Home

 A Message from Father Michael

  Catholic Schools Week, Jan. 27, 2008

Dear Parishioners & Friends,

Dorothy Murphy, Fr. Kevin and I went to St. Felicitas Church for the funeral of John Stroger, the President of the Cook County Board.  When Ms. Murphy was principal there, John Stroger had offered to raise a half million dollars to help keep St. Felicitas School open, but the decision had already been made at other levels to close the school.  And so, his generous offer never got acted upon.

 His funeral brought out all the stars in our Illinois political establishment: The Mayor, the Governor, Senator Dick Durbin, (President Clinton was expected, but then did not arrive), various other dignitaries, and Rev. Jesse Jackson – all came to pay their public tributes to him, and stayed for the solemn liturgy conducted by Bishop Perry.

 John Stroger was born in Alabama just as the “Great Depression” was beginning, educated at Xavier University in New Orleans, and came to Chicago in 1953 at the age of 24 and got into local politics on the South Side, while attending DePaul University to obtain his law degree.  The testimony to him noted the fact that he was born in a time of national poverty and of intense racism, yet through education and hard work made it to the very top of the system.  All those who spoke paid homage to his genuine concern for the poor.  He was a longtime member of St. Felicitas Parish. 

 As we celebrate Catholic Schools Week, we can be proud of the many people who have been educated through our school system, and of the work that continues to lie ahead. John Stroger’s life in politics reminds us of the great good people can do with the lifespan allotted to them. Today we continue to educate our children beyond the basics that are required for anyone who hopes to succeed in life.  It is clear that education is absolutely essential.  But part of one’s education must include the ways that we live related to one another.

Some religions focus upon the idea of “personal salvation.”  They hold that it is all important that you turn your life over to Jesus as your personal savior. Catholics, at our best, do not see salvation in simply personal terms.  

In celebrating the Eucharist, we are constantly reminding ourselves that we are part of the body of Christ, and that we are saved only as part of that Body.  Jesus taught his disciples over and over to remember that the poor, the outsider, the sinner, the rejected are also invited to be part of that Body.  They were not to remain inside the safety net of their own salvation.  They were to understand themselves in a much bigger context.

 If we sin anywhere, we often sin in making life too small, too much about our own interests.  We forget that we have brothers and sisters everywhere, not just those in church with us at any given moment.  That’s why a political funeral can also be a religious reminder of our unfinished identity.  The word Catholic or universal has to do with the fact that my identity does not reside simply in my own self and my own interests.  We are called to live beyond our own interests. 

 Catholic schools have many advantages.  Those who work inside the system do so from an inner conviction of the importance of religious education to a child’s development.  Discipline and safety are a component of learning that we can easily forget.  Our schools are not recruiting grounds for gangs, and not places of violence and intimidation.  And in so many ways, the children are being oriented to a way of treating one another that is rooted in our deepest beliefs about who we are, and who we are called to be. 

This week many things come together.  There was a great South Side funeral of one of the most prominent Catholics in the city.  At the same time we are testifying to his Catholic education and background, and how he put it to great use in his professional life.  We are in the midst of our Annual Appeal which raises money to keep our system moving forward for another generation. 

 Being proud of who we are, is one thing.  Making sure that we continue to make a place for the next generation is another.  Education is not merely “training” in the narrow sense of getting children ready for what awaits them at the job level, but also what awaits them in life.  Let us keep this holy vision alive and moving forward.

                                                                       Fr. Michael