Father John Tokaz, OFM, Cap.
MAY GOD GIVE YOU PEACE
It is a pleasure and a privilege to be here at this beautiful church and parish of St. Peter as your priest. I would like to thank you for your cordial and warm welcome. I would just like to share a little bit of my background with you as we begin to live and practice our Catholic Faith together and join you in thanking Fr. Tom for his nine years of priestly service. I was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1950. My parents, both public school teachers, moved to Walpole, Massachusetts in 1952. I attended public schools there graduating in 1968. Then I began to study for the priesthood in the archdiocese of Boston finishing with a BA in philosophy in 1972. At that time I left the diocese to join the Capuchins. I completed novitiate and went to Garrison, NY to begin a degree in divinity. It was then that I first met Fr. Tom. We both completed an internship year in Okinawa, Japan. We were ordained together, having completed our studies for the Master at Maryknoll School of Theology. We both returned to Japan in 1978 and I returned to the U.S.A. in 1982 because of illness. I was involved in our Capuchin Formation Program for our new friars from