Greetings from Chicago!
-
March 17, 2023The waves of personnel change have already reached the walls of Michael in Old Town on the shores of Lake Michigan. And this evenbefore the quadrennial appointments! A quarter of the community waved “Good-Bye” on January 1st and three fresh faces arrived from warmer climes.
During the last week of December, the “Old OPC” [2018-2022] was bid farewell with a luncheon hosted by the community and parish to wish them well as they prepared to pass on to a better life. Steve Rehrauer packed his bags for Tucson dreaming how he would soon be lounging around the pool at Picture Rocks Resort and Spa, practicing his Aikido. Well, he deserved a break from the thankless eight-year ordeal of keeping the Denver Province afloat and steaming into the restructured future. As often happens, however, the new powers that be suggested that “as long he was there anyway,” perhaps he could look after the direction of the renewal center.
John Fahey also passed onto a better life in Arizona for a three- month sabbatical, to be spent in eremitical solitude before picking up the reins of the Hispanic apostolate in southern Louisiana.
Larry Luján had already passed on to a better life: he left for Rome in the middle of November to join the Congregation’s General Council for the next six years. He had to bounce back to Chicago for a few days in February to obtain a long-term visa to reside in Italy [or, as a deceased confrere liked to call it: the Holy Land of the New Testament].
The fresh faces of the new OPC arrived in January to claim their rooms, which had been freshly scoured and painted, and furnished with new toilets. [The community piously spoke of parallels to the story about wineskins.] They spent a few days getting acclimated, but by the middle of February they have hardly spent a week home between visitations and mandatory meetings. We will not see much of them until April. In between his visits to communities, Provincial Superior Kevin Zubel was at the “New Provincial Finishing School” in Rome for a chunk of March. Vicar Aaron Meszaros has back-to- back visitations through the middle of April. Consultor Tony Nguyen will likewise be enjoying the hospitality of other communities through the end of March.
But there is no need to worry about the steady operation of the corporation: the two financial wizards of the Province, Greg May and John Steingraeber, will be here standing 24/7 guard over the Province’s petty cash box. As John continues to oversee our investments and manage our insurance programs, he has been keeping up-to-date in today’s turbulent economics by participation in workshops and meetings. Greg has spent most of his “spare time” in establishing and developing the various programs welcoming laity into association with our Congregation; he has moved this work a remarkable distance forward in the last few years.
John Phelps commutes from Detroit, a few times a month, to work with Life Directions and related business; his work here has been much heavier after the recent death of Van Bensett, the director of the Chicago office. The loss placed a great burden on John reorganizing the Chicago program. Last November, Life Directions held a dinner for business corporations and nonprofit groups who support its work. At the gathering, we Redemptorists received a lifetime achievement award for our fifty years of support of Life Directions. In all the years of its existence in five cities, the organization has assisted more than 172,000 young people and families in building their lives on moral principles.
Joe Dorcey, our foreign correspondent in Suriname, is paying us a short visit in March while taking care of medical checkups. He feels blessed with his ministry there among the thousands of Brazilian migrants who work for the gold mining companies in the country.
Dan Andree continues his fulltime work as Archdiocesan Judicial Vicar, keeping the Chicago church running on its canonical rails.
“St. Michael in Old Town” [to distinguish it from four other “St. Michaels” in the metro area] continues to chime its bells every quarter hour as it has for over a hundred years. Their sound brought in more than a thousand Catholics on that most popular of all liturgical days, Ash Wednesday.
The parish is also seeing its weekend congregations becoming larger than they were before COVID played its trump card in 2020. The wedding apostolate on weekends is likewise returning to previous numbers and the church is again a “destination spot” for bridezillas and their mothers-in- law, even though the Caribbean is cutting into that niche.
Pastor Larry Sanders and Associate Ed Vella spend most weekday evenings instructing couples and trying to be sure there are at least some slices of religious faith in their upcoming cake-cutting festivals.
Ray Dompke assists as well when the waiting line of matrimoniandi gets too long, takes care of regular confessions, weekday Masses and some substitute weekend work in the area.
The parish is part of a six-parish “cluster” that supports a school, shared RCIA, catechetical programs, and other joint projects. As it lumbers on toward its 200th anniversary, the church/rectory/center complex requires a good deal of physical care. Over the past year, the church and house has had its electrical network upgraded to full LED lighting. One major project starting this Spring will be the complete repair and refurbishing of the more than 100-year-old Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in the church, looking toward reviving the appeal the shrine had in its recent past.
That leaves only accounting for two community members who are here officially “Aging in Place,” Jim Keena and Bob Fenili. Although James is currently the Province’s oldest member – approaching his 92nd birthday on April 10 – on sunny days he carries on a hidden apostolate of sitting in front of the church and engaging passers-by in spiritual conversations. He blends into his environment so well that, one chilly day, a lady brought the poor fella a bowl of hot soup. Meanwhile, Bob spends most of his time in his room or toddling around with a walker. He assures us that he practices his assignment of “aging in place” every day, and he feels is getting better at it as time moves on.
Blessings to all. Happy Lent and happier Easter from your confreres in Chi-Town.
