Joe's Blog

Edward vs. Blessed PGF

The New Moon opened November 20, 2009 and brought in over $140 million the opening weekend. Many young ladies wore their prom dresses to see the film for its premier. I haven’t seen this film yet, but I did see Twilight. Why are the young ladies so attracted the Edwardinator? Sure he’s handsome, but there’s a little more to it than that, young women are more profound than simply, “He’s SO cute!” Here’s an observation. In Twilight, Edward has more going for him than simply good looks. He’s a protector, he watches over his beloved Bella. He saves her from being hit by a car, keeps her safe from the “bad vampires” and holds back his physical urges to bite and suck her blood. And, Edward loves Bella through his actions. In Twilight, Edward admits to Bella that he’s doomed to hell. Bella feels safe with Edward and risks an eternity in hell, to be with him. This is very revealing and very profound. Edward is a protector but in the end, he is still a blood sucking vampire and when all is said and done, he will be in hell. Edward is looking out for Bella’s best interests; if they get together and he’s going to hell, he’s bringing Bella with him. His first desire is to protect her eternal soul. Since Bella loves Edward and can see his love for her, she is willing to give up her humanity to become a vampire and her eternity to be with him, in hell, forever. Ok, this is fiction, but why the prom dresses? Why the sighs when you mention the name, “Edward?” I’m sure at Sunday Mass at St. Edward’s in Newark, when Father Jeff says, “Welcome to Saint Edward’s”, the young ladies say, “oh Edward…” Probably not. Back to prom dresses and sighs, why? Young ladies want to be loved. They want to be and feel protected and yes, they want a man who will sacrifice, himself, his body, his urges, his fate, everything for his beloved. So they want a man who will, “Lay down his life” for his lady. There is no greater love than to lay down your life for a friend. (Sound familiar? Read John 15:13) This is the attraction to Edward. And in the movie, Bella risks everything to receive his love, even if it means losing her humanity and her eternal soul. Pretty drastic consequences to feel loved.

Enter Blessed PGF, Blessed Pier Girogio Frassati. He was born in Turin, Italy in 1901. His Father and mother were very well off. Dad owned a successful chain of newspapers and was ambassador to Germany. Mom was a successful artist.

The Frassati family was not a religious family. Pier Giorgio and his sister received the Sacraments, because that’s what Italians did. In school, Pier Giorgio failed classes and embarrassed his parents so they brought him home and had him taught by Jesuit priests. His grades would improve but the Jesuits would bring the Face of Christ to Pier Giorgio and he would beg his instructors to hear more stories about Jesus. At the age of 12, Pier Giorgio received special permission from the Archbishop of Turin to serve Mass and receive Holy Communion everyday. At age 15, he was introduced to the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul and the slums of Turin. Turin was a mining town and he witnessed first hand the long hours men, women and children worked in the mines to support their families. He was so deeply moved by the impoverished people of Turin that he started to buy medicine, clothes and food for families with his own allowance. When he graduated from high school, his father was so happy he offered to buy him a car or give him the money to do what ever he wanted to do. He never told anyone about his secret life with the poor. Pier Giorgio took the money and used it to by supplies for the poor. As a college student, Pier Giorgio was an accomplished athlete, an expert mountain climber, joined every student Catholic organization around at the time, had lots of friends, and a very deep prayer life. Pier Giorgio majored in engineering, not to become wealthy or receive honor and prestige, but he wanted to use his education to create something that would help the poor miners of Turin. Pier Giorgio would pass nights before the Blessed Sacrament in Adoration at Turin’s Cathedral and attend daily Mass and weekly confession. He encouraged his friends to participate in the Sacraments and improve their lives with Christ.

Pier Giorgio was an activist. This was a time when Benito Mussolini and fascism was on the rise in Italy. On his college campus, he would put up posters for 40 hour devotions of the Blessed Sacrament. Students who supported Mussolini would tear them down and prevent him from putting up new posters. He would frequently come home bloodied and bruised but never gave up his support for Christ and the Church on campus and in Turin.

Through his prayer life, his devotion to the poor and his commitment to the Church, Pier Giorgio did not feel called to the priesthood. He wanted to serve the Church in a different way. There was even a young lady in his life, she was from Spain, but he never divulged his love to her because he knew his mother would never accept her into the family. He didn’t want to see her hurt, so he withheld his feelings from her. The young lady would not find out about his love for her until after his death.

