S

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

ANNOUNCEMENTS AT MASS
7th Sunday of Easter
May 20th 2012  

1. Applications are now being accepted for fall and summer classes for the school, including junior kindergarten and Vacation Bible School . Please check the bulletin.

2. Next weekend we will celebrate Pentecost, the birthday of the church. All parishioners are invited to wear read. Anyone wishing to carry a special candle representing one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit in our entrance procession are invited to sign up on the poster in the narthex. 4:30, 7:15 and 10:30 only.

3. Tamales will be on sale after mass until they run out.

4. 12:00 only: All alumni are invited over to the hall for a reception and open house.

5.  Directly following the announcements we will have a second collection for Catholic Charities of the East Bay. Your gift allows CCEB to respond to the many needs of our brothers and sisters who are struggling with poverty in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Housing assistance, counseling, job training, English classes, school programs and assistance to refugees and immigrants are among the help provided. Donation envelopes are in the pews and your donation can be dropped off anytime. Thank you for your generosity.

 The General Intercessions
May 20th 2012   

Presider:        Paul teaches us that we are to be people of hope. Mindful of this we seek God’s assistance as we pray: 

Lector:           That the Church continue to proclaim the Gospel message of our ascended Savior, sharing his message of gladness and joy: we pray to the Lord:

Lector:           That our leaders work in service of justice, ever striving toward peace and consolation, we pray to the Lord:

Lector:           That the children who were baptized this weekend and their families always keep the flame of faith burning brightly in their hearts, we pray to the Lord:

Lector:           That the alumni of Queen of all Saints school continue to know the joy of God’s blessings and bring the light of Christ to everyone they meet, we pray to the Lord:

Lector:           For the downtrodden and the sick, especially Dorthy Anderson, Patty Griffin, Marilyn O’Connor, Alicia Hernandez, Ivan Gamez, Eddie Bermudez, Emma Doud, Maryjane Walker, Ron Willis, Nick DelaGrange, and Eliza Begley that they may find hope and healing in the Lord, we pray to the Lord. 

Lector:           For those who have died, especially, Elsie Johnson and Lola Willard, that they will know peace and their families be comforted, we pray to the Lord:

Presider:       God of comfort and compassion, you are with us until the end of the world. Hear our prayers that we offer through Christ our Risen Lord.
Amen 

Weekly Church Bulletin

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THANK YOU!

On behalf of Queen of All Saints School we would

like to thank you for your support to our annual Auction/

Dinner. It was a huge success!!!

Congratulations to Edith Soliman, mother of Ericka in

4th grade, who won the beautiful diamond pendant. The

raffle winners were Mr. & Mrs. Walter Hesse ($750), Ms.

Donna Davidson ($1,500), and Mr. Jobar Baron ($3,000). 

ARCHIVED BULLETINS: Email your request to webmanager@qaschurch.org.  

 Editorial Note: It is my decision to grant the following letter permanency as an important educational document. It serves as a powerful example of how we can all learn to deal with those who chose to "bear false witness against their neighbors." Fr. Michael Cunningham is a wise teacher whom I look up to; one who believes in leading by example. The media-at-large bears little resemblance to true traditional jouralism, but more closely resembles a highly-biased propaganda arm of anti-Christian liberalism. 
Michael Souza, Webmanager

Contra Costa Times Cancellation Letter

To: The Editorial Staff of the Contra Costa Times
Re: Cancellation of Subscription
From: Fr. Michael Cunningham
Pastor of Queen of All Saints Church

I am sharing with the people of Queen of All Saints Church our decision to cancel our subscription to your paper.

I have felt for awhile that the only way the Catholic Church is ever mentioned in your paper is always in reference to abuse scandal. In case someone should forget what happened thirty or forty years ago a thorough review of the history of these tragic events is provided. Recently a letter came to light which you decided was front page news.

Information about this horrendous tragedy has brought about such a thorough reform that even ‘older ladies and gentlemen’ who have no more contact with children than the distribution of Eucharist in a Communion line must go through ‘safe children workshops’. We have been made painfully aware of what happened in the past, what ‘signs’ to look for in the present, as well as who and how to report it immediately.

I feel confident that our awareness is going to shed light on a problem that runs far deeper in our American culture than anyone is now willing to acknowledge, and beyond us the world, at least if you have seen the recent documentary on the ‘Dancing Boys of Afghanistan’. There are over 42,000 of us priests who work very hard with the nearly 70,000,000 in this country. When you compare our numbers with the now ‘former priests’ guilty of these statistics the percentage is very low. If the statistics quoted by Sam Miller*, the Jewish businessman, are reliable, our share in a much bigger issue is relatively small. We for our part are going to make sure this never happens again to the Body of Christ, and if it should happen, the ‘criminals’ involved will be dealt with swiftly.

You need not investigate the source of your anti-Catholic bias. Whether it comes from former Catholics who never knew the mystery of the cross of Jesus Christ or people of other persuasions who were raised on a diet of anti-Catholic rhetoric or people who are of no persuasion at all, who really cares? The moral standards of the church are in direct opposition to the standards of the world. This has always been the case and will no doubt continue.

So keep your staff and keep your paper far away from our front door. As far as what the Catholics who read this open letter will do, it is as in ‘all things catholic’, up to their own consciences to decide.

Sincerely yours,

Fr. Michael Cunningham

* Excerpts of an article written by non-Catholic Sam Miller - a prominent Cleveland Jewish businessman:

"Why would newspapers carry on a vendetta on one of the most important institutions that we have today in the United States, namely the Catholic Church?

Do you know - the Catholic Church educates 2.6 million students everyday at the cost to that Church of 10 billion dollars, and a savings on the other hand to the American taxpayer of 18 billion dollars? The graduates go on to graduate studies at the rate of 92%. The Church has 230 colleges and universities in the U.S. with an enrollment of 700,000 students.

The Catholic Church has a non-profit hospital system of 637 hospitals, which account for hospital treatment of 1 out of every 5 people - not just Catholics - in the United States today . . . But the press is vindictive and trying to totally denigrate in every way the Catholic Church in this country. They have blamed the disease of pedophilia on the Catholic Church, which is as irresponsible as blaming adultery on the institution of marriage.

Let me give you some figures that Catholics should know and remember. For example, 12% of the 300 Protestant clergy surveyed admitted at sexual intercourse with a parishioner; 38% acknowledged other inappropriate sexual contact in a study by the United Methodist Church, 41.8% of clergy women reported unwanted sexual behavior; 17% of laywomen have been sexually harassed.

Meanwhile, 1.7% of the Catholic clergy has been found guilty of pedophilia. 10% of the Protestant ministers have been found guilty of pedophilia. This is not a Catholic Problem. A study of American priests showed that most are happy in the priesthood and find it even better than they had expected, and that most, if given the choice, would choose to be priests again in face of all this obnoxious PR the church has been receiving.

The Catholic Church is bleeding from self-inflicted wounds. The agony that Catholics have felt and suffered is not necessarily the fault of the Church. You have been hurt by a small number of wayward priest that have probably been totally weeded out by now.

Walk with your shoulders high and your head higher. Be a proud member of the most important non-governmental agency in the United States. Then remember what Jeremiah said: ‘Stand by the roads, and look and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is and walk in it, and find rest for your souls’. Be proud to speak up for your faith with pride and reverence and learn what your Church does for all other religious.

Be proud that you’re a Catholic."

Webmanager: Michael Souza (Custom Web Design & Graphics)  -  Email: webmanager@qaschurch.org 
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