It was a Sunday morning unlike any other in the long, rich Catholic history of the Illinois Valley region. Every hour on the hour, from 8 to 11 a.m., parishioners with heavy hearts gathered June 14 at one of four beloved churches for a final regularly scheduled weekend Mass. Because the churches are all located […]
Continue readingWhat image comes to mind when the phrase “anti-abortion activist” is voiced or seen in print? For far too many in recent days, it is the police mug shot of Scott Roeder, who dragged the good name of pro-lifers everywhere through the blood when he fatally shot Dr. George Tiller while the notorious late-term abortionist […]
Continue readingCongratulations. Way to go. We’re so proud of you. Thank you. Great job! Look what your efforts have done. Awesome accomplishment. God bless you. You rock! Any and all of the above are appropriate on so many occasions during this month of family, parish, school, and religious community celebrations. May began with first Communions that […]
Continue readingOn the Catholic News Service Web site one can find the full text of every speech or homily Pope Benedict XVI gave during his historic visit to the Holy Land. And there are powerful, inspirational words throughout, such as his proclamation at the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem that the church will work tirelessly “to ensure […]
Continue readingI really like the theme of this year’s Annual Diocesan Appeal, “Count Your Blessings.” Is there a more healthy spiritual practice? Yet, when was the last time we actually tried to list our blessings? We tend to be grateful in spurts. We appreciate our blessing of health when it’s threatened; our blessing of employment when […]
Continue readingThere is frightening language being used this week regarding the dangerous influenza with the odd name that’s spreading around the world. As The Catholic Post went to press on Wednesday, the World Health Organization raised its alert level and signaled a global pandemic could be imminent. “It really is all of humanity that is under […]
Continue readingAt first glance, or any subsequent look, no one would confuse Miss California, Carrie Prejean, with any of the 1,000 or more Catholic men from all corners of the diocese who will join Bishop Jenky this Saturday for the annual “A Call to Catholic Men of Faith.” And while a throng of Catholic men marching […]
Continue readingWhat do a kidney, a towel, a paintbrush, and cookies have in common? In this issue of The Catholic Post, they are all related to examples of faith-inspired volunteerism. We find it not coincidental but providential that this unplanned thread running through our pages this week came together as National Volunteer Week opens in the […]
Continue readingThe most fundamental of all human rights is the right to life. All other imperatives of justice and mercy are derivative of the great truth that human beings are made in the image and likeness of God and that all human life is sacred from the moment of conception until natural death. Any cooperation with […]
Continue readingThe nation was inspired last week by the efforts of thousands of volunteers to hold back the record flood waters of the Red River in North Dakota. Anyone who has labored to fill and carry one sandbag knows that it took a heroic, united effort to fill what news reports estimated as a million of […]
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