Monday, October 13, 2014

Oct. 25 & 26: St. Thomas More International Food Festival

Saturday, October 25, 2014 @ 1pm-8pm
 

AND
 

Sunday October 26, 2014 @ 9am-6pm
 

50 St. Thomas More Way, San Francisco, CA

 

One of few local International Festivals that is famous for the non-stop Entertainment all weekend long

  • live music

  • dancing

  • singing

  • fashion shows

  • kids attractions

    • jumpers

    • obstacle course

    • Henna Tattoos

    • face paintings

    • ...and many games and prizes.


A wide selection of authentic ethnic cuisines from 

  • the Middle East
  • Philippines
  • Burma
  • Brazil
  • Ireland
  • Mexico
  • also American Food

 

To add to all that, there are many international and local vendors forming the most exciting bazaar.


And for adults, Saturday Night at the Races, true European horse racing excitement.


There will also be many raffle valuable prizes; balloon pops surprises, so it is a weekend full of fun for all ages.

Free Parking and Shuttle services available.
$3 per person, kids under 6 for free.

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Tenth Annual Santo Niño Fiesta

Saturday, February 1, 2014

4:00 PM:  Rosary & Novena

5:00 PM: Sinulog, Holy Mass, and Procession

Please bring your Santo Niño statues for procession and blessing

Donations greatly appreciated

Click for flyer which includes contact information


Tagalog Mass Honoring Our Lady of Fatima

Special Tagalog Mass in Honor of the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima

SUNDAY, JANUARY 19, 2014

4:30 PM: Procession, Moment of Prayers, Marian Songs, then Holy Rosary

5:30 PM: Tagalog Mass celebrated by Rev. Fr. Angel Quitalig, JCL

Light snacks and refreshments will be served



Saturday, November 30, 2013

Saint Thomas More Society News Updates Nov.-Dec. 2013


Collected by Msgr. Labib Kobti, Chaplain

A-The celebration of the Conclusion of the Year of Faith was marked by two signs:
1)     The exhibition of St. Peter’s relics for the first time
2)     The Apostolic Exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium” (the Joy of the Gospel”, co-written with Pope Benedict XVI

B-    For the first time since Bergoglio became Pope Francis, the number of adults  between 20-40 years old asking to be baptized has risen all over the world.

C-    Global Language Monitor, a Texas-based company that tracks the most frequently mentioned terms on the Web, announced that the pontiff topped their 14th-annual survey of English-language blogs, social media, and 275,000 electronic and online news sites. This means that it is official; Pope Francis is the most talked-about person on the planet commented CNN. 

D-    “Evangelii Gaudium” (The Joy of the Gospel) an Apostolic Exhortation, Nov. 26, 2013, was written in response to the most recent meeting of the Synod of Bishops, which took place in October, 2012 under Pope Benedict XVI. It is devoted to the subject of the new evangelization in preparation of the Synod of Bishops in 2014.

1)      The Pontiff also considers “a conversion of the papacy”, to help make this ministry “more faithful to the meaning which Jesus Christ wished to give it and to the present needs of evangelization”. The hope that the Episcopal Conferences might contribute to “the concrete realization of the collegial spirit”, he states, “has not been fully realized”. A “sound decentralization” is necessary. In this renewal, the Church should not be afraid to re-examine “certain customs not directly connected to the heart of the Gospel, even some of which have deep historical roots”.

2)       The greatest threat of all is “the grey pragmatism of the daily life of the Church, in which all appears to proceed normally, which in reality faith is wearing down”. He warns against “defeatism”, urging Christians to be signs of hope, bringing about a “revolution of tenderness”. It is necessary to seek refuge from the “spirituality of well-being … detached from responsibility for our brothers and sisters” and to vanquish the “spiritual worldliness” that consists of “seeking not the Lord’s glory but human glory and well-being”. 

3)       He remarks that “Christianity does not have simply one cultural expression” and that the face of the Church is “varied”. “We cannot demand that peoples of every continent, in expressing their Christian faith, imitate modes of expression which European nations developed at a particular moment of their history”. The Pope reiterates that “underlying popular piety … is an active evangelizing power”.

4)      In relation to the challenges of the contemporary world, the Pope denounces the current economic system as “unjust at its root”. “Such an economy kills” because the law of “the survival of the fittest” prevails. The current culture of the “disposable” has created “something new”: “the excluded are not the ‘exploited’ but the outcast, the ‘leftovers’”. “A new tyranny is thus born, invisible and often virtual”, of an “autonomy of the market” in which “financial speculation” and “widespread corruption” and “self-serving tax-evasion reign”.

