04 28 17 Vol. 38 No. 35

THELEAVEN.ORG | VOL. 38, NO. 35 | APRIL 28, 2017

HOPE AMID THE ASHES

Atchison Catholics among first to the aid of fellow farmers STORY BY JOE BOLLIG

K

PHOTO COURTESY OF DENISE CLECKER

Volunteer firefighters teamed up with landowners to try to stop the wildfires that raged through Clark and Comanche counties.

PHOTO BY DANA RICH

The largest prairie fire in Kansas history turned much of Clark County in southwest Kansas into a pile of ash. Catholic farmers in Atchison were among the first to respond.

ANSAS — Father Prakash Rao Kola was in Coldwater, 30 miles east of Ashland, the afternoon of March 6 when he began to get frantic calls from parishioners: High winds were driving a fire — a big one — swiftly toward town.

People were warned to

evacuate.

Father Prakash, a Missionary of St. Francis de Sales, raced back to St. Joseph Parish in Ashland. As he got

closer to town, he saw “miles and miles of smoke.”

In his native India, fires would burn a single house and, at most, affect a couple of families. This fire looked like it would consume the entire town. Nothing had prepared him for this.

Law enforcement officers were driving up and down the streets, announcing on loudspeakers: “Evacuate, evacuate. Move fast, move fast.”

“I didn’t know what to take,” said Father Prakash.

“This was a first experience for me. I took my passport and main documents, and put everything in one suitcase. And then I took my car [back] to Coldwater.” >> Continued on page 8

Catholic Charities of Southwest Kansas To contribute to disaster relief for individuals and families who have lost homes and property to wildfires in southwest Kansas, go online to: catholiccharitiesswks.org.

One-hundred percent of your donation will be used to help these individuals and families get back on their feet.

For information, call (620) 227-1562.

APRIL 28, 2017 | THELEAVEN.ORG

LOCAL NEWS

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Belief in God gives meaning and direction to your life

“I

s God Dead?”

This was the title of the cover story for the April 8, 1966, edition of Time magazine when I was a junior in high school and Time was the most influential weekly periodical in the United States. The article began with these words: “Is God dead? It is a question that tantalizes both believers, who perhaps secretly fear that he is, and atheists, who possibly suspect the answer is No. “Is God dead? The three words represent a summons to reflect on the meaning of existence. No longer is the question the taunting jest of skeptics for whom unbelief is the test of wisdom and for whom Nietzsche is the prophet who gave the right answer a century ago.”

I was reminded of this shocking and provocative article from more than 50 years ago while reading the 2017 book, “The Benedict Option.”

The author, Rod Dreher, believes that American culture is lost and hostile to orthodox Christianity.

He is convinced that we need a new St. Benedict to inspire the development of vibrant communities where Christianity is lived with authenticity and fervor in order to preserve the truth of the Gospel during a new Dark Age of unbelief.

In making the case for an unbelieving culture,

LIFE WILL BE VICTORIOUS

ARCHBISHOP JOSEPH F. NAUMANN Dreher cites the decline in church attendance and the large number of millennials who profess either atheism or identify themselves as spiritual, but not religious. This nonreligious spiritualism is a new paganism, where God is not the God of revelation who makes himself known to us, but a god or gods fashioned in our own image to re-enforce our own desires.

Dreher quotes from the 1992 book, “The Ethics of Authenticity,” by the contemporary philosopher Charles Taylor, who wrote: “The entire ethical stance of moderns supposes and follows on from the death of God.” Dreher adds his own assessment that even many of those who claim to believe in God act as if God is dead. Dreher states: “We may deny that God is dead, but to accept

religious individualism and its theological support structure, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, is to declare that God may not be quite dead, but he is in hospice care and confined to bed.”

In other words, if our belief is in a god who is essentially indifferent to the choices we make, the existence of such a god has no real bearing on our lives. The worldview of modernity is to make human beings their own gods. In this universe where everyone is god, there is no objective truth nor are there any moral absolutes to which everyone is accountable.

We each can have our own view of what is true and good.

Tragically, when we attempt to eliminate God, in effect to assassinate our creator, we become alienated from our true self. We become confused about things as fundamental as the meaning of marriage, gender identity, the sanctity of life, the proper care for our planet and even the

definition of love.

Our futile effort to satiate with material things our hunger for God leaves us spiritually starving. Time magazine was correct about one thing: How we answer “the God question” determines whether life is absurd or has meaning.

What does Easter say to us about God’s response to the cultural chaos ensuing from confusion about his existence? Easter reminds us that, as Christians, we believe in a God who died, but who is not dead.

God created us in his own image and gave us, among all his creatures, the unique gift of the freedom to choose the good or to reject it. God’s response to our rejection of his love is not to abandon us to dwell in the darkness created by our rebellion but rather to shower us with mercy.

God comes to rescue us from sin that masquerades as freedom but in reality enslaves us to our disordered cravings.

God comes to save us from the most devastating fruit of our rebellion — the tyranny of death that robs life of meaning and purpose.

The method of this rescue was not to use his almighty power to force us into submission to his will, but it was to become one with us in all things but sin.

Like a special operations soldier dropped behind enemy lines,

ARCHBISHOP NAUMANN April 29 Charism of the Community of the Lamb — Bishop Ward High School April 30 Scout Mass — Cathedral Conference for pastoral planning and council development Mass — Savior Pastoral Center, Kansas City, Kansas May 1 St. Paul’s Outreach Mass and prayer breakfast — Ritz Charles Priests meeting May 2 Episcopal Ordination of Most Rev. Mark S. Rivituso — St. Louis

Jesus entered fully into our humanity, enduring unspeakable suffering because of our sin.

Jesus performs the ultimate and most daring of rescue missions as he submits himself to death at the hands of sinful men. In so doing, Our Lord broke the stranglehold of our disobedience by embracing the will of his Father and thus grasping on to the source of life itself. On Calvary, Jesus defeats humanity’s twin enemies, sin and death, by extending mercy from the cross and walking through death to life.

Jesus made himself

May 3 Donnelly board of trustees meeting Confirmation — Our Lady of Unity, Kansas City, Kansas May 4 Religious Alliance Against Pornography conference call Confirmation — Queen of the Holy Rosary, Overland Park May 5-7 Kansas Knights of Columbus state convention — Topeka

ARCHBISHOP KELEHER April 30 Confirmation — St. Sebastian, Florida

a bridge for us over the troubled and chaotic waters of sin and death, providing us with a pathway to freedom and life. Jesus is the light that shattered the darkness of unbelief.

A world separated from God and his love is a land of darkness and gloom. Jesus pierced the darkness with the light of the Gospel. We believe in a God who died but is not dead, and who continues to animate the lives of his disciples with the truth, beauty and power of his Gospel.

God is alive! Jesus is risen! Alleluia!

APRIL 28, 2017 | THELEAVEN.ORG

LOCAL NEWS

COWABUNGA Wea’s ‘Running with the Cows’ finds its niche in a crowded field

By Doug Weller Special to The Leaven

W

EA — Perhaps it’s Queenie, the cartoon Holstein wearing running shoes, that first draws their attention.

But what keeps runners coming back to Wea’s Queen of the Holy Rosary’s annual “Running with the Cows” race is the community atmosphere.

“We wanted this to be different — not just another race,” said Liz Meek, one of the founders of the half-marathon and 5K event that will take place May 13 this year.

“We wanted people to feel like they were guests,” she said, “and everything we do, they are treated like guests.”

“For sure, it’s the community aspect that stands out,” added Gwen Schreiner, another co-founder.

“Most races are kind of a business; they’re pretty uniform. We didn’t want to follow their pattern. Liz was adamant about that.”

Now in its eighth year, “Running with the Cows” draws more than 2,500 participants.

“Last year, we had people from 40 states and two to three countries,” Meek said.

It’s certainly not the typical parish fundraiser, but it’s been a rousing success. The event raises upwards of $100,000 each year to help support the parish’s grade school, the seminarian program in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas and Catholic Relief Services. Revenue comes from registration fees, sponsored advertising and donations.

Still, raising money isn’t the sole reason, the organizers said.

“What we really want to do is share our faith and our community of believers. I think this is an unusual platform for that. It shows them our faith in action,” said Schreiner.

The idea originated nearly a decade ago when parents began brainstorming about ways to raise funds for the school.

“We wanted to do something that would go outside the community,” explained Meek. “I’m a runner, and I always wanted to do a race out here in a pasture.

“Plus, we wanted the outside

“Running with the Cows” typically draws more than 2,500 participants. The race, now in its eighth year, raises upwards of $100,000 to help support the parish grade school and other archdiocesan charities. community to see what a special community we have. We wanted to showcase it. It is special. We have this little country school with great families in a beautiful area.”

How, then, to draw avid runners to the still-rural surroundings just a few minutes south of the bustling Kansas City metro region?

Across the country “there are about 15 races on any given weekend, so we knew a ‘schtick’ was important,” Schreiner recalled. “We came up with our

logo — a cow — who we called Queenie after Queen of the Holy Rosary.”

Encouraging runners to return the next year, however, didn’t require a marketing gimmick. It simply was the warm hospitality.

“Like our buffet afterward,” Meek pointed out. Food vendors from all over Kansas City donate their specialties, and parishioners contribute to what’s become known as a “Taste of Wea.” “The food is endless,” said Meek.

“We feed 5,000. We could not do that without the community. And it’s the whole community, not just parishioners.”

“The food is part of the race; we

don’t charge people to eat. It’s just a big church banquet,” she added.

Volunteers come from beyond the parish itself. People from other religious denominations in the Bucyrus area — Wea is small enough that it doesn’t have its own postal code — offer support, as do Catholic high school students and parish youth groups from the region.

