UPDATE ELECTION 2010 : AS CHRISTIAN DISCIPLES OUR VOTES MUST REFLECT CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING AND MORALITY..........

With less than two days left in what has been the nastiest and most contentious Election in several decades in the USA, we must pray for sanity, wisdom, courage, and fidelity, on the part of all American citizens who already, or will be voting on Tuesday.  As Catholic-Christians we cannot only got caught in the passionate politics of the moment, but must keep our moral compass in view, and choose candidates and our position remembering that as Disciples of Jesus, we must represent Gospel Values, and the common good of ALL our citizens and nation, not just a select remanant of people and special, inordinately unfair, interests.  The Catholic Social Justice Teachings clearly and consistently proclaimed by the Church since 1891, and Pope Leo XIII's Encyclial, "Rerum Novarum",  to the present must guide our actions, attitudes, and decisions, when voting in this and all elections.  Catholic Social Justice teachings are rooted in the Christian and Christian and Hebrew Scriptures, thus they are biblically based. They are also linked to the Sacred Tradition of the Church, and are a body of moral principles that teach us a Disciple's response to the economical, political, and social, order we interact with as citizens and Catholic-Christians.  Beginning with Pope Leo XII in 1891, Popes and the Universal Church have addressed secular issues affecting humanking and championed the dignity of the human person, the value of human labor and workers rights, and advocated for the protection of the weak, the poor, the marginalized.  Catholics, from lay persons, religious, deacons, priests, bishops, and Pontiffs, have illuminated the Church and the World with adherence to a moral theology that has led to reform and social progress for all citizens, such as the labor movement, identifying and supporting the case to be made for economic justice in society, and equal opportunity for the poor, as well as every other citizen in our country.  Our Catholic-Christian Discipleship requires that we be authentically Good Stewards of God's Creation, the environment, the sacredness of the earth, and the faithful witnesses we are to peace, justice, harmony, unity, and welcome, working to end divisions, prejudice, discrimination, and self serving motives, that benefit the few, but slam the many.  Therefore, at the very core of Catholic Social Teaching and Christian Gospel Values, places a priority focus on the following : a preferential option for the poor; devotion to the community and the common; global solidarity, and economic development; always affirming the dignity of every human person, regardless of their nationality, ethnicity, culture, creed, gender, or orientation.  And so as we vote tomorrow, let us see beyond the nastiness and contentiousness of a political season, most of us can't wait to have over, and cast our ballots, not just over the animosity of entrenched partisan politics, but rather on the sound principles of what is best for all Americans, as we face the issues and decisions facing the United States and the World, and the resilience and stability of our nations to go forward, as free, fair, just, and caring, citizens on the Earth and heirs to Citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven..........Praying And Hoping For An Election That Meets These Standards of Catholic-Christian Justice And Values..........Fr.  Troy    

31ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME AND ANSWERING JESUS' INVITATION TO CONVERSION AND DISCIPLESHIP..........

On this Halloween Sunday as we prepare to celebrate the Saints of God in Glory tomorrow, and start our November Month of Remembrance of All the Holy Souls on Tuesday, we are challenged by the Sunday Scriptures to be ready for the coming of Jesus and God's Kingdom, in the spirit of Conversion and eagerness Zacheaus display's in today's Gospel Proclamation at Mass, Luke 19 : 1-10.  Zacheaus was a man with three strikes against him in the minds of the Pharisees, as he started out to see and get to know Jesus.  First, he was a tax collector, who were despised, and the Gospel tells us, Zacheaus was a chief tax collector, so likely, even more so.  Second, he was a wealthy man, which made him a lightening rod for resentment, jealousy, and covetousness on the part of those with less, especially the Pharisees.  Third, Zacheaus was a short man, and his small stature limited the respect he may have received from others, just as it definitely blocked his view of Jesus in the crowd, especially from the height of a tree.  But Zacheaus did not give up, he pushed forward and not only saw Jesus, but accepted the Christ into his house, in an invitation to him that was juxtaposed, as Jesus invited himself, while truly inviting Zacheaus to spend time with Him.  The result of this transforming experiencing of seeing, meeting, and spending, time with Jesus was that Zacheaus was converted in heart and mind, and not only became a believer in Jesus, but a much more generous man, as a disciple of Christ.  The example he set is one not lost on us as Catholic-Christian Disciples in 2010 A.D., striving to change our lives and eradicate the selfishless and limitations that otherwise we allow into the fabric of our lives.  As you go forth into the world this week, how will the example of Zacheaus, All Saints and All Souls Days, Election Day on Tuesday, and Living Your Faith throughout transform and change you into a the person among the People of God, Jesus the Christ is inviting YOU to be ??????????..........As We Serve God's Greater Glory And The Common Good,   Fr.  Troy

GO SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS, GO !!!!!!!!!!..........WITH 3 OUT OF 7 GAMES PLAYED AND 2 WINS GAINED; CAN THE "SFG" WIN THE WORLD SERIES 2010 ?????..........

The San Francisco Giants Major League Baseball team came to the West Coast from New York in 1958.  They have played in the World Series four time since migrating to California's City by the Bay, and have yet to become World Series Champions.  They are in the National Past-time's Fall Classic again this year, facing the Texas Rangers.  The odds makers and sports analysts give the early edge in the best of 4 out of  7 game face off between the San Francisco and Texas, to the Rangers.  But in fact the San Francisco Giants have thus far won the first two games of the Series, at home, with winning scores 11-7 in game one; and 9-0 in game two.  Then tonight in game three, they stumbled and lost to the Texas Rangers by a score of 4-2.  With games 4 and 5, Sunday and Monday, in Texas, the coming days will determine if they keep their magnificent pitching and powerful batting as evidenced in their first two victories alive, and thus win two more games of the four games remaining, and become World Series Champions for the very first time in their 52 year history as the San Francisco Giants.  I first remember the Giants by hearing my grandfather and father, listening to them play on the radio, more than four and a half decades ago.  As they look down on World Series 2010 from above, I', sure they are saying what I am, "GO, GIANTS, GO" !!!!!!!!!!.....To Be Continued.....Play Ball !!!!!..........Fr.  Troy

FACEBOOK CHALLENGES ITS AMERICAN MEMBERS TO, "COMMIT TO VOTE", ON TUESDAY NOVEMBER 2..........

Thanks to my friend, Joseph Patrick McNamara, I joined the Facebook Revolution, and became a social networker, which like my Google Blog, is very enjoyable.  To date I have garnered 144 FB Friends.  One of those friends invited me to join the Facebook application, "Commit To Vote Challenge". The intention of the application being, to inspire our Facebook Friends to vote.  Voting is a privilege we are honor-bound to exercise as citizens of this democracy and republic,where we have the freedom and liberty, to choose and elect our government leaders from local races to the White House.The focus of the Facebook Challenge is summed up in thos statement, "If we want to make a difference, WE HAVE to vote.  No vote, No complaining, No right".  So with 3 days to go before the 2010 midterm Election, I challenge not only my twelve dozen Facebook Friends to,"COMMIT TO VOTE", but All Americans, for it is our patriotic right and personal responsibility.......VOTE !!!!!!!!!!..........Fr. Troy

CAN THE USA EVER ARRIVE AT A FAIL-SAFE DEFENSE AGAINST TERROR ?..........

The latest potential terror threat against the Continental United States within the past day, involving tow Emiriates  cargo planes carrying packages to a synagogue in Chicago, Illinois, containing the same explosive as that worn by the Christmas Day terrorist suspect in Detroit last December, causes me to ask, Can we ever arrive at a fail-safe defense against terror attempts against our country ?  Nearly a decade after the tragedy of 9-11, and all the time, money, and resources, we have committed to Homeland Security as well as the international War on Terror, here we are still be confronted and challenged by the bombs and other dangers being perpetrated upon us by airplanes and bonafided delivery services.  This Yemen to Chicago threat was successfully thwarted outside the United States by the apt Intelligence of our allies Saudia Arabia and Great Britain, verifying that our international security alliance is working effectively to stop terrorist attacks.  Inspecting persons and packages at transportation terminals throughout the country and worldwide, to an almost relentless degree, as Msgr. Kavanagh and I experienced on September 10, in Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, when he was brusquely frisked by the TSA agent, all because he inadvertantly left his wallet in his back pocket.  An 85 year old, double hip replacement, 62 year priest, being treated as though he were a terrorist threat, when the likes of UPS, FED ex, DHL, and other worldwide cargo delivery companies, are still only randomly investigating the parcels they transport domestically and internationally.  Why has not the past decade plus of heightened awareness and efforts, caused the all such delivery services to thoroughly inspect and then approve shipment of the packages they deliver ?  Common sense, Security policy and practices, and Federal and International Law, should be enough reasons for them to do so.  Or is it merely easier and more cost effective for these companies, to inspection only a cross-section of all the materials they transport ?  And if convenience and profits are more important, then sadly, the threat of terrorist sent explosive parcels will continue to be delivered to the USA and elsewhere in the World, when bucking up and doing their jobs with complete thoroughness will resolve what otherwise, will much more potentially remain a terrorist threat to our safety and security..........In Peo-Active Prayer And Action For The Peace And Security We Need,   Fr.  Troy

IN THIS NEXT WORSE RECESSION EVER WE RECALL, "BLACK FRIDAY", 1929.....THE DAY THE GREAT DEPRESSION STARTED..........

The 1920's were a time of wealth, excess, and speculation, on Wall Street in the United States.  The unbridled, laissez faire, free wheeling regulation of that decade, "The Roaring Twenties", very loosely led by the governance of Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, led to the most immense economic downfall in the history of the modern world, The Great Depression of 1929-1941.  The devastation of the Great Depression began on this day which was named, "Black Friday", October 29, 1929.  Also known as the, "Great Crash", the "Stock Market Crass of 1929", and the "Wall Street Crash of 1929", is mirrored in many ways by the Economic Meltdown of 2007-2008, caused by the latest and deepest recession since the Great Depression.  Again Wall Street excesses, Banking liquidity failures, Subprime Mortgages, a Housing Bubble, an Energy Crisis, an American Automotive Industry Crisis, and European Debt Crisis, indifferently responded to by the President George W. Bush Administration, led to a mushrooming economic carelessness careening into near total collapse of the capitalist system.  And here we stand four days before the 2010 midterm election in the United States, expecting an economic recovery from a crisis  that was eight years in the making before it struck.  If indeed this current Economic Recession and Meltdown, are the closest thing to the Great Depression we can possibly experience, and the Great Depression took twelve years and the onset of World War II, to overcome, what's makes us think it will automatically, magically occur now in a three year period.  One of my wisest and insightful college History and Social Science professors, Dr. Gerald G. Smith, taught me how the reforms of FDR'S New Deal, meant that we would seldom again see the kind of crash of 1929, in the same way, because it would be forestalled by changes made to shore up the American economy, by the government in the 1930's.  However when our government allows business interests to pursue solely what is best for their own profit margins and personal gains, not what is best for the citzenry and the country as a whole, just such as this current crisis would strike our nation and the world.  So I admonish you who are reading this blog column, do not despair, despite the economic hardship we continue to suffer.  An upturn has begun and reports released today show the Gross Domestic Product of the United States has grown the plas 5 quarters and 15 months at a rate of 2%.  It will take a  growth rate higher than 2%, according to economists, including President Obama's Chief Economic Advisor, for UnEmployment to drop and a full recovery of the economy to take hold.  With sound investment of the taxpayers money, sensible belt tightening, and responsible fiscal practices, sanity, and fairnes, returned to the thew stock market,  banking, and financial services industries, along with continuing reforms of government, business, and the realistic expectations of all citizens, we will survive and succeed...........In Prayerful Hope For All Who Are Economically Challenged And Adversely Affected By This Current Crisis,   Fr.  Troy

SAINTS SIMON AND JUDE, APOSTLES - A ZEALOT AND PATRON OF LOST CAUSES..........

