Merry Christmas! 2024 was another incredible Christmas season here at the Mission of Our Lady of the Angels! Thanks to thousands of benefactors and hundreds of volunteers, we were able to help bring Christmas to over 2,000 families here on the Westside. Check out the galleries below to see highlights from all of our Christmas events!
First up, our Christmas events for our neighbors officially kicked off with the beloved Culinary Kids Christmas lunch and party for our Seniors! The team from Comptroller Susana Mendoza’s office, Chef Stephen Henry and Chef Courtney Barton, Amundsen High School culinary students, William Howard Taft High School band and choir, and of course Mr. T and a few other former Chicago professional athletes all helped to make the celebration so special for our Seniors! Our propaedeutic year seminarians from Mundelein Seminary also came to help serve and clean up. Thank you to all involved!
Seniors and guests taking a moment to thank all those involved in putting on this beautiful event 
Sr. Jaime, Mr. T, and Karlo, one of our Chicago seminarians 
Chef Steven Henry shows high school culinary students how to season the salmon for the luncheon 
Bishop Bob offers opening remarks and leads is in grace before meals 
Mr. T spent hours circulating the room, greeting everyone, sharing his beautiful Christian testimony, and taking pictures with anyone who wanted them! 
Sr. Jen, seminarians Karlo (Chicago) and Mike (Fort Wayne-South Bend), Anna, and one of our beloved Seniors 
Sr. Kate and a few of our belovedlong-term members of Seniors 
Bridget greeting some of our seniors with the high school Christmas choir assembled behind her 
Sr. Alicia spent preparing the delicious dessert – a special chocolate peppermint and frozen yogurt treat! 
Bishop Bob making his rounds to greet all of our Seniors. 
Kristine expertly plating part of the incredible meal while Mr. T looks on approvingly
Next up, we had a beautiful Christmas prayer service and lunch for about 250 of our neighborhood families. Highlights included AMAZING Christmas music from our friends at New Life Church, a delicious meal of chicken-and-dumpling casserole that was truly universally acclaimed, and each family received the gift of a framed family picture in front of the manger scene in the church. That same day, hundreds of children who participate in our activities at Kelly Hall YMCA, celebrated their annual Angel Tree Christmas party sponsored by generous friends of ours.
Bishop Bob preaching during the prayer service before the meal 
Neighbors, guests, and volunteers gathered in the Church for the prayer service with beautiful music provided by New Life Church 
Neighbors gathered in the Church waiting for the prayer service to begin 
Neighbors and volunteers at the Christmas lunch 
Sr. Emily with one of our beloved volunteers 
A small child breaks away from their table to get in a quick visit with Santa 
We enjoyed a delicious Christmas lunch consisting of Chicken-and-dumpling casserole (which was universally acclaimed as a fan favorite), salad, fruit, pecan pie, and homemade Christmas cookies made by friends of the community. 
Sr. Macey and Sr. Mia pose with a neighborhood girl and Santa 
Neighborhood families stopping to have their picture taken by the Church manger scene on their way down to the dining hall in the basement. 
Another neighborhood family poses for a family picture 
Sisters took and then printed and framed family pictures of each family standing in front of the manger scene in the Church. Each family was able to take these home as a special gift. 
One of our neighbors asked Sr. Macey and Sr. Kate to join her in her picture by the manger
Christmas celebrations with our neighbors continued with our annual Christmas pantry (the Tuesday pantry closest to Christmas) and distributed delicious Christmas hams and Christmas cookies to be enjoyed by families in their own celebrations. Santa also visited the pantry to hand out gifts to the 500+ families present.
Sr. Jaime looks on as our pantry Santa greets a child 
Many neighbors asked to stop and pose with Santa for a picture on their way out 
Sr. Stephanie working hard behind the scenes to move all of the extra Christmas toys and food to where they need to be 
Sr. Emily and the postulants working in the festive check-in room 
Santa giving adorable pantry children presents 
More presents to adorable children 
Santa posing with a few of our liveliest children! 
Sr. Jaime agreeing to take a selfie with some of the kiddos 
Our neighbors love the beautiful Christmas decorations found throughout the pantry
Our community also had the chance to enjoy some special Advent and Christmas-themed outings and opportunities to visit with good friends of the community over the month of December. One such outing was when a group of our Sisters attended a special Advent night of prayer and worship at St. Clement Church with Catholic artists Matt Maher and Sarah Kroger as a part of their Advent Cathedrals Tour. It was a beautiful night of praise and preparing for the coming of Jesus at Christmas. A personal highlight was meeting Matt Maher after and seeing the smile on his face as we shared with him that one of our community’s beloved Easter traditions is playing his Christ is Risen song and singing along as loud as we can on the car ride home from Easter Vigil each year!
Finally, our Christmas events with our neighbors wrapped up the Saturday before Christmas when we distributed Christmas gifts to more than 2000 children in need between our “drive-through” gift distribution in the morning (serving a bag of assorted age-appropriate new Christmas gifts for over 1800 children and a few hundred adults).
Sr. Mia, Sr. Jaime, and volunteers pose with a family receiving a brand new bicycle at the gift giveaway 
Sr. Macey greeting a familiar face in the backseat of the car. Sr. Macey has spent a few years specializing in diapers and other baby items at the Tuesday pantry, so she has known many of our pantry babies since before they were born and many of them recognize and love her! 
Sr. Mia smiling with a family receiving a new sled 
Sr. Jen with two boys and a new bike 
Sr. Stephanie smiling with the new bikes 
Anna takes a moment to help a young boy zip up his coat 
Sr. Stephanie and Sr. Jaime working together to bring out more bikes and over-sized toys that couldn’t fit into bags 
Sr. Macey smiling with a young boy receiving a new soccer game 
Sr. Stephanie lying in wait to find a family with a big enough car and lots of little girls to enjoy this larger-than-life dollhouse
Then, later that same day, in the afternoon, we held our Toys for Tots party at Kelly Hall for neighborhood families as well as families from the poorer parishes in our area – complete with Christmas characters of all kinds interacting with the kids to help make it an unforgettable event!
Kelly Hall’s gym all set up and ready for Santa 
The kiddos were so excited to see Santa arriving – this little guy broke away from his mom right away to run straight over to him and give him a hug 
Santas helpers help to introduce the children to Santa, take a family picture, and create a special bag of gifts for each child 
A neighborhood family posing with Santa 
Families were able to enjoy a hot dog lunch from Jimmy’s and watch a Christmas magic show while waiting their turn in line 
The postulants show off the bags of coal they received from Santa 
The head elf escorts a young boy to meet Santa 
Santa and all his Toys for Tots Christmas helpers!
Know of our prayers for you and your families this Christmas and our deep gratitude for all those who helped us to bring Christmas to the Westside over these past few weeks!
