Parish Newsletter

December 14, 2022

Staying Connected

Dear Friends,

This weekend is the fourth and last Sunday of Advent, before we celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas. This fourth Sunday carries the theme of love which can be seen as the culmination of what we learn about God throughout this season. When the Father sends his own Son to us, we are given a revelation of who God is in his inner being. “God is Love.”

The statement that “God is love” means that God, in his very being and character, is love and the very source of love. There is no other source of love to draw from. Joseph takes center stage this Sunday, and he shows us how this love of God, this non-judgmental love of God can be lived in our lives.

When Mary became pregnant with Jesus, it was surely a terrible shock to Joseph. Though he and Mary were betrothed, meaning they had given public and binding vows to each other, they had not yet lived together as man and wife. The only logical conclusion Joseph could reach on his own was that Mary was pregnant by another man – in other words, that she had committed adultery.

Proved adultery was punishable with death by stoning under the Mosaic law. The Gospel of Matthew explains that Joseph was a “righteous man, yet unwilling to expose [Mary] to shame” so he decided to “divorce her quietly.” This indicates that although Joseph generally respected the law, he did not want to subject Mary to derision, judgment, and possible death. Though we don’t know a lot about the logistics of what it means to divorce someone “quietly” at this time, it presumably means that Joseph intended to dissolve their union with as little fanfare as possible. It’s clear that he had no desire to see her publicly humiliated or put to death for what he believed to be her transgression.

Catholics don’t seem to use the word righteous much. You rarely hear us talking about striving to be righteous or admiring someone for his or her righteousness. Yet Jesus talks about righteousness quite often. In the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:3), in fact, he all but dwells on it: “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” and “Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness. ” Later, Jesus says, “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:20), and “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Mt 6:33).

For Joseph, righteousness was not just about doing the right thing, but also about doing it the right way. In this one brief statement about Joseph, who decided to send Mary away without disgracing her, we find the essence of what it means to be righteous. It turns out that righteousness, far from being a cold, calculating devotion to justice, is a warm, faithful virtue that always seeks merciful justice and just mercy.

In years past, there was a bumper sticker I saw fairly frequently, “Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.” I don’t see it as much as I used to. This season of love calls us to compassion and kindness. Kindness is the quality of being friendly, generous, considerate and treating people with respect. The opposite of kindness is someone behaving in a way that is mean, selfish, rude, disrespectful, or violent. Let us practice random acts of kindness in commemoration of our God of Love. God shows his love, not with great speeches, but with simple, tender acts of charity.

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” Dalai Lama. 

Fr. Paulson

Join us for our Annual Advent Reconciliation Service

This Saturday, December 17 at 3pm or

Monday, December 19 at 7:15pm

St. Stephen Church - Friday, December 16 at 6pm

Come and experience the healing power of the

Sacrament of Reconciliation as we prepare our

hearts for Christmas.

You are invited to the Filipino tradition of nine novena masses leading up to Christmas

December 15-23

6pm Mass

The Filipino Society of Christ the King cordially invites you to join in the celebration of "Simbang Gabi", a nine-day novena in preparation for the birth of Jesus, at Christ the King Church from December 15th to the 23rd.  Mass begins at 6:00 p.m. every night. Mass on Thursday Dec. 15, will be held in the parish hall. A celebration of gratitude will be held after the last mass on the 23rd in the parish hall. For those who are unable to attend, each of the masses will be livestreamed. For additional information, please contact Maritess Baula (925-899-9078) or Imelda Santos (925-623-7340).

The outdoor 3pm Christmas Eve Mass will take place on the lawn.

Please dress warm and bring your own chairs.

If it rains we will bring mass inside the church and gym.

Masks are encouraged inside.

St. Stephen Church

Celebrate The Feast of St. Stephen

Tuesday, December 27 at 5:30pm Mass

Followed by a potluck in the parish hall

(Please note date change) Flyer can be found here

If you are able to help out with ushering at our Christmas Eve or Christmas Day Masses, please contact Jack Murphy at

 jmurph818@aol.com.

We would be very grateful if you would donate some larger poinsettia plants for our church decorations. Please drop them off during the week of December 19 and bring them to the church. You may put the name of your loved one in our Remembrance Book.

Thank you to all who attended our celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe mass on Sunday. It was a wonderful evening!

Congratulations to all our children who received their First Reconciliation on Saturday!

Congratulations to Valeria Medina who celebrated her quinceañera on Saturday.

Your are invited to Fr. Timoney's

92nd Birthday Celebration!

Thursday, January 12th

St. Stephen Church and Parish Hall

5:30pm Mass Followed by Wine Tasting

See Flyer for more information here

To support St. Vincent de Paul, please bring bags of groceries!

Below are the requested items.

Please only bring groceries from the list.

Normal Sizes only

No giant sizes, no glass

Any kind of canned vegetables, Any kind of canned beans, Pasta, rice, dried beans, Canned fruit, tuna, soups, Tomato sauce, Peanut butter and cereal

Drop off bags in front of the church through

Friday, December 16.

Thank you for your generosity!

Do you have a car, truck, RV or boat

you would like to donate

before the end of the year?

Christ the King and Car Donation Services, located in Martinez have teamed up to provide an easy way to donate a vehicle (running or not). Proceeds from all vehicle donations will go to CTK. It will be a tax donation to you! Call 888-686-4483 or visit their website at: www.cardonationservices.com to start the easy process. CDS takes care of all aspects of your car donation, allowing you peace of mind that the transaction will be completed efficiently and properly.

Amazon donates 0.5% of the price of your eligible Amazon Smile purchases to the charitable organization of your choice.

Support Christ the King Church this holiday season by shopping online at Amazon Smile.

Visit smile.amazon.com. Sign-in with your Amazon.com normal sign-in.

 Select your charity by searching for

Christ the King Church Pleasant Hill.

Start shopping!

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Welcome to our weekly reflections on

the Sunday Scriptures.



Immanuel means “God-with-us.” This prophecy about a young woman “of marriageable age” giving birth is one of the most important in the Scriptures. Still, it does leave some important questions unanswered. Read More

Join Fr. Paulson on an incredible tour of Africa (Cape Town, Victoria Falls, Nairobi, Lake Nakuru and Masai Mara National Park).There is an additional package of Madagascar for those who want to continue for another 7 days. The trip will take place in June, 2023. For more information please contact the Parish Office.

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

Or regular and/or second collections.

All Masses are Inside the Church. - Face Masks are encouraged.

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).

Prayer for the 4th Sunday of Advent



O God of Elizabeth and Mary,

you visited your servants with news

of the world's redemption

in the coming of the Savior.

Make our hearts leap with joy,

and fill our mouths with songs of praise,

that we may announce glad tidings of peace,

and welcome the Christ in our midst. Amen