Over the next several months, we will be highlighting the "Saintly Six," the six Catholic men and women of African descent who were born or worked in the United States and are currently on the path to sainthood. Each lived a heroic life with valor and holiness in the face of slavery and racism. 

What can we do?  We can study and gain inspiration from their lives, pray to them for spiritual aid, and pray for their continued advancement toward canonization.

The lead story is about Augustus Tolton, the first American-born, recognized-African American priest. Below is a brief article put together by parishioner Jane Colleton about Tolton's remarkably courageous and steadfast life. 

The text of the reflection offered by representatives of Solidarity Bridge for the First Sunday of Lent (Deb Winarski, Catherine Werner, Maria Eugenia Brockmann, and Alvaro Encinas).  Find Lent resources from Solidarity Bridge here.  Donate in support of the mission here.  

Good morning church! My name is Deb Winarski and since 2014, I have been a volunteer, technology consultant, and missioner with Solidarity Bridge. As a lay initiative of the Archdiocese of Chicago, Solidarity Bridge responds to the gospel call to heal the sick. We connect medical practitioners in the US to their peers in Bolivia and Paraguay to help increase access to surgery and other essential care. We’re located here in Evanston, and we have deep roots in this parish community. Our founder, Executive Director, and many staff have been parishioners and so many of YOU serve on our board, travel with us or connect deeply to our work in other ways right here at home. We’re so grateful to be with you as we begin the season of Lent!
 
Luke tells us in today's Gospel: “Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness."
 
The wilderness -
Harsh terrain,  hot and dusty air,  rugged,  remote, desolate....
 
Throughout scripture, wilderness is a physical landscape -- a place of long, harsh challenges where survival is threatened. But this physical landscape is also a symbol for the particularly rugged moments of life.
 
For some of us, this wilderness is marked by the loss of a loved one, or worry for a child’s wellbeing. For others, it’s the financial stress of a sudden job loss or the incredible fear of deportation and family separation.
 
Most of us will at some point have experiences encountering the wilderness in acute or prolonged illness. And the wilderness of illness is particularly treacherous in the parts of our world where access to health care is limited.
 
Solidarity Bridge aims to respond to this wilderness reality. With our partners in Bolivia and Paraguay, we provide surgical care to patients in need through short term mission trips and year-round programs. And we build bridges that channel critical resources of training, skill building, supplies, equipment, and perhaps more importantly, solidarity and accompaniment.
 
This solidarity and accompaniment allow us to glimpse some of the harsh reality our partners and patients experience. In Bolivia, for example, there are only 2 public cancer hospitals and 3 radiation centers to serve more than 12 million people. People travel tremendous distances and endure months-long waits for care. A scarcity of early detection resources means patients tend to be diagnosed at very advanced stages, making surgeries more complex and financially out of reach for most.

Our team recently met one of these patients in Santa Cruz.  Mirko was a husband and a father and, at just 29 years old, he had had an unusual type of tumor in his abdomen. For months, he received frequent blood transfusions because the tumor caused hemorrhaging. He couldn’t eat, lost a tremendous amount of weight and was unable to work. His wife took on extra shifts at the bank and his mother moved back to Bolivia from Chile to take care of him. Their close knit family was scared and desperate for medical care. But, the surgery he needed was not available at the public hospital and the cost in the private sector was out of reach. His family believed they were out of options and were devastated.
 
Duke professor Dr. Kate Bowler says, “Lent invites us to sit in the wilderness and hold space for life’s fragility. And yet,” she says, “It’s also where God meets us - in the mess and in the ache.” We see this throughout scripture. The wilderness is indeed harsh and heartbreaking, but it is also the place where God breaks in; where important spiritual encounters take place.
 
Liturgist Peter Moser calls this, “the place from which change comes—the promise of something new and life-giving.”
 
“The promise of something new and life-giving” is also part of the wilderness story we encounter at Solidarity Bridge.
 
