International meeting in Belmont
Notre Dame Sisters Louise O’Reilly (left),
Joan Burke (center) and Kathryn Keenan were California’s delegates
at the General Chapter of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, July
10-31, at Notre Dame University in Belmont. Sisters from 14 countries
attended the chapter, which occurs every six years, to set future
direction and goals. |
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Honor student
Somya Sharma, a junior at Moreau Catholic High
in Hayward, has been selected for membership in the National Society
of High School Scholars. David Prisk, a teacher at Moreau, nominated
Sharma for the honor, which recognizes students for academic performance,
leadership, motivation, attitude and cooperative spirit. |
New Eagle Scout
Jonathan David Palomares of St. Raymond Parish
in Dublin has earned the rank of Eagle Scout. He organized a clothing
drive for a local women’s shelter as his Eagle project, collecting
used winter coats along with new pajamas, robes and other sleep apparel.
Palomares belongs to San Francisco Bay Area Council, Troop 905. |
Building leaders
Student council members from elementary schools in
the Oakland Diocese show their enthusiasm during the 28th annual student
leadership conference, June 23-27, at Holy Spirit School in Fremont. The
conference honored three adults — Kathy Gannon-Briggs, Joe Siino and
Rocco Enea — for more than 25 years of service by establishing a scholarship
for students needing financial assistance to participate in the program.
Become a lay missionary
Lay women and lay men — single, couples and families
— are invited to share their skills and live their faith for three
years by joining the Lay Mission-Helpers and Mission Doctors
Association. Both organizations offer opportunities for Catholic lay
persons to live and work in Africa, Latin America, and the Pacific.
Bishops from Cameroon, Guatemala, Ecuador, Kenya, the Marshall Islands,
Sierra Leone, Peru, Tanzania, and Uganda are requesting additional help.
A four-month residential training program in Los Angeles is provided before
lay missioners begin their work. For more information: www.LayMissionHelpers.org or
http://www.MissionDoctors.org.
Around
the Parishes
Father Mathew Vellankal was installed as the
seventh pastor of Holy Spirit Parish in Fremont on June 29 by Father
George Mockel, vicar general of the Oakland Diocese. The liturgical
celebration included six Indian liturgical dancers, 16 Knights of Columbus
color guards, five priests and seven deacons. The Prayers of the Faithful
were led by seven people in different ethnic dress, representing the diversity
of the parish.
The choir from Oakland’s St. Benedict Parish raised their
voices in song with other local choirs during the Second Annual AIDS Gospel
Concert for Zimbabwe last month at Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland.
St. Joan of Arc Parish in San Ramon continues to lend support to
the local East Bay Habitat for Humanity affiliate. Parish members will
participate in “monthly group build days” on the first Saturday
of each month through the end of the year. In recent months volunteers
have worked on an eight-home project in Alameda, the Edes Avenue project
in East Oakland, and a single home rehab in Bay Point.
Members at Queen of All Saints Parish in Concord contributed $1,180
to the Get On The Bus, a program which brings children to visit their
parents who are incarcerated in California prisons.
St. John the Baptist Parish in El Cerrito dedicated its annual
summer series to St. Paul on the occasion of the 2,000th anniversary of
his birth. Father Ray Ogbemure, in residence at the parish, opened
the series with an account of the person of St. Paul. The following weekend
Father John Maxwell, pastor, spoke about St. Paul’s letters
to the Thessalonians. Father Hugo Franca, associate pastor, concluded
the series with a discussion on St. Paul’s letters to the Corinthians.
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Around
the Schools
Congratulations to St. Mary’s High School in
Berkeley which has been honored as the 2007-2008 IV State School
of the Year for Athletics by CalHi Sports. The school achieved this
first-time honor because of its strength in three sports: boys basketball,
girls cross country and boys cross county. CalHi Sports also selected
De La Salle High School in Concord as Special Mention State School
of the Year.
More news from St. Mary’s High: Elise Calonico and Genevieve
Pezzola, 2008 graduates, were selected to receive $1500 scholarships
from the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program, which recognizes exceptional
graduating high school students who show promise of continued academic
excellence.
