On The Road Again: Outreach Team Spreads Word Across Archdiocese

Elena Vasquez, CCM Outreach Presenter, makes Mass announcements for upcoming presentations. 
(Photo by David Brackney)

If this group were to have a theme song, it might be the old Willie Nelson tune, On the Road Again. From the leafy suburbs of the San Gabriel Valley to the sandy shores of Santa Barbara to the desert scrubland of the Antelope Valley, the Catholic Cemeteries & Mortuaries Community Outreach team hits the road year-round to speak at parishes across the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Wherever we may go, the mission remains the same: Raise awareness about our ministry, tell people what to expect when a loved one dies, and explain why planning ahead for cemetery and mortuary needs is an important obligation for everyone. Depending on the locale, an English—or Spanish-language team will visit the parish and speak—typically on the weekend after each Saturday and Sunday Mass. 
 
For Catholics, these presentations allow them to listen and learn in a friendly, unthreatening setting and discuss their needs with one of our preplanning counselors. We do all this as guided by Church teachings, and absolutely no selling takes place.
 
No two outings are quite the same, but a typical one occurred over two weekends in April, when our English presenters (including this writer) traveled to Sacred Heart Church in Lancaster, in the high desert near the northern edge of L.A. County and home to Good Shepherd Cemetery. 
 
Joined by my colleague Elena Vasquez, we would spend two weekends at Sacred Heart. The first was to make announcements, with one of us speaking at the end of each Mass and inviting parishioners to sign up and join us the following weekend. Sign-ups are important for us since they tell us how large a room we will need and how much food to order. Besides learning, our guests enjoy some meal at most of our events, whether dinner on Saturday evenings or a breakfast or early lunch on Sunday mornings.


One week later, we would return to Sacred Heart—two full hours before our Saturday evening presentation was scheduled to begin. We are accustomed to these early arrivals, as we work to be fully prepared before the first guests arrive. We’d be there early the next morning, too—before the 7:30 a.m. Mass—to prep for our two Sunday morning events.
 
Over those two days, Elena and I would speak to nearly three dozen of the Sacred Heart faithful. Aided by a PowerPoint slide show, our talks would run about 45 minutes each, followed by a Q&A session, as we strove to answer every question attendees had. Some would stay afterward to meet one-on-one with Richie Garcia, our preplanning counselor at Good Shepherd and a familiar face at parishes across the high desert. 
 
Not everyone may buy a final resting place or funeral plan from Richie or any of our other staff, but he’s a well-versed, trusted source of knowledge, ready to answer questions not only about Good Shepherd but also about our other locations and the importance of our ministry to the Church. 
 

This was not our first time at Sacred Heart. We spoke there in 2023 and have already been invited back for 2025. We are grateful for their partnership and for embracing the importance of our message.

Each parish we visit is unique—large or small, with different communities and parishioners with differing needs. But wherever we go, our core message remains the same—that our time on this earth is short and uncertain, and we all need to plan for our own departure, for our own peace of mind, and for the ones we’ll someday leave behind.
 
Would your parish like to host a Community Outreach presentation or learn more about our work? If so, we’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected], or call 213-637-7810.