I saw a beautiful example of this at the public cancer hospital in Sucre, Bolivia. Less than 10 years ago, there was no public facility for cancer treatment anywhere in the region. Patients with treatable cancers were suffering needlessly and dying far too soon. Local doctors knew their patients deserved better and decided to create that better option themselves. They found a vacant run-down building. When told that there was no money for its renovation, the doctors and nurses did the work themselves - construction, painting, securing equipment - they did it all. Today, this gleaming hospital has two top-rate operating rooms and a pathology lab that serves the whole region...and it is still staffed by many of the medical team whose determination and commitment brought it into existence.
 
A place from which change comes—the promise of something new and life-giving.
 
Four years ago, our US medical teams began offering these surgeons in Sucre training in laparoscopic techniques and helped procure specialized equipment needed for those procedures.  Over several mission trips we began to develop deep relationships with the hospital team and the dream of these young Bolivian doctors became our shared dream. We will continue this training, until the local team is prepared to independently perform the skills that will bring new treatment options to their beloved patients.
 
A place from which change comes—the promise of something new and life-giving.

And what about Mirko? While he feared he was out of options, his doctor knew of our sister organization Puente de Solidaridad and referred him to them. In our training model, local hospitals select cases for our trips that allow US physicians to work side-by-side with their South American colleagues. Together, they provide surgeries for patients who couldn’t otherwise access them, while helping advance the skills of the local teams. Mirko’s case was a good fit! He received surgery through one of our missions and went home several days later.
 
A year later, one of our teams returned and had the chance to visit Mirko in his home. He and his younger brother came out to greet us and he looked wonderful - healthy and full of life! We were invited into their house where the table was overflowing with cakes and drinks. The brothers recounted stories of the past year’s journey to restored health, and we facetimed with their mom, who had returned to her work and life in Chile. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.
 
A place from which change comes—the promise of something new and life-giving.
 
Kate Bowler says, in today’s Gospel “Jesus shows us the way to endure the wilderness. But Jesus does not do this alone.” Luke writes, “Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert.” The Spirit is with Jesus both before he enters and throughout his days in the desert. Jesus was not alone and neither are we.
 
This year, Solidarity Bridge is again the Lenten cause at St. John XXIII. Through this Lenten program, we -- together-- get to be a living sign to our patients and partners that they are not alone in the wilderness. Please pray for our patients and partners this Lent. Prayer cards (hold up), are available at all of the doors.
 
A 2nd collection will be taken today and giving envelopes are also at the doors. We thank you for your generous almsgiving today, or throughout Lent.  I, as a missioner, have felt the support of this parish community each time I prepare for trip. I assure you, that our patients and partners know it as well, and will continue to know that you are there with them and the teams that do this vital work.
 
We can't avoid the harsh and rugged wilderness. We can't always prevent the people we love or those in our communities from experiencing it. This Lent, as we sit together in that wilderness, we are challenged to remain rooted in our conviction that God meets us here and we are never alone. May this place, indeed, be the promise of something new and life-giving for all of us.
 
Amen.

Read more about Mirko's story in this blog, and more about the cancer hospital in Sucre here.

As of March 1, 2025, we here in the second vicariate of the Archdiocese of Chicago have a new auxiliary bishop! John S. Siemianowski was ordained as a bishop by Cardinal Cupich at the Holy Name Cathedral on February 26. At the end of the liturgy, Bishop Siemianowski received his assignment to lead Vicariate II.

Bishop Siemianowski, 64, was ordained in 1989. He served as associate pastor of St. Francis de Sales, Lake Zurich; St. Mary, Buffalo Grove; and St. Elizabeth Seton, Orland Hills. He later served as pastor of St. Agnes, St. Paul, and St. Kieran parishes in Chicago Heights. In 2021, he was named pastor of St. Juliana Parish, where he continues to serve.

We would also like to congratulate our former Vicar General, Robert Casey, on his recent appointment as the Archbishop of Cincinnati.

Lord, we pray for Bishop Siemianowski and Archbishop Casey as they enter their new roles in your service!

