"Respite & Renewal" is a wonderful program designed to offer Care-Givers support.

We all become a Care Giver at some time during our lives.    When we become a parent of an emotionally and/or physically disabled child; or we have elderly parents or relatives to care for.   From time to time we need a "Respite" and we need to be "Renewed".     

This group meets every First Thursday of the month in Rooms 3 & 4 of the Parish Hall from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.     Next gathering will meet on Thursday, September 7^th.     No dues!     No fees!     Just sharing and support and love.     

For more information, please contact Margaret Pontius Evenings Only at 818 - 706 - 1842.

We cannot seem to keep quiet about things we truly enjoy.     We read a fantastic book or see a wonderful movie, or find a truly superb restaurant no matter how small, and we open our mouths and tell the world.    Sometimes to the detriment of the very thing we love and enjoy.    For instance, we tell everyone about our favorite restaurant, and soon it becomes very popular and we have to wait and wait to sit down.     Or worse yet, it grows and loses all its charm and perhaps even that which made it so good.     When a young lady gets a ring on her engagement finger, no matter how small, she wears it proudly and usually with such care that you cannot help knowing she is engaged.

How important is Jesus to us?     We say that He is the most important part of our life, but is that mere words!    Have we ever told anyone about Jesus?     Have we ever invited anyone to know about Him?

How real and important is your faith commitment?     Is it a Sunday thing?     Is it lived at home?   In your workplace?   In every place and everything you do?     During leisure times?      Do you merely say I am a disciple of Christ, but do nothing about it?      How real is your faith commitment?

Being a disciple of Christ, means living it day-in, and day-out!       Being a disciple and putting Christ first, means being so proud of that discipleship that you want and try to share it with others.

Like all other Catholic Christian Communities throughout our country, our parish RCIA Team is now taking names and interviewing those who would like to know more about us Catholic Christians.      If there is someone in your life that you would like to bring to Jesus, now is the time to invite him/her/them.      Possibly there is a person who was baptized a Catholic Christian but not raised in the faith.     Invite that person too!

Also, this is the time to contact a Fallen Away Catholic Christian you know, and invite him/her to come home.     Our Welcome Home Team is also interviewing those who have an interest in coming home.

Our next RCIA Program begins on the second Monday of September, the 11^th.   To sign-up, please give Jenifer Carmichael a call at 805 - 497 - 2551, or Nancy McAvoy at 805 - 480 - 4031.

Our next Welcome Home Program begins on the last Monday of September, the 25^th. To sign-up or to seek answers to some questions, please call Deacon Joe Manion at the Parish Pastoral Office:   818 - 889 - 1279, ext. 219

Cremation and Catholics?    Can A Catholic Be Cremated?

We, Catholic Christians, are unequivocally confronted by the mystery of life and death, when faced with the death of a loved one.     The body of our beloved is much more than just some remains.    That body recalls a history of love and caring, of faith and dreams, of family bonds and friendships, of words and acts of kindness by the beloved who died.      The human body is inextricably associated with the human person that we knew and loved, and now deeply miss.

The body of a deceased Catholic Christian is also a body that once was washed in Baptism, was anointed with the Sacred Chrism of Salvation, and was nourished with the Bread of Life and the Precious Blood poured out for our salvation.    Thus, we look upon the human body as very sacred.     The human body recalls very emphatically that during its life time that body was in Christ a temple of the Holy Spirit and is now destined for future glory at the resurrection of the dead.    Because of this great respect for so sacred a body, there grew-up the practice of treating the body of the deceased with a reverence that befits its dignity, in expectation of its final resurrection in the Lord.

Because of rising cost, it is permitted today to cremate the body of the deceased disciple of Christ.    However, it is clearly preferable that the body be present for the funeral rites.

When a Catholic Christian dies, that deceased person is commended to the mercy of God.    Family and friends are urged and encouraged to offer prayers for the deceased person, and also for themselves, deceased's family and friends.      The annual celebration of All Souls Day is meant to attest to this salutary practice of praying for those who have died.     To attest to the practice of having Masses offered for the repose of the soul of the deceased.      And, to attest to the practice of offering other prayers and good works to God on the deceased