Note from the Pastor 03/25/2020

[Chris Lundin]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Estanislao Mikalonis <estanislao...@dsj.org>

Subject: Note from the Pastor 03/25/2020

Date: March 25, 2020 at 2:18:30 PM PDT

 

As we all find ourselves navigating this unprecedented situation caused by the new coronavirus disease, COVID-19, I hope each of you are taking care of yourself and your loved ones. Your health and safety, as well as the health and safety of our families, partners, and communities are a top priority, and we are continuing to closely monitor the latest news and implement the recommendations of the CDC and County Health Departments.

 

To that end, I’m in constant communication with the Chancery, parish staff, Pastoral Stewardship and Finance Boards; to address the larger issues surrounding minimizing exposure and continuing to provide services.

 

We started streaming live mass on Sundays 11 am and will continue doing so every Sunday. After testing, Stanford Catholic community will start streaming their Sunday Mass on Sundays at 4.30pm from our Saint Thomas Aquinas Church. You may access to it through our or their website. Fr. Maurice has started sharing the Divine Mercy Chaplet and will stream it through Zoom every day at 3 pm. Access to all these through our webpage www.paloaltocatholic.net

 

We also started adoration at St. Albert the Great church every day from 9 am until Sunset. We cannot open the doors but people may say some prayers in the presence of our Lord through the glass doors. Remember to keep social distance and also adhere to the applicable sanitary precautions. Stay warm and dry.

Our parish Saint Vincent the Paul Society and the Human Concerns board continue to be active trying to reach out to those in need in our community. They do as much as they can respecting the limitations imposed by COVID. The parish, through their work, is being able to provide food, some rent support, clothes, hygiene packs, and other basic needs items.

 

We are now working in putting together a parish phone tree to be able to call all of you very soon. We hope we have your phone in our data base. If so, you may expect to receive a check in call from the priests, staff or Pastoral Counsel board members. We apologize if we don’t get to reach out to all. We have about 1,500 phone numbers. We want you to know that we are here for you. We continue praying for you and we want to know if there is anything else we could do during these difficult times. Please always remember you can get a hold of us using the emergency line posted on our webpage.

 

Personally I want to thank all those of your that reach out to me. Asked how am I doing. If I needed anything. Thank you so much for so much love. I try my best to support this loving community and I apologize if at times I may run short.

 

Finally, I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to each of you–you’ve all demonstrated an inordinate amount of resourcefulness, teamwork, and flexibility in continuing to help our parish during this time of crisis. You are doing God’s work!

 

In deepest gratitude,

Fr. Estanislao (Stasys), Pastor