The Little Angels Memorial Service Wednesday at Assumption Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum in Glenwood was one of two held each year for families who lost a child that did not survive past 20 weeks in the womb. The second service is held in October during National Respect for Life Month.

Laurie Crosby, executive director of the Franciscan Health Foundation, said this was the hospital’s 17th memorial service in nine years. She said the service supports the values of the Franciscan Alliance’s health care ministry, which respects life at all stages, including unborn and newborn children.

“It’s just part of our Catholic tradition, just to care for every soul, so it was important to do something … to kind of commemorate their life, as short as it was,” Crosby said.

Next to the burial marker in the infant and children’s section of the Glenwood cemetery was a bouquet, surrounded by 27 white roses to symbolize purity and a life taken too early, one for each lost baby.

A nearby memorial bench built to honor the lost babies is engraved with a Bible verse from the book of Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you.”

Although there were not any mothers present Wednesday, Crosby said they sent letters to each woman who lost a child at their hospital, inviting them to attend. Crosby said while it may be difficult for mothers to attend the service, she believes it is important for staff members to honor the newborns’ lives in their place.

“I think for a lot of them, it’s comforting to know that someone’s praying for their baby and taking care of them the right way,” Crosby said.

A Franciscan Health priest, the Rev. Phil Cyscon, led with an opening prayer, a psalm, a few gospel readings, a reflection and a petition. Then attendees blessed the burial site for the lost newborns and a letter for the parents was read. The service closed with a prayer.

“Everybody who comes to our door is a family,” said Dobaro Dogisso, director of spiritual care for Franciscan Health Olympia Fields. “So if one of our family members loves the baby, that is how we’re feeling.”

St. Elizabeth Seton Church, 9300 W. 167th Ave.: Mass of Thanksgiving and reception at 11:30 a.m. June 23 as the Very Rev. William T. Corcoran concludes his pastorship after 11 years at the parish. A reception follows in the McBrady Center. The Rev. Kevin McCray will become the new pastor of St. Elizabeth Seton Church beginning July 1. Corcoran will continue to serve as interim vicar for the Archdiocese of Chicago Vicariate V and the dean for Vicariate V-Deanery E as well as associate priest at the parish. He was ordained as a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago on May 13, 1981. His first parish was Sacred Heart in Palos Hills, where he was associate priest. He served four other parishes during his career, as well as being an adjunct faculty member at St. Joseph’s College of Loyola University and Mundelein Seminary of the University of St. Mary of the Lake and earning several academic degrees, and serving the diocese in various roles.

Corcoran said his biggest accomplishment at St. Elizabeth was “motivating the community to be building up the kingdom of God in this corner of the world. They’ve done this by works of charity, reaching out to the unemployed, soup kitchens, supporting food pantries to local shelters to groups that assist unwed mothers … and weekly worship of God.”

He confirmed he’s not retiring. His work for the archdiocese “allows me to be very supportive of the 36 parishes and respond to critical situations with support and assistance (not managing day-to-day),” he said. “I will help the parish work toward a solution and to help them articulate what they need to do.”

He thinks of his time at St. Elizabeth fondly. “I’ve been privileged to be in this wonderful community and surrounded by very competent and capable staff. And at moments where conflicts arise, people always put the parish first in a healthy spirit of compromise,” he said.

Alsip

Incarnation St. Terrence Parish, 4300 W. 119th Place: Parish raffle tickets being sold through June 29. Grand prize tickets will be drawn after the 11 a.m. Mass June 30 at the St. Terrence worship site. Each ticket costs $50. Grand prize is $25,000, first prize is $5,000 and third prize is $1,000 if the goal of 1,500 tickets is reached. Pay with cash, credit or check. Tickets are sold in the parish office or online at incparish.com/

Home Build ‘24 is set for June 22 at St. Terrence Parish. Other parish partners involved in this project to build walls for homes include St. Elizabeth Seton, St. Francis of Assisi, St. George, St. Julie, St. Michael and St. Stephen. People of all ages are welcome to volunteer for building, hospitality and cleanup, as well as prayers for the families of those who receive the homes. Information: whyruhyper@att.net.

Blue Island

Blue Island Waterfall on the Cal Sag Channel, Chatham and Fulton streets: Annual Blessing of the Waters at 3 p.m. June 23. The nondenominational, interactive ceremony to bless the water will be officiated by the Rev. MaryBeth Ingberg of Immanuel United Church of Christ in Evergreen Park. The Mudcats will play Dixieland music, and donated refreshments will be served. Each attendee can offer blessings and prayers. Some chairs will be provided, although attendees may bring their own. The event is open to everyone. Information: 708-424-3755.

Oak Lawn

St. Catherine of Alexandria Catholic Parish, 10621 Kedvale Ave.: Bingo and ice cream social for the 55+ Club at 6:30 p.m. June 25 in Kane Hall. Register for 2024-25 membership in the club. Early bird special rate is $25 for singles and $40 for couples. RSVP at 708-499-2672 or 708-425-5712.

