On the Street Where You Live
Msgr. John Kenny
Thank you, Monsignor…When his ordaining
bishop said “Thou art a priest forever” Msgr. John Kenny took him seriously.
Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish will celebrate 70 years of priesthood with
their first and former pastor on June 6 starting with a Mass in his honor
at 11 a.m. and a reception in the parish’s St. Michael’s Hall. The 94-year-old
priest, who says “getting ordained” was the biggest day of his life, continues
to live at IHM in a unit just above the garage where he keeps the car he
still drives. His goal as a pastor was “to stay with the work that had
to be done,” adding that he has “loved it” at IHM and is “thankful everyday
for the wonderful people there.” He is one of nine Kenny kids of Kilkenny,
Ireland, all but him now with the Lord. Father Edward Phelan, former pastor
of St. Raymond Parish, Menlo Park, now serving as a parochial vicar at
St. Elizabeth Parish, is Msgr. Kenny’s nephew, son of his late sister,
Hannie. Msgr. Kenny says he’s been blessed with “fairly good health” except
for 13 days in Mills Hospital for ulcers 45 years ago and is grateful for
the care he’s received from doctor and friend, Jim Buckley, M.D. His years
in assigned ministry were served at a time when the Archdiocese was much
larger, including Santa Clara County until 1981 and until 1962 what is
now the dioceses of Santa Rosa, Stockton and Oakland. He had just finished
establishing a parish in 1950 in the East Bay’s Brentwood when he “got
a call from the vicar general to come to Belmont.” Msgr. Kenny said he
never counted up the weddings or funerals he’s presided at but says “there
have been lots of ‘em.”
The people’s court commissioner…Lifetime
St. Gabriel parishioner Bill Gargano, a court commissioner hearing mostly
juvenile and family cases, was honored by the Volunteer Auxiliary of the
San Francisco Youth Center for “his extraordinary compassion and sensitivity
for families in crisis” on March 4 at Fisherman’s Wharf. Bill, whose academic
journey has included St. Gabe’s, Archbishop Riordan, USF and Hastings Law,
left private practice in 1979 to accept the commissioner appointment, a
sought-after nod made by judges of the court. “You see the worst of human
behavior and then you see people trying to make things right,” Bill said,
trying to describe his years of hearing more than 5,000 cases involving
the neglect and abuse of children. Bill said it has been fortifying for
him to see so many organizations and agencies interested in the good of
youth and that many of the agencies are Catholic Church-based. Bill explained
the court commissioner as a “judicial officer” who hears cases without
juries and makes rulings which are binding. Bill’s award also praised his
“skill with the law which has earned him the respect and admiration of
his peers and the enduring gratitude of the families who come before his
court.” Marge Summerville, St. Gabe’s development director, said His Honor
is “very active in the alumni association” and the school is “very glad
he’s being honored this way.”
What a difference an “i” makes…An
item here last week misnamed by one important letter the theme song of
the Italian Catholic Federation. The title of the song is “Noi Vogliam
Dio” loosely translated as “We Need God” not “Non Vogliam Dio” which loosely
translates to the opposite. Hats off again to these great patrons of good.
A lesson in giving…For 30 years,
Eugenia Carter has been part of the heart of St. Timothy Elementary School
in San Mateo. The classroom career of the St. Monica and Presentation Academy
alum began in 1955 in San Francisco public schools and it was after an
eight-year hiatus “when the kids were young” that Gene was urged to pick
up the chalk again, this time at St. Tim’s. “Our principal, a Carmelite,
asked me to volunteer and whoever said `No, Sister’?” Gene laughed from
St. Tim’s with the sound of her students running to recess in the background.
Gene then tutored math and reading as part of the Title I program and was
named the school’s 1st grade teacher in 1976. “This is a wonderful, wonderful
school,” the mother of three and grandmother of two said. Gene continues
to be awed by what comes out of her students mouths, saying their candor
has helped keep her going. “I had one who said he was late because he had
to wait for his mom to shave her legs,” Gene said, laughing like it just
happened. Gene’s tip for new teachers is “to not get discouraged” because
“sticking with it will be well worth it.” Gene’s retirement means more
time with grandsons Patrick and Ryan, more time for reading, and more volunteer
hours at the Coyote Point Museum. Gene’s husband, Perry, who taught high
school math for 35 years, died four years ago. Daughter Kathleen Harkins,
her husband, John, and the grandsons, live in San Ramon. Daughter Janet
Gunderson and husband Matthew live in San Mateo where son Perry, a math
teacher at Junipero Serra High School, and his wife, Meronig, also make
their home. June Jordan, St. Tim’s development director, said Gene “has
spent 30 years helping the children of St. Timothy learn.” A celebration
of Gene’s three dynamic decades starts with the 9 a.m. Mass at St. Tim’s
on May 23. A reception follows in the gym.
A lesson in learning…St. Paul Elementary
School, Noe Valley’s newest and best equipped learning site, will be the
focus of celebrations on June 6 beginning with the 12:15 p.m. Mass with
Archbishop William J. Levada presiding. After Mass, Archbishop Levada will
bless the new building and all are invited to a reception in the new school’s
gym which doubles as a parish hall. Father Mario Farana, St. Paul pastor,
says “all are welcome” especially alums. I think the Letters of St. Paul
are some the best writing I’ve ever come across, so effective and to the
point, much like, I’m sure, the education experience that has been known
by the thousands who’ve attended St. Paul’s since it opened in 1916.
Official appointments
Four parishes to receive new pastors;
five priests retire
Four pastors, four parochial vicars,
and a special assignment were announced in official appointments released
by the Archdiocese last week. All four pastors’ appointments are to be
effective July 1.
In addition, two priests of the
Archdiocese officially retired in recent months and three others will retire
effective June 30.
New pastorates
Father Donald S. D’Angelo, Holy
Name of Jesus Parish.
Ordained May 18, 1968, Father D’Angelo
comes to Holy Name, his boyhood parish, from Church of the Nativity in
Menlo Park where he has served as a parochial vicar since 1995. Father
D’Angelo has also served at Our Lady of the Pillar, Half Moon Bay; St.
Bartholomew, San Mateo; St. Dunstan, Millbrae; St. Robert, San Bruno and
as secretary to former San Francisco Archbishop John R. Quinn. He was pastor
of St. Thomas More Parish when it closed as part of the Archdiocesan Pastoral
Plan in 1994.
Father John F. Glogowski, St. Matthias
Parish, Redwood City.
Ordained May 22, 1971, Father Glogowski,
a former pastor of St. John of God Parish and St. Cecilia Parish in Lagunitas,
has most recently served as temporary administrator of St. Robert Parish
in San Bruno during the recuperation of pastor, Father Vincent Ring. Father
Glogowski has also served at Our Lady of Mercy, Daly City; St. Pius, Redwood
City; St. Michael; St. Agnes; St. Gabriel and St. Francis of Assisi which
recently was named a shrine.
Father Stephen A. Meriwether, Church
of the Nativity Parish, Menlo Park.
Ordained Dec. 10, 1983, Father
Meriwether comes to Nativity after 16 years with the Canon Law department
of the Archdiocese which he has headed as judicial vicar since 1997 and
where he will continue to serve until a successor is named. Though Nativity
is Father Meriwether’s first appointment as pastor, he has served as administrator
of several parishes including St. John of God, Our Lady of Lebanon, and
St. Agnes. He has also served at St. Dunstan, Millbrae; Mater Dolorosa,
South San Francisco and St. Thomas More.
Father William H. McCain, Our Lady
of Loretto Parish, Novato.
Ordained Nov. 22. 1986, Father
McCain returns to Our Lady of Loretto after serving as a parochial vicar
there from 1995 - 1997. He has also served at St. John the Evangelist Parish;
Church of the Epiphany and Church of the Visitacion. He holds a licentiate
degree in biblical theology from Rome’s Gregorian University.
Parochial vicars
The following priests have been
appointed as parochial vicars:
Father Clifford Martin, Our Lady
of Mercy Parish, Daly City, effective May 1; Father Lester Lezama Cruz,
St. Matthew Parish, San Mateo, effective April 1;
Father Moises Agudo, St. Charles
Borromeo Parish, effective last Dec. 1; Father Aquino Padilla, Our Lady
of Perpetual Help Parish, Daly City, effective May 1.
In a special assignment, Father
Manuel Herrera has been appointed chaplain at St. Luke Hospital effective
April 26. He will reside at Epiphany Parish.
Retirements
Msgr. James B. Flynn, pastor, St.
Matthias Parish, Redwood City, will retire June 30. Ordained June 12, 1948,
Msgr. Flynn earned a graduate degree in social work from Catholic University
in 1952 and served with several social service agencies of the Archdiocese,
including seven years as director of Catholic Charities, from that time
until becoming pastor of St. Peter Parish in 1970. He was appointed pastor
of St. Gabriel Parish in 1978, became a member of the faculty at St. Patrick
Seminary in 1987, and was named pastor of St. Matthias in 1992. Msgr. Flynn
will be in residence at St. Mary Cathedral.
Father Clement A. Davenport , pastor,
Church of Nativity Parish, Menlo Park, will retire June 30. Ordained Dec.
18, 1948, Father Davenport has been pastor of Nativity since 1976. His
first pastorate was St. Peter Parish, Pacifica, where he served from 1971.
A well-known military chaplain, Father Davenport served front-line duty
in both the Korean and Vietnam wars and continued in the US Army Reserve
until retiring as a Colonel in the mid-1980s. Father Davenport has also
served at Holy Name of Jesus; St. Philip; St. Thomas the Apostle and as
a chaplain at St. Mary’s Medical Center. Father Davenport plans to remain
in ministry after retirement helping at St. Matthew Parish, San Mateo,
where he will be in residence.
Father Francis K. Murray retired
April 1. Ordained Jan. 24, 1953, Father Murray has been a large part of
parish life with service at St. Vincent de Paul; St. Emydius; St. Gregory,
San Mateo; St. Charles, San Carlos, and St. Catherine of Siena, Burlingame.
He is a former administrator of St. Kevin Parish and in recent years ministered
as chaplain at Sequoia and Kaiser Hospitals in Redwood City. On Pentecost
Sunday at the 11:30 a.m. Mass, St. Charles Parish, San Carlos will remember
Father Murray with prayer and song. He is in residence at St. Catherine’s.
Father William P. Quinn, pastor,
Holy Name of Jesus Parish, will retire June 30. Ordained June 11, 1955,
Father Quinn is a native of Butte, Mont., who moved with his parents to
the City’s Noe Valley and St. Philip Parish at an early age. He was named
pastor of St. Veronica Parish in South San Francisco in 1977 and served
there until his appointment to Holy Name in 1990. In addition, he has served
at Holy Angels, Colma; St. Cecilia; St. Anne; St. John; Sacred Heart and
St. Brendan. Father Quinn also served in the Canon Law department for several
years in the 1970s.
Father Martin C. Avila retired
March 1, 1998. Ordained April 25, 1957, Father Avila resides at Nazareth
House, San Rafael. The priest looks forward to opportunities to preside
at Masses at Our Lady of Loretto in Novato, where he served as a parochial
vicar, and other parishes as he is invited. Since becoming a priest of
the Archdiocese in 1980, Father Avila has also been pastor of St. Anthony
of Padua Parish in Menlo Park and served as a parochial vicar at St. Michael,
Epiphany and Visitacion. He is also a former administrator of the now-closed
Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish. He is a native of Honduras.
Apostolic groups and Holy Spirit
Pentecost is the Church’s annual
feast invoking the Holy Spirit to renew us with his gifts of grace and
power so that we can more effectively fulfill our mission as Church. No
one looks forward with greater joy and anticipation to Pentecost than the
bishop, whose vocation to shepherd the building up of the Church as the
Temple of the Holy Spirit depends completely on the Holy Spirit!