At the age of 24, Pier Giorgio contracted polio from one of the families he was trying to help in the slums of Turin and died, July 4th, 1924. He had told his friends, “the most beautiful day of my life will be the day of my death.” He had a peaceful smile on his face as he lay on his death bed. There were over 10,000 people who attended the funeral, among them, the poorest of the poor in Turin. They approached Mr. Frassati with story after story of what his son had done for their families. Pier Giorgio was supporting over 100 poor families with his own money at the time of his death. He had a great love for life, for people and especially for Jesus Christ, His Church and His Sacraments. In 1982, his body was exhumed 58 years after his death and was found to be completely incorrupt, the peaceful smile still on his face. He is such a tremendous example to the youth of the world, the Church transported his body to World Youth Day 2008 in Australia so that even though he is “dead” his witness to the Church, especially to young people and will never be forgotten.

So in one corner we have Edward, a fictional character, a vampire, destined to hell, committed to protecting his beloved Bella and in the other corner we have Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, darn near an official Saint of the Church, a REAL historical figure, committed to a life devoted to Christ, the Church and His poor. Ladies, who do you want to wear your prom dress for? I know who I would wear my prom dress for.

Are you ready for the MCRT Challenge?

Bishop Cordileone celebrated Mass with over 150 pro-life teens in the Cathedral on the Feast Day of the Martyrdom of Saint John the Baptist, August 29, 2009. Abortion is not a political issue, it is a matter of life and death and it is as much a spiritual battle than it is a physical battle. Since we were in the middle of a “Pro-Life Boot Camp” the bishop challenged the youth with M-C-R-T. So what is this MCRT? Mass – Confession – Rosary – Tithe.

Mass: Bishop Cordileone challenged the youth to go to Mass, every Sunday, for the rest of their lives. This should not be a shocker to anyone. The Mass is Catholic worship, it is tried and true from Christ Himself; the Mass is the life of the Church. As Catholic Christians, when we celebrate Mass, we ask for God’s mercy, we break open His Word, we receive the Eucharist, which is Christ Himself. Why would the youth want anything less than Mass in their spiritual lives? Ponder the next time you receive Holy Communion at Mass: God is in you, flowing though your veins, I get chills just thinking about it. So, simply put: Sunday Mass, for the rest of your life. Bring it!

Confession: Bishop Cordileone brought this up at the Youth Mass July 25 and he emphasized it again at the Mass for the Pro-Life Boot Camp, August 29; he encouraged the teens to go to confession once a month from now, until the end of their senior year of high school. And he followed it up with, after high school, don’t stop going to confession, get into the habit of monthly confession, now. Confession is so vital to the spiritual life. At a parish visit last month, a priest shared with me how much he loves hearing the confessions of young people. He helped a parish out with confessions for its teens prior to their Confirmation. He couldn’t give the details of course, but he said they were great confessions, they moved him and strengthened his priesthood. The problem: many of the teens had not been to confession for several years. For some teens, this was their second confession since before their First Communion. As youth ministers in the Diocese of Oakland, we have got to follow the bishop’s lead and encourage monthly confession for our youth and their parents. If we don’t, guilt and pain continue. Why carry around all that guilt and pain for, not just months, but years? I have heard people make comments about being a “recovering catholic”, “recovering” from catholic guilt. Well, guilt can be good and good guilt should lead us to the confessional. And after confession, the guilt is gone! As Duane Kuiper, the San Francisco Giants play by play guy says after a home run, “It is outta here!” Well after confession, the guilt is outta here! Go to confession every month! Over the years, several teens have asked me how to go to confession. Check out this video, it’s not exciting, but it does a good job of showing how to examine your conscience and go to confession. If you want to laugh, watch this video. Once the format is down, I encourage the youth to have one simple goal in confession: embarrass yourself! You know that sin you don’t want to tell the priest? That sin that’s REALLY embarrassing? Yeah, that one, tell him and hold nothing back! By embarrassing ourselves we find not only the regret of our actions, but more importantly, we discover the deep sorrow that we need to make a good confession. We feel sorrow with how we have fractured our relationship with God, ourselves and those around us. So hold no sin back and really embarrass yourself in the confessional. It is through this embarrassment that you will find mercy, healing and true freedom. A priest I know senses that teens are scared to go to confession. He encourages them: “Do not be afraid!” and adds that he has not met a teen who has gone to confession say: “Wow, that was a bad idea. I shouldn’t have done that. I feel so much better now, that was a stupid thing to do.” Monthly confession, make it happen, make it a habit.