Orland Park

All Saints Lutheran Church, 13350 LaGrange Rd.: Participants and staff from St. Coletta’s of Illinois enjoyed a picnic lunch on June 5 at All Saints Lutheran Church in Orland Park. Pastor Don Borling and members of the congregation welcomed 60 developmentally disabled adults and their chaperons to the church for an afternoon of fellowship. On the menu were grilled hot dogs and hamburgers, homemade side dishes and desserts, as well as baseball and bean bag games afterward. The picnics are back after a hiatus during the pandemic. The next one is June 20.

What’s going on at your church? Let us know by sending us an email including time, date, place and public contact information at least two weeks before the event or reservation deadline at religion@southtownstar.com.

The vote received support from 61% of the delegates, but it failed to get the required two-thirds supermajority. The action reversed a preliminary vote last year in favor of the official ban.

But it still leaves the Southern Baptist Convention with its official doctrinal statement saying the office of pastor is limited to men. Even the opponents of the ban said they favored that doctrinal statement but didn’t think it was necessary to reinforce it in the constitution.

Opponents noted that the SBC already can oust churches that assert women can serve as pastors — as it did last year and again Tuesday night.

The vote was perhaps the most highly anticipated of the annual meeting, reflecting years of debate in the United States’ largest Protestant denomination. It is the final day of the SBC’s two-day annual meeting in Indianapolis.

Since 2000, the SBC’s nonbinding statement of faith has declared that only men are qualified for the role of pastor. It’s interpreted differently across the denomination, with some believing it doesn’t apply to associate pastors so long as the senior pastor is male.

The proposed amendment, which received preliminary approval last year, would formally exclude churches that have women in any pastoral positions, from lead pastor to associates, or even affirms them in that role. Supporters believe it is biblically necessary, estimating hundreds of Southern Baptist churches have women in those roles.

The rejected amendment would have said any church deemed in “friendly cooperation” — the official term for SBC affiliation — must be one that “affirms, appoints, or employs only men as any kind of pastor or elder as qualified by Scripture.”

Opponents argued the convention already has the power to remove churches over this issue, and the amendment will have unintended consequences, including disproportionately affecting Black Southern Baptist congregations, which tend to have women on their pastoral staffs.

But the motion went swiftly to a vote after only brief debate.

Ryan Fullerton, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, said the measure is “not about preventing women from exercising their gifts” in the church, in roles on church staff such as “children’s ministers.” But he said the Bible is clear that the office of pastor is for men.

He said there is “confusion about gender” in the wider culture and cited what he called “the ravages of the LGBTQIA agenda.”

But Spence Shelton, pastor of Mercy Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, argued that it was unnecessary.

He said there is no doubt that Southern Baptists are “complementarian,” as they describe the view that men and women have equal value but different roles that complement one another.

But he noted that the convention voted to affirm the ouster of a historic Virginia church Tuesday and two other churches last year, including the California megachurch Saddleback, which all have women pastors and affirmed they could hold top pastoral positions.

The reason for ousting them was that they don’t have a faith and practice consistent with the Baptist Faith and Message, the document approved in 2000 that includes the affirmation that the pastoral position is reserved for men.

“Y’all, we have shown the mechanisms we currently have are sufficient to deal with this question,” Shelton said.

Mike Law, pastor of Arlington Baptist Church in Virginia and author of the amendment, cited a report that there are about 1,800 women pastors working in the denomination. He cited Bible verses limiting the pastoral office to men.

“Our culture may see this prohibition as harsh, but our God is all wise, and wrote this word for the flourishing of both men and women,” he said.

“This amendment is not about women in ministry,” Law added. “It’s specifically about women in the pastoral office.” He did not spell out the difference in his brief floor speech.

The denomination can’t tell its independent churches what to do or whom to appoint as a pastor. But they can say which churches are in and which are out.

Last year, Southern Baptists refused to take back Saddleback, one of the convention’s largest congregations, and a small Kentucky church over the issue.

Both churches, which had women in top pastoral positions, appealed their ouster to the 2023 annual meeting and were overwhelmingly rejected by the delegates. A similar scenario played out in Indianapolis on Tuesday, when messengers voted overwhelmingly to kick out First Baptist Church of Alexandria in Virginia, which has a woman in an associate position and also asserted that women can hold the top job.

Supporters of the amendment say it probably won’t result in an immediate, large-scale purge, but opponents expressed concern it would burden SBC volunteers and staffs with numerous investigations of churches.

Delegates also elected a North Carolina pastor and longtime denominational statesman to be the next president of their convention in a contest between six candidates that went into two run-off votes.

Clint Pressley, who is senior pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, will be the next Southern Baptist Convention president after winning 56% of votes in the final run-off race.

The SBC president — one of the most prominent faces of the conservative evangelical network of churches — presides over the annual meeting and appoints members to the denomination’s committees.

Pressley’s nearest opponent, Tennessee pastor, Dan Spencer, received 44 percent of the votes after four other candidates were eliminated in earlier rounds.

Pressley has said he favors a measure being voted on later Wednesday to amend the SBC constitution to ban churches with women pastors.

