We are family!

A message of love and solidarity.

Here at Saint Stephen Parish, we will never stop living and promoting our Catholic Faith!

Each day we will post news, initiatives and information that is important to all of us as a parish family.

We are going to use, to the best of our ability and creativity, the means that this era of technology offers us, to stay connected with our brothers and sisters because “We are family”.

That is the title of the brief posts you’ll find on our web page or on the Parish Facebook page. Since we are a bilingual community, everything will be posted in the two languages, you just need to scroll down the page to find the English post. So, log on to www.ststephenparish.org each day and let us stay connected with each other.

Feel free also to comment and sent suggestions that may be helpful, thanks.

Altar Servers Invited Back

After a hiatus of several years, we would like to have our young people resume their role of serving at Mass.

This is a great privilege in assisting the priest as he brings Jesus down from Heaven into our parish churches.

This service is open to boys and girls who have served in the past or who would like to serve now. You must have received your First Communion to be eligible and you must be available to fulfill your assigned Masses.

Training will be provided. If you are interested, please contact Mr. Drummey at classes on Sunday,

Helping the St. Vincent de Paul Society

We know that many of you gave up things during Lent that may have saved you some money. Some of that money has been used in past years to help different charities, like the Rice Bowl program, the Bethany project to help prisoners, the Pro-Life movement, etc.

How about this time donating the money you saved by denying yourself certain pleasures to the St. Vincent de Paul Society? The SVDP does a wonderful job helping the most needy among us. This is the way we try to respond to our call to help the poor here at Saint Stephen's

Faith Formation in the Fall

Religious Education in English and Spanish for the young people in our Parish, especially for those receiving First Communion and Confirmation, will begin on Sun-day,

 September 17th, at 10:15 a.m. for grades 1 to 6 and at 11:45 for grades 7 to 10.

Registration forms will be going out shortly or you can scan the QR code here to sign up on line. If you have any questions, please call Mr. Drummey at (508) 875-4788.

Visits and Holy Communion to the sick and homebound.

As Catholics, if we have the misfortune to end up being sick for a while, or in recovery; one of the most comforting things for us is, to be able to watch Mass on TV, and that is why we continue to broadcast our Masses that you may follow each weekend by linking to our webpage and, most of all, to receive Holy Communion. If you hap-pen to know any of our Parishioners to be in this situation, please, call the office and notify us about it. One of our Priests, Deacons or Extraordinary Minister of Communion will be more than happy to visit your relative and bring him/her Holy Communion. Please, let us know!

“Will Only a Few People Be Saved?”

Jesus was asked this question and responded that we must “enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and restricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:13-14).

People have debated for centuries about what Jesus meant by “many” and “few.” No one knows. What we do know, however, is that we want to be among the few. How can we do that? Well, for one thing, we can keep the Ten Commandments, as Jesus told the rich young man who wanted to know what he had to do to get to Heaven.

The Commandments explain in more detail what Jesus called the two great commandments. First, we must love God with all our hearts, all our minds, and all our souls. Second, we must love our neighbor at ourselves.

If you were to ask people if they expect to go to Heaven, many would respond in the affirmative. If you ask them why, they will say, “Because I’m a good person. I shop for my elderly neighbor, I help out at a homeless shelter, I coach youth sports, etc.”

But that’s only the second great commandment — to love our neighbor. What about the first great command-ment — to love God above everything and everyone else?

Does helping other people make up for neglecting God? Does coaching sports on Sunday morning make up for not going to Mass? We would say no.

A good person should first of all be a “Godperson.” The two should go hand in hand, always putting God first in our lives and others second. Then we can be sure of being saved.

Baptisms and Marriages

Two great Sacraments that God has given to His Church are the sacraments of Marriage and Baptism. We encourage those who are planning to get married to contact one of our priests for an initial meeting at least six months prior to the wedding date you have in mind. And for newborn babies, bring them to the fountain of Baptism as soon as possible to give them the greatest gift of all — the grace to become children of God.

Baptism begins our journey to Heaven. We cannot receive any of the other Sacraments without having been baptized. It is imperative that parents not neglect to have their children baptized shortly after birth.

