Saint Dunstan Catholic Church 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time August 31st, 2008 - Bulletin
		Be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.
		— Romans 12:2

	A little boy and his grandmother were walking along the seashore when a huge wave appeared out of nowhere and swept the child out to sea. The grandmother, horrified, falls to her knees and says, “God, please return my beloved grandson. Please, I beg you. Send him back safely.” And lo, another huge wave washed in and deposited the little boy on the sand at her feet. She picked him up, looked him over, and looking up at the sky, said, “He had a hat!” It would seem that we are never satisfied with what God does. We have our expectations and God should meet them. In the gospel we find Peter had yet to learn that what Jesus was offering was not power and privilege. Jesus had to rebuke him for adopting the standards of the world. “The way you think is not God’s way but man’s.” Being a follower of Christ comes with responsibilities and challenges because God’s way of doing things is contrary to human expectations. Jesus tells us plainly that discipleship involves denying ourselves, taking up the cross in trust and confidence and following Him wherever he leads. It is not an easy teaching and we naturally seek the easy way. We naturally seek comfort and avoid hardship. This was not easy for Peter to accept, and the cross was no bundle of joy for Jesus either. However are we so innocent as to say, “You duped me O Lord and I let myself be duped.” Are we naïve enough to say, “It’s too hard to be Christian, I want out”? Some people do. Not in a grand gesture of denunciation but by drifting away. To be Christian is not for the faint-hearted. There is a price to pay and the Lord accepts nothing less.
	St. Dunstan’s Branch 403 of the Italian Catholic Federation invites parishioners, their families and friends to join them in the Parish Center on Sunday, September 14 for a delicious Ravioli Dinner. No host cocktails at 4 pm, dinner of antipasto, salad, ravioli, bread & butter, dessert, coffee or tea, and wine at 5 pm. Cost is $15. For reservations call Kay Lucio at 697-7460. Deadline for reservations is September 7, 2008. Friday, September 5 is the First Friday of the month. There will be a Holy Hour in the church from 4-5 PM followed by Mass at 5:10 PM. Saturday, September 6 is the First Saturday of the month. There will be a Holy Hour of Reparation from 7 to 8 AM in the church followed by Mass at 8 AM. Parishioners, as a courtesy to others, please silence your cell phones during all Masses. Your cooperation is appreciated. WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEK AT ST. DUNSTAN PARISH Monday, September 1st Labor Day holiday; school and rectory closed Tuesday, September 2nd Novena in honor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament after the 8am Mass Thursday, September 4th Bible Study at 10 am in the Convent School Athletic Board meets at 7 pm in the school math room Prayer Group meets at Green Hills at 7:30 pm Friday, September 5th First Friday Holy Hour at 4 pm in the church Saturday, September 6th Retrouvaille meets in the convent First Saturday Holy Hour in the church at 7am Monday thru Saturday Morning Prayer in the church at 7:15 am Monday thru Friday Rosary recited in the church at 7:40 am Are you interested in learning more about the beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church? Are you baptized but never received First Communion? Never were Confirmed? If you answered yes to any of the above questions, our RCIA process can be of help to you. RCIA stands for Rite of Christian Initiation Adults. It is a process designed to meet the needs of adults who are considering joining the Church or who wish to receive the sacraments of Initiation ( Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation). For more information regarding our Inquiry Sessions, call the rectory at 697-4730. Classes begin in Sept. IMMACULATE HEART RADIO’S SEPTEMBER ONAIR PLEDGE DRIVE will be held Wednesday, September 3rd and Thursday, September 4th from 6am to 7:30pm each day at Mater Dolorosa School in South San Francisco. We need your help to answer phone calls, run errands, or help with hospitality. If you can help for an hour or a couple of hours any day, please call Deborah Heinrichs at 916-535-0500 ext. 221 or email her at dheinrichs@ihradio.org. This weekend members of the St. Vincent de Paul Society will be stationed at the doors of the church after each Mass, taking up their 5th Sunday Collection. Please give generously. Your donations will help those in need in our parish area. CCD Registration Packages for the 2008-2009 school year are available. To request a package, please call the Office of Religious Education at (650) 697-7451 or visit our website at saintdunstanchurch.org and click n the Religious Education/CCD link to download registration materials and to read about our program. Classes will begin Tuesday, September 16th at 3:45 pm for grades K through 6. St. Dunstan’s hosted the IHN families for one week in July. The program was a great success thanks to ALL of the volunteers from our parish who gave of their time, talent, and treasure to make the families welcome. There were four families, a total of 14 people who were our guests from July 13-20th. I know that many parishioners, a total of 55, signed up to help and I greatly appreciated that. However, only a small were actually involved because this was a “trial run” for St. Dunstan’s to decide whether or not we want to be