November 10, 2006

Jerusalem church leader says U.S. could guarantee Israel’s survival

Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper

By Paul Jeffrey

GLOBAL POVERTY, page 4

ISRAEL’S SURVIVAL, page 8

(CNS PHOTO/MOHAMMED SALEM, REUTERS)

efforts to alleviate poverty have been frustrated by “the impact of malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases.”

Hilary Benn, the British secretary for international development, said, “Every year up to three million children die from diseases that could be prevented by vaccines that are available now or could be in the near future.”

The launch of the bonds, Benn said, will ensure that the GAVI Alliance — formerly called the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization — will have “long-term, predictable funding” to immunize children and improve health care in the world’s poorest countries and promote the development of new vaccines.

The bonds project hopes to raise $4

JERUSALEM (CNS) — As violence increased in the Holy Land, the top Catholic official in Jerusalem said the survival of Israel could be guaranteed if the U.S. government were to change its policy toward the region.

“The main question for the U.S. administration and for Israel is survival,” said Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem during an interview with Catholic journalists from the United States. “But if the U.S. wants Israel to survive, to be recognized, then it should take measures to surround Israel with friends.

But current U.S. policy is surrounding Israel with enemies. That’s not the way to protect your friend.”

Sabbah made his comments one day after Israeli forces moved into the Gaza Strip on Nov. 1 in an effort to halt rocket assaults on southern Israel. Israeli forces ended a bloody week-long operation in the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun early Tuesday, Nov. 7, leaving behind a raw path of destroyed homes, uprooted trees and streets muddied with sewage water from pipes destroyed by tanks and bulldozers.

Nearly 50 Palestinians, most of them militants, and an Israeli soldier were killed in the offensive. But hours after the troops pulled out, militants began firing rockets again from a field in the town.

There were no reports of injuries.

Patriarch Sabbah said the United States and Israel were provoking conflict and that the Palestinians were reacting to Israeli oppression.

“They (Palestinians) are not terrorists, they are people who are living under oppression and who are reacting,” said the patriarch, adding that some do not react at all and “go on living their lives in despair and humiliation and poverty.”

The patriarch said some militia groups do “react with violence, including terrorist actions, killing innocents here and there.”

However, he said that “the Israelis and the Americans say these Palestinians are terrorists because from their own soul they want the destruction of Israel. But that’s wrong.

“These people do not want to destroy

Palestinian relatives of a 16-year-old youth mourn at his funeral in the Gaza Strip Nov. 6. Witnesses said the teen was killed that day when an Israeli aircraft fired a missile into a town in the northern part of the Gaza territory.

Targeting global poverty Pope buys first bond supporting children’s immunizations

By Catholic News Service LONDON — Pope Benedict XVI was the official first buyer of a multi-government bond supporting a campaign to immunize 500 million children in the world’s poorest countries.

Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, received the pope’s $1,000 bond during a Nov. 7 ceremony in London.

Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, U2 singer Bono, singer-relief concert organizer Bob Geldof and leaders of Britain’s Muslim, Hindu and Sikh communities also participated in the ceremony and purchased bonds from the International Finance Facility for Immunization.

The finance facility is an international development funding project supported by the governments of Great Britain, France, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Spain, South Africa and Brazil and by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Speaking at the ceremony, Cardinal Martino said the pope “is pleased to help light the way for others who might also wish to join him in empowering those living in poverty to take an active role in providing themselves and their family the opportunity to build a better life.”

“It is the hope of Pope Benedict that the participation by the church in this program will help to inspire others to take the step toward concrete action,” he said.

In too many of the world’s least-developed countries, Cardinal Martino said,

INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION ‘On the Street’ . . . . . . . . . . 2 Rich in Oil, yet poor. . . . . . 3 Commentary & letters . 12-13

News-in-brief

Scripture & reflection . . . 14

~ Pages 4-5 ~

‘Passage to eternal life’ . . . . 15 Datebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Restored Basilica

~ Pages 6-7 ~ November 10, 2006

Books and gifts ~ Pages 9-11 ~

SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS

Classified ads. . . . . . . . 18-19

www.catholic-sf.org VOLUME 8

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No. 33

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Catholic San Francisco

November 10, 2006

On The Where You Live

by Tom Burke

Still getting’ their feet wet at St. Ignatius College Preparatory is the Class of 2010. Beverly Chan, left, Sean Christopher, Kyle Cesena, Michael Totah and Penelope Chuah are among 364 freshmen at the Sunset District school. It’s also welcome aboard or perhaps more appropriately welcome back, to Jesuit Father Robert Walsh, a 1968 SI grad who began his term as the school’s 26th president in July.

Archbishop George H. Niederauer takes the academic lectern at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory.

Archbishop George H. Niederauer donned his classroom teaching cap recently at San Francisco’s Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory. Faculty members Jim Baird and Sebastian Vallelunga, both former students of Archbishop Niederauer at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, asked the San Francisco shepherd to step in for them in their Church History and Scripture classes. “Both Jim and I agree, Archbishop Niederauer had been the best teacher either of us ever had, and putting our students and the Archbishop in the same room together couldn’t help but be a winning combination,” Sebastian said. “Thanks to the Archbishop’s efforts, I finally began to understand poetry, something I had struggled with since high school,” Jim added. Archbishop Niederauer earned a postgraduate degree in English Literature from the University of Southern California in 1966…. Welcome aboard in a new way to St. Cecilia parishioner, Diane Weinkauf, newly named director of the Parkside District parish’s Collins Center. Diane and her husband, Gregory, are the parents of Stella and Gregory, both students at St. Cecilia

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Elementary School. The Collins Center is named, should Jessica. Connie and her husband Ray are parents of Sacred ya’ be wonderin’, for the late Msgr. Harold Collins, pas- Heart elementary alums Christopher and Antonia. The tor at St. Cecilia’s from 1946-76….Congrats to this year’s award’s namesake founded the Religious of the Sacred, St. Madeleine Sophie long-known for their schools Award winners Lauren in the Archdiocese of San Koenig and Connie Salari Francisco and around the recognized for their dedicaworld.….Happy 65 years tion and good work on behalf married October 19th to of Sacred Heart Schools in Melba and Gus Marinello, Atherton. Lauren is a 1977 married at All Hallows graduate of Sacred Heart Church in 1941 and Church Preparatory and Stanford of the Visitacion parishioners University and was honored for more than 50 years. for the “countless hours as Helping them mark the mileshe has served” as a member stone were son, Russell with of the Board of Trustees, his wife, Eileen, and daughter school parent committees, Susan Stenson with her husand the Booster Club. Connie band, Tom…. Remember has been a member of the this is an empty space withstaff or faculty at Sacred out ya’!! The email address St. Madeleine Sophie Award winners Heart for more than three for Street is burket@sfarchLauren Koenig and Connie Solari. diocese.org. Mailed items decades. She has chaired the English Department and been called “the consummate should be sent to “Street,” One Peter Yorke Way, SF teacher.” She has also been Dean of Faculty and Academic 94109. Pix should be hard copy or electronic jpeg at 300 Dean. Lauren and her husband Brad are parents of Sacred dpi. Don’t forget to include a follow-up phone number.

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November 10, 2006

Catholic San Francisco

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Archbishop says Nigerians suffer because of government mismanagement WASHINGTON (CNS) — Despite Nigeria’s wealth from natural resources, Nigerians are suffering because of government mismanagement, said Nigerian Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja.

Unlike officials in other countries, Nigerian public officials are not concerned with unemployment; in Nigeria “government and governance has been practically reduced to merely manipulating oil wealth,” said Archbishop Onaiyekan.

He said Nigerians are resourceful and motivated, but the country “will never be truly great until the people are well managed and motivated to perform at their optimal standard.”

“In a nation where many young graduates roam the street unemployed for years or are underemployed ... there is something seriously wrong,” he said.

Archbishop Onaiyekan was among participants in a Nov. 1-4 conference in Enugu, Nigeria, to discuss reversing the so-called “resource curse,” when a country’s natural wealth does not create wealth for its citizens. A copy of his remarks was obtained by Catholic News Service in Washington.

Oblate Father Andrew Small, the U.S. bishops’ foreign policy adviser, attended the meeting to express the U.S. church’s solidarity with the church in Nigeria. The conference was titled “Oil and Gas Wealth: Making It Serve the Common Good.”

In his remarks to the conference, Archbishop Onaiyekan said it is the government’s responsibility to balance the demands of private property and the fair distribution of natural resources.

“In all that the state does for the common good, the human person must be at the center, the apex and the criteria of development,” he said. “Policies of government that ride roughshod over human beings are immoral.”

Many Nigerian leaders “steal the money of the people and use it to buy up useless property abroad or stash it in foreign banks,” and the money is used to “oil the industries of those countries, thereby giving jobs to their own people while Nigerians have no capital available to carry out small and middle-scale industries,” he said.

Meanwhile, he said, because oil is a nonrenewable resource, current oil income should be used to “put in place structures, services and amenities which will be of lasting value” like education, health services and transportation.

(CNS PHOTO/AKINTUNDE AKINLEYE, REUTERS)

By Regina Linskey

An oil barrel sits nearby as a Nigerian boy unloads firewood at Oporoma village in the Bayelsa state of Nigeria's delta region in October. The country's vast oil reserves are located in the southern delta -- an undeveloped, poor area prone to conflict.

The current drive for privatization of the oil industry “is hardly a step in such a direction,” he added.

Despite Nigeria’s oil wealth, which has produced billions of dollars since the 1970s, Nigerians are worse off today, the British magazine The Economist said in a lateOctober report. Approximately 71 percent of Nigerians live on less than $1 a day, “and the country is unlikely to achieve any of the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals by 2015,” the report said.

Archbishop Onaiyekan said that, like Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola are also rich in natural resources yet “wallowing in poverty.”

“When we look at our soil, we have vast arable land, fer-

tile soil that can produce a wide variety of crops,” but land cultivation has been neglected, he said.

“Even food production, which ought to be a major concern of every nation, has suffered the same serious neglect,” said Archbishop Onaiyekan. He used the example of rice, which Nigeria buys from outside markets while its local rice production is “stifled almost out of existence.”

In Nigeria “churches are seen as one of the few if not the only broker” among the people, government and corporations of extractive industries, Father Small told CNS Nov. 7.

The Nigerian Catholic Church is a large entity and its “breadth of experience coupled with its credibility” makes the church a respected broker, he said.

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Catholic San Francisco

NEWS

November 10, 2006

Group wants eBay to enforce ban that would prohibit sale of relics

in brief

WASHINGTON — A California group is advocating a boycott of eBay unless the online auction house enforces its own rules against selling body parts to prohibit the sale of saints’ relics. “They’ve had opportunities to stop the sales, and they don’t even enforce their own regulations,” said Tom Serafin, founder and president of the International Crusade for Holy Relics. According to Serafin, even a “cursory search” of the popular site will turn up dozens of relics “often purporting to be the bones of saints” for sale. Catherine England, an eBay spokeswoman, said Nov. 6 that the auction site is aware of the organized boycott and that officials from eBay have had conversations with representatives from the International Crusade for Holy Relics in the past, but not recently and so were surprised at the boycott call. England said eBay does enforce its policies against selling certain human body parts such as bones and organs, but that other items that are legal to buy and sell in the United States are allowed to be sold on the site.

Bishops seek support for Restorative Justice Week

Catholic Online service fosters leadership of ‘everyday saints’ BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Catholic Online, an international media and Internet communications agency based in Bakersfield, launched a new service on All Saints’ Day, Nov. 1, to help Catholics on their journey to become “everyday saints.” Called LifeBreath Leadership, the service has its own area on the Catholic Online Web site — www.catholic.org/leadership/. An announcement said it provides information to aid Catholics “in four spheres of their lives where they are challenged to be decisive, compassionate and productive leaders: home and family, work, parish and school.” “The challenge for Catholics in the U.S. has changed in the last 50 years from how to fit into society to how to lead it,” said Owen Phelps, head of the Midwest Leadership Institute and editor of the LifeBreath Leadership area.

Military chaplains share stress, fears of wartime with troops WASHINGTON — Military chaplains share in that heart-pounding anxiety every soldier feels in a war zone —

Global poverty . . .

■ Continued from cover billion over the next 10 years to fund a massive vaccination campaign; the eight sponsoring countries have pledged enough money over the next 20 years to redeem the bonds with interest.

Jean Pierre Le Calvez, a GAVI Alliance spokesman, told Catholic News Service that Pope Benedict’s decision to buy the first bond had “great symbolic value.”

In the world’s poorest countries, the alliance focuses on first immunizing children against polio, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus and measles. The alliance also is working to spread the availability and use of “underused vaccines” for diseases, including hepatitis B and yellow fever.

The alliance has estimated that its current funding levels, without the money from the bonds, will help prevent the deaths of 1.5 million children between 2006 and 2015; the bond funding will help prevent an additional 5 million child deaths from diseases that can be prevented by immunization.

Before the bonds went on sale, the largest donors to the alliance were the Gates foundation and the U.S. government.

Chris Bain, director of the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, the British Catholic aid agency, attended the bond launch.

