Fr. Bill Peckman is a priest in the Diocese of Jefferson City, Missouri. He is the pastor Immaculate Conception Parish, St. Mary Parish, St. Patrick Parish, and Sacred Heart Parish.
I am sure that many priests can say this: In all of January, there were only 2 days that I took off. Granted it was a brutal month for funerals. My next day off isn’t for several weeks. This came to light after a family invited me to dinner...
I am your pastor… You don’t need me to be your buddy but your shepherd. You don’t need me on the barstool beside you but in the breach between you and the devil. You don’t me to spout pious platitudes but to offer comfort and truth. You...
In the Scriptures, the most dominate image of the relationship between God and us is that of family. We use familial terms such as groom/bride, son/daughter/father/mother, and brother and sister to describe the relationships that are supposed to exist between God and us and among ourselves....
I am grateful that many Catholics are starting to wake up to the awareness that there is much they do not know. On the other hand, I want to smack my head on brick walls. Why? It represents a resounding failure on the educational apparatus of the Church. I do...
Talk about something hiding in plain sight. Show me a person’s body of work and I will see something of person who they are. To give an example: every homily I give tells the listener not just about what we believe, but what I believe as well. The kind...
Some might differentiate between a “parishioner in good standing” or not. I do not ascribe to such a notion. Parishioners must share in the responsibilities that are part and parcel of belonging to a parish. Why? Because the nature of a parish is that of a family and not a...
