Ministry Fair – Last weekend, the parish had a wonderful Ministry Fair.  On Saturday night, thanks to the hosting skills of Elizabeth Gamarra, we had a nice spread of cheese, crackers and wine for those who came to the fair.  Each ministry in the parish had a table with balloons and a poster board showing their work.  Ministries such as the Under 5 (parents with children under 5), the Knitting Group, the Welcoming Committee, Scouts, San Dimas (Detention Ministry), Liturgy, Men’s and Mother’s Club, SVDP and many others were present.  There are over 30 ministries in the parish.  It was an opportunity for people to discover the different ministries of the parish and also to inquire and sign up if they had the time.  For example, the Knitting Group, besides being a social group, actually knit scarves for the homeless as well as make little booties for babies baptized in the parish.  On Sunday morning, coffee and donuts were available after all the masses.  Raffle prizes were also awarded.  Anyone who stopped at a booth and inquired about a ministry received a raffle ticket.  If they signed up for a ministry, they got 5 tickets.  Prizes were awarded after each mass and all the raffle tickets made it into the pool for the grand prizes.  I want to express my gratitude to the different ministries for donating prizes for the raffle.  A great big thanks to Kimberlea McManigal for coordinating all the gifts, Gus Del Puerto for putting together a collage of pictures depicting the life of the parish, and Sr. Sharon Brannen for being the overall coordinator.  She put together a Ministry Booklet, listing all the ministries, a short description of each and how to contact them.  She, along with all the volunteers from the different ministries, made the weekend lively and fun. 

Thank you all…

 

Thanks for the Gift of Sight – Antonio, who was present at the Ministry Fair last weekend at the San Dimas’ table, asked me to express his deepest appreciation to all of you for the gift of sight.  He was once a teen held at Juvenile Hall.  Through the help of San Dimas Ministry, he received the support he needed to change his life around.  He finished high school, got married and has a little daughter, but received news he was losing both his sight.  It would cost $16,000 and he didn’t have medical insurance.  The Mother’s Club donated $10K and the parish donated $6K.  The surgery was successful and today, his sight is normal and he is completing his studies to be a paramedic.  He feels grateful because we not only helped him keep his sight, but gave him and his family a brighter future.  Thank you all.

 Congratulations to Bret McManigal – Bret along with his wife Kimberlea and their 2 children were welcomed into the parish last November at the parish Thanksgiving Dinner.  Kimberlea has been volunteering as a co-chair of the Under 5 Ministry.  Bret, a police officer at Northern Station, has been taking classes with Sr. Catherine, learning more about the Catholic faith.  Last Sunday, at the 9:30am mass, we formally welcomed him as a catechumen, one who is preparing for the sacraments of initiation at Easter.  On that same day in the afternoon, he and hundreds of other catechumens from different parishes across the Archdiocese, met at the cathedral with Archbishop Cordileone.  They signified the seriousness of their commitment by writing their names in the Book of the Elect, which means “Chosen.”  Although we choose God, but God also chooses us to be His own.  So keep him in your prayers this Lent that he may grow deeper in the knowledge and love of God.

 Fr. Dan

 

A Call to Prayer by the US Bishops – As we enter into the Season of Lent, with the announcement of our Pope’s resignation, and with the many difficult issues facing our nation, it is a good time to heed our U.S. Bishops’ call to prayer.  This invitation was announced at the beginning of Advent and Catholics were encouraged to undertake traditional practices of prayer and fasting, during the Year of Faith, to intercede for our nation.  There are certainly many personal, local, national and international issues that need our intercessions.  However, the U.S. Bishops felt were of particular importance at this time, how our government dealt with 3 issues:  the Sanctity of Life, the Holiness of Marriage and Religious Liberty. 

This call to prayer, then, invites Catholics throughout our nation to pray and fast for these difficult issues facing our nation and our Church.  For example, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) mandates employers, including heads of religious agencies to pay for sterilizations, abortion-inducing drugs and contraceptives.  The deadline for religious organizations to comply with the HHS mandate is August 1, 2013.  So the U.S. Bishops call on families and individuals to take up:

praying a daily Rosary

making a Holy Hour devotion, once a month, before the Blessed Sacrament

abstaining from meat and fasting on Fridays (throughout the Year of Faith which ends Nov 24, 2013) to enlist the body in our spiritual endeavors

 and celebrating a 2^nd Fortnight for Freedom at the end of June and at the beginning of July 2013. 

