This year has been memorable for many reasons, including a global pandemic that changed everyone’s lives in ways no one could imagine. Despite everything, however, four priests of the Diocese of Peoria are giving thanks to God for blessings received during 25 years of priesthood. Father Patrick DeMeulemeester, Father Joseph Dondanville and Father John Verrier […]
Continue reading
Rose Byrne and Steve Carell star in a scene from the 2020 movie "Irresistible." The Catholic News Service classification is A-III -- adults. (CNS/Daniel McFadden, Focus Features)
By Catholic News Service After a video of his impassioned speech to a meeting of the town council in his small, cash-strapped Wisconsin farming community comes to the attention of a high-powered Democratic Party strategist (Steve Carell), a retired Marine colonel (Chris Cooper) agrees to run for mayor if the Washington-based pol will stay in […]
Continue reading
Golden jubilarians Father Donald Henderson and Msgr. Charles Beebe were honored with a drive-thru parade at St. Jude Church in Peoria on June 6. The celebration included honking horns, waves, smiles, signs and cards of congratulations. (The Catholic Post/Jennifer Willems)
As they look back on 50 years of ordained ministry, Msgr. Charles J. Beebe and Father Donald J. Henderson count numerous baptisms and weddings, as well as helping people prepare to “go home” to the Lord and then consoling their families as among the most memorable moments they’ve had. “All of those times were unbelievably […]
Continue reading
Kelly O'Sullivan and Ramona Edith-Williams star in a scene from the movie "Saint Frances." The Catholic News Service classification is O -- morally offensive. (CNS/Oscilloscope Films)
By Catholic News Service A grotesque treatment of abortion and a misguided view of faith are the most notable elements of this mix of comedy and drama charting the friendship between an adrift 34-year-old woman (Kelly O’Sullivan) and the little girl (Ramona Edith-Williams) she nannies for a summer. As written by O’Sullivan and directed by […]
Continue reading
Sister Maria Elena Padilla, OSF
EAST PEORIA — A funeral Mass was offered on June 22 for Sister Maria Elena Padilla, OSF, at the Motherhouse of The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis here. Burial was in Mater Dolorosa Cemetery. Sister Maria Elena died on June 18, 2020, at the Motherhouse. She was 91 and had been a […]
Continue reading
Johnny Nguyen, Clarke Peters and Delroy Lindo star in a scene from the movie "Da 5 Bloods." The Catholic News Service classification is L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. (CNS/David Lee, Netflix)
Rich but harrowing drama in which a quartet of veterans (Delroy Lindo, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis and Isiah Whitlock Jr.) who formed a deep bond during their service in Vietnam return there, partly to retrieve the body of a fallen comrade (Chadwick Boseman) they revered as a mentor but also to recover a cache of […]
Continue reading
Deacon Jack Kettering
ROCK ISLAND — A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, June 23, at St. Pius X Church here for Deacon Jack M. Kettering, who was a member of the second class of permanent deacons ordained for the Diocese of Peoria. Deacon Kettering — who served at parishes including Sacred […]
Continue reading
Shawn Reeves
By Shawn Reeves Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time/June 21 Jeremiah 20:10-13; Psalm 69:8-10,14,17,33-35; Romans 5:12-15; Matthew 10:26-33 My wife and I have been married for more than 20 years, and we are not the same people we were when we said our vows. St. John Henry Cardinal Newman once famously wrote, “Growth is the only evidence […]
Continue reading
Father Eric Bolek and Father Joe Baker walk down a country road during their four-day, 62-mile walk from Galesburg to Peoria at the start of June. (Provided photo)
“No pain, no gain.” Father Joe Baker repeated that phrase often as he and Father Eric Bolek hiked 62 miles on a walking spiritual pilgrimage between Galesburg and Peoria from June 1 to 4. The pain from the resulting blisters and muscle aches has proven to be temporary. The gain? Plentiful and likely long lasting. […]
Continue reading
“Amazing changes” have taken place since Father George F. Remm and Father Thomas J. Royer were ordained by Bishop John B. Franz on May 29, 1960, at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria. They embraced what the Second Vatican Council brought, however, and learned to adapt in ways that made for fruitful, fulfilling ministry for the […]
Continue reading
