Once again, we sat together on our deck, sipping our afternoon tea, watching the birds flitting from branch to branch, chirping greetings to one another. It is Autumn again. The seasons drift from one to another before we have a chance to reach out and touch them; examine their beauty and hold them lose. So too it is within our lives. Like thee birds we flit from moment to moment, sometimes chirping quick greetings to one another, without reaching out and touching those we love; examining their beauty and holding them close.

In this month of October, dedicated to the sanctity of life in all its stages, we will look at one another through the eyes of Jesus...to see the beauty He sees in us and in everyone we meet—to marvel at the awesome wonder of God’s precious gift of life.

We smile as we learn that two new great-grandchildren are on the way; one grand-daughter is soon to be married; another grand-daughter has just begun college; a grandson has just turned 18 and embarking on a new beginning.

How is it possible that some of our children are senior citizens and the two of us are now the elder generation. Life flashes before us and we are filled with love for the yet-to-be born, the little children and young adults, the middle-aged, the seniors, the frail and elderly and those who have already gone home to Our Father’s house.

Jesus has said, “Where your heart is your treasure lies”. Our hearts are joined together in the midst of all of you—our family. Our hearts sing: “Thank You, God, for giving us life!”

Just over the past week we have learned of 2 parishes on the Mississippi Gulf Coast where Presentation Sisters work as Pastoral Associates. St. Thomas the Apostle and St. John the Evangelist are in Long Beach, Mississippi and both sustained major damage in Hurricane Katrina. While these parishes are working to repair the damage to their churches and schools, we have become aware of parishioners who have lost all or nearly all, of their possessions.

We have a list of about 20 families who are in particular need, several of whom are teachers from these schools who have lost their homes. They remain in the area but are in need of lots of help.

The Sisters have given us a list of stores in the area to which the families have access. These include: Sears, Penney’s, Lowe’s, and Home Depot. While we realize that many of you have already made donations to Hurricane relief efforts, if you have the means to give something to our Sister parishes, it would be greatly appreciated. We will be collecting cash and checks on this weekend which we will use to buy Scrip to send to the Sisters to distribute.

St. Roberts in cooperation with the Archdiocese of San Francisco will be offering a two-hour seminar to help parents and guardians of children ages 4 – 14 work with their children to help ensure a safer environment for them.

Parents and guardians, no children please, are invited to a sexual abuse prevention and education program customized by the KidWISE Institute for the Catholic parishes. The first component of the program is Out of Harm’s Way, a facilitator-led, video-based workshop for parents.

At the entrances of the church you will also find flyers for our Women’s annual retreat day on Saturday, Nov. 12 at Mercy Center. Please fill out the form, drop it in the collection basket, bring it to the rectory or the school or give it to me, Sr. Sheral. Women of all ages are invited! We have to confirm our numbers in advance, so I need your reservation.

VOTE YES ON PROPOSTION 73

The Adult Choir that sings at the 9 30 a.m. Mass is back from their summer vacation, and has been rehearsing on Wednesday nights from 7-9 p.m. We are seeking new members to come join us. You don’t need to be a ‘professional’ singer, but simply someone who enjoys singing and has a willingness to praise God in song.

We are going to be rehearsing music for Advent and Christmas soon, and would love to invite new members to help us make these seasons truly joyous! On Sunday, we gather at 9 a.m. to warm-up prior to the 9:30 a.m. Mass. Although we would welcome you to join us throughout the year, if you can not make that commitment, we would be happy for you to sing for Nov. and Dec. in preparation for Christmas. The Adult Choir will sing some beautiful and festive music at the midnight mass.

If you play an instrument, we would also like to invite you to come join us. We are always looking for instrumentalists to help accompanying the choir. There are opportunities to play for the Christmas liturgies as well as masses throughout the year. We will also need ringers to ring bells during the Advent and Christmas seasons.

We are also planning a party of all the music ministers, choir members and cantors to be held on Sunday, October 30th, following the 11:30 a.m. Mass in Hennessy Hall. This will be a chance to get together with all music volunteers who serve at the Saturday and Sunday liturgies. We are also extending an invitation to all those who might be interested in singing with any of the choirs. Please join us for good food and fellowship, and maybe some singing!

