01-30-15 Vol. 36 No. 23

THELEAVEN.COM | VOL. 36, NO. 23 | JANUARY 30, 2015

MARCHING ON

Crowd’s tweets prove this is not their grandparents’ march

By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service

W

A S H I N GTO N (CNS) — The 42nd annual March for Life and rally in Washington is twice as old as its crowd of predominantly college and high school age students. And as each year’s turnout seems younger, so do the day’s tools.

Participants at the Jan. 22 event not only met up by texting or calling each other on their cellphones, they also shared their experiences of the day — and explained reasons for making the trek either across town or across country — by posting lots of photos on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Many began documenting their experience days before the march with posts from their buses or rest stops along the way. On the day of the march, there were online images from pre-march rallies, groups huddled on the National Mall or taking up a huge swath of Constitution Avenue as they made their way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The photos included group selfies, pictures with bishops and even with a cardboard cutout of Pope Francis.

Images indicated the cold and predominantly cloudy day showing coats, hats and scarves (often matching) and gloves. The cause was also front and center with most groups carrying placards with phrases such as “I am the Pro-Life Generation,” “Defend Life” or “#TeamLife.”

Long gone are the days when March for Life participants who got separated from their groups had to wait at an assigned meeting spot at the end of the day to reconnect. What also would be inconceivable for today’s marchers is the idea that you wouldn’t see pictures of yourself on the National Mall with your friends until you got home and developed rolls of film from the day.

But this ease of sharing photos and connecting is not the only plus side of cellphones and social media use for these marchers. For many, this technology is a way to further spread their message.

Just by standing with the crowds of tens of thousands, participants expressed their opposition to the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade deci-

CNS PHOTO/LESLIE E. KOSSOFF

sion that legalized abortion. But many of them took this stance a step further by telling the online world why they were there. Under the Twitter hashtag #Whywemarch they posted their reasons for coming in 140 characters or less or posted photos of themselves holding handwritten signs that explained their reasons.

They could have taken their cue from Pope Francis, who sent a 7 a.m.

(EST) tweet Jan. 22: “Every Life is a Gift. #marchforlife.” It was retweeted 18,807 times and favorited 24,265 times by the next day.

Many people who could not join the march also tweeted their support and wishes that they could have been there.

Pro-life advocates urged participants to tweet their representatives and senators and a few senators tweeted their support to the marchers, including Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, with this message: “Need to warm up after the #marchforlife? Head over to

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann takes part in a selfie along the march to the Supreme Court. The archbishop posted this photo to his Facebook page. Standing with the archbishop are, left to right: Rosemarie Maddock, Sarah Schaefer, Olivia Wieger and Tylar Lock, all students at St. James Academy.

>> See “SOCIAL” on page 10

CALLING ALL LENTEN DINNERS

A full page of archdiocesan Lenten dinners will appear — all ready to be clipped and saved — in the Feb. 13 edition of The Leaven. Notices should be emailed to: todd@theleaven.com. The deadline is Feb. 5. Notices must be less than 40 words. Please do not include full menus.

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A group of Capitol Hill lawmakers addresses crowds of supporters during the March for Life rally on the National Mall in Washington Jan. 22.

Tens of thousands took part in the annual event, which this year marked the 42nd anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion across the nation.

GIVE ’N’ GET

Six friends formed the idea of a winter coat and hat exchange as middle schoolers over frozen yogurt. They quickly turned that idea into a reality. Now, as high school seniors, they reflect on how their simple idea has become a big time event at Prince of Peace Parish in Olathe. Page 16

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2 ARCHBISHOP

THELEAVEN.COM | JANUARY 30, 2015

LIFE WILL BE VICTORIOUS

Archbishop goes behind the scenes at the Snow Ball

A

t Snow Ball 41 last Saturday, it was announced that among the 1,700

attendees was a couple who had been married the night before at Holy Angels Church in Basehor.

I made a point to track down the couple in order to congratulate them on their marriage and thank them for spending the evening of their first full day of marriage at the Snow Ball.

I asked them if they were going to have a honeymoon. They got this rather sheepish look on their faces and, not really wanting to draw attention to themselves, said with humility, but also joy: “Archbishop, we gave the money that we would have spent on a honeymoon to the project our parish was sponsoring to build homes for families in Haiti. We are fortunate to have a nice home as we begin our married life. We wanted another family to have the joy of their own home.”

I was blown away by the beauty of what this couple had chosen to do to glorify God and to help another family as they began their married life! You will not see them featured on “Bridezilla” or reality television’s “Marriage Boot Camp.” What a beautiful example.

Snow Ball 41 set a new record for the money raised for Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas, exceeding $2 million for the second straight year. This means Catholic Charities will have the resources to bring the love of Jesus in very tangible and real ways to thousands of people in the 21 counties of northeast Kansas.

When I tell bishops in other dioceses about the Snow Ball, they cannot believe what this annual event does to help the needy in our community. They ask: How do you do it? I tell them that it began very small with just a group of generous couples wanting to do something to help others in the community and it snowballed!

As important as the

ARCHBISHOP JOSEPH F. NAUMANN financial resources generated each year are to help fund the essential work of Catholic Charities, I find the back stories of the attendees in some ways more fascinating. There are a few who were at the first Snow Ball. What is impressive is to meet their children and even grandchildren who now proudly attend each year.

The presidents for the Snow Ball this year were Paul and Mary Thompson.

As you can imagine, it is rather a daunting task to take up the responsibility of leading what has become the premiere fundraiser in the Kansas City community.

Each year, the Snow Ball committee starts from ground zero. Paul and Mary, along with many others, put in long hours over many months to make Snow Ball 41 such a resounding success.

Again, there was a beautiful back story for the Thompson family on the night of the Snow Ball.

Paul’s sister Tricia had died earlier in the week as a result of injuries she received in car accident 26 years ago. Tricia has been profoundly disabled for those 26 years.

Paul’s remarks were particularly poignant. He admitted the difficulty of his family preparing to bury his sister as he and Mary also attended to the many last minute details involved with the Snow Ball. Paul gratefully acknowledged the incredible support that his family had received from so many in the Kansas City community at the time of the accident and these ensuing 26 years.

Paul saw in the Snow Ball another expression of the goodness of so many in our community, who are generous in wanting to help others in time of need.

Each year, I am given

Archbishop’s offer to celebrate baptisms for children of larger families To show his personal support for those couples open to raising larger families, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann has offered to celebrate the baptism of the third or greater child of any family (by birth, adoption, or blending through valid marriage) interested. For 2015, celebrations are scheduled for March 15, and May 17. Please contact your parish office for more information. Additional information is also available from the archdiocesan office for liturgy and sacramental life at (913) 6470330 or online at: liturgy@archkck.org.

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Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann stands with, from left, Craig Gaffney, Catholic Charities board of trustees chair, and Mary and Paul Thompson, presidents of the 41st annual Snow Ball. This year’s ball raised more than $2 million, which will help fund various programs at Catholic Charities. the privilege of offering the invocation for Snow Ball. This year, I decided to do something a little different and rhyme my message, entitling it: “Ode to Snow Ball 41.” Despite the pretentious title, I readily acknowledge this does not qualify as poetry. It does not live up to the standards of the poet laureate for the archdiocese, Msgr. Charles McGlinn. However, it was fun to write and I hope you enjoy it. Who knows? Next year maybe rap?

Ode to Snow Ball 41 Our world at times seems to be filled with bad news.

Terrorists attacks, ISIS in Iraq, Riots in Ferguson, Deflate Gate Give us plenty of reason for the blues!

Tonight our gathering has an opposite reason.

In between arctic blasts during this coldest season For forty-one years now Kansas Citians Have come together to help their less fortunate citizens.

What began very small to help one or two Has snowballed to help way more than a few.

What began so simple and small Has turn giving into something fashionable for all.

The Patron Committee has been for months hard at work With the joy of helping thousands of others their only perk.

Sending emails, making personal visits and calls

To make Forty-One the Mother of all Balls!

Though one game short for the Royal Blue And the Chiefs will not be sporting Super Bowl rings new.

Kansas City is a winner, we can truly boast Because those the world considers least, we treasure most.

Tonight, we enjoy visiting with friends new and old And those more graceful than me on the dance floor will make moves bold.

We will savor fine wine And upon something better than Mickey D’s Value Meal dine!

Yet, the real joy of this night is not to be found In the dining, the conversing or the twirling around!

Tonight, we give thanks to our God by whom we have been so blessed And to glorify him as we in our brothers and sisters invest.

Our contribution to Snow Ball 41, big or small Was not to grow our portfolio or indulge in binge shopping at the mall.

We pray that this annual miracle during winter’s bitterest cold Will help make this year sweeter for those hurting young and old!

We give thanks for all those who contributed to the success of Snow Ball for Forty-One And we give thanks also for those whom the

preparations for Forty-Two have already begun!

CALENDAR ARCHBISHOP

NAUMANN Jan. 30 Support Our Seminarians benefit dinner Feb. 1 Consecrated Life celebration — Savior Pastoral Center Feb. 6 Evening prayer and dinner with Jesuit novices — Cathedral of St. Peter, Kansas City, Kansas Feb. 7 Kansas Catholic College Student Conference — Manhattan St. Lawrence Campus Center benefit — Sporting KC Feb. 8 World Marriage Day Mass — Curé of Ars, Leawood

ARCHBISHOP

KELEHER Jan. 30 Support Our Seminarians dinner Feb. 1 Mass — St. Sebastian, Florida Feb. 5 Men’s club talk — St. Sebastian, Florida Feb. 7 Mass — St. Sebastian, Florida Feb. 8 Mass — St. Sebastian, Florida

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SECOND FRONT PAGE 3

JANUARY 30, 2015 | THELEAVEN.COM

SMALL WONDER

Archdiocesan elementary school celebrates 125th anniversary

By Marc and Julie Anderson Special to The Leaven

A

XTELL — Given the mobility of today’s society, it’s hard to imagine a place where children attend the same grade school as their parents, let alone their grandparents and great-grandparents. Yet, Chelsea, Jordyn and Kylie Smith are three girls who have or are doing just that.

Their great-grandmother, Irene Heinen, was the first of four generations to attend St. Michael Elementary School in Axtell, just a few miles from the Kansas-Nebraska border.

After Irene came their grandfather Darrell Heinen. And then, after he grew up, married and had kids of his own, their mother Amy (Heinen) Smith was one of the next generation. Now, Amy sits on the school board, and two of her three daughters, Jordyn and Kylie, are students there. Her oldest daughter Chelsea graduated three years ago.

Their family’s story was just one of several celebrated Jan. 25 during a special Mass, luncheon and open house held to celebrate the 125th anniversary of St. Michael School. All of the events were timed with the beginning of Catholic Schools Week, which runs this year from Jan. 25-31. This year’s theme is: Communities of Faith, Knowledge and Service.

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann presided at the Mass, and pastor Father Albert Hauser OSB, and Father Jim Shaughnessy — a former student and parishioner now serving as pastor of St. Gregory Church in nearby Marysville — concelebrated.

At age 11, Jordyn is one of the younger members of the St. Michael community, and she said she just loves the school for its size.

“It’s kind of fun. It’s small. You know everyone, and everyone is your friend,” said Jordyn, adding that if she were in the public school system, she would not know as many of her classmates and schoolmates.

