Ministry Fair |
September 12
| September 19
| September 26
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| Every Sunday morning, rain or shine, we serve coffee, donuts and fresh fruit after each Mass. Ministers of coffee and donuts are always needed. This is a great opportunity for adults, teens and children to share in friendship, fellowship, and conversation. Working side-by-side pouring joe and serving dough! Pick your Sundays and Masses to enjoy a Sunday morning in the courtyard with fellow parishioners. Sign up with Richard and Delia Also visit: Weekend Experience |  |
Dear Padre Serra Parishioners,
I have both deeply saddening news about the coronavirus, and challenging and hopeful news about our parish reopening.
As you may have heard, our beloved country passed the 100,000 count today for those who have died of the coronavirus. The parish bells tolled for them today at 4:05 pm after I heard that announcement. I ask you to pray with me now:
Gracious and merciful God, look with kindness on all who have died of this scourge throughout the world. Give them your forbearance, and grant them a place in your eternal kingdom, where Lazarus, who once was poor, suffers no more. Comfort the hearts of all who have lost a loved family member or friend.
May they find themselves strengthened by belief in your eternal plan for us. Help us to find a cure or vaccine, quickly, that will lift the weight of this virus from all our shoulders. We ask everything in the name of Jesus, our Lord, may he live and reign, forever, in our hearts. Amen.
Reopening of churches: With the governor’s announcement, allowing the re-opening of churches, Archbishop Gomez has given us a number of guidelines and steps to achieve before we can begin having Mass again at Padre Serra. I will be sending an update this next week. There are too many questions left unanswered to be certain when Mass will begin, but it will certainly be within the next month. The archbishop is not permitting Masses this weekend.
Live-streaming: The archbishop is continuing to lift the obligation on attending Mass, with no end date. We will continue to broadcast a live, on-line Mass for all those who need or choose to maintain their distance. In fact, it is our intention to keep on live-streaming the parish liturgy after the crisis passes as a continuous service to our home-bound parishioners.
We need volunteers: The new guidelines require volunteers for some of the new safety and health requirements. In the words of the archbishop, “High risk individuals (e.g., people who are 65 and older, who are immunocompromised or who have underlying health conditions) should be discouraged from serving in any capacity that brings them into contact with others.” With that in mind I ask any parishioner of high school age or older, who is not health compromised, to consider assisting us in one of the following ways:
If you can assist in any of these tasks, please email Jane, our receptionist, at jane@padreserra.org, and be as specific as you are able with your availability, contact information, concerns and which tasks you are open to undertaking.
Reconciliation / confessions are immediately permitted: I am happy to say that I will be available for drop by confessions this Friday and Saturday, May 29th and 30th, from 3:00 to 6:00 pm with the following guidelines:
Parishioners may also schedule confessions with my assistant, Barbara (barbara@padreserra.org).
These times are challenging, but I am very hopeful for the future. Please, please, please – as our community opens up, maintain all the healthy protocols to maintain your health!
Siempre adelante,
Fr. Patrick
I have both deeply saddening news about the coronavirus, and challenging and hopeful news about our parish reopening.
As you may have heard, our beloved country passed the 100,000 count today for those who have died of the coronavirus. The parish bells tolled for them today at 4:05 pm after I heard that announcement. I ask you to pray with me now:
Gracious and merciful God, look with kindness on all who have died of this scourge throughout the world. Give them your forbearance, and grant them a place in your eternal kingdom, where Lazarus, who once was poor, suffers no more. Comfort the hearts of all who have lost a loved family member or friend.
May they find themselves strengthened by belief in your eternal plan for us. Help us to find a cure or vaccine, quickly, that will lift the weight of this virus from all our shoulders. We ask everything in the name of Jesus, our Lord, may he live and reign, forever, in our hearts. Amen.
Reopening of churches: With the governor’s announcement, allowing the re-opening of churches, Archbishop Gomez has given us a number of guidelines and steps to achieve before we can begin having Mass again at Padre Serra. I will be sending an update this next week. There are too many questions left unanswered to be certain when Mass will begin, but it will certainly be within the next month. The archbishop is not permitting Masses this weekend.
Live-streaming: The archbishop is continuing to lift the obligation on attending Mass, with no end date. We will continue to broadcast a live, on-line Mass for all those who need or choose to maintain their distance. In fact, it is our intention to keep on live-streaming the parish liturgy after the crisis passes as a continuous service to our home-bound parishioners.
We need volunteers: The new guidelines require volunteers for some of the new safety and health requirements. In the words of the archbishop, “High risk individuals (e.g., people who are 65 and older, who are immunocompromised or who have underlying health conditions) should be discouraged from serving in any capacity that brings them into contact with others.” With that in mind I ask any parishioner of high school age or older, who is not health compromised, to consider assisting us in one of the following ways:
- We need many volunteers, either to exchange unused chairs for clean ones, or to sanitize the chairs in place between the Masses.
