IN PLACE OF OUR 12:10PM FRIDAY MASS (MAY 1),
WE WILL JOIN THE DIOCESAN HOLY MASS
WITH AN ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Friday, May 1, 11:30am
Instead of our regular 12:10pm Friday daily Mass, we will be joining our bishop, Michael Barber, SJ at his Mass with an act of consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary. This will happen today, Friday at 11:30am. Please join us at 11:15am, as we ZOOM together to the Mass (just click here). Or you can attend this Mass through the Cathedral Facebook Page.
National Day of Prayer to Mary, Mother of the Church
Following that Mass at noon, we will join Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), who will lead the nation in a prayer which consecrates the United States to Mary, Mother of the Church. Canada, too, has chosen this day to offer prayers and to consecrate their country to Mary, Mother of the Church. “This will give the Church the occasion to pray for Our Lady’s continued protection of the vulnerable, healing of the unwell, and wisdom for those who work to cure this terrible virus,” said Archbishop Gomez in a letter to his fellow bishops. Each year, the Church seeks the special intercession of the Mother of God during the month of May. “This year, we seek the assistance of Our Lady all the more earnestly as we face together the effects of the global pandemic,” he said. For more information, see the USCCB news page here. The liturgy will be livestreamed on the Los Angeles Archdiocese Facebook page.
The Vatican has published a downloadable beautifully formatted PDF booklet that gathers together many of the public addresses and prayers made by Pope Francis in recent months with regard to the coronavirus pandemic. The Dicastery for Communication of the Holy See has posted on its website thebook,entitled “Strong in the Face of Tribulation,”containing prayers, supplications and the Pope’s homilies as “a sure support in time of trial”.
The first part contains prayers, rituals and supplications, including prayers for the sick and for liberation from evil. The second explains how Catholics can continue to practice the faith without the support of the Sacraments. The third section gathers together Pope Francis’ reflections since the pandemic struck.
The book is edited by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication and will be updated regularly.
In the introduction, Andrea Tornielli, the dicastery’s editorial director, writes: “This book is intended to be a little help offered to all, so as to know how to discern and experience God’s closeness and tenderness in pain, in suffering, in solitude and in fear. Of course, faith does not eliminate pain; ecclesial communion does not eliminate anguish. Rather, it does illuminate reality and reveal that it is pervaded by the love and hope based not on our abilities, but on the One Who is faithful and never abandons us.”
He continues: “On the cover there is an image of the Archangel Michael, who protects the Church against evil and sustains us in this difficult trial, so that this evil may not prejudice our trust in the Father and the solidarity among us, but rather become an opportunity to look at what is truly essential for our lives and to share the love received from God among us all, and in a special way with those who are most in need today.”
Read the Vatican press article here. The downloadable PDF publication is available in English and Spanish.
This idea first came to me many years ago when two ideas percolated in my mind: first, that many modern artists have a style that can be identified easily and, second, that eggs, being decorated for Easter, could serve as canvases for paintings. In 2011, I created my first set of modern art Easter eggs, posting photos of about almost twenty eggs on Facebook. In that first set, the project quickly expanded from painting to including sculpture, photography, and glass art. After that first year, I had many other ideas, but I never got back to the project until a couple years ago, when I invited my now wife, Liane, to join me. Together, we have made many more. We have plans to make over 100 eggs, but with only so much time each year, some remain for the future. We hope you enjoy our irreverent tribute to modern art.
- Cory Dixon & Liane Moreau
Cory Dixon and Liane Moreau are married parishioners of 10am Mass. Cory grew up at Newman Hall and has returned back. He is the Adult & Family Faith Formation Coordinator at Sacred Heart Parish (Saratoga, CA). Liane is a post-doc at Department of Chemistry at UC Berkeley, researching the synethesis of nanomaterials.
If you missed our Holy Week services and want to relive the power of liturgy, here are links to our Holy Week Services:
Thursday - Mass of the Lord’s Supper (7:30pm)
Good Friday - Celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday (3pm)
Holy Saturday - Easter Vigil (8:30pm)
Easter Sunday - Easter Sunday Mass (10am)
Holy Week Info Videos - Short info videos to help you prepare for the celebrations of Holy Week and Easter.
