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Cathedral fundraiser event brings together 'friends'
By Andrew Junker, ajunker@catholicsun.org
May 15, 2008
Nearly 200 men and women from across the diocese spent a recent evening becoming “friends” with Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral.
After sung vespers led by Ss. Simon and Jude’s rector Fr. Robert Clements, guests at the inaugural “Night for Friends of the Cathedral” gathered in the cathedral’s newly completed courtyard for hors d’oeuvres, cocktails and live music May 2.
“How great it is to see some old friends and to have this evening to make some new ones,” Fr. Clements said during the evening prayer liturgy.
“One attribute that is singularly unique to friendship is that it’s always inclusive,” he said. “In other words, it’s always looking to widen the circle of friends.”
Living symbol
Friends of the Cathedral is an auxiliary organization comprised of local Catholics who want to foster identity, awareness and support for the cathedral. Members will be remembered in a monthly Mass and will receive Apostoli, the cathedral’s newsletter.
Fr. Clements hopes the organization will highlight the unique nature of the cathedral in the diocese.
“A cathedral is the living symbol of the local Church, gathered with Her shepherd to worship God through Christ, His Son,” he said. “And the cathedral is, indeed, a place where the Lord’s friends gather.”
In other words, the cathedral is meant to be a parish for all the Catholics in the diocese, Fr. Clements said.
“I don’t think in this country the idea of the cathedral has really been cultivated to the extent that it has been in other parts of the world,” he said. “But thankfully, there are some signals we’re catching from our shepherds that this shouldn’t be the case.”
As the cathedral’s string quartet played in the newly blessed courtyard, guests from all over the Valley registered to bid on a few auction items, one of which was for a dinner party at the cathedral rectory.
Deborah Gambert drove all the way from Chandler, where she is a parishioner at St. Mary Parish. She attends Mass at the cathedral about once a month, saying she appreciates the liturgy there.
“I just want to support the bishop and the cathedral,” she said. “The vespers were beautiful, too. I loved the Latin and Gregorian chant.”
One way to bring the cathedral back to the forefront of Catholics’ minds is to host more events like the Night for Friends of the Cathedral, said Theresa Serrano-Keel, who sits on the organization’s committee.
“We just want to get the circle of friends going,” she said. “The cathedral is the chair of our bishop and it’s something that we really should support and help develop, take care of and maintain. We need to take a lot of pride in it.”
She was impressed by the turnout and said it bodes well for the organization’s future.
“Friends are people who love the Church, who want the Gospel to change human society and who understand the place the cathedral is suppose to have in the life of the diocese,” she said. “We want Ss. Simon and Jude to truly be the mother Church and center of Catholic life in the diocese."
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