Updates From Fr. Mark

December 10, 2020
November 6, 2020
October 15, 2020
An Update From Fr. Mark On The Arise & Build Capital Campaign
The proposed new Mass schedule allowing the St. Paul Chong Korean Catholic Community to use St. Elizabeth Seton for Masses on Sunday has raised many questions about the Arise and Build Capital Campaign and the St. John Paul II Activity Center. With the exception that both these subjects involve the St. Elizabeth Seton campus, they are two are separate issues not related to each other. However, since many people are curious about where we stand with the capital campaign, I am happy to provide you the following update.

By way of refresher, the Arise and Build Campaign was launched in 2015. According to the original campaign brochure, it had as its goal to raise 10 million dollars. This money would be used for three purposes. These purposes were stated on the front of the campaign brochure in the following words:
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“Arise and Build: Our Campaign to revitalize St. Augustine and St. Elizabeth Seton, complete St. John Paul II Activity center, and support the Diocesan Campaign.”

We contributed $1.64 million to the Diocesan Campaign. That goal has been completed, leaving the other two goals, to revitalize St. Augustine and St Elizabeth Seton, and to complete the St. John Paul II Activity Center, outstanding.

As of September 30, 2020, we have in our campaign account $5,533,317.

If all outstanding pledges are met, we expect to raise a total of $6,323,317 for our use.

The original plan for completing the John Paul II activity center called for building four meeting rooms, a kitchen and a multi-purpose conference center. The estimated cost of this in 2015 was 5.7 million dollars.

As the Arise and Build Campaign progressed, construction costs underwent inflation. My predecessor in 2017 sought to reduce the estimated cost of building the Activity Center by eliminating some of its features and reducing it to 81% of its original size. Even with those steps, the new estimate for the Activity Center was 7 million dollars. This estimate is a few years old and the cost of construction has continued to increase.

The 7 million figure includes no money for the first stated goal of the campaign, to revitalize St. Augustine and St. Elizabeth Seton. In 2017, it was estimated that 2.6 million dollars would be needed for ADA and safety improvements to these campuses. It is reasonable to assume these costs have increased as well.

As mentioned above, if all outstanding pledges are met, we will raise $6,323,317 for our use.

The most common question asked is, “Will the Activity Center be built”? The answer is I do not know. Based on current numbers, it does not look like we will have the financial resources to build the 2017 reduced plan. However, there is always the possibility of selling land or finding additional revenue sources.

Even more so, we as a community need to decide what is the best use for the money we have collected. Even if we had the resources, do we wish to spend 7 million dollars or more to build five meeting rooms and a kitchen, or do we repair, bring up to code, modernize and beautify the buildings we already have? Is there a combination of these goals?

Let us continue to keep each other in prayer as we discern how to best be stewards of the resources entrusted to us.

Stay safe and well.

Peacefully,
Fr. Mark
October 7, 2020
August 26, 2020
July 16, 2020
July 2, 2020
June 18, 2020
June 5, 2020
May 14, 2020
May 7, 2020
March 18, 2020

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
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I hope you are doing well as we continue sheltering in place.  Even though our offices are closed, we have been working on ways to help provide spiritual support and comfort at this unique time.  I am happy to inform you of the following:
 
A Place To Pray:  St. Augustine Church is open daily from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. to give you a quiet place for prayer.  While we may not be able to gather there as a community, it is your faith home and you are welcome to visit if you wish and are able.
 
Drive-Thru Confessions: This coming Saturday, weather permitting, we will be offering confessions in our parking lot during our regular confession hours:  3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.  Parking attendants will be present to guide you.  Please enter through the East Angela driveway.  Fr. Luke and I will be available to celebrate the sacrament with you.  We invite you to drive up to the designated location, and we will stand six foot from your car to hear confession and give absolution.  For the sake of confidentiality, only one person per car please! 

Sunday Mass Webcast: We will be webcasting Mass on Sundays at 10:00 a.m.  You will be able to join us live on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/CatholicCommunityofPleasanton/.  The video will then be stored on our YouTube page and website for later viewing.  This will be our first effort at webcasting, and will be pretty rudimentary, but hope you will join us as we continue to journey through Lent. While you will not be able to receive communion, at communion time I invite you to make a spiritual communion by using the following prayer:
My Jesus, 
I believe that You
are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. 
I love You above all things, 
and I desire to receive You into my soul. 
Since I cannot at this moment
receive You sacramentally, 
come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You.
​Amen.
Also please let us know if you need any assistance with grocery shopping, prescription pick-up, or other small errands.  We have volunteers ready to assist.  If you would like some assistance, or would be willing to help those who need assistance, you can find more information on our website homepage:  www.catholicsofpleasanton.org.
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Rest assured we are keeping you and all your intentions in prayer.  Stay healthy.
 
Lenten blessings,
Fr. Mark

#10inToday?
March 17, 2020
March 16, 2020

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I am sure you have heard that effective midnight tonight, March 16, all Bay Area counties, including Alameda, will be under a “Shelter in Place” order. In cooperation with this order, and to help curtail the spread of the COVID-19 virus, we are taking the following steps at the Catholic Community of Pleasanton.
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  • All Masses are suspended until further notice. However, St. Augustine Church will be open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for those who wish to have a quiet place for personal prayer.
  • Our Lenten Reconciliation Service scheduled for March 19 is cancelled.
  • Regularly schedule Saturday confessions are suspended.
  • The Sacrament of Reconciliation will be offered on a case by case basis or if there is danger of death.
  • Anointing of the Sick will be celebrated only with those who are in danger of death.
  • All parish offices at both locations will be closed, and all staff will be working remotely. If you need to reach a staff member you may email them or call and leave a message and they will get back to you at their earliest convenience.
  • All other ministries and meetings are postponed or cancelled.