Easter Season Prep Video (Deacon Justin)
Easter Vigil Prep Video (Fr. Ivan)
Good Friday Prep Video (Fr. Steve)
Holy Thursday Prep Video (Fr. Steven)
Music for Holy Week (Colleen, Music Director)
Palm Sunday Prep Video (Noah, Paulist Novice)
Lenten Communal Reconciliation Service - Join us as we do an examination of our conscience and pray for God’s forgiveness.
On this 50th anniversary of Earth Day, let us heed our Pope’s encyclical, Laudato Si’, to take greater care of creation. There is still much more work to be done as stewards of God’s beautiful creation (hence our time on earth is not yet finished).
At Newman we have been busy. We have replaced most of the lights in our exterior, chapel, kitchen, and hallways with LEDs. We have recycle and compost bins in all the major areas of the church and have been working on educating folks to use the appropriate bin. We use our heat judiciously, saving money and decreasing our carbon footprint. The early planners have filled our arable land space with towering redwood trees. We had a small vegetable garden that has gone fallow. We also feed the homeless through Loaves & Fishes - here at Newman the 1st Saturday of the month, and weekly at the Men’s Shelter and the Women’s Shelter. We collect groceries to donate to the Alameda County Food Bank. We support Berkeley Catholic Worker with volunteers for Sunday morning breakfast, a parking lot to provide a dinner for folks on holidays, and monetary funds, We are active in various ways of social justice through our Non-Violent Peacemaking Group.
Areas we are exploring include turning the rest of our lighting to LEDs, installing a dishwasher so we can use silverware instead of landfill-destined plasticware, and installing solar panels on our chapel roof.
What about yourself? What are you doing to being faithful stewards of God’s creation? What creative ideas have you come up with to promote the care of Creation? Please send your ideas to Fr. Ivan and we’ll post them in our Parish Blog to share the wealth of ideas.
14 Earth Day Events - Earth Day is Wed, April 22. It is the 50th Anniversary for Earth Day, to help the world recognize the importance of caring for creation and then to be part of that transformative change in the midst of our environmental crisis.
These are times for consideration of the "greater good". During this time people pass closely without masks, bicyclists wiz by closely (a foot or two) on trails and then several people on a narrow path wanted to pass closely to an older person with a cane. Talking to some folks they actually think guidelines are a "hoax" or that they themselves are invincible, as if we also are or that they have a "right" even though it can kill others. Maybe on a blog or sermon some of the following ideas or guidelines could be introduced.
There is a story wherein Plato writes about a charioteer with two horses. One horse is the horse of reason and the other is ruled by opinion, emotions and hearsay. It is the job of this guide to keep both horses in harmony, truly a sign for leaders of our times.
In John's Gospel we hear of light and dark and of people who have ears but do not hear and eyes but do not see. Yet we, the followers of Christ, are to be the guiding children of light in a time of great darkness (or blindness).
Freud talks about putting the ego where many people have their id! Another example of the dualistic lives we struggle with.
Today our environment is often I'm OK but you're NOT and we look to leaders as "controlling parents" rather than guides with a very difficult job. And we, in our dualism, play the demanding child (which plays into the fall of pride).
During these times I am realizing how self-centered we are and that Jesus was the Ultimate of Patience, even at the cross when He said "Hey, they just don't get it, Father"! We are a people who believe what we want to believe and those who are wise are not necessarily healed and perfect, but fighting the Duel or Dualism.
As WOW has been discussing lately, there is dualism in so much: pride=humility, and 6 other graces and key sins. I know we are humans and we tend to walk on two legs...first one, then the other, but we are the charioteers of our own lives and this takes openness and discipline!
ps: this comes from meditation this morning and reading Dan's "Holy Mud" (pg53ff). He is right.
Bob Gannon is a 10am Mass parishioner who often sits in the balcony with his wife, Roberta. Most recently he was a science high school teacher until his Catholic high school closed to later become Cristo Rey de la Salle. He currently stays busy with many things like being on the Parish Council, spearheading our Fall 2019 Parish Picnic, promoting emergency temporary housing in Berkeley, etc.
Catholicism WOW! is a Newman group that explores the beauty and wisdom of the Catholic faith. They are currently meeting online on Wednesdays at 7pm. To join or find out more, contact Ned.
“Holy Mud” by Dan Cawthon is available for purchase at the front desk of Newman. Dan was a theologian and drama professor at St. Mary’s College. He was also our RCIA Director. He passed away a few years ago from cancer.