Indeed, the entire current enrollment of St. Michael School sits at 24 students in three combined classes for first- through sixth-graders.

Another reason Jordyn said she likes St. Michael School is because she gets to put God first, not just on Sundays, but each and every day. Twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the students go to Mass together. During the week, the students are encouraged to read commentaries on the upcoming or previous week’s Gospel reading to help them understand it better.

Eight-year-old Kylie Smith is a second-grader and is preparing for her first Communion later this year. Her mother said she was quite excited to learn in her religion class that one plus

Publication No. (ISSN0194-9799) President: Most Reverend Joseph F. Naumann

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LEAVEN PHOTO BY FERNANDO UGARTE

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann kicked off Catholic Schools Week by celebrating the 125th anniversary of St. Michael School in Axtell. Above, the archbishop stands with the school’s student body. one plus one is equal to one.

“One plus one plus one equals one,” Kylie said, jumping with excitement as she explained the concept of the Trinity to her mother yet again, just prior to the luncheon.

“We get to go to Mass,” Kylie said earlier when asked about one of her favorite reasons for being at St. Michael’s.

Sitting on the school board provides Amy with a different perspective of the same school she attended as a child, but it’s one she said she thoroughly enjoys.

“We have lots of support,” she said.

“You don’t have to sell [the school] when you have good teachers.”

Much of the financial support the school receives is from parishioners, many of whom attended the school themselves or have grandchildren or great-grandchildren in the school.

The Heinens’ ties to the school, though, are not necessarily completely unusual. Axtell is a rural community of 406 people, according to 2010 U.S. Census Bureau. Like so many other rural communities in the northeastern region of Kansas, generations of families have farmed the same fields, belonged to the same churches and attended the same schools.

It’s the same sense of family and community for which Archbishop Naumann gave thanks during his homily as he discussed the importance of Catholic schools and strong Catholic families.

LEAVEN PHOTO BY MARC ANDERSON

Jordyn Smith, 11, shows a copy of the historical book that she and her classmates made during an open house held Jan. 25 as part of festivities to mark the 125th anniversary of St. Michael Catholic Elementary School in Axtell. The books feature American history highlights as well as local history and milestones in the life of St. Michael Elementary School.

“It’s important to celebrate anniversaries,” the archbishop said, adding that anniversaries allow people the opportunity to give thanks for the many blessings of years past, but that they also offer everyone a chance to recommit themselves to the same sense of purpose.

In the case of Catholic schools, that purpose is not only to educate and prepare students for the real world, in-

Editor Reverend Mark Goldasich, stl frmark@theleaven.com

Production Manager Todd Habiger todd@theleaven.com

Reporter Jessica Langdon jessica@theleaven.com

Managing Editor Anita McSorley anita@theleaven.com

Senior Reporter Joe Bollig joe@theleaven.com

Advertising Coordinator Julie Holthaus julie@theleaven.com

cluding college and future professions, but, more importantly, the archbishop said, to encourage students to discern God’s specific mission for their own lives — whether it be as a priest, a consecrated religious, a married person or as a professional.

“That’s the great mission of our Catholic schools,” the archbishop said.

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 $18/year.

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6/8/15 1:56 PM

4 LOCAL NEWS

THELEAVEN.COM | JANUARY 30, 2015

Working shepherd for the working world

By Joe Bollig joe@theleaven.com

“Father Gerard was like a grandfather to my family. He would often come over to our house for dinner or to chat with my wife and me, and visit with the kids. My kids never perked up so much as when they saw his car pull up — often unexpectedly — in our driveway. He would often call me up late at night to ask me to come over to the rectory and fix his computer problems, after which we would go to his kitchen and chat about current events or have an academic discussion.”

— MARK ZIA, associate professor of theology, director of academic enrichment programs, Benedictine College

A

TCHISON — Father Gerard Senecal, OSB, was a lot like Kansas itself — a study in contrasts. Plain vanilla he was not.

Those who knew him describe Father Gerard in many ways: a hard worker, a brilliant mind, a soul in love with God, a good friend, one who most certainly did not suffer fools gladly, and a kindly confessor.

He was their beloved curmudgeon with a heart of gold — not interested in doing what was popular, but what was right. He was not a people pleaser, but many people were pleased to know him.

“He showed me the love of God, but he didn’t say it with valentines,” said Claudia Crifasi, wife of Benedictine College assistant professor of philosophy Anthony Crifasi.

“The tough, gruff, irascible quality which endeared him to me didn’t always have universal appeal,” she continued. “But he was a working shepherd for the working world. He had true pastoral grit.”

Crifasi used to tease him by introducing him thusly: “This is Father Gerard Senecal; he was my pastor, and he’s a pistol!”

Father Gerard, 85, died on Jan. 19 at Senior Village in Atchison, where he was recovering following a stroke a week earlier. His funeral was in the St. Benedict’s Abbey church on Jan. 26, and he was buried in the abbey cemetery. His brother, Abbot Barnabas Senecal, OSB, was at his side when he died.

Father Gerard was born John Carl Senecal on July

“ Father Gerard left a lasting legacy at Benedictine College and northeast Kansas. He was a gifted physicist and provided the foundations for a strong physics department . . . and eventually an engineering department. He was the first full-time president at the newly formed Benedictine College and weathered the storms of touch economic times in which many Catholic and private colleges did not survive.”

— STEPHEN D. MINNIS, Benedictine president “Father Gerard was a man with evident determination in whatever task he undertook. He was constantly . . . [a minister] to others in education, in parish life, in the welfare of the abbey community, in concern for the legislators at the state and national level. He was generous with his time [and] sincere in his concern.”

— ABBOT BARNABAS SENECAL, OSB 27, 1929, in the family home in Atwood. He was the oldest of the seven children born to Lionel John and Clara (Strecker) Senecal.

The family was FrenchCanadian in origin.

He was influenced by his uncle, Father Lucien Senecal, OSB, to attend Maur Hill Prep School in Atchison. Upon graduation, he

Father Gerard Senecal • Born John Carl Senecal in Atwood on July 27, 1929 • Studied Maur Hill Prep School, Atchison, 1943-1946 • Studied St. Benedict’s College, Atchison, 1946-1948 • Entered Benedictine novitiate of St. Benedict’s Abbey, Atchison, at age 18 in 1948 • Professed vows July 11, 1949 • Studied at St. Benedict’s College 1949-1951, graduated with a bachelor’s of science in mathematics in 1951 • Studied theology at St. Benedict’s College School of Theology, 1951-1954 • Ordained a priest by Archbishop Edward J. Hunkeler at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Kansas City, Kansas, on May 29, 1954 •Second-floor prefect in Freshman (Elizabeth) Hall 1954-1955 • Studied chemistry at Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska, summer 1955 • Studied at the University of Michigan 1955-1958, graduated with a master’s in physics • Studied physics at Kansas State

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entered the monastery in 1948. Two younger brothers would follow him — one becoming abbot.

Father Gerard easily lived three or four lives in one lifetime. He was a monk, a scientist, a teacher, a college administrator, a pastor, and much more.

Father Gerard was preceded in death by his par-

University 1958-1963, graduated with a Ph.D. in physics in 1963 • Dorm director and instructor of physics at St. Benedict’s College: instructor 1962-1963, assistant professor 1963-1965, associate professor 19651972, department chairman 1965-1970 • Research at Goddard Space Flight Center, Bowie, Maryland, summer 1965 • Research at Atomic Energy Commission labs, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, summer 1966 • Research properties of polyethylene crystals at Texas A&M summer 1967 • Mobile radioisotope laboratory tour, 1970-71 • Member merger planning committee, 1970 • National Science Foundation grant for postdoctoral research and study, University of California at Berkeley, 1970-71; coauthor with Nobel Laureate Louis Alvarez of a paper describing electronic model of high-energy particle accelerator.

Also took part in merger negotiations, as a member of the merger committee, between St. Benedict’s College and Mount St. Scholastica College, Atchison

ents John and Clara, and brothers William and Richard. He was survived by his two sisters: Clare Kearney of Fredericksburg, Virginia, and Mary Hansen of Kansas City, Missouri; and two brothers: Abbot Barnabas Senecal of Atchison, and Nicholas Senecal of Hyde Park, Massachusetts.

• First full-time president of Benedictine College, three five-year terms, Feb. 12, 1972 – May 29, 1987; brought back football • Development and admissions work for Maur Hill Prep and Benedictine College, member of various boards, 1987-1993; established Friends of the Abbey • Pastor of St. Joseph and St. Patrick parishes, Atchison, 1994-1998 • Pastor of St. Benedict and Sacred Heart parishes, 1998-2013 • Administrator of Immaculate Conception Parish, St. Marys, and St. Stanislaus, Rossville, 2013-2014 • Honored at the dedication of Father Gerard Senecal Gymnasium on June 23, 2013, at Benedictine College • Community life, development work, weekend assistance to Atchison parishes, pastoral visits to sick and elderly • Died, following a stroke, at Senior Village, Atchison, Jan. 19 • Funeral Jan. 26 at abbey church, followed by burial in abbey cemetery

“He was a warrior priest and gave everything to his flock.”

— TARA KERR, St. Benedict parishioner “Father Gerard was a great, ‘old school’ priest. When my wife suffered a medical setback a few years ago, he would come over, unasked, bringing the Eucharist and words of encouragement. We saw firsthand how often he visited [the hospital]. I loved his homilies.”

— TOM HOOPES, vice president of college relations, Benedictine College “I saw him every day [when I lived with him for five months in 2010]. He was up every morning at five praying his Divine Office. Then he’d come down and answer emails and check the Internet. He was basically doing his duties all the time. On weekdays, there was never a free moment when we wasn’t doing something. He was an incredibly hard worker for the parish.”

— ANTHONY CRIFASI, assistant professor of philosophy “Father Gerard was a brilliant person. He was driven in many ways — a driven person striving to get the best out of everyone and show them by example what hard work was all about. He expected a lot out of his colleagues and students, and they delivered. It is a good lesson for me.”

— DOUG BROTHERS, professor and chairman of the Benedictine department of physics and astronomy

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LOCAL NEWS 5

JANUARY 30, 2015 | THELEAVEN.COM

FILIPINO PRIDE

Pope’s trip to the Philippines followed closely by area Filipinos

By Jessica Langdon jessica@theleaven.com

K

ANSAS CITY, Kan. — Cesar Conde felt emotion overcome him simply tracking on Facebook the days Pope Francis spent in Conde’s native country, the Philippines.

Conde, today a parishioner of Holy Trinity Parish in Lenexa, grew up poor in the Philippines and could deeply relate to the rush of excitement the people felt when the pope visited the heavily Catholic country Jan. 15-19.

“I think the faith of the Filipinos makes them really strong,” said Conde.

“They never give up.”

He feels that Pope Francis was in some ways an answer to the prayers of the faithful in the Philippines, where exists — in addition to substantial poverty — significant government corruption.

Pope Francis’ presence “makes the Filipinos very grateful and honored to see the messenger of God,” said Conde.

Conde, who owns the Go Big Skill Toy Store in Shawnee and raises funds to help people in the Philippines, and his wife Luz — also from the Philippines — traveled there shortly after the pope’s visit with a group on a medical mission with the Philippine Medical Society of Greater Kansas City.

Joy and Jim Phelps, members of Most Pure Heart of Mary Parish in Topeka, also tracked the pope’s visit, both before and during his time in the Philippines.

