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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The Catholic bishops of Illinois on June 1 released a statement on gambling, updating their 1999 publication on the issue in light of the possibility of a massive expansion of gambling to help fix the finances of both the state and the city of Chicago. Media reports indicate that a city-owned casino in Chicago is […]
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As we pray for the soul of Cardinal Francis E. George this week and give thanks for all he meant to the Catholic Church, perhaps the next best thing we can do is reflect on his teaching. And for Catholics of the Diocese of Peoria, a good beginning would be remembering what Cardinal George told […]
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Photo Caption: Whether you see this dress as white and gold or blue and black, we have a different question for all as we progress through Lent. In a world facing terror threats, in a nation still dealing with racial unrest, and in this holy penitential season of Lent, the question seemed beyond trivial. Yet […]
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