This year in our Cathedral church
I will have the great grace of welcoming to the Pentecost celebration of
the Eucharist two groups of people who will celebrate their special links
to the Holy Spirit. Annually on Pentecost I celebrate the sacrament of
confirmation with the adults from throughout our Archdiocese who have not
yet been confirmed, many of them young adults. This year, 128 of our fellow
disciples of Jesus here in the Archdiocese will complete their Christian
initiation by being sealed with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in confirmation.
I am grateful to the priests and
catechists of our Cathedral and the many parishes sending parishioners
for confirmation, and to the Archiocesan School of Pastoral Leadership
for accompanying these candidates during these weeks and months of preparation.
I look forward to their exercise of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the
variety of ways those gifts lead them to serve in the Church and in the
world in which we live. What a blessing for the Church.
In the Catechism of the Catholic
Church (no. 688), we read, “The Church, a communion living in the faith
of the apostles which she transmits, is the place where we know the Holy
Spirit: in the Scriptures he inspired; in the Tradition, to which the Church
Fathers are always timely witnesses; in the Church’s Magisterium, which
he assists; in the sacramental liturgy, through its words and symbols,
in which the Holy Spirit puts us in communion with Christ; in prayer, wherein
he intercedes for us; in the charisms and ministries by which the Church
is built up; the signs of apostolic and missionary life; and in the witness
of saints through whom he manifests his holiness and continues the work
of salvation.”
To focus still further attention
on the manifold gifts of the Holy Spirit, I have invited to our Pentecost
Cathedral Mass representatives of the many apostolic movements present
in the Archdiocese. Through their dedication to works of evangelization
and apostolic ministry, they represent in many new ways how the Holy Spirit
continues to inspire people to commit themselves to the mission of Jesus
Christ.
It is just this work of Christ
— his mission from the Father to reveal the fullness of God’s purpose for
creation and to invite us to join in that purpose by becoming his disciples
— that he sent the Holy Spirit from his Father on the first Pentecost Sunday
to complete. Thus the sending or “mission” of the Holy Spirit is not separate
from that of Christ, but is precisely to bring about its fulfillment in
and through the Church.
By asking representatives of these
new apostolic movements to join me in our local Church’s principal Pentecost
Eucharist, I want to make the diverse gifts of the Holy Spirit which they
represent better known among us all, and I want to offer them encouragement
and the opportunity to get to know the many others whom God blesses with
the Spirit’s gifts, so that all may cooperate in the great work — the “first”
work — of the Holy Spirit, which is the Church. No wonder Pentecost is
often called the “birthday” of the Church.
Who are these people who have joined
these apostolic movements? They are like the many others in the Church’s
history, especially so many communities of religious and societies of apostolic
life, who banded together to assist each other in being ministers of the
gospel of love, and thus instruments of the ongoing “evangelization” which
is the fundamental vocation of the Church. These groups are new in that
long history, founded in the present century, some of them with founders
still living.
The Legion of Mary was founded
by Frank Duff in Ireland around the beginning of the century. Frank’s right-hand
woman, Veronica O’Brien, is still living in Belgium. The Focolare (“hearth”)
movement traces its origin to the inspiration of Chiara Lubich, very active
in Italy. The Neo-Catechumenal Way is present in several of our San Francisco
parishes; its Spanish founder, Kiko Arguello, is a dynamo of activity,
promoting the Way as an instrument of renewal on every continent.
The Catholic Charismatic Renewal
began in the Midwest in the 1960s. It has spread to every continent as
a deepening of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in prayer, and in renewed commitment
to apostolic service.
Comunione e Liberazione was founded
by Msgr. Luigi Giussano in northern Italy. Like the Focolare, its presence
is small in numbers but enormous in dedication. Verbum Dei is a new Spanish
foundation, embracing clergy, religious and laity, which has evangelization
as its primary mission. Legatus is an American-based association designed
to assist Catholic business leaders live out their faith in action.
Both Cursillo and Marriage Encounter
were founded in Spain and have spread mightily over these past decades.
“Cursillo” is a “little course” in Christianity whose impact on the many
Cursillistas is anything but little. Marriage Encounter and its “daughter,”
Engaged Encounter, have provided the opportunity for renewal of marriage
commitment to countless thousands of couples, and for preparation for marriage
based on a similar personal “encounter” method to vast numbers of engaged
couples over the past several decades. All of these movements are a great
grace in and for the Church. They give testimony to the richness and diversity
of the ongoing gifts of the Holy Spirit, in raising up such wonderful apostolic
commitment on the part of so many. They can be as well a great source of
inspiration to all of us to seek new ways in our own lives to live out
to the full the promise and call of our own confirmation, by which we too
were sealed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit to build up the Church into
the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and to witness to the love of Christ in
the world.
Most Rev. William J. Levada
Archbishop of San Francisco
Backgrounder
Public health issues — even terms
— can be confusing
By Kamille Maher
Public pharmacies in San Francisco
are experiencing serious budget shortfalls. UCSF Stanford Healthcare has
announced plans to close its UC San Francisco outpatient pharmacy at 400
Parnassus St. on May 28. That pharmacy fills about 350 prescriptions per
day, according to UCSF Stanford spokesman Mike Lassiter.
The only remaining outpatient pharmacy
for the city’s poorest patients is at SF General Hospital. That pharmacy
is running at capacity with long lines and 24-hour waits since Public Heath
Network (PHN) closed two months ago a satellite pharmacy, which had filled
about 700 prescriptions daily. In addition, the SF General pharmacy began
charging co-payments starting at $2 for all but the poorest patients.
Meanwhile, physicians and nurses
at SF General have formed an emergency coalition to address the deepening
crisis.
As health care issues continue
to heat up, press reports include several terms to describe the situation:
Medi-Cal, Medicaid, Medicare, SSI, SSDI, GA, welfare, MIA, reimbursements
and co-payments (or co-pays). Following are definitions and explanations
of these terms as explained by Lea Curry, a long-time SF General patient;
Fern Ebeling, a registered nurse for PHN at SF General; and Stephen Echaves,
associate clinical professor for the School of Pharmacy at UCSF and SF
General. Curry, Ebeling, and Echaves serve on the Emergency Coalition to
Save Public Health. Also clarifying terms and issues were Mikki Jensen,
patient financial advisor for Catholic Healthcare West’s St. Francis Hospital
at 900 Hyde St., and Dr. Melissa Welch, chief medical officer for PHN.
Medicaid is not used in California.
Other states use this term to describe their public health programs, but
California uses the term Medi-Cal.
Medi-Cal is available to people
on Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC, also known as Welfare),
and General Assistance (GA). Others eligible for Medi-Cal include children
from age newborn to 20, pregnant women, and persons who are going to be
disabled for longer than 12 months or incapacitated in bed with illnesses
such as tuberculosis (TB). Other individuals who qualify for Medi-Cal are
childless adults ages 21-64, who are considered Medically Indigent Adults
(MIA — not related to Missing-in-Action as during military conflicts).
MIAs have no medical insurance, whether they work or not. They are not
necessarily homeless, but can be.
Medi-Cal covers hospitalization,
doctor visits, tests, and certain prescriptions as long as the provider
is contracted with Medi-Cal. Catholic Healthcare West advisor Jensen said
not all providers wish to be contracted with Medi-Cal because they receive
decreased reimbursements, the amount state and federal governments will
pay for certain services and medications. All CHW providers, however, are
contracted with Medi-Cal, Jensen noted.
Many Medi-Cal patients have used
the pharmacy at SF General because for the past 35 years it dispensed all
medications for free unlike commercial pharmacies where Medi-Cal recipients
pay a state-determined co-payment, the amount a patient is required to
pay as his or her portion of the prescription’s cost. The SF General pharmacy
began charging “co-pays” last month and encouraging Medi-Cal patients to
use private drugstores.
“Other counties don’t fill Medi-Cal
prescriptions,” said Chief Medical Officer Welch. “We lose money each time
we fill a Medi-Cal prescription. Share-of-cost is determined by Medi-Cal,
not us. If the state is saying they can afford it, we can’t continue to
afford to subsidize that.”
Still, Jensen said, the majority
of Medi-Cal patients already have private physicians and use private pharmacies
such as Rite Aid and Walgreens. “I don’t see why Medi-Cal recipients would
be in that line (at SF General’s pharmacy) when they can go to any other
pharmacy,” she said.
PHN patient Curry said Medi-Cal
patients use SF General’s pharmacy because several medications are not
covered by Medi-Cal. Patients have been provided those pharmaceuticals
at SF General because they would have to pay full cost at commercial drug
stores. Now those drugs cost the same at SF General as they do elsewhere.
According to PHN nurse Ebeling,
frequently prescribed medications not covered by Medi-Cal include nutritional
supplements such as Boost and Ensure, Tylenol-codeine mixtures, Vicodan,
and Valium. Tylenol #3, Tylenol #4, and Vicodan treat chronic pain. Medi-Cal
covers Tylenol #3 up to 45 tablets per month, while Tylenol #4 and Vicodan
are not covered at all. Valium alleviates acute anxiety and muscle spasms.
The latter are controlled substances with a “street value,” meaning there
is an illegal black market for them.
“These are potentially abusable
drugs,” Ebeling said. “Unfortunately, there are people on these medications
for legitimate reasons who are now being denied access.”
SF General patient Curry claims
people using public health care cannot afford co-pays, whether the state
says they can or not. For example, one group of people eligible for Medi-Cal
are SSI recipients.
SSI stands for Supplemental Security
Income. It is a “safety-net” that pays a little more than $700 per month
to people who became disabled before they worked enough years to accumulate
sufficient credit for regular Social Security. SSI recipients qualify for
Medi-Cal because they will be disabled for longer than 12 months. People
with incomes of $700 per month are hard-pressed to pay for anything other
than rent and food, said Curry, an SSDI and Medicare recipient who worked
for more than 20 years before she became disabled.
SSDI stands for Social Security
Disability Insurance and is similar to regular Social Security. Both SSDI
and Social Security pay variable amounts per month, between $750 and $2,500,
depending on the recipient’s lifetime earnings. People on Social Security
have typically turned 65 while persons using SSDI have become disabled
after many years of working. Both groups paid into the Social Security
system and accumulated sufficient credits to receive payments.
Social Security and SSDI recipients
qualify for Medicare, a federal program connected to Social Security. Medicare
offers free hospitalization. An optional component of Medicare costing
$44 per month covers physician visits and tests at 80 percent of charges.
Medicare does not cover prescriptions, so many local Medicare patients
have long filled their medication needs for free through the PHN pharmacies.
Dr. Welch said the network is only encouraging Medi-Cal patients to use
commercial pharmacies since they have the option, not Medicare patients.
“These patients (Medi-Cal) really
do have a choice whereas other patients really don’t have a choice (of
pharmacies),” Dr. Welch said.
Because Medicare patients are not
covered for prescriptions anywhere, they have turned to PHN’s pharmacies
for free medications. While the medications are no longer free, they are
still affordable at $2 to $10 per month, according to Dr. Welch.
Curry said she fears the network
will close the SF General pharmacy altogether. “If the SF General pharmacy
closes, we (Medicare patients) will have to leave,” she said. “My medications
cost $600 per month. I would have to leave California.”
St. Pius X Awards
Religious educators thanked for
sharing faith, being models
Story and photos by Evelyn Zappia
“Having the courage to take a risk
and share your faith is not always easy,” Bishop John C. Wester told more
than 300 religious educators attending the annual St. Pius X Awards banquet
held at St. Ignatius College Preparatory on May 11.
“Every time we open the word of
God,” the bishop continued, “we are looking at the face of Christ. And
as you pass on the faith, you are giving young people role models. I thank
you most sincerely and send the Archbishop’s gratitude as well. For he
is keenly aware of what you do.”