Pressley earned a master of divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisiana, one of the SBC’s official seminaries. He has led Hickory Grove since 2011 after pastoring churches in Alabama and Mississippi. Pressley was first vice president of the SBC in 2014-15 and served on numerous other denominational boards.

Messengers early Wednesday rejected a proposal to abolish the SBC’s public policy agency, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. The measure reflected the views of some that the the staunchly conservative commission wasn’t conservative enough.

The Commission on Chicago Landmarks voted unanimously to recommend it get the protection, setting up a final decision next week by the City Council.

The fight over the closed church has pitted Catholic leaders against many former parishioners.

While the Archdiocese of Chicago wants to sell the church building to help fund St. Paul’s Church, which is still operating nearby, former St. Adalbert churchgoers have tried to block the sale with the landmark designation. Many onetime St. Adalbert parishioners hope their former church, closed in 2019, may one day celebrate mass again.

The controversy over the church was not a factor for commissioners, Landmarks Chair Ernest Wong said. The church “met all the criteria,” he said.

“The alderman and the archdiocese have a serious problem on their hands, and they have got to deal with it,” he said. “We as the commission, though, are doing our duty in terms of the structures within the city of Chicago to figure out what is worth preserving and what is not. We are holding by that.”

If approved by the City Council, landmark status would trigger a series of restrictions and landmarks commission reviews of any redevelopment plans in order to protect the church complex’s “significant features” — including its Renaissance Revival facade, as well as a former rectory, convent and school on the half-block plot. Still, a landmark designation would not completely ban renovations and interior changes.

After the vote, Archdiocese general counsel James Geoly promised to “vigorously oppose” the designation as it moves to the City Council. The landmark status could prevent the church from finding a buyer for the site, he added.

“We’re at risk. If this comes out the wrong way, the future ministry in Pilsen is at risk. St. Paul’s is not sustainable if they cannot monetize this asset,” Geoly said.

The church was called “one of the finest in Chicago” by the Tribune when completed in 1914 and, at its peak, served about 4,000 families. But its membership declined as Pilsen shifted from a more heavily Polish community to predominantly Mexican.

Protesters, many of them proudly Polish, have ardently pushed back since the archdiocese shut down the church five years ago. They decried the removal of a statue from the site and led the charge for its landmark status. A 73-year-old woman last year was arrested for trespassing while protesting the removal of stained glass windows and art.

That fervent support was on display again Thursday as supporters and opponents of the landmark status filled the City Council chambers, just as they did during a May hearing.

Former St. Adalbert parishioners highlighted in public comments the importance of the site to Chicago’s Polish community and shared hopes that it could become a Catholic shrine. Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, again backed their landmarking effort.

Speakers opposed to the designation, many parishioners of St. Paul’s, warned the landmarking designation will make their church unable to sell the St. Adalbert site it now owns and leave it crippled with debt. They criticized as too harsh protests by St. Adalbert supporters, including a man running into St. Paul’s to demonstrate during a mass last week.

The crowd backing the landmark designation shouted its dissent — often in Polish — as archdiocese representatives argued the closure and sale of St. Adalbert is a necessary move to keep Catholic churches afloat in Pilsen amid declining attendance.

“It’s a painful thing for a church to close. But if we did not do it, there would be no church in Pilsen at all,” Geoly said. “The church has the right to make this decision. And public entities and governments should not be used as tools to interfere with these core ecclesiastical decisions.”

The main church building’s facade is now covered in scaffolding while it faces major structural issues. Needed repairs could cost as much as $8 million. The landmark designation would deter demolition, but would not compel rehabilitation.

After the decision, Geoly said the archdiocese has no plans to use the church buildings if the City Council passes the protective status.

“As long as we own it, there will not be a future use of the buildings,” he said. “The parish has been closed. The building is unusable. It is not entirely safe. You wouldn’t go in there without a hardhat.”

The archdiocese tried to turn the church into affordable housing, a museum and an event venue in past redevelopment efforts that would have included repairs to the church building, he said.

jsheridan@chicagotribune.com

The Rev. Jack Wheatley of Elgin’s Greater Grace Community Church will be on hand at 10 a.m. to bless the 1563 Mark Ave. residence, and the new homeowners will be presented with flowers, candles, a prayer shawl and a memory book of photos, organizers said.

“Events like this frequently draw people currently living in Habitat-built homes,” said Laura Johnson, a Habitat volunteer from Inverness who helped build the house. “It will be a beautiful experience for everyone.”

Spring of Life, mostly made up of congregation members from six churches in the Palatine and Arlington Heights areas, has been partnering with Habitat for Humanity of Northern Fox Valley for almost 30 years, Johnson said. Of the 21 houses they’ve built so far, 18 have been in Elgin.

Johnson is a nurse by profession, and became involved in the effort seven years ago she was looking to do volunteer work outside of her comfort zone and friends invited her to give it a shot, she said.

She’s worked on seven homes thus far and has found she’s particularly good at painting and caulking, she said.

“I turned out to be more handy than I thought,” she said.

