SUMMING UP JANUARY 2010 - SUCCESSFULLY STARTING AT SACRED HEART..........

My first month In Residence at Sacred Heart Parish in East Sacramento is complete, as we celebrate the 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time. In these past 31 days, I have celebrated 24 Masses; 33 Confessions; (plus 18 First Reconciliation Confessions at Assumption Parish") Anointed 1 Sick person; Met With 1 Engaged Couple; and attended 3 Adult Faith Formation meetings; while settling into being here..........In our Sunday Scriptures we hear the prophetic voices of Jeremiah in the First Reading and Jesus the Christ in Luke's Gospel. They both proclaimed an unvarnished message of God's Truth, not seeking to be popular, but true to their mission as messengers of the Divine. Jeremiah, Isaiah, Hosea, Elijah, Elisha, and their fellow Prophets spoke authentically, not out of a hardness of heart, but with a direct and intentional direction for God's People, often showing a softness of heart in their interactions with others, as evidenced by Hosea in his tender love for his wife; and Elijah and Elisha, in their provision for the needs of widows and orphans. Paul in 1 Corinthians today proclaims for us the necessity of love and compassion being included in the exercise of the God given gift of prophecy. To be prophetic while being detached from the reality of the lives to whom one is prophesying, is to be a false prophet, for authentic prophecy is grounded in God, and God is Love. Humility in fulfilling the gift of prophecy is essential, because prophets serve at God's Call, and not of their own choosing. A true and faithful prophet to God's People are steeped in love for God and others, which is what makes them deliver their challenging messages of repentance and re-direction. Thus authentic prophets are able to blend the speaking of Truth with a sufficiency of Love for the persons they are proclaiming to. I have long said, "Priesthood is not a popularity contest". Neither is Christian Discipleship. If we are to be fervent and faithful witnesses to God's Prophetic Word, then our concern must not be popularity or acceptance, but a balanced, well rounded, response to hearing, speaking, living the Truth. In today's Gospel Proclamation, Luke shows how Jesus put the Truth, even at the risk of His own endangerment, before the acceptance and popularity of the crowd. How willing are we as followers of Jesus Christ in the Church and the World, to speak or act on the Truth and risk rejection and unpopularity ? Or are our own comfortability and acceptance by others, even at the cost of denying or remaining silent in regards to our values and beliefs, the easy way we choose to take, instead of prophetically proclaiming the Truth by our words and actions ? Prophets old and new, hear, answer, and speak, of the Call God summons them to embrace. And as God's People and members of the Body of Christ, the Church - we too are being called yesterday, today, tomorrow, and always - not to be indifferent or uncaring, but active, faithful, and true to prophetically and constantly proclaiming God's greater glory and serving the common good of humankind. Thank you to my blog readers and all those who are continuing to pray for and with me, for your ongoing support .........Peace + Prayers in the Prophetic Word of God, Who Is Jesus the Christ..........Fr. Troy

PRAYING AND DEVELOPING CHURCH VOCATIONS TO THE CONSECRATED LIFE..........

One of the charisms of the Catholic-Christian community of believers is experienced in the commitment to the Religious Life made by women and men who hear and answer God's Call to serve as members of the Church who consecrate themselves to the communal life in prayer and ministry for the common good of serving God's People. Since many decades before there was a Diocese of Sacramento more than 160 years ago, there was a religious life presence in Sacramento led by the ministry of the Franciscan Sisters and the Sisters of Mercy, and which throughout our diocesan history has included, the Christian Brothers, the Jesuit Priests and Brothers, the Passionist Fathers, the Loreto Sisters, Presentation Sisters, the Salvatorian Priests and Brothers,the Oblates of St. Joseph Priests, the Carmelite Sisters and Priests, Dominican Sisters, Priests, and Brothers, the Canossian Sisters, and the Sisters of Social Service, among several other religious orders. They have and are serving in parish churches, parochial schools and high schools, religious education and faith formation, hospitals and health care, social service and justice ministries, spiritual retreats and renewal, and church vocations awareness, discernment and recruitment, to name just some of the vital work their profession of vows to the consecrated religious life has been theirs, in serving the Church and Communities of Superior California. We as God's People have a multitude of reasons to be grateful for the commitment and dedication of these hard working and devoted men and women of faith and fidelity, to evangelical and gospel values for our betterment and enrichment. The Sisters of Social Service and the Sisters of Mercy, have played a significant role in my own family's life. In 1937, my mother at age 15, had completed the 8th Grade, and did not go on to high school, but went to work to help support the family. The Sisters of Social Service obtained a job for her, working for the John Hamlin Sr. Family in Land Park, as the caregiver for the family's young son, John Jr. For three years my mother looked after the son in their home and around the neighborhood, as trips to the park, baseball field, and to the drug store for ice cream, were outings she accompanied John Jr. on. Amongst the Hamlins Land Park neighbors were the Max Baer Sr. Family, the well known boxing champion. His son, Max Jr. was a friend of John Jr., and occasionally my mother would escort both boys down to the drugstore for an ice cream cone. My mother held this job and shared these experiences all because the Sisters of Social Service cared enough for a young, struggling, girl, from a middle class (my father would have said, "working poor") family, to assist her in obtaining employment at such a young age. The Sisters of Mercy have played a role in my family's life before I was born. My two older brothers, twin sisters, younger brother, and I, were all born in Mercy General Hospital. We were cathechized by the Mercy Sisters and prepared for First Communion and Confession, as well as, Confirmation, by them. I have worked with them from my days as an altar server, as a catechist, and as a seminarian, transitional deacon, and priest. From Sisters Mary Cornelia Murphy, Mary Dominica Cunningham, and Faustina Sena, RSM, at St. Rose's / St. Patrick's in South Sacramento; to Sisters Ann O'Neill, Philomene Gogarty, Kathleen Horgan, Julianna Clancy, and Mary Martin Mulroy, RSM, in St. Joseph's Parish in Auburn; Mercy San Juan Carmichael, and Mercy Folsom Hospital; Mercy General Hospital, Sacramento; Presentation Parish, Arden-Arcade; and Sacred Heart Parish, East Sacramento; these fine and wonderful servants of God have enriched me and my priestly ministry with their support and collaboration. And so this coming week as we commemorate the World Day of Prayer for the Consecrated Life, may we lift up those men and women Religious who have, are, and will continue to, please God - play a significant role in our lives as faithful witnesses to Jesus the Christ. This Monday night February 1, the Serra Club of Sacramento will join with Bishop Jaime Soto and many others in remembering and celebrating the consecrated Religious in our Diocese, at a special observance in the Parish Community Center at St. John the Evangelist Church in Carmichael. Let us all pray and express our gratitude for the seminal part the Religious priests, brothers, sisters, and deacons, we know have played in developing and forming our own Catholic-Christian Discipleship..........Acknowledging The Vows of Obedience, Charity, and Poverty, They Profess and Give Witness To, Gratefully in Christ Jesus, Fr. Troy

THE 1st STATE of the UNION ADDRESS by POTUS 44..........

