The feast of Pentecost is a wonderful time to reflect on opportunities and missed opportunities. After Jesus’ death his closest disciples locked themselves in the upper room. They were afraid. Would they be next? Their hopes and expectations were crushed. Would they ever be able to show their faces in public again? Jesus had died. The weight of the cross was just too much for them. But Easter came. Jesus appeared to some of his disciples. He came to the upper room and showed him his hands and side. He shared bread and fish on the seashore. He was alive and with them.

He began to instruct them once again that he had to return to the Father. They would once again feel abandoned and alone. But he will send them the Holy Spirit to give them courage and strength. The Spirit would be their helper and guide. There are differing accounts of the conferring of the Holy Spirit. The end result was the same. The disciples were energized and empowered to preach the Gospel, to heal the sick and to give witness to the presence of God’s Kingdom here and now.

The end result of the descent of the Holy Spirit remains the same today. Through our Baptism and Confirmation we are empowered and energized to preach the Gospel. We speak out against systems and powers who oppress others. We assist with our continuous support of the people who are trying to rebuild their lives after the devastation of hurricane Katrina. We feed those who are hungry and in need through our Saint Vincent de Paul. We gather as a faith filled family each week around the Lord’s table to be nourished and refreshed. We take time to share our faith with our young people in our school, CCD programs and Confirmation preparation. We assist others preparing for Christian initiation, the Baptism of a child and preparing for marriage. We preach the Gospel with our words and our deeds.

We reach out with healing hands to those who are sick and homebound. We encircle with compassionate support those who grieve.

We also, like the early disciples, have missed opportunities which come our way. Those disciples locked themselves in the upper room. They failed to understand that which Jesus had explained to them. The disciples failed to trust the message. They missed many opportunities. What opportunities have we missed?

I would like to call people’s attention to one such opportunity. There are increasing numbers of people who leave Mass before it is over. I understand a squirmy or noisy infant. I can understand there are some legitimate reasons for people to leave early. But we get into a habit. We leave after Communion whether there is a reason or not. Leaving early to be the first in line for donuts or for the best table at a lunch in the hall or my car is double parked are not legitimate reasons in my book. The Mass concludes with the final blessing and the recessional. We miss the opportunity to be sent forth this week and each week to be heralds of the Gospel.

Monday - June 5
Readings: 2 Pt 1:2-7 - Mk 12:1-12

Tuesday - June 6
Readings: 2 Pt 3:12-15a,17-18 - Mk 12:13-17

Wednesday - June 7
Readings: 2 Tim 1:1-3,6-12 - Mk 12:18-27

Thursday - June 8
Readings: 2 Tm 2:8-15 - Mk 12:28-34

Friday - June 9
Readings: 2 Tm 3:10-17 - Mk 12:35-37

Saturday - June 10
Readings: 2 Tm 4:1-8 - Mk 12:38-44

The Journey of Caregiving

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.

Café St. Vincent, the South San Francisco dining room of St. Vincent de Paul, desperately needs your help. One Friday a month, St. Robert’s is responsible for preparing and serving the meal for the people in need who come. Some of the other Fridays also need help. There is no minimum age limit: junior high and high schoolers are most welcome. Your help is needed especially during the summer, when some of the “regulars” are on vacation. Volunteers arrive at 9 am and finish around noon. Please call Carlo Noce or e-mail him at mcnoce56@comcast.net.

Believe it or not, plans are under way for this years annual parish festival “PORTS OF CALL”, which will be on the weekend of September 22-24. As always the Barbecue and Food Booths are in need of your help. Several people are needed to work in these two very popular booths and everyone from the parish is welcome to help. Most shifts are for 2 hours, but you can work for as many hours as you would like and on all 3 days if you wish.

The menu will include those all time favorites –delicious barbecued tri tip steak sandwiches, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, polish sausages, pizza, nachos, soft drinks, candy and much more.

Our group is open to anyone with little ones. Please come by so we can meet you! This summer TIPPS will be having playgroups at Commodore Park. It is located on the corner of Cherry Ave. and Commodore Drive in San Bruno.

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, DC invites us to pray with him:

The Guidance of the Spirit
I can’t add to Fr. Bruce’s letter, so I won’t try to! One way for us to be more open to the Spirit’s promptings is surely prayer and reflection, perhaps a bit easier to build into our lives with fewer meetings and athletic events. I’d like to invite you to consider a Summer Home Retreat, offered by Mercy Center, literally down the road from us in Burlingame. It takes place Monday, July 19 to Friday July 23 as part of a month-long internship for people from all over the world who do spiritual direction, that is, listening to others and helping them discover what God is saying to them. As the flier describes it,

In this type of retreat, you live at home in your usual setting and go through your normal routine – working out an appropriate daily pattern for prayer and reflection and coming to Mercy Center for one hour each day for spiritual direction. If you work during the day, arrangements can be made to come for direction in the evening. A firm commitment to the retreat experience and to the five sessions is all that is required. The time you come is set with your spiritual director. There is no charge for this retreat experience; for those who can afford it, a voluntary offering would be appreciated.

MERCY CENTER
2300 Adeline Drive, Burlingame, CA 94010
Tel: 650.340.7474, Fax: 650.340.1299
mc@mercyburl.org

June
12-18 Jesus: The Compassionate Face of God
16-18 Sr. Ishpriya: Finding a Spirituality in Chaotic Times
18-Sr. Ishpriya: Spirituality for a Borderless Planet
16-23 Weeklong Mediation Intensive

July
17-21 Summer Home Retrat

August
18-25 Weeklong Meditation Intensive

SAN DAMIANO RETREAT
P.O. Box 767, Danville, CA 94526
Tel: (925) 837-9141
www.sandamiano.org

“Whoever lives the truth comes out to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God…”

Dress Code: Full length black slacks, (jeans or spandex are not permitted), white shirt with collar, closed toe comfortable shoes (preferably black or white).

We will car pool from the rectory. For those working in San Francisco, you can meet the group at the gate.