Father Joseph Illo, pastor of Star of the Sea parish in San Francisco, gave a 17-minute homily on Sunday, Oct. 2., the feast of the Guardian Angels.
First Father talked about the angels: “Angels are just not a fantasy…. They sing continuously in heaven…. Normally they invisible to us…. They are with us through eternity….
Father described the procession on Saturday with Archbishop Cordileone down into the Tenderloin to the church of St. Boniface. People seemed to be pleased to see a religious procession. Drivers waited patiently on Van Ness while the traffic was blocked, homeless people crossed themselves.
Father Illo mentioned how terrible it is to see emptiness in the eyes of young people today, eyes that are unable to engage with people around them, eyes with little or no faith. “Who stole the faith from our young people?”
15-second excerpt:
“I was mountain bike riding with two other priests in the Santa Cruz mountains on Thursday. We came to the top of the hill; there was a young lady up there. She seemed to be friendly, but she was angry. She had tattoos all over her arms, a nose ring, she kept dropping these F-bombs.”
“We cannot live without faith in God. One of the surest way to increase our faith is to pray the Rosary.”
Hahahah. I’ve been hiking and trail running in the Santa Cruz mountains for almost 10 years. And if all the good padre ran in to was a tatt’d cursing woman, he should consider himself lucky. Some parks are overrun with meth addled and whacked out bum homeless that use warming and cooking fires to burn down your forests.
Another take: she may have been acting “angry” because she was a single female who was approached by 3 males on a trail in the middle of nowhere.
Women hikers and runners need to be aware of where they are at, time of day, and general situational awareness. Their are several pepper sprays that can be carried in hand or easily accessed in their packs. Also, more than one hiker is always safer too male or female.
There are some parts of pogonip that I would never recommend to a woman (or man) because of the homeless encampments and as noted whacked out bo’s. If you go one those trails at during the evening or early morning you’ll get accosted. Same for Harvey West trails.
There is a lack of ranger presence as well. I only see them sitting in their trucks. Never out on the trails on foot.
I’ve been bullied off trails by single women and their large dogs. So, it can go both ways.
Get that woman and others to a Church….to clean and clear their souls of the evilness of human nature caused by original sin….and believe in Our Lord Jesus Christ and his teachings…it will make you whole again…
Women have to be on guard if we are alone hiking or riding bikes. Sheesh don’t men get this? So a few guys show up, and naturally, a woman is going to go TOUGH immediately. This is the real idiocy of priests. Do you even hang out with young women in say groups of 15 so it is YOU against them, and they get to ask tough questions and demand that you be “sensitive and open.” You’d think after all the activism of women tired of being sexually harassed in public spaces would get through to these “men of god” but clearly, they are just as out of it as ever.
I meet young women all the time when I’m on hikes, and they have tattoos and nose rings and use the F-word, and it is not big deal. They have also asked for help to walk with them past creepy men hanging out in parks. I’d say this priest has a pretty stereotypical view of women. And yes, if you approach a loan woman SHE IS GOING TO BE TOUGH get used to it, we aren’t the door mats from the 1950s anymore. Oh I used to have a very big dog, and men just stayed at a distance. They asked if he was aggressive or bites, and I’d always answer “he hated men.” Worked every time. Loved having that dog with me in parks and men leaving me alone, THAT was heaven.
you attend LONE Mountain college?
ever occur to you that your dog was relieved YOU were
protecting IT from the creepy men?
Sorry to come late to the party, but I do have a Santa Cruz mountain story to tell.
Went on a retreat at Saint Clare’s in Soquel when I was 77 (I’m 80 now) with a bunch of young women from St. Margaret Mary parish. On the morning of the second day, we decided to make the Stations of the Cross up on the hill. The way to the first station was easy enough. But by the time we’re through with the 14th station, there was no safe way to come down. It had been blocked due to a minor landslide (not uncommon in those hills.) The only other way was through a very steep, slippery path, which I figured, if I were to take vertically, I’d have landed on my face. No choice but to take it sitting down and sliding very, very carefully. I had friends at the bottom of the hill to catch me should I suddenly fall. I was a muddy mess when it was over.
How embarrassing!