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May
21, 2007 
VOL.
45, NO. 10Oakland,
CA
A different mobile home
Msgr. Manuel Simas, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Fremont, looks at both
halves of the rectory after it was cut in half and moved up the hill to
make way for building the parish’s new church. The students and
faculty of St. Joseph’s Elementary School watched on May 10. DOMINIQUE
MINTZ PHOTO
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A special field trip |
Christian Brother honored
Christian
Brother Gerard Rummery, a respected authority in catechesis,
received an honorary doctorate in educational leadership from St. Mary’s
College in Moraga during the college’s April 25 convocation in honor
of his Lasallian service across the world over the past 60 years.
Christian Brother Ronald Gallagher, St. Mary’s president, praised
Brother Rummery as a man of “abundant faith and zeal” for
inspiring the college community through his work with the Buttimer Institute
of Lasallian Studies and the Lasallian Leadership Institute.
Brother Rummery, a native of Australia, has worked at the Lasallian International
Center in Rome and served on the General Council of the Brothers of the
Christian Schools, responsible for oversight of the Pacific-Asia region
and central Europe.
In his keynote address, Brother Rummery recounted numerous stories of
Christian Brothers “moved with pity” to carry on the teaching
traditions of St. John Baptist de La Salle, particularly those who faced
persecution during wartime and under communist rule in Europe. “It’s
an important story that really hasn’t been told,” he said.
Parishes help FACE
Parishioners in Berkeley and San Ramon recently rallied in support of FACE (Family Aid-Catholic Education) and raised more than $9,000 for tuition assistance. Berkeley’s School of the Madeleine hosted its 2nd Annual FACE Pasta Dinner and Raffle and raised over $6,000. The Knights of Columbus Council #9206 cooked the 7th Annual FACE Spaghetti Dinner at St. Joan of Arc Parish in San Ramon and brought in over $3,000. Since 1978, FACE has provided tuition grants to low-income families to help them send their children to Catholic schools.
To make a donation to FACE, contact Anne Rynders at (510) 628-2169.
Students making news
Young journalists from Catholic schools in Oakland and Alameda recently made news for their research and writing skills.
Bishop O’Dowd High School’s student newspaper, The Crozier, earned a first place with special merit award in the American Scholastic Press Association Annual Review and Contest for the second straight year. Senior Sawley Vickery received an extra distinction as one of six students in the country to win “Outstanding story: non-school related” award for an article about Proposition 85, defeated at the polls last November. It would have required parental consent for minors seeking an abortion.
The staff of The Spartan, the online newspaper at Alameda’s St. Philip Neri Elementary School, briefly abandoned its regular format to produce a special edition on April 20 that focused on the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech that claimed the lives of 32 people and the suicide of the gunman. When Joe Leo, St. Philip Neri’s media advisor and journalism teacher, suggested a special edition the student reporters quickly agreed to work on it. “Usually, what would take them a week to work on, they did overnight,” Leo told The Voice. The special edition included an examination of student security issues and a feature on the Second Amendment (the Right to Bear Arms). The web address for The Spartan is: www.my.schooljournalism.org/ca/alameda/spn.
Berkeley’s
St. Joseph the Worker Parish plans to celebrate the 100th anniversary
of its church building on Pentecost Sunday (May 27) with a multicultural
festival. The celebration will begin with a multilingual Mass at 10 a.m.
outdoors on the steps of the church and will feature participation of
the English-speaking community, Filipino community, Latino community,
Eritrean community and others. Following the liturgy there will be a procession
to the school yard for an afternoon of food, entertainment and music.
Members at St. Isidore Parish in Danville served dinner
to seniors at St. Mary’s Center in Oakland on May
20.
Sister Carol O’Marie, the mystery-writing Carondelet
Sister and co-director of A Friendly Place, recently sent of note of appreciation
and thanks to Father Bob McCann and the pastoral council
at St. Raymond Parish in Dublin for the community’s
donation of $5,000 to the day center for homeless women in Oakland.
Volunteers from St. Joan of Arc Parish in San Ramon are
continuing to provide physical and financial support for Habitat for Humanity
projects in Contra Costa County. A recent parish bulletin reported the
completion of two homes in Antioch and two more homes under construction.
Two group workdays are scheduled for June 2 and July 7.
St. John the Baptist Parish in El Cerrito is gearing
up for its sixth annual Vacation Bible Camp called Avalanche Ranch, June
25-29, for kids from pre-K through 6th grade. Organized by the parish’s
children’s religious education program, the camp will include junior
high, high school and college-age youth as volunteer assistants. The camp
is open to all children. Registration forms are available at www.saintjohnthebaptistchurch.org
or by phone at (510) 232-5659. For more information, contact Pam Vincent
at (510) 233-6486.