Joy grew up in the Philippines, and the couple often helps her family still living there.

They assisted, in fact, with a plane ticket that helped her sister get closer to the pope when he visited Leyte, Philippines.

Although Joy’s sister wasn’t able to get close because of the crowds, a younger sister got a closer look, and one of her brothers reported seeing him, but from afar. All were happy for the opportunity to be there, though.

“As a Catholic, for me, it’s an honor that Pope Francis is coming there,” said Joy, who is from Leyte.

Severe weather and rain marked much of the pope’s time in the Philippines, and it struck many that he was one of the people as he carried out his appointments in his rain gear.

The people of the Philippines are no strangers to the threat of severe weather throughout the year.

In Tacloban, the pope remembered the people affected by the Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.

Joy’s brother was a student at the university at the time the typhoon struck, and he narrowly missed being at his dorm when it flooded up to the second story.

Joy stays in touch with her family in the Philippines and worries about the corruption and poverty that continue to plague her homeland.

She feels, especially, for the children who live their lives in the streets.

“They’re hungry, and I feel really bad,” she said. “Whatever I had left over, I gave to the children who were really poor or whose parents didn’t care about them.”

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CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING

Pope Francis kisses a baby as he arrives to celebrate Mass in Rizal Park in Manila, Philippines, Jan. 18.

CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING

CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING

Pope Francis is presented with a statue of Mary during a meeting with priests, members of religious orders, seminarians and typhoon survivors in the cathedral in Palo, Philippines, Jan. 17.

So she was particularly touched by an article she read about Pope Francis’ interaction with a child who knew what life on the streets — and the suffering it brought — felt like.

“I would say that the biggest character trait of the Filipino people that the rest of the world could be inspired by from them is their resilience,” said Loretta Kline, who made the trip to capture the stories of the pope’s visit to the homeland of many of the people she serves.

Kline is managing editor in the communications department at Unbound in Kansas City, Kansas. Formerly the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging, Unbound strives to help improve life for those in poverty through sponsorships of children and elderly citizens in 21 countries. It has many

sponsorships in the Philippines.

The Filipinos are extremely welcoming to any visitor, said Kline, but to receive a visit from the pope was a great honor.

Mercy and compassion were the theme of the papal visit, and Kline talked to many people who were looking for ways to incorporate those ideas into their own lives.

“When he said mercy and compassion, I told myself I will do that for other people,” said Efren Agustin, a father of four whose oldest son is sponsored through Unbound, reported Kline.

So much of Pope Francis’ mission resonates with Unbound’s mission, said Kline, and part of that is the idea that “I’m present here for you; I’m going to learn a little bit about your reality,” she said.

People appear in religious-themed garb as Pope Francis celebrates Mass at Rizal Park in Manila, Philippines.

He talked about their resilience and also their family closeness.

“That’s what we do,” said Kline. “We try to strengthen families. We walk alongside, we accompany families in their daily lives. We offer them encouragement so they can make their own lives better.”

Many of the people she talked to used the same language to describe what it was like when the pope passed by or they witnessed a moment: Some used the actual word “goose bumps,” and others talked about the hairs on the back of their necks standing up.

And from Kansas, Cesar also used the word “goose bumps” to describe what it was like to watch via social media the pope’s visit to the Philippines.

“I think his presence gave encouragement and a fighting spirit for the Filipino people,” he said.

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6 LOCAL NEWS

THELEAVEN.COM | JANUARY 30, 2015 James and Barbara (Wise) Goering, members of Holy Trinity Parish, Lenexa, will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on Jan. 30.

The couple was married at Holy Trinity. Their children are: James Goering Jr.; Christine Schultheiss; and Charles Goering. They also have eight grandchildren.

Suzanne

James Fitzpatrick, members of Church of the Nativity, Leawood, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on Nov. 28, 2014.

The couple was married on Nov. 28, 1964, at St. Boniface Church, Sioux City, Iowa.

Their children are Kelly and Ryan. They also have five grandchildren.

CNS PHOTO/SHANNON STAPLETON, REUTERS

The archdiocesan office of social justice looks to address deep-seated social issues and help solve the root causes of poverty and inequality.

Social problems require community effort

S

o often we hear about the problems plaguing our society — homelessness, poverty, illness, unemployment, political mistrust and social unrest. The news is filled with images and stories of suffering and sadness.

Pope Francis offers us a compelling alternative. In his “Joy of the Gospel” message, our Holy Father teaches that “none of our acts of love will be lost . . . no generous effort is meaningless. . . . All of these encircle the world like a vital force” (279).

The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas promotes this vision of a society built on love and justice.

Local Catholics seek to build up the kingdom of God in their neighborhoods, parishes and communities.

Funded by the Archbishop’s Call to Share, the archdiocesan office of social justice supports the work of a dedicated staff and equips people to improve the lives of those in need.

“Help for the poor needs to be more than just a ‘handout’ — it needs to be rooted in systemic change,” said Bill Scholl, director of the office

“

“Many people follow the church’s teaching, but cannot explain why it is important. We help them do just that.”

Bill Scholl, director of the office of social justice of social justice. “Many people follow the church’s teaching, but cannot explain why it is important. We help them do just that.”

Scholl sees his primary task as education — teaching people to share Christ’s love in real, practical situations. To this end, the office of social justice recently established the Catholic Social Teaching Workshop, offered to parishes throughout the archdiocese. The workshop is intended to spark conversation about social justice issues, ranging from people’s decisions as consumers to ethical business practices, as well as pro-life and end-of-life decisions people make.

“When we talk to groups, we try to show them how their choices impact the poor and marginalized,”

Scholl said. “Catholic social teaching does not lead to liberal or conservative policies. It is about applying the Gospel of Jesus Christ — loving others as ourselves — to the decisions we make every day.”

The office of social justice helps facilitate a level of cooperation and outreach within the archdiocese.

Large-scale social change is possible only when there is coordination of community outreach efforts between parishes and organizations.

“If we hope to address deepseated social issues, we need to come together as a community of faith,” he said. “We need to cooperate to solve the root causes of poverty, injustice and inequality.”

Pope Francis reminds us to pay attention to the needs of the poor — to listen to those without a voice. The Archbishop’s Call to Share provides an opportunity to do just that. With a gift to the appeal, we participate in something we could never do on our own.

The financial support of people in the archdiocese helps alleviate hunger, ease homelessness and fight poverty. The office of social justice is just one of many channels of grace supported by the appeal. A gift — a simple act of love — will not be lost; it will help heal lives and bring hope into homes, neighborhoods and parishes throughout northeast Kansas.

and

Don and Mary Morford, members of St. Dominic Parish, Holton, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on Jan. 23. The couple was married at Immaculate Conception Church, St. Marys, on Jan. 23, 1965.

Their daughters are: Maggie Root, Lenexa; and Kristi Frantz (deceased). They also have four grandchildren. They celebrated with a trip to Branson last December.

NEW ANNIVERSARY POLICY

• The Leaven prints 50, 60, 65 and 70th notices.

• Announcements are due eight days before the desired publication date.

• Announcements must be typed.

• They are for parishioners of Catholic parishes in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, or for those who have resided in the archdiocese for a significant period of time.

Include the following Information: • The couple’s names • their parish • the date they were married • church and city where they were married • what they are doing to celebrate • date of the celebration • names of children (no spouses please) • number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren; Send notices to: The Leaven, 12615 Parallel Pkwy., Kansas City, KS 66109, attn: anniversaries; or send an email to: Todd@ theleaven.com.

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

Want to help someone heal from an abortion?

Call Toll Free 888-246-1504

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6/8/15 1:56 PM

LOCAL NEWS 7

JANUARY 30, 2015 | THELEAVEN.COM

Married? You’re being watched! (But it’s all good.)

By Joe Bollig joe@theleaven.com

K

ANSAS CITY, Kan. — Are you married? Here’s something you need to know: You’re being watched.

And that’s a good thing.

Without them even being aware of it, faithful Catholic couples are World Marriage powerful signs Day will be celof hope to the ebrated with a world, said DeaMass at 2 p.m. con Tony Zimon Feb. 8 at Curé merman. of Ars Parish, “You’re on 9401 Mission the treadmill of Rd., Leawood. life, and every day you’re doing the same thing,” said Deacon Zimmerman, consultant in the archdiocesan marriage and family life office. “But you don’t realize people watching. A couple can be a powerful sign of God’s love.”

Deacon Zimmerman remembered the powerful witness of a Marriage Encounter couple at a meeting.

The husband and wife walked into the meeting, looked at each other, turned right around and began to walk out the door.

“Hold on,” said the deacon. “What’s going on?”

“We had a fight,” they told him. “We need to go reconcile.”

So they went out to the car, talked, and came back to the meeting.

“An Irish bishop said it best,” said

Leaven 01-30-15.indd 7

World Marriage Day will be celebrated with a Mass at 2 p.m. on Feb. 8 at Curé of Ars Parish, 9401 Mission Rd., Leawood. Couples in attendance will have the opportunity to renew their vows.

Deacon Zimmerman. “He told some couples, ‘You married people have no idea how important your marriage is to the church and the world.’ We have to tell them.”

This message will be brought home in a special event next month — and all married couples are invited to participate.

World Marriage Day will be celebrated with a Mass at 2 p.m. on Feb. 8 at Curé of Ars Parish, 9401 Mission Rd., Leawood.

The celebrants will be Archbishop

Joseph F. Naumann and Bishop Robert W. Finn. Couples in attendance will have the opportunity to renew their vows. A reception will be held following the Mass.

Prizes will be awarded to the newest newlyweds and the longest-married couple.

No RSVP or registration is required.

For information, call (913) 647-0345.

The Mass and reception are sponsored by Worldwide Marriage Encounter, the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, the Diocese of Kansas City-St.

Joseph, and the marriage and family life offices of both dioceses.

World Marriage Day — celebrated locally for at least the past six years — draws an eclectic crowd. Some couples arrive in their wedding gowns and suits.

The participants range from those married a few weeks to those married a few decades. Many bring children.

So, why should married couples come to this Mass?

“Because the graces of matrimony are ongoing, not just for the wedding day,” said Deacon Zimmerman. “At this Mass we come to hear the words of God and receive the very presence of Christ.”

“We pray for the graces we need to live our marriages as God called us to do,” he continued. “We give a sign of hope — to encourage and be encouraged by other couples.”

Many people are afraid to get married, said Deacon Zimmerman. They want a happy, lifelong marriage, but don’t think it’s possible. Governments are rewriting the very definition of marriage, and many in the culture are buying into that vision, which has nothing to do with marriage as God created it.

“Please join us in worship for the sake of our country, our families and our church — and to live out the very nature of who God called us to be as husbands and wives,” said Deacon Zimmerman. “We are called by God to stand up and profess to the world that faithful, lifelong marriage is not only possible, but joyful. And God will support us.”

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PROJECT RACHEL OFFERS

By Jill Ragar Esfeld jill@theleaven.com

K

ANSAS CITY, Kan. — One day, a mother and daughter came to Pat Klausner, program coordinator of Project Rachel here.

The daughter was pregnant, and the mother didn’t want her to have an abortion.

Klausner asked the girl if she would be willing to talk with someone who had been down her road.

She said yes.