In the Hebrew Scrptures of the Old Testament of the Bible, God's Chosen People, the Israelites waited many long centuries for a perfect king, who would be their political messiah. David was thought to be that perfect king, even his name translates as meaning, "perfect", and although a good leader of the Israelites, was not the perfect king. Others of them expected that the Coming of the Messiah, the Anointed One of God, the Christ, (in Greek) Jesus would be that perfect political master to deliver them from the Roman Empire. Alas, Jesus the Christ came not to be a political Messiah, but a spiritual Master, to save God's People..... That is my prologue to our American view of the President of the United States. Many of our citizens expect him to be the perfect political savior to deliver us from all crises facing our nation and world instantaneously, impatiently awaiting results, without really giving the President they have elected to truly govern and lead. That has been particularly true for the past twenty years plus, with Presidents of both major American political parties, being thwarted and unsupported by the opposing party or special interests, out of political calculation and positioning, rather than purely principled policy differences. Lat night President Obama, whose stratespheric approval of more than 70% has dropped appreciably from one year ago, to 50% or lower, carried out his constitutionally mandated responsibility to report to the Congress and our citizens on the state of affairs in our union of American states. The Address POTUS 44, (President of the United States) delivered seemed to me to be hopeful and optimistic in outlook, though honest in stating the shortcomings and failures of himself and his White House in successfully passing policies of his program, such as Health Care Reform. While also being resolute and direct with both Congressional Democrats and Republicans, about their responsibility for governing in serving the common good of the voters who have placed them in office. He also spoke forthrightly about and to, the Justices of the US Supreme Court about their 5-4 decision last week overturning a century of laws regarding campaign finance reform. President Obama's gift for speaking stands him in favorable comparison to the rhetorical skills of Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan, all of whom are regarded as having been great communicators as POTUS, themselves. Agree or disagree, with the sitting President; oppose or support, the vision and policies he advocates, he has the right to lead and govern, without unbridled, self interest politics obstructing a productive compromise and consensus to get something necessary or constructive achieved for the American People. In little over nine months the electorate will have the opportunity to give the President and the Congress, a midterm report card by the result of the ballots they cast. That campaign and election are when politics should be involved, not the governing period, when the work of the nation and our role in the world needs to be selflessly focused on. The run amok nature of so much of our politics versus sincere and productive governance, may vindicate the Father of our Country, and the 1st POTUS, George Washington, who opposed development of political parties, and refused to join one, out of concern for the adverse effect the manipulation of politics would have on proper governance of our country. I wonder if David, or Jesus, were they political saviors, instead of temporal, spiritual, and prophetic, servants of God's People, would be any less opposed or obstructed by the politicians and government leaders of today's USA, than have been recent Presidents of the United States ????..........Let Us Pray And Work For Bi-Partisanship That Succeeds Constructively Rather Than Politically Manipulates Every Issue..........Peace and Prayers Jesus the Christ, Lord of the Universe, Fr. Troy

"FRIENDSHIPS" ARE MADE OF "PERFECT BLENDSHIPS"..........

If you find yourself humming a Cole Porter show tune as a result of the title and theme of today's blog column, you are not alone. The popular classic song, "Friendship, Friendship, It's The Perfect Blendship"..., is the spirit of what I am intending convey in this written reflection. In recent days I have had ample opportunity to experience and ponder on that reality in my own life. From the thoughtful, thank you / farewell reception hosted by the parishioners of Presentation Parish in Arden Arcade, celebrating my more than three and a half years ministering, to and with them; to a luncheon with my CSU-Sacramento classmate, friend, and then ASI President Joe Gibson and retired campus Economics professor, Dr. Bob Curry; to the 100th Birthday Party for founding member of Holy Family Parish Citrus Heights parishioner Katie Johnson, who was the first parish school secretary and then the senior volunteer in the parish office until she was 85 years old +; to a Japanese dinner here in East Sacramento, with my other close and dear thirty year plus friends, Curtis Richards, Ramona Bugatto, Teres and Mike Mugnaini, and the latest phone call and weekly mailing from Roger and Karin Geach, whose latest invitation to lunch at their son's Original Pete's pizza, pasta, grille, restaurant,Ihad to decline to stave off an emerging cold; to sharing phone calls with my Indianapolis priestly classmate, Rev. Fr. Dan Donohoo, and getting together with my fellow Sacramento ordinands, Rev. Frs. Paul Schloeder and Eduino Silveira, for a mid month lunch together; or assisting my Carmichael colleague, Rev. Fr. Brendan McKeefry, with First Reconciliation for his Our Lady of the Assumption parish students; as well as calling my very good friend, fellow believer, and ministry collaborator, going back to the the beginning of my priestly service in 1987, Ray Riehle, to wish him a Happy Birthday; and my Ecumenical Sunday worship and fellowship with Rev. Barbara Horikoshi Firebaugh and the members of Faith United Methodist Church, as part of Christian Unity Week; it is oh so true in each of the instances I have cited that the bonds we forge and share are grounded in the friendships we blend with each other and our lasting commitment to affirming our friendships. If you take the time to ponder the interpersonal relationships you share you too, are likely to be able to cite a similar set of, "friendships as perfect blendships", in your lives. As we commemorate the feast day of Sts. Timothy and Titus, who were two of the early bishops of the newly founded Church and were companions on the journey, of what I refer to as, "Faith, Fellowship, Collaboration, Collegiality", may you also celebrate the friendships of companionship that you have blended with those persons nearest and dearest to you. As the great 16th Century poet John Donne wrote, No man...(make that person)...is an island. Life is not an island of isolation, but a horizon of caring, sharing, celebrating, the joys and sorrows, the successes and failures, the struggles and survivals, that comprise our life experiences. Being there with and for one another in all moments of our personal journeys can and do, truly enrich us in the blendship of friendships we maintain..........Have a Faithful and Friendly Day in Christ Jesus Our Lord, Fr. Troy

ECUMENICAL SUNDAY 2010 : "YOU ARE WITNESSES TO ALL THIS"..."ONE FAITH, ONE LORD, ONE BAPTISM"..........

