05 10 19 Vol. 40 No. 37

THELEAVEN.ORG | VOL. 40, NO. 37 | MAY 10, 2019

FOCUSED on the FUTURE Donnelly breaks ground for ‘tranformative’ building

LEAVEN PHOTO BY LORI WOOD HABIGER

Breaking ground for Donnelly College’s new academic building — see artist’s rendering at the top right — are, from left: Msgr. Stuart Swetland, president of Donnelly; Jose Marquez, member of the student senate; Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann; Rachel Cruz, chair of the Donnelly board of directors; Sister Genevieve Robinson, OSB, member of the board of directors; John Romito, member of the board of directors and class of 1966; and Gretchen Meinhardt, president of the Donnelly faculty senate.

By Joe Bollig joe.bollig@theleaven.org

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ANSAS CITY, Kan. — The morning of May 2 dawned with the skies over the city here filled with thunder and rain.

But Donnelly College officials had faith that the groundbreaking for their new academic building wouldn’t be a washout.

Under leaden skies, president Msgr.

Stuart W. Swetland praised the college foundress Sister Jerome Keeler, OSB.

“Sister Jerome was a pioneer in the world of higher education,” he said.

“Not just a Benedictine Sister, but a world-renowned scholar of French literature who saw the need for accessible, high-quality Catholic education in the heart of the city.

“Without Sister Jerome’s commitment to those who might not otherwise be served, Donnelly would not be entering its 70th year of service to the church, to Kansas City, Kansas, and the whole region, and — most importantly — to our wonderful student population.”

“And you noticed,” added Msgr.

Swetland, pausing to glance up at the sun breaking through the clouds, “when I mentioned Sister Jerome, the sun came out.”

The new 72,000-square-foot building will be constructed on the spot now occupied by a parking lot bordered on the east by 18th St. and Tauromee Ave. on the south. Construction of the $19.5 million, three-story building is expected to begin this May and be completed

by July 2020.

The architect for this building is Burns & McDonnell, and the general

contractor is Excel Constructors.

Other project partners are J.E. Dunn Construction, TreanorHL, Gould Evans Associates, MC Realty Group and Mark One Electric Company, Inc. Once the college has moved into the new academic building, the eight-story tower building, a portion of the former Providence Hospital that the college has used as its main facility since it moved to the site in May 1982, will be torn down.

The tower building space will be >> See “NEW” on page 15

MAY 10, 2019 | THELEAVEN.ORG

ARCHBISHOP

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Every parish and parishioner will benefit from campaign

rayers and best wishes to all mothers on this Mother’s Day weekend!

I will be celebrating Mass on Mother’s Day with my mother and the other residents of Mother of Good Counsel Home in St. Louis. It is impossible to express adequately gratitude for those who have not only given us life but have unselfishly sacrificed in so many ways for our welfare.

There is no more important vocation than Christian motherhood.

Thank you to all mothers for giving life and, through your faith, giving eternal life to your children through the waters of baptism.

Parishes serving approximately half of the families of the archdiocese are part of the second cohort currently implementing the One Faith, One Family, One Future in Christ campaign. It has been 20 years since the last archdiocesan capital campaign.

Just as we pool our resources for the Archbishop’s Call to Share campaign to provide annual support for the many educational, pastoral and charitable ministries of the archdiocese, periodically we need to pool our resources to address some extraordinary needs of the archdiocese.

This June, I will turn 70. In five years (if the Lord continues to give me good health), I must submit my resignation to the Holy Father.

This reality motivated me to consider: What are some of the crucial capital and ministerial needs in the archdiocese?

What are some of the challenges that, if left unaddressed, the next archbishop will have to figure out a way to fund or close down programs and facilities.

An important objective in conducting such an archdiocesan-wide

LIFE WILL BE VICTORIOUS ARCHBISHOP JOSEPH F. NAUMANN campaign was to make certain that it helped strengthen our parishes and parochial schools.

That is why almost one third of the campaign ($21 million) will assist parishes address their particular needs.

For parishes operating a parochial elementary school, they may choose to direct all or a portion of the income from the campaign to help with capital improvements or scholarship funds for the school.

If we reach our overall goal of $65 million, then $16 million (one fourth of campaign donations) will remain in parishes to meet the local needs of that church family. An additional $5 million will be available to parishes that have recently gone through consolidations to assist with the repurposing or, in some cases, demolition of buildings.

The next biggest beneficiary of the campaign is priest retirement.

When I arrived in the archdiocese 15 years ago, some of our priests expressed a desire for a retirement residence for priests. Many dioceses offer this option for priests.

The Nebraska dioceses of Omaha and Lincoln have excellent communal retirement residences for priests.

The Diocese of Wichita has one of the best priest retirement facilities in the country.

Based on current market investment assumptions, the campaign will: 1) fully fund our current retirement commitment for priests; 2) modestly increase the retirement benefit for all priests; 3) build a communal retirement residence for priests; and 4) endow the new priests’ residence in order to help fund operating costs and future capital maintenance.

The total amount from the campaign devoted to priests’ retirement is $17 million.

This campaign offers the opportunity to express in a very concrete way love and support for the vast majority of our priests who serve the people of God with fidelity, generosity, zeal and heroic sacrifice.

Providing for the retirement of priests is really the obligation of the parishes where they serve. The only other way to fund the retirement for priests is to increase the annual contribution to priests’ retirement by parishes.

This element of the campaign benefits all parishes, but especially rural parishes, where a higher percentage per capita of our priests serve than in our larger suburban and urban parishes.

One of the beautiful ministries in our archdiocese is Villa St. Francis in Olathe which provides skilled nursing and memory care for the elderly as well as short-term rehabilitation.

It has received a fivestar rating (the highest

possible) from the Commission for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The 180-bed facility is always near maximum capacity, with usually 75-80% of the residents Medicaid-funded. Villa St. Francis, in addition to quality medical care, provides daily Mass for the residents and has on staff two different religious communities of Sisters who are trained nurses.

The archdiocese does not own the facility but is in a long-term lease arrangement. The campaign will provide $10 million to Villa St. Francis, allowing the archdiocese both to purchase the facility and make significant capital improvements equipping Villa St. Francis to serve the elderly for future decades.

The One Faith, One Family, One Future in Christ campaign will also provide $10 million to Savior Pastoral Center, allowing us to make the signature facility for the archdiocese accessible to those with mobility limitations, as well as to renew the infrastructure and enhance the capacity and the quality of the facility.

Originally built as a high school seminary, it annually hosts more than 60,000 individuals for retreats, conferences and meetings. Our diaconate formation, Spiritual Mentorship Program, English and Spanish Cursillo retreats, Marriage Encounter and Retrovaille weekends, Kairos retreats for youth, and a wide range of other pastoral and spiritual activities all take place at Savior Pastoral Center.

The final case element of the campaign is $1 million to support our evangelization efforts.

Though it is the smallest dollar amount of any of the components of the campaign, it is most important according to our pastoral priorities. A portion of this amount

Archbishop Naumann May 10 Benedictine College baccalaureate Mass May 11 Running with the Cows half-marathon and 5K — Bucyrus Donnelly College graduation ceremony May 12 Mass — Mother of Good Counsel, St. Louis May 13 Catholic Charities Golf Classic luncheon “Shepherd’s Voice” recording Pastoral Council meeting May 14 Atchison regional priests meeting — St. Joseph, Nortonville

will be used to help make affordable this October’s Enflame Our Hearts conference that will help form evangelization leadership teams for each of our parishes.

This will be the single most important pastoral event during my tenure in the archdiocese. The evangelization fund from One Faith, One Family, One Future in Christ will also be used to fund archdiocesan-wide communication and other programs to support evangelization efforts in our parishes.

Last year’s first cohort of parishes to conduct the One Faith, One Family, One Future campaign invited 10,000 of our families to make a sacrificial gift, raising more than $10 million.

If we can keep that pace with the remaining 50,000 households, with God’s help our ambitious campaign goal is within reach.

Concrete Work

Any type of repair and new work Driveways, Walks, Patios Member of Queen of the Holy Rosary Parish

Harvey M. Kascht (913) 262-1555

Ethics Council meeting May 15 Presbyteral Council meeting Quarterly newer priests vespers and dinner May 16 CFNEK board advance meeting Confirmation — St. Paul, Olathe May 17 Holy Hour for those to be ordained and social hour — Holy Spirit, Overland Park May 18 Diaconate ordination — Holy Spirit, Overland Park Medical School Mass and Hippocratic Oath — Cathedral of St. Peter, Kansas City, Kansas

The word “one” is intentionally repeated three times in the campaign theme. The campaign gives tangible evidence of the unity of our archdiocese.

Though not every parish or every individual will benefit from every element of the campaign case, every parish and every parishioner will benefit from the campaign. Just as the early church pooled its resources to care for the entire community, so we are uniting together to do something beautiful for God! Please join me in prayer and entrust our campaign efforts to the patron of our archdiocese, Mary, under the title of the Immaculate Conception!

May all that we do be for the glory of her Son, Jesus Christ, and the building up of his kingdom in northeast Kansas!

MAY 10, 2019 | THELEAVEN.ORG

LOCAL NEWS

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SHOCKWAVES

Abortion ruling, Medicaid expansion dominate end of session

By Chuck Weber Special to The Leaven

K

ansas legislators finished the grueling 2019 session with two monumental issues before them: a contentious fight over Medicaid expansion and an astonishing state Supreme Court ruling on abortion.

For many years, the bishops of Kansas, through the Kansas Catholic Conference, have supported expansion, though with grave reservations that included cost and sustainability, as well as the specter of increased public funding for contraceptives and even some abortions.

The state Supreme Court finding that abortion is a constitutional right sent shockwaves through the Capitol and beyond. Early legal analysis of the 199-page decision appears to extend “reproductive rights” far beyond Roe v. Wade.

The ruling came in response to a challenged Kansas law banning the horrific technique called “live dismemberment abortion,” used in the second trimester of pregnancy. State agency data documents that a dozen babies currently die this way each week in Kansas abortion clinics.

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann’s reaction was succinct: “The court’s ruling is more an exercise in creative writing than a serious effort to examine the constitutionality of a statute restricting dismemberment abortions.”

Under the new legal reality of “constitutional abortion,” Medicaid recipients may demand Kansas taxpayer funding for their “reproductive health care.” The current governor is a longtime defender of live dismemberment abortion and cannot be counted on to protect the preborn.

Medicaid, known in Kansas as KanCare, already funds some abortions in rare cases. Nonpartisan legislative researchers say more abortions will take place under expansion. The new court ruling opens the door to a great many more abortions since there is no longer any legal reason to justify limiting funds.

An interim study committee may soon be named to examine the question of abortion funding through Medicaid as well as several other emerging concerns about procedures contrary to the teachings of the church.

Prudence and the common good We cannot and do not and will not forget those in need of health care. They are fellow humans and God’s children, deserving of care and compassion.

Our Catholic ethos compels us to seek preferential treatment for them.

Most health care providers do not accept Medicaid patients because of low reimbursement rates. Government health care is unwieldy, inefficient and often uncaring. Ideally, we should seek the creation of a truly Catholic-centered system of health care that offers compassion and high quality care for all, regardless of means.

We can and should work to regain this model, but that does not help those who need care today. No likely or timely alternative to Medicaid expansion is apparent. That being said, it is our belief that the current bill can and will be greatly improved upon.

The bishops of Kansas encourage the Kansas Legislature to continue this discussion with all haste and sincerity.

The challenge is colossal, but we have spiritual tools at our disposal. Prudence is the first of the cardinal virtues, because it offers us the ability to look at an existing situation and know what ought to be done. It is the ability to make right judgments and can reveal what must be done, when it must be done and how it must be done.

Prudence is not timidity, an avoidance of all danger, cowardice, lack of initiative, self-preservation or never spending money.

We call upon all stakeholders to put aside entrenched ideas and seek the creative spark of the Holy Spirit. We are confident that the Kansas Legislature will continue their work toward a Medicaid expansion law that is not only morally responsible, but truly serves the common good. And we must pass a constitutional amendment refuting the state Supreme Court ruling.

We expect and anticipate these measures to be fully debated and voted upon as the initial major efforts of the 2020 legislative session.

Chuck Weber is the executive director of the Kansas Catholic Conference. Email him at: Chuck@KansasCatholic.org.