 
Archbishop Cordileone said, “With the challenges this country is facing, it is hoped that this call to prayer and penance will help build awareness among the faithful as well as spiritual stamina and courage for effective witness.  We also hope that it will encourage solidarity with all people who are standing for the precious gifts of life, marriage and religious liberty.”

Commenting on this call to prayer, Sr. Catherine Cappello wisely shared, “Pray as you can.  Don’t pray as you can’t.”  Although the U.S. Bishops have called on all families to pray the rosary daily, but she taught that maybe all your children can do at this time is one (1)  “Hail Mary,” or three (3) , or a decade.  What matters is that it is done well and prayerfully.  To assist in this endeavor, the parish is making available free rosaries and prayer cards to help us pray well, especially as we enter into the Season of Lent.

 

Fr. Dan

 

Reflections of our Parochial Vicar

I Will Make You Fishers of Men

( and Women)

Whenever I hear this gospel proclaimed, I still ask God “Really? You have got to be kidding me!!!”  Yet this is true. We have been asked to pray that we become his instruments.  We are God’s hands and voices at work in our modern world. By first having God in our hearts and then sharing the good news, we indeed become his fishers of souls. What a tremendous honor! First, we have to go though a process known as “discernment” or as it applies to God “discernment of the spirit.” In today’s gospel we have the professional fishermen deciding to trust Jesus, a teacher and healer. I do not believe that all of the Apostles were convinced that He was indeed the Son of God working for their welfare in their midst. Regrettably, that is still true today, as people “look “ for Jesus, not recognizing that He is ever-present with each of us.

 

Discernment is defined as “the activity of determining the value and quality of a certain subject or event, particularly the activity of going past the mere perception of something and making detailed judgments about that thing;  the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure; skill in discerning.  an act of perceiving or discerning something.  I was fortunate while at Creighton University to take a course on “Discernment of Spirits “ , also known as determining what the Holy spirit wants for us in our lives. My teacher, Sr. Maureen Conroy, RSM, also wrote a book entitled “The Discerning Heart: Discovering a Personal God”.  The entire program taught that what is needed for people of faith is a discerning heart. The reason for this was proposed that we analyze with the brain using all of our senses, but that we decide with our heart, our sense of what is best for us and for those around us.

Sr. Maureen Conroy writes: “ Developing a discerning heart means being attentive to the movements and counter-movements within, which is a result of God’s intimate involvement with us. It is about discovering a personal god who embraces both our darkness and our light because in God’s eyes darkness and light… It means striving to find God in all the realities of our life --the inner dimensions of our mind, heart, spirit, imagination and memory and the outer aspects of our relationships, community, work, leisure, and world….A basic tenet is that when we are discovering God in a personal way, we spontaneously experience movement toward and away from God. The development of a discerning heart is about sifting through these interior movements so that we can choose those movements that ultimately bring us into a deeper union with God and reject those that draw us away from God’s loving heart.”

Our task then, is to find Jesus at work in every aspect of our lives – in our joys, in our times of sadness and challenge. The consequence of developing a discerning heart goes beyond mere self- improvement, but rather, enables us to become a fisher of souls through our example!

Fr. Mike

 

News Around the Parish

 

Praying for Christian Unity – Every year from Jan 18 – 25, there is a worldwide prayer for Christian Unity.  In each of the past years I’ve wanted to do something with our neighboring Christian churches, but usually after returning from Christmas and New Year’s break, the time left for planning has usually been too short.  This year, prior to Thanksgiving, I dropped a letter of invitation to each of the pastors in our neighborhood, including the chaplains at Laguna Honda Hospital and Juvenile Hall, to gather at St. Brendan’s to pray on the feast day of the conversion of St. Paul.  Two pastors and the director of the spiritual program at Juvenile Hall responded saying that they will join us.  They were the Rev. Dr. Sandra Hulse from St. John United Church of Christ, the Rev. Susan Parsley from Forest Hill Christian Church, and Mr. Julio Escobar, the Director of San Dimas Ministry.  Regrettably, Rev. Parsley came down with the flu the day before our gathering and apologized for not being able to join us.  Nonetheless, she said she would be with us in spirit and along with about 20 other St. Brendan parishioners, we gathered to pray for the healing of our divisions on Friday, January 25 at 7pm.  Rev. Dr. Hulse was the guest preacher and after our prayer service, both Mr. Escobar and Rev. Dr. Hulse answered a few questions about their ministry and church.  A wonderful reception was prepared

