Saturday Vigil: 5PM. Deacon Bill MASS SCHEDULE. Sunday: 7AM, 9AM, 11AM & 5PM. PASTORAL STAFF Pastor Rev. Fr. Johnson Abraham

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1 Catholic Community Our Mission Statement: To know Christ and make Him known by welcoming all, teaching and sharing the Faith, and providing worship and spiritual growth opportunities and serving those in need At the Easter Vigil on March 31st, we were blessed to baptize and welcome our RCIA candidates The Vigil began outside with Fr Johnson blessing the Sacred Fire that was brought into a darkened church as the Light of Christ, the Paschal Candle Troy Whitehurst was baptized, Cheryl Stearns was received into the Church, and Anthony Acosta, Veronica Salcedo and Brianna Uriarte joined in for the Sacrament of Confirmation Another member of our group, school parent Brad Talmadge, was part of a family gathering in Honolulu, Hawaii, and baptized by Bishop Larry Silver Easter joy is all around us! April 15, 2018 PARISH OFFICE 3966 Chestnut Ave Concord, CA Tel: (925) Fax: (925) Office Hours: 9:00am - Noon * 1:00pm - 4:30pm, Monday-Thursday Website: wwwstagnesparishnet * stagnesoffice@comcastnet Instagram: stagnesparishconcord * 1

2 MASS SCHEDULE Saturday Vigil: 5PM Sunday: 7AM, 9AM, 11AM & 5PM Daily Mass in the Chapel at 8AM Monday - Saturday (Communion Service on Wed) Adoration in the Chapel Daily 6:00 am to 9:00 pm Confessions: Saturday 3:30PM PASTORAL STAFF Pastor Rev Fr Johnson Abraham chemans@gmailcom Deacons Bill Drobick deaconbill3@gmailcom Tony Reyes deacontonyr@gmailcom Business Manager Marlene McCann marlenestagnesparish@gmailcom Confirmation/Life Teen Coordinator Deacon Bill Drobick deaconbill3@gmailcom Religious Ed/Liturgy Coordinator Linda D Souza lindastagnes@gmailcom Secretary-Religious Education Donna Cassianos donnastagnesparish@gmailcom Director of Music Ministry Pete Frevele petefrev@mecom Liturgical Musician Lily Melendrez Lilystagnesparish@gmailcom Bulletins Please submit your articles to: donnaroberts1956@gmailcom Pastoral Council Chair Linus Farias linusfarias@sbcglobalnet SCHOOL OFFICE 3886 Chestnut Ave, Concord Tel: (925) Office Hours: 7:30-4:00 M-F Principal: Jill Lucia jlucia@csdoorg Secretary: Ana Kelley akelley@csdoorg Website: wwwstagnesconcordcom Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have (Luke 24:39) During the Easter season, we hear strong encouragement to grasp the Risen Lord in our minds and prayer life We may take some strength in faith from hearing about the appearances of Jesus after His Resurrection, like today s gospel But what do we do if our prayer life is still a little dry in spots? Jesus invites the disciples to touch Him in a way that restores their faith and vitality of discipleship Are we able to touch Jesus in how we pray, how we see him in the faces of our brothers and sisters? Or have we come to a dry place amid all this Easter joy as life unfolds? The gospel reminded me of how a very famous advertising campaign began way back in the 1980 s Admittedly, some readers were not yet born! But I will catch you up with a link in a minute It was a time before the internet, and even, gasp, cell phones AT&T was facing a business dilemma People were afraid to make long distance calls because it carried the very negative result of a larger phone bill So, they arranged a license to play music from a song called Feelings and asked their advertising agency to create a one-minute television ad to promote a good vibe about making those calls Here is one of the results: Apologies for the lack of diversity it was 1987 But before you discard the image of such ancient technology and casting, consider how the advertising agency arranged the script They asked someone to make an imaginary phone call to someone far away It could be anyone, Abraham Lincoln anybody The person asked if they could call their deceased parent, almost immediately rejecting the idea but the ad agency encouraged her to say whatever she might have not been able to say when her father was alive The tears and heartfelt expressions of love led to a strategy of the television commercial called Reach Out and Touch Someone It was as much about missed opportunities as it was the pleasurable experience of connecting with someone The cost was no longer paramount My wife Joni and I just completed a Retreat in which about half of the Oakland Deacon Community were present (The other half will attend in November) One of the pearls of wisdom I took home was that prayer is mostly about giving the Lord time to touch us We may not feel we do enough prayer or the right prayers or get enough affirmation from prayer, but the important point is to give God time to touch us through inspiration Consider how you might have stepped into the television commercial What if you could tell God anything you wanted to what would you say? The key we learned on retreat was to at least give God sufficient time to answer us! Do we sit before the Lord and offer to at least let Him see us? Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is one way, but what new Easter joy can we find by just resting with Jesus on our mind? Deacon Bill SUNDAY COLLECTIONS FOR EASTER SUNDAY, APRIL 1: $30,370 APRIL 8: $12,626 Building Fund $2,548 Includes Faith Direct Giving We thank you for your Stewardship 2

