Parish eBulletin - Volume 13, No. 6, February 8, 2019

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St. Thomas Aquinas Parish
The Catholic Community of Palo Alto, California

St. Thomas Aquinas parish is a Roman Catholic community of disciples 
working together for the glory of God and our spiritual growth in Jesus, the Christ. 
With the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we live and share the Gospel
through worship, education and service.

Parish eBulletin - Volume 13, No. 6 - February 8, 2019

Parish Crab Dinner THIS Saturday Night
Parish Blood Drive NEXT Saturday. Make Your Appointment Today

Table of Contents:
1. TOMORROW: Saturday, February 9: Bridges Meeting
2. TOMORROW: 2019 Knights of Columbus Crab Dinner Dance
3. THIS SUNDAY: Continuing Sunday, February 10: Introductions To Your Fellow Congregation Members After The 10:30 am OLR Mass
4. Monday, February 11: Peaceful Presence Multifaith Prayers for Peace
5. 2019 Annual Diocesan Appeal
6. God Is Calling You: Do Not Be Afraid
7. Palms For Ash Wednesday, March 6
8. Many Thanks For The Generous Bequest
9. Tuesday, February 12: Spirituality Tuesday Assembly: Providence and the Problem Of Evil
10. Continuing February 13: Wednesdays at St. Thomas Aquinas Church: Adoration and Benediction
11. Human Concerns: During February, HCC-Sponsored Soles4Souls Gently-Used Shoe Collection 
12. Black History Month: Sr. Thea Bowman
13. Volunteer Opportunity: Ride To Sunday Mass Needed
14. Volunteer Opportunity: Altar Server Training
15. Volunteer Opportunity: Seton Library Cataloging Effort
16. Saturday, February 16: Parish Blood Drive
17. Charles Drew: Father of Blood Banks
18. Monday, February 18: Pastoral Center Closed
20. Tuesday, February 19: Spirituality Tuesday Assembly: Dorothy Day: Traditional Spirituality - Radical Witness
21. Wednesday, February 20: Next S.O.U.P. Gathering
22. Weekly Stewardship Report: Thank You For Sharing God’s Gifts!
23. Each Thursday: Mothers’ Prayers After 8:30 A.M. OLR Daily Mass
24. Saturday, February 16: Fred Dietrich Memorial Mass
25. Human Concerns: February 16-17: Have A Heart Weekend
26. Saturday, February 23: Merton Scholar Michael Higgins Coming
27. Parish Fish Fest On Hiatus in February and March 2019

Outside The Parish 
28. TONIGHT: Friday, February 8: Free Concert at St. Lucy
29. Does It Spark Joy? Applying Marie Kondo’s Lessons To My Faith Life
30. Human Trafficking: No One Can Wash His Hands Without Being An Accomplice
31. Trafficking Demands Action From All Of Us
32. Find A Model Of Faithfulness In J.R.R. Tolkien’s Simple Spirit
33. Nuns and Nones: Unlikely Partners Tackle The Big Questions
34. Pope St. Paul VI’s Feast Will Be Celebrated May 29
35. Continuing Friday, February 15: Taize Prayer: Join Us Around The Cross in Fremont
36. Saturday, February 23: Wedding Anniversary Mass (Please pre-register by February 15, 2019)
37. Beware: Scam Utility Calls Strike Again
38. Readings for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, and Presider Schedules

Bonus Content: Blood Drive PDF!

————————————————————————————————————————————————— 

1. TOMORROW: Saturday, February 9: Bridges Meeting

Hello Friends or Strangers (who are just Friends we haven't met yet)!

Please join us on Saturday, February 9 between 10:00 am and 1:00 pm. in the Dermody Center (on the OLR campus).  We meet monthly on every 2nd Saturday.

This gathering is all about FUN and connecting with each other.  Bring your children and your family and your friends and your neighbors. 
We will be creating Valentine's Day cards and playing music  (there is a rumor about a bagpipe player coming!) and dancing.  And course, we will be eating together!  
There will be 2 adults volunteering to help us with our kids too!

Please sign up to bring a dish if you can. Call or email Beth or Isabelle with any questions or comments

http://evite.me/BYdbQsU6R4

We are famillies and individuals with and without disabilities talking about the kind of community we want to create for our adult children in the SF Bay Area.

L'Arche USA has recently invited us to join the Exploration Stage.  We have spent the last few years in Discertment and Reflection Stages and are excited to continue our work now exploring more concrete needs and visions.

Please know that this process will take months or years and is a very thoughtful time for contemplation and discernment.

Blessings!

Beth Goddard 
bethand...@comcast.net 
650-245-2726

Isabelle Peltier

2. TOMORROW: 2019 Knights of Columbus Crab Dinner Dance

If you have tickets, please remember to come.  If you don’t have tickets, see you next year!

