Hitting close to home. Again.

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all
the evil spirits, who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

SEX AND MONEY. If one doesn't get you, the other one will.

They ought to engrave that above the doors of every chancery in every Catholic diocese in every corner of the world. Then they ought to make a sign and post it in every priest's office.

And in every damn one of our homes.

Mrs. Favog and I always thought Fr. Steve Gutgsell was a great guy. When we were wanting to become Catholic, Father Steve -- then an associate pastor at Christ the King here -- made the time to give us private instruction because we worked nights, when RCIA classes (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) met.

We got solid instruction -- we used Fr. John Hardon's Pocket Catechism -- and we completed our studies in about half the time RCIA would have taken. We began instruction in January, and Father Steve confirmed us during a regular Mass in May 1990. (And there's a whole story there that can wait for another day.)

During our instruction, Father Steve took a philosophically pro-choice Favog and began to open his eyes, and heart, to the Culture of Life. He gave us copies of Humanae Vitae to read for ourselves . . . and when I did, the light bulb went on in my head:

This isn't a scheme to make sure there are lots of Catholics. This thing makes absolute sense.

Before our confirmation, Father Steve heard Mrs. Favog's and my first confessions. After our confirmation, he put together a group of married couples (including us) to study scripture and Church doctrine.

By this time, we weren't even at his parish anymore. Didn't matter.

AND SOME YEARS LATER, when Mrs. Favog was in the hospital for cancer surgery, he made sure to visit her. Even though he was a pastor in O'Neill, Neb., hours away in the farthest corner of the Omaha archdiocese.

Between then and now, there came -- apparently -- that "wickedness and snares of the Devil" thing. It would seem, for Father Steve, the master of deceit (who, by the way, is a true professional . . . I know) slipped past St. Michael the Archangel. And on his rounds prowling about the world seeking the ruin of souls, he is alleged to have made a stop at St. Patrick's in south Omaha.

From the Omaha World-Herald (free registration required):

To some parishioners, the Rev. Stephen J. Gutgsell seemed like the kind of man who would spend money on St. Patrick Church rather than take money away.

He made sure tablecloths were new for every season, as well as the scarves that hang on statues in the south Omaha parish. Once, organist Rita Carbonell watched him pay for Christmas flowers with his own credit card.

"He liked to make it so the parishioners could do what we're here for -- come to God," said Carbonell, a lifelong member.

But that image was marred Friday when Omaha Archdiocese officials accused Gutgsell, 48, of embezzling more than $100,000 from the church.

The archdiocese contacted the Omaha Police Department Friday, and Gutgsell resigned his position as pastor.

"At least for the time being, he's not going to have a pastoral assignment," said the Rev. Joe Taphorn, chancellor of the archdiocese.

Taphorn said there are no indications that anyone else was involved in the theft. The archdiocese started a financial review in early January after parish lay leaders raised concerns.

Gutgsell could not be reached for comment Friday.

St. Patrick, at 1412 Castelar St., stands in the middle of a neighborhood with brick streets, large trees and old houses with chain-link fences. The church, like the neighborhood, is a place where people make their home for generations.

The parish -- Gutgsell's home since June 2001 -- has about 320 households and 680 parishioners, small when compared to other Omaha parishes. The Rev. James M. Buckley, an associate pastor at Holy Cross Church, has been transferred to St. Patrick as the parish administrator.

Gutgsell grew up in Blessed Sacrament parish in north Omaha in a devoted Catholic family. His brother, the Rev. Michael Gutgsell, is a former chancellor of the archdiocese and is pastor at St. Cecilia Cathedral.

(snip)

In addition to his regular church work, Gutgsell said Mass at other places in the neighborhood, including the Women's Care Center of the Heartland, St. Joseph Villa and St. Joseph Tower. He even led a regular Mass for home-schooled children.

He oversaw the opening of the Women's Care Center, a residential crisis pregnancy center housed in a former convent adjacent to the church.

"He was always hustling and bustling, said Fran Rieschl, who lives across the street from St. Patrick and attends morning Mass. "I've never seen anybody who is as busy as he is."

Rieschl said she refused to believe he would do anything wrong.

"He is a nice guy," she said.

Not everyone was shocked, though.

When 84-year-old Jennie Grazziano died in September, her son contacted Gutgsell to arrange the funeral.

Tony Grazziano, 58, whose mother was a St. Patrick member for more than 60 years, said he recorded his phone conversation with Gutgsell because he "didn't have a good feeling" about the priest.

In the recording, Grazziano and a man identifying himself as Father Gutgsell discuss conflicts about the funeral date. After declining to change the date, Grazziano has Gutgsell talk to funeral director Patrick Henry of Council Bluffs.

"I expect to charge this fellow (Grazziano) a huge amount of money for this," Gutgsell tells Henry. "That's what I'm expecting to do. Don't tell him this at this point."

(snip)

Monsignor Edgar Wortmann of Blessed Sacrament Church knew Gutgsell as a teen. Michael and Stephen served as altar boys. Their mother attended daily Mass and cared for the altar and the vigil candles.

Wortmann said he didn't talk much about a vocation with the young Stephen Gutgsell.

"But he was certainly thinking of it," he said. "(He was) very devoted, very -- I hate to use this word, but a very straitlaced person. There was absolutely no indication that anything like that was there."

A video report from KMTV, Channel 3 is here.

Just call this Object Lesson 1,239,702,481,968,807 in How the Lord's Prayer Is Deadly Serious Bidness. I don't know about you, but I plan on praying extra hard next time when I get to the "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" part.