Mundelein IV

Nolite Timere – Do not be afraid.

Duc In Altum – Put out into the deep.

Saint John Paul II Chapel

These words (in Latin above), adorn the altar of the Chapel to Saint John Paul II at Mundelein Seminary.* Both sentiments are placed appropriately, and profoundly. The Saint urges us to conquer timidity, and cast our nets into the sea of all mankind: to be fearless fishers of men. As meaningful to the Scouts I was with, as it was to the seminarians who work and live there.

I was returning to Mundelein for our Scout Troop’s annual “Fishers of Men” outing*, and our first stop at this Chapel was a fitting start on this rainy Saturday morning in mid-September.

Courtyard Statue

The quiet solemnity of this holy place was to set the tone for a day of reflection and prayer. At least it was for me, if not for the majority of young men I and my fellow Scout leaders were there to chaperone (i.e. keep from getting into trouble). I like to think we were mostly successful chaperones, returning with the same number of Scouts we left with at least.

Those two quotes of John Paul II remained with me that day, as I listened to the words of the priests and seminarians, who came to guide us through their residences, lives and vocations. I came to a better understanding of the ways Mundelein Seminary prepares her sons for the challenges of priesthood.

The Belvedere

Whether from the story of a seminarian from overseas who heard the call at a very young age, or that of a lawyer like myself who left my profession to begin along the path to diocesan priesthood, each of their journeys left its impression on me. How strong their Faith!

As I experience the changes age brings, I learn that those things I once deemed important begin to fade with the years: the wealth I sought in my younger days, the importance of winning every argument, and my own stubborn insistence on being right.

I marvel that the young seminarians realize these are hollow goals, at little more than half my age. They willingly forego wealth and materialism, wives and careers, to follow the way of the Cross. I respect their choice and am humbled by it; but more, at times I am given the Grace to see through their eyes the wealth and reward their choice brings.

No path in this world is easy or without pain. How we deal with the world and its troubles is what makes us human, and suffering is part of the path to the divine, as hard as that is to believe sometimes! I suppose we must rely on Faith to persevere, in good times and bad.

Mundelein is a well-spring of that Faith. In the quiet of the Main Chapel, I could almost feel the presence of those countless seminarians who passed through this sanctuary. How many prayers and devotions does this place bear witness to?

Main Chapel

Solemn pictures of graduating classes, going back to the 1920’s, are a glimpse of the history of this edifice to Faith. The few graves silent witness to lives of service and devotion. Even the red brick of the buildings themselves seem to patiently preside over the onset of seasons, and years.

Statue at Cemetery

Yet of all I experienced in Mundelein, I return to the enthusiasm and cheer of those I met, their sense of mission and devotion, their understanding of obligation and trust in the Lord. Above all, this is what truly inspires me during my annual visits.

Immaculate Conception

The rain eventually moved off, and we enjoyed blue skies and white clouds for the remainder of our day. I suppose the Faith I experienced restored mine to some degree, and made my world a little brighter as well.

Not many trips can do that.

Peter Murphy September 2016

* the Seminary’s web page is: http://mundeleinseminary.org

* the Chicago Archdiocese Catholic Committee on Scouting web page is:

http://home.catholicweb.com/accs/

Mundelein Revisited

Mundelein Revisited

Santo Subito!

This phrase was heard constantly throughout the streets of Rome during Pope Saint John Paul II’s funeral in 2005. It means “sainthood now,” and those words echoed in my mind as I approached the Chapel of Mary at Mundelein’s St. Mary of the Lake Seminary for the second time in my life. There, at the entrance to the Chapel, hang the large icons of two of our recently Sainted Popes: Pope Saint John Paul II and Pope Saint John XXIII.

St. Mary Chapel

It was comforting to see these images of the two larger than life Saints, continuing to inspire visitors and seminarians alike, in wisdom, patience and courage. How quickly that Italian phrase was realized!

Nearby, inside the Seminary’s Library, an ornate chair is displayed, with a modest plaque indicating it was used by Pope John Paul II during his visit to Chicago. I remembered his visit as I touched the chair, reflecting on how close I was standing to a physical artifact used by a living Saint. I was humbled.

