Easter in Ordinary

I am preparing for some changes. Fr. Peter Pacini, C.S.C. will be taking the helm of St. Adalbert and St. Casimir Parishes in July. I am also preparing to walk the Camino de Santiago de Compostela , departing July 1 and returning August 10. It is a time of taking stock and passing on. It is a time of preparation, spiritual and physical, for the rigors of the pilgrimage. It is a time of remembering and looking ahead. I have been taking some long walks through the neighborhood. I walked past one street to see a crew doing a home demolition. The home has rested on the West Side for probably one hundred years, but I have known something of it since 2001. In 2001, I came to St. Stephen and St. Casimir as associate pastor. Early in my time at St. Stephen, a woman would call the parish office and speak to me anonymously. She was in a violent marriage, raising three children. In a series of calls, I learned that she had previously been hospitalized for a beating that she had t...

The West Side is dotted with beautiful churches-- not just at St. Adalbert and St. Casimir, but all over. The immigrants who came to the West Side did not have much, apart from a dream and their faith. They lived in smaller homes, but they built beautiful churches! These shared spaces of beauty have always been places of pride in our community. Sometimes, when I drive over the railroad tracks at Ford Street, near Walnut, if I look down the way, I can see St. Hedwig's. I can't tell you how many times we've had cloudy days but a ray of light shines down and illuminates that church. Here is a photo of the bell tower at St. Casimir, taken yesterday (January 30, 2010). It reaches up to heaven in a blue sky. I also love the wispy clouds!