Dad's Favorite Things

Following after my Mom's milestone birthday back in May, it's time to party again with my Dad's milestone birthday.

As I think about Dad, I recall his favorite things.

He thoroughly enjoys dogs.  After having grown up with the presence of one dog or another, the nature of a dog lover has definitely gotten into him.  Even though he hasn't had a dog at home with him for years, he delights in other people's dogs, like the ones his parents have had since he married Mom.  He has enjoyed playing around with their dogs, taking them for walks, and giving them treats and other expressions of affection.  The goes for Weasley, the dog of my brother and sister-in-law.  Dad even enjoys greeting the dogs in the neighborhood as he goes out for exercise.  I often hear him talk, with great enthusiasm, about how such and such dog he knows is a "nice dog".

I also think it's pretty notable that Dad has biked regularly to work over the course of his decades of time in the working world, usually at least 10 miles one way and then back home.  I pretty much consider him a bike expert, and his expertise has proved helpful over the years, especially as I grew to like biking myself, particularly for pleasure rides.

When it comes to his favorite television shows, there are two that come to my mind: Watching M*A*S*H brings back fond memories to him and Mom of their early years, when it was still airing in its original run.  Another show he enjoys is The Andy Griffith Show, which is something I've grown to enjoy with its down-to-earth feel and fine humorous touches.

And when it comes to radio, he is a big fan of Relevant Radio.  For years, I've seen him reach for radio dial in the car, in the kitchen, and in other rooms of the house to tune in for great Roman Catholic content.  I would absorb much of it through osmosis.

In the past few years, I started listening to it regularly on my own.  I've enjoyed great shows like St. Joseph's Workshop and A Closer Look in the past, and current shows like Trending with Timmerie and the two shows that debuted this year, The Faith Explained and The Cale Clarke Show.

Relevant Radio actually started 20 years ago this month on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  Over these two decades, it has engaged in the work of evangelization so magnificently by teaching and discussing the faith with such great depth.

In all the programming, those who participate, the hosts and their guests, offer such thoughtful and insightful perspectives that help audiences understand faith more deeply.  Indeed, the programming on and resources of Relevant Radio faithfully upholds the teachings of the Church and helps the faithful who listen to know how to uphold it in their own lives.  One great example is the book Father Rocky recently offered on well-formed consciences, very timely in preparation for the recent elections, but a good tool for any time as well.

Relevant Radio has played a faithful role in the work of evangelization, helping promote and explain the faith to radio audiences.  Time and again, stories are shared on-air about the profound impact the station has had on people.  The impact continues as it expands its network throughout the United States, and even now with tools like online livestreaming and the Relevant Radio app.  We as the faithful are truly meant to continue learning all throughout our lives, since there is so much to discover about God, and Relevant Radio has done such a great job to facilitate lifelong learning.

I can sense why Relevant Radio resonates so much with Dad, as a person of deep faith.  So with this recent milestone for Relevant Radio, I have even greater reason to celebrate Dad's birthday as I think about how Relevant Radio represents how Dad has handed on the great gift of faith to me.

In gratitude to you, Dad, for enjoying these and more things in life, and for what you've handed on to me, I say, "Happy Birthday!"

We are ever connected as family and in faith: All my relations.

Thanks be to God.

The Years of Ludwig van Beethoven

With joy, I mark 250 years since the birth and baptism of composer Ludwig van Beethoven on December 16/17, 1770.

My fascination with L. Beethoven started back when I began learning to play the piano in early elementary school.  I had a book that provided age-appropriate pieces to play, and one of them was a child version of "Ode to Joy" from his Symphony 9, which I played at a piano recital.  From that point on, I enjoyed listening to his music on a double-CD album I acquired, and even spent more time learning about his life.

It's amazing to think of how he displayed great genius even in the hardships of his life.  I especially think of how he was deaf toward the end of his life, but that was when he wrote great music, like his Symphony 9.  My sense of the story of how that was written is influenced by the story Beethoven Lives Upstairs: The story resonated with me because of how I can view this great composer through the eyes of the boy whose mother rented the space above them to Beethoven, and after initially struggling to appreciate the composer's presence, was invited to the premiere performance of Symphony 9.