President Most Rev. Joseph F. Naumann

Publication No. (ISSN0194-9799)

Editor Rev. Mark Goldasich, stl frmark.goldasich@theleaven.org

LEAVEN PHOTO BY JAY SOLDNER

A crowd of peaceful protesters gather for a candlelight vigil on the sidewalk in front of the Kansas Supreme Court on May 1 in opposition to the court’s decision that ruled the Kansas Constitution includes a right to an abortion.

Managing Editor Anita McSorley anita.mcsorley@theleaven.org

Senior Reporter Joe Bollig joe.bollig@theleaven.org

Reporter Olivia Martin olivia.martin@theleaven.org

Production Manager Todd Habiger todd.habiger@theleaven.org

Advertising Coordinator Beth Blankenship beth.blankenship@theleaven.org

Social Media Editor Moira Cullings moira.cullings@theleaven.org

Published weekly September through May, excepting the Friday the week after Thanksgiving, and the Friday after Christmas; biweekly June through August. Address communications to: The Leaven, 12615 Parallel Pkwy., Kansas City, KS 66109. Phone: (913) 721-1570; fax: (913) 721-5276; or e-mail at: sub@theleaven.com. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Leaven, 12615 Parallel Pkwy., Kansas City, KS 66109. For change of address, provide old and new address and parish. Subscriptions $21/year. Periodicals postage paid at Kansas City, KS 66109.

MAY 10, 2019 | THELEAVEN.ORG

LOCAL NEWS

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Poor of Jesus Christ seek event space for growing ministry

By Olivia Martin olivia.martin@theleaven.org

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ANSAS CITY, Kan. — Some religious orders take time getting off the ground.

Others practically take flight.

Since arriving in the archdiocese from Brazil in 2012, the ministries of the Fraternity the Poor of Jesus Christ (PJC), a public association of the faithful, have more than doubled.

Sister Sentinelle, a member of the community, recalls how, when they first arrived, the Sisters temporarily lived above Shalom House, a Catholic Charities-run shelter for homeless men in Kansas City, Kansas.

“But then, we got [our] convent,” said Sister Sentinelle. “From there, a lot of people started to get to know us — started coming, volunteering and helping us.”

The same happened when the friars moved into the rectory next to Our Lady & St. Rose Parish, also in Kansas City, Kansas.

The Sisters and friars realize now that having space matters — because having space means more opportunity to serve the poor.

And with their expanding ministries now serving over 150 people regularly, the fraternity is actively searching for an event space in the archdiocese that will allow their ministries to flourish even more.

Need for a space The Poor of Jesus Christ’s ministries include providing food and clothing through a food pantry, street ministry with the homeless, and retreats for couples and at-risk youth.

In addition to working with those with addictions and involved in prostitution, the community hosts multiple events per year for the area’s homeless.

Each year, for example, they hold Thanksgiving and Christmas parties and two events called Fishermen’s Net. During those events, the Sisters, friars and volunteers drive around the Kansas City community, pick up the homeless and transport them to a central space. There, they are served a hot meal, and have the chance to take a shower, get a haircut, a manicure and some new clothes.

Participants also have the opportunity to

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE FRATERNITY THE POOR OF JESUS CHRIST

Sister Miracles, PJC, speaks to the crowd at the Rescue Me retreat at Prairie Star Ranch in Williamsburg last summer. The retreat is a cornerstone of the mission of the Fraternity the Poor of Jesus Christ. The community is seeking an event space to house their growing ministry. enjoy games, a spiritual service and some musical entertainment.

“We get them in contact with people who can help them with their Social Security and basic needs that are hard for them to have met,” said Sister Sentinelle.

“We want to give them the opportunity to celebrate important holidays,” she continued, “and speak to them about the love of God and that he came for each of them — and that he came poor.”

So, having a consistent event space will make this work all the more possible.

“We have been dreaming of this space since we got here,” said Sister Sentinelle.

feel is contributing to the breakdown in stability we see,” said Ricke. “To me, if we have a space that you know is a community space, it gives all of us — black, white, Latino — a place to come together, build community, learn and worship together.”

Lisa Muessig of Queen of the Holy Rosary Parish in Overland Park agreed.

“These events are more than a meal,” she said. “It’s one thing to give food and clothing but it’s another to pray with people, meet them where they are and bring them hope.

“The Sisters and friars . . . actually bring Christ’s love [to the poor]; they represent us as a Catholic community.”

A place to fight loneliness

Finding funding

Deanna Ricke, a lay associate of the community and a member of Visitation Parish in Kansas City, Missouri, has been involved with the fraternity for over a year. She has seen how the events the Sisters and friars hold for the homeless address an increasing epidemic in American society: loneliness.

“We have a friendship and relationship deficit in this country . . . that I

To date, it has been difficult for the community to find a space adequate to their needs.

They particularly want a space that could double as a retreat center with a large central room, showers and a kitchen.

As a mendicant community, the Poor of Jesus Christ rely completely on the generosity of others for their food,

How to help To donate, suggest a fundraiser or contact the Sisters, send an email to: guadalupe@ocaminho.org.br.

housing, modes of transportation and more. This has made finding the means to acquire their desired space all the more difficult.

But their ideal space would be in Kansas City, Kansas, near the people they help.

“Every time we go out, we try to raise [the poor’s] dignity as human beings, as sons and daughters of God,” said Sister Sentinelle. “If they know they have a safe place they can go to take a shower, get clean clothes, a hot meal, where they can listen to the words of God and build this relationship with each other, they will feel this love of God for them and feel that the church is supporting and here for them.

“We don’t want to do this in the name of the Poor of Jesus Christ, but in the name of the Catholic Church and in the name of the archdiocese.”

Concert to feature works by Catholic composer

By Joe Bollig joe.bollig@theleaven.org

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AWRENCE — You’ve heard music before, but have you ever experienced “ballade”?

Ballade isn’t the title of a song, but a kind of music you’ll have an opportunity to hear at a fullscale concert of works by composer Brian J. Nelson at 7 p.m. on May 23 at the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center, 1631 Crescent Rd., Lawrence.

Nelson is composer and director of sacred liturgy and music at St. Lawrence, and the ballade he will perform is a narrative poem presented in a musical setting. Nelson uses a poem by St. Hildegard of Bingen, the

medieval mystic and visionary, for one of the pieces.

The presence of more than one ballade underscores the difference between this “full-scale” concert and a “regular” concert.

“It’s a little like the difference between a single and an album in the recording world,” said Nelson. “An album . . . is like a garden, and it also tells a story. Likewise, since all the pieces in this concert are my compositions, I want to draw people into a certain breadth and depth of expression that a single piece cannot communicate.” “[The composition] ‘Hodie Apparuit’ is a setting of a poem by St. Hildegard von Bingen celebrating Mary as the portal of salvation. . . .

This is followed by my ‘Ballade for Violin and Piano.’ . . . Together, these two pieces set up the premiere performance of my ‘Piano Trio, Opus 21.’”

Featured ensembles include: Trio Con Spirito (Yu Fang Chen, violin; Hyerim Map, cello; Soojin Kim, piano); Allegresse Trio (Annie Gnojek, flute; Margaret Marco, oboe; Ellen Sommer, piano); the St. Lawrence Choir; and guests performing a panoply of Nelson’s music.

Tickets are $15 for general admission, $10 for college students and $5 for children ages 7-18. Tickets are available at the door or online at: www.nelsonmusic.com. For more information, call (785) 218-9075.

Brian J. Nelson will perform a concert May 23 at the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas.

MAY 10, 2019 | THELEAVEN.ORG

LOCAL NEWS

5

Gabriel Project offers a friend for the journey

By Marc and Julie Anderson mjanderson@theleaven.org

For more information about Gabriel Project, send an email to director@gabrielprojectkc.com or visit the website at: www.gabriel projectkc.com.

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ANSAS CITY, Kan. — She never expected anyone to answer her telephone call.

After all, it appeared the poster advertising Gabriel Project had been hanging at the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center in Lawrence for quite some time. At least, its worn appearance gave Gabby (not her real name) that impression. Nonetheless, she decided to May 21 call anyway.

Come and See event “I didn’t 7 p.m., bride room at think it would Queen of the Holy work,” Gabby Rosary, Overland Park said.

“I saw the poster as I was walking around campus, trying to figure out what I was going to do,” she continued. “It said: ‘Pregnant?

Need help?’ I thought, ‘Yes, I need help.’

So, I made the call.”

According to coordinator Ann Marie Alvey, Gabriel Project exists to “provide support for any woman in an unplanned pregnancy in the Kansas City area” and seeks to provide “a friend for the journey” by offering “unconditional nonjudgmental friendship along with material and emotional support” through a network of “angel volunteers” who minister to their clients, maintaining confidentiality at all times.

Currently, the program is trying to expand its network of trained angel volunteers throughout the archdiocese.

Alvey will host an informational night on May 21 at Queen of the Holy Rosary Parish in Overland Park for prospective angel volunteers.

One current angel is Traci Streit, a parishioner at St. Patrick Parish in Kansas City, Kansas.

In 2013, Gabriel Project expanded from its parish of origin — Holy Cross Church

Gabriel Project volunteers provide friendship and support to expectant mothers. The project is also looking for outreach coordinators to help expand the ministry to all archdiocesan parishes. in Overland Park — to St. Patrick Parish (among others). Already involved in a little bit of everything — from the choir to religious education — Streit decided to receive training to become an angel and help expectant mothers by providing friendship and material support.

“Most of the needs are usually because a woman is in a situation and doesn’t have a support system,” she said.

“All they perceive is that they’ve got this problem, and they don’t know how to handle it.”

Through the past six years, Streit has provided friendship to several women and has witnessed the power of prayer as God has answered the women’s material needs, too.

Streit recalled one client who found herself homeless in the dead of winter.

Time was of the essence. Streit helped the mother identify shelters, making

Gabriel Project’s needs In an effort to grow the ministry, Gabriel Project could use additional volunteers in a variety of areas: • Angel volunteers to provide friendship and support to expectant mothers • Telephone volunteers to answer the hotline and assess situations • Parish outreach coordinators to help expand the ministry to all archdiocesan parishes

nearly 50 phone calls on her behalf.

Then she spread the word among Gabriel Project’s prayer warriors.

Through the prayer network, someone else heard of the woman’s needs and offered to pay for her to stay at a hotel for one week. That week, Streit said, bought

just enough time for the woman to connect with a family friend and move into a house with that same friend. After some time, the woman was able to afford her own apartment.

Calling it divine intervention, Streit said it was prayer that turned the situation from hopelessness to hope and, finally, joy.

“I really think it was the Holy Spirit,” Streit said.

Most situations, both Alvey and Streit said, aren’t that desperate. Women typically need things such as maternity clothes, diapers, cribs and strollers. Calls to pregnancy resource centers such as Wyandotte County Pregnancy Center fulfill the needs.

For Gabby, the friendship of her angel provided her strength when she needed it. She wasn’t sure she wanted to stay with the baby’s father.

Then she “happened” to see the ministry’s poster.

With Gabby’s family in Wichita and the baby’s father’s family out-of-state, Gabby said she appreciated her angel volunteer who, among other things, just listened to her concerns and encouraged her to talk to her professors.

Expecting to be judged for her actions, Gabby said she was touched by her angel’s kindness. Her angel helped her obtain diapers, a crib and a stroller.

This Mother’s Day, Gabby will mark nearly three months since her son’s birth.

“He’s just the best little boy. I feel like God has a plan for me and him,” she said. “[My angel] really helped us out. She was kind and genuine, and she never judged me. She encouraged me along the way.”

Benedictine College launches Transform Culture in America effort

By Steve Johnson Special to The Leaven

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TCHISON — Benedictine College here has embarked on a process that it hopes will make a significant impact.

On April 13, the college gathered industry leaders, thought leaders and subject matter experts for the first of several meetings in its Transform Culture in America initiative.

“We have spent 10 years with the goal of building one of the great Catholic colleges in America,” said president Stephen D. Minnis. “Now we are asking the question: Why? What can a great Catholic college do? How can we transform culture in America?”

Nine subcommittees are examining the impact the college can have on culture. These include: commerce and finance, with banking and business leaders helping plan initiatives with faculty and board members; technology, with engineers and entrepreneurs proposing ideas; science and health care, gathering leading doctors and scientists; and more.