‘Tenerezza’ A word Pope Francis uses

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PROJECT RACHEL

Founded in 1984 as a response to Roe v. Wade, Project Rachel is a nationwide Catholic ministry based in forgiveness for those suffering after an abortion. The diocesanbased ministry provides confidential care for men and women, Catholic and non-Catholic. The care includes counseling, support groups and retreats.

Since its founding, Project Rachel has spread to more than 165 dioceses across the United States. The website offers an online study for those too far away to access the services in person. For more information, go online to: www. projectrachelkc.com.

often when he talks about forgiveness is “tenerezza.” It is the Italian word for “tenderness.”

Klausner is tenderness personified in her daily interactions with those who are dealing with the aftermath of abortion.

“Abortion is really a bereavement issue, a mourning issue and a guilt issue,” she said. “That’s why we have the program.

“We can give them a comfortable safe place to do that mourning, do that crying.

Tell who they’re angry with for what has happened.

“And they know they’re not alone.”

Participants have found that one of the most freeing aspects of post-abortive healing is letting go of the secret.

“There’s an immense shame issue,” explained Klausner. “They fear being judged.”

One woman said conceal-

ing the memory of her abortion was like holding a beach ball under water.

“That takes a tremendous amount of energy,” said Klausner.

Jennifer knows. Her abortion took place in 1981, when she was a college student.

“It was 20 years before I got help,” she said. “You get very good at pushing down the issues you don’t want to deal with.

“But you can’t do that forever.”

Grief is not sexist Michael, a male participant in Project Rachel, kept his secret for 15 years without realizing the impact it was having on his life.

“Before I married,” he said, “I went to confession. I was absolved, and I went on about my life.

“But I never paid much attention to the effect [the abortion] had on me. I guess I wasn’t ready to face it.”

One day, Michael was in confession when he started to cry. The priest asked, “How have you been damaged?”

“At that moment,” said Michael, “I went back in time and landed on that high school experience.”

Michael remembered being “scared to death” and making a knee-jerk decision.

“We were in between classes in the hallway when she came and told me she was pregnant,” he recalled.

“And I just immediately said,

“

“IT WAS 20 YEARS BEFORE I GOT HELP. YOU GET VERY GOOD AT PUSHING DOWN

“

“The young woman called me,” said Jennifer, a survivor of post-abortion trauma who has been through the Project Rachel program.

“I didn’t say, ‘Don’t do it,’” she recalled. “I just told her what happened to me.

“I said, ‘These are the things that happened in my life afterwards, and you deserve to know about them.’”

Seven months later, Jennifer got a phone call.

“You probably won’t remember me,” said a voice Jennifer recognized as the young woman she’d counseled.

The young woman had decided to have her baby, a girl, and place her with an adoptive family.

“I wanted you to know,” she told Jennifer. “This is the best thing that ever happened to me.

“And I want to thank you, because you just told me and you let me decide.”

This is how God renders sin powerless through mercy and truth — the cornerstones of Project Rachel.

Jennifer’s aborted child, lost to her through a misguided decision years ago, lives on through her story — and is able to help others.

“My child’s life is of value even though it wasn’t spent on this earth,” said Jennifer.

The book used in the Project Rachel program is called “Save One” by Sheila Harper, a post-abortive woman.

“She has found,” said Klausner, “and I have, too, that women often say, ‘I would do anything if I could save one other person from feeling the way I have felt.’

“And so, I give them the commission: Go out and save one other person.”

THE ISSUES YOU DON’T WANT TO DEAL WITH. BUT YOU CAN’T DO

THAT FOREVER.”

‘Get rid of it.’

“And that was it.”

For years, Michael had suppressed the guilt from his impetuous action.

“I’d pushed it away so far,” he said. “I hadn’t connected the dots between the things that made me feel bad about myself and that particular decision.”

Once he recognized his pain, Michael came to Klausner and finally began the process of healing.

And then, he saved one other person when a coworker confided in him that he was considering an abortion.

“My insides went, ‘Don’t!’” said Michael. “But I simply said, ‘You could do that, or you could try something different.’”

Michael shared his story, emphasizing the burden he carried after his abortion experience.

“They ended up keeping their child,” he said.

This missing piece It’s difficult to predict when the trauma of abortion will surface. Klausner, who has been listening to the stories of damaged hearts for 20 years, can’t predict it.

“We have some women who regret abortion right away,” she said. “Some of them right on the table; some of them down the road.

“I do think having a child afterward and seeing the finished product will bring to their minds the child they

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RS ‘DEEP-ROOTS’ HEALING

Leaven 01-30-15.indd 9

and my Lord and Savior.”

Indeed, Project Rachel helped Glenn heal and experience God’s mercy.

“As a result,” he said, “I’m involved with Anglicans for Life. Their slogan is: Be silent no more.

“I try to witness to men as often as I can because I think they’re the forgotten ones.”

The devil’s deception “The lie that’s been perpetuated,” said Klausner, “is that abortion is going to help you.

“And it doesn’t help you.”

It isn’t unusual for people to feel relief after an abortion, because the immediate crisis is over. But at some point, it seems inevitable that most will revisit the decision they made.

“When they first have the abortion,” said Sharon, a Project Rachel spokesperson, “a lot of them are in denial. They think they don’t need any healing.

“But as years go by, your relationships don’t work, you turn to drugs, drinking.”

Sharon speaks from experience. She is a survivor of two abortions — the first when she was only 15 years old.

“I remember it so well,” she said. “I was still living at home and had no resources, so I really didn’t have a choice “[My father] made the choice for me.”

“

“I WANTED YOU TO KNOW. THIS IS THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO ME. AND

“

didn’t have — the missing piece.”

“The birth of our first child was a huge eye-opener,” Michael agreed. “I didn’t make the connection at that time.

“But four or five years later, the weight of the responsibility of life and children kind of changes your perception.”

Like Michael, when he became a father Glenn began to regret the abortion he’d had in 1957.

But he hid his grief until 1995, when his son, while in the military, committed suicide.

More than five years later, when 9/11 happened, he finally broke down.

“I went to my priest,” he recalled. “And I said, ‘I took something away from the Lord, and the Lord turned around and took something away from me.

“At the time, I was 45 years out from my abortion.”

Even now, Glenn still remembers clearly sitting in a waiting room listening to his young wife’s screams as she endured a dilation and curettage — a procedure that masked abortion before it was legal.

“I had an abortion out of fear of becoming a father before I wanted to,” he said.

“During the abortion procedure, I experienced the pain she endured.

“Immediately after the abortion, I felt relief.

“As time went on, I experienced guilt and doubt.

And then, I found help and forgiveness through counsel

I WANT TO THANK

YOU BECAUSE YOU JUST TOLD ME,

AND YOU LET ME DECIDE.”

Sharon went on to marry and have a son. But when her marriage failed, she turned to drugs.

“The second time I got pregnant was a one-nightstand,” she said. “Mentally, I was thinking, ‘It’s going to be a crack baby.’

“I knew it was wrong.

Satan really worked on my head.”

Though Sharon thought she was healed when she later had a religious conversion, she soon realized she needed more help — and she found it at Project Rachel.

“The deep-roots healing — forgiving my father, forgiving the doctors, naming my children,” she said, “there was so much more I didn’t know about.

“That’s what Project Rachel did for me.”

Reconnecting “What helps them is being able to reconnect spiritually with the child that they lost,” said Klausner. “And this is what we do.”

One of the ways participants reconnect is by writing to their lost children.

“This is a really good way for anyone to heal,” said Glenn. “You write this letter, and you’re writing it to this child you’ve named. I named mine after my great-greatgrandfather.

“After you write this letter, Pat has you turn around and answer the letter with your less-dominant hand.”

At the end of the 10-week

Project Rachel program, participants are given a chance to have a memorial Mass or service for their children.

“It gives the mother a little bit of comfort when you talk about God being a merciful God,” said Klausner.

In his 1995 encyclical “The Gospel of Life,” Pope John Paul II wrote about women being healed by Christ after an abortion and one day in heaven seeing “their child who is living in the Lord.”

Pope Francis reiterated that message in his first apostolic exhortation saying “God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy.

“With a tenderness which never disappoints, but is always capable of restoring our joy, he makes it possible for us to lift up our heads and to start anew.”

Starting anew is what Project Rachel is all about.

“Project Rachel is confidential,” said Sharon. “You’re not judged, you’re just loved — you’re just lavished with love.

“People need to know they can be healed and supported. And they don’t have to bury this anymore.

“You can talk about it; they’re going to understand.”

“The beauty of the church,” said Klausner, “is that it recognized abortion is a wound that’s very deep with a lot of layers that need to be healed.

“And so it offered Project Rachel.”

6/8/15 1:56 PM

10 LOCAL NEWS

THELEAVEN.COM | JANUARY 30, 2015

Thousands participate in rally for life at statehouse

By Marc and Julie Anderson Special to The Leaven

T

OPEKA — The most pro-life state in America.

That’s what Gov. Sam Brownback called Kansas to the applause and cheers of at least 2,000 people in his brief remarks at a rally for life held Jan. 22 on the south side of the Kansas state Capitol. The rally commemorated the 42nd anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion.

In conjunction with the rally, nearly 1,800 prayed together at a Mass celebrated by Bishop John Brungardt of Dodge City at the Topeka Performing Arts Center. After Mass, participants and others walked between the third of a mile from the venue to the south steps of the Capitol, joining Brownback, Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer and at least 40 pro-life legislators representing both the Kansas Senate and the Kansas House of Representatives.

As part of the governor’s introduction, Mary Kay Culp, executive director of Kansans for Life, told rally attendees that since January 2011, the beginning of his first term, Brownback has signed into law 13 different pro-life bills, again to the cheers and applause of the crowd.

“It’s great to be with you in the most pro-life state in America — Kansas,” the governor said, “and you’re the ones who’ve done it. And because of you, I had those 13 pro-life bills come to my desk. And I also want you to recognize and thank with a big cheer all these pro-life legislators.”

Brownback added he is ready to sign another pro-life bill into law, the recently introduced Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act. “That bill should pass.

I’ll sign it,” Brownback said to cheers and applause.

Sponsored by Sen. Garrett Love of Montezuma, the proposed legislation would be the first of its kind in the nation and would outlaw dismemberment abortion, the standard method used between 13 to 22 weeks gestation in Kansas. In 2013, 578 such abortions were recorded as having been performed throughout the state.

Love told rally attendees that “protecting the

Leaven 01-30-15.indd 10

“

“We believe that life is a sacred gift of God. Sadly, many hundreds have been confused and exploited by slick slogans that attempt to hide the ugly, tragic reality of abortion.

Patrick Winchester most defenseless among us has always been a passion for me, and dismemberment is a particularly gruesome type of abortion.”

Prior to the governor’s remarks, Knights of Columbus member Patrick Winchester of Lecompton, also the state deputy of the Kansas state council, addressed the crowd and spoke with passion about the Knights’ ultrasound initiative which has now placed 500 ultrasound machines throughout the country in pro-life pregnancy care centers — including seven in the state of Kansas, and most recently two in Johnson County.

“We believe that life is a sacred gift of God,” said Winchester. “Sadly, many hundreds have been confused and exploited by slick slogans that attempt to hide the ugly, tragic reality of abortion. They have been misled to think that euthanasia and assisted suicide are some form of medical care.

The Knights of Columbus don’t believe this, and we will have none of this.”