Rosary: The bishop challenged the teens to pray the rosary, everyday. It is important to know what the rosary is and what the rosary is not. The rosary is not a mindless repetitive form of babbling prayer. It is not worship of Mary and just to clear things up: 10 Hail Marys do not equal 1 Our Father. (A teen asked me that a long time ago.) The rosary is a prayerful reflection of the life of Jesus Christ through the eyes of His mother. The rosary is meditating on the Gospels. The rosary is biblical, all the prayers of the rosary, with exception of the Apostle’s Creed, are found in the New Testament. Bishop Cordileone spoke at the Catholics at Work meeting last month, a gathering for Catholic business executives and he advised the business leaders to pray and to specifically, pray the rosary. Someone asked, “Why the rosary?” His answer referred to the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. The Ottoman Turks threatened to take over Western Europe. Pope St. Pius V pleaded with Christendom to pray the rosary and ask for the intercession of Our Lady for victory over the powerful Turkish fleet. Our Lady heard the prayers of her people and laid them at the feet of God her Savior. Let’s just say the Christians won. We are now in a great spiritual battle and the rosary is a great spiritual weapon. It is a weapon against evil and it is a weapon that opens hearts to conversion. A former student of mine referred to the rosary as “Catholic numchucks”, (should be nunchucks, Napolian Dynamite, called them “numchucks.”) Pray the rosary, if you don’t know how, learn here. It’s a good place to start. It takes about twenty minutes, pray the rosary everyday.

Tithe: Bishop Cordileone made it clear to the youth: tithe, 10% of whatever money you have, as an offering to the Church. The point here is not to make the Church or your local parish wealthy, the purpose is to make an offering to God for the gift of His Church. This is the purpose of stewardship, the giving of our time, talent and treasure for the life of the Church. If you are a teen and you have $10, give a dollar. Got $20? Give $2 dollars. Got a $1? Give a dime! The point here is to give, give what you can and give to God. So take on the MCRT challenge! Mass, Confession, Rosary, Tithe! It’s guaranteed to give you LIFE!

Reflection of the Youth Mass - Our Bishops, Priests, Brothers and Sisters in Vietnam

 On the Feast Day of Saint James the Apostle, over 400 youth from over 30 parishes from around the Diocese of Oakland attended the first youth Mass in the Cathedral of Christ the Light with their Bishop, Salvatore Cordileone. In his homily, Bishop Cordileone encouraged the youth to look past their career goals, listen to God’s call and focus on their vocation in life. He commented on the life of Saint John Vianney, his own, personal call to the priesthood and celebrated the Year of the Priest by blessing medals and prayer cards of Saint John Vianney and vocation prayer cards. The medals and prayer cards were presend to the bishop by a 22 year old missionary serving in Honduras from the Our Lady Queen of the World Church in Bay Point and her older brother who is a student in San Francisco and is leading young adult ministry in the City. The medals and prayer cards were distributed by seminarians from our diocese and religious orders from around the Bay Area. (Dominicans Oakland, Chapuchin Franciscans Oakland, Missionaries of Charity Richmond, Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matara’ Province of the Immaculate Conception San Jose, Verbum Dei Missionary Fraternity San Francisco) It was a great moment to see our bishop posing for pictures “hanging out” and “chillin’ with the young people after Mass.  A beautiful sunny Saturday, the Feast day of Saint James the Apostle, youth hangin’ out with their apostle, Bishop Cordileone, priceless! 

I have to admit, I was very impressed to see over 400 youth at the Cathedral for Mass. It was a beautiful, perfect sunny Saturday. Those young people had many choices to do other things and they came to Mass with their bishop. This appeared cool for the moment, and then I got an email from Deacon Peter Ta, who proclaimed the Gospel at the Youth Mass. The headline: “Please pray with us”. Deacon Ta went on to explain that in his country of Vietnam, two priests were beaten, one in a coma from being thrown from a second story window by the local police. (Article) Over 500,000 Vietnamese Catholic Christians took to the streets to march in protest of the on going violence against the Catholic Church in Vietnam. Let me type that number again: 500,000 Catholic Christians taking to the streets. That would be like the entire Diocese of Oakland, coming out of their homes and taking over Oakland. (There are 550,000 Catholic Christians in the Diocese of Oakland.) 10% of the population in Vietnam is Catholic; a country of over 86 million people, a clear minority. The courage of the Vietnamese Catholics is phenomenal, risking their lives for our Faith and our priests. This is what we as Catholics were all baptized to do! 

