4/19/2024 A Love Like No OtherThe first year of a baby’s life is so much about learning and adjusting. While parents are learning to distinguish their babies’ cries in order to respond accordingly, babies are learning about their new world through their senses. Studies show that the maternal voice is audible in utero so an infant will recognize mom’s voice after birth. I am witnessing this right now with my three-week-old granddaughter who knows her mother’s voice, touch, scent and responds to her very presence. The comfort and peace a parent’s presence can bring a child is beautiful. Just imagine if we bring this gentler, kinder, more compassionate love to ourselves and to all those we meet. Siempre Adelante, Teresa Runyon Pastoral Associate 4/13/2024 St. Junipero Serra Walking PilgrimageSt. Junipero Serra Walking Pilgrimage Last year, I joined a group of 300 people who celebrated our own St Junipero Serra in a big way. We walked from Mission Santa Barbara to Mission San Buenaventura along the El Camino Real. We walked, we sang, we prayed, we talked, we made new friends, all in his honor. And I want you to join me this year! I was so nervous beforehand. Could I really walk 35 miles in just two days? That is way more than 10,000 steps a day! And I’m old and a little overweight and a couch potato. But I really wanted to do this. I am a big fan of St. Junipero Serra – I wanted to honor him. I also loved the idea of the walk, getting to smell the roses and take in the details of that quick 35-minute drive we take for granted. So, I started training. I did my 10,000 steps every day (about 5 miles); wearing the shoes I planned for the pilgrimage. On weekends, I walked farther and longer until I made 10 miles a day. I felt privileged to participate in this weekend event. The St. Junipero Serra Walking Pilgrimage was expertly organized. Numerous priests, monks and sisters walked the whole route and provided spiritual leadership. We attended Mass each day and learned about St. Junipero Serra, and we even carried a relic from St. Serra himself! Volunteers saw us safely across every street crossing and ensured we stayed together and on the correct route. A trailer of “pleasant” port-a-potties was always there when you needed it. Knights of Columbus provided delicious meals. We enjoyed frequent snack breaks, with plenty of time to rest and rejuvenate. We camped overnight in the school yard at St. Joseph’s in Carpinteria. We traveled light – our camping supplies traveled on a van, ready and waiting for us in Carpinteria, and again in Ventura. Please consider joining me in this unique opportunity to honor St. Junipero Serra. We’re telling you now, early, so you have plenty of time to get out your walking shoes and start training. I look forward to seeing you on the Pilgrimage! Siempre Adelante! A fellow parishioner, Stevie Garcia Fourth Annual Saint Junipero Serra Walking Pilgrimage Save the Date: August 10 - 11, 2024 For more information and to register: www.stserrapilgrimage.org Registration opens after Easter and closes on July 4 Fun fact – St. Junipero Serra was establishing Missions during the same years George Washington was founding our country! 4/5/2024 Seeing Isn’t Always Believing Christ is risen! We celebrate the Easter season with great joy at the gift of new life God has given us. However, I would imagine that many of us have not beheld the true face of Jesus as he is in Heaven, nor have we seen the Risen Lord like his disciples did in today’s Gospel. I know I have not (at least not yet). Yet Jesus calls us to believe even if our eyes have not seen him. Not only that, but we are also to have peace in the midst of our suffering knowing that he is there, even if our eyes fail us. When we look upon the Eucharist, our eyes tell us, “It’s just a piece of bread and some wine.” Yet the eyes of faith and the eyes of belief know that it is Jesus. Not metaphorically, not symbolically, not in any muddied fashion, no. The Eucharist is Jesus. It is his Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. The King of All Glory lowers himself, taking the form of bread and wine, that we might be close to him. What a gift and a humbling reality. God, who created all things, chose to become bread and wine for the rest of time for you, for me, for all of us. What can motivate such humility and sacrifice? Only love. Love is the Lord’s Commandment, to love others as he loves us. The 10 Commandments are certainly a guide for us to love. Jesus himself affirmed them. In our second reading, St. John affirms them as well, saying that we love God when we obey his commandments. Also, the Holy Spirit guards not only us who are washed in Baptism and sealed in Confirmation, but also guards God’s Word in the Gospels and the Bible. The commandments are the blueprint for love and God is the Divine Architect who created the wonderful world we live in. We live in this great universe that God has made. We are called to love God and love neighbor. We are called to be of one mind and heart in our love and life, that guarded by the Holy Spirit we may know the truth and believe, even though we might not see. Let the house of Padre Serra say: God’s love is forever! Alleluia! Riley Paolella