Sixty educators gathered at St. Mary’s College in Moraga
July 20 — 25 for the western session of a national Lasallian Leadership
Institute. Sponsored by the Brothers of the Christian Schools, the program
had participation from schools and apostolates administered by the religious
community across the country.
Eugenia Hunter, president of All Saints Young Ladies Institute
#166, presented the YLI’s annual $500 scholarship award to Toni
Coaston, a graduate of All Saints School in Hayward. Coaston
is going to Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland this fall.
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Among the Religious
After six years of formation, Marynella and Peter
Burkard, members of St. Joseph Parish in Pinole; Monique
Salgado, a member at St. Ambrose Parish in Berkeley and Father
Paul Devine, retired priest of the Diocese of Oakland, made their
profession of Definitive Promises of poverty, chastity, & obedience
as part of the St. Elijah Community of Discalced Carmelite Seculars
on July 20.
These priests have been assigned as parochial vicars in the Oakland Diocese:
Salesian Father Thomas Poovelickal, from India to St. Ambrose Parish
in Berkeley, effective July 10; Father Aidan McAleenan, from Christ
the King Parish in Pleasant Hill to Holy Spirit in Fremont, effective
Sept. 1; and Father Christopher Berbena, from St. John Vianney
in Walnut Creek to Christ the King in Pleasant Hill; effective Sept. 1.
Marianist Brother Thomas Farnsworth, a graduate of Holy Names
University in Oakland and the California School of Professional Psychology,
recently professed his first vows as a member of the Society of Mary.
He has a doctorate in psychology and worked in the counseling department
at Archbishop Riordan High School in San Francisco before joining
the Marianist order. He currently teaches undergraduate psychology courses
and works in the counseling center at the University of Dayton, a Marianist
institution.
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Names, News, Notes
The Golden Gate Boys Choir and Bellringers (GGBC)
invites boys, age 7 and older, to consider joining the choir, which is
a member of Pueri Cantores International, the official youth choral organization
of the Church. Boys and their parents can attend a general rehearsal in
Oakland at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Center on Aug. 30, Sept. 6 or Sept.
20, from 4 — 6 p.m. Other rehearsal sites are in Alameda, Hayward
and San Francisco. More information: (510) 887-4311 or www.ggbc.org.
Congratulations to Jessica and Mario Feusier, longtime members
of St. Callistus Parish in El Sobrante, who will celebrate their
60th wedding anniversary on Aug. 8.
Congratulations also to Betty and Al Lewis, members at St. Michael
Parish in Livermore, on the occasion of their 52nd wedding anniversary.
The St. Vincent de Paul Society of Alameda County was recently
awarded a $91,000 transitional employment grant for its Kitchen of Champions
Culinary Program. The funds, approved by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors
in June, will provide soft skills training, employee placement and retention
case management for those enrolled in the culinary job training program
for low-income adults.
Be green and recycle your electronic waste for free. Call the Society
of St. Vincent de Paul of Alameda County for a free electronic waste
collection. Accepted items include monitors, computers, televisions, laptops,
VCR players, shredders, radios, stereos and cell phones. For questions
or more information, call (510) 638-7600 or visit http://www.svdp-alameda.org.
What’s on EWTN? Among The Eternal Word Television Network
(EWTN) offerings in August is “Edith Stein: St. Teresa Benedicta
of the Cross” which examines the life of the renowned philosopher
and convert from Judaism, who died as a Carmelite nun in a Nazi gas chamber.
The program airs Aug. 9 at 11 a.m.
In a another special telecast the Francis-can Missionaries of the Eternal
Word will celebrate the Solemn Mass of the Assumption at their monastery
chapel in Alabama, Aug. 15 at 5 a.m., 9 a.m., 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. EWTN is
carried 24 hours a day on Comcast Ch. 229; DISH Satellite Ch. 261; and
DirecTV Ch. 370; in Alameda on Comcast Ch. 30 and Alameda Power Ch. 26.
For more programming information, visit www.ewtn.com.
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