- Because we can only have 100 attendees for the time being, we need volunteers to guide parishioners and count them as they enter.
- We need to create a rotation on the tech team to serve as camera operators for livestreaming.
- The state has asked us to take temperatures, make sure all have masks, and ensure use of hand sanitizing before entrance into the body of the church. We will need volunteers to assist us in those tasks. We are in the process of gathering safety equipment to make this possible in as secure a way as possible.
- The archbishop has also allowed us to open our holy places for prayer, but only so long as there is someone to oversee the safety of all who come. So the parish needs parishioners to serve as hosts at the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. We will determine the opening hour based on the availability of willing hosts.
If you can assist in any of these tasks, please email Jane, our receptionist, at jane@padreserra.org, and be as specific as you are able with your availability, contact information, concerns and which tasks you are open to undertaking.
Reconciliation / confessions are immediately permitted: I am happy to say that I will be available for drop by confessions this Friday and Saturday, May 29th and 30th, from 3:00 to 6:00 pm with the following guidelines:
- I will sit under the portico on the left side of the courtyard
- Both I and the penitent are to wear face masks
- If more than one person is in line, I ask all in line to wear face masks and to stand 6 feet apart, maintaining careful social distancing, under the portico on the south side (parking lot side) of the courtyard.
- Families with children who have not been able to receive their first reconciliation:
- Remind your child that I know they are sorry, so they don’t need to worry! I’m there to forgive them, not punish them.
- Remind your child of their typical undesirable behavior they will want to remember
- Have them bring their act of contrition. If you need a copy, it can be found on www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=422
Parishioners may also schedule confessions with my assistant, Barbara (barbara@padreserra.org).
These times are challenging, but I am very hopeful for the future. Please, please, please – as our community opens up, maintain all the healthy protocols to maintain your health!
Siempre adelante,
Fr. Patrick
Also visit: Regarding COVID-19 at Padre Serra
Dear Parishioners,
We were asked not to distribute palms to you, as always for health reasons. But...
I have it on good authority that in Russia, Poland, Ukraine and Austria, where there are no palm trees, willow branches are used instead of palms. So I invite you, go into your yard, or with your neighbor’s permission their yard, and find your own worthy substitutes for the palm branches we would have distributed. Bring them to wherever you are going to watch Mass this coming Sunday, 10:00 am. Together, we’ll recall our Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the royal city, before we
experience the spiritual whiplash, from praise and glory to deep suffering, proclaimed in the two Gospel readings of the day.
If you happen to have a palm tree in your yard, all the better.
Also, consider wearing red, even at home (and yes, if you’ve been wearing your pajamas to Mass these last weeks, let them be red jammies), as an outward sign of our identification with Jesus, as his disciples, in his greatest act of fidelity and selflessness.
I’ll be with you at 10:00 am.
Love from your priest,
Fr. Patrick
We were asked not to distribute palms to you, as always for health reasons. But...
I have it on good authority that in Russia, Poland, Ukraine and Austria, where there are no palm trees, willow branches are used instead of palms. So I invite you, go into your yard, or with your neighbor’s permission their yard, and find your own worthy substitutes for the palm branches we would have distributed. Bring them to wherever you are going to watch Mass this coming Sunday, 10:00 am. Together, we’ll recall our Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the royal city, before we
experience the spiritual whiplash, from praise and glory to deep suffering, proclaimed in the two Gospel readings of the day.
If you happen to have a palm tree in your yard, all the better.
Also, consider wearing red, even at home (and yes, if you’ve been wearing your pajamas to Mass these last weeks, let them be red jammies), as an outward sign of our identification with Jesus, as his disciples, in his greatest act of fidelity and selflessness.
I’ll be with you at 10:00 am.
Love from your priest,
Fr. Patrick
So...I’m certainly having a different Lent than the one I set my mind to those days before Lent. You too? The governor’s announcement has thrown my plans for keeping the parish open into complete disarray. I accept what Gov. Newsom is hoping to accomplish (flattening that curve of infections / not overwhelming the medical personnel and facilities).
As we move into this odd Lent of restrictions on our movements, and our current inability to work and support ourselves, I remember the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Ash Wednesday: “When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to others to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you” (Matt 6:16-17).
That has a renewed meaning for us as we deal with enforced enclosure, boredom, difficulties in shopping, loneliness etc., that we are to do it with good will, with calmness, and with a supportive attitude to others who will be having a harder time than we are.
Regarding the parish:
I will leave you these words that have been attributed to Pope Francis:
“Tonight before falling asleep, think about when we will return to the street.
When we hug again, when all the shopping together will seem like a party.
Let’s think about when the coffees will return to the bar, the small talk, the photos close to each other.
We think about when it will be all a memory, but normalcy will seem an unexpected and beautiful gift.
We will love everything that has so far seemed futile to us.
Every second will be precious.
