Graduations & Ordinations – As we near the end of our academic year, the 8^th grade students of St. Brendan will celebrate a mass together with their family and the parish community at this Sunday’s 8am mass.  Many of you have supported them through the monthly 2^nd collection for our school, which not only lowers the tuition for each student, but also provides assistance for our school to stay modern, especially in the areas of technology.  Following the mass with the parish, they will have a brunch over at the Olympic Club with their parents, teachers and staff.  During the brunch, the students will share their memories of their time in the school and express their gratitude to their parents, teachers and staff.  Their Graduation will be on Friday, June 6.  Please hold them and their families in your prayers as they come to the end of a chapter in their lives.

On a similar note, Deacon Roger Gustafson’s academic year at the Seminary ended on May 16.  He was with us this year as part of his Field Education, getting experience not only in preaching, but also in preparing and celebrating the Sacraments of Baptism and Marriage.  In addition, he also joined us in ministry over at Juvenile Hall.  He will be ordained a Priest on Saturday, June 7, 2014 at 11am at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco.  As you have been part of his formation, you are invited to join him on that special day of his ordination.  Along with him, 3 other men, Mark Doherty, Andrew Spyrow and Tony Vallecillo, will be ordained as priests for the Archdiocese of San Francisco.  Deacon Roger will be celebrating his first mass here with us on Pentecost Sunday, June 8, 2014 at 9:30am.  You’re all welcome to attend.

Welcome New Parishioners – Twice a year, we welcome new members to our parish.  One takes place at the Parish Thanksgiving Party, and the other at the celebration of our Parish’s Feast Day.  The Feast of St. Brendan is on May 16, a Friday this year.  So instead, we’ll be celebrating it on Sunday, May 18 at the 9:30am mass.  We have approximately 100 households registering in the parish each year.  I want to thank the Chairs of the Welcome Committee Deborah Nysather and Paige Olson, and their members for organizing and making this event possible.  Welcome to St. Brendan!

Archbishop Cordileone Mother’s Passing – On Thursday, May 8, the mother of Archbishop Cordileone, Mary Cordileone, passed away in San Diego.  Fortunately, he was able to fly back and be by her side before she passed.  The funeral was held on Monday, May 12 in San Diego.  I wrote the following note, on your behalf, to the Archbishop:

  Dear Archbishop, please accept our condolences for the loss of your mother.  Know that we held her in our prayers at mass and will continue to do so for her, for you and your family. We pray that the good Lord will comfort you in your sorrow and strengthen and unite your family in the days ahead. 

With love and prayers, the Priests, Sisters, Staff and the People of God at St. Brendan Church. 

A check of $500 was also sent to help them with the funeral expenses.  Eternal rest grant unto Mary, O Lord, and let perpetual Light shine upon her.

Fr. Dan

St. Brendan: Pray For Us

The joy of the resurrection fills the earth and invites us to share this good news with all our folks. Somehow, the events of the resurrection changed the direction of all those who witnessed it. The women who went to the tomb early on Sunday morning changed their destination and headed for where the Apostles were gathered; when the Apostles became part of the experience of the resurrection power, they headed straight for Galilee; not leaving out the disciples who had taken the painful whole-day journey to Emmaus who when they discovered the risen Lord in the breaking of the bread had to make a u-turn and head back to Jerusalem.

Over time, ages and centuries, humanity has continued to encounter the risen Lord in different circumstances beginning from the apostolic times to our day, and have also continued to respond to these encounters through a change in the direction of their lives.

The Apostles found themselves, some in Italia, some in Rome, others in Asia Minor, and still other in India and many other places including Jerusalem itself. Paul’s Encounter with the risen Lord changed not just his physical direction but also the direction of his life from being a fierce persecutor of Christians to ardent preacher of the good news, such that he would later say, “I preach Christ Crucified”.

In the coming week we shall celebrate the feast of our Patron whose encounter with the risen Lord changed his direction in life and navigated him to preach the good news of Christ to Islands. St. Brendan the Navigator was born in Ciarriaghe Luachra, near the present city of Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland, in 484 AD. After being ordained a priest in 512, St. Brendan built monastic cells at Ardfert, and at Shanakeel, at the foot of the Brandon hill. It was from here that he set out on his famous seven year voyage for the land of delight.