3. THIS SUNDAY: Continuing Sunday, February 10: Introductions To Your Fellow Congregation Members After The 10:30 am OLR Mass

Continuing on Sunday, February 10, we will continue our series of monthly short chats right after the 10:30am OLR Mass. Each month, a different member of our congregation, or their whole family, will share a bit about themselves, so that we can get to know each other a little better as a community. We hope to use the room next to the refreshment room )(the “stained glass” side of the OLR Hall), so you can get your donuts and drink, then come listen and chat!

On Sunday, February 10, we'll talk with Katherine Carpenter and Russ Wood about their journey to our parish. 

If you would like to be one of our monthly speakers, please see Hong-Ha Frei after 10:30 a.m. Mass or email her at hvuon...@gmail.com.

4. Monday, February 11: Peaceful Presence Multifaith Prayers for Peace

Monday, February 11, 7:00-7:30 p.m.
Our Lady of the Rosary Church, 3233 Cowper Street, Palo Alto

Let us come together for much needed time of healing, prayers, strength and gratitude. Peaceful Presence is a monthly gathering hosted by diverse faith communities for multifaith prayers for peace and strength for the journey.  See the flyer attached to today’s eBulletin.

5. 2019 Annual Diocesan Appeal

The 2019 Annual Diocesan Appeal is now underway. Pledge Sunday is today. Our total parish goal is $160,000. Anything beyond our goal comes back to the parish. Materials can be found in all churches and your pledge can be sent back to the office or placed in the regular Sunday collections baskets.

-- Fr. Stasys 

6. God Is Calling You: Do Not Be Afraid

In the weekend’s Gospel reading, we, like Peter, Paul and Isaiah, might think we are the least likely to serve God. But God has called each of us. In His mind, with His help, we are each the perfect choice. Peter, Paul, and Isaiah, as sinners, express their unworthiness to be in the presence of the holiness of God, yet, they immediately receive their divine calling. God does that for us. We were called by our Baptism to follow the Living God.

In this weekend’s gospel, Jesus gives Peter a new job, telling him that he will no longer catch fish; instead he will catch people. His new task will be to bring others to Jesus. We too, are called to participate in the mission of the Church when we bring people to God by spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We were given faith not just for our benefit but to share what we believe with others.

Whenever we find ourselves dealing with a friend or someone at work who is in need or struggling grief or loss, whenever we find ourselves called to re- unite with someone who has hurt us, that call is an invitation to share what we believe. We can say to the person in need, “I will pray for you, because I know God loves you.” We are called to share our faith with others.

So, the next time you find yourself with someone and you realize that that person’s life could have more meaning and comfort if they knew of a God who loved them and cared for them, don’t stand there and wait for God to send someone to proclaim that love. God has already sent someone. That someone is you!

Rev. Mr. Daniel Hernandez, Permanent Deacon 

7. Palms For Ash Wednesday, March 6

Ash Wednesday is just a few weeks away (March 6). It’s time to start returning your blessed palms from last year, so that we may prepare the ashes for this year. Please bring them with you to Mass in the next couple weeks and place them in the basket in the vestibule; these palms will be burned at the end Mass on the weekend of March 3. 

8. Many Thanks For The Generous Bequest

Many thanks to a deceased and beloved parishioner and his family, for his generous gift of $619,000 to our parish. The money will be used for repairs and upgrades to our facilities and for parish activities. 

9. Tuesday, February 12: Spirituality Tuesday Assembly: Providence and the Problem Of Evil

A Video Series  — hosted by  Susan Olsen  Bishop Robert Barron continues in Part 4 of our video series.

LESSON 4 – PROVIDENCE AND THE PROBLEM OF EVIL

Perhaps the most difficult question in theology is this: Why does God allow evil? If God is all-good and all-powerful, then why are our lives marked with pain and suffering? These are not abstract questions. They go right to the heart of our experience. We have each wrestled with misery, wondering when God would intervene. As with Job, God does not give us answers. He instead offers a person: the crucified Jesus, through whom God enters our suffering and makes it his own.

7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. St. Albert the Great Hospitality Center

10. Continuing February 13: Wednesdays at St. Thomas Aquinas Church: Adoration and Benediction

In support of offering more opportunities from personal prayer, our parish has been keeping St. Thomas Aquinas Church (451 Waverley Street, Palo Alto) open 
until 5:00 p.m.

In addition to that, each Wednesday, the parish is going to offer Adoration and Benediction from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., before closing the church for the night, continuing Wednesday, February 13.  You are encouraged to stop by and pray and adore Our Lord. 

