Bulletin of October 16, 2005

Dear Parishioners,

This week, from Sunday evening to Friday noon all parish and Diocesan priests of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties are asked to attend a “Presbyteral Convocation” along with Bishop Vigneron and Bishop Cummins at Clear Lake (Konocti Harbor Inn). Fr. Aidan, Fr. Timoney and I will be gone the whole time; most of our 89 parishes will be without daily mass and dependent for emergencies (like sick calls and funerals) on an on-call system to religious order priests in non parish work, such as professors at the G.T.U. In our case, Fr. Dibble will preside at daily Mass while he and Fr. Burns (who is providing daily mass at a nearby parish) will be available for emergencies. The agenda at Konocti will include discussion of Priests identity, spirituality and ongoing formation, all aimed at actions and events to be continued by the Priest’s Senate and Bishop Vigneron. I’ve included in today’s foldout a very brief summary of the symposium I attended in L.A. at the end of September. I’m sure the issue of the priest shortage and staffing parishes with non ordained “pastors” will come up for discussion.

Speaking of Parish Leadership, our own Parish Council is facing election time in the next month. Six council members have completed their four year tenure and one other is stepping down for personal reasons. So we will be electing seven new members to our Council. The first step is nominations; please consider the names of any parishioners you believe would serve our parish well as a Parish Council Member, or if you yourself might consider serving on the Council. We will be asking parishioners to nominate either themselves or someone else to run for the Council in late November. Anyone nominated will be contacted regarding their willingness to run and then asked to attend an orientation (to be sure they know what’s involved and that it’s right for them). A big thank you to outgoing Council members Pierre Breuinin, Letitia Corum, Pat Hyde, Pat Kramer, Jim Riley, Sue Weiler-Doke, and Lou Zahorak, who have served us so faithfully and well.

It’s great to know Catholic parish life is pretty much the same the world over. Haleen Armijo, who recently retired after nineteen years as our school secretary writes from Denmark, where she is visiting her daughter and son-in-law: “Although (Denmark) is not a Catholic country, I have experienced the universal aspects of Catholicism. For example, cell-phones ring during Mass, people sleep through the homily and many leave after communion!”

Please keep in mind Friday, October 28th for an excellent evening of adult education. Fr. Tom Bonacci, a great speaker who has visited us before, will address “The Difficult Sayings of Jesus: Some Identifying Marks from the Gospel of Matthew.”

Your Pastor,
Brian Joyce

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WEEK AT A GLANCE

SUNDAYThe Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time/Flu Shots, Ministry Center, 9:00 am-12 noon, Cost is $25

-CTK School Book Fair, after Masses, library

-RE Program for 3 year olds (A), Room D, During 9:15 Mass

-RE PreK/K Program: PreK, Parish Hall, A,B,&C; K Program, CTK School; During 9:15 Mass

-Children’s Liturgy of the Word, During 9:15 Mass

-RE Older Sacrament (Gr. 6-8), RE Office, 10:40 am

-Youth Group (Small Groups), 7 pm

-Priest Convocation, All Week, Clear Lake, Sunday evening to Friday noon

MONDAY -RE Older Sacrament (Gr 3-5), Parish Hall, 4:00 pm

TUESDAY -Legion of Mary, Ministry Center, Following 8:00 am Mass

-RE: Grades 1-5; Grades 1-3, School, 3:40-5:00 pm; Grades 4 & 5, Parish Hall, A, B, C, 3:40-5:00 pm

-RE: Grades 7/8, Parish Hall, 7-8:30 pm

-Rosary and Mother of Perpetual Help Devotion, VCMtg Rm, 7:00 pm, contact Andy @229-3038

-Spanish Prayer Group, Ministry Center (Common Rm), 7:30 pm

WEDNESDAY -RE: Grades 1-5; Grades 1-3, School, 3:40-5:00 pm; Grades 4 & 5, Parish Hall, A, B, C, 3:40-5:00 pm

-RE: Grade 6, Parish Hall, 7-8:30 pm

-St. Vincent de Paul Mtg, Ministry Cntr (Dining Room & Library), 7 pm

-Grief Ministry, Ministry Center (Chapel), 7:30 pm

-Weekly Charismatic Prayer Meeting, 6 St. Lawrence Ct., 7:30 pm (for info. call 932-0395)

-Centering Prayer, Resurrection Episcopal Church (399 Gregory Ln.), 7:30 pm

THURSDAY -Centering Prayer, Ministry Center (Library), Following 8 am Mass

-Bible Study: “Wonderful Women of the Word” with Kathy Roberts, Parish Hall, 9:30-11 am

-RE: Grades 1-5; Grades 1-3, School, 3:40-5:00 pm; Grades 4 & 5, Parish Hall, A, B, C, 3:40 -5:00 pm

-RE Older Sacrament (Grades 3-8) Parent Meeting, Rooms A/B, 7:30 pm

-RCIA Inquiry, Ministry Center (Chapel & Dining Rm), 7:15 pm

FRIDAY -Catholic Divorced/Widowed/Separated, October Birthday Night, Sweet Tomatoes Restaurant, 6 pm