3 DAILY MASS IN THE CHAPEL Monday - Saturday at 8:00 AM (Communion Service on Wed) Friday morning at 8:15 AM EUCHARISTIC ADORATION - Chapel daily from 6 am 9 pm Contact Sumner or Veronica Peery at for scheduling FOR ADULT LEARNING: SCRIPTURE SHARING - Thursdays from 9:30-11:00 am in the Assembly Room FOR MINISTRY: PRAYER TREE - A ministry of people who pray specifically for those who are ill Please notify the parish office if you or a member of your family are in, or going into, the hospital HELPING HANDS: Please call Ron Artale at MARTINEZ SHELTER MEALS: Plan a meal for 35 residents Purchase & prepare food; serve dinner at the shelter Please contact to volunteer: Anne Kurylo, or Annekurylo@gmailcom ST VINCENT DE PAUL MINISTRY P lease contact the St Vincent de Paul Hotline at (925) , Ext 250 MINISTRY TO THE SICK: Please call Naomi Holt at (925) CARING HANDS-JOHN MUIR HEALTH: Contact Stacy Appel by at StacyAppel@johnmuirhhealthcom BISHOP S APPEAL FOR 2018 Faith and Spirituality GOOD FRIDAY BLOOD DRIVE Thank you to everyone who donated blood on Good Friday This was our most successful Blood Drive to date! Our drive did exceptionally well with 49 candidates and 45 actual donors giving 49 lifesaving units of blood Those units will impact multiple patients and their families Our goal this year was 38 units, which we exceeded! Also, many thanks to Pat Cesnik and the volunteers who helped with the Blood Drive Without your support we would not have enjoyed such success! BELIEVING IN JESUS CHRIST Throughout the Easter season, all three of the Sunday readings are taken from the New Testament the Christian scriptures Together they explore what it means to believe in Jesus as the Christ, the One who fulfilled the prophecies of the Jewish scriptures As of March 29th, 48 of our parishioners/families have donated or pledged $10,990, which is 25% of our goal of $43,200 for this year Thank you to those of you who have generously supported this program It s never too late to contribute Perhaps if you are blessed to receive a tax refund, you can share part of that to cover a host of diocesan/community programs such as religious education, support of schools in need and religious retirement Envelopes are at the Welcome Table Today s selections refer to our human weakness, yet they emphasize the forgiveness and peace that are available to those who put their faith in Jesus Christ the righteous one (1 John 2:2) In the Acts of the Apostles Peter invites everyone to repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away (Acts 3:19) The First Letter of John calls Jesus Christ expiation for our sins (1 John 2:2) Finally, in the Gospel Jesus greets the disciples with Peace and urges them to preach repentance, for the forgiveness of sins (Luke 24:47) Copyright J S Paluch Co, Inc PLEASE PRAY FOR HEALING FOR: Dianna Andrews Jim Armstrong Ron Artale Terry Brophy Kathryn Cases Trinity Cereghino Gil Chavez Sonia Coronel Rich Cotter Anneke Cronander-Ford William Cummins Anthony Davi Franca Del Ponte Stephen Dixon Jason Dossenbach Paul Duffy Merv Hammond Tony Hennessy Doug Hieb Earl Koski Aisling Morgan Susan Noard Anne O Neill Barbara Peters Ellie Rowe Sally Roy Jaden Ruybalid Maureen Ryan Greg Scaletti Carolyn Thompson Bill van Hattem David Vizcay Judy Wiget Paul Wiget Betty Wilson 3

