Carol Zimmermann | Catholic News Service
Apr 07, 2021

On World Health Day, April 7, a new group of 31 U.S. Catholic organizations encouraged people to get the COVID-19 vaccine as an act of charity and solidarity with others.  The group also emphasized the need for vaccine equity in the United States and around the world.

"This is a clarion call for us to act," said Mercy Sister Mary Haddad, president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association, noting the significance of announcing formation of the group on World Health Day and stressing the role faith-based providers can play as the world makes initial steps to recover from the global pandemic.

She said the pandemic has shown us that "we are so interconnected as a global community; we can't just act in isolation."
Sister Haddad said this new coalition represents all social ministries of the church coming together and is a chance to elevate the work they do and to show how they serve everyone, not just the Catholic population.

She also said it is a way for ministries to respond to this ongoing pandemic at a time when people, other than those in health care ministries, are looking for ways they can help.  "Our faith propels us to act and here is our chance to do that," she told Catholic News Service April 7.

The coalition includes the CHA, Catholic Charities USA, Catholic Relief Services and Jesuit Refugee Service along with religious orders and groups representing church ministries in education, chaplaincy, advocacy and mission work.

It aims to spread the word about the importance of the COVID-19 vaccine through each group's social media platforms and also on the coalition's website: www.catholiccares.com, which has resources from Catholic social teaching, words of Pope Francis and statements from the U.S. Catholic bishops about the moral responsibility to get vaccinated.

The group also is emphasizing the need to make sure the vaccine gets to everyone, particularly communities of color, those in rural areas and places with limited vaccine availability. It also is stressing the urgency of vaccine access in developing countries and among refugees and displaced persons.

Leaders of Catholic organizations that are part of this coalition issued statements about its importance in press materials issued April 7. Sean Callahan, president and CEO of Catholic Relief Services, said the pandemic and its "shadow pandemics of hunger and poverty are ravishing many countries around the world" and said the most vulnerable "deserve the same access to life saving vaccines that we have." He also said the common good "requires that we make vaccine access equitable globally since we can only defeat this virus here if we defeat it everywhere."

CRS is the U.S. bishops' overseas relief and development agency. Dominican Sister Donna Markham, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, noted the early Christians demonstrated a "profound sense of community and concern for those in need," which are just as important today "especially during this challenging moment as we seek to emerge from the pandemic."
"Each of us plays a part by getting vaccinated and practicing safety measures for the good of all, and by doing everything we can to ensure that those who are most in need have access to the vaccine and protective equipment," she said.

Sister Haddad pointed out that early on, even in the previous White House administration, she had been involved in Zoom calls about how faith groups could respond with the expected vaccine rollout amid a reported vaccine hesitancy. Now, further in the vaccine rollout, she noted there is not just hesitancy about the COVID-19 vaccine, "but downright resistance."
Looking at how to break through that and change behaviors, she said, often means tapping into belief systems and asking: "What does our faith call us to do? How do we care for others?"

The Mercy sister at the helm of an organization with more than 2,200 Catholic hospitals, nursing homes, long-term care facilities, systems, sponsors and related organizations in the United States, was part of a roundtable discussion on this very topic March 31 with faith leaders and Vice President Kamala Harris.

"Everyone is talking about this, not just Catholics, but this is our opportunity to rise to the occasion," she said.

The risk of coronavirus is real, and it is dangerous. NOW is the time to be vaccinated for the safety of all.  Your priests are vaccinated with no side effects.  This is the time to pray for one another, trust in Jesus, and focus on the care and love He has for each one of us. May Jesus, through the intercession of Mary, Queen of the Angels, continue to bless our parishioners and loved ones with good health, joy, and peace.

Facial coverings required at all times on the property; please practice social distancing, even outdoors.

Daily Mass (7:30 a.m. M-F) available in person or via livestream on Facebook and YouTube.  

Mission Basilica San Buenaventura will offer the following Mass schedule in the Basilica in-person (registration required) and livestream; overflow seating in the garden, bring your own chair:
Saturday:
5:30 PM ENGLISH
7:30 PM SPANISH

Confessions are offered on Saturday at 4:00 P.M. in the garden or by appointment.

Parish Office is open 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday-Friday.

Gift Shop, Museum, Garden, and Basilica are open: dialy 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. 

Main Street closed 200-600 blocks. Access to the Mission upper parking lot is via Palm Street from Santa Clara Street and Poli Street. Weekend access to the lower parking lot on Main Street is via Ventura Avenue.

Click here to preprare for Mass at home.   Click here por preparandose para la misa en casa

Click here to view Mass at the Mission on YouTube.  

See website for online Baptism Prepration and Marriage Classes

Click here for an Act of Spiritual Communion Prayer/Acto de comunión espiritual

If you cannot go to confession...Pope Francis.

Welcome to the Mission Basilica San Buenaventura!...the Mission by the Sea! 

He is risen from the dead; indeed, He is risen. Alleluia. Alleluia. We sing these words at Easter in Latin (Resurrexit sicut dixit. Alleluia. Alleluia) and in our own language…words that express our belief in the Easter joy.

At the end of Matthew’s Gospel, we hear Jesus commission His disciples (MT 28: 16-20):
The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

This is our baptismal identity and calling…to be disciples of the Lord Jesus who is risen from the dead. This is why at Easter we renew our baptismal promises to reject all evil, and to proclaim our belief in God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These words are transformative and the foundation of our faith and our lives as Christians…Catholic Christians who by what we say and do witness Jesus as his disciples.

To help us to remember who we are in Jesus and what we are called to do, you will see and read new signage in the back of the Basilica and in the foyer of O’Brien Hall. We are called to be DYNAMIC DISCIPLES. I beseech all of us to be transformative in the world and live out this commission as best we can:

A Dynamic Disciple Believes in Jesus as Savior.
A Dynamic Disciple Grows in following Jesus.
A Dynamic Disciple Gathers in a faith community.
A Dynamic Disciple Loves unconditionally.
A Dynamic Disciple Leads other to Jesus.

May God bless and grace you this Easter and always as we strive to be dynamic disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is risen from the dead; indeed, He is risen. Alleluia. Alleluia.

For recent or future ministies or events please viw our parish bulletin link to the rightside of the website or view the calendar of events under "EVENTS" above.

Click here to take a tour of the Mission with Fr. Tom and Joe Estevez as seen on "All Things Catholic" NETNY.TV Brooklyn, New York Television 

Amgen Cycle Tour 2019 in Beautiful Downtown Ventura!

To help sustain the legacy of our historic MissionBasilica: please remember Mission Basilica San Buenaventura in your Will or Trust planning.

"Siempre Adelante"  Shalom, Fr. Tom Elewaut