Swims at the sea, the sun until late, sunsets, toasts, laughter.
We will go back to laughing together.
Strength and courage.
See you soon!”
As we move into this odd Lent of restrictions on our movements, and our current inability to work and support ourselves, I remember the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Ash Wednesday: “When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to others to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you” (Matt 6:16-17).
That has a renewed meaning for us as we deal with enforced enclosure, boredom, difficulties in shopping, loneliness etc., that we are to do it with good will, with calmness, and with a supportive attitude to others who will be having a harder time than we are.
Regarding the parish:
- It looks like we will have a simple, heartfelt, online Mass on Sunday at 10:00 am. The archbishop limited the attendees to me and two others – for us, that will be a sacristan and a musician. Do not come to the church at that time, as the doors will have to be locked from 9:00 till 11:15 am or so. You can also watch them through YouTube.
- The parish offices have closed to comply with the directives from the state of California and the city of Ventura. Staff will come only rarely and briefly to accomplish essential tasks.
- We are answering messages left on the phone. So if you have a need, please call! But then be patient with us, as the staff are monitoring everything from their homes, and will be checking in occasionally, rather than being constantly at their desks. Non-emergency requests to meet will need to wait till after the crisis has passed.
- Because walks have been deemed correct, but gathering of any kind incorrect, the church building will be open till 9:00 at night. Still, only ten people may occupy it at any given time, sitting only in the designated chairs that will be set at safe distances from each other, and sanitized nightly.
- The Blessed Sacrament chapel will likewise remain open, but only two people may enter at any time.
- Reconciliation / Confessions will be held outside in the courtyard, on Saturday from 3:00 pm till 5:00 pm (or until after the last person after that time has made their confession). Chairs will be set out at over 6 feet from one another. I must ask that everyone maintain safe distances, even from close friends. There will be no penance service this lent.
- Parents of children making their first reconciliation! As we cannot pass anything from child to child, please bring the Act of Contrition with your children, and explain that the circumstances are unusual, but will work just fine.
- At the archbishop’s directions, I will be visiting only the very sick, following the most stringent guidelines (mask and gloves). Call the emergency line for this, but please do not wait until the last minute. It is so much better to talk with someone who is conscious, who can make their confession if they want to, and who can pray along.
- For both security and sanitation, the restrooms will remain locked all day.
I will leave you these words that have been attributed to Pope Francis:
“Tonight before falling asleep, think about when we will return to the street.
When we hug again, when all the shopping together will seem like a party.
Let’s think about when the coffees will return to the bar, the small talk, the photos close to each other.
We think about when it will be all a memory, but normalcy will seem an unexpected and beautiful gift.
We will love everything that has so far seemed futile to us.
Every second will be precious.
Swims at the sea, the sun until late, sunsets, toasts, laughter.
We will go back to laughing together.
Strength and courage.
See you soon!”
 | Sunday preschool |
Sign up your little one for a fun time at church during Mass.
Children learn so much! From the Sign of the Cross to bible stories, songs and more.
Super fun to make friends and be at church on Sundays!! Parents love it too.
Register your child as soon as they turn 3.
soraya@padreserra.org
Children learn so much! From the Sign of the Cross to bible stories, songs and more.
Super fun to make friends and be at church on Sundays!! Parents love it too.
Register your child as soon as they turn 3.
soraya@padreserra.org
Miss Nicole and Miss Andrea lovingly care for your little one (12 - 36 months) while you go to Mass. Stop by to see all the toys and fun. You are welcome to stay to be sure your toddler is settled. This is a no-cost service. teresa@padreserra.org Also visit: Children, Weekend |  |
|
Our Lenten Stations of the Cross Family Craft gathering has been cancelled. Kits will be available after Mass on Sunday for you to take home and work on this beautiful and prayerful project. Come and join us in making a meaningful Lent project with your whole family!
This project will entail painting and decoupaging peg people. Once completed, this set has the characters you need to act out the Passion of Jesus, including everyone you need for the 14 Stations of the Cross. Set this up in your home to remind everyone of Jesus' sacrifice for us and his triumphant resurrection. Donation: $10 per family. Contact: christine@padreserra.org |
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Sunday, January 12 |  |
| Boys and girls grades five and up and high school teens. Have you always been interested in becoming an altar server but just haven’t had time? This is your chance! Boys and girls in grades five an up and high school teens are invited to join this truly special ministry. Intense training, offered only once a year, to learn the order of the Mass and all the basics of serving covered in seven 2.5-hour sessions. Join this inspiring group! Sign-up: robert_shadduck@msn.com Also visit: Altar Servers |  |
 Transitional Kindergarten – Eighth Grade A Landmark of Faith, Character, and Academic Excellence Accredited through Western Catholic Education Association and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Open House |     |
| 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 |  |
Sunday, October 13 | Photography by Julius Acero |
Ministry Fair |  |
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