God's Divine Mercy
April 10, 2021
Dear Faithful Parishioners and Guests of St. Thomas of Canterbury,
Hope you and your family had a happy Easter!
We will have our youth choir and ministers at our 10am Mass tomorrow. Please join as we celebrate the Divine Mercy Sunday.
As we celebrate the Divine Mercy Sunday, may we imitate Jesus’ mercy.
Thank you again for our successful ADA. Here are the latest stats for our parish:
Goal: $52,719.00
Total Pledged: $74,830.29
Total Paid: $57,769.79
Pledge balance: $17,060.50
Refund Anticipated: $22,111.29
Families: 577
Pledges: 128
Pledges fully paid: 96
Pledges outstanding: 32
Average Pledge: $584.61
Happy Easter!
Fr. Andrew
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Friendly Reminders:
Updated Mass Schedule (Capacity: Outdoors – 400 & Indoors 140):
- Saturday (Sunday’s Vigil) Mass: 5:15pm (Outdoors)
- Sunday Mass: 10:00am (Outdoors)
11:30am (Indoors) - Daily Masses: Wednesdays – Thursdays – Fridays @8:30AM (Indoors)
- Confessions: Saturdays 4:30pm-5pm (Outdoors)
*All Outdoor Masses will be streamed online through YouTube and Facebook.
*All Weekend Outdoor 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
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)
Craig Talbot will be fully initiated into the Catholic Church in a mass to be determined as last week, MT and Craig welcomed their third son born on Holy Saturday!
Let us continue to pray as a community for Craig and his family..
We joyfully commend to Your protection and care Craig Talbot who will soon be fully received into the Church. Bestow courage upon him to answer Your call with all his heart.
Weekly Offering 04/04/2021 $12,475
incldung Easter. Thank you!
MTD OFFERINGS AS OF 04/04/2021
MTD budget: $ 4,500
MTD offerings: $ 12,475
MTD surplus: $ 7,975
You are welcome to 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!
Next weekend our second collection will be for the Holy Land.
The Holy Land Collection is for the Franciscan Monastery in the Holy Land.
Please visit the Franciscan Monastery's website for more information.
Lucy Chai is in charge of Scrip at St. Thomas. See button below to click on to buy scrip and she can deliver it to you.
Please remember these checks should be made out to: St Thomas Scrip
Thank you for your purchases - they help raise funds for our parish!
FAMILY FAITH FORMATION:
Faith Formation Sessions have begun! All sessions will be remote via Zoom.
Tuesday Sessions: 4pm - 4:45pm
First Grade: May 4
Second Grade: April 13
Third/Fourth Grade: April 20
Fifth/Sixth Grade: April 27
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 Communion: Session #12, Apr 11th, Session #13, Apr 25th. 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 April 18th
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.
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 April:
Fundamental Rights
We pray for those who risk their lives while fighting for fundamental rights under dictatorships, authoritarian regimes and even in democracies in crisis.
We pray for those who risk their lives while fighting for fundamental rights under dictatorships, authoritarian regimes and even in democracies in crisis.
Please continue to remember our adopted seminarian, PJ Jimenez, and all seminarians in your prayers.
Monday through Friday at 7pm via Zoom. Click on the link below to get the Zoom information.
Child Abuse Prevention Month Rosary for Healing & Protection: Please join Bishop Oscar Cantú as he leads the Diocese in praying the Rosary with special intentions for the healing and protection of those affected by childhood abuse on April 13th at 6pm via Diocesan livestream: Facebook or YouTube.
Third Annual Child Abuse Prevention Month Kids’ Art Contest: In support of Child Abuse Prevention Month this coming April, we are inviting kids to participate in the Third Annual Child Abuse Prevention Month Kids’ Art Contest sponsored by the California Office of Child Abuse Prevention. The contest is open to children and youth in the following categories: K-2nd, 3rd-6th, 7th-8th and 9th-12th. This year’s theme for the art contest is “My Safe Place”. Children and youth are encouraged to express their special space that makes them feel happy and safe. Now is the time to plan ahead! Artwork is due by April 23rd. Winners will be notified by April 28th and will be awarded in each of the four categories. Each winner will have their artwork framed, displayed at the Capitol on April 30th and will be hung as a permanent honor at the California Child Abuse Prevention Center and the Office of Child Abuse Prevention. They will also receive a framed copy of their winning artwork. For more information and submission form click here!
We invite you to attend the free showing of LIKE, a virtual film on the impact of social media on our lives. The screening will happen on April 26 at 5:30 pm online and will be followed by an interactive panel discussion. This film is suitable for ages 10+. The film will include Spanish subtitles and there will be an interpreter available during the panel discussion.
LIKE is an IndieFlix Original documentary about finding a balance in our digital world. Technology is a tool. It’s here to stay and social platforms are a place to connect, share and care, but what’s really happening? By understanding the effects of technology and social media on the brain, on our lives and on our civilization, we can learn how to navigate it more safely together.
The goal for this film is to inspire people of all ages, especially kids, to self regulate. It’s not about blame. It’s about looking in the mirror and empowering ourselves to create balance in our lives and to learn to be there for each other.