11. Human Concerns: During February, HCC-Sponsored Soles4Souls Gently-Used Shoe Collection 

In response to inquiries, the Human Concerns Committee is going to collect used and new shoes you no longer need during the month of February 2019. 

You will find collection boxes placed for your convenience in the vestibules of our three churches.  Your shoes will be taken to DSW (Designer Shoe Warehouse) and shipped at their expense to Soles4Souls warehouses for distribution to men, women and children in need around the world.  

In 2012, our parish contributed 597 pairs of shoes!  We encourage you to gather your unneeded gently-used shoes and watch for the donation boxes in the vestibules.

Human Concerns Committee 

12. Black History Month: Sr. Thea Bowman

February is Black History Month.

Please see the following links about Sr. Thea Bowman, an African American nun, who the US Conference of Catholic Bishops endorsed cause for sainthood November 2018:




(and from Gospel Reflections, gospe...@aol.com)

February is Black History Month. Among the remarkable black women religious who have contributed to the life of the Catholic Church in the United States is Thea Bowman  (1937 -  1990). Her grandfather had been born a slave but her father was a physician and her mother a teacher. She was raised in a Methodist home but, with her parents' permission, converted to the Roman Catholic faith at the age of nine and later joined the the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. 

Sister Bowman was evangelist among her people, assisted in the production of an African American Catholic hymnal, and was a popular speaker on faith and spirituality in her final years. She called on Catholics to celebrate their differences and to retain their cultures, but to reflect their joy at being one in Christ, a joy which her audiences found her exhibiting to a remarkable degree, including with those of other faiths. She helped found the National Black Sisters Conference to provide support for African-American women in Catholic religious institutes. 

Immediately before her death, Bowman spoke to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops from her wheelchair, and the bishops "powerfully and visibly moved, applauded her. When she finished they stood linking arms and singing as Thea led them in the spiritual, 'We Shall Overcome'. (Perhaps that is the miracle that will get her canonized.) Bowman has been designated a Servant of God, the first step in the process that leads to canonization. 

13. Volunteer Opportunity: Ride To Sunday Mass Needed

Ride needed to Sunday mass.  An elderly woman, Terry Willis who lives at Sunrise Senior Living (El Camino and Oregon) wants to go to the 10:30 am mass at either one of our churches (Our Lady of the Rosary or St. Thomas Aquinas).  Terry gets around with a walker but is mobile otherwise.  Please contact Mary Fong at fon...@hotmail.com or 650-494-1660.

14. Volunteer Opportunity: Altar Server Training

We are currently training new Altar Servers for St. Albert the Great Masses. If you are interested in being an Altar Server, please call Susan Olsen at the Pastoral Center. 

15. Volunteer Opportunity: Seton Library Cataloging Effort

St. Elizabeth Seton School turned its library into offices about a year ago, and the library books need to be catalogued before being installed in other classrooms.

Please join Vicki Sullivan cataloging books for Seton School on Monday and Friday mornings for 2 hours. Call her for details. 650-327-5339. The end is in sight so we can reopen their library!!”

16. Saturday, February 16: Parish Blood Drive

The parish has arranged with the Stanford Blood Center to come of our parish Saturday, February 16, between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. to Our Lady of the Rosary Hall (3233 Cowper Street, Palo Alto to accept blood donations.

NOTE: You do not need a physician consent to donate. If the nurse at the time determines there is a medical condition requiring consent then this is the only case in which one would be required. There is no upper age limit for donations.

Please hold the date. Contact Chris Lundin (clu...@stanford.edu) with questions.  For more information or eligibility requirements, call 650-723-7831 or visit bloodcenter.stanford.edu

See the attached PDF.  Reserve your time at http://sbcdonor.org and Donor Code: 2581

17. Charles Drew: Father of Blood Banks

Charles Drew was an African-American surgeon who pioneered methods of storing blood plasma for transfusion and organized the first large-scale blood bank in the U.S. and lived 1904–1950.

Who Was Charles Drew?

Charles Richard Drew was born on June 3, 1904, in Washington, D.C. He was an African-American physician who developed ways to process and store blood plasma in "blood banks." He directed the blood plasma programs of the United States and Great Britain in World War II, but resigned after a ruling that the blood of African-Americans would be segregated. He died on April 1, 1950.

Family & Early Life

A pioneering African-American medical researcher, Dr. Charles R. Drew made some groundbreaking discoveries in the storage and processing of blood for transfusions. He also managed two of the largest blood banks during World War II. 

Drew grew up in Washington, D.C. as the oldest son of a carpet layer. In his youth, Drew showed great athletic talent. He won several medals for swimming in his elementary years, and later branched out to football, basketball and other sports. After graduating from Dunbar High School in 1922, Drew went to Amherst College on a sports scholarship. There, he distinguished himself on the track and football teams.