Some traditions have it that while celebrating mass on the ship, even the fishes would come to listen while others stories also postulate that St. Brendan’s seven year voyage got him to North America and would later inspire the Voyage of Christopher Columbus. St. Brendan is the patron of Navigators.

We too are on a voyage, a voyage of life and we need the gracious intercession of St. Brendan our Patron Saint to help us as we strive to reach God daily. The feast is on May 16^th 2014 but shall have the normal weekday program, then on Sunday at the 8:00 mass, we shall a special graduation mass for our beloved children in 8^th grade and at the 9:30 mass, we shall have a special mass of welcome for all our new parishioners.

May St. Brendan the Navigator pray for us.

Fr. Theo

A note from St. Brendan School Principal, Mrs. Carol Grewal

During the Easter vacation, I had the opportunity to attend and present at the National Catholic Education Association’s annual convention in Pittsburg, Philadelphia. Over 6,000 educators were in attendance at this wonderful conference. It was invigorating to participate in conversations about future trends in Catholic education. Attendance at this conference was a truly worthwhile experience, not only because of the new knowledge I was exposed to, but because of the opportunity to network and dialog with other principals, superintendents, pastors, and teachers.

I also attended the Innovation in Catholic Education awards banquet while there. Our school was recognized as being one of the 12 innovative schools for 2014. Our school’s award was made in the area of innovative projects in promoting Catholic identity. Our in-school Youth Ministry program led by Gus Del Puerto and Stacy Simpson is regarded as a novel and innovative way of making the Catholic faith real for our students.

Below are some more details about our winning program:

The new pastor of St. Brendan Parish School in San Francisco CA , wanted to encourage school children to become more involved with the parish. He instituted a Youth Ministry program that met after school and on weekends; but due to the many activities and commitments students already had, attendance was low. Rather than give up on a new idea, the pastor teamed with pastoral associate Sr. Necy Guan and principal Carol Grewal to change the program. Rather than ask students to come to Youth Ministry activities, they would bring the activities to them.

Parish-trained volunteer leaders meet with students during school hours once a month to help them explore the ways in which God is part of their everyday lives. Student-designed group activities focus on prayer, stewardship, leadership, and more. Activities have included composing Thanksgiving prayers for a prayer book, creating game shows with religious themes, and creating holiday decorations. Designing Christmas cards for hospital patients, filling Christmas stockings for homeless shelter residents, and making sandwiches for the St. Vincent de Paul Society are among the service activities.

The addition, the of the school-parish Youth Ministry program has proven to be a valuable component of the religious education curriculum. By participating in both traditional and non-traditional explorations of Catholic identity, St. Brendan’s eighth graders score an average of 20 percent higher than average on the NCEA ACRE test. Growing numbers of students also participate in parish activities outside of school hours.

Easter Blessings,
Carol Grewal
Principal

Renewing our Faith – Each year at Easter, Catholics from around the world have an opportunity to renew their baptismal faith.  We will affirm our belief in God the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit and even in the catholic Church.  So this renewal is not just saying we believe in God, but we’re also renewing our belief, our belonging to Christ’s Church, the Church Christ founded, entrusted to Peter and the other apostles, to continue His work of teaching the faith and building God’s Kingdom on earth to succeeding generations.  But what does it mean to belong to a Church?  What are some expectations of an adult Christian?  Albert Winseman, in his research with the Gallup Poll, found that most churches never discussed this with their people.  It was just assumed that everyone knew.  Their research found that churches that were successful, had several things in common, which included a clear membership covenant, so that members knew what the life of a mature adult Christian should look like.  St. Brendan Parish Advisory Board discussed this question and came up with a draft that we would like to invite you to consider, discuss and offer feedback.  Below is our DRAFT:

Membership Covenant

As a member of St. Brendan I will strive to be an intentional disciple of Christ by:

Being open to growth and learning, such as:

reading and praying with the Bible to help me come to know the mind and heart of God

reading spiritual books to nourish the soul

attending retreats and workshops to help me grow in the faith

Being open to ongoing conversion (making regular and frequent use of the Sacrament of Reconciliation).

