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Articles by Paul Parish
Revolutionizing HVAC: Digital Tools and AI Solutions Address Technician Shortages
With the HVAC industry facing a technician shortage, the demand for smarter, faster, and more efficient solutions has never been greater. As a result, digital solutions are rapidly emerging to help fill the gap. From technician apps and remote access tools to generative AI-powered assistants, advanced digital technologies are transforming the way dealers and technicians approach installation, service, and repair.
Pfeffer retires from SS. Peter and Paul Parish
The Parish Council of SS. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, along with current pastor Father Jose Kuriappilly and former pastor Father Ed Michelini, recognized the retirement of Mary Pfeffer, office administrator of the parish. Pfeffer and her husband, George Rogers, were thanked for their faithfulness to the church, willingness to go above and beyond and for their compassion and kindness shown toward parishioners.
Flowers honor Mother’s Day Mass
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Holy Thursday at Saints Peter and Paul
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Palm Sunday procession
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Lessons learned serving others
One of the foundational experiences of my life and my priesthood is the years I spent doing mission work in the Dominican Republic. I served in La Sagrada Familia Parish in the southwest part of the country, not too far from the Haitian border. Our parish had 27 villages, and 50, 000 people, most of whom were subsistence farmers, scratching a living out of a desert-like soil.
Prayer is the Source of Justice
There is a growing sentiment, in even people of faith, that “thoughts and prayers” in the face of horrible evil and tragedy does little to nothing and that action and only legislative action achieves greater justice. In my estimation, that sentiment reveals a subtle and profound lack of faith and an impoverished understanding of what prayer is.
Lent: The Time of Healing of Old Hurts...
May the love of the Lord Jesus be with you. I want to thank Mr. Namanny for this invitation to write some reflections on the season of Lent that begins on Ash Wednesday, February 22, 2023. I have been in the Bellevue Community for seven months and I want to publicly thank all the members of the community who have graciously welcomed me.
Evansville, Footville parishes welcome Awaken Mission Team
EVANSVILLE — The parishes of St. Paul in Evansville and St. Augustine in Footville are excited to invite speaker and musician Nick De La Torre and his wife Alina to our parish for our Lenten mission. Sometimes even the most devout Catholics find themselves feeling hollow, left empty by the daily demands of life. In the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians, we find a reminder that there is a profound unity in the body of Christ, both when we gather together as a Church and in the Holy Eucharist.
San Francisco Ballet's two dramatic mixed bills, through Feb. 13
San Francisco Ballet is back in the Opera House after two years, looking strong. The house was ready (new velvet on the chairs, it feels like the soft side of Velcro) and it looked full. Audience masked, dancers unmasked (and yes, one corps dancer came onstage with her mask still on, and tossed it off with a laugh when the choreography took her close to the wings and she could ditch it). They're performing two mixed bills, three ballets each, alternating in repertory through February 13.
SF Ballet's 'Nutcracker;' Mark Morris Dance Group
It is a pleasure to report that a huge audience turned out and made it through COVID inspections for San Francisco Ballet's return to the 3000+-seat Opera House, and that the performance was one of the best within my 30 years of ballet-going. The dancers were eager to get back together, you could feel it, you could see it.
Dancing screen: San Francisco Ballet's online season premieres
San Francisco Ballet's online opening night could have been cause for concern. Dance does not record well; how diminished a thing is this going to be? Would they be ready? Would the dancers be out of shape? Would their technique have gone ragged? Had they have lost stage presence? Show signs of strain? Would long-time favorites dancers still be here? Would they be wearing masks of forced gaiety? And also, will they answer the questions of diversity and inclusion? Yes they were ready.
A Brave Priest's Powerful Message |
Why is there scandal in the Church? One answer: We took our eyes off Christ. Like Peter walking on the water, when we take our eyes off Christ, we sink. We took our eyes off Christ when we thought a good idea to water down the Gospel with worldly wisdom. We took our eyes off Christ when we gave room in our lives for sin. Be that the sins of lust, or wrath, or pride, or greed, or gluttony, or envy, or sloth (spiritual and otherwise) – when we gave quarter to these, we took our eyes off Christ.
Such sweet sorrow: SF Ballet's 'Romeo and Juliet'
Such sweet sorrow: SF Ballet's 'Romeo and Juliet' by Paul Parish Tuesday May 12, 2020 Carlo Di Lanno and Mathilde Froustey as Romeo and Juliet in San Francisco Ballet's production of 'Romeo and Juliet.' Photo: Erik Tomasson/SF Ballet It's been two months since all the theaters closed, and it's been no longer possible to see a live dance performance unless you're dancing in your living room with other members of your domestic circle.
