Michael Voris - Free Talk on "Mercy & Politics"

Michael Voris, Senior Executive Producer of Church Militant will be speaking in Simi Valley on Sunday, April 10th, 2016.  This event is free and does not require an RSVP... just show up!  The topic will be "Mercy & Politics - Get off the Highway to Hell" with a Q&A session to follow.  Talk will be at the Best Western Posada Royale, 1775 Madera Road, Simi Valley from 7:00pm to 9:30pm.  Flyer here...

Mass, Confession & Benediction Schedule - April 2016

10 AM April 3rd - Low Sunday
Fr. Fryar - Confessions 9 AM
Benediction after Mass
Mass intention: Joseph Barisa (D)

10 AM April 10th - 2nd Sunday after Easter (Good Sheperd)
Fr. Raftery - No Confessions
Mass intention:  Marcella Barisa (D)

10 AM April 17th - 3rd Sunday after Easter
Fr. Fryar - Confessions 9 AM
Mass intention: Jason Lopez (D)

10 AM April 24th - 4th Sunday after Easter
Fr. Fryar - Confessions 9 AM
Mass intention:  Katherine Gilmore (L)

Father Thomas Carrol O'Sullivan - Requiescat In Pace

We regret to announce the death of Fr. O'Sullivan on Palm Sunday morning, March 20, 2016 at the age of 93.  Fr. O'Sullivan said the Traditional Latin Mass at Mission San Buenaventura for our community for a number of years.  Fr.O'Sullivan was a priest of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for 64 years. From 1951 to 1966, he served as a priest and teacher at Santa Clara Church and schools in Oxnard and as Principal of Santa Clara High School from 1956 to 1966. He then served as a Chaplain and teacher at Marymount College in Rancho Palos Verdes. From 1972 to 1991, he served as Pastor of St. Stephen's Parish in Monterey Park. For the last 24 years, Fr. O'Sullivan served as a Senior Priest and in retirement at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Montecito.

A Vigil Service will be held on Thursday, March 31st at 7:00 P.M. and the Mass of Christian Burial on Friday, April 1st at 11:00 A.M. at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, 1300 East Valley Road, Santa Barbara. Burial will be at Calvary Cemetery, 199 N. Hope Ave., Santa Barbara, immediately following the Funeral Mass.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Santa Clara High School Facility Appeal (Santa Clara High School, 2121 Saviers Rd., Oxnard, CA. 93033-3899 in memory of Fr. O'Sullivan). In charge of arrangements, Santa Clara Cemetery and Mausoleum, Oxnard - 805-485-5757 or call Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church at 805-969-6868.

March 23rd - Day of Prayer & Fasting

Please consider joining your prayers and sacrifices on Wednesday this week with those of the Thomas Aquinas College Alumni.  Below is a letter of the schools president to the TAC Alumni Association inviting their intercessions.  This legal decision will have widespread impact on our society!


At 10:00 a.m. on the morning of March 23 in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Thomas Aquinas College’s case against the HHS Contraceptive Mandate, Zubik v. Burwell. Here on campus, where it will be 7:00 a.m., the tutors, staff, and students will begin a full day of prayer and fasting for the College, for the justices, and for the future of religious liberty in the United States. I write now to ask that all of our alumni join with us in this Day of Prayer and Fasting.  The idea arose at a recent gathering of faculty and their spouses, when the wife of one of our tutors suggested it as a way that we, as members of the Mystical Body of Christ, could lend our support, both spiritually and physically, to this most important effort. I shared the idea with our head chaplain, Fr. Paul Raftery, O.P., and he readily agreed.  Ever since the announcement of the mandate more than four years ago, we have said the Prayer to St. Michael at every Mass on campus, asking for Our Lord’s protection. Now that this battle is nearing its legal conclusion, we have felt the need to intensify our spiritual efforts. By God’s grace, we are hopeful that the College and its co-plaintiffs will win this case, and that employers will be able to continue to offer healthcare coverage that is in keeping with their deeply held religious beliefs.  We have total confidence that our lawyers will do their part. Now we must do ours. Please join with us in this Day of Prayer and Fasting on March 23.

Sincerely, Michael F. McLean, Ph.D., President

Homily - Palm Sunday - March 20, 2016

Phil. 2:-5-11; Mt. 26:36-75, 27:1-60

Throughout Lent, the readings have directed our thoughts to the cross of Christ, the one means of salvation.  Only the blood of the Son of God could suffice to take away the sins of the world.  As I mentioned last Sunday, the temptation in the desert, the Gospel for the first Sunday of Lent, showed us the devil desperately trying to separate our Lord from the cross, to choose another way.  But there is no other way.  The cross of Christ is our one hope.

Homily - Passion Sunday - March 13, 2016

Today, the Lenten Season takes a turn.  We enter in to the season of Passiontide.  We do two things.  We recall the events which led to our Lord’s cross and resurrection.  The controversy with the Pharisees in today’s Gospel is one of many.  Our Lord has declared that God is His Father.  The Pharisees cannot hear this, they cannot tolerate these words.  St. Augustine says their hearts are as hard as the stones they pick up to cast at Him.  The Gospel says our Lord hid Himself.  St. Gregory the Great says our Lord is hidden from those who despise His word.  On the other hand, how present He is to those who believe in Him.  First come faith and love, and then our Lord reveals Himself.  In the Gospels, our Lord is purposeful and directed.  He is on the way to Jerusalem where He will undergo His suffering and cross.  He announces this to the disciples.  He knows Who He is, He knows what His mission is, and He is determined.  And yet, when He sees faith, He stops.  And some of the most wonderful encounters we have in the Gospel with our Lord is when He stops:  the widow of Naim, the woman caught in adultery, the man born blind.  And think of His appearances after the resurrection.  Who did He reveal Himself to?  Not Herod.  Not Pilate.  But to those who loved Him and had faith in Him, as weak as they were, the apostles, the disciples, the holy women.  This will always be true.  When we face exigencies of life either outside or within, we always have that place to go.  We show the Lord our faith and love, and He reveals Himself.  This is all over the Gospels.

Mass, Confession & Benediction Schedule - March 2016

10 AM March 6th - Fourth Sunday of Lent
Confessions 9 AM.  Benediction after Mass
Mass intention: Jerome Barisa (D)

10 AM March 13th - Passion Sunday
Confessions 9 AM
Mass intention:  Alyssa Watson (L)

9:45 AM March 20th - Palm Sunday
Confessions 9 AM
Mass intention:  Michaela Watson (L)

11 PM March 26th - Easter Vigil
No Confessions

1 PM March 27th - Easter Sunday
Confessions (to be determined)
Mass intention:  Jason Lopez (D)

Homily - Third Sunday of Lent - February 28, 2016

Eph. 5:1-9; Lk. 11:14-28

We are in the depths of Lent.  In the Gospel, our Lord shows us that He takes away something.  Next week’s Gospel is the multiplication of the loaves in John, a clear reference to the Eucharist.  So, then, He gives us something.  Like the reference which underlies the Eucharist, the seed planted dies to itself, so it helps us to think of this.  When we draw near to God, something in us dies, that is, whatever is not of God.  And He gives us sanctifying grace.