Nationally known experts are joining the effort. For example, EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo, author Amy Welborn, journalist Elizabeth Scalia and architect Duncan Stroik will help plan how the college can impact arts and media. U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry sits on the civic life

PHOTO COURTESY OF BENEDICTINE COLLEGE

Benedictine College’s Transform Culture in America initiative is examining the impact the Atchison school can have on the culture, including commerce, technology, science and health care. and the law subcommittee.

Brad Wilcox of the University of Virginia, Mary Hasson of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, and the Rev. Eugene Rivers of Boston’s TenPoint Coalition will help address the issue of the family.

The college has been working since June 2018 on this project, a follow-up to Benedictine College’s transformative plan “Benedictine 2020: A Vision for Greatness.”

The college’s board of directors

have met three times about the plan to Transform Culture in America, including a Legacy board meeting in October that brought past board members together to discuss ways the college can transform culture in America. Faculty and staff of the college have met twice, at the beginning of each semester of this school year, to share in the process.

The chair of Benedictine College’s board of directors, Jack Newman, said: “The college has a proven track

record of success and this is a tremendous opportunity to give back to the communities where our alumni live.

These meetings are designed to turn lofty goals into pragmatic, practical solutions, and the college is gathering people who excel at that.”

“A college whose motto is ‘Forward, Always Forward,’ can never be satisfied with past successes,” said Minnis. “We truly believe God blessed Benedictine College not for our own sake but for the sake of others, and we will be judged on our generosity. So, we are brainstorming ways the college’s mission of community, faith and scholarship can transform culture in America.”

The college’s mission is “the education of men and women within a community of faith and scholarship.” Preparatory materials for the Transforming Culture meetings note that the mission mirrors the way Benedictines transformed Western culture through community, faith and scholarship.

“Our mission can transform culture in America by modeling community in an age of incivility, spreading faith in an age of hopelessness, and committing to scholarship in a ‘post-truth’ era,” reads the Benedictine’s Transforming Culture in America document.

The process will finish in 2020 with a strategic plan after subcommittees and the board of directors finish their work of collecting ideas, examining them and prioritizing them.

MAY 10, 2019 | THELEAVEN.ORG

FAMILY LIFE

Am I a fixer or a listener?

By Deacon Tony Zimmerman Special to The Leaven

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n the day of our daughter’s wedding rehearsal, I got a call from one of her sisters about the bride-to-be’s stressed-out state.

My daughter who called expressed frustration with her older sister’s testy responses and attitude. Now, being a guy and a dad, I could have misread this phone call as a request to “fix” TOOLS FOR the situation. Our FAMILIES daughter who Growing as called just needed Disciples of someone to listen Jesus and understand her feelings.

After hanging up the phone, I took a deep breath and asked Our Lord for direction so that I could be the dad that both our daughters needed in this situation. Weddings are a time of joy, but getting to that moment can be — and usually is — stressful.

After reflecting on what I heard and asking for God’s guidance, I called our soon-to-be-married daughter. I didn’t tell her about her sister’s call or try to offer suggestions about the situation. I just said, “Hi. So how is your morning going so far?”

Our daughter began to talk about all the things going wrong and about all

PHOTO COURTESY OF DEACON TONY ZIMMERMAN

Deacon Tony Zimmerman gives a kiss to his daughter on her wedding day. With the stress of the wedding coming down on her, he found that being a good listener was what his daughter needed rather than someone to fix the problem. the loose ends regarding the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner and the wedding that seemed to be getting out of control.

I could hear emotions (tears?) as she talked. In the end, her voice seemed a little lighter. I listened and told her I loved her and said goodbye.

After the call, I felt thankful and at peace. I realized that I owed this grace-

filled moment with my daughter to God’s loving guidance.

Oftentimes as a dad, I would have charged into situations like this with all sorts of suggestions to save the day.

Sometimes, I would see a look of frustration in the eyes of the other person and I was puzzled. Weren’t they asking for my help? No. They simply wanted me to listen and know what it is like to be them.

The next time you encounter a situation like this, what steps might you take to be the parent your child needs at that moment?

1) Start with prayer.

2) Open with a statement that reflects back what you think you are hearing from the other person. Something like, “Wow, this must be really frustrating.” This gives the other person the assurance that you care about them. It also opens the door for them to share what is going on in their heart and mind.

3) Don’t offer solutions. Don’t minimize their feelings with words like, “I am sorry that you feel that way” or “You are just overreacting.” These words are not helpful but dismissive of the other person.

4) Remember in moments like these, take a deep breath and ask for God’s grace to guide you before you begin to listen.

6

Catholic Cemeteries is looking for workers Memorial Day weekend

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ANSAS CITY, Kan. — Catholic Cemeteries is looking for Catholic students age 16 and older who want to earn service hours or earn extra money on Memorial Day weekend.

Work time will be from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on May 25-27. There will be a required 45 minutes of paid training at 4:30 p.m. on May 24 at the Catholic Cemeteries office, located at 9290 Bond, Suite 102, Overland Park.

Students will hand out surveys to people entering the cemetery, collect them from those leaving the cemetery, keep track of how many people come through the entrance, act as greeters and direct those with questions to Catholic Cemeteries employees.

Cemeteries that need workers are: • Resurrection, 83rd and Quivira, Lenexa (4-5 workers needed) • Mount Calvary, 38th and State, Kansas City, Kansas (4-6 workers needed) • Mount Calvary, 1011 N. DeSoto Rd., Lansing (2 workers needed) • Gate of Heaven, 126th & Parallel Pkwy., Kansas City, Kansas (2 workers needed) • Mount Calvary, 801 S.W. Westchester Rd., Topeka (4-6 workers needed) The first students to reply may choose the cemetery at which they wish to work.

Workers will be provided with staff shirts, lunch, snacks and water.

MAY 10, 2019 | THELEAVEN.ORG

LOCAL NEWS

However you earned the title of ‘Mom,’ you sacrificed for the privilege

By Caroline T. Saia Special to The Leaven

B

efore I gave birth, if someone had asked me, “Do you consider yourself a strong person?” I would have certainly hesitated and perhaps said, “No, not really.”

If you’re looking for strength, allow me to refer you to my sister and co-blogger Emily, whose strong will has expressed itself since she was a tiny human. Anything labeled “the hard way” or “not for everyone” immediately grabs her interest. And

by God, she does it. Currently, she is attempting to run a marathon in every state. I think she’s up to 10 now.

I, on the other hand, am a maximizer, meaning I maximize off of the strength that’s naturally there.

I tend to steer away from challenge and places I may fail.

Unlike Emily, it takes a bit more to “fire me up.” I can recall my dad encouraging me at my soccer games, “It’s OK to play a little angry” as I was passively allowing the opponent to get the ball, because I thought that was “being nice.”

And when I arrived at the hospital after laboring at home for a couple days, I was smiling. I only know that because every medical personnel I encountered told me so after I reported having contractions. “Well you’re smiling,” they would say skeptically. I wonder if it’s a rule-out: If smiling, she is not in labor. I suppose I was just abiding by social etiquette and “being nice.”

Eventually, I was invited back for an examination. And much to everyone’s surprise (including me and my husband), I was already dilated to 9cm. Not wanting to lose momentum, which I’ve heard can sometimes happen with an epidural, I decided to continue laboring without pain medication. My husband told me later about the look of astonishment on the charge nurse’s face as I was escorted to a delivery room.

And I’ll just tell you that the smile did vanish for a while. I’ve been told there comes a time in most women’s labor when she feels — as in, actually believes — she cannot do this.

Usually, this happens just before the end.

This was the case for me. I can remember saying the words, “I can’t do this! I don’t know what to do.”

I was scared. I did not think I had the strength, and I wanted someone else to do it. I wanted God to “take this cup from me.” But no one could do this for me. I remember my OB giving me perhaps the biggest pep talk of my life, asking for just one more big push. If I had held anything back before, I surrendered it all in that final moment, everything I had left.

I knew it was enough, because immediately the pain was over.

The work was finished, and relief washed over me in a giant wave.

Until this moment, I hadn’t realized my eyes were closed the whole time.

Even in this last phase of pregnancy, I had been avoiding the pain. I was

7

Seminarian Trivia Night returns

By Joe Bollig joe.bollig@theleaven.org

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Caroline T. Saia holds her newborn daughter Marigold Jeanne. As her husband Brandon whispered, “Caroline, it’s a girl,” she shared it was the closest to heaven she ever felt.

in complete darkness.

“Caroline, open your eyes,” my doctor invited. “Meet your child.”

And passing the baby to my chest, my husband whispered, “Caroline, it’s a girl.”

And that is the closest thing to heaven I’ve ever felt. There was no more suffering, no more blindness.

And I finally met this person whom I’d been connected to intimately but never truly touched or laid eyes on before. And I was called by name as I hope to be a long time from now, “Caroline, open your eyes. Meet your God.” It was shocking and peaceful, familiar and new, all at once.

I’ll never forget God speaking through my OB as he said, “I’ve delivered a lot of babies, thousands of babies, and you are incredible.”

I thought, he probably says that to all moms. And I actually hope that he does, because it’s true. We’re all incredible.

Whether you give birth naturally, incorporate medication, undergo surgery, battle through adoption papers, or any other way you come to be called “mom,” you sacrifice yourself. We all ran the marathon.

Some of us were pushing a stroller and some of us had a personal record. And it was hard work that tested all of us.

Like Lent, pregnancy does not have to be random suffering where we temporarily fast from certain food and drink, give up pleasures such as travel, and live perhaps a tad more uncomfortably than usual until our Easter morning of delivery arrives and we can resume the prepregnancy lives we once led.

Rather, parts of us die and other parts are brought to life as a result

of the journey.

My Grandma Jeanne embarked on 11 of these journeys. Clearly, the woman had grit, but equal to her toughness was her overflowing kindness and gentleness. Fittingly, she has lovingly been called a “velvet hammer.” As I mentioned, I always thought I was all velvet: nice, delicate and easy to manipulate. But in pregnancy and childbirth, God revealed the hammer beneath the fabric in a miraculous way. Maybe it’s patience, surrender, strength, tenderness, faith — but just look and see how God uses this experience to develop and unveil a gift within you that you’d never known existed.

Maybe you recently experienced the hard work of Lent, and you can now indulge in something you fasted from. Perhaps it was just a tough season of life, and today you are enjoying a holiday with family.

And I so hope I’m talking to even just one pregnant woman out there.

Rather than meaningless pain, I hope this season has offered you a change for the better as a result of challenge. I hope you feel glorious, because you are.

EAWOOD — The oncepopular Seminarian Trivia Night is returning to St. Michael the Archangel Parish here on May 22.

The game-show format event, which ran from 2013 to 2015, is being reintroduced by the archdiocesan vocations office as a way to raise funds to benefit seminarians, have a bit of fun and offer people — particularly young men — a chance to interact with current archdiocesan seminarians.

“It had a ‘roast your seminarians’ theme, but we’ve gone away from that,” said Father Dan Morris, archdiocesan vocations director.

Father Morris encourages parishes to invite young men so that it might be “something that opens their hearts and minds to a vocation in their own lives.”

Invitations have already gone out to parishes and college campus centers to form eight-person teams to attend the event, which will be held from 6:15 to 9 p.m.

The way the game works is that each team of eight — with seminarians being the ninth player — will answer a series of questions under various categories, somewhat like “Jeopardy!”

The seminarians will rotate among the tables for each round.

The doors open at 6:15 p.m. so teams can decorate their tables. The top team will win a gift card and an opportunity to attend a special Mass celebrated by one of the newly ordained priests.

The second-place team will also win a gift card. The top-scoring seminarian wins a prize, and a prize also goes to the team with the best-decorated table.

Teams are encouraged to create a team name that can be used to decorate their table according to the theme.

There will also be fun “dollar” games and “mulligans” sold to help boost scores during difficult rounds.

Soft drinks and sandwiches will be provided, but teams are encouraged to bring their own favorite beverage, dessert or other snacks.

During halftime, Father Scott Wallisch will give a short tribute of each of the six men being ordained that weekend.

The cost to attend is $300 per table.

For information and to register online, go to: www.archkck.org/vocations-new.

At the top of the vocations page, click on the “Events” pull-down menu and then “Trivia Night.” Scroll down the page and go to “Click here for online registration.”

Olathe Scout earns Eagle Riley Vandaveer, a member of Prince of Peace Parish in Olathe and Boy Scout Troop 225, was awarded the rank of Eagle Scout on Feb. 17.

Vandaveer’s Eagle project involved the landscaping and beautification of Villa St. Francis, a Catholic retirement community in Olathe.

