The Catholic Post Author: Tom Dermody - Page 60

World Youth Day in Poland ignites pilgrims from the Diocese of Peoria

By: Tom Dermody - August 12, 2016 - Featured Article Diocese of Peoria, pilgrims, Poland, Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary, Sister Clara, Sister Sara, World Youth Day

Current or former students of Peoria Notre High School kneel along with about 2 million other World Youth Day pilgrims during a prayer vigil with Pope Francis in a “Field of Mercy” outside Krakow, Poland on July 30. From left are Maddie Conley and Mary Rockwell, both now students at Bradley University in Peoria; Grace Conley, a Peoria Notre Dame junior; and Lauren Schuler, a student at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. (Provided photo/The Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary)

Inspiring. A blessed experience. Indescribable. Amazing. Really hard at times. A game-changer. About 50 pilgrims from the Diocese of Peoria are home from a World Youth Day experience in late July with Pope Francis in Poland they find impossible to adequately describe, but are compelled to share. “It was a very blessed experience, but something […]

Bishop Spalding would appreciate the sacrifices made for school in Chillicothe

By: Tom Dermody - August 11, 2016 - Editorial

On Aug. 25, the Diocese of Peoria will pause to commemorate 100 years since the death of its founding bishop, John Lancaster Spalding. Details of the Founder’s Day Mass and related celebrations, which also serve to mark the restoration of St. Mary’s Cathedral, are found on here. We hope many can take part in order […]

Before Rio, there was Krakow

By: Tom Dermody - August 11, 2016 - Editorial

About 50 pilgrims from the Diocese of Peoria are among the throngs shown walking to the Field of Mercy near Krakow, Poland, for a prayer vigil and Mass with Pope Francis to conclude World Youth Day. (Provided photo/Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary)

By the time this is read, there will be all sorts of familiar storylines and images from the Olympic Games in Rio. Already as of Tuesday morning, just three days in, we’ve become acquainted with athletes from around the world in pools, on balance beams, and even on the beach. We’ve been dazzled by the […]

Are willing to take the lowest place?

By: Tom Dermody - August 10, 2016 - Living the Word Hepner

Father Timothy Hepner

By Father Timothy Hepner Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time/Aug. 14 Jeremiah 38:4-6,8-10; Psalm 40:2,3,4,18; Hebrews 12:1-4; Luke 12:49-53 “Blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.” Jesus’ saying in the Gospel goes against the grain of common sense. Why would I be blessed because someone is unable to repay me? Our […]

Facing school closure, St. Edward in Chillicothe seeing a wave of generosity

By: Tom Dermody - July 27, 2016 - Featured Article Catholic school, Chiillicothe, Father Keith Walder, Mike Domico, St. Edward

More than $440,000 has been pledged in just three days in an effort to save St. Edward School in Chillicothe from closing because of costly needed repairs. (The Catholic Post/Tom Dermody)

CHILLICOTHE — A weekend announcement that St. Edward School in Chillicothe is closing because of extensive repair costs resulting from a leaky roof has set off a wave of prayer and charity in hopes of saving the 56-year-old elementary school. “It has been amazing to see our parish and community rally behind our wonderful […]

Needed: a mobile device examination of conscience

By: Tom Dermody - July 13, 2016 - Editorial Catholic, examination of conscience, mobile device, smartphone

It was a glorious summer day. The lunch hour crowd that gathered in the downtown courthouse plaza was bathed in sunshine, as were the cascades of blooming flowers and the fountains with waters so remarkably blue one wondered if they had been artificially colored. They had not. The tall surrounding buildings seemed to pierce the […]

Totus Tuus brings summer faith formation — and fun — to Ottawa, 22 other sites

By: Tom Dermody - July 12, 2016 - Featured Article Father Augustin Kassa, Ottawa, summer, Totus Tuus

Emma Hardin leans forward as she and other Totus Tuus participants shout "Yes!" in response to Father Augustin Kassa, SMA, who asked if they believe Jesus can still heal the sick today. At the close of his homily, Father Kassa -- parochial vicar at St. Patrick and and St. Francis of Assisi parishes -- led the children in praying for family members and others who are ill. (The Catholic Post/Tom Dermody)

OTTAWA — Lydia Perilles enjoys being a team member of the weeklong faith experience for youth known as Totus Tuus that is being offered at 23 locations in the Diocese of Peoria this June and July. But that only begins to explain why the Fairview native and Monmouth College senior spends her summer sharing the […]

Bake sales, blessings will help family experience World Youth Day together

By: Tom Dermody - July 12, 2016 - News Article Conley, Family, Peoria, pilgrims, St. Mark Parish, World Youth Day

Sporting their World Youth Day 2016 t-shirts are members of the Conley family of St. Mark Parish in Peoria, who will join a pilgrimage to Poland that is leaving July 15. From left are Maddie, 21, Drew, 14, Jack, 18, mother D’Arcy, and Grace, 16. Prayer intentions they have collected in recent months fill a large bowl on the table. The Conleys are shown with an image of St. John Paul II, the Poland native who initiated World Youth Day, that hangs in their living room. (The Catholic Post/Tom Dermody)

“If you’re going to fundraise for one, why not fundraise for all?” So says D’Arcy Conley in explaining how she and her four children — members of St. Mark Parish in Peoria — have been working since February to raise money to travel to Poland this month for World Youth Day with Pope Francis. With […]

Pilgrims from Diocese of Peoria ready to experience World Youth Day in Poland

By: Tom Dermody - July 12, 2016 - Featured Article Diocese of Peoria, Pierced Hearts, Sister Sara Kowal, World Youth Day

World Youth Day 2016 will focus on the theme chosen by Pope Francis from the Gospel of Matthew: "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy." (CNS)

Dozens of pilgrims from the Diocese of Peoria will join an expected 2 million Catholics preparing to gather in Poland with Pope Francis at World Youth Day 2016 later this month. Most of the local participants will be part of a pilgrimage organized by the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary that […]

Moline parish hosts timely prayer service for healing, peace in our nation

By: Tom Dermody - July 11, 2016 - Featured Article healing, Moline, peace, prayer, Sacred Heart, Year of Mercy

Denise Maynard prays the Our Father with nearly 200 others who attended a Prayer Service for Peace and Healing in our Country hosted July 10 by Sacred Heart Church in Moline. (The Catholic Post/Tom Dermody)

MOLINE — In a summer already tainted by terrorism and escalating racial tensions, and in the days before the opening of the Republican and Democratic national conventions, nearly 200 Catholics of the Quad Cities region gathered Sunday to pray for healing and peace in our nation. The afternoon service at Sacred Heart Church here was […]

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