November 2020 Newsletter
Cooperators and Friends to the Rescue!
As can be seen from the photos we have been doing a good amount of work on Midtown residence. Our friends and cooperators have made this possible.
Most recently we made necessary repairs in the front of the house. For years we battled leaks that penetrated the front stairs and porch. Water frequently leaked into a pantry area that sits beneath the stairs. So we hired a contractor who tuckpointed stonework while another put down new membranes to seal the area. They painted and gave the entrance a fresh and welcoming look.
A new railing was installed, one that reached to ground level making it easier for elderly persons to come and go. This will be especially helpful in wintertime when ice sometimes forms on the stairs. We also replaced the walkway leading to the residence. The old asphalt one had cracked and developed valleys where water collected and sometimes froze.
We repaired the two brick piers that lead to the walkway. The mortar had deteriorated such that the pillars could be toppled over with a shove – an insurance nightmare. The piers are now sturdy and ready for anything.
Numerous trees were replaced in our garden. All told seven trees needed to be removed. Four were dying. Two were diseased and sickly. And one had lost a huge trunk in a windstorm; the tree was compromised, presenting a danger to persons and vehicles. We now have new trees that will grow into inviting additions to the front garden.
Previously donors funded a new heating system to provide reliable warmth during winter-month activities. The old system was original to the house and heating experts had told us it would soon fail.
And then there were the renovations to lower level of the building where meals are prepared, laundry done, and from where the household staff operates. It had been years since we improved the area where those who make Midtown homey do their work.
We are grateful to the many of you who have helped the Center to look and function at its best!
Men Alive Comes to Life
A great man once said, “a gentleman is someone who can play the banjo, but doesn’t.” November will see the launch of Men Alive, a monthly series aimed at gentlemanly ways of being. As men pass from college to responsible adulthood they want to know about everything from personal finance to hosting guests to doing home repairs. Men Alive provides this by inviting knowing experts to share their knowledge and experience in a casual, friendly setting. The series will also provide a forum for participants to build friendship with one another. The first session, to be held on November 14, will focus on financial know-how: saving for marriage and unexpected life events, investment management, and optimal strategies for managing student loans. Click here to learn more and register for the November 14 session. Look for more about Men Alive in the coming months.
Midtown in Ohio
Midtown’s activities for young men are headquartered at 1825 N. Wood Street in Chicago, but they stretch into Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Colorado. On September 19 a group of 17 young men gathered in downtown Columbus, OH to reflect on the integration of faith, marriage, work, and vocational calling.Matt Smyczek, who directs a service organization for urban youth in Milwaukee, led a session that focused on relationships and the importance of giving oneself unstintingly. Ron Hathaway, a Cincinnati-based surgeon who organized the gathering then explored the practical implications of making a gift of self through the lens of professional work and friendship. Ron related the previous talk to marriage. He also spoke about making time for friends, and an ever growing friendship with God. There was plenty of social time built into the schedule to allow participants to live the teachings of the sessions by getting to better know one another.
Mike Aquilina, an award-winning author of over 50 books and a husband and father of six, then related edifying experiences from his 35 years of marriage. Mike shared, “Love is a verb before it is a noun. It is a grace, and it is a decision. Preparation for marriage starts now.” The daylong program concluded with the husband and wife team of Todd and Liz Montazzoli sharing their perspectives on lasting marriages. Todd related, “marriage is about establishing a loving vision for the home that makes the little things seem big, and the big things seem little.”
Book Review: Caste: The Origins of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
For those seeking a more historically grounded understanding of the experience of African Americans in our cities today, there is perhaps no better place to start than Isabel Wilkerson’s Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration (2010). There, she tells the story of the migration of six million African Americans from Southern states to cities throughout the rest of the United States during the first half of the twentieth century. As she does so, she describes the conditions and hardships experienced by colored peoples under the system of hierarchy and enforcement created by what today day we call the Jim Crow South, including lynchings, cross burnings, and other acts of intimidation and terrorism. As she continues her account, she shows how even in their new lives in Northern cites and states, Black Americans continued to experience hostility and stigmatization arising from an unstated but nevertheless ever present hierarchization of society that followed them wherever they went. Continue reading...
In the Words of Pope Francis
On October 3, 2020, Pope Francis signed his third encyclical letter, Fratelli Tutti. Inspired by St. Francis' teaching, it is a social encyclical on fraternal love, considering its “universal scope, its openness to every man and woman.” The Holy Father opens the letter by stating: “I offer this social encyclical as a modest contribution to continued reflection, the hope that in the face of present-day attempts to eliminate or ignore others, we may prove capable of responding with a new vision of fraternity and social friendship that will not remain at the level of words.” (#6)
With a beautiful and practical analysis of Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan in chapter 2, the Pope’s latest encyclical is more than a modest contribution. It is a much needed, fatherly push to help us acknowledge the dignity of each human person, and live it out in our daily lives.
Opus Dei Prelate Pens Prologue to Newly Published Book
Msgr. Fernando Ocariz, the Prelate of Opus Dei, wrote the prologue to Cartas I. The recent publication features four letters that St. Josemaria Escriva wrote to members of Opus Dei in its earliest years. He wrote 38 letters all told. The writings elaborate on the universal call to holiness and being an apostle in ordinary life. St. Josemaria would give his life to spreading these ideals and moving forward the institution, Opus Dei, that God asked him to found. Understanding their long term importance, the founder revised the letters through the years. As time passed the letters were in circulation in various forms. Cartas makes them available in an authoritative, definitive form. Msgr. Ocariz's prologue explains the role these letters had in Opus Dei, especially at its beginning as it grew and expanded geographically. Click here to purchase Cartas I (currently available in Spanish only).
Men’s Recollection at St. Mary of the Angels
For the foreseeable future, there will only be one Evening of Recollection in English at Midtown. It will be held on the second Monday of each month from 7:00-9:00pm. St. Mary of the Angels is hosting the Recollections. We meet in the main Church, which allows ample room for social distancing.
Support Midtown Cultural Center
You can now make tax-deductible donations online at our secure site. Thank you for your generosity!
“Your work must become a conversation with Our Father in heaven.”
— St. Josemaría Escrivá