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Fr.  Robert

June 23, 2004

   Dear Friends,

 As you are aware, my three year assignment to Queen of All Saints Church is about to conclude and it hardly seems possible that the time has passed so quickly.  I wish to thank you for welcoming me to your faith community, for your support, prayers, and love that has sustained me while sharing life and ministry with you.  One of the greatest privileges of my life in the priesthood has been being welcomed into the lives, homes, and hearts of the people I have been called to serve.  Your hospitality has been a great gift.

I am grateful for having been able to share my gifts in liturgy, music, art, environment, faith formation, sacramental preparation, and pastoral care of the sick and dying, and especially being able to be present to the families and individuals who have experienced the death of a loved one.  It has been a privilege to work with the other members of the pastoral staff as together we have sought to discern God’s will and direction for the parish and to contribute to the building of God’s reign in this parish.

As of July 1^st, I will take my place as one of the Parochial Vicars at St. Bonaventure Church which is located at 5562 Clayton Road, Concord, 94521; the office phone there is 925-672-5800.  This new assignment will enable me to also continue to be close to my mother who at 85 years of age is in declining health with Alzheimer’s Disease and is a resident of Stonebrook Healthcare Facility on Concord Blvd. 

Please continue to remember me in prayer even as I shall do for you.  Gratefully, and with every good wish and blessing,

Father Robert Rien

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Fr. Mathew

June 23, 2004

You Have Touched My Life And I Have Grown

Dear Friends,

As you all know I am transferring to Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Fremont as one of the Parochial Vicars there. I will move there on July 1^st 2004. This comes as a result of my seeking incardination in the diocese of Oakland. According to the Diocesan practice here before a priest from outside the diocese can be accepted into the diocese, one should have two parish experiences. QAS was my first and Our Lady of Guadalupe will be my second.

I have really enjoyed working here at QAS during the past three years. I have put my heart and soul to do well all the Sacramental ministries, youth and hospital ministries that have been assigned to me. In the process I have come to know you and love you. Our paths have crossed and lives have touched. Do accept my sincere gratitude and appreciation for accepting me as I am and for loving me. It is you who have inspired me to serve the Diocese of Oakland for the rest of my life.

It is not easy for me to leave the religious order of Salesians of Don Bosco and to become a Diocesan priest. But I strongly feel that the Lord is calling me to this way of life now. As a religious all the resources are pooled together and the order looks after all your needs. But as a priest of the Diocese you are independent and so now I will have to begin to save for my retirement.

May I humbly request you to support and pray for me so that I can be incardinated and serve the Church of Oakland as a good priest. I will certainly miss you but you all will be in my prayers and will remember you gratefully at the altar.

My address from July 1^st is 40382 Fremont Blvd., Fremont, CA 94538. Tel: 510-366-7721.

Invoking God’s abundant blessings upon you,

Fr. Mathew Vellankal

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Pastor's Past Messages

  July 8th, 2012

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

First of all I would like to thank the Knights of Columbus for re-painting the interior of the Hall. They recognized something that very much needed attention and organized a group of five or six and got it done. Thank you Wayne Strongman, Lou Salvatore, Charlie Guitron, Les Casazza, Kevin Casazza, Jim Crabtree and Carlos Penuela. In their words they said they were: “putting lipstick on a pig” which brings up another issue our parish must decide this Fall. Build a new parish center that would meet the growing needs of a very active parish for years to come or fix up the limited space the Hall offers?? With thehelp of God we can do anything we set our minds and hearts to accomplish by working together.

Also, I would like to give you a heads up on what the City is planning for our neighborhood. As you know we live in the original part of a City which from 1869 to 1905, that was once called Todos Santos, California (at which time they think a group of Masons registered the name as Concord, CA in 1905). Being in the old part of town since the 19th Century, the water pipes and sewers system are continually breaking down. Beginning in late Summer or early Fall the city plans to replace this old dilapidated system. It will take seven or eight months. This will effect our tariff patterns in and out during this time. I have also asked Chris Cole whose Dad is working with the city on this project to look into the possibility of burying the ugly power lines in front of the church. This must be done by PG&E and would be a huge improvement. He is looking into the process. The water and sewer lines along Almond Street by the school were for private households before we tore those houses down in 1994.

We should be thinking ahead to one’s that are more functional for a Parish Center if you ask me. Needless to say I am hoping our parish starts thinking in terms of functional center and long range rather than stop gaps. But whatever way the vote goes I will support your decision. I am going to be in and out over this next month. It took me 25 years to save-up time to do the sabbatical. I only took half of the leave. If I took the whole year I would have to be reassigned to a new parish since I would have been gone for a whole year. Since I have begun my nineteenth year here at Queen of All Saints I am not willing to start over in some other parish. God and only God knows our future. As long as we trust in His divine providence to see us through, we can continue to trust that the Divine Love, that gave us life, will see us through the challenges that will no doubt come our way. If each of us is willing to do a small part of a very big project, good things will continue to come our way.

In His Peace,

Fr. Mike