Dear Parishioners,

As a Catholic school, St. Brendan Parish School has made significant efforts to form generations of caring, committed, educated Catholics. While facing challenges in continuing this role of passing on Catholic Identity, St Brendan Parish School has done an exemplary job by providing programs and services to enrich the academic program and support the development of student and family life.  In this document I would like to cite ways the school administration, faculty, and parish have helped to make faith come alive for members of the school community and to reinforce its Catholic Identity.

During Back-to-School Parent Conferences the faculty directly asked each parent how they were fostering the faith formation of their children. This partnership of faculty and parents working directly and cooperatively to form the Catholic faith is a ministry for both to the benefit of the students.

The school recognizes that parents, faculty and students must work together to effectively form Catholic faith within the student body. In cultivating the faith formation of St. Brendan Parish School families, a family prayer is now included in the weekly letter from the principal. Mrs. Grewal recognizes that parents are the most significant people in a child’s life and the primary educators. By praying with their children and helping them grow in their love and knowledge of God, the parents are gifting their children in the traditions of the church. The old adage, “A family that prays together, stays together” is appropriate here.

Modeling Christ-like living is another value that is important to the St. Brendan Parish School community. Our parents are extraordinary models of volunteerism in their support of the parish and school.  It was evident that the older students have caught this value and have seen how it has made their lives more meaningful. A number of students volunteered many hours at a CYO Treasure Island Nursery School. They cut and nailed boards to make planters, and installed an irrigation system at the nursery school for underprivileged students.  These children now enjoy freshly grown crops that they planted, watched grow, and harvested. Our St. Brendan Parish School students came away with good feelings that they have made the world a better place and the lives of others much happier. Giving IS better than receiving!

On a Sunday morning in September, a large number of students were commissioned as altar servers. The school worked cooperatively with the priests in preparing these students. In committing to serve the Church the families and students carry out service to the Church, and a dedication to Christ-like living.

When the Men’s Club sponsored a pancake breakfast for the parish, the Youth Ministry Students from the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade served as altar servers, readers, and ministers at Mass. Then they served food and stayed to clean up after the breakfast. Many people at the breakfast complimented the students for their efforts. Research indicates that children adopt the values not only of their parents but also of groups to which they belong. Our students involved in school and parish service are planting seeds. As they grow older, their Catholic faith will lead them to service to those in need in the world community.

St. Brendan Parish School continues to reflect and plan on how best to foster faith formation for the 21st Century. It is an ongoing process and requires that parents work in tandem with the school and the parish to bring the message of Christ and the teachings of the Church to our students.

Rosaleen Adams, School Advisory Board member

Pilgrimage to Medjugorje – It was a fabulous experience we had recently on our pilgrimage to Medjugorje (pronounced Me-diu-go-ria, as the “J” is pronounced as an “I”).  Although pilgrims next to me have shared that they have seen the sun spinning and the links between their rosary beads turn to gold in color, I have not witnessed anything “extraordinary” myself.  Nonetheless, the “miracle” I’ve witnessed and experienced, was the prayerfulness of the place, the peace that is present and the countless lives transformed.  The confession lines were long, and as I assisted with confessions, I can share that there were many deep conversions.

Although neither the local bishop nor the Vatican has approved Medjugorje as an official apparition site of our Blessed Mother, nonetheless, the testimonies of the visionaries are quite remarkable.  In the late 1970s when John Paul II became Pope and felt overwhelmed by the burdens of his office, he asked the Lord to send His mother to help him.  On June 24, 1981, the Blessed Mother is reported to have appeared to 6 children there.  Although cynics might say that their story is fabricated for tourist dollars, however in the early years, Medjugorje was still a part of Yugoslavia and under Communist rule.  The children and their families would certainly not benefit from making up a story like that.  Even their skeptic pastor, who later became a believer and became the 7^th person to see the Blessed Mother, was imprisoned for trying to protect these children.  The Communist authorities tried all sorts of ways to disprove their sightings, but were unable to do so. 

