Right after Christmas my wife and I took a short vacation to get some sunshine. While there we were offered the opportunity to take a helmet dive. I have never snorkeled and thus have missed the opportunity to see exotic fish where they live.

For the helmet dive, you climb down a ladder off the back of the boat. When you shoulders are in the water, they put a 70lb helmet over our head. The water absorbs the weight. The helmet is a modern version of the deep-sea divers. They than lead you the rest of the way down, about fifteen feet, to the bottom of the ocean. Air is pumped through the top. I could wear my glasses and my face and hair never got wet.

The half hour experience was unlike anything I had experienced before. I was able to walk on the sandy bottom, look at coral and watch the most amazing fish swim by me. For me it was a new way to experience the wonderful, creative beauty of God.

This weekend the youth of our parish will have their Confirmation Retreat at the Seminary and the RCIA adults will have their retreat at Mercy Center in Burlingame. Please pray with us that spiritually, they too, will be able to experience the wonderful, creative, personal love that God has for each of them.

I also pray that you too will have a unique experience of God’s wonderful, creative and personal love for you.

The 2005 Dinner Dance Committee is putting together a Red and Blue Pages Quick Reference Guide listing local advertisers’ phone numbers. So many generous people continue to sponsor our fundraisers, and the committee would like to produce something that will give back to our faithful supporters and their businesses. For a $25 fee your ad will be listed by category with your business name, address and telephone numbers. A complimentary copy of the publication will be distributed to all dinner dance attendees on March 12th and additional copies sold at a cost to cover publication to parishioners.

If you have a special talent you would like to advertise, or if you have friends or relatives who would like to promote their businesses, please call (650) 588-7404 to place an ad.

Archbishop William Levada, and the Office of Marriage and Family Life cordially extend an invitation to all married couples of the Archdiocese of San Francisco who celebrate their 25, 50th or more Wedding Anniversary during the year 2005 to a Solemn Eucharistic Celebration. Reception immediately following Eucharist. Please RSVP by contacting your parish for a registration form.

As always you are reminded to use good common sense in the reception of Holy Communion during the annual cold and flu season.

If you are feeling ill or think you may have been exposed to a virus, you should refrain from partaking of the Blood of Christ from the communal chalice. In the same way, you should refrain from offering your hand to others at the sign of peace. Likewise if you are not comfortable sharing the sign of peace or receiving Holy Communion from the communal chalice for fear of infection, you should feel no pressure to do so.

Ash Wednesday is February 9 this year, amazingly, so this day will be a wonderful way to begin our Lenten journey.

MERCY CENTER
2300 Adeline Dr., Burlingame, CA
(650) 340-7474

March 6th, 1-5 p.m.
From the Depth to the Height:
A Lenten Journey Through Meditation, Dance and Music
Carla De Sola and Suzanne Toolan, RSM
Cost $35

SAN DAMIANO RETREAT CENTER
P.O. Box 767, Danville, Ca 94526-0767
(925) 837-9141

February 11-13
Men's Lenten Retreat
Looking for Love in all the Right Places
Gavin Griffith, OFM
$170/$140

In case you’re new to the parish, it would be good for you to be aware that here at St. Robert’s we try to accommodate different groups in the parish by different “styles” of liturgy.

The Sunday, 9:30 am Mass is geared towards families with children: the music is upbeat; kindergarteners through fifth graders are sent forth from this Mass to hear the scripture readings at their own level and participate in sharing led by well-prepared adults.

The Sunday, 5 pm Mass is geared towards youth and young adults with music and homilies addressing their needs.

We will list the names that we have been asked to pray for during the week. We continue to ask each week that parishioners pray for the chronically ill of our parish.

If you have a friend or loved one in need of our parish prayers please call the Rectory at 589-2800.

Also, please remember our Emergency prayer network that prays for specific intentions that require a concerted effort due to their critical nature. To facilitate the network, please call Michele Pipinich at 589-4963. The network people then pray frequently for the next 72 hours. We would appreciate a return call with the outcome so we can praise God for His faithfulness:

Over 30 years ago, we were told that legal and widely available abortion was the key to ending discrimination against women and the solution to a host of social problems. Today we face the devastating results: More than forty million unborn human lives lost, untold numbers of others wounded. Children and other family members abused in ever-increasing numbers. And more women and children living in poverty than ever before. Abortion is not a solution. In the U.S. every year, 1.6 million children die from abortion. The powerful propose yet more abortion, government-funded abortion, as the cure. How long will we refuse to see the bankruptcy of our choices? How long will we refuse to act? How long, O Lord, how Long?”

I just came from a wonderful weekend with 70 of my sisters in Santa Maria. We heard reports from our General Chapter in Rome which took place in October, talked about how we can be a Franciscan presence in a struggling world, how we can strengthen our bonds in community, how we will use the money we received from the sale of our motherhouse for our living expenses, for retirement and to support efforts for justice and peace. We listened and spoke, sang and prayed and generally enjoyed and encouraged one another to continue in the way we had chosen. Our novice was present as well as sisters celebrating 75 years of commitment!

I will be heading to Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico to see our sisters there tomorrow as you read this. They are indigenous from the Tseltal and Ch’ol people whose ancestors have been there before there were any boundaries of countries! They work with the women primarily of the small villages in alphabetization (literacy, we would say), counting (so they aren’t “ripped off” by unscrupulous people) and forming cooperatives so parents can provide for the needs of their families. I’m hoping this time to see the sisters in action, instead of having them take us to the pyramids, waterfalls and other places of historical significance and beauty.

This weekend is the Walk for Life protesting our country’s Roe v. Wade abortion law. We are reminded of the Church’s concern for the youngest, the weakest and the most vulnerable among us. By the time you read this, Donald Beardslee, a severely brain-damaged man, may have been executed. The Church’s public stand is against the death penalty (explained by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin’s “seamless garment” image of respect for life.) Cutting benefits for the severely handicapped is an option for the state budget. An American soldier who killed a terribly wounded Iraqi teenager received a sentence of one year. Hundreds of thousands of garment workers (many of them with limited English skills) will soon be unemployed because of the lifting of sanctions towards Chinese goods. So many situations seem so complicated in our modern world and yet this is where we are called to let our light shine. Every person’s life is precious, a gift from God to be honored or we lessen the humanity of someone according to our own personal biases. Let us pray for wisdom for ourselves, our Church leaders and our government leaders. And let us pray for a change of heart for those who make selfish decisions, ignoring their impact on the voiceless and those whom our society feels don’t count. Jesus came among us as a human being. Our very humanity has been made holy by his incarnation. Blessings on your week!

Women’s Retreat
Yes, there is still room for our Feb. 5 retreat. Please bring your pink registration slip and the $30 donation to the rectory by today, Sunday the 23rd. Thank you.