News Around the Parish

Welcoming New Parishioners – Last Sunday at the 9:30am mass, we formally welcomed five (5) families to our community.  Twice a year, one around Thanksgiving and the other around the Feast of St. Brendan

(May 16), we formally recognize and welcome new parishioners to our community.  I believe our community continues to draw people into our midst, first of all because of our excellent school, but also because there’s a real sense of community and warmth that attracts others to us.  The Under 5 Ministry, coordinated by Sr. Catherine Cappello and chaired by Kim DeLucchi and Nika Terjesen, provides an atmosphere where parents with children under 5, are able to come and meet other parents like themselves and find friendship and support.  The Ministry to New Parishioners (aka - Welcome Committee) also extends this warmth to incoming parishioners.  And the Sunday Children’s Liturgy of the Word as well as Vacation Bible School, and more recently, the School of Religion (for non-parochial students) continue to provide meaningful, faith filled and fun filled opportunities for children and adults to participate in our community.  Once again, I’d like to thank Gina Eggert and Kristi Warner, chairs of the Welcome Committee and its members for planning and organizing last Sunday’s welcoming event.

Welcoming our New Music Coordinator – As many of you know, Kristine Sinajon has resigned her position as Music Director to explore opportunities in the music industry.  Although we can never replace her, however, Dianne Marquez graciously accepted the position of Music Coordinator for the Sunday 9:30 & 11:30 am masses.  Ms. Marquez is currently a nursing student at the University of San Francisco set to graduate next year.  She took private piano lessons at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as a young girl.  She comes from a musical family.  Her mother is Music Director at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Daly City and her brother, Angelo Marquez, is both a Music Director at St. Dunstan in Millbrae and plays at our 8am Sunday mass.  She had substituted for Kristine while she was on sabbatical, and the choir so loved her, that they asked her to stay.  I’m glad they did and she accepted our invitation to remain with us.  We’re blessed!

Good News – As you know, we as priests take a vow of obedience to our Bishop.  This oath of obedience is not one way, us doing what we’re told.  But it is a collaboration, a partnership, with the Bishop to serve the needs of the community.  The word “obey” comes from the Latin “to hear,” or to listen.  So the listening is not just one sided.  We listen to the Bishop in regards to what he sees the needs of the Church to be, but the Bishop also listens to us, our own needs, our preferences as well as the needs of the local parish.  When Fr. Mike Quinn was appointed as Parochial Vicar, his term of assignment was 3-5 years.  He was concerned that at the end of June, his 3 years with us would be complete and he would be moved.  Fortunately, he is not scheduled to move this year.  So we can at least enjoy him for another year.  Needless to say, he’s ecstatic as am I that we will be able to work another year together.  But that’s the life of a priest.  Nothing is certain, except that our lives are in God’s hands.  And as our Blessed Mother modeled for us, “I am a servant of the Lord.  May it be done to me according to your Word.”

Fr. Dan

: )

News Around the Parish

It’s Graduation Time – We’re approaching that time of the year when the efforts, sacrifices and struggles of our students will bear fruit.  At this Sunday’s 8 a.m. mass, our 8^th graders will celebrate their graduation mass with the Community of St. Brendan.  This is done in gratitude for all the prayers and financial support you’ve given them and their families over these past 9 years.  After mass, they will have a brunch with their parents and teachers at the Olympic Club.  Besides having an extraordinary meal in an elegant setting, the students will also share with the Principal, priests, faculty and staff their reflection of the past 9 years.  Then, each student stands and introduces their parents to those present, and express in their own words the gratitude they feel towards them.  It is quite a moving experience.  Their graduation will be on June 1^st and Bishop Tom Daly, who celebrated Confirmation with this class, will be the guest speaker. 