And the apparitions continue to this day.  Medjugorje is different from Lourdes or Fatima in that the visionaries, in their 40s, are still alive and continue to share their experiences with pilgrims.  We were fortunate to hear from 3 visionaries, from their early experiences to the continuing message that our Blessed Mother has for all her children. In essence, as the Queen of Peace, she calls us to work for Peace, beginning with ourselves.  How can there be peace in our families and in our world, if there is no peace in our own hearts.  She calls us to turn to her Son and to trust Him with our lives and with our burdens, for He is our Savior.  She calls us also to pray for His Church, the bridge to help humanity reach God.  And as a bridge, she is under severe assault by the enemy, so our Blessed Mother calls us to pray for our Pope, Bishops and priests.  The blessing she gives, she explains, is a Mother’s blessings but the blessing by a priest is Her Son’s blessings. 

Our Blessed Mother gave us 5 pebbles to help us battle our Goliaths.  When our burdens seem overwhelming, she encourages us to:

pray the rosary daily

fast on Wednesday and Fridays on just bread and water

attend Mass every Sunday

read the Bible

and make use of the sacrament of reconciliation monthly.

She doesn’t expect us to be able to do all of them, especially if we’re still young in the faith, but we can do a little.  Maybe we can’t fast Wednesdays and Fridays, but we can give up a meal, like breakfast on Fridays.  And that’s what the visionaries shared, that their growth was also gradual.  So I came away from the pilgrimage there feeling closer to our Blessed Mother, having experienced her maternal concern, more at peace and rejuvenated in faith.  It was a wonderful experience and I hope you’ll be able to go and experience it for yourself, one day soon.

Congratulations, Fr. Mike – On Sunday, October 13 at 9:30am, Fr. Mike Quinn will be officially installed as Pastor of Star of the Sea in Sausalito by Archbishop Cordileone.  He shared that after much hard work and settling in, he’s finally falling in love with the people there.  Please keep him in your prayers, that he would be an effective priest and servant of our Lord there.

Peace,

Fr. Dan

Great things happen when God mixes with his people. While I thank God that I have finally arrived and settling in, I on your behalf rejoice with our amiable Pastor Fr. Daniel Nascimento on his deep spiritual experience in Medjugorje.We joyfully await his return on October 6th. Let us remember to pray for his safe trip back to us.

Dear friends, we have entered the month of October which is dedicated to our blessed mother, Mary. Mary is a model of prayer and true discipleship. She interceded for the couple of Cana and they found favor with her son Jesus. May we, too, ask for her prayers for ourselves, family and loved ones. In a special way I invite us to a daily recitation of the rosary and meditation on the mysteries of the life of Jesus in the twenty mysteries of the rosary. It takes about fifteen minutes to say the rosary and I encourage all of us to make an effort in this special month.

Mary was a faithful disciple of Jesus, as she listened to what was said about Jesus and pondered in her heart as we too listen to the word of God, may we ponder it in our hearts and respond to it in our daily lives.

May our mother Mary, the Queen of all families, the mother  of perpetual help and refuge of sinners pray for you and your loved ones and may all our prayers be granted by God through her intercession.

We are all called to prayer by joining the Rosary Rally on Saturday, October 12, 2013 at 12:00 noon at San Francisco U.N. Plaza on Market and 7th Street. The keynote speaker will be Most Reverend Salvatore J. Cordileone, Archbishop of San Francisco. The program will include Benediction and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

Finally, I thank all of you for your help through this my period of transition. I thank all who were at the picnic, it was a lot of fun!

May the Lord bless you and keep you and may He let His face shine on you and give you peace, AMEN.