Our Lent webpage will be up and running soon! In the meantime, here is the schedule for our 2025 Ash Wednesday Masses with Distribution of Ashes:

Wednesday, March 5, 2025
St. Mary Church - 8 a.m. (English) | 12 p.m. (English) | 7 p.m. (English)
St. Nicholas Church - 8:15 a.m. (English) | 5 p.m. (Bilingual) | 7 p.m. (Spanish)

Click here to see the presider schedule for these Masses (and the whole month of March).

And click here to learn more about and sign up for this year's Lenten Small Groups!

Happy almost-Lent!

For several months now, some of our parishioners have been receiving fraudulent emails or even texts from someone claiming to be Fr. Jean-Philippe.

FR. JEAN-PHILIPPE WILL NEVER ASK YOU FOR MONEY OR GIFT CARDS. If you have questions about a message you received CALL THE PARISH OFFICE BEFORE TAKING ANY ACTION. If the office is closed, that's okay! No request will ever be so urgent that it can't wait until business hours.

In the email variation of this scam (the most recent version as of February 21, 2025) the sender's name appears in recipients' inboxes as things like "Rev. Jean-Philippe Lokpo," "Rev. Koudjo K. Lokpo," or "Koudjo K. Jean-Philippe Lokpo," among other variations. The sender's email address is most often an "@gmail.com" address that includes some variation of "reverend" or "church" and a string of numbers. The latest one came from "Rev. Koudjo K. Jean Philippe Lokpo" at "[email protected]​." Please note that Fr. Jean-Philippe will ONLY ever email you from his official Archdiocese of Chicago account, [email protected]. His name will appear in your inbox as "Koudjo K. Lokpo" -- no "Rev.," "Father," or "Jean-Philippe" unless you personally saved his email to your contacts using a name that includes those words. We have not heard of the scammers using Fr. Jose's name yet, but you should treat any email that claims to be from him but does not use his [email protected] email address as fraudulent, too.

Last October, this scam popped up in texts sent from various numbers (primarily 201.354.7251) claiming to be "Rev. Koudjo K. Jean-Philippe Lokpo" and asking parishioners to "return my text" because "I have a favor to ask." Unlike many scam messages, these DO include the recipient's name (e.g., "Hi, Bob please return my text when you get it, I have a favor to ask. God Bless, Rev. Koudjo K. Jean-Philippe Lokpo".)

If you do not have Fr. Jean-Philippe's number saved in your contacts, he will not be texting you. If you do have him listed as a contact and you receive a text from another number claiming to be him, IT IS NOT FROM HIM. If you do not regularly text with him and he needs to reach you, he will call you, most likely from one of our parish phones, meaning it will appear as either 847.864.1185 or 847.864.0333.

If the sender insists that you shouldn't call him for any reason ("I'm going into meeting," "I have to give a Mass," "I'm really busy," "I'm with a parishioner," "I can't talk right now"), be EXTREMELY skeptical. Please see "Tips to Spot This Scam" below for more information on what to look for in a suspicious message. (Basically, Fr. Jean-Philippe will NEVER ask you for money or gift cards or anything of the sort over text or email. Also, no real request of his will be so time-sensitive that you can't wait to talk with him on the phone.)

If you receive a scam message, take a picture of it and delete it either by clicking "Report" and reporting it as a phishing scam (after which the message will automatically be deleted) or by simply deleting the message. You can report the fraudulent message to the Federal Trade Commission in English at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov or in Spanish at https://reportefraude.ftc.gov. Additionally, you can email the Archdiocese of Chicago at ​[email protected] to help keep them aware of the situation.

More information about this scam at our parish and similar ones across the country can be found after the tips.