Seminary Library

We were visiting Mundelein again as a Scout Unit, during the annual “Fishers of Men” event, hosted by Mundelein Seminary and organized by the Chicago Archdiocese Catholic Committee on Scouting.* It was a warm and sunny day, as the boys lined up with rods and reels, to listen to the priests and seminarians talk about vocation, discernment, and the joys of religious life.

Lake View

I’m always impressed by these selfless young men, meeting the daily challenges of study while reflecting on their own callings. Most of us look forward to a job after college or graduate school, and maybe even think in terms of a career. But these seminarians think in terms of service and vocation, of a life-style and commitment, which will encompass much more than just a 9 to 5 work schedule.

A Reflective Moment

Family is also a much broader term for these men. I’ve found priests and religious have extended families compared to most of us. They find family beyond their parents and siblings, extending their families to include fellow seminarians and teachers (even decades after ordination or vows), close personal friends, and the parishes or communities they eventually serve. We are all fortunate to call our parish priests Father.

And that is perhaps the biggest difference between my education as an attorney and theirs in religious life: they graduate to serve others, not themselves. Which is not to say the laity doesn’t serve. We do. But our careers are rarely service. We work to provide for our own wives and children, and for ourselves in later years. We serve our parishes and communities in our spare time.

I try to explain this to our scouts, through scouting’s religious awards programs, special scout masses, and these retreats. Religious life is a choice that all young people should consider, and discern in the silence of their hearts.

Saint Therese Statue

I remain hopeful that our society is less materialistic, at least for this coming generation. We need to defeat secularism, but I hear less from my scouts about having a fast car, large house, or massive wealth, than I did from my peers during my own younger years. Time with family and friends is becoming, appropriately, more important to our youth, even if it takes the form of texting, tweeting, and skyping.

The chase for riches is an empty one. This was the lesson my generation had to learn. I hope our younger generations learn lessons about the society they are confronted with, whether those involve peer popularity, instant gratification, global competition, or simple information overload. I hope they find answers to these challenges in our Faith.

Library Walkway

In the end, most attorneys (and other professionals) I know cherish their volunteer time. Giving of ourselves feeds the soul, as we lay up treasure in heaven.

How great would it be, if fulfilling those endeavors was your full time job?

* the Chicago Archdiocese Catholic Committee on Scouting we page is:

https://sites.google.com/site/chiaccs/

– Pete Murphy November, 2014

Wisconsin Dells: Traditional Family Fun

Wisconsin Dells is one of my family’s favorite vacation places. Close to our home in Chicago’s south suburbs, and with plenty to offer kids and parents alike, it’s a great place to spend a long weekend or part of a week’s vacation.

We took the drive up in mid-April this year. My children, ages 7 and 11, were off school on Easter break, and my Wife and I had managed to schedule a few vacation days to take them. As is tradition on our family vacations, we surprised the kids on the morning we left with the good news. They knew we were going soon, but keeping the actual date secret meant a good night’s sleep (theoretically) for all involved. The next morning, we ran for a quick breakfast, then plopped the kids in the backseat of my big Chrysler for the drive up north.

The journey to the Dells continues to be a bit of a challenge, with construction on most of I-90 North (the Jane Addams) from the Rockford exit to near the State Line (40 miles or so). It probably added half an hour to our 3 ½ hour trip this year, but when the project is finished in 2016 it could well reduce travel time to less than 3 hours.

The first thing you notice on exiting onto Highway 12 in the Dells is the truly huge funnel structure that makes up part of the Howlin’ Tornado at Great Wolf Lodge. Seeing the funnel always excites the backseat crew, since Great Wolf is our usual destination when we go to Wisconsin.

Check-in at Great Wolf is typically a painless experience, then it’s off to drop the suitcases, change into swimsuits, and run down to the water parks. We spent nearly all of our first day swimming. It was still pretty chilly outside when we left home, so the indoor water parks at Great Wolf were really the only chance we’d have to get wet this early in the Spring.

Seeing the massive bucket dump at the Fort Mackenzie park for the first time is something I’ll never forget, and watching it now is like reading a “welcome back” sign. Great Wolf keeps the queue lines down, and the crowds to a minimum, by allowing only resort guests and their visitors into their water parks. This excellent policy means our kids can ride the water slides till they wear out, but also requires frequent long climbs up the staircases of the tallest rides for Mom and Dad, the latter often carrying whatever inflatable tube the ride requires.

