A Word From Bishop Medley

Calling our national leaders to be genuinely pro-life

After the Nashville school shooting of a few weeks ago that saw six people, including three nine-year-olds, die, I began to consider writing my next article for The Western Kentucky Catholic on the subject of gun violence. I had done some research and begun to organize the article in my mind. As I sat at my desk to write on Easter Monday morning, my phone alerted me to the first reports of a mass shooting at a workplace in downtown Louisville.

Holy Thursday: Do this in memory of me

As April begins we are within sight of the last days and hours of Lent. Palm Sunday is April 2, so Holy Week is here and Easter but days away. The heart of our observance of Holy Week is the Sacred Triduum, when the Church “solemnly celebrates the greatest mysteries of our redemption, keeping by means of special celebrations the memorial of her Lord, crucified, buried, and risen.” (From the Roman Missal)

A Word From Bishop Medley: A silent witness

When it comes to the Church’s liturgy and practice, most of us associate the month of March with Lent. Ash Wednesday has usually fallen in February, so by March we are well-practiced in our pledges of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. And, after all, apart from our religious life, March usually begins to show us some sustaining glimpses of winter’s end and spring’s beginning.

Praying, healing, and rebuilding a year after the tornadoes

On the night of Dec. 10, 2021, I was not watching television and was not aware of the reports of tornado warnings across western Kentucky. Storms were never severe in Owensboro where I was that night, so I slept well. When I awoke on the morning of the 11th I checked into my regular news apps, and I began to learn of the devastation across our diocese.

Who is your favorite saint?

In our Catholic tradition we observe the month of November as a time of special commemoration of all the faithful departed. November 2 is celebrated each year as the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls Day), but the entire month is a time of consciousness and prayer for all those “who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith.”