You can help over 1,100 children and adults have a special Christmas morning!

To participate: simply select a tag from the trees in church, buy at least one of the items listed, wrap it, and attach the ANGEL TAG firmly to the outside of the package. Please return to church no later than 9:00 am on December 8. All gifts leave the parish at noon to be delivered to their respective locations.

This year we are collecting gifts for RAIN, OASIS, Ventura County Youth Correctional Facility, St. Francis Parish in Fillmore, San Salvador Mission in Piru, and Immaculate Conception Parish in New Cuyama ​.

Thank You From VC Youth Correctional Facility
​Last year, the Catholic chaplain Maria Santana was amazed to receive $2,900 in gifts card from our Angel Tag program. Your generosity enabled the chaplain and team to provide Christmas cheer for the youth at the correctional facility here in Camarillo and for upcoming sacramental and seasonal celebrations. Thank you!

Buy gifts with a purpose!
This fair trade craft program directly supports materially impoverished artisans and their communities in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. We have an opportunity to support them by purchasing their beautiful hand-made items such as handcrafted textiles, ceramics and wood products from Bangladesh, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Mozambique. 

Our purchases provides a source of income to materially poor families while supporting community development, protecting the environment, and ensuring fair working conditions and fair prices earned for their work.

Learn more www.concernamerica.org

Also visit: Giving, Outreach, Seasonal

Double your giving this season!
Your See’s Candy purchase for friends, family and coworkers will benefit the good work of our St. Vincent de Paul ministry.

Also visit: SVdP,  Christmas in the Courtyard

♪ Let every heart prepare him room ♪

Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of Jesus ...at Christmas, at the end of time, and into our hearts each and every day. Although not a season of penance, reconciliation finds a special place in Advent, as we seek to approach Jesus' coming with hearts free of sin and filled of praise.

Participate in the Parish Advent Reconciliation Service, an opportunity to examine our lives, go to confession, and open ourselves to God's boundless mercy.  Then celebrate  afterward with refreshments in the courtyard!

This year, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is not a holy day of obligation.

​Celebrate the Blessed Virgin Mary who, by the grace of God, was born free of original sin, and kept free from sin her whole life. She was the first and most perfect disciple of Jesus, and is a model for all of us! Ora pro nobis, Maria!

The Church highly reveres Mary and we honor her throughout the year with several feast days, among them the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.  This holy day celebrates our belief that Mary was preserved by God from "original sin" from the moment of her conception.  This privilege was given to her in anticipation of her role as the mother of Jesus, the bearer of God.

What does this mean for her and for us?

We must remember that Mary was fully human, vulnerable to human weakness, but from the first moment of her existence, God filled her with grace so that she could live her life completely open to the Holy Spirit and to God's will.

This teaching gives us hope that we too, are destined to be free from sin and bearers of the divine. It is at our baptism that we are made new creations filled with God's grace. Everything that was possible for Mary is possible for us!

Visit also: Prayer

Let us come together for a fun, interactive, and enriching Advent celebration to prepare our hearts for Jesus' coming!

The Posadas is a Christmas tradition celebrated throughout Mexico for over 400 years that commemorates Mary and Joseph's long, arduous journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem in search of a warm place to stay, and for Jesus to be born. The word Posada is Spanish for "lodging" or "accommodation."

This Advent custom re-enacts the gospel story told in Luke 2:1-7 with prayer and song. Traditionally, a Posada starts with the recitation of the Holy Rosary, a reflection of the Gospel of Luke, and the re-enactment procession of singing requests for lodging. The celebration continues with a piñata; the seven corners of the piñata represent the seven deadly sins, and the beating of the piñata symbolizes overcoming the sins. The candy within each piñata characterizes the sweetness of God's grace to us through the birth of Jesus.

​A Posada teaches us that by welcoming the poor and needy, we are embracing Jesus in our midst.  Typically the Posadas begin on December 16 and end nine days later, on December 24 and midnight Mass. Each night, one family agrees to house the pilgrims. Come and learn how to celebrate this joyful faith tradition with your family and friends, in your homes!

Come early to enjoy Taco Tuesday at 5:30 pm! Tamales and Champurrado will also be available for purchase (cash only) before and afterward. Piñatas for the kids and goodies for the adults!​

Through this series of fourteen stations, we recall Jesus’ great love for us. This beautiful, ancient prayer commemorates successive incidents on Jesus' journey from condemnation by Pilate to his crucifixion and burial. Stations of the Cross is most commonly prayed during Lent, particularly on Fridays especially Good Friday, but can be prayed at any time.

Consider praying the Stations in our prayer garden. Use one of three versions, found in the garden’s box:

• ​Traditional Stations of the Cross
  (follows the 14  traditional events, depicted in our garden)
• Scriptural Stations
  developed by St. Pope John Paul II (invites us to follow 14 events, different from the traditional)
• Family

​
Also visit: Lent,  Prayer

We provide community and spiritual support for transitioning special needs teens and young adults (16+), their families and friends. 

