News |
 Dear Friends,
Today’s readings remind us of the power and promise of the Eucharist. That in seeking reconciliation and celebrating the Eucharist, we are receiving confirmation and strength for our personal journeys. We are asked to believe without seeing and that our belief will lead us to everlasting life. I am not a theologian. I am a scientist/businesswoman who spent the majority of my career developing therapies for life-threatening diseases. I have tried to be on the straight and narrow path with God, but have strayed more times than I’d care to admit. Yet, He has always welcomed me back home. Being a data driven person, I’ve often wondered about believing in God without seeing Him. I’ve learned that if we slow down, look and listen, that we will find God all around us and working through us:
Celebrating the Eucharist is quite emotional for me as I think about God’s love and blessings. I also think about my shortcomings, continually pray for forgiveness and strength to be the best person I can possibly be. I feel the divine surge of the Holy Spirit through the Eucharist each week. There is no doubt about what God is asking of us in the second reading (Eph 4:30–5:2): “All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ. So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us.” God is inviting us to join him on a most wonderful journey. He wants us to learn from Him, live like Him, forgive like Him and love like Him. I hope to learn from those of you further down this spiritual path with God and welcome others who are thinking about putting your feet on the trail. There’s room for us all. Siempre Adelante, Nancy Jorgesen Parish Business Manager Our warmest welcome to all who celebrate with us.
Please help us keep our records up to date. Go to Join to complete a parish registration form or confirm your household information. Moving? To be removed from the census: liz@padreserra.org
Summer Activities
Offers support to those who have lost a loved one.
Every Monday food is bagged and distributed to families in need.Remember our friends and neighbors in Camarillo served by our food pantry.
All the items you place in the boxes in church are taken over to our centralized storage at St. Mary’s Chapel on Sunday afternoon. Wednesdays |
First & Third Thursday of the month |  |
2nd Wednesday of the month |  |
The Letters |   |
I’ve never lived long with hunger. I’ve gone on diets and had to stare at food I was choosing not to eat. I’ve done a lot of physical work and been peckish. I’ve occasionally skipped meals and been extra especially ravenous. But I’ve never lived with ongoing hunger; I’ve never dealt with famine. I may have said, even more than once, “I’m starving,” but that was exaggeration.
The people in today’s Gospel, though, almost certainly lived with hunger as a normal and recurring condition. Archeological evidence, from studies of graves from most of the ancient world, reveals that a majority of peasants, who made up the bulk of the world’s population until relatively recently, lived with hunger and protein deficiency.
Without modern technology and machinery, lacking metal plows and unable to afford beasts of burden, most subsistence farmers produced only enough, when all went well, to feed their families in a hand-to-mouth kind of way. They ate what the earth brought forth soon after it ripened. They then lived with hunger until the next crop came to maturity. Droughts and taxes often stressed the poor farming family to the breaking point.
When we hear of the dogged perseverance of the crowds around Jesus in today’s Gospel, as they sought to encourage him to repeat the wonderful multiplication of the loaves, where everyone had their fill, and there was still food left over, we have to look upon them sympathetically. It also leads us to recognize the point of this passage for us. We’re not desperate about food. Our physical hunger isn’t going to get in the way of our ability to hear what God has to say…but…we have our own blind spots, places where our gaping needs, hurts and anguish overshadows our willingness to attend to what the Lord would be with us and do for us.
There is an implicit invitation for each of us to bring the places of our greatest struggles into dialogue with our communion with our Lord Jesus.
Where can we find companionship in our loneliness? Communion. Where can we find strength to overcome the difficult? Communion. Where can we find comfort in our physical pain? Communion. Where will we find life when we feel like we’re dying inside? Communion.
