I retired from being Pastor in 2021 and am now just doing ministry, but no administration. I grew up in Southern California as a Methodist and became Catholic when I was 19. As a kid I used to go to my buddy Eddy’s house on Sunday mornings. He lived across the street from a big Catholc Church, St. Emydius in Lynwood, CA. He was Presbyterian. We’d throw rocks at the Catholics as they drove their ca
rs into the parking lot. One day in the hot summer of the early 1960s I went to his house and he wasn’t home. I walked across the street and saw the doors of that Catholic Church open. I went inside. They had a little place where you could wash your hands and face. I looked around inside the dark cool Church. There were people inside! It wasn’t even Sunday and there were people praying! I thought it must be some kind of special occasion so I waited for a “service” to start. There was none. Women with babies, older people, kids and men came in and prayed. A cop came in and I thought there would be trouble. But he knelt and prayed and then left. I was astounded! I went next door and rang the bell of the house. A Priest talked to me and I said I wanted to be a Catholic. He said I’d have to have my parent's permission to do that. I went home and asked my mom and she said “Never go back to that Church again!” So, I did what any red-blooded American boy would do. I’d sneak over to that Catholic Church every chance I got. Years later I became a Catholic while working in at St. Mary’s Hospital in Long Beach, CA. I was living in Downey, CA and went to Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church there to seek guidance and instruction. At the time I was going to Cerritos Community College. I had a few great experiences of God calling me and went to the Seminary. I have now been a Priest 40 years and that original Catholic Church is 3.4 miles away from my parish now. I just retired as Pastor of the Parish, but live here and help out with Sacraments and other things. I love being a Catholic. I love being a Priest. I’ve had some tough times in my life and met some wonderful and some not so wonderful people. I’ve been in wealthy parishes and very poor parishes. I’ll take the poor over the wealthy any time! Let me know if you need any prayers. Pray for Priests, pray for the Unborn, pray for our world, that Christ may reign! Viva Cristo Rey!
