At a recent Saturday evening children's Mass, Msgr. Paul Montoya, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Santa Clarita, called the young children to gather with him in front of the altar for the homily, as he often does.

He spoke about Jesus' encounter with fishermen --- Simon, his brother Andrew, James and John --- at the Sea of Galilee. Msgr. Montoya asked the boys and girls to hold hands "so the fish can't get through," and explained that their hands held tightly together made them one community. Church communities, he said, can do wonderful things when people join hands and work together.

In this parish of 7,000 families, including two missions in Val Verde Park and Lake Castaic, coordination and organization of liturgies and ministries can appear monumental. Eleven mainly standing-room only Masses each Sunday can seem daunting. And yet it is all very simple, too, when liturgy is the link to making the parish work --- as is the case at OLPH.

"Liturgy is the community being nourished, supported and sent forth to live the commandment to love," says Msgr. Montoya. "When we provide all these services, it encourages people to live the love we proclaim. That is why the parish has grown and done well."

About 24 new families register at OLPH each week (1,200 a year). Margaret Shapiro, coordinator of volunteers, works closely with all new parishioners as they come into the parish and helps them discern how and where they can best serve the parish (and its 40 organizations and ministries).

A parishioner since she was four, when Lyons Avenue was but a dirt road, Shapiro says her parish is very important to her and her young family. "You are part of building a community," she says about her position. "It's nice to come to Mass and recognize faces. And people say, 'We've gotten involved in the church because of you.' There is a sense of fulfillment in that. It's maybe bringing God a little closer to people and people a little closer to God."

Her parish is a priority in Shapiro's life and she has been able to teach this to her children. Still, there are challenges, with families living such busy lives.

"Yes, sports are important and school is important for many families, and church is not always in the forefront of their minds," she says. "The biggest challenge is to just get a little piece of them to think about that. It's a matter of ordering priorities. And then, to make our ministries appealing."

Sharing an office with Shapiro is Gloria Regan, OLPH ministry coordinator and part of the liturgy planning team, who helps train liturgical ministers. She has also been part of the confirmation and youth ministry teams, and works closely with such groups as the "Tea Bags," the women who decorate the church according to seasons and serve an elegant high tea each year in support of the church's building fund.

"The church is very much a part of who and what I am," says Regan. "I was raised Catholic and it was in my twenties that I realized how important it is to me. Some people ask, 'Why do I continue to be part of the church with the scandals and all?' I say it has nothing to do with the priests or others' behavior in the church. My faith is very real to me and is an essential part of who I am. My parish is part of the community I live in and, when I help my parish, I help my entire community."