As a kid, I knew that St. Blaise was the patron saint of throat ailments because his blessing was on my birthday, and I narrowly escaped the horror of being named Blaise.
After that, I never paid …
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By Mark Saucier
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5/11/22
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An iconic image in Celtic spirituality is the apostle John reclining next to Jesus at the Last Supper.
According to the Gospel of John, the apostle lays his head on the chest of Jesus to look up …
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By Mark Saucier
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4/28/22
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Bishop W. Shawn McKnight delivered the following reflection during a rally for the Midwest March for Life on April 20 at the Missouri State Capitol:
“I have set before you life …
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Bishop W. Shawn McKnight
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4/28/22
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During the early days of Russia’s unprovoked war on Ukraine, before Western journalists had been ordered to toe the Russian propaganda line or leave, TV cameras showed a very elderly Moscow …
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By Mike Hoey
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4/13/22
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So, what’s it to you?
It wasn’t taunting but haunting, relentlessly popping up over the past few days.
The “it,” in this case, is the cross, and the question a bit of …
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By Mark Saucier
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4/13/22
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The author is a lifelong examiner of history and public policy.
Vladimir Putin had a sentimental but deadly dream.
He wanted to recreate “Little Russia,” as Ukraine has long been …
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By Mike Hoey
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3/30/22
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It is one of the most familiar parables. The son demands the inheritance from his father, gets it, blows through it living the high life, and then sinks into destitution.
Penniless, hungry and …
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By Mark Saucier
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3/30/22
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It’s a wonder where a word will take you.
In a book I’m reading, the author briefly references “Dayenu,” a song sung at Passover, recalling the kindness of God in the …
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Mark Saucier
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3/18/22
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For many of us, Lent begins with those sober words: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”
This echo of Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden cautions us …
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By Mark Saucier
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3/3/22
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In Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities, Russians are taking to the streets to protest Vladimir Putin’s brazen bid to annex Ukraine.
Many are going to jail and face prosecution.
A …
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By Mike Hoey
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3/3/22
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Last Sunday, a line in the first reading from Jeremiah hit me. The “weeping prophet” struck a joyful note when he described one who trusts in the Lord as “a tree planted beside the …
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By Mark Saucier
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2/18/22
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Meteorologists were cooking up the perfect storm with every ingredient they could find. “Blizzard conditions,” they said, and people ran out to buy up milk and ice-melt.
Kids got off …
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By Mark Saucier
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2/3/22
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I don’t know if it is a lack of creativity in the deepest doldrums of winter, but I tend to write a kind of personal State of the Union message about now.
It is another birthday this week. …
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By Mark Saucier
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2/3/22
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He knew it wasn’t his best sermon. He wandered, gave too much information, and few got his hilarious joke.
He failed to read the room and lost most listeners before he got …
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By Mark Saucier
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1/19/22
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This is a more specific version of a list of suggestions Cathedral of St. Joseph parishioner Ed Bode adapted after receiving them from Catholic parishes in Janesville, …
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1/6/22
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We received a video of our youngest grandchild who just turned 1.
This was her first Christmas in which she was a conscious participant, and she loved every minute of it.
That was until Daddy …
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By Mark Saucier
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1/6/22
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CLICK HERE to read a related article from CNS.
With a year under our belt of the diocesan pastoral plan, and even more time for some parishes to be using a parish pastoral plan, the reviews …
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By Bishop W. Shawn McKnight
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12/16/21
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Have you ever tried to map your thoughts?
Sometimes they flow like a stream of logic, at other times, they’re more a grasshopper on steroids.
The other day, I experienced what appeared to …
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By Mark Saucier
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12/15/21
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As kids, we had Advent wreaths made of coat hangers, cedar greens and nubby candles my mother refused to toss as long as there was some light left in them.
Advent means “coming,” …
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By Mark Saucier
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12/8/21
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The pastor of Holy Family Parish in Hannibal and St. Joseph Parish in Palmyra and moderator for spiritual formation for the Jefferson City diocese offers the following message for Advent:
We are …
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By Father Matthew Flatley
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12/8/21
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