Back in November, as the debates for the Democratic and Republican presidential races were just beginning, the U.S. Catholic bishops were having their own debate about politics during their annual fall general assembly. The debate preceded votes on “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” a document the bishops revise and publish every four years as the […]
Continue readingThere are so many wonderful resources to help us observe a meaningful Lent beyond giving up chocolate. The important thing is to select one or a few that will lead us closer to Christ as we walk through the penitential season. With Ash Wednesday’s arrival this week, these days of grace have already begun. During […]
Continue readingIs your prayer list for people who are sick as long as mine? Maybe it’s the pervasive communication of social media, maybe it’s that I and my peers are getting older, but every day seems to bring news of another friend, family member or friend-of-a-friend diagnosed with cancer, facing surgery, or being hospitalized with an […]
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As we approach the 43rd anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decisions legalizing abortion and ponder the loss of some 58 million human persons in those years, many among us will literally take to the streets in prayerful protests planned in our region, state, or in the nation’s capital. All of us should do something. […]
Continue readingIn his Harvest Mass homily in rural Odell (see story), Father David Sabel referenced the book “One Thousand Gifts” by Ann Voskamp. Writing in the November issue of Magnificat, Voskamp said the best-selling book came about after a friend challenged her to start counting 1,000 things she loved — “one thousands gifts, a thousand graces.” […]
Continue readingBy: By Tom Dermody The Blessed Mother has no shortage of titles. Earlier this month we honored Mary as Our Lady of the Rosary. Soon we will recall her under the titles of the Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Guadalupe. We could fill this column with titles for Mary, including the Mother of Mercy, […]
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Photo Caption: “Many people have asked about what it was like to be present for such an historic moment for our nation. It is hard to find the right words. It was a profoundly special moment….” By: By Sister Sara Kowal, SCTJM EDITOR’S NOTE: Sister Sara Kowal, SCTJM, is a theology teacher and campus minister […]
Continue readingThe two diocesan priests who died this month lived very different lives. Msgr. Robert W. O’Connor, 92, was blessed with health and longevity, and spent more than five decades in one assignment. Father Benjamin Reese, 57, was stricken in midlife with ALS after service not only in several parishes in our diocese but also in […]
Continue readingThe funding of Planned Parenthood, now in the national debate thanks to secretly recorded videos that appear to show the organization’s involvement in procuring and selling human body parts from aborted fetuses, was big news in the Diocese of Peoria 36 years ago. In July of 1979, Bishop Edward W. O’Rourke made headlines by withdrawing […]
Continue readingWe can’t say whether our Christian brothers and sisters at the Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, know that the Catholic Church will soon begin a special Holy Year of Mercy. We do know that the grieving, African Methodist Episcopal faith community provided us all with a powerful witness of mercy that Catholics would […]
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