In receiving the Bread of Life we’re not having God “do it for us,” we’re committing to do all that we do, be all we can be, with Jesus. It takes a conscious act when we receive to make this possible. It requires us to return to our spiritual and physical union with Jesus in the moment of our struggle. We need to remember that we are not alone and that Jesus is working in, with and through us, for our greater good and the building up of the Kingdom
The people in today’s Gospel, though, almost certainly lived with hunger as a normal and recurring condition. Archeological evidence, from studies of graves from most of the ancient world, reveals that a majority of peasants, who made up the bulk of the world’s population until relatively recently, lived with hunger and protein deficiency.
Without modern technology and machinery, lacking metal plows and unable to afford beasts of burden, most subsistence farmers produced only enough, when all went well, to feed their families in a hand-to-mouth kind of way. They ate what the earth brought forth soon after it ripened. They then lived with hunger until the next crop came to maturity. Droughts and taxes often stressed the poor farming family to the breaking point.
When we hear of the dogged perseverance of the crowds around Jesus in today’s Gospel, as they sought to encourage him to repeat the wonderful multiplication of the loaves, where everyone had their fill, and there was still food left over, we have to look upon them sympathetically. It also leads us to recognize the point of this passage for us. We’re not desperate about food. Our physical hunger isn’t going to get in the way of our ability to hear what God has to say…but…we have our own blind spots, places where our gaping needs, hurts and anguish overshadows our willingness to attend to what the Lord would be with us and do for us.
There is an implicit invitation for each of us to bring the places of our greatest struggles into dialogue with our communion with our Lord Jesus.
Where can we find companionship in our loneliness? Communion. Where can we find strength to overcome the difficult? Communion. Where can we find comfort in our physical pain? Communion. Where will we find life when we feel like we’re dying inside? Communion.
In receiving the Bread of Life we’re not having God “do it for us,” we’re committing to do all that we do, be all we can be, with Jesus. It takes a conscious act when we receive to make this possible. It requires us to return to our spiritual and physical union with Jesus in the moment of our struggle. We need to remember that we are not alone and that Jesus is working in, with and through us, for our greater good and the building up of the Kingdom
Communing with Jesus is not to be done automatically or unconsciously. Jesus is bringing His whole self to it. We do well to bring our whole heart, body, mind and soul to receiving Him.
Siempre adelante!
Fr. Patrick
Siempre adelante!
Fr. Patrick
Available in the parish office with our Faith Life Minister, Teresa Runyon, who will listen, help to discern your needs, and provide referrals to our many support ministries, clergy or other resources.
(805) 482·6417, teresa@padreserra.org
Find more information and the list of support ministries that are open and offered right here at the parish at our Care & Support Ministries webpage.
(805) 482·6417, teresa@padreserra.org
Find more information and the list of support ministries that are open and offered right here at the parish at our Care & Support Ministries webpage.
Every Tuesday through August |
 | We gather to read, study and reflect on the upcoming Sunday’s readings. Bring your bible. Our last session is Tuesday, August 28. Living Liturgy Bible Study with Dr. Paul Ford resumes September 4. |
 | Helps the unemployed and underemployed focus their job search, improve resume and interview skills, network. Contact: Steve Loeffler careertransitions@padreserra.org |
Sunday, August 12 |  |
The PSP Filipino Ministry shares the vision of the Filipino Ministry-Archdiocese of Los Angeles:
One Filipino-American community united in love and in service to those in need.
Isang sambayanang Pilipino-Amerikano na nagkaka-isa sa pagmamahalan at paglilingkod sa mga nangangailangan.
We are committed to sharing the gifts of the Filipino-American community with our parish family, promoting the rich Filipino heritage through celebration of treasured Filipino religious/cultural traditions and providing service to those in need.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Novena
Wednesdays
6:30 - 7:30pm
Church
Come join us every week for an hour of prayer and devotion to our Mother Mary. Every first Wednesday, stay after for fellowship.
