Come, And You Will See

What is going on in the Church? “Two-Thirds of Catholics Believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.” The title of this article, found in the Winter 2024 edition of The CARA Report, stunned me (in a good way)! What is going on in the Church? “The number...

Do you have a favorite Christmas hymn? I’m sure most people do. Now, do you have a favorite Lenten hymn? That may be a bit more difficult to answer. Of course there are some good standards, “Take up Your Cross,” which can be sung to several melodies. What about, “Lord...

Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the eldest of nine children, suffered greatly from extreme poverty and ill health. As a child, she contracted cholera and suffered from severe asthma her entire life. At the age of 14, on Feb. 11, 1858, while collecting kindling, she had...

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” These words, familiar to many of us, are part of a poem...

Lunar New Year 2025 is the Year of the Snake. You can read more about our recent celebration on Sun., Jan. 26, at St. Agnes Cathedral, Springfield, on page 6. As I’m sure you know, on Christmas Eve, Pope Francis opened a special door at St. Peter’s Basilica to launch...

January 26 - February 1, 2025, is Catholic Schools Week, the annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States. This is a great opportunity for me to thank all of our pastors, principals, faculties, and staffs throughout southern Missouri in our 23...

I ended the year 2024 before Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, with a Holy Hour at St. Agnes Cathedral, Springfield. I began the year 2025 with a Midnight Mass of Mary, Mother of God at St. Agnes Cathedral. It was a lovely way to end the old and begin the new,...

You might have heard that 2025 is a Jubilee Year in the Catholic Church and may ask what is a Jubilee Year? Practically speaking, a Jubilee Year is the name that is given to a particular 365-day period set apart by the Holy Father for special prayer, pilgrimage, and...

As always, the four weeks of the Advent Season will undoubtedly pass quickly. At the First Mass of Advent, Dec. 1, the parish that I was visiting sang, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” for the opening song of Holy Mass. Now, Christmas is upon us where we will sing, “Joy to...

As I’ve mentioned previously, our diocese was blessed to have around 200 people attend the Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis this past July.  At the end of the Congress, we were faced with the question, “How do we become missionaries of the Eucharist?” Had we not...