Text Box: PRAY FOR THE DEAD: For the deceased members of our families, friends, parishioners & benefactors of our parish: Bill Leitao; Inetta Calori; Michael Smith; those who died recently: Fr Bill Macchi; Bishop Marian Przykucki; Sister Antonette Fong;.......................................... and for all the faithful departed, especially for all the Poor Souls in Purgatory. PRAY FOR OUR SERVICEMEN & SOLDIERS: Robert Hoops, Thomas Campana, Connor O’Keefe, Matthew Valenzuela, Steven Mayer; John Molinari & other American soldiers and servicemen. November 21 – The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary – This memorial finds its origins in a 2nd c. apocryphal source, the Protoevangelium Sancti Jacobi (The Gospel of St. James), and the dedication on Nov. 21, 543 of the Basilica of St. Mary the New in Jerusalem. November 22 – St. Cecilia, martyr – known from her Passio, a poem which exalts Christian virginity; honored in Rome since the 5th century; mentioned in the Roman Canon; patroness of sacred music. Died 3rd century. ALMS GIVING Many people around the world are hungry every day. They have no chance to satisfy their hunger even once. Every time of the year is good to share. Our Lord Jesus said: “I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me”!!!. Please share whatever you have with others, who are less fortunate than you. We are collecting imperishable food items for the Saint Vincent de Paul Society to feed the hungry people in Oakland. In the vestibule of our church barrels for food are placed. PLEASE SHARE YOUR FOOD WITH HUNGRY PEOPLE. ALL SAINTS BOOK CLUB Are you interested in learning more about our patroness, St Margaret Mary? I realized this year that I know very, very little about her and would like to learn more. I love to read and find biographies of saints both inspirational and illuminating. If you too would like to learn more, please join the St. Anne's Guild in reading a biography of her and then gathering to discuss it - a book club meeting based on our saint! Canon Moreau recommended "The Life of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque" by Rt. Rev. Emile Bougaud so that is our pick for a book about her. We will meet to discuss the book on the week of Jan 18 at 7:00 pm in the church hall downstairs after Mass. (The exact day of the week is still to be determined.) You can find the book new at Tan Books: (https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/page/shop:flypage/product_id/314/keywords/margaret+mary/) or used at Amazon or abebooks. If you don't have internet access so purchasing the book is a problem, please let me know and I will bulk order for us. If the cost of the book is prohibitive for you, please ask your friends at our parish if they would consider sharing the cost of the book so you can participate. If you are interested or have comments/questions, please contact me. Mary Muth 925-370-9556, marybmuth@gmail.com. More details will follow as we get closer to the date. Text Box: PARISH REQUIEM MASS CHOIR FOR EXTRAORDINARY LATIN MASS We are now forming a parish choir to sing the Gregorian Chant Requiem Mass in the Extraordinary Form for our parishioners. If you are available during weekdays and Saturdays for funerals, and would like to sing this wonderful Mass, please contact Dove Pierce at doveapierce@earthlink.net (510) 832-0475. Both men and women are welcome. Fighting the Good Fight by Joseph Pronechen November 8-14, 2009 Issue Father Peter Uhde has a unique mission. As U.S. Army Capt. Uhde, he is not only a priest chaplain — he also works as a recruiter trying to convince priests and seminarians to become military chaplains. Ordained in 1981 for the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J., Father Uhde was sent to the University of Lisbon to learn Portuguese, then assigned to Newark’s “Ironbound” neighborhood, which is populated mostly by Portuguese immigrants. While in seminary he signed up as a chaplain candidate for the Air Force and remained in the Reserves from 1979-91, when he left to devote all his time to both of his parishes in Ironbound. In 2001, with the blessing of Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, he entered the Army full time as a priest chaplain, serving in the United States, Germany and Iraq. Medevaced from Iraq due to a medical condition, he spent 18 months in Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. (See related article on page B1.) From his base in Fort Meade, Md., and soon to report for an Advanced Officers Course, he spoke with Register staff writer Joseph Pronechen about his military chaplaincy and the needs and challenges of recruiting chaplains for the Army. When you entered the Army full time, where were you assigned? I was sent to Fort Drum [N.Y.], the most deployed base in the world. I didn’t move from base to base; I moved from brigade to brigade, to whichever was about to go to war. There are 4,000 families on that post. To have no Catholic priest there is worse than no priest in Iraq. Are the needs and challenges that great all over? There are 3,000 Protestant chaplains but only 80 Catholic priests in the entire U.S. Army. In the active-duty Army, 35% is Catholic, that being over 130,000 Catholics spread throughout the world. When you include the Reserves and National Guard, 51% is Catholic. If you’re a Catholic, you have to go to Mass. No other denomination is sacramental. A Catholic couldn’t go to a Baptist service and feel he’s doing the right thing. In Iraq, with about 120,000 soldiers, most of the time there are nine Catholic American priests. They fly all over by helicopter, stay overnight at a base, hear confessions, say Masses, talk to guys with marital problems, then fly to another base. Iraq is now longer than World War I and World War II combined. In light of that fact, it means more Catholics have gone through this experience than ever before. And, this is the first war occurring for this amount of time with only this amount of priests. What happens? Very often a guy wouldn’t be able to talk to a priest or go to Mass for one and a half or two months. A) The guy gradually loses his faith, and B) his friends are going to Methodist or Baptist services, and this guy feels this isn’t so bad. The practicing Catholics very often come back to their (home) dioceses not the same people because of no priest. Meanwhile, nearly half of the U.S. Army — 40% — is married. Those families live on posts or are attached to a base. Those are a lot of families missing a priest. But an Army base is simply a parish. In Germany we had 75 confirmations