BEYOND THE BEAUTY St. Croix mission trip changes hearts, minds

By Susan Fotovich McCabe Special to The Leaven

I

t’s hard to believe that tropical breezes, white-sand beaches and warm sun can serve as the backdrop to anything but vacationing crowds.

But for many of the citizens of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, it’s the backdrop to poverty, generations of need and a steady stream of volunteers.

Today, the island continues to recover from a Category 5 hurricane in September 2017.

Students and parents from the archdiocese’s rural youth outreach ministry and Mother Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Topeka were among those who volunteered to help in the recovery during a mission trip to St. Croix in March.

Their theme for the week centered on: “Suffering produces perseverance, and perseverance, character; and character, hope, and hope does not disappoint” (Rom 5:3-5a).

And while the beaches turned heads, the experience changed hearts and minds, according to Nancy Ruoff, the youth ministry coordinator at Mother Teresa.

“There is a wide gap of needs on the island. There are people who lost everything in the hurricane and those who are very wealthy. But not a lot in between,” Ruoff said. “For the students who participated in the mission trip, I haven’t found anything else that brings the kind of change of heart and values as a mission trip. They came back changed. You can’t experience this and not have it be a part of you going forward.”

The students, ages 14 to 18, represented seven northeast Kansas parishes. The group partnered with Catholic HEART Workcamp, which provides parish youth groups and their adult leaders with opportunities to participate in mission trips around the globe.

Many of the students had never even seen a beach before; some had never flown on a plane. Katelyn Bittner, a junior at Seaman High School in Topeka, wasn’t sure what the experience would be like.

“I don’t exactly remember what I was expecting. You get an image of what it’s going to be, what’s going to happen, but it’s from a detached point of view,” she said. “When you experience it for yourself, the

Emily Broxterman of St. Stanislaus Parish, Rossville, and Devin Appelhanz of Mother Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Topeka paint the ceiling of a damaged classroom. image you created days, weeks, months ago doesn’t matter. It’s immediately replaced by the opportunity to interact with others in the first person — feeling and learning about that which you can’t imagine until you’ve done it.”

Topeka’s Hayden High School sophomore Rhen Calhoon experienced similar shock at what she had seen when arriving at the island.

“I knew they had just gotten hit by a hurricane and the island was going to be damaged, but I tried not to look into it too much. When I got there, it was worse than I had ever imagined,” Calhoon said. “We were all in disbelief. There were many houses with tarps over roofs, buildings that had collapsed, people without shelter, and many kids doing whatever they could to get one single plate of food.”

In fact, according to Ruoff, many of the children on the island felt unworthy of the blessings they received from their visitors during the week.

“One recipient looked at the plate of food and asked, ‘Do I get to eat all of this?’” Ruoff said. “It just breaks your heart.”

Riley Bontrager of Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in Seneca helps with vacation Bible school at St. Patrick School in Frederiksted Southeast, U.S. Virgin Islands.

While on the island, the students helped stock a food pantry, led a vacation Bible school, worked with the Sisters of Charity to feed the poor, painted a school, cleaned and repaired portions of a church that had been severely damaged by

the hurricane, cleared out and replanted a flower bed, made bracelets and attended daily Mass with many of the people they served.

“Sharing my reflection with others was a moving moment for me, because I felt comfort-

able sharing with our group.

We felt like family,” said Garrett Hammer, an 8th-grader at Royal Valley Middle School in Mayetta. “It made me feel grateful.

I felt more open to talking to others, which is not something I am usually comfortable with

Kamryn Appelhanz, left, of Mother Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Topeka and Anna Schuckman of St. Stanislaus Parish in Rossville prepare their team’s lunches for the workday.

Members of the Mother Teresa of Calcutta youth group and the archdiocesan rural youth outreach ministry work to paint and repair the St. Joseph School cafeteria in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which was damaged by two Category 5 hurricanes in September 2017.

Chaperone Jenne Appelhanz and her son Devin, members of Mother Teresa of Calcutta Parish, Topeka, work to replace and repair toilets.

George Gigstad of St. Joseph Parish, Nortonville, and Jordan Bittner of St. Stanislaus Parish, Rossville — members of the Northeast Kansas Rural Youth Council — clean and organize the library at St. Joseph High School in Frederiksted. doing. I felt refreshed from all the noise from the world. It was good to have God touch others through me, even if I didn’t realize it was happening.”

Ruoff regularly plans events for her students to help those in need. This time, however, she opened the invitation to Angie Bittner, the archdiocese’s rural youth outreach coordinator, and her students. Bittner said it was a good opportunity to step away from the riches we experience in the United States and witness the hardships encountered by others.

“I think the kids really got

the chance to know Christ better throughout this trip,” she said. “Any time we move away from technology and the busyness of day-to-day life, it gives us the chance to listen to the whisper of God that we often don’t take the time to hear. We had so many opportunities to live and serve selflessly on this trip, we couldn’t help but be transformed closer to what God hopes for us.”

Not every student was given the assignment they had anticipated. But, by the end of the week, they had discovered that God’s plan was exactly what

they needed.

Such was the case with Kamryn Applehanz, a freshman at Seaman High School. Applehanz wanted to work with students in the island’s orphanage but was assigned to work instead with adults with intellectual disabilities.

For Applehanz, disappointment quickly turned to discovery.

“I was extremely disappointed, but I said a prayer,” Applehanz said. “I told God that I trusted there was something he needed me to know.

Sure enough, God pulled

through — like always. That first day kicked off a train of amazing memories I will never forget and an openness that allowed me to grow in so many ways.”

Lauren Brown, a junior at Seaman, had a sobering experience the first day that stuck with her.

“We went to a school and played with kids,” said Brown.

“I was playing with this one little girl and she was very shy at the beginning of the day.”

“After a while, she warmed up to me and she didn’t want to leave my side,” Brown continued. “Towards the end of the day, she said to me, ‘Are you coming back tomorrow?’”

When Brown told her that she didn’t think so — the volunteers were scheduled for work the next day — the little girl was dismayed.

“I hope you come back because you are my only friend,” she told Brown.

“That day just stuck with me because knowing that I wouldn’t be able to go back and see her broke my heart,” said Brown. “Just thinking about how sad she would be the next day made me so sad.”

While encounters like these moved the young volunteers to tears, others lifted and inspired them.

For example, the group had the pleasure of observing the work of the Sisters of Charity, a vibrant force in the St. Croix community.

“We were so excited to interact with them,” Bittner said. “They’ve given their lives

completely to serve wherever they’re called to serve. They go about this work with vigor and nonjudgmental love and persistence. They keep knocking and inviting and showing up. They taught us how to be respectful in the island’s culture. They’re also very humble.

It was such an honor to serve alongside them.”

Bittner and Ruoff encourage the people of the archdiocese to pray for those in need in St. Croix. But they have an even broader message about people in need around the globe and here at home.

“Be aware that when we vacation somewhere, we get to see the beautiful part of an island or a resort, but there’s this entire other reality of the way people who work there actually live,” Bittner said. “Everyone we come in contact with deserves sincere respect, not just [to be] treated like someone who should serve us.”

“And we don’t have to travel thousands of miles to find communities that are underserved and neglected,” she added. “They’re right within our own towns. They deserve our respect and love — not to be treated like a lesser class of person. We can offer sacrifices for them, knowing they have so little and we have so much.”

The students did get to enjoy a four-hour stretch on the beach the last day and are now hard at work planning their trip to World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal, in August 2022. A return trip to St. Croix may happen next year as well.

MAY 10, 2019 | THELEAVEN.ORG

WORLD

10

DIFFERENCE MAKER

Jean Vanier, who changed lives of intellectually disabled, dies

By Michael Swan Catholic News Service

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ORONTO (CNS) — Jean Vanier, 90, founder of L’Arche communities and co-founder of Faith and Light, died May 7. Vanier had been suffering from cancer and was assisted at a L’Arche facility in Paris.

Vanier was the author of some 30 books, a member of the Order of Canada, winner of the Templeton Prize and member of France’s Legion of Honor, but he was perhaps best known as a kind of village elder to the world.

Vanier permanently changed the fate of intellectually disabled people everywhere by demonstrating how the care of a community could open lives to meaning, joy, hope and trust — not just the lives of the disabled, but the lives also of those who live with them and care for them.

“Jean Vanier’s legacy lives on. His life and work changed the world for the better and touched the lives of more people than we will ever know,” L’Arche Canada spokesperson John Guido said in a prepared statement.

Over the past year, Vanier gradually entered into the sort of frailty and weakness natural to his age, before entering palliative care in France in April.

In a visit to Chicago in 2006 to accept the Catholic Theological Union’s Blessed are the Peacemakers Award, Vanier said he had noticed that people who have mental disabilities often have great faith, but they never speak of “Christ” or “the Lord.”

“They always talk about Jesus,” Vanier said. “It’s a personal relationship.”

In L’Arche communities, the disabled residents are seen as the “core members,” and treated as individuals, with respect and love, and nondisabled and disabled residents alike learn to live together.

“Our danger is to see what is broken in a person, what is negative, and not to see the person,” said Vanier. “It’s not just a question of believing in God, but of believing in human beings, believing in ourselves, and seeing people as God sees them.”

That means not relating to them from a sense of power, even if that power comes from generosity.

“Generosity is something that is good,” Vanier said. “When we have more wealth, resources and time, we want to succor those in need, and that’s good. But behind generosity is a notion of power. Generosity must flow into an encounter. We must meet people. It’s not a question of doing for, but of listening to their stories.”

The son of George Vanier, former governor general of Canada, and Pauline Archer, whose cause for sainthood

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CNS PHOTO/ABRAMORAMA

Jean Vanier, founder of the L’Arche communities, appears in the documentary “Summer in the Forest.” Vanier, a Canadian religious figure whose charity work helped improve conditions for the developmentally disabled in multiple countries over the past half century, died May 7 at age 90.

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“JEAN VANIER’S LEGACY LIVES ON. HIS LIFE AND WORK CHANGED THE WORLD FOR THE BETTER AND TOUCHED THE LIVES OF MORE PEOPLE THAN WE WILL EVER KNOW.” as a couple remains active, Vanier was educated at boarding schools in England, France and Canada. Though his father disapproved, Vanier entered the Royal Navy at Dartmouth Naval College in England in 1942 and became an officer serving on various warships from 1945 to 1950. In 1949, the young officer transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy.

Along with his military career, Vanier nurtured a deepening and very traditional Catholic faith — spending long hours at prayer on the deck of ships as he kept watch. By 1950, he felt he needed something more than his naval career could give him. He resigned his commission and began

theological and philosophical studies, leading to his Ph.D. in philosophy from Paris’ Institut Catholique in 1962.

From Paris, he moved on to teaching philosophy at St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto. But his academic career was still not satisfying his hunger for meaning. In the ferment of the Second Vatican Council, Vanier began to explore religious life guided

by Dominican Father Thomas Philippe.

It was Father Philippe who urged Vanier to visit psychiatric hospitals in northern France. There he met institutionalized men with intellectual disabilities who were brutalized and neglected.

One of these men asked Vanier, “Will you be my friend?” From that moment, the international L’Arche movement of communities dedicated to people with intellectual disabilities began. With Raphael Simi and Philippe Seux, two formerly institutionalized men, Vanier established the first L’Arche (“The Ark”) community in an unheated, tumbledown stone house at Trosly-Breuil, north of Paris, in 1964.

Speaking to The Catholic Register last year, Vanier seemed still surprised that this precarious experiment had grown to 147 communities operating in 35 countries for the benefit of approximately 10,000 core members — the intellectually disabled people who form

the core of every L’Arche community are called “core members.”

“I began in a rather dilapidated house. I didn’t realize it was something rather new,” Vanier said in an April 2018 interview. “What I really see is the hand of God. Doors started opening.

Money started coming. It was just the hand of God, as if somewhere the pain of God was somewhere that the littlest people, the weakest people were being rejected.”

L’Arche’s embrace of multiculturalism and interfaith communities began in Canada, particularly under the guidance of Father Henri Nouwen, the Dutch-born theologian who lived several years at L’Arche Daybreak in Ontario.

Over the years, Vanier was transformed by his own movement. From the tall, reserved, conservative and serious Catholic and former naval officer, he became the grandfatherly, twinkle-eyed friend of people who could never read his books and cared nothing about all his academic accomplishments.

