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November 16, 2020
Catholic San Francisco
Scripture, a roll call of deceased veterans, and the playing of “Taps” built the framework and the substance of a Veterans Day prayer service at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma on Nov. 11, 2020.
Monica Williams, cemeteries director, hosted the event with a warm welcome and farewell and managed social distancing and other COVID-19 protocols among the 150-member assembly.
Msgr. Michael Padazinski, chancellor of the Archdiocese of San Francisco and a retired colonel in the U.S. Air Force reserve, presided. In his homily, Msgr. Padazinski spoke of the change driven by the pandemic. However, some things never change, he said, including “the call to serve others like Christ who came to serve and not to be served,” a quality he said was present in the men and women veterans being honored.
Assisting with the liturgy were Father Alex Legaspi, pastor of Holy Angels Parish, Colma, and a commander in the U.S. Navy reserve; Father Alner Nambatac, pastor of St. Timothy Parish in San Mateo and a captain in the U.S. Army reserve; Father Edward Dura, parochial vicar at St. Augustine Parish in South San Francisco and a former lieutenant in the U.S. Navy reserve; and Father Joseph Tran of the Diocese of Oakland and a captain in in the U.S, Air Force reserve.
The names of veterans buried in the Star of the Sea military section of the cemetery where the service took place were read aloud. Bugler John Capobianco closed the ceremony with “Taps.”