Reverend Dave Samuelson; Reverend Kim Leslie; Reverend Linda Prendergast;Reverend George Lawrence; Reverend Faith Whitmore; Reverend Barbara Horikoshi-Firebaugh; these are six Methodist pastors, three men and three women, who I have been privileged to know and interact with them and their congregations in Yreka, Oroville, Arden-Arcade, and East Sacramento, since 1993. They are only one group of pastors in one denomination, of the dozens of Christian ministers and Christian churches my ecumenical endeavors the past two decades have afforded me the opportunity to come to know, pray, worship, and minister, with - in the spirit of Christian Unity this annual week of observance hearkens all of us as Catholic-Christians to participate in. The oneness of faith, baptism, and the lordship we have in common as believers in Jesus the Christ, has been authentically rooted the past century plus, in this octave of prayer, in the efforts of the World Council of Churches, the ministry of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Second Vatican Council's, 'Decree on Ecumenism' in 1964, and the Pontifical Commission Promoting Christian Unity. The timing of these occurrences is not mere coincidence. They complement and ratify each other as the intention of the Divine Spirit of Unity intended by God, for the ONE, holy Church founded by Christ. This morning after presiding at the 9:30 am Mass at Sacred Heart, where I preached on Eumenism and Christian Unity, I took the five minute, three block walk up Jay Street, to Faith First United Methodist Church, to attend their Sunday Worship Service and speak on this Eumenical Sunday, at the kind invitation of their new Pastor, Reverend Barbara Horikoshi Firebaugh, on the ecumenical work of Christian unity. In turn, she delivered a wonderful homily on today's Second Reading from 1 Corinthians 12:12-31; addressing the multiple Gifts of God's Spirit and the Human Body as an analogy for the Body of Christ. The introductions and conversations I had with the congregants afterwards were cordially warm responses to my message and presence with them. Among them was a conversation with a woman about whether atheists have any chance of going to heaven, to a very engaging discussion with their Pastor Emeritus, Rev. Harvey Chinn, who served Faith First Merhodist Church from 1958-1980; and then was the Methodist Church lobbysist at the State Capitol for twenty five years 1980-2005. In the Fellowship Hall after the Worship Service, I met two women who went to Charles Goethe Junior High School and Luther Burbank High School, just a few years after I did. Also Bill Lincoln, who was a PE teacher and coach at Goethe from 1968-2001, thus while was a student there from 1968-1971. My message at Faith First Methodist, much of which I preached at Sacred Heart today and have shared in this blog column,
was well received and responded to, for which I am grateful. My appreciation is extended to those good people of God and to Reverend Barbara, for this ecumenical opportunity. I look forward to visiting them again during the next six months. As you strive to give faithful witness to uniting with your brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, may our difference in denominationsm not prevent us from building bridges of reconciliation and unity between Christians of all persuasions..........Faith, Hope, Love, in Our Supreme Unifier, the Living and True God, Who Is Christ the Lord, Fr. Troy

FOR CATHOLIC-CHRISTIANS BEING PRO-LIFE = FROM WOMB TO TOMB..........

Yesterday marked the 37th anniversary of the landmark United States Supreme Court decisions declaring Abortion constitutional, in the now infamous Roe v. Wade case. As a result legal abortions numbering some 40 million have occurred in this country since that time. The Catholic Church has been at the forefront of the Pro Life movement opposing abortion and working for the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Today in San Francisco the annual Walk For Life, which has been occurring on the Saturday of the week of Jan. 22, during the past decade brings tens of thousands into the streets to bear witness for the life of the unborn. Being Pro-Life for us as Catholic-Christians is the beginning of our commitment to the dignity and sanctity of human life, and our belief in, and advocacy of respect and reverence for human life from, "the moment of conception to natural death". That means as dedicated and faithful believers in the Gospel of Life, we not only oppose abortion, but provide support for alternatives to bearing and raising the children who are born rather than terminated. We also affirm and support the inviolability of human life, thus being pro-life means saying no to murder, suicide, euthanasia, ,unjust war, and the death penalty. Consistency in our belief and practice is essential, for otherwise we are complicit in compromising the very respect for life our Faith and Church teaches us we must support at all times. And so, as we bear witness to the precious gift of Life, God is the giver and taker of, as the Eternal Lord of All Creation, let us renew our wholehearted and unconditional belief and practice in a true reverence and respect for human life that affirms and not deconstructs the dignity of every person from the womb continuously to the tomb..........Proclaiming Our Pro-Life Presence Before God And In And To The World, Fr. Troy

P.S. Today I wish Katie Johnson, a founding member of Holy Family Parish, Citrus Heights in 1949, a very Happy and Awesome 100th BIRTHDAY. Katie was the original Parish School Secretary and then a Parish Office Volunteer/Receptionist until the mid 1990's, when she was 85 + years young !!!!!!!!!!..........fr.tdp

WHAT KIND OF GOD DO YOU, ME, WE, BELIEVE IN ?

On this Thursday January 21, the Memorial of St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, a 12 year old girl of faith and fidelity in the 4th Century A.D., who suffered death during the Roman persecutions of Emperor Diocletian, because she remained faithful to Christ, and whose very name Agnes is a version of the word agnus, meaning lamb; I celebrated the 8 am Mass at Sacred Heart Church, visted the Finance Office at the Diocesan Pastoral Center and then briefly with Msgr.. Kavanagh, before lunching with my friends Joe Gibson and retired Sac State professor, Dr. Bob Curry, at the One Step restaurant on Folsom Blvd., I assisted Rev. Fr. Brendan McKeefry, tonight at Our Lady of Assumption Church in Carmichael, with the Sacrament of First Reconciliation, participating in a delightful penance service emphasizing the love and forgiveness God has for sinners and hearing the Confessions of the young penitents. Much of the news the past nine days has been concentrated on the devastation of the Haitian Earthquake, with heartfelt concern, charity, and support for its victims. That is however, with a few egregious exceptions. One of the most nonsensical responses came from the Rev. Pat Robertson, of the 700 Club. Instead of preaching a message of compassion, mercy, empathy, for the Haitian people in their current affliction, Rev. Robertson chose to make an all but idiotic pronouncement, citing the earthquake as God's punishment and vengeance, for Haiti's pact with the Devil on August 14, 1791. Instead of proclaiming God's Love, mercy and forgiveness, which is the authentic theology of the Christian Gospel, he chose to spew a self determined sentence of judgementalism and accusations of evil, blanketedly upon the Haitians, as being the reason for the earthquake they have endured. And this is not the first time he has uttered such misstatements of the sacred Truth of the Living and True God, from his telecommunications pulpit. Sadly, some of the hidden agenda of these bizarre screeds may be more than a little prejudice and disdain for Catholicism. In the 1980's he and others all but embraced the American Catholic Church during a presidential election campaign over our teaching on abortion, only to be among the first to castigate the US Catholic Bishops just days after the election on their Pastoral Letter on the Economy. A dozen years ago, I had a near encounter with Rev. Robertson myself, while I was Pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, in Oroville. All because I chose to stand with my parishioners and the other Christian church Pastors and their Oroville congregations, in support of a local high school Valedictorian's right to make reference to God in his graduation address and in opposition to his being forced to sit down and being silenced instead. Within days of speaking out and offering our parish pulpit to the graduate to deliver his address from, on the Sunday after the incident, one of the other Christian Pastor's called informing me Rev. Pat Robertson and the 700 Club were wanting to interview me on their program, intrigued that the Catholic priest in Oroville was publicly supporting a Nazarene Church high school graduate. My prayer and discernment told me not to pursue the offer, given uncertainly as to how my words might be used to reflect on Catholic-Christianity negatively. The point of this blog column is to pose the question, What understanding of God do YOU, ME, WE, believe in ? A Universal God who is a sin counter, waiting to reek punishment and pain on human beings, or an Eternal God of Life and Love, full of mercy and compassion, seeking to heal and forgive sinners ? I believe in the latter vision in union with St. John the Evangelist, described as the Beloved Disciple of Jesus Christ, who proclaims, "GOD IS LOVE". And I pray that all Believers in God, especially Ministers of the Gospel, such as the Rev. Pat Robertson, will undergo the call to continuing conversion of heart and mind; to discover the Living and True God of All Creation, the God of Our Salvation, not Condemnation. To underscore my sincerity as an ecumenist, let me close with one last experience I shared today. A very warm, cordial, friendly, and collegial, introductory telephone conversation with Rev. Barbara Horikoshi Firebaugh, the Pastor of Faith First United Methodist Church, at 36th and J Streets, whose congregation with whom I will worship this Christian Unity Week Ecumenical Sunday January 24, at 11 a.m. She has kindly invited me to speak to her congregation as a part of their Sunday Service.......... May God's Love, Forgiveness, Fidelity,
Unity, Dwell in the Home of Your Hearts,
Fr. Troy