“This table of medals and plaques,”
pointed out Social Service Sister Celeste Arbuckle, director of the Office
of Religious Education, “represents over 1,125 years of dedicated service
to our Church.”
More than 100 catechists and directors/coordinators
of religious education were presented St. Pius X Awards for religious education
“stints” ranging from five years to 38 years.
“I’m excited about getting this
award,” said Kathryn Parish Reese of Epiphany Parish. “It’s exuberating,
a wonderful thank you.”
Reese taught first through ninth
grades at Our Lady of Perpetual Help and Epiphany Elementary Schools, San
Francisco, for a total of 25 years. As a former parole officer and frequent
visitor to young people in San Quentin Prison, she said, “The difference
between the kids in San Quentin and our parochial school kids is the presence
of the Catholic Church and its commitment to the kids. The young people
in prison were never exposed to such a commitment.”
Joe and Maggie Murphy of St. Veronica
Parish, South San Francisco, both agreed. “Award or no award we would still
be teaching confirmation classes, but it is nice the Archdiocese sets aside
time to recognize and honor everyone for their work and ministry.”
The Murphys have been a team of
confirmation catechists for the last 10 years. They host nine to 12 teen-agers
in their home for 10 night classes and a few weekend sessions a year. “It’s
a wonderful opportunity to listen to kids recount biblical passages and
share matters of faith,” said Joe. Maggie enjoys that “our children, Patrick
6 and Siobahn 2, are indirectly part of the sessions as they listen and
learn through the interaction of the teen-agers.”
Otilia Velasco of St. Emydius Parish,
San Francisco, with over 38 years as a grade school teacher and religious
educator said, “I have always felt I brought children closer to God and
that was my reward. But the Archdiocese has made it a very special night.”
Velasco began volunteering at St.Emydius
in 1942 and has seen many changes. “Today,” she said, “it disappoints me
that the children do not seem to get as much encouragement from their parents
as they did years ago.”
A special St. Pius X Award was
given to the St. Francis Chapter of the Knights of Columbus. “They are
a special group of people who have given tirelessly of their time and finances,”
said Sister Arbuckle. “God’s plan for us is to be in relationship. We are
grateful to each Knight for the bond of community they have with religious
education.”
Following are among the directors
and coordinators of religious education honored at the ceremony:
Sister Rita Bailey, FMA, 10 years,
Corpus Christi, San Francisco; Maria Cornell, 15 years, Immaculate Heart
of Mary, Belmont; Marie Felix, 15 years, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Belmont;
Sister M. Bernard Joseph, 10 years, Mater Dolorosa, So. San Francisco;
Barbara Rode, 10 years, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Redwood City; Karen Melko,
10 years, St. Bartholomew, San Mateo; Joyce Wickstrom, 19, St. Pius, Redwood
City.
According to the ORE, the
following received St. Pius X Awards for the respective years of service
indicated:
Corpus Christi, San Francisco.
36 years: Margaret Mueller. 30: Sister Jean Erickson, FMA, Sister Lena
Pinto, FMA 25: Sister Rita Bailey, FMA.
Epiphany, San Francisco. 25 years:
Demetria Cabe, Kathryn Parish-Reese. 20: Mary Alfonso, Victoria Labrado.
15: Carlos Corea, Connie Cabardo, John Meyer. 10: Adelaida Canlas, Angela
Mansfield, Joe Laping, Martha Sciamanna. 5: Estelita Bernal, Madelyn Bello,
Maria Elena Herrera, Mary Silva, Rosa Garcia, Sonia Hoja, Tom Wilker, Tony
Spiteri.
Holy Angels, Colma. 20 years: Dianne
Chiappari. 5: Blanca Sonza, Gus Pangan, Joanne Polo, Pat Castro.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, Belmont.
30 years: Rita Revilla. 25: Bev D’Emilio, Genny Pereira. 15: Kathy Grosshauser,
James Carmody, Barbara Carmody. 7: Sam Hutkins. 6: Mary Twitty. 5: Elizabeth
Adair, Marilyn Schwarz, Sue Conners, Harry Filer, Sister Rachel Smith.
Mater Dolorosa, So. San Francisco.
20 years: Margarita Lee, Aileen Egan.
Our Lady of Angels, Burlingame.
20 years: Connie Hamilton. 10: Mary Faber. 5: Andrew Goldstein, Dan Porter,
Donna Goldstein, Kathy Flynn, Kevin Flynn, Peter Meehan.
Our Lady of Loretto, Novato. 10
years: Isabella Michon. 5: Cheryl McInerney.
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Redwood
City. 25 years: Dorothy Rottinghaus. 15: Marlene Muscat. 10: Evelyn Salamone,
Mary Constantino, Regina Koontz. 7: Gita Dedek. 5: Ernie Lindenau, Gail
Lynch, Guy Beyrouti, Lois Parodi, Paul Rossi.
St. Bruno, San Bruno. 20 years:
Beverly Kious. 15: Salvadora Calonge.
St. Anthony of Padua, Novato. 5
years: Elizabeth Preim-Rohtla, Julie Vavuris, Kathy Frost, Madonna Glenn,
Mary Davidson, Teresa Mueller.
St. Bartholomew, San Mateo. 15
years: Sister Kathy Littrell. 10: Claire Haldan. 5: Lou Heine, Anne Schaefer.
St. Cecilia, San Francisco. 10
years: Denise Little.
St. Charles, San Carlos. 10 years:
Sharon Boome. 5: Barbara Bushner, Eileen Brennan.
St. Emydius, San Francisco. 38
years: Otilia Velasco. 5: Edna Casteel.
St. Kevin, San Francisco. 15 years:
Juliana Sanchez. 10: Pauline Pahilga.
St. Matthias, Redwood City. 20
years: Nancy Galli.
St. Monica, San Francisco. 35 years:
Margaret Lovell. 15: Anita DeLa Cruz, Benji Barromeo. 10: Renata Ahlers.
St. Paul, San Francisco. 25 years:
Mary Fernandez. 10: Florine Konkle, Peg Kayser-Lazzarini. 5: Alba Mejia,
Celia Magtoto, Donna Fitzgerald, Marilyn Capwell.
St. Peter, San Francisco. 8 years:
Esperanza Rodriguez, Socorro Rodriguez. 7: Arnoldo Gonzalez, Maria Gonzalez.
6: Sabina Rodriguez. 5: Cristina Arenas, Maria Cristina Gutierrez.
St. Pius, Redwood City. 5 years:
Gracie Banister, Joe Kelley, Michael O’Sullivan, Rosemary Allen.
St. Veronica, So. San Francisco.
15 years: Patricia Lama, Tom Lama. 10: Joseph Murphy, Maggie Murphy. 5
years: Catherine Pedersen, David Pedersen.
Star of the Sea, San Francisco.
5 years: Ma. Luisa Punsalan.
Sts. Peter & Paul, San Francisco.
7 years: Rose Mangini. 5: Sister Suzzette Arante.
Visitacion Church, San Francisco.
15 years: Jorge Nepomuceno. 10: David Martin. 5: Geri Martin, Viona Jackson.
School of Pastoral Leadership
More than 300 learn more about
aging and ‘autumn grace’
Story, photos by Evelyn Zappia
Responding to challenges raised
by the reality of society rapidly becoming a group of older persons, the
School of Pastoral Leadership (SPL) of the Archdiocese sponsored a conference
May 8 at St. Stephen Church in San Francisco, titled “Autumn Grace: The
Spirituality of Aging.”
The conference drew more than 300
people ranging in age from the young to octogenarians.
“It is encouraging that so many
of the faithful are interested in learning more about issues relating to
the dignity of every human being,” wrote Archbishop William J. Levada in
a letter addressed to the participants.
“The conference was a tribute to
honor older persons in our society,” said Joni Gallagher, assistant director
of SPL. The gathering discussed issues of caregivers, dealing with aging
parents, and how aging affects family, friends, and the community.
First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton,
sent greetings to participants in a letter dated May 8. “As you meet for
prayer and discussion,” she wrote, “it is my hope that your efforts will
encourage others to discuss these issues. Your work will benefit not only
the families in the San Francisco area, but our national family as well.”
Registered nurse and Mercy Sister
Patrick Curran presented a session titled “Aging: A Spiritual Journey.”
Sister Patrick prefaced her session with Robert Browning’s words, “Grow
old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the
first was made.”
“Spirituality doesn’t begin when
someone retires,” said Sister Patrick, currently executive director of
the St. Anthony Foundation, noting that it is a life-long process. In addition,
she said “listening is the greatest gift you can give an elderly person.”
Sulpician Father Gerald Coleman,
president, rector and professor of moral theology at St. Patrick Seminary,
Menlo Park, addressed end-of-life issues in his session “How Faith Can
Help Me Deal with Death and Dying.”
Ruth Hayes-Barba, who directs ministry
to the aging for the Archdiocese of Portland, Ore. and is a licensed clinical
social worker, discussed obtaining peace in the midst of physical and emotional
pain, and coming closer to God through the process of suffering. Her presentation
was titled “Praying Through Pain: The Holy Spirit.”
“The conference was a prelude to
a new spring course ‘Pastoral Care for the Elderly’ which is being developed
by SPL in collaboration with the Office of Public Policy and Social Concern,”
said Gallagher.
More than 25 representatives from
ministries to the aging, including Catholic Charities, Catholic HealthCare
West, St. Anne’s Home and SF Ministry to Nursing Homes, along with parish
representatives, met May 10 to discuss the curriculum development of the
new course, noted Jesuit Father Michael Barber, director of SPL.
Since its inception in 1994, more
than 2,000 people have taken SPL courses.
SPL goals are defined in its literature
as twofold: “To train lay people for ministry within the Church and to
provide theological, scriptural, and spiritual education for lay people
to exercise their Christian vocation outside the walls of the Church.”
SPL objectives, added Gallagher,
are “to foster a profound realization of the vocation of the Christian
lay faithful, and prepare lay people for informed, pro-active evangelization.”
SPL classes are designed “to foster
union with Christ, to promote love for the Church and her sacraments, and
to engender confidence for confronting complex societal issues,” said Gallagher.
SPL staff is more than willing
to present samples of the school’s program to deaneries by invitation,
she said. Those interested can write SPL at 473 Eucalyptus Dr., San Francisco
CA 94132, or call (415) 242-9087; fax (415) 242-9089; e-mail: spl@att.net
.
Pilot parishes thanked
Pastors and campaign leaders from
the pilot-parish phase of the $30 million tuition endowment campaign, Today’s
Students — Tomorrow’s Leaders, were thanked personally by Archbishop William
J. Levada April 28 at a luncheon at St. Mary’s Cathedral. According to
campaign officials, to date the five pilot parishes have received gifts
and pledges totaling more than $500,000. Total target amount for the five
is $683,992. The Archbishop told the parish
leaders of his commitment to Catholic
education which the campaign will support by providing ongoing tuition
aid for students desiring to attend a Catholic school in the Archdiocese.
At left above is the team from Church of the Epiphany, from left: Ella
Mae Sims, Kathy Parish Reese, Shirley Simpliciano, Father Bruce A. Dreier
(pastor), Maria Espinosa and Dante Tayag. In the photo above right are
Sister Therese Improgo and Art Mischeaux of Holy Angels Parish, Colma.
At right, Archbishop Levada greets, from left: Deacon Louis Dixon, Father
Joseph Gordon (pastor) and Theresa Barragan of St. Francis of Assisi Parish,
East Palo Alto. Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Gabriel parishes are also pilot
communities. Based on experiences of the five parishes, campaign organizers
will launch the archdiocesan-wide parish effort in the fall.
National RENEW summer institute set for Burlingame
RENEW International will bring its
first Summer Institute for Small Christian Communities to Mercy Center,
Burlingame from July 8-11.
The four-day session is designed
to strengthen the foundations of emerging small Christian communities and
to help leaders map out their ongoing journeys, according to Msgr. Tom
Kleissler, founder and director of RENEW International in Plainfield, NJ.