Habitat for Humanity’s mission is to build affordable housing for families who can’t otherwise afford to buy a home. Most of the work is done by volunteers and some of the supplies come from or are paid for through donations. Families chosen to receive a home pay for it with an interest-free loan and are required to put in a minimum of 250 hours of sweat equity.

Of the Spring of Life houses, a core group of about 30 volunteers help with construction and raise money to pay for what’s needed, Johnson said.

“John Wise, of Palatine, oversaw the Elgin project as our foreman,” volunteer Lee Kingdon said. “He worked in the trades, and this was his 11th project volunteering with us. He oversees everything from permits and paperwork to the construction. He’s amazing.”

Kingdon and her husband, Richard, helped organize the Spring of Life group when they and other members of All Saints Lutheran Church in Palatine started looking for a way to address the lack of affordable housing in Chicago’s northwest suburbs, she said.

“It’s a daunting task, and we soon realized working with Habitat for Humanity would be the best approach,” said Kingdon, who now lives in Mundelein.

While the vast majority of the houses are in Elgin, two are in Carpentersville and one is in DesPlaines. The latter came about because a bank in Des Plaines wanted to get involved in a Habitat project, Kingdon said.

The group has honed its skills to the point where they can typically build a house a year, she said. The Mark Avenue project took about twice that amount, however, because soil testing on the donated lot showed the foundation would require footings and while installing them, workers found another foundation buried deep underground.

“No one has figured out how there was another foundation there 35 feet below the surface,” Kingdon said.

With three bedrooms and two bathrooms on a single floor, the house is designed as an “aging in place” residence in which a family is meant to live over a long period of time. They’re built to not only be affordable, but energy efficient, she said.

The new owner, whose name has not been disclosed, not only put in the requisite 250 hours of work, but had extended family members volunteering their time as well, Johnson said.

People who qualify to be Habitat homeowners have to take classes about what’s involved in home ownership, covering everything from maintenance to budgeting for utilities, mortgages and taxes.

“It’s a hand up, not a handout,” Johnson said.

Johnson and Kingdon said that in addition to the camaraderie they’ve found being involved with Spring of Life, they enjoy meeting, working with and getting to know the families for whom they are building homes.

“This makes a huge difference in their lives,” said Johnson, who noted their 22nd project begins in Elgin in August.

Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, 10301 S. Kolmar Ave.: Greek Fest from 3 to 11 p.m. June 15 and 2 to 10 p..m. June 16. The festival, celebrating 60 years, features live music, Greek coffee and frappé, cold beer, wine and specialties such as Greek chicken, gyros, souvlaki, baklava, loukoumades and Greek fries. DJ Yianni will spin tunes at 2 p.m. both days, and Strung Out performs at 7 p.m. both days. Raffle tickets will be sold for $100; first prize is $5,000, second prize is $2,500 and third is $1,500. Winner, drawn at 9 p.m. Sunday, need not be present. Admission is by donation. Information: http://www.stnicholasil.org/ or 708-636-5460.

Evergreen Park

Most Holy Redeemer, 9525 S. Lawndale Ave.: Parking Lot Party from 7 p.m. to midnight June 15. The fundraising party kicks off the summer. The 1990s party band Fun Forrest Run! Will perform. Tickets cost $30 per person or attendees can buy a table of 10 for $300. Attendees should bring their own beverages and snacks. Sponsorships are available, and raffle tickets for $50 each or three for $100 will be sold online or can be bought by dropping off a check at the rectory office. Information: mostholyredeemer.org or 708-425-5354.

Orland Park

The Presbyterian Church in Orland Park, 13401 Wolf Road: Free mental health workshop from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 15. Attendees can become mental health first aiders by learning how to identify and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders. The workshop covers topics such as anxiety disorders, trauma, psychosis, suicidal thoughts or behaviors, non-suicidal self-injury and depression and mood disorders. Lunch is included. Registration is required but can be done online at rb.gy/9sj8i1 or by calling the office. Information: (708) 448-8142.

Flossmoor

Flossmoor Community Church, 2218 Hutchison Road: New Bible study series at 10 a.m. Wednesdays, June 12 to July 31, in the parlor. Pastor Dawn will lead the series, which dives into Brené Brown’s work “Braving the Wilderness.: Attendees will be asked to challenge their perceptions, strengthen their spirit and deepen connections with each other, embracing who they are in Christ. The series pairs scripture with practical life lessons. Information: www.fccfaithful.org or 708-798-2800.

Homer Glen

Parkview Christian Church, 14367 W. 159th St.: Summer Jam from 6 to 8:30 p.m. June 25 to 27. The program also is offered at the sites in New Lenox, 2121 S. Schoolhouse Road, and Orland Park, 11100 Orland Parkway. The program, for children entering first through fifth grade, requires registration. Cost is $10 per child. T-shirts cost $5 and are available in the lobbies of each location. Information: www.parkviewchurch.com or 708-478-7477.

