sacrifice comparable to the fleshly sacrifices offered in the Temple in Jerusalem or in pagan rites, then you don’t believe what Paul believed. Third, the proper Christian understanding of the Eucharist must be serious. Paul recounts for the Corinthians the events of the Last Supper, which he says he “received from the Lord” (1 Cor 11:23). Paul never met Jesus during his earthly ministry; it seems that what he’s about to relate concerning the Eucharist he learned through a special revelation from Him. If that’s right, it speaks to just how seriously Jesus takes the Eucharist. He doesn’t just leave it up to us to figure out how best to commemorate or honor or worship Him. And for those who don’t take the Eucharist seriously? Paul warns that whoever “eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord,” since whoever “eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself” (vv. 28-29). He even adds that this is why many of his Corinthian readers “are weak and ill, and some have died” (v. 30).1 If it wouldn’t make sense to say that anyone approaching this mystery unworthily risks damning themselves, then you don’t believe the same thing as Paul, and he received his views from Jesus. Fourth, the proper Christian understanding of the Eucharist must be sacramental. In his commentary on John 6, the evangelical biblical scholar D.A. Carson admits DECEMBER 2023 | CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

that the early Christians understood the Eucharist not merely as a symbol or as a reminder of Jesus’ past action, but as a sacrament. And they believed the sacraments were capable of “conveying grace in and of themselves.”2 That is, they’re not effective simply because we believe in them, or because they remind us of God, but because God is doing something miraculous through them. Carson points out that even St. Ignatius of Antioch “adopts a Sacramentarian stance.”3 Why does this matter? Because Ignatius seems to have been a disciple of the apostle John, and he’s writing around A.D. 107, only about seven years after the death of the apostle. If anyone can shed light on what John 6 means, surely it would be one of John’s own students. And what’s more, we don’t find any evidence of some kind of early Christian outcry against this teaching – of people telling Ignatius that he’s betraying the theology of John and the other apostles. In fact, as we’ll see later, Ignatius assumes that, in the year 107, a faithful Christian is someone who takes a sacramental view of the Eucharist. If your beliefs about the Eucharist aren’t sacramental, then they’re not compatible with the beliefs of those who knew the apostolic preaching and teaching way better than we do. Fifth and finally, the proper Christian understanding of the Eucharist must be shocking. The crowd didn’t just find the teaching hard, or strange; they found it repulsive, because they mistook it for cannibalism. And that didn’t stop with John 6. One of the oldest arguments against Christianity from the ancient world is that Christians were engaged in ritual cannibalism,4 a misconception that seems to have stemmed from misunderstanding the Eucharist. So, if your beliefs about the Eucharist aren’t liable to being misunderstood as cannibalism, then they’re not the beliefs held by the earliest Christians. If we get this right – if we arrive at a view of the Eucharist that’s strange, sacrificial, serious, sacramental and shocking – more than just the Last Supper or John 6 will make more sense. Suddenly, other surprising and seemingly unrelated parts of the faith will “click” in a new and meaningful way. Like what? Well, that’s what the rest of the book is about. ■ ¹ It’s hard to square this seriousness with a symbolic view of the Eucharist. After all, if the Eucharist were simply a symbol reminding us of Jesus’ death and resurrection, Paul would be saying here, “If you don’t find this symbolic reminder helpful, Jesus will send you to hell!” 2

D.A. Carson, “The Gospel According to John” (Grand Rapids:

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1991), p. 281. 3

Carson, “The Gospel According to John,” p. 277.

The pagan Caecilianus claims, for instance, that Christians eat infants “covered

over with meal” and “lick up its blood” (Minucius Felix, Octavius, 8, ANF 4:177-178).