“Diseases such as polio, measles and diphtheria kill and blight the lives of millions of children in poor countries, and this should not and need not be the case,” Bain said. “The launch of the IFF takes us a step closer to providing funding to eradicate these diseases and give children a better chance of survival.”

The bonds have been given the top “AAA” ratings by the world’s major rating agencies; the sale is being handled

by Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank.

Catholic san Francisco Newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Francisco

Most Reverend George H. Niederauer, publisher Maurice E. Healy, associate publisher & executive editor Editorial Staff: Maurice E. Healy, editor; Evelyn Zappia, feature editor; Tom Burke, “On the Street” and Datebook

(CNS PHOTO/MARTIN LUEDERS)

SACRAMENTO – The Catholic Bishops of California have urged parishes and ministries to raise awareness of International Restorative Justice Week, Nov. 13-19, among parishioners and others. Restorative Justice Week began in 1975 in England. Known then as Prisoner’s Sunday, it Was to remind the public of incarcerated men and women in that country. The day of remembrance subsequently was adopted by Canada and several other Commonwealth nations. The commemoration was extended to a week in 1995, and a year later was renamed Restorative Justice Week to reflect growing concern for victims and communities, as well as prisoners. For more information, see www.restorejustice.com, www.cacatholic.org, and www.sflifeandjustice.org.

During the 2000 March for Life in Washington, a demonstrator holds a placard calling for an end to partial-birth abortion. For more than a decade, pro-life advocates have been fighting against the procedure. The Supreme Court Nov. 8 heard oral arguments in two cases challenging the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003.

the constant fear of being killed on the ground by gunfire, mortar fire or a roadside bomb or in the air by anti-aircraft fire. But they also specialize in helping military personnel find the peace they need to risk their lives in battle. “In war, you must be at peace with God,” said Father Joseph Orlandi, a U.S. Army colonel who recently returned to the U.S. “You don’t know if you are going to come back alive,” he said. During the past year at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan and Camp Victory in Iraq, Father Orlandi found that the fears and stresses of battle — or just the threat of conflict — often gave way to a tremendous faith.

In northern Afghanistan, the priest traveled to remote “forward operation bases,” where he saw men and women in uniform hungry for the spiritual nourishment of Mass.

Nicaraguan bishop applauds participation in election MANAGUA, Nicaragua — A bishop in northern Nicaragua applauded the high citizen participation in his country’s presidential election and the smoothness of the electoral process. The Nov. 5 election was “very calm, serene and organized,” said Bishop Juan Mata Guevara of Esteli, general secretary of the Nicaraguan bishops’ conference. The Diocese of Esteli sent 107 election observers to 26 municipalities in the northern part of the country. With the exception of the late opening and early closure of some voting stations, Bishop Mata said, the voting process was transparent and organized.

Though the final tabulations were not expected until midweek, analysts predicted victory for Daniel Ortega, a former president and one-time Marxist rebel, who led the field of five candidates with more than 38 percent of the votes.

Vatican officials downplay new tensions over papal trip to Turkey VATICAN CITY — Vatican officials downplayed new tensions over Pope Benedict XVI’s planned trip to Turkey in late November, following a shooting incident and an apparent political snub. Police arrested a 26-year-old man who fired three shots in the air outside the Italian Consulate in Istanbul Nov. 2 in protest of the papal visit. After firing, he threw his gun into the garden of the consulate grounds. Turkish media quoted the man, Ibrahim Ak, as saying he would kill the pope if he had a chance,

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November 10, 2006 and that he hoped his gesture would inspire similar acts of protest. The Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, played down the shooting incident, saying it was unfortunate but that it would not affect planning for the Nov. 28-Dec. 1 visit. Earlier, Father Lombardi issued a statement downplaying the news that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan would be out of the country and unable to meet with the pope when the pontiff visits the capital, Ankara. Father Lombardi said the Vatican had been aware of the scheduling conflict for some time and understood that there was no guarantee of a meeting with the prime minister.

Pope: Scientific progress is God’s plan if it doesn’t threaten life VATICAN CITY — Technological and scientific advancements in controlling the forces of nature are a part of God’s plan as long as they are not a threat against human life and dignity, Pope Benedict XVI said to a group of scientists and theologians. “Christianity does not posit an inevitable conflict between supernatural faith and scientific progress,” the pope told some 70 participants attending a Vatican conference on “Predictability in Science: Accuracy and Limitations.” Top international scientists, including eight Nobel Prize laureates, attended the Nov. 3-6 plenary assembly of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. In a Nov. 6 private audience at the Vatican, the pope told participants that God created human beings with reason and entrusted them to be the caretakers of nature and all its creatures. By being able to better predict nature, science “has contributed to the protection of the environment, the progress of developing nations, the fight against epidemics and an increase in life expectancy,” the pope said.

Catholic San Francisco

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Two-day ‘Faith Formation Conference’ begins today A Faith Formation Conference sponsored by the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the Dioceses of Monterey, Oakland, San Jose and Stockton takes place Nov. 10 and 11 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara. Tracks are being offered in English, Spanish and Vietnamese.

“We’ve been planning the conference for over a year and hope to see 1,500 to 1,800 people take part,” said Dr. Marc Gonzales, associate director of Hispanic Catechesis for the Archdiocese of San Francisco and a member of the event planning committee. “It

is a two-day event including a professional in-service element for parish ministers, a Youth Summit and the bigger conference day for all volunteer ministers and parish leaders.”

Gonzales said speakers and workshops are aimed at helping participants learn new skills for the practice of their ministry as well as offer a spiritual pick-me up. “We have an opening prayer service and close with Mass with San Jose Bishop Patrick McGrath presiding,” Gonzales said, noting the conference is being held in Santa Clara as part of a com-

Role and requirements of a deacon are topics of meeting Nov. 13 A Permanent Diaconate “Information Night” will take place Monday, Nov. 13 for men considering service to the Church as a Deacon. The event, which starts at 7 p.m. at the Archdiocese Pastoral Center, will highlight the five-year program for permanent deacons, and provide answers to questions regarding the important role of deacon in the Church.

Wives of possible candidates are encouraged to attend the evening to learn about their integral part in the diaconate ministry. “They are partners in the formation program and a needed balance of approach to the ministry,” said Father David Pettingill, director of the diaconate formation program.

Preparation for the diaconate begins with an “aspirancy year” in which future

candidates and their wives examine the program and its impact on marriage, family and jobs. The four-year coursework undertaken by the candidates and their wives includes a strong academic program similar to that required of priest seminarians.

Courses include scripture, liturgy, homiletics, catechetics, moral theology, systematic theology, Canon Law, Church and U.S. History, and pastoral practice.

For those considering the diaconate, Father Pettingill said the evening is an opportunity to explore the ministry, and an invitation to pray about it. For more information, call the Office of Diaconate Formation at 415 614-5531. The Archdiocesan Pastoral Center is located at One Peter Yorke Way in San Francisco.

memoration of the Diocese of San Jose’s twenty-fifth anniversary.

Keynote speakers include Monterey Bishop Sylvester Ryan and Franciscan Sister Elena Martinez, well known for her work in the multi-cultural dimension of the Church.

Materials promoting the conference said it is “designed to empower and enrich all those engaged in Faith Formation through ministries such as catechetics, social justice, youth ministry, liturgy and stewardship” as well as “those seeking to grow in their ministry or to enrich their own faith life.”

Holy Cross Veteran’s Day Ceremony A Veteran’s Day memorial service will be held Saturday, Nov. 11 at 11 a.m. in the Veteran’s Section of Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma. Chaplains from the Archdiocese of San Francisco will conduct the ceremony, and the Travis Air Force Base Military Honor Guard will participate. The public is invited to the event. Holy Cross, the cemetery of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, is located at 1500 Mission Road in Colma.

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Catholic San Francisco

November 10, 2006

Restored Baltimore basilica a gift to church, nation, cardinal says

By Nancy Frazier O’Brien

Historical Background

(CNS PHOTO/THOMAS LORSUNG)

BALTIMORE (CNS) — The $32 million restoration of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a gift not only to the Baltimore Catholic Church and community but to the entire nation, Cardinal William H. Keeler of Baltimore said.

The cardinal, seated in a wheelchair as he recovered from a broken ankle, spoke about the importance of the basilica as the first Catholic cathedral in the United States and as a symbol of religious freedom in the fledgling nation at a media preview less than a week before the basilica reopened Nov. 4.

He said the reopening would fulfill “a long-held dream of sharing (the basilica) with the nation” as both a beautiful place to worship and as a reminder of a time, until the American Revolution, when Catholics were “persecuted as a devout minority.”

When the cornerstone was laid for the new church in 1806, it represented “the rights of Catholics and other faiths to worship openly,” Cardinal Keeler said. At that time, Bishop (later Archbishop) John Carroll of Baltimore was the only Catholic bishop for the entire country.

Designed by Benjamin Latrobe, architect of the U.S. Capitol, the basilica was renovated to restore many original architectural details and to incorporate modern electrical, heating and cooling, plumbing and security systems in a way that maintained the building’s historical integrity.

“Over the course of the basilica’s 200 years, it has borne witness time and again to many important milestones and visitors as the church developed and evolved in America,” Cardinal Keeler said in a statement released at the preview.

Those visitors included Pope Pius XII (as a cardinal) and Pope John Paul II, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, U.S. President Andrew Johnson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Alexis de

Cardinal William H. Keeler talks to the media Oct. 30 about the Nov. 4 reopening of the historic Baltimore basilica.

Tocqueville, Marquis de Lafayette, the chiefs of the Sioux and Flathead tribes, St. John Neumann of Philadelphia, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta and Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence and Bishop Carroll’s cousin.

“Unfortunately, the ravages of time, inadequate maintenance and alterations took a toll,” the cardinal said. “The original, brilliant design of Benjamin Henry Latrobe and Archbishop Carroll was lost, and major infrastructure improvements came to be needed.”

The Basilica of the Assumption Historic Trust, established in 1976, has raised $25 million in private donations toward the estimated $32 million cost of the renovations.

In addition to updating the basilica’s infrastructure, major changes to the basilica include replacement of 24 original skylights, illumination of the exterior at night, a new chapel in the undercroft as originally envisioned by Latrobe, re-creation of the original balconies, creation of a basilica museum and

THE PERMANENT DIACONATE ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Is it for you?

What gifts should you already have?

How do you prepare for ordination?

How are your wife and family involved?

What is expected if you are single?

What do you do as a permanent deacon?

How does your formation continue after your ordination?

How do you apply?

For replies to these questions and any of your own, come to the: Permanent Diaconate Information Night Monday, November 13th, 2006 7:00 p.m.

Archdiocese Pastoral Center (One Peter Yorke Way, SF) Plenty of free parking

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gift shop, and repainting of the walls in the original colors of pale yellow, blue and rose.

As the reopened basilica’s doors swung open Nov. 4, three cannon volleys — two for the basilica’s first 200 years and the third for its next 100 — were fired from Baltimore’s Fort McHenry.

In honor of the French contributions to the basilica’s completion and furnishing, including its bells cast in Lyon in 1831, the French ambassador to the U.S. was to get a private tour of the basilica later in the week as church bells are rung simultaneously in Baltimore and Lyon.

The celebrations will culminate in a Nov. 12 Mass concelebrated by all of the U.S. bishops, gathering in Baltimore for the fall general meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Cardinal Keeler, who was injured in a car accident in Italy that killed a priest who was traveling with him, said he had to leave the media preview early to go to physical therapy.

“It’s all part of getting better, and I really

Catholics were not allowed to have churches in the original English colonies, which were overwhelmingly populated by Protestants. When the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, Catholics made up only one per cent of the total population of the 13 colonies. Philadelphia, site of the first Continental Congress, had the largest number of Catholics.

George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, founded Maryland as a haven where Catholics could live without fear of persecution for their religious beliefs. The first U.S. bishop was John Carroll, a Jesuit priest, who was appointed by the Pope as bishop of Baltimore in 1789. The Pope designated Baltimore the first Catholic diocese in the United States.

Until about 1850, the Roman Catholic population of the United States was a small minority made up primarily of English Catholics. Following the potato famine and other events in Europe in the 1840s, millions of Irish and other European Catholics began a massive emigration to the United States. In the early to mid-1800s, Catholics made up only 5 percent of the nation’s population.

But by the end of the 19th century, the Catholic population had grown to represent 14 percent of the total U.S. population (14 million out of 82 million people).

By the early 1900s, Catholicism was the single largest religious denomination in the country. Today there are more than 65 million Catholics in the United States, making up 23 percent of the nation’s population. want to get better in time for the ceremonies,” he said.

The cardinal used a walker as he entered the basilica Nov. 4 with five children.

Catholic San Francisco

7

(CNS PHOTOS/NANCY WIECHEC)

November 10, 2006

The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary sits on the corner of Cathedral and Mulberry streets in Baltimore.

Baltimore's Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary reopened Nov. 4 after a two-year, $32 million complete restoration. In this view the basilica's original altar is displayed in the sanctuary, which is illuminated above by a depiction of Christ's ascension.

