Notebook

By: Elsie Sy-Niebar

 

*COME JUNE, I WILL SAY TO YOU, DEAR VT READERS AND FRIENDS: ‘GOODBYE CHICAGO’
*LORD, HAVE MERCY ON CHICAGO’S MERCY HOSPITAL
* THE MOST IMPORTANT GIFTS WE RECEIVE FROM HIM
* ATTEND EVERY SUNDAY’s MASS BY CARDINAL CUPICH, AT 9:30 a.m. – 10 a.m., over Ch 7

 

WHEN I woke up early this morning to beat my VIA TIMES deadline, I could hardly get myself up. I felt so lethargic and wint’ry cold. I have been feeling like this for the past few months since I decided to sell my home and go back for good to the Philippines, our beloved Native land. Thanks to the bright sunlight streaming through my bedroom window, showing the non-snow-covered rooftops (like last week) of the houses around my Chicago quiet neighborhood. I felt kind of invigorated. I got out of bed to make my first cup of hot milk. I’ve stopped drinking coffee for quite some time now due to my heart problem. I will miss this scenery pretty soon. For good. That’s life. “Nothing is more permanent than Change.” Wrote Heraclitus, the great Greek Philosopher. Let’s talk more about the sentiment of “GOING BACK HOME” in my last VT column in June. My 43 years in Chicago. Indeed, “My Kind of Town. Chicago is.”

MY LIFE TODAY: SINCE the inception of COVID 19, like many of us older citizens particularly those without adult children or relatives around, I have not been to any gatherings especially to my church– FAITH COMMUNITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. Since the Covid-19 inception, we attend our Sunday Church Service and other activities via Zoom. Of course, I do miss the shopping mall, beauty saloon, and our community social gatherings and FRIENDS. With the help of my very smart Caregiver, “important places” we go to are the grocery stores and my Doctor’s Appointment.

Important Holidays like Christmas, Birthdays (including mine) last year, I celebrated it all by myself. St. Valentine’s this year I celebrated it in my heart, imagining the nearness of my beloved Dennis by reading some of his Valentine cards I kept. I missed visiting his grave. Except for the Dollar-Gifts I sent to my folks in the Philippines last Christmas, I have not given any gifts at all. Except to the Lord who gives me the Gift of Life and Everything.

However, a short email sent by our church Pastor John Chu, is by far the best heartwarming gift I’ve received last Christmas. I want to share this with you dear VT Readers, particularly those who have FAITH in SHARING your blessings regardless of the amount. The Pastor’s email says: “Thank you Elsie for being one of our generous givers to our church, FAITH COMMUNITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (in Chicago); as a supporter to our Mission in the Philippines, and to our scholars in there and in Chicago…”

Indeed, “God loves a cheerful giver.” (Corinthians). regardless of the amount. Giving gift to the Lord through the Churches or any religious and humanitarian endeavors brings Holy Joy in our Hearts –in any amount. Especially during this Covid-19 Invasion. Even Cardinal Cupich from the Chicago Cathedral is pleading for our help for the Archdiocese. You can send your donation to the Holy Name Cathedral, 730 N. Wabash Ave., Chicago, IL 60611, Tel. (312) 787-8040. In spite of my being a devout Presbyterian Protestant, every Sunday from 9:30 a.m.- 10 a.m.

I attend the mass at the Holy Name Cathedral officiated by Cardinal Cupich, on TV Ch 7. It is spiritually uplifting. From 10 a.m.-11 a.m., I attend our church FAITH COMM. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (Protestant) Service via Zoom. In service to our ONE GOD Lord Jesus Christ. Makes my Sunday lighthearted. ***

LORD, HAVE MERCY ON MERCY HOSPITAL in Chicago: According to history, in 1831, Catherine McAuley founded the Sisters of Mercy in Dublin, Ireland. History says that “A deeply religious woman of comfortable means, she sought to extend the Catholic Church’s ministries of healing and teaching to the poor, the sick, the uneducated and those who were ostracized by society. Since her death in 1841, Catherine’s congregation of religious women has become one of the largest ever established in the English-speaking world.”

Today, one of those “healing ministries” is in Chicago, the Sisters of Mercy, Regional Community Mercy Hospital, a landmark of the South Side for over a century, now facing closure this spring of 2021. That is, any day this March or next month. The move makes the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) one of only a few hospitals left on Chicago’s South Side, leaving activists, labor officials, and residents with major concerns. Unless Chicago billionaires and millionaires would use their tax-deductible profits to have Mercy on MERCY HOSPITAL, this legendary Sisters of Mercy Life Saver Institution would close its doors, soon. Well, this is the time VOTERS around the area, should knock at the doors of the Politicians who promised them COMMUNITY SUPPORT during the election campaign. God, please have mercy on MERCY HOSPITAL. Amen.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK’s DAY, Everyone!

Cardinal Blase Cupich, Chicago Archdiocese, holds mass every Sunday, from 9:30 a.m-10 a.m, over WLS TV Ch 7 in Chicago

The jubilant birthday celebrant Nestor Castillo with his wife Elsa. More pictures on Pg 14-15.