Founded more than 20 years ago
in the diocese of Newark, the organization launched its most ambitious
project last fall — RENEW 2000 — in more than 30 dioceses throughout the
country, including the Archdiocese of San Francisco, said Presentation
Sister Antonio Heaphy, director of the Evangelization/RENEW office.
RENEW 2000 uses the traditional
faith-sharing format, and is prepared specifically to prepare people for
the New Millennium, she explained. San Francisco is going into its third
of five seasons. More than 1,000 groups had been meeting in 84 parishes,
with a total of 14,000 individuals, she enumerated. About one-sixth of
the groups are conducted in Spanish, Tongan, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and Korean.
She estimated that 400 people from the Bay Area will attend the July institute.
Fees for the entire summer institute
are $160 (or a $40 per-day charge) and $30 to attend only the Hispanic
Institute. RENEW International offers arrangements for meals and accommodations
for those who require them. Registration deadline is June 1, Sister Heaphy
said.
“We are indeed fortunate in having
RENEW International deciding to hold a summer institute in our area. RENEW
is active in any one of at least 50 dioceses across the U.S. and they could
have chosen any one of those areas for this event. We are in a privileged
position because we will have easy access to this very important event,”
said Sister Heaphy.
According to RENEW co-founder,
Msgr. Kleissler, “when we started the program 20 years ago, “we promised
everyone that we would make every effort to help establish permanent core
communities for small community development. The summer institute is a
powerful way for us to continue fulfilling that promise.”
It will focus on the importance
of both the inner and outer journeys in holistic spirituality. Topics will
offer insights into growth in prayer, Scripture reflection, justice development,
the theological basis for small Christian communities and how to engage
communities in meaningful social action.
Several representatives from Bay
Area RENEW will be on the program, said Sister Heaphy. They are: Jesuit
Father Bernard Bush, director of the Jesuit Retreat House in Los Altos;
Sister Heaphy; Cecilia Arias-Rivas, Hispanic ministry coordinator; and
Betsy Lamb, pastoral associate for evangelization at St. Augustine Parish,
San Francisco.
RENEW International will also provide
a one-day Hispanic Institute on July 10. Jesuit Father Allan Figueroa Deck
will be keynote speaker.
An East Coast summer institute
is also scheduled, July 22-25 at Xavier Center in Convent Station, NJ.
Registration information and forms
are available through Sister Heaphy’s office, (415) 565-3600, ext. 2012.
Additional information is also available through RENEW at 1232 George St.,
Plainfield, NJ, 07062-1717; phone (908) 769-5400;
FAX (908) 769- 5660; E-Mail: RENEWintl@inetmail.att.net.
First Catholic Lobby Day makes impact
By Tara Carr
Catholic Lobby Day on May 11 convened
more than 400 Catholics from across the state in Sacramento to visit with
— and present positions on pending legislation to — their elected state
representatives.
Sponsored by the California Catholic
Conference (CCC), the public policy arm of the state’s Catholic bishops,
Catholic Lobby Day provided participants background on pending legislation
of particular interest to Catholics while allowing them to call on their
own legislators.
After an opening liturgy and prayer
service, participants were briefed in both English and Spanish on the seven
bills highlighted by the CCC as key to be discussed with individual representatives.
Following the briefing and tips on how to lobby effectively, delegations
dispersed to meet with representatives.
Delegations from the Archdiocese
met with Assemblymembers Kevin Shelley, Lou Papan, and Ted Lempert, as
well as with staff from the offices of Assemblywoman Carole Migden and
State Senators Jackie Speier, Byron Sher, and John Burton. Delegation members
tackled issues including prenatal/obstetric health care for low-income
undocumented women, the legalization of assisted suicide, the expansion
of eligibility requirements for Healthy Families and Medi-Cal, and legislation
mandating that all hospitals offer contraceptives.
Participants also took advantage
of the visits to discuss other issues central to the teaching of the Church,
but for which there is no pending legislation, such as the abolition of
the death penalty and partial birth abortions.
Buses and vanloads of participants
arrived from the (arch)dioceses of San Bernardino, San Jose, Oakland, Los
Angeles, Fresno, Sacramento, Orange, and San Francisco. Members from geographically
distant delegations had the opportunity to meet and share stories of their
legislative visits in the afternoon during a debriefing session.
A majority urged the CCC to plan
future lobby days, and brainstormed on how to continue the work and relationships
begun on May 11 with their representatives. Others commented on the pride
and power they experienced meeting with and being listened to by elected
officials.
Tara Carr is a staff member of
the Archdiocese’s Office of Public Policy and Social Concerns which can
be contacted for information on future lobby days; phone (415) 565-3673.
Refugee ministry
Local priest spearheads outreach
to displaced
(Ed. note: A priest of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, Father Tony McGuire has agreed to file future first-person reports for Catholic San Francisco on the progress and challenges of refugees being resettled in the U.S. as a result of the conflict in Yugoslavia.)
By Barbara Erickson
‘I think the best way to live a
life is to give’
Story and photos by Evelyn Zappia
What would it be like to spend just
one day in a wheelchair?
Ever think about spending a day
in a wheelchair as a learning experience and a fundraiser for spinal cord
injury research? Ken Cummings can arrange for a wheelchair to be
delivered to do just that. “I want people to tackle a tough day at
work in a wheelchair, write a one-page paper on what they learned and get
pledges from family members and friends,” said Cummings. “I hope
people will pick a day that is challenging so they can better understand
what people in a wheelchair go through.”
For information, write Spinal
Cord Injury Research, “A Path to What’s Possible”
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Tornado aid asked
Holy Spirit: Love in Person
By Father Milton T. Walsh
Father Milton T. Walsh is dean of
students and an assistant professor of systematic theology at St. Patrick
Seminary, Menlo Park.
Finding life in suffering
By Vivian W. Dudro
Vivian Dudro is the mother of four
(ages three to 11) and a member of St. Mary’s Cathedral Parish.
Pentecost and universal language
of love
The final day, the fiftieth (pentecost
meaning 50) day, of our Easter celebration arrives this Sunday, ending
our annual celebration of the Lord’s Easter victory (Lent, the Triduum,
and Eastertime). We have prepared and initiated new members into our parishes;
we have helped them understand the implications of the Easter sacraments;
we have renewed our own baptismal commitment to being Church; we have tried
to find new ways to encourage the new life in us to surface and be shared.
What is the “parting shot” the Word gives us this final, this Pentecost
day?
Father David Pettingill is director
of the archdiocesan Office of Parish Life.
Sunday: anything but ‘Ordinary’
Ah! The Great 90 Days are coming
to an end. It’s been a magnificent celebration! After Evening Prayer
this Pentecost, the flame of the Paschal candle is extinguished.
The candle itself is moved to the baptismal font, awaiting the next
baptism or funeral. The Church gathers in vigil the evening of Pentecost,
praying with one voice: “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your
faithful.” Melt us, mold us, fill us, use us as the Body of Christ for
the liberation and healing of all people.
Notre Dame Sister Sharon McMillan
is an assistant professor of sacramental theology and liturgy at
DATEBOOK
Retreats/Days of Recollection
JSTB president calls ‘60 Minutes’
broadcast ‘unconscionable’
In response to the May 9 “60 Minutes”
telecast about a sexual harassment suit filed by a former Jesuit seminarian
against four Jesuit priests and their respective provinces, the president
of the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley (JSTB) has issued a statement
underscoring that JSTB was not named as a defendant in the suit.
Associate editor, El Heraldo Catolico
The numbers are almost inconceivable:
13 million refugees in the world and 19 million displaced within their
own countries. But Father McGuire doesn’t let statistics obscure the reality.
He knows the numbers represent individuals who need housing, food and spiritual
support.
As director of the Office for the
Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees at the United States Catholic Conference,
it is his job to welcome immigrants and refugees who arrive in this country
and help them find faith communities.
Before he went to Washington last
October, Father McGuire worked with immigrants and refugees in Hispanic
parishes of the Archdiocese of San Francisco and as coordinator of Hispanic
ministries for Santa Clara County (before the Diocese of San Jose was formed).
He also worked in the archdiocesan Office of Ethnic Ministries.
And during two years as an associate
with Maryknoll missionaries in Hong Kong, he witnessed the ordeal of refugees
confined to camps as they waited for permanent homes. There the priest
worked with Vietnamese “boat people” and came to see that the faith of
the Catholics among them was a sign of hope to all the refugees.
“It was a Christian community in
the midst of a terrible ordeal,” he said. “The Vietnamese Catholic community
was well united, prayerful and devout and very supportive of each other.”
Now Father McGuire tries to create
faith communities for thousands of refugees and immigrants who have recently
arrived in the States. “We encourage local dioceses and parishes to welcome
them in a way that is respectful of their culture,” he said, “and to integrate
them into the parish community.”
Refugees sent from the camps by
the United Nations High Commission for Refugees arrive with the support
of the federal government, and the U.S. Catholic Conference helps place
a third of them, or about 20,000 people a year. The office of Migration
and Refugee Services tries to unite them with family members, if possible,
or sends them to one of 107 dioceses nationwide with programs for resettling
refugees.
According to U.S. law, refugees
are only those persons who are forced from their countries by religious
or political persecution. The Church, however, says those who come here
for economic reasons are also refugees.
Immigrants who fall into other
categories now face a series of laws that have made their situations even
more complex. “There’s a get tough, anti-immigrant posture,” he said.
Those who seek political asylum,
he said, are now often deported or detained instead of remaining at liberty
while cases are processed. Illegal aliens are squeezed by laws requiring
employers to ask for proof of legal residency, and legal residents have
lost privileges they had before 1996.
Father McGuire is especially concerned
about the “criminal aliens,” a group including non-citizens convicted of
felonies. Since a series of anti-immigrant laws passed in 1996, the government
has been deporting nearly all of them, even when they have served out sentences.
At times, he said, they have been
convicted of crimes such as driving under the influence or possessing marijuana,
but the law requires that they be deported nevertheless. Often, he said,
they have grown up in the U.S., they know little about their native lands
or the languages spoken there and they have family members here. Suddenly
they find themselves in a strange country far from family and support.
“They are culturally Americans
though they’re not citizens,” Father McGuire said. “They commit a crime,
and they are shipped back to a country they really don’t know.”
The situation is even worse, he
said, for criminal aliens who come from countries lacking diplomatic relations
with the U.S., such as Cuba, or for those who are citizens of areas in
conflict, where repatriation is impossible. These unfortunates can languish
in INS jails after completing their terms. “It’s like an indefinite life
sentence,” Father McGuire said.
“We’ve been going around the country,”
he added, “trying to get people to respond pastorally to people in prison,
to visit them. They’re often far from their families.”
Father Tony urges citizens to write
Congress and demand a change in the law. He also urges immigrants to apply
for citizenship. “Then,” he said, “you can’t get pushed around this way.”
The U.S. Catholic Conference lobbies
Congress on immigration laws, and members of a bishops’ committee often
testify, calling for a better immigrant policy, which at present, he said,
is hypocritical. “If it’s useful for wealthy employers,” he said, “then
they want to let the immigrants in, especially for field work, for the
meat packing industry and for hotels and restaurants.”
Last year agricultural interests
proposed a law that would have created a new “bracero” situation, allowing
alien workers to enter the country and remain for a short period to labor
in the fields.
The Catholic Conference opposed
it, and “by lobbying efforts, they were able to beat back the new bracero
program,” Father McGuire said. Such efforts to hire foreign workers, he
said, show immigrants are hard working and desirable employees, but bracero
type programs destabilize local economies. They also deny rights of citizenship
to the temporary workers.
It is possible to influence Congress,
he said, and not only the U.S. Catholic Conference but every citizen should
take part in the effort to change immigration laws. “If word gets out to
local people to write to Congress, it can make a difference,” Father McGuire
said. “It’s best done at the parish level.”