I've also enjoyed Symphonies 3 and 5, whose beginnings are well-known melodies.  A biography video I read mentioned how L. Beethoven originally wrote Symphony 3 as a tribute to Napoleon.  But when Beethoven became disillusioned with Napoleon, he scratched out Napoleon's name and simply wrote, "Eroica", a term that means heroic, which is a fitting title word for the epic feel of the beginning part of the piece.

I also learned how to play Fur Elise, which is a rich piece.  The 2-CD album I got of his music includes a performance of Fur Elise on the harpischord, and I definitely like listening to it.

And I thoroughly enjoy the Moonlight Sonata.  When we get to that point in the month of the full moon, I enjoy playing it, and gazing at the light of the full moon.

My time studying piano helped me appreciate the great classic composers, and L. Beethoven was the first one, so that I've enjoyed his music for the longest time of all composers.

So Happy 250-Year Birthday Ludwig van Beethoven!

Thank you for some remarkable contributions to music in this world.

Experiencing Vocation at Father Ted's Ordination

On a snowy Saturday morning, December 4, 2010, 10 years ago today, I went with Dan and Ann Ruggaber to the Cathedral of the Holy Angels in Gary for an experience like none I had ever had before in my life: I attended an ordination Mass for Ted Mauch, who became a priest that day.

Ted was assigned as a deacon to St. Teresa's, where I attended Church, for the last few months before his ordination.  I had the chance to meet then-Deacon Ted when I returned to ValpU for my 2nd year, and I had the chance to get to know him over the course of the succeeding months.

It was in the beginning part of the 2010-11 school year when St. Teresa's announced December 4 as the date for his ordination.  I was pleased when arrangements fell into place to attend.

Notably, it was the first time I can recall attending Mass at a diocesan cathedral outside Chicago.  The Mass booklet was filled with details about the design of the Cathedral.

The ordination Mass was so grand, with great music, carrying that theme of God's spirit and our calling as His servants.  After some pre-Mass songs, there was a lengthy procession, which included servers, the Knights of Colmbus in full 4th-degree attire, and about 50-60 priests.  I had never seen so many priests in one place before in my life.  As they processed while we all sang the opening hymn, I heard one voice louder than the others, which was Father Kevin, then pastor at St. Terersa's.

Bishop Dale Melczek was the principal celebrant for the Mass--he was then the Bishop of Gary, now Bishop Emeritus.  I have memories of him as an insightful homilist.  He spoke well to the occasion of the history of the preisthood, stretching back to Melchizedek, and how the power of God was coming upon Ted at this Mass so that he could take his part in the priesthood.

I had seen clips of priest ordinations before in film and photos, so I had some sense of what would happen.  

It was a stirring moment when Ted stood before Bishop Melczek, who asked him, "Do you pledge obedience to me and my successors?" to which Ted responded, "I do."  I truly wonder what was going through Ted's mind in that exchange, and to make such a strong statement of commitment.

I didn't get a good view of Ted when he prostrated himself on the floor, at which time the congregation knelt and chanted the Litany of Saints.  It was an eloquent scene to call upon the holy men and women of the years gone by as Ted took this significant step.

Then there were the gestures when all the priests took their turns to lay their hands on Ted, as part of an ancient gesture of calling upon the Holy Spirit, who empowers priests and all of us faithful in our work to which He calls us.

I happened to be sitting right by the ambry when one of the servers came to it and took out the sacred chrism for Ted's anointing.

Subsequently, it was time for the "Kiss of Peace", which was basically when all the priests gave now freshly-ordained Father Ted a hug.  Father Kevin looked so excited when it came time for that part of the ordination rite, and was practically ready to barge right up to Father Ted.

The Mass was close to 2 hours long, but it was so action-packed, it really didn't feel long.  The elements of the splendid liturgy captivated me.

