Christ the King - St. Stephen Parish

www.ctkph.org

www.saintstephenparish.org

Parish Newsletter

"Staying Connected"

May 3, 2023

Dear Friends,

The month of May is here. It is a month dedicated to our Blessed Mother Mary. The pious practice of honoring Mary during May has been especially promoted by the popes. Pius XII made frequent reference to this devotion; one example can be found in his great Encyclical on the Sacred Liturgy, Mediator Dei. He characterized it as an “exercise of piety which although not strictly belonging to the Sacred Liturgy … nevertheless (is) of special import and dignity.”

Devotion to Mary is an important part of our Catholic identity. Our school children will celebrate Mass this Friday at 8.00am with the May Crowning, a beautiful tradition honoring Mary. At its simplest, the May Crowning is a ritual celebrated in May where a statue of Mary is crowned with a wreath of flowers - to honor Mary as Queen of Heaven and Mother of God. This simple ceremony carries deep meaning within our Catholic faith. While Mary, the Mother of God is revered and celebrated all year long, May is a special month to celebrate the “Queen of Heaven.” 

On May 25th, Thursday, we as a community will be honoring Mary by celebrating an “International Rosary” at Christ the King Campus. One Church. One common prayer. The International Rosary is a World Languages Prayer Service and a beautiful celebration of the universality of Catholicism. The Hail Mary prayers of the first 4 decades of the rosary are initiated in different languages and concluded in English. The 5th decade is prayed entirely in English. The service will begin immediately after our 6pm Mass – honoring Our Mother of Perpetual Help. And we shall pray the Luminous Mysteries, with hymns and commentaries.

Our Adult Faith Formation Committee will be sponsoring this devotion. If you speak one or multiple languages other than English, please call the parish office or email the office at office@ctkph.org. We will get in touch with you and let you know the process.

End of Life Decisions Teaching on May 30^th at 7.00pm in the Parish Hall:



Recently Dr. Terrence Heywood came to the rectory and helped Fr. Brian and me in updating our Advanced Medical Directives. We then uploaded it to Kaiser website. Today, if I go to the hospital, they have all the information they need. Everyone involved in a patient’s care should understand how a person’s history and cultural and religious background may influence expectations, needs, and choices at the end of life. The natural law and the Fifth Commandment require that all ordinary means be used to preserve life, such as food, water, exercise, and medical care. The following will be addressed at this meeting:

• Catholic Teaching on End-of-Life decisions – Fr. Paulson
• Preparing an Advanced Medical Directive with Forms supplied – Dr. Terry Heywood
• Preparing for one’s funeral – Forms supplied – Sr. Dominic
• How to go about taking care of your loved one, after he/she dies – Donna Bradshaw

I am happy to announce that we will be partnering with Hillcrest Church in ministering to the poor. I have had an amazing conversation with Pastor Kim and our Vincentians are already working on the process. I will be sharing more information this Sunday at all the masses.

Fr. Paulson

First Friday

Join us this Friday, May 5, for our

Monthly First Friday

Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament

(A time for quiet reflection and prayer)

Followed by Mass

Exposition at 5 pm followed by Mass at 6pm

Praying The Rosary

Monday, May 8 at 10:30am

Ministry Center Chapel

“Praying the Rosary: A Complete Guide to the

World's Most Popular Form of Prayer”

Join us for a discussion of Megan McKenna's book in which she explains how to pray it and explores its relevance for today. Megan prefaces each of the 20 mysteries with a selection from Scripture that identifies the prayer’s source in the Bible. Combining practical instruction with meditative reflections on the prayer’s spirituality, she reveals the Rosary’s richly contemplative nature and shows how praying the Rosary can inspire peaceful, calm attitudes, and an awareness of the universal spiritual mystery that connects all Christians.

"Living Christ: A Spiritual Reading of the Gospels"

Monday, May 15 at 10:30am

Ministry Center Chapel

Join us for a discussion of Peter Feldmeires "Living Christ: A Spiritual Reading of the Gospels.” If you have time, read Matthew's gospel and we will be discussing chapters 1 through 7. If you have questions, you can contact Jeannette Holmes at 925-286-1507. 

Helping the Poor in Our Community:

A Town Hall Meeting

Tuesday, May 23, 6:30pm

CTK’s Parish Hall

Please join the Christ the King - St. Stephen Parish community for a town hall meeting to discuss ways in which our community can support people in need, following the closure of our on-campus food pantry. 

Join us for a presentation by the St. Vincent de Paul staff regarding the needs of our community, and engage in a robust brainstorming session to explore ways in which we can answer the call to serve the poor. 

This meeting will serve as a listening session for the Parish’s Pastoral Council and the St. Vincent de Paul staff. We want to hear all of your ideas – big and small – about how we can support our brothers and sisters in need. 

All are welcome. For meeting logistics and facilitation, we need to know how many people plan to participate. Please register if you plan to attend here.

This meeting will be held in-person only; there will not be a virtual/Zoom option. 

If you have any questions, please contact CTK’s office at 925-682-2486.

The Hospitality Ministry is

looking for volunteers!

