California Day 7

This morning Jim McLaughlin and I went back to St. Columba Church where the St. Vincent de Paul Society organizes a weekly food distribution for needy and hungry people.

They quickly supplied me with an apron and plastic gloves and put me to work. My first task was bagging potatoes and yams and onions together.
21 volunteers sorted, cleaned, and repackaged a variety of fresh vegetables and fruits and loaves of bread and bags of rice. Food comes from a city food bank and from supermarket chains.

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These volunteers were opening packages of fruit to remove old and discolored pieces, and then repackaging them for insertion into 65 big brown paper bags that were distributed to people lined up at 11:00 AM.
Jim McLaughlin (L) and a colleague broke down the cardboard boxes for recycling. A parishioner collects the bundled boxes and sells them to a recycler to raise money for her grandson’s school expenses.
In addition to the neighborhood’s needs and hunger, there is a fear of the government’s arresting and detaining people who might be coming to the church.

California Day 6

Today was an interesting day. Jim had an appointment in the morning and Roberta goes to an exercise class for seniors on Mondays and I went with her. That was good and gave me some new ideas for exercises.

Late in the morning we three drove to Petaluma, north of Oakland, to visit Bob and Nancy McFarland whom we knew from their visits to Cambodia.

Bob is an accomplished nature and cultural photographer internationally recognized but he has decided that now is the time to conclude that phase of his life. He took us to his storehouse of photos he has been selling and offered to us any that we wished, thankful that people who appreciated his work could acquire some of it before he gives the remaining photographs away. I received some that he had taken on trips to Cambodia. They will go well in my new room with bare walls.

Then Nancy fed us a delicious lunch extended by a lot of conversation. With us was Marie Wren, former fund raiser for the Maryknoll priests and brothers. (L-R: Charlie, Marie, Bob, Roberta, Jim, and Nancy)

No Kings Rally

If you believe that our democratic values and our system of government are under threat from our present administration, please participate in one of the thousands of No Kings rallies being held around the U.S. on Saturday, October 18. These rallies are not Democratic or Republican. They are political but non-partisan. They are peaceful events with people expressing their opinion about our government.

California Day 5

Our morning started with a 10:30 mass at St. Columba Church in Berkeley. It’s a Black Catholic parish and is a model for welcoming people and for active participation.
A bonus at St. Columba was reconnecting with Dierdre Savino, a former Maryknoll Lay Missioner in Peru. As a newcomer, I was asked to introduce myself, and after hearing my background, Dierdre realized our common vocation with the lay mission program.
After mass we had lunch and then went to a botanical garden but it was closed for a wedding. We then went to a museum but found it was for children. We consoled ourselves with some frozen yogurt and then eventually ended up at the McLaughlin home where Jim and Roberta gathered together some leftovers for dinner. A good day!

California Day 4

Today had a lot of travel but fewer stops.

Our first stop was near Santa Clara, to visit an ailing old friend of Jim and Roberta McLaughlin.
Then we drove farther south to Santa Clara to vist Marge Trant, the mother of Sr. Arlene Trant (R). Arlene and I worked together with the deaf community of Macau. Arlene’s sister Karen (L) was also with her mother today.
A photo of all of us with Jim and Roberta before we had a blessing for Marge before we left.
After the 1.5 hour drive back to Berkeley, it was decided to eat in a restaurant rather than cook at home. People were tired from all the travel in traffic.

California Day 1

Yesterday was a long day, with 7 to 8 hours of flying and at airports, and then starting touring in San Francisco.

The first noticeable element for me was changing planes in Las Vegas. There were slot machines all over the airport terminal, even at the gates.
Jim and Roberta met me at the Oakland airport and wanted to start touring right away after dropping my suitcase at my little house and walking around their neighborhood.

Then at 4:00 PM we watched the fourth lecture of the theologian Marcus Mescher online. He is really good!
Then we walked around their neighborhood and I saw some redwood trees nearby. They are beautiful. We also met their neighbor Ann who organizes an annual cookie fest.

Then we met with Maria, their daughter, and husband Randall and daughters Addis and Zella for dinner. That was lively and interesting.
We also met a man going to bible study who had an interesting T-shirt.
Jim and Roberta regularly take walks around their neighborhood.

St. William’s Church

St. William’s is a small dynamic Catholic community in Louisville who really express themselves in their liturgy. Their church is located in what is now an industrial neighborhood but members come from all over Louisville and their service is streamed online for others in 14 states and 6 countries. The spirit is great there and I attended their Sunday celebrations over the years when I was in town. And I attended there yesterday.

The church has been reconfigured to better locate and involve all those attending. The former sanctuary is now occupied by the musicians. Here they are practicing before the service.
The altar has been moved to the center of the building to bring everyone closer to the table.
Fr. Bill Hammer is the sacramental moderator for St. William’s but the parish administration and leadership is handled by lay people.