The start of a new year always holds great mystery. What will these days — only numbers on a calendar now — hold for us, our families, our nation, our world?

The mystery also extends to our parishes, schools, and the Diocese of Peoria itself. Will our pastor be moved come June? Will our school retain its principal and teachers? What decisions will the Holy Spirit lead Bishop Jenky to make?

Here are some headlines we would love to write on Catholic Post pages in 2018. The first would be in our next issue:

“Powerball winner gives $550 million lottery prize to diocese”

“Response to Tax Credit Scholarship Program overwhelming in Illinois, diocese”

“Diocese welcomes record number of seminarians in new class”

“Archbishop Sheen’s body returns to Peoria; beatification date set”

“Parishes add Masses as fallen-away Catholics return in droves”

“After bishop’s festival letter, ’Joseph’ most popular baby boy’s name in 2018”

“U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe vs. Wade”

“Legislation overturns taxpayer-funded abortion in Illinois”

“A dozen new St. Vincent de Paul Society conferences open in diocese”

“No tornado touchdowns in diocese in 2018”

“Generosity leads Catholic Charities to expand outreach to diocese’s poor”

“Pope Francis announces plans to visit OSF headquarters, thank Sisters”

“Only positive ads reported as Illinois gubernatorial, other elections near”

“JESUS RETURNS!” (In very large, bold type, though we may not publish that issue.)

And, of course:

“Catholic Post’s Delivering Unity Campaign a major success” More on this one in our next couple of issues.

What is a headline you would like to see in 2018? We will be asking that question on our Facebook site in the coming days. Happy New Year to all our readers. — Thomas J. Dermody