Tips to Spot This Scam:

1. Make sure any and all emails you receive from Fr. Jean-Philippe come from his official Archdiocese email address, [email protected]. Make sure any other emails you receive from parish staff come from email addresses that end in "@archchicago.org" or "@stjohn23evanston.org." You will not receive an email from parish staff that comes from an email address ending in "@gmail.com" or "@yahoo.com."
2. Make sure any and all texts you receive from Fr. Jean-Philippe come from his cell number. If you do not have Fr. Jean-Philippe's cell number saved as a contact and you do not already text with him on a regular basis, HE WILL NOT TEXT YOU. If he needs you, he will call you (most likely from a parish number), and you will hear his voice. If you do have him saved as a contact and you receive a text from a different number claiming to be him, IT IS NOT HIM.
3. Be suspicious of any message that implies that you should only contact the sender by responding to that email or text message. Be suspicious of any message that indicates that you should not call the sender or talk to them face-to-face about the request or contents of the message.
4. Be suspicious of any message that asks you for help or to do the sender a favor.
5. Fr. Jean-Philippe or any other parish employee or representative will NEVER ask you to buy gift cards and send us the information on the back. Not for presents for the staff, help for a needy family, or donations for migrants. Never.
6. We also do not raise money of any kind through personal emails or text messages. We do not ask for gift cards in personal messages like these. We do not ask for cash donations in personal messages like these. When we ask for donations, it will always be through a broader appeal to the parish and/or community or through an official appeal from the Archdiocese. Requests for gift card donations are extremely rare (Giving Trees and requests from certain immigrant ministries are the only situations that come to mind), and these requests will NEVER come from Fr. Jean-Philippe or another parish staff member in a personal message or outside of a broader appeal. 
7. We will NEVER ask you to send us your bank information, personal passwords, account information, gift card information, payment information (like debit or credit card numbers) or anything like that through an email or text message. We will NEVER conduct any financial transaction purely over email or text. 
   1. NOTE: This scam is different than Pushpay. If you receive an email from Pushpay, you will be asked to click on a link that will take you to our parish's Pushpay portal, where you can set up your account, create a gift, and enter your financial information. That is different than being asked to send your bank information or conduct a financial transaction in an email reply or by filling out something like a Google Form.
8. Be suspicious of any unsolicited email that is personally sent to you (as opposed to an email blast, like the News Now emails or digital bulletins) but does not greet you by name.
9. Not sure if a message you received might be part of this scam? Before you do anything, give the parish office a call at 847.864.1185. We will be happy to help clear things up! If you receive the message when the parish office is closed, DO NOT do reply or send money until you have the chance to talk to us, even if that means waiting until the next day or until Monday. A lot of these scammers pressure you to act immediately; they want you to act before you have the chance to think. If it's a real email from Fr. Jean-Philippe or another parish staff member, we promise it can wait until business hours!

Generally, experts warn people to be wary of unsolicited email appeals for financial donations, to treat email attachments with caution, and to be careful about clicking on links in email messages. They say that if you click on a wrong link or realize that you have provided a password, username, or other personal information in response to a scam, you need to change your password immediately and alert the business's, bank's, or organization's IT department of the breach. For more general (but still very helpful!) information on how to spot and avoid scam emails, texts, and phone calls, check out the FTC's How to Avoid a Scam.

About This Scam
The messages usually begin with a simple greeting like, "Hi" or "Good morning," but often without the recipient's name. They typically ask for a quick response, often give some reason that the "priest" can't answer phone calls right now, and may include requests for to "do me a favor" or to provide help of some kind for a worthy cause, be that purchasing gift cards or wiring money to help the priest himself, a needy parishioner or family, or for gifts for the parish staff. Many times, the specific request to send money or buy gift cards won't come until after the recipient replies to the first email or even the first few emails. The sender may even promise that he (the "priest") or the parish will pay the recipient back for the cost of any gift cards.

We are not alone in this -- parishes around the country have been targeted with similar scams since at least 2018. In some dioceses, scammers have even impersonated bishops! In a 2020 interview with the Catholic Standard, Fr. Daniel Carson, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Washington, described the scheme: "Father Carson said these kinds of email scams, where people impersonate the pastor or a Church leader occur periodically, and typically involve the scammer sending an email posing as the priest and saying they need help and asking that person to respond back. If the person responds to the bogus email, that sender might ask them to do something like purchase gift cards and send them the number [on the back of the card]. [The appeals are sometimes also for cash donations or money transfers.] The language in such bogus email appeals constantly changes, but the sender often uses a phony Gmail or Yahoo account with the priest’s name incorporated in it." If you want to see what the full scam can look like in action, read this report based on messages received by an employee of the Archdiocese of Lincoln, Nebraska.

