“...The Harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”
(Matt: 9:37-38)
“Take up your cross and follow me.” (Mark 8:34)
In the most basic terms, “vocation” means a “call.” So in general terms, your vocation is what God is calling you to do with your life.
Each one of us is called by God to know, love and to serve Him. How we do that is a question we must ask ourselves every day. Individual vocations vary between being single, married, consecrated, religious or a priest. In the one life that God gives each of us, and as we grow and mature, He reveals His plan to us, usually in indirect ways, more as an invitation than an imposition. Our job, our challenge is to listen and seriously consider those invitations when He calls.
Like in the lyrics of one popular hymn, lifted from sacred scripture, when we think we hear the invitation, we should ask “Is it I Lord?”
At Holy Cross we are truly blessed to have a number of our parishioners who have listened, questioned, searched their hearts and souls and responded to God’s invitation with the words “Here I am Lord.”
Some, like our priests and Deacons, have completed their training, been ordained and are working every day in our faith community.
Others, like those below are still in training and we thought you might like to meet them, learn about their “calling” and we ask that you please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as they journey toward a lifetime of commitment to the people of God.
If you or somebody in your family or circle of friends feels they are being called by God we encourage you to speak with one of our Priests or Deacons for more information or visit our Archdiocese web-site at: www.archdiocese.la/ministry/vocations.
Antonio Diaz, Holy Cross Parishioner and 2010 Moorpark High School graduate has answered the call of God to enter the priestly life. Antonio currently resides at the Juan Diego House of Formation in Gardena, CA where he began his nine year journey through college and the seminary with the goal of being ordained a Catholic Priest for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Antonio, the first seminarian from Holy Cross, has completed the first year of his formal education at El Camino College in Torrance, then move on to CalState Dominguez Hills where he will earn a degree in Philosophy. Following graduation from CSDH, he will enter St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo where he will major in Theology and upon graduation he will be ordained a priest.
Since his early childhood he has felt a calling to become a priest so that he can “spread the Good News to everyone like Jesus did with obedience to his Father. As Jesus offered His life to others, I want to offer my life so others can have life through the Sacraments.” Antonio’s parents are absolutely delighted with his decision and feel truly blessed that their son will dedicate his life to serve the people of God. For more information on Antonio’s journey of faith, you are invited to read his story at www.sbvocations.org.
SISTER MARY BENEDETTA OF THE HOLY CROSS
On January 28, 2010 Tara Hernandez of Holy Cross Parish became Sister Mary Benedetta Of The Holy Cross. As the newest member of the Franciscan Poor Clare Nuns of Santa Barbara, a cloistered community that traces its roots to the 13th century, Tara began her first year as a novice.
The cloistered community life of contemplative prayer is not for everyone, but Tara made that decision after long hours of prayer. A graduate of St. Rose of Lima School in Simi Valley, Tara attended Moorpark High School where, she recalls, she had “a fleeting thought” about religious life. At Holy Cross Tara was active as a lector and in teaching religious education. She later became a Eucharistic minister to the sick, and served on the Santa Barbara Region core committee for Theology on Tap for young adults, as well as participating in the monthly Young adult Diners Club in Deanery 4.
But she also had designs on a career, and after high school attended Boston University majoring in computer engineering and math. An illness, however, brought her back home, where she enrolled at Moorpark College, earning an A.A. degree and planning to become a math teacher.
So what brought her to religious life? “When I was in Boston, I hadn’t gone to church much,” she explains. “But after getting sick and coming home, I began praying and turning to God more and more. And I began to think of religious life again.”
One day during confession, a priest asked her if she’d considered religious life. Some of the young adults she’d met at St. Pascal Baylon Church in Thousand Oaks asked her the same thing. “I thought, ‘They are seeing something here that I hadn’t,’ so I decided to pursue the possibilities.” After much prayer and many visits to religious communities, Tara was drawn to the Poor Clares.
To see more information on the Poor Clares of Santa Barbara visit their web site at www.poorclaressantabarbara.org.
At Holy Cross we currently have eight full time Deacons serving our congregation (see Parish Staff).