4 Mass Intentions Saturday, April 14, :00 pm Dr Luis B Medina Repose Jack Ryan Repose Hal Baltazor Special Intention Sunday, April 15, :00 am Michael Ciampa Repose Deceased Members of the Bilan Family Deceased Members of the Gozos Family 9:00 am For the People of St Agnes, Living and Deceased 11:00 am Margaret Archuleta Repose Maria Carmen Padilla Repose Deceased Members of the Frisbee Family 5:00 pm Frank Griffin Repose Shellia Smith Special Intention The Caoile Staff at Windsor Manor SI Monday, April 16, :00 am Mary Delores Holt Repose Felicisimo Santos Repose The Caoile Staff at Windsor Manor SI Tuesday, April 17, :00 am Dee Baltazor Repose Joe Cornella Repose The Caoile Staff at Windsor Manor SI Wednesday, April 18, :00 am Communion Service Only Thursday, April 19, :00 am Dottie Hubrig Repose Joaquin Perez Repose Deceased Members of the Fenolio Family Friday, April 20, :15 am Telesfora Legaspi Repose Carmen Santos Repose The Caoile Staff at Windsor Manor SI Saturday, April 21, :00 am Nick Adler Repose Rosemary Del Ponte Repose The Caoile Staff at Windsor Manor SI 5:00 pm Nick Adler Repose Hal Baltazor Special Intention Luis P Medina, Jr Special Intention Sunday, April 22, :00 am Dan Fletcher Repose Sally & Peter McManus Special Int 9:00 am Nick Adler Repose Brian Joseph McGuire Repose Anneke Cronander-Ford Special Int 11:00 am For the People of St Agnes, Living and Deceased 5:00 pm Lois Auld Repose Peter Kantz Repose Calendar for the Week 4 Parish Events and Meetings Sunday, April 15, :30 pm La Morita Reunion Dinner Cauchi Hall Monday, April 16, :00 am Daily Mass Chapel 5:00 pm Children s Faith Formation School 6:00 pm Knights of Columbus Mtg Church Hall 7:00 pm EDGE Cauchi Hall Tuesday, April 17, :00 am Daily Mass Chapel 7:00 pm Buildings & Grounds AR Wednesday, April 18, :00 am Communion Service Chapel 7:00 pm St Vincent de Paul AR 7:30 pm Jim Gill Band Practice Church Thursday, April 19, :00 am Daily Mass Chapel 9:30 am Bible Study AR 6:00 pm ICF Cauchi Hall Friday, April 20, :15 am Daily Mass Church Saturday, April 21, :00 am Daily Mass Chapel 9:00 am Centering Prayer Workshop Cauchi H Stewardship Enrollment after Weekend Masses Fair Trade & Hospitality after Weekend Masses SAINTS AND SPECIAL OBSERVANCES Sunday: Third Sunday of Easter Tuesday: Income Tax Day Saturday: St Anselm Remember that taxes are due Tuesday, April 17 Matthew 22:21: Jesus said "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's"

5 Parish News and Activities STEWARDSHIP RENEWAL April We all possess God-given talents No one can claim to be so poor that they have nothing to offer others - Pope Francis by tweet Our next Ministry Enrollment will be the weekend of April and will be for the Worship Ministries These include Altar Servers and Adult Acolytes, the Divine Mercy Group, Environment, Eucharistic Ministers, Greeters, Lay Presiders, Lectors, Liturgy of the Word for Children, Media, Ministry to the Sick, Music, Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration, Ushers and Vocation Prayer Group Many of the volunteers for these ministries work behind the scenes (ie, Environment), while others you see at every Mass (Greeters, Lectors, Eucharistic Ministers and Ushers) They all play a vital role in providing spiritual opportunities for worship The Stewardship Committee has enclosed a flyer in today s bulletin which gives a description of the 14 ministries which will be recruiting at next week s enrollment Please read these descriptions and reflect where the Spirit may be calling you We hope you will stay after Mass next weekend to share in Hospitality with your fellow Parishioners FAIR TRADE SALES APRIL For every purchase of a bag of Coffee, a box of Tea, a tin of Hot Cocoa, or a bar of Chocolate, you effect a chain reaction in three ways: 1 Our supplier, Equal Exchange, gives a generous donation to Catholic Relief Services Fair Trade Fund for fair trade development grants overseas; 2 You create stable prices for independent small farmers in third world countries; and 3 Profits from our sales are donated to charitable organizations here and abroad Thank you St Agnes! We couldn t do it without your support! TEAMS OF OUR LADY April 22, 3-5 pm Teams of our Lady is an international lay movement in the Catholic Church, designed to enrich marriage spirituality and to make good marriages better A Teams Information Session will be held on Sunday, April 22, 3-5 pm at St Agnes Church Ministry Center in Concord At the Information Session you will learn about: the mission and history of Teams, the monthly meetings, and the six endeavors Refreshments provided Respond to SairafL@yahoocom to reserve your seat For more information go to: wwwteamsofourladyorg/ ANOINTING MASS Saturday, April 28 at 10:30 am The special grace of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick has as its effects: the uniting of the sick person to the passion of Christ, for his own good and that of the whole Church; the strengthening, peace, and courage to endure in a Christian manner the sufferings of illness or old age; the forgiveness of sins, if the sick person was not able to obtain it through the sacrament of penance; the restoration of health, if it is conducive to the salvation of his soul; the preparation for passing over to eternal life (CCC 1532) If you are ill, stressed, or emotionally hurting, please plan on joining us for the Anointing Mass on Saturday, April 28 This special Sacrament is no longer reserved for those who are at death s door A reception immediately follows Mass CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS APRIL 21 Centering Prayer Workshop Cauchi Hall 22 Stewardship Enrollment Worship Ministries after all weekend Masses Fair Trade after all weekend Masses Hospitality after all weekend Masses 28 Anointing Mass, 10:30 am 5

