Marianist Community
-- 22683 Alcalde Road -- Cupertino, CA 95014 My first month back in Cupertino was very peaceful and enriching. Besides being very much at home with the Marianists, I had a series of “Welcome Home” visits in the Bay Area. Brother Gene Frank set up the computer for me and Mrs. Nancy Romano has been helping me unpack and sort out my files. I am also adjusting well to the cooler weather and I am enjoying challenging walks in the hills in the nearby Rancho San Antonio Park. Best of all I am living with a great group of Marianists and we are well cared for by a very devoted staff. One of the best gifts is community prayer, whether here in the San Juan Residence overlooking the Santa Clara Valley or with the group at Villa Saint Joseph. At the Villa, Brother Gene guides our singing with his Yamaha keyboard. On special occasions we have mass at the Villa in the dining room because the chapel is too small to accommodate everyone. On those days as we come to the exchange of greetings of peace we suddenly come to life and there is a movement of chairs and people as we act out the vision of Ezekiel who wrote about new life as the sound of rattling bones coming together. We celebrated Labor Day, many feasts and the Birthdays of Father John Bolin and Brother Bill McCall. We also remembered 9/11. I was celebrant for September 5, Feast of Mary, Queen of Apostles. That was my first opportunity to share with the community some of my thoughts about our mission as Senior Marianists which is one of the projects I am working on. We had several other Marian feasts: Nativity (September 8) Holy Name of Mary (September 12) and the Seven Sorrows of Mary (September 15). The feast of the Holy Name of Mary is our patronal feast and one of the four special days in the year when Marianists throughout the world pray in a special way for all those who have touched our lives. The feast of Saint Joseph of Cupertino on September 18 took precedence over the feast of our Spanish martyrs so we postponed that celebration until September 19 followed the next day by the celebration of the Korean martyrs. Brother John Haster is very busy supervising the remodeling of the Marianist Center and gives us reassuring progress reports. His attentiveness to the workers is admirable. Among other things he set up a poolside luncheon for the community and the workers. He also serves on the Province Committee organizing the 2007 Province Assembly and is a member of the Archbishop Riordan High School Board of Directors. Four of us attended the Bishop’s annual reception for religious. I represented the Marianists at the funeral of Father Victor Wilkiemeyer, an elderly diocesan priest who had been pastor of Saint Lawrence for 26 years. I met many old friends at the funeral, one of whom feigned surprise that I was still alive, jokingly telling me that he had already said the traditional three masses for a departed priest! The best line about my return, however, came from the VISA agent when I called in to record my change of address: “Didn’t you like Maui?” I assured her I did, but…then I asked where she was, and with a sigh she said “Oh, Delaware!” Brother Vince Wayer had a lively weekend celebrating his golden jubilee at the parish in San Antonio where he served for many years. Father John McEnhill was away for a few days of rest and then returned for cataract surgery. Father Dave Schuyler continues to serve on various boards while doing some work for diocesan tribunals. Father Jack Rielly made his annual visit to Hawaii to keep in touch with our Marianist Affiliates. He and Father Dave attended the closing of the year-long celebration of Chaminade University’s 50th Anniversary. The key person in the community is Brother Stanley Murakami who handles so many things quietly and efficiently. During my first weeks here whenever I asked a question to which no one knew the answer, the refrain was always “Ask Stanley!” He and several others attended the 25th Anniversary celebration of Martha’s Kitchen which honored Brother Joseph Nu’uanu’s 16 years of dedicated service: The plaque presented to him has this fine tribute “Your attentiveness to the needs of others has inspired everyone around you to do the same.” Several Marianists who attended the “Under 55” gathering at Vallombrosa dropped in to visit. Sister Laola Hironaka, FMI stopped off here on her way from San Antonio to Hawaii to visit her family there. Other guests included Father Tim Kenney and Brother Tom Oles. Brother Richard Dix was with us for a few days to check on the sale of the property and to see how the remodeling was coming along. Praesidium had a representative here for random interviews as part of the program to help our province prevent issues of sexual abuse. This excellent program designed to help us be more pro-active has been adopted by many religious communities. The 2006-2007 Personnel just released lists the Cupertino Marianist Community as No. 1! (California is the first state alphabetically; Cupertino the first city.) The 27 members are mostly Senior Marianists. Seven were born between 1915-1919; eight between 1921-1929; nine between 1930-1939 and the remaining three between 1941-1951. Brother Charles Ehrenfeld is the oldest; Brother John Schlund is the youngest. At present we have four residences: the central house is Villa Saint Joseph; at the top of the hill is the former Provincialate on San Juan Road; at the foot of the hill alongside the Marianist Center we have the Alcalde House and next to it is the former archives building now remodeled and renamed the Bordeaux House. The remodeling of the Marianist Center is moving along vigorously but will not be ready until early in 2007. When I first came to Cupertino – in 1969 – I lived in the Provincialate. This was the first of three building projects completed by our Working Brothers Construction Crew. It is a beautiful building on a commanding site in what is called “Inspiration Heights” and overlooks the Villa Saint Joseph. My room overlooks the Santa Clara Valley, and I have the office I used in 1969. Be assured I am with you in thought and prayer, ever grateful for your prayerful support. ST |