By JOHN L. ALLEN JR., National Catholic Reporter On the heels of the U.S. bishops’ recent declaration that abortion remains their top political priority, Pope Benedict XVI this morning issued a reminder that children already born, especially those who suffer from poverty, disease and war, must also have a place within the church’s ambit of concern.
While Benedict clearly affirmed the dignity of human life from the moment of conception, his remarks suggest a desire that the church’s opposition to abortion not exclude other pressing social concerns.
The pope spoke this morning to participants in a Nov. 13-15 conference organized by the Pontifical Council for Assistance to Health Care Workers, on the theme of “Pastoral Care of Sick Children.”
Benedict noted that every year, some four million newborn children die around the world at less than 26 days after birth, often due to poverty, poor health care systems, and armed conflict. He called that a matter of “urgent” concern.
Amnesia, Women and Christian Beginnings: the Role of Women in the Church from a Historical Perspective with Dr. Mary Ann Donovan, S.C., Ph.D., Professor of Historical Theology and Spirituality. At Santa Clara University in Nobili Hall, on Thursday, November 20, 6:00 p.m. Lecture and Discussion, 7:00 p.m. Reception. RSVP by Tuesday, November 11 to Maria Helena dePedraza at (510) 549-5012 or mpedraza@jstb.edu.
On Tuesday, October 14, 7:30 - 9:00 p.m., Fr. Louie Vitale, OFM, will speak about the power of nonviolence and how we can use it to transform the way we approach others. Fr. Louie has a long history of nonviolent civic engagement in which he has continuously challenged a culture of violence. http://cms.scu.edu/cm/programs/faithfulcitizenship.cfm. At Santa Clara University, Benson Center, California Mission Room. Contact Matt Smith, (408) 554-4773, mpnsmith@scu.edu.
A Faith Enrichment Speakers’ Series presented by St. Elias the Prophet Melkite-Greek Catholic Parish. St. Elias the Prophet Melkite-Greek Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic parish in the Alum Rock area of San Jose, will sponsor “The Church—People, History, Theology,” a series of monthly presentations aimed at expanding people’s knowledge and understanding of the whole Catholic Church, especially the Eastern Churches. The presentations will be open to the public at no charge. They will begin in October 2008 and run through May 2009, omitting April 2009. All of the presentations will take place on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. in St Elias Church, 4411 Hyland Avenue, San Jose. The first presentation will be October 8 - “St. Paul in His Time and Ours”. Please see attached document for more presentation dates. For more information, please call Rev. James Graham, Pastor of St. Elias the Prophet Melkite-Greek Catholic parish, (408) 259-0259. For directions to St. Elias Church, visit www.steliastheprophet.org.
Experience an evening of prayer and reflection through a variety of music selections to help with the grief you are experiencing, presented by Fr. Christopher Bennett. All are welcome to attend, and this event is free. Monday, October 13, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m., St. Joseph of Cupertino Parish, 10110 N. De Anza Blvd., in the Community Hall. Co -sponsors: Catholic Cemeteries of the Diocese of San Jose and St. Joseph’s. RSVP’s are appreciated but not required to Frances Carrasco Leyerle, (408) 258-2940 x208; carrasco@dosj.org.
Posted in Event, Justice at 9:00 am by Ellen Pulskamp Turner
St. Mary’s Catholic Church and Congregation Shir Hadash in Los Gatos are co-sponsoring a community forum in October designed to introduce residents to the health disparities that exist in Silicon Valley and throughout the U.S. The event on Tuesday, October 21 features a partial showing of the PBS documentary “Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick” followed by an open-ended discussion. The free public event will be held from 7:30 – 9:00 p.m. at St. Mary’s Hofmann Center, 219 Bean St. This is one of 30 community dialogues that received a mini-grant from The Health Trust designed to encourage widespread conversation about the economic and social aspects of health. A Health Disparities Summit organized by The Health Trust in 2009 will bring together grant recipients and others in the community to discuss how Silicon Valley can help everyone in the region have access to fair and equitable health care services and programs. For information, contact Jane Ferguson, Director of Pastoral Care and Community Ministry at St. Mary’s, at (408) 354-4061 x123.