In a liturgical week that has been a sea of green on  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and will be Friday, and Saturday, today - Thursday October 28, is a red letter day, the Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles.  Although two of the more obscure of the Twelve Apostle of Jesus, they indeed were called to follow Christ and learn from Him directly during the 3 years of Public Ministry the Mysteries and Teachings of God's Kingdom.  St. Simon the Apostle was known as both, "the Canaanite", and, "the Zealot".  Zealots were an anti-Roman political party in the 1st Century A.D., so that Simon could well have been somewhat a radical activist, in his outlook and actions, when Jesus chose him.  It is thought that Simon as an Apostle, most likely preached the Gospel in Egypt and Persia.  St. Jude, also known as Thaddeus, which means, "Courageous", most likely preached the Gospel in Palestine and Persia.  There is a short Epistle in the New Testament written by Jude, and he is most widely known through the centuries of Catholic-Christianity as the patron saint of the lost, despairing, forsakem, and the hopeless.  Given St. Jude shares a similar name to  Judas Iscariot, Jesus' apostolic betrayer, who in the end despaired of what he had done, is the reason he he has this patronage.  As Apostles of Christ who preached the Gospel in the 1st Century, both St. Simon and Jude are mentioned in the Roman Canon, the First Eucharistic Prayer.  As we commemorate their Faithful Witness to Jesus Christ today, may we too embrace a sufficiency of zeal and courage to proclaim and live the Gospel Values we too, profess to follow in the 21st Century of Discipleship in Jesus the Lord..........Saints Simon And Jude, Pray For Us,   Fr.  Troy  

PARISH MINISTRY MEETINGS WITH THE PASTOR CONTINUE.....ADVENT / CHRISTMAS COMMUNAL PENANCE SERVICES PLANNING BEGINS IN THE AMERICAN RIVER SUBURBS DEANERY..........

Having already met this month with the Parish Finance Council, the Feed the Hungry Ministry, and the Ladies Council, for their Parish Meetings With The Pastor, today I will have a 1 pm meeting with the members of the KPC, the Knights and Ladies of St. Peter Claver.  I anticipate it will be a very good meeting, as they are a dynamic and very engaged group, that is domiciled at St. Anne's Parish in the Meadowview area of South Sacramento, and are also present and participating here at OLOL.  Also today, it is time to finalize our Advent / Christmas - Lent / Easter Communal Penance Services schedules for the other parishes in the American River Suburbs, Carmichael, Fir Oaks, North Highlands, Rancho Cordova, Arden, Arden-Arcade, North Sacramento, as well as ourselves, Del Paso Heights / Rio Linda / Elverta / Robla.  Tonight, I am having a ministerial dinner meeting and get together here at OLOL, with my priestly colleague and good friend, Rev. Fr. Steven Avella, to discuss the Parish Advent Mission he will be leading for us in December.....Congrats to the San Fran Giants Wednesday night on their 11-7 victory over the Texas Rangers in Game 1, of World Series 2010.  Go Giants Go !!!!!!!!!!  Will this finally be the year after 52 years in the Bay Area of Northern California, that the SF Giants, WIN a World Series ??????????..........Peace + Prayers in Jesus The Christ,   Fr. Troy

SPENDING MY WEDNESDAY DAY OFF OFF WITH A BEST FRIEND AND THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION STUDENTS OF OLOL..........

After 8 am Mass I  am on my day off, until 7 pm, when OLOL Religious Education ministry requires that I return for the students pre Halloween / All Saints Day dress up party.  It will be an enjoyable eleven and a half hours off, as my closest of lay friends, Curtis Richards, is in town and will be coming to spend the afternoon and early evening with me.  Whenever Curtis visits me just weeks or months after I move into a new parish, he comes to work and assists me in getting my rooms in the rectory organized.  He will be doing that here again today and is always a great help.  Tonight's RE event is having the children dress up as their favorite saints, and a cross section of them come up and tell us about their saint, after I speak to them about All Saints / Halloween.  Then they share in refreshments and play games.  As it is going opposite the San Francisco Giants in the World Series, it will be interesting to see how turnout is affected.  More Tomorrow As This Jesus Journey Continues To Unfold,   Fr.  Troy

a WHITMAN / BROWN / SCHWARZENEGGER / JOINT APPEARANCE - ONE WEEK BEFORE ELECTION DAY..........

California's First Lady, Maria Shriver (Schwarzenegger) hosts an an annual Women's Conference, which was held today in Long Beach, California.  This year's 2010 Conference was unique, in that not only did her husband the current, and outgoing, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appear on the stage as a speaker, but that he was joined by the Republican and Democratic candidates vying earnestly to succeed him in January, Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown.  It was what some might call, a "kumbaya moment", a make nice, time-out in the final days of what has been a vitriolic slugfest between the candidates.  The moderator of the joint appearance between Brown, Whitman, and Governor Schwarzenegger, NBC News Today Show host, Matt Lauer, zeroed in on addressing eradicating the negative ads both gubernatorial campaigns are running incessantly, in this last week of the campaign; with Brown responding he would take his down, if Whitman would do so as well, but Whitman did not agree, although saying she would consider taking down her personal attacks on Brown, that she will continue to air her attack ads addressing Brown's record.  Brown went on to suggest an unconventional ad idea , that they each agree to appear together in one  campaign commercial, giving their stand up, face to the camera reasons for wanting to be Governor of California. ButWhitman, did not agree to that proposal.  As a final pitch at the event, Brown in jest, proposed that Whitman, who is campaigning of late underscoring she and her husband came to California thirty years ago to start their professional lives, because of the golden opportunities for success, air a commercial that notes Jerry Brown was Governor of California thirty years ago, making this State work.  Whitman responded saying Brown is the cause for much of what has gone wrong in California the past thirty years.  So much for a kumbaya moment, accept that it was a rather civil exchange with Governor Schwarzenegger sitting between them, and saying at the end compared to the gubernatorial races in other states this year, he believes California has the best two candidates in Whitman and Brown.  He offered no endorsement to either candidate.  So the 7 day countdown to Election Day proceeds with little expectation or chance, the negative ads and record setting spending in any nationwide race for Governor will halt or lessen.....On a sadder note, California State Senator Jenny Oropeza, who served in the State Assembly and Senate, the past decade and was a survivor of liver cancer in 2004, died from complications of a blood clot in her abdomen and was buried Monday in Los Angeles.  She represented the Carson / Long Beach districts of California and was 53 years old.  I  worked with Jenny Oropeza, in the late 1970's, when my very good friend, Joe Gibson, was President of the Associated Students Incorporated, at California State University-Sacramento, and Jenny Oropeza, was the A.S.I.  President of CSU-Long Beach.  May she rest in Peace..........7-6-5-4-3-2-1.......Days To Go In The Sprint To The California Statehouse In 2011, For EitherWhitman or Brown,   Fr.  Troy

A SUNDAY BULLETIN PREP, ALL SOULS LETTER & ENVELOPE STUFFING, TRYING TO GET A BULK MAIL PERMIT, AND DISCUSSING PARISH MUSIC MINISTRY DAY @ OLOL..........

It has been an eventful, work driven, day at OLOL.  Morning Mass, Sunday Bulletin copy to prepare and transmit, organizing materials for the parishioners who volunteered to come and stuff the All Souls mailing with the letters and envelopes inserted in it.  Five parishioners and Sr. Theresa Norris, came to help, two of them arriving after it was done, because Charles and Marva Glover, Nicole Kritzer, and Sr. Theresa, had the project completed on less than forty minutes.  Kudos to them !!!!!  One of the other potential volunteers, Michelle Pratt, mother of three children, including newborn baby Kylie, who was born since my arrival here in July, missed the stuffing project, but came in to discuss parish music ministry.  She is a beautiful singer, but has been functioning as a parish Lector, instead of Music Minister.  We talked about and agreed, she will assist with leading the singing at the 8:30 am Mass on Sundays, along with parishioner Frances Norsworthy, who has been leading in acapella, for awhile now.  Michelle's rich second soprano / alto voice being added to leading liturgical music, especially the post conciliar songs that have become standards in most parishes.  A sick call to hospice cancer patient Herman Padilla, rounded out my day; while Keith Gray spent his post bulletin transmission afternoon sorting out with the Post Office what it takes for us to get a Bulk Mil Permit for the OLOL.  More than two and a half hours it took !!.!  A kind of caddywhompers day in Sacramento / Del Paso Heights, but a good one, at that.........All In A Day's Work As A Parish Priest I Am So Glad To Be,   Fr.  Troy  

POPE BENEDICT XVI NAMES 24 NEW CARDINALS, 2 FROM THE UNITED STATES - BUT ONE MAJOR AMERICAN ARCHBISHOP SEEMINGLY OVERLOOKED ?????,,,,,,,,,,

Last Wednesday October 20, at the end of his weekly General Audience in the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI, announced the appointment of 24 new members of the College of Cardinals.  Two of the twenty four are Americans : The Most Reverend Raymond Burke, former Archbishop of St. Louis, Missouri, now Head of a Roman Tribunal; and Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C.  The 24 new Cardinals include in addition to the 2 Americans, 10 Italians, 2 Germans, 1 Brazilian, 1 Congolese, 1 Coptic, 1 Ecuadorean, 1 Guinean, 1 Polish, 1 Spanish, 1 Swiss, 1 Sri Lankan, and 1 Zambian.  However, there seems to be one gross oversight on this list.  One obvious American Archbishopric, traditionally an all but automatically Red Hat See for it's occupant in the first Consistory of Cardinals, following his appointment was not included.  That Archdiocesan See being New York.  Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who has served as Rector of the North American College in Rome from 1994-2001; was Auxiliary Bishop of St. Louis, Missouri, 2001-2002; and  Archbishop of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from 2002-2009; was appointed Archbishop of New York, in 2009.  He is certainly as experienced and qualified to receive a Cardinal's Red Hat, as any of the 24 new Cardinals.  So why then is he being passed over at this time ?  According to the British publication, "The Economist", Pope Benedict XVI, is following a well practiced precedent, of not appointing new Cardinals to Sees, where the predecessor Cardinal is still under the age of 80.  Why 80 ?  Because until a retired Cardinal turns 80, he has a vote in the next Conclave to elect a Pope.  Archbishop Dolan's predecessor, Archbishop Emeritus Edward Cardinal Egan, is 78 years old, and able to vote in a papal conclave for the next year and a half.  So for now, Archbishop Dolan and the faithful of New York, will have to wait until a new Cardinal is chosen for their American See...........Best Wishes To Those Preparing To Receive Red Hats As Cardinals Of The Church,   Fr.  Troy

WRAPPING UP OLOL's 1ST "FAITH SEEKING UNDERSTANDING", ADULT EDUCATION SERIES - "THE MASS EXPLAINED"...........