Praying daily

Talking to God about my life and listening to what He has to say to me.

Developing a relationship with God.

Praying for my church and fellow members regularly

Being faithful to God in little things.

Beginning with the basics such as observing the 10 commandments

Being present in worship on a regular basis

Supporting my church with my spiritual and financial gifts

Finding an area of ministry through which I can serve Christ and others

But the Church in turn also makes a covenant with her members.  The Advisory Board proposed the following DRAFT:

Church Covenant

As your Church family, we will strive to:

Provide opportunities for you to live your faith in service to others

Provide faith-building opportunities for you to grow as a Christian

Provide opportunities for you to develop deep and lasting friendships in community with others

Provide opportunities for lifelong learning as you deepen your understanding of the Bible and the Christian faith

Be good stewards of your financial contributions to your church

As you renew your faith in God and in His Church this Easter, what do you think of our proposal?  Let us know.  You can email me at frdan@stbrendanparish.org.  Happy Easter!

Fr. Dan

Our High Holy Days – The Church’s High Holy Days is not the election of a new Pope, although we’re happy to have Pope Francis I.  But it starts at the conclusion of the Season of Lent and before the Season of Easter.  It is the Triduum that means a period of 3 days of prayer.  Holy Thursday (4/17) is the 1^st of the 3 days.  On that day at 7pm in Church, we celebrate the Last Supper that Jesus had with his disciples.  The Presider, imitating Christ, will wash the feet of 6 parishioners.  They in turn, are then asked to wash the feet of others.  Each person who will have their foot washed is invited to stay and wash someone else’s foot.  So everyone is given the opportunity to do for others, what Jesus Himself did for His disciples.  We invite you to join us in that celebration, and to wear appropriate footwear, if you’d like to participate in the foot washing ceremony.  But the celebration does not end there.  After celebrating the Last Supper, as Jesus went into Gethsemane garden to pray, we will also empty the tabernacle and take the Blessed Sacrament into our Church Hall to pray with Him.  Jesus, at the garden, invited His disciples to stay with Him, even for just an hour, to watch and pray.  If your schedule allows you, we invite you to spend some quiet time with the Lord.  The Blessed Sacrament will be left out for adoration until 10pm in the Church Hall.

The prayer then continues on Good Friday (4/18) at noon.  We will not begin with the Stations of the Cross, so if you’d like to pray that privately, prayer books will be available before or after our liturgies.  We will begin instead with a meditation on “The Last 7 Words of Christ,” offered by Verbum Dei Missionary, Sr. Alyssa Meis.  At about 1:30pm, we will celebrate the Liturgy of the Veneration of the Cross.  From 3-4pm, the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) will be available.  The Via Matris – The Journey of Our Lady of Sorrows are offered at night at 7pm to remember and accompany Our Blessed Mother through her sorrows.  As we remember the death of Christ on Good Friday, there will be no mass the following day until the Easter Vigil at 8pm on Saturday night.  (Note, the regular Saturday vigil mass at 5pm will be at 8pm).  However, on Saturday morning at 8:00am, we will do Morning Prayer followed with decorating the Church in preparation for Easter.  If you have time to join us, I would be most grateful for your assistance.

The Easter Vigil mass begins in darkness, because of the death of our Lord on Good Friday (that’s why we begin it so late at 8pm).  As we begin in total darkness, the Easter candle is lit and blessed, and the fire from the Easter candle is used to light the tapers that everyone is holding.  During the Vigil, as we await the resurrection of our Lord, 5 selections from the stories of our salvation are read, from Genesis, to Exodus to the New Testament, and finally to the Resurrection of our Lord.  Beverly Bloodworth, Ping Ping He, Lucia Marques, Susan Miller and Yano Rhee who have been preparing during Lent to become Catholic, will be baptized that evening.  For our children, there will be an Easter Egg hunt following the Easter Sunday 9:30am mass.  In the meanwhile, we wish you all a Blessed Holy Week.  It is our High Holy Days.