Law enforcement and emergency services from both Johnson and Miami counties block off roads and assist as needed.

Holy Rosary’s pastor, Father Gary Pennings, was assigned to the parish last summer and has yet to witness a “Running with the Cows.”

But he’s heard a lot about it, and he’s looking forward to the big day.

“I’ll see all the work that goes into it, how big an undertaking it is,” he said. “It’s a very good charity, a very great cause. We have a wonderful school, and we need all the support we can get.”

He’s been told runners find the event unique, and the fact that he saw someone wearing one of the race’s T-shirts while at an East Coast airport confirmed that claim.

“I’m grateful for all of the runners and all the supporters and all the people planning it,” he said.

Participants can run the half marathon — 13.1 miles — that follows asphalt roads bisecting fields and pastures north of the school. Or they can tackle the 5K — slightly over 3 miles.

New this year is a high-intensity interval workout dubbed the “Udder Grit Challenge.”

The event also is part of the Heartland 39.3 Series — three half marathons staged during a five-week span. The others were Rock the Parkway in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 8, and the Garmin Marathon in Olathe on April 22.

The half marathon begins at 7:30 a.m.; the 5K starts at 8 a.m.; and the challenge is at 8:30 a.m. Online registration for the race is still open, and volunteers can also sign up via the web.

Go to the website at: www.cow. run for more information.

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APRIL 28, 2017 | THELEAVEN.ORG

LOCAL NEWS

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Ben and Barbara (Volz) Katzer, members of H o l y Angels Parish, Garnett, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on April 15. The couple was married at St. John Church, Greeley, on April 15, 1967. Their children are: Jason Katzer, Garnett; Vance Katzer, Overland Park; Jill Gellhaus, Greeley; and Vanessa Katzer, Overland Park.

They also have three grandsons. A celebration with family and friends is planned for late May.

LEAVEN PHOTO BY DOUG HESSE

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann made a parish visit to St. Paul in Olathe. During the visit, he heard of the parish’s efforts at evangelization and formation, works of mercy, faith and community, religious education and family formation, deaf ministry, finance and the capital campaign to build a new parish campus at 115th Terr. and Lone Elm Road in Olathe.

Archbishop finds, at St. Paul’s in Olathe, a parish on the move

By Joe Bollig joe.bollig@theleaven.org

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LATHE — Unity and community greeted Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann when he made a pastoral visit to St. Paul Parish here on April 2.

Archbishop Naumann was the main celebrant and homilist at two Masses — the 10 a.m. Mass in English, which was also signed for parishioners who are deaf, and the 12:30 p.m. Mass in Spanish. Pastor Father Michael Hermes concelebrated with the archbishop.

The three languages used — Spanish, English and American Sign Language — were a demonstration of the diversity of St. Paul Parish, as well as its unity, something Archbishop Naumann later noted.

In the time between Masses, the archbishop had an opportunity to hear several brief presentations at a “working lunch” covering various aspects of parish life.

The presentations treated the parish’s efforts at evangelization and formation, works of mercy, faith and community, religious education and family formation, deaf ministry, finance and the capital campaign to build a new parish campus at 115th Terr. and Lone Elm Road in Olathe.

“I hope we didn’t throw too much at you, kind of feeding you with a fire hose this morning,” parish council member Jim Boldt told the archbishop.

The chief themes in the parish leadership’s presentations were parish vitality and growth — both

“

“MOVING A PARISH IS MUCH HARDER THAN STARTING A PARISH. I KNOW IT’S A BIG CHALLENGE YOU FACE, AND THERE HAS TO BE A LOT OF COORDINATION AND TIMING.” current and projected.

Currently, there are 2,148 registered families in the parish. With the construction of the new parish facility in a growing area, the parish is projected to grow to an estimated 3,600 families in 10 years.

The various phases of the new parish site were also reviewed, with Mass in a multipurpose area until the church is built in Phase Three.

In his concluding remarks, Archbishop Naumann thanked the parish leaders and Father Hermes for their hard work and many accomplishments.

“It’s been a very educational meeting, and this . . . is exactly what I was hoping for — more than me talking to you, but a report from you on how the pastoral priorities are being looked at and the unique challenges St. Paul faces,” said Archbishop Naumann.

“Moving a parish is much harder than starting a parish,” he added. “I know it’s a big challenge you face, and there has to be a lot of coordination and timing.

“We’re grateful to Father Michael for his leadership,” the archbishop continued. “I know he would be the first to admit that it would be impossible to do without a great team of people around him, and I’m impressed with the progress you’ve made.”

The archbishop specifically noted the vitality and growth of the parish and the school.

“It was impressive during the Rite of Election to see the large delegation from St. Paul,” he said.

Evangelization is the highest priority of the archdiocese, and St. Paul Parish does well in this area.

“Your numbers would indicate the work you’re doing intentionally on that,” he said. “As a whole church, we need to get better at that. We always have to be working on the mission Jesus gave us, which isn’t to maintain and preserve but to go out and make disciples. “[Because] an important part of that is to be a welcoming parish, it’s nice to hear that emphasis you’ve put on it. If someone does come to St. Paul Parish, they are acknowledged and welcomed.”

At the conclusion of the presentations, Boldt presented Archbishop Naumann with a magazine featuring a cover photo of “Stan the Man” Musial, autographed by the player.

Musial, who played baseball with the St. Louis Cardinals, also played briefly with Archbishop Naumann’s father.

Jon and Sandy Krumm, members of St. Ann Church, Prairie Village, will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on April 29 with Mass and an intimate family reception.

They will also celebrate in July with a Norwegian Cruise to Alaska.

The couple was married on April 29, 1967, at Christ the King Church, Kansas City, Missouri. Their children are: Dale Krumm, Patrick Krumm and Caroline Krumm. They also have five grandchildren.

Jim and Charlene (Morris) Conrad, members of Church of the Ascension, O ve r l a n d Pa r k ,w i l l celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary on May 3. The couple was married at Sacred Heart Church, Columbia, Missouri. Their children are: Don Conrad, David Conrad, Cheryl McGee, Caryn Gomez, Christie Stephens, Clarise Hovis, Mary Gentry, Douglas Conrad, Dan Conrad and Dwight Conrad. They also have 24 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. A celebration with family and friends is planned.

Robert and Sandra (Sade) Pokrywka, members of Christ the King Parish, Kansas City, Kansas, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on April 22 with a Mass followed by a dinner with family and friends.

The couple was married on April 24, 1957, at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Harrisonville, Missouri. Their children are Cynthia and Stephen. They also have a granddaughter.

Gerard “Jerry” and Edith Ketter, members of Sacred Heart Parish, Sabetha, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on Jan. 1. The couple was married on April 27, 1957, at St. James Church, Wetmore. Their children are: Philip Ketter, Kevin Ketter, Ivan Ketter, Ellen Powell and Trina McCarty. They also have 13 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

APRIL 28, 2017 | THELEAVEN.ORG

LOCAL NEWS

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LEAVEN PHOTO BY MOIRA CULLINGS

Philip Glasser, a member of the St. Philippine Duchesne Knights of Columbus Assembly 2260, and Kansas City area Knights paid their respects to U.S. Army chaplain Father Emil Kapaun at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Overland Park on April 19. Those gathered to honor Father Kapaun heard the story of his bravery during the Korean War.

Knights honor Korean War chaplain on eve of his birthday

By Moira Cullings moira.cullings@theleaven.org

O

VERLAND PARK — If you want an example of the living heart of Jesus Christ, look no further than Father Emil Kapaun.

The U.S. Army chaplain who gave of himself in innumerable ways during the Korean War, Father Kapaun sacrificed it all to keep his fellow soldiers alive — both physically and spiritually.

A native of Pilsen, Father Kapaun’s heroic example continues to inspire the world, and especially residents of his home state.

To honor the chaplain on the eve of his 101st birthday, Philip Glasser and Richard Witthar, members of the St. Philippine Duchesne Knights of Columbus Assembly 2260, invited fellow Knights in the Kansas City area to pay their respects at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Overland Park on April 19.

“I think [Father Kapaun] is probably the ultimate example of a Catholic gentleman,” said Witthar, the assembly’s faithful navigator.

“He showed the example of Christ to his fellow soldiers,” he said.

Knights and veterans from a variety of parishes in the archdiocese gathered to honor Father Kapaun and hear Glasser, the assembly’s faithful scribe, tell the gripping story of the chaplain’s bravery during the war.

A key component of fourth-degree assemblies of Knights is patriotism, said Glasser, which makes Father Kapaun the perfect role model.

“What better confluence of patriotism and our Catholic faith than to have a military chaplain who we have respect for and admire?” he asked.

While serving in the Korean War, Father Kapaun relentlessly exposed himself to enemy fire to recover

CNS PHOTO/COURTESY U.S. ARMY MEDIC RAYMOND SKEEHAN

U.S. Army chaplain Father Emil Joseph Kapaun, who died May 23, 1951, in a North Korean prisoner of war camp, is pictured celebrating Mass from the hood of a jeep on Oct. 7, 1950, in South Korea.

He is a candidate for sainthood. wounded men and bring them to safety.

He never carried a weapon.

On Nov. 2, 1950, the chaplain was captured by Chinese forces, which forced him and other prisoners to march for days to a prisoner of war camp.

Not once did Father Kapaun take a break from tending to the injured on their journey.

At the camp, the chaplain risked his

life by stealing food for his fellow soldiers and was a constant source of sacrifice during dark times.

“Quite a [few] of the soldiers that survived the war testified to the fact that Father [Kapaun] helped them considerably in surviving the war,” said Witthar.

“He gave up quite a bit of his rations to them because the conditions

in Korea were very harsh, especially in the winter,” he added.

After falling ill from his captivity, Father Kapaun was taken to a filthy hospital where he died on May 23, 1951.