Everyone loves Slap Tail Pond, the indoor wave pool that’s the largest in the indoor water parks. The sound of wolves howling (I assume it’s electronic) announces the start of the wave action every 15 minutes or so, and with waves up to three feet high, it’s fun to body surf into the shallows. A word of caution: the pool bottom in the shallow beach area is a bit rough, and sliding along on your bare stomach or back could mean a few souvenir scratches to take home. On this trip, we got to watch a practice rescue by the guards in the wave pool. I was impressed how quickly they shut down the waves and got to the “drowning” teen, if not by his acting skills.

Resort service is really above average, with an attentive and professional staff, life guards everywhere, and a good selection of reasonably priced food. Hotdogs and fries at the water parks is a fun treat between swims, and there are plenty of restaurants with kid-friendly menus in the vicinity of the resort.

I’ve been going to the Dells since I was younger than my kids, and many of the attractions I remember are still there, if somewhat updated. The Wisconsin Ducks, though, remain closest to my earliest memories of them. We took the Ducks’ tour on the chilly morning of our second day there.

The Ducks don’t run as often early in the season as during the summer months, about every couple of hours depending on how many people are waiting to ride. We were the last to enter a full boat, and it was nice to be surrounded by other warm bodied mammals as we began our trip through the forests.

I really respect the young people who drive and narrate these tours, learning the numerous gears and handling these 60-year-old, 8-ton monsters safely, all the while keeping things light and fresh with continual banter. Admittedly, most of the jokes sound the same from one tour to the next, and having a sense of humor about the Chicago Bears is pretty much expected of passengers, but the views are spectacular and entering the water from any type of wheeled vehicle is a novel experience. It was windy and cold on the Wisconsin River, but well worth the discomfort to see the Baby Grand and Hawk’s Bill rock formations along the tall banks.

The campy jokes of the drivers always remind me of similar comedy bits I’ve heard on Disney’s Jungle Cruise at the Magic Kingdom in Florida: “Remember, if you have small children, please keep them ….” [pause for laughter].

The hour tour was soon over, and with a last look at Duck Dock we drove the short distance back to Great Wolf. There are literally dozens of other attractions in the Dells, including power boat runs on the rivers and lakes, water shows, and numerous exhibits. This trip, though, we kept to the Ducks’ tour, our resort area, and a few restaurant meals. Another couple of hours of swimming followed by pizza in our room rounded out the second day of our trip.

Once again on this visit, the kids talked us into buying the resort’s Paw Passes, giving them access to MagiQuest along with stuffed animals, candy, and other treats. They’re a good deal if you plan on buying a few souvenirs anyhow, and MagiQuest is fun for kids, if only for the 4-storey playground they get to explore. Aside from several more hours of water park time, our third (and last) day there also included a stop at MagiQuest and a visit to Tanger Outlet Mall, both within walking distance of Great Wolf.

I don’t often advocate a shopping excursion during vacations, but on this occasion it was a good break from all the water activities. Tanger has some top notch places to shop, and prices well below anything I’ve seen online or at our local malls. I figured we had enough trunk space to carry some extra packages, and so for a couple of hours picked through clothing and toys to find a few things we normally wouldn’t have bought, but could use at home.

We had dinner our last night in the Dells at Buffalo Phil’s, literally located just a short walk across our resort parking lot. It has the unique feature of delivering your food by train, so has become a “must stop” for our kids. When not running burgers and homemade root-beers out to waiting customers, look for the train to pass by with stuffed animals or toy vehicles aboard. So long as the kids on the neighboring tables don’t make a grab for your food (or the engine), table service via model train is a fun way to enjoy a meal.

I guess the last night of a vacation is a mixed blessing for any family. The sadness of leaving is hard on young minds. I take the band-aid approach: get it over with quickly to reduce the pain. Having packed most of our stuff the night before, the next morning we were only a few doughnuts and a couple of coffees away from the drive back. We had a somewhat longer trip back, again due to road construction, but made it home in the early afternoon to unpack and unwind. The kids were happy to be off another week on school break. Their Mom and I, not so much, but we returned to our jobs with the kind of memories that make long afternoons at work quite a bit more tolerable.

And reading my emails the next morning, I guess I wasn’t surprised to see one from Great Wolf Lodge, asking when I planned on coming back. Maybe in the Fall?

I just won’t tell the kids yet.

– Pete Murphy May 2014