I invite you to visit our website, www.catholicsofpleasanton.org, where we will be posting more information as it relates to our community. We are planning to live webcast a 10:00 a.m. Sunday Mass for you to watch at home. This Mass will not be open for public attendance. We will also be providing additional spiritual resources on our website for your use.

Rest assured I, and my brother priests, will be keeping you in prayer. Please do the same for us.
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In the meantime, remain calm and do not fear. I know things feel surreal right now, and many are fearful and confused. God’s grace will see us through this difficult time, and we will journey together as we always have.

I’ll be in touch again soon.

​Peacefully in Christ,
Fr. Mark
March 14, 2020

Dear Brothers & Sisters,

We received the below memo from the Bishop this afternoon regarding the Coronavirus outbreak. Please note, the notice below applies only to parishes located in Contra Costa County. The Catholic Community of Pleasanton, located in Alameda County, will still have it's regular full schedule of Masses this weekend.

Peacefully,
- Fr. Mark
​March 13, 2020

Dear Brothers & Sisters,

We received the below memo from the Bishop this afternoon regarding the Coronavirus outbreak. You can read it by clicking on the button below. Please read it carefully. We will continue to offer our weekend and daily Mass schedule here at The Catholic Community of Pleasanton. The churches of the Diocese of Oakland remain open for all who wish to attend Mass. 

Peacefully,
Fr. Mark
​March 12, 2020

Dear Brothers & Sisters,

As you may have heard, yesterday Bishop Barber issued a memorandum with recommendations to be followed by the Diocese of Oakland.  I want to take some time today to let you know as fully as possible what we are doing here at the Catholic Community of Pleasanton to keep us all healthy and safe in this difficult time.  

Happily, Bishop writes the following:  

Our churches will remain open at this time, so that people may attend Mass and receive the sacraments.

For the Mass and any gathering that is still happening, we strongly encourage people to maintain a social distance (more than one arm’s length) as much as possible.

We will continue to offer our regular Mass schedule until further notice.  We ask that you continue to use the practice we put in place last weekend; no holding hands during the “Our Father”, no shaking hands at the Sign of Peace (a simple nod of the head or other such acknowledgement of those near you is appropriate), and we will not be offering the chalice at Mass.  If you receive communion on the tongue, we would ask you to consider receiving in the hand for the time being.  If you would still like to receive on the tongue, we ask that you please open your mouth wide enough to allow the minister to place the host safely on your tongue.

Among the Sacraments receiving special attention this time of year is the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  We have our second Communal Reconciliation Service scheduled for Thursday evening, March 19.  After some thought and discussion, we have decided to change the format of the service this year.   Instead of a service in which people sit next to each other, sing, etc. we will have more than 10 priests in St. Augustine church from 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. on March 19 to hear individual confessions.  We will use all our confessionals and create other “social distance” spaces, as well as have Exposition of the blessed Sacrament at the same time. If you wish to celebrate the Sacrament before Easter, I encourage you to come on March 19.  Currently we are still able to offer the sacraments, but if the situation worsens that may not be the case in the near future.

Bishop also writes:

Those over age 60 are encouraged to isolate themselves in an abundance of caution so as not to be exposed to the coronavirus. Those who are ill should stay home. This means the obligation to attend Mass for those over age 60 and for the ill is dispensed.

As I write this, we are investigating ways to live webcast one of our Masses each weekend so that those who are over 60 and/or ill and stay home can watch Mass. We will let you know when we have this up and running.  In the meantime, if you do not attend Sunday Mass, I would encourage you to find other ways to keep holy the Lord’s Day.  Weekend as well as daily Mass readings can be found here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/ Additionally, recorded reflections on the readings are available here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/ .  I invite you to spend extra time in prayer and make a “Spiritual” communion.  More information about how to make a “Spiritual” communion can be found here: https://catholic-link.org/spiritual-communion-can/ 

Additionally, Bishop instructs:

All social gatherings which can be rescheduled, postponed or cancelled, should be. This would include both fun events (such as fish fries) and fundraisers. It would also include voluntary adult faith formation events (i.e., adult Bible Studies).

As a result, we have taken these among other actions:
  • The St. Patrick’s Day Dinner scheduled this Saturday, March 14 has been canceled. Information from the Knights will following regarding g refunding purchased tickets.
  • All Faith Formation classes (elementary, middle school and high school) will not meet until April 1 at the earliest.
  • Bible Study has been postponed until the crisis has passed.
  • Stations of The Cross has been canceled for the remainder of Lent
  • Toddler Playgroup will not meet until further notice.
  • WINGS will not meet until further notice.
  • As a rule, meetings of every ministry are on hiatus until further notice. Ministries you are involved with will likely communicate with you regarding upcoming meetings and events.

I know this may be disappointing, but I appreciate your understanding during this time.

Obviously, this is a very fluid situation, and we will do our best to keep you up to date on what is happening in your parish as things unfold.  I am aware that some of our older parishioners may not be computer savvy and ask that you share this information with them as you are able.  In the meantime, let us keep each other in prayer, and pray for a quick end to the Corona Virus, as well as for calm and reasonable minds as we navigate these days.

If you would like to read the full text of the Bishop’s memorandum, it can be found at https://www.oakdiocese.org/news/update-march-11-2020 .


Peacefully,
Fr. Mark
February 10, 2020