Articles:

“Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” (Columbia)

Karen Gillan, Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart star in a scene from the movie "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle." The Catholic News Service classification is A-III -- adults. (CNS/Sony)

By Catholic News Service Amusing comic adventure in which a quartet of teens (Alex Wolff, Ser’Darius Blain, Madison Iseman and Morgan Turner) find themselves magically transported into an old video game where they inhabit the avatars they chose before the start of play (Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan). Most of the […]

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“All the Money in the World” (Sony)

Michelle Williams and Mark Wahlberg star in a scene from the movie "All the Money in the World." The Catholic News Service classification is A-III -- adults. (CNS/Sony)

By Catholic News Service By turns suspenseful, darkly comic and stridently moral, this slightly fictionalized account of the famous 1973 kidnapping of John Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer), the grandson of his billionaire namesake (Christopher Plummer), makes a strong case that immense wealth not only can’t buy happiness, it also imposes depths of misery that […]

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Festival of Nativities unites community around manger as Christmas approaches

"Come and Behold Him" was the theme for the 2017 Community Festival of Nativities in Peoria and that's exactly what the children from nearby Holy Family School did. The pre-school students in Chery Craft's class were among the first to visit the festival on Dec. 1, with Henry Anderton and Kate Ho taking an interest in one of the Nativities from Msgr. William Watson's private collection. (The Catholic Post/Jennifer Willems)

At a time when so much seems to be dividing humanity, celebrating the birth of Christ is one thing that unites people. That thought is the driving force behind the Community Festival of Nativities in Peoria. “Come and Behold Him” was the theme for the second annual event, which was sponsored by St. Vincent de […]

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Family finds meaning at Christmas despite damage left by Washington tornado

This picture of Jesus "is a copy of the one I had hanging in my house when the tornado hit.," said Lisa Hines. "When I found it among the rubble it was still intact. It is again hanging on my living room wall and continues to be the Jesus that I go to."

By Lisa Hines EUREKA — Christmas 2014 was a Christmas like no other. On Nov. 17, 2014, a tornado hit Washington, Illinois, at approximately 11:05 a.m. and destroyed our house. That day our world was literally turned upside down. My husband, John, my dad, Leo, 91 (who had been living with us since 2011), and […]

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Death couldn’t stop gift of hope organist received from collaborator

Longtime collaborators Sonny Huffman and Carol Wake do what they loved to do most --- make music together. Her death devastated him, but her last Christmas present to him gave him hope. Provided photo

FROM THE EDITOR: In the following reflection, Sonny Huffman talks about his friend, Carol Wake, a longtime music teacher and church musician who served at St. Bernard and St. Vincent de Paul, both in Peoria, until her death. He continues to live in Peoria and minister as an organist for Masses at St. Vincent de […]

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Canton parish ‘home’ for Christmas as damaged St. Mary Church reopens

St. Mary Church in Canton was packed on Sunday, Dec. 17, for the first Mass it has hosted in 13 months. A major restoration was necessary after the church was damaged in a nearby natural gas explosion that rocked the city's downtown on Nov. 16, 2016. Father Daniel Ebker, pastor, is using the original high altar until a new altar of sacrifice that has been ordered arrives. (The Catholic Post/Tom Dermody)

CANTON — Celebrating Mass in their church for the first time in 13 months gave members of St. Mary Parish here an additional reason to rejoice on Dec. 17, known as Gaudete (Rejoice) Sunday. “We’re not finished by any long shot,” said Father Daniel Ebker, pastor, of the long restoration process required after the church […]

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“Ferdinand” (Fox)

The animated character Ferdinand appears in the movie "Ferdinand." The Catholic News Service classification is A-I, general patronage. (CNS/Blue Sky Studios)

By Catholic News Service Good values help to redeem a somewhat padded plot in this animated adaptation of Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson’s 1936 children’s classic “The Story of Ferdinand,” directed by Carlos Saldanha. Escaping the confines of the stable in which he and other bulls are prepared for their fateful confrontation with a matador, […]

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“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (Disney)

John Boyega and Gwendoline Christie star in a scene from the movie "Star Wars: The Last Jedi." The Catholic News Service classification is A-II -- adults and adolescents. (CNS/Disney)

By Catholic News Service Engrossing sci-fi epic in which the leading general (Carrie Fisher) of an embattled group of rebels sends a messenger (Daisy Ridley) to the distant planet on which her brother (Mark Hamill), a famed warrior, is living in self-imposed exile to summon his help in the desperate struggle against their fascistic enemies […]

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Fr. Don Miller, OFM, Peoria native, former Franciscan vocation director, dies at 72

Father Donald Miller, OFM

CINCINNATI, Ohio — Father Donald Miller, OFM, a Peoria native and former vocation director for the Order of Friars Minor of the St. John the Baptist Province, died on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017, at St. Margaret Hall here. He was 72. Father Don’s body was to be received at 9 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 16, at […]

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Quick turnaround, but no ‘two-for-one’ Masses as Christmas falls on a Monday

People exchange a sign of peace during Christmas Eve Mass. (CNS file/Daniel Soñé)

By Carol Zimmermann, Catholic News Service WASHINGTON (CNS) — Although Christmas this year is the day after the fourth Sunday of Advent, Catholics looking to count a Sunday evening Mass Dec. 24 for both that Sunday obligation and Monday’s Christmas Mass obligation will have to think again. The U.S. bishops already saw this coming at […]

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