Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
January 9, 2021
Dear Faithful Parishioners of St. Thomas of Canterbury,
As some of you know, my other ministry, in addition to being pastor at our church, is being the vocations director for our diocese. Recently, our office has asked parishes to continue with the vocations cross. This cross is passed on from a young family to another – where each is learning, discussing and praying for vocations. Our parish has been doing this, and if you wish to participate, please let me know.
Secondly, our vocations office also asks six parishes to personally adopt one seminarian as both get to know and journey together until, God willing, ordination to the priesthood. Of course, the main reason for this adoption is the personal prayers that they offer for one another. Our parish’s adopted seminarian is Pedro Jose Jimenez, who is now on pastoral internship at St. John Vianney, and who has probably two more years of formation until his ordination.
Thirdly, our vocations office would like to ask for your favor to pray for and to pass on the information about our Men’s Discernment (1/29-1/31) and Women’s Discernment Virtual Retreat (2/5-2/7). Please see below for more information. If you know of someone, whom you think would be a good priest or sister, please refer them to me or to the link below and encourage him or her to give God the first chance in discerning who they are meant to be and what they are meant to do in their life – to be fulfilled, peaceful and joyful.
Thank you & may God continue to bless our family, community and our nation.
With prayers,
Fr. Andrew
Friendly Reminders:
Saturday (Sunday’s Vigil) Mass: 3:00pm
Sunday Mass: 10:00am
Daily Masses: Wednesdays – Thursdays – Fridays @8:30AM
*All Masses will be streamed online through YouTube and Facebook.
*All Weekend Masses will still be transmitted through Radio FM 87.9 and have Communion service to the cars.
*Those in-car do not have to sign-up.
To keep warm either in-car or in-person, a lap blanket is beneficial.
Sacrament of Reconciliation:
Saturdays: 2:15pm to 2:45pm OR by appointment; outside, near the exit door next to the sacristy.
Our parish reconciliation service is available for viewing on youtube at:
https://youtu.be/4aWd445-xuM to help you prepare for the sacrament.
Visits from Fr. Andrew:
If you, or someone you know of, is in dire need of receiving the sacraments of Eucharist, Reconciliation or Anointing of the Sick, Fr. Andrew is available to visit you. Please call the parish office, and leave a message or contact Fr. Andrew: FrAndrew@StThomasSJ.org OR
(408) 766-3318 (emergency number)
Men's Virtual Discernment Weekend: January 29-31, 2021.
Is God calling you to the priesthood? In this retreat you will have the chance to explore the priesthood, listen to priest's vocation stories and learn about steps for discernment, values of priestly life and the structure of seminary formation during a weekend of prayer, discussions & fraternity. Click here for more information or contact vocations@dsj.org.
Women's Virtual Discernment Weekend: February 5-7, 2021.
What does it mean to have a vocation and discern it? How do you know when you are called to marriage or consecrated life? We know you have these questions and we want to help you find some answers! The Diocese of San Jose Vocations Office invites young adult women aged 18-40 to a free bilingual retreat weekend! Click link below for more information or contact vocations@dsj.org.
Please continue to remember our adopted seminarian PJ Jimenez in your prayers.
Weekly Offering 01/03/2021 $6,360
MTD OFFERINGS AS OF 01/03/2021
MTD budget: $ 4,500
MTD offerings: $ 6,360
MTD surplus: $ 1,860
You can always drop off or mail your donations to the parish office.
On-line giving available at our website: www.StThomasSJ.org
Click: Give & Fundraising
or scan the QR Code to the left.
Thank you for your support and generosity!
FAMILY FAITH FORMATION:
Faith Formation Sessions have begun! All sessions will be remote via Zoom.
Tuesday Sessions: 4pm - 4:45pm
First Grade: February 2
Second Grade: January 12
Third/Fourth Grade: January 19
Fifth/Sixth Grade: January 26
Registration for Family Faith Formation and Religious Ed has begun. All previously registered families have been mailed a registration packet. If you are new to our parish, all registration materials are available on our parish website.
Faith Formations sessions will be on-line/virtually.
Registration: https://www.stthomassj.org/faith-formation-registration
First Reconciliation and First Communion: Sunday Session #5: Jan 10th, Session #6: Jan 24th, Session #7, Jan 31st. All via Zoom.
Sacramental Preparation Sessions for First Reconciliation/First Eucharist will take place the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month from 1 to 2 pm, unless otherwise noted. See our website for schedule and details: https://www.stthomassj.org/sacramental-preparation
Confirmation: Next Sunday Session is January 17th
Preparation for Confirmation Year One will take place on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month from 11am to noon, unless otherwise noted.
See our website for details.
Visit our website for schedules and more specific information or contact Vicki Schwoob, Director of Family Faith Formation.
Has God called "you" to serve as a catechist? For more information, contact Vicki at info@StThomasSJ.org
ADULT FAITH FORMATION:
Becoming Catholic
Are you interested (or do you know someone who is) in learning more about the Catholic way of life? Are you interested in becoming Catholic? Have you been away from the faith? Are you are a baptized Catholic but still need to receive First Eucharist and Confirmation? Are you a Catholic and have questions about your faith? Are you seeking something more?
The RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) Team welcomes all! We are here to provide information and spiritual guidance for all those interested in becoming Catholic, those interested in completing the sacraments and those who have a desire to know God.
The RCIA itself is a process developed by the Catholic Church for unbaptized adults and adapted for children (ages 7 and above) guiding them through education, formation and ritualization of entrance into the Catholic community.
The process for the RCIA is always open and is year round since God’s time and plan is different for everyone.
Contact Vicki Schwoob for inquiries and sacraments; info@StThomasSJ.org
or (408) 378-1595.
PARISH WEBSITE:
We are still in the process of building our pages for our parish website; It is a work-in-progress so we ask you to please be patient.
Visit our website to sign up for Mass, see our Mass schedule, get information for our live-stream Mass, to volunteer and to send in your prayer requests.
If you cannot come to in-person Mass, celebrate with us and watch on our YouTube or Facebook channel. The links for our channels are provided below.
GIVING AT ST. THOMAS: Time, Talent and Treasure
Your continued support greatly helps us to live out the mission of the parish and of the Church, especially during these difficult times.
- TREASURE: Thank you for your on-going financial support! There are many ways to give: Offering envelopes, On-line recurring giving, and also through Benevity! If you work at Apple, you can give through the Benevity platform and Apple matches your donation to the parish. Let us know if your company has a giving/matching benefit. To access all our giving platforms, visit our parish website or click below.
- TIME and TALENT: Volunteers are needed to help with our outdoor Mass celebrations. There are many tasks; set up before Mass (Altar, equipment, chairs, camera, sound system), check-in of mass attendees, check-in of "in-car" attendees, seating and sanitizing. Would you like to serve as a Lector, Eucharistic minister or Sacristan (prepare the Altar) or Usher? Prayerfully discern how you can serve. Training will be provided in all areas.
The Holy Father's Universal Prayer Intention for JANUARY:
Human Fraternity
May the Lord give us the grace to live in full fellowship with our brothers and sisters of other religions, praying for one another, open to all.
May the Lord give us the grace to live in full fellowship with our brothers and sisters of other religions, praying for one another, open to all.
Racial Healing Ministry
Starting Saturday January 30:
Faith and Racial Healing, a ground-breaking series from Just Faith Ministries, addresses the situation in which we find ourselves in need of healing and conversion. The Catholic Community Foundation of Santa Clara County has provided a generous leadership training grant to fund this opportunity.
The series begins with a 3-hour introductory retreat from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm on Saturday, January 30 and continues with 8 consecutive 2.5-hour study and discussion classes from 11:30 am-2 pm every Saturday from February 6, through March 27.
In this moment of national division, people of faith are called to step forward, to heal and to lead. To heal the brokenhearted, to lead our nation in healing and reconciliation.
For more information or to register and receive the zoom link, contact Kathy Mattingly, kat@kajon.com.
Keeping Families Housed - Workshop 2: An additional workshop will be held on Jan. 31st from 6:30pm to 8:30pm assisting families being effected with the threat of eviction. Thousands of families throughout our community are unable to pay rent. How can parishes help and understand how to respond to this crisis? Learn about the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act of 2020 and inform your community. Click here to for registration details for this important workshop.
Catholic Professionals Speaker Series. "Live a life of no regrets." Don't miss this free event on January 14! Author and Catholic Speaker Robert Rogers will deliver his powerful message to live a life of no regrets, with God and one another. His compelling message has impacted lives and inspired people to renew their faith. Please contact sjcathpros@gmail.com for more information and registration.
Do you remember Sister Karen Langhi? She was at St.Thomas from about 1995 to 2002. Sr. Karen was so dear to so many! She was so smart, so organized, so sweet. She was very dear to our STC family.
She left St.Thomas after Fr. Kimm was installed and did some pastoral work with Sister Pauline, also a member of the order of Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, who was assigned to St. Simon parish in Los Altos.
She suffered heart-related issues that forced her to go back to the St.Louis motherhouse about ten years ago, and Sister Pauline joined her shortly thereafter.
We just found out via Christmas cards that she passed in April shortly after Sister Pauline passed.
Here is the link to her obit: https://www.archstl.org/obituary-sr-karen-langhi-csj-5394
May she rest in peace and may perpetual light shine upon her!
The Church in the Media: These days, it sometimes seems as though any good news regarding the Catholic Church is overshadowed by headline stories that remind us of the painful past of child sexual abuse in our Church. For those who strive to live the teachings of Jesus and work together for the protection of children, youth and the vulnerable, these stories can seem overwhelming. As we continue to work toward preventing child sexual abuse from happening and stopping it from continuing, we must remember that we are doing God's work on earth. We are creating an environment that promotes the furtherance of our faith, the expansion of the Kingdom of God, and the formation of people who serve children and youth with love, grace, dignity and respect. As a caring adult, you make this happen. You are a protector of children, youth and the vulnerable and can help foster accountability and healing. Read More: English | Spanish
PRAY THE ROSARY WITH US!
St. Thomas of Canterbury Rosary Group:
Join us as we pray the Holy Rosary
Monday through Friday at 7pm via Zoom. Click on the link to get the Zoom information.