The 8th graders
from St. Joseph School in Pinole led a Holocaust Remembrance
Service last month. Each student received a paper bearing a Holocaust
victim’s name and a paper clip attached to wear throughout the day.
During the service, a candle was lit to remember the six million Jews
killed in Nazi camps during World War II. Because many Dutch people rescued
Jews during the Holocaust, six yellow tulips were placed in six vases
as a reminder of the worse and best that people do. Eighth graders Whitney
Libuano and Ashley O’Leary were the driving
force behind the Remembrance Day.
Emily Lewis, a senior at St. Joseph Notre Dame
High School in Alameda, has won the 13th Congressional District’s
prestigious annual art competition with her pen and ink drawing titled,
“Infestation.” The drawing will be exhibited in the congressional
corridor for a year. Lewis and her parents will be flown to Washington,
D.C. to attend a reception as guests of Congressman Pete Stark.
What’s new on EWTN? Tune to the 24-hour Catholic
TV network to see live coverage of the Solemn Mass of Pentecost with Pope
Benedict XVI on May 27 at 1 a.m. (2 1⁄2 hours.) An encore presentation
will be shown at 6 p.m. Another special will be EWTN’s annual telecast
of the Memorial Day Mass from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the
Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. on May 28 at 9 a.m. (2 hours.)
No encore presentation is scheduled. Finally, “Pray, Hope and Don’t
Worry,” a documentary about St. Padre Pio, the Italian Capuchin
priest who bore the stigmata of Christ’s wounds for 50 years, will
be broadcast May 30 at 7 p.m. (1 hour.) The Eternal Word Television Network
is carried on Comcast Digital channel 229; DISH Satellite channel 261;
and DirecTV channel 422; in Alameda on Comcast channel 30 and Alameda
Power channel 26. For additional information visit the website: www.ewtn.com.
Congratulations
to Mary and John Crone, members at St. Alphonsus
Liguori Parish in San Leandro for the past 52 years, who will
be celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary later this month with family
members and friends on an Alaskan cruise. The Crones have eight children,
13 grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren with another one due in
August.
Galen Peterson, a staff member of the non-profit Covenant
House California in Oakland, was honored May 4 with an Oakland
Indie Award for his role as a leader in youth development and advocacy.
Peterson has been at Covenant House for the past five years as the activities
coordinator. He has created a music program and taught a variety of life
skills classes including anger management, money management, and a writing
workshop. He has also organized a variety of youth outings, which range
from trips to a baseball game to the symphony. CHC has been serving at-risk
and homeless youth ages 13-23 in the Bay Area since 1998.
Set your summer baseball plans by inviting friends to see the
Oakland A’s in action against the L.A. Dodgers, Aug. 4
or 5 at Oakland’s McAfee Coliseum. Organized by the Knights
of Columbus, proceeds from both games will benefit Mary’s
House, a home for women in crisis pregnancy located in San Pablo.
Game time is 1:05 p.m. and the price for the plaza level seats is $20
each (a discount of $2). In addition to the discount, the A’s will
donate $6 per ticket to Mary’s House. The Knights of Columbus Color
Corps will present the colors immediately prior to the start of the Aug.
5 game. For more information or to purchase tickets contact Lou Santero
of Council #6043 in Pleasanton at (925) 846-5124.
Volunteer Alert #1! The Birthright Center in Livermore
is seeking volunteers: secretary, chairperson for advertising/publicity,
chairperson for clothing, office volunteers for possible new afternoon
or Saturday hours. Contact: John Kupski, (925) 606-8230.
Volunteer Alert #2! The Kairos Prison Ministry, a lay-led
Christian ministry that sprang from the Cursillo moment and conducts a
program at correctional institutions, is in need of volunteers. No experience
is necessary; training will be provided. For more information, contact
Cathy Brady, (925) 838-5460 or kairos-dublin@sbcglobal.net.
The Catholic podcast network known as SQPN has launched
a new series of podcasts about the religious themes and the mythology
of Star Wars, hosted by Father Roderick Vonhogen. The
priest, who founded SQPN to focus on Catholic evangelization and education,
said in a press release the new podcast series casts light on the Star
Wars saga and draws similarities to the Christian faith. For more information,
visit the website: www.sqpn.com and
enter “Star Wars” in the search box.
Next Voice: June 4. Send submissions, by May 24, to
Carrie McClish, 3014 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland, 94610; phone: (510) 419-1074;
fax: (510) 893-4734; e-mail: cmcclish@oakdiocese.org.
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