Before dying, the chaplain asked God to forgive his captors.

Not only did Father Kapaun receive the Medal of Honor in 2013, but he is also on the path to an even greater honor — sainthood.

“The thing that’s most impressive when you read about what he did and how he conducted himself — both before and after the capture of he and his fellow soldiers — is his selflessness and willingness to put himself out for others,” said Glasser.

Today, Glasser continued, it’s difficult to find people who do good deeds for the sake of helping others with no intention of being noticed.

“That’s what he was able to do in the context of everything that he was involved in,” he said.

Glasser, who served in active duty in the U.S. Army for five years, has a particular appreciation for chaplains like Father Kapaun who put others before themselves and bring Christ’s compassion with them wherever they go.

During his time serving in northern Iraq, Glasser recalls a comforting moment amid unfamiliar territory.

“I went to Mass at a bunch of interesting places — a parking garage and an office at a grain mill,” he said.

“You’re not home, but it’s nice having that part of home over there with you,” he continued.

Both Glasser and Witthar hope their fellow Knights, as well as all Kansas residents, will look to Father Kapaun as an example of love and continue to pray for the cause of his sainthood.

“He was just a person who you think would give anybody anything he had,” said Glasser. “And that’s literally what he did.”

APRIL 28, 2017 | THELEAVEN.ORG

LOCAL NEWS TOOLS FOR FAMILIES

Blessed are those who mourn

Growing as Disciples of Jesus

Attention, people: We need to celebrate much more!

H

ave your children noticed monarch butterflies arriving?

Their transformation from sluggish to light, free and beautiful is amazing.

But ours is infinitely greater! From sin, darkness, weakness, misery and ARTWORK BY NEILSON CARLIN, 2015 death, we are freed, victorious, in the life of Christ. Easter season isn’t the time for Christians to live sluggish, average lives. We, too, are kings now. Everything has changed.

• What are we doing this Easter season to celebrate Christ/our victory in our family? (Good; now do more!)

— Mike Dennihan, School of Love

WEBSITE EXCLUSIVE

CHURCH OF THE WEEK

Church of the Ascension, Overland Park Address: 9510 W. 127th, 66213 Phone: (913) 681-3348 Pastor: Msgr. Thomas Tank Mass times: Saturday, 4:30 p.m.; Sunday, 8:15 a.m., 10 a.m., 11:45 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Email: ascensionchurch@kcascension.org Website: http://kcascension.org MORE PHOTOS AND A VIDEO TOUR of this church can be seen online at: www.theleaven.org

WEBSITE EXCLUSIVE

GAME OF THE WEEK SOFTBALL

Maur Hill-Mount Academy

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By Clifford Yeary Associate director Little Rock Scripture Study

you make no profit from their sale. (Ps 44: 10-13) Whether or not there is even a trace of anger in our mourning, lessed are they when mourning is offered as a who mourn, prayer, it is a prayer that will be for they will be answered by God. comforted.” — There is something more, Mt 5: 4 however, that is also contained in The beatitudes are bless- this beatitude. It tells us that we ings directed toward followers should mourn. At the time Jesus of Christ, first of all, and to the delivered the beatitudes, his discrowds as potential followers. ciples were not mourning, and The crowds would for good reason. But probably be puzzled the time would come This is the by many of the blesswhen they would third column ings. Being poor in mourn, and also for in a 10-part spirit is a blessing? good reason. series.

We are blessed if we “The disciples of are in mourning? It John approached him is no different for us and said, ‘Why do we today, especially if we mistakenly and the Pharisees fast (much), equate being blessed with happi- but your disciples do not fast?’ ness.

Jesus answered them, ‘Can the When we do so, we are likely wedding guests mourn as long to see the blessing of those who as the bridegroom is with them? mourn simply as a promise of The days will come when the future happiness. Certainly, we bridegroom is taken away from grieve in the present when we lose them, and then they will fast’” a loved one, and often the only (Mt 9: 14-15). happiness we can grasp at is that Here, mourning (with fasting) our faith and hope tell us that our will be the response the disciloved one is entering a new life of ples will have when Jesus is taken eternal happiness in Christ. And away from them. Of course, it is well we should, because it is true. also in Matthew that we learn But that is not the core mean- that Jesus is never truly absent ing of the second beatitude. Jesus from us. is telling his disciples that they “For where two or three are are blessed precisely because gathered together in my name, they mourn. It is their mourning there am I in the midst of them” that God will respond to by com- (18: 20). forting them. Those who do not “And behold, I am with you mourn may count themselves as being comfortable, but they might miss out on the comfort God will provide those who do mourn.

• When has mourning been This will be clearer to those a part of your life? Were you who have experienced mourning able to find comfort from as a prayer. Mourning as a form of God and others? How are prayer is more than the grief exyou still seeking comfort? perienced over a loss. Mourning in this sense is the offering of our • What do you think would experience of loss to God — even be different between grief when there is anger toward God without faith and grief that because we sense somehow that is a prayer? (See 1 Thes 4: God was involved in taking away 13-14.) our loved one.

• What are some notable exIsrael knew that kind of mournperiences you have had from ing: participating in penitential You have rejected and disservices and Holy Week litgraced us; urgies? you do not march out with our armies.

• What are some of the curYou make us retreat before the rent circumstances facing foe; our world, our nation, our those who hate us plunder us communities that should at will. spur mourning in the hearts of believers?

You hand us over like sheep to be slaughtered, This article was originally scatter us among the nations. published in Arkansas Catholic You sell your people for nothApril 8, 2017. Copyright Dioing;

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STUDY QUESTIONS

always, until the end of the age” (28: 20).

And so it is that we continue to live our lives in Christ as those who both mourn and rejoice, with good reason for both. Our mourning, however, if it is both prayerful and biblically rooted, will not just be mourning for our personal losses. We are called to mourn together, as Christians.

We are called to do this communally and liturgically in penitential rites and during Lent. We continue to grieve for our participation in human sinfulness, the sinfulness that sent Jesus to suffer and die on the cross.

There is still more to our prayerful mourning, however.

When Jesus blessed those who mourn, we should recognize the communal grief that afflicted Israel as a nation. Recall the grief noted in Psalm 44. Israel yearned for the day when the promises of a restored kingdom would bring about the reign of God and the rule of justice in the land. They grieved that without God’s rule injustice triumphed.

The needs of the poor, the sick, the orphan and the widow were neglected. Let us look clearly at our world, our nation, our communities and prayerfully mourn when it is appropriate.

cese of Little Rock.

Maur Hill-Mount Academy took on Atchison High School in a doubleheader on April 20.

Leaven photographer Jay Soldner caught much of the action. Go online to: www. theleaven.org to see his photos.

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Sister Marie Helen Grieshaber, SCL

EAVENWORTH — Sister Marie Helen Grieshaber, 85, a Sister of Charity of Leavenworth, died on April 2 at the motherhouse here.

Matilda Rose Grieshaber was born on April 3, 1931, in St. Joseph, Missouri, one of two children of Henry F. and Rose Guethle Grieshaber. She graduated from St. Mary Grade School and Convent of the Sacred Heart High School, St. Joseph. She received a bachelor’s degree in elementary edu-

cation from Saint Mary College, Leavenworth.

After working for two years in a Daughters of Charity hospital in St. Joseph, she joined the religious community of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth on Aug. 21, 1951, and, as Sister Marie Helen, made her profession of vows on Aug. 22, 1953.

Sister Marie Helen was an elementary teacher, which she loved.

She served in schools in Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma and Wyoming.

She valued friendships and laughter, and offered a quip, a tease or a few words to make people smile. Sister Marie Helen returned to the motherhouse in 2003 and did bookkeeping for the treasurer’s office. She retired in 2014.

APRIL 28, 2017 | THELEAVEN.ORG

LOCAL NEWS University of Saint Mary earns ‘Best Value School Award’

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eavenworth — The University of Saint Mary here received a “2017 Best Value School Award” by University Research & Review, an organization of academicians and entrepreneurs dedicated to improving the process a student takes when selecting a college, university or career school.

Saint Mary received this recognition based on its reputation among students and alumni, the programs offered, accreditations and affordability. The award’s search committee reviewed more than 100 nominees — and of those, Saint Mary was one of only a handful that passed the rigorous standards set forth by the group of experienced postsecondary educators and business leaders.

Last year, USM awarded over $7 million in scholarships, with qualified incoming freshmen earning up to $56,000 over four years, and transfer students having an opportunity to earn an academic award of up to $11,000 a year — plus generous academic department, fine arts and athletics scholarships.

Founded in 1923 by the Sisters of Charity

of Leavenworth, USM has a long history of academic excellence and centers its mission on helping students find their God-given potential. Faculty and staff take an active role in preparing students for success both in the classroom and beyond.

USM offers one-on-one attention with an 11-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio and more than 30 majors, minors and concentrations, including top-notch health care programs, a new triple advantage accounting program and more than a dozen preprofessional programs. USM recently added an exercise science major as well as a new track to its computer information systems degree: cyber security.

Saint Mary has 18 varsity sports programs — football, volleyball, baseball, softball, along with men’s and women’s basketball, soccer, lacrosse, cross country, track and field, wrestling, cheerleading and dance — along with being recognized as a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics “Champions of Character” institution with Gold Status (one of only 19 schools to earn this distinction).

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Sister Ann Louise Eble, SCL

EAVENWORTH — Sister Ann Louise Eble, 92, a Sister of Charity of Leavenworth, died April 18 at the motherhouse here.

Ann Louise Eble was born on Nov. 2, 1924, in Leavenworth, one of three children of Joseph Carl and Marie (Doege) Eble.

She graduated from Sacred Heart School and St. Mary’s Academy, Leavenworth.