“Living with people with disabilities is so simple. You have fun together,” he told The Catholic Register. “They’re not intellectual people. They’re not people who are going to have big discussions about finance, politics, philosophy. They like to have fun.”

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MAY 10, 2019 | THELEAVEN.ORG

VATICAN

Pope draws lessons from Mother Teresa in city of her birth

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CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING

Children hold a gift showing St. Teresa of Kolkata and Pope Francis before the pope’s visit to the Mother Teresa Memorial in Skopje, North Macedonia.

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

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KOPJE, North Macedonia (CNS) — Pope Francis went to the tiny Balkan nation of North Macedonia to pay tribute to a tiny saint who accomplished big things: St. Teresa of Kolkata.

Mother Teresa was born Agnes Ganxhe Bojaxhiu to Albanian parents in Skopje Aug. 26, 1910, so after paying the obligatory formal visit to North Macedonia’s president, Pope Francis went May 7 to the memorial and museum built on the site of the church where she was baptized. The church was later destroyed in an earthquake.

“Moved by the love of God,” the pope told the president, Mother Teresa “made love of neighbor the supreme law of her life.”

At the memorial, Pope Francis did not speak about the saintly founder of the Missionaries of Charity, but after praying silently before her relics, he praised God for the gift of her life and prayed for her intercession for North Macedonia.

Pope Francis also prayed that God would give Christians the grace “to become signs of love and hope in our own day when so many are poor, abandoned, marginalized and migrants.”

Among the guests present at the memorial were dozens of Missionaries of Charity, about 100 of the people they serve in Skopje, and two of Mother Teresa’s cousins, the Vatican said.

Celebrating Mass in the nearby Macedonia Square on a brisk spring morning, Pope Francis drew people’s attention to human hungers — the hunger for bread, but also the hunger for truth, for God and for love.

“How well Mother Teresa knew all this and desired to build her life on the twin pillars of Jesus incarnate in the Eucharist and Jesus incarnate in the poor,” he said. “Love received and love given” marked her journey from Skopje to India and kept her going.

Too many people, he said, “have become accustomed to eating the stale bread of disinformation,” and so they end up being prisoners of a worldview that makes them either indifferent to others or downright hostile.

Christians must never be afraid to tell God that they are hungry “for an experience of fraternity in which indifference, disparagement and contempt will not fill our tables or take pride of place in our homes,” he said. “We are hungry, Lord, for encounters where your word can raise hope, awaken tenderness and sensitize the heart by opening paths of

CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING

Pope Francis prays in front of a statue of Mother Teresa at the Mother Teresa Memorial during a meeting with religious leaders and the poor in Skopje, North Macedonia, May 7.

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“EACH OF YOU IS CALLED, LIKE MOTHER TERESA, TO WORK WITH YOUR HANDS, TO TAKE LIFE SERIOUSLY AND MAKE SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL OF IT.” transformation and conversion.”

Hunger for connection, for peaceful relations and for a better world are the stuff of young people’s dreams, Pope Francis said at an afternoon meeting with Christian, Muslim and Jewish young people.

“What adventure requires more courage than the dream . . . of giving hope to a weary world?” the pope asked the young people gathered at the pastoral center of Sacred Heart Cathedral.

“Our world is weary and divided, and we can be tempted to keep it divided and to become divided ourselves,” he said. But young people must keep dreaming to “keep alive our certainty

that another world is indeed possible and that we are called to get involved, to help build that world through our work, our efforts and our actions.”

Think of Mother Teresa, the pope told the young people. She could not have imagined what her life would become, but “she kept dreaming and tried to see the face of Jesus, her great love, in all those people on the sides of the road” in Kolkata. “She dreamed in a big way, and this is why she also loved in a big way.”

Mother Teresa liked to call herself “a pencil in the hands of God,” he said, and when she gave God control of her life, he “began to write new and amazing pages of history with that pencil.”

“Each of you is called, like Mother Teresa, to work with your hands, to take life seriously and make something beautiful of it,” the pope told them.

Father Goce Kostov, an Eastern-rite priest, and his wife, Gabriela Kostova, addressed the pope at his last event in North Macedonia, an early evening meeting with priests and their families and with members of religious orders.

Kostova told him that as the wife of priest, “I share with him all his joys and concerns.” With four boys, ages 1-15, and with a daughter who died in infancy,

the family has experienced how family prayer brings strength, she said.

“As a priest,” Father Kostov said, “God has given me the grace to be able to experience physical paternity in my family and, at the same time, spiritual paternity in my parish. The two are complementary and complete each other. When the tenderness, love, patience and compassion for my family, especially the children, is reflected in the parish, it bears fruit.”

Pope Francis thanked the priests, their families and the religious of both the Latin- and Eastern-rite Catholic communities for helping him experience the fullness of Catholic identity.

According to Vatican statistics, there are only about 15,000 Catholics in the country, which is less than 1 percent of the population, but the pope told the priests and religious if they become obsessed with numbers, they will start thinking everything is up to them.

Instead, he pointed again to Mother Teresa, a “concrete sign of how one small person, anointed by the Lord,” could spread the perfume of the Gospel far and wide.

“History is written by people like this, people unafraid to offer their lives for love,” the pope said.

MAY 10, 2019 | THELEAVEN.ORG

CLASSIFIEDS

EMPLOYMENT Director of music - Good Shepherd Parish in Shawnee seeks a full-time director of music. We seek an accomplished musician with an appreciation of and experience in a wide variety of liturgical music. The candidate should have a deep knowledge of liturgy, the liturgical year and a strong sense of appropriate music selections for various liturgies, including funerals and weddings.

The position requires expertise in vocal technique and choral conducting experience. Proficiency with keyboard accompaniment (piano) is required as is the ability to work with and coordinate volunteer instrumentalists. A desire to work with our growing Hispanic community is essential. The position is immediately available, but start dates are negotiable. For further consideration, please email a cover letter and resume to Father Kent O’Connor at: frkent@gsshawnee.org. Video links to performances/ celebrations where you are demonstrating your skills are appreciated.

Executive director of institutional advancement Saint Thomas Aquinas High School (Overland Park) is seeking an executive director of institutional advancement with a proven track record to serve as the chief development officer for the school. The director reports to the president in direct consultation with the board of trustees. S/He is responsible for securing financial support to advance the mission of the school, including overseeing a comprehensive fundraising and alumni relations program. This includes, but is not limited to, furthering the development of the annual fund; cultivating and securing major and planned gifts; promotion and marketing effort; and other stewardship opportunities. The ideal candidate will have at least five years of not-for-profit experience, a willingness to quickly grow to understand a Catholic educational environment and a proven ability to work with a diverse community. Interested candidates should send a letter of interest and resume to: Dr. Bill Ford, President, St. Thomas Aquinas High School, 11411 Pflumm Road, Overland Park, KS 66215 or via email at: wpford@stasaints.net Special education teacher - Bishop Miege High School is seeking a full-time special education teacher for the 2019-20 school year. The ideal candidate would have Kansas licensure and three years’ experience in a SPED program and be able to work in collaboration with a team to increase services provided to students on support plans. Send a letter of interest and resume to: mjaksa@bishopmiege.com.

Caregiver - Reliable caregiver needed who is knowledgeable in handling a variety of emergency situations and is adept at meal preparation, grocery shopping, running errands, assisting in the maintenance of a household and developing strong rapport with client. Call Gina at (785) 521-8026.

Teachers - Hiring part-time and substitute teachers for our 2019-20 school year at Our Lady’s Montessori School. Send an email to: jwallace@olmskc.org.

School nurse - St. Ann School in Prairie Village is seeking a full-time nurse for the 2018-19 school year. Applicants need to be a registered nurse with basic life-support training and hold a current Kansas license. Interested applicants should email a resume and cover letter to assistant principal Jessica Husted at: jhusted@stannpv.org.

Administrator - The Saint Paul’s Outreach Kansas City regional center is looking for a full-time administrator.

Duties include: assisting the regional director; budget planning and oversight; some program and development administration, etc. Email: celia.noffke@spo.org for a full job description. If interested, email a resume to: celia. noffke@spo.org by May 15.

Spanish teacher - St. Ann School in Prairie Village is seeking a full-time kindergarten - eighth-grade Spanish teacher for the 2019-20 school year. Interested applicants should complete the teacher application process online at: www.archkckcs.org and email a resume to assistant principal Jessica Husted at: jhusted@stannpv.org.

English/language arts teacher - St. Thomas Aquinas High School is seeking to fill a full-time teaching position in the English/language arts for the 2019-20 school year.

Interested candidates must be able to secure a Kansas teacher license. To apply, forward a letter of application and resume to Dr. Bill Ford., President, St. Thomas Aquinas High School, 11411 Pflumm Rd., Overland Park, KS 66215, or email to: wpford@stasaints.net.

Director of Christian formation and evangelization St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Leawood is seeking a director for our Christian formation and evangelization department. This director will collaborate with the pastor, DRE and youth ministers to formulate and execute a comprehensive plan of evangelization. This will include pre-evangelization, outreach, invitation, RCIA and faith formation with a goal of making intentional disciples. The preferred candidate will be a prayerful, practicing Catholic with experience in management. Vital to this position are excellent administration, organization and communication skills, plus the interpersonal skills and personality necessary to motivate staff and a team of volunteers. The candidate must be articulate and confident in matters of faith with an obvious passion for evangelization. A master’s degree in religious education, religious studies or theology is preferred but we will accept a candidate with a bachelor’s degree who has management or leadership skills. For additional details and a complete job description, go online to: www.stmichaelcp.org, click on “Our Parish,” and scroll down and click on the tab “Employment Opportunities.”

Counselor - Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Missouri, is accepting applications for an FTE position in the school counseling department. Applicants must hold a master’s degree in school counseling or related counseling degrees and must be (or be eligible to be) certified/licensed as a counselor in Missouri. Counselors are responsible for assisting the academic, personal and social needs of their students. The ideal candidate should be open to conversations of faith as related to decision making; be open to participating actively in the pastoral life of the school; and be involved in the co-curricular life of the school. Interested persons should send a resume or curriculum vitae to Mr. Chris Bosco, assistant principal for student life, at: cbosco@rockhursths. edu or 9301 State Line Rd., Kansas City, MO 64114 and fill out the job application online at: rockhursths.edu, click on”About Us,” then click on “Job Opportunities” for a full job description and to apply.

Executive administrative assistant - St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Leawood has an immediate opening for this position in the parish office. Job duties include: assisting the pastor and parish administrator with meeting schedules; correspondence and other clerical matters; maintaining the parish membership database; scheduling rooms; and managing the parish calendar. Applicants for this position must have very strong computer skills, including extensive experience with Microsoft Word and Excel; working knowledge of database management software; and have an aptitude for working with office equipment such as multiline phone systems, copiers, etc. The successful applicant will be very detail oriented and self-directed; will possess strong organizational, communication and interpersonal skills; and be a willing team player. This is a permanent, full-time position and includes the archdiocesan benefits package. Salary will be commensurate with experience. For additional details and a complete job description, go to: www.stmichaelcp.org, click on “Our Parish,” and scroll down and click on the tab “Employment Opportunities.”

Mini-storage facility manager - Shawnee/Lenexa area.

30 - 35 hrs/week. Job tasks include helping customers with storage needs; following up on sales prospects; collecting payments; monthly billings; collecting delinquencies; keeping the site in good shape; and frequent property walks. Manager must have a pleasant disposition, good telephone skills and be comfortable using a computer. Other responsibilities include light maintenance which includes cleaning units; sweeping; mopping; changing light bulbs; and cleaning the office.

Great opportunity for retired person or couple. Send inquiries to PO Box 860049, Shawnee, KS 66286. Members, St. Joseph Parish.

Caregivers - Daughters & Company is looking for several compassionate caregivers to provide assistance to ambulatory seniors in their home, assisted living or in a skilled nursing facility. We provide light housekeeping/ light meal preparation, organizational assistance, care management and occasional transportation services for our clients. We need caregivers with reliable transportation and a cellphone for communication. A CNA background is helpful, though not mandatory. We typically employ on a part-time basis, but will strive to match up hours desired. Contact Pat or Murray at (913) 341-2500, or contact Gary at (913) 787-4123 if you want to become part of an excellent caregiving team.

HOME IMPROVEMENT DRC Construction We’ll get the job done right the first time.

Windows - Doors - Decks - Siding Repair or replace, we will work with you to solve your problems. Choose us for any window, door, siding or deck project and be glad you did.

