Old St.Pat's Church
Chicago

Many Sunday mornings find some of us in the IRF (Institute of Religious Formation) and Hessburg Sabbatical Program choosing to go to a different church other than our parish church near CTU.  Such was the case two weeks ago when five of us drove (it is always nice to know someone who has a car) to downtown Chicago and attended Eucharist at Old St. Pat's.  Yes, that is actually the name of the parish.  If you Google the name it will recognize it as its proper name.

Old St. Pat's is well over 100 years old. By the Celtic cross on the outside wall of the church and the inside, which has been completely renovated, one would be right in assuming that this parish served immigrant Irish for many generations.  As it sadly happens sometimes, inner city churches lose their parishioners who move to the suburbs, or at least out of the downtown area. Old St. Pat's was not the exception to the rule, not at first.  Attendance dwindled steadily over many years until it was no longer viable.  However, a miracle happened!  Cardinal Bernadin assigned a new pastor in the hope that the parish could be saved.  Saved it was!  Now on a Sunday morning each of the Eucharists is literally filled to the brim with people of all ages.  The nave and the balcony are packed and at the time of Eucharist there are about 12-15 Eucharistic ministers.  This year on the Third Sunday of Lent (St. Patrick's Day) if you wanted to attend Eucharist at Old St. Pat's you had to order a ticket!  So with only one pastor what is their secret?  It seems to me that there is a great deal of collegiality and that the life of the parish is not in the hands of only a few people, i.e. the more people involved the better.  Because they attract a large crowd it means that they also attract excellent presiders and homilists.  Some of us started going to Old St. Pat's because Fr. Ed Foley, a Capuchin and a well-known liturgist who teaches Liturgy at CTU is one of the regular presiders. 

The Sunday we were there recently the presider invited the 2nd Graders who are preparing for First Communion (40 little people) to come to join him around the altar at the time of consecration and he brought them into what he was doing, explaining and teaching as he went along.

Leaving church after a Eucharist at Old St. Pat's I am always renewed in hope for our Church. If you are ever in Chicago, the address is:  700 W. Adams Street.

Pope Francis' Resonance

Pope Francis’s Resonance

I recently read a thought provoking comment by Father Richard Rohr, OFM. He said, “Humans are like two-way mirrors, both receiving and reflecting. Humans are like tuning forks that pick up a tone and hand it on as resonance.”

Some of us may have had the experience of picking up a jovial tone when we entered a room filled with friendly companions. We almost immediately found ourselves adding our humorous stories to the flow of conversation. Might this phenomenon of spontaneous resonance be possible within the Roman Catholic Church in our current era?

The unique behavioral tone of the newly elected Pope Francis has already been experienced as he began to live into his role as supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church. The authenticity of his solidarity with the poor, the marginalized, and the environment has been clearly noted by the media. It also has apparently resonated with millions at all levels of the church.

What hope if  this tone could provide for each of us a way to move forward and respond to the challenges we face! If we, the human tuning forks within the structure of the Roman Catholic Church, respond to the current tone of Francis, we also may be given a new vibrational frequency for resonating with others, and all of creation, with simplicity, humble authenticity and inclusive solidarity.

Lenten Lessons

I have always loved the season of Lent. I know - it's an odd season to love. But I like the simplicity, the paring down, getting rid of the "frills" of life. I think I like the fact that I can make a decision to give something up, read a special book, or perform a charitable act.

Somehow this Lent isn't quite measuring up to my expectations. Instead of reveling in simplicitty, life seems a little dull. Identifying that has made me realize that maybe the dullness is giving me more of a Lenten experience that my normal, rather ebullient, approach. I'm having to give my sense of dullness over to God and trust that it won't last forever. I'm learning the lesson that I'm not in control of things the way I am when I decide what my Lenten practice will be. Not being in control, which we never really are, and giving the uncertainty that this creates over to God, are teaching me a true Lenten lesson. They're also making me look forward to the bursting of the Easter light in a whole new way. So, I think I can end by saying that I'm grateful for my dull Lent.

Karen Rose, OSB

Counting Blessings

As I ponder the riches of life that God continues to lavish upon me, I am constantly struck by the wonderful gift of my family. I had parents and grandparents who loved life. They loved to sing, dance, play instruments, socialize, read, discuss, invite, and pray. I couldn’t possibly enumerate all of the qualities, but I do know that hospitality, kindness, sharing and love were some things at the core. They reached out to others constantly, and I learned that some people who were considered “undesirables” by others were given respect and even help by my family.

Education was valued and promoted. “Please” and “Thank you” were learned at a very young age as was “give her some of your candy” (or whatever). Fun and laughter were usually part of the day, and support in sorrow was a given. At times as a child I forgot that “No” meant “No,” but it didn’t take me too long to relearn it.

I guess I intend this blog to be a form of gratitude to God, my family, and all my friends. Though I am filled with thankfulness, I also remember those who did not or do not now have the security that a solid family life provides. I want others to know that we, my family, were not wealthy in material terms. We had to go without some things that would have helped make life easier, but the important things of life were always there: presence, caring, giving, helping, etc., and so much more, made life rich, exciting, inviting.

I hope that this little piece will motivate you to “count your blessings” wherever you are and whatever they be. The chief one is that God is in each of us, and with us daily in all we are and do. Each of us is unique and God loves us unconditionally. God is with the depressed, the addicted, the thief. I pray that each of us opens our mind and heart to God and that we then touch all who sit in darkness. Let there be light because of Love!

Roberta Werner, OSB

CHINESE LUNAR NEW YEAR ~ CHICAGO STYLE

In recent weeks Asians around the world celebrated the Lunar New Year which lasts two weeks and the Asian students at Catholic Theological Union (CTU) took advantage of the some of the local festivities to also celebrate. My classmates in the Institute of Religious Formation at CTU and I got in on some of these celebrations.

