Church of the Transfiguration 4000 E. Castro Valley Blvd., Castro Valley, CA 94552-4908

(510) 538-7941 Fax (510) 538-7983 E-mail: transfig_office@sbcglobal.net Website: www.transfigchurch.com October 25, 2015

Rev. Mario L. Borges, Pastor ● Rev. Terence O’Malley, Parochial Administrator Deacon Martin J. Leach ● Deacon John A. Mignano ● Deacon Timothy L. Moore ● Deacon Burton J. Rigley

LITURGICAL MINISTRY: Liturgy Coordinator, Sean Cooper Eucharistic Ministers, Stephen and Carina Kowalewski Lectors, Barbara Mehan Altar Servers, Alicia Antonio Youth Liturgy, Michelle Gilman

FINANCE COUNCIL: Chairman, Mark Zaleski

PARISH ORGANIZATIONS: Catholic Youth Organization (CYO), 60 Plus or Minus Club, Hospitality Committee

SAINT VINCENT de PAUL SOCIETY: (510) 274-0830 Serving our community.

SICK & HOMEBOUND MINISTRY: Claudia Paquette, (510) 537-8986

STEWARDSHIP: Chairperson, Ed Coelho, (510) 881-5705

WINGS “Women in God’s Spirit”: Bobbie Blackard,510-581-4149 HALL MANAGER: Pat Ballinger, (510) 537-1502

HALL RENTAL MANAGER: Ann McAusland, 510-239-7941

YOUTH MINISTRY: Sean Cooper, (510) 581-5870 or Transfig_Youth@sbcglobal.net

PARISH OFFICE: Phone: (510) 538-7941 Fax: (510) 538-7983 Hours: 8:00 a.m. — 4:30 p.m., Monday-Thursday (Closed between 12:00 & 1:00 p.m.) Friday, 9:00a.m. — 12:00 Noon - Saturday & Sunday—Closed Secretary, Gloria Meeker Secretary/Bookkeeper, Phyllis Moore

SCHEDULE OF MASSES Saturdays 4:00 p.m. Sundays 7:30 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. (Except First Fridays - 9:30 a.m.) Communion Service - Saturdays, 8:00 a.m. CONFESSIONS Saturdays 3:00-3:45 p.m. BAPTISMS: Pre-baptismal class is required. Class is held the second Tuesday of the month at 7:30 p.m. in the Marian Room, Parish Hall. Please call the Parish Office, 538-7941, to register. MATRIMONY: Six months advance notice required. Please call the parish office. WEDDING COORDINATOR: Mel Speed (510) 909-9334 or melspeed@live.com FUNERALS: Please contact the funeral home of your choice and then the parish office. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION: Director, Patrice Ballinger (510) 537-1502 or TransfigCCD@aol.com RCIA: Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults Director, Martin Mijalski. Please call the parish office. MUSIC MINISTRY: Director, Alexander Katsman (510) 538-7941, Ext. 302 or Transfig_Music@sbcglobal.net

Mission Statement: “Transfiguring Our Community Through Faith”

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time October 25, 2015

The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad indeed.

— Psalm 126:3

Transfiguration Catholic Church

Mass Intentions (October 24-31, 2015) Sat. 4:00p.m. Chester A. Kuta Sun. 7:30a.m. Cathrine & Patrick Conroy 9:00a.m. For the People 11:00a.m. Jim Catrina Mon. 8:00a.m. Veronica Bosch Tues. 8:00a.m. Fr. John Crumlish Wed. 8:00a.m. Piedade Luis Thurs. 8:00a.m. Elvira Gomes Fri. 8:00a.m. Diane Plant Sat. 4:00p.m. Florentino Cruz

Stewardship Corner The collection total for the weekends of October 10 & 11th, 17th & 18th, and 24th & 25th will be in the Oct. 31 & Nov. 1st bulletin. Thank you for continuing in your stewardship role of providing for the upkeep of our parish community.

Remember Transfiguration in your Will and Living Trust

For Your Information When writing your checks for regular or special collections, please make all checks payable to Transfiguration Church (a request made by our bank). The Church will then send one total check for each special collection to the designated charity. Also, please write in the memo portion of your check the name of the collection to which you are donating. This will help the office to give you proper credit. Thank you for your support!