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CH RISTIAN M EAN I NG OF SUFFE RI NG

Peace and Joy

BY SIMONE RIZKALLAH Director of program growth at Endow Groups

This is the seventh of a series of seven meditations examining the Christian meaning of suffering according to the thought of Pope St. John Paul II in his 1984 apostolic letter “Salvifici Doloris.”

he narrative of a Christian’s life takes the shape of the life of Christ in the paschal mystery: Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. 2023 was certainly a “Good Friday” year. Armenia, the world’s first nation to declare the Christian faith its official state religion in 301 A.D., witnessed the ethnic and religious cleansing of 120,000 men, women and children in a region in the Near East called the Nagorno-Karabakh or Artsakh. The world remains largely unaware and indifferent to this genocide of Armenian Christians. We also saw the brutality of the Hamas attack in Israel on Oct. 7 – Israel’s “9/11” so to speak – as well as a wave of anti-Jewish protests and attacks in the United States and throughout the world in a climate which was already increasing in its anti-Jewish incidents. In part six of this series, we examined our own country’s epidemic of loneliness and the growing rates of existential orphanhood, which has led and is also the root of many, if not all, of the demonic manifestations that live under the umbrella of the rotten fruit of a culture that is “woke.” With the overwhelm of all these cultural problems as well as our own personal crosses, how are we to proceed? With not only a hope that resides in “the world to come,” but here and now? In other words, what are the conditions that dispose one to experience not only peace but also joy in this perennially sad state of the world? Pope St. John Paul II writes in the concluding meditations of his great document on suffering, quoting an earlier document from the Second Vatican Council: Man cannot “fully find himself” except through a sincere gift of himself. (Par. 28) His papal biographer, George Weigel, has noted that this was the Pope’s most often quoted line in his writings and speeches. There is a peace that comes from the acknowledgement

that the idols of this world – wealth, pleasure, power and honor – cannot and do not satisfy. To continue to chase after these idols causes an insatiable restlessness at the very least and at the very worst an idolatry which leads to addiction. We know it when we see it. Perhaps we see it in ourselves. But what about joy? This too comes from a “sincere gift of self.” Peace comes from the recognition that what is finite cannot satisfy what is infinite, namely, the human heart. Joy comes from an actual experience of the infinite. From the experience of love – in other words, from being a “Good Samaritan.” John Paul II continues: A Good Samaritan is the person capable of exactly such a gift of self. We are not allowed to “pass by on the other side” indifferently; we must stop beside him. Everyone who stops beside the suffering of another person, whatever form it may take, is a Good Samaritan. (Par 28.) Father Luigi Giussani explains this spiritual reality in his text, “The Risk of Education”: “Other people are to be ‘hosted’ within ourselves. Hospitality is making another person a part of our own living. Bear in mind that hospitality is the greatest possible sacrifice after that of giving one’s own life. For this reason, we rarely know how to truly welcome and host others, and do not even know how to welcome ourselves. To make others a part of our own life is the true imitation of Christ, who welcomed us thoroughly into His life that He made us into parts of His body. The mystery of Christ’s body is the mystery of our body being hosted within His.” In this way, we can experience here on earth “Easter Sunday” moments and “through Christ and in Christ, the riddles of sorrow and death grow meaningful.” (Par 31.) Peace and joy, to all. ■ Simone Rizkallah is the director of program growth at Endow Groups, a Catholic women’s apostolate that calls women together to study important documents of the Catholic Church. Endow exists to cultivate the intellectual life of women to unleash the power of the feminine genius in the world.

SCAN FOR MORE INFORMATION or visit www.endowgroups.org/studyguide-on-the-christian-meaningof-suffering-salvifici-doloris/ DECEMBER 2023 | CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

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Wars and natural disasters create new challenges for the Catholic Near East Welfare Association BY CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

atholic San Francisco recently spoke with CNEWA President Msgr. Peter Vaccari on how wars, oppression and other injustices are impacting the organization’s charitable outreach to the ancient Eastern churches. CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO: Thank you for spending time with us, Msgr. Vaccari. Please share with our readers the purpose and mission of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association. MSGR. VACCARI: Simply put, we exist to respond to humanitarian and pastoral needs of the Eastern Christian churches. When a crisis hits, and a community is confronted with natural or human-made disasters, the Catholic Near East Welfare Association is there to help people with the most basic humanitarian needs – medicine, clean water, food and shelter.