-RE, Grades 7/8 Lock-In, Parish Hall, 9 pm

SATURDAY -Men’s Fellowship Group, Ministry Center (Chapel), 7-8:30 am, Contact John at 372-7873

SUNDAY -The Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time / Second Collection for World Mission

-RE: Program for 3 year olds (B), Room D, During 9:15 Mass

-RE: PreK/K Program: PreK, Parish Hall, A,B,&C; K Program, CTK School; During 9:15 Mass

-Children’s Liturgy of the Word, During 9:15 Mass

-RE Older Sacrament (Gr. 6-8), RE Office, 10:40 am

-Jr/Sr Confirmation, Class 3, Parish Hall, 10:45 am-12:45 pm

-Youth Group Topic Night, Parish Hall, 7-9 pm

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CDWS (Catholic Divorced, Widowed or Separated) October Birthdays Night at the Sweet Tomatoes Restaurant at the Pleasant Hill Crescent Shopping Center, October 21 at 6 pm. We get together and celebrate the October birthdays. Everyone is invited whether it is your birthday or not. CDWS will supply the cake but the cost of your dinner is up to you. RSVP to Joan S. at 939-1007.

Knights of Columbus Annual Fund Raiser – Donations will be taken after all Masses October 22/23 to support people with intellectual disabilities. Funds will be distributed to Regional Center of the East Bay and ABN Housing. Both organizations are located in Contra Costa. For more information or to volunteer call Grand Knight Ron Colyar (228-1674 or Chairman Tom Chin (676-1052) or email taychin63@yahoo.com.

Win a Car . . . Help a Woman in Need – Mary’s House, a new house for pregnant women in crisis and located in San Pablo can use our help. A new ’05 Hyundai Electra or $10,000 in cash will be raffled at the end of the month. The car will go on display on our patio this weekend. Tickets are $25 each or a book of five for $100.

Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium – Saturday, October 22, Our Savior’s Lutheran Church (Community Rm), 1035 Carol Ln. Lafayette, 9:30am-5:30pm. You are invited to an interactive day of speakers, videos of experts and leaders, and moving earth imagery. Engage in small group work with others from your community who are interested in building an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, and socially just human presence on this planet. Cost: $40. Contact: Richard (299-0220) or Alexandra (299-0222).

If you did not receive a letter inviting you to our Bereavement Mass on Sunday November 6th, at 12:15 pm and you have a family member who died within this past year, please call the parish house (682-2486) to give the name of the person. A scroll will be made with all the names to be carried in procession at the mass.

Youth Ministry News . . .Our high school retreat will take place Oct. 28-30. If you are interested in attending you can get more info from our new website-ctkym.org. This is our last week selling Entertainment Books for $25 each after all masses.

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Some 110 key diocesan priests and lay leaders, representing eighteen western dioceses, met in L.A. September 21-23 to discuss the staffing of parishes in the face of a rapidly growing shortage of priests. Cardinal Mahoney opened the symposium and seven other bishops participated through the three days. Here’s a brief summary of the discussion.

A Context: · Fewer available priests (average U.S. parish size has jumped from 2,500 households to 3,347; total Catholics from 48.8 million to 65.3 million: Catholics per priest from 1 to 775 to 1 to 2,200; San Bernardino for example has 1 for 5,300; all this raises issues of staffing, merging, clustering and the role of non-ordained parish leaders (variously called: parish administrators, parish life directors, parish coordinators and “acting pastors”). Bishop Barnes arrived with 235,000 Catholics and 100 assignable priests – today it’s 1.2 million Catholics and 59 assignable priests.

• Fewer resources and greater mistrust (partially as a result of the sex abuse crisis, partially due to perceived retrenchment after Vatican II).
• The explosion of lay ministers (66% of U.S. parishes have salaried lay ministers 30,600 in place).
• More international clergy (with issues of how to welcome them and what to require or demand of them.)
• More anger and polarization among parishioners

The goal remains healthy parish life; the parish remains the place where we “do Church” and “are Church”.

Of those present all of the following have anywhere from 2 to 20 lay “acting pastors” in place: Los Angeles, Orange, Salt Lake City, San Bernardino, Oakland, Portland, Settle, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Green Bay.

Important Learnings

Early and long term preparation of parish communities is essential (L.A. is requiring all parishes to do self studies that indicate seven different possible scenarios for their future, including: (1) closure and sale of parish site; (2) consolidation or “chapel of ease”; (3) twinning with the one pastor with two autonomous parishes; (4) clustering/two pastors or lay pastoral administrators into semi autonomous parishes; (5) priest pastor; (6) parish life coordinator; (7) ethnic or cultural center While Parish Life Coordinators may be provisional and an anomaly, they are not optional, should not be disposable and like other “provisionals” in the Church could well be necessary for a long, long time (e.g. centuries!). We need to work with our seminaries to prepare seminarians for a different kind of Church which demands much more collaboration and development of the gifts of leadership.