The Valley Catholic
IN OUR DIOCESE
5
October 8, 2013
Archbishop Mitty High School begins 50th anniversary celebration
By Roberta Ward and
Sarah Janigian
Archbishop Mitty High School in
San Jose is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, beginning with a Sept. 14
outdoor Mass celebrated by
Bishop Patrick J. McGrath at
the school’s campus.
In his homily, Bishop
McGrath noted the Gospel
reading of the Prodigal Son
and his relationship to his father and
brother. “The younger son took what
he could of his inheritance – before his
father had died – and got out of town,
spending himself into ruin.
“The dutiful older son did his homework and passed his tests, but was far
from a good son: he hated everything
about his life. He considered himself his
father’s slave, doing nothing out of love,
oblivious to his father’s love for him and
contemptuous of his father’s love for his
brother.”
Bishop McGrath said, “Let us see the
real ‘good news’ in the person of the father of those young men, the father who
opens his arms to receive the younger
one back, even as he assures the older
son that all that he has is his.”
Archbishop Mitty High School was
the first archdiocesan high school in the
AB Mitty High School Principal Tim Brosnan
spoke at 50 th anniversary Mass. (Left)
Banner on lite posts mark 50th anniversary
of DSJ Catholic high school in San Jose.
Santa Clara Valley. It was named for late
Archbishop John Joseph Mitty, fourth
Archbishop of San Francisco, who was
both an educator and a builder.
Construction of the school began in
1963, and when completed, the campus
occupied its present 24 acres.
Initially, Brothers and priests of the
Society of Mary (Marianists) were given
responsibility to conduct the school.
It opened in the fall of 1964 with 189
male students, and the first classes were
held in Queen of Apostles Elementary
40 Days for Life celebrates Fall opening
On Sept. 16 the Fall 40 Days for Life
Campaign officially began when Auxiliary Bishop Thomas A. Daly celebrated
Mass for the Sanctity of Human Life at
St. Simon Parish with a large congregation of pro-life supporters.
Concelebrants included Father Warwick James and Father Noelle Sanvicente of St. Simon Parish, Msgr. Francisco
Rios of Our Lady of Refuge Parish,
Father Anthony Nguyen of Christ the
King Parish, Father Engel Gammad and
Father Andres Ligot, Tribunal Vicars,
Father Steve Kim of St. Lucy Parish,
Father Ernesto Orci of St. Lawrence
the Martyr Parish, and Father Mathew
Stanley of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish.
Also present were Brother Robert
Barcelos of Mount St. Joseph Carmelite
Monastery, Father Anthony Uytingco
and Father Andrew Nguyen of St.
Christopher Parish, Seminarian Jeff
Hernandez of St. Patrick Seminary and
Deacon Don Sifferman of Sacred Heart
Parish, Saratoga.
Michele Coldiron of St. Simon Parish coordinated members of St. Simon
and Holy Family Parishes to represent
a “seamless garment of life” for the Intercessions for the Prayers of the Faithful.
As a concluding rite, Bishop Daly gave
a special blessing to all those who are
active in the pro-life endeavor in the
Diocese of San Jose.
The 40 Days for Life Campaign runs
from Sept. 25 through Nov. l and is
a focused pro-life campaign that has
mobilized over 525,000 people worldwide. According to Pat Bradley, local
coordinator, “40 days” has saved more
than 7,500 lives from abortion, led to the
conversion of 83 abortion workers and
seen 13 abortion facilities close.
It has three components: prayer and
fasting, peaceful vigil at the Planned
Parenthood abortion clinic at 1691 The
Alameda, San Jose, and community
outreach.
The Fall midway event, Oct. 12, begins at 10 am at St. Leo Parish, 88 Race
Street, with a procession to Planned
Parenthood for a prayer service. The
final event will be held Nov. 1, 7:30
pm at St. Leo Parish with a candlelight
procession to Planned Parenthood for a
prayer service. All are welcome.
For more information about 40 Days
for Life call Pat Bradley at 408-4977270 or visit www.40daysforlife.com/
sanjose.
At Mass opening 50th anniversary year at Archbishop Mitty High School (l-r) Permanent
Deacon Steve Herrera who teaches religion there, Bishop Patrick J. McGrath, and Vicar
General Monsignor Francis Cilia.
School. Completed high school buildings were occupied in April 1965.
The school expanded its student body
in 1969 and began sharing classes with
Mother Butler Memorial High School
and St. Lawrence Girls’ High School.
Consolidation of the three schools was
completed by the fall of 1972.
With the creation of the Diocese of San
Jose in 1981, Archbishop Mitty became
the only Catholic high school owned and
administrated by the diocese.
In 1990, Bishop Emeritus Pierre DuMaine appointed Mr. Timothy Brosnan
as first lay principal. Under the new
administration’s leadership, the school
entered a period of academic, extracurricular and campus growth.
Supporting this growth in a rich
educational program was massive expansion of campus facilities, allowing
all aspects of the campus community–
academic, spiritual, and extra-curricular–to grow.
Bishop McGrath noted in his homily,
“50 years ago, Marianists and San Francisco Archbishop Joseph T. McGucken
began something new down here. They
made a commitment that there would be
a diocesan Catholic high school – here
in far-flung San Jose, and that school,
steeped in Catholic Tradition, would
embody the merciful love of the father
of our Scripture passage.
“For this is what our God is like…
and that has been, since those earliest
days, what Archbishop Mitty is about
-- a place of learning, a home for the
young. Students have met this God in
the classroom, on the quad, field, track
or court, on Awakenings, Agape, Quest
and Kairos retreats, at school Masses
and prayer services.”
Bishop McGrath praised the leadership of Principal Tim Brosnan for
“nearly a quarter century of visioning,
dreaming, development and education.
Tim and his team and all of our generous benefactors have made possible
this 21st Century campus with state
of the art facilities for training leaders
in the Catholic tradition -- Intellectually Competent, Just, Faith-Filled, and
Respectful.”
www.dsj.org