On this last Monday of October having celebrated Mass, had a later than usual breakfast, opened the mail, met and received the Ladies Council membership from their President, and with Bookkeeper Patty Pennington punctually present,  I want to begin this blog column with a huge, Happy Birthday shout out, to my beloved South Sacramento / Elk Grove friend, loving wife, mother, and grandmother, the ever supportive, KARIN GEACH, who celebrates her Birthday today.  All My Best Karin and Many Happy Returns throughout the coming year.....Today looms as an organizing day for this week and the parish All Souls Day mailing to be stuffed, labeled, and zip coded, for mailing later in the week.  It is so nice to have the warm sunshine back for a few days after the soaking rain on Sunday.  The rain was likely a prime suspect in suppressing turnout at the Founder's Day Root Beer Social yesterday.  43 persons attended, weathering the storm and sticking around after the 10:30 am Mass, less than fifteen of the total who attended Sunday Masses.  One of Saturday night's 5 pm  Mass attendees, Pauline Og, was among those 43 persons however; and she and her family are founding members of OLOL, arriving in this area in 1956, before the parish was founded on October 24, 1957.  So that the observance of our Founder's Day  at Sunday Masses, and the 53rd Anniversary of OLOL's Root Beer Social, lived up to their name and purpose.....Tonight, I conclude my first, "Faith Seeking Understanding", Adult Education series at OLOL, "The Mass Explained".  Two dozen persons have attended this series, a hearty start for the adult faith formation offerings I intend to conduct as Pastor of OLOL, just as I have in every parish of my priestly ministry to date.  We close out the current six week series with a look at the, 'Concluding Rites', of the Mass explained.  As this Mass class ends, I am already working on the Parish Advent Series, which will begin 4 weeks from tonight, Monday November 29.  That's it for now as I start thinking about the bulletin copy to be written for next Sunday, first thing after Mass tomorrow morning..........In Jesus The Christ,   Fr.  Troy

30TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME : FOUNDER'S DAY @ OLOL.....OCTOBER 24, 1957 - 2010..........

The 30th Sunday Sunday in Ordinary Time reminds us there is little over a month remaining in the current Liturgical Year.  God's Word proclaimed to us today from Sirach 35:12-14; 16-18; Psalm 34: 2-3; 17-19; 23; Paul's 2nd Timothy 4:6-8; 16-18; and our Gospel Proclamation, Luke 18: 9-14;, hearken to us to retain humility and selflessness, despite the accomplishments and attainments we make in this life, realizing the primacy of God in our lives.  To maintain a respect and generous spirit in responding to the lowly, the poor a needy, and the marginalized in the world, not ignore or overlook them.  For God is full of love for all persons, the affluent and economically challenged, as well as those inbetween. The Lord God always possesses perfect compassion,  hearing and answering the cry of the poor, and so must we.  The Supreme Master of the Universe affirms the oppressed who express their dependence on him, just as the Living and True God heard the cries for help made by Paul, crowning him with a conversion of faith and fidelity through which he evangelized the Gentile world and gained the promise and hope of eternal salvation for himself, just if we can.  Luke underscores for us in Jesus' Parable, that the way of the Pharisee - self- centeredness, and a smugness of righteousness is wrong, and the more humble and atoning, response of the Tax Collector is correct, in answering and serving the greater glory of God and the common good of ourselves and others.....Today, is the 53rd anniversary Founder's Day of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Sacramento / Del Paso Heights / Rio Linda / Elverta / Robla, and so the homily I preached at the 3 Sunday Masses was multifaceted.  On the scriptural themes of the 30th Sun. in OT, blended with a message regarding the Parish Founder's Day; Catholic Charities USA / Sacramento; and World Youth Day, an urgent ministry need at OLOL, as we do not have a parish youth group or ministry beyond 8th Grade and Confirmation Religious Education for our youth, which I have entered into discussions about with concerned parishioners.  Founder's Day, Catholic Charities, especially OLOL's Feed The Hungry Ministry and St. Vincent de Paul Society, Faith Seeking Understanding Adult Faith Formation, the upcoming Advent Series, Parish Advent Mission, and my current, transitional Parish Ministry Meetings With The Pastor, are all foundational to the pastoral and spiritual renewal of OLOL, I am contemplating and planning over the next several years, God willing.  May the Faithful Witness of our parish founding families, parish priests, and all the People of God in OLOL, spur us on to evermore effectiveness and, "Unity in Community", as we continue our mission of discipleship and revitalize the very core of parish life..........Our Lady of Lourdes, Pray For Us, Fr.  Troy

A SATURDAY OF MINISTRY IN THE CHURCH AND RECTORY AND OUT IN THE PARISH COMMUNITY..........

As Saturdays are going at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, in Sacramento, since my arrival as Pastor on July 1, that was an up the middle day in priestly ministry, the morning was free and light, the early to mid afternoon unusually active, and the evening busy with the usual Saturday Confessions and Sunday Vigil Mass.  Catching up with the morning sleep my weekday schedule does not permit, was restful and relaxing, as my first appointment of the day was a House Blessing at Noon.  Before heading out the rectory door to drive over to the parshioners' home, I received a long distance Sick Call request from the sister of an elderly, ill and infirm woman parishioner, who is a resident in the Norwood Pines Alzheimer's Unit.  So I went there also, to visit her pastorally and celebrate the Sacraments, in tis case the Lat Rites of the Church, as the expectation she is going to die within a month.   After a 1:30 pm soup lunch, I wrote the General Intercessions and Pulpit Announcements for Sunday Mass, only to find that the printer is not working toda, with only me t technologically challenged Troy available to address the problem.  So I had to decide to use canned prayer intentions, supplemented by my verbal addition to the prayers, so as to include the intentions and focuses of OLOL this Sunday.  I concelebrated the 5 PM Mass with Fr. Traynor, preaching on the theme of lifting up the lowly, the poor, and the marginalized as our Gospel commitment to the values of Jesus the Christ.  And I spoke extensively on how OLOL'S 53 year history on Founder's Day and the work of Catholic Charities USA / Sacramento, has continuously provided social services ministry and shall continue to, including the OLOL's Feed the Hungry Program and St. Vincent de Paul Society ministries.  Following Mass, I went to the local, Market Basket store to purchase the Root Beer and Ice Cream, for Sunday's Parish Founder's Day, 'Root Beer Social', which is a free, Unity in Community fellowship opportunity for our members. So as I wind down an unusually active Saturday in October and anticipate what tommorrow brings, I bid you all a good night..........God Bless You....."Sleep In Heavenly Peace".....   Fr.Troy

2010 POLITICS SHOW WHY THIS IS CALLED THE SILLY SEASON..........

With just ten days to go to the voting for midterm Election 2010, and the intensive, incendiary, nature of much of this year's politicking, I offer my educated insights and analysis of what is right and that which is wrong, and recommendations we as a country need to seriously consider to address the necessity of political reform of our campaign system.  As a lifelong, and undergraduate student of government, politics, polling, and history, I can tell you that in the United States elections in the midterm year of virtually all Presidents, go against the political party in power.  The only three exceptions to that outcome in the past century being in 1934, 1998, and in 2002.  This being the twenty-sixth midterm election since 1910, means the outcome has been 23-3, against the incumbent President's party, which is more than 88% percent of the time.  So it is no big shakes that President Obama and Democrats are in a tough midterm election campaign.  However, that does not explain or justify the lengths this year's candidates and their campaigns have gone to villify misrepresent, or disqualify, their political opponents.  There is a mean spiritedness to 2010 election environment rarely matched in modern history.  The latest NBC News-Wall Street Journal Poll, shows that 32% of the country believe we are going the right direction; 59% say we are on the wrong track; and  27% feel Democrats are the best choice to take the country forward in Congress, while 23% believe the Republicans will; 16% respond that either party will, and 31% say neither party will.  The economic woes that persist which are now three years with us, is driving much of that response, as  President Obama's approval rating stands at 47% in that same poll, whereas, President Reagan's approval rating going into the 1982 midterm elections stood at 41%.  So politics as well as serious voter dissatisfaction with the slowness of change and a turnaround in the economy, is driving this election season.  The unwielding, and surreptitious, use of campaign money is also clouding the 2010 Election in ways that are troubling.  The Citizens United Decision by the US Supreme Court earlier this year, not only negated the McCain-Feingold  Campaign Finance Law, it took so many years to pass and put into effect, but opened the floodgates to uncontrolled campaign spending from corporate and union sources, wealthly individuals, and supposedly, even foreign countries.   The latest expenditure reports show that the US Chamber of Commerce has contributed $28 million; the Crossroads USA -Crossroads GPS groups, led by Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie and their colleagues, $27 million; the AFSCME Union, $23 Million; as well as millions of dollars more, by the Tea Party, with Sacramento's Sal Russo, and the Tea Party Express,aising and spending more than $8 million.  And what does the money provide the American people ?      A barrage of media advertisements, attacking each other, and not as much educating or enlightening the voters, as putting mounds of cash in the pockets of political consultants, advertising agencies, and television, radio, newspaper, and internet, media companies.  While it is true that there is widespread anger, frustration, and anxiety amidst the electorate, the unbridled expenditure of campaign cash that only serves to polarize and make the political environment more hostile, does not serve the common good.  We must find a practical, constitutional, way of reigning in and reforming campaign finance, if we ever expect the process to really serve the common good of free, and fair, election campaigns where the issues, not attacks ads, and personality politics prevail, to muddy the waters and clog the system of government.  Here in California a record setting, $200 million plus Governor's Race and vituperative  US Senate campaign, alert all of us as Americans and good citizens, just how great the need for reform of our current campaign system is.  In this final week and a half before Election Day November 2, let us pray that voters will approach their solemn duty in our democracy to choose leaders with sound minds, and selfless hearts.  Who have the best interests of their constituents and the nation, foremost before them, so as to serve, to govern, and to address, the vital concerns facing all of us, as Americans, who put our country first, not politics as usual, or special interests, or narrow self serving agendas; knowing that it makes a difference whether you vote or not.....VOTE BY MAIL, or AT YOUR POLLING PLACE, November 2..........In The Spirit Of Liberty, Freedom, Fairness, And Patriotism For The Common Good Of The Governance Of  The United States Of America,   Fr.  Troy

THE FRIDAY BEFORE FOUNDER'S DAY 53 @ OLOL..........