Father of Blood Banks

In 1938, Drew received a Rockefeller Fellowship to study at Columbia University and train at the Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. There, he continued his exploration of blood-related matters with John Scudder. Drew developed a method for processing and preserving blood plasma, or blood without cells. Plasma lasts much longer than whole blood, making it possible to be stored or "banked" for longer periods of time. He discovered that the plasma could be dried and then reconstituted when needed. His research served as the basis of his doctorate thesis, "Banked Blood," and he received his doctorate degree in 1940. Drew became the first African-American to earn this degree from Columbia.

As World War II raged in Europe, Drew was asked to head up a special medical effort known as "Blood for Britain." He organized the collection and processing of blood plasma from several New York hospitals, and the shipments of these life-saving materials overseas to treat causalities in the war. According to one report, Drew helped collect roughly 14,500 pints of plasma.

In 1941, Drew spearheaded another blood bank effort, this time for the American Red Cross. He worked on developing a blood bank to be used for U.S. military personnel. But not long into his tenure there, Drew became frustrated with the military's request for segregating the blood donated by African Americans. At first, the military did not want to use blood from African Americans, but they later said it could only be used for African-American soldiers. Drew was outraged by this racist policy, and resigned his post after only a few months.


18. Saturday, February 16: Fred Dietrich Memorial Mass 

Fred Dietrich passed away January 1, 2019.  There will be a memorial Mass celebrated on Saturday, February 16 at 2:00 p.m. at St. Thomas Aquinas Church.  All are welcome.

19. Monday, February 18: Pastoral Center Closed

Monday, February 18, is President's Day. The office will be closed, but the daily Mass times will not change.
 

20. Tuesday, February 19: Spirituality Tuesday Assembly: Dorothy Day: Traditional Spirituality - Radical Witness
 
Presented by Fr. Kevin Joyce Ph.D.
 
Deep traditional spirituality united with dynamic social action: the Witness of Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement.
 
Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker movement, is considered by many to be the most influential American Catholic woman of the 20th Century.  Her prophetic witness on behalf of the poor and marginalized was nourished by traditional Catholic spirituality.  Fr. Kevin Joyce will explore how her radical activism flowed directly from ancient Catholic sources available to us all.
 
Fr. Kevin Joyce completed his Ph.D. in Spirituality at the Catholic University of America.  
He served for many years as pastor of large multi-cultural parishes, director of a diocesan spirituality center, and presently serves at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in San Jose.

7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. St. Albert the Great Hospitality Center

21. Wednesday, February 20: Next S.O.U.P. Gathering

The soup caldrons have been fired up! Your next opportunity to join S.O.U.P. (Sharing Ourselves with Undernourished People) is Wednesday,  February 20, 5:45 p.m. in the OLR Hall.  Give it a try!  Just bring a bowl and spoon (and a good appetite) and contribute what you would have spent on dinner. Bring some cheese, crackers, bread or wine to share if you feel moved.  But do come!

Over the years this group has donated  almost $100,000 to local charities and to Father Jack Donald, a Palo Alto native who has transformed lives in Central America. He is part of the International Ministries of the Society of Jesus. The basic plan for SOUP is simple. Three families bring soup to the meeting and a few bring wine and juice. Each person brings a bowl and crackers or bread.  We have about an hour of good conversation and a simple dinner. At the end of the meal, each person donates what they would have spent at the market or dining out..  Again, over the years we have raised almost $100,000.

22. Weekly Stewardship Report: Thank You For Sharing God’s Gifts! 

February 3 (Week 32)

Offertory by Mass:
Sat, 5:00pm (SAG): $394 
Sun, 9:00am (SAG): $913 
Sun, 9:00am (OLR): $1,518 
Sun, 10:30am (OLR): $3,104 
Sun, 7:30am (STA): $994 
Sun, 8:45am (STA): $590 
Sun, 10:30am (STA): $407 
Sun, 12:00pm (STA): $356 
Mail + Online: $1,678 
Total: $9,954 (Weekly Goal: $12,000) 

23. Each Thursday: Mothers’ Prayers After 8:30 A.M. OLR Daily Mass

We are a small group of mothers gathering in Kerry’s Corner, the small room off the vestibule of OLR, to pray for our children.  Mothers Prayers is our name.  Mothers Prayers was started in England in November 1995 and has spread rapidly throughout the world with contacts in over 100 countries and has the approval, support and blessing of Christian leaders of all denominations. There are now thousands of groups around the world and we are one of them.  In a 20 minute prayer, we bring all the pain and the worries we have for our children to the Lord and we trust in His words 'Ask and you will receive'. Through this promise, the Lord is just waiting to take away pain and to bless and heal us and our children when we come to Him in Faith.

