April 15th, 2021
Dear St. Charles Family:
Here are our updates for this evening:
You may have heard that the state of California recently lifted the capacity restriction for places of worship. Please note that this only applies to worship services, and not for meetings, or for social events (which can currently only be held outdoors). The requirements for wearing masks and contact tracing remain in place. For more safety requirements please see the article below entitled "Coming to Mass: Welcome Home!"
Warning: Please be aware that "hackers" of local priest's e-mail accounts are at it again, and have recently used my name in direct messages asking parishioners for money or help. Rather than responding, you can mark these messages as spam, or contact our office if you have questions about the validity of these messages.
Because several regular weekday Communion participants now attend our weekday Masses in person, our Monday through Friday walk-through Communion distribution will be discontinued beginning next week. However, Sunday's walk-through Communion distribution will continue for the foreseeable future.
Blessings, everyone!
Fr. Kwame
Monthly Grief Support Group
Saturday, April 17, 2021
10:00 AM -11:30 AM on Zoom
This is an opportunity for anyone who has lost a loved one, to share their experience with others in a safe place. Expressing your feelings help to process what you are going through. Please join us.
If you have not attended before, need more information, or the Zoom link, please contact Claire La Scola at clairelascola@gmail.com or call 447-9800 to register. Claire is a retired nurse and psychotherapist.
Jesus Boost Podcast
This week's episodes are about MERCY
Episode 29:
Episode 29:
Oh, Happy Day! Jesus washed our sins away! Rejoice with me and celebrate our Savior
who opened the gates of heaven!
This enthusiastic episode shares
why holy week is called
The Passion of Christ, why our
The Passion of Christ, why our
hearts should sing with
praise and thanks, and steps
to live more joyfully
Be inspired and empowered each week! Jesus Boost invites you to connect with and tap into the infinite strength and unconditional love of God, available to everyone. There is so much beauty, joy, and power in knowing you are never alone and that Jesus is by your side on this journey. Jesus Boost is your reminder with honest, insightful commentary about modern-day situations, supported by scripture and words of wisdom from renowned leaders. Come away with a fresh perspective, a smile, and a wonderful, unique spiritual lift to help you greet life with renewed hope and strength.
4th Friday Bible Sharing (April 23rd) - Join us on Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85387633181?pwd=T1NyUDlweXRWNnBaTkRQNGhwY0d4QT09
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85387633181?pwd=T1NyUDlweXRWNnBaTkRQNGhwY0d4QT09
Meeting ID: 853 8763 3181
Passcode: 763341
Coming to Mass: Welcome Home!
We are excited to see so many people coming back to church in the wake of things opening back up. In light of the increased numbers and the still largely unvaccinated population of younger people in our parish, I would like to take a moment to review some ways St. Charles is working to help keep you safe:
• Contact Tracing: We are still requesting everyone to sign-up for Mass 24 hours prior to a celebration for the purposes of contact tracing.
• Temperatures: In the Orange Tier of re-opening, we are not taking temperatures at the door, but wish to remind you that if you are experiencing ANY symptoms to please STAY HOME.
•. Safe Seating: We have placed tape markers on the wooden pews in the church. These taped areas indicate where to be seated. If you see the tape, you may sit there. If you see a small line of tape in the middle of a pew, that is a seating area for one or two people only. If you see three lines of tape, please avoid that area, only if we are streaming a video. Those places are perfectly fine for the 5 pm and 11:30 am Masses, but during Daily Mass or 9:30, your head might be a bit more widely broadcast than you like.
•. Exiting the Church: After Mass has been dismissed, we will exit out the two south doors of the church to prevent gathering in the church for socializing and to keep the flow of the people going forward.
•. Smaller Numbers: While our Worship Space is quite large, for the purposes of safe social distancing given our layout, we are open to a bit less than 50% capacity. As we open more space for prayer in the days to come, we will do so with safety in mind always first.
•. Collection: We are not passing the collection baskets, but we will continue to have baskets on the altar and at the font for those who wish to make their donations in person. We always encourage Electronic Fund Transfers (EFT), but if you prefer a physical rather than digital offering, you may deposit in the baskets before and after the Mass, during walk-through distribution, or during the Preparation of the Gifts.
•. Separate materials: At this time no minister shares materials to avoid cross-contamination. Lectors, musicians, priests, and even the Deacons have their own binders and copies of things to prevent cross-contamination and each resource is sanitized and wiped down before the next group of ministers comes through. This is why we are still not producing Worship Aids.
•. Indoor Choir: Our outdoor choir members have moved inside, but we have a partition panel between the assembly and the choir, multiple air purifiers in the music area, and all singers are still required to wear masks when inside the building.
•. Walk-through Communion Distribution: We will continue to have a walk-through Communion distribution at this time. We know many of our parishioners are still awaiting vaccines, unable to receive the vaccine for medical reasons, and are aware many of our children are immune-compromised and have no suitable vaccine available to them. Until we are certain we can safely serve the most vulnerable in our parish, we will continue this option.
- Sanitation Efforts: The church is sanitized between services for the safety of our parishioners.
We are investigating other ways to serve our community in the days to come and will let you know as changes are occurring. Furthermore, we ask that you treat EVERYONE as a potential contaminant to your environment. Wear masks over your chin and nose, keep a bubble, and do not assume others are comfortable with being touched or penned in.
Until we worship without restrictions: we give praise to our God for the changes that have brought us this far, and we acknowledge the work still to do to bring us fully out of the grave.
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Community
1315 Lomitas Ave.
Livermore, CA 94550