2010 WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY : "YOU ARE WITNESSES TO ALL THIS" (LUKE 24:28)..........

Ecumenism, the interdenominational and interreligious dialogue between the different Faith traditions in the world, has been one of the great fruits to emerge during the past century. The ecumenical endeavor between Christians of different persuasions, began in earnest one hundred and two years ago, in 1908, with the Octave of Prayer For Christian Unity. That eight day experience of praying for the reuniting of all Christians was the beginning of what has become an annual observance of prayer, pulpit exchanges, and shared worship services, between different congregations in the United States and around the world, focused on what we share in common, Christian Faith, One Lord, Who is the Living and True God, and Our Baptism in Jesus Christ. Originally scheduled during the week of the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, February 22, the Week of Prayer For Christian Unity, is now held each year between January 18-25, which concludes with the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. And so this week we are observing this octave of very special prayer that our divisions as Christians may be reconciled and our Unity as Believers and Disciples of the One Church founded by Jesus, may be realized anew. The theme of this year's Christian Unity Week is, from Luke's Gospel Chapter 24, Verse 28, "You Are Witnesses To All This". For over a decade and a half ,I have had very positive interactions with the pastors and people of other, non Catholic congregations, that for me is rooted in my study as a seminarian of the Vatican II 'Decree On Ecumenism', which was one of the Ecumenical Council's 16 Documents, and was promulgated in 1964. In Woodland, Yreka, Oroville, Citrus Heights, South Sacramento, Arden Arcade, and now East Sacramento, it has been my pleasure and privilege to participate in Ecumenical worship servides, pulpit exchanges, ministerial association meetings, as well as attending Sunday services, in the Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Baptist, Eastern Orthodox, and Community churches, as well as Jewish synagogue/temples. And these experiences have not only been insightful interactions with other faith traditions, but has led to interpersonal relationships that have allowed us to work together effectively for the common good of the whole local communities. I have been very warmly welcomed by the other pastors and their congregations, and always enjoy being present at their worship services, or afforded the opportunity to preach in the pulpit exchanges I have participated in. In Yreka and Oroville, my involvement with other church congregations facilitated our working together on projects of community wide concern, in solving problems facing our mutual congregations. This Week of Prayer For Christian Unity, as I settle into being In Residence at Sacred Heart Parish in East Sacramento, I have made contact with Faith First United Methodist Church at 36th & J Streets, and Lutheran Church of the Cross, at 45th & H Streets, and will be attending worship services with their congregations for Ecumenical Sunday 2010. I encourage you to pray for Christian Unity and to do something pro-active to promote ecumenism and the interreligious dialogue that can lead us ever closer to the reconciliation and reunification of the Community of Believers, into the ONE Body of Christ, Jesus founded His Church to be..........In The Spirit Of Christian Unity As Witnesses To Jesus The Lord Of The Sabbath, Fr. Troy

EXTRAORDINARY EVENTS IN EVERYDAY ORDINARY TIME..........

For 5 Sundays and a total of 38 days between the end of the Christmas Season and the beginning of the Season of Lent, as Catholic-Christians we celebrate, "Ordinary Time". I have never particularly liked the sound of that title for what is the longest period of time in the entire Liturgical Year. Ordinary Time accounts for 34 weeks of the 52 weeks of the Church Year. So as a first year seminarian in 1982-83, I asked my Liturgy professor, why the Bishops of the Universal Church chose to designate it by that name. His answer was twofold. First, that the word Ordinary, comes from the root word, "Ordinal", meaning Number, and these weeks of the year are numbered in sequential order, 1 to 34. They interrupted after they begin only by Lent and Easter, before resuming until late November. Secondly, more importantly and profoundly my professor said, unless we experience the everyday, ordinary occurrences of life, we cannot fully appreciate the extraordinary events of salvation history celebrated in the high seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, and the Solemnities of the Lord, which form the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ's Life, Passion, Death, Resurrection and Glorification. With that definition and understanding, I am much more at home with the designation of this period as Ordinary Time.....This afternoon, the parishioners of Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in the Arden Arcade neighborhood in NorthEast Sacramento on the cusp of Carmichael, hosted a wonderful, farewell / thank you reception for me, in recognition of my 3 years and 7 months with them as Parochial Vicar and In Residence. They prepared and brought fabulous food and drink and 200-300 persons attended. It began after their 10:30 am Mass, and I arrived just before 1 pm, after celebrating the 8 am & 11 am Masses at Sacred Heart. A constant stream of parishioners came to my table to greet, thank, and wish me well, and almost to a person- they commented on how good I am looking and the return of color to my face, sparkle in my eyes, and vibrancy in my voice !!!!! My very special Presentation Parish buddy Alex Mauro, was there with his mother, sister, and grandmother. Alex, who as an infant was permanently intellectually disabled by a drunken driver crashing into his family's van, is 19 years old, and in a powerchair. From our first encounter in church at Presentation three and a half years ago, we bonded as Alex responds happily to the deep resonance of my voice. When he is told my name, or hears my voice, he smiles broadly and happily. Getting to know Alex and the Mauro Family, is just one of the treasury of memories being at Presentation has afforded me as so many good persons and ministries from the Helping Hands Ministry, Men's Club, Legion of Mary, Adult Faith Formation, Religious Education, Vacation Bible School, and Presentation School, were of great support and affirmation to my priestly vocation, especially during what were the most harrowing years in my entire life. My grateful thanks to all of them, with a big vote of appreciation to Carl and Rose DiCapo, and all the others who organized today's extraordinary fellowship event on this 2nd Sunday if Ordinary Time, two and a half weeks after my departure from Presentation, and arrival at Sacred Heart Parish, East Sacramento..........
God Bless You And Keep You ! God Make The Lord's Face Shine Upon You And Be Gracious To You !! God Give You Peace !!!,
Fr. Troy David Powers

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY WEEKEND IN THIS WEEK OF THE HAITIAN EARTHQUAKE..........