There is a rather large group of Asian students in formation at the SVD (Society of the Divine Word) here in Chicago, 36 of them to be exact. Most of them attend CTU. Their formation house has three floors and there are 12 students per floor.  Every year they put on a very elaborate party to celebrate the lunar new year and invite ALL their friends and fellow students.  My classmates and I were invited to join them on Friday evening 10 days ago for Eucharist, followed by a banquet. We were thankful that we arrived a little early because as we waited for the beginning of the Eucharist the chapel filled up to overflowing, i.e. standing room only! The house was decorated for the occasion and, of course, that included the chapel.  The presider was a young Chinese priest wearing a stunning vestment in red and gold. I find Chinese liturgical music quite melodius and much of the music at the Eucharist that evening was in Chinese. Many of the attendees were young people we knew either from our classes or students who live in our residence. The banquet after Eucharist included about 15 different Chinese and Vietnamese dishes. One would think that with that crowd we would have to eat standing up but several rooms in this very large residence were designated for eating the delicious meal. Another sister and I were probably the first to leave the party at about 8 p.m. and as we were leaving we were told that the evening was only beginning!  Apparently the tradition is that there is dancing and games until midnight. 

We had the chance to attend one more party that weekend.  On Sunday we were invited to join our classmate, Jia Qin (Gia cheen), a sister from China, for the yearly celebration in Chinatown.   We joined her for Eucharist presided by an auxiliary bishop of Chicago, Bishop Rojas. The morning at church began with firecrackers outside the church door - lots of them and VERY loud - and a dragon parading up and down the aisles, the dragon was followed by the snake (it is the year of the snake), who also weaved back and forth up and down the aisles. A small group of young girls of Indonesian descent danced for us, then it was time for the Eucharist to begin.  Again there was standing room only in the church and again we were glad to have arrived early.  At the end of Eucharist and before the bishop gave his final blessing we were told about a ritual for the remembrance of our ancestors that we were all invited to participate in.  We walked up the center aisle to a table specially decorated for this ritual. As each one of us arrived at the table we were given an incense stick which we left at the altar while at the same time remembering and praying to our loved ones who have gone before us.

The banquet was served in the church basement and that was almost standing room only.  There were many delicious dishes just like Friday evening, and enough food for all of us - I wonder if the cooks prayed for a miracle, e.g. the multiplication of the rice and shrimp, when they saw the multitude filling the hall. In the end the actual serving of the food went very quickly and there was plenty to go around - each of us received two shrimp. 

The day wasn't over . . . we left the church and made our way to the main street of Chinatown for the annual parade.  It was a good thing that it was sunny and that there was no wind but it was cold. There were firecrackers again set off at strategic places along the parade route, several dragons and snakes and four marching bands. We had a wonderful day but were glad to get home and warm up with a good cup of tea or hot chocolate.

[The picture above is of some of us with the bishop, starting from the left: an unknown woman, next to her is Frances (USA), then PoPo (Philipines) who are both in the Hessburg Sabbatical program, the Bishop, Julius (Namibia) behind the bishop, Neri (Korea), Jia Qin and me.]

Exquisite Beauty

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BEAUTY has a way of catching us “un-guarded.” Like the exquisite beauty of the recent snowfall that adorned every tree, pipe, ledge, car—with as much as 11 inches of fresh snow.  Beauty seems to draw us out of ourselves, so that we simply stop in wonder.  We experience a kind of selflessness.  We leave our computers and know ourselves de-centered!  Actually, we are not the center of the universe, though sometimes it takes falling snow to convince us of that fact!  Witnessing a loving act, seeing a child, reading a poem, looking at a painting, or peering into the face of a white rose - all can do the same.  We are drawn into the question: “From whence comes all this Beauty?”  And when confronted with it, we identify with Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Oh, world I cannot hold thee close enough. . .” We may marvel over a lone musician playing Beethoven in a Barcelona plaza, and wonder at the way in which he can attract, one by one, a Flash Mob of listeners. From whence does this Beauty arise?  Why can it knock us out of our routines – and out of our self-centeredness?  Does it remind us that we, though fractured, are still capable of such enjoyment?  And then, how is it that we find ourselves desiring to be beautiful as well, and desiring to be creators of Beauty?  May each of us find at least one such moment today!

Renee Domeier, OSB

Sister Renee wrote this blog after the snowfall last week, not as the current one is still falling today.

The Pope and Lent

In Pope Benedict XVI’s homily on February 2 on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord he invited the assembly “to a faith that knows how to recognize the wisdom of weakness.” Nine days later, he gave the world an extraordinary example of this “wisdom of weakness” in his graceful admission that he is no longer capable of exercising his ministry to the universal Church because of his advanced age, declining health, and diminishing strength.

Could Pope Benedict’s humble resignation be one of his greatest legacies to the modern church? His willingness to break the pattern of being pope-until-death could possibly breathe an element of openness, wisdom and humility into the Church.

His candid self-assessment conveys the depth of character given to those “of advanced years” who receive the freedom to hold within their heart the “wisdom of weakness”.

This reality awakens in me a personal Lenten invitation to name and courageously walk into an acknowledged weakness and there perhaps discover what Wisdom wants to reveal to me. I know it will again let me experience the intersecting cross of God’s unwavering loving presence and jolting, “now-opportunities” which interrupt my everyday life. May the humble face of the Anointed One give me the light-of-wisdom to see that I and all the anointed ones standing before me are always One. May this revealing light engender a more spontaneous remembering that all necessary strength comes from a loving God who repeatedly says, “all will be well”.


Mary Rachel Kuebelbeck, OSB