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August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the greatest example of inspirational oratory in American history, the I Have a Dream speech. Just two weeks earlier, Leonard Valunas was hired as sacristan at Holy Name Cathedral. At that time Francis George was not yet a priest. The average cost of a new US home was $18,000; you could buy a 1-oz. Hershey bar for a nickel; you could mail a letter for a penny less than it cost you for the candy bar; a McDonald’s Hamburger went for 15-cents; gas averaged 30-cents per gallon, eggs 55-cents a dozen, milk 49-cents a gallon; the sports champions included the New York Yankees (baseball), the Toronto Maple Leafs (hockey), the Green Bay Packers (pro football), the Boston Celtics (basketball), Sonny Liston (heavyweight boxing) and—get ready for this one—Loyola University of Chicago (NCAA basketball!); Academy Awards went to Lawrence of Arabia (best picture), Gregory Peck (best actor—To Kill a Mockingbird), and Anne Bancroft (best actress—The Miracle Worker); “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” by Tony Bennett won the Grammy for best song; Oliver! opened on Broadway; the cassette tape and the sedative Valium were first marketed; within the month, Coolio, Phoebe Cates, and Whitney Houston were born (Michael Jordan was a mature 6-month old); that summer poet Theodore Roethke, civil rights hero Medgar Evers, and Blessed Pope John XXIII had died; in office were Paul VI (Pope), John Kennedy (US President), Cardinal Albert Meyer (Chicago Archbishop), Otto Kerner (Illinois Governor), Everett Dirksen and Paul Douglas (Illinois Senators), Richard J. Daley (Chicago Mayor), and Msgr. Patrick Hayes (Pastor/Rector of Holy Name Cathedral). Msgr. Hayes hired Leonard Valunas. Leonard had been bell captain at the Park Dearborn Hotel, Dearborn & Goethe, with its renowned Café de Paris Restaurant. Leonard still tells of getting the occasional call from a hotel regular looking for his Myer’s Rum. Dutifully, Leonard delivered the bottle to Mr. Carl Sandburg. Leonard proudly remembers the visit of Pope John Paul II as the highlight of his Cathedral career. He refused a doctor-ordered hospitalization just to be present for the Holy Father in October, 1979. A couple weeks ago, Leonard Valunas, the longest-employed member of the Holy Name Cathedral staff, announced his retirement. I shook his hand and pronounced a sentence I could relate to no one else. “On behalf of Father McLaughlin, Bishop Lyne, Bishop O’Donnell, Msgr. Hayes and myself (more than half of Holy Name Cathedral’s rectors), I thank you, Leonard, for 44 years of dedication to Chicago’s Cathedral.” On behalf of all at Holy Name, Leonard, thank you. Can we get you a bottle of Myer’s Rum?
Around one table at Jack and Jill’s wedding reception sat the bride’s parents—the dad was recovering from surgery and the mom was perpetually worried; the bride’s aunt with the man to whom she presently was married as well as the man to whom she used to be married; that ex-husband’s present girlfriend; a cousin of the bride’s father and his non-Catholic wife; an unmarried uncle of the bride, a man who was fairly over-served by the time the soup was ready; and the priest who had offered the wedding earlier in he afternoon. The mom and dad went out of their way to graciously thank Father for offering the Mass and for the beautiful homily. He had done his best, but kept it close to his vest that there were just one or two personal references he had added to a stock wedding homily. The bride’s aunt and her present husband seemed to be having a fight; they spoke only in terse sentences. He spent a lot of time wandering around the room and visiting with others. She talked more to her ex-husband with whom she bantered easily. Why had they divorced? His girlfriend giggled a lot. The cousin of the bride’s father suffered under a terrible burden—he claimed to know everything about everything and everybody. As for his non-Catholic wife, she seemed out of place. The inebriated uncle talked in a booming voice, incapable of addressing the priest without calling him “Padre.” The priest himself tried to use the social opportunity to mind his manners and to be a credit to his ministry. Still, he felt about as functional as the cutting of the cake, the couple’s first dance, or the best man’s toast. He was an expected part of the whole day’s background. There might have been twenty tables at the wedding reception, not even counting the head table where Jack and Jill and their bridal party were on display. My description of one of those tables presents a complexity of human experience. Multiply that kaleidoscope by the number of tables. Yet they all were there to celebrate the marriage of Jack and Jill along with a day that would change the couple’s lives. Jack called Jill his wife; Jill called Jack her husband. That is a life-changing title. If Christ was the one who called them together at that altar, marriage became their vocation, the way each would help the other to Heaven. Wait a minute—now I really am writing like “the priest.” Did anyone else at that table see the wedding in that way? By the joyful way I offered the Mass, by my homily, by the arrangements of the Cathedral liturgy, and by my presence at a reception table full of characters, I hope that I gave them the opportunity to consider what Jack and Jill had begun in that holy light. Now, multiply the salad of personalities at the wedding to consider an even greater variety at a typical Sunday Mass. The challenge of focusing the attention of a Cathedral-full of Mass-goers on one reality is even trickier than the wedding. Here on Sunday, the spotlight is on Christ and on our discipleship. If what we do here has value, we have to trust the “Our” in the Our Father. God’s children come from every corner of creation, from every life situation, from every joy, from every tragedy, from every confusion, from every concern, from every level of anxiety. Is it possible that we can leave Sunday Mass just as changed as Jack and Jill leaving their wedding? I hope we can shoot as high every time we make the Sign of the Cross. Appreciate the range of life stories praying along side of you at Sunday Mass. Realize we are all related at God’s table. Intend to be converted by the prayers. That will be my intention. But do me a favor – avoid calling me “Padre.”
My mom passed away over ten years ago. My dad has spent the last several weeks in a nursing facility while recovering from a sudden hospitalization. Monday will be the 58th anniversary of their wedding day. Their lives were changed on October 22, 1949. My sisters, my brother, and I are the breathing evidence. We are praying that decisions we are making for and with our dad are worthy of the love he has given and continues to give us. I am sure that the wedding I celebrated this Saturday was beautiful; I know this couple has been praying. I will look forward to my next wedding; I have watched the bride grow up. I guess I must admit that I like celebrating weddings. No two weddings are alike, except in that they change people’s lives. Congratulations to all married at Holy Name Cathedral this year and congratulations to all planning to be married in the next year. And happy anniversary, mom and dad! Fr. Dan Mayall |