Friday was the 81st Birthday anniversary of the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This three day weekend the United States and peoples elsewhere who are advocates of peace, justice, and equality, commemorate Dr. King whose leadership as a persuasive preacher and civil rights organizer, put him at the fulcrum of the struggle to end prejudice, discrimination, and racial inequality. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his work in 1964, and assassinated in 1968, his leadership and coordination, in concert with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, (SCLC) the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, (NAACP) and an unwavering commitment to non violent protest and advocacy, was instrumental in the passage by the United States Congress, of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. So as we celebrate this three day weekend how can and will we rededicate ourselves to the work of equal opportunity, social justice, and prevailing peace for all races in our nation and throughout the world ?..........Last Tuesday's earthquake in Haiti, the most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere, reportedly killed upwards of 200,000 persons and has left more than 1,000,000 people homeless. It is truly humanitarian that Americans and thirty seven other nations have immediately committed assistance to the suffering and destitute Haitians coping with the fallout from this human tragedy. Supporting reputable charities such as the Catholic Relief Services, enables all of us to make a difference for some of the suffering masses in Haiti who are now not only homeless, but in desperate need of food and water. Catholic-Christian churches in these twenty counties of Superior Northern California, and American congregations throughout the country are taking up special Haiti Earthquake collections, to help alleviate the devastating suffering. Perhaps on this MLK weekend your response to the Haitian crisis can fulfill the need to promote justice for the poor, by treating the downtrodden earthquake victims with the equality and opportunity, to meet basic needs and have a bit of inner peace amidst the havoc they are enduring..........As Christ's Disciples Asking You What Would Jesus Do ?,
Fr. Troy

VULNERABLE IN HOME SUPPORT SERVIDES RECIPIENTS SHOULD NOT BE VICTIMIZED BY CALIFORNIA'S BUDGET CRUNCH..........

California state number crunchers advising the Governor have determined the deficit the Golden State faces this year is $19.9 billion. See my tongue in my cheek, that sounds so much more hopeful than simply stating it is $20 billion !!!!!!!!!! What are we to do to arrest the deficit and our indebtedness, while budgeting for vital and necessary expenditures for the common good of the people of California, especially the neediest among us, in terms of social services ? One of those cost cuts the Governor proposed last week in his newest state Budget, is to totally eliminate funding for In Home Support Services,(IHSS) which provides caregivers for the elderly and disabled, in their homes. This state program has existed since 1973, pays family members, friends, or neighbors, to provide for the basic needs of the disabled or elderly, for 4 hours a day, 5 days a week, at one fifth the cost of what the in home recipient's care would cost were they residing in a convalescent hospital, or skilled nursing facility. The In Home Support Services caregivers assist those for whom they look after, help with personal hygiene, dressing, cooking, cleaning, bill paying, transportation to doctor's appointments, shopping, etc. Although paid for 20 hours of work per week, many of the IHSS caregivers put in even more hours per week unpaid, and I know this to be true personally. For nearly five years between February 1976-Decmber 1980, my siblings and I each spent a period of time caregiving for my Grandmother Powers, whom we brought out of a convalescent hospital to live somewhat independently again, with our assistance. She was eligible for IHSS, and we were paid for twenty hours of weekly caregiving for her, while residing with her fulltime. My sister and brother were in high school during their time providing IHSS, and I was a college student. My grandmother like hundreds of thousands Californians who qualify have been, and are being, well served by In Home Support Services. Having already slashed or defunded other seniors and disablity services that could otherwise compensate for this proposed loss, eliminating IHSS will leave 400,000 needy and vulnerable citizens dependent on much more costly alternatives, that absorb their Medicare/MediCal, pensions and social security funds, and leaves their independence and dignity in tatters. Real, longterm, permanent, tax and budget reform is needed in California. That will require the Governor, Legislature, and the citizenry, to find ways prioritize the funding for the vulnerable disabled and elderly and not make them victims of a broken, bankrupt, bureaucratic, political and governmental crisis. This challenges us to become visionary and creative, in justly finding and funding the means to continue the IHSS, or otherwise sentence these recipients to a much more expensive and less satisfying existence.....Seeking Compassion For Serving the Common Good of California's Elderly and Disabled, While Being Fiscally Responsible..........Fr. Troy

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

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

THE CASE ON GAY MARRIAGE IN CALIFORNIA GOES TO THE FEDERAL COURTS..........

Twice in the past decade California voters have faced the issue of legalizing marriage between homosexual persons. In both elections the voters have said, No to same sex marriage. The second of those statewide ballot propositions, Proposition 8, was placed before the California electorate in November 2008, after the State Supreme Court by a 4-3 ruling declared marriage between gay persons constitutional. On January 11, 2010, a legal case contesting Proposition 8, opened before a federal judge in San Francisco. With the State Supreme Court having previously narrowly, but affirmatively, finding in favor of same sex marriage, the Yes on Prop. 8, vote having passed with a majority of only 52% of the electorate, and the usual liberal leanings of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the outcome of this current court case is unpredictable. The belief in Marriage held by the Catholic Church is that it is a sacrament of Covenant Love, which is Unitive and Procreative, between a husband and wife. The wording of the two California ballot initiatives in the past decade describe Marriage as being between, "One Man, and One Woman", only. Supporters of equal rights for homosexuals and extending the benefits of civil unions and same sex marriages has grown in the past decade to now include 6 European countries, and 5 States in our country, that have legalized gay marriages. Current polls in California and in much of the United States find persons under age 30, are increasingly in support of homosexual rights and same sex marriage. My questions about this emerging issue for you is whether the legality and constitutionality of marriage is inevitable and will be extended to all our citizens in the future ? If indeed, that is the direction public support and court decisions take this issue, can our sacramental, religious, and spiritual, definition of Christian marriage, between a male husband, and a female wife, co-exist unaffected by a civil, legal, constitutional, definition of societal marriage, between same sex spouses ? The federal courts, including and up to, The Supreme Court of the United States, may have the definitive word in deciding this controversial, cutting edge, concern in California and our nation.........Keep the Faith and Promote the Common Good, Fr. Troy

GOD'S STANDARD FOR HUMAN LIFE - "YOU SHALL NOT KILL"..........

