Week of August 3, 2020

Dear Faithful Parishioners of St. Thomas of Canterbury,

I hope and pray that you are well.

Even though we are in the pandemic, there is a lot happening here as you can see in this newsletter.   Congratulations to Sebastian for his Baptism and Lorenzo and Thea for their First Holy Communion!  In the next few weeks, we will have many more joyful celebrations of First Holy Communion, of Confirmation and of Matrimony. Today, we are also very happy to have Shari Smith, our liturgist, graduating from the Institute for Leadership in Ministry.   Congratulations!

Along with this news, I would like to share with you of Bishop Cantú’s appointment for me as the Vocation Director, starting September 15^th.  I think it is providential that I am following Fr. Mark’s footsteps – being Pastor at St. Thomas, living in the same rectory as he did, and working also as a Vocation Director, a ministry that he cherished.  He was cherished by all of us, who were interviewed and accepted by him, including myself.  I thank God for my vocation and thank Fr. Mark for helping in making it possible.  

This position is a part time position and is in addition to my current position as pastor of the parish.   I will still dedicate 100% to our parish with my prayers and work. Since this additional position is from the diocese, the chancery will pay the parish for this ministry.  Therefore, it would be an additional income to our parish.  This will help our parish’s financial situation.

I have been asking Fr. Mark for his prayers and asking the same of you.  Please pray for me and for more vocations in our diocese, so that we will have future priests to serve us and our children’s and grandchildren’s generations.

With prayers,

Fr. Andrew

It's School Supplies collection time again!  This year we will be serving our families of St. Thomas and the families of Sacred Heart Community Services.  Even with schools not being open, school is still taking place at home.  Families are in dire need more than ever.

Please let us know if your family is in need of school supplies.

To learn more about the PACK A BACK 2020 Drive at Sacred Heart Community Services and to see a list of needed supplies, click on the links below.

Sacred Heart is also accepting cash donations and has an on-line wish list from Amazon available.  

School Supplies can be dropped off at church when you come to outdoor Mass. Please leave your donations at the check-in table. Please do not drop off supplies at the parish office as the office is closed.

Thank you for your  continued support and amazing generosity!  

For information, contact parishioner, Jeanne Glad (209) 247-7030

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 and to send in your prayer requests.