Fr. Theo

Welcome Fr. Theophilus! – It was funny when someone commented that they didn’t believe that Fr. Theo existed, as I spoke of him so often and at the time, he had still not arrived.  But thanks be to God, he arrived Monday at 1pm after a 25 hour flight.  He arrives just in time, as I am on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje from Thursday, September 26 – Saturday, October 5.  There are 13 pilgrims leaving from San Francisco, and we will meet the other 27 pilgrims from throughout the U.S. in Washington D.C.  From there, we will go to Medjugorje.  I will remember you and your intentions there and will share with you the messages from Our Lady, who continues to make her appearance there, when I return.  Pray for me and Fr. Theo, and I will see you on Sunday, October 6.

Peace,

Fr. Dan

A Message from Fr. Theo – It is a delight for me to join the beautiful community of St. Brendan’s parish here in San Francisco.  My yes to this missionary enterprise is a

reinforcement of my response to God, when He called me to the priestly vocation.  Born in 1978 to Mr. Boniface Hwande (RIP) and Mrs. Eunice Hwande, I had my early education in Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic primary school and then went on to Mt. St. Gabriel’s Catholic secondary school.  This solid Catholic background made it easier to discern God’s call.  Despite being an only son, and the favorite of my Mother, I could hear God’s call clearly and distinctly.  The Love urged me to respond in a generous way.  Therefore, I began the formation to Catholic priesthood in the Via Christi Society and had seminary training in St. Thomas Aquinas seminary in Nigeria and Missionary Seminary of St. Paul in Nigeria.  I was ordained a Catholic priest on July 5^th 2008.  Since then I have worked in the Archdiocese of Abuja, Nigeria, in different responsibilities until 22^nd September when I left for St. Brendan, which is my new home.

For me, like it was for St. Paul, the good news must be preached at all cost.  So I am here to join my brother, Fr. Daniel, to share the good news with you and not just to share it, but to proclaim it also: “the spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for He has anointed me.  He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favor” (Luke 4).  May God grant fruitfulness to our ministry among you and may God bless us all as I look forward to having a nice time working with you in the parish.  Let me dedicate this last line in appreciation to Fr. Daniel for helping me to settle in on my arrival and for his guidance during my period of transition.  And to all of you who have prayed for me and gave generously to me, I say thank you.  May God reward you many times over.

Fr. Theo Hwande

Welcome Bro. Roger! – Roger Gustafson is in his last year of Seminary formation.  He’ll be spending time with us to get some experience prior to his Diaconate Ordination in November and hopefully, his Priesthood Ordination in June.  Below are excerpts from his autobiography:

 

I was born and raised in a suburban neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia.  My father devoted his life to the pursuit of science and was a professed atheist.  Having grown up in Sweden, my mother was Lutheran and took my brother and me to church every Sunday.  She set a positive example for us by singing in the church choir and teaching Sunday school.  As a result, one of my earliest childhood memories is pretending to be a präst—the Swedish word for priest—at the age of five. I would set up my room like a church, converting a small play table into a make-shift altar, conscripting one of the matching chairs to serve as the pulpit, and gently forcing my congregation of stuffed animals to sit quietly and listen to my rambling sermons.  For your sakes, I hope I have gotten better!

 

When I turned thirteen, however, I became indifferent to the existence of God and stopped attending church.  But after college, I began to feel that something was missing in my life.I found my thoughts turning more and more to a spiritual level.  I urgently felt the need to become more connected to God and to return to church.  I attended a number of Lutheran and other denominational churches, but never felt at home.  I knew nothing of the Catholic faith at the time and, other than my former girlfriend, had never met anyone who was an active, practicing Catholic.  Nevertheless, I somehow found myself attending Mass one Sunday morning.  The priest was very old and, because I sat in the back of the church, I could hear very little of what he actually said.  Everything logistically was wrong about the experience and, yet, I fell in love with the Catholic Church that day and have never looked back.  I attended an RCIA class the next Fall, was confirmed and brought into the Catholic Church on March 25, 1989.  

