Feast of St. Junipero Serra

Psalm 46:2, 5-8 – “God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress...Streams of the river gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High. God is in its midst; it shall not be shaken; God will help it at the break of day. Though nations rage and kingdoms totter, he utters his voice and the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.”

     Ancient Israelites thought of Jerusalem as God’s city, and the ark of the covenant within the temple as God’s footrest (1 Chron 28:2, Psalm 132:7). The Lord was in their midst to receive their worship, to be their hope, their safety, and their God. So many centuries later, we still find our Lord in our midst, a blessing to us in the Eucharist and in the holiness of the place where we worship, no longer a temple in Jerusalem, but a special place on the western edge of the known world, on our blessed hill, in our own place of the heart.

    Thirty years after its construction, our church still manages to appear intriguingly modern, yet with its massive columns and monumental stone altar it invites us into a dialogue with an ancient past. It’s both beautiful and unique, a blessing for us who worship there.

     Architecturally, it is worthy in itself. I often see people entering it for the first time, stare at the amazing ceiling, and take in the grandness of the space, teased by the surprising placement of the altar, uniquely fashioned of rough stone; they pull out their phones to take pictures. When I see this, it challenges me to appreciate in a renewed way this stunning place of worship in which I so often find myself. It’s right that we take this moment to cherish the building that shelters us from the elements, and edifies us by its beauty.

     I am so grateful to Fr. Liam Kidney and the amazingly big-hearted generation, many still among us, who gave so generously to build our Padre Serra church.

     More importantly, though, on this anniversary, we need to deepen our connection to each other. Three thousand years after our psalm’s composition, there is still a community of people who come weekly to the holy dwelling of the Most High, who find God in their midst. We still say, “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.”

     We no longer offer bulls and spotless lambs on an altar outside our temple. Instead we enter into a timeless moment of Jesus’ gift of himself to us on a cross, proclaiming forever and always that we are loved. How blessed we are to have such a deep knowledge of the Father through the life, ministry and teaching of Jesus, the eternal Word of God. Strengthened by our worship of our God in this church, we carry on in like fashion with the disciples of every generation that proceeded us, to seek out the deepest encounter we can have with Jesus, and to serve as his disciples. We now live in that furthest corner of the world to which he sent the first generation of believers. We carry on their work, still, here in this sacred place. Even more sacred than the place is that ministry; even more sacred than the ministry, is our community of disciples, beloved of the God in our midst. 

On this 30th Anniversary of the consecration of our parish church
for service to God and God’s people, I exhort you to celebrate
everything that has happened in this holy place,
and to renew your commitment to carry on our sacred trust,
​our mission from Jesus, to build the Kingdom in this place.

Happy anniversary, dear fellow parishioners, from your priest


​Fr. Patrick
Pastor 

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