Unfortunately, neither we here at St. John XXIII nor the folks at the Archdiocese can do anything to stop fraudulent text messages or emails that come from outside of the "@archchicago.org" domain, like these scam emails sent from "@gmail.com" or "@yahoo.com" addresses. Once again, if you receive a scam message, take a picture of it and delete it either by clicking "Report" and reporting it as a phishing scam (after which the message will automatically be deleted) or by simply deleting the message. You can report the fraudulent message to the Federal Trade Commission in English at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov or in Spanish at https://reportefraude.ftc.gov. Additionally, you can email the parish at [email protected] and the Archdiocese of Chicago at ​[email protected] to help keep us aware of the situation.

My sisters and brothers, read Sara Burson’s wonderful interview of Fr. Jim – abridged in the bulletin insert, and complete on the website. What I share today I just call an Appreciation.
 
A few days ago I made my way past the stubborn wooden gate and up the challenging back stairs to Jim’s place.  I came with some questions, but never asked them. You and I pretty much sat quietly – – “poor banished children of Eve”, occasionally sending up a sigh, “mourning and weeping – gementes et flentes in this valley of tears,”   with a few words of Hopkins’ “Why do sinners’ ways prosper and disappointment all I endeavor get? Wert thou my enemy, O thou, my friend, how wouldst thou worse, I wonder, than thou dost defeat, thwart me? Birds build but not I build. No, but strain, Time’s eunuch and not breed one work that wakes! Mine, O Lord of Life, send my roots rain!”       Well, God has!
 
‘The Lord of Life has sent our roots rain.”  Through you,  Jim Halstead!  You have rained rich beams against this much thick and marsh world– from Grand Blanc to Hyde Park, Leuven, Belgium  to Chicago, Illinois, CTU to DePaul, as Augustinian prior and University Professor, (indeed Chair of Religious Studies,) opener of the world of education to the young (yay!) and reader of their papers (Ugh!), and  St Nicholas presider, and resident, and priest to the parish, not to mention dear friend, advisor and soul companion to me.
 
Like you, Jim, I sort of backed into the priesthood; but truth be told,  whether priesthood or religious life, It is really God who made the choice.  It’s right here, in the gospel of Luke, in Isaiah 6 and  1Corinthians 15 that we have just heard. It’s all  God! God’s choice! God’s doing!  God’s grace! “By God’s grace, I am what I am!”

“Whom shall I send, who will go for us.  I wonder how many times you felt like young Isaiah “Woe is me, I am a man of unclean heart…BUT, but – almost in the same breath:  “Here I am, Lord. Send me.” And. like Simon who had so depended on  breaking, tearing,  leaking nets and sinking boats,  you surrendered, you left it all in Grand Blanc and continued leaving it all… “Here I am, send me. SEND ME!  And, at the Lord’s command you put out to sea,  not knowing how deep that water would become.
 
Jim,  I have been blest to know you, first at St Thomas Apostle in 1970 when I was a young priest, and you were…well… even younger…an Augustinian graduate student at CTU, with an imagination that had been sparked years earlier by the grandeur of the stars in Michigan’s pitch black sky – those “firefolk sitting in the air,”  and wonderment of the playful, ever exploring child in you reflecting more deeply about the consciousness of a fish, that first intrigued you in northern Michigan, and now pondering much, much more.
 
Sixteen years later, I welcomed you - a newly minted doctor of theology and PhD in Religious Studies to be presider and, for a blessed time a resident at St. Nicks, when I got to know your mom, and your sisters Jackie and Jannie . We may not have realized  then what an organic part of this community you would become, though you had done parish ministry in  in Chicago, Detroit and Belgium even as you probed the mysteries of moral theology and sought to resolve the conflict between science and religion.  As you said, you found the perfect combination: professor during the week and pastor on the weekends
 
The rest -they say - is history,  a history well known and deeply treasured by our St Nicholas community.  See it in the words of gratitude; feel it in the tears and running laughter of the community.
 
