Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

This feast is especially precious to me because Denver’s radiant and godly Bishop George Evans died on the vigil of the Triumph of the Cross forty years ago. As the years have passed, the warm memories of this great man have become stronger, and his mission of reconciliation comes into even sharper relief.

I knew him because he lived in the rectory of the parish where I worked. In those heady days of the 1970s and 1980s, it wasn’t uncommon to walk into the rectory, where the parish offices also resided, and see the governor, the mayor, and many of the most prominent people from the Justice and Peace offices gathered at Bishop Evans’ dining room table. I recall that numerous maps were displayed on the walls. Downtown Denver, and, in particular, the university catering primarily to working adults, was undergoing a makeover, and Bishop Evans was committed to ensuring that the university would be accessible to all.

One day, when Bishop Evans was a young, overworked monsignor, he visited a low-income housing project with a friend who would become his great partner in housing, Sr. Lucy Downey, SCL. He was utterly stunned at the poverty and lack of resources in the projects. When he returned to the Cathedral that night, he had an announcement. “For the rest of my life,” he said, “housing will be my #1 priority.”

What a huge dream that was, to provide housing for Denver’s low-income residents in seven apartment buildings around town. Today, Archdiocesan Housing, Inc. manages thirty properties that house up to three thousand residents. And that’s just a drop in the bucket of housing needs today.

Lift high the cross today. Bishop George Evans processes with us.

What people have you known who continue to inspire you?

Kathy McGovern ©2025 www.thestoryandyou.com