DIOCESE DAILY BULLETIN
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Meetings
9/24
Institute for Leadership in Ministry, 7:30pm - 9:30pm, St. Lawrence Academy
9/25
Environment & Art Committee Meeting, 12:00pm - 2:00pm, St. Joseph Room
9/29
Safe Environment Live Training Workshop, 7:00pm - 9:00pm, Saint Joseph Conference Room - Chancery Offices, Santa Clara
Missing Any Fingerprint Clearances?Personnel Office The Personnel Office recently received from the Department of Justice almost 50 fingerprint result notices where either no site information or incorrect site information was provided. When we receive result notices with no site information, we have no idea whom to inform that the employee or volunteer is cleared to work. If your site has scheduled fingerprint appointments in the last few months and you never received any clearance information - this could be the reason. Please contact Tamra Abell at (408) 983-0149 or tabell@dsj.org to see if any of these clearances belong to you.
As a reminder - please make sure to put the site code and/or site name in the OCA field of the Livescan form whenever you schedule a fingerprint appointment. If you have any questions, or need training on scheduling fingerprint appointments, please contact the Personnel Office at (408) 983-0149 or personnel@dsj.org. Thanks for your help!
Leadership Retreat of Hispanic Youth and Young Adult Ministry,Antonio Ojeda To All Parish Bulletin Editors
Please support this fund raising event for the annual Leadership Retreat of Hispanic Youth and Young Adult Ministry.
Por favor Apoye este Evento de Recaudación de Fondos para el Retiro anual de Líderes de la Pastoral Juvenil Diocesana.
We are honored to present “Autumn Concert”
Tenemos el honor de presentar “Concierto de Otoño”
Friday / Viernes, October 24th At / A 7:30 p.m.
Suggested Donation / Donación sugerida: $10.00
At St. Maria Goretti Church, 2980 Senter Rd., San Jose
Present will be the recognized solos and choirs of the Diocese of San Jose and choirs from other Dioceses, such as Fr. Kevin Joyce playing the piano, Banda Desafío (Band Challenge) from the Diocese of Monterey.
Tendremos la presencia de coros y solistas reconocidos de la Diócesis de San Jose y coros invitados de otras Diócesis. Como Fr. Kevin Joyce tocando el piano, Banda Desafío de la Diócesis de Monterey y más sorpresas.
Patrick Jordan on Dorothy Day, Tuesday, October 14, 7:30 p.m., location TBA Patrick Jordan is the managing editor of Commonweal magazine. He attended the Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley, and is a former managing editor of the Catholic Worker. With Paul Baumann, he edited Commonweal Confronts the Century, and is the editor of Dorothy Day: Writings from Commonweal. Dorothy Day was an American journalist turned social activist, and author of The Long Loneliness. With Peter Maurin, she founded the Catholic Worker Movement in 1933, espousing nonviolence and hospitality for the impoverished and downtrodden. 2008 marks the Catholic Worker Movement’s 75th Anniversary. This event is co-sponsored by the Commonweal College Speakers Program which is made possible thanks to a generous gift from James H. Duffy. Faithful Citizenship Workshop with Jerome Baggett, October 23, 8:00 p.m., Koret Center, Stanford Campus Jerome Baggett is Associate Professor of Religion and Society at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. His latest book is the forthcoming Sense of the Faithful: An End and Beginning of American Catholicism (New York: Oxford University Press). Dr. Baggett has extensive experience working with parishes and other community groups, and will lead a discussion of the principles of Catholic Social Teaching and the ways in which such principles of our faith inform our civic participation.
CCAS lectures and workshops are free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Chaplain Catherine Wolff at cwolff@stanford.edu.
The Joan and Ralph Lane Center for Catholic Studies and Social Thought at the University of San Francisco cordially invites you to a lecture featuring:
Thomas Massaro, SJ
2008 Urbi et Orbi Lecture
For God and Country: Patriotism and Religious Identity Today
Thursday, September 25, 2008
5:00-6:30 pm
Xavier Hall, Fromm Institute, USF Main Campus
Refreshments served following the talk. Event is free and open to the public.
