Fr. Liam mac Carthy
Fr. mac Carthy met the staff and volunteers by bringing in boxes of books, his skis and golf clubs. A young and vigorous 66-year old priest, he is enthusiastic about his assignment to come to St. Clare. He comes to us after eleven years as Pastor of Immaculate Conception, Sutter Creek. He takes yearly vacations in Cork, Ireland, his hometown. Father was educated at St. John’s Seminary, Waterford, Ireland and was ordained June 9, 1968 at the Waterford Cathedral.
His first assignment was at Holy Spirit in Fairfield in 1968; then he spent a year at the Cathedral in Sacramento before being assigned to St. Patrick’s in Grass Valley. At St. Patrick’s he was also Chaplain of the California Youth Authority at Washington Ridge near Nevada City. Next the parishioners at Immaculate Conception in Downieville welcomed him as their pastor.
For three years he worked as a missionary with the Indians of Northern British Columbia, before coming back to the Sacramento Diocese with St. Joseph in Auburn and pastor of Our Lady of Mercy in Redding. In 1996 to present he has served eleven years in Sutter Creek as pastor of Immaculate Conception.
He has also served on the Diocesan Marriage Tribunal for 25 years and also on the Diocesan Liturgy Commission for many years.
Fr. Sherwin Colaste
For Sherwin Colaste, the priesthood is all about mystery and contradictions. Born in Davao City, on a small island in the Philippines, Colaste heard the call to the priesthood when he was an altar boy serving in his local parish. He was nine years old. That call was lost when he went to high school, he said, and a typical life as a layman was more appealing.
When a friend invited him to take the seminary entrance exam, Colaste decided just to see if he could pass. “I thought nothing of vocation,” he said. And the friend who was eager to be accepted in the seminary and invited Colaste to test, never entered. Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in the Philippines accepted Colaste in 1995 when he was 19. He completed three years at the Loyola School of Theology at the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City.
Friends who are priests in the Sacramento Diocese urged him to apply to be a seminarian here. “I saw that Sacramento was really in need of my service,” Colaste said. He believes his friends’ invitations were God’s way of telling him to move to the diocese. “God gives me this mystery to live,” he said. “God is calling me to the priesthood at this time to make me a channel of his love to all.” He finished his studies at Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon and served his pastoral internship at St. Anthony Parish in Winters, thus completing 11 years in formation for the priesthood. He also spent two months in Mexico so he could add Spanish to the three other languages he speaks. His hobbies include tennis and basketball.
His family was joyful that he entered the seminary “and it has never changed over the years,” he said. He has no family in California. “I vision my future as a simple priest working with God’s people in this diocese. The holiness of the priesthood is the most attractive thing to me and I hope to be holy as a priest. That is my goal,” said Colaste, who greatly admires St. Augustine and the Blessed Virgin Mary. He hopes his priesthood will show others that a different option is possible as they consider life choices. The admiration he felt for priests at age nine is obviously back, and the boy who thought, “Oh, to be like that!” is now 30 and looking forward to beginning a life he expects to be very fulfilling. “The best thing about my spiritual and seminary training was my realization that God loved me so much that I could also love others in return,” he said.
Deacon Carl Kube
Carl Kube was born in Wichita, Kansas in 1941. His family and maternal grandparents moved to California in 1944 in order to see Carl’s dad if his ship would come into San Francisco during WWII. Carl’s father died in action in WWII in the Philipines but the family remained in California.
Carl grew up in San Jose, CA in St. Leo’s Parish where he attended grammar school and served as an altar boy. He then went on to Bellarmine High School (run by Jesuits) where he graduated in 1959. He then continued on to Santa Clara University where he earned a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering in 1963. He then went on the the University of Arizona where he earned a Master Of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering in 1965.
His first job was at IBM in San Jose where he worked as an Electrical Engineer. In 1967 he transferred to IBM in Sacramento where he worked as a System Engineer (computer technical work) from 1967 to 1969. Carl met his wife-to-be, Carmela, when they were members of a Catholic Youth Group in Sacramento.
In 1969 he transferred to the Washington DC Area where he worked on a proposal and benchmark for an IBM Computer System for McClellan and other Air Force Bases. Carl and Carmela married in Silver Spring, MD on Nov. 6, 1970. They have one adopted son, Loc, a Vietnamese orphan, whom they adopted in 1975.
Carl and Carmela were very active at St. Bernadette’s Parish in Silver Spring where they lead an Ecumenical Prayer Group from 1976 to 1991. They also taught CCD and organized spiritual events there.
Carl entered the diaconate for the Archdiocese of Washington in Sept., 1988. After 3 years of classes which were attended by both Carl and Carmela, Carl was ordained a Deacon in Sept. 1991. He was assigned to Christ the King Parish in Silver Spring where he served until 1997 when they moved to California. They have fond memories of Christ the King Parish which was a true catholic (universal) parish which was compose of many Native Africans, Hispanics, and Filipinos and Caucasians. They still go back for occasional visits and they are warmly welcomed there.
In Oct. of 1997 Carl and Carmela joined St. Clare Parish which was meeting at Woodcreek High School in Roseville and North Country Elementary School in Antelope. Deacon Carl has greatly enjoyed serving with Father Macdonald and now Father Liam as well as the other priests who have been in our parish. He serves at St. Clare by assisting and preaching at weekend Masses, preparing couples for marriage, and performing weddings. He and Carmela conduct the Baptism Classes and Carl performs many of the Baptisms. He also works with people with special needs and tries to foster the community spirit by trying to get to know as many of the parishioners as possible.
Carl says, “What a joy it is to serve at St. Clare Parish. Our pastors have given me great freedom to exercise my spiritual gifts. Our pastors have been very dedicated and have inspired me to be the same. I love the parishioners and their generous volunteer spirit. This is a truly what the vision of Vatican II was all about. My wife, Carmela, is very supportive of all that I do and has great ministries of her own.”
Deacon Richard L. Driggs
Deacon Richard L. Driggs was ordained for the Diocese of Sacramento on May 24, 1992 by Bishop Francis Quinn. Richard (Dick) and his wife Judith (Judy) are both California natives. They have lived in rural Elverta for 35 years and have periodically raised horses, cattle, a few pigs, sheep, and many dogs. Richard and Judith have five children: David, Dustin, Gordon, Dana and Richard. They have two grandchildren, Jackson and Olivia.
Richard has degrees from the University of Utah, the University of Missouri, the University of Minnesota and the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine. After leaving his surgical practice, Richard obtained a Master of Divinity degree from the Franciscan School of Theology, Graduate Theological Union, UC Berkeley.
As a result of their shared participation in the Diaconate Formation Process, Richard and Judith have always collaborated in ministry. For many years they conducted marriage preparation retreats at Christ the King Retreat Center and had shared baptism preparation and many other ministries in several parishes: Our Lady of Lourdes, St. Francis of Assisi and Our Lady of the Assumption. Judith is a Eucharistic Minister at St. Clare. She is the “sounding board” and idea producer of all Richard’s homilies. They love gardening, RV travel, golf, spoiling their grandchildren and their current dogs: Rudy (West Highland Terrier), Charlie (Miniature Schnauzer) and Madeline (Brittany spaniel). St. Clare is their new and very much appreciated home.