Wrapping up this 29th Week in Ordinary Time, which has been plenty ordinary, and getting ready to celebrated the Parish Founder's Day on Sunday, I blog to you this review of my day in parish ministry.  After 8 am Mass, I had my Parish Ministry Meeting With The Pastor, with members of OLOL Ladies Council.  Then after a belated breakfast, I answered phones and sorted through the All Souls Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Offertory, envelopes that were delivered to the rectory doorsteps, along with the Christmas folders I ordered for this year's schedule mailing.  Then from 9:30 am - 11 am, I answered the phone, in advance of the Parish Secretary's arrival.  A look through the mail, and writing my blog column for today on the topic of, "Bullying", was next, and then it was time to have lunch.  After lunch, I wrote an All Souls Day letter to the parishioners, which will be stuffed, labelled, and inserted with an envelope, for mailing to all our parishioners next week, in preparatIon for our November Month of Remembrance of the Faithful Departed.  As the parish is also observing the Catholic Charities USA Centennial this weekend, I also had Keith stuff the Sunday Bulletin with the flyers from the Sacramento Diocese about the charities that are beneficiaries of Catholic Charities of Sacramento.  Also I am gearing up for the Founder's Day Root Beer Social on Sunday, after the 10:30 am Mass.  I have designated it as a, "Unity in Community", event, with no particular parish ministry working to oversee it, but letting the parish members provide for it all together, in celebrating the OLOL'S 53rd Anniversary as a Parish.  Now with dinner done, I  head off to rest and chillax - online with e-mails and Facebook, and a movie or two on TCM.  They have really delivered perfect classic black and white classic films the past two nights, hopefully it's three in a row..........Thanks For Reading My Loyal Blog Enthusiasts,  Fr.  Troy

BULLYING AND OTHER ACTS OF DISRESPECT AGAINST OUR YOUTH AND SOCIETY..........

For the past month or more since the new academic year has begun, we have seen an increase in reports of bullying of students.  That has led to more than a handful of suicides by young people, around the country who cannot cope with the ridicule, pressure, embarrassment, and outing, the bullying and disrespectful actions of their fellow students has caused them.  A stop must be put to every form of bullying, mockery, invasion of privacy, or ridicule, being perpetrated upon others, for these wanton acts are not only wrong, and an infringement on civil liberties, but a moral outrage, as they strike at the dignity of the human person.  As a disabled child in the 1960's and 1970's, I too had to contend with my share of bullies and other ignorant, self absorbed kids, who either attempted to taunt me with words like, 'gimp', and 'cripple', or laugh at my physical disability and the orthopedic brace on my left leg.  So I know the extent of frustration and pressure many of these young people must be undergoing as they are bullied, and especially given that the pressures placed upon them is all the more ratcheted up by the intrusion and inveighing into their sexual orientation, while still in adolescence when they are coming to terms with their sexuality.  Every act of bullying that invades the privacy of another person, and intrudes on the dignity of their humanity, that results in a hate crime of violence or death, should be dealt with, and prosecuted accordingly.  It is encouraging to see in these current circumstances parents, fellow students, school and college officials, and our civic and governmental leaders, standing up, speaking, out, and showing solidarity, for those who are being victimized and abused.  No child, young person, or adult, should ever be bullied by anyone, for any reason.  And those who commit such indignities need to be called out, admonished, punished, and in no way tolerated for their stupidity, self centeredness, and insensitivity.  What are we doing to change this very bad circumstance into a better and brighter existence for those who are being subjected to bullying in our society ?  Unless we stand in full support and solidarity in opposition to bullying and its violent, deadly, affects, then we are as guilty as the bullies themselves of lacking common decency, Christian morality, national patriotism, and international respect, for the right of all peoples whatever their race, nationality, gender, or orientation, to live in freedom without fear that their disability, or difference, may target them for ridicule, or retaliation, by cowards who do not respect their own humanity, much less any one else's..........In The Hope For An Ever More Enlightened, Accepting, And Humane, Response To All Persons By All Persons,   Fr.  Troy

THIS THURSDAY'S MINISTRIES....OF THE VARIETAL NATURE..........

Settling into the remainder of the ministry week after my day off Wednesday, I am happy to report that with one session left in my 6 week, Faith Seeking Understanding Adult Faith Formation presentation, "The Mass Explained", the books for the Advent Series have arrived and are excellent.  It is a  part of Twenty Third Publications, "Threshold Bible Study Series", so that it is a scriptural reflections based Advent resource.  I will be offering it as a class the 4 Mondays of the Advent Season.  The Parish Advent Mission which will also be preached on texts from the book, "Advent Light", has been firmed yet this week as well.  Reverend Father Steven Avella, will be preaching the Advent Mission in early December, and will offer superb insights into the Advent / Christmas Scriptures we will be studying.  I am also excited that Reverend Father Benedict DeLeon and I, have made our arrangements for my Silver Jubilee of Priesthood Cruise of the Baltic Sea, next summer.  We were scheduled to make this Baltic Cruise in July 2007, until my dialysis treatments disqualified me from sailing at that time.  So four more years have past in zealous anticipation at seeing Russia and the Baltic, and falling within the year of my 25th Anniversary as a Priest of Jesus Christ, are increasing my enthusiasm for taking this Baltic Sea Cruise, with Fr. Ben, next summer, just as I joined him in 2005 on his Silver Jubilee Cruise of the Greek Isles..........Following my concelebrated Morning Mass and Breakfast with Fr. Tony Traynor, I returned to the Parish Office and put in three hours of desk work, answering phones and doorbells, writing Mass cards, sorting and reading the mail, and writing checks for parish expenditures.  One of the administrative changes that has taken place at the diocesan-parish level, since I was Pastor of Holy Family in Citrus Heights five and a half years ago, is that the monthly Parish Assessment and Insurance, and the Priest Health and Pension payments to the Diocese must all be paid by individual checks, instead of one.  On September 30, I wrote and signed our first of ten payments for Fiscal Year 2010-11, in one check, only to have it returned with the instruction to submit four checks each to their specific fund catergory and account number.  So I re-wrote and put those four checks in the mail today.  As the Parish Secretary Keith Gray winds up putting in the sacramental registers the names and details of our 2010 Confirmation, First Eucharist, and Easter Vigil, recipients, it is time to get the All Souls Day mailing ready to be mailed out to our parishioners next week.....Also today, I completed my mail in election ballot, so I have voted and put it in the mail.  However, I was unsuccessful in making a timely appointment online or over the phone to get my drivers license renewed before my birthday on November 4.  So I will trudge down to the DMV office without one and get it squared away next week....That's this Thursday in priestly ministry at OLOL.  I hope your Thursday, wherever you are, has been as varietal and engaging as mine...........All For The Greater Glory Of God And The Common Good,   Fr.  Troy

FAVORITE DADS..... AFTER ROBERT YOUNG WAS, "FATHER KNOWS BEST", TOM BOSLEY WAS, "HAPPY DAYS", MR. C. ..........

Three years before Ward, June, Wally, and the Beav, premiered on, "Leave It To Beaver", in 1957, movie actor Robert Young began co-starring as, "Jim Anderson", with Jane Wyatt, in another 1950's television chestnut, "Father Knows Best".  For six seasons viewers tuned in weekly to see the exploits of the Anderson clan, the cast which included Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray, and Lauren Chapin.  Like Leave It To Beaver, Father Knows Best, was typical 1950's fare of family life, presented with a focus on the dad's role in the home.  Fast forward two decades later to 1974, and a television series that was a retrospective on family life in the 1950's, "Happy Days", began an eleven year run, and enter stage actor Tom Bosley, who co-starred in the show's ensemble cast  as, "Mr. C.".  As,"Howard Cunningham", Tom Bosley portrayed the typical bread winner husband father: fair, firm, fun loving, always the hands on father figure.  "Marion, Richie, Joanie, Chuck, the Fonz, Potsie, Ralph, Chaci, and Roger", could always depend on Mr. C., to address their problems and meet the needs they brought to him, lovingly and unconditionally.  Much like, "Father  Knows Best", did in the 1950's.  Tom Bosley, died this week at age 83, after a lifetime as an actor in the theater and on television. He won a Tony Award on Broadway for his role in "Fiorello", the broadway show about legendary New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia.  After playing Mr. C. on "Happy Days", for eleven seasons he went on to play Sheriff Amos Tupper, on, "Murder She Wrote", and Father Dowling in the, "Father Dowling Mysteries". He, was like Robert Young, who transitioned from the Broadway stage, to a well received, more than 100 films, movie career - to television, and who after being Father Knows Best for six seasons on tv, after an initial five years on radio, returned to television in 1968, as the venerable, Emmy Award winning, "Marcus Welby, M.D.".  Robert Young continued acting until age 81, and died at 91 years old in 1998.  And so, I  salute the 'Jim Andersons' and 'Howard Cunninghams', on television and in real life, for their constancy and concern for their families, an example all fathers, should take seriously and fulfill..........Looking To The Past, As We Shape The Present, With Hope-filled Anticipation Of The Future, Of Fathers Who Are Faithful To Fulfilling Their Responsibilities,   Fr.  Troy

DAY AT EASE.....A QUALITY CHANCE TO THOROUGHLY GET UPDATED ON ELECTION 2010..........

The enjoyment and re-energizing I derive from my Wednesday day off each week, after presiding at Morning Mass, is the opportunity for down time to chillax, to spend time with family, friends, and priestly colleagues, to socialize. and to renew myself with them. I read as much as I  choose to, and just make it a day of ease, or as I colluquially, "laze and graze".  It also gives me time to thoroughly catch up with politics, government, history, and the Presidency, in the deeper delving kind of way that fulfills the side of me I refer to as, "my other life".  And today, was no exception to that activity.  I spent much of this 13th day before Election Day 2010, reading, blogging, viewing, and analyzing, the latest news and views of the current campaigns and issues, as I prepare to cast my mail in ballot.  Today, after watching some of the Wednesday night primetime comedies, I plan to round out this rest-full and re-freshing day off, by watching a classic film on TCM, hopefully of the black and white vintage.  I especially find the storytelling, acting, direction, and production values, of many of those black and white oldies but goodies, far superior to many of the current offerings.  Later this week I  will blog about my thoughts, feelings, responses, and analysis, of the 2010 Election Campaign and how it stacks up..........From the Chillax Center of My Day Off, Where I Am Immersed In Politics And Government, My So Called, "Other Life,   Fr. Troy

ALL TIME FAVORITE TV MOTHERS - BEFORE FLORENCE HENDERSON WAS, "MRS. BRADY", BARBARA BILLINGSLEY WAS, "MRS. CLEAVER"..........

