Week in Review Part 1, Jan. 18-21

I had a pretty full week.  Last Sunday I celebrated two Masses at St. Clement’s Church, Hayward. The pastor, Fr. Ramon Gomez, was alone and had six Masses to say and needed some help.  His parochial vicar, “Fr. Bart” was in the Philippines to see the Pope.

On Monday, Martin Luther King holiday, our diocese was blessed with a visit from Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich, Germany.  He’s young, intelligent, and sits on the Pope’s “Council of Eight” cardinals who are drawing up a reform of the Roman Curia.  He was on a speaking tour of the West Coast, and gave a lecture at Stanford University.  He came to Oakland to visit the Motherhouse of the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose.  Our sisters were founded in 1875 from the Dominican Sisters’ Motherhouse in Bavaria, Germany.  Recently the remaining sisters in the German convent came to Fremont to live with the “daughter house” community, and the original Motherhouse was closed.  Cardinal Marx came to visit “his” German sisters who are now happily living in California. We had a lovely luncheon of Mexican food and beer.  (I gave general absolution to all the nuns who were drinking beer for lunch . . . just kidding).

Here we are: Bishop Cummins, Sr. Gloria OP, Prioress, Cardinal Marx, and two of the German Sisters

While visiting the MSJ Dominicans, I always like to stop in and see Sister Mary Henry.  She is celebrating her jubilee this year, 70 years of religious profession!  She has gone blind, and spends her days praying for the Church . . . and for me.  She is one of my “heroes of the diocese”, one of the spiritual pillars of our Church.  Her prayers guarantee the success of our capital campaign, and many other initiatives that will succeed only through prayer.  She is a lovely person, as you can see from the expression on her face.  When I visited with Pope Francis last September, he gave me a gift of a rosary, in a case with his coat of arms on it.  I gave it to Sister Mary Henry, as she prays so much for me . . . and for us.

 

Thanks to St. Clement’s church, Fr. Alex Castillo, and the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose for these photos.