Contact: filipinoministry@padreserra.org
America Needs Fatima Rosary Rally
Saturday, October 13, 2018
11:30am - 1:30pm
PSP South parking lot along Upland Rd
America Needs Fatima is a national campaign that brings the message of Our Lady of Fatima into people’s homes and to the public square. Rosary rallies are held simultaneously by groups praying for our country and the world all across America. These public rallies take place on the closest Saturday to October 13, the feast of the last apparition of Our Lady of Fatima and the Miracle of the Sun.
At Padre Serra, we support this devotion by holding a public square rosary and encouraging everyone to pray the rosary, and through the home visitation program in which a statue of Our Lady visits private homes (see Neighborhood Rosary Group).
Contact: filipinoministry@padreserra.org
Neighborhood Rosary Group
We pray for the intentions of your family and our community.
Contact: filipinoministry@padreserra.org
Mass of Remembrance
Saturday, November 3, 2018
5:00pm
We invite everyone to remember and celebrate the lives of our loved ones who have gone before us to live in the light of the Lord.
Names of your deceased loved ones will be collected and included in our Memorial Bowl, which will be offered in our gathering procession and presentation of gifts. You may also bring a photo of your loved ones before mass and place it on the altar corner steps.
Contact: filipinoministry@padreserra.org
Simbang Gabi Celebration
Saturday, December 15, 2018
5:00pm Mass
Followed by reception at the Serra Center
Simbang Gabi signifies nine days of Christmas Novena Masses traditionally held at dawn in the Philippines. During these celebrations, churches in the Philippines are filled out the doors, and many Filipinos believe that petitions brought to the baby Jesus during these masses are likely to be answered. After mass, people partake of traditional sweets and snacks at the town or church plaza and enjoy a sense of camaraderie and festiveness with fellow mass goers.
At Padre Serra, we celebrate this beloved tradition with a cultural Mass during Advent, after which we serve a sumptuous meal to the parish community.
Contact: filipinoministry@padreserra.org
Christmas Caroling
Caroling - Evenings during the Christmas Season
Caroling rehearsal - Sundays in October and November, 1:00-5:00pm
Celebrate with us as we bring yuletide joy and good cheer to our neighbors and friends during the Christmas season! Sign up to join the Filipino Ministry Carolers, or as a host to welcome our gift of Christmas cheer.
Contact: filipinoministry@padreserra.org
All are welcome!
We welcome everyone with a sincere desire to grow with us in faith as we promote the rich Filipino heritage through celebration of treasured Filipino religious and cultural traditions, and as we lend a hand to those in need.
Please complete our volunteer form
One Filipino-American community united in love and in service to those in need.
Isang sambayanang Pilipino-Amerikano na nagkaka-isa sa pagmamahalan at paglilingkod sa mga nangangailangan.
We are committed to sharing the gifts of the Filipino-American community with our parish family, promoting the rich Filipino heritage through celebration of treasured Filipino religious/cultural traditions and providing service to those in need.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Novena
Wednesdays
6:30 - 7:30pm
Church
Come join us every week for an hour of prayer and devotion to our Mother Mary. Every first Wednesday, stay after for fellowship.
Contact: filipinoministry@padreserra.org
America Needs Fatima Rosary Rally
Saturday, October 13, 2018
11:30am - 1:30pm
PSP South parking lot along Upland Rd
America Needs Fatima is a national campaign that brings the message of Our Lady of Fatima into people’s homes and to the public square. Rosary rallies are held simultaneously by groups praying for our country and the world all across America. These public rallies take place on the closest Saturday to October 13, the feast of the last apparition of Our Lady of Fatima and the Miracle of the Sun.
At Padre Serra, we support this devotion by holding a public square rosary and encouraging everyone to pray the rosary, and through the home visitation program in which a statue of Our Lady visits private homes (see Neighborhood Rosary Group).
Contact: filipinoministry@padreserra.org
Neighborhood Rosary Group
We pray for the intentions of your family and our community.
Contact: filipinoministry@padreserra.org
Mass of Remembrance
Saturday, November 3, 2018
5:00pm
We invite everyone to remember and celebrate the lives of our loved ones who have gone before us to live in the light of the Lord.