Here we are in the 21^st century, our culture loaded with technology, media, entertainment and information. We mourned the loss of Michael Jackson, media coverage everywhere. And it’s understandable, Michael was a big celebrity. I remember Off the Wall, Thriller and ok, I remember ABC, (I was 7 when the Jackson Five performed ABC on the Carol Burnett Show in 1974, you do the math.) But the media in the US is failing to cover the violence toward the Church in Vietnam. This is unfortunate and as Catholic Christians we need to know when the Church suffers. Saint Paul says: “But God has so constructed the body as to give greater honor to a part that is without it,  

so that there may be no division in the body, but that the parts may have the same concern for one another. If (one) part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy.” (1 Cor 12: 24-26) Well right now, the Church is suffering and it does affect our Church. Here in Oakland it affects Father Quang, rector of the cathedral, Sister Kim, Sister Rosaline, Deacon Ta, all of them have family and friends in Vietnam. And it affects me because we are part of the same Body, Christ. 

 Indifference and apathy are killing the Church in the US. Everyone, especially the youth, need to know that the Church is suffering in Vietnam. And if you know of any other places in the world the Church is suffering, (China and Africa just to name a couple), share it with the youth so they can pray with their suffering Church. We receive the same Eucharist, the same Body and Blood of Christ that our brothers and sisters in Vietnam receive – this is what unites us and makes us One Body, One Church. Ask our youth to offer up their Eucharist for those who are suffering persecution in Vietnam.  

The youth are starving to be a part of something greater than themselves, the Eucharist, Christ Himself, the Church and suffering members of our Body are so much bigger than all of us. It is through the Eucharist that we are all connected with our brothers and sisters who are suffering in Vietnam. My hope is that the youth will feel a flame burning within themselves to act through prayer and discourage them to act through anger and hatred for the oppressor. And maybe one day, God forbid it ever happen in Oakland, if our priests are persecuted, the youth and all Catholic Christians in our diocese will take to the streets 550,000 strong. Pray with me to Our Lady Queen of the World, patroness of the Diocese of Oakland, for our bishops, priests, brothers and sisters in Vietnam; that she will bring hope and peace in this time of suffering and persecution.

Year of The Priest

 On June 19, 2009 we celebrated the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and it also kicked off the Year of the Priest! Benedict XVI designated this Year of the Priest to “deepen the commitment of all priests to interior renewal for the sake of a more forceful and incisive witness to the Gospel in today’s world.” He also acknowledged that Saint John Vianney is the patron saint of all priests and a model for the priesthood. The Holy Father quotes Saint John Vianney in defining the priesthood: “"The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus” and went on to state,
“This touching expression makes us reflect, first of all, with heartfelt gratitude on the immense gift which priests represent, not only for the Church, but also for humanity itself.” The priesthood is a special gift for the world from the heart of Christ. We must thank God for our bishop and the priests of the Diocese of Oakland who have served us so valiantly over the years.

So it’s the Year of the Priest, what can I do? Encourage your priests, thank them for hearing your confession, celebrating mass or just thank them for leading a parish function or answering the phone. They have sacrificed their entire lives for the Church, that’s us! It is so important for us to affirm their vocation and pray for them constantly. It’s funny, when I go to Sunday mass, our parish priest says enthusiastically, “Thank you for being here this Sunday.” I think we need to respond by saying, “No, thank you for being here everyday!” Without him, we have no mass, no Eucharist, no Sacraments. Thank your priests, have masses said for them, offer rosaries or spiritual bouquets and ultimately, thank God for the gift of our priests. They are, as Saint John Vianney says, “the love of the heart of Jesus.”

I recently went to a daily mass at the Cathedral. If you didn’t know and you’re near Lake Merit, daily mass starts at 12:10 pm. On this day, 12:10 came and went, no priest, 12:15, no priest. At 12:17 out of the corner of my eye, I saw a priest sprinting to the sacristy, our priest for the 12:10, now the 12:20 mass. He was so late, that he rushed to put on his vestments, backwards! He went through the mass, completely unflustered, totally composed, the words of his homily, clear and concise. Amazing. Well, there are excuses for being late for mass and there are real excuses. This was a real excuse. At noon, someone asked our priest to hear a confession. He could have said, “No, I have to say mass” and that would have been an appropriate response. But he chose to hear this person’s confession. This could have been a person who hadn’t been to confession for years. And then after digging up the courage to ask to go to confession, here is our priest who says, “Sure.” This person needed healing before mass and our priest was there! Mass was late, but to have that person healed and ready to receive Jesus in the Eucharist, sure, I think we would all wait, even during our lunch hour for a fellow Christian to receive absolution. It’s priceless. The next day, the same priest showed up again a few minutes before mass. He had heard confessions for a ½ an hour, and had come to check to see if everything was “ok.” It wasn’t “ok.” The priest who was scheduled to say mass was out for the day. Our priest, calmly put on his vestments and got ready to say the mass. He had a lunch date set up and made a quick call to put it on hold. Someone made a comment, “So you’re working overtime today Father.” Father responded simply, “I love this!” What was the “this” that he loved? Being a priest! This is the “heart of Jesus” in action. What a solid example of the priesthood, dying to himself and living for the Body of Christ.

