The Mass of Our Lady of Guadalupe held in the Federal Plaza on Friday noon, was an experience of a lifetime. Several hundred stalwarts expressed their faith on a cold but sunny day in the heart of Chicago at the Federal Plaza, and heard a stirring homily by the celebrant, Bishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller.
Federal Plaza Mass For Our Lady Is a Huge Success
The Bishop reminded the gathering that we are God’s people, doing God’s work, and he had the crowd repeat, “We are a people of Hope,” and “We are a people of Life.” Twelve priests concelebrated and distributed Holy Communion, hundreds of flowers were carried by the congregation to a shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe next to the high altar, and the Knights of Columbus from many Councils formed an Honor Guard for the historic event, brought together through the efforts of Brother Knight Larry Theriault of Glenview.
This celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the Federal Plaza, in sight of the president-elect Barack Obama’s Chicago transitional headquarters, spoke volumes about the Freedom of Religion that still reigns in America. To be free to honor Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother in the public square is a powerful testimony that our government still supports our right to honor the grandeur of God and the saints, and does not deny our right to announce our faith in the public square and on federal property.
Priests and Knights vested for the Mass in the United States Post Office, courtesy of kindly Post Office staff. The event was sponsored by the Archdiocese of Chicago Office for Hispanic Catholics, the Respect Life Office, and the Office for Peace and Justice, as well as the Thomas More Society Pro-Life Law Center, and the Pro-Life Action League.
Our hat is off to all those who braved the cold (over 400) to give honor to Our Lady of Guadalupe on her feast — that just happened to occur on one of the coldest days in December. But we all loved it, and nobody caught a cold.
Catholic Register Recognizes Importance Of Grassroots Efforts
We also doff our hat to the editor of the Nov. 16 Catholic Register’s Perspectives column, who closed his editorial on the Obama election with these prophetic words: “We must realize that the greatest impact right now will continue to be at the grassroots level. Ultimately, this is about changing hearts, not just changing laws. The sidewalk heroes of the pro-life movement are the clearest evidence that we will never go away.” Amen to that, brother!
Much more to report but this has been a busy day and I want to go home and sit by the fire.
