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Christ and the Samaritan Woman. Sant'Apollinare Nuovo - Ravenna. Public domain.
March 15, 2020
Catholic San FranciscoAmid what he called the “deafening silence” of a vibrant parish community nearly shut down by the coronavirus, Father Tom Martin, pastor of St. Pius Parish in Redwood City, said the crisis is a time to give thanks for God’s grace and for the blessings of solidarity with one another.
“To walk around in the silence has been particular difficult,” Father Martin said from the altar in a March 14 video message posted on Facebook, noting the absence of the hundreds of K-8 and preschool children who normally fill the parish with activity.
“The silence has been deafening,” he said. “It has also been a time of stopping and pausing and reflecting with much gratitude [on] the blessings that God continues to give to us as a parish community. We’re a vibrant and live parish – truly dependent on one another.
“It’s fitting that we’re experiencing the Gospel reading today is one of healing hope and reconciliation,” he said, reflecting on the grace the Samaritan Woman in John’s Gospel received in her encounter with Christ at Jacob’s Well.
Also on March 14, San Mateo County directed that public or private gatherings be limited to fewer than 50 people through April 6. The county strongly urged that precautions against exposure to the coranvirus be implemented even in settings exempted from the order, including houses of worship, where persons in groups are urged to remain an arm's length apart.
The number of coronavirus cases in San Mateo County rose to 32, with 150 in the Bay Area.
Father Martin offered prayers and condolences to those who have lost their lives to the pandemic, and gave a special thanks to health care workers.
He thanked parishioners for their phone calls of support, and credited parish audiovisual team volunteers John Philpott, Raul Velez and Ryan Herbst with setting up the capacity for Masses to be livestreamed starting with the 9:30 and 11:30 Masses Sunday, March 15.
St. Pius will continue to hold all regularly scheduled Masses and confessions.
“Note that based on Archbishop Cordileone's latest communication, ‘people who are ill and those whose condition of health makes them especially vulnerable to infection by the COVID-19 virus are already, because of their situation, exempt from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass. In addition to this, for those who are healthy but feel anxiety from fear of contracting the virus in a large public gathering, I hereby dispense them from the obligation of attending Sunday Mass,’" the parish announced.