Welcome, Sr. Herminia – As many of you know, Sr. Rita Chen retired
and returned to Hong Kong. Sr. Herminia Cosico was sent by her
community here to continue her work. She is the 3rd of 7 children. At a
young age, she had read about St. Teresa of the Little Flower who wished
to make Jesus known.
At the age of 10, she already had a desire to be a missionary. She was
the first in her family to enter religious life. But not too long afterwards,
her 2 older sisters followed her and together they became Canossian
Sisters. A younger brother, the 5th child, also became a priest and is
now a Monsignor. She entered at the age of 18 and made her final
vows at 23. She spent part of her novitiate in Hong Kong and her
Cantonese was good enough, that she would help translate for the
patients and the Italian doctors. Later on she went to England to
study nursing and when she completed her studies, she returned
to Hong Kong and served as a nurse there for 9 years.
Her next assignment brought her home to the Philippines where
she taught High School religion and College Medical Secretary
for 4 years. When there was a need to care for the retired sisters
in Italy, she was sent there as a nurse and served in Milan and Sicily
for 5 years. She said she feels more fluent in Italian than in her native
tongue. After those years of service, Mother General called her to
the United States. Here, she served in many different capacities.
Her first assignment in the US was as a nurse to the handicapable in
Albuquerque, NM for 7 years. Later, in the same city, she did pastoral
work at Annunciation Parish and put her nursing skills to work at the
parish school. Seven years later, she was transferred to Vancouver’s
Canadian Martyrs Parish where she became the Superior of a
Chinese community and a Chaplain at a Catholic Hospital for 3 ½ years.
She returned to Albuquerque, NM and served as Chaplain at the Catholic
and Presbyterian Hospitals for 5 years. Besides her work, she continued
her studies and had studied for a Master’s in Theology and to be certified
as a chaplain at UCSF’s chaplaincy program.
Because of her experience in chaplaincy work, she was called to serve
in the Philippines for 5 years where she served not only as a hospital
chaplain, but helped open a Pastoral Care Department and train
volunteers to care for the pastoral nees of the sick and their families.
Her previous assignment, before joining us, was at Holy Name Parish
where she coordinated the pastoral outreach program that cared for the
homebound, seniors and the sick. She said, in faith, she gladly accepts
this new assignment because she believes it is God who has called her
and she hopes to be an instrument of faith to us. She asks you for your
prayers and promises hers to us. We are fortunate to have someone
with such love for God, faith, and experiences join us. In your name,
I gladly welcome her and look forward to working with her for years
to come. Welcome, Sr. Herminia!
Parish Picnic – Our Parish Picnic this year will be on Sunday
September 23. Due to my oversight, I forgot to reserve Blackberry
Farm last year for our picnic. Fortunately when our Mother’s Club
President, Fiona Connolly, called to inquire, she discovered that we
had not made a reservation. She had suggested a few sites and
after visiting a few of them, we discovered a hidden gem in
Roberts Regional Park up in the Oakland Hills. We reserved the
Bay Vista picnic site that has a nice picnic area nestled underneath
tall Redwood trees. Nearby is a large grassy field that is set up for
softball, soccer and volleyball. It has a tremendous view overlooking
San Francisco Bay. It has everything for every age group from a
children’s playground to a swimming pool. And if you enjoy walking
in the woods, it is a very peaceful and serene place. It gave me a
nice feeling of being away from it all, like I was still on vacation.
So I hope you’ll be able to join us then. Plan to arrive about 11am.
We’ll celebrate mass there at 11:30am. And the Men’s Club
will be cooking up a wonderful lunch. For more information about
Fr. Dan