She entered the religious community of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth on July 2, 1943, and, as Sister Mary Joan, professed vows on Jan. 4, 1945. She later returned to her baptismal name.

From 1945 to 1989, Sister Ann Louise was a teacher or principal in schools throughout the West and Midwest. She received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in elementary education from Saint Mary College, Leavenworth.

She was an educator at heart and tackled anything with determination.

Sister Ann Louise was passionate about her vocation and service. As a member of the SCL social justice committee, she wrote an article that traced the many opportunities she had to serve the poor. She concluded, “I received no degrees from the schools of experience I attended, but learned lots of lessons in caring, helping and loving the poor.”

Sister Ann Louise served as secretary to the community director and also performed secretarial duties for SCL Health. In addition, she worked for the Emergency Assistance program of Catholic Social Services and was active in the Mother to Mother Ministry. She embraced life with a positive attitude, a sense of humor and strong commitment to her vocation.

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Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann invites couples celebrating their 50th Wedding Anniversary in 2017 to a Golden Anniversary Mass in their honor with reception following.

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He had about 10 minutes to grab and go. All the while, he worried about his parishioners, some of them elderly. Would anyone help them? Later, he was relieved to learn that friends and neighbors took care of them.

Father Prakash spent the next two days in Coldwater, sleeping on the floor of Holy Spirit Church. He was fortunate. Although the fire advanced halfway across the cemetery, Ashland and St. Joseph Church were saved.

But some of his parishioners — farmers and ranchers, for the most part — lost everything. The largest prairie wildfire in the history of Kansas had transformed Clark County and Ashland into a land of ash.

Since all surrounding communities were likewise engaged, Ashland’s tiny volunteer fire department battled the monster blaze on its own, without outside help, for eight hours.

Would help come after the fire?

Pleas across the prairie Amy Joyce tracked the progress of the southwestern Kansas prairie fires March 6-8 with heartbreak and distress.

The wind-whipped fires raced through the Texas panhandle, Oklahoma panhandle and Kansas. The largest — the Starbuck fire — left Ashland an unburned island in a sea of destruction. At least 75 percent of Clark County was burned.

To the rest of the world, the wildfires were a brief item in the news, noted and quickly forgotten.

Not for Amy. She could feel their heartache.

Marty and Amy Joyce, and their four children — Wade, 19; Emma, 17; Abby 15; and Sam, 11

PHOTO BY DANA RICH PHOTOGRAPHY

The raging fires destroyed everything in its path. Metal buildings were reduced to heaps of scrap after fire ravaged the land.

— are sixth-generation family farmers and members of St. Benedict Parish in Bendena, which is 16 miles north of Atchison.

Marty takes care of the crops and cows, while Amy is a fifth-grade teacher at St. Benedict School in Atchison.

“I follow some agriculture groups on Facebook,” said Amy. “The following days after I began reading pleas for help, I began seeing photos of the damage.

There was this urge that just wouldn’t go away that we need to help, to do something.”

Initially, she dismissed this urge to help as impractical.

But it wouldn’t go away.

“It really touched my heart to hear how these people lost everything,” said Amy. “They lost their livestock, their homes, all their hay and grass, and thousands of miles of fences. Their animals died in the fire or were burned so badly that they had to put them down.”

The family knew that they possessed both the skills and

the wherewithal to help. Wade, a freshman at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri, had worked all last summer with a fence-building crew. Amy made some calls and found someone who could hook them up with a local ranch family and lodging at a church camp.

The timing was right, too, because it was spring break for the schools.

Marty couldn’t go, so Amy and the four kids left on March 21 and drove to Wichita in three hours. They stayed there, got up early and arrived in Ashland at 8:30 a.m. By 9 a.m., they were assigned a rancher and were off to build and repair fences.

They drove 30 miles southwest to a 6,000-acre ranch that had burned in less than 15 minutes. There were 160 head of cattle on the ranch, and the cows survived because they were able to hide in a “mini-canyon” where the fire couldn’t go. Sadly, six calves that couldn’t follow their mothers died. Spring is calving season, and many cow-calf pairs perished in the fires.

“One day, I got into the truck with the rancher,” said Amy. “On the floorboard of the truck were all these empty rifle shells.

“The [rancher] told me he spent his time after the fire helping neighboring ranchers put down their cows because they couldn’t do it any more.”

“I can’t shoot another cow,” the rancher told her. “I just can’t do it.”

A land charred and scarred

PHOTO COURTESY OF AMY JOYCE

Emma Joyce, a junior at Maur Hill-Mount Academy in Atchison, works on the fence line of the Krier and Ast ranch.

It was a weird landscape.

Open land to the horizons, a sea of black interspersed with blackened, skeletal trees. Cow or horse corpses. Remnants of homes and outbuildings.

“When we saw those cows lying there, all burned up, it was kind of sad,” said Wade.

Nonfarm people have no idea of the tens of thousands of miles of fences that surround farms and ranches. It’s a major investment. Some of the fences had been put up 50 years ago or more.

The Joyce family rolled up

PHOTO COURTESY OF AMY JOYCE

The children of Amy and Marty Joyce traveled to Ashland to help rebuild after the wildfires. They are, from left: Sam, a sixth-grader at St. Benedict School; Abby, a sophomore at Maur Hill-Mount Academy; Emma, a junior at Maur Hill-Mount Academy; and Wade, a freshman at Northwest Missouri State University. barbed wire and pulled up charred posts. In some places they put up new posts and hung wire, and in other places mended broken wire.

“There were wooden posts and metal T-posts,” said Amy. “If the T-posts were solid, we left them. Some needed to be repounded and the wire reattached . . . or the wires had to be replaced.

“We had a post-hole digger on a skid loader that Wade operated,” she continued. “He set all the wooden posts. Emma is a strong girl, so she set the T-posts with a driver.”

Sam put clips on the wooden posts to hang wire.

“I’ve done it before,” said Sam, a sixth-grade student at St. Benedict School. “It wasn’t that hard.”

On Thursday, the wind began to pick up again, just as it had during the fire. It was like a return to the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s.

“There’s no vegetation to hold the sand and dirt,” said Amy. “The winds were 60 to 70 miles an hour. You couldn’t see five feet in front of you, so we had to shut down.”

Wade kept working.

“It was terrible,” he said. “I had sunglasses on and a bandanna wrapped around [my mouth and nose] like a cowboy.

I still got sand in my eyes and ears, and my throat and nose. I

was sweating, so the sand would stick to me.”

Eventually, even he had to quit. When he returned the next day, he discovered the wind had filled all his post holes with sand, and he had to redig them.

The Joyce family worked three days, and then returned home.

“At first, I didn’t want to do it,” said Emma, a junior at Maur Hill-Mount Academy in Atchison. “I wanted to be on spring break, doing my own thing.

“But after seeing what all those people went through, I know it was the right thing for me to be there.”

“The people there are amazing,” she continued. “They’re so nice and appreciative. I thought it wouldn’t be worth it, and it totally was. It definitely changed my perspective, big time.”

The long road to recovery Recovery will take a long time.

It will take years for the cattle herds to recover — not only in terms of numbers, but their genetic legacy as well.

The system of fences built up by generations of family ranchers will have to be rebuilt.

The rangelands will need at least a couple of years to

PHOTO BY DANA RICH PHOTOGRAPHY

In the fire’s aftermath, millions of acres of hay and hay bales were reduced to nothing but a heap of ash. But some help was on the horizon.

Bringing in the hay

By Joe Bollig joe.bollig@theleaven.org

LEAVEN PHOTO BY LORI WOOD HABIGER

From left, St. Benedict School fifth-graders Neah Servaes (left), Sarah Humburg, Kaydence Marlatt and Clare Harris work with their classmates on the distribution of class-made bookmarks. The bookmarks are to serve as a reminder of the wildfires. The students chose passages from Heb 6:10 and Ps 104:14 to print on the bookmarks. Heb 6:10 reads: “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” Ps 104:14 reads: “He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the labor of man, so that he may bring forth food from the earth.” regrow, so donated hay is still desperately needed.

The burned farm structures and machinery will have to be replaced — plus the homes and all of their contents.

Precious family heirlooms — those are simply gone.

More help is coming from a variety of sources.

St. Joseph Parish in Ashland, with 75 families, and Holy Spirit “quasi-parish” in Coldwater, with 20 families, offer what they can.

“Most of our parishioners are ranchers, so we have four or five families who have lost their homes,” said Trisha Elliott, St. Joseph parish council member and director of religious education.

Elliott didn’t evacuate Ashland. She handed out food, water and ice at the fire station while her volunteer firefighter husband Adam worked to save the town.

“We need to help them, but we don’t have an income because they don’t have an income,” said Elliott. “We don’t have any money, so it’s difficult to do things for them. We’re trying to provide meals to people who need them, and find out what they need.”

The Diocese of Dodge City, through Catholic Charities of Southwest Kansas, is gathering relief funds.

“The response from farmers and ranchers, and various organizations, has been tremendous,” said Debbie Snapp, executive director of Catholic Charities of Southwest Kansas.

“The people we are most concerned about are those who have no business or have a few acres

with chickens and goats,” Snapp continued. “They’ve lost homes and are not in a position to get the same kind of assistance as the big farms and ranches prevalent in this part of the state.”

Catholic Charities is trying to assess needs and connect people with resources and donations they receive. They are concentrating on individual needs, like replacing hearing aids and eyeglasses, and temporary housing assistance.

“Our diocese is 28 counties, a fourth of the state,” said Snapp.

“The fires were in maybe eight counties. There are more than 100 miles between communities affected by the fires. Trying to get to those communities, find the people and figure out their needs is a lot of the challenge as well.”

“That’s what the parishes have really helped us with,” she continued, “[identifying] those who have suffered loss and who in the communities are organizing things locally. We still have a lot to learn about the level of loss.”