It takes place every Thursday morning right after 8:30am Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary Church, in Kerry’s Corner, and you are very welcome to join us. Questions? Call Isabelle at (408) 206-8079

24. Saturday, February 16: Fred Dietrich Memorial Mass 

Fred Dietrich passed away January 1, 2019.  There will be a memorial Mass celebrated on Saturday, February 16 at 2:00 p.m. at St. Thomas Aquinas Church.  All are welcome.

25. Human Concerns: February 16-17: Have A Heart Weekend

HAVE A HEART ❤️ weekend will take place in our parish on February 16 and 17. This year, cash donations will be collected to provide for a variety of client needs that arise over the year at our local Opportunity Center, 33 Encina, north of Town and Country Shopping Center. NOTE: Collection boxes are also available in the vestibules if you prefer to shop yourself and donate underwear and socks.  

Thanks to your generous donations in prior years, our parish has been able to provide sleeping bags, rain ponchos, thermal blankets, winter hats, men's and ladies underwear, warm socks and other similar items as needed. This is in addition to the Soles4Souls effort (separate boxes in each vestibule).

Human Concern Committee representatives will be available after each mass that weekend to receive cash donations. Checks should be made out to STA Parish with HCC/Have A Heart on the memo line.   

Background: Years ago, members of various Palo Alto Churches including of the Palo Alto Catholic Churches encouraged the Palo Alto City Council to build the Opportunity Center.  This was successful. Later it was discovered an ongoing need of residents was, and is, underwear.

The various Palo Alto churches started "Undie Sunday" to ask parishioners for cash donations to buy underwear.  A couple of our Catholic parishioners were very bothered about putting Underwear and Sunday in the same phrase.  It was decided in our parish to call the Sunday Have a Heart Sunday.

This Sunday is held as close to Valentine's Day as possible, no collection is made. Parishioners, mostly from the Human Concerns Committee, stand at the vestibules of the churches asking people to donate to buy needed underwear and sanitary supplies for the Opportunity Center.

We look forward to seeing you,
The Human Concerns Committee

26. Saturday, February 23: Merton Scholar Michael Higgins Coming

Save the date: Saturday, February 23, at 3:00 pm to hear a talk by Prof. Michael W. Higgins entitled “Thomas Merton and Martin Luther King: Prophets for Today.”  Location is the Menlo Park Recreation Center at 700 Alma Street in Menlo Park.

The TMC Spiritual Education Committee is bringing Professor Higgins from Connecticut to speak on Merton and Martin Luther King and what might have been had they had an in-person conversation, as they had hoped to do.  Higgins is Canadian-born and educated, a celebrated scholar, writer and gifted speaker. He is a leading biographer of Merton and of the Dutch priest-psychologist Henri Nouwen, a popular spiritual writer in the post-Vatican II years.  

In the meantime, we suggest you peruse one of Higgins’s many books; he has several biographies of Merton and a couple on Henri Nouwen, as well as volumes on the Jesuits, Catholic education, women and the church, saint-making, and the clerical sex abuse scandal. Most are available on Amazon or other used book websites.

27. Parish Fish Fest On Hiatus in February and March 2019

Fish Fest will be on hiatus for February and March in deference to the Crab Dinner (February)  and St. Patrick’s Day Dinner (March)  The Fish Fest team would like to encourage everyone to join these other fun parish events, and we will welcome everyone back for Fish Fest on Friday, April 15.





Outside The Parish 

28. TONIGHT: Friday, February 8: Free Concert at St. Lucy

I would like to invite you to attend the free concert that will take place on Friday, which will feature Sarah Hart, ValLimar Jansen, Rodolfo Lopez, and Estella Garcia-Lopez. A lot of work is going into preparing for this concert and the composers are really excited to be present to our diocese. We want to make sure that the church is filled for their performance!  It will be at St. Lucy Parish, 2350 Winchester Boulevard, Campbell, CA.

The concert will be on Friday, February 8 at 7pm. It will precede with a reception at 6pm. It is free and open to the public of all ages--all are welcome! The concert will be in English and in Spanish. 

So, please mark your calendars and encourage your friends and family to come to this concert. We want to have a strong turn out in appreciation for these artists who are making a special effort to share their time and talent with us.

If you have any questions, let me know. Otherwise, I look forward to being with you at the concert!

All the best,
Christopher Wemp
Diocese of San Jose, Worship Director

29. Does It Spark Joy? Applying Marie Kondo’s Lessons To My Faith Life

By Katie Waite on February 6, 2019

“Does this item spark joy?” I asked myself for the hundredth time, holding an old but well-loved T-shirt in my hands. Like many people around the country, I have been swept up by the “KonMari” method, Marie Kondo’s process of decluttering your home that started a worldwide trend first with her book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” and now with her Netflix show, “Tidying Up.”