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Catholic San Francisco

November 10, 2006

(CNS PHOTOS/PAUL JEFFREY)

8

At left, a Palestinian girl walks amid the remains of a destroyed building in Bethlehem, West Bank, Nov. 4.

The building that housed four families was destroyed in an Israeli raid the previous night. Above, a Palestinian 10-year old boy recovers from a bullet wound to his head in a Beit Jalla hospital in the West Bank Nov. 4. He was shot at by Israeli soldiers the previous night while throwing stones at an Israeli jeep.

Israel’s survival . . .

■ Continued from cover Israel without any reason. They are reacting to Israel because they are oppressed by Israel. Put an end to this oppression and you’ll put an end to this idea of destruction,” he said.

In late September, following Pope Benedict XVI’s remarks on Islam in a speech in Germany, several churches were attacked in the West Bank and Gaza, reportedly by angry Muslims. Church leaders in Jerusalem, while acknowledging occasional tensions, claimed the attacks were an anomaly and that Palestinian officials responded quickly to stop further violence.

Patriarch Sabbah said the incidents point to the weakness of the Palestinian Authority, which is crippled by internal political tensions and is nearly penniless. The U.S. and European Union have withheld funds until Hamas, the militant group that runs the Palestinian government, renounces violent actions, agrees to honor previous agreements signed by the Palestine Liberation Organization and accepts the existence of Israel.

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The financial boycott was initiated following a Hamas victory in January elections. Analysts argue Hamas won in large part because Palestinians were fed up with corruption and division in the ruling Fatah Party as well as the lack of progress in the peace process.

“Those who make policy in Israel and America ... try to insist that it is the Muslims who are persecuting Christians here. But there is no persecution by Muslims against Christians,” said Patriarch Sabbah. “Our problems don’t come from Muslims; they come from a society in which there is no authority.”

The United States lists Hamas as a terrorist organization, and diplomats and officials of U.S.-based aid agencies are forbidden to have any contact with Hamas. Since Hamas won the election, Israel has refused to pass along tax revenue and customs duties it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.

As a result, most government workers have not been paid in months, many are striking, and widespread discontent has increased.

Patriarch Sabbah said the response of Western governments to Hamas is shortsighted.

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“I am not worried about Hamas. Like any of us, Hamas is human beings. As Christians, we deal with every human being as such. They have their own dignity given by God. Their political ideas, well, those are another problem.

Regarding their behavior, I can tell you what you do is not OK, but I can still talk with you. If you want to boycott every sinner in humanity, you will talk with nobody,” Patriarch Sabbah said.

“You wanted democracy and now when you see the fruit of our democracy, you say, ‘No, we will boycott you.’ This is wrong, unfair and unjust for the Palestinian people,” he said.

Patriarch Sabbah said the Christian community, which emigration has reduced to about 2 percent of the population of the West Bank and Gaza, can play a unique role in bringing reconciliation to the war-torn region.

“Our vocation as Christians is the vocation given to us by Jesus, the vocation of reconciliation. Being part of our people, we are part of the conflict. We live under the occupation, we are deprived of our freedom, we are beyond the wall, we are beyond the checkpoints. Yet although we’re part of the conflict, our vocation is to create reconciliation between our people, the Palestinians and the Israelis,” he said.

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9

BOOKS ✰ H O L I D AY G I F T I D E A S Inward examination: Three new books for refreshing the soul “BLESSED ARE THE BORED IN SPIRIT: A YOUNG CATHOLIC’S SEARCH FOR MEANING,� by Mark Hart.

Servant Books (Cincinnati). 129 pp., $11.99. “HOW TO BE A MONASTIC AND NOT LEAVE YOUR DAY JOB: AN INVITATION TO OBLATE LIFE,�

by Brother Benet Tvedten. Paraclete Press (Brewster, Mass.).119 pp., $14.95. “THE SPIRITUAL SPA: GETTING AWAY WITHOUT GOING AWAY,�

by Mary Sherry. Resurrection Press (Totowa, N.J.). 171 pp., $9.95.

Reviewed by Mike Hayes Autumnal retreats, when retreat properties are abounding with colorful foliage, often are fodder for fine spiritual reflection.

For those of us who are too caught up in the affairs of the world and unable to take that precious “Sabbath time� for retreat, three authors have provided a panacea. Each, in fact, covers different areas of Catholic life.

Mark Hart takes up the cause for young Catholics in their 20s with “Blessed Are the Bored in Spirit: A Young Catholic’s Search for Meaning.� Those in their college and post-college years will find Hart a meaningful and inspiring writer, who has struggled with his own spiritual demons and pro-

vides the reader with some helpful hints in overcoming their own.

A bit penitent at times, Hart writes an often heartfelt and convincing book that lays out a healthy and easy-to-follow plan for a life that is both morally sound and simultaneously engaged with the secular world. His stories will resonate with the lives of his target audience, and his excellent chapter on sexuality fails to be the usual finger-wagging drivel that often gets laughingly spoon-fed to young adults. Hart takes a real-world look at sexuality and it is a no-holds-barred session in finding meaning in our sexuality. Hardly boring, Hart’s book will enliven your spirit, make you laugh and challenge secularity at every turn.

For more committed Catholics, Benedictine Brother Benet Tvedten (who boasts of hosting Dorothy Day at his monastery), takes his readers on a trip through Benedict’s rule and its benefits for healthy and prayerful living in “How to Be a Monastic and Not Leave Your Day Job: An Invitation to Oblate Life.�

Providing both personal examples from his own life as well as testimony from others, Brother Benet teaches the way to integrate the Benedictine life into everyday living.

Simple and yet profound, Brother Benet’s book encourages simplicity but also prods toward commitment. The book, in short, is an invitation for lay people to become oblates — lay monks, if you will, or people who

have professed to follow St. Benedict’s way without becoming professed clerics. His testimony to the value of the laity in this regard is respectful both of the lay call and the call to priesthood and religious life. In short, Brother Benet has woven a fabulous tale of invitation to a life of deeper contemplation and a life of great spiritual integration.

Finally, “The Spiritual Spa: Getting Away Without Going Away� is Mary Sherry’s attempt to construct a metaphorical retreat house, or spa, within the pages of her book. Although the author may not have intended it, this book seems aimed at retirees looking for rejuvenation in their second half of life. Sherry herself has lived a rich life in which experience has taught her much and

prayer has been at the heart of it.

An excellent chapter on “taking� is by far the deepest thought she offers and will stay with this reviewer for some time. Two small quibbles: The author often tries too hard in relating to the younger set with references to their culture and she offers exercises throughout the book that, unfortunately, often fell flat for me.

However, her personal anecdotes throughout the book have much to offer (and are often hysterically funny) and convey sound wisdom coupled with elements from Catholic tradition. As you read, you’ll think that your grandmother, who always had her age-old wisdom at the ready to share, was penning these remarks. Sherry’s charm, wit and sage advice will give readers much to chew on.

Understanding other faiths is key to contemporary Catholic mission “INTERFAITH DIALOGUE: A CATHOLIC VIEW,� by Michael L. Fitzgerald and John Borelli. Orbis Books (Maryknoll, N.Y., 2006). 255 pages. $25.

Reviewed by Wayne Holst To be religious today is to be interreligious in the sense that a positive relationship with believers of other faiths is a requirement in a world of religious pluralism. “Interfaith Dialogue: A Catholic View,� by Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald and John Borelli, is the testimony of two seasoned specialists in the field. The book advocates dialogue and proclamation as the primary ways God’s people, the church, are called to live this contemporary mission.

Archbishop Fitzgerald, recently named papal ambassador to Egypt

and the Arab League, had served as president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue at the Vatican since 2002. Prior to that, he worked in Uganda and Sudan and at the Pontifical Institute for Islamic and Arabic Studies in Rome, where he developed professional expertise in Christian-Muslim relations.

Borelli is special assistant to the president for interreligious initiatives at Georgetown University in Washington. Earlier, he was associate director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs at the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, where he oversaw Catholic dialogue with Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus.

Their book is a report on Catholic experience with interfaith relations, reflecting the international scene and particularly developments in Great Britain and the United States. It is divided

into sections describing the meaning of dialogue in the modern context of religious pluralism, dialogue with Islam, and wider interfaith relations (excluding Judaism, with which the Vatican maintains a unique institutional relationship).

The authors describe how respect, discernment, exposure and experience are required in a world where persons of differing faiths regularly encounter and engage

each other. Both are committed Catholics who see God at work in all the great religions.

Concerning Islam, they attempt to describe what Christians and Muslims hold in common.

In that regard, they present intriguing views on the meaning of Mary. Distinct differences are also noted. These include understandings about the doctrine of the Incarnation, the death and divinity of Christ, Scripture, the Trinity, the role of women and religious liberty.

See Christmas through a child’s eyes‌

7E NEED YOUR HELP Ă›>˜}iÂ?ÂˆĂ˘>ĂŒÂˆÂœÂ˜ĂŠ,iÂŤĂ€iĂƒiÂ˜ĂŒ>ĂŒÂˆĂ›iĂƒĂŠ ii`i`ĂŠÂˆÂ˜ĂŠ9ÂœĂ•Ă€ĂŠ Ă€i>° $ISTRIBUTE 3AINT *OSEPH #OMMUNICATION #$S FROM TOP RANKING #ATHOLIC APOLOGISTS SUCH AS 3COTT AND +IMBERLY (AHN *EFF #AVINS

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This Christmas, send greeting cards that feature the artwork of elementary school age children in the United States — young missionaries sharing their faith through art.

ÂœĂŠ Ă?ÂŤiĂ€Âˆi˜ViĂŠ iViĂƒĂƒ>ÀÞ iĂŒĂŠ*>ˆ`

& ,iĂœ>Ă€`ˆ˜}ĂŠ-ÂŤÂˆĂ€ÂˆĂŒĂ•>Â?ĂŠ"ÂŤÂŤÂœĂ€ĂŒĂ•Â˜ÂˆĂŒĂž & Â?Â?‡

iĂœĂŠ*Ă€Âœ}Ă€>“\ĂŠ

ĂŠÂœvÂ‡ĂŒÂ…iÂ‡Â“ÂœÂ˜ĂŒÂ…ĂŠ Â?Ă•Lt

(ELP BUILD THE +INGDOM OF 'OD IN THE 5NITED 3TATES %MAIL US NOW AT ,CMWEST MSN COM %MAIL MUST INCLUDE NAME CITY STATE AME CITY STATE DIOCESE AND PHONE NUMBER "ÀÊV>Â?Â?ĂŠ ˆŽiĂŠ>ĂŒĂŠÂ­Ă‡ĂˆĂ¤ÂŽĂŠĂŽÂ™Ă‡Â‡ĂŽĂŽĂˆÂŁĂŠ ĂœĂœĂœÂ°Â?ˆ}Â…ĂŒÂ…ÂœĂ•ĂƒiV>ĂŒÂ…ÂœÂ?ˆV“i`ˆ>°Vœ“

This box of 24 cards showcases the winning color drawings from the Holy Childhood Association’s annual Christmas artwork contest.

To view all winning art, visit the HCA children’s web site: www.hcakids.org.

To purchase HCA Christmas cards for $10 a box, call your diocesan mission director, or 1-(800) 431-2222. You may also buy these cards online at: www.givetothemissions.org.

Holy Childhood Association ‌a Pontifical Mission Society national office - 366 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10001

10

Catholic San Francisco

November 10, 2006

BOOKS ✰ H O L I D AY G I F T I D E A S Insights on Scripture, humility combine in minister’s masterful works “SECRETS IN THE DARK: A LIFE IN SERMONS” by Frederick Buechner.

HarperSanFrancisco (San Francisco, 2006). 303 pp., $24.95.

“THE FACES OF JESUS: A LIFE STORY” by Frederick Buechner.

Paraclete Press (Brewster, Mass., 2005).

112 pp. $19.95.

Reviewed by Rachelle Linner The Rev. Frederick Buechner is a husband and father, a Presbyterian minister and an acclaimed writer of both fiction and nonfiction. Each of these gifts and roles gives shape to the remarkable sermons and essays in “Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons,” a collection that offers the reader many rewards, from the sheer beauty of the writing to piercing insights that can nourish prayer and meditation on Scripture.

In these sermons Rev. Buechner is faithful to the admonition he received in the seminary, that “we really can’t hear what the stories of the Bible are saying until we hear them as stories about ourselves. We have to imagine our way into them.” Rev. Buechner does that with a skill born of long familiarity with the biblical text and the practice of attentive listening to his own life.

He narrates the healing of Jairus’ daughter, for example, with the breathtaking intimacy of a man who has suffered through a beloved child’s serious illness. “It is the deafening stillness of it, I think, that you can imagine best — the mother with her face in her hands, Jairus on his knees at the

bedside, the child like the waxwork of a child, hair brushed, face washed, hands folded one on top of the other on her chest.”

The distinctive heart of the Christian proclamation, the shock of the Incarnation, is the center of gravity for Rev. Buechner’s preaching and gratitude. “Once they have seen him in a stable, they can never be sure where he will appear or to what lengths he will go or to what ludicrous depths of selfhumiliation he will descend in his wild pursuit of humankind. ... And this means that we are never safe, that there is no place where we can hide from God, no place where we are safe from his power to break in two and re-create the human heart, because it is just where he seems most helpless that he is most strong, and just where we least expect him that he comes most fully.”