Names of your deceased loved ones will be collected and included in our Memorial Bowl, which will be offered in our gathering procession and presentation of gifts. You may also bring a photo of your loved ones before mass and place it on the altar corner steps.
Contact: filipinoministry@padreserra.org
Simbang Gabi Celebration
Saturday, December 15, 2018
5:00pm Mass
Followed by reception at the Serra Center
Simbang Gabi signifies nine days of Christmas Novena Masses traditionally held at dawn in the Philippines. During these celebrations, churches in the Philippines are filled out the doors, and many Filipinos believe that petitions brought to the baby Jesus during these masses are likely to be answered. After mass, people partake of traditional sweets and snacks at the town or church plaza and enjoy a sense of camaraderie and festiveness with fellow mass goers.
At Padre Serra, we celebrate this beloved tradition with a cultural Mass during Advent, after which we serve a sumptuous meal to the parish community.
Contact: filipinoministry@padreserra.org
Christmas Caroling
Caroling - Evenings during the Christmas Season
Caroling rehearsal - Sundays in October and November, 1:00-5:00pm
Celebrate with us as we bring yuletide joy and good cheer to our neighbors and friends during the Christmas season! Sign up to join the Filipino Ministry Carolers, or as a host to welcome our gift of Christmas cheer.
Contact: filipinoministry@padreserra.org
All are welcome!
We welcome everyone with a sincere desire to grow with us in faith as we promote the rich Filipino heritage through celebration of treasured Filipino religious and cultural traditions, and as we lend a hand to those in need.
Please complete our volunteer form
Dear Friends,
Every three years the readings we hear at mass focus for several weeks in the summer on the gift of the Eucharist – the source and summit of our life as Christians. The connection between the Old Testament readings and the corresponding gospel passages are rich during this time. Because becoming familiar with the Scripture readings before we hear them proclaimed at mass can be a very enriching spiritual practice, I offer the summary below of what we can expect in the coming weeks. Please take advantage of the U.S. Catholic Bishop’s website where you can read the full text of these readings and let them sink deep into your heart www.usccb.org
Every three years the readings we hear at mass focus for several weeks in the summer on the gift of the Eucharist – the source and summit of our life as Christians. The connection between the Old Testament readings and the corresponding gospel passages are rich during this time. Because becoming familiar with the Scripture readings before we hear them proclaimed at mass can be a very enriching spiritual practice, I offer the summary below of what we can expect in the coming weeks. Please take advantage of the U.S. Catholic Bishop’s website where you can read the full text of these readings and let them sink deep into your heart www.usccb.org
Week |
OT |
Gospel |
17th Sunday, July 29 |
2 Kings 4:42-44. Elisha, the man of God, insists on giving his people a gift of loaves: “For thus says the Lord, ‘they shall eat and there shall be some left over.’ And when they had eaten, there was some left over, as the Lord had said.” |
John 6:1-15. Jesus instructs his disciples to feed a large crowd that had followed him using only five loaves and two fish from a boy in the crowd. Those suffice to feed over 5000, with 12 baskets left over. |
18th Sunday, August 5 |
Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15. The Israelites, delivered from Egypt but not yet in the Promised Land, grumble for lack of food in the desert. The Lord sends manna from heaven and Moses tells them “This is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.” |
John 6:24-35. Jesus explains to the crowd that it was not Moses who gave their ancestors heavenly bread – it was his Father. When they ask for it always, Jesus replies: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger” [nor thirst]. |
19th Sunday, August 12 |
1 Kings 19:4-8. The weary and discouraged prophet Elijah lies down in the desert, praying for death. An angel wakes him up and gives him food and drink: “Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!” Strengthened, Elijah walks forty days and nights to the mountain of God, Horeb. |
John 6:41-51. The Jews murmur among themselves about Jesus saying that he is the bread come down from heaven. He tells them that their ancestors ate manna in the desert but died, and that he is the living bread from heaven, that whoever eats this bread will live forever and that the bread he (Jesus) gives is “my flesh for the life of the world.” |
20th Sunday, August 19 |
Proverbs 9:1-6. Wisdom has built her house and invited many to share in the feast she has prepared. Wisdom = The Word of God = Jesus Christ |
John 6:51-58. Jesus says to the Jews quarreling over his declaration of himself as the bread of life that “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and blood is true drink.” |
21st Sunday, August 26 |
Joshua 24:1-2A, 15-17, 18B. Joshua, Moses’ successor, gathers all the tribes of Israel together and requires them to decide whether they will serve the Lord, or other “gods”. “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Israel decides to do the same. |
John 6:60-69. Many of Jesus’ disciples struggle with what he has taught and “returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.” When Jesus asks the Twelve if they also want to leave, Simon Peter answers “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” |
Siempre Adelante,
Dominic MacAller
Director of Liturgy and Music
Dominic MacAller
Director of Liturgy and Music
Tuesdays
2:00-3:00pm
Santa Barbara room
Women and men of any age are invited to join instructor Sheila Montgomery for Tai Chi.
