Pastor's Corner

A Storm Brewing Over Our Families ...With thousands of homes and businesses destroyed, and at least 110 people dead so far, 2008 is pushing the limits... In Memory of the One Who Died for All Monday, Memorial Day, gives us all a chance to remember the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform... The Holy Trinity: Proclaiming the Truth about God ...hiking alone at 7,000 feet in New Mexico, I witnessed something that I’ll treasure forever... A Good Shepherd Returns to His Lord As we celebrate Pentecost, and with it the birth of the Church in power and in grace, I’m grateful to God for the work of the Spirit in our lives... The Ascension of Jesus: Our Wake-Up Call Ascension Thursday (this year, May 1st) commemorates the day Jesus left planet earth for the last time, and was drawn into heaven... To American Youth: a Call to Journey in Hope ...Last week I shared extracts from Pope Benedict’s homily (sermon) in Washington D.C... Pope Benedict’s Message in His Own Words This weekend, Pope Benedict will gather in New York City with over a hundred thousand believers in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Yankee Stadium, a major seminary, and Ground Zero... Palm Sunday: Deliverance for God's people ...Jesus enters Jerusalem, mounted on a donkey, heralded as Messiah-King by throngs of ecstatic followers... Election Aftermaths – What They Never Bargained For In a post-monarchial world in which safe, free, and un-tampered elections are the hallmark of successful democracies, life seems more complicated than ever... Joy is a Choice, and its Color is Rose Pink is not my favorite color... Don’t Let Go of that Baby This past week proved to be remarkable in every way. Eli Manning’s almost super-natural break-away from Patriot defenders... New Hope in a World of Uncertain Outcomes At 6:00am on Wednesday, January 30th, I’m sitting in a cold room at my computer. Beginning today, our nation is poised for some historical events... Walking for Life and Human Dignity Last Saturday, 20,000 or so pro-lifers took to the streets in San Francisco... Defending Life – There’s No Better Choice On Saturday, January 19th, thousands of pro-life advocates gathered in San Francisco... Great Things in Small Packages ...a boy of perhaps 13 or 14 asked me if I wanted to go one-on-one. He must have seen how many buckets I was missing... Our Destiny in the Hands of a Baby ...taking shelter from a freezing rain in Bellingham, Washington, I waited in Wal-Mart for my dad to pick up discount meds... Heaven-Sent Help on the Road to Bethlehem Last night, two dozen youth drove up from Planada (near Merced) to present the “Pastorela”... Playing on the Surface, Diving to the Deep ...I got a glimpse of heaven... The Immaculate Conception: God’s Word Through Mary ...Don’t worry. It’s all about Jesus. Please read on and I’ll explain why... Dear Friends of Father Michael Kelly What I’m going to write is probably very self-evident to all of you, but I feel the need to spell things out... Our Lady of Guadalupe Procession 2007 Tomorrow at noon, thousands of area Catholics will be processing in Stockton... Thanksgiving: Getting Things Straight This Thanksgiving was truly blessed. And its memories are lingering on... Thanksgiving for a Pilgrim of Music Last Wednesday, I started my Thanksgiving early. John Michael Talbot, probably the single most influential English Catholic musician during the past twenty-five years... Help from Heaven on the Highway of Life Mucharaff has Pakistan under siege, the price of gas soars out of control, Southern California remains scarred from wildfires, Tabasco has flooded, and... Honoring Those Who Have Gone Before Us On our church’s altar, a dozen or so paper leaves are scattered. These are scribbled by kids with prayers for family members who have passed away... No Escaping the Flames The sun was setting through a dense haze of high-altitude smoke... Laying Solid Foundations in a World of Shifting Sands Workers began laying the foundations for our new chapel... Singing Across the Border There’s something about crossing the border southbound that always makes me sing... Why the Sun Danced in Fatima October 13th, marks ninety years since a miraculous event sealed six months of apparitions and messages by Our Lady in Fatima... Fatima: A Warning From Heaven Come True Lucia had outlived Francisco and Jacinta, the two other children God had chosen in 1916 to receive and to share the message from heaven... Why Some Catholics Drink and Others Don’t Our parish festival will finally be alcohol-free... A Birthday We All Can Celebrate September 8th, is the birthday of Mary. From the 6th and 7th centuries AD, Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians began celebrating this joyful day... What Makes a Genuine Saint Mother Teresa’s public image will never be the same. Even those who worked closely with her were in the dark... Risking the Most Important Things Strange things have been happening in the world of American pro sports... A Time to Unite in Prayer Recent disasters in the natural and man-made world remind us of the call to put aside lesser things... Performance Enhancing Substances and True Excellence While community-minded citizens were at block parties for National Night Out, Barry Bonds broke the record... Cultivating the Seeds of Life The daughter of a grandpa who passed away wrote... The Church: Holy, yet Embracing Sinners to her Heart I responded to statements from the Vatican regarding the primacy of the Catholic Church... Integrity of Church Doctrine and Christian Unity Pope Benedict XVI made headlines again as he ratified a document by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith... Consolation from Heaven in a Time of Tragedy Once in a while, little miracles occur... Dealing With the Stuff of Life I’ve been dedicating a lot of time to going through a lifetime’s worth of stuff... On Borders, Boundaries, and Barriers Yesterday’s landing in California of Space Shuttle Atlantis, following its mission to the International Space Station, was good news for the whole planet... Arrhythmias in the Heart of Mexico It’s Wednesday night in Mexico City. Loud English soft rock beats out love and hard times in an Internet Café... Come, Holy Spirit, Fill the Hearts of Your Faithful Pentecost is here. Fifty days following the Passover... Rising Above the Valley of Shadows and Death Every third week of May, the priests of our region high-tail it to the hills... A Mother’s Best Friends One of my favorite moms is a tiny, big-hearted widow who helps us out from time to time... A Spring Song of Thanksgiving for Mothers May is such a beautiful month. Chilly nights give way to tropic afternoons, the sound of returning birds fills the pollinated air, roses explode open with fragrant colors, and... The Strength of a Mother The classic image of a mother is a perfect blend of gentle compassion and tremendous strength... Pope Benedict in Turkey: A Moment of Grace The news media obsessed on his controversial statement in September regarding Mohammed and Islamic violence...