“Supreme Knight Carl Anderson has said of the ultrasound initiative, ‘It is without a doubt the most effective pro-life program we have ever undertaken. It saves lives each and every day. And with each woman who sees an image of her child, we continue to turn the tide of public opinion one person at a time.’”

Encouraging the crowd further, Winchester added, “Even though this crime against humanity is allowed to continue, we must have hope that it will end. And, ladies and gentlemen, we must believe. We must always believe that we will be

LEAVEN PHOTO BY MARC ANDERSON

After Mass at the Topeka Performing Arts Center, the crowd marched to the state Capitol to hear remarks from Gov. Sam Brownback and other pro-life proponents.

Social media helps document the day at annual March for Life >> Continued from page 1

successful in our endeavor to end the holocaust of the innocent.

“We must always believe that one day our culture will turn away from the evil of abortion, assisted suicide and euthanasia. We must also believe that one day we will embrace reason and compassion. We must believe that one day people will heed our message.”

@marcorubio’s office for coffee at 284 Russell Senate Office Building.”

Based on Twitter feeds during the march, there was not much reaction to a Senate action early that afternoon passing a bill to restrict taxpayer funding of abortion. The decision, announced by The Associated Press at 1:20 p.m., may have appeared on the screens of some of the marchers’ cellphones, but they might not have been paying attention, focused on the march at

hand or simply on staying warm.

The extremely festive feeling of the march as it appeared on social media — including pictures of cute kids and college students juggling in the street — may have belied the seriousness of the prolife cause the participants were in town to rally around.

But one tweeter put the day and its happy crowd in perspective with this message: “The #MarchforLife is an unbelievable mix of sorrow at the crime that brought us here, joy in seeing friends & hope at the #ProLifeGeneration.”

6/8/15 1:56 PM

WORLD 11

JANUARY 30, 2015 | THELEAVEN.COM

Bishop calls for intervention to stop Boko Haram

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service

R

OME (CNS) — Underlining the failure of the Nigerian government to stop the violent rampage of Boko Haram, a Catholic bishop has called for Western military intervention.

The Muslim militant group’s increasingly deadly assaults and expanded recruitment from countries across North Africa mean “a concerted military campaign is needed by the West to crush Boko Haram,” said Bishop Oliver Dashe Doeme of Maiduguri, capital of the troubled Borno state.

“The West should bring in security — land forces — to contain and beat back Boko Haram,” he said in an interview Jan. 19 with the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need.

Boko Haram, which the U.S. has labeled a terrorist organization, claims it seeks to overthrow the Nigerian government and create an Islamic state.

More than 11,000 people have died since Boko Haram launched an insurgency in 2009, engaging in a campaign of terror, mass killings and abductions, carrying out suicide bombings, burning villages and forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee. Some reports from human rights groups say as many as 2,000 people may have been killed when militants captured Baga in early January, razing thousands of homes in their path.

Bishop Doeme said that of the 125,000 Catholics in his diocese, almost 70,000 have fled their homes and about 1,000 have been killed. In his diocese, he said, Boko Haram militants have destroyed more than 50 churches and chapels, and more than 200 churches have had to be abandoned in the past five years.

Doctors Without Borders, which has a permanent base in Maiduguri, estimates between 800,000 and 1.5 million people are displaced, mostly in north-

CNS PHOTO/AFOLABI SOTUNDE, REUTERS

A girl displaced as a result of Boko Haram attack in the northeast region of Nigeria rests her head on a desk at a camp for internally displaced people in Yola Jan. 13. eastern Nigeria.

Cardinal John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja said Boko Haram is committing “serious crimes, crimes against humanity.”

However, even more serious is the fact that Nigerian government leaders “continue to do nothing and live as if nothing has happened. It’s not that there lack the means: the money is there and lots of it. What is missing is the sense of responsibility on the part of those who govern,” he told Vatican Radio Jan. 19.

Bishop Doeme said the Nigerian

military is corrupt, complicit and inept.

“Among the soldiers, there were sympathizers with Boko Haram, some of them were even Boko Haram members, and many of them just ran away” during the militants attack on Baga, he said.

The bishop said the government also knows who is financially supporting the group from abroad.

Boko Haram militants have spilled over into neighboring Cameroon and are recruiting people in neighboring countries “enticing them with money, they pay in dollars. And the people, who

are without work, follow them,” Cardinal Onaiyekan said.

African nations need to cooperate, he said, and prayers are urgently needed “so that our government is able to recognize the seriousness of the situation, so that we can launch not just a military [response] but also a path of political dialogue.”

“That way we can slowly begin to change the mentality of these people who commit these atrocities not just against our country but against human life,” the cardinal said.

Persecuted for faith, Christians are united in blood, pope says

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service

V

ATICAN CITY (CNS) — Christians are united in bloodshed as they suffer from violence and persecution in various parts of the world, Pope Francis told Christian leaders.

Today’s martyrs are men and women, who through their witness to Jesus, are “persecuted and killed because they are Christian,” the pope said Jan. 25 during an ecumenical prayer service marking the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Those who persecute them make no distinction about “which denomination they belong to. They are Christians and for that [they are] persecuted. This, brothers and sisters, is the ecumenism of blood.”

With Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist and other Christian representatives present and reading some of the prayers, Pope Francis presided over the service at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.

The service began with Pope Francis, Orthodox Metropolitan Gennadios of Italy and Anglican Archbishop David Moxon, the archbishop of Canterbury’s representative in Rome, bowing in prayer before the tomb of St. Paul on the feast of his conversion.

Closing the Jan. 18-25 Week of Prayer

Leaven 01-30-15.indd 11

CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING

Pope Francis greets Brother Alois Leser, prior of the Taize ecumenical community in France, at the conclusion of ecumenical vespers at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome Jan. 25. for Christian Unity, the pope said Jesus showed that encountering those who are different “from us can make us grow.”

Basing his homily on the Gospel story of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well, the pope said the encounter is marked by dialogue, patience and respect, showing people today that “in order to understand each other and grow in love and truth we have to stop,

welcome and listen to each other.”

Unity comes about by journeying together, the pope said; nothing comes from standing still.

In fact, “Christian unity will never be the fruit of refined theoretical discussions in which each one will try to convince the other of the validity of one’s opinions,” he said before asking: “Will the Son of Man come and find us still

having talks?”

Christians must recognize that “we need each other, to come together and face each other under the guidance of the Holy Spirit who harmonizes diversity and overcomes conflicts,” he said.

Because of the Holy Spirit, “we have become one with Christ” and loving children of God, he said.

“This mystery of love is the most profound reason of the unity that binds all Christians and is much greater than the divisions that occurred throughout the course of history,” he said. That is why the closer each Christian draws to Christ in humility, the closer “we will draw to each other, too.”

So many people in the world are tired and thirsting for truth and meaning, the pope said. All churches and Christian communities, being called to evangelize, can do so more effectively by not being self-enclosed, exclusive or bent on “imposing uniformity according to purely human calculations.”

“The common commitment to proclaim the Gospel permits overcoming every form of proselytism and temptation to compete. We are all at the service of the one and same Gospel,” he said.

Among those attending the prayer service were men and women belonging to Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant religious orders; they had taken part in a three-day meeting on their role in ecumenism.

6/8/15 1:56 PM

12 CLASSIFIEDS EMPLOYMENT Regional pastoral associate - The Wyandotte Pastoral Region of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas is seeking a regional pastoral associate for development and engagement. This position will work with pastors, staffs and leadership advisory bodies of designated parishes in the Wyandotte Pastoral Region. The purpose of the work is to maximize the fiscal and pastoral vitality of the parishes. Ideal candidate will be a skilled communicator experienced in data analysis and strategic planning; team leadership; and fundraising. Bachelor’s degree is required. Experience with parish fiscal management and pastoral planning or fund management is preferred. A complete job description, application and benefits information are available on the archdiocese’s website at: www.archkck.org/jobs. Qualified individuals should submit cover letter, resume and application (available on website) and a letter of support from the pastor of your parish by Feb. 7 by email to: jobs@arch kck.org or mail to: Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, Office of Human Resources, Pastoral Associate for Development and Engagement Search, 12615 Parallel Pkwy., Kansas City, KS 66109.

Lead consultant - The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas is seeking a lead consultant for mission strategy. This position heads the office of mission strategy, which exists to guide entities within the archdiocese in formulating pastoral plans and developing strategies for implementing the archbishop’s pastoral objectives and advancing the church’s evangelical and pastoral mission.

This work will be accomplished in collaboration with curial offices, pastoral regions, parishes and schools. The lead consultant will work with the various entities by utilizing demographic and constituent data, guiding the planning efforts and developing communications and other strategies. The position requires experience and demonstrated skill in strategic planning and data analysis; verbal and written communications, including public speaking; print and electronic media; and leadership and collaboration. Requires a bachelor’s degree in theology, business, communications, marketing or related field.

A complete job description, application and benefits information are available on the archdiocese’s website at: www.archkck.org/jobs. Qualified individuals should submit cover letter, resume and application (available on website) and a letter of support from the pastor of your parish by Feb. 7 by email to: jobs@archkck.org or mail to: Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, Office of Human Resources, Lead Consultant for Mission Strategy Search, 12615 Parallel Pkwy., Kansas City, KS 66109.

Assistant teachers - St. Agnes Child Care is currently looking to fill one full-time and several part-time positions. These openings are for assistant teachers in several different age groups. The work would be between the hours of 7 a.m. - 6 p.m., Mon. through Fri. The right candidate will need to be at least 18 years old, be physically able to meet the demands of working with young children, have a positive attitude and be energetic, flexible, creative, and patient. A high school diploma or GED is required and previous experience in a Kansas licensed child care facility or early education college coursework is a plus. If you are interested in being considered for this opening or know of anyone who might be interested, email your resume to Neona Russ, director of St. Agnes Early Education Center, at: russ.neona@stagneskc.org, or call (913) 262-1689.

Assistant teacher - St. Agnes Early Education Center, Roeland Park, has an opening for a part-time preKindergarten assistant teacher. Qualified candidates must meet the KDHE guidelines for preschool lead teacher.

Please send an email with resume for consideration to Neona Russ at: russ.neona@stagneskc.org.

Principal - St. John LaLande community seeks a principal and spiritual leader committed to providing an environment where children can experience learning and living fully in the Catholic faith with excellent leadership, communication and motivational skills. St. John LaLande is a parish school serving preK-8th grades with an enrollment of approximately 275 students and a staff of more than 25. Our vibrant parish is located in Blue Springs, Missouri. Candidates must be a practicing Catholic, have a master’s degree in educational administration, teaching experience in Catholic schools and preferably at least three years of administrative experience. Applications may be made online at: http://app.hireology. com/s/34203.

Safe drivers - Assisted Transportation seeks caring and reliable drivers to transport K-12 students in Overland Park, Olathe and/or Kansas City, Kansas in our minivans. CDL not required. Retirees are encouraged to apply. Learn more or apply online at: www.assisted transportation.com or call (913) 262-3100 for more information. EOE. Sales professionals - We respect your many years of experience; we value and need your wisdom. We only ask if you are “coachable”? If so, Catholic Cemeteries of Northeast Kansas has openings for sales trainees in our Johnson, Shawnee and Wyandotte County area cemeteries. An excellent earning of $40K to $50K+ in commission is legitimate income potential for the first year. Training allowance your first 30 days, then draw + commission with bonus opportunities. Med, life, dental, optical, prescription, 401(k) plans, etc., are some of the many perks our employees receive. Excellent opportunities for women and men interested in sales career and in helping people. Advancement opportunities are available for hard-working and focused individuals. Must

Leaven 01-30-15.indd 12

THELEAVEN.COM | JANUARY 30, 2014 be willing to work some evenings and weekends when our client families are available to see us in their homes.

