Bishop Barber has made a number of temporary changes in response to the current corona virus outbreak.  You can read all of his guidance on the diocesan website oakdiocese.org.  They are near the bottom in the left-hand column.  There are several updates because the situation is very dynamic.

In response to the bishop’s direction, we here at St. Johns have done the following.

• We have removed the water from the baptismal font and the holy water fonts at the doors.
• We will not offer communion under both species.
• We are telling people to not hold hands while we pray the Our Father.
• We are telling people to not shake hands during the sign of peace.
• We are encouraging people to receive communion on the hand not on the tongue.
• We have implemented a more rigorous cleansing procedure.

We advise those who are sick to stay home from Mass.  We advise those who are medically high-risk to stay home from Mass.  The Sunday obligation to attend Mass is not binding for you.

We have a number of ministers of Holy Communion for the home bound.  While you and they are not quarantined, they can bring communion to you.  Call Larry Mundy 510 301-5027 or the rectory 510 232-5659 to arrange for a visit.  As the need for ministers for the home bound will grow, we need some additional parishioner to volunteer for this ministry.  Call Larry to help with this vital ministry.

Since the situation continues to change, you can look to see what Bishop Barber has directed or look for updates on our parish website, StJohnElCerrio.org.