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October 17, 2005 
VOL.
43, NO. 18Oakland,
CA
Father Vincent Scott named pastor
at Assumption Parish, San Leandro
When Father
Vincent Scott moved to Assumption Parish in San Leandro in January he
went there strictly to be on sabbatical.
After 15 years as pastor of St. John Vianney Parish in Walnut Creek, he
wanted time to re-charge his batteries, both physically and spiritually.
He celebrated Mass, preached, and began to develop a bond with the parish,
a tight-knit congregation of 1500 families who know one another.
“That is a big deal,” said the priest. “Older people
know children in the school and vice versa. The school faculty know long-time
parishioners. It is a different experience.”
He also saw a parish with “a lot of good will” and generosity
with their time and talent. Parishioners volunteer at a local hospice
and health care facilities and are active in the parish’s St. Vincent
de Paul Society.
So when he was asked to consider becoming the parish’s pastor, his
answer was “yes.”
“I knew what I was getting into – and I don’t mean that
in a bad sense,” said the priest, with a laugh. “I knew the
parish was a great place to be and I chose to be here.” His assignment
as pastor began on Sept. 8.
A graduate of St. Augustine School in Oakland, Father Scott, 56, attended
St. Joseph’s High School Seminary and St. Patrick’s College
Seminary, both in Mountain View, then enrolled at St. Patrick’s
Seminary in Menlo Park, where he earned a Master’s in Divinity Degree.
He was ordained at St. Francis de Sales Cathedral in Oakland in 1975.
He has served as an associate pastor or parochial vicar at parishes in
Oakland and San Leandro and as pastor at St. Charles Borromeo Parish in
Livermore (1985 – 1990) and at St. John Vianney.
Father Scott brings to his new assignment deeply felt experiences and
profound wisdom that he gained “studying the human spirit”
during his 20 years as a parish priest as well as 15 years of providing
pastoral care at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, which is the
area’s trauma center. His hospital work “made me a very realistic
man,” he said. “It taught me how fragile life is and what
a gift it is.”
Reflecting on his years as pastor and chaplain, he said, “You see
not only the joyful times – baptisms and weddings and First Communions
and Confirmations – you also see the other side, suffering. You’d
better be comfortable with your own soul in terms of suffering and its
value, otherwise it’s going to be very difficult. I don’t
give answers. I give my ear and my heart.”
There are no easy answers when tragedy strikes, he said. When he counsels
a person who has lost their longtime spouse, for example, he sees his
role as one of presence.
“I have never in 20 years told a person, ‘Well, this is God’s
will; you need to accept it.’ What are you saying to the other person,
‘I am not willing to enter into your suffering’? You give
them a little religious pill and it keeps you out of their lives, really.
You have to enter into their suffering. That’s my philosophy on
ministry: you enter not only into their joys, but you enter into their
suffering, too.”
Father Vincent Scott