It’s Ordination Time –  St. Patrick’s Seminary ended its academic year on May 11^th.  Men who have successfully completed their study will be ordained for their respective Dioceses.  Three men have been

ordained for the Archdiocese of San Francisco on Saturday, May 19.  Fr. Armando Gutierrez, 34, earned a degree at Cornell University and worked in affordable housing industry.  He shared with Catholic San Francisco (CSF) that “one day, it dawned on him that he hadn’t asked God what His plans for him were – and as soon as the answer came, he was off to St. Patrick’s.”  Fr. Jerome Murphy, 59, has 4 bachelor ’s degrees, an MA in history as well as a secondary education credential.  He worked as a reserve deputy for San Mateo County, worked in the insurance industry, was a substitute teacher and headed the Safety Department at Stanford Medical Center.  He was caregiver to both his parents and the day after his last parent died, he shared with CSF, “it just seemed clear as a bell… Go to the seminary.”  Fr. Felix Lim, 42, earned a BA in economics and mathematics, a BS and a Masters in Finance, worked 8 years in investment management before entering the seminary.  He credits his parents and the Legion of Mary for fostering his vocation.  The Church of San Francisco is indeed blessed with these 3 new priests.  Please hold them in your prayers as they begin their ministry to God’s people.  And thank you for supporting the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal, which has paid for their Seminary studies. 

Congratulations to our Mother’s Club Officers – Last Thursday, May 17, the Mothers’ Club installed new officers.  The Mothers’ Club assists our School by raising funds to keep tuition low and to provide the latest in technology for our students.  The incoming officers are:  Mrs. Fiona Connolly, President, Mrs. Karen Pierotti, Vice-President, Mrs. Carolyn Dame, Secretary, Mrs. Jill Peterson Kaplan, Treasurer, Mrs. Rita Cenni, Auditor.  The past President, Mrs. Colette O’Brien, is now the Parliamentarian.  I want to express my gratitude to our departing officers, Mrs. Kim Fama and Mrs. Patricia O’Neill for their service to our parish and school.  And to all the mothers who have contributed time, treasure and talent in various ways to our school to make it great, THANK YOU!

Fr. Dan

: )

News Around the Parish

At the School – The month of May is full of activities around the school.  On Saturday May 5th, the Mother’s Club held their annual auction fundraising for the school.  San Jose’s Auxiliary Bishop Tom Daly joined us for the evening, as did the Pastor of St. Gregory in San Mateo, Fr. Paul Arnault.  In the early part of the evening, guests gathered inside a tastefully decorated tent, set up in the schoolyard, for the Silent Auction.  Up for auction were many baskets and unique crafts that the children made.  The atmosphere was pleasant as the guests dressed in formal attire, enjoyed a live band, drinks and hors d'oeuvre.  As the Silent Auction ended, we gathered into a beautifully transformed gym for an elegant dinner.  After dinner, a live auction was held and there were some frenzied bidding wars.  It was fun for all to see and enjoy, as the monies raised would go directly to lower the tuition by over $1,000 for each child.  A well-deserved THANK YOU goes to Lia Burke, Maureen Kosewic and Jim Anderer for chairing the event, and for the legion of volunteers who helped put it all together.  Then on Thursday May 3rd at 7pm, the school children and their families came together to pray the rosary and honor our Blessed Mother in the annual May Crowning celebration.  Not to be outdone, the Men’s Club on Sunday evening, May 6th, held a Father Daughter Dance in the hall.  It was a delight to see these young ladies enjoy the evening with their dads.  And on Friday May 11th, the Men’s Club also put on a Golf Tournament at Harding Park Golf Course beginning with lunch at 11am, Shotgun at noon, and cocktails and dinner back at the Parish Hall.  A great big thanks to the Men’s Club Officers, Glenn Fama, Jim Anderer and Kevin Morrison for coordinating these events.  Their efforts support the after school sports program.  The Mother’s Club will install new officers for next year on Thursday May 17th at a special school mass held at 11:30am.  All are invited to attend and to pray for these hardworking dedicated women.  In addition, as we near the end of the school year, our 8^th graders would like to celebrate their graduation mass with the parish, to thank you for the financial and prayerful support you have given them over the past 9 years.  This year, the graduation mass will be held on Sunday May 20th at the 8am mass.  As an expression of our appreciation for the Altar Servers who have served faithfully each day throughout the year, the parish will sponsor an Altar Servers’ Picnic for them at Raging Waters in San Jose on a school day, Thursday, May 31st.  They have earned it.

Welcoming New Parishioners – Thanks to the Welcome Committee, chaired this year by Gina Eggert and Kristi Warner, we will be welcoming New Parishioners at next Sunday’s 9:30am mass (May 20).  We do this twice a year, one at the Parish Thanksgiving dinner, and this one around the feast of St. Brendan (May 16). 

To our new parishioners, we hope you will be able to join us at that special mass in your honor.  If you have not done so yet, please let us know if you can attend.  You can call Michele Bisho at the office at

415-681-4225 x 204.

