Commemoration of All Souls
1 November 2003
Praise be Jesus Christ! Now and forever!
Dear Friends in Christ,
This Wednesday, November 5th, Bishop Baker will celebrate Mass at 7:00 pm and administer the Sacrament of Confirmation to 69 of our young people. This date is significant for three reasons:
On 4 November 1956, while Monsignor Charles J. Baum was pastor, the then newly enlarged and redecorated St. Mary’s Church was solemnly dedicated by Samuel Cardinal Stritch, the Archbishop of Chicago. Last year on November 4th we returned to the church after ten months of restoration with a solemn Mass celebrated by Bishop Baker in thanksgiving for the parish’s 150th anniversary.
On 6 November 1904, while Monsignor Andrew Keene Gwynn was pastor, the original portion of our church was solemnly dedicated by the fourth Bishop of Charleston, Henry P. Northrop. Next year we will celebrated the 100th anniversary of that milestone in our parish history.
On the day between the two dedications of our Church, November 5th, I became a Catholic in 1982. This means that I will celebrate the 21st anniversary of my own Confirmation on the day our young people receive that same sacrament from Bishop Baker.
Pope John Paul II is fond of saying that there are no mere coincidences in God, only the working out of His Providence for each human person. When I was appointed pastor of this parish, I took great consolation from knowing that my entrance into the Church occurred on the day between the two dedications of our church, and in the two and a half years since then, I have come to feel a strong fraternal bond with the two pastors who guided the building of this church: Monsignor Andrew Keene Gwynn and Monsignor Charles J. Baum, who between them served as our pastor for 73 years. They lie together now at the entrance of the church to which they gave their lives. During this Month of the Dead, I encourage you to pause at the graves of these distinguished priests and pray for them in gratitude.
Father Newman
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us.