CYO Hall of Fame – Our own Junior High teacher and Boys’ Athletic Director, Mr. David Lopez, was inducted on March 23, 2013, into the CYO Hall of Fame. Surrounded by his family, friends and colleagues, he was honored for his dedication to CYO. The award recognized him for 45 years of service to CYO. He first began playing CYO sports in elementary school at St. Cecilia, and when he attended High School, he returned to help coach at his former grammar school. When he graduated from SF State, his CYO mentors “elected” Dave to the CYO Administrative Board and he served there for a total of 24 years. He said he was inspired by some of the “great guys” who gave themselves for the good of the kids, and he was inspired to pass on what he had received. Even after a period of leave, he was recruited back in 1995 to help grow the boys’ soccer program. Under his leadership, the CYO Boys’ soccer thrived, expanding to include more than 90 teams. Over the years, he served at Immaculate Conception Academy, Sacred Heart High School, his alma mater, Archbishop Riordan High School, Lowell High School and of course, St. Brendan.
Having coached multiple teams over 45 seasons of basketball, soccer and baseball, Dave has won his share of championships. Yet some of his favorite memories, he shared, centered on the time he spent coaching the “B” teams, or as he puts it, “the kids who were out there playing for the love of the game and were just having fun.” Sr. Dianne Ehrbacher, former Principal of St. Brendan, said that Dave encouraged each child to develop his or her own set of gifts, whether they were athletic or not. She is happy that Dave is being recognized. At the awards ceremony, he said that although in his youth, he had made great plays and great catches; however, he admitted that the greatest catch he ever made was his wife, Marcy. Without her love and support, he shared, he couldn’t have done all the things he was able to accomplish. With her and his 4 sons looking on (one who is in the Army and had just returned from Afghanistan and was viewing via iPhone from Texas) Dave was honored for his commitment and modeling the values of positive coaching, sportsmanship, healthy growth and development through sports. Congratulations Dave! And thank you for all you do for our children, St. Brendan and CYO.
Thank You! Grazie! Go Raibh Maith Agaibh! (Gaelic) – As you might imagine, during Holy Week, with the variety of services from Palm Sunday, to Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday, it could not have been possible without an army of dedicated and generous volunteers. You know who you are and I want to thank you. There are a few in particular who took on more responsibilities than others that I’d like to acknowledge. The most obvious, perhaps, is the environment. I want to thank Pura Lippi for coordinating with the volunteers to help transform our worship space appropriate for each of the liturgies during Holy Week. The music, is perhaps the other ministry most visible (audible) and I want to thank Ms. Dianne Marquez for coordinating all the Triduum services with the 9:30 and 11:30am choirs. The Easter egg hunt would not have been possible without the help of the Under 5 Ministries, coordinated by Kim De Lucchi & Kimberlea McManigal. Rebecca Kassekert also helped coordinate the Sunday hospitality not only for Easter, for throughout the year with her faithful volunteers. In any event, there are always people who work behind the scenes to make things possible. For starters, there is the parish staff, Flora Sinajon, Michele Bisho, Veronica Meaney, Sr. Herminia Cosico, Sr. Sharon Brannen and Bosco Martinez. Then there are the money counters who assist us each week to ensure your donations get counted, recorded and deposited. For security and confidential reasons, their names are withheld, but they know who they are. I also want to thank the Liturgy Committee, Fr. Mike Quinn, Sr. Catherine Cappello, Eileen Miller and Anne Kearney, for their help in planning and coordinating the liturgies, the MCs, Paul Detweiller, Jaime Longa and Joe O’Brien, for ensuring the liturgies flow smoothly, the Sacristans, Jack Mona, Mary Cortez & Jaime Longa, for preparing what is needed for each liturgy and Victoria Hellweg for helping with the candles and linens. Sr. Catherine deserves special mention again because of her work, preparing adults for the Sacraments of Initiation. At the Easter Vigil, we welcomed Bret McManigal into our Catholic family. Congratulations Bret! And for all of you, for your generous support to St. Brendan’s parish through your time, talent and treasure, you make St. Brendan’s alive with the risen Christ. Thank you all!
Fr. Dan
