Big heart, big faith in Woodland Hills

By nearly all measurements, St. Mel Parish in Woodland Hills would be considered a small parish. With only 2,500 families, St. Mel’s is about half the size of other parishes in the area. As small as it may be, this parish is big in heart, with representatives from many different languages and cultures.

Resurrection Church welcomes pilgrim image of Our Lady of Guadalupe

The parish community of Resurrection Church in East Los Angeles enthusiastically welcomed the arrival of “nuestra madre” (“our mother”) on Nov. 6 with a candlelight procession, Mexican dances and a celebratory Mass during this year’s first Los Angeles-area stop for the pilgrim image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

‘The Lord’s Gym’: Immaculate Heart Radio to begin broadcasting Nov. 17

COVINA — Terry Barber and Jesse Romero broadcast their daily radio show out of a studio that probably isn’t much bigger than most of their listeners’ bathrooms.

A picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus hangs on one side, a crucifix on the other. Romero sits in front of a computer, and Barber stands up, constantly bouncing from one side of a microphone to the other.

LA priest cleared by Vatican of sexual misconduct claims

A Vatican tribunal has “definitively determined” that there is no proof of sexual misconduct by Monsignor Richard Loomis, a prominent Los Angeles archdiocese priest.

Immaculate Heart Radio to begin broadcasting Nov. 17

An ex-prostitute sat stuck in Bay Area rush-hour traffic. She was overwhelmed by debt. It was impossible to repay now that she’d given up the life.

The pressure led to her attempted suicide.

Her car idled.

Looking up, she read “Immaculate Heart Radio” on a car’s bumper sticker. She thought of the few times her father had taken her to Mass as a little girl. Her curiosity piqued, she tuned in.

Preventing Cyber Crime: Community rallies to protect children

More than 400 educators, parents, and middle and high school students from across the archdiocese attended the sixth Annual Cyber Crime Prevention Symposium at the California Endowment Center in downtown L.A. on Oct. 29 to learn up-to-date information about staying safe online and how to avoid Internet predators, cyber bullies, malicious apps and more.

Louisville junior’s ‘Open the Door’ wins national PSA award

The PSA begins with a girl in a white blouse turning a corner and slowly walking between lockers down a high school hallway. She has a shy expression that becomes more concerned as she goes by doors with posted black jagged letters saying “Bullied,” “Anorexic,” “Anxiety” and “Depression.”

Praying for the dead

Janeen Caudillo was a beautiful, spirited and loving young woman who devoted her life to “my kids” — the boys and girls she represented and protected as a professional social worker.

CEF’s Christmas Card Contest winners

“My aunt’s a great artist also,” said Allison Buss-Mercado. The 1st-grader at St. Paschal Baylon School in Thousand Oak knows well of what she speaks. She took first prize in the Catholic Education Foundation’s (CEF) 2014 Christmas Card Contest for students, in the category of grades kindergarten-3rd.

Changes at ‘The Tidings’

The Tidings will be undergoing a restructuring that will regretfully include staff reductions from its editorial and business operations.

Those reductions include beloved members of our award-winning staff: Mike Nelson, editor; Paula Doyle, staff writer; Hermine Lees, former editor of the directory; Jorge Infante, designer; and accountants Alejandra Hernandez and Theresa Goldner.