Living the Mission

Dear friends on the journey,

On July 29, I attended a jubilee Mass and celebration to honor four Sisters of Notre Dame (SND) for their collective 240 years of service to their religious order! The afternoon turned out to be a happy reunion with several sisters who taught me in elementary and high school. This joyous occasion also included the ceremony of commitment for three associates of the Sisters of Notre Dame, one of whom is my friend and our fellow parishioner, Patricia Guzman.


Did you know our parish has several lay associates of religious orders? Do you know what an associate is? An associate is a layperson (man and woman, married or single) who, after formation and a formal non-vowed commitment, embraces the order’s particular mission, charism, and spirituality, and lives them out in their respective jobs, families, and faith communities.


Patricia joins Padre Serra parishioners and associates Sherry Reynolds, Bruce and Heidi Kelly, Caroline Waltman and Pat Yost, all who live and serve the Sisters of Notre Dame mission to proclaim God’s goodness and compassionate love for people of faiths and cultures. These good folks are involved in a variety of parish ministries that include adult formation, Catholic education, feeding the hungry, visiting the homebound, prayer and adoration, and more.


The Sisters of Mercy have influenced parishioner Julie Ames’ life, first in her education from kindergarten through nursing school in San Francisco and then as an associate since 1985. She lives out their charism to “serve the poorest of the poor” in volunteer ministry and in her nursing career in Ventura County.


Rooted in the Franciscan spirituality, Gary and Chella Freeberg are associates with St Camillus Spiritual Care Center in Los Angeles with Fr. Chris Ponnet and other Catholic chaplains whose “mission is to accompany people in the midst of suffering with holistic healing and hope.” They can be found at our parish’s monthly Pax Christi gathering and other ministries devoted to living the corporal works of mercy.


The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet (CSJ) are very active here at Padre Serra with Sisters Carol, Barbara, Pat, Lois, Jill, Lana and Barbara and associates. Denise Ginty has been an associate for seventeen years and currently serves as the CSJ Director of Associates. Gwen Ripplinger has been an associate for six years. In the Camarillo Associate group, Denise and Gwen are mentoring three candidate to live out the CSJ charism “to achieve unity—of neighbor with neighbor and of neighbor with God.” You might know Denise or Gwen from their ministry to neighbors like Landings, our ministry for returning Catholics, or in women’s ministries. 

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Please join me in thanking these lay associates who go beyond the parish to live their baptismal call and Jesus’ mission in this way and then bring those spiritualties and charisms back here for the betterment of our community and ministries. If you were or currently are an associate with a religious order, I’d love to hear from you.


Siempre Adelante,


Teresa Runyon
Pastoral Associate 

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