Following the Mass, Dan, Ann, and I went to the reception.  We got in a long line to greet Father Ted, and then he offered to give us a blessing, my first time receiving a blessing from a newly-ordained priest.

In the gathered assembly were Father Ted's family, and others who had been part of his path toward the priesthood.  While I had come in toward the end of his journey, I was so blessed that I could say I was a part of it, and took my place at the ordination Mass as a way to support him.

And it was something amazing to just attend an ordination Mass, as I'm uncertain how many Roman Catholics actually get to have that experience in their lives.  It's interesting to think that I've never been to a Roman Catholic wedding Mass, but I have attended multiple ordinations, this one, and another 6 months later.

The Roman Catholic Church opened up in a whole new way for me that day.  I gained new insight into what the priesthood is all about by watching the ordination rite.  I see that the Roman Catholic Church offers so many pathways to live out the call to holiness, as the saints God has called and equipped us to be.

My years at ValpU were so significant in that I shifted my attitude to approach life more thoughtfully.  Rather than just go through the motions, the environment in college really helped me think more deeply about how to live life with purpose, to discern my calling.  It was special to see Father Ted take that important step in living out God's calling to his vocation, which impacted how I come to understand what my vocation is and how to fulfill it.

Congratulations, Father Ted, on your 10th anniversary.  May God continue to equip and empower you today as He did 10 years ago to fulfill the vocation to which He calls you, so that all the faithful can answer God's call to each of us and collectively as His Church.

Another 21 for Illinois at 202

It's time to party like it's 1818 again as we celebrate the Statehood Day of Illinois, now at 202 years. For the occasion of the Illinois bicentennial, which was two years ago, I created 2 lists of 200 things about Illinois that I included in various blog posts.  You can access links to them in this post from 1 year ago.  It was a great way to consider all the amazing things about Illinois, and has inspired me to keep musing about this state.

In honor of Illinois's birthday today, here's a list of 21 more things about the 21st state, especially as I remember my recent travels in Illinois as a starting point.

While St. Louis is a major city in Missouri, it has multiple suburbs on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River, referred to as the Metro East area.

I stayed at a hotel in Granite City (#1) this past summer after driving Historic US Route 66 through Illinois.  Just west of there is Choteau Island (#2), which was formed by the creation of Chain of Rocks Canal (#3), which helped boats navigate a treacherous area of the Mississippi River that is littered with rocks from thousands of years ago.

Just to the north of Granite City in Hartford is the Lewis and Clark Confluence Tower (#4).

It is close to the Lewis and Clark State Memorial Park (#5), preserving the site where the Lewis and Clark Expedition started and finished.

Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (#6) has a lovely garden area (#7).

While driving there from Hartford, I impulsively stopped at a farm stand, where I bought some Calhoun peaches (#8), a type of peach grown particularly in southern Illinois.  That shopping stop there was my first time ever encountering this type of peach.

Collinsville (#9) is known for its giant Brooks Catsup (Ketchup) Bottle water tower (#10).

In the northern reaches of the Metro East Area is Alton, which, among other claims to fame, was the home of abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy (#11), where he moved after pro-slavery mobs destroyed his printing press in Missouri.  In Alton, he published the abolitionist newspaper The Alton Observer (#12).  The Elijah Lovejoy Monument (#13) in Alton continues to testify to his courage in standing for the dignity of all people.

Further north is Pere Marquette State Park (#14), at the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers.

Over on the eastern outskirts of the Metro East area near Shiloh (#15) is Scott Air Force Base (#16), a major military installation.

Belleville has the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows (#17), where I had a very quiet, prayerful visit this past summer.

St. Clair County (#18) is one of the counties in the Metro East Area, and is the oldest county in Illinois.  It was named for Arthur St. Clair (#19), the first governor of the vast Northwest Territory.

Cahokia (#20) was started in 1697 as a French settlement.

In the midst of continuing to celebrate the spirit of the bicentennial and learn more about Illinois, I encountered a series of podcasts from Illinois Humanities (#21) that were recorded for that occasion.

They are archived at this link, and well worth the time to listen to them, as a way of learning more about the great state of Illinois, my home sweet home.

