BBQ fest at Mercy Center
John Christian, president of the Oakland location
of the Order of Malta-Western Association, sits with Peggy Fink during
the 15th annual Knights of Malta barbeque for residents of Mercy Retirement
and Care Center in Oakland. The Knights and Dames joined residents
for Mass prior to the outdoor feast Sept. 19 in the Bishop Cummins
courtyard. |
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Rally for peace
More than 60 people gathered at St. Mary’s
Center in Oakland, Sept. 21, to observe International Day of Peace
with prayers, songs and the planting of a peace pole in St. Andrew’s
Park on San Pablo Avenue. Father John Maxwell, pastor of St. John
Parish in El Cerrito, led the opening prayer. St. Mary’s Center,
located at the former site of St. Andrew-St. Joseph Church, provides
outreach services to homeless and low-income seniors, children and
families.
TOM LOWE PHOTO |
Prayer shawl ministry
The Catholic Community of Pleasanton has begun
a Prayer Shawl Ministry at its St. Elizabeth Seton Church location. Each
month, knitters and crocheters create warm, comforting shawls for individuals
who are suffering from cancer, the death of a loved one, or other grief-filled
life events.
As the artisans engage in their work, they offer prayers for the future
recipients, said Rickie Murphey, co-founder of the new group. “It’s
like giving a person a big hug or an angel’s wings.” The next
session will be held on Oct. 8 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. and is open to all
interested needle workers. The completed shawls will be given out at a
later date.
The Prayer Shawl Ministry has spread nationwide to churches since 1998,
when Janet Bristow and Victoria Galo, graduates of the Hartford Seminary
of Applied Feminist Spirituality, combined their love of knitting/crocheting
with a spiritual practice which reaches out to those in need of comfort
and solace. Medical Missionary Sister Miriam Therese Winter, author and
musician, heads the spirituality program at the seminary.
Diocesan science fair
St. Joseph/Notre Dame High School in Alameda
will sponsor the first-ever diocesan-wide science fair for seventh and
eighth graders in early February 2010. Open to students in the diocese’s
40 elementary schools, the fair will be held in SJND’s Anthony V.
Aiello Science Center.
Initiated by SJND principal Simon Chiu, the day-long event will feature
science presentations and demonstrations, lunch and an awards ceremony.
Local college and university science educators will serve as judges. Winners
will move on to complete in the San Francisco Bay Area Science Fair competition
in March.
In explaining his reasons for proposing the fair, Chiu noted that the
U.S. is currently importing scientific talent from other countries instead
of cultivating its own. “With all of our educational resources available
today, there is no excuse for that,” he said.
The Science Fair will join two already established diocesan venues for
students — the Lillian Black Festival of the Arts and the Young
Authors’ Faire.
Around
the Parishes
St. Albert the Great Parish in Alameda will have
a living Rosary in the Grotto of the Blessed Mother on Oct. 13 at 6 p.m.
A potluck reception will follow in the parish hall.
“Finding Our Voices: Women, Wisdom and Faith” by Patricia
O’Connell Killen is the topic of a book series at St. Charles
Borromeo Parish in Livermore. The eight-week series, facilitated by
Betty Levin, began Sept. 29 and continues each Tuesday through Nov. 17
from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Contact Betty at lvnlvm@comcast.net
for more information.
Footage from the 20th anniversary celebration of the Traditional Latin
Mass at Oakland’s St. Margaret Mary Parish held Sept. 20
has been uploaded at www.sanctamargaritamaria.blogspot.com. Oakland Bishop
Salvatore Cordileone was the celebrant at the Pontifical High Mass.
To honor the Year of the Priest, Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Fremont
hosted an ice cream social for its youth on Oct. 4. The gathering included
vocation stories.
St. Charles Parish in Livermore has added a Sunday evening Mass to
its weekend schedule. The 5:30 pm. Liturgy began Oct. 4. On the last Sunday
of each month, the evening Mass will focus on youth.
Members of the St. Leander Conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society
participated in the Sept. 26 Walk for the Poor at Moreau Catholic High
School in Hayward. The San Leandro parish asked parishioners to support
the walkers by making pledges after Mass on Sept. 20.