As a Parish Community

November is traditionally the month set aside by our church to commemorate and celebrate the memories of our departed loved ones. This year we will have a special Mass on the feast of All Souls, Wednesday, November 2nd. All are invited to this liturgy. The names of those buried from St. Robert’s and relatives of parishioners buried from other churches will be read aloud by members of the Consolation Ministry and a special candle will be lit and places on the altar in their memory.

We will have a special shrine erected in Our Lady’s alcove (in the church) with their names inscribed in a Memorial Book. Please, bring pictures, memorial cards or flowers to place in this shrine all during November. We will also post their names around the walls of the church, so that the faithful will be reminded of our departed loved ones each time they enter the church.

We are asking a special favor from you, the parishioners. We have recorded all those buried from Saint Robert’s but would like to remember all of your departed loved ones that are buried/cremated from any other church or Funeral Home during the past year. Information needs to be received to us no later than October 26th. Please either call the rectory at 589-2800 or Sister Patricia at 589-0104 with the name of your loved one along with the date of their burial.

The gospel today contains a very familiar line: “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” But what does it mean? As one member of the morning scripture group commented, it could be used as an argument for paying one’s taxes. But as another member noted, everything belongs to God, our minds, hearts, souls, bodies. The gospel statement could be interpreted as an invitation to divide our lives into compartments, though most of us who’ve tried to do that, can attest that it doesn’t work!

Especially if you have small children, you know you can’t separate out time for family, time for housework, time for paying the bills, time for yourself! If everything belongs to God, then perhaps we can see even the things of Caesar as somehow related to God. With the election coming up Nov. 8, we could let our faith push us to vote (even if we thought it was a waste of money to have a special election). We can read the proposals from our faith perspective, remembering the most important themes of Catholic social teaching: protecting human life, promoting family life, pursuing social justice and practicing global solidarity. (“The Challenge of Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility,” United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) Peace, S. Sheral

A Peacemaker Pledge
Whether we live alone or in a large family, this pledge from Pax Christi offers many practical ways to live more peacefully in our society.

Because we are a family of faith, trying to be more gentle and less violent, wanting our world to be more peaceful and more just, believing that we are called by Jesus to be peacemakers; in our treatment of each other and everyone we meet, to the best of our ability with the help of God and one another, we promise: to be generous in giving help to others; to give encouragement sincerely and often; to show respect even when we disagree; to reduce the violence in our lives; to select entertainment that is less violent; to avoid hurting others unnecessarily; to ask forgiveness when we hurt someone; to give forgiveness when anyone hurts us; to forgive ourselves when we make mistakes; to pray for those who need peace, and help them if we can; to keep the peaceful example of Jesus as our model. Pax Christi USA

In case you’re wondering…
When you see folks with paper and pad during Mass these October weekends, they’re doing a count of the men, women and children present to submit to the Archdiocese. These counts help the Archdiocese to keep track of Mass attendance and to determine how much each parish should be asked to give for the Annual Archdiocesan Appeal.

What’s Going on in the Philippines?

MERCY CENTER
2300 Adeline Drive, Burlingame, Ca 94010
(650) 340-7474

Refreshments will be served in the Oak Room. Join us in our spacious new bookstore, preview our wonderful selection of holiday gifts, and celebrate the completion of 2 new offerings:

—”Sacred is the Call: Formation and Transformation in Spiritual Direction Programs” edited by Suzanne Buckely with chapters by Mary Ann Scofield, RSM, Janice Farrell, Don Bisson, Jim Neafsey and many others familiar to Mercy Center guests

—”The Life of Jesus: A Meditation in Sound” a new CD by Suzanne Toolan, RSM, to be released in December.

Dreams Where We all Meet:
Waking Up to our Global Connectedness
November 20th 1-4 p.m.
Jeremy Taylor, D. Min.

Compassion, The Heart of Ministry
January 8th 10-4
Don Bisson, FMS

Saint Roberts Church Library

Spiritual Reading will be available at St. Robert’s after the Masses on Sundays. Please, take a few minutes either before or after Mass and check out a book or two that interest you. You may keep the books until you have them read. We have some books on the Library cart but we have many more in the Library/Reconciliation room.