At One Decade: Open House Chicago

If there was one Chicagoland event I would recommend to people, it would definitely be Open House Chicago, hosted by the Chicago Architecture Center. For 10 years, Open House Chicago (OHC) has provided an abundance of opportunities for people to explore in-depth what is in Chicago and, in more recent years, surrounding suburbs, too.

That was still the case for this year's event, marking 10 years, even though the event was reimagined to fit within current guidelines in place.  The focus shifted to virtual events and self-guided tours of building site exteriors.

Always interested in exploring Chicago, I was eager to participate.

So on a rainy Sunday, October 18, I drove into the southern parts of Chicago.

While not officially part of OHC, I first visited Five Holy Martyrs Parish. On October 5, 1979, Pope St. John Paul II celebrated an outdoor Mass in this church's parking lot during his visit to the United States.  The altar is still in place, as you can see in the photo below.

Then I drove north from there into the North Lawndale neighborhood to view the following sites. 

Farm on Ogden--the photos directly above and below

The Firehouse Community Arts Center of Chicago, in the three photos below:

The Central Park Theater

I later watched a fascinating program that shared in-depth about its architectural details, the history of the building as a theater, and its present-day functions as a church and community organization.

Before heading home, I stopped for photos at the original Sears Tower on Homan Avenue.

I had seen it on the list of sites in previous years' OHC events, and I look forward to the year when we can go back to visiting inside buildings and I can go inside.

A couple of weeks later, I went just across the border from Oak Park into the Austin neighborhood to view houses designed by Frederick R. Schock.  He designed numerous buildings in Austin, which contributed significantly to the neighborhood's development in the 1880's-1890's.

Informational sign at Race and Menard

The Beeson House, with Coach House appearing to the left in this photo

I saw a couple touring the homes, and one of them kindly granted my request to get a photo of me posing by the Schlect House. This photo is the only one in this post taken by someone other than me.

F.R. Schock House, the architect's house

The Marie Schock House was built for someone in the architect's family. A sign out front states it reportedly influenced Frank Lloyd Wright's Home and Studio design.

I was impressed that there are such architectural gems not that far from me.  While I had seen glimpses of elegant homes in Austin, this outing was the first time I stopped to look at them and learn more.

Everything I saw during my OHC 2020 outings continued to underscore how wonderful this event is in helping people encounter the amazing sites in Chicago and to appreciate more deeply their significance and their contributions to Chicagoland.  

I'm furthermore delighted that Oak Park was one of multiple suburbs included once again in OHC 2020 so that its noted examples of architecture can be showcased as well.

Indeed, there's so much to look at more closely in Chicago, I'm glad that I was still able to go out for some great exploring in Chicago with the neighborhood opening up once again for OHC.

What This Place Means to Me

It was 28 years ago today, on November 28, 1992, when I, as a toddler, became a resident of Oak Park when my family moved here. Those 28 years are a substantial quantity of time that speaks to a substantial quality of time I've had here, and definitely establishes that Oak Park has made its mark upon me.  That has become even more apparent in recent years, as evidenced by how I talked so much about this village when I was at ValpU, particularly during my first year there, that my friend Roy mentions Oak Park when he does impersonations of me.  I also think about special my homecoming was 10 years ago this month for Thanksgiving Break in 2010, when my longtime roommate Zach came with me and got to see this place so dear to me, which may very well have been the first visit, or among the first, a ValpU friend paid to my home.

I experienced the love of family here in this home for all these years, which I remember fondly on my birthday 4 years ago when we got dinner from the hot food selection at Pete's, and I felt a wonderful sensation as our foursome dined together.  One of my other favorite memories was how I got to travel the USA and the world at the computer playing the games Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego? Amtrak Edition and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? 

