Debaters score points at Yale
The Bishop O’Dowd High School Debate parliamentary
duo of Audrey Carson (left) and Nathalie Dierkx, pictured with moderator
Jon Thorpe, came up one victory short from claiming the championship
at last month’s Yale Invitational, hosted by the Yale Debate
Association. Carson and Dierkx dropped the championship round 2-1
to Connecticut’s Wilton High School. Dierkx received the tournament’s
prestigious top-speaker award. |
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Blessing in Berkeley
LEFT: Father David Farrugia, pastor of
St. Mary Magdalen Parish in Berkeley, blesses cats that were brought
to the church parking lot on Oct. 2 for the annual Blessing of the
Animals, carried out in remembrance of St. Francis of Assisi’s
love for all of God’s creatures. The Dominican father blessed the animals — three cats and 11
dogs — for a long life, good health and a happy home. In addition,
he also offered treats to the animals. RIGHT: Ana Luisa Jacob, a third-grader
at the School of the Madeleine, waits to have her dog Angelina blessed.
CHRISTINE SCHRECK PHOTOS |
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Activities at St. Philip Neri
St. Philip Neri School pupils in Alameda attended
a prayer service Sept. 14 in remembrance of Our Lady of Sorrows. The
students learned and contemplated on the “seven sorrows”
of Mary through readings and a general intercession service prepared
by the second and fourth graders. Student readers Amanda Lira and
Cecilia Costa are at right. A separate prayer service saw the installation
of the 20-member 2011-2012 Student Leadership Council, from grades
seven and eight, with their adviser, Kathy Hennigh, above. |
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Intramurals go full force at St.
Felicitas
Under the leadership of physical education teacher Jennifer
King, pupils at St. Felicitas School in San Leandro enjoy intramural
basketball. Intramural sports puts boys and girls from different
grades together into teams to play a variety of sports. The
winning teams from the basketball competition were the Fourth
and Fifth grade Hawks and the middle school Bulls. |
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Sisters offer talk, tour
Sister Michaela O’Connor of the Sisters of the
Holy Family in Fremont will offer a lecture on the history of the Palmdale
property that has been the home of sisters for the last 60 years, at 2:30
p.m. Oct. 22.
Tours of the newly renovated archives building will be offered, and refreshments
will be served in Armer Hall. The address is 159 Washington Blvd., Fremont.
Guests will be able to view local history photos and heirloom artifacts
the sisters have preserved. Visitors will also be able to stroll around
the grounds before and after the talk. The event is being offered as part
of the celebration of National Archives Month.
For additional information, contact Sister Loretta Marie Marbach at (510)
624-4515.
Men’s conference set
Evangelists Jesse Romero and Tim Staples will be among
the speakers at the fifth annual East Bay Catholic Men’s Conference,
to be from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (registration 7-8 a.m.) Nov. 5 at St. Isidore
Church, 440 La Gonda Way, Danville. Joining Romero and Staples will be
Fred Picciano, past president of the Catholic Men’s Fellowship,
and Father Gary Sumpter, a pastor in the Diocese of Santa Rosa. Mass will
be celebrated and lunch will be served at the daylong event.
Tickets for adults are $45 ($35 before Oct. 21) and tickets for teens
are $20 ($15 before Oct. 21). For more information contact Ed Hopfner
at (510) 267-8392 or ehopfner@oakdiocese.org
or register at www.eastbaymen.org.
Masses at cemeteries Nov. 2,
5
The Catholic cemeteries in the Diocese of Oakland will
observe All Souls Day, Nov. 2, with special events. Mass will be celebrated
at 11 a.m. at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Hayward; Holy Cross Cemetery
in Antioch; Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Lafayette; St. Joseph Cemetery
in San Pablo; and St. Mary Cemetery in Oakland.
A Vigil of Light celebration will begin at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 2 at the Cathedral
of Christ the Light, as well as at Holy Sepulchre, St. Joseph and Holy
Cross. Additionally, a Dia de los Muertos celebration will follow the
11 a.m. Mass Nov. 5 at the following cemeteries: Holy Sepulchre, Holy
Cross, Queen of Heaven, St. Joseph and St. Mary. For additional information,
see www.cfcscemeteries.org.
Social justice ministry workshop
Nov. 5
A gathering of parish clergy, staff and lay people looking
for ways to improve the respect life and social justice ministries —
Workers in the Vineyard — is planned from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov.
5 at the Conference Center at the Cathedral of Christ the Light, 2121
Harrison St., Oakland.
The Diocese of Oakland’s Office for Life and Justice in partnership
with Catholic Relief Service and JustFaith Ministries will be hosting
the event. Tom Ulrich, Director for Parish Outreach at Catholic Relief
Service and author of “Strategies for Success” will lead a
discussion around how to develop thriving parish social ministry.
The cost is $20 if paid before Nov. 1; $30 at the door. Those interested
may register at http://a3.acteva.com/orderbooking/bookEvent/
A312222. For more information contact John Watkins, jwatkins@oakdiocese.org
or (510) 267-8379. Speakers include Maria Arroyo and Joe Hastings from
Catholic Relief Service. Father George Schultze from St. Patrick’s
Seminary will offer reflections and Francisco Herrera will provide music.