The 5th Commandment of the Living and True God of the Universe is uniequivocal : "You Shall Not Kill". The Catholic Church teaches a respect for life that is wholistic and unconditional. We are formed in our Catholic-Christian Faith to be pro-life from the moment of conception to natural death. Therefore, it is alarming and selfishly sinful when anyone, but especially a believer in God desecrates the dignity of a human life by intentionally killing a person. In our Faith Tradition that applies to abortion, murder, euthanasia, suicide, or any direct violation or destruction of the life of a human being. Rationalizing or justifying the intentional taking of a human life is not only sinful, but dead wrong in accordance with God's Law. Presently in the news is the aftermath of the killing of a midwestern doctor who performed abortions, who was murdered by another man last summer on a Sunday morning in church. The suspect has already admitted to killing the doctor. Now, as his trial begins in Kansas, the alledged killer of the doctor is pleading what he did is voluntary manslaughter, because he was trying to save unborn children. Granted, the doctor performing abortions was in violation of the 5th Commandment's mandate for the sanctity for human life. But for another person to make the self determination that in order to save the unborn, they have the right to kill a doctor who anyone else, is an equally grevious violation of the reverence for human life we must uphold. Rationalizing or justifying the intentional killing of a human being as voluntary manslaughter, is a mockery of the moral values of God's Law and the legal implications of our judicial system. To accept or support the murder, even of someone whose morality and definition of life greatly differs from our own Catholic-Christian belief or personal opinion, is an act of violence in contempt of the Divine Commandment, "You Shall Not Kill". There is much we are and can do to bear witness to the sanctity and respect for human life that is truly and fully Pro-Life. Self determined exceptions to our dignity for life from conception to natural death, tear the fabric of what the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin called, "the seamless garment" of human life. We must continue to pray, actively work and advocate, for the right to life for all persons. Please God, civility and discipleship will lead us to eradicating death and affirming life, that does not perpetrate falsehood and fantasy, but perpetuates the sacred truth of Life as God's most precious gift to humankind..........Choose Life, Not Death, As Believers in Eternal Life, Fr. Troy

"CATHOLICS COME HOME" - A MINISTRY OF RETURN AND WELCOME BACK..........

The Official Catholic Directory 2009, recorded the Catholic population in the United States, at 68.1 million persons. That is 22% of the total American population. Catholicism is the largest denomination of Christianity in the USA. But statistical studies also show behind active, practicing,vibrant, Catholics, the next largest number of Christians in our country are fallen away, non-practicing, alienated, Catholics. Therefore, the active, practicing, vibrant, members of the Catholic Church have much work to do, to help return and welcome the fallen away, non-practicing. alienated, members to reconcile with the Church and reactivate living their faith. For the past decade many of the parishes in our Sacramento Diocese have sponsored special ministry offerings, like, 'Catholics Returning Home' to invite and receive those who return to the Church, oftentimes after many years or even, several decades. On December 18, the Diocese unfolded the latest facet of this kind of ministry with a six week series to television ads for, "Catholics Come Home". In addition to publicizing the invitation to the lapsed Catholics in our parishes and greeting them as they return to attending Mass, parishes are developing ministry programs to enlighten, edify, and educate, those who have been away from the practice of their Faith. Here at Sacred Heart in East Sacramento, the "Catholics Come Home", ministry program begins on Thursday January 21, for seven consecutive Thursday evenings, from 7-8:30 pm. This 7 week journey of exploration, re-discovery, and renewal, will include a focus on the topics which include Welcome and Oveerview; Coming Home Stories; The Church Through the Ages; The Mass and The Eucharist - Source and Summit; Reconciliation : "I Desire Mercy"; Prayer and Exploration; The Nicene Creed - Our Articles of Faith. If you are a Catholic in East Sacramento/Midtown, who has been away from the Church, or you know family members, friends, or neighbors, who are not practicing and can benefit from this ministry then, "Catholics Come Home", is for you and for them. If you, or someone you know is interested, please come to the first session on Thurs. Jan. 21, at 7 pm, in the Sacred Heart Parish Hall, 1040 39th Street, Sacramento, 95816. You can also call 916-452-4830, or go online to www.sacheart.org/crh.php.
As Jesus proclaimed to His followers in John 1:38-39; "COME AND YOU WILL SEE"..........
With Prayers and Blessings For Those Preparing to Return and be Welcomed, Fr. Troy Powers

THE LAST DAY OF CHRISTMAS : CELEBRATING THE FEAST OF THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD AND OUR BAPTISM IN CHRIST JESUS..........

For the past seventeen days as Catholic-Christian Disciples we have celebrated our solemnity of Christmas, the Holy Birth of Jesus Christ, God's Co-Eternal Son, who was born into the world to reconcile the Divine and Humankind and to redeem all peoples from the power of sin and death, for our salvation. On this last day of Christmas we liturgically celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Jesus the Christ, God's Son, the Sinless Man, presented Himself for baptism by John at the Jordan River, to show us the way to follow Him and commit our lives to faithfully and fervently build up the coming of the Kingdom of God. Celebrating the Lord Jesus' Baptism, which led to the three years of His Public Ministry, is another reminder to us of our Baptismal Promises and the Call to Ministry, as well as Prayer and Worship, in our ongoing journey of life and faith. Presiding at Sacred Heart Church's 9:30 am Mass this morning I experienced Music Director Dr. Don Kendrick's newest parish men's choir, "Vox Nova", (New Voice) a splendid combination of 21 male voices of Sacred Heart parishioners, who he has transformed into a wonderful blend of classic music ministers. My Sacramento State Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity brother, Patrick McGiff, is a member of Vox Nova, and conversed with me in the sacristy before Mass, and in the narthex after Mass. I also introduced myself and met the parish music ministers, "Schola Cantorum", Sacred Heart's renowned Choir of many years, under Dr. Kendrick's direction. The Lord's Baptism is a reminder to us that Jesus is the Heavenly Father's pleasing Son, because He did what was required of Him. Jesus accepted the challenge of taking on human flesh, submitted to the sacrifice of being offered up for sins, and was spiritually transformed in obedience to the Father to become the Lamb of God, who is our Lord and Savior. As you acknowledge and affirm your own Baptism anew today and during this week, what will you do to meet the challenge of discipleship, as you make the sacrifice required of you and undergo the spiritual transformation necessary to fulfill your Baptismal Promises ? God's Word and Eucharist and your own prayer, worship and ministry, will allow them to unfold as God intends, as you and I strive to be ever better followers of Jesus Christ Our Lord and Savior. Alleluia Amen !!!!!!!!!!..........Happy Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Baptism of the Lord, As You Embrace Your Baptism in Living Faith..........Fr. Troy

THIS DAY IN 20TH CENTURY HISTORY, PERSONALLY AND POLITICALLY..........

