Bulletin Board with News and Events

 This week Holy Name Cathedral is proud to welcome one of the top people in the development of Ministry to Young Adults when Kate DeVries presents SIGN LANGUAGE: Key Signs and Symbols of the Catholic Faith in the Wednesday night Theology-on-Tap session at 6:30pm at the Parish Center. I heard a mini-version of this talk; it is good! Dr. Katherine Frances DeVries achieved her latest academic honor recently at the Catholic Theological Union with the acceptance of her doctoral thesis entitled New Evangelization and Young Adult Catholics: Movement Toward a Renewal of Faith, a Reflection of Her 18 years in Young Adult Ministry. Wednesday night, however, will be no academic exercise. This presentation will be a practical and exciting understanding of the signs and symbols of Catholicism. Kate is the Associate Director of Young Adult Ministry in our Archdiocese. If you are in your 20s or 30s, single or married, don’t miss Holy Name’s chance to listen to one of the heavy-hitters of this summertime series that began here in Chicago over 25 years ago – Theology-on-Tap.

 Have I been blind (and deaf), or are there more babies lately at Mass on Sunday? After the 11:00 last week I counted five only in the vestibule. From 11-months to just 4 weeks, the babies represented others that seem to be more and more a part of our parish. (By the way, here’s a little-known secret. We have no “Crying Room.” However, no one will kick you out if you tend to your uncomfortable, yodeling child from the area behind the Communion Ministers and behind the glass doors just to the left of the tabernacle. If you can’t picture the skybox I’m describing, see me; I’ll point to it and its doors. I’ll even make sure you have a chair!) Certainly, Old St. Pat’s, St. Michael, IC/St, Joseph, St. Mary, and St. Clement have become “Young Family” parishes over the years. Holy Name still has a majority of “Young Adult Singles.” Over 70% of our parish households (5,100) are singles – either 28 and single, or 65 and single. Still, I’m seeing more babies. The former pastor of St. Benedict on Irving Park near Lincoln testified that he was certain Holy Name Cathedral was his leading feeder-parish. The couples were married here, welcomed a gift from God, and then moved up Lincoln Avenue to start a home and maintain a couple of professions. I baptized eight babies last week. One was just two-weeks old! Most of our registered parishioners live in high-rises, not exactly the ideal playground for a child. Still, is our profile changing? Are there more young families not only among the visitors to The American Girl Place and Navy Pier, but also among the regulars at Holy Name Cathedral? Stay tuned.

(Pastor’s Note: I wrote the following two weeks ago, long before the previous paragraph. The two sections are unrelated. Honest!) In their role as teachers, this week has been designated by the US Catholic Bishops as National Natural Family Planning Awareness Week. Natural Family Planning (NFP) consists of scientific natural methods to achieve, space, and avoid pregnancy, while strengthening marriage, the couple, and the family. NFP allows a couple to interpret the most practical and reliable signs of fertility and infertility, to share the responsibility and joys of planning the number of children they want to have. Benefits of NFP include (1) effectiveness in achieving or avoiding pregnancy; (2) simplicity in learning; (3) deepening communication between wife and husband; (4) absence of physical side effects; (5) low divorce rate among couples using NFP. The Archdiocese of Chicago, through the coordination of the Family Ministries Office, offers a comprehensive training program. The 2-hour introductory seminar provides the couple with a framework to reflect on the role of sex and intimacy in marriage. Those who attend learn a theology of marriage and a theology of the body. This session fulfills one of the steps recommended for marriage preparation in the Archdiocese. Beyond that, the Catholic Sexuality Seminar assists engaged folks in approaching their marriage as the genuine Sacrament it will be. For more information, contact www.familyministries.org.

The Thursday Night Suppers, sponsored/staffed by Holy Name Cathedral parish, received a great gift. The Ides of March, a popular Chicagoland rock band for over four decades, handed the Thursday Suppers a check for $1,510 representing the last payment on a just-about complete sell-out of our Christmas fund-raising CD that The Ides initiated and produced with a big assist from our common buddy, Chicago radio legend Dick Biondi of 94.7, Chicago’s True Oldies Channel. Scott May of The Ides came to me last fall with a song written by Scott along with lead-singer and Grammy-award winning song writer Jim Peterik (Vehicle, Hold On Loosely, The Search is Over, Eye of the Tiger). They suggested marketing A Distant Trumpet along with two previously produced Ides of March songs and a piece I wrote for distribution to the Holy Name regulars and read by the familiar voice of Dick Biondi. We had a ball one frosty, pre-Christmas morning promoting the CD on three TV and two radio programs. The Ides of March and Dick Biondi donated their time and talent. They also helped me at the 6:00PM Mass on Christmas Eve at the Cathedral. We sold the CD for $10, and every penny went to the Thursday Suppers. As of this most recent check, that holly-jolly project netted over $13,000 for the Suppers. Watch soon for more about an extension of the apostolate to suppers for those who need a Friday meal at the Catholic Charities headquarters on LaSalle & Superior. Meanwhile, The Ides of March play their happy summertime festivals around town. I’ll see them this coming Wednesday at “Music in the Park” at Bensenville at 7:30pm. They will be close to us (although priest-work will block me out) at “The Taste of Lincoln Avenue Fest” at 1:00pm July 28. Check their website, www.theidesofmarch.com, for other concert appearances over the summer. They put on a terrific show! Hear Dick Biondi weeknights from 9-12PM on 94.7-FM. Thanks again to The Ides of March and Dick Biondi, friends of the Cathedral and Thursday Suppers.

“Am I too late to get one of those collector-item CDs?” Slip me $10 for the Thursday Suppers, and I’ll see what I can do about getting one of the last 30 copies available into your hands. Don’t wait. I bet I get rid of all of them!

Thursday will be the Feast of St. Joachim and St. Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, grandparents of Jesus. Pray for your grandparents – living and dead – on Thursday. Wednesday, the Church honors the Apostle, St. James. He has been rough to me personally over the years. If you want an explanation, hear the homily at 8:00AM Mass on Wednesday. Pray for me Wednesday, the Feast of my buddy, St. James.

Fr. Dan Mayall