Palos Park

Wayside Chapel at The Center, 12700 Southwest Highway: Worship and prayer meeting Monday nights starts at 7 p.m. June 10. All are welcome to gather for a time of prayer, meditation and worship. It’s a new opportunity to build a closer community and a deeper relationship with God. The simple service starts with worship music and continues with silent prayer, sharing a devotional Word and an intercession. The meeting lasts 60 to 90 minutes. There’s no need to attend all meetings. Information: waysiderev@thecenterpalos.org or 708-361-3650.

What’s going on at your church? Let us know by sending us an email including time, date, place and public contact information at least two weeks before the event or reservation deadline at religion@southtownstar.com.

“He’s always up there,” said the truck’s driver, Jeremiah Smith, 27, as he stared at the image. “I always know that.”

Twelve hours a day, six days a week, Smith drives the truck through the Chicago area, raising awareness for the scores of Israeli hostages held captive by Hamas. But the man on the screen, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, is more than a distant figure. 

To Smith, he’s like a brother. When Smith was 6 years old, he met Hersh’s grandmother, a tutor at his elementary school, and was taken under her wing. It’s a story of familial love, a bridge of backgrounds — stronger than ever as a war wages on. 

“I wouldn’t want nobody else to drive the truck,” Smith said, clutching the Star of David around his neck. “I just want that guy to come home.”

‘I was always with Marcy’

Smith grew up in Cabrini-Green Homes, a public housing complex on Chicago’s Near North Side. His mother didn’t have a high school diploma, and his childhood was marked with violence. He saw his first dead body when he was 6. 

“You have to grow up a little bit faster than what you want when you’re living in that situation,” Smith said. “I saw people getting in fights, people getting shot, people selling drugs.”

Smith wonders if he would have been swept up in the tumult of his childhood. But then Marcy Goldberg, Hersh’s grandmother, stepped into his life. She volunteered as a tutor in Smith’s first grade classroom at George Manierre Elementary. 

“My teacher asked who wanted to go with her … I didn’t raise my hand because I didn’t care about, you know, going to class,” Smith said with a laugh. “But my teacher happened to pick me.”

The connection was instant. Marcy was struck by the playful, free-spirited child, and began to tutor him beyond their two-hour sessions at school. He visited her Gold Coast home on the weekends, joining her family for Shabbat dinner. It was his first brush with Jewish culture. 

He lived with Marcy from seventh grade through high school. He remained close with his own mother, who was grateful for Marcy’s support. 

“I was always with Marcy, everywhere she go,” said Smith. “I went out of town, I was with Marcy. Every family event, Passover, Hanukkah, I was with Marcy.”

Smith met Hersh shortly after meeting his grandmother. At the mention of his friend, Smith rattles off a string of anecdotes from their childhood together. The pair’s upbringings were vastly different, but somewhere they found common ground. 

“He couldn’t play basketball for nothing,” Smith added. “But that’s what I used to play. I’d have him on the basketball court the whole day. He’s like, ‘Just for you, I’m gonna keep running.’”

He even traveled with the family to Hersh’s bar mitzvah in Israel. Hersh didn’t know how to introduce Smith to their Israeli relatives, so he called him his “brother cousin uncle.”

“So that’s what everybody called me,” Smith said. “Hersh is just a funny kid.”

‘I’m amazed that he’s alive still’

Hersh’s parents, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, grew up in the Chicago area. After college, the couple moved to Berkeley, California, where their son was born. They relocated to Jerusalem in 2008.

Hersh, now 23, was kidnapped at the Tribe of Nova music festival in southern Israel during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, in which militants killed roughly 1,200 people and abducted about 250 more. Israeli officials say about 80 hostages, including Hersh, are still held captive in Gaza. 

As Hamas stormed the Negev desert, Hersh was evacuated into a bomb shelter, but operatives threw nearly a dozen grenades inside. Video from the attack shows militants hauling Hersh and three other survivors into a pickup truck. In the footage, he sits in the vehicle dazed and bloodied. Part of his left arm was blown off. 

After Hamas’ assault, Israel launched a war in the territory, displacing more than 1 million Palestinians. So far, more than 36,000 people have been killed in Gaza. 

Hersh’s family had no idea if he was alive until April 24, when Hamas released a three-minute video of him in captivity. He sat before a bare wall under fluorescent lighting. His hand was missing, his head was shaved. Tears stained his face. 

“I saw the video, and I cried because it was like, ‘I’m amazed that he’s alive still,’” Smith said. “I had given up hope.”

Hersh’s parents launched an international campaign, Bring Hersh Home, to raise awareness for the hostage crisis. They met President Joe Biden at the White House at the end of May. 

“Do not stop reaching out to elected officials to make sure they are screaming at the top of their lungs,” Hersh’s father told the Tribune in October. 

‘He’s just another one of my kids’

Standing beside the truck on a recent morning, Smith wore a shirt reading “Bring Them Home,” along with a pin emblazoned with his friend’s face. He always wears both when he drives. 

Sometimes, he’ll park the vehicle at specific sites, such as the pro-Palestinian encampment at DePaul University before it was disbanded, or Union Station downtown. Other days, he’ll chart wandering routes through different neighborhoods. 

