The three of us attended an “Evening Prayer For The Conferral of Ecclesiastical Honors” on April 2, 2011 at the “Cathedral Basilica Of Saint Joseph – Diocese of San Jose, CA”.
Chaplains To His Holiness:
- Monsignor Jeronimo Gutierrez
- Monsignor Wilfredo S. Manrique
- Monsignor Hien Minh Nguyen
- Monsignor Eugene Patrick O’Donnell
- Monsignor Francisco David Rios
Prelate of Honor:
- Monsignor Stephen F. Perata
Bishop of San Jose:
- Most Reverend Patrick J. McGrath
—
The three of us left at 4:33pm. We parked at the Fremont Hotel garage (P1) and were undecided where to get out and pressed the “L” button, which lead us to the lobby of the hotel.
After asking which way to the Cathedral, we found ourselves inside the building and meeting the droopy-eyed parishioner, who kindly lead us to the restroom, which is an entrance way to the Loyal Hall where we had our reception after the conferral.
As we emerged from the alleyway towards the front of the Cathedral, we saw Father Perata come in from the side gate. He talked with my parents and I took their picture together. He then blessed us with his right hand and I thought he forgot me. He said to me: “You’re just bashful.” “Yeah you know me.” I replied. In response, he said something to me about: “Old “deadpan“.
After retrieving two small bottled water from Paw’s Mazda Protege, I had to sit away from my parents because the Chinese lady who ALWAYS coughs during weekday morning masses managed to grab my chair. I had to sit next to a Filipina friend of an couple who is “active” politically.
My “saved seat” was fifth chair from the middle-most aisle of the Cathedral. It was the fourth row nearest the recessed display of the crucified “Christ” and crew. I was wearing a WARM fuzzy, purple-colored, turtle neck, short-sleeved sweater. I had to take off my THICKER, acrylic sweater.
From exactly 6:00pm to around 6:35pm, the celebration was mostly singing in the Hispanic flavor that is San Jose. It happens to be the 30th Anniversary of the Cathedral (1981 – 2011).
P.S. I didn’t know how to use the garage ticket. and after a couple of attempts of swiping both the ticket and my card into the exit machine, we figured out how to use the PAY MACHINE near the elevators with cash for
$6.00!
Leave a Reply