“Jesus is the word made flesh, the truth narrated in bone and bowel, space and time.” Rev. Buechner is the teller of the story of Jesus, and his consummate skill is less important than the humility that is the most edifying feature of these sermons. His craftsmanship never draws attention to itself but is given over in praise and service to “Jesus’ story, which is a love story.”

“The Faces of Jesus: A Life Story” offers brief, evocative meditations on the Annunciation and on the nativity, ministry, Last Supper, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Reading this book is akin to praying with religious art, with Rev. Buechner as a reverent guide to the artist’s intent. His text suggests the tone rather than details of the Gospel. Here he writes about the “turbulent

activity” and “relentless flow” of Jesus’ ministry.

“With the jerky haste of an old newsreel, Jesus flickers across the light-struck Galilean landscape. Parables and beatitudes fill the air about him like scratches on an old film — Blessed are the meek, the poor, the pure in heart — and people throng about him to be healed. A woman stretches out her hand to touch the hem of his garment as he goes hurrying by. At Cana he stops long enough to go to a wedding, and when his mother tells him the wine has given out, his answer is impatient and time-

haunted. ‘My hour has not yet come,’ he says, but he takes time to do her bidding anyway and make wine out of the six great jars of water.”

Rev. Buechner’s meditation on the Last Supper and Crucifixion is suffused by empathy for this Messiah, “the Jew retching out his life from the cross of his pain,” the “fierce and fiercely gentle man who spills himself out, his very flesh and blood.”

In reverent prose, Rev. Buechner allows us to glimpse the “face of Jesus as our face.”

It is a lovely, perhaps unexpected, gift from a fine writer and obedient disciple.

Lively book shows saints as our advocates, models, comfort “MY LIFE WITH THE SAINTS,” by James Martin, SJ. Loyola Press. 414 pp., $22.95.

Reviewed by Graham Yearley Many Protestants are suspicious of Catholic veneration of saints, believing we are substituting fallible human beings for God in our prayer. In “My Life With the Saints,” Jesuit Father James Martin shows how saints can be rightfully used as models for living, as willing advocates in our needs, as comfort in our afflictions, or as a goad for us to live a life more committed to others than ourselves. The lives of saints are as varied as those in any community, but no one became a saint by living selfishly.

Most of the people Father Martin discusses (not all of them saints — at least not yet) are familiar to all Christians: Joan of Arc, Mother Teresa, Bernadette of Lourdes, Francis of Assisi, Peter, Mary and Joseph. Some are associated with Father Martin’s own order, the

Society of Jesus, commonly known as the Jesuits: Ignatius of Loyola, Aloysius Gonzaga, Pedro Arrupe and the Martyrs of Uganda.

Therese of Lisieux, Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day became famous through the books they wrote, but only Therese is officially canonized. Pope John XXIII is beatified, one step away from canonization, but more importantly to Father Martin Pope John’s life teaches us to enjoy the life we are given, to laugh and not take ourselves too seriously.

Along with the stories of saints, Father Martin also writes a memoir of his own development as a man and as a Jesuit and, while he’d be the first to say he is not a saint, his story is as involving as any spiritual heroes in the book.

His ministries take him from the gang-run streets of Chicago to the slums of Kingston, Jamaica, to refugee camps in Kenya. None of these places might rank high on most tourists’ must-see lists, but they become fascinating stops in Father Martin’s life. Over

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and over he describes the joy he finds in those who work with the poorest of the poor.

In another chapter he writes about his personal anguish when he must choose between a newfound love and his vocation.

In a chapter on St. Peter, Father Martin reveals his struggle with a crippling hand condition which limits the time he can write with a pen or on a computer. Through identifying with Peter, whom Jesus called while aware of both his strengths and faults, Father Martin comes to terms with his physical limitations and spiritual imperfections.

In the final chapter, Father Martin reminds us that we will never be Mother Teresa or Dorothy Day or Pope John XXIII, not because we are not capable of imitating them, but because we are called to be the man or woman God intends us to be.

The call to sanctity, however, is the call God makes equally to everyone and he generously gives us individually the means to answer that highest call.

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BOOKS ✰ H O L I D AY G I F T I D E A S Looking at Europe and Christianity from a new perspective “THE VICTORY OF REASON: HOW CHRISTIANITY LED TO FREEDOM, CAPITALISM AND WESTERN SUCCESS,” by Rodney Stark. Random House 281 pp. $25.95.

“RETHINKING CHRISTENDOM: EUROPE’S STRUGGLE FOR CHRISTIANITY,” by Jonathan Luxmoore and Jolanta Babiuch.

Gracewing (Herfordshire, England) 246 pp. $19.95.

Reviewed by Brent Kallmer Lists of prominent capitalists past and present tend to include people such as Andrew Carnegie and Nelson Rockefeller, and contemporary figures such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. But why not St. Augustine? How about St. Thomas Aquinas, or his teacher, St. Albertus Magnus?

“Ridiculous,” you might say. Then again, you might think differently about such questions after reading Rodney Stark’s “The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism and Western Success,” a book that delights in exploding the endlessly repeated but seldom examined historical narratives most of us absorbed in the classroom from high school to college.

The basis of Stark’s argument is to be found in what he terms “blessings of rational theology” unique to Christianity. As Jesus did not write a word of Scripture, he argues, the church fathers had to reason their way to a coherent theology based upon the Lord’s actions and words recorded in the Gospels and the other writings that came to comprise the New Testament.

Doing theology this way required inference and deduction, and the great doctrinal con-

troversies of history demonstrate the fundamentally Christian conviction that how one thinks about God really matters.

The belief that the tools of reason could produce a progressively deeper and more accurate understanding of revelation separated Christianity from the more expressly law-focused faiths of Judaism and Islam, and helped inform a general outlook that progress in other spheres — such as scientific inquiry and technological innovation — was not only possible but desirable. Thus, St. Augustine could argue for the legitimacy of private property and for limits on the power of states and monarchs, both of which are crucial for capitalism and freedom broadly defined. Meanwhile, St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Albertus Magnus could propose that market forces left to themselves would produce a “just price.”

“The Victory of Reason” is breathtaking in scope; Stark traces the rise of capitalism in Italian city-states such as Venice through its movement to Northern Europe and the New World, dives into the labyrinthine world of medieval European politics and examines inventions — eyeglasses, clocks, blast furnaces and the like — with the delight of a tinkerer. For those interested in a work of history that is provocative in the best sense, it is a book not to be missed.

Addressing the place of Christianity in Europe in a more modern context is “Rethinking Christendom: Europe’s Struggle for Christianity,” by Jonathan Luxmoore and Jolanta Babiuch, an impressively researched examination of the role of the faith in a Europe that seems to be in the midst of an identity crisis.

The evidence of this crisis seems everywhere. Last year’s failure of the European Union’s draft constitution, a growing sense

— particularly among newer members — that some of the EU’s founding countries are no longer worthy of imitation and questions regarding the admittance of Turkey all paint a troubling picture.

Against this tangled backdrop, “Rethinking Christendom” argues for a measured consideration of the essential ingredient of the continent’s “Europeanness”: Christianity. The authors’ message, put simply, is this: To ignore the role of Christianity in the evolution of Europe is to fail to recognize both the source and protector of the continent’s humanist values, including the dignity of the human person, equality and democracy.

For proof that all this is far more than cocktail conversation, one need look no further than Pope Benedict XVI’s frequent and

emphatic statements against an everexpanding European secularism.

“Rethinking Christendom” by Luxmoore, European correspondent for Catholic News Service, and his wife, Babiuch, a Polish scholar, is thus a timely offering, one that benefits greatly from the breadth of its authors’ expertise. Yet with every sentence nearly bursting at the seams with historical data — dates, places, people and events ecclesial, economic and political — the book can make for a dizzying read.

Still, this is more a testament to the complexity of the subject matter than any deficiency of the work itself, and those interested in Europe — from church watchers to political scientists — would do well to add “Rethinking Christendom” to their reading lists.

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Catholic San Francisco

November 10, 2006

Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper

Guest Commentary Waiting for war in Gaza

By Mortimer Zuckerman All eyes are on Iraq, but another war looms in the caldron of the Middle East. The battlefield will be Gaza. The cause is the same as the war in Lebanon: the appetite of Arab radicals for bloodshed.

Israel pulled out of Gaza more than a year ago, but instead of using their independence to build a Palestinian state, the Gaza Arabs have been killing each other, as well as trying to kill Israelis. Factional fighting between Hamas forces loyal to Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and the Fatah forces more or less loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas verges on a civil war. The turmoil will threaten Israel, which cannot be expected to stand aside as it did to its cost in southern Lebanon while Hezbollah grew strong enough to rocket Israeli cities.

In Gaza, every intelligence, police, military, and security agency predicted violence if the security of the Gaza-Egypt border, the Philadelphia Route, was left to those parties when Israel withdrew. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice forced the Israelis to agree to the deal-and the border has indeed become a sewer for terrorists and weapons. The Egyptians have betrayed their obligations, even though Hamas is a threat to Egypt. The Israeli Defense Forces have discovered as many as 100 transborder tunnels, through which some 20 tons of explosives, tens of thousands of rifles, RPGs, rockets, and missiles of all kinds have been shipped. The Gazans have made matters worse by building hundreds of short-range Kassam rockets to rain on southern Israel.

Sooner rather than later, the Israelis will have to retake the Philadelphia Route before the Palestinians accumulate a stockpile of armaments to bloody Israel like Hezbollah did this past summer.

None of this is in the interest of the people of Gaza. Their vote for Hamas back in January has brought anarchy, corruption, chaos, and tribal wars. Abdallah Awad, columnist for the Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam, writes: “The factions, which not long ago were, in the eyes of the public, the guarantee for ridding ourselves of the occupation and for freedom and independence, have become ... another occupation, more repressive than the [Israeli] occupation itself.”

The long-run prospect is grim, because Hamas simply isn’t interested in peace; in the latest survey, two thirds of Gazans reject peace with Israel while almost as many believe in shelling Israeli cities. Hamas ensures further bloodshed by indoctrinating Palestinian children. They are not born hating, but from the age of 3 their radical leadership incites them to murder. The hate pervades the educational system, TV broadcasting, summer camps, children’s trading cards, movies, music, even games that make martyrdom a major theme. A Palestinian psychiatrist recently reported that over half the Palestinian children between the ages of 6 and 11 dream of becoming suicide bombers. And in this perverse and tragic pursuit, they are urged on by their prime minister, Haniyeh. “One of the signs of victory,” he told a rally recently, “is the Palestinian mother who prepares her son to be a warrior and then receives the news of his death for the sake of Allah with cries of happiness.”

This is the real face of Hamas, not the apparently pacific one of the Hamas maneuver unveiled in the New York Times by Ahmed Yousef, Haniyeh’s senior adviser. In a ploy to gain western sympathy-and a renewal of fundingHamas proposed a “hudna,” or truce, so that the two peoples could work out their differences peaceably. It is a deceitful message, for if one reads the code carefully, it is clear that the “peace” Hamas proposes involves destroying the State of Israel. Never once did Yousef refer to Israel the state, but only “Israelis.” His hudna would give time for Hamas to build up military strength, exactly as Hezbollah did in Lebanon. Yousef denies that the proposed truce would be such a ruse, but all the frenzied arms smuggling belies that.

The international community must not weaken in its insistence that Hamas must commit to end violence. With such a pledge, Hamas could end its isolation and mitigate the suffering of Palestinians, but Yousef declares that “the spirit of Palestinians” would never permit a renunciation of violence. Hamas prefers instead to let the Gazans suffer in the hope that sympathy for the victims of its own intransigence trump reason and sound judgment. Hamas, in truth, is not a nationalist force. It is part of the global movement of jihad, a Palestinian arm of the Muslim Brotherhood founded in Egypt with the goal of eliminating Israel with help from its Syrian and Iranian backers.

Middle East diplomats, so enamored of process, keep hoping the right dose of concessions will somehow result in mutually reinforcing perceptions of security. This is hopelessly naive. For now and the foreseeable future, the seat on the other side of the table across from Israel is occupied only by a death’s-head.

Mortimer Zuckerman is editor-in-chief of U.S. News and World Report.

What comes next?

Expect more

As a concerned American, I have been uneasy over Iraq for the last several months. The administration displayed a complete lack of understanding and knowledge of the Iraqi people and of the Middle East region. But the important question is what would be the most practical thing for America to do now.

Should we leave? Should we initiate partition? Should we stay until the job is complete and there are no more bombings? Should we start talks and request cooperation and help from Iraqi neighbors?

Lenny Barretto Daly City

In Tom Sheridan’s column (Oct. 20), he questions why the actions of Congressman Foley and Congress have not outraged the media and the public as much as similar actions of Catholic priests and the Church. He asks why Congress has not been held to the same standards as the Church. While Congressman Foley’s actions were reprehensible, and Congress’s cover-up equally so, it is right that the media and the public, especially Catholics, would be more outraged by similar acts engaged in by Catholic priests and the Church. Priests are God’s representatives on Earth. We confess our sins to these men. They consecrate the Eucharist each week. They read and interpret the Gospel. They teach our children religion. They take a vow of chastity. The fallout from evil behavior at the hands of one of God’s representatives cannot be overstated. The media and the public, especially Catholics, should expect more from a priest than a politician. Would we want it any other way?