People often approach Smith with an onslaught of hateful and derogatory comments, but most are just curious, he said. He tries not to get political. He just wants his friend back. 

“I feel sorry for all the innocent people that were killed,” Smith said. “But I’m just here to spread awareness about all the hostages.”

The truck was concocted by Jeff Aeder, a close friend of Hersh’s family. Aeder was inspired after he saw a similar initiative at a pro-Palestinain demonstration, and he pooled together the money to buy a vehicle in March. It’s an instrument to combat rising antisemitism across the nation, he said. 

“I’m a lover of Israel and just a compassionate human being,” Aeder said. “But you don’t have to be a lover of Israel to recognize the brutality of this massacre. It was just something that reached into your heart.”

Aeder met Smith when he was 6. Now, “he’s just another one of my kids,” he said. Smith, who was already operating a trucking business, was the perfect candidate to drive the vehicle. 

“I couldn’t be prouder. He has such a big heart,” said Aeder, who is also godfather of Smith’s 2-year-old daughter. “He has an incredible fervor for this mission.”

Aeder recently bought a second truck, which will travel across the Midwest beginning in June. The driver? None other than Smith’s best friend, LaDante Clayborn. 

Clayborn used to join Marcy and Smith for Shabbat dinners growing up — he too wears a Star of David around his neck. 

“The message is always, ‘Bring them home,’” Clayborn, 28, said. “People get mad, but what’s so bad about that? If it was your son, wouldn’t you want them to be free?”

Smith and Clayborn don’t know for how long they’ll drive the trucks. The initiative ends when all the hostages are free — it’s the least he can do, Smith added. 

“Marcy saved my life,” he said. 

Smith is getting married in August. He’s doing the mother-son dance with both his birth mother and Marcy. 

He hopes Hersh will be there too. 

Founded in 1947, the small church fell victim two years ago to Renew my Church, a Catholic consolidation process meant to pare down churches with declining membership rolls.

When the church announced the merger in 2022, many of St. Bernadette’s parishioners were disappointed. Some had grown up going to that church, but despite entreaties to remain open and a petition to save the neighborhood church, the move marched forward.

Now, after the final Mass at 10:30 a.m. June 30, 9343 S. Francisco Ave, those parishioners will say goodbye to their familiar altar and the church’s cross and its leadership will migrate to the Queen of Martyrs Church building in the newly formed St. Gianna Parish.

Father Benedykt Pazden said the last two years have been hard for some members, but tempers have cooled even among those who didn’t get what they wanted.

“The two-year transition time I asked the cardinal for were very helpful, in that it allowed people time to accept this very difficult decision for the cardinal to close St. Bernadette’s and merge with Queen of Martyrs,” Pazden said. “Actually, it helped tremendously unite the parish community in a physical way.”

Pazden said Queen of the Martyrs community has been hospitable and, as it’s only about five minutes away, he’s seen parishioners testing the waters, getting used to a new spiritual home. But, of course, any move can be bittersweet, so on June 30, the community will also get a chance to say goodbye to the old place.

“We’re getting ready for it and we’re going to give people some way of saying goodbye to the church,” he said. “Maybe they can kiss the altar or say goodbye to the worship space.”

The church’s leadership also will perform a ceremony to transfers the space from a holy, sacred site into regular piece of real estate.

“We’re inviting parishioners and formers parishioners and the deacons and the priests who have ministered to us, we will have a relegation to transfer it to civil use,” Pazden said.

It’s not clear what is to become of the church and its parking lot, but OSF HealthCare, the Catholic group that operates Little Company of Mary Medical Center next door, will likely buy the property. If that happens, Pazden seemed optimistic the land would be put to good use.

“They’re interested in acquiring the property and keeping it for a different purpose than for a church, but there’s not talk of taking it down, but nothing is confirmed, so I don’t know how much I can say,” Padzen said.

He’s heard the space could be used as a community center or for some other need, but he’s hopeful parishioners who are longtime members will be able to see the old, familiar space and visit it. He said the sale of the property to a Catholic hospital is, in its way, poetic. That’s where the land came from decades ago.

“You know, when Father Morgan O’Brien, he was a founding pastor, he asked the cardinal at the time to start a new parish, he lived in a room at the hospital,” Pazden said.

O’Brien bought the land from the hospital, so for it to return to its original owners would be poetic, and he said it’s a needed space as the hospital looks to expand services.

In any event, the parking lot won’t change too much. Last month, the Evergreen Park Village Board voted to ban multistory parking garages, so neighbors need not worry about much increased traffic.

Pazden said he’s hopeful looking forward. Now that two years have passed since the initial announcement, all that’s left is the big move, which will be something of a production with local firefighters and police vehicles overseeing the cross’ move to Queen of Martyr. Pazden said he hopes the people will follow, and he is optimistic here, too.

“We’re hoping and praying everything goes well and we want to build community and bring more people into our church and a relationship with Jesus, and don’t lose sight of what’s important,” Pazden said.

