Catholics
on the
Volu me 51 Fa ll 2 02 0 k u cat holic .org
Hill
The mission of the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center is to form the students, faculty and staff of the University of Kansas, and others who wish to join in this mission, in the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the Catholic intellectual, moral, liturgical and spiritual traditions.
LETTER from the
DIRECTOR
NEW STAFF
MEMBER
October 22: On the feast day for John Paul II Dear Friends: I headed down to Memorial Stadium October 3rd after celebrating the 4pm Saturday Vigil Mass in our chapel. I was the only one going into the game during the 4th quarter. I just had to go experience COVID KU football. The few fans allowed into the game had dispersed. We were losing badly. Except as soon as I got to my seat, we scored a touchdown. The 100 or so fans left in the stadium waved the wheat! It was a surreal experience. Sad in so many ways, but hopeful nonetheless. The same can be said of COVID semester 2020. The strangest of times; the eeriest of years. Foot traffic is down drastically, and everything is masked and distanced. Yet signs of hope are springing everywhere. St. Lawrence is still averaging 3000+ student interactions a week! The gatherings are more intimate. They are spread out. But the conversations are more needed, more fervent, more fruitful. We are learning things today that will bear fruit for many years to come. When we can’t gather large groups of people, our ‘away’ game - learning to live the faith in new places - is thriving. We are incubating and generating strategies that we will use for years to come. Our faith trusts that God can, does and is working especially in the strangest and most surprising of circumstances. Because of this, it’s a great time to be Catholics on the Hill! Enjoy the update . . . and pray that a special vintage of Catholic Jayhawks capable of the greatest stories will emerge from these days! Rock Chalk Catholic Jayhawk!
ELLEN FLOOD We are so blessed to welcome Ellen Flood as our accountant! Here’s her introduction be sure to drop her a big HELLO at: eflood@kucatholic.org “I’m a midwestern girl, other than a short time when my husband was flying in the military. My favorite activities involve my family, outdoors and sports. My husband and I have 5 great kids, who have already blessed us with 6 grandkids. My favorite part of the KU campus is Jayhawk Blvd, which is like a trip down memory lane since we, and all our kids, have KU degrees. I love the mission of St. Lawrence and the way we
Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman
are able to enrich student’s lives!”
ROCK CHALK NEW FOCUS MISSIONARIES
“Reaching out to students during COVID has presented some great opportunities for fellowship and invitation. It’s inspiring to see the Holy Spirit work in ways we never could have imagined before!” - Sarah Wessel
Nathan Hall, Sarah Wessel, Faith Andras, Eden, Emily and John Michael Lucido
COVID
Creativity
St. Lawrence is shining in the darkness, working to reach more and more students with the Gospel. Here are some of the ways the Holy Spirit is working at the University of Kansas:
Students register at goodcoku.com for innovative and safe evangelization/belonging programs like “Good Co To Go” and “Sonic or Starbucks?”
“I have a roommate who just picked up a meal kit from you guys...I just want to reach out and say - whoever came up with this idea...BRILLIANT!! I have shared among all of the organizations I am in, because it’s amazing what you are doing - starting conversations in person rather than over a screen - keep being amazing!!”
Over 45 small groups are thriving in homes all over Lawrence, including Alpha, FOCUS Bible studies, and St. Lawrence ministry teams. These small groups are providing students with opportunities for authentic conversation and time for laughter. Registration for seminars and classes with the Institute for Faith and Culture continues to grow each semester.
“I’ve heard so many great things about the IFC courses from my peers...Next semester, I’m excited to break down topics of physical and mental questions that play into our ultimate happiness. Dr. Murray is great and I look forward to learning from him.”
UMBE N E H T BY
RS
2900
over
individual interactions each week
@ k uc at
hol i c
350
students engaged each week
@ k uc at
hol i c s
average daily Mass attendance:
80
students
much higher than previous years!
Brian Nelson, director of Sacred Music, leads the 11:00 a.m. choir in rehearsal.
