4 ON THE STREET WHERE YOU LIVE
CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO | NOVEMBER 21, 2019
First graders study and pray for the rainforest
AUCTION ACTION: In a Nov. 4 post to a Facebook page created for the Menlo Park’s St. Raymond Parish auction Nov. 16, Dominican Father Jerome Cudden announced his donation of a “skydive for two from 14,000 feet.” Father Jerome cheekily invited brave parishioners to join his “2 3/4 Mile High Club,” which includes “pre-jump confessions” and a video of the jump with a trained jump instructor. No word yet from the parish on who or even if anyone was brave enough to take up the challenge. Other auction items included surf lessons, a bottle of locally produced “Crows” Philippine craft gin and a four-month-old Dutch bunny named Jerome, after the pastor.
CHRISTINA GRAY CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO
The Amazon rainforest and its value to the lives both inside the endangered territory and beyond it is barely understood by many adults. But after a two-week immersion study on the rainforest in October, the first graders of Mission Dolores Academy definitely get it. “What are some of the sad things that are happening in the rainforest?” asked teacher Rochelle Reid during an Oct. 25 lesson observed by Catholic San Francisco. Little hands shot up: Animals are in danger! Gigantic fires! Trees are cut down! “And what happens when trees are cut down?” asked Reid. “The birds and animals and the people, their homes go away,” said a boy named Joshua. The rainforest, they learned, which includes parts of Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana covers more than two million square miles. It hosts the largest collection of living plant and animal species in the world and generates approximately 20 percent of the planet’s oxygen. But climate change, deforestation, fires, pollution and the displacement of native human, animal and plant species is threatening to change it forever, according to scientists. Reid is the longtime first grade teacher at Mission Dolores Academy. This summer’s massive fires in the Amazon followed by the Synod of Bishops of the Pan-Amazon region in Rome Oct. 6-27, offered an opportunity to explore the crossroads of science and faith. On a field trip to the California Academy of Sciences rainforest exhibit in Golden Gate Park, the students saw with their own eyes the four “layers” of the rainforest and the interdependency of the human, plant and animal life. “We actually had a student who cried because he felt so bad for the animals and humans,” said Reid. Back in the classroom, she drew a triangle to demonstrate what the pope and bishops are trying to do for the rainforest region, and what ordinary Catholics can do.
(PHOTO BY CHRISTINA GRAY/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)
Mission Dolores Academy first graders Madison Douglas, left, and Fernanda Serna, right, show off the card they made for Pope Francis to thank him for helping protect the Amazon rainforest from deforestation, fires, pollution and the displacement of the people and animals that call it home.
“Remember the pope is up here,” said Reid, pointing to the top of the triangle. The other two points represented the Catholic bishops (“the pope’s helpers,” Reid said) and Catholics themselves. “The pope can guide us, but we too can do things,” she said. “What can we do?” After a handful of inventive ideas from students that involved blockbuster movie-style feats of superhero rescue, Reid offered another idea. “We can pray,” she said. Reid wanted students’ first prayer to be of thanksgiving, or a prayer of concern for the rainforest. She distributed colorful plastic rosary beads to the students blessed by “Father Charlie,” school administrator Jesuit Father Charles Gagan. She then paired off students to design a card for the pope with markers and colored pencils. The front of the cards produced in the exercise featured bright parrots, slinky jaguars, monkeys, snakes and butterflies. Inside, the students filled in their own ending to the sentence; “Dear Pope Francis, thank you for saving the rainforest. It is important because ….” “I actually plan to send them to the Vatican,” Reid said.
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The following Sunday recitals are free to the public. Unless otherwise indicated, all recitals begin at 4 pm, and a free-will offering will be requested at the door. There is ample free parking. Nov. 24, 4 pm: Jin Kyung Lim, Organist, with the Amabilis Ensemble. Dec.1, 4 pm: Main Street Singers. Dec. 8, 4 pm: Advent Lessons and Carols. St. Mary’s Cathedral Choir and St. Mark’s Lutheran Church Choir. Dec. 15, 4 pm: Vytenis Vasyliunas (Germany), Organ. Percy Whitlock Sonata. Dec. 22, 4 pm: Angela Kraft Cross, Organ. Dec. 29, 4 pm: Raymond Hawkins (Winston-Salem), Organ. Jan. 5, 4 pm: Epiphany Lessons and Carols, performed by St. Brigid School Honor Choir and Golden Gate Boys choir and Bellringers. Jan. 12, 4 pm: Thomas Fielding (Kalamazoo), Organ Jan. 19, 4 pm: Cavatina Chamber Ensemble Jan. 26: NO RECITAL
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE: Knights of Columbus Assembly 3412 (Mater Dolorosa and St. Augustine Parishes in South San Francisco) assisted the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4103 in serving lunch to veterans and “wounded warriors” at Palo Alto Veterans Hospital on Nov. 11. Also present were South San Francisco Mayor Karyl Matsumoto, and councilwoman Flor Nicolas. During Tom Burke’s absence, email items and high-resolution images to CSF staff at csf@sfarch.org and/ or mail to Street, One Peter Yorke Way, San Francisco 94109. Include a follow-up phone number. If requesting a calendar listing, put “Calendar” in the subject line.
CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO
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(PHOTO COURTESY PATRICK STALLONE)
WOMEN WARRIORS: The eighth grade CYO girls basketball team of St. Anselm School in San Anselmo took over the court at halftime during the Nov. 1 Golden State Warriors game against the San Antonio Spurs at Chase Center in San Francisco. In an email to Catholic San Francisco, CYO athletic director Patrick Stallone said the school has been playing halftime at Warrior games for about five years, trading off between the girls and boys teams. The girls team split up to make two teams for the face off. “The girls rocked it and played really well, receiving a big round of applause,” Stallone said.
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