Jane Crowley Pardin San Rafael

Praise for conference At the Oct. 27-28 “Point 7 Now” national conference at St. Mary’s Cathedral (Catholic San Francisco – Nov. 3), I was humbled by the powerful portrait of world poverty and economic exploitation in the heart of Sub Saharan Africa, India and Asia, and I was privileged to join the voices of sisters and brothers from around the world to search for solutions to the growing gap between “haves and have nots.”

Labor unions have always been a way that working people have been able to lift themselves out of poverty, and that has long been recognized by U.S. Catholic Church. So I was particularly gratified by the opportunity to lift up the history of church/labor solidarity and the rich tapestry of over one hundred years of Catholic Social Teaching that affirms the right of workers to organize in unions. We are committed to forging partnerships to advance the proposition U.S. Catholic Bishops propounded so eloquently twenty years ago in their economic pastoral letter when they said, “The economy exists for the person, not the person for the economy … All economic life should be shaped by moral principles … All people have a right to economic initiative, to productive work, to just wages and benefits, to decent working conditions, as well as to organize and join unions or other associations.” (Economic Justice for All: A Catholic Framework for Economic Life”) The conference was a reminder of how labor unions, the religious community and academic institutions can work together to help end poverty and build better communities, here in San Francisco and across the globe.

Mary Kay Henry SEIU International Executive Vice-President San Francisco

L E T T E R S

Letters welcome Catholic San Francisco welcomes letters from its readers. Please:

➣ Include your name, address and daytime phone number. ➣ Sign your letter. ➣ Limit submissions to 250 words. ➣ Note that the newspaper reserves the right to edit for clarity and length.

Send your letters to: Catholic San Francisco One Peter Yorke Way San Francisco, CA 94109 Fax: (415) 614-5641 E-mail: healym@sfarchdiocese.org

Giving encouragement

Sacraments that the Church decides can be received only once confer a character. They mark the person permanently.

For this reason, the choice to become a priest is an everlasting commitment. It is a decision sealed by the sacrament of Holy Orders. It marks the priest publicly as someone who has willing assumed the responsibilities of service to the greater Catholic community and to do so in the name of Jesus.

Today, few people dare take on such a demanding challenge.

The ones who do have the courage to say YES to the choices Our Lord gives to them.

They are not alone, because they have your prayers and encouragement, and your willingness to help them along the way. It is your participation in the Eucharist that gives their priesthood meaning. It is your involvement that enables their priesthood to flourish. We are grateful to God for providing us with the tremendous gift of the ministerial priesthood and the men who bear the image of Christ in our midst.

Father Tom Daly, Director of Vocations for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, gave me this prayer. Today, let us commit ourselves to doing our part by responding to the inclination to speak up about the priesthood and encourage vocations to the religious life whenever possible.

“God, our Father, in Your love and providence, You call each of us to a more holy and abundant life.

We pray for our young people in the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

Open their hearts and minds to know the vocation You have planned for them for all eternity.

If they are being invited to follow You as a priest, Brother or Sister, give them a generous heart to respond to You challenging call and the strength to follow wherever You lead them.

May families desire to please You by encouraging and supporting vocations within their homes.

We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Good Shepard. Amen.”

Michael McDevitt Executive Director, The Mystical Humanity of Christ, Inc., Belmont

November 10, 2006

Catholic San Francisco

13

The Catholic Difference On a summer evening in 1992, I unexpectedly found myself in conversation with Prince Nikolaus, the younger brother of Liechtenstein’s ruler, Prince Hans Adam II. Somehow, the course of the conversation turned to the latest troubles of the Prince and Princess of Wales — at which point Prince Nikolaus, who knew them both, said something quite arresting: “I told Charles that it was a bad idea to marry her — that it wouldn’t work because she wasn’t born to the blood.”

Since the prince was far too intelligent to imagine anything akin to a genetic predisposition to rule, I asked him what he meant by the fact that the former Lady Diana Spencer hadn’t been “born to the blood.” He explained that royalty in the modern world was a very strange business, especially because it involved a lifetime of duty, and duty performed under intense scrutiny by an often-unscrupulous press. Unless you had been raised from childhood to do that — to accept the duty, including its many boring bits, and to weather the scrutiny — you just weren’t going to be able to hack it.

I had several occasions to ponder the prince’s remarks in the five years between our conversation and Diana’s demise — as I also did recently, while watching the best movie I’ve seen in years: “The Queen,” a humane, funny, and ultimately wise docu-drama, set during and immediately after Diana’s death in a 1997 Parisian automobile

accident. If Helen Mirren doesn’t win the Oscar for her brilliantly understated portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, there is no justice in the world; kudos are due, too, to Michael Sheen for his spot-on portrayal of prime minister Tony Blair and to Helen McCrory for her rendering of a slightly daffy Cherie Blair. “The Queen” is more than a great entertainment, however. It’s a contemporary parable about the superiority of duty to ambition, and of real human emotions to media-savvy spin.

The dramatic fulcrum of the film is the effort by thennewly-confected prime minister Blair to convince the Queen that she must follow the modern media conventions and join, if in a dignified way, in what amounted to a national nervous breakdown. The Queen, Blair suggests, must be seen to feel her people’s pain. Elizabeth II has a different view: her first responsibility, she believes, is to her young grandsons, Princes William and Harry, who are staying with her at Balmoral Castle in the Scottish Highlands.

Trained to a royal stoicism during the Second World War, Her Britannic Majesty doesn’t propose to turn herself, or her grandchildren, into the emotional playthings of a nation coming unhinged.

As the pressure from what the late J.P. McFadden used to call the “tablouds” intensifies, however, the Queen begins to understand that the monarchy itself may be at stake, and that the vow she had taken on the day of her coronation may,

now, require her to do things she never imagined herself doing: like publicly confessing grief in a televised address to the nation — a necessary, if distasteful, concession to the out-of-control circumGeorge Weigel stances of the therapeutic society gone bonkers.

Yet if the Queen changes, Tony Blair changes more. This self-conscious modernizer, whose wife would cheerfully scrap the monarchy, comes to understand that there is far more to successful public service than the spin-machine he has installed at Number 10 Downing Street. There is duty, exemplified by the Queen, who is prepared to put up with ridicule, even hatred, for what she believes to be right — for what she believes she ought to be and do. If the Queen eventually must bend, however slightly, to the mob, precisely in order to do her duty, then the prime minister must grow up — fast — in order to be the success he so desperately wants to be.

Enjoy the film. But ponder the lesson, too.

George Weigel is a senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

Thoughts for Today

The saint who fed the poor Many thousands of people in our country will get baskets of food for Thanksgiving because of a man who lived over 300 years ago: St. Vincent de Paul. That’s because the influence of this man, who spent his life feeding the poor, continues through his followers who carry out his work as members of the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

I was moved to write about him because, coincidentally (if there really are “coincidences”), I was just at a library book sale and found a gem titled simply “St. Vincent de Paul.”

I wouldn’t have known how old it was except that the original purchaser wrote an inscription to his grandson preparing for confirmation, dating it Oct. 22, 1907.

I always have been in awe of what St. Vincent, a 17thcentury French priest, accomplished in his lifetime. His work of helping St. Louise de Marillac found the Daughters of Charity and his lifelong devotion to serve the poor — from the sick, the insane, orphans, beggars and old people to prisoners and galley slaves — always impressed me.

Then, when I was a reporter for The Long Island Catholic in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, N.Y., and covered the great work for the poor done by the St. Vincent de Paul Society, I became a lifelong admirer of the great saint.

Now, with this old book in hand, written by Henry Bedford, I’ve learned much more about the saint. I hadn’t known he was a slave in his early years as a priest for a period of nearly two years from July 1605 to June 1607.

He himself writes of this time as a slave in Tunis in a letter he sent to one of his early pupils, never wanting or expecting it to be saved. It tells how he was traveling by water when the vessel was attacked by “Turkish brigantines.” Some on board were killed, he was wounded with an arrow in his shoulder, then taken to the city of Tunis in chains to be sold as a slave.

“I was sold to a fisherman,” a good man, he wrote. The saint was with him for one year until the man died in August 1606, leaving Vincent to one of his nephews, who immediately sold him again, this time to a Turkish renegade with three wives. One of the wives got to know Vincent and was so moved by his praise of God that she got her husband to listen too.

Eventually, the French ambassador to Turkey got the Grand Turk to liberate all the Christian slaves. Vincent, with his now “former” master and the man’s wife, “escaped in a little skiff,” the saint wrote. His captivity was over, his former “owners” were received into the church and he got

back to his work of helping the poor.

Much of his work for all his life was done to help those who, he would write, “lived in moral poison,” specifically prisoners and galley slaves.

“There was one class among the suffering poor Antoinette Bosco which seemed to have an especial attraction for the heart of Vincent. ... The poor convicts won Vincent’s early love and to the last he clung to them,” Bedford wrote.

The worldwide St. Vincent de Paul Society to this day keeps up the work begun by this great saint, specifically to feed the poor, help the prisoners and never turn away someone truly in need.

The author ends the book simply with the words, “He served the Lord well.”

Antoinette Bosco writes a column for Catholic News Service.

Spirituality for Life

Breathing emotionally One of the things that made Henri Nouwen such a loved writer was his disarming honesty. He hid little about himself.

And one of the things that he was able to give voice to was his constant struggle to be affirmed, to be made to feel special, to be touched, to be singled out for admiration, to feel tangible proofs of love. Over and over again, in his diaries, he shares his yearning for this. The wording varies, but the pleading is always along these lines: Today the small rejections of my life are too much for me - a sarcastic smile, a flippant remark, a brisk denial, a bitter silence, a failure to be noticed, a coldness from a colleague, an indifference from someone I love, a nagging tiredness, the lack of a soul mate, a loneliness that I can’t explain. I feel empty, alone, afraid, restless, unsure of myself, and I look around for invitations, letters, phone calls, gifts, for someone to catch my eye in sympathy, for some warm gesture that can heal my emptiness. And right now I don’t particularly want God, faith, church, or even a big and gracious heart. I want simply to be held, embraced, loved by someone special, made to feel unique, kissed by a soul mate. I’m empty, a half-person. I need someone to make me whole.

What Nouwen articulates in this is not a particular neurosis, immaturity, narcissism, or a lack of intimacy.

That may be true too of him (or any of us) on a given day,

but what he expresses here is the universal human struggle for emotional and spiritual maturity. And that struggle isn’t easy.

We aren’t born simple, mature, whole, saints. That’s life’s journey. We’re born complex, lonely, greedy, restless, with powerful, selfish instincts that remain with us even when we are mature. What Nouwen gives expression to is the aching and pressures we feel inside of us because of those instincts.

And it’s not a just a question of finding intimacy and meaning in our lives (a spouse, a family, close friends, someone to socialize with, meaningful work). Having these can help, but nothing ultimately takes our loneliness away or fully reprograms our instincts and so the day inevitably arrives when the pain that Nouwen expresses here begins to gnaw away inside us. To feel this kind of need for tangible affirmation is not a sign that there’s something wrong in our lives but simply a sign that we’re emotionally healthy and not calloused, warped, or depressed. In the end, it’s healthy to feel our need for the touch of another in a way that’s so visceral that it drives us to our knees.

And that isn’t just emotionally painful, it’s also spiritually confusing. When we take this tension to prayer and ask God to take it away, more often than not it will seem that our prayer isn’t heard. The tension will remain and sometimes even intensify. Why?

Not because God hasn’t heard our prayer, but because we are being weaned, just as surely as a baby from its mother’s breast. What’s happening is this: Our natural instincts give us one way of breathing Father emotionally. What natuRon Rolheiser rally gives us energy, emotional oxygen, is the good feelings we derive from tangible love, emotional affirmation, loving touch, and physical pleasure. It’s not that these are wrong, it’s just we won’t ever become mature if our motivation for living with and serving others is contingent upon always having to feel these. We’ll never grow mature if unconsciously we keep saying: I will love you and stay with you, as long as there’s something in it for me.

Maturity, emotional and spiritual, demands that ultimately we choose love, choose service, choose prayer, and choose God, not on the basis of a feeling but on the basis of value, truth, and goodness. We are mature when love is a decision that’s not based upon an emotional pay-off for us ROLHEISER, page 15

JOHN EARLE PHOTO

“The Queen:” A lesson in duty

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Catholic San Francisco

November 10, 2006

THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 1 Kings 17:10-16; Psalm 146:7, 8-9, 9-10; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44 A READING FROM THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 1 KGS 17:10-16 In those days, Elijah the prophet went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the entrance of the city, a widow was gathering sticks there; he called out to her, “Please bring me a small cupful of water to drink.” She left to get it, and he called out after her, “Please bring along a bit of bread.” She answered, “As the Lord, your God, lives, I have nothing baked; there is only a handful of flour in my jar and a little oil in my jug. Just now I was collecting a couple of sticks, to go in and prepare something for myself and my son; when we have eaten it, we shall die.” Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do as you propose.