Volunteers with a warm smile and welcoming heart are always needed.

The Hospitality Ministry coordinates church-wide special events when requested by the Pastor or a member of his staff.

Responsibilities include:

         Arrange for food and supplies to be used at the event

        Decorate for the event

         Ministry team will serve as host and hostess

         Set up and cleanup for events

        Meet as needed to plan for the events

Ministry Contact:  Sherry Cartmill at shars41547@gmail.com

Congratulations to our newly baptized!

Welcome to Christ the King - St. Stephen Family!

Parents: Rachel & Austin

Baby: Rose Marie

Parents: Niki & Anthony

Baby: Matthew Peter

Congratulations to Valena Cervanates who

celebrated her quinceañera on Saturday.

ICF Meeting

Tuesday, May 16 at 6pm

CTK’s Parish Hall

Italian Catholic Federation members and interested parishioners are invited to our next ICF meeting. Before our meeting at 6 pm sharp, dinner will be served. The menu will be pesto pasta, Italian sausage, green salad and dessert. Cost is $15 for members $20 for non members, and children under 10 are 1/2 price.

Please RSVP by Friday, May 12. Call Juliette at (925) 899-3673 or email her at cotetj@yahoo.com. Hope to see you there!

5th Sunday of Easter

Welcome to our weekly reflections on

the Sunday Scriptures.



Had the past years taught them nothing? It didn’t seem so. What more “proof” could Jesus have given them in those last fleeting hours of his life, other than “the blind see… the lame walk… the poor have the gospel preached to them.”.  Read More

Parish Festival

Friday, June 2nd - 5pm to 9pm

and Saturday, June 3rd - 2pm to 9pm

Our theme will be "Let's Rock n' Roll CTK"

and it is sure to be a 'Rockin' good time! 

Festival tickets and wristbands are available for preorder at ctkfestival.org for a special discounted price.

Drink/Game Tickets can be used for Games, Drinks (Water, Soda, Beer, Wine and Margaritas) and Sugar Shack, and are available at the discounted price of $10 for 11 tickets; $25 for 30 tickets, $50 for 65 tickets and $100 for $140 tickets when pre-ordered. 

Wrist-bands work for one (1) child for Friday AND Saturday, and can be used for all the games (excluding Cake Walk, Wine Toss, and Salami Toss), and are available for the discounted price of $55 when pre-ordered only! We will only be using Square on the day of the event, NO cash please for Drink/Game tickets! 

There will also be lots of awesome food trucks & Knights of Columbus BBQing at the festival that will accept cash or credit.

We have plenty of Live Music, DJ, Talent Show and Much more to come....

Here are some areas where we could use your last minute generous support to help make Festival a success:

• Starbooks is back! We are currently accepting books for the Starbooks booth at the Festival. We accept clean and gently used books for adults and children in these categories: fiction, non-fiction, religion, travel, cooking, self-help, parenting, gardening, hobbies, sports, arts and crafts, mystery, romance, sci-fi, philosophy, arts, animals, politics and more. We also accept CDs and DVDs. Please drop off your book donations in front of the school office in the designated bin by Wednesday, May 31st. Please no textbooks, magazines, VHS/cassette tapes or encyclopedias. Please contact Suellen Noland at snnoland@hotmail.com with questions.
• Have extra gently used stuffed animals? Donate them for our popular Duck Pond Game! A bin will be placed outside the school office to collect them, the deadline is the morning of Friday, June 3.
• We are looking for some donations of creative kid-focused prize baskets to be used for festival prizes and/or for our silent auction. Basket themes could be around sports, popular hobbies/activities, vacation fun, or any theme you think will resonate with the kiddos. Please contact Madeira Fountaine at deiradeira@hotmail.com if you are interested in creating and contributing a fun themed basket.
• And for all you Bakers out there, get in on the Cake Walk fun! We would love to accept your delicious cookies, cakes, cupcakes, bars, banana bread, cake pops etc. as prizes for this family favorite. Please contact Jacqueline Hanley at jacchai@yahoo.com for further details if you are able to help.
• If you or someone you know is interested in sponsorship opportunities, please contact Stacy York at stacyleeyork@gmail.com.

Please email christthekingfestival@gmail.com with any questions.

To donate a one-time/on-line donation.

Or regular and/or second collections.

Readings for Sunday Mass Here

Links to our services (live or archived) can be found at ctkph.org

or by clicking the Facebook or YouTube images below.

Ongoing Services

Sacrament of Reconciliation - Private Confessions every Saturday from 3pm to 3:30pm, in the church.

Drive-Thru Holy Communion - Every Sunday 11:30am to 12 noon, in front of the church.

Thursday Mass - 6pm - Honoring our Mother of Perpetual Help, Rosary begins at 5:40pm, in the church. Worship Aide Here  (Also livestreamed).

Pope Francis

@Pontifex Apr. 30

Queen of Peace, instill in the hearts of peoples and their leaders the desire to build peace and to give the younger generations a future of hope, not war, a future full of cradles not tombs, a world of brothers and sisters, not walls and barricades.