The challenge is daunting, but these descendants of pioneers and Dust Bowl survivors are courageous and dogged. They won’t give up. And with help from the extended agriculture family and God, they’ll make good on their vows to rebuild.

Father Prakash can see God’s providence at work even now.

“God is really blessing us,” he said. “We’ve had good rains for the past two weeks and we can see the greenery — the grass is coming now. God never leaves us. Our prayers are heard, and he is blessing us with rains. We are happy God is blessing us.”

S

t. Joseph of the Valley in rural Leavenworth County is a small parish. Even so, its parishioners have offered a big helping hand to the burnt-out farmers and ranchers of Clark County.

Nine friends, all involved in agriculture, decided they would help by hauling hay to southwest Kansas. Seven of the nine belong to St. Joseph of the Valley.

One of the group is Matthew Demaranville. He lives in Atchison and farms with an uncle.

Before St. Patrick’s Day, his friend Jason Crook called him and they talked about the wildfires that had burned more than a million acres earlier in March, from the Texas panhandle, up into the Oklahoma panhandle, and then into Kansas.

They came to a consensus: They had to help, and they couldn’t do it alone.

Demaranville and Crook knew the ranchers in Clark County needed to feed their cows, but the grass was gone.

The burned pastures would need three to five years to recover, so hay had to come from elsewhere.

They contacted the Kansas Livestock Association, which connected them to a farmer in Minneapolis, who would donate 150 big, round bales of hay.

They got some trucks and trailers. And they got their friends. The total group included Matthew, his brother Andrew Demaranville, Crook and his wife Madison, Matt Wagner, Hank Crook, Adam Schwinn, Alex Cumming and Ben Chalfant.

And they set out with a convoy of seven trucks with trailers. Between Minneapolis and Ashland, they blew three tires.

“When you get down there in western Kansas, the people know what you’re going,” said Matthew Demaranville. “They waved and honked. Everyone was so thankful.

“When we got down to Ashland, we saw everything was burned. It was like watching a horror movie.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF ANDREW DEMARANVILLE

A group of friends, mostly members of St. Joseph of the Valley Parish in rural Leavenworth, helped deliver 150 big bales of hay to the ranchers in Clark County who had their pastures burned. In a hiccup along the way, the group had to stop to repair a blown-out tire.

“There was nothing but thousands and thousands of acres of burned fences and grass, and you could see people’s homes and barns burned to the ground,” he continued.

“We saw quite a few vehicles of people who where caught in the smoke.”

The hay haulers deposited

their loads at the Ashland Seed and Feed Store and went home.

“I think this was personal to all of us,” he said. “We did it to help people.

“It made us all feel humble, and thankful, and have a little bit of pride that we could help these people.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF ANDREW DEMARANVILLE

Snowy conditions didn’t slow things down as the hay was loaded in good time on its way to Clark County.

APRIL 28, 2017 | THELEAVEN.ORG

NATION

10

Priests to bike across Peoria Diocese seeking vocation prayers

By Jennifer Willems Catholic News Service

P

EORIA, Ill. (CNS) — Being a priest has made Father Michael Pica, Father Adam Cesarek and Father Tom Otto so happy that they are preparing to share their joy with people from Rock Island to Danville — literally.

From April 24 to 28, the three priests will ride their bikes 350 miles across the Diocese of Peoria — the width of Illinois — to raise awareness for vocations and show people that priesthood is a wonderful life. Along the way, they plan to stop at schools and parishes to encourage prayers for vocations and tell the story of their own call to priestly service.

A passage from Matthew’s Gospel provides the theme for the journey and will grace the cycling jerseys they wear and the T-shirts they hand out: “Ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest!”

“We love being priests. This is the absolute best thing that has happened to us in our lives and cycling is just sort of the vehicle that’s going to get us to these schools and these parishes to share that with people,” said Father Otto, who was ordained in 2013 and serves as parochial vicar at Immaculate Conception in Monmouth and St. Patrick in Raritan.

The idea came from Father Pica, who was ordained last May and assigned to St. Patrick Church of Merna in Bloomington and St. Mary in Downs.

The three priests like to ride and as they were cycling during an event for young clergy last summer, he asked Father Otto and Father Cesarek if they would be willing to use their hobby to benefit vocations.

“There are people who bike across Iowa — what if we bike across the diocese?” he proposed, referencing the Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, also known as RAGBRAI, sponsored by The Des Moines Register daily newspaper.

As they developed the idea, the three priests realized more money

CNS PHOTO/COURTESY DIOCESE OF PEORIA’S OFFICE OF PRIESTLY VOCATIONS

Three priests from the Diocese of Peoria, Ill., plan to ride their bicycles across the diocese, a trek of 350 miles, from April 24-28 to inspire prayers for vocations. The “Priests Pedaling for Prayers” are Fathers Tom Otto, Adam Cesarek, and Michael Pica. wasn’t the answer to promoting vocations. Instead of a fundraiser, they decided to make it a prayer-raiser.

“We’re not doing this ride just to get attention. We’re doing this ride to get prayers for vocations,” Father Pica told The Catholic Post, Peoria’s diocesan newspaper. “We want people across the diocese to pray for us while

we’re doing this, but not just pray for us. We’re asking them to pray for vocations during this week of riding.”

He said they would be sending out prayer cards and asking the students and parishioners at each stop to consider what prayer or sacrifice they could offer to make vocations more plentiful.

“Prayer is powerful and prayer is effective and when we trust in that, when we pray with faith, God answers our prayers,” Father Otto said. “The more people we have praying and sacrificing, asking God to send us more priests, that’s going to directly help the young men who are being called to be priests to discover that and to say ‘yes’ to God’s call in their life.”

Father Cesarek said another important aspect of the ride is showing young people that “priests do exciting, cool things, too.”

“Yes, the most important things priests do are celebrating Mass and the sacraments and taking care of their people,” he said, “but this will let people see, especially young people, that priests do fun, normal stuff. As a kid, I never would have known that was the case.”

If he had witnessed something like this when he was 8 years old, he might have pursued his priestly vocation much earlier in life, said Father Cesarek, who was ordained in 2015 and is parochial vicar for St. Mary in Pontiac, St. Paul in Odell, St. Joseph in Flanagan, and St. John in Cullom.

Starting April 24, they will travel from East Moline to Monmouth, which is about 70 miles, and then from Galesburg to Peoria, about 60 miles, April 25.

The following day will be a distance day, with the intrepid cyclists expecting to travel at least 90 miles.

They will cover about 40 miles each of the next two days, going from Bloomington to Champaign and then finishing in Danville April 28.

“It’s going to involve some suffering.

We’ll have problems along the way, but that’s sort of the journey of life,” Father Cesarek said. “Hopefully the Lord uses this in powerful ways.”

Father Timothy Hepner, diocesan vocations director for recruitment, is confident that will be the case.

“These three priests are inspiring to me and to all of the faithful around the diocese,” said Father Hepner, “and it’s great to see other people getting on board to offer their sacrifices and prayers in union with them.”

Persecuted Christians often choose strategy of survival, says study

By Barb Fraze Catholic News Service

W

ASHINGTON (CNS) — A new study categorizes what kinds of responses emerge when Christians around the world are persecuted, noting that, most often, Christians choose a strategy of survival.

However, the findings also show Christians might choose a strategy of association — seeking to secure their religious freedom by developing ties with other Christian communities, non-Christian religions, and secular figures — and, on occasion, they use strategies of confrontation.

The report, “In Response to Persecution, Findings of the Under Caesar’s Sword Project on Global Christian Communities,” also offers recommendations for businesses, nongovernmental organizations, governments and scholars to help keep situations from getting worse.

The study was conducted by 17 scholars under the auspices of Under Caesar’s Sword, a partnership of the

Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture, the Religious Freedom Institute, and Georgetown University’s Religious Freedom Research Project, with the support of the Templeton Religion Trust. Its findings were released April 20 in a forum at the National Press Club.

In establishing the three main categories of response, the scholars found that they were not mutually exclusive and that, sometimes, Christians of differing denominations within the same country responded in different ways.

The study looked at 25 countries and the West.

It noted that while Western commentary normally blamed Islam for persecuting Christians, “the regimes that repress Christians vary widely.

It also noted that extremist groups such as the Taliban, Boko Haram, alShabab in Somalia and Kenya or Hindu fanatics in India also persecuted Christians.

It said survival strategies could include flight, going underground or showing support for oppressive regimes. In 43 percent of the cases — including Egypt, Libya and the Gaza

Strip — Christians chose this survival option. In Iran and Saudi Arabia, “Christians live in constant danger of harassment, arrest, and harsh imprisonment,” the study found. “In these conditions, Christian responses are overwhelmingly ones of survival, mostly aimed at avoiding the attention of the authorities.”

Thirty-eight percent of the time, Christians chose association: engaging in interreligious dialogue, cooperating with other Christian communities, and forging coalitions and partnerships inside countries.

Addressing Christian persecution during wars in Iraq and Syria, the report noted that Christians had fled en masse to other areas of the country when confronted with the Islamic State group’s choice of converting to Islam, execution, exile, or paying a tax.

But it also noted that, in both countries, some Christians formed militias to protect their cities, while others performed social services, documented abuses and forged cooperation among communities.

The study found that Christian responses to persecution were almost always nonviolent and rarely involved

acts of terrorism.

In the West, Christians face a subtle form of persecution associated with secularism, “particularly with respect to their convictions about sexuality, marriage and the sanctity of life,” the report said.

“Pope Francis has called these restrictions ‘polite persecution,’ implying that they are similar in kind, if not in degree, to overt persecution,” the study said.

