Their Mother of Mothers Shrine shapes his prayer life

He is: Father “Lou” Tylka, pastor of Mater Christi Parish in North Riverside. Ordained from Mundelein Seminary in 1996.

Family life: “I was born in Harvey, baptized at Ascension Parish, but from age 2 until I left home, I lived in Hazel Crest and went to St. Joseph’s Parish in Homewood. I have five older sisters and so I was spoiled rotten! I say I learned from my sisters’ mistakes to stay out of trouble.

“My dad was a field engineer with IBM. He worked nights fixing the big old computers in banks. As I was going to bed as a kid, he was getting up to go to work, and when I was getting up to start my day he was coming home from work. I was somewhat of a computer geek because of my dad. We were the first family on the block to have one of those great big PCs that took up the whole table. When IBM first came out with what we would now call a laptop, I got to bring it to high school. It could never fit in someone’s lap!

“My mother did the yeoman’s job of raising us although she always made sure dad was aware of all the important things. She went back to work downtown when I was in fourth grade, working nights with my dad as a check processor at Continental Bank.

Priesthood: “It goes back to my sophomore year at Marian Catholic High School. Since both my parents worked, I was the only one in my family who attended Catholic school for 12 years. It was difficult to manage rides to and from school, so I couldn’t stay for clubs and sports. In sophomore year mother insisted I join the parish teen club. Every other Wednesday night she’d adjust her schedule to make sure I’d have a ride to and from church. I got to know the associate pastor, Father Dan Danowski. As the spirit would have it, in my senior year I was part of the team that put on the first Kairos retreat at Marian and Father Dan was the priest. Afterwards he asked me to think about being a priest. I was an altar server, but the possibility of priesthood never occurred to me. Then I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

“I did a semester at Purdue University at West Lafayette, but had no clue about a career. I knew I wanted to do something people-oriented. And then I came home for Christmas break and my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I did an in-school transfer to Purdue’s regional campus in Hammond for a semester, to help take care of mom.

“By spring I decided if I was seriously going to look into priesthood I should go to Niles Seminary College. Mom was doing pretty well. She wasn’t supposed to last two weeks and she lived 10 months. She came to Niles once in early September, saw the campus for the first time, and told Father Bob McLaughlin, ‘This is where my son belongs.’ She died in October on the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.”

Shrine: “I came to Mater Christi in 2004, the end of the parish’s 50th anniversary. My first year we had to close the school. That was rough. I realized in 2006 our outdoor Mother of Mothers Shrine would have its 50th anniversary.” He renovated and enhanced the shrine as a way to bring the parish together, heal wounds and renew their commitment to the Blessed Mother. “I think today we’re a good, strong parish. Every Saturday after 8 a.m. Mass we pray the Mother of Mothers devotion, unique to the parish. We say a Hail Mary at the end of every Mass for the intentions of the Mother of Mothers Shrine. That’s become our tradition.  We get prayer requests from India, South America, Africa, and different states. People find us on our web site at www.materchristichurch.com.”

Prayer life: “Honestly, growing up I was not a big pray-er of the rosary, but having been in a parish dedicated to the Blessed Mother, it’s become a regular part of my prayer life. Part of my sabbatical last year was going with the CTU Biblical Studies Program, doing the ‘Footsteps of St. Paul’ in Greece and Turkey. Then I studied in Israel for a little over a month. It brings Scripture to life in a whole different way.”

Leisure: I have two Yorkshire terriers, Noah and Tobit. We just had a resident priest move in, but most of my 9-year tenure here at Mater Christi I’ve been alone. I love the theatre. I’m a big Blackhawks fan, so I go to games or watch them on TV. When I start yelling, that’s when my dogs go and hide.  I like movies, or hang out with friends.  I just started reading this series of books by Mary Margaret Funk, OSB. I’m on the second one, ‘Tools Matter: Beginning the Spiritual Journey.’

Scripture verse: From the prophet Micah: ‘What does God ask of you, but to act justly, love tenderly, and walk humbly with your God.’ For me it sums up what God wants.”

What it’s all about: “My priesthood has been shaped by my family and the people I’ve been privileged to serve. My greatest joy as a priest is presiding at Mass and preaching. We have to do all the other things necessary to keep a parish going, but I believe my vocation was founded on my experience at Sunday Mass. That’s the most important thing we do as Christians every week -- gather to celebrate the Eucharist.”