Social ethicist Thomas Massaro, SJ reflects on the perennial tensions surrounding our efforts to combine loyalty to God and nation, and on the major challenges facing American Catholics today.
Thomas Massaro, SJ is professor of moral theology at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry (formerly Weston Jesuit School of Theology) and a Jesuit priest. His teaching interests include Catholic social ethics, theories of economic justice, and the history of Christian political thought. His research focuses on how Catholic social teaching may contribute to a constructive consensus on responsible public policies. He is the author of many articles and six books including: American Catholic Social Teaching with Thomas Shannon (Liturgical Press, 2002); Catholic Perspectives on Peace and War with Thomas Shannon (Rowan & Littlefield, 2003); US Welfare Policy: A Catholic Response (Georgetown, 2007); and most recently a classroom edition of the widely read Living Justice: Catholic Social Teaching in Action (2nd edition, Sheed and Ward, 2008). The Joan and Ralph Lane Center for Catholic Studies and Social Thought at the University of San Francisco enriches and enlivens the Jesuit, Catholic character of USF and engages and develops Catholic social thought for the Church, the city and the world.
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Joan and Ralph Lane Center for Catholic Studies and Social Thought
University of San Francisco - Educating minds and hearts to change the world
2130 Fulton Street
On September 24, October 22, and November 18, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. in honor of the year dedicated to St. Paul. Holy Spirit Parish will host Sr. Mary Criscione, RSMPhD, who will share with us an overview of Paul: • his personality and his passion
• the times in which he lived
• how we can apply his message to our own issues today
Come and hear the message Paul has for Christian discipleship today! Holy Spirit Church, 1200 Redmond Ave., San Jose, (408) 997-5101.
Posted in Event, Justice at 10:55 am by Ellen Pulskamp Turner
THE SOUTH BAY ISLAMIC ASSOCIATION INVITES THE SAN JOSE
COMMUNITY TO ITS LONG-STANDING TRADITIONAL RAMADAN FAST-BREAKING DINNER
SAN JOSE, September 9th, 2008 – The South Bay Islamic Association (SBIA) welcomes people of all faiths to join Muslims in a break-the-fast evening meal and celebration on Sunday, September 14th at the association’s mosque at 325 North 3rd Street in San Jose starting at 5:30 p.m.This is the SBIA’s eighth annual Ramadan open house.
The purpose of the get-together is to share the Muslim Ramadan tradition with San Jose citizens of all religions and ethnicities.Guests will include Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh community members along with members of the area’s churches and synagogues.
“We feel that people of all religions should get to know each other’s traditions and celebrations on a personal level,” said Tahir Anwar, Imam (director of religious services) of SBIA.“This is a good way to break the barriers of stereotypes.And that is what will bring us one step closer to peace in the world.”
The evening will start at 5:30 p.m. and include information on this time of fasting and the holy month of Ramadan.There will be a complimentary Middle Eastern dinner starting at 7:30 p.m. and a chance for guests to meet members of the San Jose Muslim community as well as leaders from other communities.Questions about the Muslim tradition of fasting and the Muslim religion (Islam) are especially welcome.
Ramadan began the first week of September and each day Muslims fast from dawn to dusk and break their day’s fast at sunset, followed by evening prayers.“We would like to share some of our traditions with others,” said Yasmin Vanya, one of the organizers of the event.“And we hope others will invite us to share their traditions as well.That way we can become closer as a community.”
Eight other mosques and Islamic centers across the Bay Area will also hold similar open houses during the weekend of September 13th and 14th.
About The South Bay Islamic Association:SBIA was incorporated in 1981 as a non-profit religious organization.Founded by dynamic professionals and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, SBIA provides religious and social services to a large and diverse Muslim congregation representing people from over 30 countries, including American, Burmese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, African, Indian, Pakistani, Arab and Bosnian Muslims.