After six months in the nation’s
capital , Father McGuire says he is enjoying his new job. “There’s a lot
of learning and a lot of getting the word out,” he said. But at the same
time he misses working face to face with the people he ultimately serves.
He’s looking for a prison near
Washington where he can visit prisoners and give them spiritual support.
“It would be a reminder,” he said, “of where all this bureaucratic work
is supposed to go.”
Ken Cummings is one of those tough
Irish Catholic boys from the Sunset District who planned to be a firefighter.
He inherited that strong, competitive Irish determination and worked out
continuously to be the strongest, the best. His best friend, Pat Simmons,
had already placed first on the firefighters’ exam and Cummings was ready
to knock Simmons’ name off the top of the list.
On May 15, 1981, at age 25,
Cummings dove off a diving board into a shallow pool and broke his neck.
The accident left him paralyzed from upper chest down.
“It was hard to go through,”
conceded Cummings. “But if you do it right, if you study it, you
watch it, if you look at it and stare at it — you’ll learn from it and
that’s what happened to me. And that’s why I can roll wheelchairs
across the United States to raise money for spinal cord research, and that’s
why I can do anything, within reason, that a person with a disability can
do.”
Cummings’ strong-will showed
at an early age. To this day he’s not sure whether he was “really
kicked out of St. Cecilia Elementary School or merely asked to leave” when
he was in the second grade.
“I’ll tell you a story,”
said Cummings. “The nuns were pretty tough back in those days (1963). My
mother (Ruth Mitchell Cummings) was having a baby. When my sister Katie
was born, my mother gave me big red suckers to pass out to the class to
announce it was a girl. The nun said I couldn’t do it until after school.
So, when we were saying the rosary that day, as we did every day, I gave
everyone a sucker. When we finished the rosary, the nun turned around
and every kid was sucking on a lollipop. She hung me in the cloakroom,
and I was asked to leave.”
Cummings remembers hanging
on a hook in the cloakroom more than a couple times ? or sitting in the
corner with a dunce cap. He smiles, “I must have had a big mouth
as a kid or had a way about me that just didn’t fit well in the system.
My mom was tough, but she had a lot of love and I think I was probably
spoiled as a kid. I don’t think I did well in that environment. I
went to public school right after that.”
That, however, did not diminish
the role of Catholicism in the Cummings family. He emphatically states,
“I am a Catholic.” Each night he prays the Our Father and said, “I probably
don’t know as much as I should, but I have read the Bible twice.”
“God gave all of us gifts
and we have to use them. I can say with all honesty each day I try
to use my gifts and share them with others. Even though I get nervous
like any other kid on the block — and sometimes I lose it — and cry, I
keep going.”
Cummings is preparing for his fifth
“roll” across the United States in his wheelchair. In the spring
of 2000 he plans to start from Florida and finish in either San Francisco
or San Diego. In his previous journeys, harsh road conditions have caused
many falls in his wheelchair resulting in broken legs, knees
and ankles. Despite the trips’ grueling nature, Cummings said, “It
doesn’t matter. I know I’ve done the right thing in my life.”
The fifth generation San
Franciscan, who now lives in San Diego for health reasons, talked of “ending
up in a lot of fights, just like any other Sunset kid.” Yet, he appreciates
the tough Irish influence he inherited from his father and grandfather
and the special world of respect and love it brought to him.
He boasted of his grandfather,
“Honest Tom Mitchell” as the former U.S. Senator’s campaign proclaimed.
And he praised his mother, Ruth Mitchell Cummings, who was secretary in
the state’s Attorney General’s Office. She was tough and loving, Cummings
said. When she died suddenly five years ago, he realized “she
was my life — and I didn’t know it until it was too late.”
His father, Bill Cummings,
he said, was a genius, an intellectual and an alcoholic.
Bill Cummings, said Cummings, could have been a great teacher or a successful
athlete — he was All-American at San Francisco State College. “It didn’t
make sense for him to drink,” said Cummings. “I know he had a hard life
and I can’t blame him for what he’d become — but I sure can get mad at
him for the fact he didn’t do anything about it.”
Cummings’ hero is his Uncle
Bill Mitchell. At 15, Cummings ran away from home. He remembers
riding his Stingray bicycle from the Sunset District down the El Camino
to his Godfather’s house in San Mateo. Uncle Bill said he would not tell
Cummings’ parents he was there (but he did).
“I remember telling Uncle
Bill that my coach, Don Benedetti at Lincoln High School, said I had the
best natural ability for baseball he’d ever seen.” Benedetti at the time
was also a scout for the San Diego Padres and told Cummings he thought
he “could be the best pitcher in the country.” Uncle Bill’s response,
“You can be just that, Ken.”
The visit to Uncle Bill’s
house began an unspoken bond between them. From then on, Uncle Bill attended
all of Cummings’ home baseball games although he had seven children of
his own. “Uncle Bill gave me the love I needed at that time.
Funny, when you’re not getting love one place, it comes to you in others,”
observed Cummings. “Uncle Bill’s life has always been a great example to
others, that’s why I admire him.”
Cummings has “rolled” his
wheelchairs four times across the U.S. and six times up and down the California
Coast to raise money for spinal cord injury research. To date, Cummings
has 16,000 recorded miles on his wheelchairs and thousands more unrecorded.
Through his vocation Cummings
has met governors, senators, and celebrities and was invited to the White
House. However, “none of these things” compared to his being inducted
into the “Hall of Fame” at his Abraham Lincoln High School on May 10. The
event brought him to tears, he said.
“I’m fortunate,” he said.
“I have time on my hands to give. I have a settlement from my disability
so I don’t have to work like other people. I don’t have to go out
9 to 5 and bust my butt as others do to make a buck to be able to sustain
life. “
In 1987 Cummings started
a non-profit charity , “A Path to What’s Possible,” for spinal cord injury
research. All the money he raises goes directly to the charity because
he lives on his settlement.
“I believe we all have a
job to do,” said Cummings. “We’re all making choices — and
hopefully, in our own way we decide to show one another how much we care.
I think the best way to live a life is to give. When you do that
you get 500 times back — whatever you get into.”
Cummings almost gave up his
campaign in Sonora, Texas when the support bus that accompanies him on
his trips was rear-ended by an 18-wheeler two years ago. The vision of
hundreds of tons of smashed steel made him think about the dangers of his
trips. “Thank God no one was hurt,” said Cummings. “I had all but decided
there would be no more trips.”
A man in his 20’s, Victor
Garza, changed Cummings’ mind. Because of the accident, Garza had
been waiting to meet Cummings for hours at a fast food restaurant. “Victor
handed me a check for $5,000 and said, ‘I wanted to do this for a long
time’. He is even a higher level quad than I am, so just getting out of
the house had to be the most difficult thing to do. The money came
out of his own pocket.” Cummings said he never again doubted his vocation.
Three months ago Mary Steyl
entered Cummings’ life. “How lucky I am to have her in my life,”
he said. “I’ve been doing all of this alone for over 16 years. Every now
and then I’ll get a volunteer, but very seldom.” Cummings continued, “Mary
works harder than I do. I’m a big guy. I’m 6’5”. She helps me out
of bed in the morning, into the shower and helps get me dressed.”
The greatest challenge in
Cummings’ life remains struggling with the fact he is physically dependent.
“I can’t say that I will never care about walking again,” he said.
“That’s my mission. I want to walk again. I want to get out of this
wheelchair. On the flipside, if I never walk again, I think the most important
thing I did do while I’m here on this earth is to give back.”
What Cummings would love
to see is people with disabilities out in the world and doing what they
enjoy. “Hopefully, if they see a knucklehead like me rolling a wheelchair
across the U.S. they will want to do something special for themselves ?
they will want to tackle their own challenges,” he said.
Cummings is planning a fundraiser
early next year in San Francisco, “A Circle of Friends Reunion,” at the
Hyatt Regency Hotel. Details of the event will be forthcoming and
published in Datebook
Attn: Ken Cummings, 4461 Ocean
Blvd., Suite 13, San Diego CA 92109 or call (619) 273-3158.
In the last several days we have
all seen the reports of widespread damage and destruction from the tornadoes
through Oklahoma, Kansas and other states. The trauma of such devastation
is apparent in the faces of those who have lost loved ones, been injured,
are unable to find precious keepsakes of their lives and no longer have
places of employment.
The Disaster Response Office of
Catholic Charities USA has already provided some assistance to several
dioceses for immediate emergency needs. While it is unclear at this time
how much government programs and insurance will be able to replace, we
know there are many people who will be missed by such aid and who need
help from Catholic Charities to put their lives back together. Similarly,
reports of uninsured damage to church facilities are very preliminary,
but will emerge as the debris is cleared.
Several bishops in the affected
areas have said they would welcome any assistance and donations, and so
I encourage you to send contributions or the proceeds of any voluntary
collection to:
Catholic Charities USA
Disaster Response Office
1731 King St., Suite 200
Alexandria, VA 22314
(Ref: Tornado assistance-1999)
I thank you for your generosity.
Most Rev. Joseph A. Fiorenza,
Bishop of Galveston-Houston
President, National Conference
of Catholic Bishops
Family as model
A recent Catholic San Francisco
contained thoughtful commentaries by Archbishop Levada and Cardinal Mahony
regarding our culture’s approach to questions of life and death. Both made
reference to the “common good” and the necessity of integrating this with
the concept of individual good.
I believe it is fundamental to
the mending of our torn social fabric. Sacrifice is another concept, which
is sometimes alien to an individualistic culture, but needs to be embraced
if we are to do some healing. Intact and happy families, where individuals
“grow” best (in my experience), are those where the contributions of individual
family members are not only welcome, but essential. But, sometimes that
individual contribution involves reducing individual demands in the interest
of family goals that, when accomplished (and, even in the striving), lift
the level of the group with rewards redounding to each individual family
member.
There is a lot of talk in the media
about “community” when discussing what ails us as a society. The family,
as I see it, is the basic community and it requires integration between
individual and common good to succeed. Unless we apply such a model of
conduct to other groups in society, I fear we will be stuck with the most
ironically named of maladies, “balkanization,” for some time. And, with
the resulting destructive alienation that withers true individuality.
John G. Hitchcock, Jr.
San Mateo
Robe story divine?
This is in addition to your March
12 article “Woman smuggles cardinal’s robe behind Iron Curtain.” It has
the elements of an Eric Amblers novel. Although it is a story of an innocent
caught in a web of intrigue (the same exotic cities: Rome, Triest, Zagreb),
clandestine meetings, harrowing border crossings and a refugee who triggered
the affair, Ambler never had a saint as the main character. But the truth
is, indeed, stranger than the fiction.
In 1947, when I fled Yugoslavia,
the country was under Communist iron rule. The Catholic Church was considered
the major enemy of the regime. Its clergy were systematically persecuted
and decimated. The Partisans once entered the Franciscan Monastery in Siroki
Brijeg, doused 14 friars with petrol and set them afire. In 1951, of the
151 priests of the Senj Diocese who were there before the war, only 88
survived.
But the biggest thorn for the Communists
was Archbishop Alojsije Stepinac. When in a pastoral letter he stated that
since the Communist takeover, 273 clergy had been killed, 169 more were
imprisoned and 89 were missing, it was the excuse the regime was looking
for. The Communists tried the Archbishop and sentenced him to 16 years
in prison.
I am from Medjugorje, known throughout
the world for Blessed Mother’s apparitions. When Medjugorje’s pastor was
killed, I decided to flee. My half-brother was killed, my mother spent
three months in jail. My father was severely beaten on the kitchen floor
and denied medical aid.
After two years in hiding, I escaped
to Italy where I met Father Ivan Tomas of the Croatian Radio Program of
the Vatican who found me a job at the Croatian College of St. Jerome in
Rome. Father Tomas was the priest who persuaded Francis Chilcoat of your
recent story to smuggle Stepinac’s cape into Yugoslavia.
