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Juan Carlos Gavancho is a Mundelein Seminarian who resided at the Cathedral rectory last summer while he participated in a Clinical Pastoral Education program at Northwestern Hospital. He is a native of Peru, but intends to be ordained for the Chicago Archdiocesan priesthood. Juan Carlos (“JC”) currently is a deacon preparing for his ordination to the priesthood at Holy Name Cathedral on May 19. He would like his parents to be here for the celebration. They are elderly, and they live in Peru. To raise money for their travel, Juan Carlos is performing “a concert of prayer and thanksgiving” at St. Ita Church, 5500 N. Broadway in Chicago on Saturday, April 14, at 7:00pm. The suggested donation is $15 for the performance entitled “A New Song For the Lord.” Juan Carlos has a beautifully trained voice which he intends to use in prayer at that concert and throughout his priesthood. He serves St. Ita regularly as a deacon and will be assigned to that parish as his first priesthood appointment. To assist him in publicizing the concert, the Cathedral Music Ministry under the direction of Dr. Ricardo Ramirez has arranged for Deacon Juan Carlos to sing an offertory hymn at next Saturday’s 5:15pm Mass at Holy Name Cathedral. This is going to be worth hearing. Whether you can be here next Saturday or not, plan to go to St. Ita Church on the Saturday after Easter for the concert. I hope it is more than successful. I look forward to offering my felicitationes and blessings to the parents of a new priest when I meet them on May 19 in the Cathedral. Let’s help JC get his folks to his ordination. On Ash Wednesday, several of the priest-preachers as well as Deacon Stan Strom during his 7:00pm Prayer Service homily listed many of the Lenten spiritual opportunities at Holy Name Cathedral – the Gatherings Groups for faith-sharing, the Wednesday Lenten Lectures, the Friday Stations of the Cross, the recent Parish Penance Service. The preachers all remembered the one spiritual exercise most often overlooked, yet most effective – daily Mass. I know Lent already is well underway. Still, it is never too late to resolve to make it to daily Mass and Communion. Monday, March 19 is the Feast of St. Joseph, the most silent and most obedient man in the Bible. The priest wears white even though we are in mid-Lent. Come celebrate the protection of St. Joseph at Mass – 6:00, 7:00, & 8:00am; 12:10 & 5:15pm. Another Lenten spiritual exercise was suggested by Father Troy Gately, Rector of Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral in Houston, in a recent edition of his parish bulletin brought to me by a Holy Name regular. How about reading a gospel? Especially if you never have done so, read one front to back. Mark’s is the shortest. Start there. Even if you have read a gospel in one sitting before now, try it again. I am certain you will find something you missed the last time. If you want a different experience of the Bible, read a Psalm or two each day. The range of emotion in the Old Testament Psalms is amazing. Read one in the morning. Read another at night. Those are true Lenten practices. Yet one more Lenten practice is almsgiving, taking care of the poor and needy. Buying Chicago Shares, food vouchers redeemable at nearby fast food restaurants and grocers, is one way to assist the neglected. They are being sold this Sunday from 8 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in the Parish Center. Another way is to buy that beautiful coffee table book about the Pontificate of Pope John Paul II. It is on sale at the State Street doors for just $20. The book is great. And every cent of your $20 will support the Thursday Suppers at Catholic Charities which is staffed by volunteers from the Cathedral parish. You can feed the hungry and get a beautiful remembrance of one of the holy men of our era. Look for more information on the Pope John Paul book elsewhere in this bulletin. Yes, I did eat fish last Friday at the Fish Dinner in the Cafeteria. I will admit, I prefer scrambled eggs on Lent Fridays. However, I offered my sacrifice for the good of this Parish Life Commission-sponsored event. The Fish Dinners continue this coming Friday from 6:00-8:00pm. No, I will not be there. Any rumors Father Mike spreads about me sneaking a peanut butter sandwich into my room are false. I will be away this week. But I promise to return for the finale on March 30. Meanwhile, go to the fish dinner yourself. It’s a relaxing meal and fun. And, if you like fish, I guess it’s supposed to be good! Fish lovers, check it out; let me know when I see you on the 30th. We take some things for granted. Let’s not take important friends for granted. Understand that Cathedral resident Bishop Timothy Lyne had been a priest eight years before I was born. He moved into Holy Name Cathedral while I was a high school seminarian here in the neighborhood at Quigley Seminary North. I was a freshman that year. He was pastor from 1967-1990...when he re-built historic Holy Name Cathedral. He was ordained a bishop in our Cathedral over 23 years ago. He has been one of us at Holy Name Cathedral for 41 years. On Wednesday, March 21, Bishop Lyne will celebrate a birthday. Which one? I will leave that number for him to reveal. (All's I know is that he was in swaddling clothes when his beloved White Sox “lost” that World Series to the Red Legs.) For now, let’s not take him for granted. Happy birthday, Bishop Lyne! Monday, March 19, will be the 4th anniversary of one of the most graceful liturgies in my term as Cathedral pastor – the episcopal ordinations of Chicago Auxiliary Bishops Francis Kane, Thomas Paprocki, and Gustavo Garcia-Siller. We congratulate our three amigos and thank them for their daily dedication to the administration of this mighty Archdiocese. May God be with them and the Chicago Church always. I will be away from the Cathedral from Monday, March 19, through Monday, March 26. If you can hang onto your inquiries until I return, that would be great. If something needs a pastor-like decision, check one of the other full-time Associate Pastors – Father John Boivin, Father Mike Novick, or Father Paul Stein (get used to it, Father Paul; you’ll be making pastor like decisions daily come this summer!). I’ll return for the last week of a quick March. Fr. Dan Mayall |
