The West River Catholic is a monthly publication produced by the Catholic Diocese of Rapid City.
Get ready to start paying for abortions with your tax-dollars, as the federal government is poised to eliminate the Hyde Amendment and fund abortions for the first time in nearly half a century. Named for its original author, former-Congressman Henry Hyde of Illinois, the Hyde Amendment is the name given Read more…
To live as a faithful Catholic in the world means to always and everywhere honor Christ as King of the Universe – and to love and share Christian truth, even in the political arena. 2020 has felt like a tumultuous year. Some might even say I’m understating it a bit. Read more…
At a recent Sunday Mass, my parish priest joyfully announced that those children “who have attained the age of reason will be receiving their First Holy Communion today.” My eldest daughter, Frances, was among them. Franny wore my wife’s godmother’s vintage dress, and my wife made her a flower-topped veil. Read more…
I recently attended a panel discussion of advance medical planning at a conference organized by health care workers. Advance medical planning encompasses those legal tools that we can use to prepare for a time when, due to illness or other incapacity, we cannot make care decisions on our own. This Read more…
This month we celebrated 242 years since the founding of our nation through the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Amidst the fun of fireworks, parades, and festivity, it’s easy to gloss over what it is we’re celebrating, the anniversary of a historic launching of a great experiment in self-government. Read more…
I spent last Saturday afternoon with my hands in the dirt. My wife and I just bought a house in town, near where I work and where we worship. It’s about a hundred years old and needs some attention, but it’s got good bones, as they say. The level yard Read more…
“The rural family needs to regain its rightful place at the heart of the social order.” Why? I’ve been pondering these insistent words written by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006 since I first read them several years ago. Why is it so important that the rural family return to its proper place, Read more…