Once you learn our formula for success, your schedule is determined by you. Please email your resume and contact information to: rcarr@cathcemks.org or fax to (913) 353-1413.

small. Serving JoCo since 1987. St. Joseph, Shawnee, parishioner. Call Mike at (913) 927-4347 or send an email to: mike@mikehammermoving.com.

Director of music ministry - Mother Teresa Church, Topeka, is accepting applications for a part-time director of music. Responsibilities include planning liturgies/music; formation and supervision of music ministers; developing and directing adult/youth choirs and cantors; enable active participation of assembly. Pastoral experience, choral directing, people skills and a degree in liturgy or music (or equivalent) are required. Individual must be a practicing Catholic and proficient in Microsoft Suite. Hourly rate commensurate with education and experience. Complete job description available online at: www.mtcctopeka. org. Submit cover letter and resume by email to: office@ mtcctopeka.org or mail to Mother Teresa Catholic Church, 2014 N.W. 46th St., Topeka, KS 66618.

Semi-retired interior painters - Cracks repaired, walls and ceilings painted or textured. With no mess! Refresh old woodwork. Over 50 years’ experience combined. Insured. Members of St. Joseph Parish. Call Jerry any time at (913) 206-1144.

Villa St. Francis - A Catholic community that provides long-term care, short-term rehabilitation and memory care. We are currently recruiting for: Full-time/part-time LPNs; full-time/part-time CNAs; PRN housekeepers; parttime laundry aides; part-time dietary aides; full-time maintenance. Competitive wages, benefits package, collaborative work environment, EOE. Please apply in person at 16600 W. 126th St., Olathe, KS 66062.

SERVICES Electrician - Free estimates; reasonable rates. JoCo and south KC metro. Call Pat at (913) 963-9896.

Tree service - Pruning trees for optimal growth and beauty and removal of hazardous limbs or problem trees.

Free consultation and bid. Safe, insured, professional.

Cristofer Estrada, Green Solutions of KC, (913) 378-5872. www.GreenSolutionsKC.com.

Housecleaning - Professional, thorough housecleaning.

Competitive pricing. Flexible scheduling. 25 plus years of experience. Johnson County, Shawnee, Overland Park, and Wyandotte County areas. Call Shelly at (913) 206-2680.

Please leave a message.

Cleaning lady - Reasonable rates; references provided.

Call (913) 940-2959.

CLUTTER GETTING YOU DOWN? Organize, fix, assemble, install! “Kevin Of All Trades” your professional organizer and “HONEY-DO-LIST” specialist. Call today for a free consultation at (913) 271-5055. Insured. References.

Visit our website at: www.KOATINDUSTRIES.com.

Housecleaning - Old-fashioned cleaning, hand mopping, etc. A thorough and consistent job every time.

References from customers I’ve served for over 17 years.

Call Sharon at (816) 322-0006 (home) or (816) 801-0901 (mobile). Serving the 913 area code area.

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, etc., neckties etc. For information or to schedule a free consultation, call (913) 649-2704. Visit the website at: www.quiltedmemoriesllc.com.

Need to lose weight, get in shape? Improve balance, coordination and flexibility. Call Angela, personal trainer, at (913) 558-7759.

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.

We moved! Come check out our new office in Lenexa.

Complete plumbing and bath Master plumber for your entire home. Painting, tile install, bath remodeling. Onyx Collection Distributor.

Serving Johnson County for 20 years.

Member Ascension Parish; call Mike at (913) 488-4930.

Tim the Handyman - Small jobs, faucets, garbage disposals, toilets, ceiling fans, light fixtures, painting, wall ceiling repair, wood rot, siding, decks, doors, windows, and gutter cleaning. Call (913) 526-1844.

Garage door and opener sales and service - 24-hour, 7-day-a-week service on all types of doors. Replace broken springs, cables, hinges, rollers, gate openers, entry and patio doors, and more. Over 32 years of experience.

Call (913) 227-4902.

Agua Fina Irrigation and Landscape The one-stop location for your project!

Landscape and irrigation design, installation and maintenance.

Cleanup and grading services It’s time to repair your lawn. 20% discount on lawn renovations with mention of this ad.

Visit the website at: www.goaguafina.com Call (913) 530-7260 or (913) 530-5661 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

HOME IMPROVEMENT

Custom countertops - Laminates installed within 5 days. Cambria, granite, and solid surface. Competitive prices, dependable work. Call the Top Shop, Inc., at (913) 962-5058. Members of St. Joseph, Shawnee.

NELSON CREATIONS L.L.C. Home remodeling, design/build, kitchens, baths, all interior and exterior work. Family owned and operated; over 25 years experience. Licensed and insured; commercial and residential. Kirk and Diane Nelson.

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

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!!

Call Lupe at (816) 252-3376 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) 491-5837 or (913) 5791835. Email: smokeycabin@hotmail.com. Member of Holy Trinity, Lenexa.

Adept Home Improvements Where quality still counts!

Basement finishing, Kitchens and baths, Electrical and plumbing, Licensed and insured. (913) 599-7998 Fire & water damage restoration - Framing, insulation, painting, and mold treatment. Lead-safe certified; insured. Serving Wyandotte and Johnson counties for 25 years. Call Jerry at (913) 206-1144.

Caregiver - CNA home health care specialist provides TLC in the comfort of the client’s residence. Available 24 hours, affordable, excellent references provided. Nonsmoker. Call (816) 806-8104.

REAL ESTATE For sale - 401 Fieldcrest Dr., Pittsburg. Great investment property for parent of college-bound student. New roof, siding and windows. Fully rented currently at $750. For sale at $80,000. Call (913) 486-8345.

Wanted to buy: I NEED HOUSES! I buy them as is, with no repairs. You can even leave behind what you don’t want. We buy houses that need foundation or roof repair.

All sales are cash with no strings attached. Please call Mark Edmondson at (913) 980-4905. Holy Trinity Parish member.

FOR SALE Max’s rosaries - Custom-made locally for all occasions – first Communion, confirmation, baptism, graduation.

Rosary bracelets and beaded earrings too! I also do repairs. Member of the Church of the Ascension, Overland Park. Call (913) 400-3236.

For sale - Selling a light mahogany console piano with beautiful philharmonic sound. It is in good condition and comes with a storage bench. Price is $275 or best offer.

If interested, call (913) 492-9326.

Residential lifts - Buy/sell/trade. Stair lifts, porch lifts, ceiling lifts and elevators. Recycled and new equipment.

Member of St. Michael the Archangel Parish, Leawood.

Call Silver Cross KC at (913) 327-5557.

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.

ANTIQUES WANTED - I buy older wrist- and pocket watches, silverware, antique toy banks, crock jugs, postcards and photographs, Babe Ruth autographs, pharmaceutical drug store soda fountain and military items. Call (913) 642-8269 or (913) 593-7507.

Wanted to buy - Antique/vintage jewelry, lighters, fountain pens, post card collections, paintings/prints, pottery, sterling, china dinnerware.

Renee Maderak, (913) 631-7179.

St. Joseph Parish, Shawnee

VOLUNTEERS

Detail construction and remodeling - We offer a full line of home remodeling services. Don’t move — remodel! Johnson County area. Call for a free quote. (913) 709-8401.

Volunteers - Providence Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, is looking for volunteers to work at the main information desk from Mon. - Thurs., 4 - 6 or 6:30 p.m.

Customer service-oriented. Call (913) 596-4195.

House painting Interior and exterior; wall paper removal.

Power washing, fences, decks.

30 years experience. References. Reasonable rates.

Call Joe at (913) 620-5776.

MISCELLANEOUS

Swalms Organizing and Downsizing Service - Reducing Clutter - Enjoy an Organized Home! Basement, garage, attic, shop, storage rooms - any room organized!

Belongings sorted, boxed and labeled, items hauled or taken for recycling, trash bagged. For before and after photos, visit: www.swalmsorganizing.com. Over 20 years of organizing experience; insured. Call Tillar at (913) 375-9115.

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.

Our Lady of Hope. Catholics with an Anglican and Methodist heritage. Formal and friendly. Visitors welcome.

Mass Saturdays at 4 p.m., St. Therese Little Flower, 5814 Euclid, Kansas City, Mo. Fulfills Sunday obligation. Father Ernie Davis. Dr. Bruce Prince-Joseph, organist. For more information, send an email to: frernie3@gmail.com or call (816) 729-6776.

Stair lifts & More We’ll lift you up!

Scooter/bath/wheelchair/pool Free consults. Leaven discounts!

Member Good Shepherd, Shawnee

Call Ed Toll Free 1-855-543-8632

CAREGIVING Looking for high quality home care? - Whether you’re looking to introduce care for your family or simply looking to improve your current home care quality, we can help. Our unique approach to home care has earned us a 99% client satisfaction rating among the 1,000-plus families we have assisted. We are family-owned, with offices in Lenexa and Lawrence. Call Benefits of Home Senior Care, Lenexa: (913) 422-1591 or Lawrence: (785) 727-1816 or www.benefitsofhome.com.

Caregiver - Caregiver with over 20 years’ experience wants to care for your loved ones. Energetic, strong and fun, can provide care and transportation for male or female. Excellent references. Call Vivian at (913) 292-4829.

Caregiving - We provide personal assistance, companionship, care management, and transportation to the elderly and disabled in home, assisted living and 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, Debbie or Gary.

Wagner’s Mud-Jacking Co.

Specializing in Foundation Repairs Mud-jacking and Waterproofing.

Serving Lawrence, Topeka and surrounding areas.

Topeka (785) 233-3447 Lawrence (785) 749-1696 In business since 1963 www.foundationrepairks.com

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CALENDAR 13

JANUARY 30, 2015 | THELEAVEN.COM

January St. Pius X’s third annual chili cook-off will be held Jan. 31.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. in Kelly Hall, 5500 Woodson, Mission.

Come taste different chilies, enjoy a chili dinner, and play Texas Hold ’em after the dinner. The cost to attend is $5 at the door, which includes tasting, dinner, and one drink ticket.

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February St. Mary Church, Hartford, will host a beef and noodle dinner on Feb. 1 from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. at Neosho Rapids Grade School multipurpose room, Neosho Rapids. The cost to attend is $8 for adults; $4 for children under the age of 10. There will also be a drawing for prizes.

1

A spaghetti dinner to benefit the Sisters, Servants of Mary will be held on Feb. 1 from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. at St. Patrick Parish center, 94th and State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. Donations are $8 for adults; $3 for children. Carryout meals are available for this Super Bowl Sunday event. It will also feature a variety booth. The Sisters, Servants of Mary provide in-home nursing care, free of charge, throughout the Greater Kansas City metropolitan area for persons who are critically ill or dying.

They live solely off the donations of their friends and benefactors and fundraising efforts like the spaghetti dinner. Tickets can be purchased in advance or at the door. For more information, call (913) 3713423.