We are also blessed to have six men who have completed their four years of training for the Permanent Diaconate and who were ordained by Archbishop Jose Gomez on July 16, 2011. The wives of the candidates were included in all the classes and practicums and actively participated in every facet of the program. We are very proud of these couples and thought you might like to know more about them.
If you are interested in the Permanent Deacon program we invite you to speak with any of our Priests or Deacons or click on www.archdiocese.la/ministry/deacons
Eduardo Castillo moved to the United States in 1986 from Zacatecas, Mexico. He met his lovely wife, Lourdes, at Holy Cross when he wanted to join the Spanish choir, which she directed. Lourdes has lived in Moorpark all her life and has been a member of our parish since 1970. Eduardo and Lourdes married in our parish on Nov. 2, 1991. They have three wonderful children, Teresa, 18 Tony, 16 and Ana, 14. They all actively participate in the parish: Eduardo and Lourdes with music and the two youngest as altar servers and the oldest is a lector. Eduardo works at CTS, an international car parts company and Lourdes works in Simi Valley as the religious education secretary and RCIA Coordinator for Children at St. Rose of Lima parish. God has definitely blessed them and they are proud to report that daughter Teresa is seriously contemplating a religious vocation.
Pat and Jerie Coulter moved to Moorpark and Holy Cross Parish in 2000 from Savannah, GA. They have lived in over 30 homes in their 49 years of marriage. Pat is a retired Marine Corps officer and also a recently retired Aerospace/Defense executive and Jerie, formerly with AT&T and Bank of America, is a homemaker and a very attentive “Nana” to five grandchildren. They are both active in a number of parish ministries such as lectoring, Eucharistic Ministers, CCD, bereavement ministry, bible study and Pat serves as the Grand Knight or our Holy Cross Council of the Knights of Columbus. They have three adult children and five wonderful grandchildren.
Michael and Sandy Kromm have been members of Holy Cross Parish since 1984. Michael is a retired Marine Corps officer and currently the chief operating officer and chief compliance officer of an institutional investment management company in Beverly Hills, CA, and Sandy is a homemaker. They are both actively involved in parish ministries such as lectoring, Eucharistic ministers, Scouting, Confirmation program and bible study groups. They have two sons, Christopher, a Zoology and Wild Life Management and Biology major, at the University of Vermont and Michael, a Second Lieutenant in your U.S. Marine Corps.
Derrel and Marie Craig have been members of Holy Cross Parish since 1996 having moved to Moorpark from Texas that year. After thirty years of government service, which included ten years in the military and twenty years with the FBI, Derrel is now employed as a fraud investigator. Marie is self-employed. They are both active in many of our parish ministries to include Sacristan, lector, Extraordinary Ministers, young adults, confirmation and altar servers. They have three adult children.
Dennis and Mary Linda Fleming have been members of Holy Cross Parish since 1987. Dennis is a Senior Vice President with DirecTV Inc. in El Segundo, CA and Mary Linda is a surgical nurse with Westlake Eye Surgery Center in Westlake Village, CA. They are both actively involved in parish ministries such as Sacristan, Eucharistic ministers, small church groups and the Oasis program. They have three children, Stephanie an attorney with the U.S. Justice Department in Washington D.C., Christopher a manager with Waterstone Mortgage Corp. in Gilbert AZ, and Elizabeth an attorney with a small firm in Phoenix, AZ. Dennis is an active scuba diver, underwater photographer and sailor, Mary Linda keeps busy gardening and learning Spanish.
Joe and Anne Tumbarello have been members of Holy Cross Parish since 2000. Joe is an executive in the financial management business. Dr. Anne is the Director of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program at Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles. In addition to his duties as a deacon, Joe is supports several ministries such as lector, Eucharistic Minister and Sacristan. He chairs the parish’s Safeguard the Children committee. Anne is a lector and Eucharistic Minister and was formerly the parish’s RCIA Director. They have two daughters – Danielle is a high school teacher in Brooklyn and Lisa is a Social Worker living on Long Island and one grandson.
No longer a Novice