Many of us have been losing money, at least on paper, in recent weeks and words like crisis and despair are appearing in news headlines. But this Sunday afternoon, men and women from throughout the Diocese of Peoria who know what deep loss, crisis and despair really feel like will come to St. Mary’s Cathedral to pray with their bishop and hear messages of hope, support, and love.

At 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 12, Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, will celebrate the annual Mass for the Widowed and Divorced. A reception will follow. We hope many will take advantage of the opportunity.

Who doesn’t know someone who has experienced such a profound loss, perhaps recently? A gentle reminder of Sunday’s Mass might be a step on their road to healing.

Last year, Bishop Jenky told the group “we should never be ashamed of our own grief and pain because faith should teach us that only God is God, that only God loves us perfectly, and that only God can heal us.” And every Mass, he reminded them, “can console the greatest pain, comfort the most terrible sorrows, and even begin to satisfy the very deepest longings of our hearts.”

Deaths and divorces normally don’t make the headlines. But those who have lost a spouse through death or divorce endure personal crises that make financial ones seem minor by comparison. We thank the Widowed and Divorced Diocesan Advisory Board and the Office of Pastoral Services for presenting Sunday’s opportunity. The following Saturday a training session is planned for those who would like to become facilitators of widowed and divorced support groups. Keep them in your prayers. — Thomas J. Dermody, editor-in-chief, The Catholic Post