Since the Fall 1969 television season the world has become immersed with the "Brady Bunch", tv series and made actress Florence Henderson, who played the show's mother, "Carol Brady", one of television's all time, favorite moms.  Over the weekend the actress who made her own character as a tv mom favorite, a decade earlier than Florence Henderson, co-starring in "Leave It To Beaver", as, "Mrs. June Cleaver",  the renowned Barbara Billingsley, passed away at the age 94.  At first thought further reference to these two actresses and their situation comedy tv series roles may seem of little importance.  Except that both roles and series' have become part of television history folklore and have had a lasting impact on two generations of viewers and fans.  Barbara Billingsley in, 'Leave It To Beaver', portrayed the quintessential late 1950's, early 1960's, housewife and mother, always reliably at and in the home, providing for every need of her husband and children, always fashionably dressed, down to vacuuming in her pearl necklace.  She was a no nonsense, get the job done, kind of mom.  Florence Henderson, in the, 'Brady Bunch', was one of the first modern, with it, you might say, liberated, tv moms, in a groovy kind of way, to use the lexicon of the late 1960's and early 1970's.  June Cleaver, is a caring and duty driven tv mother, while Carol Brady, is a caring but fun loving television mother.  Both portrayals are meritorious representations of the mothers of their era's, but would need to be blended into one to be a fuller pictire of real life moms.  The later version of Barbara Billingsley's character in a 1988 version of, "Leave It To Beaver", saw her as June Cleaver, evolve into a widowed mother and grandmother, twenty years older and wiser, but still at home with, and tending to her family.  The updated  Carol Brady character Florence Henderson played in the 1980's and 1990's, in subsequent re-creations of the "Brady Bunch", portrayed a mother / grandmother role, with a more activist, out in the working world, Mrs. Brady, still caring for home and family, while working at jobs beyond the family home. Barbara Billingsley made a lasting contribution to the ideal of motherhood, on television and will fondly be remembered always.  May we commemorate her for reminding us in her role as June Cleaver, that faithfully family caring, mothers with a strong sense of discipline, are needed today in our homes as they were fifty plus years ago.  Maybe more so.  May She Rest In Peace.....Now age 76, Florence Henderson continues to extend the horizons of the Carol Brady spirit, as evidenced in the past five weeks by her appearances as a contestant on, "Dancing With The Stars", from which she was eliminated last night.  Just as in the Brady Bunch, she was up to every new experience the first blended or fusion family, in tv history ever presented encountered, so too now as a senior citizen and more than fifty year veteran of television, has her competing on DWTS, shown that persons with spirit and determination can continue to conquer new horizons.  Lastly, this focus on favorite tv moms should  cause us to foremost reflect on the kind of motherhood today's moms are required to provide in an ever fast changing world, where maintaining and exemplifying family values is a constant necessity.  The kind of television mothers Barbara Billingsley and Florence Henderson played are an ideal prototype, but the world - families especially, would only be better and stronger, if more moms were striving to be a combination of these two television mothers..........In Thanks For The Television Roles These Women Have Played As An Example And Inspiration To Mothers Everywhere,   Fr.  Troy
  

TUESDAY'S PARISH MINISTRY UPDATE.....DANCING WITH FRUSTRATION..........

An interesting day it has been.  First the weather turning somewhat warmer than yesterday chilliness and Sunday's rain.  And a full throttle day on the pastoral front.  After concelebrating the 8 am Mass with Fr. Tony, I got stuck into the Sunday Bulletin copy as Tuesday 1pm is submission deadline for transmittal to JS Paluch.  Then it was over to the church for a Noon meeting with the Feeding The Hungry Ministry, my second of fourteen meetings with the Parish Ministries are I proceed in transition as OLOL's Pastor.  A quick lunch at 1pm, and back to my desk at 1:30 pm to review the mail and catch up with messages, then a 2 pm meeting with Srs. Felicity and Theresa.  A phone call to check in and catch up with my friend and colleague, Fr. Steve Avella, to firm up the Parish Advent Retreat he will be conducting in December for us. That was followed by the evening news broadcasts and then my monthly Spiritual Direction dinner meeting with Permanent Diaconate Paul Friedrich, from Presentation Parish, and a couple of referrals to our St. Vincent de Paul Society ministry, from calls that came in tonight, comprised my day this Tues. Oct. 19.....To chillax, I watched 'Dancing With The Stars', and am disappointed that so called "teen activist" Bristol Palin, beat out "Carol Brady", Florence Henderson.  A travesty, given both their dancing performances last night and their unequal, even  on the Palin's part, undeserved, right to be a contender on the the show.  Let's be honest - were it not for her mother's political fame and her own abstinence avowing, out of wedlock child, Bristol would not be even an afterthought, as a participant in this ballroom dance competition......Time to wind down and say goodnight dear blog readers on this 18th month mark night of, Insights Into Life And Faith By Father Troy Powers..........Thank You And God Bless You All Wherever In The World You Are Reading This,   Fr.  Troy

BLOGGING INSIGHTS ON LIFE AND FAITH FOR 18 MONTHS NOW.....WHAT DO YOU THINK ??????????????????..........

18 months ago today, April 19, 2009, the 23rd Anniversary of my Ordination to the Transitional Diaconate, I started this blog, "INSIGHTS INTO LIFE AND FAITH BY FATHER TROY POWERS"..................For the 465th time I am blogging today, in the midst of my pastoral ministry day at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Sacramento / Del Paso Heights / Rio Linda / Elverta / Robla / in the Diocese of Sacramento California.  I worded that previous sentence just that way to acknowledge that my blog is being read not only in Sacramento, and the 20 counties of this Diocese, but around the country and throughout the world.  My latest statistic update from Google Blogspot.com informs me that over the past year and a half,  3,919 persons have visited / read my blog;  3,309 persons in the United States of America; 149 persons in Ireland; 84 persons in Canada; 50 persons in Russia; 41 persons in Germany; 21 persons in the Netherlands; 20 persons in the Ukraine; 19 persons in France; 15 persons in Brazil; and 15 persons in the United Kingdom; and 495 more persons in other countries.  I am awestruck and grateful that my blog has such a wide and universal following, eighteen months into my sharing.  And I am also grateful for the comments and feedback being received and the growth in my number of visitors as the months increase.  It is a pleasure and a privilege to have the daily opportunity to communicate with you vis a vis this blog.  Thanks for being here to share in it with me.  Let me know what you think about the insights into life and faith I have offered to date and other topics you may want me to address.  Thank you for caring and sharing and choosing to follow me on Google Blogspot.com..........In Grateful Appreciation Of Your Being Here With Me, In Jesus Christ Our Lord And Savior,  Reverend Father Troy David Powers

ST. LUKE, PHYSICIAN.....APOSTLE.....EVANGELIST..........

Where does St. Luke, a gentile Syrian physician, fit into the apostolic community of Jesus Christ.  Luke was one of Paul's companions, who was called to the office of Apostle, and afforded the opportunity to become one of the primary Evangelists of the Christian Gospel.  He was the author of the Acts of the Apostles between the years 70-85 A.D., and wrote a Gospel, that is focused on a multifaceted audience of gentile Christians, God's mercy, universal Salvation, and the lowly, poor, and Marginalized.  While adhering to a renunciation of Sin and a priority for Prayer, Luke's Gospel is very Holy Spirit centered.  For the past year, Liturgical Year C, in the three year Lectionary cycle of the mainline Catholic--Christian Church, we have heard the Gospel of Luke proclaimed predominately on Sundays.  The Acts of the Apostles are a mainstay of the Easter Season every year.  So what have you read, heard, or learned, from the writings of St. Luke during 2010 ?  How has Luke the  Evangelist evangelized you and deepened your understanding of God's Word of mercy, universal salvation, and care and concern for the lowly, poor, and marginalized, in society and within the faith community ?  Religion, Faith, Discipleship, are about growth and conversion.  So please God, as we commemorate the apostolic ministry of St. Luke today, hopefully the proclamation of the Christian Scriptures he authored with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, will inspire and infuse into your minds and hearts a willingness to change and to be ever more respond to the Discipleship in Jesus the Christ we are called to live..........That Like St. Luke We May Give Ourselves Over To Living And True God Of All Peoples,   Fr.  Troy

29TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME : DISABILITY AWARENESS SABBATH 2010..........

On this 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish is joining with other Catholic-Christian congregations throughout our country in celebrating, 'Disability Awareness Sabbath'.  Disability Awareness Sabbath, is the Sunday each year we consider the ministry to the Disabled our churches, temples, and mosques, share for the inclusiveness and empowerment of those with special needs in the Community of Believers.  The theme of our Sunday Scriptures today is on Persistence in Prayer.  Persistence is definitely an attribute the Disabled are well experienced of, for without persistence many of them would be left marginalized by society and often times, even the faith community.  In my homily today I shared my own personal and priestly disability story and what I experienced growing up in the 1960's and 1970's with a physical disability.  I began my homily with a quote from Disability Rights advocate and minister, Gene Nabi, who in an article he wrote, "Gospel Accountability : When Can Special Needs Adults Understand The Gospel ?", said - "Anyone with a disability, however severe, can come into God's Kingdom.  They can be as receptive to the Holy Spirit as anyone else.  To question whether anyone has the capacity to come into the Kingdom, questions the power of the Holy Spirit".  This statement is at the heart of our observance of Disability Awareness Sabbath, since differently abled individuals, adults and children alike, are given by God the capacity to come into the Kingdom.  The Disabled like all persons are, "created and called by God and able to respond to God's calling, as is evidenced in the Book of Genesis 1:26; and in the Letter to the Ephesians 2:10; how much more we should embrace that they too should also minister for the Kingdom, and are specially gifted and invited to participate in the ministry by God", as is found in Paul's 1st Letter to the Corinthians.  At OLOL's 10:30 am Mass this morning we had just such a ministry experience.  Several months ago while I was assisting with 7:30 pm Sunday Mass, I was approached one evening by the father of a girl with Downs Syndrome.  She was baptized as a newborn infant ten years ago, but the geographic parish in which they reside could not or would not provide the catechetical formation this girl needed to prepare for and receive, First Holy Communion.  They asked me if they could arrange to facilitate her reception of the Sacrament sometime soon.  I directed the parents in catechizing their daughter about the Eucharist and to teach her that the Bread of Communion we partake is the Body of Jesus Christ.  Having reached that understanding, we scheduled that she and her family be present here today, to celebrate Regina Marie's First Holy Communion on Disability Awareness Sabbath. It is a travesty in the post conciliar, 3rd Millennium Catholic-Christian, when an indifferent, non inclusive, unempowering, decision is otherwise made.  And this is not the first time I have encountered this in my experience of ministry.  It goes against the norm set by the U.S. Bishops in their groundbreaking, 1978 Pastoral Letter on the Ministry to the Disabled.  That trailblazing document was a full twelve years ahead of the phenomenal Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990.  In respect for the dignity of the human person and in fidelity to Gospel values, there is no reason our parishes and communities should be anything but pro-active in providing for those with special needs among us.  Denying them access to Worship and Sacraments, is not only discriminatory, but sinful.  Ways in which we can be inclusive and empowering of the presence and participation within the faith community are wholistic as we must make provision for those with Intellectual Impairment, Physicial Disability, Visual Impairment, and Hearing Impairment.  And so, as you join with the People of God, the Body of Christ, today, may your hearts and minds be truly open and totally sensitive to those around you in church and the wider world of your homes, schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods.  Be an ambassador of Christ in facilitating a welcoming and rightful place for everyone, and not allow their limitations or special needs exclude them from a full and active part in being fully Alive !!!!!!!!!!..........In the Spirit of Jesus' Invitation To Healing, Wholeness, And A pLace For Everyone In God's Kingdom,   Fr.  Troy          

THE CAPTIVATING RESCUE OF THE CHILEAN MINERS..........