I spent two years at St. Jerome
and received religious guidance from Father Tomas. After that, I emigrated
to America and met a wonderful couple in the Bay area, Aaron and Frances
Chilcoat, who opened their hearts and their home to a refugee like me,
and witnessed my swearing in as a new American citizen.
Little did I realize that when
I asked Frances to look up Father Tomas in Rome, during her trip to Yugoslavia,
that she would smuggle a cardinal’s cape which a future saint would be
buried in. There are far too many coincidences in this story to be naturally
occurring. One, particularly stands out. While the border guard was fumbling
with Frances’ baggage that contained the cape, he cut his hand , yelled
a few expletives and gave up the search.
I would like to think divine intervention
prevailed.
Ivan Ivankovich
Glendale
Prayer not news
May 6 was the National Day of Prayer.
History points out that Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the first National Day
of Prayer during the troubled times surrounding the Civil War. Off and
on, succeeding presidents have issued similar proclamations. We have now
had 48 consecutive National Days of Prayer. But who knows it? Certainly
the press will not cover the gatherings of people all over the United States
coming together in prayer.
Perhaps, the largest gathering
of people meet in Washington D.C. The event brings together legislators
and clergy from all over the country. This year’s event was purported to
be one of the most moving spiritual gatherings they have ever had.
Forty-seven governors joined President
Clinton in issuing proclamations recognizing this Day of Prayer. How could
they not acknowledge the importance of such a day when so many tragedies
are affecting us? Sadly, our governor, Gray Davis, chose not to include
himself and the people of California by refusing to issue a state proclamation.
If you have never heard of the
National Day of Prayer, don’t despair; just plan on physically praying
with someone next year on the first Thursday in May. It just might make
a difference in the world.
Dan Silva
Belmont
My Church is alive
My name is Patrick Garcia. I am
12 years old. I am a sixth-grade student of Our Lady of Perpetual Help
School of Religion and Roosevelt Middle School in San Francisco.
I am waiting this letter to thank
Catholic San Francisco and Catholic Relief Services for sending Evelyn
Zappia to Guatemala. I also want to congratulate Ms. Zappia for giving
us a true picture of the plight of Guatemala after it was hard hit by Hurricane
Mitch. (“Reflections on Guatemala,” April 23 and 30 issues).
I felt sad while reading about
the hurricane victims. Some lost their homes and belongings. Some lost
their families. People of all ages were greatly affected. The country was
a total wreck. I know that God had a very good reason why this disaster
had to happen.
Like Ms. Zappia, I can say I am
very proud to be raised Catholic. In the Guatemala situation I saw how
my Church through its agencies got very much involved not only spiritually
but also financially and morally. The coming of Catholic Relief Services
by providing the necessary help surely served as an inspiration for the
other members of the Church to do their part, regardless of the amount
shared. Their compassion for others was felt. My Church is alive with love.
I pray to God the Guatemalans may
return to their normal lives. The Guatemalans are religious people and
I am sure God will always be with them. I hope other children like me will
keep them in their prayers.
Patrick Garcia
San Francisco
Too often, too much
As a San Francisco Catholic, I
am happy for the new newspaper that brings all the Catholic community together.
I particularly enjoy reading about people I know.
I do have a thought. How about
making it half the size and having it come out half as often? I think many
of us would then read it cover-to-cover instead of skimming it. There are
so many publications to keep up with today.
Thank you, and my prayers for your
continued success.
Sister Karen Marie Franks, OP
Daly City
Nothing to lose
In response to the article by Father
Gerald Coleman in a recent issue (April 30) in regard to capital punishment:
Obviously the current California system doesn’t work, with years and years
of appeals. However, life without possibility of parole doesn’t work, either.
Every person, free or inmate, has his/her life in danger because the convicted
murderer has nothing to lose by killing another person.
Think about it. I’ve had some years
in contact with the penal system, twice as a personal consultant — 1953-54
at Alcatraz, 1957-83 as the same at San Quentin.
Charles Hoffman, MD
www.Fatima.org
I was impressed to see the article
on the beatification of Padre Pio. The May 7 front page showing the pope
above a large portrait of Padre Pio was so inspiring. It is so wonderful
to see there are truly pious individuals in our times.
I have just learned that Jacinta
and Francisco Martos, two of the three Portuquese children who saw visions
of Our Lady of Fatima, are in the process to be declared blessed as well.
I hope once it is finalized that their stories will be covered in this
newspaper, too.
As we enter into the 82nd anniversary
of the apparitions of Our Lady to the children at Fatima, I hope more of
the priests, religious and faithful will bring to light the stories of
Fatima and the message Our Lady gave to all of us. It is so important we
listen to the call for more devotion to Our Blessed Mother so that through
her intercession we may be granted peace throughout the world. For more
information, I would encourage the faithfiul to visit the Fatima web site
at www.Fatima.org.
Teresa Davancaze
Redwood City
Deadly public policy
On behalf of the Coalition of Concerned
Medical Professionals (CCMP) I am writing to register unequivocal opposition
to Assembly Bill 1592, the proposed “Death with Dignity” legislation by
Berkeley Assemblywoman Dion Aroner now before the California State Legislature
to legalize physician-assisted suicide. CCMP is an all-volunteer association
of health care professionals, low-paid workers, small business owners,
students and other concerned community residents who have united to fight
for access to comprehensive health care on behalf of low-income workers
and their families in the Bay Area since 1976.
There can be no “death with dignity”
for those denied comprehensive medical care. It is unconscionable for a
government to legislate and fund suicide as public policy, while refusing
to insure everyone has the health care and attendant care services needed
to live without bankrupting their life savings or becoming an economic
burden on their loved ones. Physician-assisted suicide would create a deadly
public policy by legalizing a physician’s ability to prescribe lethal drugs
to patients. The lethal prescription costs only $35. A physician-assisted
suicide is certain to be the last medical insurance claim from an “unprofitable
patient.”
Join CCMP’s campaign to stop physician-assisted
suicide and the fight for comprehensive medical care for all, regardless
of income. The “Death with Dignity Act” AB 1592 is now in the Assembly.
Contact your representatives and senators to demand they take a stand against
the insidious “personal choice” argument of bill proponents and read between
the lines to see this is a deadly and horrifying opening, leading down
a slippery slope to extermination of unprofitable patients.
Attend CCMP’s presentation by Dr.
Rex Greene, president, Los Angeles County Medical Association, on May 30
at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church at 2005 Berryman St., Berkeley, at
4 p.m. Call us at (510) 436-8020 if you are interested.
James De Gon
Operations manager
James Eichel, M.D.
Medical director
The Gospel of John opens with a
trumpet blast whose melody echoes throughout the remainder of the book:
“The Word became flesh and lived among us.” (Jn 1:14) But why did the Word
become flesh? Perhaps one answer is to be found toward the end of the Gospel,
when the risen Christ appeared to his disciples on Easter night. John tells
us, “He breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’”. (Jn 20:22)
The Word became flesh so that our flesh might receive the Spirit.
What is the Holy Spirit which Christ
came to bring us? In fact, the Spirit is not a “what” but a “who.” We must
resist the tendency to view the Spirit as some kind of energy or abstract
power. “The force be with you” may be an apt greeting in Star Wars, but
Christian faith is founded on the revelation that the ultimate reality
of God is not absolute power, but absolute love. With the bestowal of the
Holy Spirit, the mystery of the Trinity is revealed: God is, in the words
of a contemporary Greek Orthodox theologian, “Being as communion.” So profound
is the love between the Father and the Son that this love is personalized
from all eternity in the Holy Spirit — and it is this love who draws us
into communion with the God who is so intensely personal that we must call
him both One and Three.
The first Christians experienced
the Holy Spirit as a Person, not a power. The missionary travels of St.
Paul were directed by the Spirit, who prevents the Apostle from going to
one place, and leads him to another. (Act 16:6-8) The Spirit bestows varied
gifts to different members of the Church “as he pleases.” (1 Cor 12:11)
And the Letter to the Ephesians tells us that sinful conduct and destructive
talk grieve the Holy Spirit. (Eph 4:30) While it is true the Holy Spirit
transforms our humanity, he should not be seen as some kind of entity,
an additive which makes our human nature perform better. The divine life
of grace is not a commodity which increases or decreases in some spiritual
bank. The Holy Spirit is the personal love of God, a love which transforms
us precisely by making us more “personal.”
Our experience of human love reflects
this truth. The love of family, friendship and romance each bring to the
fore aspects of our personality; we become “more” ourselves not through
independence but through interdependence. Sin is the disfigurement of love,
the evil of turning a subject into an object. Sexual immorality uses another
person for one’s gratification. Social immorality dehumanizes another race
or class to justify prejudice. Environmental immorality denies that God
is the Creator and we are stewards, reducing our planet and its resources
to an object to be plundered as our personal property.
Historically, the Enlightenment
rejection of Christian revelation in favor of the supremacy of “reason”
has shaped a world view where everything is valued for what it can produce
for us (“us” being the educated classes of the West). Even “God” has become
a resource to be mined. Esoteric spiritual practices are explored for the
sake of religious experiences which seem to convey divine energy to the
participants. When the Church holds up the crucified Christ as the source
of the Holy Spirit, she is mocked by the savants. How could this image
of humiliation and weakness give us power?
But the Church knows that the only
source of the living water of the Spirit is the pierced side of the man
who died crying, “I thirst!” (Jn 19:28) If sin is the contrary of love,
turning subjects into objects, persons into things, then the final manifestation
of this process is death. The reign of death can be broken only by love,
love unto death. Only the body wounded by love rejected could impart the
Holy Spirit who raises us from the dead, transforming us from objects into
subjects, adopted daughters and sons of God whom in the Spirit we call
“Abba,” Father.
When I was two years old, doctors
discovered a malignant tumor in my urinary tract. After I endured a couple
of surgeries, a few rounds of chemotherapy and several years of chronic
illness, my parents received a dismal prognosis: I would not live to see
my sixth birthday.
Following the current debate over
physician assisted suicide, I am thankful euthanasia was considered unthinkable
when I was a child. Since I had been labled “terminal” by more than one
doctor, what value would have been assigned to my life, what options would
have been discussed with my fretful parents, if doctors had been empowered
to kill?
“Oh, but killing terminally ill
children who cannot give their consent will not result from a physician
assisted suicide law,” euthanasia advocates would probably say. But the
assumption of the law currently under consideration in the state legislature
— that some lives are not worth the space they inhabit — places all of
the sick and frail at risk.
Behind the demand for physician
assisted suicide is a double-sided dread diminishing not only the dignity
of the sick but also that of the well. Many of us fear illness because
we are afraid of being caregivers, of being asked too much by someone who
needs us. Knowing this about ourselves, we also are afraid of being cared
for, of being a burden on others.
While no one likes pain, it is
not the main reason people want their doctors to kill them. A majority
of the 15 people who legally died by this method in Oregon last year cited
not pain but loss of independence, control and activity as their chief
reasons to give up living.
An agnostic uncle of mine told
me that if he ever contracted a terminal disease he would kill himself.
His would be no ordinary suicide, he said. He would go sailing into a hurricane
or hang gliding on a windy day. He did not fear dying, but living in a
state of drawn-out dependency and unproductivity.
While in his early eighties, he
was diagnosed with advanced cancer. The doctors recommended the amputation
of his leg, followed by chemotherapy and radiation. He refused these treatments
because of the likelihood, at his age, that they would prolong his death
rather than his life.
The doctors warned my uncle that,
without medical intervention, he would live no more than six months. But
he continued bravely for another two years. Though he suffered greatly,
he never spoke of suicide because of an unanticipated development: his
wife, children, and grandchildren grew closer to him and to each other
as they cared for him. To his surprise, his life as a sick and dying man
was not worthless after all.