CSF: What is the rationale for CNEWA’s particular focus on the Middle East? MSGR. VACCARI: As your readers know, our faith first took root in the Middle East, and Eastern-rite Catholic communities date back to the time of the apostles and earliest disciples in the cities of Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria and India. CNEWA, founded by Pope Pius XI in 1926, has a mandate to serve those Christians who have kept the faith alive for more than 2,000 years in the Middle East, the Horn of Africa, India, Ukraine and Eastern Europe. The Christian population has experienced a significant decline in many countries throughout the Middle East. This decline is due to lower birth rates, war, discrimination and persecution. CNEWA always accompanies the local church (nuncio, patriarch, eparch, priests, religious women, lay women and men). We seek to strengthen their communities, support the training of seminarians, form future religious

The CNEWA walks side by side with people to strengthen their communities, supports the training of seminarians who will bring spiritual guidance, healing and peace to the people they serve, helps form future religious sisters and provides religious instruction to children and young adults to form and affirm their Catholic identity.” 42

DECEMBER 2023 | CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

Msgr. Peter Vaccari visiting displaced families in Ukraine with CNEWA Canada’s Dr. Adriana Bara (second from left) and Anna Dombrovska (third from right), June 2023.

sisters, and provide religious instruction to children and young adults to form and affirm their Catholic identity. CNEWA’s support also extends to health care, offering protection to victims of human trafficking and to the formation of strong lay leadership in the local church. CSF: How has fulfilling your mission changed in light of the current war in the Middle East? MSGR. VACCARI: CNEWA has launched an emergency campaign to work with our partners in the region to offer humanitarian assistance to those in greatest need. CSF: How can our readers assist CNEWA with its mission to serve our Eastern-rite brothers and sisters around the world? MSGR. VACCARI: I have reached out to the Catholic Ordinaries in the United States. Archbishop Cordileone has responded by inviting me to visit your schools and parishes to share the mission of the CNEWA. I am most grateful. We ask the faithful to join us first and foremost in prayer to keep a strong Christian presence in the Middle East. I invite you to be informed by reading our website and to donate according to your means. I thank your readers and especially Catholic San Francisco magazine. ■ SCAN HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CATHOLIC NEAR EAST WELFARE ASSOCIATION or visit https://cnewa.org CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 2023

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LOCAL NEWS

Mary Ann Schwab (1920–2023) SF pro-life pioneer leaves a legacy of accomplishment and love Women, babies and families lost an advocate on earth on Oct. 18, but those who loved and respected Mary Ann Schwab believe they have gained an advocate in heaven. A woman of deep faith, she lived her faith in her life, in her parish, in the

Church and within the world. She established the Respect Life office for the Archdiocese, led the National Council of Catholic Women chapter in San Francisco and was active in many ministries advocating for women, children and families. ■

Photo courtesy Kelly Connelly

SCAN TO READ MORE ABOUT HER INSPIRATIONAL LIFE or visit: https://sfarch.org/sf-pro-lifepioneer-leaves-a-legacy-ofaccomplishment-and-love/

Faith Formation Conference energizes catechists and parish leaders, drawing more than 700 together in prayer and formation The Office of Faith Formation held their annual conference on Nov. 4 at St. Matthew Church and School in San Mateo. Drawing more than 700 catechists, directors of religious education and other parish leaders, participants had the opportunity to come together in prayer and renew their faith through workshops on topics such as whole family faith formation, sessions on child development and reaching out to youth, as well as catechetical workshops on scripture and the Eucharist. The conference was the first in-person conference since 2019. “It is a very good thing that we come together for this Faith Formation Conference, and renew ourselves in the work we carry out for our Lord and His Gospel and His

The Faith Formation Conference featured more than 25 speakers in bilingual workshops designed to help catechists become better catechists, not only as teachers but in their own faith life.