Mentor Training – On the first week of May, I was away at St. Patrick’s Seminary for training in being a Mentor.  It’s an excellent program put on by the Seminary to provide mentorship for newly ordained priests, foreign-born priests coming to serve in our country or first time pastors.  The program was well thought out, and I thought it was a wonderful expression of fraternal concern by the priests of the Archdiocese to help men in transition become successful.  I want to thank you for your support for the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal and for St. Patrick’s Seminary that has allowed me to participate in such a worthwhile program.

To all who are mothers and all who serve in the capacity of a mother, may God richly bless you this day.  We wish you all a Happy Mother’s Day!

Fr. Dan

Reflection of Our Parochial Vicar

“I am the Vine, You are the branches…”

When I was on my seminary pastoral year , between 2^nd and 3^rd year of Theology at St. Patrick’s Seminary, I was assigned to a peninsula parish where due to a misunderstanding between pastor and principal, I was initially assigned to teach the fifth grade. This was before the famous television show “Are You Smarter than  a Fifth- Grader”.   However, in dutifully accepting this assignment within 48 hours of my arrival in the parish, I was reflecting that I was definitely NOT smarter than a fifth grader in all areas. I felt comfortable in Mathematics, English, Spelling, History, Geography and definitely , religion, after my seminary training.  But I was terrified of  Science- never my strongest subject.  So I asked the pastor and the principal if I could have some help in this area and they both readily agreed, as school was set to commence in two days. During the first week, I expected the designated teacher to appear in the doorway at the scheduled time of  Science- this never happened despite my requests to the principal. In my first lesson,  I tried to use the analogy of a tree as similar to the human blood system. I explained that the human body’s blood system has the heart as the motor of sorts; the arteries as the freeways of blood similar to the big branches of a tree; the smaller, but no less important blood vessels carrying blood to keep our tissues alive from the arteries and on to the smallest of blood veins, the capillaries. All the while, I used the image of a tree.

As I was preparing to compose this commentary, this image kept coming to mind.  I then reflecting that Jesus who we hope to keep at the core of our life is the vine who has somehow grown into a tree that is the Church for all time and for all places. Indeed, we are the branches and maybe some of us new to the faith or weaker in faith are only capillaries,  yet we still have the faith of Christ within us. This life is coursing through our veins and is giving us life and direction. Some of us lead others to Christ as branches give life to new branches and sprigs of leaves.  Jesus wants us to know and appreciate that the source of life is from God. That is why he says that he and the Father are one and that he is the vine and that we are the branches. We are called to accept life from God and to help promote life in others. The tree analogy works here. As the infant Church was beginning, the image of vine was appropriate as the few believers/disciples were called to join Christ in His mission to save the world.  That mission seems impossible to any one of us, but it is possible if we all try and accept the gifts of life, love, and truth from Jesus and try to pass on these gift to others.  Jesus is the tree represented in His Church,  the one composed of all people who believe; not a building but real live people!  As people, we are alive in our faith and we hope to share this with others.

   When parents teach their young about God; when families come

   to Mass  to celebrate together the Eucharist; when we praise God

   through prayer and song we give life to  our faith and to others.

   Let us resolve to accept God’s gift as life-giving and  appreciate

   our relationship with our loving God.

   Fr. Mike

News Around the Archdiocese

Archbishop’s Golden Anniversary – Archbishop George Niederauer was ordained to the priesthood on April 30, 1962 for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.  He was the only child of George and Elaine Niederauer, born on June 14, 1936.  In his elementary school years, he attended St. Catherine’s Military Academy in Anaheim, finished High School at St. Anthony’s in Long Beach, attended freshman year at Stanford before entering St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo.  He holds a Bachelor in Sacred Theology from Catholic University, earned a Doctorate in English Literature from USC and an Honorary Doctorate of Human Letters from the University of Utah.

He has served as a parish priest, has taught English Literature at Mt. St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles and at St. John’s Seminary, taught Spiritual Theology at St. John’s Seminary, been a Spiritual Director there before becoming Rector of the same Seminary.  While teaching in the Seminary in 1984, he was awarded by the Pope, the title Monsignor.  He has also been Co-director of the Cardinal Manning House of Prayer for Priests in Los Angeles, before becoming the eighth Bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City on January 25, 1995.  Pope Benedict XVI named him the eighth Archbishop of San Francisco on December 15, 2005.  Last year he turned 75 and following Canon Law, submitted his resignation to Pope Benedict.  Rumor has it, that the Pope will accept his resignation this year and we will be having a new Archbishop.

