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Volunteers offer welcome, information to all visiting cathedral, Sheen’s tomb

By: Tom Dermody - September 3, 2019 - Featured Article Archbishop Fulton Sheen, Kelly Ramirez, Loreto Xavier, Lori Wilson, Ray Ramirez, tomb, volunteers

David and Linda Whitaker of Tinley Park, pilgrims to the tomb of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria on Aug. 27, are greeted by volunteers (from left) Kate Socha of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, Peoria Heights; Regina Hutt of St. Philomena Parish, Peoria; and Patricia Ostaszewski of Epiphany Parish, Normal. More than 50 volunteers have staffed the welcoming table during the two months since the cathedral extended visiting hours following the transfer of the sainthood candidate’s remains from New York to Peoria. (The Catholic Post/Tom Dermody)

Before they visit the new tomb of Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, pilgrims to St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria first encounter a smiling face and warm greeting from one of more than 50 volunteers who take turns at a table just inside the side chapel entrance door. “I hope to be a listening ear to […]

Hispanic Ministry offers a professional listening ear to area’s Spanish-speaking

By: Tom Dermody - August 28, 2019 - Featured Article Bloomington, Hispanic ministry, LaSalle, Olga Figueroa, psychotherapist, Sister Isabel Romero

Sister Isabel Romero, SCTJM, director of Hispanic Ministry for the Diocese of Peoria, is pictured with Olga Figueroa, her longtime friend from Mexico. Figueroa is a psychotherapist who offered workshops and private counseling in August to Spanish-speaking Catholics in LaSalle, Peoria, and Bloomington. (The Catholic Post/Tom Dermody)

As a priest from Mexico was hearing confessions for 14 hours during a retreat day for Spanish-speaking Catholics of the Diocese of Peoria last summer, Sister Isabel Romero, SCTJM, offered to help move things along. “Do you want me to tell them to be a little more quick — to just say their sins?” asked […]

Catholic-run senior facility in Normal to add nursing and memory care units

By: Tom Dermody - August 22, 2019 - Featured Article Chris Beymer, Franciscan Ministries, Msgr. Eric Powell, Normal, The Village at Mercy Creek

Msgr. Eric Powell sprinkles holy water during blessing ceremonies Aug. 21 at The Village at Mercy Creek in Normal. Among those looking on are two members of the leadership of Franciscan Ministries, which acquired the senior living facility a year ago -- John Glover, chief operating officer, and Dan Noonan, chief financial officer. (The Catholic Post, Tom Dermody)

NORMAL — The Village at Mercy Creek on Aug. 21 marked one year as a Franciscan Ministries senior living community by announcing plans to expand in 2020. “We think there is a real need in this marketplace to extend our mission through skilled nursing and memory care units we want to construct here,” said Dan […]

Tutors are sought to help girls from low-income families grow in academics, virtue

By: Tom Dermody - August 19, 2019 - News Article academic, Kate Smart, low income, Opus Dei, PAVE, virtue

Girls taking part in the two-week PAVE Summer Camp at the rural home of Dr. Steve and Kate Smart pose on a tractor. The camp blended outdoor fun with lessons on citizenship, art, math, literature, and cooking as well as faith and virtues. PAVE stands for Pursuing Academic and Virtue Excellence. (Provided photo)

With no budget but a love for children from low income families, Kate Smart and a few friends are trying to PAVE the way for a miracle. They seek to duplicate in Peoria the success of a Catholic tutoring program in the heart of Chicago’s inner city that since 2000 boasts 100 percent high school […]

Jesus IS truly present: Do most Catholics need to go back to second grade?

By: Tom Dermody - August 14, 2019 - Editorial

As schools reopen and parishes gear up for religious education and RCIA classes, a new survey shockingly shows that many Catholics need to return to second grade, the year most of us received our first Holy Communion. Before that most special day, we were taught repeatedly that we were about to receive not bread and […]

How do our convictions, hopes measure against the message and life of Jesus?

By: Tom Dermody - August 14, 2019 - Living the Word

Sister Rachel Bergschneider, OSB

By Sister Rachel Bergschneider, OSB Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time/Aug. 18 Jeremiah 38:4-6,8-10; Psalm 40:2,3,4,18; Hebrews 12:1-4; Luke 12:49-53 We could not have more timely readings from Scripture than for this Sunday. Not only our country but our world seems mired in conflict and lack of compassion. It is difficult to face another day with the […]

Maryknoll Father Mike Gould, a native of Merna, marks 65 years in priesthood

By: Tom Dermody - August 14, 2019 - News Article

Father Mike Gould, MM

Father Mike Gould, a native of Merna who celebrated the 65th anniversary of his ordination as a Maryknoll priest this summer, is spending August in the Midwest visiting with family and reflecting on a missionary career that included almost six decades serving in Bolivia. “I’m working on a booklet of my memoirs,” said Father Gould, […]

El Paso massacre is personal for two Maryknoll priests from our diocese

By: Tom Dermody - August 14, 2019 - Featured Article El Paso, Father Mike Gould, Father William Donnelly, Maryknoll, massacre

Curtis Reliford kneels next to a cross in honor of Jordan Anchando, one of the victims of a mass shooting Aug. 3 at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas. Maryknoll Father Bill Donnelly, a Peoria native, serves two parishes near the site where 22 were killed and 24 injured, while Maryknoll Father Mike Gould, a Merna native, assisted there until recently. (CNS/Callaghan O'Hare, Reuters)

CANUTILLO, Texas — Two retired Maryknoll priests born and raised in the Diocese of Peoria are very familiar with how the Aug. 3 massacre at the Walmart in El Paso is deeply affecting the people of the region. “There has been a tremendous outpouring of grief and prayer and it’s still going on,” said Father […]

Finally, a ‘Bingo!’ Rock Island couple wins Post’s diocese-wide game, grand prize

By: Tom Dermody - August 8, 2019 - News Article Bingo, furniture, Jan DeSmet, Rock Island, Sherman's, St. Pius X, Tom DeSmet

Tom and Jan DeSmet hold their winning Bingo card outside their Rock Island home. The longtime members of St. Pius X Parish successfully matched all numbers within the outlined blue cross and qualify for the grand prize of a $5,000 furniture shopping spree from Sherman's. (The Catholic Post/Tom Dermody)

ROCK ISLAND — The virtue of patience is paying off for Tom and Jan DeSmet, the apparent sole winners of The Catholic Post’s diocese-wide Bingo game and its grand prize of a $5,000 furniture shopping spree at Sherman’s. That the DeSmets, members of St. Pius X Parish in Rock Island for more than five decades, […]

Security cameras, an aging tennis player, and examining our lenses of conscience

By: Tom Dermody - August 1, 2019 - Editorial

The prevalence of security cameras is sparking a debate in society about when they might infringe on privacy. Followers of Jesus would do well do regularly clean and fine tune the lenses of their conscience, and examine its footage at the end of each day.

I enjoy tennis. In my boyhood long ago, I would practice for hours by hitting a ball against the sturdy outside walls of one of two buildings — the local high school gym or a furniture store just a block from our house. No one inside ever told me to stop, and so in my […]

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