San Francisco Ballet's 'Midsummer' magic
San Francisco Ballet's 'Midsummer' magic by Paul Parish Tuesday Mar 10, 2020 Joseph Walsh and Esteban Hernandez in Balanchine's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Photo: Erik Tomasson San Francisco Ballet had a triumph last Friday night. It was the best dancing, the best of everything so far this year, new pleasures of many kinds, in their stellar production of Balanchine's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1962). It was magical.
Ballet moves: SF Ballet Programs 2 & 3
Dores André and Benjamin Freemantle in "The Big Hunger." Photo: Erik Tomasson San Francisco Ballet was back in the Opera House for a two-week run continuing through Sunday, with a pair of great mixed bills. Each was like a three-course meal, each piece a world unto itself, but linked like islands in an archipelago.
San Francisco Ballet Gala opens with a bash
San Francisco Ballet Gala opens with a bash by Paul Parish Tuesday Jan 21, 2020 San Francisco Ballet dancers Sasha De Sola and Tiit Helimets in the finale from Balanchine's "Diamonds." Photo: Erik Tomasson What a bash! The costumes in the audience for San Francisco Ballet's Gala opening night last week were maybe more fantastic than those onstage: ladies uncommonly feminine (ruffled pink chiffon, red satin, with trains you could step on); the Kings, my dear — brocade frock coats, swallowtail;...
Bay Area Reporter :: Ballet power!
Ballet power! by Paul Parish Tuesday Nov 5, 2019 Ekaterina Kondaurova dancing "La Bayadère" with Mariinsky Ballet and Orchestra in Zellerbach Hall. Photo: Natasha Razina They were ready. Nothing short of a fire that could engulf Berkeley would have kept Cal Performances from presenting the Russian ballet "La Bayadere" in Zellerbach Hall last week. The Mariinsky Ballet of St. Petersburg opened last Wednesday night to a packed house, with a sure back-up of electricity and many VIPs in the house.
Mark Morris Dance Group masters Mozart
Mark Morris Dance Group masters Mozart by Paul Parish Tuesday Sep 24, 2019 Mark Morris Dance Group performed "Mozart Dances" in Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley. Photo: Rosalie O'Connor Several football games had gone by already before Cal Performances, the great Arts & Lectures series of U.C. Berkeley, finally kicked off its season of major international performing arts last Friday night in Zellerbach Hall with a brilliant revival of Mark Morris' "Mozart Dances." I am glad to see it again.
San Francisco Ballet to play Stern Grove
San Francisco Ballet last performed Balanchine's "Scotch Symphony" at Stern Grove in 2012. Photo: Erik Tomasson Those who've gotten away to France or Greece are probably enjoying worse summer vacations than those of us still here.
Bay Area Reporter :: School mastery
School mastery by Paul Parish Tuesday May 28, 2019 San Francisco Ballet School students dance in Maya Wheeler's "Ne me quitte pas." Photo: Lindsay Thomas The whole thrust of the San Francisco Ballet School's graduation recital (three shows last week; I saw Thursday night's) was to display the competitive edge the school gives its graduates. They looked technically outstanding, both in classical and "contemporary" work, and their mastery made them proud and eager to present themselves.
Bay Area Reporter :: Love, Dmitri
Love, Dmitri by Paul Parish Tuesday May 14, 2019 San Francisco Ballet dancers in choreographer Alexei Ratmansky's "Symphony #9." Photo: Erik Tomasson When the glorious dancers of San Francisco Ballet, the pride of our city, ended their season at the Opera House with a brilliant run of "Shostakovich Trilogy," a three-act abstract ballet by the former director of the Bolshoi Ballet, Alexei Ratmansky, they presented a political spectacle of almost imponderable depth.
Bay Area Reporter :: Beauty awakens
Beauty awakens by Paul Parish Tuesday Mar 12, 2019 Sasha De Sola and Carlo Di Lanno in Helgi Tomasson's "The Sleeping Beauty." Photo: Erik Tomasson A very happy audience jumped to their feet Saturday night as the curtain came down on "The Sleeping Beauty" at the SF Opera House, giving the ballerina, Sasha De Sola, an ecstatic, grateful, and well-deserved standing ovation.
Bay Area Reporter :: Spotlit moves
Spotlit moves by Paul Parish Tuesday Feb 19, 2019 San Francisco Ballet dancer Elizabeth Powell in Benjamin Millepied's "Appassionata." Photo: Erik Tomasson San Francisco Ballet's second and third programs opened during the rains of last week and made many people glad they'd braved the downpours. The dancing was so thrilling, you came away with a kinesthetic high that sharpened the senses.