Bring your intentions as we pray through meditative movements. $5 donation /class.
Bring your intentions as we pray through meditative movements. $5 donation /class.
Grades 3 - 8
Rehearsals Mondays
5:15 - 6:15pm (grades 6 to 8 until 6:30pm)
September through May
Our Children's & Middle School Choir (aka CMSC) is open to boys and girls in third through eighth grades. Their "season" runs from September through May. CMSC sings at liturgy about once a month and rehearses every week on Mondays. The choir also is featured in the annual PSP Christmas Concert, singing alone, and in combination with the other choirs as well. Membership is open to all children who would like to participate and who are willing to commit to what's required. For questions and more detailed information about the requirements, please contact kathleen@padreserra.org.
There are occasional solo opportunities and one of the most important missions of CMSC is to form young people in music ministry - the idea that rather than a mere performance what the choir does at the liturgy is to lead the singing of the assembly, and to enable their own and everyone's sung prayer. Additionally, when the choir sings by itself at the liturgy, the purpose is to help everyone there who hears the music, including the singers themselves, to encounter Jesus. We are trying to teach all participants in all the choirs that it is a ministry of service to God's people and to the liturgy, and that worship "in spirit and in truth" is what we are aiming for.
To join CMSC, schedule a Vocal Checkup with our Children's Choir Director, Kathleen MacAller.
New and/or returning CMSC members can make an appointment for vocal checkups using Sign Up Genius.
There are occasional solo opportunities and one of the most important missions of CMSC is to form young people in music ministry - the idea that rather than a mere performance what the choir does at the liturgy is to lead the singing of the assembly, and to enable their own and everyone's sung prayer. Additionally, when the choir sings by itself at the liturgy, the purpose is to help everyone there who hears the music, including the singers themselves, to encounter Jesus. We are trying to teach all participants in all the choirs that it is a ministry of service to God's people and to the liturgy, and that worship "in spirit and in truth" is what we are aiming for.
To join CMSC, schedule a Vocal Checkup with our Children's Choir Director, Kathleen MacAller.
New and/or returning CMSC members can make an appointment for vocal checkups using Sign Up Genius.
Also visit: Music Ministry
High School to 29ish
Rehearsals Tuesday evenings
5:30-7:00pm
September through June
There are occasional changes/exceptions, communicated ahead of time.
The PSP Youth Choir “One Voice” may be on "summer break" but we're looking forward to re-starting in the Fall. Would you like to be a part of it? We have a few openings still, especially for young men!
What are we looking for?
What are we looking for?
- A pleasant voice (doesn't have to be fantastic, just able to carry a tune and match pitch)
- A good attitude
- A desire to be of service helping the community to worship Jesus Christ
- Willingness to commit to the schedule
- Previous experience, music reading, playing an instrument - these are all nice but not required
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