EAST FLATBUSH — At the age of 96, John McAlinden is nearly as old as his beloved St. Thérèse of Lisieux Church, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
McAlinden, known to his family and friends as Mr. Mac, has been a parishioner of St. Thérèse of Lisieux for his entire life. He still lives in the house where he grew up, around the corner from the church. And he still attends Mass every Sunday.
Mr. Mac’s lifelong devotion to his church will be celebrated at the church’s 100th anniversary dinner at the El Caribe Country Club in Mill Basin on May 24, where he will be the guest of honor.
Bishop Thomas Molloy established St. Thérèse of Lisieux Church in 1926.
The first Mass took place on Pentecost Sunday, May 23, 1926, in a chapel on the corner of Avenue D and Troy Avenue. The cornerstone for the church was laid in 1927.
Parishioners are fond of calling their St. Thérèse of Lisieux the “Little Flower Church,” in honor of their patron saint’s nickname.
Mr. Mac, who was born in September of 1929, has attended the church his entire life.
While he is frail at age 96, has trouble speaking, and is confined to a wheelchair, he never misses Mass, according to his niece Theresa Rau, a teacher who looks after him.
“He is an inspiration to me,” she said.
Over the years, Mr. Mac served as a Eucharistic minister and president of several organizations, including the Holy Name Society, Rosary Society, and Sacred Heart of Jesus. He was also vice president of the Little Flower Usher’s Society and coached CYO basketball, instilling a love of sports in generations of kids.
“It was the youth of the parish that he was really devoted to,” Rau said. “He was the sponsor for a lot of the boys when they had their confirmation. He was touched that they asked him.”
Mr. Mac, who never married or had children, became a spiritual father to many kids of the parish.
“Your shining example to the community will no doubt inspire others, especially the younger generation, to do the same and help carry us into the future,” Father Liju Augustine, pastor of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, wrote in a letter informing him about the honor he will receive at the anniversary dinner.
Mr. Mac was also an evangelizer, Rau said. She recalled that her uncle struck up a friendship with a woman in the neighborhood whom he later encouraged to join the faith.
“She would be on the avenue and see him walking to and from church, and they got to talking,” Rau said. “He got her initiated into the church, and now she’s a parishioner of St. Thérèse of Lisieux.”
As devoted as he was to the church, Mr. Mac was equally devoted to his job.
After working as a publicist for the Angel Guardian Home in Dyker Heights, he joined The Tablet in 1963 as an artist, where his artistic talents flourished.
Among his most famous creations was his annual Christmas drawing that served as The Tablet’s front page, in which he would embed the names of every priest, men and women religious, and employees of the Diocese of Brooklyn — thousands of them — into the drawing.
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Sometimes the artwork depicted the Holy Family with Jesus in the manger. In other years, it was the Three Wise Men or angels heralding the birth of Jesus by blowing trumpets. It was painstaking work that required months of preparation and drawing sketches.
“It took him a long time to do it,” Rau said, “but it was something he looked forward to every year.”
Mr. Mac retired from The Tablet in 2010 at the age of 81.
But one thing he will not retire from is his devotion to St. Thérèse of Lisieux Church.
“He loves the church so much,” Rau said.