But first make me a little cake and bring it to me. Then you can prepare something for yourself and your son. For the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” She left and did as Elijah had said. She was able to eat for a year, and he and her son as well; the jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, as the Lord had foretold through Elijah.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM PS 146:7, 8-9, 9-10 R. Praise the Lord, my soul!

The Lord keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets captives free.

R. Praise the Lord, my soul!

The Lord gives sight to the blind.

The Lord raises up those who were bowed down; the Lord loves the just.

The Lord protects strangers.

R. Praise the Lord, my soul!

The fatherless and the widow he sustains, but the way of the wicked he thwarts.

The Lord shall reign forever; your God, O Zion, through all generations.

Alleluia.

R. Praise the Lord, my soul!

A READING FROM THE LETTER TO THE HEBREWS HEB 9:24-28 Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, a copy of the true one, but heaven itself, that he might now appear before God on our behalf. Not that he might offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters each year into the sanctuary with blood that is not his own; if that were so, he would have had to suffer repeatedly from the foundation of the world. But now once for all he has appeared at the end of the ages to take away sin by his sacrifice. Just as it is appointed that human beings die once, and after this the judgment, so also Christ, offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await him.

A READING FROM THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK MK 12:38-44 In the course of his teaching Jesus said to the crowds, “Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets.

They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation.”

He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums.

A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.”

Why Jesus spoke in parables Q. Why did Jesus speak so much in was going, then he would suddenly disarm parables when he was addressing mostly them by throwing in a hook at the end that illiterate crowds? forced them see themselves in the story.

A. If we extend the meaning of parable The condemnation of King David by the to the many forms it has in the Bible prophet Nathan is a classic example of this (proverbs, similes, stories, metaphors, “fig- in the Bible. David commits adultery with ures” in John’s Gospel and the wife of one of his soldiers. To cover up others), nearly everything his crime, he has the husband murdered.

Jesus said was a paraNathan then tells ble. In fact, Mark David of a rich man (4:34) says Jesus spoke who, instead of to the people only in slaughtering one of parables. his many sheep for It’s important to keep in his guests, steals and mind that most parables kills the beloved sinwent through some signifi- Father John Dietzen gle sheep of a poor cant changes in form and man. David says: The meaning in the process of moving from the man who did this deserves to die. Nathan life of Jesus through the proclamation of the replies: That man is you (2 Samuel 12).

Christian message in the early church to We find Jesus doing the same, as, for their final inclusion in the Gospels. Thus, example, in the Good Samaritan story or some of them have a different focus from in his parable about the obedient and disone Gospel to another. obedient sons (Matthew 21:28).

Parables were a common teaching techEspecially in Mark, we find that another nique for rabbis and other religious leaders reason for parables is to obscure the message for much the same reason Jesus himself used Jesus is proclaiming. Parables allowed Jesus them. Their most obvious purpose was to to speak, but to conceal his message about illustrate a teaching. For example, the stories the kingdom of God from enemies who of the Prodigal Son or the Good Samaritan were all too ready to accuse him of sedition are perfect illustrations of the preferential against the Roman occupation forces. love God has for sinners and social outcasts.

Finally, another reason was that paraJesus often spoke in parables as a “sur- bles are a common teaching and memory prise” strategy to have his listeners really aid. Good stories always helped people hear what he was saying. The crowds understand and reflect in their hearts on sometimes thought they knew where he what Jesus was revealing to them.

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QUESTION CORNER

Scripture REVEREND FRANK LOGUE

Facing an uncertain future She was a woman. She was poor.

These are two facts anyone could tell that day in the Court of the Women in the Temple in Jerusalem.

She was also a widow who was down to her last two coins. These are facts that Jesus also knew about her.

She was a woman of great faith. She became a living sermon. She remains an icon of faith as she put her whole trust in God, not holding anything back.

This unnamed woman is known now by her marital status and her coins rather than her name, for the story is “The Widow’s Mite” and she is “The Widow.”

Yet we should be careful to note that it is the story of “The Widow’s Mites” as the woman had two small coins. Each of her coins were worth one four-hundredth of a shekel or what we might think of as an eighth of a penny each. Too small to bear a legible imprint, they were the grubbiest of coins in the empire of Rome.

Mark sets the scene for us sparingly. Jesus has been teaching in the temple courts.

Now, on his way out, he pauses over and against the treasury to watch as offerings are made. Each person would walk up to one of the thirteen trumpet-shaped receptacles, which were lined along the wall of the Court of the Women. As they tossed in their offering, the person was expected to say aloud the amount and purpose of the gift in order to be heard by the priest overseeing the collections.

It would have been an impressive sight to see people in fine clothes tossing in large sums, calling out to all how much they gave. And in such a group, who would notice the widow tossing the two smallest coins in the realm into the offering? Yet, in a move that is so like him, Jesus notices and calls attention to this act of faith.

Jesus calls his disciples together and says, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Jesus knows that these are not any two coins, but the woman’s last two coins. The text says, “All she had to live on,” but the Greek is starker still. What is really said is that she put in her “bios.”

It’s the word from which we get “biology,” the study of life. For Jesus tells us that the widow put her “life” into the temple treasury that day.

This is not a sermon about tithing, for the woman did not give ten percent of her income. These were her last two coins to rub together, and rather than keep one back, she tossed both into the temple treasury’s coffers. The widow gave 100 percent of her money. The widow is down to two practically worthless little coins, and she trusts it all to

God. If this were a gamble, then the widow would be laying all her money on God. But this is not a gamble, for the widow does not bet her money; she trusts her life to God. It would be nice if Mark filled in more details for us. Was Jesus’ arm around the woman as he said, “This poor widow has put in more …” or was the woman blending back into the crowd, never to be seen again? Or perhaps Jesus asked his own keeper of the purse, Judas Iscariot, to give something to this woman so that she would not go hungry that evening. Or better still, did the widow come to be a Christ follower?

Did she join with the other women who journeyed with Jesus from Galilee to the cross and beyond?

The Gospel never answers these questions. The nameless widow who gave two small coins fades into the background. We may want to know her name in order to name churches, schools, and hospitals in her honor.

We may want to give her a place of honor in Jesus’ stories alongside disciples whose names we know, though their trust in God wasn’t always so exemplary.

But perhaps namelessness is appropriate for this living parable. And maybe it is best, too, that we don’t find out how her story ends. The nameless woman whose ultimate fate we never know is perhaps an even better icon of trust, for her story was a precarious one. She went to the temple that day not knowing if she would ever have two little coins to call her own again. It could have been her path to a life of begging or even a station on the road to starvation.

But in facing an uncertain future, the widow reached out to God. She trusted that if she gave everything she had to God, even the little she gave would be honored. And whether she was repaid handsomely by Jesus himself, or God cared for her in some other way, we, too, have to trust. We trust that the widow’s story turned out all right. We trust that whether she lived or died, she was God’s.

And by her example, Jesus shows that what we withhold may matter more than what we offer. The widow was a woman of great faith, who held nothing back. She knew what Jesus’ disciples were just learning: we are to give, knowing that everything we have is God’s already. We can’t give God anything.

But we can offer our very selves to the Kingdom of God, holding nothing back.

She was a woman. She was poor. She was a widow down to her last two coins.

She was a child of God who placed her whole life back in her loving creator’s hands.

Rev. Frank Logue is the Vicar at King of Peace Episcopal Church in Kingsland, Georgia.

November 10, 2006

Catholic San Francisco

15

Pope says Christianity teaches death is passage to eternal life VATICAN CITY (CNS) — While death causes pain for loved ones left behind, the Christian faith teaches believers that death is a passage to eternal life with God, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Celebrating a memorial Mass Nov. 4 for cardinals and bishops who died during the past year and addressing pilgrims gathered Nov. 5 for the midday Angelus prayer, the pope offered thanks for the lives of the faithful departed.

In his homily at the Mass, the pope said the November feasts of All Saints and All Souls “help us meditate on the final goal of our earthly pilgrimage.”

“At the end of life, death deprives us of everything that is earthly, but not of that

grace and that sacramental character” of baptism, which joins Christians to the death and resurrection of Jesus, he said.

“To know Jesus is to know the Father, and to know the Father means to enter into a real communion with the very origin of life, of light and love,” he said in his homily.

Reciting the Angelus with pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square the next day, the pope said that, especially in a culture that tries to mask the reality of death, remembering loved ones who have died is an important occasion to think about the purpose of life.

The Pope went on to ask: “Does modern man still expect this eternal life, or does he feel it to be part of a mythology that has now been left behind? In our times, more than in

Rolheiser . . .

seem to be heard because God, like a good mother, knows that giving a certain emotional breast back to the child only delays the inevitable. Maturity lies in learning how to breathe emotionally in a new way.

The mystics called this “a dark night of the soul”. And we are in one of these dark nights every time we feel the kind of aloneness that drives us to our knees pleading in mercy for the kind of tangible touch that, for a moment at least, would let us feel whole again.

■ Continued from page 13 but on the intrinsic goodness that’s inside the other.

But to come to this, we have to learn a new way of breathing emotionally. The excruciating pain we feel sometimes when precisely we want nothing more in the world than a physical and emotional touch that we can’t have is, in essence, a weaning, the pain of the child who has to cry herself to sleep because her mother will no longer nurse her, but is forcing her instead to learn a new way of taking in sustenance. Our prayers don’t

the past, people are so absorbed by the things of the world that sometimes it is difficult to think of God as a protagonist of history and of our own lives. Yet human existence, by its very nature, tends towards something greater, something that transcends it. The human thirst for justice, for truth, and for complete happiness cannot be suppressed.

“Faced with the enigma of death,” he added, “many people have the desire and hope of seeing their loved ones in the hereafter,” and believe in “a final judgment that re-establishes justice, hoping for a definitive encounter in which each is given his due.”

For Christians, Pope Benedict explained, “eternal life” does not just indicate a life that lasts forever, “but a new quality of existence, fully immersed in the love of God, that frees us from evil and death and places us in endless communion with all our brothers and sisters who participate in the same Love. Thus, eternity can already be present at the center of earthly and temporal life when the soul, through grace, is joined to God, its ultimate foundation.”

Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser is a theologian, teacher and award-winning author.

Losing someone dear “makes us feel like death is a presence that is radically hostile and contrary to our natural vocation to life and to happiness,” the pope said.

But “Jesus revolutionized the meaning of death,” he said. “He was born to die and, in that way, free us from slavery to death.”

Because Jesus conquered death and opened the path to eternal life, people have no need to fear the death of their bodies, Pope Benedict said.

“The real death that one must fear is that of the soul,” he said. “In fact, one who dies in a state of mortal sin, without repentance, closed up in a proud refusal of God’s love, excludes himself from the kingdom of life.”

“Let us meditate upon these truths with our souls turned towards our ultimate and definitive destination, which gives meaning to daily life,” he concluded. “Let us revive the saints’ joyous sensation of communion, and allow ourselves to be attracted by them towards the goal of our existence: the meeting face to face with God.”

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Catholic San Francisco

St. Mary’s Cathedral The following events are taking place at or are coordinated by the cathedral of the Archdiocese located at Gough and Geary St. in San Francisco. Call (415) 567-2020 for more information about any event listed here.

November 18: Archbishop George Niederauer will host a Day of Recollection entitled “Come, Follow Me”. It builds on last year’s Day of Recollection to mark the end of the Year of the Eucharist and will again be led by Michael McDevitt of Mystical Humanity of Christ.. Attendees will have a choice of English or Spanish, and lunch will be provided. Call (415) 614-5505 for more information.

Cathedral Autumn Group: All people 55 and over are cordially invited. Call (415) 567-2020, ext. 218.

Reservations Required to (415) 567-2020 ext. 218.

Nov. 16: Pre-Advent Morning of Recollection. Dec. 21: Christmas Luncheon at O’Reilly’s Holy Grail Restairant, 1233 Polk between Bush and Sutter.

Food & Fun Nov. 11, 12: Christmas Craft Faire and Raffle in All Souls Parish Hall, 315 Walnut Ave. in South San Francisco from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. both days.

Assortment includes handmade crafts and imported gifts. Breakfast with Santa also available at $12 per family in advance and higher prices at door.

Sponsored by All Souls Women’s Club.

Nov. 11, 12: St. Peter Parish Women’s Guild Holiday Boutique, 8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. both days. Pix with Santa 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Sat. and 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Sun. More than 25 vendors will showcase a wide variety of handcrafted gifts. Snack Bar is complete with soup, sandwiches, hot dogs, hamburgers and desserts. At the parish, 700 Oddstad Blvd. in Pacifica.

Nov. 17, 18: Sisters of Mercy Holiday Boutique at Marian Care Center, 2300 Adeline Drive in Burlingame, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. both days. “Retired Sisters of Mercy have lovingly prepared gifts for you to give,” said information promoting the event.

Choose from delicious homemade jams and jellies, baked goods, handmade blankets and cards, gift baskets, candies and fudge. For information please call Debbie Halleran (650) 340-7426.

