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Bishops meet in Baltimore
Oakland’s Bishop Salvatore Cordileone
works on a laptop during the annual fall meeting of the U.S. Conference
of Catholic Bishops Nov. 15-18 in Baltimore. The bishops discussed
health care reform, donations by U.S. Catholics for Haiti reconstrucation,
preparations for World Youth Day in Spain, and the need to embrace
social media.
CNS photo/Nancy Wiechec
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Around
the Parishes
The Father Bill O’Donnell Social Justice Committee
at Berkeley’s St. Joseph the Worker Parish held a candlelight
vigil Nov. 21 on the front steps of the church to commemorate the 21st
anniversary of the “Jesuit massacre” in El Salvador. The murders
of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter by the Salvadoran
military took place Nov. 16, 1989, at the University of Central America
in El Salvador. Some of soldiers who participated in the murders had been
trained at the former School of the Americas (SOA) at Fort Benning, Ga.
Jesuit Father Gregory Boyle, founder and director of Homeboy Industries,
an outreach program for at-risk youth and gang members in Los Angeles,
will read from his new book, “Tattoos on the Heart,” on Dec.
11 at St. John Vianney Church, 1650 Ygnacio Valley Road in Walnut Creek.
Father Boyle will also sign the book, which will be on sale during the
program, which begins at 9:30 a.m. Free will offerings will also accepted
for Homeboy Industries. For more information, contact Meg Bowerman at
lmjtbow@pacbell.net or (510)
531-7139.
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Around
the Schools
The third-grade students at Alameda’s St. Philip
Neri School worked to raise money for UNICEF during the month of October.
The students began by learning how UNICEF helps provide the basic needs
for children around the world. Then to raise funds the third -graders
sponsored a schoolwide Rice Krispy treat sale – more than 500 homemade
treats were ordered. On Halloween the class also “trick or treated”
for UNICEF. Overall it raised $1,300 with the support of their school
and local community.
The students of Queen of All Saints School in Concord celebrated
Red Ribbon Week, held to address drug awareness. During one event Ali
Omran, a student who serves as community outreach commissioner, and
the campus’ Commissioners of Spirit taught family groups to make
origami favors for Children’s Hospital in Oakland. Favors were not
only different colors, shapes and sizes, but they included personalized
positive messages from the students themselves. The QAS Student Government
plans to deliver the favors to the hospital in the coming weeks.
Eighth-graders at Assumption School in San Leandro are focusing
on diabetes awareness as their service learning project. Under the guidance
of their teacher, Kristy Lomando, the students recently sponsored
“mission munchies,” in which they provided sugar-free snacks
for sale to fellow students.
As a reward for reading a collective 100,000 minutes during the school’s
Book Fair event, students at Our Lady of Grace School in Castro Valley
earned the reward of “sliming” principal Ryan Brusco
during their Halloween Parade.
The pre-kindergarten class at St. John School in San Lorenzo welcomed
members of the Alameda Country Fire Department to their classroom last
month for Fire Prevention Month.
Stewardship is a vital aspect of life at St. Bede School in Hayward.
Students have displayed their concern for others in various ways. First-graders,
for example, visit ParkView Health Care Center once a month. During their
visits they read and sing to the residents. Last month students raised
$366 for breast cancer research. Students have also raised $487 to benefit
the children at St. Martin’s Orphanage in the Philippines. Earlier
this month students made cards for veterans that were delivered to the
local VA hospital. The school is also sponsoring a Thanksgiving canned
food drive which will be given to those in need in the community.
The volleyball team at Oakland’s Bishop O’Dowd High School
recently celebrated another winning season by capturing a 10th consecutive
Hayward Area Athletic League title. The team was selected as the No. 1
seed for the North Coast Section Division II playoffs, earning a first
round bye. Meanwhile, the football team edged San Leandro High on Nov.
5 to win its first HAAL title since 1999.
Speaking of special athletic news: Brendan Keane, a senior at St.
Joseph Notre Dame High School in Alameda, signed a national letter
of intent to play basketball for the University of Northern Colorado.
Three Bishop O’Dowd student-athletes, Jordan Tomimatsu, Joe Ross
and Lindsey Parrott, signed national letters of intent. Tomimatsu
has committed to swim at Fordham University, Ross has signed with UCLA
to play baseball, and Parrott has signed with UC-Berkeley where she will
play volleyball.
Students at Holy Names High School in Oakland are taking part in
a schoolwide food drive in partnership with the Alameda County Community
Food Bank.
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Names, News, Notes
The diocesan Special Religious Education Department
(SPRED) recently remembered Denise Merrill, a participant since
1991, who died on Oct. 22. In her e-mail to the SPRED community, Holy
Family Sister Aurora Perez, SPRED director, noted that Merrill “loved
to stand at the podium with her catechist and speak to her parish of St.
Joseph at Old Mission San Jose, about SPRED.” After the Nov. 20
funeral Mass at the Fremont church, friends and family gathered for a
celebration of her life.
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