Posted on 08/10/2005 2:08:12 PM PDT by Salvation
American Catholics first need to reclaim Catholicism in this country from the Kerry types.
I was listening to the radio at work one day when a religiously themed song came on. A young woman I work with heard it and said, "they're allowed to talk about God on the radio?"
I was stunned to say the least.
That too, but reclaiming the public space is a priority, because in a few election cycles we will not recognize this country. Unorthodox Catholics will always be with us; freedom of religion may not be.
erratum in previous post. See reply #18.
The article has the day wrong--it was on Friday, August 5, not on Sunday, August 7. The Knights of Columbus had a convention the preceding several days and the procession was intended to cap it off.
How wonderful! God bless them.
**Cardinal Rigali will lead this prayerful event to close out the Year of the Eucharist.**
Rigali bump!
Were you able to calm her down?
Very impressive, and good news indeed. Thanks for bringing us this uplifting report.
so much for reporting, huh?
I explained to her that while some people (The ACLU) would like to remove all mention of religion in public, that we still had the right to say what we wish.
The poor girl had NO religious background. She could not name an apostle or prophet if her life depended on it.
Maybe she is your chance to evangelize. Give her a book.
I was there. It was probably a little less than 10,000 people, maybe 9 or 8. We got there about about 1:30 in the afternoon, in front of the Petrillo Bandshell in Grant Park. For those of you unfamiliar with downtown Chicago, Grant Park is right on Lake Michigan, between Lake Shore Drive and the skyscrapers of downtown Chicago.
At first, there didn't seem to be that many people there, but then we looked to the south, and we saw thousands of people arriving in a procession leading all the way back to Buckingham Fountain. There were Knights of Columbus, in full regala, followed by thousands of people. The banners mentioned in the article were made to represent individual parishes throughout the city. People generally marched behind the banner of their individual parish. Some of the banners were pretty elaborate, especially from some of the Polish parishes in the city. There were also banners from Catholic hospitals.
At the end of the procession was a canopy, under which the Blessed Sacrament was displayed. Cardinal George carried the Blessed Sacrament at the end of the procession. The procession concluded at an altar on a makeshift stage built in front of the Petrillo Bandshell (I'll explain more about that later) Then Cardinal George led everybody in a benediction.
Among the thousands of people there at the benediction were a lot of young families, as well as teenagers and college-age kids. My wife and I were there with our five year old son and 22-month old daughter. We saw a few friends here and there, but ended up attending the benediction with these friends of ours and their seven young kids. It was the type of crowd where your 22-month old could walk around a little and you knew she wasn't going to bother anyone. It was also pretty cool to be singing the Pange Lingua among thousands of people in the middle of downtown Chicago on a Friday afternoon. The Cardinal gave an inspiring homily about personal conversion.
After it was over. I was talking to a priest I knew there that explained to me that the Chicago Park District wouldn't allow the Archdiocese to use the Petrillo Bandshell itself for the benediction because they didn't want city property to be used for religious purposes. (Rock groups and jazz bands-yes, benedictions-no) So the Archdiocese simply built their own stage.
Rigali, in one of his great pastoral strengths, has a thing for this. Glad to hear that he will be leading it.
Oh boy.
I'm now motivated for the Worcester, MA procession that will be in the Fall.
Thanks for your wonderful and personal account. Glad you were able to attend with your wife and children.
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