Parish Anniversary… and Still Growing

Parish Anniversary… and Still Growing Msgr. Liam Kidney, our founding pastor, and the first generation of parishioners built our beautiful church and courtyard complex. The church’s shape and unique seating, the gorgeous woodwork of the ceiling, the sturdy pillars, the impressive, welcoming vestibule doors, and the splendor of the light from the windows all work together to create an incredibly uplifting place to worship God. Fr. Jarlath Dolan and our second generation helped everyone envision and construct our amazing Serra Center, and what a blessing that has been to the life of our parish, sheltering our dinners and dances, our children’s faith formation, and adult education.

I, in contrast, have built a BBQ. I suppose I can also take credit for replacing the asphalt out front. The truth, of course, is that pastors do not build buildings…the dedication and generosity of all the parishioners who made great sacrifices deserve the credit.

And so, on this anniversary of the founding of our parish, I look forward, within this year to the next fruit of the great generosity and goodness of the parishioners who, in this case, are so especially praiseworthy because our coming youth center wasn’t for our general use. Both the church and Serra Center have served us all well, but that’s the point: it was as much for us all as it is for everyone else, and these buildings have been so worth the sacrifices you made to make them possible. But this last building, our youth center, doesn’t serve you, the donors. It makes me so incredibly happy to think that your generosity will serve the needs of young people. It will provide a warm, safe, and comfortable place for a particularly struggling demographic who are not yet able to provide for themselves.

It won’t be a small, minimal space with a stingy spirit. It will be a large, pleasant place to gather, in a grand and attractive building, which will be all theirs. It will wait for them every day, providing a place for youth and peer ministry, for young adult ministry, for scouting, and for young people from other parishes and churches. They won’t ever need to feel like stepchildren in this new place or in our parish. We are building it for the express purpose of bringing youth to the Lord who loves them. The ground on which it sits is holy ground. The building will be a blessing.

​We are now entering into the last months of constructing what may well be the last major building of the parish, and it’s coming along very quickly. In fact, the contractor thinks we may be finishing construction before Christmas. And you all made this possible. This priest is feeling incredibly grateful towards you as we move though these last months of construction

The spirit of our patron, Padre Junipero Serra, and his motto, siempre adelante,
find expression in this next expansion of our campus.
Thank you for making this possible.


Your priest,


​Fr. Patrick

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