Upcoming sessions:
November - Drum Circle with Cathy (in the San Juan 
​                           Capistrano room)
January - Folk dancing with Luke

​Contact:
Monica Spooner
(805) 484·8379
monicaspooner@twc.com

All are invited to this celebration of preparing our hearts, minds and lives to welcome and receive Jesus at Christmas.

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.

Have a busy Tuesday evening or a meeting or class at church? Come early to enjoy dinner in the courtyard. Cash only.

In November, Taco Tuesday will be November 19.

Why do Catholics call Mary “the Mother of God”?

The Catholic Church dedicates the first day of our secular year, January 1, to Mary under her title “Mother of God.” This title was officially affirmed by the Council of Ephesus in 431 C.E. although Mary had been called “Theotokos” (The Bearer of God) since the very early days of the Church.

​As with all Marian dogmas, “Mother of God” says more about Jesus than about Mary. It reinforces our belief that Jesus is, truly and fully, both human and divine. Mary always points us to her Son and our relationship with him.

What does this mean for us? We hold Mary as our model. She is the first person who received Jesus into herself and birthed him into the world. She encourages us also to be bearers of Jesus to our world…to our families, neighborhoods, workplaces and beyond. As disciples of Mary’s Son we are called to bring God’s love, compassion, mercy and healing to others. We ask Mary to pray for us that we may be given the grace to do this each and every day.

Now accepting applications for the 2020 – 2021 year.

Principal Mike Ronan invites all to school for campus tours and presentation on various programs.

• Faith – filled environment
• Community service learning
• National standardized testing
• Music and art programs
• Integrated classroom technology
• Outstanding high school acceptances
• Honors Math, Literature, and Writing Programs
• Foreign language
• Kindergarten through 8th grade
• Extracurricular Activities: National Junior Honor Society, Football, Basketball, Volleyball, Track, Softball, Art Club, STEM Club, Chess Club, Bricks 4 Kidz, Manners 4 All, Science Club

Whether interested in giving the gift of Catholic education or just knowing about our school, all are welcome to come see this dynamic gem.

Contact:
mronan@smmschool.net
(805) 482·2611
www.smmschool.net
2534 Ventura Blvd. 
Camarillo, CA 93010 
Centrally located near the 101 FWY in Old Town

The official installation for all newly trained servers.
On this day, at the 9:00am liturgy, all altar servers will process into church in a grand opening procession. This is the only time when the entire college of servers is acknowledged in their ministry of altar serving in our parish. ​It is understood that some of the servers will have already served a liturgy for that weekend, but all will be present none-the-less as a sign of unity.

Questions,concerns: contact Bob Shadduck.

Also visit: Altar Servers

Through volunteer efforts and generous donations, Many Meals provides free home-cooked meals twice a week to the under served and homeless in Camarillo.

Questions or to volunteer:
manymealsvolunteers@verizon.net

​Also visit:  Care, Outreach 

Everyone is invited to join in a nationwide praying of the rosary, organized by America Needs Fatima, for
world peace, for the leaders of our nation, for victims of disasters, for our families and for personal intentions. ​Let us join together to be a living witness of the power of prayer.
 
Begins promptly at noon. Bring sun protection and your own chair.

​

Contact: filipinoministry@padreserra.org
Sponsored by our Filipino Ministry

​Also visit:  Prayer

Celebrate Food, Friends and Forgiveness!
Let's be thankful for all our many blessings. Have some dinner with your family, relax and slow down. Be blessed with the gift and healing of Reconciliation (Confession).

This is an important faith learning experience for the children in which they witness their grown-ups participating at church in prayer and going to talk with a priest. By your example, you teach.

Come to our gathering and enjoy:

• Yummy food provided!
• Great family fellowship with a spiritual connection...and craft!
• Holy peace, prayers and priests available to give blessings.

This is not First Reconciliation! Children enrolled in grades 1 to 5 who have not yet made their First Reconciliation will go to a breakout session that is sacrament preparation focused.

Children preparing for First Communion next May, will make their First Reconciliation on March, 14 2020.

This is our Faith Formation gathering the week of November 12. Regular Centers resume the week of November 18.

The donation truck will be in our parking lot to collect your gently used items: clothes, shoes, kitchen items, DVD/CD, luggage, sports gear, books, and toys. *No electronics please* 
Please come early, the truck will leave once filled. ​Items cannot be left in the office or food bin in church.

Your donations assist those in need twice! Once by donating for the Thrift Store and from those sales funds are given back to local SVDP chapters.

For free pickup of large donations like furniture, large appliances, and vehicles, please call St. Vincent de Paul at (323) 224·6280 or (800) 974·3571.

Together we can help our neighbors in need!

Also visit: St. Vincent de Paul, Groups, Outreach

Our parish charters Troop #257 for boys in grades 6-12. For more information about Boy Scouts in general please visit their website or the Ventura County Council.
​For more information about Boy Scouts, please contact:
Terry Tong 
​terrytong76@gmail.com

​For more information about Girl Scouts, please contact:
Karen Fraser
(805) 987 · 8432
fraserclan5@verizon.net