a part of the IHN program on a regular basis. So I hope that you will understand that was the reason why you may not have been called upon to volunteer and hope that you will still be willing now that St. Dunstan’s has decided to be one of the 30 different churches involved in this wonderful program of helping our brothers and sisters who are in need. I attended a meeting two weeks after St. Dunstan’s hosted the families and the families were so very, very grateful to our parish for their concern and help. At that meeting I learned that one of the families has already exited the program and the mother has secured employment and the father is attending school to further his training. The families raved about the meals here at St. Dunstan’s, along with the friendliness and loving concern shown to them by our volunteers. I cannot tell you how much you all meant to those wonderful families and how you helped them through a most difficult time. At the present time St. Dunstan’s will be worked into the rotation schedule for 2009 sometime during the month of July. Patrick McLaughlin has graciously volunteered to be our Parish Co-ordinator for the program and he will be putting together his committee in the not too distant further. I hope that you will volunteer to be a member of one of the several committees that will be needed for this endeavour. In the meantime should you have any questions or concerns about the IHN program please do not hesitate to speak to me about it. I welcome any questions that you might have. Again my very sincere thanks to you all for your generosity, kindness, caring concern to the families in the IHN program. Yours in Christ, Fr Jim Livingstone Parishioners, save this date, September 12-14, for the annual St. Dunstan Silent Retreat for Men and Women of the parish. This year’s theme is “Try to Remember…” The retreat will be held at the Jesuit Retreat Center in Los Altos. Call 650-948-4491 or email reatreat@jrclosaltos.org for information. Last weekend’s Regular Collection: $7,326.00 Thank you for all your support! SAINTS AND SPECIAL OBSERVANCES Sunday: Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time Ramadan (Islamic month of fasting) begins this week Monday: Labor Day Wednesday: St. Gregory the Great Friday: First Friday Saturday: Blessed Virgin Mary First Saturday St. Dunstan School and rectory will be closed on Monday, September 1 in observance of Labor Day. Masses will be held at 6:30 & 8 am. There will be no 5:10 pm Mass on Labor Day. to those who served as Lectors, Eucharistic Ministers and Altar Servers this weekend: Saturday, August 30th 5 PM Lector: A. Colarusso Eucharistic Ministers: J&L Clothakis, B&G Borba, E Danli, R Attard Altar Servers: Colarusso, Totah, Totah, Tabaloc Sunday, August 31st 7 AM Lector: B. Penner Eucharistic Ministers: M Wyman, B Rogers, S Nussbaum Altar Servers: Valdez, Jones, Jones, Yee 8:30 AM Lector: E. Antonio Eucharistic Ministers: D Lawson, M Anderegg, M Leland, J Lilles, P Lucero, R Pezo Altar Servers: Celio, Abello, Alaraj, Capitolo 10 AM Lector: J. Sigona Eucharistic Ministers: F Sigona, N Reyes, R Garrison, M&L Kelly, P Maloney Altar Servers: Garrison, Cabarse, Yip, Ching 11:30 AM Lector: P. Hain Eucharistic Ministers: C Cannizzaro, Y Kaialoa, J Roensch, M Rogers, T Dizon, C Caimotto Altar Servers: Hain, Hain, Chavez, Chavez 5 PM Lector: G. Ledbetter Eucharistic Ministers: J Ledbetter, P&M McLaughlin, J Costa, H Santana, B Cappel Altar Servers: DeGuzman, Bertin, Chan, Fernando Special thanks to all of our ushers for their dedicated service at our weekend Masses. Mass Intentions for the Week August 31 thru September 6, 2008 Sunday 7:00 am For Parish 8:30 am John Sanna 10:00 am The Gulli Family (liv/dec) 11:30 am SVDP Benefactors 5:00 pm Ramon G. Halili Monday 6:30 am All Souls 8:00 am Dylan Cappel Tuesday 6:30 am Consuelo De La Rosa 8:00 am James Clark 5:10 pm Grace Rodriguez Wednesday 6:30 am Seamus Rogan 8:00 am Anita & Giuseppe Pasquinelli 5:10 pm Jacob Pattarmadhil Thursday 6:30 am Estela C. Teotico 8:00 am Vicente Salgado 5:10 pm Roberto Maravillas Friday 6:30 am Deceased Relatives of Al Jacinto 8:00 am Patricia O’Grady 5:10 pm Rosellini –Opalenik Family Saturday 8:00 am Joseph Caimotto 5:00 pm Chona & Antonio Borlat (living  We pray for the sick members of our parish family and for those who care for them: Madison Kitz, William Dill, Ted & Eileen Damian, Pat Saracini, Bill Barca, Helen & Vicky Noceti, Irene Thommen, Kyong Cruz, Ciera Whipple, Dorothy Rives, Elsie Noceti, Steve Bacho, Eva Caprini, Mary Farr, Barbara Modica, Karen Shirley, Jose Conrado Vasquez, Henry & Lucy Garcia, Frances Snyder, Jack & Rene Sagrafena, Mrs. Larry Duggins, Antoinette Ramos, Joe Hamilton, Pauline & Joseph Burgio, Noralee Gelhaar, Geraldine Feehan, Martin Hidalgo, Norman Roos, Lyle Dibbs, Gloria Giannini, Maxine Coutts, Anna Mae Stewart, Jonathan Cerezo, Nick Cannuli, Kathy Montiel, Gloria Pasco, The Yakaitis Family, Susan Silvera-Dunn, George Rodriguez Jr, Nafal Jweinat, Marge Todd, Michael Coffaro, Diedra Bradshaw, Irma Sweeny, Charlene Spediacci, Esther Litton, Jan Diamond, Viola Burdick, Ronald Reyes, Josephine Muscat, Patricia O’Neill, Virginia Ryan Rogers, Martha Costa, Michael Wisherop, Helen Maternia, Elsie Clark, Bernice Malloy, Dora Mae Cappel, Wayne Devora, Debra Farwell, Sheila Donovan, Beverly Buhs, Rita Gilmore, Marisa Hosea, Marcella Mahoney, Judy Marks, Rita Bartolo, Michael Hovan, Gerda Altherr, Stephen Petinak, Ann Newell & Peter Guaraglia We pray for the deceased members of our parish family: Ann Del Carlo & James Caccia