Fr. Dan

News Around the Parish

Youth Ministry – Last Sunday, the Jr. High Ministry served at the 9:30am mass by being Lectors, Eucharistic Ministers, Ushers and gift bearers.  Afterwards, about 20 of them gathered to make more than 400 sandwiches for St. Vincent de Paul’s Sandwich Sunday.  At that event, we also introduced the teens to Ryan & Katrina Dilag, candidates for the High School Youth Ministry position.  This young married couple has a heart for Youth Ministry and applied separately to the position.  But no matter who the parish hires, they said they’ll be working with each other together, which is quite a blessing for the parish.  The youth activity after the sandwich making, led by Ryan and Katrina, was enjoyed very much by the teens and they all gave them 2 thumbs up.  So the parish has offered Ryan the position of High School Youth Minister.  He’s looking forward to getting to know the teens and develop something with them in the near future.  Welcome aboard, Ryan (and Katrina) Dilag!

Faith Sharing Book Club – So far, we’re read about half of Pope Francis’ “The Joy of the Gospel.”  Fr. Theo and I laughed that because the Pope has so many gems in the book, that we’ve underline almost half the book.  The past week, we read Chapters 2 & 3.  In Chapter 2, the Pope spoke about the challenges and difficulties of evangelization in our age.  In Chapter 3, the Pope spent over half the chapter, addressing, encouraging and even guiding priests in how to prepare good homilies.  As he puts it, “a preacher who does not prepare is not ‘spiritual’; he is dishonest and irresponsible with the gifts he has received” (#145).  But he also reminds us, that the proclamation of the Gospel is the responsibility of the entire People of God.  As he puts it:

There is a kind of preaching which falls to each of us as a daily responsibility.  It has to do with bringing the Gospel to the people we meet… this is informal preaching which takes place in the middle of a conversation… (#127).

Being a disciple means being constantly ready to bring the love of Jesus to others and this can happen unexpectedly in any place:  on the street, in a city square, during work, on a journey (#127).

In this preaching, which is always respectful and gentle, the first step is personal dialogue, when the other person speaks and shares his or her joys, hopes, and concerns for loved ones… only afterwards is it possible to bring up God’s word, perhaps by reading a Bible verse or relating a story… keeping in mind the fundamental message:  the personal love of God… this fraternal and missionary encounter could end with a brief prayer.  In this way they will have an experience of being listened to and understood; they will know that their particular situation has been placed before God, and that God’s word really speaks to their lives (#128).

What have you read that caught your eye?  Let me know and we might post your comments along with others.  You can write to me at frdan@stbrendanparish.org.

Blessings,

Fr. Dan

News Around the Parish

Faith Sharing Book Club – As Pope Francis celebrated the 1^st anniversary of his papacy on March 13, we’ve been reading his book “The Joy of the Gospel.”  It’s been refreshing and delightful.  So far, from the Introduction and Chapter 1, there have been already many gems that have surfaced.  Here are 10 that we have enjoyed:

-- #2.  Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor.  God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades.

-- #3.  God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking His mercy.

-- #4.  Being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.

-- #9.  Goodness always tends to spread… if we wish to lead a dignified and fulfilling life, we have to reach out to others and seek their good.

-- #10.  An evangelizer must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral!  Let us recover and deepen our enthusiasm…

-- #24.  The Lord gets involved and He involves His own, as He kneels to wash their feet…  Evangelizers thus take on the “smell of the sheep” and the sheep are willing to hear their voice.

-- #27.  All renewal in the Church must have mission as its goal, if it is not to fall prey to a kind of ecclesial introversion.

-- #38.  In preaching the Gospel a fitting sense of proportion has to be maintained…  imbalance results… when we speak more about law than about grace, more about the Church than about Christ, more about the Pope than about God’s word.

-- #44.  I want to remind priests that the confessional must not be a torture chamber but rather an encounter with the Lord’s mercy which spurs us on to do our best.

-- #49.  I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security...  If something should rightly disturb us and trouble our consciences, it is the fact that so many of our brothers and sisters are living without the strength, light and consolation born of friendship with Jesus Christ, without a community of faith to support them, without meaning and a goal in life.

In our discussions, we reflected also upon how each of us, can better reflect the good news of the gospel in our lives.  If you have time, come and join us.  Call the parish office for dates and times (681-4225) or pick up a book and read on your own.  Extra copies are available at the parish.

Fr. Dan