Parish Newsletter

February 1, 2023

Staying Connected

Ministering to our Youth:

Continuing our Parish Journey Post Pandemic and Beyond

Dear Friends,

I will be spending this Saturday evening with our young people, on their retreat at Occidental Retreat Center in rural Sonoma County. I will join them there for Reconciliation and Mass, then set them up for an evening of Eucharistic adoration and prayer. I always look forward to and treasure this time away, to get to know our young people better!

As we all emerge from the pandemic, our dedicated, Faith Formation Team continues trying myriad options to reconnect and re-engage with our parish young people. We are truly delighted that over 50 Confirmation candidates are traveling on this faith journey in 2023. Our 50 candidates will be joined by another 30 candidates from St. Agnes in Concord, with whom we have a close connection in our deanery of nearby parishes. We often do joint sessions here at CTK, including Sunday Night Masses.

Investing in our youth is critical in growing our Body of Christ. Teaching young people in our Church how to grow in their relationship with the Lord prepares them to serve Christ in all they do. One of the highlights of our Youth Ministry is our vibrant, Sunday evening Teen Mass, well attended by our youth. Currently the Sunday 4pm Mass is one of the best attended Masses at CTK, even exceeding pre-pandemic times. The Mass is “youth-led” with Confirmation candidates involved as Ushers, Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist, Lectors and an amazing Teen band with multiple instruments and voices. This Youth-led Mass is the central focus of our Youth Ministry because it integrates the youth community with the rest of the parish community. Before the final blessing, our candidates are invited to the front for a special blessing by the celebrant, the prayers of the congregation, and sent forth in a solemn way for their sessions which follow. The entire community joins in that important show of support, and the sending forth.

Soon, our Junior High Youth Group will travel to the Abbey of New Clairvaux in Vina, CA. to observe and understand the role of monastic life. Our High School Youth Group is amidst preparations to offer a Lenten, off-site retreat at St. Stephen.

While we know there is no single path to engage our youth more fully in our church, our enthusiastic Youth Minister, Mike Aliscad continues his amazing ministry with our teens. Under his direction, 30 young people decorated our church and campus for Christmas, cleaned the surrounding areas, and arranged seating for the outdoor Christmas Mass. Together, they set up Christmas trees and the Manger Scene both in the church and outdoors. After Christmas, they returned to help with further cleanup and the big job of returning the meadow to its use as school playground. We are grateful for their service.

Our teenagers today lead very busy, highly scheduled lives between school, extracurricular activities, and part-time jobs. Finding time for additional activities is always a challenge! Performing community service offers many benefits for young people before, during, and even after their high school years. The benefits of volunteering can have a holistic effect on students’ lives—professionally, educationally, spiritually, and personally.

In 2023, our Youth Ministry is leveraging partnerships with different organizations and parishioners to offer a wide variety of programs that we pray our youth, and their families will find valuable, meaningful, and lead them to realizing God’s plan for them. We’ve started “Service With Enthusiasm And Teamwork” (SWEAT), a service ministry partnering with the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano and the St. Anthony Foundation in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District. Our year-round partnership offers service opportunities at both locations monthly, year-round. (Pictured: Mike Aliscad, Rosa Panelli and Deacon John Ashmore).

In partnership with American Red Cross, which now rents a small area on our campus, we are offering age-appropriate disaster preparedness courses. Our age breakdowns are Grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and high school. In tandem with the younger grades, we will be offering a “Be Red Cross Ready” course simultaneously for their parents.



Third, we are partnering with parishioners that have specific skill sets to offer financial literacy (offered by a member of our finance committee) and summer employment and interview tips (by a parishioner in the HR field). These offerings will be ready in the spring in time for teen summer employment.

Again, while we know there’s no single path to engagement and spiritual growth with our youth, we continue our enthusiasm, dedication, and prayer toward an ever more vibrant faith community. If you have ideas to add to the mix, please share them with me, Deacon John Ashmore, or our Youth Minister, Mike Aliscad.

Please pray for their growth in the Lord!



Fr. Paulson

The Feast of St. Blaise

We will have the

“Blessing of Throats”

in honor of St. Blaise on

Friday, February 3 at the 9am Mass.

Join us for our monthly

Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament

Friday, February 3

5pm to 6pm

This will be a time for quiet prayer and meditation

Mass to follow at 6pm

The CTK School Auction is coming up on

Friday April 28, 2023!

As always, you are welcome to attend as we’d love to enjoy the fun-filled evening with you. More info on ticket sales to come in February. Read More

We are BACK! Save the Date!

