Browsing the 2025 archive of Father Stephen's Columns
A Sacred Trust: Church Teaching on Euthanasia (10/19/25)
Posted by Gail Schlicht on 10/16/25
A Sacred Trust: Church Teaching on Euthanasia
As we continue to celebrate Respect Life Month, we turn our attention to the end of life to discuss the practice of euthanasia touches on life, death, and human dignity. In the secular sphere, "euthanasia" (literally “good ... Read More »
The Gift of Life: Church Teaching on In Vitro Fertilization IVF (10/12/25)
Posted by Gail Schlicht on 10/13/25
The Gift of Life: Church Teaching on In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)
As I begin this column, I recognize that the issue covered is controversial and deeply personal. I hope you will read what is written not as a condemnation of persons but a statement ... Read More »
Response (10-5-2025)
Posted by Debbie Branger on 9/30/25
Response In some ways, this column of our series on the basic Gospel message is the most challenging. Once we have seen, heard, and understood all that God has done for us, we might be at a loss as to what to do next. ... Read More »
Rescued (9-28-2025)
Posted by Debbie Branger on 9/23/25
Rescued
I recently re-watched the HBO series Band of Brothers, a World War II story told through the eyes of Easy Company (a parachute rifle company in the US Army) from training for D-Day in June 1944 to the end of the war the next summer. The scenes ... Read More »
Captured (9-21-2025)
Posted by Debbie Branger on 9/18/25
Captured The story is told that one year the London Times sent out an inquiry to famous authors asking them to answer the question, “What’s wrong with the world today?” to which the English author and Catholic convert G.K. Chesterton replied, “Dear Sir, I am. ... Read More »
Philemon and Onesimus: A Story of Conversion (9-14-2025)
Posted by Debbie Branger on 9/18/25
Philemon and Onesimus: A Story of Conversion
Before reading further into the story of our second reading from last week, PLEASE READ THE LETTER TO PHILEMON. It’s 25 verses long and will take approximately 2 minutes. It’s found in the New Testament after the Letter to Titus and before ... Read More »
Rescue Project - Created (9-7-2025)
Posted by Debbie Branger on 9/03/25
Rescue Project-Created The following articles are inspired by The Rescue Project, a series of videos explaining the fundamental Christian message by Acts XXIX. We are running The Rescue Project on Thursdays starting September 18th if you’d like to dive deeper into these ideas. See ... Read More »
Saint Louis and the Common Good (8/31/25)
Posted by Debbie Branger on 8/26/25
Saint Louis and the Common Good
A few weeks ago, we explored the Catholic Social Teaching concept of the common good. As a reminder, the common good is all the foundational elements in society that help all people flourish. It includes access to basic ... Read More »
Eagle Scout Project, Extended Adoration, Budget Overview (8-24-25)
Posted by Debbie Branger on 8/19/25
Eagle Scout Project, Extended Adoration, Budget Overview Happy Sunday to all! Just some brief housekeeping notes for this week’s bulletin:
1. Matthew V., a senior at St. Thomas More High School and recently confirmed Catholic here at St. Stephen, is completing a project to obtain the rank of Eagle ... Read More »
Respect for Human Dignity: Saint Maximilian Kolbe (8/17/25)
Posted by Gail Schlicht on 8/13/25
Respect for Human Dignity: Saint Maximilian Kolbe Pope Francis once wrote about the saints that, “Each saint is a mission, planned by the Father to reflect and embody, at a specific moment in history, a certain aspect of the Gospel” (Gaudete et exsultate 19). ... Read More »