Since early August the people of Chile and others around the world have been focused on the thirty three Chilean miners trapped underground in the 125 year old mine were they worked.  Hopes for their being rescued seemed to diminish and prospects as far off as Christmas, when in early October, their prospects for being rescued seemed to turn affirmatively.  And last Tuesday night and Wednesday morning that is exactly what happened.  After a harrowing seventy days of captivity in that collapsed mine shaft, using a meticulously, technologically, constructed tubular cylinder on a pulley, which was lowered and brought up slowly, each individual miner was brought out and up to their awaiting families and loved ones.  And their rescue and deliverance to safety was a captivating major news story in Chile and throughout the world.  In the crescendo of this year's fall elections in the United States and the plethora of prime time, live candidate debates nationwide being held, they took backseat to the blanketed wall of coverage the news media gave to the Chilean miners being brought up alive and reunited to those near and dear to them.  These thirty three Chilean men have been become a substantial human interest story.  Their lives are far from perfect, friction and tension were present among them in the early days of being stranded underground together, and one of the men it has been discovered had both a wife and mistress awaiting him above ground, but for the most part these trapped men pulled together and their positive attitudes and religious faith, helped to be remain a cohesive unit and stay focused, despite the hardship and deprivation they underway for an uncertain and stressful ten weeks.  In the end, they all came out alive, to acclamations and astonishment, that they all survived to see the future beyond that almost certain death chamber.  With the Chilean miners and their families and loved ones, we too should give thanks, for the necessity of faith, hope, and love, and the power of the partnership between God and Humankind, making a real difference in the darkest hours of despair and anxiety.  God Bless them, and keep them safe.  Please God, all of us can learn to take consolation and trust from this ordeal.  Never give up.  Never let desperation cause us to surrender or give in.  Always believe in the possibility for a positive, pro-active, productive, outcome to the maladies that confront us..........With Praise And Thanks To The Living And True God Of Creation,   Fr.  Troy

.....I dedicate this blog column on the Rescue of the 33 Chilean Miners, to the best Chilean I know, my friend and fellow believer, Hernan.  In Gratitude for his friendship and generous support of my priestly ministry.  Thanks Hernan..........

CARMELITE RELIGIOUS ORDER REFORMER AND FIRST WOMAN DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH, ST. TERESA OF AVILA..........

St. Teresa of Avila, was a wise and strong Spanish woman of the 16th Century, who was a mystic and an author, as well as one of the leading Church reformers of that era.  Although enduring great suffering and trials,  she teamed with St. John of the Cross, in reforming the Carmelite religious order and cleansing it of its corrosion, by co-founding the Discalced Carmelite Friars and Nuns.  She authored several spiritual writings, including - "Way of Perfection", "Interior Castle", and an autobiography; and has become an inspiration to the faithful discipleship of countless believers, within the Carmelites and throughout Catholic-Christianity in the world.  Her outstanding contribution to the betterment of the Body of Christ and the People of God, was cause for St. Teresa of Avila, to be declared the first woman ever, given the title of, Doctor of the Church.  Oh so, that many more of us who profess to be followers of Jesus the Christ, would be as willing to serve God and others by giving ourselves to a spirituality of reform and renewal, that clears the clutter of the selfishness of sin from Life, Church, and World, and excelerates the presence and effectiveness of God's Grace and our Mystical Union with the Divine.  Against the odds and the prevailing powers of her day, Teresa of Avila did exactly that.  She is a Christian role model and Hero of God, whose example can help catapult us to put our Faith and our Values into Action, for the common good of our Christian Discipleship and the greater God of the Living and True God..........St. Theresa of Avila Pray For And Inspire Us To Follow Your Holy Example In Changing Hearts And Minds,   Fr.  Troy

PRIESTS STUDY DAYS CONCLUDE FOR 2010.....BACK TONIGHT FOR THE QUARTERLY PARISH FINANCE COUNCIL MEETING..........

The 2010 Study Days of Sacramento Priests, at Christ the King Retreat Center in Citrus Heights concluded today at 1 pm, with Morning Prayer, a Final Presentation / Discussion, Mass and Lunch.  It was an interesting three days of introduction and overview to the new, 3rd edition of the Roman Missal, which will go into effect on the 1st Sunday of Advent, November 27, 2011.  The next thirteen and a half months, being a time of preparation   of the faithful to learn and be ready to celebrate the changes the new Roman Missal will bring.  And there are very real changes in the words we will pray and be obligated to use in celebrating Mass, starting with Advent, a year from now.....At 2 pm, I joined Msgr. Kavanagh in attending the Funeral Service at Holy Spirit Church, in Sacramento's  Land Park neighborhood, for former Sacramento County District Attorney Herb Jackson.  Holy Spirit's Pastor Rev. Fr. Dan Looney presided, and Rev. Fr. John Lagomarsino, was also present.  Then I returned to OLOL, to prepare for tonight's Parish Finance Council Meeting.  As my first year transition as Pastor continues to proceed and change in Parish Bookkeeper has just been accomplished this week, this was only part one of the Fall Quarterly Meeting.  We welcomed aboard our newest Finance Council member and held the Parish Finance Council Meeting with the Pastor, I am holding with all 14 Parish Ministries during the coming Month.  The good news shared last night, being that Sunday Collections, like Mass Attendance, are up, and we are operating in the black.  And so, tomorrow I resume my regular daily parish schedule, with completion of the 2009-10 Annual Parish Final Report to the Diocese, and getting the All Souls Day mailing out to the parishioners next week, chief among them.  This Sunday is also Disability Awareness Sabbath, occasion for a special, extended, personal story homily at the 3 Sunday Masses, so this is ample work to get stuck into right away..........Peace and Prayers,   Fr.  Troy

OUR LADY OF FATIMA AND MY PROUD PORTUGUESE-AMERICAN ANCESTRY..........

One year ago today, while I was still doing my post kidney transplant convalescing in Phoenix, Arizona, and just four days before I returned with my friend and caregiver, Jeremy Lipp, to Sacramento - the Right Reverend Monsignor Vito F. Mistretta, the forty one year, Founding Pastor Emeritus of Holy Family Parish, in Citrus Heights, where I served my first assignment as a priest for fifteen months in 1987-88; and and was his successor as Pastor, thrice removed, from November 24, 2000 - June 27, 2005; died in retirement at 92 years old.  I received word of his passing by phone in Phoenix, and remember thinking I was likely to miss his Funeral by a day or less, being he died on Tuesday, I expected he would be buried on either on Friday or Saturday, of that same week.  Alas, I was able to attend, as Msgr. Mistretta's obsequies were the following Monday morning, after my return home.  This morning I celebrated the 8 am Mass here at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, for the happy repose of his soul on this his 1st Anniversary.  Having maintained a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary all his life as a priest, including under her patronage as Our Lady of Fatima, during the past year it has caused me to reflect on how appropriate it was that Vito's call from this world should have come on Our Lady of Fatima day, as the apparitions of the Blessed Mother, by the three, young, poor, Portuguese children, occurred in the year of his birth - 1917.....

 Being of fifty percent Portuguese ancestry myself, since childhood I have been familiar in an up close way with the devotion to the Our Lady of Fatima.  Today as the Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Sacramento, I invoke the Blessed Mother's intercession under both titles, and pray God's choicest blessings upon all Portuguese American people in the Sacramento Diocese, I know and have been afforded the priestly, pastoral ministry to during the past nearly two dozen years.  And I am proud to be among a group of at least ten priests, who have been of Portuguese birth or ancestry, over the past century in the Sacramento Diocese.  May Our Lady of Fatima's 1917 apparitional pleas for Peace in the World, continue to be a part of all our pursuits as God's People.........Hail Mary, Mother Of God, Pray For Us, O Gentle Woman Of Peace,   Fr.  Troy

CELEBRATING CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.....SACRAMENTO PRIESTS STUDY DAYS 2010..........

Yesterday the Columbus Day Federal Holiday was observed.  Today is the traditional day designated as Columbus Day in the United States.  It is a day commemorating Discovery of our New Land, and a day of Honor celebrating Italian Americans, for their contributions to our nation.  After St. Joseph's Day on March 19, this day dedicated to this voyager-discoverer looms large as an Italian feast of history and heritage.....Today the Priests of the Sacramento are also gathered at Christ the King Retreat Center in Citrus for our Annual Study Days.  This year we are being an introduction and overview to the new Roman Missal, which is reportedly being promulgated for use at Mass beginning the First Sunday of Advent 2011.....Their have many many fine Italian families who have made lasting contributions to the betterment of America, in business, sports, the arts, science, and in culture.  In Sacramento and California, the same is true.  Personally, one of the outstanding Italian American families I have been privileged to know are the Bugatto-Mugnaini Family.  Archie and Ramona Bugatto and their Family - have been, and are exemplary citizens in regards to the values of family, faith, friendship, fidelity, and fairness.  The late Archie was a stellar native Sacramentan, who worked in the hardware business from age 13, until his medically necessary retirement in 1998.  From ages 13-34, he worked as an employee at two local hardware stores, and then until 68 years old, was owner and operator of his own Archie's Hardware and Gifts, first on Elvas Avenue, and then at 56th and J Streets, in East Sacramento.  In 1959, Archie married fellow native Sacramentan, Ramona Parachini Bugatto and raised two children, Teres and David.  All four family members worked in the family hardware and gifts business together until the store closed in 1998.  Archie and Ramona shared a more than 40 year marriage that was totally loving and devoted, and steeped in strong moral values and great generosity.  I  came to know the Bugattos in 1979, when their daughter Teres, was a freshmen at Sacramento State University, and I was a graduate student.  We met at a Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity recruitment party and that on that night became very good friends.  Teres' husband Michael Mugnaini, who is also a fraternity brother of mine, married her in 1985, and I, then a seminarian, was Lector and Eucharistic Minister at their Nuptial Mass.  Their three children, Christopher, Lauren, and Alexander, I have also baptized as a priest, and I am godfather to Alex.  I was also afforded the honor to preside over Archie's Funeral Mass in January 2000, and to sit with the Family at the 2004 Wedding Mass of David to his wife Julie.  So many memories, such a treasury of blessings, they continue to bring to my life.  As just one superb Italian-American family, it is awesome to think Christopher Columbus whom we commemorated yesterday and today, is the Italian connection, who through the centuries sowed the seed of the Italian-American contributions to the betterment of family, faith, friendship, fidelity, and fellowship, in the USA.....The first day and first three parts of our Sacramento Priests' Study Days on the 3rd Edition, or is it 4th ?, of the new Roman Missal, being promulgated in English on the 1st Sunday of Advent, November 27, 2011, meant overview presentations on the past, present, and future, of Liturgical Renewal and The Mass; and very lively discussions among the priests, Bishop Soto, and Diocesan Director of the Office of Worship, Sandra Holland.  We will continue all this on Wednesday and Thursday, in preparation to teach our parishioners the changes in the coming year..........May The Grace And Peace Of God, Who Began All This Good Work Bring It To Fulfillment,   Fr.  Troy

OCTOBER 11, 1962.....THE DAY THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL OPENED..........

