St. Thomas Aquinas Pastoral Home Ministry Mission: To offer spiritual and social support for the sick and homebound parishioners of all ages.
Many parish organizations and activities support and augment the sacraments and the Mass. Most of these activities take place at Church assemblies. The Pastoral Home Ministry brings the Church and its blessings to Catholics when they are unable to get out or have difficulty in getting to the Church gatherings. The Pastoral Home Ministry's support and services are available to parishioners of any age who cannot easily get out to Church. We currently have 37 parishioners who have completed training and are either now visiting or are waiting to visit someone in the parish.
Among the services we provide are:
- Bring communion to individuals
- Provide communion service to groups at retirement and nursing homes.
- Bring the bulletin and share what is going on in the parish.
- Visit socially with the parishioners and get to know & support them and their family.
- Transportation to Mass.
- Reading to the shut-in, or writing a letter for them and other small errands.
- Observe the needs of our clients and provide information on various services available.
- Help arrange a priest to visit for confession or anointing.
We are knowledgeable about and can recommend services such as: Avenidas; the Senior Center with its many programs, courses and services; the Palo Alto Center for the Blind; Outreach transportation services; and Kara Grief Counseling services. We also write to the family after a funeral and inform them of grief support and social services available.
So, if a member of your family has to be at home for a period of time for surgery recuperation, pregnancy complications, or accident, or confined for any other reason, please call the Pastoral Home Ministry at the Pastoral Center and leave a message. We will respond to you as quickly as possible and do our best to meet your needs. For your convenience there are small blue cards about our services in the vestibule of each of our churches. Please call the Pastoral Center for further information.
Revised 8/2007