Everything is guaranteed 100% (913) 461-4052 www.windowservicesoverlandpark.com drcconswindows@gmail.com Swalms organizing - downsizing - cleanout service - Reduce clutter – Any space organized. Shelving built on-site. Items hauled for recycling and donations. 20 years exp.; insured. Call Tillar at (913) 375-9115. WWW. SWALMSORGANIZING.COM. Sheetrock repaired - We can repair your ceilings and walls and can retexture with popcorn or knockdown ceilings. We can repaint old yellowed ceiling. Interior painting for 24 years with no mess!! Call Jerry at (913) 206-1144.

EL SOL Y LA TIERRA *Commercial & residential * Lawn renovation *Mowing * Clean-up and hauling * Dirt grading/installation * Landscape design * Free estimates Hablamos y escribimos Ingles!! www.elsolylatierra.com Call Lupe at (816) 935-0176 Local handyman - Painting int. and ext., wood rot, power washing, staining, masonry (chimney repair, patio’s) gutter cleaning, water heaters, junk removal, lawn mowing, window cleaning, honey - do list and more!!

Member of Holy Angels Parish, Basehor. Call Billy at (913)927-4118.

Interior painting - Renew your ceiling and walls with a fresh coat of paint. Replace drywall or plaster repaired with no mess!! 25 years experience. Call anytime. Jerry (913) 206-1144.

Masonry work - Quality new or repair work. Brick, block and chimney/fireplace repair. Insured; second-generation bricklayer. Member of St. Paul Parish, Olathe. Call (913) 829-4336.

The Drywall Doctor, Inc. – A unique solution to your drywall problems! We fix all types of ceiling and wall damage — from water stains and stress cracks to texture repairs and skim coating. We provide professional, timely repairs and leave the job site clean! Lead-certified and insured! Serving the metro since 1997. Call (913) 768-6655.

Concrete construction - Tear out and replace stamped, stained or colored patios and drives. Retaining walls, footings, poured-in-place safe rooms, excavation and hauling. Asphalt drives and lots. Fully insured; references. Call Dan at (913) 207-4371 or send an email to: dandeeconst@aol.com.

STA (Sure Thing Always) Home Repair - Basement finish, bathrooms and kitchens; interior & exterior repairs: painting, roofing, siding, wood replacement and window glazing. Free estimates. Call (913) 579-1835.

Email: smokeycabin@hotmail.com. Member of Holy Trinity, Lenexa.

Rusty Dandy Painting, Inc. – We have been coloring your world for 40 years. Your home will be treated as if it were our own. Old cabinets will be made to look like new. Dingy walls and ceilings will be made beautiful.

Woodwork will glow. Lead-certified and insured. Call (913) 341-9125.

NELSON CREATION’S L.L.C. Home makeovers, kitchen, bath. All interior and exterior remodeling and repairs.

Family owned, experienced, licensed and insured.

Member St. Joseph, Shawnee. Kirk Nelson.

(913) 927-5240; nelsport@everestkc.net

SERVICES Cleaning lady - Reasonable rates; references provided.

Call (913) 940-2959.

Mobile notary - Will travel to you for your convenience in the Johnson County area. Fee dependent on location and number of documents, ranging between $20 - $40 for two documents or less. Call (913) 291-4828. Member of St. Joseph, Shawnee.

Tutoring - Summer tutoring/enrichment for K - 12. Instructor has 17 years of experience and is degreed. For more information, call Kathleen at (913) 206-2151 or send an email to: Klmamuric@yahoo.com.

Tree Trimming Tree Trimming/Landscaping Insured/References Free Estimates/Local Parishioner Tony (913) 620-6063 Clutter getting you down? - Organize, fix, assemble, install! “Kevin of all trades” your professional organizer and “Honey-do” specialist. Call or email me today for a free consultation at (913) 271-5055 or KOATorganizing@ gmail.com. Insured. References.

8 to Your IdealWeight Get Real, Get Healthy, Get Empowered.

Release your weight and restore your power in 8 weeks!

Certified coach: kathioppold.8toyouridealweight.com.

Custom countertops - Laminates installed within five days. Cambria, granite and solid surface. Competitive prices, dependable work. Call the Top Shop, Inc., at (913) 962-5058. Members of St. Joseph, Shawnee.

Quilted memories - Your Kansas City Longarm shop Nolting Longarm machines, quilting supplies and machine quilting services. We specialize in memorial quilts - custom designed memory quilts from your T-shirt collections, photos, baby clothes, college memorabilia, neckties, etc. For information or to schedule a free consultation, call (913) 649-2704. Visit the website at: www.quiltedmemoriesllc.com.

Mike Hammer local moving - A full-service mover.

Packing, pianos, rental truck load/unload, storage container load/unload and in-home moving. No job too small. Serving JoCo since 1987. St. Joseph, Shawnee, parishioner. Call Mike at (913) 927-4347 or send an email to: mike@mikehammermoving.com.

Bankruptcy consultation - If debts are overwhelming you, seek hope and help from compassionate, experienced Catholic attorney, Teresa Kidd. For a free consultation, call (913) 422-0610; send an email to: tkidd@ kc.rr.com; or visit the website at: www.teresakiddlawyer. com. Please do not wait until life seems hopeless before getting good quality legal advice that may solve your financial stress.

Doll dresses - First Communion dresses for American Girl dolls or any 18” dolls. To include dress, veil, shoes, tights, and cross necklace for $35. Call (913) 345-9498 or send an email to: wwelch4@kc.rr.com to order. The dress is on display at Trinity House, 6731 W. 119th St., Overland Park, KS. MEDICARE - Just starting the process? Or would you like to review your current coverage? Local, licensed, independent and experienced Medicare advisor. Holy Cross Parishioner. Will shop your current rate or answer your Medicare questions. Contact Rhonda at (913) 579-3349.

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Rodman Lawn Care Lawn mowing, aeration, verticutting, mulching, Hedge trimming, leaf removal, gutter cleaning Fully insured and free estimates John Rodman (913) 548-3002 Decked Out in KC - www.WEFIXDECKS.com. We repair, power wash and seal concrete drives, walkways, pool decks and more. Call Brian at (913) 952-5965.

HARCO Exteriors LLC Your Kansas City fencing specialists Family owned and operated (913) 815-4817 www.harcoexteriorsllc.com

WANTED TO BUY Will buy firearms and related accessories - One or a whole collection. Honest evaluation and top prices paid.

Contact Tom at (913) 238-2473. Member of Sacred Heart Parish, Shawnee.

Wanted to buy - Antique/vintage jewelry, paintings, pottery, sterling, etc. Single pieces or estate. Renee Maderak, (913) 475-7393. St. Joseph Parish, Shawnee.

Wanted to buy - Old cars or hot rods. Uncompleted project cars in any condition, with or without titles. Cash buyer. Call (913) 980-3559.

REAL ESTATE CASH FOR YOUR HOME (913) 980-4905 Any condition in the metro area Mark Edmondson - local parishioner http://www.buykcproperty.com We buy houses and whole estates - We are local and family-owned, and will make you a fair cash offer. We buy houses in any condition. No fees or commissions and can close on the date of your choice. Selling your house as is never felt so good. Jon & Stacy Bichelmeyer (913) 599-5000.

Whole Estates Need to sell a home and everything in it?

We buy it all at once in as-is condition.

Call (816) 444-1950 or send an email to: www.wholeestates.com.

WE SELL HOMES - Looking to sell? This is a seller’s market.

Call for a free consultation detailing the steps to selling your home. Ask about our 39-day sales guarantee. Mention this ad for a special offer. Call Jim Blaufuss, Re/Max Realty Suburban, at (913) 226-7442. Jimblaufuss@remax.net

CAREGIVING Looking for assisted living at home? - Before you move, call us and explore our in-home care options.

We specialize in helping families live safely at home while saving thousands of dollars per year. Call today for more information or to request a FREE home care planning guide. Benefits of Home - Senior Care, www. benefitsofhome.com or call (913) 422-1591.

Caregiving - We provide personal assistance, companionship, care management, and transportation for seniors in their home, assisted living or nursing facilities.

We also provide respite care for main caregivers needing some personal time. Call Daughters & Company at (913) 341-2500 and speak with Laurie, Pat or Gary.

FOR SALE Residential lifts - New and recycled. Stair lifts, porch lifts, ceiling lifts and elevators. St. Michael’s parishioners. KC Lift & Elevator at (913) 327-5557. (Formerly Silver Cross - KC) For sale - Inside tandem space for two traditional entombments. Tier F, Mt. Calvary Mausoleum, Holy Trinity.

Last space available. Call (785) 215-9540 or (785) 5803928.

For sale - Two side-by-side crypts; tier B, 13 and 15, located in the St. Joseph Chapel at Mount Calvary Cemetery, the only two left in the chapel. Call (913) 269-6176 for pricing.

For sale - Double glass-front niche at Resurrection Cemetery, Holy Family section, tier C, niche 3. Make an offer.

Call (913) 558-0723.

For sale - Two plots for sale at Mt. Calvary in Topeka.

Plot 62, east and west, under a tree. Asking $1500. If interested, call Sue at (573) 348-3432.

For sale - Two Lladro figurines from the 1970s. Standing Don Quixote with sword in excellent condition; flying turtle dove in excellent condition. Call Virginia at (913) 438-0882 if interested to discuss price.

BUYING AN AD To purchase a Leaven classified ad, email The Leaven at: beth.blankenship@theleaven.org. Cost is $20 for the first five lines, $1.50 per line thereafter. Ad deadline is 10 days before the desired publication date.

MAY 10, 2019 | THELEAVEN.ORG

CALENDAR ‘ALL THINGS UKRAINIAN’ Strawberry Hill Museum 720 N. 4th St., Kansas City, Kansas May, Saturdays and Sundays from noon - 5 p.m.

There will be an exhibit of “All Things Ukrainian” included in the museum’s guided tour. Ukrainian life will be displayed via photographs, woodwork, paintings, pottery and an assortment of crafts from the Ukraine.

For more information, go online to the museum’s website at: Strawberryhillmuseum.org.

KNITTING AND CROCHETING GROUP Keeler Women’s Center 2220 Central Ave., Kansas City, Kansas Tuesdays from 6 - 7:30 p.m.

Come learn a new skill or work on current projects. All programs and services are free. Donations are welcome. Call (913) 906-8990 or register online at: www.keeler womenscenter.org.

MEMORIAL LITURGY Curé of Ars 9405 Mission Rd., Leawood May 18 at 8 a.m.

There will be a memorial liturgy for deceased loved ones followed by a grief support meeting in the Father Burak Room. The topic will be: “Ten Commandments of Grief.” For more information, call (913) 649-2026.

‘DISCERNMENT’ Church of the Nativity 3800 W. 119th St., Leawood May 18 at 8:15 a.m.

This event will begin with Mass and continue with a presentation on the topic of “Discernment” in the tradition of Salesian spirituality with the Daughters of St. Francis de Sales in the Magi Room. All materials are provided and light refreshments will be served. For more information, send an email to Ruth Owens at: rowens4853@gmail.com or visit the website at: www.sfdsassociation.org.

BREATHE RESPITE CARE PROGRAM Holy Cross School 8101 W. 95th St., Overland Park May 18 from 4 - 8 p.m.

DAUGHTERS OF ISABELLA LITTLE FLOWER CIRCLE Mater Dei-Assumption Church 204 S.W. 8th Ave., Topeka May 11 at 10 a.m.

BREATHE respite care provides the gift of time away from caregiving for families who have a loved one with a disability age 5 years or older. If you have any questions regarding the program, contact Tom Racunas at (913) 647-3054 or send an email to: tracunas@ archkck.org. To register a loved one, go to the website at: www.archkck.org/special needs and complete the online form.

We will have a Mary’s Holy Hour. If anyone knows of a member or family in need of the circle’s prayers, call Theresa Smith-Lawton at (785) 640-640-1403. If you are interested or would like more information about the Daughters of Isabella, call Cindy Keen at (785) 228-9863.

GREATER KANSAS CITY ROSARY RALLY Church of the Ascension 9510 W. 127th St., Overland Park May 12 from 3 - 4:15 p.m.

Join us in honoring Our Blessed Mother (and Our Lady of Fatima) on Mother’s Day. We will pray the joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries followed by Benediction and the opportunity for attendees to enroll in the brown scapular. For driving instructions or future dates for the Kansas City monthly holy rosary rallies, visit the website at: www.rosaryrallieskc.org.