St. Mary Church, St. Benedict, will host a Soup-R-Bowl Sunday lunch from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. on Feb. 1. Homemade chili, chicken noodle and vegetable beef soups will be served with relishes and pie. The cost to attend is a freewill offering. All are welcome.

“Coping With Life Alone” is a Beginning Experience grief support program that meets weekly for seven-to-eight weeks. The program helps those who have lost a love relationship due to death, divorce or separation move through the experience of grief and loss into a future with renewed hope. The next program will meet on Mon-

2

day evenings, Feb. 2 - March 23, from 6:30 - 9 p.m. at Holy Cross Church, Overland Park. Registration is required. For additional information or to register, call Cathy at (816) 540-4644.

A Texas Hold ’em tournament will be held on Feb. 6 at Immaculate Conception Church hall, 606 S. Elm, Louisburg. The event is sponsored by the Knights of Columbus. Doors open at 6 p.m.; play starts at 7 p.m. The cost to attend is $35. Must be 21 years old to play. For more information, call (913) 837-4346.

6

The fourth-degree Knights of Columbus Assembly 293 will host a “Mouse Race” fundraiser at St. Francis de Sales Parish, 900 Ida St., Lansing, on Feb. 7 at 6 p.m. The cost to attend is $10. Beer and wine will be available for a freewill donation. Proceeds help to support two seminarians and the VA hospital. Must be 21 to attend. For tickets, call Ed Hoffman at (913) 707-9523 or Kevin Reed (913) 724-3219.

7

The monthly pro-life Mass and rosary will be held at 8:15 a.m. on Feb. 7 at Church of the Nativity, 3800 W. 119th St., Leawood.

After Mass, participants will drive to Planned Parenthood, 4401 W. 109th St., Overland Park, to pray the rosary. Join in prayer and public witness to end abortion.

The Divas of Holy Name will host a “Ragin’ Sweet and Spicy Fest” on Feb. 7 from 6 - 9 p.m. This is a chili, soup and dessert cook-off with a 13-and-under division. Entries will be accepted from 4 - 5 p.m. in the Holy Name School cafeteria, 1007 Southwest Blvd., Kansas City, Kansas. For more information, call Sharon Staab at (913) 631-1138.

8

An open house will be held at Padre Pio Academy, 5901 Flint, Shawnee, on Feb. 8 from 3 - 5 p.m.

A music, movement and meditation concert — featuring the powerful, poignant voices of The Motet Singers and the clever, witty, and sassy musicians of Saxophonia — will be held Feb. 8 from 3 - 4:15 p.m. at Sanctuary of Hope, 2601 Ridge Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. The cost to attend is a freewill donation. For more information, call (913) 321-HOPE or visit the website at: www.sanctuaryofhope.org.

If you have been wounded by separation or divorce, take advantage of the healing tool known as the Catholic Divorce Survival Guide, created by Rose Sweet. This is an 10-week group which begins Feb. 10 at Prince of Peace Parish, 16000 W. 143rd St., Olathe. Class starts at 6:15 p.m. in the Marian Room in the school building. The cost to attend is $50 per person, which includes a personal survival guide and all materials for the 10 weeks. The group is led by experienced facilitators. To enroll or for more information, call Julie Knoche at (913) 710-7083.

10

A Valentine’s Day dance, hosted

by Beginning Experience of Greater Kansas City, will be held Feb. 14 from 7 - 11 p.m. at St. Thomas More Parish hall, 11800 Holmes Rd., Kansas City, Missouri. The cost to attend is $15 at the door. For more information, call Bruce at (816) 807-7891.

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St. Mary-St. Anthony Church, 615 N. 7th St., Kansas City, Kansas, will host sweetheart bingo on Feb. 15 at 2 p.m. in Bishop Forst Hall. The cost to attend is $5, which includes a bingo card, desserts, popcorn and coffee. Beer and soda will be available for purchase. For more information, contact Carol Shomin at (913) 897-4833 or the parish office at (913) 371-1408.

15

St. Stanislaus Parish, 703 Main, Rossville, will host an afternoon of bingo on Feb. 15 from 2 - 4 p.m. in Dekat Hall. Sandwiches and homemade desserts will be available.

Proceeds will benefit the St. Stanislaus building fund.

The Christian Widow and Widowers Organization will host a soup luncheon at 1 p.m. on Feb. 15 in the Formation Room at Most Pure Heart of Mary Church, 17th and Stone, Topeka. There is no cost to attend. For more information, call (785) 2720055.

A blood drive will be held at St. Ann Parish, 7231 Mission Rd., Prairie Village, on Feb. 16 from 1:30 - 7 p.m., sponsored by the Community Blood Center and the St. Ann Knights of Columbus. Make an appointment by visiting the website at: www. savealifenow.org and use the password: stanncatholic, or walk-in at your convenience.

16

A retreat, entitled “Living In God’s Love,” will be held on Thursdays from 10 - 11:30 a.m. during Lent, Feb. 19 - March 26, at Sophia Spirituality Center, 751 S. 8th St., Atchison. This six-week experience of directed prayer and group spiritual direction is an opportunity to meet God in a deeper way, grow in personal identity and savor the word of God. The retreat will be conducted by Sister Marie Ballmann, OSB, spiritual director and a leader of both private and group retreats and workshops.

For more information or to register, call (913) 360-6151 or visit the center’s website at: www.sophiaspiritualitycenter.org.

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The German-American Edelweiss Society will hold a sweetheart dance on Feb. 21 from 6 - 10:30 p.m. at St. Mary-St. Anthony Church basement, 615 N. 7th St., Kansas City, Kansas. Dinner will be served at 7 p.m. Raffle tickets will be sold for prizes.

The cost to attend is: $18 for adults; $10 for young adults ages 12-20; $5 for children ages 6-11; and free for children ages 5 and under. The admission price includes food, drinks and dancing to the music of the Willie Kirst Band. Tickets can be purchased at the door. For more information, call Patty Orth at (913) 371-2468.

21

Christ the King Parish will host its 12th annual auction and tailgate party on Feb. 27 at George Meyn Community Center, 126th and State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. The evening will include dinner, drinks and many great items for auction. The cost to attend is $30 per person before Feb. 13; $35 at the door. For more information, call Kimm White at (913) 406-4505.

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The Cathedral of St. Peter Altar Society will host a women’s Lenten day of reflection on Feb. 28. Sister Bridget Dickason, OSB, will present. The day will begin at 8:15 a.m. with Mass in the church and will conclude at noon. The cost to attend is $10, which includes a continental breakfast.

For registration information, contact Linda Ingram at (913) 432-9481 or send an email to: liningram69@gmail.com.

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CALENDAR SUBMISSIONS

• Email submissions to: calendar@theleaven.com • Mail to: 12615 Parallel Pkwy., Kansas City, KS 66109, attn: calendar

LIFE CHANGING EVENT?

Need to sell a home and personal property? We buy everything at once and in as is condition.

Call Maggie Sheehan at 816-444-1950 or http://wholeestates.com

Leaven 01-30-15.indd 13

6/8/15 1:56 PM

14 COMMENTARY SCRIPTURE READINGS

THELEAVEN.COM | JANUARY 30, 2015

MARK MY WORDS

FOURTH WEEK OF ORDINARY TIME Feb. 1 FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Dt 18: 15-20 Ps 95: 1-2, 6-9 1 Cor 7: 32-35 Mk 1: 21-28 Feb. 2 THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD Mal 3: 1-4 Ps 24: 7-10 Heb 2: 14-18 Lk 2: 22-40 Feb. 3 Blaise, bishop, martyr; Ansgar, bishop Heb 12: 1-4 Ps 22: 26b-28, 30-32 Mk 5: 21-43 Feb. 4 Wednesday Heb 12: 4-7, 11-15 Ps 103: 1-2, 13-14, 17-18a Mk 6: 1-6 Feb. 5 Agatha, virgin, martyr Heb 12: 18-19, 21-24 Ps 48: 2-4, 9-11 Mk 6: 7-13 Feb. 6 Paul Miki, martyr, and companions, martyrs Heb 13: 1-8 Ps 27: 1, 3, 5, 8b-9c Mk 6: 14-29 Feb. 7 Saturday Heb 13: 15-17, 20-21 Ps 23: 1-6 Mk 6: 30-34

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“W

Was I brave, or just nuts?

ell, you’re either very brave . . .

or you’re nuts!”

Last Sunday afternoon, I went to an after-baptism celebration. Our group of 22 arrived in several waves at the restaurant and was directed to two long tables. The kids immediately migrated to one; most of the adults to the other. I chose to sit at the kids’ table. “Grammy” Barbara, who sat to my left, made that comment to me at the beginning of this column.

The dining partner to my right was Jack, a 15-monthold twin. He looked spiffy in the bib that his mom put on him. The bib lasted about 4.3 seconds before it hit the floor.

I picked it up, reattached the Velcro and turned to talk to “Grammy.” By the time I turned back around, the bib was gone, again on the floor. Since he wasn’t eating anything, I just folded the bib and popped it on the table.

A couple minutes later, the waitress came with kids’ menus, which featured pictures to color and a couple of crayons. I unwrapped Jack’s and handed him a blue one.

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

He grinned, grabbed the crayon and started to make some lines on the picture. In the nanosecond it took to reach for my drink, I saw the crayon heading toward Jack’s mouth.

“Whoa, there, buddy,” I laughed, and redirected the crayon to the paper.

His mom Kristen said, “Yeah, Father, you’ve got to watch him because he likes to put everything in his mouth.”

I became super-vigilant, but risked a quick sip of water. By the time I turned back around, the blue crayon was gone! My eyes bugged out as I quickly scanned the table for some sign of it. Nothing.

I took a deep breath so as to not go into panic mode.

sandwich. Suddenly, though, there was a little chubby hand going after my potato chips. I discreetly spun my plate around so they were safely out of Jack’s reach.

That was OK with him, because now he was happily scooping out the insides of my sandwich! Mom came to the rescue with some more mac and cheese for him.

You know, I was glad that I sat at the kids’ table. Jack was truly fun to watch and be around. Although those couple of hours exhausted me, they deepened my already huge respect for parents and their demanding vocation. I also realized for the umpteenth time that, as an only child and a celibate, I have no idea how much families deal with 24/7! How do parents do it, with multiple children even, day in and day out?

Maybe the best help I can provide is to pass on this bedtime prayer for parents: Now I lay thee down to sleep/I beg you, kids: Don’t make me weep./Count sheep, dream deep, just do not wake/Before the sun, for goodness’ sake!

AMEN!

IN THE BEGINNING

God speaks to us still, through Scripture and the church

I

magine what difference it would make in your life if you could predict the future.

You could arrange to buy the winning ticket for the lottery. You could snatch up stock shares that were going to increase in value. You could foresee disasters and avoid them.

Unfortunately, it is not that easy to tell the future.

Fortunetellers will sometimes read the tea leaves in a cup, or peer into a crystal ball, or look at the lines in a customer’s hand to make a prediction. A less superstitious and more scientific method would have us look at recent history and hope that the trend will continue.

But that is no guarantee. It may only be a fluke.

In the ancient world, people had various ways through which they would try to tell the future. Sometimes they would sacrifice an animal and examine its liver

POPE FRANCIS

FATHER MIKE STUBBS Father Mike Stubbs is the pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Overland Park and has a degree in Scripture from Harvard University. for signs of what was yet to come. The flight of birds could provide an omen.