St. Lawrence
Sacred
Music
“Since the day I picked up the violin at age five, music has accompanied every aspect of my life. When I came to KU as a music major in 2007, little did I know that a decade later I would be returning as an Apostle of the Interior Life — no longer performing from a stage, but guiding the stories of budding singers and instrumentalists. For these past four years, in addition to offering spiritual direction for students of all ages and interested, I have delved specifically into forming our music scholars in close collaboration with music director Brian Nelson. What a unique privilege to walk with these students not only in their musical lives but especially their journey with God.” Sr. Ruth Kuefler, AVI Spiritual Director at St. Lawrence Emily is a Final Year Pharmacy Student at KU
STUDENT
UPDATE
Emily Vitt Bonner Springs, KS
What ministries have you been involved with during your time at St. Lawrence? Choir, cantoring, IFC seminars, hosting and leading swing dance socials, leader of OBC, Adoration, Fiat House, Samuel Group. What is the biggest risk of faith you have taken lately? My biggest risk of faith that I have taken lately is to let life happen. The unknown feels risky, but I know that I can let
Adam Hauser
ALUMNI UPDATE What are you up to these days? I am a husband and father now in Dallas, TX. I have 4 kids: Nicholas, 5, Matthew, 3, Rachel, and William, the last two of whom are now in heaven. I am in my 11th year of teaching high school English. Currently, I am an English Teacher (campus minister & coach) at Jesuit College Preparatory
Class of 2009 I also wouldn’t be a Catholic high school english teacher if it wasn’t for the formation and friendships I formed at St. Lawrence. It is largely the conversations with Fr. Steve Beseau, about the future founding of the Institute for Faith & Culture that inspired me to keep going as an English major, particularly looking for a situation where I could teach the classics, like I do at JC Prep.
School of Dallas.
Overall, my life without St. Lawrence would be much like
What were you involved in at St. Lawrence?
the famous Christmas film, It’s a Wonderful Life, where
Koinonia, Sunday night classes with the School of Faith, spiritual direction with the Apostles of the Interior Life, March for Life, EMHC, lector, sacristan. What would life look life without St. Lawrence?
George Bailey is shown his life if “he had never been born”. Without his presence, everyone and everything he once knew in Bedford Falls had no meaning at all — life would’ve been much like that for me without St. Lawrence, which is largely responsible for the “wonderful
I wouldn’t have my wife and kids today if it wasn’t for St.
life” I now have. There are always difficulties in every life,
Lawrence. My wife and I met during our graduate school
for sure, but mine are full of peace because of what St.
years in TX because of the Apostles of the Interior Life.
Lawrence taught me.
go of my anxieties and put my faith and trust in Him. Jesus is the Bread of Life, and Word of Life, so I just need to let Life happen. How would you describe “community?” Getting friends together for a long conversation over a glass of wine or a pint. What would life at KU look like without St. Lawrence? I transferred to KU during my third year of college to begin coursework in the school of pharmacy. St. Lawrence became my one-stop-shop: I went there to study, hang out with friends, pray, receive the sacraments, have meals... what else does a
college student need? I’m grateful for my friendships at the Center; I could have personal and meaningful conversations with these friends. How have you grown in interior freedom? Through the prayer, meditation, and self-reflection that Samuel Group challenged me to practice, I saw an immense growth in my interior freedom. I continue to use these tools to further my growth, and I remind myself that every day I have a choice - to do God's will or to not. I find great joy in that freedom to say yes.
ALUMNI
KU MAJOR: Nursing VOCATION: Legionary of Christ Priest JOB: Youth and Family Work
UPDATE
CURRENT LOCATION: Spring, Texas
Father Jared Loehr
FAVORITE MEMORIES OF ST. LAWRENCE:
Cl a s s of 2007
Ultimate frisbee at the Engle house. Classes lead by Mike, Troy, and the staff. Traveling across the country multiple times by bus to the march for life. Samuel group. Always meeting a smile when walking into the St Lawrence Catholic Campus Center! TELL US A STORY FROM KU: In the midst of dorm life, one night, a friend who lived across the hall from me, named Eric Wellhausen, went out on the window ledge and fell. He ended up passing away en route to the hospital. All I could think was how easily that could have happened to me. With tears flowing I ended up at the Cross in front of the St Lawrence Center. I knelt in front of the cross and admitted to God that there is more to life than just fun and that maybe God knows more about life than I do. From there I had space and openness to ask the big questions that I had either glazed over or not known how to ask. Why is the Church, THE Church? Why does God matter? Why be actively pro-life? Is there more to learn about the faith than an 8th grader in confirmation class? Why is contraception wrong? How can I truly love women and all people for who they are? Shortly after this, Christopher West came to give a talk about love. My whole societal structure got rocked. He said, “The opposite of love is not hate, it is use.” I realized that I had be told by society to use others to get what we want. Everything in relationships changed when I realized I needed to look out for other’s good over and above mine. Many things happened in my time at college, but toward the end of my time at St. Lawrence, I found myself at the Greek icon of the Theotokos Mary. I asked her flat out as I had never done before if she wanted me to be her priest. I’d always imagined a beautiful wife, a bunch of kids, a yellow house with a white picket fence, and a huge St Bernard dog. I never thought there was another option or way to go. When I placed my heart in her hands her face kinda sweetened up and I felt a warm nudge like, “Go get ‘em.” I said that whatever days I have left I will be your priest. And here I am today, a Legionary of Christ! HOW ARE YOU LIVING DIFFERENTLY BECAUSE OF ST. LAWRENCE? I’m trying my best to become a saint!