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Around
the Schools
Congratulations to Bishop O’Dowd High School
seniors Cary Appeldorn, Kate Kelly and Raquel Zepeda. The
Oakland students are among 16,000 semifinalists in the 55th annual National
Merit Scholarship Program.
Bishop O’Dowd is hosting an information night about the school
at the Alameda home of some O’Dowd parents, Oct. 8, from 7 p.m.
— 8:30 p.m. For details, contact Tyler Kreitz, tkreitz@bishopodowd.org.
Call: (510) 577-9100, ext. 312.
A new memorial scholarship in honor of Holy Names Sister Rita Caulfield
has been created at Holy Names High School in Oakland to help finance
the education of students interested in business careers. Alum Barbara
Lacher, class of 1959, explaining the reason for starting the scholarship,
recalled that the nun taught business classes and directed students into
practical skills leading successfully to jobs. Sister Caulfield would
have been 90 years old on Sept. 23, the day the scholarship was announced.
To donate, contact Kathryn Moir at (510) 450-1110, ext. 118 or kmoir@hnhsoakland.org.
St. Mary’s College in Moraga is hosting an Oct. 17 conference
on leadership and social justice that will help Bay Area college students
become agents of positive social change. Wayne Meisel, president of the
Bonner Foundation, and Raj Jayadev, founder of Silicon Valley De-Bug,
are the keynote speakers.
St. Clement School in Hayward kicked off its 50th anniversary celebrations
with an open house during the parish’s annual festival, Sept. 26,
that included an alumni reception and an opportunity to create ceramic
tiles for the school’s legacy wall. The next anniversary event is
Nov. 5, the 50th day of school this year. Teachers and students are planning
a 1950s’ dress-up day and an experience of the classrooms as they
were in 1959.
“The Wounded Body of Christ and the Modern Social Conscience”
is the topic of the Graduate Theological Union’s annual Dillenberger
Lecture Oct. 22 at 6 p.m. Jesuit Father Terrence Dempsey, director
of the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art at St. Louis University, and
May O’Rourke, Jay Professor of Art History and Religion at
St. Louis University, will be the speakers. The lecture takes place at
the GTU library in Berkeley.
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Names, News, Notes
The Diocese of San Jose formally initiated its
new Catholic Green Initiative of Santa Clara County, on Oct. 4, the feast
of St. Francis, to promote environmental stewardship throughout the diocese.
The coalition, which consists of Catholic Charities, Santa Clara University
and the Presentation Retreat and Conference Center, joins a growing list
of Catholic groups taking the St. Francis Pledge to care for God’s
creation and the poor.
Msgr. John McCracken, former pastor of St. Anne Parish in Walnut
Creek, was honored at a special Mass at St. Isidore Parish in Danville.
The happy occasion marked Msgr. McCracken’s 65 years as a priest.
Augustinian Father Paul Quante, parochial vicar of Our Lady of
Grace Parish in Castro Valley, will celebrate the 25th anniversary of
his ordination on Oct. 17 at the 11 a.m. Mass.
Congratulations to St. Michael, Livermore, parishioners Dick and Peggy
Boerger who celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary on Sept. 17,
and Tom and Jackie Heise who celebrated their 46th anniversary
on Sept. 21.
Ann Richnavsky, cantor at St. Mary Parish in Walnut Creek,
recently won a radio contest sponsored by KDFC. Her reward? Singing the
Star Spangled Banner Sept. 19 at A T&T Park in San Francisco for the
opening of the San Francisco Opera’s virtual presentation of “Il
Trovatore.”
A weekend for Widowed, Separated and Divorced Catholics will be held Oct.
23-25 at Vallombrosa Retreat Center in Menlo Park. Contact La Verne
at (650) 355-3978. or e-mail: SJBeginExp@aol.com.
Married couples are invited to attend a weekend session of Worldwide
Marriage Encounter, Nov. 20-22, at the Sheraton Hotel in Pleasanton.
Contact Joe and Sue Talarico at (925) 680-7767 or register online by Oct.
28 at www.rekindleyourmarriage.org.
Interested in an introduction to the charismatic experience for Catholics?
The diocesan Catholic Charismatic Renewal Office is hosting a Charismatic
Healing Mass, Oct. 17, at St. Elizabeth Seton Church, 4001
Stoneridge Drive in Pleasanton from 7:30 – 10 p.m.
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