Our Lady of Lourdes

Novena Dates —

February 2-10 Feast Day — February 11

(Say this prayer each day

beginning on February 2nd)

O ever Immaculate Virgin, Mother of Mercy, Health of the Sick, Refuge of Sinners, Com-fort to the Afflicted, you know my wants, my troubles, my sufferings.

Deign to cast upon me a look of mercy.

By appearing in the Grotto of Lourdes, you were pleased to make it a privileged sanctuary where you dispense your favors, and already many sufferers have obtained the cure of their infirmities, both spiritual and corporal.

I come, therefore, with the most unbounded confidence to implore your maternal intercession (mention your petition here). Please obtain, O loving Mother, the granting of my requests. Through gratitude for favors, I will endeavor to imitate your virtues that I may one day share your glory.

Amen.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us!

(Please pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and

one Glory Be to the Father

Stay Away from the Movie Conclave

Another movie has hit the theaters that is nothing more than anti-Catholic propaganda. Entitled Conclave, the film depicts the political and theological infighting that allegedly goes on during the election of a new Pope. According to Bishop Robert Barron, the movie portrays the hierarchy of the Church as “a hotbed of ambition, corruption, and desperate egoism. Conservatives are xenophobic extrem-sts and the liberals are self-important schemers. None can escape this irredeemable situation.”

He says that “the only way forward is the embrace of the buzzwords of diversity, inclusion, indifference to doctrine, and the ultimate solution of a virtue-signaling cardinal who takes the papal name of Innocence and who is a biological female.”

Leave it to Hollywood to choose a fictional cardinal with female chromosomes and an intersex disorder to be the new Pope! The Catholic priesthood, of course, is reserved to biological men and, according to Pope St. John Paul II, “the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women.”

“Conclave is more a piece of anti-Catholic propaganda than it is work of art,” says the Catholic League. “It might have stunning cinematic sequences and a star-studded cast, but those things do not redeem the underlying ugliness of the project, namely, it aims to paint the Catholic Church in the most negative light possible.”

“I’m sure it will win a boatload of awards,” said Bishop Barron, “but my advice is to run away from it as fast as you can.”

“Every Christian family is called to be a small ‘domestic church’ that must shine with the Gospel virtues.

Recollection and prayer, mutual understanding and respect, personal discipline and community asceticism and a spirit of sacrifice, work, and solidarity are typical features that make the family of Nazareth a model for every home.”

Standing on One Foot

Msgr. Charles Pope says that true love means loving God with our whole heart, mind, and soul. It means “standing on one foot” and letting God’s love permeate us. It does not mean asking unloving questions like these:

Do I have to pray? For how long?

Do I have to go to Confession? How often?

Do I have to go to Mass? How often? Where can I find the shortest and most convenient one?

Do I have to read the Bible?

Do I have to make God’s teachings a priority in my life?

Do I need to honor and care for my parents?

Do I need to respect lawful authority and contribute to the common good?

Do I need to respect life from conception to natural death?

Do I need to live chastely, reverencing the gift of sexual-ity that is at the heart of human life and the family?

Msgr, Pope says that “love does not ask whether we must respect each other enough to speak the truth in love. It does not wonder whether it is acceptable to steal from others, or to fail to give them what is justly due. It does not wonder whether we should be generous to the poor rather greedy, or whether to be appreciative and satisfied rather than covetous.”

He says that “love does not ask questions like these, for it already knows the answer …. Love is the law, standing on one foot, and all the rest is commentary.”

On the steps of Saint Paul: A Pilgrimage to Greece, Ephesus and Greek Isles Cruise.

Join Father Paco, the Angel Connection Group and fellow Parishioners and friends for an unbelievable Pilgrimage that will include the First Christian Communities formed by Saint Paul, the House of the Blessed Mother in Ephesus, a relaxing cruise to the Greek Islands, Athens, Santorini, and much more.

September 9 to the 19, 2025 $ 5,783 per person from Boston (based on double occupancy) For Reservation and more information go to: 206tours.com/angelconnection