These words from the 89th Psalm that were sung at the Mass celebrated on June 20th aptly express the sentiments experienced at the celebration commemorating twenty-five years of Augustinian Recollect ministry at Mary Star of the Sea Parish.

Two events celebrated this anniversary: a Dinner Dance and a Mass. The Dinner Dance was held on June 6th at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center. An overflowing crowd of close to four hundred people attended the event, which began at six o’clock in the evening and ended somewhere around midnight. The night was filled with good food, music (provided by both a D.J. and live band) and dancing. The people who attended were very satisfied and were already asking when we were going to hold the next dinner dance!

On Friday, June 20th, the Anniversary Mass was celebrated with Bishop Thomas Curry, Auxiliary Bishop of the Santa Barbara Region as main celebrant, with Dn. Ed Mills as Master of Ceremonies and Dn. Harold Parish and Dn. Ascención Esqueda, OAR, as main deacons. We were honored to have with us as concelebrants, our Prior Provincial, Fr. Charles Huse, OAR, and Fr. Lauro Larlar, OAR, the Prior Provincial of St. Ezekiel Moreno Province. Among the other concelebrants were two former pastors of the parish, Fr. Frank de la Vega, OAR, and Fr. Paul Goñi, OAR; Fr. Michael Rafferty, OAR (our Provincial Secretary); Fr. Amadeo Lucero, OAR (from the St. Ezekiel Moreno Province and former associate pastor of the parish); Fr. Fidel Hernandez, OAR (St. Joseph’s Cursillo Center in New York); our brother priests from St. Augustine Priory and members of the diocesan clergy.

Also in attendance at the Mass, were representatives of our own Augustinian Recollect Sisters, Sister Servants of Mary, Religious Missionaries of St. Dominic, and the Sisters of Bethany. Representing the City of Oxnard was Mr. Thomas Holden, the Mayor of Oxnard.

Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate with the celebration because of the extremely high temperatures (over 90 degrees) and high humidity, which is unusual for Oxnard weather.

As a prelude to the Mass, the choir, which I had the privilege of directing, sang Marty Haugen’s “All Are Welcome.” This happened to be the opening song for the Dedication Mass of the new church in 1997 and was beautifully performed by the choir, as was all the music for the Liturgy.

The trilingual Liturgy began at 7:00pm with an honor guard supplied by the Knights of Columbus. The readings were proclaimed in English, by longtime parish secretary, Mrs. Theresa White and in Spanish by longtime volunteer, Mrs. Margarita Ruvalcaba.

In his homily, Bishop Curry reminded us to give thanks for the blessings we have received and to continue to ask God’s blessings on the parish community. He also remarked on the importance of recognizing the need to work together and that having done so in the past, we have arrived at this celebration.

At the offertory, the gifts were presented by John and Inez Politowski, Rico and Cora Ortiguerra, and Ben and Ruth Duarte. John is a member of the Parish Finance Council and his wife Inez has been involved with the RCIA program for many years. Cora is a member of the Parish Finance Council and her husband Rico is a wonderful cook who helps out at different parish functions. Ben is our Parish Council President and along with his wife Ruth, is involved in our Grupo Familiar Marriage group.

Following Communion, there was an emotional moment for many of us when I read the names of all of the deceased friars who had worked in the parish. Then as a tribute to them, I sang Gregory Norbet’s composition, “Ave Maria.”

After the Mass, all were invited to a dinner celebration in the parish hall, which was prepared by the Knights of Columbus. During the dinner, various people were mentioned and recognized as having played an important role in the ministry of the Augustinian Recollects over the past twenty-five years. A check in the amount of $ 8,500 was presented to Fr. Lauro Larlar, OAR, for our missions in Sierra Leone. This money was raised through the hard work, generosity and sacrifices of the people of the parish.

The Mayor of Oxnard, Mr. Thomas Holden, presented a plaque of recognition to Fr. Joy Zabala, OAR, our pastor, in thanksgiving to all of the Augustinian Recollects from the parish and for their work in the local community.

Mary Star of the Sea is a richly diverse parish made up of different cultures and languages. As associate pastor of the parish for five years now, I can honestly repeat what I have said on many occasions: Mary Star of the Sea is not only a parish, it is a family. Yes, there are at times differences, but we are extremely blessed by our parishioners who are generous in giving of their time, talents and devotion to the parish.

So often, I have been told by parishioners, of how different friars have touched their lives through the years, which is a testimony to their dedicated ministry. May Mary, Star of the Sea, continue to bless us as we strive to live our Augustinian Recollect vocation among God’s people.

Sancta Maria, Holy Mary,
Mater Dei, Mother of God:
ora pro nobis, pray for our faithfulness
all through the seasons of life
with hope and with love.

Fr. Mike Kenny, OAR

*The Augustinian Recollect community was greatly saddened by news of the sudden death of Fr. Michael Kenny on September 15, 2008. His first and only assignment was at Mary Star of the Sea Parish.