9/29/19
Today’s (i.e., Sunday, 10/29/19, page 19) Chicago Tribune
contained a story by Ron Grossman, a long-time chronicler of all things
Chicago, entitled “When Chicago Met John Paul II.” While the main storyline was a compelling
story of a Chicago that no longer exists (perhaps grist for a later mill),
yours truly was especially interested in, and gratified by, the sub-story of
the efforts of indomitable parishioners of Sacred Heart Shrine to get the Pope’s
attention to keep our church open.
For those of you who don’t normally read the Tribune and/or
live outside the Chicago area, here is a link to the story:
As a (very) long-time parishioner at Sacred Heart, I sent
Mr. Grossman a note of thanks and thought I’d share it with my readers:
Ron,
I grew up about five blocks from Sacred Heart Shrine. I attended my first midnight Mass there
before I could take Communion, i.e., before I was seven, because, for some
reason, our parish, St. Walter, didn’t have a midnight Mass at the time and my
Mom loved the traditional first Mass on Christmas. I remember two things about that Mass…the
statue of a stern Mother Cabrini staring down at me that caused a lot more
consternation than Christmas joy in my young heart and the woman sitting next
to me in that very crowded church, who apparently took a bath once year…on
Christmas morning.
We started going to Sacred Heart with regularity when I
was in sixth or seventh grade (in the late ‘60s) because my Mom, along with many
St. Walter parishioners, had it out with our new pastor, Father Brown, and
stopped going to St. Walter. Back
then, the Sacred Heart was so crowded that its pastor, the sainted Father Ken Borchardt,
had to have four Masses going on Saturday…4:00 “upstairs,” i.e., in the church
itself, 4:05 “downstairs,” i.e., in the church hall, now named Father McNally
Hall in honor of Father Borchardt’s predecessor, 5:00 upstairs, and 5:05
downstairs. Of course, that was a
different time, when Mass attendance was far higher than it is today, but,
still, the turnout was extraordinary even by that time’s standards. The immense popularity of Sacred Heart was attributable
to a number of things
·
The popularity of Father Borchardt and his two
assistants, Father James Gallagher and Father John Kret. All were, and, in the case of Fathers
Gallagher and Kret, remain, humble men who chose to serve God and their people
rather than themselves. While Father
Borchardt went to be even closer to God years ago, Father Gallagher still says
Mass each week at the Shrine and Father Kret only recently had to step away due
to health issues; he may be back and all of us are pulling for him.
·
The habit of all three priests, now engrained at
Sacred Heart, to not waste time. Back
then, Sacred Heart was known as the home of the 25 minute Mass, which doubtless
led to its popularity among Catholics who had had it with the long-windedness, sense
of self-importance, and devotion to pomp and circumstance that characterized
the approach of a growing number of Catholic pastors in the area and doubtless
beyond. And, yes, there were plenty of
Catholics who just wanted to get their ticket punched as quickly as possible. But we were happy to have them. The tempo of the Masses has since slowed
down at Sacred Heart, but not much. We
still like to move things along. As Father
Borchardt was fond of saying, if there were any sacredness or holiness missing
from his Masses because they were short, he’d slow them down. But there wasn’t anything missing, so why
drag things out?
Incidentally, none of us could
get past the notion that the reason Sacred Heart was shut down by Cardinal Cody
in 1979 had nothing to do with the condition of the building and everything to
do with Sacred Heart’s drawing parishioners away from the huge and powerful neighboring
churches in Beverly and its environs, whose old school pastors at the time,
including and perhaps especially, Father Brown at St. Walter’s, had the ear of the
Cardinal.
·
The sense of mission, purpose, and holiness that
pervaded, and still pervades, Sacred Heart.
Several of our parishioners have reported miracles that have taken place
in the wake of prayer at the Shrine. An old friend of mine from high school, whom I hadn’t seen in years but ran into at
Mass one Sunday morning there a few years ago, told me she goes to Sacred Heart
rather than her parish church because, as she put it, “it’s easy to pray there;
you feel so close to God.” Truer words
have rarely been uttered.
Now I qualify as a senior citizen at most places and live
in Naperville. I can’t count the number
of Catholic churches that lie between my home and Sacred Heart. But my wife and I still go to Sacred Heart
at least once a month. I serve as a lector
and commentator and a minister of Communion there. Our three children, now young adults, were
all confirmed there. It’s still home, it’s
still my church, and I hope to be buried from there…. many years from now, of
course.
So I’m just writing to say thank you, Ron. God bless you and all you do and, please,
stop by Sacred Heart some time; we’d love to have you, especially on the first weekend
of each month, when we have coffee and donuts after Mass. I read on those Saturdays and would like to
shake your hand.
Mark Quinn
