His parishioners describe Father Paul Griesgraber as "old school," a term that is almost laughably open to interpretation, given the 2,000-year history of his particular school, the Roman Catholic Church. In his case, it is used with affection and respect to describe a priest who trusts in the majesty of the Catholic Mass and invests it with deep spirituality — in both English and Spanish.
He is also a priest who brings people streaming through the doors of his church, St. Catherine of Siena in Reseda, a place that, in many ways, reflects the larger Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Once largely white, St. Catherine's is now mostly Latino. Immigrants have pumped new life into the parish, and Spanish-language Masses draw larger crowds than those in English.
"The church was dead," Olga Calderone, St. Catherine's health director, said bluntly of the time before Griesgraber arrived last summer. "Now we are bringing the cultures together. ... This is the beauty that Father Paul has brought to our church."
I am postingb this story because Paul Griesgraber is my husband's uncle and a very cool guy. And a very cool priest. If you're in the neighborhood, stop by and say hi to Paul. He only became a priest in 2006.
3 comments:
How do Friar Paul's martini's compare to say uh, Marks?
That's my home parish. I attended the parish school from 1976 to 1984. It was run by Dominican sisters at that time; I have heard talk recently from some of my old classmates about shutting down the school for lack of enrollment.
The church has a big, life-size crucifix in the sanctuary, which I found endlessly fascinating as a kid, and on the face of the building, a giant mosaic of St. Catherine receiving the Crown of Thorns from Jesus. The founding pastor, Msgr. John Hackett, was a very scary (to me, at any rate) Irish priest who celebrated his 50th anniversary of ordination when I was in the 2nd or 3rd grade, yet was present at my class's confirmation.
Reseda? Hell, you need a flack jacket if you're driving along Victory, Vanowen or Sherman Way.
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