From this home I have gone forth to be part of what this community has offered me. I think especially of the distinct culture in southern Oak Park, and most certainly south of the I-290/Eisenhower Freeway, with the presence of Barrie and Rehm Parks, Irving and Lincoln Schools, the Southeast Oak Park Organization (SEOPCO), and businesses like Fair Share, Harrison Jewelers, Pete's Red Hots, the Oak Park Bakery, and Hole-in-the-Wall.  In the years after I left Irving and went to schools further north in Oak Park, it became more apartment to me how the mark of the southern part of town was upon me.

And among other wonderful places in Oak Park I enjoy, Jerusalem Cafe and Grape Leaves both offer wonderful selections of Mediterranean food.  Aripo's was fabulous because it added something so distinct to the downtown Oak Park scene with the Venezuelan arepa sandwiches.

A great outing during the summers is shopping at the Farmers' Market, with excellent offerings of produce from around the Great Lakes region.  In fact, to celebrate 28 years here, I had the last of the apples I bought 4 weeks ago from the Walter Skibbe stand at the Farmers' Market 2020, which is in this photo below.

Thinking about Oak Park, I keep coming back to the sense of closeness in this community, even with over 50000 residents.  We embrace our institutions and organizations for the way they bring us together.

And while we live in the shadow of Chicago, we still distinguish ourselves, having much to offer to the surrounding area with Chicago and other suburbs.

I've valued the opportunities I've had during my time in Oak Park to be part of shaping this community, which is a large part of the reason why my time at Julian was so significant.  Even volunteering and then working at the Oak Park Public Library was a way to do something for the broader community as the library seeks to engage.  Additionally, I have given back to the community in an extraordinary way by serving as an election judge.

And I continue to think much of the ways I've been involved at Ascension Church, especially as a Religious Education teacher/catechist, giving back to the community by serving the youths in my class, which has continued, even as I now teach from home on Tuesday evenings.

With Thanksgiving Day still fresh on my mind, as I celebrate this occasion of moving here, I know have much to give thanks for because of the meaning of my home here in Oak Park, and how that meaning continues to have an impact.

Thank you, Oak Park.

Thanks be to God.

God bless my home.

God bless Oak Park.

Thanksgiving Thoughts 2020

Thanksgiving Day is a great holiday that I enjoy celebrating each year because there are so many aspects about this holiday that are special to me:  It's always meaningful each year to attend Mass on Thanksgiving Day morning as a way to present myself before God in thanksgiving at the Eucharist, and then to enjoy good foods later on, especially my favorite, turkey.  This holiday also combines patriotism and faith in a single occasion, two principles that are important in my life, because this holiday touches upon important aspects of the Christian life and has origins in our national experience of the United States.

Thanksgiving Day was November 26, 1789, by proclamation of President George Washington on October 3, 1789.  Then, 74 years later, President Abraham Lincoln, on October 3, 1863, proclaimed Thanksgiving Day as an annual holiday.

Looking at both proclamations, I notice similar themes, demonstrating that it is an occasion that raises the mind and spirits to consider lofty ideas.  Both recognize the many blessings the US people have experienced, and that's especially telling in 1863 as a terrible war raged, as well as in 1789, after years of conflict with Britain and then arduous efforts to stabilize the US government.  Our history has much to offer us for consideration in facing the challenges of our present day.

Both proclamations acknowledge God as the source of these blessings and exhort the American people on Thanksgiving Day to turn unto God to thank Him for His blessings that He bestowed on us in His mercy despite our wrongdoings, to seek His pardon for transgressions, and to continue calling upon His favor, especially for those who serve in government, and those afflicted by conflict.

My life's experience has demonstrated to me over and over that in any circumstances, there is always something to be thankful for, because God, ever merciful, continues to manifest His blessings to us, even the blessing of His very presence and the life He gives each of us.

The reality of God's presence and His continued, sustained goodness toward us demonstrate that we can always give thanks for those things that are most important in life, especially because they persist in challenging times, and in times of prosperity.

Since they persist, we have reason to continue the spirit of gratitude each day, which has a significant impact in our lives, in our country, and in our world, as we open our eyes to the goodness and blessings of God all around us that is there all the time.  So we go forth to live with purpose, as we make much of what we have, because we are grateful for it all.

Thanks be to God!