News and Announcements - Week of June 22

Congratulations to Marin natives Cameron Faller and Patrick Summerhays for their vocations.

The newspaper Catholic San Francisco reports that Cameron Faller and Patrick Summerhays were ordained as priests on June 6 at St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco.  In attendance were friends, family and 100 priests.

Both men grew up in Our Lady of Loretto Parish in Novato.

Father Faller, 27, attended Marin Catholic High School, Gonzaga University, and Bishop White Seminary in Spokane.  He will be the parochial vicar at Church of the Epiphany and part-time ministry at Archbishop Riordan High School, both in San Francisco.

Father Summerhays, 42, attended St. Vincent High School in Petaluma, University of San Francisco and spent 10 years in finance.  He will be the new parochial vicar at St. Cecilia Parish in San Francisco.

We congratulate them and their families and wish them all the best in their new vocations.


An Evening of Prayer for Archbishop Cordileone, priests and religious

Join Marin Catholics in an evening of prayer for Salvatore Cordileone, priests and religious, and an increase in vocations.   Father Roger Gustafson will be the principal celebrant and homilist of the Mass with music by Singers of Schola Sancta of the San Francisco bay area.  Buffet supper follows. 

 

• Sunday, June 28   •   5 p.m. 

• St. Sebastian Church •  373 Bon Air Rd., Greenbrae •  461.0704

Evening Concert

Coeur d'Enfants d'Ile de France will perform Bach, Mendelssohn and others in a concert at St. Mary's Cathedral.  A $10 donation is requested.

Wednesday, July 8 •  7 p.m. 

• St. Mary's Cathedral • Gough St. at Geary Blvd. • San Francisco •  567.2020

Marriage Prep

Prepare for marriage with a two-day weekend retreat with San Francisco Engaged Encounter. Applications and information can be found at www.sfcee.org.

Have a church or archdiocese announcement or spiritual need request to share in the blog?  Please send an email to sacredheart@horizoncable.com.

A Greeting from Father Rafael de Avila

This is a greeting from Father Rafael de Avila who will celebrate his first Mass at Sacred Heart on July 1, 2015.  We look forward to his arrival!

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Dear Parishioners:

I would like to introduce myself. My full name is Rafael Antonio de Avila y Romero according to my birth certificate, but when I came to the United States and went to the Social Security Office my name was shorten to Rafael de Avila because it was too long to fit in the computer. 

I was born in Aguascalientes, Ags. Mexico. My parents are Aurelio de Avila y Enriquez and Bertha Romero Marquez. 

I am the third among four siblings: Virginia, Aurelio, Rafael and Daniel. My father died when I was 12 years old and my mother passed away 20 days before my priestly ordination in 1974. My youngest brother, Daniel, died several years ago. 

At the age of 12,  I went to the Minor seminary of Misioneros de Guadalupe located in Lopez Cotilla at the outskirts of Guadalajara. 

After five years in Guadalajara,  I went to Mexico City to have a new experience in the Major Seminary of Misioneros de Guadalupe.

I wanted to be a missionary. Since the very first day,  the seminary formation was awesome. It was a different life style of which I have no complaints. I had to learn different languages because I wanted to preach the Gospel to people of different cultures. 

I studied in Rome for four years and got my degree in Spirituality. I was ordained in 1974. For several years I taught in the Major Seminary. 

From 1980 to 1982 I worked in Jerusalem as Rector of the Propagation of Faith College. 

From 1982 to 1985 I was Dean at a private University in Mexico City, Universidad Intercontinental. 

From 1985 to 1993 I worked in Hong Kong. I spent the first two years just learning the language, Cantonese. 

Most recently, I have been at St. Veronica's in South San Francisco.

Thanks to all of you for welcoming me into your spiritual lives. In the near future I will share more about my priestly life.

 - Father Rafael de Avila