 

I almost immediately felt a strong pull to the priesthood.  But I postponed seminary and continued to work at my job.  Eventually I received a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in Religion and Social Ethics and a J.D. degree from the University of Chicago.  I became an attorney in San Francisco and, later, in Atlanta, practicing employment discrimination law.  Throughout this time, I still felt a persistent, though episodic, call to the priesthood.  In October 2006, I had a meeting with Archbishop Niederauer to discuss my vocation, and I was accepted to the seminary in August 2009.  I now am in my fifth and final year of theological studies.  I look forward to working with the people of God at Saint Brendan’s parish and learning as much as I can about diaconal ministry.  Thank you so much for welcoming me, and may God Bless you always.

 

Welcome Fr. Theo! – Good things do come to those who wait.  Fr. Theophilus Hwande will fly on September 22 from Nigeria and should arrive in San Francisco on September 23.  We thank him for being a missionary who is willing to come to a foreign land to share the good news of the Gospel with the people of this parish and city.  I’ll let him tell you about himself in the next bulletin.  I’ll be leaving for our Year of Faith pilgrimage to Medjugorje on September 26 and will return on October 5.  There are 13 of us who will be flying off from San Francisco, and we’ll meet up with another 25 pilgrims from throughout the U.S.  We’ll pray for you there.

 

Peace,

Fr. Dan

 

 

Children Religious Education Program – Thanks to Sr. Catherine, in September 2011 we began a Religious Education Program for public school children here in our parish.  Prior to that, because there were an insufficient number of children to form a class, St. Brendan partnered with St. Cecilia and our public school children attended Religious Education there.  But since 2011, Sr. Catherine found enough students to form a class and its going strong.  We now have 3 classes from 1^st – 3^rd grades.  If this continues, we’ll be able to provide religious education all the way up to Confirmation in 8^th grade.  Sometimes, parents think of enrolling their children just prior to a Sacrament, like Eucharist and Confirmation.  However, that is insufficient time to form a child in the faith.  Because what we’re trying to teach is not just intellectual knowledge about the faith, instead, we’re trying to form a child to be a disciple of Christ.  A child needs both the intellectual knowledge and the discipline to practice their faith.  That’s why we’re called disciples, from the word discipline.  On Saturday, September 14 at 4pm in the Church Hall, there is an Orientation & Registration meeting for parents who wish to enroll their children in Religious Ed.  If you missed this meeting or would like to find out more information, please contact Sr. Catherine at 415-681-4225 x 205 or at srcatherine@stbrendanparish.org.

Pancake Breakfast Success – Congratulations to Mr. Kevin Morrison, President of the Men’s Club, for running a successful Pancake Breakfast last week.  This was the 1^st fundraiser exclusively for the parish in recent memory.  And thanks to many of you who responded with early registration, it helped them prepare for this event.  There were approximately 150 sign-ups for the 10:30 a.m. seating, and another 30 for the 11 a.m.  They began food preparation even before the 9:30 a.m. mass began.  One could smell the coffee brewing and the sausages cooking below as mass began upstairs.  And when mass ended, a wonderful breakfast awaited us all.  The tables were beautifully decorated with real checkered table cloths and bright flowers, reminiscent of a picnic. Real plates and silverware were used.  Pancakes and hot sausages were set up in a buffet style, so diners could be served and return for more.  Over 200 meals were served that day, and the teens from our Junior High Youth Ministry helped not only to serve but to clean up as well.  A little over $1,000 was raised for the parish.  I want to thank all who helped make this breakfast a success:  the Anderer’s (Jim, Shameran & Kate), Doug Barry, The Finnegan’s (Tom, Lynn, Molly & Lauren), Kevin Kosewic, Patrick McFarlane, The Morrison’s (Margot, Cora & Elsa), the Youth Ministry Coordinators:  Stacey Simpson, Gus Del Puerto & Marie Detweiller and our super Jr. High Youths. Thank you teens for serving both at the Youth Mass and afterwards in the breakfast!  It was great!  And thank you all for supporting this event.

