Bulletin Board with News and Events

This Sunday afternoon at 3:30 the students, families, faculty, and staff of the Frances Xavier Warde School are invited to Mass at Holy Name Cathedral.  This start-of-the-school year “Family Mass” began last year at Old St. Pat’s, the other campus of FXW.  This year we get to be the hosts.  I am happy to be the celebrant of the Mass; and thrilled that all the families will be there – the Catholics as well as those from other faiths.  The diversity of FXW is the key ingredient in the school’s success.  Some of that diversity is guaranteed by the financial support of the two sponsoring parishes.  Two weeks back, Holy Name Cathedral passed an extra basket for The Children at the Crossroads, a foundation that offers tuition assistance to 30% of the FXW families.  I believe that we have collected over $30,000 already from the Cathedral parishioners.  I would like to see that total grow.  If you would like to join us in supporting a Catholic elementary school education which reflects the face of the city, put your check in an envelope marked FXW.  Drop that envelope in any Cathedral collection basket, mail it to the Cathedral office, or hand it to me personally.  I promise to smile and say thank you.  This weekend, we open our mighty Cathedral doors for all our friends at the Frances Xavier Warde School.

Casa Jesus, formation house for Latin American men discerning vocations to the priesthood in Chicago, will open their doors at 750 N. Wabash during a day of blessing, food, and festival, next Saturday, September 30, from 2:00pm until 8:00pm.  Auxiliary Bishop John Manz will bless the house and welcome the newcomers.  Father Alejandro Garrido, the men living in the house, and the CJ staff invite Holy Name parishioners to see their new home on the Cathedral campus.  Twenty-eight priests ordained for Chicago are alumni of Casa Jesus.  The current enrollment of twenty-one includes men from six nations and is the largest in Casa’s history.  Come see their house next Saturday.

Celebrate the sanctity of all human life next Saturday, September 30, at the beautiful St. Hyacinth Basilica, 3636 W. Wolfram on Chicago’s near northwest side, with Mass beginning at 7:00pm.  Cardinal George is scheduled to be there at this beginning of a month-long recommitment of our Church to the holiness of human life.  A reception will follow the liturgy.  All are invited to the Mass; all are obliged to respect life.

On Monday this week we commemorate Father Joseph Roles, pastor of Holy Name parish in the pre-Cathedral era, 1863-1869.  He was pastor here when Abraham Lincoln was President.  Roles also participated in the speaking tour that raised funds from around the country for the construction of our present Cathedral in 1874 after the Chicago Fire destroyed the building where Roles had offered Mass.  He went on to become pastor of Old St. Mary’s where he welcomed Father Augustine Tolten, Chicago’s first Black priest in 1888.  Pray for Father Roles on Monday, the 117^th anniversary of his death. On Tuesday, remember Monsignor John Schmid, the fourth rector of Quigley High School Seminary (1944-1955), a former inhabitant of the room in which I will rest tonight, and a fellow who presided over the early formation of a generation of priests.  Tuesday is the 39^th anniversary of Msgr. Schmid’s passing.  Remember also on Tuesday Pope John Paul I.  Serving as Patriarch of Venice, Albino Luciani was chosen Pope on August 26, 1978. As Holy Father, he selected the name of his two immediate predecessors – John XIII and Paul VI.  He died 33 days later.  On the 28^th anniversary of his sudden death, remember John Paul I, and consider the truth that all of life is a gift.

Taste Sensations, last Sunday’s wine and food tasting event also featuring art work, a raffle, and our friends at Relevant Radio, was a pleasant afternoon and a great success.  Thanks to all on the Parish Life Commission who worked hard and presented the afternoon with positive charm.  Taste Sensations was a new event on this year’s Cathedral calendar.  It was well-received.  Thanks, Parish Life!

If you are a 9:30AM Mass regular, be ready to welcome Chicago’s Catholic legal professionals next Sunday for the annual “Red Mass”.  Judges will be vested.  Cardinal George plans to attend. The venerable custom of the Red Mass traces roots back to Edward I in 13^th century England at Westminster Abbey.  The judicial year’s inauguration in France was celebrated for centuries in Sainte-Chapelle, home for relics of Christ’s Passion and model for Quigley Seminary’s famous chapel at Rush & Pearson, three blocks from our Cathedral.  Over 25 American cities participate today since New York adopted the custom to the USA in 1928.  You are welcome to the “Red Mass” at Holy Name Cathedral’s 9:30 Mass next Sunday morning.

When I was growing up, there was an old man living by himself at the end of the block.  Some kids said he used to be rich (he wasn’t anymore; he lived in our neighborhood); some said he was a mysterious chemist; some claimed he had played for the Chicago Bears; some said he once was a body-guard for Al Capone.  We kids just knew he was a crabby, old man.  I forgot about him until the Esquire Theater closed last week.  At 58 East Oak, the Esquire opened in 1938 with a single auditorium movie palace holding 1,400.  It was distinguished in that no popcorn, no cigarettes, no ice cream were sold until a New York firm bought the theater in 1966.  Still, the Esquire remained a distinct cut above an average movie house.  While a student at Quigley in the 1960s, I saw Becket, A Man For All Seasons, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Romeo and Juliet on Religion, History, and English class field trips at the elegant Esquire.  After several ownership changes, the theater was carved into a 6-plex in the late 1980s.  Fewer and fewer neighborhood folk seemed to know who lived in that house.  On September 14, the Esquire closed. The Streamline-modern building most likely will be demolished within a year, to be replaced with a mixed-use development including retail, restaurants and perhaps a hotel or (surprise!) condominiums.  I don’t remember who moved into that old man’s house at the end of my block after he died.  I do know that the neighborhood where I grew up changed.  So does this neighborhood, maybe faster than most.  Let’s pay attention to who lives here before they or we move away.

Fr. Dan Mayall