This past Sunday, the Augustinians were joined by Archbishop of Los Angeles Jose Gomez as well as Auxilary Bishop Robert Barron in marking the 100th Anniversary of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Ojai. The Ojai Augustinian community was joined by Fr. Tom Davis from Los Angeles, Provincial Fr. Gary Sanders from San Diego, and seminarian Br. Arturo Renteria from San Diego. The festive celebration honored the parish's past and looked forward a the future in which the parish can continue to be a focal point for the Catholic community of the Ojai Valley.
The Order of St. Augustine sponsors the Augustinianum Institute in Rome, which is a graduate school of theology devoted to the study of the Church Fathers- especially St. Augustine. Br. Nick Porter, OSA, of our own province, was a recent student there. This video from Vatican News shares some photos from the dedication 50 years ago, as well as the visits of important figures of the Church over the past 50 years.
Br. Adnan Ghani, OSA recently assisted with the annual counting of the homeless population in San Diego. During the count, which assists private and public agencies in knowing the size and needs of the homeless population, Br. Adnan was able to assist with getting information from the homeless as well as offering them gift cards and vouchers for any assistance they might need. The count was covered by local news station KUSI which produced this report in which Br. Adnan is seen and interviewed HERE.
This past January the two Augustinian high schools of the Province, St. Augustine High School and Villanova Preparatory School, went on pilgrimage to the World Youth Day and Augustinian Youth Encounter in Panama. The two groups were chaperoned by friars and lay people. The friars included Br. Barnaby Johns, OSA, Fr. Kirk Davis, OSA, Fr. Mark Menegatti, OSA, Br. Mauricio Morales, OSA, and Fr. Maxime Villeneuve, OSA. The Augustinian Youth Encounter (AYE) was held in the cities of David and Tole in Panama for one week in mid January. The AYE can be thought of as a "mini World Youth Day" and brings students and young people together from Augustinian schools and parishes around the world. Thi