But as I dutifully followed her advice by getting rid of things that didn’t “spark joy” (which, according to Ms. Kondo is akin to the feeling you get when holding a puppy), I started to ask myself, “What am I getting out of this besides bare kitchen counters and neatly folded socks?” Joy has to be more than the contentment of a tidy house. How could I simplify my life and my habits to spark joy in my faith? Once I reconsidered the question, the process became more valuable, and I realized the ethos of this diminutive Japanese woman whose folding methods have made headlines nationwide, actually has a great deal of relevance to our Christian beliefs.


30. Human Trafficking: No One Can Wash His Hands Without Being An Accomplice

FEBRUARY 07, 2019 16:46 by Anne Kurian 

“In face of this tragic reality, no one can wash his hands without being, in a certain sense, an accomplice of this crime against humanity,” stresses Pope Francis in his video for the month of February’s prayer intention against human trafficking.

“Although we try to ignore it, slavery is not something of another age . . . We can’t ignore that slavery exists in the world, as much or maybe more than before,” he laments in his video made public on February 7, 2019.

“The television news and written press talk about it every day. They are called economic migrants, refugees, illegal immigrants, “non-EU,” displaced, unaccompanied minors, caravans, or whatever you wish, very often forgetting that they are persons, one can read in the presentation of the intention given by the Pope’s Global Prayer Network. They are millions; they flee every day their lands because of war, famine, political and religious persecutions, situations of extreme poverty and all forms of abuse.”

“On the other hand,” laments the text, “what we don’t see, are the criminal organizations that profit from this, reducing men, women and children to slavery, by work or sexually, for the trafficking or organs, to exploit begging or delinquency.”

Father Frederic Foros, SJ, International Director of the Network, asks the question: ”In face of this human tragedy, in face of so much suffering, of disarray and anguish of men, women and children who are victims  of human trafficking and slavery, often in a context of migrations, what can we do? Denounce our complicity but also pray. The cry of a prayer, which comes from the heart, and of which the Psalms are an echo.”

“Pope Francis is intensely engaged in the fight against this scourge in its different expressions,” he continues, “In collaboration with Talitha Kum, the global network of consecrated life working against human trafficking, the “Migrants and Refugees” Section  of the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development, the Jesuit Refuge Service, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Apostleship of the Sea. The Pope’s Global Prayer Network joins the World Day of Prayer and Reflection against the Trafficking of Persons under the hashtag #TogetherAgainstHumanTrafficking.

This Day is observed on February 8th, anniversary of the death of Saint Josephine Bakhita

31. Trafficking Demands Action From All Of Us

NOTE: Today, Friday, February 8 is designated International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the International Union of Superiors General.

In 2004, for the first time, I met prostituted women who had survived and were moving successfully into recovery. I was awed by their stories, but more so by their strength, courage and resilience. How could anyone survive what they had experienced and still have hope? One told me, “God reached into hell and pulled me out.” I wanted to say, “Yes, but give yourself credit.”  She now operates a nonprofit, helping other victims and survivors. Another told me her buyer left her for dead in a motel. She has since earned an associate’s degree in nursing and secured employment. 

How did I meet them? At the time, I was responsible for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development grants, and one of our pastors asked if the nonprofit mentioned above would qualify for a grant. It did — every year for the next three, the maximum allowed by CCHD. I became a board member for the nonprofit, assisting them for five years and facilitating their receiving other grants.

When younger, these women were among those at great risk — runaway youth. The National Conference of State Legislaturecites studies showing that "youth age 12 to 17 are more at risk of homelessness than adults"; "one in seven young people between the ages of 10 and 18 will run away"; and "75 percent of runaways are female." If runaways or homeless youth are on the streets without a safe place to go, their abduction is likely within 48 hours, according to public safety officials. They often run from or are forced out of terrible home situations. Many believe nothing could be worse. Unfortunately, they are usually wrong.    


32. Find A Model Of Faithfulness In J.R.R. Tolkien’s Simple Spirit

By David Russell Mosley

A quiet life of faithfulness—in many ways—is the kind of life I hope to lead. I don’t desire to make a show of my faith; Jesus himself tells us not to.

I have always believed that a quiet life of faith is the best form of evangelism. When we truly live out our lives as Catholics doing what Catholics should do, that will speak more words than any of us could ever write on the subject. 

J.R.R. Tolkien, a man so intimately related to words and language and even fame and notoriety, lived such a quiet life of faithfulness.

