For as long as most can remember, 87-year-old Jess Martinez has opened the doors of St. Raphael Church in Goleta. He arrives early for the 8 a.m. daily Mass, opens up the church, prepares the altar and sacristy, serves as a Eucharistic minister and as a faithful sacristan puts everything away.

He does the same for the 7:30 a.m. Sunday Mass. As pastoral associate Noel Fuentes says, "When Jess isn't here, we're all in panic mode. If Jess is not here, the sun has not come up."

As it is for many parishioners, St. Raphael is the center of Jess's life, and he in turn personifies faithfulness to others. And there are many like Jess in St. Raphael's. "We look out for one another, care for another," says Fuentes. "This parish is a really holy, faith-filled community. No place is perfect, but this place is working toward perfection."

Father Bruce Correio, pastor, says his parish is filled with "welcoming and committed people. They tend to be flexible and, with the variety of priests coming and going in their lives, patient and willing to hear different ideas. They have supported building drives and kept the parish in wonderful condition."

People like Jess Martinez, who do everything from gardening to setting up booths for fiestas, helping in the school library and in the offices, exemplify the giving spirit. "Most everything is done by volunteers," says Father Bruce. "Most importantly, their commitment to faith underlies everything. I have found in them a desire to grow and learn."

Opportunities are presented in adult education sessions and Bible study classes led by Dominican Sister Mina Riggs, and in youth ministry workshops and activities. On June 16, John Vasellina and Claudia Renteria, parish youth ministers, took 46 Life Teen members and 14 adults to Zaca Lake for a five-day retreat, designed as a time to deepen the young person's relationship with God.

"Be open to God," Vasellina told the teens, "because everything we do this week, every meal we eat, every discussion we have, every song we sing, every prayer we pray, we must dedicate it all to God."

Vasellina met his future wife at St. Raphael while both were helping with the parish youth group in the late 1970s. After living out of the area for a while, they returned to St. Raphael in 1997 and John has been youth minister and confirmation coordinator ever since. Youth ministry includes 100 junior high students in "The Edge," 250 confirmation students, and another 40-100 in Life Teen activities.

"I enjoy working with teens; I feel that God has called me to this ministry," says Vasellina, who traces his calling to when he was in 11th grade and attended his first weekend retreat. "God planted a seed in my heart that weekend; it was life changing." He hopes that today's parish youth can have this same experience.

St. Raphael parishioners have supported youth ministry and its many activities of its young people --- Tijuana work missions, Steubenville/San Diego Youth Conferences, and many retreats and camps.

"They pray for us, have donated to help us meet our financial needs, and have shared some incredibly kind words with me," says Vasellina. "I feel blessed to be a part of this parish, and am forever grateful to God for calling me to Santa Barbara and to St. Raphael Parish."