Bulletin Board with News and Events

I was most edified by the positive response of to my presentation at last weekend’s Masses introducing the Restore & Renew capital campaign. Over the next 5 years, Holy Name Cathedral will attempt to address 5 capital projects – restoration of the Cathedral façade; renovation of a long-neglected rectory; the re-fashioning of the courtyard; the establishment of an endowment; and accessibility for the disabled via a newly-constructed ramp and the installation of an elevator in the Cathedral’s northwest corner taking folks up to the Cathedral as well downstairs to the bookstore, the Reconciliation Room, and remodeled restrooms which will be designed to accommodate wheelchairs. I appreciated the applause my excitement generated at most Masses. I was humbled by the encouragement. I was very happy that so many were impressed by the terrific DVD presentation, a copy of which was sent to each household in the parish. Now, I am waiting to see the pledge cards return. Registered parishioners all should have received a packet from me with information on Restore & Renew. If you regularly get mail from us and have not received such information, please phone Alex Lucio at 312-787-8040; she will get one to you. Return your pledge right away. You will save us time. You will allow us to plan more accurately. You will earn your spot among those that can be proud, participating members in Holy Name Cathedral’s Restore & Renew campaign. I am still excited about this great project! I hope you will join me in my excitement!

For extra effort, I thank Stewardship Director Joe Konen who gave up his weekend to host the cafeteria receptions after most Masses. Thanks go, also, to Alex Lucio of the Stewardship Office for her time on the weekend and for organizing the generous volunteers who put the mailing together in a hurry. Dozens of parishioner/volunteers assisted in answering questions and welcoming those who came across the courtyard for the refreshments and the after-Mass opportunity to learn more about Restore & Renew. Thanks to all those who expect the success of Restore & Renew.

Francis Cardinal George will speak in the Holy Name Cathedral Auditorium at 7:00pm on Monday, April 30. Gratitude for the Past, Hopes for the Future: Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., in Conversation with his Ecumenical and Inter-religious Neighbors will be presented on the occasion of Cardinal George’s 10th Anniversary as Archbishop of Chicago. Also participating with their own reflections on the Cardinal’s thoughts will be His Eminence Metropolitan Iakovos (Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago); Bishop Paul R. Landahl (Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America); Rabbi Ellen W. Dreyfus (Past President of the Chicago Board of Rabbis); and Professor M. Cherif Bassiouni (Distinguished Reasearch Professor of Law at DePaul University College of Law). Including the prayer and refreshments following, the evening will last from 7:00-9:00pm. You are invited. An RSVP is requested. Phone 312-751-5325; send a fax to 312-787-1554; or e-mail your reservation to eia@archchicago.org. I will look for you a week from Monday in the auditorium as we begin to celebrate Cardinal George’s 10th anniversary.

Recovering from the Holy Saturday fall that fractured his hip, Cardinal George obviously was not able to make the pilgrimage to Rome in honor of his 10th Anniversary as Chicago’s Archbishop. Bishop Timothy Lyne, Deacon Stan Strom, Catholic Charities’ Father Michael Boland, and many other Cathedral parishioners did go to Rome and are participating in the historic pilgrimage. We look ahead to hearing their accounts of the Eternal City during the week that Pope Benedict XVI turned 80. Meanwhile, Cardinal George is moving around carefully on crutches and preparing for several future events celebrating his decade as Chicago’s shepherd. Keep the Cardinal in your prayers. They help. The Cathedral looks forward to hosting several of those anniversary events.

Wednesday, April 25, marks the 25th anniversary of the death of John Cardinal Cody. Chicago’s 11th Ordinary (chief bishop), 6th Archbishop, and 4th Cardinal, Cardinal Cody was one of the real characters in the history of our local Church. The son of a St. Louis fireman, he came to us in 1965 from the Archdiocese of New Orleans. He governed our Church in the years following the Second Vatican Council; participated in the elections of both John Paul I and John Paul II; welcomed Pope John Paul II to Chicago in 1979; ordained most of the priests active in Chicago today (he ordained Frs. Moriarity, Boivin, Lagges, & me); and worked with Cathedral rector, Fr. Timothy Lyne, in the major 1968-1969 renovation of Holy Name. A relic of his patron St. John is in our altar; his galero is suspended over our sanctuary, the second hat from the right; his image appears on one of the characters in a bas-relief on the wall of the sanctuary; and that’s his Coat-of-Arms on the walls of the auditorium, on the walls of the rectory’s second floor conference room, and on the ceiling presiding over the Cathedral itself. He left his mark on our local Church in many ways. Wednesday, pray for the soul of Chicago’s John Cardinal Cody.

Last weekend, Chicago was chosen as the American candidate-city for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Should Chicago eventually be selected for the Olympics, my vision of Holy Name Cathedral as both a parish and a world-class Cathedral certainly will be lifted higher. Holy Name is the place where all Chicago children of God instinctively go to pray at important times – the death of John Paul II; the terror of 9/11; every Ash Wednesday, Easter & Christmas; funerals of celebrities from the worlds of law, politics, medicine, sports, broadcasting, and entertainment; the weddings of 150 couples each year; ordination Masses; Golden Wedding Anniversaries; and the sincere farewell prayers for beloved bishops & archbishops (Foley, Feehan, Quigley, Mundelein, Stritch, Meyer, Cody, and Bernardin). On some sunny summer Sunday in 2016, I imagine my routine of asking parishioners to raise hands – thanks for joining us as always. Then I will ask those from around the Chicago-land area to lift up hands – nice number. Third, I will ask those from elsewhere in the United States to put up their hands – impressive. Then, I will ask if there are any at the Cathedral from another nation. Every day, we have international visitors at each Holy Name Cathedral Mass. Can you imagine the final show of hands in the Cathedral on that bright Olympic Sunday nine years ahead? I look forward to that thrilling and holy day.

Fr. Dan Mayall