In a series of recommendations for multinational nongovernmental organizations, the report recommended agencies draft guidelines on “how to ‘do no harm,’ covering, for example, not publicizing situations that could endanger persecuted churches, unless those in harm’s way specifically request publicity and protest.”

“Listen to persecuted churches, who know the challenges firsthand, even if their communications are not expressed in ways that NGOs find easy to assimilate or understand,” it said.

It also urged businesses and governments to avoid the temptation of ignoring the persecution to promote good relations or economic interests.

APRIL 28, 2017 | THELEAVEN.ORG

WORLD

11

Pope Benedict celebrates birthday with guests, beer, pretzels

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service

V

ATICAN CITY (CNS) — A bit of Bavaria, including German beer and pretzels, came to the Vatican to help celebrate retired Pope Benedict XVI’s 90th birthday.

“Thank you for bringing Bavaria here,” he told his guests, commenting on the beauty of gathering together under a blue Roman sky with white clouds — colors that “recall the white and blue flag of Bavaria” and how “it’s always the same sky” no matter where one finds oneself in the world.

The Bavarian-born pope’s birthday fell on Easter Sunday, April 16, so a small informal party was held April 17 outside his residence, the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican gardens.

Pope Francis visited his predecessor April 12, before the start of the Easter Triduum, to offer him birthday greetings.

Special guests at the Bavarian party included: Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, the retired pope’s 93-year-old brother; Archbishop Georg Ganswein, the retired pope’s personal secretary; Birgit Wansing, a longtime administrative assistant; and the consecrated laywomen from Memores Domini, who assist him.

A German delegation was present, led by the minister president of Bavaria, Horst Seehofer, and including a group of men dressed in the traditional uniforms of the “Schutzen” with their dark green wool hats decorated with

CNS PHOTO/L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO

Retired Pope Benedict XVI enjoys a beer during his his 90th birthday celebration April 17 at the Vatican. Also pictured is his brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, at the pope’s left, and Archbishop Georg Ganswein, prefect of the papal household, in rear. The German pontiff’s birthday was the previous day. feathers, pins and sprigs of greenery.

Pope Benedict said his heart was filled with gratitude “for the 90 years the good Lord has given me. There

have been trying and difficult times, but he always guided me and pulled me through.”

He thanked God for his beautiful

homeland “that you now bring to me,” and which is “open to the world, lively and happy” because it is rooted so deeply in the Christian faith.

Portuguese man sends free Fatima statues throughout world

C

APE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) — Every time Jose Camara thinks his ministry is completed, somebody else needs a statue of Our Lady of Fatima to spread the devotion.

Camara, a retired Portuguese businessman, has donated more than 1,000 of the statues, handmade in Fatima, to parishes around the world since January 2013. He even covers the cost of transport, including to South Africa, Madagascar, Australia and the United States.

“I started out just over four years ago with the idea of offering 12 handmade statues of Our Lady of Fatima — one for each apostle — to parishes in South Africa, where I lived for many years,” Camara said.

In the first week after his offer was publicized in South Africa’s Catholic weekly, The Southern Cross, he received 63 applications.

“Now I have sent more than a thousand statues to parishes, schools, convents, Catholic movements, prisons and so on — and even to some individuals — all over the world,” said Camara, who now lives in Cascais, about 20 miles west of the Portuguese capital, Lisbon.

He has sent statues to more than 30 countries: throughout Africa and to the Holy Land, India, the Philippines, Australia, Great Britain, Germany, Guatemala, the United States — even to parishes in Portugal. Some of the destinations are remote, such as Reunion Island and Mauritius.

And every time he decides his task is finished, a new email reaches him from regions that need of Our Lady of Fatima.

“But I cannot continue forever,”

“

“I BELIEVE REAL PHILANTHROPY MEANS GETTING INVOLVED: TAKING YOUR JACKET AND TIE OFF, ROLLING UP YOUR SLEEVES AND FACE THE PROJECT — AND EVEN HEAVY BILLS. AND ONE MUST BE DOING IT NOT FOR PERSONAL GLORY BUT WITH LOVE FOR OUR MOTHER.” CNS PHOTO/GUNTHER SIMMERMACHER

Camara said. Apart from the expense of buying the statues and the even greater cost of having them shipped to their destination, the logistics, bureaucracy and stress about delivery are becoming a strain for a man who is “not getting any younger” and must contend with worsening health problems. And, he admits, “my life savings are almost depleted.”

For a long time, he asked to remain anonymous. He allowed the use of his name only when media that interviewed him insisted on it.

“I don’t seek any credit; I only want to serve Our Lady and the Lord,” he said.

He said he has been inspired by people he has met, such as the priest in Namibia who drove 560 miles each way to collect a statue for his parish.

One of the more than 1,000 statues of Our Lady Fatima that retired Portuguese businessman Jose Camara has sent to parishes around the world is seen in Cape Town, South Africa.

The statues are handcrafted and hand-painted in a workshop in Fatima.

They are various sizes and are intended for use inside the churches. In exchange for a statue, recipient parishes had to promise to recite the rosary once a month as a community, and to place the statue at an altar in the main church or in a side chapel or shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima.

“I have received many emails with photos from parishes, schools and convents to show that they promoting the devotion. It makes me very happy to see that,” Camara said.

Two encounters stand out.

A woman in Cape Town, dying of

cancer, wanted to be in the company of Our Lady of Fatima as she awaited death.

“Although I usually don’t donate to individuals, I sent her a statue as a personal gift. But there are always delays with customs and so on. A statue normally takes four months to arrive. It didn’t look like the statue would arrive in time, but I sent it anyway, placing my trust in Our Lady,” Camara recalled.

Four months later, he received an email that the woman was on her deathbed and the statue had not arrived. From Portugal, Camara ascertained that it was at customs in Cape Town, so on a Friday afternoon the dying woman’s sister rushed to have it released and took it to the hospital.

“They took photos of the woman holding the statue, looking happy to be with Our Lady. She died the next day, 24 hours later. That was faith. I did not believe that she would see the statue,” he said.

A young girl in England who wrote to Camara “to request a statue for her daddy, who was in prison” in Kent, England.

He remembered that the Fatima visionaries — three children — were jailed for interrogation in August 1917.

So he sent a statue to the jail. “The father now prays the rosary with his fellow inmates in prison.”

“I believe real philanthropy means getting involved: taking your jacket and tie off, rolling up your sleeves and face the project — and even heavy bills. And one must be doing it not for personal glory but with love for Our Mother,” Camara said.

He paused and added: “Our Lady has been dropping blessings from above.”

APRIL 28, 2017 | THELEAVEN.ORG

CLASSIFIEDS EMPLOYMENT Freelancers needed - Great for retired journalists, and writers/photographers looking to supplement their income! The Leaven, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, is looking for freelance reporters and photographers to assist staff in covering this busy beat. Story and photo shoots are assigned on an as-needed basis. Applicants from all parts of the archdiocese welcome. For freelance reporting, a working knowledge of the Catholic Church and excellent writing and reporting skills are a must. Actual professional journalism experience is a plus. For photography, a diverse portfolio with a working knowledge of the Catholic Church is required; experience in low-light photography and professional photojournalism experience is a plus. To be considered for freelance reporting, send a letter of interest, a simple resume and published clips or links to what you’ve written. To be considered for freelance photography, send a letter of interest, a simple resume and samples of your work or a link to an online portfolio. Send all materials by email to: freelancefor leaven@gmail.com.

English teacher - Rockhurst High School is accepting applications for a full-time teacher of English. Successful candidates should hold a master’s degree and be certified.

If you are interested in joining our community, send your letter of interest, resume/cv and completed application (available online) to Mr. Scott Duschen, assistant principal for academic affairs, at: sduschen@rockhursths.edu.

Program coordinator with emphasis on catechesis The Catholic Diocese of Wichita is seeking a dedicated individual to serve as a full-time program coordinator for the office of faith formation with an emphasis on catechesis.

Responsibilities include: oversight of diocesan-wide efforts to provide catechists with integrated formation in content, methodology and spirituality; development and maintenance of curriculum for catechist training; recruitment of trainers throughout the diocese; and implementation and update of modern methods of formation, including online and distance education opportunities.

The successful candidate will have the following qualifications: practicing Catholic striving to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ and an active and faithful steward in their parish; bachelor’s in theology or catechetics required; master’s in theology or catechetics strongly preferred; enthusiastic, engaging and energetic formator in catechetical methods, church doctrine and spiritual formation; experience working effectively with pastors, parish coordinators and volunteers; experience teaching in parish catechetical ministry or other catechetical venues and ability to work with kindergarten through high school youth; willingness to consistently travel evening and weekends to parishes outside the Wichita metro area (including Wednesday evenings once a month and weekends 8-10 times per year); ability to express ideas clearly in both written and verbal communication and proficiency in Microsoft Office and social media; ability to work collaboratively with a team of six faith formation staff members; proven administrative skills and experience in interpersonal relations and conflict resolution; ability to communicate in Spanish both orally and in writing and familiarity with Latino culture is strongly preferred. Submit cover letter and resume with references and salary requirements to: powellp@ catholicdioceseofwichita.org. The expected start date for this opening is June 2017. Application deadline is on or before noon on May 12.

Teacher assistant - Special Beginnings, Lenexa, is seeking full- or part-time after school teacher assistants at all locations. We are looking for a teacher assistant candidate who has an excellent work ethic, heart for children and a willingness to learn more about early childhood education.

Experience and/or education is a plus, but we will train the right candidate. Teacher assistants will work with the lead teacher to care for and educate the children. Primary responsibilities include assisting the lead teacher with: care and supervision of children, lesson plan implementation, parent communication, and cleanliness and organization of classroom. Starting hourly pay ranges based on experience and education. Pay increases are based on job performance. Opportunities for advancement are available, as the company prefers to promote from within. Apply by sending an email to: chris@specialbeginningsonline.com or in person at 10216 Pflumm Rd., Lenexa, KS 66215.