I’m sure you have great stories of priests and their self sacrifice. During this Year of the Priest, make it a point to share your great stories with people you meet and especially with the youth.  And study the lives of some of our great priests over the past 2000 years. Here are my top 10 favorite “super” priests in no particular order:

• John Paul II
• Benedict XVI
• Fulton Sheen
• Blessed Miguel Pro
• Saint Andrew Dung-Lac
• Father Vincent Capodanno
• Saint Padre Pio
• Saint Joseph of Cupertino
• Venerable Solanus Casey
• Saint John Vianney

At this time, I would like to give a BIG shout out for the priests who have influenced my life and the life of my family: Monsignor Rhode, Father Vic, Father Vicente, Father Culver, Father Khue, Father Palis, Father Marshal, Father James, Father Anselm, Father Francis Le, Father Richard, Father Roberto, Father Dismas, Father Jerome, Father Matt, Father Jerry, Father Paul, Monsignor Kelly, Father Avram,  Monsignor Bitanga, Father George, Father Larry,  Father Juniper, Father Joseph Mary, Father Robert, Father Bob, Father Gregorio, Father Agostino, Father Maechler, Father Gillian, Father Nuanes, Father Donoghue, Bishop Ward, Bishop Cummings, Bishop Allen , and countless others that have served me and my family over the years.

If you need to be inspired for the Year of the Priest, watch the video Fisher’s of Men by Grassroots Films. It’s 18 minutes of hard hitting priest action, you won’t want to miss it. To finish up here I would like to close with a beautiful prayer from Saint John Vianney, pray it with me for all the priests of the world and especially for the priests of your parish:

I love You, O my infinitely lovable God,
and I would rather die loving You,
than live without loving You.

I love You, Lord
and the only grace I ask is to love You eternally.  

My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love you,
I want my heart to repeat it to You as often as I draw breath.

Tooth Brush Time - The Greatest Time of the Day!

I have a five year-old son, Stephen. We have our nightly bathing ritual, a shower, dressing and then, brushing his teeth. He doesn't do it much anymore, but when I would say, "Stephen, what time is it?" He replied emphatically, "It's tooth brush time, the greatest time of the day!" I would then attempt to brush his teeth with him screaming, pushing, kicking and fighting me every step of the way. Tooth brush time was not the greatest time of the day. In fact, I gave up brushing his teeth, and after several months, he got this horrible, disgusting plaque build up on his upper and lower front teeth. I had to take some action. I had to do it - I had to brush his teeth before the plaque build up would take over his entire mouth.

Now I am going to take toothbrush time, the greatest time of the day and attempt to compare it to going to mass. Mass, to Catholic Christians, is the "greatest time of the day!", especially on Sundays. We worship, we break open the sacred scriptures, we receive the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus. God is in our bodies, flowing through our veins in a most intimate way. As a Church, we become the Mystical Body of Christ and are united with over one billion Catholic Christians world wide. It's amazing. Mass is the greatest experience of our Christian lives. And then, there's tooth brush time.

I remember growing up and going to mass. In fact, I felt a lot like Stephen getting his teeth brushed. In fact, at several times in my life, I would have rather had my teeth drilled then go to mass. Pull weeds, mop the floor, change the transmission, wash the dog, I would do anything to get out of going to mass. My mom would not let me off that easy. If I complained, she put up her hand and the words stopped immediately. It was like that scene in Star Wars when that general starts yelling at Darth Vader. Darth Vader raises his hand, and the guy starts choking. My mom didn't choke me (she probably wanted to), but no matter what, I was going to mass. I tried everything, every excuse and when I finally said, "Mom, I just don't get anything out of mass. It doesn't do anything for me." My wavy ‘80s hairstyle flailing all around, (I'm almost bald now), and then my mom shut me up for good.

