Keep Fr. Al at Holy Spirit & St. Mary Magdalen/Mantengamos Padre Al en Espíritu Santo y Santa María Magdalena

El Padre Al ha sido de gran bendición para nuestras parroquias de Espíritu Santo y Santa María Magdalena. Con su carisma y espíritu ha inspirado a muchos feligreses a trabajar por Cristo y su Iglesia. Gracias a el hemos emprendido muchos proyectos los cuales son de mucho beneficio para nuestra iglesia tanto como para los necesitados. Entre las mejorías que hemos tenido gracias al apoyo y dirección del Padre Al se encuentran las siguientes: creación de un banco de comida para familias necesitadas, restauración de las instalaciones de la iglesia incluyendo el salon parroquial y la rectoría, creación de diversos comités compuestos de feligreses para discutir asuntos espirituales y litúrgicos para el beneficio de la parroquia, compartimiento de clases anuales "Know Your Faith Series" con el fin de acrecentar la fé de los feligreses, entre muchas otras. Nuestra comunidad se encuentra entusiasmada y dispuesta a trabajar gracias al ejemplo y arduo trabajo del Padre Al. Por favor, permitannos tenerlo a el como pastor ya que nuestra comunidad ha crecido de gran manera en los últimos tres años.

Magnifico sacerdote dedicado a ampliar y mejore la casa de nuestro padre celestial

Padre All es un buen representante de Dios en la tierra porque ademas de todas las obras materiales que ha realizado ha iniciado el banco de alimentos para saciar el hambre de los feligreses necesitados de nuestras parroquias,promueve la unidad entre los ministerios,feligreses etc pero muy especialmente da testimonio de que Dios vive en el cuando escucha atentamente las sujerencias .visita a los enfermos .cuida de todas las almas que Dios le ha confiado.pie esto y mucho mas nos gustaria que el PADRE ALL permaneciera un tiempo mas en nuestra parroquia hasta que concluya los proyectos que estan dando resultados para poder ser una parroquia que se pueda mantener sola .

Father Al has made tremendous improvements in our parishes. He is truly an inspiration! Our parishes have been in need for a pastor like him for years and now that God sent him to us we want to keep him so our communities can continue growing.

How does one console a child when they are told that their father will be leaving....forever? We are saddened and we feel betrayed as a church community. Father Aloysius has truly been a devoted shepherd to both our parish families at Holy Spirit and Saint Mary Magdalen. We have been thankful that Father Al has been sent to our parishes to help us grow in our faith. He has inspired many of us through his sense of servitude. His love for our Lord resonates in his homilies and in his actions as he has lead us to many accomplishments that were thought impossible. We know that prayer is powerful so I ask everyone to pray and fast that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles will reconsider and allow Father Aloysius to remain with his sheep. May God's will be done.

Fr. Al has has brought many parishioners back and welcomed new members to the parish. He is very charismatic and is always available when you need him. Because of his leadership, we exceeded our goal for the Together in Mission campaign. He is the pastor that we have been praying for and hoping that he can stay and be the good shepherd to all of us in Holy Spirit and St. Mary Magdalen.

For me Fr. Al is a great priest both Holy Spirit and St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church. He has done a lot of improvement on our parish and still has a lot of projects on hand. We are saddened about this news that he will soon leave us. I believe that God has great plan to all of us and to Fr. Al. He will not let our heart be sad and He will soon show us to trust Him more over our sadness. God bless you Fr. Al.

It saddens me that the Archdiocese has so little regard for our two parishes. It's like a child that's being snatched from a parent, coldly and without remorse. Shame on you! Father Al is a visionary who has done an enormous amount of hard work growing TWO parishes. He works tirelessly with both parish councils, finance councils and church leadership groups, sometimes having meetings 5 nights a week. He has enlightened us spiritually with his Know Your Faith series, provided books for us to read, encouraged us and has been our strongest advocate. In three years, we have seen our parishes grow in number and in faith. We have run a very successful capital campaign and completed several projects, with more in various stages of development. There is an enthusiasm that permeates our churches because we have a leader that is enthusiastic, ambitious and solutions-oriented. For a priest to have these attributes along with humility and a strong spirituality is rare. THIS is Father Al, and we are blest to have him. When the Archdiocese decides to shuffle pastors around, does it not consider the impact, morally and spiritually, its decision has on the parishioners? Do we not matter? And believe me, I am not one who is resistant to change, but giving us a different pastor every three years demonstrates to me that we really don't matter. We're just a cog in a wheel instead of feeling, emotional beings who develop a bond and a trust with our priest. We are people willing to go that extra mile for our church and our pastor, because what we give comes back to us richly. That type of attitude and willingness sometimes takes years to build upon. Losing a priest, especially an inspiring, big-ideas priest, thrusts us backwards. We recover, but eventually it becomes more and more difficult, leaving many parishioners cynical about the whole process. My prayer, in the name of Jesus, is that you will reconsider.