Church,” Archbishop Cordileone told participants. “I am very grateful to Sr. Celeste and her team who have worked so very hard to make this

possible….Thank you [here today] for your commitment to responding to this call that God has given to each one of you.” ■ DECEMBER 2023 | CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

9 “In the beginning was the ____” (Jn1:1) 10 Christmas tree topper 12 The gift of myrrh was a valuable ___ used in anointing 14 ____ Augustus ordered the whole world to be counted 17 The Magi followed this 18 ‘Twas the night before Christmas 19 Christmas tradition that started in Germany 20 Greeting for Mary 22 Country to which the Holy Family fled to escape Herod 25 A group of angels 27 “Hark, the ____ Angels Sing” 28 “____ to the World” 29 “A ____ for revelation to the Gentiles” (Lk2:32)

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ACROSS 4 Balthazar, king of ____, is the name traditionally 1 Mary was “with child through associated with the holy ____” (Mt1:18) one of the Magi. 2 This Gospel tells the 8 Emmanuel story CATHOLIC of the Magi (abbr.) SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 2023 means “___ is with us”

DOWN 1 Jesus is the reason for the _____ 2 Crib for the Baby Jesus 3 Herod ordered boys this age and younger to be killed. 5 Caspar, king of ____, is

the name traditionally associated with one of the Magi 6 When the holy Family left Egypt, they went here. 7 Jesus was named eight ___ after his birth. 8 “____ to God in the highest” (Lk2:14) 11 “I proclaim to you good ___ of great joy” (Lk2:10) 13 One of the stories of Jesus’ birth is found in this Gospel. 14 Christmas song 15 The Magi came from here 16 Season before Christmas 20 King of Judea when Jesus was born 21 There was no room here. 23 “He will be ____ and will be called the Son of the Most High” (Lk1:32) 24 “... and on earth ____ to those on whom his favor rests.” (Lk2:14) 25 “O ____ Night” 26 “My ____ proclaims the greatness of45 the Lord” (Lk1:46)

CATHOLIC QUIZ ANSWERS

Do you have a legal will?

QUIZ: How well do you know the Catholic faith? OPEN THIS QR CODE FOR COMPREHENSIVE ANSWERS or visit https://sfarchdiocese.org/ december-2023-catholic-quiz/ 1. How many Popes have been of Jewish descent? d. No one knows how many Popes have been of Jewish descent, but in the 11th and 12th centuries, there were three: Gregory VI, Gregory VII, and Anacletus II. Add Peter to their number, and you get more than three, so this is the right answer. 2. When did seminary training for priests become common? c. Correct. The Council of Trent attempted to regularize priestly training – a much needed reform of the Church. 3. The four cardinal virtues are: e. The four cardinal virtues are prudence, temperance, fortitude and justice. 4. Original sin is transmitted by: e. None of the above answers are correct, so this one is. 5. The consecration of the Eucharist: a. Correct, because the Eastern Orthodox Church has the seven sacraments and therefore a real priesthood. It takes a real priest to confect the real presence.

Catholics are called to protect our abundant blessings from God. Creating your will or trust will give you peace of mind. It ensures your loved ones are cared for and perpetuates the long-term mission of the church. The Archdiocese of San Francisco has partnered with FreeWill to provide parishioners an online resource to create a legal estate plan at no cost. It takes less than a half hour.

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U.S. BANKRUPTCY COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA – SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION

In re: The Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco, Case No. 23-30564 Notice of Deadline for Filing Claims: February 20, 2024 YOU MAY HAVE A SEXUAL ABUSE CLAIM OR OTHER CLAIM AGAINST THE ARCHDIOCESE OF SAN FRANCISCO On August 21, 2023, The Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco, a California corporation sole, aka Archdiocese of San Francisco (the “Debtor”), filed for protection under chapter 11 of title 11 of the United States Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”). If you were sexually abused by any person connected with the Debtor, you must file a claim so as to be received by February 20, 2024, or otherwise you will be forever barred, estopped, and enjoined from asserting such claim against the Debtor. Claims based on acts or omissions of the Debtor that occurred before August 21, 2023, must be filed on or before February 20, 2023, even if such claims are not now fixed, liquidated, or certain or did not mature or become fixed, liquidated, or certain before August 21, 2023. For more information on how to obtain and file a proof of claim form and associated documents, please visit www.omniagentsolutions.com/RCASF, or contact Omni Agent Solutions, Inc., the Debtor’s claims agent via email at RCASFinquiries@omniagnt.com or by phone at 888-480-6507 (U.S. and Canada toll free) or 747-293-0084 (International), between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. (prevailing Pacific Time), Monday through Friday.