downstairs by our wonderful Elizabeth Gamarra.  Some of the fruits of our getting together to pray was that the Rev. Dr. Hulse was able to connect with Mr. Escobar.  She said her community is interested to help with the detention ministry there.  When asked if next year St. John would be willing to host this prayer, Rev. Dr. Hulse readily agreed but would check first with the elders of her congregation. 

 

Walk for Life – Organizers estimated that more than 50,000 people attended this year’s Walk for Life on Sat., Jan 26.  Although the Cathedral had a mass for all participants at 9:30am, however, we had our own mass here at 10am.  Fr. Mike and I celebrated the mass together with more than 50 participants.  Afterwards, we had a wonderful breakfast down in the hall.  Then, Fr. Mike led our St. Brendan’s contingent to gather with the rest of our brothers and sisters at Civic Center.  Prior to the Walk, the Papal Nuncio (Ambassador) to the US, Archbishop Carlo Vigano extended greetings and blessings from Pope Benedict XVI and commended those gathered for their work in pro-life.  Actress Jennifer O’Neill shared her regret of aborting her own child, and Elaine Riddick, who was a victim not only of rape but of her state’s sterilization program in N. Carolina, were just a few of the speakers.  The peaceful walk followed down Market Street and concluded at the Embarcadero’s Justin Herman Plaza where a Mariachi band greeted the walkers.  The purpose of this peaceful Walk was simply to let people know, especially our young people, that every life no matter the color, the gender or even what genetic imperfections there are, is precious.  And what was beautiful that day was the presence of so much youth participating and standing up for life.

Congratulations First Holy Communicants – It’s especially appropriate to celebrate First Holy Communion on Sat. Feb 2 at the end of Catholic Schools Week.  Because the purpose of our schools is not just to teach academics, although that is important, but more importantly to help our children know and love God.  First Holy Communion is then a special moment in our children’s journey, as they gain knowledge and the use of reason, to celebrate this special Sacrament.  I want to thank their teachers Mrs. Sonia Ino and Mrs. Nina Warda for preparing our students and for our Music Coordinator, Ms. Dianne Marquez for rehearsing with our children.  And to their parents, thank you for teaching and modeling the faith for them.  As Pope John Paul II said, parents are the first teachers of the faith.  The home is both the first church and also the first seminary.  Thank you for all you do to instill faith in your children.  We’re sincerely glad to be a part of it.

 

Fr. Dan

 

Relections of Our Parochial Vicar

We ARE all part of the Mystical Body of Christ!

In today’s second reading by St. Paul, we are given the image that though we are many parts, we are all parts of the same body- the “Mystical Body of Christ”. I believe that many of us lose sight of this central belief within our faith, from time to time. The image is that we have many roles, but all are towards the same life-promoting end. Some of us are priests, some religious, some are married – some with children and others without, some are single and some are children , some adults, some elderly full of a lifetime of wisdom but trapped in a failing body. At first blush, we might certainly and perhaps adamantly state we are not part of the same body and we are certainly not unified! Our differences we now call “diversity”, just as a hand is different from a foot. Yet we are all connected somehow. Each of us is important.

 

Our lack of unity is one of our failings as humans and it is certainly not God’s plan that someone should not be cared for by the community in which they live. Our diverse interests are not our central identity. Our primary identity is that we all are children of a God who loves us. We are asked to respond to this initiative of God’s love or “prevenient grace”, by responding in love to love offered. When this article is published the West Coast March for Life will have concluded the day before, and I believe that it must cause God tremendous heartache for us to allow ourselves to become divided on core beliefs within our faith such as the integrity of each and every human life. When the Sandy Hook murders were emblazoned on our front pages only one month earlier, people were shocked that anyone could deprive so many children of a chance to live, celebrate their families, some young ones may have become doctors- perhaps discovering the cure for cancer while some were destined for ordinary jobs and more or less ordinary lives. We will never know and for their families and ourselves, we mourn.