She said, "Remember the movie Kramer vs. Kramer?" (I'm really dating myself.) I said, "Ah, yeah." (So impolite!) She went on, "Remember when Dustin Hoffman is on the stand in court and he is getting grilled by Mrs. Kramer's divorce lawyer? Dustin Hoffman said, "I'm not the greatest father in the world, but I'm there." Mom continued, "Maybe you don't get anything out of mass, but you're there and He's there."

I was done. I couldn't talk to mom about this anymore. But I never forgot about being "there" in church. Yes, I would go to mass, and even though I was "there", I wasn't "there." My thoughts were somewhere else, but I was still "there." After I got married, I stopped going to mass all together. And that's when the serious plaque build up started. It got worse and worse and worse and life got worse and worse and worse, not just for me, but for my family. Thank God I had a spouse that would not give up on me. No details here, but she got me back to confession and back to mass. Confession works better than Colgate or Crest and leaves breath fresher than Aquafresh. Mass is that whitening agent that cleans and refreshes the soul. Ok, I'll stop with tooth brush clichés.

There are two great books to check out about the significance of going to mass: Do I Have to Go?: 101 Questions about the Mass, the Eucharist, and Your Spiritual Life, by Mathew Pinto and Chris Stefanick, perfect for parents who want to use a better resource than Dustin Hoffman, or movies from the early 80s. I know mom would have used this book on me in more ways than one if it were available during our discussions about mass.

The other book is by Mark Hart, Blessed Are the Bored in Spirit: A Young Catholic's Search for Meaning. This book is about conversion, and Mark Hart does excellent work of revealing the beauty of the mass, regardless of our disposition and most importantly, how to prepare for mass. This is a very easy, quick read, enjoy this book.

Oh, Stephen's plaque build up? It's almost gone! We do, (say it with me:), tooth brush time, the greatest time of the day, everyday now and... we're flossing!

Christ, Violence and the Human Person

I attended a memorial mass a couple weeks ago at the Cathedral of Christ the Light for the four slain Oakland Police officers. The Chaplain of the Oakland Police Department, Father Jayson Lendeza was the celebrant for the mass. Violence, senseless violence, is so prevalent in our lives today. All of us were touched in some way by the deaths off these four brave officers. 18,000 people attended the funeral in Oakland, including our mayor, our state senators, our governor and fellow police officers, some from as far away as Canada and New York. Certainly Saint Paul’s First letter to the Corinthians says it all in referring to the Body of Christ: "If (one) part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy." (1 Cor 12:26) In Father Lendeza’s homily at this memorial mass, he mentioned how he was filling out paper work for his sabbatical when he received the call that the first officer had been shot. He knew this officer, Sergeant Mark Dunikan, personally. The deaths of the other officers would follow shortly. In explaining this tragedy Father Lendeza gave us a chilling reminder about death, that it is a wake up call. It shocks us back to reality, it reminds us of humanity’s potential to sin and sin mortally and it reminds us too of our own mortality. Father Lendeza did not get choked up during his homily, but he did at the altar when he said the words of Christ, "This is My Body, given up for you." As God was made present in the bread and wine on the altar of sacrifice in our great cathedral, in saying these words, who could not think of the sacrifice made by these officers in giving their bodies for the citizens of Oakland? Please continue to pray for the souls of the officers, the young man who killed them, Father Lendeza and the families that will grieve for the rest of their lives over the loss of their loved ones.

A few days after this mass, I received an email from a youth minister who had attended a funeral for a young man who was gunned down in the garage of his own home. He wrote these beautiful words that are another wake up call to all of us: "As his mother cradled his face in her hands this morning it brought a new and deeper appreciation of Mary holding her Son after the violent death He endured. The lives of the young people we serve are in so many ways at risk these days...may we all continue to be instruments of His peace." Another act of senseless violence, another mother grieving over the loss of her son and all we can seem to do is ask why? If you are asking, "What can I do?" follow this youth minister’s valiant call, "continue to be a minister of peace." This is just another example of the vital role the youth minister plays within parish life. We must be ministers of His peace. As we prepare ourselves for our own death, as youth ministers we prepare young people for death. Every meeting, every mass, we must point the youth to Christ, who is peace Himself.

We are now in the beautiful season of Easter. To understand senseless violence we have to contemplate two things: The Cross and the human person. We have all heard it before, "You cannot have Easter without a Good Friday." God allowed His own son to be humiliated, spit on, beaten scourged and crucified, a senseless, violent death. All of this occurred in the presence of His own mother. Staring at a cross, reflecting on the death of Christ Jesus, we are reminded of pain and violence, but what radiates so brilliantly from the cross is love. From this violent death, there is immense love. God took a cross, in ancient times a sign of ultimate humiliation and punishment and transformed it into a sign of hope, a sign of victory, a sign of love. Only God can accomplish such greatness.