Jesse Wright is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.

During a jump, he experienced a malfunction when his parachute was a bit tangled.

“The long and short of that experience was I hadn’t been in church for a long time, and prayed for a long time, but at 3,000 feet, all those prayers of supplication started coming in,” he said.

Although he didn’t break anything, the 90-minute ride back to Fort Rucker, where he was stationed training to fly helicopters, gave him time to think.

“I started questioning the meaning and purpose of my life. I started thinking if I had died, what would they have said at my eulogy?” he shared. “I came to the conviction that I didn’t want to live for myself — I wanted to live for something higher than myself.”

Although he was raised in the Christian Reformed Church back in Texas, a philosophy of religion class he took as an undergrad at Loyola University in Chicago, and a former roommate who later introduced him to the catechism, led him to explore the teachings and philosophy of the Catholic Church.

He decided to enter the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults at St. George Catholic Church in Tinley Park, where that former roommate, Derek Whitaker, attended.

While participating in a soup and theology event, a woman asked Berryhill if he was a seminarian. That sparked his interest in attending a free retreat at Mundelein Seminary called Exploring Priesthood Weekend.

Berryhill said he was “blown away by the caliber of men there, people from all walks of life. They left everything to pursue seminary and a call to priesthood.

“That was another event that turned me on to the priesthood,” he said.

Berryhill, now 35, lived in a discernment house for two years before entering the seminary, and was a deacon during his six years as a seminarian, including doing Spanish immersion in the summer of 2023 in Antigua, Guatemala.

He was ordained May 18 at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago, an experience he described as surreal.

“There’s a bit of a delayed reaction with things. It took me a while after the cardinal had placed his hands on my head,” he said. “I’m waiting for fellow classmates to get their hands laid on. I thought ‘That’s it! I’m a priest now!’”

He experienced something similar the next day, when he presided over a Communion Mass at St. George.

“I praised God that I had really good servers who could point me where I needed to go and what to say,” he said.

During Communion, as he was lifting up the bread, the impact hit him again.

“The experience was an outpouring of love with my family and friends and fellow priests. A very joyful weekend. It was a confirmation of the spirit alive in the church.”

The Rev. Paul Seaman at St. George praised the job Berryhill did at his first Mass, saying he “was poised, and he was prayerful. He drew people into the prayer.”

“St. George has a really wonderful track record of promoting vocations. I think it’s because the faith as a community radiates in such a way that people are inspired to serve the Lord in a particularly special way,” Seaman said.

Berryhill chose a different type of music for the Mass, and wore a stole he used when he heard his first confession.

Seaman said it’s an honor for a parish to produce a priest.

“Tim’s vocation story is a direct line from his ordination that goes back to his friendship to one of our parishioners,” he said. “It was through that friendship that Tim started really thinking about deeper faith questions and then became Catholic. He wasn’t even Catholic when we first met.”

His mother, Cathryn Berryhill, said although Tim was always a leader, his new vocation “wasn’t exactly on my bingo card.”

“It’s not something I expected, but as we’ve gone on this journey with him, we’ve learned a lot about the faith,” she said.

She described his first Mass as “very personal,” thanks to all of the connections he made at St. George.

“Usually to me, church would be really formal, but he was almost conversational and informal, very welcoming and recalling instances with people in the parish,” she said.

His brother couldn’t attend the ordination, but Capt. Michael Berryhill, who is deployed in Iraq with the 44th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the New Jersey Army National Guard, said he is “beyond proud” of his older brother. Both were Eagle Scouts, participated in ROTC in high school and college and were commissioned into the National Guard.

“Tim always had a heart to serve, which was first seen in his decision to serve his country, and now continues with his decision to serve God and the church,” he said. “Throughout all of his accomplishments, Tim always had the ability to make people laugh and bring people together.”

He said he was initially surprised to learn his brother decided to become a priest, but said he never doubted his commitment.

“Seeing the love Tim has for the church and the support in the community that surrounds him solidify to me that this truly is God’s calling for Tim,” he said.

Berryhill’s first assignment will be at St. Paul VI Parish in Riverside, which is a unified version of St. Hugh in Lyons, Mater Christi in North Riverside and St. Mary in Riverside and has a school with about 350 students. Eight Masses take place on the weekend at the parish’s two buildings.

The Rev. Tom May is looking forward to welcoming Berryhill, who officially starts July 1 but has started moving into the rectory at St. Mary.

May said one of the first orders of business for the associate priest will be saying a morning Mass, followed by lots of discussion.

“You have to kind of take it slow and to talk things through and how things are done like funerals and wake services before the funerals and cemetery services,” May said. “They don’t go through all of that at the seminary. … Every parish has its own way of doing things, so just learning all of that is a challenge.”

It’s a busy parish, with about 1,500 regular attendees each weekend and about 70 funerals each year.

May also is looking forward to having Berryhill use his language skills to lead the Spanish service, which started in mid-January.

“People are excited about him coming and will be welcoming. He’ll be overwhelmed with invitations for breakfast and lunch,” May said.