FEAST OF ST. ISIDORE AND ST. MARIA Christ’s Peace House of Prayer 22131 Meagher Rd., Easton May 15 at 11 a.m.

The day will begin with Mass. Bring a container with seed and soil to be placed at the altar for blessing. Following Mass there will be a procession to the Sts. Isidore and Maria Shrine. After praying the Litany of St. Isidore, lunch will be served.

HEALING MASS Curé of Ars (Father Burak Room) 9405 Mission Rd., Leawood May 16 at 7:30 p.m.

A Mass with prayers for healing, sponsored by archdiocesan charismatic prayer groups, will be held. Father Justin Hamilton will preside.

For more information, call (913) 649-2026.

‘BRIDGES TO CONTEMPLATIVE LIVING WITH THOMAS MERTON AND OTHER SAGES’ Sophia Spirituality Center 751 S. 8th St., Atchison May 16 from 10:30 - 11:30 a.m.

Various selections from spiritual writers will be used to awaken insight and wisdom for the journey toward spiritual transformation and a more peace-filled life.

DAUGHTERS OF ISABELLA LITTLE FLOWER CIRCLE Christ the King Parish (Yadrich Hall) 5973 S.W. 29th St., Topeka May 26 at 12:30 p.m.

There will be a mother-daughter banquet and Birthright baby shower. Bring a covered dish to share and a baby gift to donate to Mary’s Choice. A business meeting will follow the luncheon. If anyone knows of a member or family in need of the circle’s prayers, call Theresa Smith-Lawton at (785) 640-1403. If you are interested in or would like more information about Daughters of Isabella, call Cindy Keen at (785) 228-9863.

The Gabriel Project is a ministry of the archdiocesan pro-life office providing help for pregnant women in need. Trained volunteers called “Gabriel Angels” are assigned to a mother when she calls for help and are responsible for ongoing contact with her.

The mother receives love, care and the spiritual, material and emotional support she needs. Come hear what being a volunteer entails. Contact Ann Marie Alvey online at: director@gabrielprojeckc.com or call (913) 621-2199.

‘WE REMEMBER THEM: HOW REMEMBRANCE AND RITUAL HEAL OUR GRIEF’ Prince of Peace Parish (Sister Mary Thomas Parish Hall) 16000 W. 143rd St., Olathe May 23 at 7 p.m.

Join the members of the Prince of Peace bereavement ministry in this supportive group gathering. The evening will feature speaker Brent Doster, family support coordinator at Villa St. Francis, Olathe. He will lead a discussion on the importance of remembrance and ritual and how these acts of memorialization contribute to healthy grieving. For more information, call Doster at (913) 747-0276.

PINTS WITH A PRIEST Twister Grill and Bar 13100 Kansas Ave., Bonner Springs May 24 at 7 p.m.

Join the office of deaf ministry for its annual Pints with a Priest event. Father Christopher Klusman will be presenting theology of the body, part two. Share an evening of fun, socializing and prayer.

BEGINNING EXPERIENCE - A WEEKEND AWAY FOR A LIFETIME OF CHANGE Precious Blood Renewal Center 2120 St. Gaspar Way, Liberty, Missouri June 28 - 30

This is a weekend for those who are suffering the loss of a love relationship and may feel left out by their church, uneasy around married friends and unsure of themselves.

For more information, visit the website at: www.beginningexperiencekc.org; send an email to: register.bekc@gmail.com; or call Michelle at (913) 709-3779.

MEMORIAL DAY MASS AND BLESSING SERVICE Divine Mercy Parish (St. Columbine Cemetery) 207th St. and Dille Rd., Edgerton May 27 at 9 a.m.

A Mass will be celebrated at St. Columbine Cemetery in remembrance of American soldiers who have died in military service. Following Mass, there will be a blessing at St. Columbia Cemetery, located at 159th and S. Moonlight Rd. in Gardner.

RETREAT ON MATTHEW’S GOSPEL Marillac Center 4200 S. 4th St., Leavenworth 66048 May 28 - June 4

“‘Come Follow Me’ - The Jesus Who Calls Us in the Matthean Gospel” will be the theme of the retreat. Retreat fee, room and board is $70 per day; $420 for the six-day retreat.

A $50 deposit will reserve your space. Make checks payable to: Sisters of Charity and send to the above address and include a note referencing the retreat.

BENEFIT TRAIL RIDE Melvern Lake (Eisenhower Park) Osage City, Kansas May 31 - June 1 THE GABRIEL PROJECT Queen of the Holy Rosary Parish (bride room in the basement) 7023 W. 71st St., Overland Park May 21 at 7 p.m.

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Registration is May 1, 6 - 9 p.m. or June 1 from 7 - 8:30 a.m. Horseback riding will be from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Non-riders are welcome to join us for dinner and music at 6 p.m. The cost for dinner is $10 for adults; $5 for kids ages 6 - 12; and free for kids under 5. Proceeds go the parish building fund for St. Patrick Parish in Scranton. For more information, call Lori Mock at (785) 6407262 or Rhonda Stark at (785) 633-3046.

GARAGE SALE Holy Spirit Parish 11300 W. 103rd St., Overland Park May 31 from 8 a.m. - 6 p.m.

June 1 from 8 a.m. - 1 p.m.

There will be furniture, kitchen wares, clothing, baby items, toys, games, holiday items, books, art, home decor and more.

Come shop and visit with friends. Net proceeds from the sale will benefit Holy Spirit School and the youth ministry’s trip to Steubenville.

CATECHESIS OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD Sts. Peter and Paul Parish 411 Pioneer, Seneca June 6 - 9 and 20 - 23

This is adult formation for level 2, part 1, summer intensive. For more information or to register, call Angie Hammes at (785) 294-0442 or send an email to: angie mhammes@gmail.com.

FAMILY SPECIAL-NEEDS SUMMER CAMP Prairie Star Ranch 1124 California Rd., Williamsburg June 28 - 30

This is a summer camp for families who have a loved one with special needs. For more information, go online to: www.archkck.org/ specialneeds or contact Tom Racunas by email at: tracunas@archkck.org or call (913) 647-3054.

PRAYER AND ACTION SUMMER MISSION TRIP Seneca

Prayer and Action 2019 will be hosted by Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in Seneca. This is a youth mission trip program. It is a low-cost experience and provides service to people in their own communities. Students spend the week in a place free of distraction in order to foster faith and inspire charity. The program is organized through individual parish youth ministers. If interested, contact your parish youth minister.

If you do not have a youth minister, contact Jody O’Rourke by email at: jorourke@archkck. org. For more information, visit the website at: www.archkck.org/prayerandactionkc.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS GRADE SCHOOL SUMMER CAMPS St. Thomas Aquinas High School 11411 Pflumm Rd., Overland Park June and July

Registration and information is available online at: www.stasaints.net/summer camps.

For more information, call (913) 319-2416 or send an email to: btriggs@stasaints.net.

MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. As a faith community, we are called to support individuals and their families who have mental health concerns. If you would like more information about how to support people with mental illness and their families in your parish, call the special-needs ministry office of the archdiocese at (913) 647-3054 or send an email to: tracunas@archkck.org.

DIVORCED: CALLED TO LOVE AGAIN Church of the Ascension (St. Luke Room) 9510 W. 127th St., Overland Park 2nd and 4th Sundays from 7 - 8:30 p.m.

What’s next after divorce/annulment? Join us for a formation series on the gift of self, which helps us fulfill the call to love again.

Various topics will be discussed. Visit our Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/ giftofself143 or send an email to: calledto love143@gmail.com.

CATHOLIC HEART WORKCAMP Kansas City area July 8 - 11

Do you need your house painted, inside or out? Or need your yard cleaned up? Do you need any minor home repairs? Contact the Kansas City managers online at: chwc.kc@ gmail.com or call (402) 306-9043. Leave a message and someone will return your call.

CALENDAR submissions CALENDAR submissions DEADLINE: Noon, Thursday, 10 days before the desired publication date.

INCLUDE: time and date of event; street address; description of event.

SEND SUBMISSIONS TO: beth. blankenship@theleaven.org.

MAY 10, 2019 | THELEAVEN.ORG

COMMENTARY

It only hurts when I love

FOURTH WEEK OF EASTER May 12 FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER Acts 13: 14, 43-52 Ps 100: 1-2, 3, 5 Rv 7: 9, 14b-17 Jn 10: 27-30 May 13 Our Lady of Fatima Acts 11: 1-18 Pss 42: 2-3; 43: 3-4 Jn 10: 1-10 May 14 MATTHIAS, APOSTLE Acts 1: 15-17, 20-26 Ps 113: 1-8 Jn 15: 9-17 May 15 Isidore Acts 12:24 – 13:5a Ps 67: 2-3, 5-6, 8 Jn 12: 44-50 May 16 Thursday Acts 13: 13-25 Ps 89: 2-3, 21-22, 25, 27 Jn 13: 16-20 May 17 Friday Acts 13: 26-33 Ps 2: 6-11b Jn 14: 1-6 May 18 John I, pope, martyr Acts 13: 44-52 Ps 98: 1-4 Jn 14: 7-14

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W

ell, I did it.

It’s taken me months, but I finally devoted the five minutes required to get the task completed.

Months ago, I received a package in the mail, containing a black tote bag with the Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) logo on it. A letter accompanied it, detailing the story of one of the doctors doing an emergency delivery of a baby in a Third World country. In the middle of the procedure, the lights went out and the doctor was forced to complete the delivery aided primarily by the lights of cellphones. Are you kidding me?

The story touched my heart and I decided to send some money.

Then I misplaced the donation slip. When I found it, I couldn’t find the donation envelope.

Ultimately, I unearthed both at the same time

MARK MY WORDS

FATHER MARK GOLDASICH Father Mark is the pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Tonganoxie. He has been editor of The Leaven since 1989.

and sent a check.

The older I get, the more my heart feels for the poor. Two items heightened that sensation the last few days.

The first was an experience Mother Teresa had while caring for the destitute in India.

A gentleman came to Mother Teresa asking her to visit a Hindu family with eight children that had not eaten

for some time. Mother Teresa took some rice to the home. When she arrived, she could see the hunger on the children’s faces. After giving the rice to the mother, the woman divided it into two and went out.

When she returned, Mother Teresa asked her, “Where did you go?”

The woman said, “They were hungry also.”

Mother Teresa asked, “Who are they?”

The woman answered, “A Muslim family next door.”

This so moved Mother Teresa that she later said, “I was struck

very much: not so much by what she did as by the fact that . . . she saw their hunger, she felt their hunger and therefore she had the courage to share with them. This is the greatness of poor people. Love, to be true, has to hurt. (Adapted from Anthony Castle’s “More Quips, Quotes & Anecdotes for Preachers and Teachers.”)

The second item that impacted me is the center spread (pages 8 and 9) of this week’s Leaven. A group of young people from the archdiocese traveled on a mission trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands — not to the touristy sections, but to where the majority of the population there lives . . . in poverty.

The kids and their chaperones had a life-changing experience. Reading about their mission immersion will touch your heart as well.

Like the Hindu woman in Mother Teresa’s story, these young people saw the hunger of the poor, felt it, and

had the courage to share with them: their physical labor, friendship, love, food and faith.

Often, we don’t notice or feel or share — or even care about — the plight of the poor, whether locally or globally. We seem more adept at making excuses for our blindness and inaction, rather than loving until it hurts.

In this second half of this Easter season, let’s love extravagantly as Jesus did. This could be as simple as sitting for a few minutes to chat with a beggar; picking up some extra food — the “good brands” — to donate to a pantry; making an outrageously generous monetary contribution to a charity; or sharing time and talents in tutoring or mentoring disadvantaged individuals.

May the needs of the world’s poor continue to put the hurt on us; it’s the best way to learn to truly love.

Paul’s efforts accelerated separation from Judaism

C

hristianity began as a movement within Judaism. Its members were those Jews who believed in Jesus as the Messiah.

Eventually, that changed. More and more Gentiles started to believe in Jesus, until the majority of Jesus’ followers were Gentile, rather than Jewish.

This happened over a period of years, not in one single moment.

However, Sunday’s first reading — Acts 13:14, 43-52 — directs our attention to a significant turning point.

