Readers Respond - July 23, 2022

School sonogram idea is fantastic to reveal life to our youth
Lafayette, La.

I am writing in response to Peter Finney’s recent Clarion Herald article in the July 9 issue (“A modest proposal: Show the live face of hidden life to ignite hearts”).

I live in Lafayette; born in New Orleans. I am one of seven sisters. Obviously, my parents were pro-life! Five of my sisters live in or near (north of the lake) New Orleans. I sent a text to them this morning from March for Life asking us to contact legislators using a quick link regarding the radical abortion bill “Women’s Health Protection Act.”

My youngest sister said she was reading your article in the Clarion Herald this morning. She sent the article (one of the few times I was thankful for technology!).

Your “modest proposal” makes so much sense – that’s exactly how to get to the young generation coming up. I feel the 20- to 40-year-olds are lost.

Thank you so much for this article. I shall share it with a friend who works for the Diocese of Lafayette in hopes that she will share it with those who might have the authority to act to help transform the “abortion” culture.

God bless you!

MARIETTA PABLOVICH PUCKETT

St. Stephen Church always felt like a basilica to me
Philadelphia, Pa.

I attended St. Stephen School from first grade through eighth grade, graduating in 1961 before moving on to De La Salle.

Even as a child, it was obvious to me that St. Stephen was no ordinary church, that it was a special place. I had a feeling that attending Mass there almost took on a special significance, and I don't think I was alone in that feeling. I’m sure the congregants and students at St. Joseph Church on Tulane Avenue felt much the same.

With so many Catholic schools and churches closing or consolidating, in Philadelphia as well as New Orleans (the two cities are probably more alike in some ways than some would imagine), from a distance it pleased me greatly that St. Stephen remained open both as a school and as a church when other uptown parishes either closed completely or in part.

My wife’s first cousin is aware of my past loyalties, and he sent me two stories that appeared in the Clarion Herald regarding the designation of St. Stephen as a minor basilica. I am far removed by time and distance from my days at SSS (my wife and I have made it an annual tradition to return to the New Orleans area every year, for longer periods since we both are retired), and it occurred to me that I should have made a point of attending Mass at St. Stephen at least occasionally while back home. But while there we stay at my sister-in-law’s condo in Kenner, and take the course of least resistance by attending Mass there.

I thank the Clarion Herald for recognizing what I and my classmates so many years ago instinctively knew: St. Stephen is and always has been a special place, not only for its architectural magnificence, but for making us feel just a little bit closer to God.

BERNARD FERNANDEZ