In his own home, with his wife
at his side, his final words before slipping into a coma were of gratitude
— for his life, yes, but also for the illness that had given him a chance
to glimpse the God who loved him. “Do not be afraid . . .” he said.
Here was a death with dignity.
A suicide, or a homicide performed by a doctor, would not have added but
subtracted from it. Surely a beautiful death is within reach of us all,
if we will only help each other overcome the fear.
We hear the wonder of what it means
to be Church: we are the renewed People of God able to speak the language
of love; we are the body of Christ gifted for each other; we are sent to
proclaim the Gospel, even as Jesus was sent.
Acts presents the Church and our
parish communities as the renewed People of God because the Spirit of Jesus
moves us. You recall the inaugural experience of the People of God at Mount
Sinai when the divine “special effects” department outdid itself: “On the
morning of the third day there were thunders and lightning, and a thick
cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the
people in the camp trembled . . . . And Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke,
because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke of it went up
like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.” (Ex 19:16,18).
Is there any doubt the author believes
that the all holy God is approaching Israel to make it his own People?
Is there any doubt that the author of Acts sees the Spirit-filled Church
and parishes as the renewed People of God, approached by the same God through
Jesus Christ: “And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong
driving wind and it filled the entire house where they were. Then there
appeared to them tongues as of fire...”?
Here too in the Church and our
parish communities our sad history is reversed by God’s Spirit of inclusive
love. In order to speak each other’s language, we need no less than an
act of God. Our sad human story is the Tower of Babel revisited. (Gn 11:1-11)
We think we can come together, make strategies for human accomplishments,
and even acquire a name for ourselves. You know the story: “Come, let us
build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let
us make a name for ourselves. “ (Gn 11:4) But, without God’s intervention
on our behalf, we author our division, separation, and failure. “ ‘Come,
let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand
one another’s speech.’ So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over
the face of the earth, and they left off building the city.” (Gn 11:7-8)
The story of Babel is a wonderful symbol of human isolation symbolized
by the diversity of languages which divide and build barriers.
Acts proclaims that God has had
pity on our plight. God has sent the Holy Spirit through the risen Jesus
upon us who have been initiated into his Church. The Spirit gathers us
in his love and enables us to speak each other’s languages, the language
of hospitable welcome and inclusion. “And at the sound, the crowd gathered
and was bewildered, because all heard them speaking in their own language.”
Far from being Babel revisited, we have been made Babel reversed.
1 Cor reminds us of our boundary-breaking
unity where all labels of division are removed: “For in one Spirit we were
all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons,
and we were all given to drink of one spirit.” Yet the Spirit’s gifts in
all their variety shine in their use for the Church as body parts serve
the entire person: “As a body is one though it has many parts, and all
the parts, though many, are one body, so also Christ.”
John sees this renewed People of
God that we are, capable of speaking the universal language of love, gifted
with the Spirit’s graces, always being sent as Jesus was sent
(“As the Father has sent me, so
I send you”); always being “breathed on” by the Risen One, who gives his
Spirit; always empowered to preach the Gospel and to decide who is to be
admitted to the baptismal bath of forgiveness based on their reaction to
our preaching (“Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them.”)
What an agenda we have: reconciliation
of parish factions, finding our lost “common ground,” reconciling disenchanted
and lapsed Catholics, evangelizing our neighborhoods, finding new candidates
for the R.C.I.A. process. And the Pentecost Word and Eucharist say we can
do it all and more!
Questions for RENEW 2000 Small
Communities:
n What one area of your parish
needs the help of your small community? How will you try to help?
n Who are the most marginalized
in your parish? What type of outreach can you invent?
n Have you invited newly initiated
into your small community? Why not do so?
n What outreach does your small
community offer to lapsed Catholics?
It’s been a memorable, transforming
90 days. For the 40 days of Lent, we followed the crucified Christ,
mindful of his Passion now in our midst. For the three days of Triduum,
we followed Christ in the mystery of his dying and rising which is
our own dying and rising. For the 50 days of the Easter/Pentecost
season, we followed the Risen Christ, mindful of living as his Body
in the world.
Well, OK, as the seminarians remind
me, 40 + 3 + 50 does not equal 90, but you get the idea. For these
90 days, the central core of our faith, the dying and rising of Jesus
Christ, the Paschal Mystery, called us to conversion and challenged
us to live our baptismal promises. The music at Mission Dolores,
for example, the preaching at St. Pius, the art and environment at St.
Raphael’s Parish, the community outreach at St. Teresa’s Parish gathered
and guided us into the power of the new life we share with the Risen
Christ. Yes, it’s been a magnificent celebration!
From the Easter joy of the seven
Sundays of the Pentecost season, we will walk through another turning
point in the Church year. Next Sunday we begin the Sundays of the
Church year, 26 of them to be exact, beginning with the Solemnity
of the Holy Trinity (May 30) and the Solemnity of the Body and Blood
of Christ (June 6) and reaching all the way to the Solemnity of Christ
the King (Nov. 21).
Why would the Church call these
Sundays “Ordinary”? How could any Sunday be “Ordinary” for us who
gather to celebrate Christ’s dying and rising? A more accurate name
for this long stretch of Sundays would be “Sundays of the Church
Year.” “Ordinary” refers to counting the Sundays with ordinal numbers
(11th Sunday, 28th Sunday, 33rd Sunday, etc.). What seems like a commentary
on the routine quality of our lives (“Ordinary Time”) is just about counting.
Sunday, the first day of the week,
the day that is anything but ordinary because of the surpassing power
of Christ’s resurrection, is the subject of our next series of columns.
Fr. John Talesfore and I want to share with you some of the teaching
from the Apostolic Letter which Pope John Paul II wrote last Pentecost.
It is called “The Lord’s Day” (Dies Domini).
Questions about Sunday abound.
I’m sure you’ve heard many and you may have many yourself. Here are
some I’ve heard. “As long as I’m going to Mass, why not Tuesday?
Why Sunday Eucharist?” “As long as I’m praying, why not pray at home?
Why Sunday Eucharist?” “As long as I’m united with Christ in my heart,
why go to Mass? Why Sunday Eucharist?” All good questions.
Let me add some more. “What is
the tradition of Sunday in our Church? How do we celebrate this original
Christian feast day? How is this particular day “the Lord’s” in our
home, in our family, in our parish? Besides celebration of the Eucharist,
what else makes this day “the Lord’s”?
St. Paul’s words to the Corinthians
are a fine guide to understand the dynamic of Sunday. It is about
the body, just as Sunday is about the Body. St. Paul writes, “The
body is one and has many members, but all the members, many though
they are, are one body; and so it is with Christ.” Plunged into Christ’s
dying and rising by our baptism, we are indissolubly bound to Christ
and to every other member of his Body, whether their parish is in Colma
or Kentfield, Kosovo or Chiapas.
Sunday’s Gospel also gives us a
perfect description of the Sunday experience. “On the evening of
that first day of the week, even though the disciples had locked
the doors of the place where they were, Jesus came and stood before
them. ‘Peace be with you,’ he said.” Sunday: the first day of the week,
the disciples gathered together, the Risen Christ in their midst,
Christ’s own peace offered to us — yes, anything but ordinary.
St. Patrick Seminary, Menlo Park.
May 26 June 6: “10 Day Centering
Prayer Retreat,” Mercy Center, 2300 Adeline Dr., Burlingame. Call Brian
Anderson at (650) 340-7454.
June 4 6: For single women
18 35, at Sweetwater Villa, a weekend of prayer, spiritual direction
and talks by Father John Boettcher and Joseph Illo. Suggested donation
of $25. Call Sister Maria of the Trinity of the Little Sisters of the Poor
at (415) 751-6510.
June 12: “God of the Millennium”
with Blessed Virgin Mary Sister Marilyn Wilson, 9:30 a.m. 3:30 p.m.,
Vallombrosa Center, 250 Oak Grove Ave., Menlo Park. Call (415) 325-5614.
Cancer Prayer Group meets Thursdays
from 10:30 a.m. to noon at Mercy Center, 2300 Adeline Dr., Burlingame.
Call (650) 755-3364.
Taize Prayer Around the Cross
2nd Fridays at 8 p.m. at Presentation
Sisters Motherhouse Chapel, Turk and Masonic, SF. Call Sister Monica Miller,
PBVM at (415) 751-040 and at 7:30 p.m. at St. Luke Parish, 1111 Beach Park
Blvd., Foster City. Call (650) 345-6660.
3rd Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m., St.
Dominic Church, 2390 Bush St., SF. Call Delia Molloy at (415) 563-4280.
3rd Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. at Vallombrosa
Center, 250 Oak Grove Ave., Menlo Park. Call Sister Toni Longo, ASC at
(650) 325-5614.
1st Fridays at 8 p.m. at Mercy
Center, 2300 Adeline Dr., Burlingame. Call Mercy Sister Suzanne Toolan
at (650) 340-7452.
1st Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. at Old
St. Mary’s Cathedral, 660 California St. at Grant, SF. Call (415) 288-3809.
Ecumenical & Interreligious
May 23: Interfaith service and
prayer vigil for the people of the Balkans. Sponsored by the end-to-landmines
group Roots of Peace,4 p.m. at the SF Presidio Chapel. Part of 3-day landmine
awareness effort. Call Heidi Kuhn at (415) 258-9300.
Reunions
San Francisco’s Archbishop Riordan
High School celebrates 50 years in 1999-2000. School is in search of alumni
and Riordan memorabilia for display as well as volunteers for upcoming
activities. Call (415) 586-9190.
Are you an alumna/us of Our Lady
of Mt. Carmel Elementary School in Redwood City but not on the current
mailing list? Especially looking for members of classes 1948-49 Call Julia
Tollafield at (650) 366-8817.
The Class of 1950 from St. Peter’s
Academy and St. Peter’s Boys School is planning a 50th reunion. If you
were a member of that group, call Louise Johnson at (650) 358-0303 or Betty
Robertson at (415) 731-6328.
Class of 1979, Holy Name of Jesus
School, SF is organizing 20 year reunion. Class members may call Kathleen
Burke at (415) 566-8976.
Food & Fun
May 23: Irish American Day at 3COM
Park. Upper reserved seats $6, Cap Day for the first 30,000 fans, portion
of ticket price benefits Irish Arts Foundation, The Giants face Houston
Astros, game time 1:05 p.m. Call (415) 330-2528.
May 23: Mass and reception in honor
of Eugenia Carter, longtime teacher at St. Timothy Elementary School, San
Mateo at 9 a.m., St. Timothy Church, 1515 Dolan Ave., San Mateo. Call (650)
342-6567.
May 21, 22, 23: “Farewell Nineties,”
three-day festival at St. Kevin Parish, 704 Cortland Ave., SF. Food, fun,
games for all ages. Call (415) 648-5751 for tickets or more information.
May 22: 25th Anniversary celebration
of Fil-American Association of Star of the Sea Parish, SF, following 4:30
p.m. Mass. Filipino folk dances, dinner and dancing. $8 in advance/$10
at door. Call Lorna or Bud Feria at (415) 346-3093.
May 22: “Sock Hop” benefit for
Denis Murphy, Church of the Good Shepherd, 909 Oceana Blvd., Pacifica,
$20 donation suggested, 7:3011:30 p.m. Call (650) 355-2789.
May 24: The Booster Club of Notre
Dame High School, Belmont announces a fundraising Golf Tournament at Green
Hills CC, Millbrae. Shotgun tee off is at noon, dinner follows. Call Chris
Miller at (650) 595-1913, est. 255.
May 26: “Fashion by Primrose House,”
a special fashion show benefiting Catholic Charities Auxiliary of San Mateo
County. Auditorium of St. Bartholomew Parish, 600 Columbia Dr., San Mateo,
11 a.m. $15 ticket includes lunch and door prize. Call (650) 349-1162 or
(650) 692-4598.