In the previous century January 9, was a day of significant births in my mother's family and in the political family and history of our country. On January 9, 1900, my maternal grandmother, Claudia Frances Francis (Corey), was born in Sacramento, California. Of Portuguese ancestry, my great Granfather Francis, had been among the early Portuguese persons to have settled in Sacramento. When my grandmother was nine years old, the Portuguese National Parish, St. Elizabeth's was founded in Sacramento, the church in which in the coming years Claudia was married and her children were baptized. It was not unusual a century ago for young, teenage Portuguese girls to marry. At age 13, my grandmother met and fell in love with Manuel Lawrence Corey, a 1907 immigrant from Portugal, who then was working for the Southern Pacific Railroad. He was nearly ten years older than Claudia, and my great grandmother and her oldest daughter felt that Manuel was too old for their Claudia, so to split up their romantic relationship, they arranged to send Claudia to a nuns convent in Los Angeles, where she lived cut off from Manuel and away from her family, for a year and a half. Returning to Sacramento in early 1915, having weathered the storm of separation and their love persisting, Claudia and Manuel were married by Rev. Fr. John Azevedo, in St. Elizabeth's Church at 12th and S Streets, on April 26, 1915. Their marriage, into which nine children were born, including my mother Josephine Virginia, in 1922, lasted 61 years, until my grandfather Corey's death at age 95, in May 1986, just four weeks after I was ordained a transitional Deacon. My grandmother Corey survived my grandfather just two and three quarter years, when she passed away in February 1989, at age 89, when I was less than two years a priest. From the moment I re-entered her house after my priestly ordination on May 2, 1987, until her death on February 26, 1989, one facet of our loving interpersonal relationship changed. She insisted in the latter months of her life to address me happily as Father Troy David, which became apparent she proclaimed, with pride, respect, and joy...>>>The political history birth of significance on this date, interscts not only wit my grandmother's birthday, but the year her Los Angeles convent experience began. For just a short distance from Los Angeles, in Yorba Linda, California on January 9, 1913, Richard Milhous Nixon was born. Becoming the 37th President of the United States, in 1969, for five and a half years, did he ever make unforgetable history in The White House !!!!! It is time for me to prepare my Sunday homily for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, as I preside at the 5:30 pm Saturday and 9:30 am Sunday, Masses at Sacred Heart this weekend ..........
Have Yourself A Happy Penultimate Day of Christmas, Fr. Troy

A GREETING AND A SMILE GO A LONG WAY TO MAINTAIN CIVILITY..........

Good manners and common courtesy are oftentimes being unobserved in an increasingly self absorbed and personally fearful society, diminishing what once was standard humane civility. My parents trained me and my siblings that when you approached or passed another person as you walked along, you acknowledged their presence by a quick hello, a nod, or a smile. Not that children or adults should be oblivious to strangers, or be taken vulnerable to untoward agendas, but rather simply express your good intentions. Each passing generation seem to have lost, if not learned, that basic facet of everyday etiquette. I have seen it go unpracticed multiple times in recent months, in parking lots, shopping centers, on sidewalks, and even in doctors offices and hospitals. Some of the latest occurrences of what I am describing which I experienced, when greeting someone walking along the path, was an indifferent, why would I greet you, silence as the person rushed away. Or a brief hello, good morning...afternoon...evening..., being responded to with a grunt ! As though it did not deserve a word or two back, in response. Most of us also have another primary reason to be courteous and sociable in greeting those we encounter, even just in passing...Our Christian Discipleship requires we place faith over fear, kindness over indifference. So think about the anonymous individuals you may come across in the days ahead. How will you respond to them ? Hopefully it will be with a brief, warm greeting, not a thoughtless rushing past them, as though they are lepers in your midst..........In the Joy, Peace, + Light, of Jesus the Christ Who Continues to Come into Our Presence, Fr. Troy

CHILLAXING ON MY FIRST DAY OFF AT SACRED HEART IN EAST SACRAMENTO..........

For the time being I am taking Thursday off at SacHeart, so as I complete my first week In Residence in this East Sacramento / Midtown rectory, I am chillaxing. I did follow-up fasting blood labs for Mayo Clinic, at 7:45 am and had Coffee / Tea, with Joe Gibson, at Peet's up the block across the street at 9 o'clock and am waiting to here if Victor Herrera is available for lunch. I am enjoying a quality listen to NPR ON KQED/KQEI Radio FM 89.3 , while I blog, e-mail, and internet, as I chillax. More to Come..........Fr. Troy

CHRISTMAS-EPIPHANY DAYS SHINE FORTH THE LIGHT OF CHRIST OUR SAVIOR WHO IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD !!!!!!!!!!..........

Yesterday afternoon after having an enjoyable fraternal lunch with Fr. Steve Avella, who is winding up his Christmas break in Sacramento, before returning to Milwaukee and his teaching duties at Marquette University, I crossed over 39th Street and proceeded walking down J Street to check out one of the neighbor fitness gyms. Walking along the sidewalk who did I come upon but Bishop Emeritus Francis Anthony Quinn, who was walking back to his residence at Mercy McMahon Terrace. We stopped and spoke for several minutes, before each of us continued to our respective locations. I also made my first sick call to Mercy General Hospital just before lunch yesterday afternoon, anointing a man in the MICU unit. The fitness gym closest to the church is more a private studio concentrating on pilates by personal appointments. There are other gyms in the neighborhood, so I will continue my search. My St. Kieran's Seminary spiritual director and priestly friend, Fr. Dan Bollard, also phoned me yesterday with Christmas-New Year greetings and Msgr. Kavanagh called to check in, as we do with each other once a week or so...Today, January 6, is the traditional day of Epiphany, the Christmas feast denoting the manifestation of the Christ Child to the Three Kings, underscoring His Coming as a birth of salvation for all peoples, the Gentiles, as well as the Jews. The Three Kings, also known as The Wisemen, or The Magi, discovered the place where the infant Jesus was by following the brightness of a star, a brilliant star of light that led them to the Light of Lights, Jesus the Christ, the King of the Universe. Prostrating before Him the Wisemen were acknowledging the supremacy of Christ's Kingship. Offering Him gifts of Gold, Frankenincense, and Myrhh, they were representing His Royalty, Priestlyness, and Self-Sacrificing, nature as a Divine, yet also Human, Being. Since my arrival In Residence at Sacred Heart on New Year's Eve afternoon, I have taken an evening walk around the neighborhood. Not only am I savoring the opportunity to see more of East Sacramento as I walk up and down the blocks, but especially delight in the Christmas lights that are still shining on and in, many of the houses. The wider world has pretty much put Christmas away and returned to business as usual. But for us as Catholic-Christmas Believers this week is the crescendo of our celebration of the Holy Birth of Our Lord and Savior. Our Christmas lights of joy and glad tidings should continue to shine bright !!!!!!!!!! The seventeen days of the Christmas this year concludes this coming Sunday January 10, with the commemoration of the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. As we too, follow the Christmas-Epiphany star that has come to us, how well are you doing shining the Light of Christ Our Savior into the darkness of an unenlightened world ?..........In the Brightness of Faith, Fellowship, and Fidelity, to the Christmas-Epiphany Light Who is Jesus the Christ, Fr. Troy

MY FIRST SOLO RUN OPENING UP AND ORGANIZING THE CHURCH FOR MASS..........

Today, Tuesday January 5, I am celebrating the 8 am Mass here at Sacred Heart and for the first time had to go over at 7 am to open the church, the safe, and the entrance doors, while also organizing my chalice and the proper Mass intention for the Prayers of the Faithful, as he priests do every morning. I went over early to practice on the combination and voila, taking it slowly got the safe open in my first attempt. Given my success rate with physical and mechanical things, that is rare. After morning Mass and breakfast, my priority project today is to check out the gym across the street to determine if the aerorbic and cardiac workouts Dr. Bhat recommends that I do and Dr. McMonagle concurs is vital, is possible there. Otherwise I continue to familiarize myself with Sacred Heart Parish and East Sacramento, as I proceed in working with Msgr. Walton and the people in this community of Catholic-Christian believers..........On This Feast of St. John Neumann, Bishop, Along with St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Wife, Mother, Widow, Religious Foundress, Were the First Canonized American Born Saints,** Fr. Troy

**The Memorials of these 2 American Saints are Jan. 4, for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
Jan. 5, for St. John Neumann
on the Liturgical Calendar, thus occurring in the Christmas Season.**

GETTING 2010 OFF TO A HEALTHY START..........