Our panel discussion will be led by moderator Scilla Andreen, LIKE film producer & director, IndieFlix CEO and co-founder.
We hope you join us for this special screening, even from your phone! Registration is now open at https://sites.google.com/view/likeapril26at530pm/home
We hope you join us for this special screening, even from your phone! Registration is now open at https://sites.google.com/view/likeapril26at530pm/home
You can contact Kathy Mattingly if you have any questions or are interested in becoming part of your parish's mental health ministry:
The bishops along the border of the United States and Northern Mexico have issued a joint statement on the situation at the border of the two countries. "One year ago, on the eve of Easter Sunday, Pope Francis, exclaimed: “How beautiful it is to be Christians who offer consolation, who bear the burdens of others and who offer encouragement: messengers of life in a time of death.” As we are celebrating Easter Season, in which we experience the power of love in Christ’s Death and Resurrection, we feel encouraged to keep going, helping migrants, conscious that while the way ahead is long and arduous, it is not impossible if we journey together." Read the full statement: https://www.usccb.org/news/2021/situation-us-mexico-border
Last summer, Bishop Cantú shared a wonderful story about planting seeds at his childhood home. He tied it into a beautiful message about how we can all build a better future starting today by planting seeds of hope, faith and love in our lives and our community.
As we've learned from everything that happened in 2020, we can't predict the future, however that shouldn't stop us from making plans. In fact, planning certain things, like what will happen to our money and other assets after our lifetimes, can bring peace of mind during a time full of change and uncertainty.
Ideas on Types of Legacy Gifts >> https://cfoscc.org
Ideas on Types of Legacy Gifts >> https://cfoscc.org
If you'd like to discuss ideas, please contact us at info@catholiccf.org or 408.995.5219.
Asian American Pacific Islander Saint Presentation: Friday, April 23rd from 6:30pm to 8:00pm join a virtual event to familiarize yourself with AAPI Saints and each ethnic community starting in the Diocese of San Jose. Reflect on stories of pain, struggles and resilience. Visit bit.ly/ljpdsj21 for Virtual Event details. Please share the event images to your social media: Facebook, Instagram.
Asian American Pacific Islander Mass: Sunday, April 25th at St. Victor’s Church join the 12pm Mass. Mass will indoors and Live Streamed. To register for indoor Mass and for live stream information visit bit.ly/ljpdsj21. Please share the event images to your social media: Facebook, Instagram.
Photo credit: Flickr cc via Catedrales e Iglesias/Cathedrals and Churches
What is Divine Mercy?
From: USCatholic.org
This article appeared in the May 2011 issue of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 76, No. 5, page 46).
When and why did the church begin celebrating Divine Mercy Sunday?
The world was in the midst of the Great Depression in 1931 and the memories of World War I were still very much alive in the minds of Europeans when in Poland a sister of the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938), is said to have been personally visited by Jesus.
According to her diary, which was listed on the Index of Forbidden Books for more than 20 years, an image was revealed to her of the risen Lord, from whose heart shone two rays, one red (representing blood) and the other “pale” (symbolizing water), with the words “Jesus, I trust in you” at the bottom. Faustina wrote in her diary that Jesus told her, “I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish.”
When she was canonized in 2000 under the direction of fellow countryman Pope John Paul II, he proclaimed that the Second Sunday of Easter would henceforth be known as Divine Mercy Sunday, thereby widely promoting the devotional practices associated with Faustina’s visions, already popular in many communities.
St. Faustina, a poorly educated daughter of a humble Polish family, kept a 600-page diary of the apparitions she claimed continued for years. Her entries focus on God’s mercy, the call to accept God’s mercy and to be merciful, the need for conversion, and the call to trust in Jesus. It had been Jesus’ own wish, she wrote, to establish a feast day: “I [Jesus] desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls. . . . I am giving them the last hope of salvation; that is, the Feast of My Mercy.”
Among the practices associated with the devotion are its novena, the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy (a series of prayers organized similarly to a rosary), the Hour of Great Mercy (a time of prayer traditionally celebrated at 3 p.m.), and the plenary indulgence granted to those who receive the Eucharist and celebrate reconciliation on Divine Mercy Sunday.
But the road to the universal recognition and institutionalization of the devotion was anything but smooth. Since Sister Faustina’s diary, which she claimed Jesus himself had asked her to keep, had been previously listed on the Index of Forbidden Books, it curtailed the exercise of the devotional practices. Detractors claimed that her writing contained theological errors, while her defenders attribute mistakes to a faulty translation from Polish to Italian. While the diary is no longer on the Index and her canonization has officially put away concerns regarding the orthodoxy of her writings, critics remain.
The celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday is an opportunity to reflect on the theme of how God’s mercy can overcome sin and, as the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments states, “a perennial invitation to the Christian world to face, with confidence in divine benevolence, the difficulties and trials that mankind [sic] will experience in the years to come.”
Catholic Restorative Justice: Attend 90 minute sessions regarding the care of the incarcerated and families. The Series continues on April 15th, May 13th and May 20th by Professors from Santa Clara University. Additional information regarding series, certification and registration can be found here or at bit.ly/ljpdsj21.