6 Invitation to Centering Prayer Workshop II For those of you who missed our first Centering Prayer workshop, we have scheduled a second workshop It will be held next Saturday, April 21st from 9:00 12 noon at Cauchi Hall Centering Prayer does not replace other kinds of prayer; rather this discipline of listening to God enhances our other prayers and we form a closer relationship with God Our presenter, Eileen Halliburton, is a Spiritual Director who is a graduate of Holy Names University of Oakland Practicing Centering Prayer since 1997, she is the past Coordinator of Contemplative Outreach of Oakland/ East Bay Eileen has facilitated Centering Prayer Introductory Workshops and retreats throughout Northern Calif Mystics, such as Teresa of Avila, Therese of Lisieux the Little Flower and Francis of Assisi practiced this method of prayer seeking union with God Centering Prayer moves beyond verbal prayer; we communicate with God by listening in silence Come join us and experience God s presence and love in a very special way Please RSVP no later than: April 14 th to Marie (925) Marierojo@ymailcom or Gloria (925) Gaschafer@sbcglobalnet TREASURES FROM OUR TRADITION Snacks will be provided Free will donation There are many ways in which religious communities are organized Some have a central authority in a congregation, and others have a rule that is shared by all the members, but are a kind of federation of independent houses Sometimes, congregations with distinct histories and ministries decide to merge Several years ago, one of the largest mergers on record took place Seven independent congregations of Dominican women religious, most in the Midwest, are now one new congregation enfolding more than seven hundred members spanning thirty-six states The oldest of the founding groups, the so-called Kentucky Dominicans, began as a frontier community in 1822 Other communities have European roots To get to this historic moment, the sisters spent many years in conversation, and approved the new structure by a two-thirds majority vote This was then ratified by the Holy See The merger allows the sisters to pool their resources in order to be more effective in ministry They are living the Paschal Mystery, experiencing Christ s dying and rising in an inspiring way Rev James Field, Copyright J S Paluch Co SHARE: please bring your food donations to the baskets at church All nourishing food donations are appreciated April s focus is: Canned Fish or Meat, Tuna, Chicken, Turkey, Spam, Corned Beef Your support makes the difference WINGS Faith furnishes prayer with wings, without which it cannot soar to Heaven St John Climacus CHURCH God sends no churches from the skies, Out of our hearts they must arise Anonymous Community Activities CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE EAST BAY REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT PROGRAM Catholic Charities of the East Bay continues to actively resettle refugees in the Bay Area We welcome any parish interested in helping a refugee family rebuild their lives and adapt to a new homeland Parish teams help in many ways, including: A warm welcome and airport pick-up; setting up a home; tutoring to improve English language skills; providing transportation to necessary appointments; introducing new public transportation systems; and sharing hospitality A parish network significantly improves the support available to a new family, creating new friendships and answering Christ s call to welcome the newcomer You ll find your own life both challenged and deeply enriched by the experience For more information, please contact Jude Stephens, Team Support Coordinator, at jstephens@cceborg or (510)

7 EASTER WEEK Photos above are from Palm Sunday (left) and Holy Thursday (right) Below photos are from the Easter Vigil with the Sacred Fire and the baptisms of Troy Whitehurst and Brad Talmadge (in Hawaii) 8