Tomorrow, May 1, is the Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker it is also, this year, my 60th birthday. It is a decade milestones that happen only once and is filled with many blessings. I am going to take a break in writing about my birthday patron in his holy year and reflect a little bit on life in giving thanks to God for the blessings I have received over the past 60 years.
First and foremost, I thank God for my two loving parents. My father, Maynard, died in 1985 and my mother, Mariel, continues to chug along.

While certainly not perfect in every facet of life, their love for me and my eight siblings is truly a great blessing. People often say I look like my dad, belly and all now, and I take that as a compliment out of love and respect. When I left home and entered the Marine Corps I always enjoyed the brief calls I made home and the time I could talk with dad and one of the hardest things, after his death, was picking up the phone to give him a call and realize that he was gone and then take some time in prayer. I missed being able to share with him the day I decided to go to college full time and most of all the day I was accepted into the studies for the priesthood and on my day of ordination.

In many ways my mom gave me many gifts and blessings. She has been a sounding board and a ballast for some of the crazier times in life. The home on the farm had been a refuge and a time of rest especially after my ordination where I went home just to be a son and brother.
I was also blessed to have two very different but wonderful godparents, my Uncle Philip, my dad’s eldest brother, and Aunt Nelia, my mom’s younger sister. They gave me a different and wonderful perspective on life. What I most remember about Uncle Philip was his reliability in the advice and gifts given. Each Christmas and birthday I received and a young boy and teenager either a bottle of Old Spice or a manly soap on a rope. Aunt Nelia has referred to me as “Markie” and still does, just now with the “Fr.” moniker now added. It is a gift of humility and joy in still being known as her godson.

I could write ten thousand words about my brothers and sisters. As the 4th of nine, I was not exactly the middle, that goes to my sister Mary Cay, but with all my brothers and sisters enjoyed the reality of always having a friend in the house to help comfort one another in or pains and sadness and share the joys and blessings of life. I cannot imagine growing up in a smaller family and as brothers and sisters we all know the devastation of the death of a sibling when my younger brother Mitch died. Being surrounded by so much love is a gift God has shared with me. In many ways I think this has helped me in my priesthood in dealing with so many different personalities and the controlled chaos often found in parish life.

I will now be entering into my 16th year fo priesthood. I was ordained on June 5th, 2005 along with my classmates for San Jose, Fr. Andres Parra(+), Fr. John Poncini, Fr. Vincent Pineda and Fr. Joseph Page. The blessings of the priesthood may not be ten thousand words, I’ve been a brother for 60 years and only a priest for 16, so I don’t have quite as much time. I Many of my brother priests have helped me be a better priest that have now gone to their eternal reward. Fr. Alex Affonso(+), who I worked with at St. Catherine of Alexandria in Morgan Hill was a true man of grace and dignity who loved the priesthood with such great joy. Being able to walk with him during his final days gave me a profound gift of peace and grace in facing death and trusting in a loving and merciful God. And I could write so much more….but
These are just a few of the blessings….Thanks be to God for the gift of life and for each of you in blessing my life.
God Bless
Fr. Mark