You have presided at our liturgy, baptized our children, anointed our families, buried those we have loved and lost; you have reconciled us, married us; you have visited the sick wherever and however they were. You have enriched our eucharist, have helped us to appreciate the role of the assembly, opened our minds and hearts with your preaching that you may have found “terrifying” but we have found enriching. Ever the professor, you have stretched us, you’ve made us think,  opened us to wonder even when the numbers of your subordinate clauses between  subject and predicate have challenged our limits.
 
Most of all, you have loved us! You have always found time to drop in to our lives, no matter how diverse the location and crowded your schedule.  You rarely stayed long, but you showed up…you always had 100 places to go—combined, I think, with  Augustinian “restlessness” 
You are “Christ in 10,000 places, lovely in limbs, lovely in eyes not his!
 
Nor have you been hesitant to “put out into the deep!  Ask David Bradford. David called me, wrote me to say:  “Four and a half years ago Fr James gave to my wife, Remy, the most precious of gifts, the gift of life. He donated his kidney so that she could live a normal life.  Remy had been on dialysis for seven and a half years,  waiting to hear from the national organ program.  David said:  “Although I was raised a Catholic, I’ve been a practicing Buddhist for over 50 years. I would accompany Remy and our daughter to Mass occasionally, and was moved by Fr James’ preaching, especially a homily on the world’s’ religions. While Biking the Ridge,  praying and worrying about Remy, I found myself in front of the church. I walked into the confessional to ask Fr James if he had any suggestions or advice on enhancing Remy’s chances of getting a kidney.  Without hesitating, he said “What about me, Dave…could I be a donor?”
I was dumbstruck. I said  “Father James, I came here for advice and not to solicit a kidney.” 
 
Thus began a lengthy and  rigorous process of screening, interrupted by a pandemic. At one point, James, you told me they drew 21 vials of blood, and then because of human error had to repeat it!.  In all of this – from the preparation to arduous recovery, you never wavered in your determination to donate your kidney.  Here I am Lord, Send me!
 
“Here I am, Lord, send me!    Here I am, And you have gone into a world at once charged with God’s grandeur and so badly bent. You continue to witness to the ‘dearest freshness deep down things, as you cheer for us and challenge us to strive for justice, work for peace, care for those at the peripheries – the least, the lonely and the lost.
 
Let’s return to your apartment. The gate’s still stubborn, the stairs challenging. . You hand  me a newspaper, the Daily Southtown (April 5, 2005) JPII has died–there an open letter from you to the college of cardinals.  You describe your hopes for a new Pope:  spiritual depth, deep faith, hope and love of God and all people; one who can inspire people to talk to each other as members of the church and citizens of the world… who takes keen interest in youth, challenges and celebrates their lives…who speaks for human dignity, cares for the sick, dying and the dead… who can say a word of encouragement, challenge and wisdom to artists, businessmen, thinkers  and politicians, the shapers of social life, one who wants and likes his job,  
 
You may have been writing about a pope, but you were describing YOU,   holy Father – You, Jim Halstead!
 Beloved! Beloved! Beloved!
 
-Fr. Bob Oldershaw

At the 10:30 Mass this Sunday, February 9, our parish will celebrate Fr. James "Jim" Halstead, OSA, and his life, love, ministry, and dedication. Cards (no gifts) are welcome; they can be dropped off at the Mass or sent to the parish office (Fr. Jim Halstead c/o St. John XXIII Parish, 806 Ridge Ave, Evanston, IL 60202), where they will be collected and delivered to Fr. Jim. We are also creating a video montage as a tribute to Fr. Jim. If you would like to contribute a short video of no more than two minutes, please click HERE and follow the instructions on the website. The deadline to submit a video is February 15.

(Click HERE to read Fr. Bob Oldershaw's homily from the Mass on February 9 honoring Fr. Jim.)

Recently, Fr. Jim (JH) sat with parishioner Sara Burson (SB), shared memories of his childhood, his life as an Augustinian, and his ministry at St. John XXIII Parish and the legacy St. Nicholas Parish.

