Even those of us who promote the sanctity of each human life in all its stages are not immune to becoming numb when large numbers are quoted. Yes, we mourn the estimated 60 million victims of abortion in the United States since the 1973 Supreme Court decisions, but who can really fathom such a number? […]
Continue readingIt was six months ago that everything seemed to change. Few of us will forget the week of March 8-14, 2020. I spent that Sunday in St. Louis, cheering on my alma mater, Bradley University, to the Missouri Valley Conference basketball tournament championship. It would be one of the last live sporting events for months […]
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Erik Saldana prays at the beginning of the first day of classes at Holy Cross School in Anderson, Ind., on Aug. 5. (CNS/Bob Nichols)
If any school year needed to open with prayer, it is the one we are about to embark upon. Whether or not you have a child or grandchild in school, we invite all to join us in offering this one. We’ve adapted a Prayer to Begin a School Year found in the book “Catholic Household […]
Continue readingWe add our voices to the many in this special edition of The Catholic Post welcoming Coadjutor Bishop-elect Louis Tylka — “Bishop Lou” for short or “BLT” as his father has taken to calling him. By any name, this 50-year-old “gentle shepherd” from the Archdiocese of Chicago is a gift from Pope Francis to our […]
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A vandalized statue of St. Junipero Serra in San Francisco is seen June 19, 2020. The Spanish Franciscan founded several missions in what is now California. (CNS/David Zandman via Reuters)
We wouldn’t venture a guess at the total number of life-sized statues located on Catholic properties throughout the Diocese of Peoria. It is certainly in the hundreds and likely in the thousands. Most are inside churches and chapels, hospitals, schools, etc., while others are outside in cemeteries or on parish and institution grounds. Made of […]
Continue reading“As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.” – […]
Continue reading“Mothers are the strongest antidote to the spread of self-centered individualism,” Pope Francis said during a general audience in 2015. “’Individual’ means ‘what cannot be divided.’ Mothers, instead, ‘divide’ themselves, from the moment they bear a child to give him to the world and help him grow.” The pope’s words ring even more true as […]
Continue readingIf patience is a virtue, it is among the virtues being sorely tested as the shutdown of the nation’s economy and the closing of churches to fight the coronavirus pandemic approaches the two-month mark. The signs that patience is wearing thin was in evidence this week as protesters began to gather at state capitols demanding […]
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Father William Miller pours water over Hannah De Smit's head as he baptizes her at the Easter Vigil at St. Patrick Church, Galesburg, at the Easter Vigil last April. (The Catholic Post/Jennifer Willems)
The Diocese of Peoria was set to joyfully welcome hundreds of new Catholics during Easter Vigil liturgies on Saturday, April 11. To those who are in the final stage of spiritual journeys to the church that began in September (or long before) and are anticipating their baptisms, first Eucharists, and confirmations, we say: a) that […]
Continue readingWe get an extra day this year. And it’s on a weekend. Our suggestion for Leap Day, Feb. 29? Take a leap of faith. Because Leap Day 2020 falls at the beginning of Lent, our first recommendation would be to use it as a day to practice almsgiving, one of the season’s three “pillars” (prayer […]
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