Joi n us! 2• 6•21
Fiorella's
Overland Park
2020 Divine Winefest Chairs Peter and Veronica Mallouk
F O R T I C K E T S A N D M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N V I S I T:
DIVINEWINEFEST.COM
SACRAMENTS CELEBRATED
CONGRATULATIONS! DIACONATE ORDINATION Brian McCaffery, diocese of Salina April 18, 2020
*Bold text signifies a KU Catholic Jayhawk!
Br. Brent Stull, Oratory of St. Philip Neri, Cincinnati, diaconate April 25, 2020 Ty Taylor, diocese of Wichita May 1, 2020 PROFESSIONS Novitiate - Sr. Miriam Bethel (Rachel Heitmann), Sisters of Life Discernment - Marianna Mercer, Little Sisters of the Lamb WEDDINGS Grant and Danica (Larkey) Leonard May 30, 2020 Sean and Elise (Radford) Cresswell (current students!) June 12, 2020 Ian and Julia (Wyrem) Spence June 20, 2020 Jake and Korbi (Sigler) Kaufman June 20, 2020 Carlos and Tara (Elpers) Munoz July 11, 2020 Andrew and Megan (Lockwood ) Sabatino August 1, 2020 Connor and Faith (Biermann) Hampton August 7, 2020 Lauren (Bukaty) and Christian Krueger August 8, 2020
Pope Wedding
Abby (Skiles) and Eric Schultz August 8, 2020 Owen and Josephine Toepfer August 8, 2020 Bryan and Katie (Huslig) Thelen September 12, 2020 Aaron and Emily (Vallejo) Pope September 26, 2020 Roy and Emily (Meador) Schmeidler October 17, 2020 BAPTISMS Luke Wellnitz of Greg and Katie (Hamilton) January 13, 2020 Steve Strauss of Charlie and Michelle (Mueller) January 16, 2020 Emma Abernathy Kyle and Carissa (Osner) February 16, 2020 Ethan Micheal Bob of Ryan And Jenna (de Gennaro) March 19 2020 Leo Michael Haack of Pete and Emily (Friedman) April 19, 2020 Gemma Majella Skoch of Tom and Nicole May 10, 2020 Cormac James Morrison of Nicholas and Sarah (Scherschligt) June 1, 2020 Chiara Luce Bernadette Krause to Austin and Mary Kate (Danaher) June 3, 2020
Morales Baptism
Benedict John Schwaller of Dan and Kelly (Chapman) June 7, 2020 Evelyn Jeanne Trader of Kevin an Emily (Majerle) June 13, 2020 Anaya Clare Tatum of Ben and Rushita June 14, 2020 Heston Ford Lutzkanin of Ryan and Marisa (Gingrich) July 2, 2020 Sebastian Frassati Northcott of Peter and Becca (Ashley) July 4, 2020 Josephine Rossi Tinio of Michael and Gina Tinio July 7, 2020 George Fulton Beall of Curtis and Maggie (Sloan) July 10, 2020 Isaac David and Noah Michael Ayers of Sarah and Bryan July 11, 2020 Claire Louise Schmidtberger of Chris and Veronica (Mosier) July 14, 2020 Catherine Joy Doring Of Gregory and Adrienne (Hynek) July 31, 2020 Sadie Maude Haas of Christopher and Cara (Winkley) August 9, 2020 Giorgio Brady Morales of Jacob and Gianna (Fitzmorris) Morales August 22, 2020 Jude Daniel Schiedermayer of Dan and Erin (Hestings) August 27, 2020 Carina John Marie Dennihan of Mike and Kristi (Charlson) August 28, 2020
Trader Baptism
Address Change? Receiving multiple copies? Want to unsuscribe? If so, contact us: 1631 Crescent Rd. Lawrence, KS 66044 (785) 843-0357 kucatholic.org | jconrad@kucatholic.org
NON PROF I T ORG . U. S . P O S TAG E PA I D L AW R E NC E , K S PE R M I T NO. 19 1
STAFF Fr. Mitchel Zimmerman Fr. Dan Morris Sr. Elena Morcelli, AVI Sr. Ruth Kuefler, AVI Sr. Rafaella Cavin, AVI Stacy Cretors Ellen Flood Nick Hardesty Linda Hornik Kyle Kuckelman Emily Liuzza Jen Meitl-Conrad Luke Murray Brian Nelson Mark Wertin Faith Andras, FOCUS Nathan Hall, FOCUS John Michael Lucido, FOCUS Sarah Wessel, FOCUS
Upcoming Events
For more information, check www.kucatholic.org
December 12, 2020
February 6, 2021
L E S S ON S & C A ROL S
DI V INE W INEFEST
St. Lawrence Chapel
Fiorella’s in Overland Park
kucatholic.org
Tickets: divinewinefest.com
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