..........Three years ago today, the Most Reverend Jaime Soto, a native priest of Orange California, and from 2000-2007, the Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Orange, was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Sacramento; subsequently becoming the 9th Bishop of Sacramento on December 1, 2008.  As he begins his fourth year in these sprawling twenty counties of the Church of Sacramento, we offer prayers for him and his episcopal ministry, and wish him continued success in shepherding this People of God..........

The day Bishop Soto was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Sacramento, the priests of the Sacramento Diocese were gathered in Convocation at Knockti Harbor in Clear Lake.  During the dinner hour Bishop Soto made the rounds of the room, personally introducing himself to each of the priests.  When he arrived at me, I welcomed him to the Sacramento Diocese and told him his appointment was of double historical significance.  Firstly, by becoming Coadjutor, knowing he would be the 9th Bishop of Sacramento; and also that his appointment on October 11, 2007, marked the 45th anniversary of the convening of the Second Vatican Council, in Rome on October 11, 1962.  He was surprised a man of my age would remember that so clearly.  And I told him that I am if nothing, a person with a penchant for dates and details of historical interest.....Indeed it was on this day forty eight years ago that the 21st Ecumenical Council in the history of the Catholic Church began, with the Spirit and the Vision, His Holiness, Pope John XXIII, called and convened it with.  For three and three quarter years the Church had prepared for this august gathering of the World's Bishops, and the reform and renewal of Catholic-Christianity it was summoned to bring about.  As John XXIII, himself described it, "A New Pentecost", opening the windows of the Church and letting the fresh air of the Holy Spirit stream through us.  Over the next three years and two months, 4 sessions of the Council Fathers, the Bishops - were held in the autumn of 1962, 1963, 1964, and 1965. The Council discussed and debated 16 Documents, which were promulgated by an overwhelmingly, near unanimous vote, for most of the sixteen, by the more than 300 Bishops present and voting.   All facets of the Life of the Church, from Sacred Liturgy and Sacraments, to the Priesthood, Religious Life, Ecumenism, and the Theological and Social Justice Role of the Church in the Modern World, were addressed by these seminal, renewing, reforming, Vatican II Documents.  From my study and nurturing of the teachings of Vatican II, I have derived as a Priest of Jesus Christ and a Pastor of the Church, a spirit of what I refer to as, "Faith, Fellowship, Collegiality, and Collaboration".  I fully believe that is what God and the Council wants us to live, as has the postconciliar Church for the past forty five years.  What has the postconciliar Vatican II Church given us ?  A development of the theology of being Church as the People of God and the Body of Christ.  An increased understanding of the Sacrament of Baptism and the Sacraments of the Church.  The Universal Call to Holiness directed at each and every Catholic-Christian.  The historic re-emergence of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, (RCIA).  And it has helped us to reach out to our other Christian brothers and sisters, as well as to the Jewish People and all other World Religions.  How wonderfully God's Spirit has allowed the Second Vatican Council to refresh and renew our Catholic-Christian Church.  There are some in the Church who would like to turn the clock back, if not bury Vatican II, and go back  to what I call the, "Museum of the Catholic Church".  As we progress into the 3rd Millennium of Catholic-Christianity, we must strive to keep the truth of the Second Vatican Council vibrantly alive.  No retro, nostalgic, throwback to a previous time can serve the mission and ministry of the Church better than can the graced wisdom of Vatican II.  Until the 22nd Ecumenical Council of the Church is convened, the Teachings of the Second Vatican Council remain our guide and our goal, in making all Peoples, especially the Disciples of Jesus the Christ, holy, faithful, and true, to the New Pentecost of being The People of God  and The Body of Christ, in the Faith, Hope, and Love, Vatican II challenges us to embrace and live..........In The Spirit Of Reform And Renewal Our Carrying Out Of The Second Vatican Council Brings To The World,   Fr.  Troy    

28TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME.....GOOD MANNERS AND CHRISTIAN GRATITUDE..........

This second Sunday of October is the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, definitively well into the autumn season, although temperatures in Sacramento / California are still reflecting summer like numbers in the 80's and 90 's degrees Fahrenheit.  Our Scriptural focus today in Luke's Gospel 17:11-19, is upon the Ten Lepers healed by Jesus of their malady and their response to the healing they sought from the one they called out to as, "Jesus Master".  Yes, nine of the ten supposedly did what Jesus commanded them to do in going to the priests and being certified as cured, so why were they criticized and the one who returned praised, for seemingly lacking to obey Jesus' command ?  Because in Christ Jesus something more extraordinary occurred to them.  Not only were they returned to their former state in life by their physical healing, they were also spiritually fortified to hear the call to Discipleship.  Whether or not, they accepted the call to discipleship, common respect and human decency obliges them to acknowledge and appreciate the person who provided their healing, the "Master Jesus", as the lepers had cried out to Him.  One of the first things we learn from our parents and families is to say, Please, and Thanks, in respectfulness toward others we interact with.  These Ten Lepers were total outcasts due to their disease, so that even that kind of politeness did not get them much, if any of a favorable response.  But the failure of all but the Samaritan Leper, the ultimate outcast among the Ten, to turn back to Jesus and express Gratitude for being restored and renewed,  is callous and self absorbed.  They provide us with an invaluable insight as to how we must never ignore or overlook the gratitude we as sinners, who have been saved by God's Grace and Jesus' Paschal Mystery, must also always maintain; lest we too, repeat the mistaken of the nine healed lepers.  And the Samaritan Leper concretely displays for us the boundless mercy and compassion to be experienced by every repentant sinner or otherwise afflicted person, by Jesus the Christ.  That together with our Faith in the Lord's Healing Power, should serve sufficiently to spur forth from us, a Gratitude and Appreciation that is undeniable..........In The Power Of Healing Found For Us And All Peoples in Our Master, Jesus the Lord,   Fr.  Troy  

MORE CLASSIC TELEVISION TURNS 50 & 60......"MY THREE SONS"......"BURNS AND ALLEN"..........

..........120 years ago today in Portugal, my maternal grandfather Manuel Lawrence Correia, (COREY) was born.  At age 17, he immigrated to the United States, settling in Sacramento, and went to work for the Southern Pacific Railroad.  One day in 1910, they called him into the office and told him the spelling of his last name would from then on be, COREY, instead of Correia.  To drop the second r and the i and the a, and add y to become Manuel COREY, an American.  Proud to become an American he did so, not realizing legal citizenship entailed much more than that.  Finally, at age 66, in 1956, he achieved citizenship as a naturalized American..........

Last Saturday I blogged about some of the stars and shows and significant milestones they had reached.  Today i add two more television classics and write of the Hollywood stars who appeared in them.  Fred MacMurray was a famous leading actor in movies of the 1930's into the 1960's.  His gentle, easy going, unflappable appearance won him wide acclaim.  On September 29, 1960, he came to television in a situation comedy series titled, "My Three Sons", on ABC-TV.  Co-starring with him were William Frawley, another Hollywood movie veteran, fresh off a nine year run as Fred Mertz, on the,"I Love Lucy / Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour series, and playing his sons, Tim Considine, Don Grady, and Stanley Livingston.  After six highly successful seasons on ABC, the show moved to CBS-TV, in 1965.  Tim Considine left the seies at that time and a new, adopted, younger, third son, played by Barry Livingston, (the real life, biological brother of Stanley Livingston) joined the cast.  Then in 1966, William Frawley died, and his character, "Bub", was replaced by another veteran character actor from the movies, William Demarest as, "Uncle Charlie".  As the series progressed into its next six seasons, actresses, Tina Cole, Beverly Garland, and Dawn Lyn, were added to the cast.  For twelve delightful seasons "My Three Sons", was a very welcome weekly guest in American homes.....With overtones of vaudeville, early television variety shows and emerging situation comedies, George Burns and Gracie Allen, brought their very popular radio show, to television on October 12, 1950.  And for eight, hilarious and ditsy seasons, brought laughter and enjoyable entertainment to viewers. George Burns and Gracie Allen formed a vaudevillian comedy team in 1922, married in 1926, and starred on radio from the early 1930's, taking over the slot held by The Guy Lombardo Show, on which they had been regulars on CBS Radio in 1934, a program that became the Burns and Allen Show in 1936.  It was that series fourteen years later they brought to television sixty years ago, on October 12, 1950, which had a highly successfuk eight season run, until Gracie Allen decided to retire from show business in 1958.  With the hundreds of tv networks now available in the media world of cable and satellite, few programs having the enduring classic television flavor and staying power, as these two outstanding shows from the golden age of television.  If you remember them, celebrate their 50th and 60th anniversaries and the enjoyment they provided.  If you are too young to have seen them during their prime time runs, then seek out the reruns and video / dvd library, and you are not likely to be disappointed.  Fred MacMurray, George Burns, Gracie Allen, and all their co-stars will live on forever in the television land of happy memories..........Saluting These Two Television Classics,  Fr.  Troy  TV    

DAYS LIKE THIS ARE WHY I LIKE BEING A DIOCESAN PRIEST..........

