Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Church of the Nativity

Place

Nativity Catholic Church

6309 El Apajo Road, Rancho Santa Fe




Membership: 1000 families

Pastor: Monsignor Lawrence Purcell

Age: 70

Sponsored
Sponsored

Born: Indio, California

Formation: University of San Diego–St. Francis Seminary, San Diego; Pontifical North American College, Rome, Italy

Years Ordained: 45

San Diego Reader: How long do you spend writing your sermon?

Monsignor Lawrence Purcell: Most of my time is spent trying to keep it short. It sounds curious, but the short homily — which is about eight to ten minutes — requires the most time to prepare. There’s a direct correlation in my experience with the time spent in preparing and the length of the homily. The less time you spend preparing the longer the sermon and vice versa. So I try to keep it brief.

SDR: Can you think of a time when you gave a homily that completely flopped?

MP: If anyone ever compliments me and says, “Gee, that was a good homily,” I learned a long time ago never to ask them why because I get so depressed. I worked so hard on this and I expect them to say, “Gee, that was a good insight, a good story…” but they all say the same thing. When I ask them why it was good, they say, “Because I could hear it.”

SDR: What is your main worry as a member of the clergy?

MP: As every Catholic priest is, I’m so sensitive to this embarrassment of the sex-abuse thing, and ultimately it’s for the good, I’m sure, because there’s a purification. If nature does that, when you clip back a rose bush, it grows much better. We all know that intellectually, but at the feeling level, it’s painful to go through.… The world will be a better place in the Church and for priests, but in the meantime, it’s no fun.

SDR: Where do you go when you die?

MP: Jesus used an expression in which He spoke about the Kingdom. He didn’t mean to imply that it was a place. People look at the afterlife as a place. I don’t look at it that way at all; I look upon it as thinking, loving and acting the way God does. That’s what Jesus meant by the Kingdom. So, I don’t look at it as a place we go to. I try to live very much in the moment. I just heard this one — the two most important days of the week are yesterday and tomorrow and you don’t live your life yesterday or tomorrow, you live your life today. So, I’m not obsessed with sins of the past, nor am I obsessed with rewards in the future.

SDR: Is there a doctrine in the Catholic Church that states there is a heaven and a hell?

MP: Oh, sure, and I believe that doctrine. Jesus says that, too…it does matter greatly what I do and don’t do in this life. It affects me forever. That’s what we believe. But it’s just not a physical thing. If I’m a liar in this life, I’m going to be a liar and everything that goes with that forever…. I believe what the Catholic Church teaches, but I also believe that what is waiting for us is far beyond anything we could every imagine. I think that’s wonderful.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Angry Pete’s goes from pop-up to drive-thru

Detroit Pizza sidles into the husk of a shuttered Taco Bell
Next Article

Reader Music Issue short takes

Obervatory's mosh pit, frenetic Rafael Payare, Lemonhead chaos, bleedforthescene, Coronado Tasting Room
Place

Nativity Catholic Church

6309 El Apajo Road, Rancho Santa Fe




Membership: 1000 families

Pastor: Monsignor Lawrence Purcell

Age: 70

Sponsored
Sponsored

Born: Indio, California

Formation: University of San Diego–St. Francis Seminary, San Diego; Pontifical North American College, Rome, Italy

Years Ordained: 45

San Diego Reader: How long do you spend writing your sermon?

Monsignor Lawrence Purcell: Most of my time is spent trying to keep it short. It sounds curious, but the short homily — which is about eight to ten minutes — requires the most time to prepare. There’s a direct correlation in my experience with the time spent in preparing and the length of the homily. The less time you spend preparing the longer the sermon and vice versa. So I try to keep it brief.

SDR: Can you think of a time when you gave a homily that completely flopped?

MP: If anyone ever compliments me and says, “Gee, that was a good homily,” I learned a long time ago never to ask them why because I get so depressed. I worked so hard on this and I expect them to say, “Gee, that was a good insight, a good story…” but they all say the same thing. When I ask them why it was good, they say, “Because I could hear it.”

SDR: What is your main worry as a member of the clergy?

MP: As every Catholic priest is, I’m so sensitive to this embarrassment of the sex-abuse thing, and ultimately it’s for the good, I’m sure, because there’s a purification. If nature does that, when you clip back a rose bush, it grows much better. We all know that intellectually, but at the feeling level, it’s painful to go through.… The world will be a better place in the Church and for priests, but in the meantime, it’s no fun.

SDR: Where do you go when you die?

MP: Jesus used an expression in which He spoke about the Kingdom. He didn’t mean to imply that it was a place. People look at the afterlife as a place. I don’t look at it that way at all; I look upon it as thinking, loving and acting the way God does. That’s what Jesus meant by the Kingdom. So, I don’t look at it as a place we go to. I try to live very much in the moment. I just heard this one — the two most important days of the week are yesterday and tomorrow and you don’t live your life yesterday or tomorrow, you live your life today. So, I’m not obsessed with sins of the past, nor am I obsessed with rewards in the future.

SDR: Is there a doctrine in the Catholic Church that states there is a heaven and a hell?

MP: Oh, sure, and I believe that doctrine. Jesus says that, too…it does matter greatly what I do and don’t do in this life. It affects me forever. That’s what we believe. But it’s just not a physical thing. If I’m a liar in this life, I’m going to be a liar and everything that goes with that forever…. I believe what the Catholic Church teaches, but I also believe that what is waiting for us is far beyond anything we could every imagine. I think that’s wonderful.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

2024’s Best Bitcoin & Crypto Casinos – Play BTC Casino Games Online

Best Bitcoin Casinos (2024): Top 10 Crypto Casino Sites for BIG Payouts
Next Article

Didja know I did the first American feature on Jimi Hendrix?

Richard Meltzer goes through the Germs, Blue Oyster Cult, Ray Charles, Elvis, Lavender Hill Mob
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.