Bulletin Board with News and Events

 A 3-pound piece of the Cathedral’s 125 year-old decorative ceiling inexplicably fell 70 feet on February 12; no one was injured, no one was present. Thank God! Extensive scaffolding supporting a plywood canopy deck was erected before the Mass/confessions schedule last weekend. We will continue the Cathedral’s regular weekend schedule throughout the time the scaffolding remains. Meanwhile, this past week, carpenters began affixing screws to every nail-held piece of ornamentation on the ceiling while engineers examined the cause of the problem. Daprato Rigali Studios, the Church restoration firm that recently sealed our Cathedral’s north windows against water damage and restored the column to the south of the pulpit where the old sound speaker sat, is overseeing this project. They enlisted engineers Wiss, Janney, Elstner to insure the structural integrity of our preciously beautiful 19^th century ceiling. I promise to keep you posted. Meanwhile, I thank all the Cathedral liturgy regulars especially Father Matt Compton, Father Mike Novick, Administrative Chief/Deacon Stan Strom, Pastoral Assistant Pat Still, Office of Divine Worship Director Todd Williamson, and Music Director Ricardo Ramirez for their extra help. I thank, too, all celebrants, deacons, ushers, extraordinary ministers, lectors, servers, sacristans, cantors, choristers, ODW staff, maintenance crew, and security for adjusting. Father Pat Lee and our neighbors at St. Joseph Church on Orleans accommodated two displaced Cathedral weddings with exceptional charm. Another neighbor, Father Ron Galt and St. Teresa of Avila Church on Armitage, hosted our wonderful RCIA retreat day. Holy Name Cathedral is blessed with a lot of great friends.

The Catholic students in the Frances Xavier Warde Catholic School’s 5^th through 8^th grades will participate in a Lenten Penance Service this coming Tuesday afternoon with the opportunity for individual confession and absolution. FXW Catholic School operates on both the campuses of Holy Name Cathedral and of Old St. Pat’s in the West Loop. Take the lead of the children; go to confession during Lent. Confessions will be heard at the Cathedral from 3:00-5:00pm on Saturdays during Lent in the lower level’s Reconciliation Room where you can confess face-to-face or behind the privacy of a screen. An additional hour’s worth of confessions will be heard in the private confessional (which is also suited for the disabled) in the Cathedral itself, near the front on the left/north side. As of now, even with the emergency repairs continuing on the ceiling, we also anticipate welcoming Catholics from around our Deanery, our area of the city, for a Reconciliation Prayer with individual confessions on Tuesday, March 11, at 7:00pm. Take the chance to have your sins forgiven, if not on that beautiful evening, then at least sometime during Lent. Look for more on Holy Week confessions later.

Sr. Mary Paul McCaughey, a Springfield Dominican nun who is completing a very successful term as president of the co-ed Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, was named Superintendent of Chicago’s Catholic Schools last week by Francis Cardinal George. She will begin her work in July. The Archdiocese conducted a nationwide search for a qualified educator to fill the important office previously held by Dr. Nicholas Wolsonovich who resigned earlier this school year. They found the best choice right in our own back yard. The new Superintendent wrote that she sees a “strong future for the almost 100,000 students and more than 7,000 teachers and staff in 217 elementary and 39 high schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago.” Sister McCaughey’s many accomplishments as president of Marian Catholic High School include raising $5.6 million for the school’s Courage to Lead Campaign, as well as building a new arts wing, a primary competition gymnasium, a Leadership Center / Student Union, college room, greenhouse, campus ministry area, two science labs and the Dominican Way classroom addition. Under her leadership, Marian earned a Department of Education Blue Ribbon in 1995-96 and Marian has twice been named to the Catholic High School Honor Roll, which recognizes the Top 50 American secondary schools. Sr. McCaughey earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Quincy University. She also holds a master’s degree in Theology from St. Louis University and master of science in institutional business administration from Notre Dame. In addition, she earned her educational administration certification through DePaul, and began doctoral coursework in Theology and the social sciences at the Chicago Theological Seminary. I have met Sister on a couple of occasions. I was impressed. My own nieces and nephew are alumni of Marian; they and their parents are really positive in their description of a very fair administrator. A female religious, a native Chicagoan, a present part of the local Catholic schools, a professional with excellent credentials and a positive reputation – that sounds like the best candidate to me! I will look forward to working with you, Sister.

Francis Cardinal George will deliver the opening remarks at the 13^th annual Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Jerusalem Lecture, at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, 610 S. Michigan Ave. Delivering this year’s lecture, Reflections on Jewish-Catholic Relations: Past, Present and Future will be Dr. Eugene Fisher, Consultor to the Holy See’s Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, a member of the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee, Associate Director Emeritus of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and Adjunct Professor of Catholic-Jewish Studies at Seton Hill University. The lecture is co-sponsored by the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, the American Jewish Committee, the Chicago Board of Rabbis, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago and the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies. There is no charge, however, reservations are requested. A reception will take place after the lecture. To register and for more information, contact the Office for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs at 312-751-5325 or eia@archchicago.org.

Fiat justitia ruat caelum is a Latin legal phrase meaning "Let justice be done, though the heavens fall." That is the noble motto inlaid in the floor of the Tennessee Supreme Court. Roman playwright Terrence seems to have suggested the phrase’s basis wondering, “Quid si redeo ad illos qui aiunt, ‘Quid si nunc cœlum ruat?’” -  “What if I have recourse to those who say, ‘What now if the heavens were to fall?’” Maybe these days at Holy Name Cathedral, we must abbreviate the inscription on our parish crest to read, “Quid si nunc cœlum ruat? – What now if the heavens were to fall?” At least a piece of the ceiling has. The next few weeks will hold our reply. Meanwhile, hope and pray.

Fr. Dan Mayall