 

We were properly shocked at the carnage. Yet there are some who allow that if life is terminated one at a time under any other justification , such as lifestyle maintenance or

revenge (for capital punishment) that this is okay.  When one part of our body is hurt, it affects us all.  Can’t we all remember when we had a broken bone and somehow learned to appreciate more and more the functioning of that broken part of our body. For example, when I first came to St. Brendan’s, I broke a thumb hanging Christmas lights. Because of that very minor injury, I had to modify and improvise, especially during Mass, my functions. I even had my cast modified by a hand surgeon, so that it would appear less awkward. I learned how important my use of this left thumb was by having its usefulness temporarily taken away.    Each person is created in the image and likeness of God. When we criticize or reject that person’s dignity or right to life we are diminished as a body. In our readings we are exhorted to choose life, not for some, but for all!  We ARE all one in Christ.

 

 Fr. Mike

 

From the Pastor

 Walk for Peace – Last Saturday, Jan 12, with Bishop Justice and ministers from different congregations, there was a walk for peace in the Mission district to try to stop the gun violence in our city.  There were 68 homicides in San Francisco in 2012.  We gathered at St. Anthony’s Church on Cesar Chavez at 10am, and with family members of the victims, their friends, neighbors and concerned citizens, we prayed before setting out for a walk through the Mission to plead for peace in our streets.  Led by Julio Escobar, coordinator for Restorative Justice in the Archdiocese, more than a hundred participants took part in this walk, imploring our fellow citizens to stop the violence.  We stopped at 2 places, 24^th & Mission & 16^th & Mission, and allowed family members to share the loss they felt and their desire for the violence to stop so that other families would not have to experience the grief they felt.  Especially moving, was to hear family members who were quick to forgive, in order to break the cycle of violence.  68 crosses, representing the victims, were carried throughout the walk and a memorial service was held for them at Mission Dolores, as their names were read aloud and we prayed for them and their loved ones.  We’re grateful for the police who escorted us throughout the walk and helped us arrive safely to our destination.

Thank YOU, Secret Santas – Tad Tassone, coordinator for St. Brendan’s St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP) reported that through your generosity, they collected:

Over 100 toiletry sets for clients at SVDP’s Multi-Service Center (a place where homeless men and women can drop-in for showers, clothing, laundry, case management, dinner and sleep). 

100 personalized gifts, from radios to pads of legal-size paper, for the patients at Laguna Honda Hospital. 

27 hat/glove/scarf sets for the mothers and 15 educational toys for their children at Daughters of Charity & SVDP’s Epiphany Center, where they serve at risk families.

36 personalized gifts for clients at SF’s Adult Day Services – a Catholic Charities CYO day care resource center for Alzheimer patients.

In addition, thanks to your generosity, over 300 sandwiches were made in December for guests at their Multi-Service center.  With the volunteers of SVDP, we thank you for your generosity and support that helped bring a little light to those who have experienced so much darkness in their lives.

 

Faith Sharing Book Club – As part of our Year of Faith, the parish began last Fall a faith sharing Book Club.  It was a great success as over 30 people gathered together on 3 different days and times to go over Christine Watkins’ “Full of Grace.”  The conversations in each of these groups were rich as we shared with each other what impressed us, what made us pause and think, and our own experiences of faith that helped us not only to know each other better but also to see our own lives in a different light.  This week, we’ll begin our 2^nd book with Matthew Kelly’s “Rediscovering Catholicism.”  At a time when we hear so much of what’s wrong with the Church, it’s nice and refreshing to hear the goodness and beauty of the Church that Christ left us.  While not ignoring our failures and the necessity of conversion, nonetheless Kelly also helps us to see the good and inspires us to become our better selves (aka – to be holy).  The Book Club will meet in Convent’s conference room for 4 weeks.  Group 1 will meet on Thurs, 1/24 @ 9:30 – 11am, group 2 on Thurs 7:30 – 9pm & group 3 on Sat., 1/26 @ 10-11:30am.  You’re welcome to drop-in and join us, or you may sign-up and pick-up a book after mass for $10.  And if you’re unable to join us but would like to read the book yourself, you can also purchase one after each of the masses this weekend.

 

Fr. Dan