Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.
This is Jesus' invitation to discipleship in Matthew 11:28-30.
Father Patrick M. Crino, Pastor
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Fr. Patrick R. Sherrard
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Parochial Vicarpsherrarddiocesetucson.orgFr. Patrick was born July 1, 1985 and raised in the Seattle area. His mom and dad moved to Oro Valley in 2017; he has one older sister who lives in Jacksonville, FL.
Father became a Christian at age 13; was baptized non-denominationally at age 15 and subsequently converted to Catholicism and was accepted into full communion with the Church during Easter Vigil services in 2006.* (He was 20 years old.) Prior to beginning his theological studies, Fr. Patrick earned his degree in English Literature from Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA, graduated in 2007 and taught middle school 6th and 8th graders.
Following his confirmation, he entered Catholic University of America for the first three years of seminary, finishing the final three years at Mundelein.. He was ordained a priest in 2016 for the Archdiocese of Seattle by His Excellency, Archbishop J. Peter Sartain.
Following his ordination in 2016, Fr. Patrick served in the parishes of St. Mary Magdalene (Everett, WA), St. Paul (South Seattle), St. Catherine of Siena (North Seattle) and most recently at St. Jude (Redmond, WA). Father is also a fourth degree Knight of Columbus.
During his free time, Fr. Patrick enjoys playing golf, cribbage, chess and backgammon. A lover of pro sports, he is very much a follower of his Seattle area teams: Seahawks, Kraken, Mariners, Sounders. He is also an avid reader. One of his preferred activities is “reading outside on the patio on a nice day.” To that end, among his go-to theologians/spiritual writers are Fr. Jacques Phillipe, N. T. Wright, St. Thomas Aquinas and his ‘hero,’ St. Paul; he is especially drawn to Paul’s letters. He is also a reader of fiction, history and philosophy. Some of his admired authors include Fyodor Dostoyevsky, George R.R. Martin and Mark Frost.
Father’s favorite spiritual activities are celebrating Mass, preaching and conducting both Bible studies and book studies. His guiding scripture passage is:
For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except
Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
1 COR 2:2
*No surprise, Easter is Father’s favorite liturgical season.Fr. Patrick describes a good ‘priestly’ day for him is “get up, have coffee, read the Liturgy of the Hours, have prayer time, celebrate Mass, study scriptures in preparation for preaching, attend to the faithful’s needs e.g. RCIA, Bible and/or book studies and maybe end it with dinner with parishioners." BTW, Father favors Mexican food, steak and potatoes and always coffee.
When asked to describe his homilist style, Father Patrick replied that in this regard, he leans into his academic side – and, because he studied literature – he enjoys preaching “in” the readings – “like they have something to tell us. Parishioners will find my homilies very scripturally-based, Christ-centered.”
Acknowledging that relocating from the Pacific Northwest to the desert Southwest plus changing dioceses, parishes and getting acquainted with his new brother priests and his new parish family will be quite the adjustment, Fr. Patrick is eager to integrate seamlessly into his new surroundings, get into the rhythm of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, establish new roots and flourish.