I had an appointment with my primary care physician Dr. McMonagle today and we discussed how I can get on top of the diabetic control, with under his direction, in the light of my post transplant anti rejection drugs and weight gain. Prednisone will add to the weight gain even more, thus the necessity to do regular exercise workouts, per Dr. Bhat an aerobic and cardiac work-outs. I am checking out the gym across the street from Sacred Heart tomorrow. That is all for now as this first Monday work day of 2010 concludes. "Sleep In Heavenly Peace"*.........Fr. Troy

* Lyrics from the Christmas Carol, "Silent Night", or in its original German, "Stille Nacht".
"Schlaft Im Himmlischer Ruh"..........tdp

THE THREE KINGS FOLLOWING OF THE CHRISTMAS STAR THAT IS THE LIGHT OF THE NATIONS..........

7:30 am - My first Sunday, the Solemnity of the Epiphany, had me up before 6:30 am, in order to be over to open up the church. My Masses today are at 8 am & 11 am. I look forward to meeting more of the parishioners and celebrating this first Sunday of 2010, and second Sunday of Christmas with them...10:10 am - Having celebrated the 8 am Mass which went pretty smoothly for a first time Sunday Eucharistic celebration in this splendid, marble laden sanctuary, and greeted the arriving 9:30 am Mass attendees, I had my breakfast and organized my medications for this week. My Holy Family / Presentation parishioner, Donna Ransom, who was my last parish secretary in Citrus Heights, attended the 8 am Mass and my longtime friends and 10th wedding couple as a priest, Tony and Katherine Clark, and their daughters Molly and Erin, I chatted with for quite awhile after the 5:30 pm Mass last night. I am preparing to head over to meet and the greet the departing 9:30 Massgoers and get ready to preside at the 11 am Mass...12:30 pm - The 11 am Mass was wonderful, with the choir on post Christmas vacation for two Sundays, the Parish Music Ministry Director, Dr. Don Kendrick, led a quartet of quality voices, highly enhancing our Christmas-Epiphany Liturgy. The warmth of the parishioners welcome to me is extraordinary. They are expressing as much happiness at having me here, as I am happy to be have this time to minister to and with them...My homily today was introductory, as well as scriptural and pastoral. The scriptural focus being on the Christmas Star followed by the Magi, by which they discovered the Christ Child, the true and ultimate King, who is the Light of the Nations, and truly the Light of the World. I posed this question, which I now propose for your Christmas-Epiphany New Year reflection. How will you follow and discover the Light of Christ Our Lord and Savior, with your families, friends, neighbors, co-workers, fellow students, within the community of believers, and in all you encounter during the coming week ? For following, discovering, and sharing the Light of Christ, that is the Light of the World, will enlighten your path on the way to salvation..........May the 3 Kings, Known as Caspar, Melchior, + Baltazar, Inspire You to be Generous in Sharing Christ's Light With Others, Fr. Troy

A NEW YEAR'S EVE VERBAL MIS-CUE IN NUMERICAL SEQUENCE BY AMERICAN ICON DICK CLARK.........

The broadcaster, businessman, institution of more than fifty years, acclaimed as, "America's Youngest Teenager", Mr. Dick Clark, made his thirty seventh annual New Year's Eve appearance on ABC-TV Thursday night, counting down to midnight and the arrival of 2010. The icon, who succeeded Guy Lombardo, as Mr. New Year's Eve, some three and a half decades ago, suffered a stroke several years ago and thus now speaks after extensive rehabilitation, with affected speech. In the excitement of the moment at the nexus of New Year's Eve, Times Square in New York City, Clark transposed two numbers in the final countdown and is being widely panned for it. It was a mistake anyone could make. Yet this 80 year old still going and appearing for this annual ritual of passage, after enduring the hardship and aftermath of a stroke, is being unfairly judged as a result of mistating, the numbers on tha air within seconds of the stroke of midnight and Year 2010. A daily and weekly fixture on television from 1956-1989, as host of American Bandstand, the $10,000-$100,000 Pyramid, among other programs, and producing specials in addition to New Year's Rock'in Eve, including the American Music Awards and the Golden Globes, is his life and renowned career, now to be inordinately colored and remembered more by a trivial mistake than it is substantial accomplishments ? Get over it ! It was one fleeting moment that should not be turned into anything more. Instead Dick Clark and the legions of stroke victims and rehabilitation patients, deserve appreciation and acceptance for striving to get back to a functioning, contributing, level of life, that affirms their personal dignity and makes a further contribution to the common good. Thank You Mr. Dick Clark, for continuing to entertain and enhance our lives with a commitment to the productions you and your company present and for not hiding yourself from your devoted fans.........Happy 9th Day of Christmas on this 2nd Day of 2010 A.D., Fr. Troy

THE OCTAVE DAY OIF CHRISTMAS - NEW YEAR'S DAY, SOLEMNITY OF MARY MOTHER OF GOD, AND WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR PEACE..........

My roll-out as priest In Residence at Sacred Heart Parish in East Sacramento, is going swimmingly. I concelebrated the 9 am Mass, with Msgr. Walton, the Pastor and then led Benediction and presided at the 12 noon Mass. After lunch, I took my daily nap and then arose and took my second evening's walk around the neighborhood. Following the Noon Mass I spoke with Fr. Oliver and some of the "usual suspects" in Kilkenny, who were polishing off the Christmas-New Year's Goose Fr. Oliver hosted them too in his Cathedral presbytery. (parish house) I also called a number of my other priestly friends to wish them a Happy New Year. Marking the opening of 2010 A.D., would seem to be the central reality of this day. But it is as my title states, only one of several observances today. January 1, is the octave, or eighth day of Christmas. It marks the start of the new civil year, and is numbered from the Birth of Christ, thus 2010, 'Ad Domini', meaning - "In the Year of the Lord". For Catholic-Christians it is the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, and her relationship and response to the divine plan of salvation. Since 1968, by declaration of Pope Paul VI, we also celebrate the Octave Day of Christmas, New Year's Day, and the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God, as the, World Day of Prayer for Peace. With war so prevalent in various countries of the world, it is an ideal way to begin a New Year in the spirit of Christmas, by praying for Peace and remembering anew all military men and women fighting in those wars. My Jan. 2 & 3, first weekend Mass schedule here at Sacred Heart Parish is 9 am Saturday morning; 4 pm Confessions Saturday evening; and the 8 am & 11 am Masses Sunday morning. A nice start, to a great place and a parish of warmly welcoming people..........HAPPY 2010 EVERYONE !!!!!!!!!! Fr. Troy David Powers Sacred Heart Parish, 1040 39thy Street, Sacramento, 95816