Editor’s note: Canons 1250 and 1251 state that all Fridays are days of penance in the Catholic Church. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops requests that Catholics abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent, and practice some form of penance on the other Fridays throughout the year. Due to fish being a popular Lenten Friday…

BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC Bishop William F. Medley has always liked the quote from Pope St. John Paul II that “Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.”

  Joy to the world. The Lord is come. Let earth receive her king. Let every heart prepare him room. Let heaven and nature sign. … Silent night, holy night, All is calm, all is bright, Round yon virgin, mother and child, Holy Infant, so tender and mild, Sleep in heavenly peace.

BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC It has been a long and stressful year for families – but a new initiative hopes to encourage men across western Kentucky to foster the light of Christ in their hearts and in the hearts of their families during the Advent season.

BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC In early November 2020, western Kentucky lost two “greats” – both of them women religious who had devoted their lives and vocations to serving the underrepresented and underprivileged.

BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC If she had to pinpoint the first time she had a strong sense that God was calling her to religious life, Cistercian nun Sr. Christina Marie Murphy would say it was at a Youth 2000 retreat when she was a freshman in high school.

Burial locations can now be found online at Resurrection, Mater Dolorosa BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC For the first time ever, family members and genealogists alike will be able to digitally search for gravesite locations at Resurrection Cemetery on Highway 54 in Owensboro and Mater Dolorosa Cemetery on West 9th St. in…

If we played a word association game and said November, the most likely response is Thanksgiving. In Catholic circles we might also hear the replies of All Saints Day, All Souls, and prayer for the dead. Others might say pumpkin pie, harvest.

BY WKC STAFF This year, the Bishop John J. McRaith Catechetical Leadership Award committee struggled to select just one recipient for the annual recognition – so they were happy to award two people.

Office director reflects on Black Catholic History Month in 2020 BY F. VERONICA WILHITE, OFFICE OF BLACK CATHOLIC MINISTRY Each year in November we celebrate the history of Black Catholics and honor those of African descent who have and continue to contribute to the evangelization of Blacks in the Church. Many Catholics still do not recognize…

An interview with Matt Gray, music and liturgy director at Immaculate Parish BY WKC STAFF What brought you to Immaculate Parish? My mother, Bonnie Gray, was very instrumental in getting me to play music from a young age. (I started playing keyboard at five years old, self-taught). She also sang in choirs my entire childhood…

Prayer, community help seminarians persevere BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC Many aspects of day-to-day life have changed for the eight men currently studying and discerning the priesthood in the Diocese of Owensboro, thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Apart from Mary, Mother of God, perhaps no other saint venerated by the Church is as well recognized as Francis of Assisi whose feast day is celebrated on October 4.  In fact, given a tradition of blessing animals on this feast, you may find numerous Protestant churches adopting this practice as a celebration of all…