Pancake Breakfast Team “C” will be hosting the Pancake Breakfast this Sunday after the 7:30a.m. and 9:00a.m. Masses in the Parish Hall. All-you-can-eat pancakes, ham, sausage, scrambled eggs, orange juice, coffee/tea/hot chocolate. Adult: $4, Senior: $3, Child: $3, Family: $8. Be sure to come and enjoy a great meal and the fellowship. See you there!

Adult Bible Study Monday evening, October 26, 2015 in the Marian Room of the Parish Hall, 7:00-8:30p.m. No sign-up required, just drop in. Free will offering.

Deadline for Bulletin The deadline for items in the bulletin is Monday,4:30p.m.

Thank you for your support!

We extend a warm welcome to new parishioners. Please pick up a registration form in the vestibule of the church and return it to the Parish Office. This helps us to serve you better.

Baptism Class The next Baptism class will be Tuesday, November 10, 2015.

Please call the Parish Office to register.

Transfiguration Parish Goal Update Our goal here at Transfiguration Parish for the “Reclaiming Christ’s Mission Together” campaign is $549,431.11. So far, we have raised $306,202.68 (55.73% of our goal). We still have $243,228.43 to be raised. Let’s keep going to reach our goal! If you have not yet responded, please consid-er doing so soon. Remember, our parish will receive 25% of all monies collected up to our goal and 50% of funds raised above our goal. Thank you for your support!

Attention All Adult Parish Volunteers Please be sure to complete your Safe Environment training on shieldthevulnerable.org no later than October 31. Directions are available on our website: Transfigchurch.com. If you need assistance, please call or e-mail Sean Cooper at transfig_youth@sbcglobal.net or (510) 581-5870.

Did you know? We will be taking an attendance count at all of the masses during the month of October.

Sixty Plus and Minus Club Please join us in the Hall following the 9:30a.m. Mass on Friday, November 6th following the 9:30a.m. Mass. Our hosts this month will be Barbara Coelho, Shirley Thor-nally, Dorothy Maisel, Rose Dias and Patty Moeller. Bin-go will be played after the meeting. Please sign up today if you plan to attend.

We invite all women to join us for: WINGS (“Women in God’s Spirit”)

Wings is a faith enhancement group that encourages Spiritual growth through prayer, scripture study,

Catechesis, life sharing and community. Transfiguration Church, Marian Rm. Parish Hall

Thursday, November 5, 2015, 9:15-11:15a.m. Speaker: Deacon Lance Vivet

Tiny Tickets = Tremendous Treasure What is a Tiny Ticket??? And why would anyone

want them??? MANY of you have been so faithful to our project —- Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! Many of you may not know any-thing about TINY TICKETS…Well……Tiny Tickets are those BART tickets, often discarded or left in pockets or drawers, which have tiny bits of value left on them that could be turned into cash. The Tiny Tickets Program allows these resources to provide needed support to nonprofit groups like FESCO. Our Confirmation Program is committed to help. There is a Treasure Chest in the vestibule of the church, please drop your Tiny Tickets in the chest and we will transport them to the FESCO Offices. Thank you in advance for your kind generosi-ty to our brothers and sisters in need.

Attention Amazon Shoppers! Transfiguration is now a registered non-profit on Amazon Smile, Amazon’s charitable giving program. To register your account for donations to Transfiguration, go to smile.amazon.com, search for “Transfiguration Castro Valley”, and click choose. Amazon will then donate .5% of qualifying purchases to Transfiguration! All you have to do is the initial setup, and then go to: smile.amazon.com each time you shop! If you have ques-tions about how the program works, please contact Sean Cooper at 581-5870 or transfig_youth@ sbcglobal.net.

~~Religious Education~~

Altar Servers Wanted!!! Want to be an Altar Server or know someone who is interested? We are now recruiting new Altar Servers for our Transfigura-

tion Church Parish! Children who are 10 yrs. and older and who have received first Holy Communion are eligible. Parents who

would like their children to serve at the altar may email: Alicia Antonio at: bheng1972@yahoo.com.

Thank you for advertising in our bulletin. We appreciate your support!

Lucky & Food Maxx SHARES Program

If you shop at Lucky, Save Mart, or Food Maxx, please be sure to pick up a SHARES card in the vestibule. Swipe your SHARES card at checkout every time you shop, and a dona-tion will be made by Lucky to our youth ministry programs. No need to sign up; just swipe the card when you shop. Feel free to pick up SHARES cards for family and friends.

Thank you for your support!

C.C.D

CULTIVATING. CATHOLIC. DISCIPLES.