More than thirty years ago, when I was discerning a call to becoming a priest and weighed the kind of priest I might be, like any open minded person I considered my options.  Diocesan priesthood, or entering a Religious order, with a particular charism or ministry focus.  Although deep down I was from my youth intrigued most by parish priests and what they did, as a high school and college student, the Dominicans, Franciscans, and Jesuits, also loomed in my mind as exciting avenues of possibility.  I chose diocesan priesthood, because that is where I feel the greatest opportunity to serve with the greatest diversity of activity exists.  No matter how predictable parts of it may be, there is also a dynamically unpredictable aspect to it on a daily basis, that keeps it refreshing and new.  Yesterday, was just the latest experience of which I speak.  In addition to the Liturgy of the Hours and Morning Mass, I had the following encounters.  A brief 11 am meeting with Sister Felicity, about Religious Education class registrations; an 11:30 am Sacramental appointment with a 102 year old parishioner, requesting Confession, Communion, and Anointing; a 1:15 pm meeting with Sister Theresa, regarding the Holy Childhood Association drive with the children; parish bill paying for the remainder of the afternoon and evening; meeting with the Solon Fire Control man who came to inspect and service the fire extinguishers and the fire safety of the parish hall kitchen; and a visit to the Confirmation Religious Education Class.....A mixture of events and activities that truly rounded out my day.  Days like this are why I chose to become a priest of the Sacramento Diocese and are a large part of why I like being a parish priest.  The 40th native born, local grown, Sacramento vocation for our Diocese I am, as each year of my ministry progresses I see more and more why I was also intrigued by the Dominicans, Franciscans, and Jesuits, as preaching, a simpler, more charitable way of life, and teaching, are all essential components of who I am and strive to be ever more productively.  But parish life is where the heart of the action for serving and leading is, and is where I know God wants me to be..........In The Spirit And Truth Of Being A Priest Now And Forever,   Fr.  Troy

OCTOBER's FEAST OF FOCUS - OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY..........

As we finish the first week of October, we arrive at the liturgical feast that is the primary focus of the month, the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary.  This feast of the Church was declared by Pope Pius V, in 1571, in thanksgiving for Christian soldiers victory in the Battle of Lepanto.  The feast of Our Lady of the Rosary also reminds me of my pastoral assignment as a third year seminarian at St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park.  I was assigned during that 1984-85 year to Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, in Palo Alto.  The newly retired Pastor-Emeritus at the time was Reverend Father John Dermody, of the San Francisco Archdiocese, cousin of our two Sacramento Father Dermodys, Michael and Thomas.  His successor as Pastor, Rev. Fr. Alfred Kelly, was very welcoming of me and told me he had a special assignment for me.  A 20 year old Guamanian man, who was a parishioner, had a developmental disability leaving him able to function cognitively as only a child of 5-6 years old.  He was baptized as an infant, but received no other sacraments, and catechesis only from his mother at home.  My parish pastoral assignment was to prepare him catechetically one on one for First Holy Communion.  There was uncertainty whether he could be sufficiently prepared to understand what Eucharist is, and I was given the parish / seminary year to see if we could succeed together in doing so.  Weekly we met for up to 90 minutes and his mother was so excited at her twenty year desire for Paul, her son to be given this chance, she soon began inviting to their home for dinner.  Shortly after our Christmas break was over in late January, the breakthrough came, when in the midst of that day's lesson, I asked Paul, as I had for over four months what Holy Communion is ?  And was I surprised when he clearly said, "The Bread of Jesus".  As he smiled broadly at me, I said to him, "Paul, tell me what the Bread of Jesus is ?"  And he said, "The Bread is Jesus".  I was ecstatic and couldn't wait for his mother to come for him and to go over to the rectory to tell Fr. Kelly.  Paul and I continued our instructions and it was decided I would also do Confirmation preparation with him, so that later in the Spring Paul celebrated the completion of his Christian Initiation with the other students at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish Church in Palo Alto, California.  On this Our Lady of the Rosary Day 2010, may the mysteries of Salvation History recalled by us in our meditation of praying the Holy Rosary, open your hearts and minds on how God is calling you to experience your Faith in ever more deep and significant ways..........Mary Mother Of God, Our Lady Of The Rosary Pray For Us,   Fr.  Troy

IF IT ISN'T THE DARNEDEST THING..........

While on vacation with Father Oliver, 4-6 weeks ago, he tried to convince me to upgrade to an I-phone, as my 5 year old Nokia cell phone was worse for wear.  Being the Campbell Soup kid, fiscal conservative I am, me and my cell trudged forward.  Then fifteen days ago, my dinosaur Nokia went kaput.  I had to replace it and upgraded to the closest one I could find on the internet.  For nine days I was learning the bells and whistles of my new LG cell phone, which I describe as half way to the kind of smart phone Fr. Oliver was encouraging me to get.  Then on Monday evening I blessed parishioner pets in the parking lot for St. Francis Assisi Day, before going to the Parish Hall to teach my Faith Seeking Understanding Adult Faith Formation class on the Mass.  At 7:37 pm  a call came in on my cell, so I took it out of my pocket to check the incoming phone number and sat it on the table I was teaching from.  I saw it once more after that, and at 8 pm, as some of the attendees at the class came to the table to converse with me, I forgot about it.  2 hours later, as I went to plug it into the charger, at my bedside, and  I had no phone.  It was nowhere to be found in the rectory, the church, or the hall.  For the next 36 hours no one in the room on Monday night had any idea of its whereabouts and I feverishly checked with the parishioners present Tuesday morning for Mass and the Feed the Hungry ministry.  I placed phone calls to the three persons who came to the table at the end of the class to speak with them, and placed three calls to my voice mail,asking anyone who found it to please return it.  I made a reference to it in my homily this morning as it is St. Bruno Day, and among his attributes was constancy and perseverance in the midst of adversity and change. Over the past day and a half I also invoked St. Anthony Padua, and St. Jude Thaddeus, to help find my lost phone.  Then after Mass, as I was walking over to the rectory with our Parish Pastoral Council President, he spotted it laying on the grass outside the church sacristry door.  Hallejuah it's back !  But the mystery continues.....In addition to my own three voice mail calls since losing it Monday night, there are at least six other calls made on it - 2 calls to my personal land line phone which I have programmed on my cell, two calls to one other number in North Sacramento, and two Anonymous number calls, I called back the four calls not made to me, and got no answer, or voice mail. Also, the grass on which it was found is in the sprinkler range, yet the phone was found totally dry and with no moisture on it.  I am very happy to have it back, thank God.  But, If It Isn't The Darnedest Thing !!!!!..........Fr.  Troy

OF BROTHERS I HAVE KNOWN AND LOVED..........

A week ago yesterday I blogged about the 30th Anniversary of the Chartering of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity at CSU-Sacramento.  Today, I follow-up with a remembrance of my fellow Original Six founding father, Colony / Phi Pi 6,  Robert Charles Butcher.  In the first week of October 1977, when I was one month from turning 21 years old,  I met Bob Butcher, in the University Union at Sac State, to discuss his joining our Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity colony.  Bob turned 33 years old that week, and would be our oldest recruit / member as a colony, while I was the youngest.  He was a Senior, History Major, worked for the State of California Board of Equalization Central Files office as a Supervisor, and was a veteran of the United States Navy, in which he served from 1965-69.  Bob was Catholic, so we struck up a friendly, familiar, rapport as the lunch unfolded.  Our Colony President Tom MacKenzie was also lunching with us, and he and I knew in short order, that Bob Butcher would be a stellar addition to the other five us who were Associate Members.  During the rest of that Academic Year, from our Ritual Initiation, to fraternity parties, socials, White Rose Founders Day Banquet, Day on the Bay in May, Associated Students Elections, and Graduation, Brother Bob was always there, doing his part, and was graciously present to me facilitating my presence as Vice President, while fulfilling his own position, as Alumni Affairs Secretary.  Upon receiving his B.A. in History on May 27, 1978, Bob did not just fade away, but continued to come to fraternity functions and support me and Graduate student, ASI Senate Chair Kevin Stevens, keep the fledgling fraternity colony alive. And Brother Bob continued to be there for us and with us, supporting us fraternally and financially through the harrowing journey of attaining our Charter.  On "Charter '80 !" Night we presented him a gift of gratitude for his yeoman service to us, a Grandfather Clock, symbolizing that he was the Grand 'Ol Man, of the Phi Pi Zeta of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity.  Beyond the fraternity we remained very good friends for more than two decades, spending time together spiritually, socially, and interpersonally.  The last major Lambda Chi function being the 20th Anniversary of the Charter in September 2000, which was another grand and glorious night together festively celebrating the bond of our brotherhood.  Eleven months later on a mid August Sunday morning, I had just completed the 9 am Mass at Holy Family Church in Citrus Heights and returned to my quarters in the rectory, when Bob's brother in law Joseph Miller, called with the sad news that Brother Bob had died overnight of a sudden heart attack.  He was 56 years old.  His wife Placida, asked me to preside over his funeral, with the request that I tell as many of the funny fraternity stories about Bob, as possible in the homily.  The Vigil and the Funeral Mass were at their parish, Good Shepherd in Laguna / Elk Grove, and the Pastor, Rev. Fr. Phil Wells, concelebrated with me.  He laughed as loud and hard as anyone in the church about my renditions recounting Bob, and especially when I made reference to his navy and fraternity nickname,  Bob "Mad Dog" Butcher !!!!!!!!!!  Brother Bob has been gone more than 9 years, but my treasury of memories of the two dozen years I knew him are still shining bright.  Today, would have been Bob Butcher's 66th Birthday.  Rest in Peace, my dear friend, until we who knew and loved you here on earth, are reunited with you in heaven.  Thank You Bob For All You Brought To My Life,   Troy

ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI : A WAY OF LIFE EMULATED BY BISHOP FRANCIS ANTHONY QUINN..........

Francis of Assisi was born late in the 12th Century of Catholic-Christianity, at a time when the Church founded by Jesus Christ was in need of reform and renewal.  A rich young man from an affluent family, Francis could have lived an extravagant life for his 44 years of living, but he renounced that and humbled himself  choosing poverty and a day to day experience of sbsistence in nature and creation.  Founding the Franciscan mendicant, religious order, as a way of life for men and women dedicated to a far simpler, more humble, holy, lifestyle serving the poor, in his teachings and example of caring concern of ecology, conservation, and animals.  Tonight at 6 pm, I will bless the pets and animals of parishioners in the Church parking in memory of St. Francis of Assisi's love for them.  Here in our Sacramento Diocese we have been blessed with our own contemporary St. Francis, in the person of Bishop Emeritus Francis Anthony Quinn.  His lifestyle, compassion care for the poor, and social justice, are very much in the tradition of compassion and gentleness of the master Franciscan himself.  And +Francis A. Quinn, is a 64 year diocesan priest and bishop, not a Franciscan.  Today, there are over 30,000 Franciscans ministering in the Church and the World, including the priests at our own St. Francis of Assisi Church at 26th and K Streets, in midtown Sacramento, across from Sutter's Fort.  As we commemorate this giant in discipleship of Jesus Christ, may we too, find in our depths, an appreciation and gratitude for the spirit of nature in creation, and the humble, holy, example of St. Francis of Assisi, who possessed the resources to live a selfishly different life..........As We Strive To Be Channels of Peace and Hope For Today's World And Church,   Fr.  Troy