On a recent Monday morning Marco Antonio Moncada, parishioner at San Miguel Church in Watts, came into the Presentation Sisters Learning Center as he usually does for his classes, only on this day he was proudly carrying his new citizenship documents.

After 18 years he had a certificate indicating that he had passed his citizenship examinations and had a booklet welcoming him as a citizen. The Presentation Sisters Learning Center, sponsored by the Presentation Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the co-directorship of Sisters Jane Bonar and Catherine Burke along with 25 volunteers and aides, has been in operation since January 2000 and over a 1,000 have been able to pass their citizenship exams with their help.

More than 320 adult parishioners like Moncada attend four levels of English as a second language (ESL), preparation for the GED, computer training, sewing and crafts, and Spanish literacy at the center that was once the convent. Babysitting is provided onsite, too. But most of all they receive assistance and loving attention so that they and their children can lead better lives. The sisters also teach in the religious education and RCIA programs and help in other ways in the parish - all on a volunteer basis.

It is this type of commitment to parishioners that will have an impact for generations to come. Moncada works in the car shop tinting windows and installing alarms. He has five children and supports them, his wife and his mother. Their pastor, Missionary of the Sacred Heart Father Jose Valdez Romo, says of his people, "This is a parish of simple Latin Americans who come to the United States searching for a better future and searching as well to give something to their children."

The church is the center of the lives of these parishioners. Says Father Valdez: "When there is good news, they always come to the parish to give thanks." When Moncada came to the learning center that Monday, he came to share his good news and his gratitude.

"The faith of these people is a simple faith, too," says Father Valdez. "But it is profound with many popular religious practices - the rosary, feast day celebrations, and the more important moments of their lives like births, baptisms, first communions - and all of these moments are marked by coming to the church. If there is sickness, they come to the church. If there is an anniversary of death, they come as well. When they celebrate a birthday, they come to the church." And they come to volunteer and participate in their parish.

Parish secretary Carmen Garcia has been offered other jobs, but she has remained in the parish office for the last 16 years because "I love it," she says. "I enjoy it here. I grew up here and attended San Miguel School. I love it so much I'd lose my heart if I left it," she shares. She moved into the parish when she was 12, moved away for a bit and returned to the parish when she married and now lives again in the neighborhood.

"People here are very caring and humble. They enjoy working. They help their neighbors and are friendly people," says Garcia. "A man died recently and all the neighbors for 10 days prayed the rosary in the family home and brought food for the family," she says of her parishioners who give of what little they themselves have. Carmen is also a lector, Eucharistic minister, and in charge of the food bank as well as the parish office.

Elva Ruiz, director of religious education, and Maryann Reynosa, San Miguel school principal, also feel drawn to help their parish in whatever way they can. Reynosa's father and grandfather attended the learning center and passed their citizenship exams afterwards. Her mother Carmen has been a teacher at the school for more than 20 years. Reynosa and her siblings attended San Miguel and the former Pius X High School in Downey, and she and two of her brothers went to Notre Dame University in South Bend. She says she would not want to be anywhere else.

"What draws me home is the family environment and the school. Well, I believe it's a calling," says Reynosa. "San Miguel to me is home and it's where I need to be. The people in the community are a struggling people financially, and have also encountered other problems. A school like San Miguel makes sure they are not exposed to peer pressure. We focus on their spiritual and academic lives."

Like Reynosa, DRE Elva Ruiz says of San Miguel Parish, "It's my home. I just want to give everything I can spiritually and educate the parents, too."