They came from near: Shorewood, Libertyville, Crystal Lake, and Manteno; and far: Fort Collins, Las Vegas, San Jose, Indianapolis, and Wauwatosa. They had been apart for weeks, months, years, many for decades.
    At noon on Saturday, June 24thformer St. Jude Seminary students, family members and friends began arriving at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church (OLG) in South Chicago for the start of a two-day, all-alumni reunion, the first since 2010. The gathering coincided with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Parish. Byday’s end, sixty-two former Judeans and guests were present. Richard “Dick” Harrigan ’49 at ninety-one was the oldest; Henry Danko the teenage grandson of Mike O’Connor ’64 the youngest.
    Fr. Steve Niskanen, Associate pastor and Director of the National Shrine of St. Jude welcomed the visitors to the parish and served as host for the afternoon.
    Lunch, and the later evening meal, afforded the opportunity to mingle and renew friendships, even though it was sometimes a challenge to recalibrate names with now not so recognizable faces.
    Mid-afternoon allowed time for Fr. Niskanen’s guided tour of OLG, the Shrine and the nearby SALUD Center, a former YMCA now a residence for seniors and a recreation center. It  is a joint development between Claretian Associates and Preservation of Affordable Housing.
    Malachy McCarthy, Provincial Archivist, retired delivered a presentation entitled: In the Footsteps of Claret, the Claretians Arrival in Chicago, once the group reconvened.
    Alumni participated in Mass in honor of and concelebrated by Bishop Placido Rodriquez ’59, a former pastor of OLG who is currently celebrating his 55thyear as a priest and 40th as bishop. Liturgy concelebrants were Fr. Mark Brummel ‘51 and Fr. Rosendo Urrabazo, recent past Provincial. Fr. Hector Navalo, OLG pastor, and Br. Dan Magner and Br. Richard Wilga of the Provincial House community were also in attendance.
    Dinner in the parish hall, alive with conversation and playful reminiscing, concluded day one of the reunion.
    On Sunday,June25th,reunion participants began arriving at 11:00 a.m. at Good Shepherd Manor the former St. Jude Seminary, currently a residence for developmentally disabled adult males. Host for the afternoon was Br. Alphonsus Brown, O.H., a long serving administrator at the facility, who afforded his quests the opportunity to view current uses of the Manor and to explore areas of the seminarians’ once school and residence.
    Noon Mass was concelebrated in the chapel by Bishop Rodriguez and Fr. Brummel, assisted by Javier Pineda ’68, a permanent deacon of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Alumni presented Bishop Rodriguez with a stained-glass window hanging, featuring an image of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in recognition of his decades of service to the Claretians and the Church. The piece was created and gifted by Br. Manuel Benavides, CMF of AcompanARTE Cultural Center, Springfield, MO.
    Lunch followed in the former Seminary “refectory.”
    A presentation by Dr. Deborah Kanter (Author, “Chicago Catolico”) entitled: On a Mission: Claretians and the Creation of a National Latino Ministry marked the end of the day’s events and the reunion.
    During the two days of the reunion acknowledgement of the permanent value of shared experience was evident and the spirit of comradery pervasive. Hereafter, lasting memories, and continuing fellowship live on.
    Postscript: through the generosity of alumni, $800.00 donations were made to hosts Our Lady of Guadalupe parish and Good Shepherd Manor.

    Howie Harrington, SJS ‘65