Looking for something new? - Use your administrative skills to help a developmental optometrist change people’s lives. Monday - Thursday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.; summer hours vary. No health benefits. A background in Word, Excel, QuickBooks, customer service and medical office experience helpful. Send resume to: Dr. Beth Basin, 13600 Washington, Kansas City, MO 64145 or send by email to: bbazin@visiondevelop.com.

Teachers’ aide positions - St. Ann Young Child Center in Prairie Village is interviewing for the 2017-18 school year.

Aide positions for preschool and Kids’ Day Out. Hours are from 9 a.m. - 2:45 p.m. Monday - Thursday and 9 a.m.

- noon on Friday. Great for moms with kids in school!

An aide’s position for the afterschool program: Monday through Friday from 3 - 5:30 p.m. We are also looking for substitutes. Competitive pay. Great environment to work. For more information, call Tati at (816) 716-4676.

Principal - St. Ann Elementary School in Carthage, Missouri, has an open position for principal. Requirements: active Catholic with a passion for Catholic education; Missouri (or other) educator certification; master’s in education administration (or in progress) and administrative experience, especially in Catholic school, preferred.

Send resume with three professional references to: Father J. Friedel, St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church, 812 Pearl Ave., Joplin, MO 64801.

Full-time openings - Padre Pio Academy in Shawnee, which offers a classical curriculum, has full-time openings for the 2017-18 school year. For more information and details, contact Joanne at (913) 530-6553.

Pastoral associate for justice and life - St. Francis Xavier Jesuit Parish, Kansas City, Mo., seeks a pastoral associate for justice and life. Oversees social justice ministries and direct service programs; creates formation and education programs on social justice and Catholic social teaching topics; manages budget; oversees volunteers; manages the food pantry; and meets one-on-one with clients seeking help with emergency assistance.

Requirements: bachelor’s degree (MA preferred) in theology, social work or social sciences; preferred experience in parish social ministry or social justice work. Full description is online at: www.sfx-kc.org. Applications due May 10. Send cover letter, resume, three references to: search@sfx-kc.org.

Drivers - Special Beginnings Early Learning Center is seeking part-time drivers for its school-age program located in Lenexa. Candidates must be able to drive a 13-passenger minibus, similar to a 15-passenger van.

CDL not required, but must have an excellent driving record. Candidates would pick up children from area schools and then work directly with them when arriving back at the center. Experience preferred. Must have strong work ethic and the ability to work with children.

Insurance provided. Background check will be conducted. Great opportunity for retired persons or those seeking a second job. Job responsibilities include: ensuring safety and well-being of children who are being transported at all times, including loading and unloading.

Driving short, round-trip routes to elementary schools in Lenexa/Olathe area. Summer only: Driving short, roundtrip routes to two Lenexa city pools. Maintaining mileage log. Keeping interior of vehicle clean. Apply by sending an email to: chris@specialbeginningsonline.com or in person at 10216 Pflumm Rd., Lenexa, KS 66215.

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

Tree Trimming Tree Trimming/Landscaping Insured/References Free Estimates/Local Parishioner Tony Collins (913) 620-6063 Doll dresses - First Communion dress sets for 18” or American Girl dolls. Includes dress, veil, shoes, tights and cross necklace. Full line of doll clothes and accessories in south Johnson County. Call Patty at (913) 345-9498.

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

HOME IMPROVEMENT Swalms organizing - downsizing - cleanout service – Reduce clutter – Any space organized. Shelving built on-site. Items hauled for recycling and donations. 20 years exp.; insured. Call Tillar at (913) 375-9115. WWW. SWALMSORGANIZING.COM. Helping Hand Handy Man - Semiretired handyman can help with your “to do list.” Small and medium projects around your house. Also electrical: ceiling fans, light fixtures, outlet and switches. Most deck and shed repairs, power washing, restaining and painting. No yard work.

Member of Prince of Peace, Olathe. Call Mark Coleman at (913) 526-4490.

Local handyman - Painting int. and ext., staining, wood rot, power wash, decks, doors and windows, masonry, hardwood floors, gutter cleaning, water heaters, toilets, faucets, garbage disposals, ceiling fans, mowing and more!! Member of Holy Angels Parish, Basehor. Call Billy at (913) 927-4118.

Professional window cleaner - Residential only, fully insured. Over 40 years experience. Free estimates. Contact Gene Jackson at (913) 593-1495.

Kansas City’s Premier Deck, Fence & Concrete - We repair, power wash and stain wood decks and fences.

We power wash and seal concrete drives, walkway, pool decks and more. Call Brian at (913) 952-5965. Member of Holy Trinity Parish.

Speedy Guzman Moving and delivery Licensed and insured Anytime (816) 935-0176

Looking for assisted living at home? - Before you move, call us and explore our in-home care options. We specialize in helping families live safely at home while saving thousands of dollars per year. Call today for more information or to request a FREE home care planning guide. Benefits of Home - Senior Care, www.benefits ofhome.com or call (913) 422-1591.

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

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

Experienced RN - Seeking a part-time position. Provides nursing, companion and respite care. Johnson County area. Call Mary at (913) 710-5412.

FOR SALE

For sale - Three individuals plots located at Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Kansas City. Located in section 3, old lot 195, spaces 10, 11 and 12. Current value is $2070 per space.

Selling price is $1600 per space or $4500 for all three. Call (913) 208-2703.

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: dan deeconst@aol.com.

Mike Hammer local moving - A full-service mover.

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

CAREGIVING

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.

WATKINS TEAM Honest, reliable home selling for over 50 years Parishioner of Queen of the Holy Rosary, Overland Park Doug (913) 593-6362 | watkinsd@reecenichols.com Dirk (913) 219-2965 | dirkw@reecenichols.com Reece Nichols Real Estate

Clutter getting you down? - Organize, fix, assemble, install! “Kevin of all trades” your professional organizer and “Honey-do” specialist. Call or email me today for a free consultation at (913) 271-5055 or kev@koatindustries. com. Insured. References.

Custom countertops - Laminates installed within 5 days.

Cambria, granite, and solid surface. Competitive prices, dependable work. Call the Top Shop, Inc., (913) 962-5058.

Members of St. Joseph, Shawnee.

Residential lifts - New and recycled. Stair lifts, porch lifts, ceiling lifts and elevators. St. Michael’s parishioners. KC Lift & Elevator at (913) 327-5557. (Formerly Silver Cross KC)

Senior hairstyling - Roller sets, haircuts and perms.

Wednesday - Friday by appointment. One block south of Johnson Dr. in Mission. $5 off any service with first service. Call Bonnie at (816) 769-8511.

Rodman Lawn Care Lawn mowing, aeration, verticutting, fertilizing Hedge trimming, mulching, leaf removal, gutter cleaning Fully insured and free estimates John Rodman (913) 548-3002

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

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

EL SOL Y LA TIERRA *Commercial & residential * Lawn renovation *Mowing * Clean-up and hauling * Dirt grading/installation * Landscape design * Free estimates Hablamos y escribimos Ingles!! www.elsolylatierra.com Call Lupe at (816) 935-0176

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

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

Everything is guaranteed 100% (913) 461-4052 www.windowservicesoverlandpark.com drcconswindows@gmail.com

Summer tutoring - Voice, piano and guitar available.

Instructor teaches in a fun and meaningful context. For more information, call Kathleen at (913) 206-2151 or send an email to: Klmamuric@yahoo.com.

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Thank you for another great year - Through your support, my family has been blessed and my business has grown. We do windows, trim, siding, doors, decks, interior and exterior painting, wood rot, bathroom renovations, tile and sheetrock. If you need work done around your home, we can do it. Josh (913) 709-7230.

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

Cleaning lady - Reasonable rates; references provided.

Call (913) 940-2959.

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) 579-1835. Email: smokeycabin@hotmail.com.

Member of Holy Trinity, Lenexa.

The Lamb’s Touch - Available for home, rental, construction and small office cleaning. 30 years’ experience. Detailed, reliable; references. Call Phyllis at (913) 220-3322.

Handyman/remodeler - Quality service with references.

Kitchens, baths, tile, painting, garage doors and openers, decks and wood rot repair. Call Jeff at (913) 915-4738.

For sale - Tandem vault located at Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Kansas City. Patio II, tier C, crypt 105. Eye level with peaceful view and surroundings. Includes perpetual care. Current market value over $12,000. Selling price is $10,000. Call (913) 208-2703.

For sale - Double space plot at Resurrection Cemetery in Lenexa. Located in the Charity Garden section. The current price is $5300. Asking price is $4100. Call (913) 291-9134.

For sale - Double niche at Resurrection Cemetery in Lenexa. Holy Family Mausoleum, Jesus Son of God corridor, tier A. Includes bronze diamond companion urn. Current price $6690, selling price $5000. Call (913) 897-6433.

For sale - Double lawn crypt at Resurrection Cemetery in Lenexa, Garden of Hope section, double lawn crypt, lot 78 C, space 4. Conveyance fee included. $8100. Call Lou at (512) 294-2869.

For sale - Original oil and watercolor paintings; framed lithographs; three framed WWI fighter planes; signed, framed Spencer Tracy photo; Native American figurines; collectible dolls and gnomes; 1950s ceramics and ceramic cats; designer purses of all sizes; pewter; cast iron pots and pans; old cookbooks; Tom & Jerry bowls and mugs; pro-life angels; Fitbit; Garmin; jewelry. Downsizing, help a veteran. (913) 579-0279.

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

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

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

Renee Maderak, (913) 631-7179.

