February 18, 2008   •   VOL. 46, NO. 4   •   Oakland, CA
 

Natalie Riner, a graduate of St. Mary’s Center Preschool, serves Bill Garret during the weekly Sunday dinner for seniors at St. Mary’s Center in Oakland.   St. MaryÍs Center to honor volunteers St. MaryÍs Center will mark its 35 anniversary with a thank-you celebration for all the volunteers from local parishes, businesses, and families who have cooked and served Sunday dinners, provided transportation to seniors, helped at the preschool, donated to the food pantry, or performed a myriad of other services anytime during the past three decades.      The celebration will be a special Sunday dinner on March 16 at 1:30 p.m. at the CenterÍs new home, the former St. Andrew-St. Joseph Church at 925 Brockhurst St., Oakland.      Volunteers wishing to attend should call for a reservation. Seats are limited, said Katrina Brekke-Miesner, who is helping to coordinate the event. RSVP to Julie Merrill at (510) 923-9600 ext. 222 or Sister Marilyn Medau at (510) 923-9600, ext. 220.

New Year festivities Joseph Doan, 6, of Sacramento places a good luck card in the mouth of a lion during the Jan. 30 New Year celebration at the Concord Senior Center of Catholic Charities of the East Bay. The multicultural celebration drew several hundred seniors. Greg Tarczynski photo

Seeing stars
Marcus Mitchell, Berkeley native and 1993 graduate of Berkeley’s St. Mary’s High School, had the lead role in “Prince Among Slaves,” the new PBS docudrama profiling an African prince who lived in the Antebellum South for 40 years before securing his freedom and returning to Africa. The program premiered on KQED TV Feb. 6. Two other alumni currently star in popular television series: Ed Quinn, who attended Berkeley’s School of the Madeleine and graduated from St. Mary’s in 1986, stars in the SciFi Channel thriller, “Eureka.” Russell Hornsby, Class of 1992 and an Oakland native, has the lead role in The Family Channel drama, “Lincoln Heights.”.

Online Lenten guide
Seeking some spiritual inspiration during the Lenten season? Resources are just a click away at www.usccb.org/lent. Sponsored by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the website includes “radio retreats” in English and Spanish given by several bishops, podcasts of daily Scripture readings, and a section on Holy Week observances.

The site also has information on fasting and abstinence, examination of conscience to aid preparation for the Sacrament of Penance, and several versions of the Stations of the Cross including an audio version available for download.

What’s on EWTN?
The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), the 24-hour Catholic TV network, will launch a full slate of new programs in March. Among them is “Answering the Master’s Call,” featuring priests and religious talking about their vocation. It will air on Thursdays at 11:30 a.m. On “The Catholic Church: Builder of Civilization,” Dr. Thomas Woods will discuss the Church’s role in the sciences, the university system, western moral principles, law, and economics. It will air Wednesdays at 3 and 11 p.m.

“The Family Hearth” will feature Brother Bob Fishman, a convert from Judaism, who uses the method of Jewish oral tradition to bring the teachings and stories of the Bible to life, (Mondays at 2:30 p.m. and Thursdays at 11:30 p.m.). A complete listing of programs can be found at www.ewtn.com

EWTN is carried 24 hours a day on Comcast Digital channel 229; DISH Satellite channel 261; and DirecTV channel 370; in Alameda on Comcast channel 30 and Alameda Power channel 26.

Around the Parishes

Silence will replace liturgical music at all Sunday Masses during Lent at St. John Vianney Parish in Walnut Creek. Instead of the gathering song. Masses will begin with the ringing of the “singing bowl” as a “call to worship.” Father James McGee, parochial administrator, told parishioners the use of silence is intended to help them slow down and cultivate “a time of silence” in their lives.

St. John the Baptist Parish in El Cerrito is adding a weekday Mass at 7 p.m. during Lent.

St. Joseph Parish in Pinole will offer the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick on March 8 at 10 a.m.

Beginning Feb. 24, the Ministry of Moms Sharing (MOMS) at St. Joan of Arc Parish in San Ramon will bring together moms who want to explore their spirituality, bond with other moms, and create community. An informational coffee about the eight-week program will be held in the parish’s multi-purpose room on Feb. 20 from 7:30-8:30 p.m. and on Feb. 21 from 9:30-10:30 a.m.

Jack and Jodi Russi at St. Mary Parish in Walnut Creek recently stepped down as CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) athletic directors after more than 11 years of service. The parish CYO program involves nearly 350 boys and girls in grades two through eight in volleyball, basketball, track and field, and cross country. They are succeeded by Jim and Stephanie Regan.

Members at Our Lady of Grace Parish in Castro Valley prepare and serve meals monthly to the hungry at Portuguese Park.

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Around the Schools

Devin Saxon, star football player at Hayward’s Moreau Catholic High School, is heading for Harvard University this fall. He will join the Crimson as a backup quarterback.

During Lent, students at St. Mary’s High School in Berkeley are collecting travel size soaps, shampoos, toothbrushes, toothpaste and other items for homeless people. The “Fresh Start” project runs through March 14. The items will be packaged in Ziploc bags and given to homeless shelters for distribution.

Also at St. Mary’s High: The Berkeley campus sponsored a hair-cutting drive for the “Locks of Love” program on Feb. 15. The national non-profit program provides hairpieces to disadvantaged children suffering from long-term medical hair loss. And the students annual raffle raised over $30,000 for tuition assistance.

The Franciscan Mystery Players of Salesian High School in Richmond will present the Lenten Mystery Play, “The Way of the Cross,” at St. Joseph Church, 837 Tennent Ave. in Pinole, on March 14 at 8 p.m.

The Seldom Seen Acting Company, a theatre troupe of homeless men who are clients of St. Vincent de Paul’s Champion Guidance Center, performed for the seventh and eighth graders of St. Elizabeth and St. Anthony Schools on Feb. 1 as part of the celebration of Catholic Schools Week. The actors write and perform some of their stories about the daily struggles of living on the streets of Oakland.

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Among the Priests

Msgr. Ted Kraus, pastor at Santa Maria Parish in Orinda, will mark the 45th anniversary of his ordination with a Mass of thanksgiving on March 9 at 11:15 a.m.
New parochial vicars: Father Terry Tompkins to St. Felicitas in San Leandro (temporary); Father Clarence Zamora to St. John Vianney Parish in Walnut Creek; Father Javier Aguilar Siado at St. Mary Parish in Walnut Creek.

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Names, News, Notes

Congratulations to Claire and Michael Gorin on their 60th wedding anniversary. They were married on Feb. 10, 1948 at St. Augustine Church in Oakland. Mrs. Gorin spent many years as a volunteer for the St. John’s Senior Center in El Cerrito.

Fran and Edward Wojnar, members of Christ the King Parish in Pleasant Hill., are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary.

Charles Payne, a historian of the civil rights movement and professor of sociology at the University of Chicago, met with leaders of the Oakland Community Organizations (OCO) and local clergy and challenged them to rediscover the spirit of the civil rights movement and urged them to continue their work toward reform in health care and education as well as violence prevention and affordable housing.

Family Connections Christian Adoptions will hold a free information session on March 1 at 2 p.m. at 1120 Tully Road in Modesto. Family Connections Christian Adoptions specializes in placing waiting children from California and across the world. For more information, call (209) 524-8844.

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