Fill Bottles and Change Lives: Support the important work of Essential Pregnancy Services (EPS) with your financial contribution. EPS Baby Bottles is a fundraiser offering members of our community an opportunity to help women who are pregnant and under-supported. The fundraiser can also serve to help start the conversation with children on the value of all human life - born & unborn. While filling a baby bottle with coins, cash, or checks to benefit women who are facing a pregnancy crisis, we can teach children how they can make a difference in the lives of others.
Baby bottles will be distributed after Religious Education classes on Jan. 23/24.

Confirmation Retreats

Save the Date

9:30 am to 2:30 pm

Saturday, March 2^nd for all SSM Religious Education students

Friday, April 5^thfor all SSM School students

This Spring, we are very excited to be offering SSM students the opportunity to attend a dynamic, spirit-filled retreat hosted by One Heart~One Fire Ministries. This one-day retreat will be held off-site this year at the Elkhorn Pro-Sanctity Center. Please mark your calendars now as all Confirmation Candidates are required to attend a Confirmation Retreat.* This is sure to be a powerful experience for your child as they prepare to receive the Sacrament!

*If your child is unable to attend the Confirmation Retreat, please contact Sam Jizba, Confirmation Coordinator, at s.jizba@stephen.org. While we won’t be able to offer another Confirmation retreat this year, there are ways that your child can make up for this missed opportunity:

-Your child may be able to attend a Confirmation retreat at another parish.

-Your child can participate in 4 different “retreat like” experiences on their own time. A retreat-like experience would be any time that you break out of your normal routine and set aside time to specifically spend with God or to grow in your faith in some way. This time would often include some form of prayer, learning experience, and personal reflection time. See Retreat Experience Reflection form for examples of retreat-like experiences. After your child participates in a retreat or retreat-like experience, please have them submit the Retreat Experience Reflection Form below. A reflection form should be completed for each retreat experience.

Make-up Retreat Reflection Form

First Communion Parent Meeting

Parents of children receiving First Holy Communion will meet on Sunday, February 11 at 4:00 pm in the Dining Room. Sandy Kimmey will speak to parents about the sacrament of Holy Eucharist. Preparations for our April 21st First Communion Masses will also be discussed. At least one parent of each Communicant should attend. Please contact Sandy at s.kimmey@stephen.org with questions.

The following students earned the Disciple of Christ Award from their Catechist this week:

Benton DeCook Grade 1

Maeleigh Carter Grade 4

Ella Hansen Grade 4

Altar Server Form

Training Scheduled for February 10

9-11 am

Altar Servers are 5th-12th grade students who assist our priests and deacons during weekend Mass and Holy Days of Obligation. If your child is interested in becoming an Altar Server, please complete the Altar Server form.

Catholic YouTube Channel for Children

Juice Box is an online children’s show and YouTube channel developed to entertain kids and grown-ups while teaching the Catholic faith. The series utilizes stories, games, crafts, and more to present faith-based topics young children will understand, engage with, enjoy, and remember. Click here for more information:

https://www.spiritjuicekids.com/.

Making the Sign of the Cross

There is a $5 Entrance fee for team members participating. Doors open at 5pm. The contest starts at 6pm. Pizza will be available until 6pm when the contest begins.

The emcee will be Mike Monday, who runs trivia contests professionally throughout the region.

The contest: There will be 8 rounds of 10 questions. Categories are: 2 rounds of Old Testament, 2 rounds of New Testament, The Mass, Sacraments, Saints, Popes. We only have space for 25 teams, so sign up today!

Teams can register online below.

Register Here

January 22

Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection

of Unborn Children

The over 60 million abortions since the 1973 decisions of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton reflect with heartbreaking magnitude what Pope Francis means by a “throwaway culture.” However, we have great trust in God’s providence. We are reminded time and again in Scripture to seek the Lord’s help, and as people of faith, we believe that our prayers are heard.

Pray the Rosary for life.

usccb_prayer_pro_life_rosary_prayer_intentions.pdf

On February 6/7 we will be celebrating our wonderful Catechists and Volunteers! We will have hot chocolate and cookies for them to enjoy during class. Please take some time to write your child's/children's catechist a little note of appreciation to give them that evening. Feel free to contact us if you need a name reminder :-).

St. Stephen Track and Field is open to all registered parishioners in grades 5-8th. We welcome athletes of all abilities, including multi-sport athletes.

Season Overview:

Season Dates: Our season runs from February 26th through May 6th.
Practices: Our first practice is on February 26th. Practices will be Monday, Wednesday & Thursday from 6 – 7:15 PM at the Millard West High School track.
Meets: Our first meet is March 30th and we will have 5 regular season meets with a Super Meet of all PAL schools on May 4th.
Field Events Include: shot put, discus, long jump, high jump & triple jump
Running Events Include: 100 meters (m), 200 m, 400 m, 800 m, 1600 m, 110 m hurdles, 4×100 m relay, 4×200 m relay & 4 x400 m relay

The cost is $50.00 for the season and includes a uniform jersey, shorts, and warm-up suit as part of the registration fee, all to be returned at the end of the season.

Please complete this registration form and submit payment via credit card to complete the registration process. The registration deadline is February 26, 2024.

Questions? Please contact Kate Harr, SSM Track and field coordinator, at kateharr@rocketmail.com.

Register Here