Nov. 17: Auxiliary Bishop John C. Wester is guest of honor at this year’s Brennan Award Dinner, a principal fundraiser of the St. Vincent De Paul Society of San Francisco. The Brennan Award is presented annually to individuals who have distinguished themselves in their commitment to serving the needy, said information promoting the event. Tickets are $150 per person and proceeds benefit the works of St. Vincent De Paul Society. The evening includes cocktails at 6 p.m. followed by a silent auction and dinner. All takes place at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Gough and Geary Blvd. Call Laura Hare at (415) 977-1270 or lhare@svdp-sf.org Nov. 18: Mercy High School, San Francisco will host their 11th annual Holiday Boutique from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Catherine McAuley Pavilion. In addition to numerous vendors, renowned food expert Narsai David will be on hand. Admission is free and ample parking is available. Mercy High School San Francisco is located at 3250 Nineteenth Avenue. For more information, please contact Debbie Mathews at (415) 3340525, ext. 217 or dmathews@mercyhs.org.

Nov. 18: Join Birthright of San Francisco for its Holiday Harvest Luncheon and Floral Arranging Demonstration at the Presidio Golf Club at 11:30.

Silent Auction includes holiday wreaths and flower arrangements. Tickets are $45 per person. Call (415) 664-9909 for reservations.

Nov. 18: Holiday Boutique benefiting Immaculate Conception Academy, 24th and Guerrero St. in San

2007

official directory

ORDER FORM Name City Credit Card #: Signature:

discussion at St. Pius Parish, 1100 Woodside Rd, Redwood City. For more information call (650) 3650140 or email Kevin@pius.org. Nov. 28: The Stem Cell Issue with Father Gerald Coleman.

Lights, Camera, Faith! Who says the movies have nothing to do with your faith? Join us at 7p.m at St. Pius Parish, 1100 Woodside Rd, Redwood City for a current movie and discussion focused on the 10 Commandments. For more information call (650) 3650140 or email Kevin@pius.org. Nov. 21: Bruce Almighty.

Datebook Nov. 17, 18: Sisters of Mercy Holiday Boutique at Marian Care Center, 2300 Adeline Drive in Burlingame, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. both days. “Retired Sisters of Mercy have lovingly prepared gifts for you to give,” said information promoting the event. Choose from delicious homemade jams and jellies, baked goods, handmade blankets and cards, gift baskets, candies and fudge. For information please call Debbie Halleran (650) 340-7426.

Mercy Sister Placida Conant displays a bit of the handiwork.

Consolation Ministry

Francisco 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Features include homemade baked goods, gifts, handmade jewelry, and crafts with gourmet olive oil and fruitcakes from the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose. Pictures with Santa, too.

Bal de Paris 2006: Café des Artistes: Notre Dame des Victoires Elementary school will celebrate French culture at its 56th Bal de Paris - “Café des Artistes” on Saturday, November 18th at San Francisco’s Grand Hyatt Union Square. The Bal will pay tribute to the 150th Anniversary of Eglise Notre Dame des Victoires’ service to the community. For tickets, information and information on how to donate, call (415) 421-0069; (415)929-0675.

Nov. 18: A Buccaneer Treasure Hunt, an adult-only night of treasure hunting to benefit Our Lady of Mercy Elementary School in the OLM Church Hall, 7 Elmwood Drive in Daly City beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets available at the door - $30 per adult/$25 for those 55 and over. Evening includes auction of many one-of-a-kind items and gaming for great prizes. Call (650) 756-3395 or visit OLMPTO@yahoo.com.

Nov. 18, 19: St. Stephen Women’s Guild invites you to a Fall Bake Sale. Delicious homemade treats of all kinds will be sold after each mass right outside church on Eucalyptus Dr. at 23rd Ave. Proceeds benefit St. Stephen School. Everyone is welcome! Contact Ethel Rohan (415) 682-8008 or Maureen Mallon (415) 566-9865.

and titles. Tickets are $12, $8 students/ seniors, $4 children. Call (415) 673-3131.

Nov. 11: A Choral Odyssey featuring the voices of the Philippine Saringimig Singers at St. Gregory Church, 2715 Hacienda St. in San Mateo at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 per person. Contact Merle Talens at (650) 703-1415. Sponsored by Filipino Communities of Deanery 10 and the Filipino Ministry of St. Gregory Parish.

Nov. 17, 18: Dominican Winifred Baker Chorale performs Friday at St. Raphael Church, 1104 Fifth St. in San Rafael and Sat. at St. Paul Church, 221 Valley St. at Church St. in San Francisco. Both concerts begin at 8 p.m. Program includes Haydn’s Harmoniemesse and Bach’s Concerto in D Major. Tickets - $5 adults/children under 12 free - available at door. Call (415) 479-9542.

1st and 3rd Tues.: Noontime Concerts – 12:30 p.m.

- at Old St. Mary’s Cathedral, 660 California St. at Grant, SF. $5 donation requested. Call (415) 288-3800.

Sundays: Concerts at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Gough and Geary St., SF at 3:30 p.m. Call (415) 567-2020 ext. 213. Open to the public. Admission free. Nov. 12, David Hatt, Organist. Works by Bach and Buxtehude; Nov.19, Angela Kraft Cross, Organist. Works by Bach and Buxtehude.

Shows/Entertainment/Auditions

Nov. 19: Ecumenical Service of Thanksgiving at St. Charles Church, 880 Tmarack Ave. in San Carlos at 7:30 p.m. Join San Carlos Area Churches in this annual event held for more than 10 years. This year’s free-will Collection will go to San Carlos’ sister city, Pass Cristian, Mississippi. For more information, call Claire Giovannetti at (650) 591-7349 ex 32.

Deepen Your Faith Speaker Series. Challenge yourself and grow in your faith. Join us at 7 p.m. for an engaging speaker, delicious food, and in-depth

Nov. 10, 11, 16, 17, 18: Dracula, the play, at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory School. Curtain at 7:30 for all performances. Tickets are $10 general admission/$5 students and seniors. Call (415) 775-6626, ext. 715. An ages-old favorite of horror and laughs.

Nov. 10 – Dec. 3: Dominican University’s Fringe of Marin Festival featuring one-act and solo performances. Now in its 18th year. Call for curtain times

Prayer/Lectures/Trainings

Nov. 19: Love’s Perfect Design, a celebration of faith, friends and family at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco at 3 p.m. Afternoon features the singing of Hillary Hogan in tribute to her dad, H. David Hogan, a well-known composer of sacred choral music, who died in an air crash some 10 years ago.

Friends, family and former students of the late composer join the Peabody Institute-trained soprano in song. For ticket information, contact Consortium of Arts in Walnut Creek at (323) 449-6737 or www.ThanksgivingConcert.org.

Grief Groups meet at the following parishes.

Please call numbers shown for more information.

San Mateo County: St. Catherine of Sienna, Burlingame. Call Debbie Simmons at 650-558-1015; St. Dunstan, Millbrae. Call Barbara Cappel at 650-6927543;. Good Shepherd, Pacifica. Call Sister Carol Fleitz at 650-355-2593; Our Lady of Mercy, Daly City. Call Barbara Cantwell at 650-755-0478; Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Redwood City. Call Parish at 650-366-3802; St. Robert, San Bruno. Call Sister Patricia at 650-589-2800.

Marin County: St. Anselm, San Anselmo. Call Brenda MacLean at 415-454-7650; St. Isabella, San Rafael. Call Pat Sack at 415-472-5732; Our Lady of Loretto, Novato. Call Sister Jeanette at 415-897-2171.

San Francisco: St. Dominic. Call Sister Anne at 415-567-7824; St. Finn Barr (Bilingual). Call Carmen Solis at 415-584-0823; St. Gabriel. Call Elaine Khalaf at 415-564-7882.

Young Widow/Widower Group: St. Gregory, San Mateo. Call Barbara Elordi at 415-614-5506.

Ministry to Parents: Our Lady of Angels, Burlingame. Call Ina Potter at (650) 347-6971 or Barbara Arena at (650) 344-3579.

Children’s Grief Group: St. Catherine, Burlingame. Call Debbie Simmons at 650-558-1015.

Information regarding grief ministry in general call Barbara Elordi at 415-614-5506.

Returning Catholics Programs for Catholics interested in returning to the Church, have been established at the following parishes: Marin County: St. Hilary, Tiburon, Mary Musalo, (415) 435-2775; St. Anselm, Ross, call (415) 4532342; St. Sebastian, Greenbrae, Jean Mariani at (415) 461-7060; Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Mill Valley, Rick Dullea at (415) 388-4190; St. Mary Star of the Sea, Sausalito, Lloyd Dulbecco at (415) 331-7949.

San Francisco: Old St. Mary’s Cathedral, Michael Adams at (415) 695-2707; St. Philip the Apostle. Call (415) 282-0141; St. Dominic, Lee Gallery at (415) 221-1288; Holy Name of Jesus, (415) 664-8590.

San Mateo County: San Mateo - St. Bartholomew, Dan Stensen at (650) 344-5665; St. Matthew, Deacon Jim Shea at (650) 344-7622. Burlingame - St. Catherine of Siena, Silvia Chiesa at (650) 685-8336; Our Lady of Angels, Holy Names Sister Pat Hunter at (650) 375-8023. Millbrae - St. Dunstan, Dianne Johnston at (650) 697-0952. Pacifica - St. Peter, Sylvia Miles at (650) 355-6650, Jerry Trecroci at (650) 3551799, Frank Erbacher at (650) 355-4355. Half Moon Bay - Our Lady of the Pillar, Meghan at (650) 726-4337.

Datebook is a free listing for parishes, schools and non-profit groups. Please include event name, time, date, place, address and an information phone number. Listing must reach Catholic San Francisco at least two weeks before the Friday publication date desired.

Mail your notice to: Datebook, Catholic San Francisco, One Peter Yorke Way, S.F. 94109, or fax it to (415) 614-5633.

ARCHDIOCESE OF SAN FRANCISCO 2007 DELUXE DIRECTORY

of

Archdiocese San Francisco

Nov. 25: Annual Thanksgiving Mass for the divorced and separated of the Archdiocese of San Francisco at 5:30 p.m. at St. John of God Church, 5th Ave. at Irving in San Francisco. A reception follows. Contact Jesuit Father Al Grosskopf at (415) 422-6698 or Susan Fox at (415) 752-1308.

November 10, 2006

INCLUDES: Archdiocesan Officials and Departments, Catholic Charities, Parishes & Missions, Parish Staff Listings.

Latest E-mail Addresses, Phone Directory Yellow Pages, Mass Schedules. Schools: Elementary, High Schools, Universities & Colleges. Religious Orders, Religious Organizations, etc. . . .

Please send me

copies of the Directory Address Zip Code

Copies @ $20.00 Each: $ Includes Postage and Handling

Method of Payment: ❑ Visa ❑ Mastercard Exp. Date: ❑ Check ❑ Money Order

Catholic San Francisco, One Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco, CA 94109

November 10, 2006

Catholic San Francisco

17

Knights sponsor ‘spiritual pilgrimage’ Live Coverage of Pope’s Visit to Turkey Knights of Columbus nationwide will sponsor a “spiritual pilgrimage” with Pope Benedict XVI as he travels to Turkey Nov. 28-Dec. 1. Knights, their families and all Catholics are being asked to pray daily for the pope during the trip. The Knights of Columbus will print and distribute cards with a special prayer written by the order’s chaplain, Bishop William E. Lori.

Copies of the prayer are being distributed nationally. The prayer is also available online at www.kofc.org. Those joining the spiritual pilgrimage are asked to say the prayer each day during the pope’s trip. The prayer asks that the pope’s visit will bring about “deeper ties of understanding, cooperation and peace among Roman Catholics, the Orthodox and those who profess Islam.” It also asks that “Pope Benedict be kept safe from all harm as he prays, bears witness to the Gospel and invites all peoples to a dialogue of faith, reason and love.”

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and Bishops’ Meeting on EWTN The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) will provide live coverage of the first two days of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops fall meeting in Baltimore, Nov. 1314. Topics for discussion include a proposed statement on receiving the sacrament of the Eucharist worthily and proposed guidelines for ministry to persons with a homosexual inclination. Also to be considered is a document offering pastoral guidance on the Church’s teaching concerning contraception.

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at 6 p.m., a Solemn Mass marking the restoration of the historic Baltimore Basilica will be televised with the Bishops in attendance.

EWTN will also provide live coverage of Pope Benedict’s visit to Turkey, Nov. 28Dec. 1. For telecast times and updates on the papal visit coverage visit www.ewtn.com.

EWTN is carried 24-hours a day on Comcast Digital Channel 229; RCN Channel 80; DISH Satellite Channel 261; and Direct TV Channel 422. Comcast airs EWTN on Channel 70 in Half Moon Bay and on Channel 74 in southern San Mateo County.

Are you homebound or ill?

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Experience the Rebirth.

Newly excavated and fully accessible, the Bethany beyond the Jordan baptism park is open daily to receive visitors.

Experience Bethany beyond the Jordan — a must on any trip to the Holy Land.