5)       The Church “cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice”. “For the Church, the option for the poor is primarily a theological category” rather than a sociological one. “This is why I want a Church that is poor and for the poor. They have much to teach us”. “As long as the problems of the poor are not radically resolved … no solution will be found for this world’s problems”. “Politics, although often denigrated”, he affirms, “remains a lofty vocation and one of the highest forms of charity”. I beg the Lord to grant us more politicians who are genuinely disturbed by … the lives of the poor!”

6)      The Pope urges care for the weakest members of society: “the homeless, the addicted, refugees, indigenous peoples, the elderly who are increasingly isolated and abandoned” and migrants, for whom the Pope exhorts “a generous openness”. He speaks about the victims of trafficking and new forms of slavery: “This infamous network of crime is now well established in our cities, and many people have blood on their hands as a result of their comfortable and silent complicity”. “Doubly poor are those women who endure situations of exclusion, mistreatment and violence”.

7)      With regard to the theme of peace, the Pope affirms that “a prophetic voice must be raised” against attempts at false reconciliation to “silence or appease” the poor, while others “refuse to renounce their privileges”. For the construction of a society “in peace, justice and fraternity” he indicates four principles: “Time is greater than space” means working “slowly but surely, without being obsessed with immediate results”. “Unity prevails over conflict” means “a diversified and life-giving unity”. “Realities are more important than ideas means avoiding “reducing politics or faith to rhetoric”. “The whole is greater than the part” means bringing together “globalization and localization”.

8)      “Evangelization also involves the path of dialogue”, the Pope continues, which opens the Church to collaboration with all political, social, religious and cultural spheres. Ecumenism is “an indispensable path to evangelization”. Mutual enrichment is important: “we can learn so much from one another!”, for example “in the dialogue with our Orthodox brothers and sisters, we Catholics have the opportunity to learn more about the meaning of Episcopal collegiality and their experience of synodality”; “dialogue and friendship with the children of Israel are part of the life of Jesus’ disciples”; “interreligious dialogue”, which must be conducted “clear and joyful in one’s own identity”, is “a necessary condition for peace in the world” and does not obscure evangelization; in our times, “our relationship with the followers of Islam has taken on great importance”: the Pope “humbly” entreats those countries of Islamic tradition to guarantee religious freedom to Christians, also “in light of the freedom which followers of Islam enjoy in Western countries!”. 

 Important comment by the Guardian: Pope Francis  became the first globally prominent figure to figure out that inequality is the biggest economic issue of our time and bring attention to income inequality, comments The Guardian. The Pope writes: “Some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting.”
The Guardian continues: “Pope Francis, in his simple black shoes and unassuming car and house, is the first pontiff in a long time to reject flashy shows of power and live by the principle of simplicity. That makes him uniquely qualified to make the Vatican an outpost of Occupy Wall Street. His message about spiritual salvation applies mainly to Catholics but it would be sensible for economists and lawmakers to recognize his core message about the importance of income inequality applies to those even those who have no belief in religion.”

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Mother Agnes on Sunday, Nov. 3

Please join religious leaders to pray for peace

Sunday, Nov. 3, 2013 at 5:30 PM
St. Thomas More Church
1300 Junipero Serra Blvd. at Brotherhood and Thomas More Ways (click for map)
San Francisco

Featured speaker: Mother Agnes-Mariam from Syria

About Mother Agnes:


In May 2013, Gunmen attacked the vehicle of Mother Agnes-Mariam of the Cross, the Mother Superior at the Monastery and Convent of St. James the Mutilated in Qara, Syria.

The story that Mother Agnes tells about the events in Syria is very different from what we hear and read in the North American press.  She has spoken in Ireland and Australia, and she organized an international delegation led by Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire to come to Syria to see for themselves.  And she is one of the main organizers of Mussalaha ("Reconciliation"), a popular movement in Syria that mediates disputes and organizes ceasefires between opposing forces.  

Mother Agnes Mariam  is a voice for Syria that we rarely if ever hear. She speaks neither for the government nor the rebels. Although she is a passionate Christian cleric, she speaks for moderates of many faiths that do not support the rebels but are also critical of the mistakes of the Assad regime. She speaks for Syrians who advocate reform but not necessarily abolishment of the existing system. She also speaks for Syrians who are concerned for the fate of the many minorities and nonreligious members of Syrian society that fear a takeover by religious extremists.