By: By Sister Rachel Bergschneider, OSB Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 28 Wisdom 1:13-15, 2:23-24; Psalm 30:2,4,5-6,11,12,13; 2 Corinthians 8:7,9,13-15; Mark 5:21-43 The Irish love to tell the story of Paddy McGarrity who spent his life bemoaning all the circumstances of life. Nothing would satisfy him. One particularly lovely sunny day the sun burst […]
Continue readingWhat began as a month of celebration for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Peoria is ending with days of trepidation as Illinois politicians consider drastic cuts in social service spending as one way out of an historic budget crisis. There are a lot of numbers to digest to even begin to understand the situation, […]
Continue readingThe 2009 Diocesan Summer Institute was launched last Friday with a burst of energy from the head of the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization. “He is the Eveready Bunny working on nuclear power — he just never stops,” said Father Douglas Grandon, associate director of the diocesan Office of Catechetics, as he introduced Bill […]
Continue readingCatholic religious educators should remember that Catholic doctrine is for spiritual “formation,” not just “information.” That was a message of John Cavadini’s keynote address at the 2009 Diocesan Summer Institute, delivered Friday morning at St. Vincent de Paul Church. Titled “The Relationship Between the Teaching of Christian Doctrine and the Formation of Persons as Christians,” […]
Continue readingA cell phone rang last Friday evening just as Christian musician John Michael Talbot was lyrically inviting about 500 concert-goers at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Peoria to “come to the quiet.” “That had better be God calling,” dead-panned Talbot, continuing the soothing melody on his six-string guitar. Many of those attending the concert […]
Continue readingLINCOLN — With a formal ribbon cutting and a blessing last Thursday, a new era began for the Lincoln branch office of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Peoria at newer and more spacious office facilities at 2110 W. Fifth St. In past years, Catholic Charities operated out of a former residence located at 310 […]
Continue readingI Am With You Always, Christ’s words of reassurance to his disciples after his resurrection, is the theme for the 23rd annual Catholic Charismatic Renewal Conference, which is planned for July 17 and 18 at the Holiday Inn City Centre in Peoria. The speakers who will be breaking open that theme, which comes from Matthew […]
Continue readingOn Sunday, July 5, St. Joseph’s Church in Peoria will join the list of central Illinois faith communities that regularly offer Mass in the extraordinary form, also known as the Tridentine rite. This is the liturgy celebrated in Latin according to the Roman Missal of 1962. Father Michael Driscoll, chaplain at OSF Saint Francis Medical […]
Continue readingLASALLE — “Human beings are hungry beings,” and only God’s love can fully and permanently satisfy us, Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, told hundreds of Catholics from 21 faith communities who gathered at St. Hyacinth’s Church in LaSalle Sunday afternoon for a public witness of their faith in and love for Christ’s presence in the […]
Continue readingIt’s not easy to put a century of Catholic parish life on hold. Just ask any member of five faith communities in the Diocese of Peoria — totaling more than 500 years of collective history — who last weekend took part in the final regularly scheduled Masses in their familiar, tradition-laden churches. “God knows the […]
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