Call the Jordan Tourism Board at 877SEE-JORDAN or visit www.seejordan.org today for information on religious travel to Jordan.

“These things were done in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.” John 1:28 “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.” John 1:32-34

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18

Catholic San Francisco

November 10, 2006

Catholic San Francisco

Hanna Boys Center c l a s s i f i e d s Open House & Craft Bazaar Sunday, December 3

rd

For Information Call: 415-614-5642 Fax: 415-614-5641 Email: penaj@sfarchdiocese.org

11:00 am – 2:00 pm

■

The Open House is a wonderful opportunity for those interested in Hanna’s life-changing program to see the campus, talk to the boys and staff, and hear about the miracles that happen each day at the home for boys.

Families who might know a youngster who could benefit from Hanna’s program of care, education and faith are also encouraged to attend.

chimney cleaning

The boys will offer tours of the campus and share how Hanna is helping them turn their lives around. Guests can visit the crafts bazaar, take photos with Santa and enjoy refreshments. The holiday event will follow Hanna’s weekly Mass, which begins at 10am. The event is free to the public and all ages are welcome!

CHIMNEY CLEANING SPECIAL!

Hanna’s Craft Bazaar will have items made by the boys and staff on sale.

The money raised will go towards yearly trips and activities for the boys.

Santa will take center stage to hear the children’s Christmas wishes and take a commemorative photo.

Visit Hanna and learn about the program that has helped to change the lives of thousands of boys and their families. Hanna Boys Center is located at 17000 Arnold Drive, Sonoma.

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MICHAEL A. GYDESEN Lic. # 778332

(650) 355-8858

Painting, roof repair, fence (repair/ build) demolition, carpenter, gutter (clean/ repair), skylight repairs, landscaping, gardening, hauling, moving, janitorial. All purpose.

ELECTRIC NEEDHAM ELECTRIC, INC

(650) 757-1946 (415) 517-5977

John Holtz Ca. Lic 391053 General Contractor Since 1980

Calif. Lic. No 549434

FERGUS

Phone (415) 724-5645 Fax (415) 952-4272

REAL ESTATE SPECIALIZING IN SAN MATEO COUNTY REAL ESTATE

(650) 355-4926

If I can be of service to you, or if you know of anyone who is interested in buying or selling a home, please do not hesitate to call me . . .

Painting & Remodeling

* Parishioner of St. Gregory’s Church, San Mateo

•Interiors •Exteriors •Kitchens •Baths Contractor inspection reports and pre-purchase consulting

# 687359

GENERAL CONTRACTOR

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Painting & Remodeling

Tile ● Painting ● Carpet ● Bathrooms ● Kitchens ● Electrical ● Plumbing ● Fences ● Decks

CALL MITCH AT (650) 557-9106 ● Cell (650) 784-6544

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Call Cell

BONDED & INSURED

415-205-1235

Lic #376353

NOT A LICENSED CONTRACTOR

When Life Hurts It Helps To Talk

PLUMBING

Discount

ONE STOP MAINTENANCE AND HANDYMAN

WESTLAKE ART & FRAMING CENTER

38A PARK PLAZA, DALY CITY 94015 650-992-7219

GARAGE DOOR REPAIR

HANDY MAN

ART AND FRAMING Best picture framing prices as surveyed by Bay Area Consumers’ Checkbook Magazine (27 stores)

415- 485-4090

Today

MIKE TEIJEIRO Realtor (650) 523-5815 m.teijeiro@remax.net

Expert Plumbing Repairs ●

General Repairs Clean Drains & Sewers Water Heaters ●

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SANTI PLUMBING & HEATING

FAMILY OWNED

415-661-3707

Lic. # 663641

24 HR

BEST PLUMBING, INC. Your Payless Plumbing

Lic. # 872560

➤ Drain-Sewer Cleaning Service ➤ Water Heaters ➤ Gas Pipes ➤ Toilets ➤ Faucets ➤ Garbage Disposals ➤ Copper Repiping ➤ Sewer Replacement ➤ Video Camera & Line locate PROMPT AND UNPARALLELED SERVICE

(650) 557-1263 CELL (415) 205-2801 PAGER (415) 313-0195 EMAIL: bestplumbinginc@comcast.net

HOME CARE Need A Change?

LOVING HOME CARE ASSISTANCE We provide live-in & hrly home assistance.

Ph: 650.834.4307

Lovingcarehomeassistance.com

You Change Your Ad As Often As You Like! Your Message Mailed To 85,000 Households PLEASE CALL

415-614-5642

AUTOS WANTED SELL YOUR CAR TODAY!

CASH FOR CARS & TRUCKS AS IS – NO SMOG OK FRIENDLY & HASSLE FREE We Come to You! CALL VIC TODAY 415-759-7782

Advertising Works!

Catholic San Francisco

reaches 85,000 households by mail, 41 times per year. If you would like to reach over 225,000 potential customers please call: In Marin County 415-472-3861

In San Francisco In San Mateo County County 415-614-5640 650-591-0190 415-614-5642

November 10, 2006

Help Wanted LUCKY

Classifieds For Information Call: 415-614-5642 Fax: 415-614-5641 Email: penaj@sfarchdiocese.org

SF, jr. in-law, 1br. 1ba, $800/mo., garden apt. in private home. Perfect for one person seeking quiet, non-smoker, no pets, good credit, references.

CHECK CASHING

For The Largest Publisher of Catholic Church Bulletins

1028 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94103

• Generous Commissions • Minimal Travel • Excellent Benefit Package • Stong Office Support • Work in Your Community. E.O.E.

Lt. Housekeeping and help care for elderly lady. $10 per hr, 3 hrs per day, 3 days per wk. Must be honest.

Call George at (415) 239-1471

Voice / Piano Lessons Voice/piano lessons by former university professor.

(415) 587-8165

Piano Lessons PIANO LESSONS BY

CAROL FERRANDO. Conservatory training, masters degree, all levels of students.

CALL (415) 921-8337.

THIS SIZE AD COSTS ONLY: 32 per month – 12x $ 41 per month – 8x $ 50 per month – 4x $ 40 one time $

This is a Career Opportunity!

Call 1-800-675-5051, Fax resume: 925-926-0799

Catholic San Francisco

* Customer Service Clerk* Bilingual – English / Spanish

RNs and LVNs: we want you.

Computer Literate

Provide nursing care for children in San Francisco schools.

(415) 558-8265

Generous benefit package.

Full or part time.

Jobs with a Future.

Serra for Priestly and Religious Vocations Please call Archdiocese of San Francisco – Fr. Tom Daly (415) 614-5683

Send your resume to: Email: Fax: Mail:

ARCHDIOCESE OF SAN FRANCISCO DEPARTMENT OF CATHOLIC SCHOOLS Looking to make a difference? We, the Catholic Church of San Francisco, pledge ourselves to be a dynamic and collaborative community of faith known for its quality of leadership; richness of diversity of culture and peoples; and united in faith, hope and love.

The Archdiocese of San Francisco is seeking a qualified Assistant Superintendent for Planning and Finance for the Department of Catholic Schools. This is a regular, full-time exempt position. Competitive compensation with a very substantial benefits package including employer-funded Pension Plan, 403(b) and Flexible Spending Account, generous holiday schedule and free, gated parking.

Special Needs Companion Services We are looking for you.

• Honest • Generous • Compassionate • Make a Difference • Respectful

Work Full or Part-time in San Francisco – Marin County • Provide non medical elder care in the home • Generous benefit package Fax your resume to: Jeannie McCullough Stiles, RN 415-435-0421 Send your resume: Jeannie McCullough Stiles, RN Special Needs Nursing, Inc. 98 Main Street, #427 Tiburon, Ca 94920

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES: (For complete details, see the full description at: http://www.sfcatholicschools.org ) 1) Develops resources and provides technical assistance to parish elementary schools and Archdiocesan high schools regarding financial management: 2) Organizes and maintains Archdiocesan tuition assistance programs: Elementary Family Grants Program, Catholic High School Scholarship Program and Special Inner City Scholarship Program.

3) Represents the Roman Catholic Welfare Corporation in all matters concerning the Archdiocesan Federation of Teachers, Local 2240 (Archdiocesan high school teachers’ union).

4) Collaborates with the Archdiocesan Office of Stewardship and Development to establish a development program for the benefit of elementary and high schools.

QUALIFICATIONS: CPA certification and 10 years of financial experience in educational environment preferred Bachelors Degree required; Accounting or Business Major - preferred Personable with ability to coach and mentor Principals in areas of budget and finance A Catholic in good standing

PLEASE SUBMIT RESUME AND COVER LETTER: Attn: Maureen Huntington, Superintendent of Catholic Schools Archdiocese of San Francisco One Peter Yorke Way , San Francisco, CA 94109-6602 E-mail: huntingtonm@sfarchdiocese.org

Jeannie McCullough Stiles, RN, PHN RNTiburon@msn.com 415-435-0421 Special Needs Nursing, Inc. 98 Main Street #427 Tiburon, CA 94920

Special Needs Nursing, Inc.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF POSITION: To offer support and professional consultation to parishes/schools, Archdiocesan high schools, Department of Catholic chools, and to other Archdiocesan organizations on financial development for schools, formal long-range planning, and fiscal management.

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19

Help Wanted

Catholic San Francisco

In-Law Unit for Rent

Catholic San Francisco

DEADLINE FRIDAY 12 NOON

TO PLACE AN AD: By phone, call (415) 614-5642 or (415) 614-5640 or fax (415) 614-5641 or e-mail: penaj@sfarchdiocse.org; Mail or bring ads to Catholic San Francisco, One Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco, CA 94109; Or by (please include credit card number & expiration date).

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We reserve the right to reject or cancel advertising for any reason deemed appropriate. We want our readers to know that it is not always possible to verify promises made by our advertisers.

20

Catholic San Francisco

November 10, 2006

By Jonathan Roeder MEXICO CITY (CNS) — As the crisis in the embattled southern Mexican state of Oaxaca deepened, church attempts to mediate a solution to the conflict appear to have failed.

Oaxaca Archbishop Jose Chavez Botello acknowledged Nov. 5 that the conditions for dialogue did not exist. The same day, 20,000 protesters marched through the city to demand the Oaxaca governor step down and federal police pull out.

“It would seem that perverse personal and group interests are hindering a solution to the Oaxaca problem,” Archbishop Chavez said at a press conference. He reiterated his offer to mediate talks.

The same day, the archbishop and seven other area bishops signed a statement calling for an end to all violence stemming from the conflict. They criticized the government as well as the protesting teachers and activist groups for failing to come to an agreement.

“We exhort all of the social and political actors involved to find real solutions with urgency and honesty,” the statement read.

Federal riot police fortified much of the city of Oaxaca’s historic center at the end of October after a mix of activists and teachers had virtually taken over the city for five months, setting up barricades, burning buses and seizing local radio stations.

Violence had surged prior to the federal takeover, with plainclothes gunmen opening fire on the protesters in a number of incidents. More than nine people have died in the conflict.

The demonstrators have been adamant in their demand that state Gov. Ulises Ruiz Ortiz leave office. They accuse him of violently repressing their movement and say the election that put him in office in 2004 was fraudulent. They also have condemned the federal police presence, accusing the officers of human rights violations.

While political pressure against him has swelled, even within his own Institutional Revolutionary Party, Ruiz has refused to step down.

Archbishop Chavez had sought to bring the protesters together with representatives from the federal government, offering to oversee negotiations in the picturesque, colonial cathedral on the city’s central plaza. Members of Mexican President Vicente Fox’s administration have said that any solution hinges on the teachers returning to classes — a strike parallel to the protests has suspended schooling for an estimated 1.3 million children statewide since May. In Mexico City Nov. 5, around 40 activists sympathetic to the protesters in Oaxaca forced their way into a cathedral Mass celebrated by Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera. With their hands painted red to simulate blood, they chanted slogans such as “Norberto is blessing those that rape and kill in Oaxaca.” Amid minor scuffling, security officials removed the demonstrators.

The previous week, Cardinal Rivera expressed support for the deployment of federal troops in Oaxaca, arguing it was necessary to restore order and protect the rights of residents not involved in the conflict.

(CNS PHOTO/DANIEL AGUILAR, REUTERS)

Mexican church attempts to mediate Oaxaca crisis seem to have failed

Ten of thousands of supporters and members of the newly formed Popular Assembly of Oaxaca march against Oaxaca’s Gov. Ulises Ruiz Ortiz in Oaxaca Nov. 5.

Archdiocesan Eucharistic Retreat Nov. 18 “Come follow me” is the theme of the upcoming Archdiocesan-wide Eucharistic Retreat Nov. 18, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco. For the

second consecutive year, the retreat will be led by Michael McDevitt and Robert Bussell of “The Mystical Humanity of Christ,” a non-profit organization dedicat-

ed to spreading the devotion of the living Jesus dwelling within each person. The Nov. 18 retreat will have both English and Spanish language tracks. There is no

charge for the retreat and a light lunch will be served. For information and registration, call the Archdiocesan Office of Pastoral Ministries at (415) 614-5505.

By Monday November 13th, 2006