Photo Caption: Only about 25 percent of Catholics take part in the sacrament of reconciliation once a year or more, according to a report by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. Unfair! About 25 percent of Catholics seem to have more graces than the rest, according to latest data. Are you listening, Catholic […]
Continue readingJesus may have weighed in on the Penn State scandal in last Sunday’s Gospel. “Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me,” said Jesus in his story of the Son of Man separating the sheep from the goats on judgment day. […]
Continue readingThe secular media is on to the story. Well, kind of. “Big changes to Catholic Mass spur confusion in pews,” headlined CNN on Nov. 4, with a lead sentence that the Mass is undergoing a “major overhaul.” “Catholic Church unveils strict Latin translation” blared the New York Post the following day. “Overhaul of Catholic Mass […]
Continue readingYes, we see that the horror film “Paranormal Activity 3” is atop the movie box office. That’s sad, given the satanic elements of the plot and crude language, but not unexpected as Halloween approaches. Still, October has been a surprisingly good month for inspirational fare in theaters. And since we embrace The Christophers’ motto that […]
Continue readingWorld Mission Sunday is Oct. 23, but Catholics of the Diocese of Peoria have a rare opportunity this Sunday, Oct. 16, to start the celebration early and personalize it. Members of the mission society Maryknoll, which is celebrating 100 years of spreading the Gospel in more than 40 countries, will be present at St. Mary’s […]
Continue readingTen years ago on Oct. 9, Bishop John J. Myers — the seventh Bishop of Peoria, a native of Earlville, and a longtime priest of this diocese — was installed as the new Archbishop of Newark, N.J. While a decade has passed since Archbishop left his home diocese, the impact his strong leadership had on […]
Continue readingIf you have been a part of almost any diocesan committee or commission for the past three decades, you likely have witnessed — and marveled at — the faith and the organizational skills of Jeanne Whalen. A member of the diocesan staff since 1981 and a former director of evangelization and youth ministry, Jeanne has […]
Continue readingEDITOR’S NOTE: On Wednesday, President Barack Obama visited two rural communities in the Diocese of Peoria, Atkinson and Alpha, and also made a surprise stop in Galesburg. In Atkinson, Father Tony Lee, pastor of St. Anthony’s Parish, was asked to give the invocation. (See story here.) While the president had yet to arrive when the […]
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Photo Caption: A malnourished child rests inside the pediatric ward at the Banadir Hospital in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu. — CNS Photo/Reuters In this age of social media, we doubt that this child of God is anyone’s Facebook friend. Unlike those familiar, smiling faces of family members or rediscovered high school and college friends in our […]
Continue readingA robin’s nest rests still and empty on the bend of a gutter downspout just a few feet from my home’s living room window. But for four weeks this summer, that window provided a marvelous view of one of nature’s life cycles. We first noticed flapping in late June as Mother Robin sized up the […]
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