SB: Is there anything you would like to share about your childhood?
JH: I spent my early childhood in Flint, Michigan, an industrial town. Later, we moved to Grand Blanc which, at that time, was a small town outside Flint, 90 minutes north of Detroit. I had a lot of fun in a sheltered childhood with my two sisters, protected by my loving parents. We spent summers in the northern part of the lower peninsula of Michigan, where I discovered the majesty, grandeur, and mystery of nature. The sky was pitch black at night, with all the stars visible. Being a bit of a nerd, I wondered, “What is light and what is darkness?” My imagination was sparked by Lake George as well as the sky. I remember watching the fish and wondering, “What is the consciousness of a fish?” Those summers spent out of the city and in nature were magnificent.

SB: What drew you to the priesthood? And why the Augustinians?
Most Catholic boys growing up in the 1950s and 60s considered the priesthood. I lost interest in middle and high school. I struggled to reconcile what I was learning in science and religion classes and what I was questioning privately. But I was always intrigued by ritual. The Tridentine Latin Mass was mystifying—in a good way. During my 1966 high school retreat, I went to Confession. My penance was to consider becoming an Augustinian. And so I did. When the Augustinians invited me to enter their novitiate after high school, I said OK. Why? Not so much because I was drawn to it, but it meant I didn’t have to figure out what other path to take! I didn’t particularly like school, so college held little appeal. Nor did I want to go to Vietnam. A year on the farm in the Augustinian novitiate was a way to “kick the can down the road.” And since the vocation director did the application paperwork, going to the novitiate was the easiest thing to do.

SB. So you could say you sort of backed into the priesthood?
JH: Yes (laughter)

SB: Some of your education was in Belgium. Why? Do all Augustinians study there?
JH: I did undergraduate work and first graduate studies in Chicago at the Catholic Theological Union (CTU). (Strange--decades later I chaired the Board of Trustees of CTU.) Unbeknownst to me, my teachers at CTU told my religious superior to have me pursue a doctorate. They hoped I would return to teach at CTU.

​I was ordained in 1976. I thoroughly enjoyed parish life for the next four years at two St. Clare of Montefalco parishes, one in Chicago, the other in Detroit. In year three I was told to find a doctoral school and apply. I reluctantly obeyed.

From 1980-1986, I studied religion and theology at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. I earned three degrees: an STL (License in Sacred Theology), PhD in Religious Studies, and an STD (Doctor of Sacred Theology). I chose Leuven for three reasons: 1) The theologians I studied and most admired at CTU were all trained in Europe; 2) Wanderlust lingered from my boyhood fascination with Europe and Flemish architecture; and 3) I wanted to experience the world and education outside of the United States. In Leuven, I finally resolved the conflict between science and religion that had bothered me earlier. Critical thought and theology, science and religion, medicine and religion, modern life and traditional religion—they can all work together.

To earn money and pay for my education while in Europe, I served as a priest for hire, doing sacramental work at American Air Force and Army bases in southwest Germany. I also served as interim pastor at an international parish in The Hague, The Parish of Our Saviour (British spelling). Combining academia during the week and pastoral life on the weekend led me to a preaching style characterized by respect for Scripture and tradition, careful thought, and a rhetoric that invited Catholics to discuss issues. Reflection on my own maturation and four years in parish work taught me that trying to dictate a specific way of thinking, praying, and acting was hopeless.

An example: while at The Hague, Americans installed nuclear-tipped cruise missiles in Europe. We all assumed targets included population centers as well as military installations. The American bishops had written a pastoral letter on nuclear weapons. The Dutch were in the streets, demonstrating. Parishioners in the international parish were military leaders, diplomats, civilian contractors, jurists of the World Court, spies, some business persons, and international students. I preached about cruise missiles with nuclear warheads, the bishops’ letter, and our various responses. I didn’t argue in favor or against installation or targeting. I wanted conversation. I wanted all of us to acknowledge and address the multiple moral dilemmas the missiles presented in the light of the Gospels. Interestingly, Americans in the parish tended to have their hackles up and shied away from the discussions. Europeans and Asians wanted to talk.