In contrast to that, the people of Israel at the time of the Old Testament believed that God would speak to them through selected individuals, the prophets. Often their message involved the future, as well as the present.

If the people continued to sin, God would eventually punish them. If the people repented and followed the will of God, then God would reward them.

The journey of faith always begins a little selfishly, seeking from God healing or help with a problem, but Christian maturity is allowing oneself to be purified and to arrive at the point of recognizing Jesus as savior, Pope Francis said. Celebrating Mass Jan. 22 in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Mar-

Leaven 01-30-15.indd 14

I thought, “Holy cow! His mom gave me one task — watch that he doesn’t eat the crayon — and I couldn’t even handle that!” Since Jack didn’t seem to be in any distress, I calmly scanned the floor under his high chair.

Oh, saints be praised! There was the crayon.

Smiling Jack soon became fussy Jack and then smiling Jack again — all in the space of 15 seconds — as his mom broke up some slices of cantaloupe for him. I chuckled as he sucked them in faster than a Hoover vacuum.

Next came carrot sticks for the older kids. While his big sister’s attention was diverted, Jack reached over to her plate and snagged one.

Under Granny’s careful gaze, Jack gummed his very first carrot ever. Then he tried to take a couple of tiny, tentative bites. They missed his mouth, but did give him a jaunty carrot mustache and goatee.

When his main entrée of mac and cheese arrived, he went at it with gusto, using both hands. (This is a kid after my own heart.) Seeing him thus occupied, I thought it safe to bite into my own

What distinguished the prophets of the Old Testament from fortunetellers is not only this connection of their message to the present as well as to the future, but also the manner in which the prophets would receive the message from God. Instead of discerning signs in the natural world, the prophets would somehow hear the voice of God speaking to them.

Sunday’s first reading, Dt 18:15-20, mentions how the people of Israel complained when God spoke directly to them: “Let us not again hear the voice of the Lord, our God, nor see this great fire any more, lest we die.”

This refers to the time when they assembled at Mount Horeb, also called Mount Sinai. Moses climbs up the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments.

The people are afraid to hear God speaking to them directly, but God is determined to get the message

thae where he lives, Pope Francis commented on Gospel stories that recount how the crowds flocked to Jesus hoping for healing.

“We can never follow God with a purity of intentions from the beginning,” the pope said. “It’s always a little for ourselves and a little because of God. To journey is to purify these intentions.”

Pope Francis, according to Vatican Ra-

across. That is why God promises to send them a prophet. One way or another, God will speak to them: “A prophet like me will the Lord, your God, raise up for you from among your own kin; to him you shall listen.”

The time of the prophets may appear to have passed.

Even at the time of Jesus, prophecy seemed to have disappeared. That is why John the Baptist stands out so dramatically, apparently filled with the spirit of Elijah the prophet.

But God still speaks to us, through the words of Scripture, in the events of our lives, above all through the incarnate word, Jesus Christ, and through his body, the church. Just as God assured the people of Israel in the reading from Deuteronomy that God would speak to them through the prophets, even now God speaks to us still.

dio, told the small congregation that the crowds originally followed Jesus because they were “a bit bored” by the way the Jewish elders of their day were teaching the faith and they felt oppressed by “the many commandments and precepts that were laid on their shoulders, but never reached their hearts.”

— CNS

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COMMENTARY 15

JANUARY 30, 2015 | THELEAVEN.COM

MAKING SENSE OF BIOETHICS

Generations have much to offer each other to the benefit of all

O

ccasionally, we hear disturbing stories in the media about young people who perpetrate abuse against the elderly.

In a widely reported 2009 story, for example, caretakers at the Quadrangle Assisted Living facility outside Philadelphia were charged in connection with the abuse of an elderly patient named Lois McCallister. Three employees — aged 19, 21 and 22 — were caught on a surveillance camera as they taunted, mocked and assaulted the partially naked 78-year-old woman.

She had begun complaining to visiting family members several months prior that someone was hurting her and hitting her. There were also initial signs of bruising on her hand and wrist.

After bringing the bruises to the attention of the facility’s administrators, the family was informed that the allegations were unfounded and told the

FATHER TADEUSZ PACHOLCZYK Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk is a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, and serves as the director of education at the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia. accusations were simply the result of the patient’s advancing dementia. Family members suspected there was more to it and clandestinely installed the video camera, hidden in a clock in the victim’s room.

After capturing the assailants on tape, they concluded that the abuse suffered by their mother had been ongoing for some time. One of the young women charged in the case told investigators she was working on another floor the night the clock/ camera captured the scene in the elderly woman’s room.

A family member later told news reporters, “They called the third girl down from another floor and said, ‘Come down, we’re going to start.”

As a consequence of the abuse, the Department of Public Welfare eventually revoked the license of the facility, and the family filed a civil lawsuit against the parent company.

A tragic event like this leads to intense questioning about how these young people, charged with the special care of the older generation, could end up becoming so callous, inhuman, and brutal.

What can be done to prevent this kind of “intergenerational disconnect” from occurring in the future? And what can be done to build up unity and respect between generations?

A nearly universal point of reference over the years, and a counsel of incalculable worth, has been the injunction enshrined in the Decalogue: Honor your father and mother. A decision to abide by this commandment invariably serves to strengthen the concern of children for their parents and elders, and helps forge a bond between the generations. The Book of Sirach offers similarly sage advice: “My son, take care of your father when he is old; grieve him not as long as he lives. Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him; revile him not all the days of

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his life; kindness to a father will not be forgotten, firmly planted against the debt of your sins” (3: 12-14).

In a sense, it is precisely the weakness and vulnerability of the elderly that beckons us to manifest a greater respect toward them and never to mistreat them in the strength of youth. As Pope John Paul II beautifully summed it up in his 1999 Letter to the Elderly: “The signs of human frailty which are clearly connected with advanced age become a summons to the mutual dependence and indispensable solidarity which link the different generations” (10). Compassionately attending to the needs of the elderly draws the generations together and builds solidarity.

When the unique gifts of the elderly are invested and shared with the younger generation, this, too, builds up solidarity. Elderly people help us see human affairs with a sense of perspective tempered by experience, reflection and wisdom. Whenever grandparents contribute to the raising and formation of the grandchildren, even by doing something as simple as teaching them how to pray and think about God, they

strengthen intergenerational ties and build family unity.

We can foster intergenerational care and support within our families and communities in other simple ways as well, for example, through conscientious parenting, including small but important steps such as: insisting on meal time together as a family (which builds up mutual respect and concern for others in the family); teaching compassion by visiting sick or elderly neighbors together; teaching children to welcome all human life, even when weak or handicapped; praying together as a family; decreasing media time and guarding against violent computer/video games, pornography and other practices that dehumanize people and make them seem like objects to be manipulated.

As we seek to build relational bridges across generations and work to construct a society that esteems its elders, we simultaneously build up homes and communities that are liberated of the threat of abuse or neglect — places of safety, mutual support and love, even as the hairs on our head turn gray and our strength wanes.

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16 LOCAL NEWS

THELEAVEN.COM | JANUARY 30, 2015

LEAVEN PHOTO BY JOE MCSORLEY

From left, Bailey Ingolia, Josh Lewis, Jordan Eberhardy, Brianna Woicke, Jackson McElroy, and Jake Konnesky sort through the winter wear at Prince of Peace’s Give ’n’ Get event on Jan. 17-18.

The six friends, now all high school seniors, came up with the Give ’n’ Get idea as eighth-graders.

By Jessica Langdon jessica@theleaven.com

O

LATHE — When a great idea strikes, you’re never too young to make it happen — and turn it into a huge success.

Just take the Give ’n’ Get at Prince of Peace Parish in Olathe, an exchange that provides free warm winter coats, hats and shoes to families in the community each January.

“There are so many people in our community who need our help,” said Jackson McElroy, a senior at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Overland Park and one of the organizers of the annual exchange. “And it’s not that hard to help them! We started Give ’n’ Get as eighth-graders. Anyone can do it!”

The same six friends who first formed the idea as middle schoolers over frozen yogurt at Peachwave have spearheaded the thriving and growing project each year throughout their high school careers.

People donate gently used items — including coats, hats, scarves, gloves, shoes and blankets — that they no longer need.

On the days of the exchange — Jan. 17-18 this year, at Prince of Peace — people from the community are invited to come select what they need.

“I have helped accomplish something very simple,” said Jordan Eberhardy, a senior at St. Thomas Aquinas and another of the organizers. “Giving people the opportunity to donate what they no longer need and take what they are struggling to acquire themselves has been a small and simple task that has had a huge impact on our community. I

Leaven 01-30-15.indd 16

GIVE ‘N’ GET Students come up with an idea to keep the community warm am so happy that I have had a small part in it.”

“There were people waiting for us to open the doors to come in,” said Joy Konnesky, mother of volunteer Jake Konnesky, a senior at St. Thomas Aquinas. “For the next two and a half hours, it was just family after family streaming in.”

By the end, very little was left to donate to TurnStyles thrift store, an outreach of Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas.

“I love seeing those who need our items come and shop for them,” said Jackson. “They are very excited to receive their new size or style, and that makes me feel so good knowing that the Give ’n’ Get can help them.”

Fellow founder Jake Konnesky agreed.

“The most rewarding part of the project for me has to be the look on the kids’ faces when they find something that they really like and we get to tell them that they can have it for free,” he said.

“For example, this year, a little

boy found a pair of basketball shoes and asked if he could have them.

“When we told him that he could have them, the smile on his face was amazing,” said Jake.

Jordan also found that kind of excitement from the kids.

“This year, a little boy came in and looked at me and exclaimed, ‘This is all for free?!’” said Jordan. “I told him it was, and his face lit up. It is a special thing to see people that happy because of something you have done.”

With all the founders now driving, the teens have been able to take a lot more responsibility on themselves, and this year went very smoothly, said Konnesky.

Technology has also helped them to stay organized and in touch.

Well ahead of the event, bags for donations went home with parishioners — with notes stapled to them to remind people about the opportunity to donate.

Media covering the project also alerted the community about it.

One moment that really touched

Joy Konnesky was when a woman brought in some obviously wellcared-for shoes that had belonged to her late husband.

The woman couldn’t bring herself to part with them, she told volunteers, until she saw a story about the exchange.

“They had been shined and buffed,” said Konnesky. “All of us had chills.”

And they promised the treasured shoes would go to a good home.

“It was the best year,” said Konnesky. “We all felt good afterward.”

Each year, the same six — Jackson, Jake, Jordan, Bailey Ingolia, Brianna Woicke and Josh Lewis — have all come together to make this event happen, although, in recent years, members of the youth ministry program at Prince of Peace have also helped.

Now all seniors, the original group of organizers will pass the torch to a younger set — several have siblings who have grown up with this and will be taking over — and the youth group will continue to help.

“I hope they realize what a unique opportunity it is to give people exactly what they are needing at no cost,” said Jordan of the next generation of leaders. “And I hope they give their whole hearts to it because if they do, the Give ’n’ Get Coat and Shoe Exchange will continue to make people’s lives just a little bit better.”

“I’ll still come back and help out the weekend of the exchange, though!” promised Jackson.

Konnesky believes the project has helped instill a lifelong love of volunteering in her son and his friends.

“I have learned from the Give ’n’ Get that it is much more rewarding to give than to receive,” said Jake.

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