It is time to once again welcome our young people receiving one or more of the Sacraments of Initiation during the Easter Season. At our Easter Vigil on March 31st, six of our young people were baptized, and along with two others, were confirmed and received 1st Eucharist. This weekend at the St. Albert The Great Church 5:00 pm and Our Lady of the Rosary 10:30 am Masses, twenty-three more young people will receive their 1st Eucharist.

Katia Reeves, a member of the creation care team at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, in Palo Alto, California, added another first step is to check with your city or county to see what recycling and composting programs they offer. She admits their waste reduction efforts would be hampered without the city of Palo Alto's zero waste program, which provides pick-up for composting and recycling. In addition, California law requires businesses to recycle.

Congratulations to St Elizabeth Seton School for their recognition of “Community Spotlight” by Palo Alto for their work implementing Zero Waste best management practices around campus, among staff and students alike. By setting up and using waste stations in lunch areas and classrooms, the school increased their diversion rate from 67% to 87%. Diversion rate is the amount of material recycled or composted and therefore diverted from the landfill. On top of protecting the environment, these Zero Waste efforts have also resulted in the school saving money on their service fees! Well done!

The Fifty-fifth World Day of Prayer for Vocations once again proclaims this good news to us, and in a decisive manner. We are not victims of chance or swept up in a series of unconnected events; on the contrary, our life and our presence in this world are the fruit of a divine vocation! Even amid these troubled times, the mystery of the Incarnation reminds us that God continually comes to encounter us. He is God-with-us, who walks along the often dusty paths of our lives.

March Averages 2018 - Offertory by Mass (per week): Sat 5:00pm (SAG): $911 Sun 9:00am (SAG): $1,369; Sun 9:00am (OLR): $1,249; Sun 10:30am (OLR): $2,057 Sun 7:30am (STA): $1,058; Sun 8:45am (STA): $874; Sun 10:30am (STA): $515 Sun 12:00pm (STA): $328 ; Mail: $487 ; Online Giving: $2,966 Total: $11,814 (Goal: $12,000) - Total 2nd Collections in March: $17,992 Total March Collections: $16,312 (weekly)

I joined our Diocese’s volunteer group for Restorative Justice over a year ago. We go to our local jails and either hold Bible Study or hold distribution of Holy Communion and a celebration of the Word. I was led into this work after being summoned to jury duty and subsequently thinking about the men, women and children in our jails. My final push came after reading Pope Francis’ call to go out to the edges of our community.

Friday & Saturday, May 11 & 12 at St. Francis of Assisi Parish (San Jose). For more info, visit: BLESSEDISSHE.NET/WILD

Mothers Prayers was formed to help those mothers who wished to pray together for their children and grandchildren and to find the support they need. We pray together at Our Lady of the Rosary, every THURSDAY morning, at 9:00 am​, after morning mass. Any question, contact Isabelle Peltier [email protected]

Pledged: $185,532; Pledges: 285 * Average Pledge: $656; Potential Rebate: $45,532. We have reached our parish goal by Easter. Thank you so much for your support for the ministry of Bishop McGrath and our parish. Every dollar pledged and paid will continue to be rebated back to our parish. Use your Visa or MasterCard, make an Electronic Funds Transfer from your checking account, or donate online at dsj.org.

On March 6th, Spirituality Tuesday hosted an evening on prayer and contemplation introducing a method called Centering Prayer. At the conclusion of the meeting, we discussed getting together after Easter and continuing the dialogue and reinforcing our prayer practice. If you are interested in coming together again and if others who weren’t present on the 6th would like to join us, please email me and I’ll coordinate a time and place to meet. I hope we can continue the conversation. Pat Clough - Email: [email protected]

Those Celebrating Full Christian Initiation: Nadia Carey, Caden Domingo, Jacob Domingo, Peyton Eng, Sarah Eng, Rafael Frans, Adam Hotchkiss, David Kim, Jin Lee, Nicholas Provost, Peter Saldaña; Previously Baptized Catholics Celebrating the Sacrament of Confirmation and/or First Eucharist: Rachel Eng, Maya Lopez. We wish to acknowledge and thank their sponsors, catechists, parents, and indeed, the entire parish community who have supported these our brothers and sisters through prayer and witness. May we truly welcome them to our Church and our parish.