When we read stories of self-sacrifice there is always love. Saint Maxmilian Kolbe gave his life for a family man, a husband and father in the death camp of Auschwitz, during World War II. Blessed Miguel Pro, a priest, was martyred for administering the sacraments for the faithful when the government banned all forms of public worship in Mexico. Blessed Peter To Rot, a married, catechist martyr from Papua New Guinea was killed by Japanese soldiers after they arrested him for teaching the Catholic Faith. All died violent deaths, these violent deaths revealed great love, love for the individual human person. So what am I getting at here? During Holy Week, I heard a priest on Immaculate Heart Radio say that Jesus did not simply die for all humanity, He died for you and for me, personally. By saying that Christ died for billions of people for over 2000 years, we can feel lost, almost abandoned in a sea of faces. But by reflecting that Christ actually died for me we can sense God’s tremendous love for the individual human person, His deep love for you and me.

So what about the four Oakland Police Officers? And the young man killed in his garage? Where is the love? People tend not to kill people they love. Sure, it can happen, but we don’t kill people we love. With senseless acts of violence occurring so frequently, we have to ask the question, "Have we forgotten what it means to love?"

Last year I was blessed to see an extraordinary documentary called The Human Experience. It reveals the lives of two brothers who travel to New York to live with the homeless in the dead of winter. They travel to Peru to be with the lost children of Lima. These are children from new born to 2, 3, 4 years old who are abandoned by their parents. They visit a leper colony in Ghana, Africa. The homeless, abandoned children, lepers? These are issues that move the heart, but this documentary digs deeper and does not just point out the issues, it reveals the human person. You meet the homeless in New York and see how beautiful they are. You meet the "lost children" in Lima and see them face to face. They make you laugh and cry and you see how precious these children are. And then the lepers in Ghana, you see how giving and loving they are in their community and how strong and real their faith is. It’s one thing to know about the homelessness, abandoned children, and lepers. It is an entirely different thing to know their names, speak with them, eat with them, kiss them, love them. Now you encounter the great mystery of the human person. You see them as a precious gift from God. This documentary is awesome and it forces you to love better and see Christ in everyone. This movie should be seen by every high school and college student, pray that this documentary returns to the San Francisco Bay Area.

We will never be able to fully comprehend senseless acts of violence. But we should direct our attention to the human person, the human and divine person of Christ Jesus who died for you and for me. If we learn to encounter the person of Christ and to know Him personally, we will love Him. It is through this encounter with the person of Christ that we find the meaning of the human person and that will lead us to the beginning of the end of senseless violence.

Youth Ministry Begins at Home

I am so impressed and amazed at parish youth ministers. They build creative programs to engage and draw the youth into the great mystery of the Catholic faith. It is through their energy and time that they present the face of Christ to a generation of young people that are surrounded by noise: music, media, friends, peer pressure, sports and a million other activities. Youth ministers work through the noise to make Christ present and significant in the lives of our youth communities. Next time you see your youth minister, thank them and applaud their efforts for making the faith real to your adolescent and young adult children.

No matter how good the youth program, it cannot be the core of Christian faith for our young people. Youth Ministry begins in the home. The Vatican II document, Declaration on Christian Education, written by Pope Paul VI makes this point:

Since parents have given children their life, they are bound by the most serious obligation to educate their offspring and therefore must be recognized as the primary and principal educators. This role in education is so important that only with difficulty can it be supplied where it is lacking. Parents are the ones who must create a family atmosphere animated by love and respect for God and man, in which the well-rounded personal and social education of children is fostered. Hence the family is the first school of the social virtues that every society needs. It is particularly in the Christian family, enriched by the grace and office of the sacrament of matrimony, that children should be taught from their early years to have a knowledge of God according to the faith received in Baptism, to worship Him, and to love their neighbor. Here, too, they find their first experience of a wholesome human society and of the Church. Finally, it is through the family that they are gradually led to a companionship with their fellowmen and with the people of God. Let parents, then, recognize the inestimable importance a truly Christian family has for the life and progress of God's own people.

I love how Pope Paul VI says that it is the parents who must create an environment that promotes love and respect of God and neighbor and that the parents must foster the "well-rounded personal and social education of children." He then continues to explain the vital importance of this critical role for parents. Yes, it is about religious education and solid catechesis. It is also about building fellowship with the "people of God." That sounds like a youth group!

