Pastor’s Column

Catechesis and the Proclamation of the Word: “Stay With Us!” Today we celebrate Catechetical Sunday here at St. Thomas More Parish and in the Universal Church.  A special ceremony of blessing and dedication takes place at our 8:30AM & 10:30AM Sunday Masses in which we recognize the many catechists among us who commit themselves in…

Fr. Mike’s Bookies Is Back! You are invited to join me in a reading adventure in the coming Parish Year. We will read these various books and then I will lead a discussion/conversation on what we read. Here is the schedule for the coming year: Letter to a Suffering Church by Bishop Robert Barron Wednesday,…

Faith for the Common Good On Tuesday evening, September 10, at 6:15pm, St. Thomas More is hosting an event, “Faith for the Common Good,” sponsored by the North County Clergy of the San Diego Organizing Project (SDOP). SDOP is a non-partisan multi-faith network of 29 congregations that are building community power to drive equity and…

Faith Is… In these difficult times in the world and in the church, our faith, and the living out of our faith, is more important than ever. I share with you my favorite definitions of faith as well as my own definition. To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim…

July 29: Gilroy, California, 3 Dead; August 3: El Paso, Texas, 22 Dead; August 4: Dayton, Ohio, 9 dead… Just Another Week in the United States of America… When Will Enough Be Enough? Below is my Pastor’s Column written right after the carnage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012. It was…

Letter to a Suffering Church: A Bishop Speaks on the Sexual Abuse Crisis (a book by Bishop Robert Barron) Sisters and brothers, I am sure most of you are aware of the horrific sexual abuse crisis that has haunted our Church, especially in recent months. We all grieve the wicked ways that priests have abused…

Geographic Solutions The secret of the world lies wherever we can discern the transparency of the universe. —Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Letters from a Traveller Do you ever seek a geographic solution to your problems or difficulties? I know that I do! If there are some really intense frustrations or tensions in my ministry, in…

The article below was taken from The Southern Cross, our Diocesan Newspaper. The piece discusses SB 360, a bill introduced into the State Legislature which would have compelled some Catholic priests to reveal what they heard in sacramental confessions. Since this article was published, there was nationwide opposition to the bill. The proposal raised the…