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Great news! Father Mike Novick has been appointed full-time associate pastor of Holy Name Cathedral parish beginning July 1. Ordained in 2001 and a seminary classmate of the Cathedral’s Father Paul Stein, Father Novick has served since ordination as associate pastor of St. George Church, a large parish in southwest suburban Tinley Park. I will be meeting soon with Father Novick to determine what areas of responsibility he will assume on our pastoral staff which includes the other priest full-timers (Father Boivin, Father Stein, and me), the two deacons (Stan Strom and Mike McCloskey), the pastoral associates and assistants (Ann Klocke, Kristin Schwarz, Maryann Hoban, and Pat Still), the musicians (Matt Walsh – who will be leaving us early in July – and Ricardo Ramirez), and the Children’s Director of Religious Education (Sharon Kinsley). Father Novick will be taking the spot held by Father Tom Rzepiela who will be leaving at the end of this month after five good years to begin his new assignment as pastor of St. Thomas of Villanova Church in Palatine. The Coffee-in-the Courtyard on the final weekend of this month - June 24 & 25 - will honor Father Tom and recognize his many contributions to our parish. Honestly, we got lucky in picking up Father Mike. The number of available associate pastors has shrunk dramatically in recent years. The Archdiocesan Priests’ Placement Board consists of a priest assigned to that duty full-time plus several elected and appointed priests with assignments elsewhere who meet weekly to address the priests’ personnel issues of the local Church. It was their approval of Holy Name as a site in need of a full-timer that opened the door for us to look for another associate pastor. I am not aware of another parish in our Archdiocese staffed by diocesan priests (vs. those from religious orders) which has four priests assigned full-time to the parish, let alone with nine priests residing in one house. It certainly was not a “given” that Father Tom would be replaced. In March, I interviewed men on the roster of those scheduled for reassignment. In our case, I listed Father Novick as our first choice; he also listed the Cathedral as his first choice. The Board made their recommendations to Cardinal George who approved the appointments last week. I look forward to welcoming Father Mike Novick, and I invite you to pray for him and for all of us as the Cathedral parish turns another corner and continues to try to act in His Holy Name. More great news! I have appointed Dr. Ricardo Ramirez to the position of Music Director of Holy Name Cathedral. Dr. Ramirez has been our Associate Music Director since 2002 when he came to us from Rochester, New York, where he had worked as a Church musician for twenty-two years including two years as Director of Music Ministries at Sacred Heart Cathedral. He holds several awards and music society memberships and achieved his Doctorate in Music Arts from Eastman School of Music in Rochester, a Masters in Sacred Music from Southern Methodist University, and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Notre Dame. Ricardo also has established a fine relationship with the pastoral and administrative staff of Holy Name. Matthew Walsh, Music Director since 1994, will be leaving the Cathedral in early July as he and his wife Mary return to the San Francisco Bay Area, their original home. Mary will be pursuing a doctorate of her own at Berkeley. The Coffee-in-the Courtyard on the weekend of July 8 & 9 will include our thanks to Matt for twelve years of dedicated ministry. Meanwhile, Ricardo will lead a search for a new associate director. Loudly we thank the PPC for taking over the leadership of the new parishioners’ party. Last Saturday’s welcome was the most successful and well-attended in my four and a half years. I thank the Parish Life Commission for hosting the reception for the BVM Sisters after their special 12:30 Mass last Sunday. The BVMs will be moving from the Cathedral this coming week; I think we sent them off with joyful gratitude. I was touched by the 100 who participated in the farewell Mass and pot-luck reception for the XII Pillar Chapel-ers last Sunday. Original music composed by Joe Kregor and sung lovingly by the volunteer choir was typical of the investment many made in the chapel’s style as long as it lasted. A belated thanks also goes to the Gallery Singers, the Women’s Schola, the Children’s Choir, and the Chamber Singers who closed their season last weekend. Music is as important a ministry as any at our Cathedral. On a related “note”, Father Robert Oldershaw will retire from his work as pastor of St. Nicholas Church in Evanston on July 1. Fr. Oldershaw lived at Holy Name Cathedral in the 1960s and 1970s while assigned to the Sacred Music Commission and later to the Office for Divine Worship. He also coordinated the liturgy for the Mass offered by Pope John Paul II in Grant Park in 1979. In fact, he also chaired the committee that brought Music Director Matt Walsh to Holy Name. Father Oldershaw has invited all his friends from the Cathedral to a Mass at St. Nicholas, 806 Ridge Avenue in Evanston, at 4:00pm on Saturday, June 24, followed by an Open House in their school cafeteria from 6:00-9:00pm. For more information, contact Joan at the St. Nicholas parish office (847-864-1185); or e-mail Joan at stnicks@nickchurch.org . Our parish might include regulars from a broader range of diversity than most parishes. There are the famous, the active, the involved, and the mobile. There also are the anonymous, the needy, the slow-moving, and the quiet. All are united, however, in the One Bread and One Cup; all hear the true Gospel; all say the identical Our Father; all are washed in the same baptism. Jackie Adams came to me a few days ago. Jackie is a slight, bandana-wearing woman who frequently, quietly asks for extra change from people near the corner of the school on State Street. Jackie told me that Arthur Millen died. Arthur was the older gent who sat in the back of the Cathedral’s north aisle on Saturday afternoons and usually went to Communion at the 4:00pm weddings even dressed in his short pants and trademark suspenders. Arthur didn’t walk; he shuffled. He was able to take his time getting up to the front at the weddings. At the 5:15pm Mass he also attended faithfully, if he waited for the usher to dismiss his row near the bathroom, Arthur would have to hold up the priest for the several minutes it took Arthur to shuffle to the front. I will miss Arthur. Thanks, Jackie, for letting us know that Arthur had passed. And, Arthur, God rest your friendly soul. You regularly were one of us.
Fr. Dan Mayall |
