WESTLAKE VILLAGE PRIEST TO RETIRE, STUDY IN ISRAEL.

Byline: Eric Leach Staff Writer

WESTLAKE VILLAGE - A 13th century monastery near his farm in Ireland helped inspire the Rev. Peter O'Reilly more than a half-century ago to become a priest, leading him eventually to Westlake Village, where he is preparing to retire.

Parishioners at St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church have been packing the pews to catch his last homilies, which use healthy doses of self- deprecating humor to bring home inspirational messages.

``Using humor is an Irish trait. Life is not all serious. It's meant to be enjoyed,'' said the 70-year-old priest.

``To be able to laugh at ourselves puts us at ease. Ronald Reagan was a good example. He could laugh at his own imperfections.''

Drawing on members from throughout southeastern Ventura County and parts of western Los Angeles County, the St. Maximilian Kolbe parish opened informally in 1989, when about 75 families began meeting at a local school.

Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony named the parish in 1992, when O'Reilly officially established the parish.

It now has more than 2,000 families who gather in the sanctuary that was dedicated five years ago on Kanan Road, just west of Lindero Canyon, at the northern edge of the Simi Hills.

``He came here with a piece of bare land and a mission to build a church,'' said the Rev. Jim Maher, St. Maximilian's associate pastor. ``The parishioners will miss him for many reasons. He fathered this parish.''

Norman Lamarra of Agoura Hills, a founding member of the parish, said O'Reilly is a humble, but charismatic priest.

``St. Maximilian has been very successful and I would credit that to Father Peter's style and charisma,'' Lamarra said.

``The attraction of Peter is his humility and sense of humor. A lot of that comes from the Irish. When he tells a story about himself, it's usually in a humorous light. People don't like the kind of pastor who's authoritative on everything.

``He just makes people feel part of the community. He always says people are the church and he's one of the few who actually means it.''

The church is often filled to capacity with the congregation spilling over into the adjacent parish hall, as it was Feb. 1 when O'Reilly celebrated the funeral Mass for James Tutino, a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy killed in the Glendale Metrolink derailment.

Thousands of law enforcement officers from throughout Southern California attended the funeral, where O'Reilly thanked them all ``for being here now and at all times.''

Tutino's widow Rita said O'Reilly's retirement is much deserved. ``He's a very kind and wonderful man.''

James Tutino was known for his love of children and O'Reilly told the football players Tutino coached at Simi Valley High School that they were receiving the torch Tutino had carried.

O'Reilly makes a special point of welcoming young people to the church, where the smaller ones are often heard crying and fussing in their parents' arms.

``If they cry, that's what children do. We don't exclude children, we include them,'' he said. ``Their presence is truly a blessing.

During his career as a priest there have been five popes, and O'Reilly said he likes what he sees in Pope Benedict XVI.

``There's always fear when someone dies - what will the new one be like? From what I hear, the new pope will be a good listener and will be open to other faiths. He wants to be a learner as well as a teacher.''

Inspired by the old monastery near his home in Abbylara, O'Reilly went in 1954 to study at All Hallows Seminary in Dublin, where he was eventually asked in 1961 to go to Los Angeles.

In West Los Angeles, he continued his education in the 1970s with a master's degree in English literature at Loyola Marymount University.

``That was one of the best decisions I've ever made,'' he said. ``In the ordinary stories that people read, they find their values. They find the stories of their own lives reflected. People learn theology today from plays, novels and stories. You need to be able to reach into that world and extract from that world the lessons they are learning about good and themselves.''

O'Reilly frequently quotes literary figures before he ties everything together with lessons from the Bible and tells the congregation of the things he says really matter to people - long-term values to live by.

He said his use of literary quotes comes from his education at Loyola and the traditional Celtic respect for learning and love of language.

``A person who can put words to thoughts is highly respected'' in Celtic culture, he said. ``James Joyce just loved language. It's more than a cold way of expressing ideas, it has its own beauty.''

O'Reilly said many of the changes in the Roman Catholic Church during his life have been good, including the Second Vatican Council reforms opening roles for lay people.

Lamarra, who has served as eucharistic minister and liturgy planner, said O'Reilly encouraged him and other parishioners at St. Maximilian's to take a number of roles.

When the church was designed and built, much of the work was done by the parishioners.

``The thing that was most surprising and gratifying about (O'Reilly) was that he was able to ask for that help and follow that advice. The typical Irish pastor takes advice and then ignores it,'' said Lamarra. When Father Peter asked people's opinion, he actually followed their advice.''

Cardinal Mahony picked the church name, honoring the Polish priest who gave his life to save another prisoner at the Auschwitz concentration camp.

In retaliation for an inmate escape, the Nazi guards selected 10 men to die by starvation. When one of them began to cry out that he would never see his wife and children again, Maximilian offered to die in his place, which he did on August 14, 1941, at the age of 47.

O'Reilly said his approach to people in his parish is based on an old Irish saying and advice he received from a Jesuit priest who was also a psychiatrist.

``He said when they come to you, they are going to be asking, where is my home. We have to welcome everyone we see. They, too, are on a journey.

``We used to have a saying in Ireland that a stranger is a friend you haven't met. If they come as a stranger, they should always leave as a friend. So we set out to welcome people wherever we met them.''

O'Reilly is looking forward to moving to Claremont, where he earned a doctor of ministry degree from the Claremont School of Theology. He wants to travel during his retirement and plans a six-month trip this fall to Israel to study in an interfaith community.

``I remember going down the 405 Freeway and someone was saying on the radio that the best ways of avoiding the effects of old age was learning a new language,'' he recalled.

``So I went to the University of Judaism to learn Hebrew. That helped to fill out for me the close connection we have with the Jewish community.''

His friends say he has a lifetime commitment to learning.

``It will be hard to say goodbye,'' said Nancy Cummings, his administrative assistant.

``We're going to miss him. We love him and we always will,'' she said. ``But we want him to be happy. He has a thirst for knowledge. He wants to travel and go on learning.''

Eric Leach, [phone]

eric.leach(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(1 -- color) The Rev. Peter O'Reilly is preparing to retire from St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church in Westlake Village.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer