My late wife Mary and I had the honor of helping St. Robert’s get off the ground. In 1958 we were newly split off from the town’s namesake St. Bruno's whose Father Peter Doyle had his quirks but also a saint’s patience. Sundays during Mass, he would brush off flakes of plaster from crumbling ceiling that paint alone couldn’t cure. Baptisms were in a drafty open belfry. The knotted bell rope intrigued adventurous little males. You might get baptized with sound effects.

Right away, Mary and I knew we were into something special at St. Robert’s. Most of the parishioners were young families like ours. Amid Monaghans, Sweeneys, and others, we weren’t alone with a growing eventually sizable brood . At Sunday Masses and through the parish school (newly renamed from St. Bruno’s) and from rubbing elbows with parishioners when out shopping—downtown San Bruno, “The Avenue,” bustled back then with a great mix of stores—we got to know new friends and neighbors. We soon learned they deemed no task too tough if it would advance St. Robert’s toward a church of its own. As founding pastor, Father Robert Hennessy had but to tap a shoulder or two and whatever wheel had to be hefted would be.

We had fund-raisers leading up to a knuckles-down, family budget –stretching, church building pledge drive. Dinners and dances. Volunteers to do school and church fix-ups and pull together a school library. To organize and fund competitive St. Robert's teams in the Peninsula parochial league, including its annual track and field Spirit Festival. To do whatever chores the schools’ Milwaukee Franciscan Sisters might need done and to equip classrooms with decent teaching aids.

Meanwhile Father Hennessy and assorted curates endured the only temporary church of my experience with the altar across one corner, in the school auditorium that’s now Hennessy Hall. It made for interesting arrangements of folding chairs, especially the big, heavy jobs with kneelers. Priest and altar at an angle, congregation squared off.

One for all, all for one. That was the spirit as we vowed to build ourselves a real church. If memory serves, the year of our founding proved what I mean. Or was it 1959 that we held our first festival complete with the Feast?

The Schaukowitch brothers, John and Vic, got us organized for the event. John a butcher when not muscling garbage into a truck he co-manned with Vic, rounded up the meat—a mini mountain of 10 to 12 pound chunks of fresh beef. Next, good oak wood for the cooking fire. About 35 of us, with axes and saws, spent a Saturday collecting and hauling it out of Crestmoor canyon’s oaky overgrowth.

But all was not oak wood. To get that, we had to hack through a jungle of poison oak. Some guys, blistered from stern to stern, didn’t make it to Sunday Mass. They recovered enough to help dig a fire pit almost the width of what’s now our lower school yard/parking lot and stacked it with oak. By Friday midnight, Johnny S. pronounced the glowing coals fit for his beef, each chunk specially seasoned and wrapped in wet burlap. He led in shoveling dirt to bury the beef for hours of roasting. He was there the next day to unearth the first servings of the most succulent beef I think any of us in the Men’s Club had ever tasted.

There’s so much to remember of St. Robert’s early days, of all it took to build a church, keep a school afloat, and carve our own traditions, none better than learning what rewards working together could reap. Some we could see and touch. Others, you might say, were a matter of taste—the finger-lick in’ kind.

Jim Kelly

As a Parish Community we pray … for the victims of fire, hurricanes, earthquakes and floods. May Jesus strengthen them and give them renewed hope.

WE CONGRATULATE THE NEWLY BAPTIZED

Clarice Marie Curtner
Daisy Ann Huerta
Jaden Cruz Navarro

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.

Our sincere sympathy to the family of
Asunta Apoduala
who died recently.

CONSOLATION MINISTRY

Consolation Ministry Committee meets after the 8:30 a.m. Mass in Mary’s Chapel on the first Wednesday of every month. If you are interested, you are welcome to join us.

BLOOD DRIVE NEXT SUNDAY
September 30th

Once again we are invited to share the gift of life. On Sunday, September 30th, from 8am till 1:30pm in the hall, the blood bank will be accepting your donation. Our goal is to provide them with 30 pints. Please help if you can.

BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS
Saturday, October 6th

At 11 a.m., in the parking lot, Deacon Duffey will bless each animal & even give some a hug, (maybe). So please join us as we pray, sing and ask God to bless the little creatures that we so love. Refreshments will be served.
The Children’s Liturgy Team

IN SUPPORT OF CAREGIVERS

Our quarterly gathering for anyone who cares for a parent, spouse, relative or special needs child – part-time or full-time – will take place Saturday, October 6 from 8:30 am to 1 pm in the convent chapel. We’ll pray, share the challenges and blessings of caregiving and enjoy lunch together. Please look for a flier at the one of the church entrances. If you have questions or to register, please call Sr. Patricia at 589-0204 or Sr. Sheral at 589-2800.

MARRIED COUPLES

You can celebrate your Marriage by attending a Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend, November 9th-11th in Burlingame. It’s a positive, simple, common sense, private experience between husband and wife that revitalizes marriage. For more information, go to sf.lovemoredeeply.org. or call Paul and Yvonne at (650) 366-7093.

If you are new to St. Robert’s, we ask that you complete a registration form found in the vestibule of the church. Drop it either in the collection basket, the mail, or at the parish office. We will send you a New Parishioner Packet with information about the parish, its organizations and groups. If you chose, you can register online at: www.saintroberts.org.

1958◄▬►2008
"JOURNEY THROUGH THE YEARS"
THIS WEEKEND!!!!
Saturday UNTIL 11pm
Sunday from 12:30pm to 6:00pm

HIGH ROLLER RAFFLE
Sept. 23rd
Only 200 tickets to be sold.
ACT NOW
Call Steve Belluomini. Get your ticket today!

     
The readings today focus on material possessions. Amos rails against businessmen who can barely wait to open their stalls so they can cheat the poor by fixing the scales. Jesus’ parable praises the dishonest steward for cleverly making friends who would help him once he was let go from his employment. Perhaps, it was his “cut” which he eliminated from the debt owed his master. I heard Richard Reich, the former Secretary of Labor on KQED today speak of how we consumers inadvertently keep wages low at Wal-Mart, for example, by insisting on buying items as cheaply as we can. We as citizens want a stable economy with decent wages, but then we work against that by always looking for bargains, whether in airfare or clothing, which often results in a low-paid workforce or outsourcing of materials or services.

The questions are hard ones: Are we willing to pay a bit more, so that all workers might receive a living wage? Will we buy fruits and vegetables in season from the Farmers’ Market to help the local economy rather than insisting that an overabundance of produce be available all year round, even when it was trucked in or flown in from Chile, using precious gasoline? Can we pay a little more for paper products made from recycled paper to save evergreen forests being used for paper towels, napkins and toilet tissue?

Is there one action you and your household might take in response to these readings? None of us can do everything to make the world a better place, but each of us can do something. Here are a couple additional suggestions:

After spending the past year doing some research and learning a little about a lot of issues, the parish Social Concerns group has decided to focus on the St. Bruno Catholic Worker as our local focus. Many of you know the wonderful couple who are the heart of the place: Kate Chatfield has recently gotten her law degree; she and Peter, her husband, have begun a supportive housing project to help some of the guests who are ready for it. We will be meeting on Wednesday, October 24 at 6:30 pm at the Hansell home where Kate and Peter will be our guests and help us explore various ways we can help the poor to whom they minister. If you need more information or you’d like to become involved in some way, please call me.

During a United Nations conference, the developed nations promised to increase foreign aid to the poorest countries to .7% of a developed country’s national income by 2015. The poor countries promised reforms to improve transparency, democracy and anti-corruption efforts. The U.N. Millennium Development Goals are so basic: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and develop a global partnership for development. Our Social Concerns group will be participating in the .7 Now workshop offered by the Archdiocese on Saturday, Oct. 27 from 9 am to 4 pm at St. Mary’s Cathedral. Its goal is to give parishioners the tools to encourage our legislators to keep their promises. (We give only about .25% of our gross national product at this point.) The parish is covering the cost and you’re most welcome to join us! Please call me, so I can add you to our registration.

Peace, S. Sheral

SUNDAY COLLECTION

    
SIGN UP FOR E-CONTRIBUTIONS

Go to www.saintroberts.org and click on the e-contributions button. The first page explains the details. There is a button to take you to the e-paluch registration page. You can register online using either your checking account or credit card.

There is no cost to you for this service.

2007 CENTERPLATE SIGN UP

Saturday, 4:30 p.m. Mass

Sunday, 7:30 a.m. Mass

Sunday, 5:00 p.m. Mass