Thank you for welcoming me to Sts. Peter & Paul and Immaculate Conception. I am honored that Cardinal DiNardo should name me to succeed Fr. Tim who pastored you so long and so well. I look forward to meeting you all and learning your stories and the histories of these beautiful parishes.
Deacon DuPont guided me on my first visits to Sts. Peter and Paul and Immaculate Conception this past week and your love for God and for your parish is evident in your works. As I come to know you, it might be nice if you knew something of me. I grew up in New York City, in what was at that time quite a rural area of the Bronx bordered by extensive marshes. My early education was with the Presentation Sisters and the Jesuits, and I went on to graduate studies in Economics. I served four years in the Air Force, most of it in Southeast Asia. I came to Houston in 1980, having lived in Canada and a number of northern border states before then. For 25 years I was the CEO of a company which designed and equipped large foodservice facilities all around the world. I entered the seminary in 2006 after the death of my wife Kathy in the 33rd year of our marriage and was ordained in 2010. I was a long-time parishioner of Christ the Good Shepherd in Spring, Texas, a Parochial Vicar at St. Jerome’s in Spring Branch, and the Pastor of St. Pius V parish in Pasadena, Texas, for 9 years. I have two sons, one of whom lives in Houston and the other in Vancouver, British Columbia. I have five grandchildren about whom I would be more than happy to talk for hours. Indeed, I hope to have many opportunities to talk with you about what God has done and is doing for us in our lives. God bless you and keep you in his peace, Fr. Joe