SB: What came next?
JH: I returned to the States in January 1987, and taught part-time at the Institute for Pastoral Studies at Loyola University while looking for a full-time job. In 1988, DePaul University posted a position in Ritual Studies. Although that was not really my area, DePaul hired me. I began in the fall of 1988 and remained on the faculty until my retirement in June 2019. In retirement, I returned to part-time teaching until illness forced my permanent retirement in December 2023.

SB: What brought you to St. Nicholas/St John XXIII?
JH: In 1972, while at CTU, I first met Bob Oldershaw, then associate pastor at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish. I witnessed him leading a parish in singing. I had never seen anything like this before. This was Vatican II! Fr. Bob was putting into action what I was learning at CTU. In 1993, Bob was looking for weekend presiders. The music director Diana Kodner recommended me. (We had worked together at Loyola.) I started at St. Nick’s in August 1993.

SB: When did you move into the rectory at St. Nicholas and how long did you live there?
JH: I finished my term as Prior at the St. John Stone Friary in Hyde Park in the summer of 1995 and needed to move out so the new Prior could take over. Coincidentally, Fr. Jim Kastigar had just left St. Nicholas for another assignment. Fr. Bob was alone in the rectory and invited me to join him. I moved in that fall and stayed until January 1, 2000, when I took the opportunity to have financial responsibility and independence.

Entering religious life at age 18, I missed a few things growing up. In mid-life, I felt a need to be on my own financially--managing a mortgage, paying my own bills, and dealing with taxes. To be honest, the Provincial thought I was a little crazy, but he rolled his eyes and approved my proposal. I bought a two-flat with a fellow Augustinian priest, which we fixed up and where I lived for 12 years. I thrived there and stayed until the priest in the other apartment left the priesthood. I rented out his apartment for a time, but I learned that I did not like being a landlord! So I sold the building and moved to my current hermitage. I love eremitic life--and being a renter.

SB: What involvement did you have in our parish? What are some highlights from your time with us?
JH: I celebrated sacraments. I presided at weddings and funerals, heard confessions, anointed the sick, and regularly celebrated Sunday Mass. Weekday life in the classroom and weekend parish work enriched each other. During the week, I read and taught about religion, religious traditions, and religious communities. On the weekend, I got to experience it.

In my early times at St. Nick's and after the church was renovated, I recall spending time in the choir loft observing Fr. Bob, watching how he did liturgy. Bob can improvise, dance, clap, recite poetry, and walk into a baptismal font. I can’t. I knew I had to find my own way, but I learned by observing him.

I loved working with wonderful, talented, and committed liturgical musicians.

Preaching at Sunday Mass was both terrifying and enriching. I remember thinking, “I have to preach to these people, people who are deeply invested in religious life and Catholic liturgy.”

I came to appreciate deeply the role of the assembly. Theoretically, when the People of God gather for Eucharist, especially at the altar during the Eucharistic prayer, we embody, incarnate, the Risen Christ. The community at St. Nicholas/St. Mary enfleshed that theory and helped me develop my sense of what the priesthood should be and is. I do not do “priest-craft.” I have a role, presbyter/presider, and lead within a Eucharistic Assembly. I/the priest don’t know everything, nor do I/we need to. Nor do I/we need to do everything. I/we need to trust people and believe they will come through.

Looking for the presider schedule? It's moved! You can now see the presider schedule for the whole month of January at stjohn23evanston.org/presider-schedule. There's also a link that will permanently live at the top of the Mass Schedule page. The presider schedule calendar will be updated monthly.

Note: If you're looking at the schedule on a computer, please note that each week is a VERTICAL COLUMN, as opposed to a horizontal row as on a traditional calendar. This design helps keep the schedule easily readable on mobile devices while working with the constraints of our website setup. And yes, if you're on a using a mobile device, that does mean that some amount of scrolling will be involved to reach the later weeks in the month. Apologies! This was the best system we could come up with for the time being--it may improve in the future.