Sister Maria de la Cruz Aymes, SH

Sister Maria de la Cruz Aymes, an acclaimed leader in modern catechetics and author of the “On Our Way” series which provided the foundation of religious education for a generation of Catholic youth, died April 25 in Chicago. A member of the Society of Helpers, she was 89.

Born Maria Margarita Valentina Aymes-Couke in Mexico City, Sister Aymes began teaching catechism to local street children as a youth. Her inspiration came, in part, from witnessing the brutal persecution of Catholics throughout Mexico when she was a child.

Despite the legal threat of arrest, exile or death for displaying outward signs of religion, her parents provided shelter for priests and religious.

Drawn to religious life but unable to attend a novitiate in Mexico, she joined the Society of Helpers of the Holy Souls, which had a U.S. novitiate in New York. She took her temporary vows in 1941 and received the name Sister Maria de la Cruz (Mary of the Cross).

During and after World War II she resumed her catechetical ministry to the poor in New York, San Francisco and France.

In the mid-1950s she returned to the San Francisco Archdiocese to work in catechetical ministry and, finding existing programs in disorder, collaborated with a number of experts including the Mission San Jose-based Holy Family Sisters to develop more engaging materials for both students and teachers. This resulted in the best-selling “On Our Way” series, published by William H. Sadlier, Inc., which was translated into more than a dozen languages.

Her vast contributions to catechetical ministry include over 100 texts of curriculum materials that she wrote or co-wrote, a video training course for volunteer catechists, and a program for Hispanic catechists. Her personal papers were donated to the archives of the San Francisco Archdiocese.

A popular lecturer, Sister Aymes taught undergraduate and graduate courses at about a half dozen universities including the University of San Francisco and St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park.

No public funeral services were held.

Father Frank J. Houdek, SJ

Jesuit Father Frank J. Houdek, a nationally known retreat director and spiritual guide, died April 23 after an extended struggle with cardio-renal failure. He was 73.

Since 1991, Father Houdek was a sacramental minister at St. Perpetua Parish in Lafayette while serving as a theology professor at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. He was vicar for clergy of the Oakland Diocese from 1986-1992 and a sacramental minister at St. Paschal Baylon Parish in Oakland from 1985-1991.

Despite his health problems, Father Houdek made pastoral ministry his primary focus, noted Father John Kasper, pastor, in a tribute posted on St. Perpetua’s website. “Even when it was difficult, he wanted to be at prayer with the community and to preside at the Eucharist,” he wrote. Father Houdek’s last celebration at the parish was a Lenten penance service in March.

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, he joined the Jesuits in 1952 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1965. He earned a master’s degree in theology from St. Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and a Ph.D. in classics from the University of California, Los Angeles.

For some 35 years Father Houdek served in numerous positions as a member of the Society of Jesus including director of academic religious formation in the Chicago and Detroit provinces, rector of the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley (JSTB), in addition to his JSTB faculty position. He was also professor at the School for Applied Theology in Berkeley from 1979-2009.

He was the author of numerous publications including “Guided By the Spirit,” published in 1996. He directed workshops and retreats and was in great demand as a spiritual director.

The eldest of seven siblings, Father Houdek is survived by his sisters, Harriet Baranowski and Jeri Habbyshaw, eight nephews and five nieces.

The funeral Mass was held April 27 at St. Perpetua Church in Lafayette. Burial was at Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Lafayette. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to St. Perpetua Parish, 3454 Hamlin Road, Lafayette, CA 94549, or to the Detroit Province of the Society of Jesus, 7303 West Seven Mile Road, Detroit, MI 48221.

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