10 years ago Featured

Fr. Al has made a huge impact on many parishoners, young and old, from all racial backgrounds. He's succeeded in bridging the gap between current social trends and the Catholic teaching and traditions. He is a true leader who teaches by example, promotes action, and inspires change.

Fr. Al has stirred with emotion both parishes with his leadership abilities in the spiritual and physical. He is a man of action not just words.

Signed with a prayer that Fr. Al is allowed to continue to be a blessing to the Holy Spirit & St. Mary Magdalen parishes.

Father is a prayerful and spiritual priest and an asset to our parish family and community. Let us pray for Divine order and Divine intervention. Lord hear our prayer

Please keep him at least for a little while more to be able to effect some progress in his, in line with God's, work. Thank you.

To: The Archdiocese of Los Angeles: Just barely three years and here we go again, the possibility of starting all over again, a new priest at Holy Spirit & St. Mary Magdalen parishes. Fr. Al came to us, worked hard motivated, directed and encouraged us to accomplish great things. There are still so much more to be done and those started to complete. Why are you taking him away from us now? Just read the above two testimonies, those are only some of the hard work under Fr. Al's direction and support that have been accomplished. We are deeply saddened about this heartbreaking news of taking him away from us. I am positive, just the same as you have made the decision to transfer him to another parish, you have the same power to retain us here with us. Please, I implore you, let our sadness be turned to laughter and our tears to joyful singing. Yvonne E. Smith Catechist HSP, Lector both HSP & SMM, EM both HSP & SMM parishes.

This is a petition to the LA Archdiocese: Why are you asking the parishioners of Holy Spirit & St. Mary Magdalen parishes to start all over once again? Fr. Al came to us, energized us, motivated us and encouraged us how to be real servants and messengers to the word. If you read the previous two messages outlining some of the projects we, under the leader of Fr. Al have accomplished. Still there are so many other tasks waiting completion. Why take away our leader and making it necessary to start all over again. Yes, start all over again since each director has his own ideas of how to direct. Fr. Al has been effective and we would appreciate working with the LA Archdiocese to keep here with us. Please, we are heart broken and crying at this announcement. You can turn our sadness to joy and our tears to laughter.

Great Summary of work, well written. Tks

Hi, Thank you all for editing and for technical support in the prompt setup of this petition online. We owe it to try to have our voices heard 1. In support of an exceptional pastor’s leadership and approach 2. Which literally inspired many parishioner’s disciples to make to accomplish great works 3. We need to bring up the issue of continuity in struggling jump started parishes to the vicar of clergy to proactively look into parishes before re-assignments in the future As far as I know as of now it’s not 100% yet that Father all has been re-assigned. We certainly have been a challenge for him too and need to respect his wishes. So far I have drafted a letter to the Vicar of Clergy with possible alternate win-win scenarios hopefully keeping him for transitions. I respect the call to pray and fast on this matter and wisely focus our energy and pray for a miracle.

In barely three years, Fr. Al has already accomplished many positive projects at our two parishes. Each parish now has an unprecedented "Mission Statement." Each parish has a Pastoral Council and a Finance Council. St. Mary Magdalen parish has an unprecedented bilingual Mass on Sundays. Our new Signpost even lights up at night to distinguish St. Mary Magdalen among a sea of Jewish temples in the area. The Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes beckons the faithful ever since it was dedicated on July 26 2015. The school lunch area received a major facelift replacing the old rickety benches and tables that could have been a hazard to the children any day. The lighting around that area is now much brighter and that also spells "safety". Fr. Al took care of the property with utmost professionalism. His homilies touch our minds and hearts and are now being recorded and standing ready to be published on our website. New ministries have been established at St. Mary Magdalen to reach out to the young and old -- such as a Youth Ministry and Prime Time Ministry. RCIA, CCD, Baptism Classes are also flourishing. Regular prayer groups and evangelization efforts been spearheaded by Father Al from the get-go. We have a bilingual Bulletin that benefits all parishioners and visitors who come to both churches. I take pride in the weekly Reflection Page as I was the first contributor to this current very successful weekend readings. Parishioners and visitors alike say our reflections inspire them. Our writing team now consists of members from the pastoral and finance councils of both parishes. I also take pride in putting our two parishes on the map with KTLA coverages of the Driver Licence Class in November of 2014, at Holy Spirit, Christmas Concerts in December of 2013 and 2014 at St. Mary Magdalen. We also have an unprecedented Parish Directory that also features pictures of parishioners and their families as well as staff members. The directory tells people what our parishes are all about.