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.

INDULGENCES FOR THE SOULS IN PURGATORY

On all the days from November 1st through November 8th, inclusive, a plenary indulgence applicable only to the Poor Souls is granted to those who visit a cemetery and pray, even if only mentally, for the departed. Here are the conditions for both indulgences:

1. Only one plenary indulgence can be granted each day that the conditions are met.

2. It is necessary to be in the state of grace at the time the work is completed.

3. Freedom from attachment to a particular sin, even venial sin, is necessary, or the indulgence will only remove part of the temporal punishment.

4. Holy Communion must be received each time the indulgence is sought.

5. Prayers must be recited for the intentions of the Holy Father on each day the indulgence is sought. For example, one may recite the Creed, Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be, and then at the end, "Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen."

6. A sacramental Confession must be made within twenty days of completion of the prescribed work. One Confession made during this time, made with the intention of gaining all the indulgences, is sufficient. Indulgences can remove either all (plenary) or some (partial) of the temporal punishment due to sins that have been forgiven. What a wonderful way to help our departed loved one get to Heaven.

“We are facing an enormous and dramatic clash between good and evil, death and life, the ‘culture of death’ and the ‘culture of life’ .... We are all involved and we all share in it, with the inescapable responsibility of choosing to be unconditionally prolife.”

Get In On the December Raffle

Want a chance to win $100 a day during December, or $200 on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and on Christmas Eve? Then you need to buy a $10 raffle ticket for our special December Parish Raffle. Many of you will be receiving your raffle tickets in the mail, but you can pick up a book at the Parish Office during the week, beginning November 12th. This is a great fund-raiser for St. Stephen Parish, and we hope you will take part. There are $3,200 in prizes and you have 31 chances of winning. You must turn your tickets in by November 30th.

The Need for SILENCE in Our Lives!

One of the dangers many encounter in our modern technological world is that of constant noise. We are easily bombarded with chatter all day long. It could be through the radio, TV, Internet, or the ceaseless conversations of others. Rarely do we find times of great silence. As a result, when silence is offered us, we often look to fill that silence immediately. But is this wise? Is it good to occu-py our minds day and night with noise?

Though every person will be different, especially depending upon their vocation, every person does need times of regular silence and solitude. Without this it is hard to be recollected and to hear the Voice of God. God speaks in the silence and He desires to communicate to you through this sacred language. Do not run from si-lence for, if you do, you will be running from the Voice of God.

IS THE END OF THE WORLD NEAR?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus talks about the signs that will precede His Second Coming at the end of the world. He talks about the sun and moon being darkened and stars falling out of the skies. In other places, He talks about wars and rumors of wars, famines and earthquakes, persecution of Christians, and abandonment of the Faith. And He says that “this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”

We see some of these things happening in our own day, but does that mean that the end is near? We don’t think so because Jesus said on another occasion that these signs are only the beginning of the end. He said that before the end comes, the Gospel must be preached to all nations. And St. Paul said that “all Israel” must recognize Jesus as the Messiah before the end comes (cf. Romans 11:25-27).

History tells us that similar signs occurred just before the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. There was a star in the sky shaped like a sword that hung over Jerusalem for a year before the Temple, and the city, were destroyed. That may have been what Jesus was referring to when He said that His current generation would witness some catastrophic events.

When will the end of the world come? We don’t know, although our own personal world could end at any time through illness, accident, or old age. What we need to do is “stay awake” and make sure that we are ready whenever the Son of Man comes for each one of us. We can do this with frequent prayer, at least weekly Mass and Communion, frequent confession of our sins, and works of love and mercy for those in need.