Welcome to the website for St. Mary's Church of Pecatonica, the Roman Catholic church located in Pecatonica, Illinois, and covering portions of Winnebago and Stephenson Counties, including the municipalities of Pecatonica, Ridott (partially), Seward, and Winnebago.
"No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session." - attributed by various sources to Daniel Webster, Gideon Tucker, or Mark Twain.
Easter is not just for one Sunday of the year. It is a whole season of 50 days, even longer than Lent. Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, which changes everything in a world conditioned on death and the threat of death in one form or another: our own death, the death of loved ones, war, crime, sins of all sorts, addictions and dysfunctions of all sorts, illness, loss of job, alienation from other people, accidents, natural disasters, etc. Despite all these evils, the resurrection of Jesus Christ tells us that these do not have the last word: there is life beyond the confines of this short and limited life. There is not only life after death, there is life at a higher level that can be lived in this life. Jesus came not only to atone for sins so that we can be assured of forgiveness of them, but to share his divine life with us. Whereas he is human and divine by his nature, we can share in his divine nature by adoption as God's children. In this way he can live in us and we in him, so that we can have his mind and heart more and more. Then we can bring him more and more into a world that so badly needs what he has to offer: eternal life with God.
To help us keep our database up to date so that we can serve you better, if you are someone who comes to church here at least once in awhile and have not already done so, please print out the parish registration form from the link below, fill it out, and either drop it off in the box designated for such forms under the table in the vestibule when you come to church here, mail it to St. Mary's Church, P.O. Box 656, Pecatonica, IL 61063, or scan it and email it to [email protected]. You can also do this if you are already registered, but some information has changed. God bless!
For some links on life matters, see the links below.