May 29: Min-Sok an annual festival
celebrating Korean culture, 11 a.m. 4 p.m.with presentations of Korean
art, culture, and food. Korean Center, 1362 Post St., SF. Call (415) 441-1881.
June 6: Mass & Blessing of
new St. Paul Elementary School & Parish Hall, 29th St. and Church St.,
SF, 12:15 p.m. Archbishop William J. Levada presiding. Reception follows
in new building. Call (415) 648-7538.
June 4,5,6: Annual St. Pius Parish
Festival. Fun for all ages. Delicious food, exciting games, great people.
Fri., Sat., 12:30 10 p.m.; Sun., 1 9 p.m. 1100 Woodside Rd.
at Valota, Redwood City. Call (650) 361-1411.
Knights of Columbus of the Archdiocese
meet regularly and invite new membership. For information about Council
615, call Tony Blaiotta at (415) 661-0726; Dante Council, call Vito Corcia
at (415) 564-4449; Mission Council, call Paul Jobe at (415) 333-6197; Golden
Gate Council, call Mike Stilman at (415) 752-3641.
Second Saturdays: Handicapables
gather for Mass and lunch at St. Mary Cathedral, Gough and Geary St., SF,
at noon. Volunteer drivers always needed. Call (415) 584-5823.
Young Adults
Fall Fest ’99, the annual gathering
of Young Adults in the Archdiocese, can use your help. Volunteers interested
in assisting with the October 23 celebration should call (415) 675-5900.
Performance
May 21, 22, 23: Broadway’s “Pajama
Game” at Notre Dame des Victoires Elementary School, 659 Pine St., SF,
featuring the 8th grade class. May 21, 22 at 8 p.m. May 23 at 2 p.m. Tickets
$6. Seniors $2 at matinee only. Call (415) 421-0069.
July 18: The Golden Gate Men’s
Chorus performs at Old St. Mary’s Church, 660 California St. at Grant,
SF, 7 p.m. $15. Call (415) 668-GGMC.
Sundays in May: Concerts at St.
Mary Cathedral featuring various artists at 3:30 p.m. Gough and Geary Blvd.,
SF. Call (415) 567-2020 ext. 213.
Sundays in May: Concerts at St.
Francis Shrine by various artists, 4 p.m. Call (415) 983-0405.
Pilgrimages
Aug. 12-16: To the National Shrine
of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC with Archbishop William
J. Levada. For information, call the Office of Ethnic Ministries, (415)
565-3622.
September 1999: 45th National Rosary
Pilgrimage to Lourdes, call (301) 530-8963.
Volunteer Opportunities
Catholic Charities’ St. Joseph
Village can use donations of clothing, shoes, accessories, kitchen supplies,
diapers, linens etc. To volunteer to assist in this program that helps
homeless families become self-sufficient, call Kristen Rauda at (415) 575-4920,
ext. 223.
San Francisco’s St. Anthony Foundation
needs volunteers for its many outreach programs to the poor: (415) 241.2600.
Birthright needs people to work
with women faced with unplanned pregnancies. For more information, call
Mary Alba at (415) 664-9909.
San Mateo County’s Volunteer Center:
call (650) 342-0801. For San Francisco Volunteer Center, call (415) 982-8999.
Laguna Honda Hospital, SF is in
need of volunteers to serve as eucharistic ministers, lectors and chapel
escorts at Tuesday and Sunday morning Masses. CallSister Miriam at (415)
664-1580, ext. 4-2422.
Most Holy Redeemer AIDS Support
Group is looking for volunteers to provide practical and emotional support
to people living with AIDS. For information, call Milton Headings at (415)
863-1581.
St. Vincent de Paul Society of
St. Mary Cathedral invites you to join them in service to the poor: (415)
563-0863.
Women in Community Service, seeks
people to assist women making the transition from public assistance to
the workforce. Call Gwen at (415) 397-3592.
Bernal Heights Neighborhood Elders
Support Team helps seniors remain at home with rides, food delivery and
companionship. Interested volunteers should call Lisa Lopez Coffey at (415)
206-9177.
Project Linus, a group supplying
special blankets for seriously ill and traumatized children, needs blanketeers
to knit, crochet and quilt. Call (650) 589-6767.
Women Against Rape Crisis Counselor
training begins May 27. Call Janelle at (415) 861-2024.
Prayer/Devotions
May 31: Memorial Day Mass, 11 a.m.,
at Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese, Holy Cross, Colma; Holy Cross,
Menlo park; Mt. Olivet, San Rafael. All are invited. Holy Cross, Colma
offers free shuttle service from main gate to Holy Cross Mausoleum from
10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Call (650) 756-2060.
June 6: Celebrate the Feast of
Corpus Christi with the cloistered Dominican Sisters of Corpus Christi
Monastery, 215 Oak Grove Ave., Menlo Park, 2:30 p.m. Mass concludes with
Eucharistic procession and Benediction.
2nd Sundays: Pray for Priests,
3:30 p.m. at Star of the Sea Parish, 4420 Geary Blvd. at 8th Ave., SF.
Call (415) 751-0450.
Centering Prayer: Mondays, 7 p.m.-
8:15 p.m., Most Holy Redeemer Church, 100 Diamond St., SF. Call Sr. Cathy
Cahur at (415) 553-8776; Tuesdays, 7:30 p.m. 8:30 p.m., Star of the
Sea Church, 4420 Geary Blvd., SF. Call Chuck Cannon at (415) 752-8439;
Saturdays, 10 a.m. 12 noon, St. Cecilia Church, 2555 17th Ave., SF.
Call Coralis Salvador at (415) 753-1920.
Mass in American Sign Language
is celebrated each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. at St. Benedict Parish, 1801 Octavia
(between Pine and California) in SF. A sign language Mass is celebrated
at St. Anthony Parish, 3500 Middlefield Rd., Menlo Park on the third Saturday
of the month at 10:30 a.m. and later that day at 4 p.m. in the chapel of
Marin Catholic High School, 675 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. (at Bon Air Rd.),
Kentfield. For information, call St. Benedict at (415) 567-9855 (voice)
or (415) 567-0438 (TDD)
Fridays at 3 p.m., Divine Mercy
Devotions; Saturdays at 12:15 p.m., Franciscan Marian Devotion, Shrine
of St. Francis of Assisi, 610 Vallejo St. (at Columbus), SF. For information,
call (415) 983-0405.
Blessed Sacrament Exposition
Church of the Nativity, 210 Oak
Grove Ave., Menlo Park, 24 hours everyday, (650) 322-3013. St. Sebastian
Church, corner of Bon Air Rd. and Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Greenbrae, M
F 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. in Adoration Chapel, (415) 461-0704. St.
Agnes Church, 1025 Masonic (near Page) SF, Friday, 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., (415)
487-8560. Our Lady of Angels Church, 1721 Hillside Dr., Burlingame, M
F after 8 a.m. Mass until 7 p.m. St. John the Evangelist Church, 98 Bosworth
St., SF, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. M F. in Parish Center Chapel, (415) 334-4646.
St. Isabella Church, One Trinity Way, San Rafael, Fridays, 9:30 a.m.
5 p.m. Our Lady of Loretto Church, 1806 Novato Blvd., Novato, Fridays 9:30
a.m. 6 p.m., 1st Fridays 9:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. Saturday. St. Bruno
Church, 555 W. San Bruno Ave., San Bruno, 24 hours everyday, Our Lady of
Guadalupe Chapel. St. Francis of Assisi Shrine, 610 Vallejo St. at Columbus,
SF, Fridays following 12:15 p.m. Mass until 4:15 p.m. 2nd Saturdays at
St. Matthew Church, One Notre Dame Way, San Mateo with Nocturnal Adoration
Society of San Mateo County. Call Lynn King at (650) 349-0498 or Jim McGill
at (650) 574-3918 for times.
Family Life
July 1 4: Golden Jubilee
of the Christian Family Movement, University of Notre Dame, Indiana, call
Center for Continuing Education at (219) 631-6691.
Introductory sessions of Seton
Medical Center’s Natural Family Planning program will be held through this
fall.. The office also offers educational programs for youth on topics
including the changes that occur during puberty and the responsibility
of relationships. Health educators are also available to speak about NFP,
infertility, adolescent sexuality, preparing for pregnancy, perinatal loss
and drug abuse in pregnancy. Call (650) 301-8896.
Retrouvaille, a program for troubled
marriages, has upcoming weekends. Call Lolette or Anthony Campos at (415)
893-1005.
Second Collections
June 13: Catholic University of
America
June 27: Peter’s Pence Holy
Father
Religious Education/Enrichment
May 26: “Why Be Catholic?” series
at Epiphany Parish, 827 Vienna St. at Amazon, SF, 7:30 9 p.m. May
26 Archbishop William J. Levada. Call (415) 242-9087.
May 24: “Women as Leaders of the
Ecumenical Movement” by Father P. Gerard O’Rourke, Director, Office of
Interreligious Affairs at monthly meeting of SF County Council of Catholic
Women, 7:30 p.m.,Corpus Christi Parish Hall, Alemany and Santa Rosa, SF.
All women are welcome to attend. Call Mary Ann Bouey at (415) 753-0704.
June 4: Catholic Marin Breakfast
Club welcomes Jack Hayes. 7 a.m. Mass, talk and breakfast follow. Call
Sandy Hufford at (415) 454-3758.
Divorced, Separated
For information about ministry
available to divorced and separated persons in the Archdiocese, call (415)
273-5521.
Catholic Adult Singles Association
of Marin meets for support and activities. For information, call Don at
(415) 883-5031; Peter at (415) 897-4634.
For information about Beginning
Experience, a group assisting those experiencing loss to move on to the
future with hope, call (415) 616-6547.
Social Justice/Advocacy
May 22: “Restoring Justice: A Response
to the Death Penalty and Prison System” featuring Sister Helen Prejean,
author of “Dead Man Walking,” 8:30 a.m. 4 p.m., St. Joseph the Worker
Church, 1640 Addison St. at Jefferson, Berkeley, $12 in advance, $15 at
door includes lunch/drinks. No one turned away for lack of funds. Call
Faye Butler at (510) 791-8136 or Bay Area Pax Christi at (510) 832-3776.
Information about the Catholic
Business Network is available by calling Father Labib Kobti at (415) 665-1600.
The CBN meets regularly over breakfast to discuss living one’s faith in
the marketplace.
Lectures/Discussions/Displays
June 5: “Spirituality at Work,”
a support of business people, 10 a.m. 4 p.m., St. Gregory Nyssen
Church, 500 De Haro St., SF. Call Mark Lodico at (415) 252-1667.
June 3 through July 3: “William
Wheeler: Town & Country Landscapes of Golden Gate Park and Sonoma County
at George Krevsky Gallery, 77 Geary St., SF. Call (415) 397-9748.
“Contrary to the impression created
by CBS’ reporting, the Jesuit School of Theology is not named as a party
in the lawsuit,” stated Jesuit Father Joseph P. Daoust.
“The school was not served in the
legal process, and the school has not even had a copy of the complaint
in the lawsuit. The school has not been contacted, at the time of the complaint
or even up to now, by the complainant,” he said.
JSTB’s president from 1987-95,
Jesuit Father Thomas Gleeson, is one of the suit’s defendants.
The lawsuit was dismissed by the
Federal District Court for the Northern District of California on May 15,
1998. The former Jesuit, John Bollard, has since filed an appeal with the
Ninth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals, asking for $1 million
in damages. The case is scheduled to be heard on June 17 in San Francisco,
according to Bollard's attorney, Mary Patricia Hough with the law firm
of Moss and Hough in San Francisco.
Father Daoust said that “none of
the activities alleged in the complaint of the lawsuit are alleged to have
happened at JSTB; they allegedly occurred elsewhere before the complainant
first came to JSTB.”