**If you have questions about the bankruptcy case filed by the Archdiocese of San Francisco, please also visit the website at https://sfarch.org and follow the links for Chapter 11 Filing**

We want to hear from you! Please send your story ideas and faith-based or general questions to catholicsf@sfarch.org. Your voice matters as we continue to explore new ways to engage with our readers!

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U PCOMING EVE NTS

SAVE THE DATES! Come out and join us Dec. 13: Simbang Gabi Commissioning Mass The Mass, sponsored by the Archdiocesan Filipino Ministry, will take place at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 15-17: Women’s Healing After Abortion Retreat If you have been carrying a burden from a past abortion, you are invited to the next healing retreat for women. Father Vito Perrone of the Contemplatives of St. Joseph and Divine Word Father James Liebner will lead this three-day retreat, which will include Mass, the sacrament of reconciliation, counseling and sharing as much as each woman is comfortable doing in this warm and healing environment. It will be held at a confidential location. If you are interested, please call 415-614-5567 or email projectrachel@sfarch.org. Dec. 22: Christmas Angels Program The Restorative Justice Christmas Angels program supports children affected by homicide, children with a parent in prison and children affected by domestic violence and abuse. The project culminates with a family Christmas event on Dec. 22 from noon–4 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption. Gifts will be distributed, food and drinks will be served and children will have the opportunity to get their photo taken with Santa. Learn more at https:// sfarchdiocese.org/christmasangels/. Jan. 13, 2024: Santo Nino Celebration Join the Archdiocesan Filipino Ministry for the 8th annual Santo Nino Fiesta on Jan. 13 at 11 a.m. at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption. The “Santo Nino” (or Holy Child Jesus) is a symbol of the birth of Catholicism in the Philippines more than 500 years ago when Magellan presented a statute of the Santo Nino to Queen Juana of the Philippine Island of Cebu in 1521. Jan. 19-20, 2024: 20th annual Vigil for Life and Walk for Life The 20th annual Walk for Life will be held on Saturday, Jan. 20, at 12:30 p.m. at the Civic Center in San Francisco.

SCAN TO SEE THE COMPREHENSIVE CALENDAR OF EVENTS or visit sfarch.org/events

Join the Walk for Life Vigil Mass on Jan. 19 at 5:30 p.m. at St. Dominic’s Catholic Church, all-night adoration at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church and Star of the Sea Catholic Church, and the Walk for Life Mass at 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 20 with Archbishop Cordileone. List of events is at: www.walkforlifewc.com/event-info/event-schedule/ Jan. 25, 2024: Vespers for the Week of Christian Unity For the 18th year, Archbishop Cordileone and Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Gerasimos will be leading Solemn Vespers in observance of the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Join them at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 25, at St. Pius X Catholic Church. Feb. 3, 2024: Wedding Anniversary Mass Celebrate your sacramental wedding anniversaries at a Mass and reception with Archbishop Cordileone on Feb. 3 at 10 a.m. Those celebrating at least five-year anniversaries (5, 10, 15, 20, etc.) will be recognized during the Mass. Feb. 4, 2024: Consecrated Life Mass The Mass for Consecrated Life will take place Feb. 4 at 11 a.m. at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption. Honor consecrated men and women who serve in the Archdiocese. Feb. 14, 2024: Ash Wednesday Feb. 24, 2024: Archdiocesan Women’s Conference Women are invited to attend the Archdiocesan Women’s Conference on Feb. 24 at St. Dominic’s Catholic Church with Mass at 9 a.m. with Archbishop Cordileone followed by a day of reflection and prayer. Feb. 24, 2024: Chinese New Year Mass and Celebration The Chinese Ministry of the Archdiocese invites you to their Chinese New Year Mass and Celebration at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption. Mass begins at 2 p.m. and a dinner will follow with traditional Chinese food and entertainment. DECEMBER 2023 | CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO

CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | DECEMBER 2023

May you rejoice in the miracle, the gift and the promise of Christmas. SCAN TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE CSF WEEKLY E-NEWSLETTER

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