From the Pastor's Desk, October 10, 2010

Dear Members of our Parish Family,

Peace and all good!

In today’s Gospel from Luke (17:11-19), we encounter Jesus as He heals a group of ten lepers. Only one of the ten returns to offer thanks. The message is clear: Jesus
challenges us to adopt an “attitude of gratitude” towards our lives and relationships. An attitude of gratitude helps us to put things into perspective. It does not move us to deny
the reality of the real struggles of our lives. But it helps us to look at things from a broader perspective. For ourselves as Christians, that broader perspective is the recognition that we are loved—unconditionally, unceasingly, and ultimately—by our good and gracious God.

This week’s Gospel also reminds me of a story from the life of St. Francis. Initially, Francis was terrified of lepers and would avoid them at any cost. Soon after his initial conversion, however, he was confronted by a leper begging alms. This time, instead of fleeing from the poor man, Francis literally got down off his high horse, presented him with some coins, and then—and this is the most important part—he actually embraced and kissed the leper. He never forgot the experience, and later wrote that what once had been so bitter for him had since become so sweet. In other words, Francis took on an attitude of gratitude toward a moment which signaled the transformation of his spiritual life.

Some people find it helpful to keep a gratitude list. They take time periodically to go over their day or week and acknowledge all that they have received. Not just material blessings, though they are important, but also the intangibles that we tend to forget about: health, family, relationships; our talents, interests, and commitments. All are gifts from a God who never stops loving us and providing for our well-being.

Personally, I find myself putting together a gratitude list almost every time I sit down to write this letter. This past weekend, for example, we hosted a number of events in connection with the celebration of the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Last Saturday, we celebrated St. Francis Day, a “fun-raiser” for our parish school, Old Mission Montessori School involving the participation of parents, teachers, staff, and a number of different groups in our parish family. Part of that great celebration was the blessing of animals.

Father Luis and I must have blessed more than a hundred pets during the day. People brought lots and lots of dogs, but, understandably, not so many cats at the same time. We also blessed a rabbit, three chickens, a rooster, and a lizard (gecko). Many thanks to all who worked so hard on that event, including Alex and Maria del Villar, who organized the pet blessings again this year.

This week, I would like to thank in advance all who have been involved in our Columbus Day weekend celebrations— most especially, of course, our Knights of Columbus Council 3162. In addition to throwing a great spaghetti dinner (Saturday night), the Knights, their Ladies and family members have planned to present at the 10 AM Mass and to participate in the blessing of our Rachel Shrine to Unborn Children afterwards. Traditionally, October is the month of the most holy Rosary. The Knights have organized and sponsored a parish-wide multicultural recitation of the Rosary set for today, Sunday, October 10, at 2:00 pm. All are welcome! They will also be distributing free rosaries at liturgies throughout this month.

This weekend, as well, we are celebrating the first School Mass of the academic year for our parish school, Old Mission Montessori School, at the 10 AM Mass. Many thanks to Wanda King, principal, as well as teachers, staff and parents for their enthusiastic participation. Special thanks to the students themselves, who have taken on the various ministries for the liturgy: greeters, lectors, altar servers--- and, of course, the choir. I always tell them that our parish school is the very best one in the world. And of course it is! Speaking of gratitude--- Let’s keep all of our school children in prayer in a special way this week.

 My personal (and parish) gratitude list continues to grow. Stay tuned for more!

God bless,

Fr. Chuck Talley, ofm

From the Pastor's Desk October 3, 2010

Dear Members of our Parish Family,

Peace and all good! Pax et bonum!

This weekend, we are celebrating two of the Franciscan “high holidays”—The Transitus of St. Francis, and the Feast of St. Francis. Two separate moments, but one complete celebration. The “transitus” of St. Francis commemorates the evening of his “transit” or passage from this life into eternal life. It is commemorated here and around the world with a very special evening service marking the life of St. Francis and remembering his commitment to live the Gospel of Jesus. It is a very touching celebration, with many members of the Franciscan family present as well: the Franciscan friars, our Franciscan sisters representing a number of communities, and our lay, or Secular Franciscans as well. Thanks to all who have been able to be with us to mark this very special evening in our lives and history.

The second part of the celebration is the Feast of St. Francis, which we are celebrating on Sunday, October 3, this year (the actual date is October 4). In our liturgy, we celebrate the life of Christ as expressed in the life of Francis. Thanks to all who have worked so hard to make these events so successful. Special thanks to Maria and Alex Del Villar, for their work on the great Saturday, St. Francis Day event, which included our traditional blessing of pets. Thanks, also, to all the vendors, food concessionaires, and volunteers who made this such a great day.

This past summer, in conversation with our lay staff, we decided to make a commitment to introducing—replanting— the Franciscan charism (identity) in a fuller and more conscious way as part of our parish life. In doing so, we organized a number of mini-retreat experiences involving discrete leadership groups in the parish: the Small Christian Communities (SCC groups), the Pequeñas Comunidades de Fe (PCF) in the Hispanic community, members of the Samoan community, as well as representatives of our Parish Advisory Board, Parish Finance Council, and Parish staff. All of this was by way of a pilot project intended to introduce some key concepts of the Franciscan identity and tradition. In terms of the spiritual component of that tradition, we focused on five specific ways in which one might live and/or nourish the Franciscan spirit among us: humble service, focus on building healthy relationships, a healthy sense of detachment and surrender to God’s will. All of this, of course, is contained and expressed in the spirit of prayer. “Pray always,” St. Francis said, “and use words only if necessary.”

The second component in the mini-retreats was the development of five distinct stages involved in personal and parish renewal: welcome, hospitality, worship, faith formation, and service. The combination of the five elements of each list—hence, the 5 x 5—is meant to be a quick shorthand method of embracing the Franciscan spirit in our Christian life.

We have the great dream and hope of continuing to spread this information in its retreat format to as many groups as possible in our family over the next 18 months. On Saturday, October 16, there will be a morning-long follow-up session for participants of the summer retreat for evaluation purposes. Each group will be asked to identify and commit to a particular area of service to the parish family over the next year. Let’s all pray for help and guidance of the Holy Spirit!

Next weekend, we celebrate Columbus Day weekend with some very special events. Our 10 AM Sunday Mass will be our School Mass, involving the participation of the children, teachers, staff, and family of our parish school, Old Mission Montessori School (OMMS). We will be having a special collection for the support of the school at that time. Many thanks for your help and generosity. As you know, a Catholic education in this day and age represents true commitment and sacrifice for a family as well as for our parish family.

Also, on October 10, the Knights of Columbus will be participating in their corporate reception of Holy Communion at the 10 AM Mass, followed by a blessing after Mass of the Rachael memorial to unborn children. The night before, Saturday, October 9, the Knights are sponsoring a fundraising spaghetti dinner. Many, many thanks for our great Knights! We couldn’t do without them.

This past week, Frs. Adrian and Luis were attending the annual priests’ convocation with Bishop Brom and our diocesan clergy. For my part, I attended a new pastors’ workshop in the Bay Area. Hopefully, we are all returning from these experiences energized, renewed, and full of new ideas for the parish.

God bless,

Fr. Chuck Talley, ofm