Parish Picnic – Please join us for our yearly parish picnic on Sunday, September 29 at Blackberry Farm in Cupertino.  Mass at the picnic will begin at 11am with lunch following immediately at noon.  There are other games besides swimming at the grounds.  But if you do enjoy swimming, there is both a children’s pool with a slide and an adult pool.  Locker and changing rooms are also conveniently located.  Come and enjoy the Sun and each other’s company as we begin another school year.

Fr. Dan

Pancake Breakfast – I want to thank Mr. Kevin Morrison, this year’s Men’s Club President, and his officers for offering to do a fundraising for the parish.  Mr. Morrison, a convert to the Catholic faith, has served as a member and as the Chair of the Parish Advisory Board.  He continues to serve as a member of the Finance Committee and was chosen this year to be the Men’s Club President.  As one who has seen the inner workings of the parish and is aware of its various needs, he generously offered to do a fundraising for the parish.  The breakfast will be served on Sunday, September 8, following the 9:30am mass.  In order to avoid the big rush following the mass, they have planned to have 2 different serving times.  One, immediately following the mass at about 10:30am, and the second one at 11am.  Kevin and his hand-picked cooks have planned and prepared for this day. Our youth will also be on hand to help serve.  Thank you all for your generosity and support.

Thank You, Bishop Emeritus Daniel Walsh – We’ve been blessed that since August, the retired Bishop of Santa Rosa, who is now in residence at his home parish of St. Anne of the Sunset, has generously come over to help us with the Sunday masses.  He was originally a priest of this Archdiocese, ordained in 1963.  He served as an Associate Pastor at St. Pius in Redwood City, taught at Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, served as Chancellor for the Archdiocese (similar to a CEO), and later on as Archbishop McGucken’s private secretary.  He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco in 1981, became Bishop of Reno-Las Vegas in 1987, and was chosen to be Bishop of Santa Rosa in 2000.  He retired in 2011 and said he’s happy being a simple priest again, celebrating the sacraments with the people of God.  Parishioners have commented on how wonderful it was to have him celebrate mass with us, because he celebrates the Eucharist with dignity, the way they remembered it.  I too am grateful for his kindness, because he comes not as one who seeks to be served, but as one who serves, with a shepherd’s heart. 

Enlisting Your Help – As I shared with the faculty and parents at the beginning of the school year, what’s important to me as your Pastor, is not only that you and our children do well in life.  What’s more important still, is your immortal soul.  So I shared with them that with the other priests and sisters of the parish, we pray daily for you.  But I also want to enlist your help to pray for the members of this parish.  I ask that you’d also consider, on the Fridays throughout the year, to make a simple sacrifice.  Prior to the 2^nd Vatican Council, the common sacrifice was meatless Fridays. After the Council, we were still encouraged to take up a simple penance, although we were free to choose another penance, other than to give up meat.  Regrettably, the part that most people heard was that we didn’t have to give up meat on Fridays anymore, and missed the part about doing another sort of penance.  So I ask you to join me on Fridays, besides praying for the members of this parish, but also to offer a small sacrifice for this intention.  The small sacrifice can be giving up a cup of coffee, or skipping a meal, or offering a decade of the rosary.  Let us pray and sacrifice that the members of this school and parish may grow deeper in our faith and be authentic disciples of Jesus, willing to bring the Light of Christ to all who live in darkness.

Parish Picnic – Our yearly parish picnic will be on the last Sunday of September, 9/29 at Blackberry Farm in Cupertino.  Please save the date.  More information will follow.  As I will be leading a pilgrimage from 9/26 – 10/5, Fr. Theo will be celebrating the mass at the picnic at 11am, while Bishop Walsh will celebrate the 9:30 & 11:30 am masses here that day.  Registration for the Picnic will follow.