Father Gary Lazzeroni Q&A

Tell us about your family.
I was born here in Seattle at Madison Street Hospital not far from Immaculate Conception Church, the third of four children. Soon after I was born we moved to California, where my mom was from.
I was always attracted to the life of faith. My earliest memory is of going to Mass with my dad. He was an usher at our parish, St. Justin’s in Santa Clara. I remember like it was yesterday, kneeling next to him at Mass. He had this old Missal and he would follow along with the Mass. In this book there was a list of people that he prayed for, mostly deceased people, and I was fascinated by that.

The other memory I have of my family being very supportive of my faith life was also connected to my father. One of the rituals my dad and I enjoyed a lot was Monday Night Football. At St. Justin’s, high school faith formation was on Monday evenings. My dad decided that if I was going to miss Monday Night Football, so was he. So he volunteered to help with security around the parish campus on Monday nights. It seems like a small thing, but for me, as a high school student, it was a big thing. My dad was supporting me in my faith.

As a teenager, I got involved as a sacristan at the church. There was something about being in the church, especially those Saturday mornings when we changed out the missalettes, that was so peaceful. Those little things were really formative for me in my faith life.
 
Tell us about your early years in ministry.

I joined the pastoral council at St. Justin’s as a high school student. Later, I went to college at Santa Clara, just down the street from my home parish, so I continued to be involved. I developed friendships with people on the staff, especially a newly-ordained priest who came to the parish in 1973 when I was 16 years old. Father Leo Rooney was a huge impact on my life, and was, along with Father Roger O’Brien and Father Ryan, was one of the models of priesthood for me.

While I was still in college, the parish hired me to begin a youth ministry program. I developed close relationships with the staff, and soon I changed my major from political science to religious studies. Someone who stands out for me from that time in my life is Ruth Dunn, who worked with me at St. Justin’s. She was an amazing woman of faith and strength, and became a formative influence in my life. She helped me fall in love with parish ministry, and she also encouraged me when I began discerning a priestly vocation.

In 1980, a year after graduating from college, I went to St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park. It was a wonderful experience on so many levels. I loved the community life, the prayer together, the pastoral work on the weekends, and studying theology was exciting both intellectually and spiritually. I loved everything about it but then I got to thinking. “Gosh, this a pretty significant commitment, and I’m 23 years old. I’m not ready.” So I left after a year and returned to work in parish ministry. I also started a master’s program in systematic theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley.

When I turned 30, I realized that I had never done anything in my life except parish ministry, and I started to wonder if I could do anything else. So I left Providence Heights in Berkeley, where I was teaching, and went to work in ‘the real world’: Universal Studios. (In Los Angeles, that is the real world!) So I worked in information systems for several years. I eventually moved to Portland, and then I found my way back into parish ministry. In 1993, a job opened up as Pastoral Associate at St. Luke in Shoreline. That’s how I landed back in this area.
 
How did you go from lay minister to priest?
I was working in the Vicar for Clergy Office at the Chancery at the time. One of my areas of oversight was prison and jail ministry, and at times I would drive the Archbishop to the jails for Mass. On those long drives, Archbishop Brunett brought up the possibility of priesthood. My initial response was no. I was very happy doing what I was doing, and I thought a priestly vocation was part of my past. But Archbishop Brunett encouraged me to keep thinking about it. I did, and I talked to the two priests who were really influential for me—Father O’Brien and Father Ryan. After a couple of years of discerning, it became clear that that’s what the Lord was calling me to. So I went to seminary at Sacred Heart School of Theology in Hales Corners, Wisconsin.
 
Who is your favorite saint?
The saint that always rises to the top for me is one that I discovered later in my life: St. John of the Cross. I took a course at seminary on spiritual masters whose native language was Spanish. It was the first time I had been introduced to the poetry of St. John of the Cross. I was really taken by him. I still have in my breviary his poem “The Dark Night.” It’s so powerful.
 
Do you remember your first visit to St. James?
I do. I came to Mass at the Cathedral soon after I moved to Portland in 1989. I remember walking in and seeing how far the altar was from the entrance. It seemed like it was a block away, which it almost was. It was a beautiful building and I was really struck by the prominence of the Cathedral on First Hill. I remember thinking that this is what a cathedral should be.
When I came back after the renovation of 1994, I was overwhelmed by how extraordinarily beautiful the Cathedral was. I couldn’t stop talking about it with my friends—I kept telling people, “it’s the most incredible worship space I have been in.” Even to this day I find it an extraordinarily prayerful place.
 
What are your favorite things about being a priest?
Being in people’s lives. Being able to journey with them through all the ups and downs of their lives, through those experiences of great joy and great sorrow, being invited in as a person who can assist them and accompany them and walk with them in faith, bringing the peace and joy, the presence and healing and love of Jesus Christ. It is by far the greatest experience of my life.

I really have felt privileged that Archbishop Etienne invited me to serve as vicar general these past few years. It’s a great honor and a privilege and I think we work well together. But I have deeply missed parish ministry. The Archbishop knows that and so does Father Ryan, and all the people close to me. This opportunity to come back to parish ministry is a great gift. In my heart I’m a parish priest, and there is really nothing in my life that comes to close to how satisfying that is. It’s being in people’s lives, it’s celebrating sacraments, it’s gathering people around the table of the Eucharist: the rhythm of parish life has fed me from the time I was in my first part-time ministry job in 1977.
 
What’s a book that changed your life?
This is going to sound very obscure, but it really did change my life. When I left the seminary and went to GTU at Berkeley, I took a Christology class there, and read Edward Schillebeeckx. His books on Jesus and Christ changed me, both intellectually in the way that I understood Christ, but also personally in entering into relationship with him. I’m sure there are others, but those are the books that come to mind.
 
What are you currently reading?
I just started reading Father Greg Boyle’s Cherished Belonging. He’s very creative and comes from such a different perspective. I have found it very appropriate for this time in the life of our Church and culture.
 
What is your favorite thing to watch on TV?
Golf. My dad introduced me to the game of golf when I was seven years old. Golf and parish ministry have been the two things I’ve loved all my life. I love playing golf, I love watching golf, I love talking about golf, I love reading about golf. So, yeah, I love to watch golf. And other sports on TV.
 
Your dinner, drink, and dessert of choice?
Dinner—Italian food. At the top of the list is my own family recipe of Bolognese sauce that I still cook today. When I am cooking it (it cooks for a couple of days as it did when I was a kid), when I smell that wonderful, wonderful pasta sauce cooking, it holds all kinds of memories for me. Apart from that, carbonara is probably my favorite. I have two favorite drinks: hearty red Italian wines and Scotch. As for dessert—tiramisu would be top of the list, and I love cheesecake as well.