Bulletin Board with News and Events

The Cathedral has only one more weekend under construction. We have discontinued the “overflow” Masses in the auditorium now that we have the whole Cathedral floor to set up the chairs. The floor will get its final polishing this coming week before the pews with their new kneelers attached return from a Wisconsin vacation the week of February 12. Come to Mass on February 17 & 18 and take pride in the new and more beautiful Holy Name Cathedral. Meanwhile, I thank the Parish Pastoral Council and other lay leaders who served these recent weeks as congenial greeters. I also thank Liturgy Director Father Paul Stein, Special Events Assistant Pat Still, Administrative Chief of Staff Deacon Stan Strom, the Music Department, chief usher Rich Costa and all the ushers, EM Coordinator Janice Klich and the EMs, all liturgical ministers, and the priests. Those smiling friends get the credit for making the construction period not only bearable (excuse the pun), but exciting. Now, is it too late to make the floor orange and blue?

Who could possibly put a price on the gift of faith? Catholics practice that faith joined in a parish community. Many moments of our lives take place in our parish Church. For a parent having a child baptized, for a couple on their wedding day, for a new Catholic converting to our Creed, the parish Church can look like Heaven. However, no parish is an island. We are Catholics gathered around one of the successors of the Apostles, our bishop. With the help of expert ministers, Cardinal George tries to fulfill his apostolic tasks to teach, to govern, and to sanctify the Catholics of his diocese. The Archdiocese of Chicago is blessed with many ministries and services that fulfill that mission by supporting each of the 366 parishes in Cook and Lake Counties. A big way those ministries are made available is through the Annual Catholic Appeal, a financial pledge from each Catholic household for those common services. Training lay leaders, deacons, catechists, teachers; ministries to Catholic families, the engaged, the widowed; programs for women who have had abortions; ministry to prisoners; assistance for the deaf; religious education for those with special developmental needs; specialized ministry to fire fighters and their families; chaplaincies at both major airports; the services of the Respect Life office; supervision of parish stewardship; property insurance and emergency risk management; the administrative leadership of the auxiliary bishops and their Vicariate teams; support for emergency appeals by the national Catholic Relief Services; and grants to parishes and schools in disadvantaged communities – all of these programs, ministries, and services are provided to Catholic parishes by the Pastoral Center of the Archdiocese. Those services cost money. That’s the reason for the Catholic Appeal. Who can put a price on these services that support our faith? Still, you should make a decision to contribute to the Annual Catholic Appeal. Next weekend, a second basket will be passed for the Appeal. Even if you put no money in the basket, take the information and the envelopes at the Cathedral entrances next weekend. Pray over what you can offer for the priceless gift that these services provide. Each Catholic household should give something. Those with more should offer more. This is not meant to be a basket into which you toss an extra $2. I myself gave $250 this year. I hope many of you can donate more. I hope all give something. We are a part of the Archdiocese of Chicago. The Annual Catholic Appeal is our support of the common services provided by the Archdiocese. The basket will go by next week. Donations or pledges can be handed in any time. Please support the Annual Catholic Appeal.

The support of the Annual Appeal, however, cannot take away enthusiasm some of our leading parishioners already are showing for the Cathedral parish’s own capital campaign, Restore & Renew. On March 10 & 11, I will make a presentation at Mass about our ambitious plans to make the Cathedral completely accessible to the disabled; to remodel the courtyard as a beautiful and more practical piece of our parish campus; to repair the exterior of our key treasure, the 133 year-old Cathedral itself; to fund an endowment in response future capital needs; and to make improvements in parish offices and the rectory creating a more fitting place of business than it is today in its original 1929 design. You will be asked to join me in making a pledge over and above your regular stewardship to Restore & Renew through the next five years. Impressive as it certainly is, the new floor is only the first step. Get ready to follow me as we make Holy Name Cathedral look like the place where God meets humanity in 21st century Chicago.

You may have missed the mention in last weekend’s bulletin or the prayer at Mass for Margaret Lagges, the nearly 93 year-old mother of Cathedral resident priest and my classmate, Father Pat Lagges. Father Lagges accepted the difficult duty on January 25 of offering the funeral Mass and preaching the homily at St. Zachary Church in Des Plaines. He did a terrific job. Unusually, Father Lagges was joined at the altar by his older brother, Deacon Peter Lagges. Before the liturgy, in conversation with another classmate who works in the missions in Peru, I noted that we had lost yet another person who prayed with all 31 of our original class who were ordained by Cardinal Cody in the Chapel at Mundelein Seminary on May 11, 1977. He replied that the roster of those no longer with us only grows shorter. As enthused as we were that glorious day to go out and wake the world, our springtime like all measurable time is limited. During the funeral, I prayed that the 20 active priests of Chicago’s ordination Class of 1977 can continue to have some part in cooperating with a Holy Spirit who will renew the face of the earth. Mrs. Lagges prayed that same prayer in 1977. Join us, please, in continuing her prayer and ours today and as long as we stay to work in His blessed vineyard.

Read the prayer on the bulletin’s cover. Realize I stole the idea from Seattle’s St. James Cathedral. Their saintly Seahawks lost last year to Pittsburgh’s Steelers. So I edited the prayer with the intention of making the mighty words “1-1” after the Bears win on Sunday. I know devout people all over Indiana are on their knees, too. However, Hoosiers, get up; this is the Bears year. We come to Chicago’s natural place of prayer today to rejoice in our identity as Christ’s disciples, to be proud of our care for the poor, to support whatever is beautiful in our Chicago culture, and to love instinctively as all Jesus’ friends love. Holy Name Cathedral opens doors to be sure that Chicago hears the Gospel. Today we also expect to be the Super Bowl Champs – maybe not an eternal title, but one that will help us sit tall in our newly polished pews! Go Bears!

Fr. Dan Mayall