THELEAVEN.ORG | VOL. 38, NO. 26 | FEBRUARY 17, 2017
A LESSON IN GIVING
Corita’s Corner gets helping hand from Mater Dei kids
By Carolyn Kaberline Special to The Leaven
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LEAVEN PHOTO BY CAROLYN KABERLINE
Mater Dei first-graders Remi Cushinberry (left) and Stacy Driver package up the cookies that their chore money helped purchase. Remi took care of the family dog, cleaned her bedroom and did the dishes, laundry and vacuuming to earn cookie money, while Stacy set the table and made her bed.
WHITE MASS
Cardinal Raymond Burke celebrated the annual White Mass for medical professionals on Feb. 11. Page 3
MEANINGFUL LENT
What are you doing for Lent? Sister Judith Sutera, OSB, has some ideas. Pages 8-9
hey did the dishes and fed the dog. They cleaned their rooms, vacuumed and did the laundry. The first-graders of Mary Lousie Totten’s class at Mater Dei School in Topeka performed these and other chores around the house to earn money — not for themselves, but to purchase cookies to be used in Corita’s Corner sandwich ministry as part of the school’s service day during Catholic Schools Week. The ministry is named after Sister Corita Conlan, SCL, longtime principal of Assumption Grade School in Topeka. “I sent notes home with the students on a Friday asking parents to let their students do chores around the house to earn money for this,” Totten said. “They could either bring the money they earned or cookies.” Totten said she tried to impress on her students that it is easy to give someone else’s money, but not so easy to give their own. “I asked them, when they give money at church, is it theirs or their parents,” she explained. “I also asked if they gave their tooth fairy money to the church.” She then told them the story of the rich people and the poor woman going to the Temple. “The rich gave gold coins, but the poor woman gave two small coins,” Totten said. “Christ asked his disciples who God was more pleased with. [He] said the poor woman because she gave all that she had while the rich gave from their excess.” “The students had a week to earn the money,” she continued, adding that it was up to the parents to set the amount to be paid for the chores. The Friday after the notes went home, they were to bring in the money they earned or a bag of cookies. “In all, the 22 students brought in $43 in cash and 14 packages of cookies.” Totten then asked Sister Marjorie Cushing, SCL, who is in charge of the sandwich ministry, if it would be OK for the students to put notes that they wrote >> See “FIRST-GRADERS” on page 7
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