Dear Friends and Devotees of St. Joseph Vaz (1651-1711), Apostle of Kanara (India) and Sri Lanka:
Churches holding Easter Sunday services and hotels with many tourists and visitors were bombed in Sri Lanka this time last year resulting in a tragic loss of life including children and devastating injuries to survivors.
We invite you to join us in remembering these many bombing victims and their families at the 11 a.m. Mass on Sunday April 26 at Oakland’s Cathedral of Christ the Light in California.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Mass is a closed Mass and not open to the public.
But all are invited to join the live stream of the Mass on the website of the Cathedral of Christ the Light https://www.ctlcathedral.org/ at the link to the Cathedral’s Facebook page at facebook.com/ctlcathedral.org
Last year, The Most Reverend Michael C. Barber, SJ Bishop of Oakland offered Easter Mass for the victims of this tragedy and generously sent the collection to Cardinal Ranjith of Sri Lanka to help the Sri Lankan recovery effort. Once again, Bishop Michael C Barber will preside over the April 26th Mass. We would like to thank the new Rector of Cathedral of Christ the Light, Rev. Fr. Brandon Macadaeg who has been very helpful in organising this Mass.
We are also asking your prayers for the victims of the coronavirus pandemic, their families and all the healthcare workers at the forefront of the effort to save lives. In a similar situation of an epidemic without a cure and without any known medical protection for health workers, St. Joseph Vaz worked for two years during the smallpox epidemic of 1697-1698 in Kandy, Sri Lanka, tending to the abandoned victims, with only one other Indian priest to help him.
We pray for all those who have died and for the healing of other victims of these human tragedies through the intercession of St. Joseph Vaz!
We ask for your practical help in donating, making masks and gowns, contributing to food pantries and the many social services which are needed.
For any further inquiries about the live stream of the Mass on April 26th, 2020 please E-mail us at [email protected]