Melissa Moore is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.

Carlo Acutis, from Milan, Italy, died from leukemia in 2006. He was a self-taught website designer who documented eucharistic miracles and was known as the “patron saint of the internet.”

“I have been kind of watching the reports of things going on. He was beatified as a blessed back in 2020,” said Jennifer Lebhardt, coordinator of junior high youth formation at St. Jude Parish and co-director of the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, who helped bring the exhibit to the parish. “That means there are miracles associated with him after he had passed.”

Acutis was a teen when he began a database that collected “all this information of church-approved miracles” Lebhardt said. He was diagnosed with leukemia and died fairly quickly afterward.

“He was very devout and faithful to the church and eucharist and would teach kids about it,” Lebhardt said. “After he passed, there were a lot of things that happened that raised eyebrows. I’ve heard of these eucharistic miracles and they’ve always fascinated me.”

The Vatican Eucharistic Miracles Photographic Exhibit recounts 158 well-documented miraculous occurrences from 22 countries on 2-by-3 laminated posters. It can be viewed from 4-8 p.m. on June 1, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on June 2, and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on June 3. The exhibit, in St. Jude’s Franciscan Hall at 241 W. Second Ave., is free, although donations will be taken in baskets and via a QR code.

“Each table will be double-sided to kind of snake through and see both sides of the tables, because there are over 150 miracles to bring forward,” Lebhardt said.

Acutis was beatified by Pope Francis in 2020 after the first miracle was attributed to him. The pope met May 23, 2024, with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, and recognized a second miracle attributed to Acutis, according to Vatican News.

That miracle, which happened in 2022, involved the recovery of a young woman named Valeria Valverde who suffered a traumatic brain injury and had a low chance of survival. Her mother, Liliana Valverde, arrived from Costa Rica July 8 on a pilgrimage to Acutis’ tomb in Assisi, Italy, to pray for her daughter. That day, Valeria began to breathe spontaneously, and July 18, a CAT scan “proved that her hemorrhage had disappeared,” according to Vatican News.

For Acutis’ first miracle, approved by the pope in 2020, a 4-year-old boy from Brazil was healed from a rare pancreatic disease in 2013. After a local priest received a relic from Acutis’ mother and led a prayer service for healing, and the boy himself prayed before a picture of Acutis, the boy’s condition improved immediately, CatholicVote reported.

Lebhardt said the miracles Acutis presented in the exhibit typically related to the host — a small, flat wafer — provided during the Eucharist, also known as Communion.

“Every miracle is a little different. Sometimes it’s a host that presents blood and when the scientists examine it, they find that the blood is coming from the inside of the host and not the outside, so they can tell it’s not a drop that has dropped on it,” she said.

“The scientists find that it is heart tissue. They find living white blood cells. They find that it’s the same blood type every time — the A-B blood type that is more often found in the Middle Eastern areas. It’s more rare than the other types we see.”

She called the process “quite fascinating” and said one of the most famous eucharistic miracles happened in 750 in Lanciano, Italy, where it’s still on display.

“They broke it out in the 1970s and had it researched. That’s when they found out it was still living blood cells,” she said.

The Rev. Ray Flores at St. Jude is also in awe of the miracles.

“They are pretty incredible. I can’t begin to understand it myself — I’m not that smart,” Flores said. “I don’t understand it. That’s part of the mystery of the faith that we profess.”

He said the importance of the Eucharist to Catholics can’t be understated.

“It’s food for our journey. In Latin it’s ‘vaticum.’ If a person can receive their last Communion when they pass from this world to the next, it will system them for this journey,” he said. “But for those of us who are earthbound, it’s sustenance for what we are. It’s substantive food and transforms into God.

“The miracle is that we can consume God and become godlike. I think we’re most godlike when we’re in relationship with each other,” Flores said. “That’s ultimately what Jesus said, you should love your neighbor and God.”

Flores said the parish started a series last year to understand eucharistic miracles and he went on a pilgrimage to Assisi, where Acutis’ body is housed.

“We could visit his remains and pray there,” he said.

A friend of his in Chicago told him St. Jude had an opportunity to learn from the exhibit.

“It happened coincidentally, but we don’t believe in that. It’s a divine order. But it was amazing how it came together so quickly,” Flores said.

He hopes the exhibit will honor Acutis’ life and legacy but more importantly will “help people understand the presence of God in the Eucharist and how accessible that is to us as Catholics,” Flores said.

Flores said having a saint who’s a millennial is important.

“I think he can speak to this generation about so many things that don’t make sense … what he was learning and his relationship with God. That’s the most important gift he has given the church,” he said.

The exhibit could be considered part of a bigger movement, Lebhardt said, mentioning the “eucharistic revival” begun by U.S. Catholic bishops.

She said people in the parish are talking about the exhibit and she hopes it will bring a “lightbulb” moment and increase in belief.

“I hope they are empowered to bring Christ to other people,” she said. “To bring other people to this awakening and realize that no matter what they are going through, our Lord loves them personally and he invites them to come to them.”

Melinda Moore is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.