Our St. Vincent de Paul ministry extends sincere gratitude for your generosity during Christmas 2018. You helped make Christmas brighter for 31 families. With your support, 161 individuals experienced a Christmas they will never forget.

With the holidays fast approaching, you are invited to continue sharing your blessings with needy families in our community.

The commitment is to purchase a gift for each family member from a list of gift ideas/needs from the families.
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​Questions or to participate: Marylee Hrabovsky (805) 504·4753. Thank you!

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

SVDP relies on donations to support their efforts. Ongoing simple fundraising opportunities include:

•  eScrip
  Simply follow this link to www.escrip.com and use Group Code 136559191
• Amazon Smile
  Shop Amazon like normal and Amazon will donate 0.5% to our St. Vincent De Paul.  Simply follow this link to smile.amazon.com/ch/27-1002110
• iGive
  Follow this link and shop your favorite stores!
• Ralphs Community
  Follow this link to register your Ralphs card

​The donation truck is onsite twice a year to accept your donations of gently used clothing, books, games, DVD/CDs, sports gear, toys, and small household items such as lamps, small appliances, frames, etc.

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.

SVDP is open to both men and women who wish to grow in their faith by serving God and their neighbor.  Members are united in their efforts to conduct their ministry with compassion and confidentiality, while promoting human dignity and respect.  To learn more about volunteering, contact: Terri Korell korellhome@verizon.net
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From a current member of the ministry: 
"Being a volunteer is a blessing. It makes me aware of the blessings in my own life. Viewing the world through the eyes of the less fortunate keeps me grounded and more aware of the people around me. Our parish conference very special. The love and support we receive from our fellow Vincentians is wonderful and the service itself keeps faith in front of everything you do. Come and join us and count your blessings."

For the past thirty years, our family has been a part of the Padre Serra Community. We have worked, served and prayed alongside wonderful individuals who have been generous in their financial giving and their participation in parish ministries. While becoming involved in these ministries I have witnessed firsthand our parishioners’ generosity, goodwill and kindness.

Many of you may not be aware that there is a parish finance council. The finance council’s main focus is to review financial matters of the parish, to act in an advisory capacity, and to provide guidance to our parish leaders. The finance council members have diverse financial experiences, which is beneficial in providing sound financial advice that will help fulfill the vision and mission of the parish. The current members of the finance council are: Fr. Patrick, Jerry DeVillers, Chase Lichtenstein, Laura Meissner, Kathy Milner, Gene West, Kevin Hrabovsky and Joe Loll.

I remember as a young boy growing up in our family of six, that we always helped and supported our parish community. My parents looked upon our parish as part of our extended family so weekly giving was part of our commitment to the parish. Since then, it has become a tradition as part of our family too. Our financial contributions go to support Padre Serra parish in many ways, including to assist the neediest among us, to keep our church community informed in its current Catholicity, and to provide a welcoming environment where our community spirit will continue to grow.

We don’t want to be in a situation that Jesus warned about in today’s gospel, “This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.” Our focus needs to be not only on our current results but we also need to be sure that we have the financial resources to meet the needs of the parish community on a long-term basis. This is the finance challenge of our parish: to meet the short-term needs while preparing for the major expenditures that are inevitable with the aging of the physical structures of the parish. With your support we can accomplish these goals.

Thank you for your continued support of Padre Serra parish through your prayers, financial giving and ministry participation. “One individual cannot possibly make a difference alone. It is individual efforts, collectively, that make a noticeable difference — all the difference in the world.”Jane Goodall.

​Siempre adelante,

Joe Loll
Padre Serra Finance Council Chair

​When we think of Jamaica, the thoughts of Ocho Rios, beautiful beaches and wonderful scenery come to mind—all of which are part of the island. A year before becoming a priest of the Diocese of Mandeville, I spent 5 days with our founding bishop touring the diocese—and, I saw a very different side of Jamaica! 
 
Bishop Paul Boyle said to me: “We have dire poverty.  It’s something the tourists don’t see, nor do the television ads feature.  Our people are poor.  Jamaica is one of the poorest nations in the hemisphere after Haiti, and our diocese is the poorest part of Jamaica.” 
 
In the Diocese of Mandeville, there are about six hundred thousand people. Sixty eight percent have no running water; only, outside latrines. Families are using “primitive methods” of disposing human waste—they go into the bushes. People need  basic necessities of life:  food, clothing, shoes to wear, mattresses—many need a home. The average annual income in Jamaica is US$1,500.00—a little less than $29.00 per week. Many workers don’t receive even this wage.  Among people’ aged 15 to 19, 25% are “functionally illiterate.” Many of those who are functionally literate have severe reading problems.  Seventy-five percent of students who take standardized testing cannot pass even one subject. There is an alarming number of destitute elderly and abandoned/neglected/abused children and adolescents. People are dying every day from diseases, which no longer exist in the United States because we have adequate medical care. BOTTOM LINE:  the Diocese of Mandeville is very, very poor!

Each spring, St. John’s Seminary welcomes benefactors and friends to our campus. This year, see the restored Stained Glass Windows in our Prayer Hall. Visit one of our newly revitalized Stations of the Cross. Pray in our chapel. Spend time in our historic library. Meet our seminarians. Let us show you how your prayers help our mission to prepare priests for service to the people of God in our Catholic community.
​For information, contact (805) 482·2755, x1105 or openhouse@stjohnsem.edu
Also visit: stjohnsem.edu

Be it a birthday, anniversary or graduation, remember or honor your loved one or friend through a gift to our building fund. Envelopes available in the narthex and office or the parish website, go to Parish Info, Donate to Padre Serra. Contact pam@padreserra.org