So what is a parent to do? If you are a parent reading this right now, you’re exhausted, you’ve been working, driving your teen and other children from one activity to the next, you can’t talk to your them because they’re doing their homework in between stops with their head phones on, you rarely see your spouse, and you’re thinking, "what can I do?" The first thing not do is stop going to church. Continue to make time for mass and try to go together as a family, get your children to confession, try to get them to youth group and be as involved as you can in their spiritual lives. Try to pray with your family everyday, pray the rosary in between stops, pray a novena together at home before everyone goes to bed or even a simple spontaneous prayer, but really try to pray together as a family.

What else can we do? I would encourage every family to buy one book: Grace before Meals by Father Leo Patalinghug. You can also have your kids download his award winning video podcast (which is free on iTunes) and watch it together as a family on the computer. Episodes are only 6-10 minutes in length. Father Leo is a chef. His ministry as a priest is to bring families together around the dinner table. The entire family cooks the dinner, eats together and, most importantly, prays together before and after meals. If this appears to be impossible for your family, he only encourages families to eat together once or twice a month. He has eight to twelve recipes in his book, prayers the family can say together and he even has questions and discussion topics you can use during dinner if there is some awkward silence at the table. Over a year ago, the Director of Religious Education of our parish brought Father Leo as a guest speaker to our parish and it made a huge impact. Parents are still following the format today, they’re more engaged with their children, they’re eating several meals together, but most importantly, they are praying together and enjoying family life. Now this is youth ministry: food, fun, discussion and prayer!

I want to share an incredible story of youth ministry in the home. There is a family that lives in Southern California, they have an eight year old son named Thomas. In July, 2008, Thomas was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer. Chemotherapy, bone marrow transplants, adult stem cell therapy: they tried everything and nothing worked to cure him. The parents, siblings and grandparents were with him every step of the way, playing with him, eating with him, helping him when he was sick, doing whatever they could to show their love for him through the terrible suffering that was attacking his young body. In the fall of 2008, at the age of eight, the family asked their pastor if Thomas could receive Confirmation. An auxiliary bishop came to the hospital and administered the Sacrament. After his Confirmation, Thomas started to get better, but the Holy Spirit was preparing him for something else: his death. The family and the doctors knew that Thomas probably was not going to live, but they didn’t give up. When the parents had to work and couldn’t be at the hospital, one of the grandparents was with him, giving him a massage, reading him a book, whatever he wanted. The family was always there. The parents and family developed a tremendous prayer network for Thomas. This is youth ministry that can only come from the family. On the Feast Day of Saint Joseph, March 19, 2009, at 4:30 pm, Thomas died, his family at his bed side, holding his hand on the journey to meet the face of Christ Jesus. The resilience of the parents and the immediate family was astounding. The peace and comfort they were able to provide their son was incredible. The fruit of the prayer network set up by parents and family was witnessed by the 1200 attendees at Thomas’ funeral, March 28, 2009. And not everyone could attend. These prayers helped the family minister to their son, gave them the courage to ask for Sacraments and request help and to thank God for this gift of their son and his illness that brought them closer together but even closer to God. All these prayers continue to help the parents today with the unexplainable sorrow they feel over the loss of their precious Thomas. This is youth ministry to perfection.

Youth ministry is so important because it leads young people on a path to Christ. To get to Christ, the path will require a cross, pain and suffering, but ultimately to Christ in heaven. The path needs a solid guide, youth ministers who are good teachers, strong in their faith and willing to face the challenges presented to their young people. Youth ministers ask me how to enhance their ministries. I will point to Thomas’ parents: Sacraments, support, and construction of a solid prayer network. The best youth ministers are mom and dad, the best youth program begins at home.

To the Youth Ministers of the Diocese of Oakland

I am thrilled to work with you in serving the young women and men of the Diocese of Oakland. I am honored because you are so generous and committed with your time and resources in serving the youth and it is to be commended considering the hectic Bay Area lifestyle in which we are engaged. I am humbled by your perseverance and your commitment to spreading the Gospel to the future Church of Oakland. I look forward to meeting with you and working with you to build an empowered, missionary and spiritually enriched youth community. I hope you will all join me in placing all of our efforts into the heart and hands of Our Lady Queen of the World, patroness of the Diocese of Oakland. Know that you are in my prayers and please keep me your prayers as we continue to lead our young people on a path of peace which leads to Christ Jesus.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Joe Murray