HIGHLIGHTING THE HISTORY OF JANUARY 14..........

On January 14, 1957, I was only 2 months and 10 days old. It was on that day that the Most Reverend Robert J. Armstrong, the 4th Bishop of the Diocese of Sacramento died. Of the nine bishops who have served as the Ordinary of the Church of Sacramento in our almost 124 year history, Bishop Armstrong had the longest tenure, serving more than 28 years as Bishop of Sacramento. A parish priest in Spokane, Washington, when he was appointed to the See of Sacramento in 1929, Bishop Armstrong was a very pastoral bishop in shepherding his flock. During his more than a quarter of a century as Bishop of Sacramento, he oversaw the extensive development of parishes, schools, and social services, to minister to the emerging needs of God's People in our expansive diocese. An avid baseball fan, Bishop Armstrong, a hail, hearty, and athletic man, played baseball recreationally, including with the orphans of St. Patrick's Home for Children on Franklin Boulevard in South Sacramento. Bishop Armstrong died on January 14, 1957, after battling cancer for some fifteen months. What is now Christian Brothers High School on the former Sacramento Blvd., now Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., was originally named for Bishop Armstrong. St. Robert's Parish on Irvin Way near 24th Street and Fruitridge Road, in South Sacramento is also named in acknowledgement of Bishop Armstrong's nearly three decades as the Shepherd of the Sacramento Diocese...On January 14, 1990, twenty years ago today the current St. John the Baptist Parish Church in Folsom, was dedicated. The third church edifice in Folsom since the founding of the parish in 1857, this $2.3 million, state of the art church, was built and became the parish church, to meet the continuously burgeoning pastoral and ministerial needs of Folsom. It was built and dedicated, during my time at St. John's as Associate Pastor, under the leadership of Rev. Fr. William P. Kinane, who was the Pastor of Folsom for 22 years, and a devoted team of Folsom parishioners, working with Comstock-Johnson Architecture and Jackson Construction. Bishop Francis A. Quinn, presided at the Mass of Dedication on this day twenty years ago and yours truly, was afforded the opportunity by Father Kinane and parishioner Elaine Massey, the New Church Dedication Committee Chairperson, to serve as the Master of Ceremonies at the Dedication Banquet, which was deliciously prepared by catering parishioners, Bill and Mimi McCall. One of my most trasured priestly keepsakes, is a beautiful lithograph of the three churches in Folsom's parish history, created by Elaine Massey's nephew, a professional graphic artist, which were presented to Fr. Kinane and I, by the Dedication Committee...Today, January 14, 2010, would also have been the 80th birthday of my dear friend and beloved husband, father, grandfather, neighbor, fellow believer, and businessman, Archie Bugatto. Archie was born in Sacramento on this day in 1930, graduated from Sacramento High School in 1948, married Ramona Parachini, in 1959, to whom he was lovingly and devotedly married for more than 40 years, and was the father of Teres and David. From the age 13, Archie worked in the hardware business in downtown Sacramento and East Sacramento, which included ownership of his very own Archie's Hardware and Gifts store from 1964-1998. An outstanding and generous Catholic man, who lived his Christian discipleship everyday in his dealing with others, Archie passed away in January 2000, and is remembered with affection and love by those of us who knew him. May He Rest in Peace...These are three of the reasons I celebrate January 14, with special remembrance. Hopefully you too, have days like this in your life, when the treasury of memories you possess multiply..........Peace + Prayers in Jesus the Christ
Our Good Shepherd, Fr. Troy