Parish Pay

Would you rather not write a check every week for your Sunday offering to the church, or search for your envelope? St. Clare Parish is part of the Parish Pay program, as are many of the parishes in this Diocese, and many parishioners take advantage of this service. This program provides you the opportunity to automatically deduct your church offering, once a month, from your checking or other account at your bank. Parish Pay notifies the parish each month by e-mail that your offering has been given, and the parish posts that amount to your account information in our database so that it will show on the year-end statement sent to you by the parish.

You can register for this program by logging on to www.parishpay.com and clicking on "Start Giving Now". You can then specify "St Clare Parish". Our Parish ID is 15532. Please call the Parish Office with any questions.

Diocese of San Jose
Office for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults

The mission of this Office is to rededicate the Diocese of San Jose to the safety, care and nurturance of our children, youth, and vulnerable adults; to promote outreach, healing and reconciliation to survivor/victims of clergy abuse, to guarantee an effective and efficient response to allegations of sexual misconduct, to restore trust, and to ensure our own accountability with oversight, transparency and training. For confidential questions or information, please call (408) 983-0113.

Addressing Elder Abuse

Recently, clergy of all denominations met to discuss the growing problem of elder abuse. Health officials estimate that across the United States, about 500,000 to 5 million cases of elder abuse happen every year. Of these, between five and twenty percent are reported to authorities.

“It is a silent and hidden problem, a major social tragedy that affects every one of our communities,” said Rabbi Blum, keynote speaker at the Clergy Summit on Elder Abuse. Rabbi Blum, a physician, said that elder abuse cuts across “all races, ethnicities, socioeconomic levels and religious affiliations.”

Although physical abuse exists among the elderly, a “quieter” problem is financial abuse. Blum said that one out of six elderly people are victimized by caregivers, family members, or unscrupulous salespeople.

Anyone who suspects elder abuse can contact Santa Clara County’s Adult Protective Services at (408) 975-4900 or (800) 414-2002.

Statement of Bishop Gerald R. Barnes
Chairman USCCB Committee on Migration

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has consistently advocated for a just and comprehensive immigration reform bill. We have significant reservations about the compromise immigration proposal announced in the U.S. Senate. We believe it is important, however, that the legislative process move forward, so that improvements can be made to the legislation.

Specifically, Congress should ensure that any final legislation contains a legalization program which is workable and includes family unity and a fair and realistic path to citizenship, a new worker program which provides participants a meaningful opportunity to obtain permanent residency, and the preservation of family unity as an integral part of the U.S. immigration system. We intend to pursue changes in these important areas.

We urge the congressional leadership to ensure that the regular legislative process is honored, and that amendments to improve the legislation are permitted and given due consideration.

Immigration is an important domestic issue facing this country. Congress can no longer wait to repair our seriously flawed immigration system. We look forward to working with our elected officials in Congress to enact a law which both protects the basic human rights and dignity of persons and serves our national interest.

Wanted: Couples To Share Their Sacrament With Engaged Couples

Do you believe in the Sacrament of Marriage? Are you looking for a ministry to do together that will strengthen future marriages as well as your own? The Catholic Engaged Encounter Program needs your support now! Engaged Encounter serves as a marriage preparation weekend workshop, and is required by the Diocese of San Jose for all couples planning to marry.

This, in turn, is a nice, relaxing retreat for you as a couple working the weekend, which is paid for you by CEE. If interested in joining us, call Anita and Buzz Bickham at (408) 224-5941. You will be glad you made the call.

Visits To The Sick

The Parish Priests would like to be sure that all of the sick and homebound of our parish community are visited regularly. Please call the Rectory Office and leave a message if you wish to be visited, or give the name, address and telephone number of others that you know who would like to have a visit by a priest.

The Rectory contact information is shown on this page.

Chaplain Services at O’Connor Hospital

If you or a friend or family member are admitted to O’Connor Hospital, please be sure to either notify our parish yourself, or ask Chaplain Services to notify us. Unless you do this, or request this be done, the hospital is bound by confidentiality rules to not reveal to anyone who is admitted to the hospital.

Holy Communion is distributed daily at the hospital by volunteer Eucharistic Ministers to all Catholic patients. Mass is celebrated at the Hospital Chapel Monday through Saturday at 12:00 Noon, and on Sundays at 2:00pm.

High School Students Needing Service Hours

If you are a high school student and are in need of Service Hours for service to your community, please consider contacting Joe Bauer at St. Justin Community Ministry. Mr. Bauer is currently in need of help in serving the poor and homeless at various times. Please contact him at (408) 983-0360.

Advertising in our Parish Bulletin

The advertising on the covers of our bulletin pays for the cost of publishing our bulletin and providing our parishioners with a bulletin every week, at no cost to the parish. Please support our advertisers and let them know you saw their ad in our bulletin.

If you would like to place an ad in our bulletin, please call the J. S. Paluch Company at (800) 675-5051. St. Clare Parish is Bulletin #519104.

Catholic Charities Foster Grandparents Program

This program is looking for people over age 60 who are willing to give love and attention to children with special needs in the community. Participants must be on a limited retirement income, be in good physical health, and be able to work four hours a day. A small, non-taxable stipend is available. If you have good English skills and twenty hours per week to give to help a child, contact Teresa Wong at (408) 325-5158.