Paul and Barnabas encounter opposition to their preaching to potential converts. Notice that this takes place in a synagogue on a Sabbath day. After all, Paul and Barnabas are Jews and are speaking to fellow Jews. But because of

IN THE BEGINNING

FATHER MIKE STUBBS Father Stubbs is the pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Overland Park and has a degree in Scripture from Harvard University.

the opposition that they receive, they decide to focus upon the Gentiles instead: “The Gentiles were delighted when they heard this and glorified the word of the Lord.”

POPE FRANCIS

Because of his openness to the Gentiles, Paul became known as “the apostle to the Gentiles.”

He proved to be very effective in his ministry and established many Christian communities in Asia Minor. Many of the letters he wrote to them entered into the New Testament canon.

The inroads that Paul made among the Gentiles accelerated the transformation of the new Christian faith into a religion separate from

Migrants are not a threat to a nation’s culture, traditions and values, Pope Francis said.

Every nation is a product of immigration and the integration of diverse peoples, united by specific values, cultures and “healthy traditions,” he said.

That is why any nation that “stirs up nationalistic sentiments in its people against other nations or groups of people would betray their mission,” the pope said May 2.

Pope Francis gave a lengthy speech to members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, who

Judaism. But that was not the sole factor.

After the fall of Jerusalem and the defeat of the Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire in the year 70, the two Jewish groups that survived were the followers of Jesus and the successors of the Pharisees.

Groups such as the Sadducees, the Essenes, the Herodians and the followers of John the Baptist disappeared.

The successors of the Pharisees held leadership in the synagogues and looked upon the followers of Jesus as their rivals.

There is evidence that suggests that the synagogue leadership directed that the followers of Jesus be expelled from the synagogues.

This would explain several passages in the New Testament: “The Jews had already agreed that if anyone

acknowledged him as the Messiah, he would be expelled from the synagogue” (Jn 9:22); “They will expel you from the synagogues” (Jn 16:2a).

These actions solidified the rift between the two groups.

To further mark the difference between the adherents of rabbinical Judaism and the followers of Jesus, the two groups adopted distinctive habits and customs that continue to this day.

For example, Christian men remove their hats for worship, while Jewish men cover their heads. Christians observe Sunday as the day of worship, while the Jews worship on Saturday.

Despite these differences, though, the Christian faith has its roots in Judaism.

After all, Jesus was a Jew.

were holding a plenary meeting May 1-3 at the Vatican on the nature and role of the nation-state, the development of international cooperation and today’s resurgence of nationalism.

The Catholic Church, the pope said, has always promoted love and respect for one’s nation and cultures while also warning against turning such affection into the hatred and exclusion of others — a “confrontational nationalism that puts up walls, indeed, even racism and anti-Semitism.”

“The church notes with concern the reemergence, a bit everywhere in the world, of aggressive currents against foreigners, especially immigrants, as well as that growing nationalism that overlooks the common good,” he said.

— CNS

MAY 10, 2019 | THELEAVEN.ORG

LOCAL NEWS

15

New building could double student population >> Continued from page 1 replaced by a grassy, tree-lined campus quad.

Construction of the academic building is part of a three-phase, $30 million campus transformation plan that began about a decade ago.

The master plan was initiated in 2008, under Donnelly president Steven M. LaNasa. Phase One was the completion of the $2.5 million Community Events Center in 2013. Phase Two was the completion of a $2 million renovation of Marian Hall for classrooms, offices, a computer lab and study space.

The third phase has three sequences.

The first sequence is the construction of a new $2.6 million parking garage immediately behind Bishop Ward High School. The two-level garage will have 150 spaces. Construction began in January and will be completed in June.

The second sequence is the construction of the new academic building, which will also have a 60-seat dedicated chapel — something Donnelly College does not currently have.

The third sequence is the demolition of the tower building and construction of the campus quad on the west side of the new academic building.

Few people have seen as much change at the Donnelly campus as Sister Mary Teresa Morris, OSB, one of the college’s board of directors.

“I taught in the LPN program for a

COURTESY OF DONNELLY COLLEGE

An artist’s rendering of the interior of the new Donnelly College academic building. couple of years, and I worked in labor and delivery as evening supervisor, so I’m very familiar with the stairwells,” said Sister Mary Teresa, a registered nurse. “In fact, I was born here.”

She even lived in the mutual convent for the Sisters who taught at Bishop Ward and worked in the hospital, now the site of the new parking structure.

Ever since it was founded in 1949, Donnelly College has made do with mostly hand-me-down buildings.

Its first home was the old Wyandotte Catholic High School, built in 1908, at 12th and Sandusky. Later, the college took over the former episcopal

mansion next door, built in 1891.

The college’s first new purpose-built academic building was the two-story George E. Bennett Building, completed in 1963. It connected the old high school with the mansion. All three of these buildings were torn down in July and August of 1998.

Despite renovations, the place Donnelly has called home for nearly 40 years never quite lost that “hospital” vibe. Sister Mary Teresa believes the new academic building — which features spacious, open areas with lots of natural light — will attract students.

“It looks like a college,” she said. “It

has more room for students to interact and study together. It has a student resource center — the new name for libraries. The classrooms are larger, and we can use modern teaching methods.

It’s a school, rather than a redone hospital.”

The current student enrollment per semester is 400 but, with the new building, that could increase to 800, thanks to the added space and improved amenities.

In his remarks before blessing the new chapel site — marked by a humble, orange traffic cone — Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann said he was proud of the archdiocese’s partnership with the Benedictine Sisters that makes Donnelly College possible. He also thanked the many supporters, benefactors and partners.

“We break ground today and we’re grateful for all those who have helped us be in a position to do this,” said the archbishop. “But we still have room for more partners, and we’d love, when this building is completed, that it would be debt-free, so that all of our resources could be devoted to scholarships to make this school as accessible as possible.”

Earlier, Msgr. Swetland noted that the archdiocese had made a $4 million commitment to Donnelly College — “the biggest single contribution of a diocese to a college in the history of the church in America.”

Erin Barrett, Agent www.InsureKCMetro.com

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Sam Garcia

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Discerning a path to the priesthood wasn’t easy, but was rewarding

By Joe Bollig joe.bollig@theleaven.org

K

ANSAS CITY, Kan. — The path of discernment to a priestly vocation is different for every man, but it usually includes at least three things: time, prayer and patience.

And at no time is it easy — at least not for Deacon Mark David Ostrowski.

“Discernment is a long process and it’s all very necessary,” said Deacon Ostrowski, “but [a vocational call] sure isn’t easy to refine, to constantly put it to the test, and to wrestle and go through battles . . . [T]here are so many questions that come along.

“It isn’t easy, but it’s very rewarding, and I’m excited and looking forward to [ordination].”

Deacon Ostrowski will join five other men to be ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann on May 25 at the Church of the Ascension in Overland Park.

Deacon Ostrowski is one of five children of John and Kathy Ostrowski, born and raised in Topeka. John is an attorney and Kathy was the long-serving legislative director for Kansans for Life.

One thing was very clear in the Ostrowski home: Living the Catholic faith was a very high priority.

Deacon Ostrowski was homeschooled until he was in the fourth grade, and then he attended Most Pure Heart of Mary School for fifth grade. There, he contemplated the priesthood for the first time.

“I was sitting on the left side at Most Pure Heart of Mary Church,” he said, “and I thought, ‘I think I’d like to do what [the priest] is doing.’ And I filed it away.”

After a year, his parents became part of the Latin Mass Community of St. John-Mary Vianney in Maple Hill, a small town west of Topeka.

He attended the community’s school and received a “nuts-and-bolts, foundational-Catholicism” kind of education. The students went to Mass every day and, consequently, he had many opportunities to be an altar server.

“As a family . . . we would have a Holy Hour of eucharistic adoration on Friday nights,” he said. “We’d drive out to [St. John-Mary Vianney] or stay there, especially in the summer.

It was very beautiful and peaceful to do that [as a family] — Mass, Holy Hour and eucharistic adoration.”

When the school eventually closed, Deacon Ostrowski was homeschooled through high school. In 2002, he enrolled at Benedictine College in Atchison.

While at Benedictine, he studied, continued to mature in his faith and seriously dated — even becoming engaged to be married. After a while, however, that path didn’t seem to be the right one for him. After graduation, he became a missionary for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) for two years at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

As a FOCUS missionary, he lived, prayed and evangelized with other men who were also FOCUS missionaries. They didn’t sit around and talk about the priesthood, but they strove for holiness and to know God’s will.

“A high percentage of [men] from

PHOTO COURTESY OF DEACON MARK OSTROWSKI

Deacon Mark Ostrowski will join five others in being ordained a priest on May 25 at Church of the Ascension in Overland Park.

“

“MY PURPOSE IN THIS WORLD IS TO BE A MINISTERIAL PRIEST, AND THAT IS WHERE I FIND PEACE AND JOY. EVERYTHING ELSE DOESN’T MEASURE UP THE SAME WAY.

that little prayer group went on to [the] seminary,” said Deacon Ostrowski. “You gain courage from talking to each other, or at least the confidence to try. You don’t go to a mountain top to discern.”

He decided to explore the priesthood, if that were God’s will for him, so he applied to become an archdiocesan seminarian and entered KenrickGlennon Seminary in St. Louis in fall 2008.

On May 18, 2013, he was ordained a deacon by Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann at Most Pure Heart of Mary Parish in Topeka. As a deacon, he did pastoral ministry at two parishes and the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas.

He also did further discernment and returned to Kenrick-Glennon in 2018 to continue formation and complete his last year of theological studies.

Why does he want to be a priest?

“My purpose in this world is to be a ministerial priest, and that is where I find peace and joy,” said Deacon Ostrowski. “Everything else doesn’t measure up the same way.

“It’s not like you’re choosing between something good and bad, but you’re choosing among goods, and that’s the hardest kind of choice. . . .

It’s the most difficult kind of decision. When you’re choosing among vocations, you pray, you talk to other

PERSONALLY SPEAKING Name: Deacon Mark David Ostrowski Age: 35 Born: Topeka Raised: Topeka Parents: John and Kathy Siblings: Dan, Jeff, Tim and Kristy Home parish: Sacred Heart-St. Joseph, Topeka Education: • Home-schooled, completed high school 2002 • Benedictine College, Atchison; double major: Bachelor of Arts in History and Theology, 2006 • Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, St. Louis, Master of Divinity, 2019 Favorite TV, Netflix, YouTube or other show: “Binging with Babish,” a YouTube cooking show Tech I can’t live without: My cellphone Favorite musical style/band/performer: Adele, the Oh Hellos My most notable encounter with the famous/infamous: I sang with the Benedictine choir for Pope John Paul II, and I met Kansas City Royals color commentator Rex Hudler while filling gas.

Most inspirational Christian(s) I’ve ever met: Jason Evert Favorite saint: St. Peter, because his temperament and story are relatable, and he helped St. Mark write his Gospel.

Favorite devotion: The Examen. It’s

people and you have the help of a spiritual director.”

A well-discerned man is a good thing for the church, he said. When there are storms in one’s life, it’s that relationship with the Lord built up through discernment that guides one through.

Deacon Ostrowski’s advice to men

easy to overlook where God is working in my life, so it’s very helpful for staying on track.

Book to recommend: “Searching for and Maintaining Peace: A Small Treatise on Peace of Heart,” by Jacques Philippe Favorite food: Short ribs. And coffee.

And chocolate. And peanut butter.

Least favorite food: Lima beans Favorite childhood toy: Joe Bunny (Named after Joe Montana) Favorite place: An adoration chapel Dream vacation: New Zealand Worst job I’ve ever had: Dillard’s. Stay in school, my friends.

Best job I’ve ever had: A FOCUS missionary at the University of MissouriKansas City Hobbies/things I like to do: Cook, cheer on Tottenham Hotspur soccer club, travel and watching airplanes land and take off Guilty pleasure: Clicking on the recommended videos in YouTube My hidden talent/party trick: Showing how wide my hands can spread, because of years of piano playing.

My final four saints: St. Giorgio Frassati, St. John Paul II, Blessed Chiara Badano and Venerable Michael McGivney Best advice I’ve received seeking my vocation: “Be not afraid!” Pope John Paul II What I’m looking forward to: Hearing confessions, offering Mass and no longer being a transitional deacon

considering the priesthood is to not go it alone. His best progress was made when he became transparent and forthcoming, and became willing to talk to others.

“Listen and trust the Lord,” he said. “Don’t discern alone. And don’t compare your journey to other’s journeys.”