Come join us for the 2023 CTK CYO Crab Feed!

March 11, 2023

CTK's Gym

Tickets can be purchased here

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Welcome to our weekly reflections on

the Sunday Scriptures.



In this continuation of Matthew’s “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus clarified the behavior and mission of those he called to be the light of the world. In doing so, he made clear the primary vocation of his committed followers. Read More

Sunday, February 5th, we

Remember the 4 year death

Anniversary of Fr. Brian Joyce

An excerpt from one of his 4 minute

homilies on November 4, 2001:

"But have you noticed we Catholics still pray for the dead – why is that – I don’t think it’s really to get our loved ones an early pardon from purgatory or to help them escape from a divine “lock up.”

- Praying for the dead is a Catholic way of saying that their life goes on;

- Praying for the dead witnesses to a communion and solidarity that we continue to gently hold on to one another even after death by faith and by prayer;

- Praying for the dead is both a human and Christian way of saying “we do not forget,” “we will not forget."

- And, finally if our day to day experience of life is any indication, whether before or after death, there is constant change, growth, ongoing dynamic blossoming

– so we pray that our loved ones may continue to grow and to advance in bliss and in

joy until one day, with their rough edges gone and our rough edges made smooth, we will all meet again."

Italian Catholic Federation Meeting

Sunday, February 12

12 Noon

All are invited to a very special meeting of the Italian Catholic Federation on Sunday afternoon, February 12 at 12 o'clock noon in Rooms A and B of the Parish Hall.

We will have a presentation about the life of St. Francesca Cabrini, the first American to be canonized a saint.

Our guest speaker will be here from Southern CA and is a renown authority on Mother Cabrini's ministry to the Italian immigrants in America. Following her talk, we will have a pot luck lunch of "finger foods," followed by a short business meeting of our ICF branch. All are welcome to join us for all or part of this event. Don't worry, it will end in plenty of time for you to watch the Superbowl!

CTK’s Italian Catholic Federation is offering a scholarship to 8th grade students wishing to attend a Catholic High School in the fall of 2023. Applications are in CTK’S and St. Stephen’s church vestibule and the CTK church office. The application deadline is March 31, 2023. Please contact Mary Ragsdale (925) 297-7169 if you have any questions.

Knights of Columbus Meeting

Tuesday, February 7 at 6pm

The CTK Council of the Knights of Columbus will be holding a council meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 7 from 6-9pm in the Parish Hall (Room A/B).

The event is open to all brother Knights, along with any potential Knights that would like to join the council. Please plan to join us for an evening of fel- lowship.  Kindly  RSVP  to  Steve  Zalewski (zalewski.steve@gmail.com) so we can get an approximate headcount for planning purposes.

2022 Annual Giving Statements



Annual Giving Statements that show your contributions for the year ending 2022 were by email (if we have your current email address in our new Realm system). These email addresses may not be the same as the one you use for our weekly newsletter. 

If you did not receive an email statement, a physical statement will be sent to you via U.S. Mail. If you have any questions, please email us at office@ctkph.org.

Tour with Fr. Paulson to Africa

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 at 925-682-2486.

World Day of the Sick

February 11th at 11am

The Cathedral of Christ the Light

All are invited - especially all those suffering and caring for the sick, all those seeking God’s grace and a life filled with goodness, truth, and beauty.



Please share with your family, friends, parishes, and especially those in spiritual need in their time of suffering.

To register visit: rebrand.ly/worlddayofsick2023

More information can be found here

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).

St. Blaise

St. Blaise (d. 316 A.D.) was born into a wealthy Christian family in Armenia. He was trained as a physician before becoming a priest, and was finally ordained a bishop. When a wave of Christian persecution began, God instructed St. Blaise to hide in a desert cave. While he was in hiding, birds miraculously brought him food and sick men came to him to be healed. The king's hunters eventually discovered his cave and found it surrounded by a myriad of wild animals who came to the saint to be blessed, with Blaise able to walk freely among them. Recognizing him as the local bishop, the hunters took Blaise into custody. As he went with them he continued to preach and perform miracles along the way: he healed a boy choking to death on a bone, and commanded a wolf to release a captured pig belonging to a poor woman. When Blaise was sentenced to be starved to death, the woman killed her pig to feed St. Blaise in prison. He was eventually martyred under the reign of Licinius, his body torn with wool combs before being beheaded. Blaise is known as the patron saint of throat ailments, physicians, woolcombers, and wild animals. His feast is commemorated with the Blessing of the Throats, and is celebrated on February 3rd.