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 […]
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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 […]
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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, […]
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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 […]
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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, […]
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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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Sister Mary Prema Pierick, superior general of the Missionaries of Charity, is seen fourth from left in this photo with members of her community serving in Peoria after a Mass at St. Mary's Cathedral on July 17. Also pictured are Father Jeremy Freehill (left), Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, and Father Alex Millar. (Provided photo/Christu Raj)
The rosary is a holy “weapon” that strengthens the Missionaries of Charity as they bring the love and compassion of God to the most neglected and unwanted, the head of the worldwide religious community founded by St. Teresa of Kolkata said in a visit to Peoria on July 17. “When you saw Mother, you always […]
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A sign outside Immauclate Conception Church in Lacon calls to mind that this is the building's 150th year of serving "faith, family, and the community." (The Catholic Post/Tom Dermody)
LACON — Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, will be the principal celebrant of a 4 p.m. Mass on Saturday, Aug. 17, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the dedication of Immaculate Conception Church here. “Our invitation is very open,” said Father John Bosco Mujuni, who is in his second year as pastor. That welcome is specially […]
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Sister Ana Pia Cordua, SCTJM
As Sister Ana Pia Cordua, SCTJM, guided Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Peoria throughout most of this decade, she was sometimes asked to take on additional duties in areas such as Respect Life and Hispanic ministry. A diocesan office she has led since the departure of former director Shirley Plaag last summer — Evangelization […]
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Sister Michelle Fernandez, SCTJM, is director of Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Peoria. (The Catholic Post/Tom Dermody)
Sister Michelle Fernandez, SCTJM, has been named director for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Peoria. An experienced social worker and educator who for six years served as principal of St. Mary’s Cathedral School in an impoverished section of Miami called Little Haiti, Sister Michelle succeeds Sister Ana Pia Cordua, SCTJM, who has guided Catholic […]
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