What Jesus Would Tell Clerics About the Scandals, According to This Brave Priest
Public Domain / ChurchPOP There are times when I think about Jesus looking down on us clerics and saying: “You know, I told you to go baptize the nations. I told you to teach all I taught. I told you ‘to do this memory of me.’ I told you to love one another as I love you. I told you to forgive sins in my name. I told you to be a light in the darkness. I warned you about becoming worldly. I warned you the steep price for giving scandal. I warned you about being ambitious.
Remember me: Sasha Waltz's 'Körper'
I came upon a pile of bones when I was a teenager walking in the woods. It had been a cow, beautiful horns, so cold, so bare. I grew cold as I thought deeper into the whiteness of the bones, how they had maybe settled further since the creature they'd held up had died. It was my first encounter with death, the difference between things that have consciousness and things that don't.
Mark Morris' intoxicating 'Pepperland'
An excited crowd filled UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall last Friday night for the West Coast premiere of the Mark Morris Dance Group's "Pepperland." The University Chancellor Carol Christ was on hand, as well as the President Janet Napolitano, former governor of Arizona and member of President Obama's Cabinet. Iit was an event, marking the opening of the dance season at Cal Performances with a festive, sparkling event that, given the importance of "Sgt.
Keith Hennessy: sink or swim!
The orange life-jacket I was struggling to strap myself into last Friday night at Keith Hennessy's "Sink" really had washed up on the shore of Lesbos (I asked), though it seemed at the time too new, the same "Gulf orange" as all the others, no sun-bleaching, no mold, no dirt.
No, Catholic Parents Should NOT Let Small Kids "Decide For Themselves" About the Faith
I feel the necessity to say this at least once a week to parents when it comes to their role in the spiritual development of their children: You. Are. The. Parent. When your child was baptized, you said you would take the lead in the spiritual and moral development of your children. This idea that that you let your child decide if they are going to be involved in that development is a dereliction of duty. I would assume good parents don’t let their child decide whether or not they go to school.
The way we live now
San Francisco Ballet ends their season with a splashy festival of new works. They've been building towards this all season, holding back a stellar dancer, Solomon Golding, whom we've never seen before but bowled us over on opening night in a cameo role. SFB is capitalizing on what the company is famous for abroad.
The Bay Area Reporter Online
The atmosphere was electric in the Opera House last Thursday for San Francisco Ballet's revival of "Frankenstein." The crackle in the air recalled that of last year's premiere, when the house was completely sold out and tickets could not be had for the Western Hemisphere premiere of Liam Scarlett's ballet. Scarlett is the youngest-ever choreographer in Residence for the Royal Ballet (London), who had co-commissioned the piece with SFB. The audience skewed young.
The Bay Area Reporter Online
San Francisco Ballet slid into a slump just after the season opened, with two programs of mixed bills, one of them above average and the other – well, the best said about Program 3 is that the dancers saved it. Dancers are always saving the day, and in fact, a ballet does not need great choreography if it offers wonderful opportunities for exceptional dancers. And that's what SF Ballet has: champion dancers.
The Bay Area Reporter Online
San Francisco Ballet opened their winter season with the greatest of all classical ballets, The Sleeping Beauty, in a thrilling show that continues through this weekend. This ballet shows grace under pressure; it became iconic during World War II, when the ballerina Margot Fonteyn emboldened the role of Princess Aurora by holding her balance, unsupported, it seemed forever, as one suitor after another approached .
Resisting Happiness
Matthew Kelly’s book, Resisting Happiness, is not so much an instruction about how to achieve happiness as it is a bold tale of encouragement to receive happiness. Kelly’s writing borrows from several disciplines. His business background is transparent in the purposeful intent he applies to spiritual life. His understanding of human behavior involves basic explorations of sociology and psychology.
A Priest Explains the Hard Truth About Why the Church Is In Decline
I spend a lot of time thinking, reading, and praying about why the Church is decline in this country. The influx of immigrants from Latin America hides the number decline. Even with this influx, every measurable indicator is down: baptisms, confirmations, marriages, priestly ordinations, numbers of men’s and women’s religious, children in parochial schools and religion programs. It is grim. How did we get here? The major error was ditching the transcendent. We domesticated God.
Cinderella stories
Two big dance spectacles opened last week on opposite sides of the Bay. San Francisco Ballet revived its blockbuster, crowd-pleasing Cinderella at the Opera House, choreographed by the Royal Ballet associate Christopher Wheeldon; and Cal Performances presented Philharmonia Baroque et al. in the first revival of Voltaire's Temple de Gloire in 250 years, from a manuscript in the UC Berkeley Music Library.
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