Father Mike Maher
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August 9, 2023In the passing of our founding pastor, Fr. Michael “Mike” Maher, ss.cc., let us take a brief moment to pray for his soul and to remember his faith-filled life as related to Fr. Eric Cruz, ss.cc..
Born on December 27, 1937 in Dublin, Ireland, Fr. Mike was the oldest of seven children in the family. His journey to the priesthood started with an invitation by Fr. Killian O’Sullivan to join the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts. He did his novitiate in Ireland in 1956 and came to Jaffrey Center, New Hampshire, to start his seminary formation. He enjoyed studying in the seminary. After six years in the seminary, he went back to Ireland in 1963 for his ordination.
For his first assignment, Fr. Mike was sent to Damien High School in California to teach religion and Latin. It did not really bother him since he took up Latin when he was in high school. He served at the school until 1974. He was then assigned to be the associate pastor for Fr. Pat Coyle, ss.cc. at Holy Name of Mary Parish, San Dimas, CA. In 1981, Fr. Mike became the pastor of the parish. Under his leadership, the Youth Hall was constructed. He was very much involved in Marriage Encounter, religious renewals, and Cursillo. He also went to serve the young people at the detention camps. He was also appointed the Vicar Forane in one of the regions of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
While at Holy Name of Mary, in 1986, Fr. Mike was approached by Fr. Rich Danyluk, ss.cc., who was then Provincial of the Congregation, to consider establishing a new parish in Chino Hills, as requested by then Bishop Phillip Straling. He did not agree to the request immediately. Fr. Rich tried to convince him three times before he decided to look at the place where he would build the future parish. They got to the location, and to his surprise, it was an empty piece of property. He exclaimed, “You want me to leave the comfort of Holy Name of Mary for this?” He began to consider the idea and prayed about it. Eventually, he said “Yes” to the call of starting a new parish from scratch. That same year, Fr. Mike started his journey in building a church at the hills of Chino and became the founding pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Parish. It was a major struggle for him, not knowing how it would turn out, but it turned out to be better than what he expected. He said, “It was the best experience of my life.”
Twelve years later, Fr. Mike was reassigned to a new parish, St Louis Catholic Church in Cathedral City. He became the pastor of the parish from 2003 – 2013. Due to illness, he decided to retire before reaching the end of his term. He was the last Sacred Hearts priest to staff the parish. He recovered from his illness and decided to go back to the East Coast.
He had always wanted to become a priest. He was faithful in the celebration of the Eucharist and to his daily reading of the breviary. He hopes to be remembered as a faithful priest who did his best. He is a priest who loved it all.
May the soul of Fr. Mike Maher find rest in God’s loving embrace. Amen.
