Sister Kathleen Wegman of the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND), diocesan director of pastoral and charitable services, has announced that she is retiring, effective Nov. 30. She reached this decision in discernment with the leadership of her SSND community. “We are grateful to her for her 50 years of active ministry in the Church,…

For nearly 50 years, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) has been the official domestic anti-poverty program of the U.S. Catholic bishops. Raising public awareness about poverty and its causes and working to break the cycle of poverty in the United States, the annual collection will be taken up in parishes throughout the diocese…

Missouri’s Roman Catholic bishops are encouraging voters to support a specific effort to expand eligibility for MO HealthNet, the state’s Medicaid program. Medicaid, funded by the federal and state governments, helps pay for healthcare for people with very low income. “We support expanding (MO HealthNet) to cover low-income workers, since doing so will help lead…

Father David Maher wore his cross from Madonna House on his heart. It symbolized that he had emptied himself, renounced all attachment to earthly possessions and learned to live and pray like the poor people of that secluded Catholic community in Ontario, Canada. “I have to go out like the Prophet Jeremiah, and say, ‘The…

The Church cannot exist for its own sake. It must be constantly focused on awakening a desire in all people to know, love, and serve God. Pope Francis insisted on this, drawing heavily on the teaching of his predecessors, in a document he released shortly after being Pope six years ago. Titled “Joy of the…

Lois Thomas grew up Catholic and was well versed in Jesus’s teachings. But His “what you did for them, you did for Me” discourse never really clicked with her until she stepped through the gates into a prison 23 years ago. “Because until you put your faith into action, you’re just going through the motions,”…

A crisp, sunny Saturday afternoon, two blue baskets, a banner and an antiphonal litany of intercession. These are what people passing one of Gasconade County’s busiest intersections saw the afternoon of Oct. 12, as Immaculate Conception parish in Owensville held its second annual Public Square Rosary Rally. “Lots of prayer,” said Jeanne Dorner, a member…

Bishop W. Shawn McKnight smiled and nodded in approval. So did the gift he had just been handed. Members of Columbia’s three Knights of Columbus councils had auctioned off custom-made bobblehead dolls depicting members of the local clergy, during their third annual Vocations Appreciation Dinner in May. The Knights presented one of the dolls, made…

Mozart proclaims the organ to be the “King of Instruments,” but it actually works more like a parliament. It reigns when its panoply of voices speak in harmony and balance, with whispers and crescendos drawing upon the full spectrum of sound and human emotion. “There’s the capacity to surround and fill the space with a…