Parishioner 3/28/2024 He is risen! Alleluia! For the women in today’s Gospel, nothing is as they anticipated. They expected to need help opening the tomb, but found it open. They expected to find Jesus’ body, but it was gone. They expected to be alone, as they gave their final loving care to their Lord, but found a man dressed in white. They thought the story of Jesus had come to an end, but heard that, not only was Jesus raised, they would see him again in Galilee. They thought their mission was the preparation of a dead body, but were given the responsibility for spreading the good news of the resurrection to the disciples and Peter. It’s a lot to take in! Did the women believe the young man’s report? The story doesn’t say, so we can only guess. We only know what they did. The last sentence of the Gospel, just one verse later explains, “They said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” This, according to the scholars, was the original ending of Mark’s Gospel, the remaining verses having been added later. It’s a genuinely startling way to end a Gospel, with the greatest news ever, that Jesus had been raised from the dead, followed by the women’s fear and silence. I would like to suggest that the author did this to make us process our own reaction to the resurrection. If you’re puzzled, and maybe even uncomfortable with the way the women responded, saying nothing, how do you feel about your own reaction to the resurrection? Are you amazed? Do you doubt? If you doubt the universal witness of all four Gospels to the resurrection, what do you believe? That God and Jesus couldn’t do this? — that’s not likely. Or that God wouldn’t do this, perhaps because it hasn’t been done for any other figure in human history? God broke a lot of steady patterns, though, in the life and ministry of Jesus. If you believe, are you dedicating yourself to the Risen Lord, or to other pursuits? Are you proclaiming this extraordinary news to a world that needs the Good News of Jesus’ triumph over darkness, over oppressive high priests, over tombs and death itself? Or, are you, silent, too? Mark’s author seems to hope we’ll ponder these questions, be disturbed by the women’s silence, and act. So ... what shall you do? I hope that your Lent was terrific, your holy week genuinely blessed, and that Easter can build on that foundation with miracles! He is risen! Alleluia, Fr. Patrick Pastor 3/22/2024 HopeHope is an interesting virtue. It’s not like how we perceive the definition of hope to be in our everyday language. Generally, when we use the word, there is an implication that it is out of your hands. We usually use it as a prayer for odds to be beat. To hope is pray that things will be alright, despite the chances looking slim. In the virtuous sense, hope is quite different. It is certain that God’s will, will be done. Hope trusts in God’s many promises, knowing that they will happen. We are days away from the Triduum. As we celebrate the holiest part of our calendar, there are so many ups and downs. Both emotionally and spiritually. Why do we go through this? The answer is quite simple. It allows us to trust in God. When we really dive into readings of people who let Jesus down, it is hard to swallow. The crowds who once chanted “Hosanna” are now chanting for His execution. His friends, who took pride in their loyalty, are now denying that they even know Him. It’s tough to reflect on our Lord’s passion, especially if we see glimpses of ourselves in those who let Him down. Most people would view this betrayal as an excuse to take back good things that were promised. Our God does the opposite and continues his mission. As I stated earlier, Hope is certain. Despite the shortcomings of Jesus’ friends and disciples in the face of social turmoil and the fear of death, there is still Hope. Despite the pain, struggle and eventual death that Jesus went through, it is still certain that He is doing this so we can be with Him in paradise. Nothing could’ve changed His mind and nothing can stop Him from loving you. Since Hope is being certain in God’s promises, it implies that we need to recognize that God will never change. No matter how many times we ourselves have turned our backs from God, the Hope of salvation shines even brighter. No matter how many times we may have chosen other things over God, He still opened the gates of heaven for us. The Father knew the turmoil that His son had to go through and His willingness to die for us to have eternal life is evidence that Hope truly exists. Another reason to Hope is seen in the Resurrection. The one inevitable human experience is death. The Resurrection shows that God will overcome what is deemed impossible just to be with you. When Christ rose from the dead, he not only did the impossible, but He shows that it is more impossible for Him to cease loving you. As we deal with the ups and downs of the Triduum, let us keep sight on the Resurrection. Without it, none of this has meaning. God allows things to feel hopeless and dead to show you that he can conquer them. If death couldn’t even conquer Him, your sins definitely won’t. God Bless, Brett Becker Youth and Young Adult Minister |
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