Classes, as usual, this week. We thank our 5th Grade Class for serving at

today’s 9:00 Mass and at our Pancake Breakfast. You are Church!

Wishing you All a Happy and SAFE Halloween!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Confirmation Class, as usual, 7:30 to 9:30—Thursday Lit. Service Reminder: Peace and Faithfulness will be serving next Sunday — Practice is this Thursday 7:00 in the church — Please be on time! PGO Reminder: Chair Rack Welding Group meets Next Sunday, November 1st at 10:30—Thank you for caring about our parish’s needs. And Thank you to our parish volunteer welder: Jeff Robbins.

TODAY’S READINGS First Reading: Jeremiah 31:7-9 Second Reading: Hebrews 5:1-6

Psalm 126—Gospel: Mark 10:46-52 READINGS FOR THE WEEK

Monday: Rom 8:12-17; Ps 68:2, 4, 6-7ab, 20-21; Lk 13:10-17 Tuesday: Rom 8:18-25; Ps 126:1b-6; Lk 13:18-21 Wednesday: Eph 2:19-22; Ps 19:2-5; Lk 6:12-16 Thursday: Rom 8:31b-39; Ps 109:21-22, 26-27, 30-31; Lk 13:31-35 Friday: Rom 9:1-5; Ps 147:12-15, 19-20; Lk 14:1-6 Saturday: Rom 11:1-2a, 11-12, 25-29; Ps 94:12-13a, 14-15, 17-18; Lk 14:1, 7-11 Sunday: Rv 7:2-4, 9-14; Ps 24:1-6; 1 Jn 3:1-3; Mt 5:1-12a

TRUE BLINDNESS Bartimaeus caused a stir. Normally he sat by the side of the road being a “good blind beggar.” But one day Jesus passed nearby. Bartimaeus jumped up and called out to Jesus. We can imagine him turning toward the direction of the commotion and noise. Bartimaeus probably had his arms outstretched as he shouted out to the son of David. The people who knew him were embarrassed by his out-burst. They tried to hush him up and get him to sit back down by the roadside. Their actions spoke volumes: “Bartimaeus, you’re not fit for Jesus.” But it was okay for them and other “sighted” people to follow Jesus. In to-day’s readings, we learn that true blindness is not a condi-tion of our eyes but of our hearts. Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co.

LETTER FROM POPE FRANCIS THE “JOY OF THE GOSPEL” CONTINUED...

The Church’s Missionary Transformation—#104 Other ecclesial challenges Demands that the legitimate rights of women be respect-ed, based on the firm conviction that men and women are equal in dignity, present the Church with profound and challenging questions which cannot be lightly evaded. The reservation of the priesthood to males, as a sign of Christ the Spouse who gives himself in the Eucharist, is not a question open to discussion, but it can prove espe-cially divisive if sacramental power is too closely identi-fied with power in general. It must be remembered that when we speak of sacramental power “we are in the realm of function, not that of dignity or holiness”. The ministe-rial priesthood is one means employed by Jesus for the service of his people, yet our great dignity derives from baptism, which is accessible to all. The configuration of the priest to Christ the head – namely, as the principal source of grace – does not imply an exaltation which would set him above others. In the Church, functions “do not favour the superiority of some vis-à-vis the others”. Indeed, a woman, Mary, is more important than the bish-ops. Even when the function of ministerial priesthood is considered “hierarchical”, it must be remembered that “it is totally ordered to the holiness of Christ’s members”. Its key and axis is not power understood as domination, but the power to administer the sacrament of the Eucharist; this is the origin of its authority, which is always a service to God’s people. This presents a great challenge for pas-tors and theologians, who are in a position to recognize more fully what this entails with regard to the possible role of women in decision-making in different areas of the Church’s life.

Fr. Terry’s Remarks— As Women in society keep breaking the proverbial glass ceilings, we are even envi-sioning a woman President here in the USA. We have seen in the past few weeks especially that all develop-ments in the growth and history of our beloved Church have not been positive. Even the wrong kind of 'power' has entered the sacramental sphere so that women, as they break all the other ceilings, feel called to ordination as well. If we can remove clericalism from the celebration of the sacraments and lay less stress on hierarchy there is a possibility that we will take some of the pain and heat of this debate. Pope Francis believes this question is closed but he encourages us to dialogue. As time goes by and the Church and all of us evolve along the path of holiness and truth, new challenges and holy solutions will be ours. Rightly, the role of all our beloved sisters in the church will be with us for all eternity.