Welcome to Saint Catherine of Alexandria Catholic Church on Santa Catalina Island.

Seating is available inside the main church or in the outer courtyard during Masses. The Mass can be heard in the courtyard through our outdoor speakers.

Office hours: Monday-Tuesday, Thursday-Friday, 11:00am-1:00pm and by appointment.

Annointing of the sick: contact Father Dario

Confession: contact Father Dario.

Votive candles are available for purchase at the parish office and sacristy for $10 each.

You may purchase candles at the sacristy directly before or after any Mass. Place your donation in the money slot, then take a candle from the cupboard below. Please only take the amount you have donated for.

For safety reasons, please do not use votive candles from Vons or any other distributor inside our candle holders at the two indoor oratories. We have had problems with them shattering and creating a fire hazard. The plastic candles we use & provide have proved trustworthy over the years for use in our beloved oratories.

Gluten-free hosts are available during communion. We prefer that you let the priest or Eucharistic minister know before Mass so they can have it ready.

Thursday Eucharistic Adoration

Join us for Eucharistic Adoration every Thursday from 6:00pm to 8:00pm in the church. We hope you can attend and spend some time in prayer and adoration with our Lord, Jesus Christ.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Visit from Loyola Marymount University Consort Singers Choir: For the 4th year, we welcome the LMU Choir to our 9am and 11am Masses on Sunday, Dec. 15th. They will be participating in our music ministry during Mass.

Weekly Announcements:

Parish Bulletin for Sunday, Dec 8. Lots of info!

Weekly Gospel Reflections: December 8th, 2024, from Fr. Dave Heney from St. Bruno's:

The Gospel today places the story of Jesus in a real historical time, and in your time as well. 

This is not a story that begins, “Once upon a time” as most fairy tales do, but places Jesus in a real time and place in history. The long list of historical names and places affirm that Jesus means to arrive with practical answers to your human condition based on your real needs right now.

There are problems in our nation as well. You can also look to political leaders to see if they will meet your needs too. Will they seek answers to rising prices? Will they find answers to crime? Will they provide peaceful resolutions to international crises? 

Those are the right questions to ask any leader. They are also the right questions to ask a Savior who comes to save you too.

In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist knows how important solving real problems are. He recognizes that it is only Jesus who can answer your deepest needs. He wants to do everything possible to make sure that meeting between you and Our Lord happens. 

     Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.
     Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low.
     The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth.

What is getting in the way of your meeting Jesus now? Advent is the time to recognize it …and remove it.

Politics sometimes can cause anxiety. You can never be sure that leaders will respond well to your needs. Fair enough. We certainly pray for all our nation’s leaders. However, that anxiety can never be the case for followers of Jesus. We always place our hope in Our Lord for our deepest happiness and so never despair. 

Our Lord provides a way to lasting happiness no matter what is going on, and it is the way of love. You simply offer your life in love to those around you every day and in every event, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. 

You may not change the world, but you will certainly make a difference for the people in your home, school, or work …and make a positive difference for you as well.

The way of the Lord is always the answer.

Fr. Dave Heney

daveheney.com

~~

We are looking for assistance in livestreaming the weekend Mass online. Please let Fr. Dario or tech advisor, Gabriel, know. We only need 1 Mass per weekend, and it can be any Mass you are available to attend. If you have your own laptop, great! If not, we can arrange to have one available so you can connect to our livestream camera inside.

Standing Announcements:

If you have any upcoming baptisms, funerals, or quinceñeras, please call or email the parish office to confirm that it is on our schedule. No one is allowed to use the church for special events without authorization from the pastor (Father Dario). This is to make sure two events do not conflict with each other, and so that the priest is not caught by surprise by an unscheduled event.

Checks: If you write a check to our church for any purpose, please do not make any corrections. Please start a new check. Our bank (U.S. Bank) has been declining checks written to us because of corrections.

If you have pledged to contribute to the "Called to Renew" campaign, please make sure that you are keeping-up with the frequency of contributions you selected during sign-up. We understand that things change in life, so if your contributions have changed, Fr. Dario or a member of our Finance Council may be contacting you to discuss what will work best with your individual situation going forward.

We have surpassed our goal for the "Called to Renew" Campaign!

If you have the financial means, and would like to make a pledge to this campaign to support the maintenance and upgrades to our parish, it's not too late! Every dollar we make past our "goal" from the Archdiocese goes directly to our parish's fund! You can find our campaign info on the official Called to Renew website here.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

We are always open to having more Mass volunteers

As with many Catholic parishes, we always welcome our congregation to help fill the various roles within the Mass. Contact the parish office or the pastor if you would like to sign-up to help make sure our celebrations of Mass always have the full support the Lord deserves.

Available positions:

- Lectors (reading the liturgy of the word)

- Altar server (at any age)

- Sacristans (preparing the linens and Eucharistic items before Mass)

- Extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion

- Music ministers (cantors/singers, organists, pianists, guitarists)

   [Will need to confirm repertoire with church Music Director]

- Ushers

- Greeters

- Anyone good with I.T. and tech (employment can be discussed for this position).

If you would like to volunteer in any capacity, please contact the parish office or speak with Father Dario after Mass, or whenever you see him. Prospective musicians or cantors/choristers may contact the Music Director directly.

~~ Religious education classes ~~

Click here to see the "Religious Ed. updates" page

TEEN CONFIRMATION

All communications to parents will happen through the parish Flocknote text messages and emails. Contact Father Dario if you are not yet signed up to receive these messages.

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION

All communications to parents will happen through the parish Flocknote text messages and emails. Contact Father Dario if you are not yet signed up to receive these messages.

ATTENDING MASS WITH US:

We celebrate the Roman Catholic Mass in alignment with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. All of our Masses are held in the "Ordinary Rite", which is most familiar to our community. We do not offer any Extraordinary Form/Latin Masses at this time.

> We encourage walking and car-pooling as much as possible due to limited parking at and around the church. Please be mindful of nearby residents and city regulations about vehicle parking.

> Parking is available on Beacon Street in front of the church, and in the back parking lot of the church. PLEASE do not block any exits, pathways, or driveways. The side parking lot next to the Parish Hall is not available.

> We request members of the congregation to turn their cell phones on silent mode or off while attending Mass. During visits outside of Mass, please maintain reverence and be mindful of other visitors using the peace and quiet for prayer and reflection.

> When you enter, feel free to pick up a copy of our Parish bulletin. During most weekend Masses, we have an usher who may offer you one.

> During Mass, we make use of the OCP Music Issue and Today's Missal for hymns and readings in the Liturgy of the Word. On occasion, our music department may have separate leaflets printed out for special events or holidays and have them available beside the bulletins.

> Lost and found items are usually turned in to the sacristy. Please contact the parish priest or a church volunteer to retrieve a lost item. If you return outside of Mass times, please call the church phone number or send us an email to get access to the lost & found.

> After the 9:00AM Sunday Mass, we welcome you to join us for coffee, juice, and light snacks in the courtyard provided by our volunteers. A donation jar is usually set up and all monies go directly to supporting parish operations. If it is raining after Mass, the get-together is usually moved inside the Parish Hall.

Last update: 8 Dec 2024