60 Hours Eucharistic Adoration for the Holy Father's 60th priestly ordination

A fellow parishioner at St. Margaret Mary's forwarded me via email the following invitation:

Recently Bishop Cordileone received a letter from Rome by, Cardinal Piacenza, the Prefect of the Congregation of the Clergy. In this letter, the Prefect makes known that June 29th will mark the 60th anniversary of the priestly ordination of our beloved Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. He explains in this letter that, “this is an appropriate occasion to rally around the Supreme Pontiff, to demonstrate to him our gratitude, our affection,” and invites all diocesan ordinaries to offer sixty hours of Eucharistic Adoration in observance of this important anniversary.

Our bishop has responded in the most cordial manner. His desire is for the Diocese of Oakland to host 60 hours of continuous Eucharistic Adoration. It will begins on Wednesday, June 29th, and concludes Friday, July 1st, with Eucharistic Holy Hours from 7:00 PM to 9:00PM led by Bishop Cordileone. Adoration will rotate between the Cathedral of Christ the Light, and the two parishes within our diocese that offer Perpetual Adoration: St. Agnes in Concord, and Holy Spirit in Fremont. The hours of prayers from the Diocese of Oakland, along with those dioceses from around the world, will be offered as a Spiritual Bouquet to our Holy Father.

Relics of St. Toribio Romo (Mexican martyr) at the Christ the Light Cathedral

The relics of St. Toribio Romo Gonzalez, a Mexican martyr who died during the Cristero War, is currently making rounds in the San Francisco Bay Area for the month of June and July. The first stop was at the Christ the Light Cathedral in Oakland, CA on June 11, 2011, where his Excellency, Bishop Salvatore Cordileone, had offered Mass and blessed the faithful with the relic. The occasion also gave me and my family the chance to explore the Cathedral (I have been there on several occasions but never found the time to really look around) For further details and a schedule of the relic tour, check out The Catholic Voice online edition.

Some interesting sights as we explored the Cathedral vicinity:

3 New Priests ordained for the Diocese of San Jose, CA

Last Saturday (June 4, 2011), the Diocese of San Jose was blessed to have 3 new priests that were ordained by Bishop Patrick J. McGrath at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph. The streaming video of the ordination can be viewed here, courtesy of the Diocese. Let us remember Fr. Angelo David, Fr. Steve Kim and Fr. Andrew Nguyen in our prayers!

Bishop McGrath chatting with the sisters of the Missionary of Charity.

Fr. Angelo David giving his first priestly blessing.

My turn to get the blessing!

Me and Fr. Angelo David. We're both product of the Salesian schools in the Philippines (he studied at Don Bosco Makati, I studied at Don Bosco Mandaluyong). He did introduce me to his brother, who also studied in DB Mandaluyong but who's ahead of me by four years.

Fr. Angelo David with his family. His brother told me that they flew all the way from New Zealand!

The newly ordained priests: Fr. Angelo David, Fr. Steve Kim and Fr. Andrew Nguyen.

The Cathedral entrance.

Another view of the Cathedral.

A small token to each of the newly ordained priests. More photos can be found here.