When I was in college my goal was to be, and I quote, “the next C.S. Lewis.” At the time what I claimed to mean was that I desired to write the kinds of things he did, theology and fiction. What lay under that was the desire to be famous as he was. Most of my life since then has been a reminder that this lot is not for me.

Humphrey Carpenter in his biography on Tolkien describes a usual day in Tolkien’s life in Oxford. Carpenter wends in various domestic touches to give us a sense of being present in Tolkien’s home.

What I’ve always loved about the description Carpenter gives is the simple nature of Tolkien’s Mass attendance. Carpenter describes it as taking place on a saint’s day so Tolkien must wake early, wake his boys, dress—putting off shaving until later—and then ride on bicycles with his two boys to St. Aloysius Catholic Church three-quarters of a mile away. Tolkien often traveled to daily Mass in this way.


Our parish daily Mass schedule: 
7:15 a.m. St. Thomas Aquinas Church
8:30 a.m. Our Lady of the Rosary Church
12:15 p.m. St. Thomas Aquinas Church

33. Nuns and Nones: Unlikely Partners Tackle The Big Questions

Global Sisters Report Editor's note: In Part 1 of this series, Global Sisters Report focuses on the coming together of experienced Catholic sisters and young people identifying as "nones" — shorthand for the box they check next to religion. Women religious and millennials seeking meaning have become partners through a shared passion for social justice issues, community life, and their devotion to a greater purpose. These two groups have found that they are "more alike than not." 
______

As a college student in Michigan, Katie Gordon began exploring atheism and agnosticism, despite being raised Catholic. But a trip to Northern India awakened in her a new appreciation for spirituality.

After graduating with degrees in religious studies and political science, Gordon (then in her early 20s) spent four years in interfaith organizing hoping to learn firsthand from the faithful how to build a similar community for the nonreligious. She could see clearly what they had that she was missing: "the gift of intentional, meaningful community."

A few years later, Gordon read that women religious were in the process of selling their oversized properties, prompting her to write a column for the Grand Rapids Press in Michigan in early 2017. She suggested that nonreligious millennials (those in their 20s to mid-30s) ought to be consulted — not just around their own needs for community space, but so that their perspectives could be heard within religious institutions as well. This idea at the time, she said, "felt like a stretch."

To Gordon's surprise, a Dominican sister in the area responded by saying she'd be delighted to be in conversation with "nones" (shorthand for those who don't practice a particular religion).

  
34. Pope St. Paul VI’s Feast Will Be Celebrated May 29

By Courtney Grogan/CNA/EWTN News

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican announced Wednesday that Pope St. Paul VI’s feast day will be celebrated annually on May 29 as an optional memorial. (Wednesday, May 29 this year).

“Before and after becoming pope, St. Paul VI lived with his gaze constantly fixed on Christ, whom he considered and proclaimed as a necessity for everyone,” Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, commented on the papal decree.

With this declaration, published Feb. 6, the pope who guided the Church through the Second Vatican Council will have his memorial inserted into the renewed General Roman Calendar and liturgical books that he promulgated in 1969.

The date of the memorial, May 29, is significant as the ordination anniversary of Paul VI — then Giovanni Battista Montini — to the priesthood in 1920. Just four years later, Father Montini began his service to the Holy See, serving both Pope Pius XI and Pius XII. He was made archbishop of Milan and then a cardinal before being elected pope in 1963.

“A saint is someone who brings divine grace to fruition in what they do, conforming their own life to Christ. Pope St. Paul VI did this by responding to the call to holiness as a baptized Christian, as a priest, as a bishop and pope, and he now contemplates the face of God,” Cardinal Sarah wrote.

The feast day for canonized saints is typically chosen as the date of their death, or “birth to eternal life,” Cardinal Sarah explained, but Pope Paul VI died on Aug. 6, 1978, a date which is already celebrated in the Church as the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord.


35. Continuing Friday, February 15: Taize Prayer: Join Us Around The Cross in Fremont

Please join us from 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm monthly on Fridays on October 19, November 16, December 21, 2018, January 18, February 15, March 15, and May 17, 019 - Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose Chapel, 43326 Mission Circle, Fremont, CA 94539 (off Mission Tierra). For more information, please call 510-657-2468

36. Saturday, February 23: Wedding Anniversary Mass (Please pre-register by February 15, 2019)

Bishop Patrick J. McGrath and Bishop Oscar Cantú invite all couples celebrating their 1st through 5th, 25th, 40th and 50th (or more) Wedding Anniversaries in 2019 to participate in the Annual Wedding Anniversary Celebration Mass at the Basilica Cathedral of St. Joseph on Saturday, February 23rd. 

