Deaths of Fathers Ring, Zehnle remind us to be ready
December 2, 2025
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, The last days of November were a difficult time for us in our diocese due to the unexpected deaths of two of our active priests. Father Joseph Ring died on Nov. 20th at the age of 66 of complications following heart surgery from which he was originally expected…
Setting Things Right: Addressing Irregular Funeral Practices
November 19, 2025
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, As we approach the end of November, the month during which we pray for eternal rest for the souls of the faithful departed in Purgatory, we conclude our reflections on the Order of Christian Funerals. As noted in my previous column in Catholic Times, there are three parts…
The Vigil, Purgatory, and praying for the dead
November 4, 2025
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, In my previous column in Catholic Times, I noted that the month of November is traditionally dedicated to praying for the dead and reviewed what the Catholic Church teaches about death and what Christians believe about life after death. The most essential of these teachings is what we…
Facing death with faith
October 21, 2025
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, It is widely acknowledged that we are now living in a post-Christian culture. This adversely affects what is being taught in public schools and in the anti-Christian values often being espoused and promoted in our secular culture. Sometimes these values that are contrary to Christianity are subtle and…
When darkness falls, Christ is our light
September 10, 2025
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ: Shortly after 8:30 on the morning of Aug. 27, 2025, a deranged shooter opened fire during the Mass for the beginning of the new school year at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis, Minn. Two children, ages 8 and 10, were killed, and 17 people were injured. Within just a…
Democrats do parliamentary trick to pass physician-assisted suicide, but it fails in the end. The battle, however, is not over
June 9, 2025
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Illinois Senate Bill 1950 was introduced last February as “The Sanitary Food Preparation Act” and went through the usual hearing process in the Illinois General Assembly under that title. Unrelatedly, in January, legislators had filed legislation to legalize assisted suicide in both the Senate (SB 9) and the…
The ‘crucial connection between the resurrection of the dead and our free will’
April 4, 2025
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Before celebrating the sacraments of confirmation and first holy Communion, I always meet with the candidates before Mass to explain the religious symbols we use and answer any questions they might have. At one of these recent question and answer sessions, a third-grader asked me what my favorite…
What can we do to prepare ourselves to meet the Lord?
December 2, 2024
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ: Advent is a season of preparation. While many people would assume this preparation means preparing for Christmas, the truth is that the focus on Jesus’ birth becomes predominant only in the season’s last nine days, December 16-24. That is when the Gospel readings specifically center on the historical…