January 23, 2006VOL. 44, NO. 2Oakland, CA

Sportsmanship Award
Eighth grade CYO volleyball players from St. Bede, Hayward, St. Felicitas, San Leandro, and St. Barnabas, Alameda show their delight after receiving the R.C. Camp Sportsmanship Award at the conclusion of the Negri Tournament, Jan. 15. Twenty-four teams displayed their volleyball skills at the annual event. The sportsmanship award, named for the late R.C. Camp, a CYO referee, is usually given to one team, but this year three teams were honored. The seventh-grade teams from St. Bede and St. Patrick, Rodeo, also won the sportsmanship award.

Mervyns supports Nursery
The Bay Area Crisis Nursery in Concord has an extra $15,000 in its budget this year to help families in crisis, thanks to Mervyns department store. Last month, employees at the company’s corporate headquarters in Hayward chipped in cash to help the nursery and to buy holiday gifts for 100 Bay Area children. Sister Ann Weltz, nursery director, accepted the donations during an annual gift-wrapping party.
For the past 24 years, BACN has been caring for youngsters from birth to age 11 whose families are in crisis or under stress. Its primary purpose is to prevent abuse and neglect of young children.

Around the Parishes

Kudos for Father Larry Young, pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Rodeo, where he celebrated his 25th anniversary to the priesthood on Jan. 17 with a special Mass.

If you live near Piedmont Ave. in Oakland and hear church bells ringing every Sunday afternoon at 12:15 p.m., you can trace the sounds to St. Leo Church. Every Sunday, the parish tolls its bells 30 times for those who have died during the last week in Iraq and Afghanistan. Father Tim Johnson, pastor, and the parish staff invite their neighbors to pause for a moment and pray for peace.

Members of St. Mary Magdalen Parish in Berkeley recently donated more than $600 to Corazon, a nonprofit group which builds houses for the poor in Mexico.

Adults who have been preparing for Confirmation will receive the sacrament, Jan. 29, at St. Anthony Church in Oakland.

Tonight (Jan. 23) St. Michael and St. Charles parishes in Livermore begin a seven-week study of the Gospel of John from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at St. Charles Church, 1315 Lomitas Avenue. The study is open to anyone interested in learning more about the meaning of the scripture passages. A $10 donation for materials is requested. Call Julie at (925) 447-4549 to reserve a place.

St. Margaret Mary Parish in Oakland continues to host the monthly hourly hour for priests, led by Father Matthew Bloomer of the Prelature of Opus Dei.

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Around the Schools

With Catholic Schools Week about to begin (Jan. 29) elementary schools throughout the diocese are planning a host of activities.

Assumption School in San Leandro will have an open house following the 9 a.m. Sunday Mass, with sign-ups for prospective kindergarteners, a Monday “Buddy Bingo” as well as competition and Valentine making for a local convalescent home, and a family heritage celebration and other activities throughout the week. Guest readers will be on campus for a book appreciation day and friends of students will be invited to a special prayer service and lunch.

Students at St. Edward School in Newark will bring their grandparents to class on Feb. 2 to join in classroom activities, attend a school Mass and eat lunch together.

In Fremont, St. Joseph School will sponsor an open house on Jan. 29 from 10 to 11 a.m.

St. Jerome School in El Cerrito is inviting parents of prospective students to an open house, also 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Jan. 29.

Fifty Bishop O’Dowd High students traveled recently from Oakland to Washington, D.C. to take part in a week-long Close Up Foundation government studies program. They attended seminars on Capitol Hill and met government officials, political experts, lobbyists and a representative of the Washington press corps to learn more about the federal process.

Dominican University in San Rafael has joined with Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet School to form a new academic program leading to a bachelor of fine arts degree in dance. The courses will combine Dominican’s liberal arts education with LINES dance training. Beginning in fall 2006, the program will offer classes in San Rafael and downtown San Francisco. It will be the second such degree program anywhere in the country, and the only one on the west coast. The other is the Fordham University/Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in New York City.

Congratulations are in order for Richmond’s Salesian High School Chieftains. Not only did this year’s varsity team capture its third straight Bay Football League Crown, but it also won its first North Coast Section Class A Football championship. The Chieftains finished the season 12-1 with a 6-0 record in the Bay Football League.

Students at De La Salle High in Concord rolled up their sleeves, Jan. 18, to donate blood to the American Red Cross. Red Cross officials say the state’s blood supply has reached dangerously low levels.

Aubrey La Lumandiere, an eighth grader at St. Joseph School in Fremont, has received the Marty Mart Scholarship Award given annually to a CYO participant. In her application, La Lumandiere said CYO has helped her develop a positive attitude towards sports. “If somebody in my team missed a ball, we would be there to pick that person up both physically and mentally. If I were to make a silly mistake, our team would laugh about it together. As I grew to be a better teammate, I realized that it didn’t matter if we won or lost. What mattered was if we had improved individually or as a team and, most importantly, if we had fun.”

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Names, News, Notes

Oakland seminarians Lee Champoochan, Jim Sullivan and Peter Vo, all studying at St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park, will be ordained as transitional deacons by San Francisco Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius C. Wang on Jan. 28 at 9:30 a.m. at St. Pius X Church in Redwood City

Anne Symens-Bucher, who has worked for 25 years in the Franciscan Office of Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation at St. Elizabeth Parish in Oakland, was honored by the Franciscan Friars of the Santa Barbara Province on Jan. 10 for her efforts in the areas of social and environmental justice. Symens-Bucher is founding director of the St. Elizabeth School Garden of Learning.

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