The couples will renew their wedding vows and receive a blessing from the Bishop. There will be a simple reception following Mass in Loyola Hall adjacent to the Basilica. Photographs with the Bishop will be available at the reception as well as an anniversary certificate and gift from the Office of the Bishop. The liturgy will be celebrated in English and Spanish.

 You can register for this event at Wedding Anniversary Mass Celebration or contact Christina at ch...@dsj.org or 408-983-0128. Please pre-register by Friday, February 15, 2019.

37. Beware: Scam Utility Calls Strike Again

The City of Palo Alto has received recent reports of fraudulent phone calls from scammers posing as the City Utilities Department. The callers demand payment and threaten to turn off power. Please be aware - the City does not conduct business in this way.  We never demand utilities account payment over the phone. 

Read more about what to do if you suspect a fraudulent phone call or scam:  https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/gov/depts/utl/news/details.asp?NewsID=2824

38. Readings for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, and Presider Schedules

Sunday readings in English: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/021019.cfm
Sunday readings en Español: http://www.usccb.org/bible/lecturas/021019.cfm

5:00 p.m. Saturday: St. Albert the Great: Fr. Michael (Fr. Stasys preach on ADA)  (Music: Chris Lundin)
7:30 a.m. St. Thomas Aquinas: Fr.  Stasys (Music: sing along with recorded music)
8:45 a.m. St. Thomas Aquinas: Fr. Larry Percell (Music: Yes )
9:00 a.m. St. Albert the Great: Fr. Anthony (Music: Chris Lundin and SAG Choir)
9:00 a.m. Our Lady of the Rosary: Fr. Stasys (Music: Ramon Perez and Hispanic Coro)  
10:30 a.m. Our Lady of the Rosary: Fr. Stasys (Music: Chris Lundin and OLR Choir)
10:30 a.m. St. Thomas Aquinas: Fr.  Anthony (Music: Instrumental Ensemble and Women's Choir directed by Paul Prochaska)
11:00 a.m. St.  Albert:(St. Basil the Great Byzantine Catholic Community): Fr. Anthony Hernandez
Noon: St. Thomas Aquinas: TBA (Music: Gregorian chant and Renaissance motets with St. Ann Choir)

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The eBulletin is an initiative of our parish Communications Board, whose ministry it is to improve communications in our parish.

As of today, our parish eBulletin is sent to 421 parish families! (closed (bouncing) accounts recently removed). Pass the word! Who will be Family No. 422? If you are interested in receiving the eBulletin on a weekly basis, send an email request to clu...@stanford.edu.  You will be added to "PaloAltoCatho...@googlegroups.com" which is used to send out the eBulletin each Friday morning.

Always Useful Information:
Parish Online Giving: https://www.myowngiving.com/Default.aspx?cid=357
Parish Elder Care Resources: Call/leave a message at the Pastoral Home Ministry (494-2496, ext. 22) Call a priest at the rectory at 327-8222
St. Thomas Aquinas Parish Online Calendar*: http://www.mychurchevents.com/calendar/calendar.aspx?ci=L6M7J4G1J4H2O9L6I3
Steeple Talk Newsletter: http://www.paloaltocatholic.net/index.cfm?load=page&page=202 (see left sidebar)
Diocese of San Jose: http://www.dsj.org/
The Valley Catholic (Diocesan newspaper: http://tvc.dsj.org
Diocese of San Jose EthicsPoint Hotline (1-888-325-7863) - to report financial misconduct
Diocese of San Jose Office for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults:  (408) 983-0113 or protection@ dsj.org
Vatican YouTube site: http://www.youtube.com/vatican
H20 Catholic News Service: http://www.h2onews.org/english.html
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops: http://www.usccb.org/
Daily Scripture reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/
Mass Times While Traveling: http://www.masstimes.org/txt/
Courage (same-sex attraction support group): 650-450-2286 or email grc...@sbcglobal.net 
Salt + Light Blog: http://www.saltandlighttv.org/blog
St. Vincent de Paul Auto Donation Phone number: 1-800-322-8284
Trafficking: National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 888-373-7888 (toll-free hotline 24 hours/day)
Trafficking: California Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking at 888-KEY-2FREEDOM. Texts can also be sent to “BE FREE,” or 233733.  (toll-free hotline 24 hours/day)
Catholic Charities (Diocese of San Jose): Elder Care Line and Homecare: (408) 831-0441
Catholic Charities (Diocese of San Jose): Senior Activity Centers, in San Jose and Sunnyvale (408) 270-4900
Catholic Charities (Diocese of San Jose): Behavior Health Clinic in downtown San Jose (408)-899-7160

* If you know of events or recurring meetings which should be added to the calendar, please send them to clu...@stanford.edu, and we will work to get the calendar updated. 

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