a column of benevolent gossip

Higher calling — President Bush has appointed Dr. Aldona Wos ambassador to the Republic of Estonia. An adviser and member of the Holocaust Documentation Committee of the Polish American Congress, her dad was a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp and fought with the Polish underground in the Warsaw uprising of August 1944. Mr. Wos, along with his parents, was honored by Israel’s Yad Vashem for saving the lives of 12 Jews when Nazis were liquidating the Warsaw Ghetto in April 1943. An alum of Marquette University, Aldona returned to Poland to earn her M.D. She set aside her 18-year medical practice when she moved to North Carolina seven years ago. Instead, she has organized events to enlighten the public on “The Polish Experience in World War II.” An active Catholic, she is the mother of twins.

 

Happy campers — Bella Voce’s Polyphony Summer Camp will be a good notch above singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” around a fire, and lots more fun. Polyphony is that challenging music, born around the 11th century, where several different tunes are played or sung at the same time. This camp is for anyone who likes to sing, especially if you’re into a cappella choral stuff. “It’s not about preparing a performance, but about sharing the experience.” No audition is necessary, and the good times will be directed by Anne Heider, who also directs Bella Voce, Chicago’s premier chamber choir. Camp is from 7-9 p.m. Thursdays, July 29-Aug. 26, at Roosevelt University, 430 S. Michigan, fee is $98 and includes all your music. Enrollment is limited to 40 singers. Call (312) 461-0723 to register or e-mail: [email protected] (You won’t need mosquito repellent.) . . . Franciscan Father Phil Hogan in the arch, is one of the priests on a work/vacation at Lake Itasca, Minn., surrounded by towering pines, blue skies and a fishing line. He is one of 15 priests from as far away as Texas and Fargo, N.D. who take turns celebrating Sunday Mass for the grateful summer worshippers of St. Catherine Church near Itasca State Park. Lodging, boats, bikes, housekeeping and Mass supplies are furnished. Any priests who want more info for next year, can call Pat Evenwoll at (218) 266-3312.

 

People potpourri — Fr. Mike Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina (W. 78th Place), was the commencement speaker for North Park Theological Seminary, where he also received an honorary doctorate in theology. . . . Another year. another book for Viatorian Brother Leo V. Ryan. The DePaul University emeritus management professor has co-authored, “Poland: A Transitional Analysis,” just published by the New York Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences.

 

Junior Clips — Students at St. Giles School (Oak Park) raised $856 to replace the personal items of students at neighboring St. Catherine/St. Lucy School (Oak Park), damaged in a March 21 school fire. While building damage was covered by insurance, coats and backpacks were not. . . . Notre Dame High School (Niles) gets kudos for winning the Illinois State Baseball Championship this year.

 

Sears sensitivity — By law, employers only have to hold military reservist-employees’ jobs open and available, nothing more. Usually, folks take a big pay cut and lose benefits after being activated. Sears Roebuck is voluntarily paying the difference in salaries and maintaining all benefits, including medical insurance and bonus programs, for all activated-to-duty reservist employees for up to two years. The retail giant says, “Sears regards service to our country as one of the greatest sacrifices our young men and women can make. We are happy to do our part to lessen the burden they bear at this time.” Remember this when you hit the mall.

 

Recycling the day — The other morning on Relevant Radio (AM820), there was a discussion about “The Morning Offering.” That’s the prayer kids learned in Catholic school—as basic as the Sign of the Cross and the Hail Mary. The practice began way back in the mid-1800s at a Jesuit seminary in France, where the seminarians wanted to offer the spiritual value of their studies and other activities to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary as a daily offering. The now well-known prayer was composed and the devotion began to spread. Some 50 million Catholics worldwide belong to the Apostleship of Prayer today and say their Morning (or Daily) Offering. Each month there is a specific missionary intention worldwide and an intention of the Holy Father. For a copy of The Morning Offering (in good-sized print), along with the little pamphlet of intentions, send a stamped, self-addressed #10 envelope to The Catholic New World, c/o Clips, 721 N. LaSalle St., Chicago, IL 60610.

 

Author, author — Clips announced a Christmas story-writing contest last January for boys and girls ages 7-13. It was sponsored by the Daughters of St. Paul’s “My Friend” magazine. Reader Maureen Weiss told her two granddaughters and they took the bait and mailed in their stories. Recently Lisa (Grade 5) and Sheila (Grade 6) of Christ the King School (S. Hamilton), learned they are two of five winners. Their stories will appear in next December’s magazine. Congratulations. . . . Pat O’Neill of Bridgeport Catholic Academy won the Columban Missionaries’ prayer/poster contest May 20. The topic was “Be Light,” from Matthew 5:16. One line from his poem, “Give Me Strength,” reads, “Let my actions always show that I am a Christian.”

 

Brunch ’n’ lunch — Summer fun at Misericordia’s Greenhouse Inn Restaurant, 6300 N. Ridge, includes a new Sunday breakfast menu as well as brunch (9 a.m.-2:30 p.m.). There’s a buffet lunch for $6 on Tuesdays and Thursdays and lunch-as-always Tuesdays-Fridays 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. with reservations not a must. Parking is free and the gift shop and bakery are open 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Call (773) 273-4182. For info on Misericordia Gardens, the “real” greenhouse, selling plants and flowers, call (773) 273-3046.

 

Send your benevolent gossip to:
Church Clips
721 N. LaSalle St.,
Chicago, IL 60610
or via e-mail.