The Archbishop has asked me to serve on the Priest Personnel Board (PPB) in October of 2010, which makes recommendations to him regarding priests’ assignments.  In my short time there, I have been impressed by his kindness.  He is what you would expect a Bishop to be.  In personnel assignments, he is mindful of the needs of the priests.  But having been ordained to serve, he places priorities in the needs of the parish.  He cares that we find a good match between what the parish needs, and the abilities and talents of the priest.  In some diocese, Priest assignments are made without regard to whether a priest likes it or not.  But in this diocese, care is taken to ensure that both the priest and the community are a good match.  The logic is if a priest is happy with his assignment, then both he and the community will benefit.  The difficulty these days in serving on the PPB, is the shortage of priests.  With more men retiring than are being ordained, trying to find the right match becomes more challenging.  With a greater number of Spanish speaking Catholics in the area, finding priests who can speak Spanish and minister to their needs has also been a challenge.  But the Archbishop does seek to find the right priest to serve the needs of a community.

The Archdiocese will have a special celebration in honor of his Golden Jubilee on Monday, April 30, 2012 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary Cathedral.  You are all invited to attend and pray for God’s blessing upon this gentle and kind servant of God. 

Ordination to the Priesthood – You are also invited to the Ordination to the Priesthood on Saturday, May 19, 2012 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary’s Cathedral.  Three men, who have already been ordained as Transitional Deacons, will be ordained priests.  They are Rev. Mr. Armando Gutierrez, Rev. Mr. Felix Lim and Rev. Mr. Jerome Murphy.  It is a beautiful event with exquisite music.  Save the date and come join us as we pray for them.

Peace,

Fr. Dan

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

The Holy Week and Easter celebrations went so well because so many volunteers were willing to lend a hand.  The Liturgy Committee made up of Sr. Catherine Cappello, Anne Kearney, Eileen Miller, Bro. Dat Nguyen & Fr. Mike Quinn helped plan these celebrations.  At Holy Thursday’s celebration of the Lord’s Supper, we had 3 volunteers process in the Oils that were blessed by the Archbishop and the priests of the Archdiocese at the Chrism Mass.   Eileen Miller, who volunteers as a RCIA team member, brought in the Oil for Catechumen that we use for those preparing for initiation into the Church.  Dr. Brad Angeja, a physician, brought in the Oil for the Sick.  8^th grader Sean O’Driscoll, who was recently Confirmed, brought in the Sacred Chrism.

In addition, 6 parishioners volunteered to have their feet washed.  They were CJ Arenas, Bev Baptista, Gary Giabini, Joe Jovero, Lucille Kovash & Samantha Miller.  But more than that, they in turn washed someone else’s feet.  Each person who was washed, in turn stayed and washed someone else.  It was truly beautiful to see.  In one instance, a 2^nd grader, John Francis Kosewic, whose foot was washed, stayed and washed the foot of an older gentleman, LTC. Walter Farrell (USAF, ret.), which is what Jesus meant when He said to “do this in memory of me.”  He didn’t simply mean to celebrate the Eucharist, but to imitate His self-giving and service to one another.  I’m grateful also for Dianne Marquez and the choir who enriched the Last Supper Celebration with their gift of music. 

The Environment Committee also needs to be thanked.  Pura Lippi, her sister Aurora and Ninh Lawhon helped decorate the hall downstairs, which we used that evening as the Altar of Repose.  After Jesus had the Last Supper with his friends, he went to the garden of Gethsemane to pray.  So the Blessed Sacrament was processed out of the Church and taken down to the lower hall where the faithful could “stay and pray” with Jesus.  The Blessed Sacrament was not brought back into the tabernacle until the Easter Vigil.

On Good Friday, we were fortunate to have Bishop William Justice lead us in the Noon-3pm Meditation. We began with Stations of the Cross at noon, followed by a meditation and concluded with Liturgy and Veneration of the Cross.  On Good Friday Evening, Sr. Catherine prepared a meditation on the Stations of the Cross for those who were unable to attend the earlier services. 

On Saturday morning, the Environment Committee with a host of angels, helped transform the Church into a beautiful place to celebrate Easter. I’m grateful for all their hard work, as we were there from 9am until close to 2pm. 