Dinner to fund scholars
Holy Names High School’s annual Fund Her Future
Dinner is set for Oct. 21 at Scott’s Restaurant, Jack London Square,
Oakland. Cocktails begin at 6 p.m., with dinner at 7 p.m. Holy Names is
celebrating both the 200th birthday of Blessed Marie Rose Durocher, foundress
of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, and the school’s
80th year on Harbord Drive. Cost is $80. Contact Kathryn Moir at (510)
450-1110, ext. 118, for reservations or information.
Around
the Parishes
“Credo,” the award-winning composition by
Frank LaRocca, a member at Oakland’s St. Margaret Mary
Parish, will make its West Coast premiere on Oct. 25 at Old First
Church in San Francisco. AVE (Artist’s Vocal Ensemble), an acclaimed
professional choral group, will perform LaRocca’s piece under
the direction of Jonathan Dimmock. AVE and Dimmock have both performed
at the Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland. “Credo” received
an award in an International Chorale competition sponsored by the Foundation
for Sacred Arts last year. This award included a world premiere performance
at the National Shrine in Washington, D.C.
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Around
the Schools
Three seniors at Oakland’s Bishop O’Dowd
High School — Monica Anderson, Victoria Burns
and Emmanuel Gallegos — have been acknowledged as scholars
by the College Board’s National Hispanic Recognition Program. They
are among nearly 5,000 students selected from a pool of more than 235,000
students who took the 2010 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship
Qualifying Test/Prueba de Aptitud Academica and identified themselves
as Latino or Hispanic.
Four members of the class of 2011 of Holy Names High School have
earned AP Scholors in recognition of their exceptional achievement on
AP exams. Marina Weiner earned the AP Scholar award by receiving
scores of 3 or higher on three exams; Brianna Gonzalez earned AP
with Honors status for receiving an average score 3.25 on four exams.
To receive this honor students must score an average of at least 3.25.
Two students were granted the AP Scholar with Distinctive status, which
is given to those who receive an average of at least 3.5 on all AP exams
taken and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams. Jackie
Kiikvee took five exams and received an average score of 4.40; while
Tamara Savage, who took six exams and scored an average of 4.50
for receiving a score of 5 in all exams taken except one.
Four seniors at Alameda’s St. Joseph Notre Dame High School
have been named National Merit Commended Scholars: Jason Beckett,
Amanda Khoo, Kate LaSalle-Klein and Ray Levy. Students
earn this status for the outstanding academic abilities they displayed
on the PSAT exam. Commended students are recognized for placing among
the top 5 percent of more than 1.5 million students who took the
exam in 2010.
Five students from Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward have
been accepted into the American Choral Director Association Coastal Region
Honors Choir. They are: Carina Mendoza ’13, soprano; Vy
Mai ’12, soprano; Brandon English ’12, tenor; Marco
Del Rio ’13, tenor; and Miguel Angeles ’12, tenor.
More than 400 students from the Monterey area to the Oregon-California
border auditioned for the choir, which will meet Nov. 17-19 at Cabrillo
College in Santa Cruz.
The Students in Action Team at Carondelet High School in Concord
recently completed “Project Backpack,” a schoolwide project
that benefits Get On The Bus, which helps youngsters reconnect or stay
connected with a parent in prison. The campaign resulted in the donation
of 65 backpacks, 2,000 items to fill the backpack and about $550 cash.
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Names, News, Notes
Catholic Charities of the East Bay has named
Frank Malifrando chief development and public affairs Officer.
Malifrando has been the chief fundraising officer at Marin General Hospital,
Novato Community Hospital, Sutter Solano Medical Center and Seton Medical
Center in Daly City.
Brian Copeland, who starred in the acclaimed long-running one-man
show “Not a Genuine Black Man,” is hard at work with director
David Ford on a new and very personal solo play called “The Waiting
Period.” In the play, which premieres in January 2012, Copeland,
who was graduated from Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward,
explores the subject of depression, often called the last stigmatized
disease. The title refers to the mandatory 10-day period that Copeland
had to wait before he could get his hands on a recently purchased gun
that he intended to use to take his life. To prepare for the show’s
premiere in January 2012, Copeland will be conducting eight workshop performances
between Nov. 4 and 26 to tweak or fine-tune parts of the play with feedback
from local audiences. The preview shows will take place at 8 p.m. Fridays
and 5 p.m. Saturdays at The Marsh MainStage, 1062 Valencia St. in San
Francisco. For tickets visit themarsh.org or phone (415) 282-3055.
WHAT’S ON EWTN? Pope Benedict XVI will be the focus of a
special program on the Eternal Word Television Network as the pontiff
leads a prayer vigil on Oct. 26 in St. Peter’s Basilica for the
“Day of Prayer for Peace and Justice in the World.” The following
day, Oct. 27, EWTN will provide live coverage of the Pope’s pilgrimage
to the hometown of St. Francis of Assisi. The Holy Father will invite
fellow Christians and all people of good will to join the journey to truth
and goodness through prayer. EWTN is carried 24 hours a day on Comcast
Channel 229, AT&T Channel 562, Astound Channel 116, DISH Satellite
Channel 261 and DirecTV Channel 370; in Alameda on Channel 30. To learn
program starting times, go to www.ewtn.com
and click on “television,” “program schedules”
and “October grids.” Audiences may also telephone EWTN at
(205) 271-2900 and ask for “Viewer Services.”
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