The Easter Vigil was also spectacular as we began in darkness.  With lighted candles, we held vigil for the resurrection of our Lord.  Kumiko Jovero, Nicholas Stevens & Jennifer Sullivan were baptized at that mass, Wesley Powell was welcomed into the Catholic Church, and Madeleine Conui received Confirmation (along with the others). I’m grateful to Sr. Rita Chen, the RCIA team and the Sponsors who helped prepare these candidates to become full members of our Church. 

I’m grateful also to our Sacristan, Jaime Longa, to all the Lectors, Eucharistic Ministers, Musicians and Altar Servers who volunteered to serve at these liturgies.  And to the Under 5 Committee, thank you for organizing the Easter egg hunt following the 9:30am mass.  To Wil Bucoy, I thank him for setting up Close Circuit TV (CCTV), so the overflow crowd could participate in the liturgy down in the hall.  Approximately 30 people were able to make use of this technology.  I regret not being able to mention everyone who helped, but what’s more important, is whether our names are written in the Book of Life.  Nonetheless, know that I am grateful for your ministry that makes St. Brendan great. 

Happy Easter!

Fr. Dan

Reflection of Our Parochial Vicar

Divine Mercy Sunday

When I was in seminary, I learned so very much more about the depth of our faith.  One of the new lessons  I obtained was about Divine Mercy Sunday, the chaplet of Divine Mercy and how to recite it and what it meant for me/us. This did not occur in a vacuum as I will relate and it caused me to give increased attention to it. We had exercises of different spiritual methods and approaches each semester and one included reciting the Divine Mercy chaplet, which was a devotion founded by Sr. Faustina Kowalski (1905-1938), using a Rosary. She reported visions of Jesus and conversations with Him which she recorded in her diary. She became known as “the Apostle of Mercy.”  The three main themes of the devotion are to ask for and obtain the mercy of God, to trust in  Christ’s abundant mercy, and finally to show mercy to others and act as a conduit for God's mercy towards them.

    The devotion places emphasis on the veneration of the Divine Mercy Image, first seen by Sr. Faustina, which depicts a stream of blue color and red color coming from Jesus with His arms outstretched.  We

    have such an image in the vestibule of St. Brendan’s Church and it is to depict the water and blood of    Christ that Jesus shed for us in His Divine Mercy to us. The image is displayed and venerated by Catholics on its own, and is solemnly blessed during Divine Mercy Sunday.  The devotion includes specific prayers such as the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

    In the year before I came to St. Brendan’s , I served as a deacon at Holy Name of Jesus Parish in San     Francisco where Bishop Ignatius Wang is in residence. I enjoyed my time at Holy Name and became     friends with Bishop Wang and the priests, deacon and good people of Holy Name.  I learned first-hand    that Bishop Wang had been the presiding Bishop at Divine Mercy conventions held throughout the Bay Area and I was privileged to accompany him as his deacon for Mass.  Some of my best conversation have been while driving. Bishop Wang who explained that the image of God’s Divine Mercy is made public to us in the sacrifice of His Son, a  total and complete sacrifice as Jesus shed his last drop of blood and water signified by the blue and red streams of light from the sacred heart of Jesus.  We discussed that it did not matter that it really was the last drop of Jesus’ blood or not, but that we should appreciate the totality of  the sacrifice of Jesus in the Paschal Event – the suffering, death through crucifixion, and glorious Resurrection in Christ. He added that that is what made him attracted to the Divine Mercy of God, the contemplation of the totality of God’s life giving sacrifice.

    I thought about that for a while and measured my giving to God as in need of a “boost.”  I evaluated , at    that time, that while I had done much to trust in God by sacrificing to enter seminary, I had not done it     with the last ounce of my conviction or every fiber of my being. I believed myself to be like most of us    who hold back just a bit and reserve dedication to God and appreciation of God’s plan for us and the

    sacrifice of Jesus, even if less than we used to, with concern for earthly matters. One of my concerns at     that time was what parish would I be assigned to as a new priest. I decided after that car ride to completely trust in God’s plan for me.  As we all know, that plan involved me coming to St. Brendan’s parish, a “dream assignment” that I have enjoyed beyond words. Trusting in God’s mercy means  trusting

    completely. It is a wonderful experience that is rewarded always. Try it!!!!

   Fr. Mike