St. Joseph Parish, Shawnee Wanted to buy - Cucina LLC is an entity that buys commercial real estate. Lou Serrone, a member of Good Shepherd, and Tom Disidore, a member of St. Agnes, are members of Cucina LLC. Tom and Lou are licensed brokers in both Kansas and Missouri. If you are a seller of commercial real estate, call Lou at (913) 219-9924.

BOYS CAMP Camp Kapaun Catholic boys camp. Sports, team building, virtue growth, spiritual formation, Boys ages 9 - 14.

June 4 - 10, Conception Abbey, Missouri Email Victor Rodriquez at: vcrodrc@gmail.com

VACATION Branson getaway - Walk-in condo on Pointe Royale Golf Course. Sleeps six. Close to lakes and entertainments.

Fully furnished. Pool and hot tub available. No cleaning fee. Nightly rates. Wi-Fi available. Discounts available. Call (913) 515-3044.

APRIL 28, 2017 | THELEAVEN.ORG

CALENDAR TACO TRIVIA NIGHT St. Pius X Parish 5500 Woodson Rd., Mission April 29 at 5:30 p.m.

The cost for a taco dinner is: $7 for adults; $4 for kids ages 7 through 10; kids under the age of 6 eat for free. Dinner includes two tacos and sides. Extra tacos will be $0.50.

Trivia teams can be from one to eight people and cost $20 per team to play. There will be cash prizes for the winner.

RUMMAGE SALE Holy Family Parish 513 Ohio Ave., Kansas City, Kansas April 28 from noon - p p.m.

April 29 from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

All proceeds will benefit building maintenance and repairs of Holy Family Parish.

For information on donating items or other questions, call Sandy and Mike Cannon at (913) 492-2612; Patty and Tom Westfall at (913) 342-6817; Julie and John Schneller at (913) 797-8623; or the church office at (913) 371-1561.

A rosary will be held prior to the 1 p.m. meeting in the rosary garden. If anyone knows of a member or their family member in distress, sick or in need of the circle’s prayers, contact Theresa Smith-Lawton at (785) 640-1403. If you are interested or would like more information about the Daughters of Isabella, call Marilyn Unrein at (785) 2308448 or (785) 228-9863.

LEAVENWORTH REGION OF ACCW QUARTERLY POTLUCK AND MEETING St. Casimir Parish (hall) 719 Pennsylvania Ave., Leavenworth April 30 at 12:30 p.m.

The ACCW potluck luncheon will be followed by a business meeting. Bring used cards, used stamps, items for the ditty bags, pennies for the seminarians and a friend. For more information, call (913) 6834304 or send an email to: brosej2002@ yahoo.com.

SPRING FESTIVAL St. Joseph Parish (school building) 307 Iowa St., Olpe April 30 at 3 p.m.

Dinner and kids games will last until 6:30 p.m. Bingo begins at 6:45 p.m. There will be a raffle along with cash and merchandise prizes. You need not be present to win. The cost for dinner is $8 for adults; $3 for children ages 10 and under. Carryout meals will also be available.

TACO SALAD AND BINGO St. Joseph Parish (McDevitt Hall) 11311 Johnson Dr., Shawnee April 29 at 6 p.m.

Let the Boy Scouts of Troop 194 cook dinner: taco salads, desserts and drinks. The St. Joseph Ladies Guild will provide bingo and root beer floats. The cost for dinner is $8 per person with a cap of $25 per family. Bingo and floats are extra.

SPRING DANCE St. Anthony Church (basement) 615 N. 7th St., Kansas City, Kansas April 29 from 6 - 10:30 p.m.

The cost is: $20 for adults; $10 for ages 12 20; $5 for ages 6 - 11; kids age 5 and under are free. The cost includes food, drink and dancing to the sounds of The Willie Kirst Band. Raffle tickets will be sold for prizes.

Tickets can be purchased at the door. For more information, call Patty Orth at (913) 371-2468.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS Church of the Nativity (St. Joseph Room) 3800 W. 119th St., Leawood May 2 from 7 - 8:30 p.m.

Two financial advisers will explain specialneeds trusts and the Achieving Better Life Experiences Act of 1973. The ABLE Act amended the IRS code to create tax-advantaged savings accounts for individuals with disabilities.

OUR LADY OF FATIMA NATIONAL PILGRIM STATUE Queen of the Holy Rosary 7023 W. 71st St., Overland Park May 2 from 7:45 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.

The day will begin with a rosary followed by Mass. The statue will be at the church all day, with a rosary prayed every hour. The day will be completed with a novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help and Benediction. This is in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Fatima.

This is a retreat for women ages 21 and over.

There will be space to relax, rejuvenate and reconnect. There will also be speakers, fellowship, large and small groups, individual reflection and free time. Mass, Eucharistic adoration and reconciliation will also be offered. More information can be found online at: www.camptekakwitha-womensretreat. com.

TACO AND BINGO DINNER St. Patrick Parish (center) 1086 N. 94th St., Kansas City, Kansas April 29 at 5 p.m.

The Knights of Columbus Assembly 0280 will sponsor the dinner and bingo. The cost of dinner is $7 for adults; $4 for kids ages 12 and under. The cost for bingo is $1 per game.

Proceeds go to seminarian support.

DAUGHTERS OF ISABELLA, LITTLE FLOWER CIRCLE 503 BUSINESS MEETING Christ the King Parish (Yadrich Hall) 5973 S.W. 25th St., Topeka April 30 at 1 p.m.

son scramble, but incomplete teams are welcome. Prizes will be given to the top three teams in each flight. Team fees (there are different levels) include: light breakfast, range balls, cart, refreshments and lunch. Entry deadline is May 1. For more information, call Logan Yeats at (913) 324-9066.

CELEBRATE RECOVERY St. Pius X Parish (Youth Room) 5500 Woodson, Mission Thursdays at 7 p.m.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS Holy Trinity Parish (Social Room) 9150 Pflumm Rd., Lenexa May 3 from 7 - 8:30 p.m.

Two financial advisors will explain specialneeds trusts and the Achieving Better Life Experiences Act of 1973. The ABLE Act amended the IRS code to create tax-advantaged savings accounts for individuals with disabilities.

TAIZE PRAYER Annunciation Chapel 4200 S. 4th St., Leavenworth May 4 at 7 p.m.

Taize prayer is a meditative, candlelit service that includes simple chants sung repeatedly, silence, and prayers of praise and intercession. People of all Christian traditions are invited to participate in this prayer service.

100-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA Most Pure Heart of Mary Parish 3601 S.W. 17th St., Topeka May 17, various times

Celebrate Recovery is a Christ-centered recovery program for all who are struggling with the disease of addiction. For more information, call Joe at (913) 228-8279 or send an email to: joequinn@sbcglobal.net. Information will be kept confidential.

A rosary will be recited 30 minutes prior to each of the 7:30, 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. Masses.

A presentation will be made by the head guardian who travels with the statue in O’Connor Hall after the 11:30 a.m. Mass to allow time for questions. Refreshments will be served following each Mass in O’Connor Hall. For more information, call Beverly Brown at (785) 272-2187 or Peggy Longstaff at (785) 383-2254.

POLSKI DAY CELEBRATION All Saints Parish 809 Vermont, Kansas City, Kansas May 6 from 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.

RETROUVAILLE Savior Pastoral Center 12601 Parallel Pkwy., Kansas City, Kansas June 2 -4

This is the 33rd annual celebration of Polski Day. There will be a parade, polka bands, dancing, Polish food, a Polish Mass and Polish items for sale. New volunteers are always a welcome addition to help staff the event. Donations are welcome as well. Profits from the event help preserve the historic All Saints Parish, School and parish grounds. For more information or to volunteer, call Cathy Kolenda-Smith at (913) 721-0081.

SPRING FLING SINGLES DANCE Curé of Ars Parish (school cafeteria) 9410 Mission Rd., Leawood May 6 from 7:30 - 11 p.m.

Retrouvaille provides help for marriage problems/difficulties/crises. The program offers hope that it is not too late for a better marriage.

For more information, contact the registration team at (800) 470-2230 or visit the website at: HelpOurMarriage.com.

CAMP KAPAUN Conception Abbey 37174 State Hwy. W, Conception, Missouri June 4 - 14

This is a Catholic boys camp featuring sports, team-building, virtue growth and spiritual formation. For more information, send an email to Victor Rodriquez at: vcrodrc@gmail.com.

The cost to attend the dance is $20 at the door. The cost includes meat hors d’oeuvres, snacks, desserts, wine, beer, soda and water.

Drive around to the lighted parking behind the school. For more information, call (913) 6495770.

BLISTERS FOR SISTERS WALK-A-THON St. Thomas More Parish 11822 Holmes Rd., Kansas City, Missouri May 6 at 9 a.m.

The day begins with registration followed by a short walk, Mass and lunch. The day is an opportunity to thank the Sisters for their work in the community. For more information, go online to: www.kansascityblistersfor sisters.org.

‘FAITH IN BLOOM’ BENEFIT LUNCHEON Olathe Conference Center at Embassy Suites by Hilton 10401 S. Ridgeview Rd., Olathe May 10 at 11:30 a.m.

‘ABUNDANT LOVE’ WOMEN’S RETREAT AT CAMP TEKAKWITHA Prairie Star Ranch 1124 California Rd., Williamsburg April 28 - 30

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All parishes are invited to be a part of the benefit luncheon celebrating all the ways VIlla St. Francis has grown. Monsignor Thomas Tank and Msgr. Charles McGlinn will be honored for 50 years of service to the archdiocese and decades of service to Villa St. Francis. The cost for individual tickets is $75. Sponsorships are available. (Contact Sarah McEnerney at (913) 747-0269.) RSVP online at: www.FaithInBloomLuncheon.com by May 1.

OPEN HOUSE FOR MISS FAY Church of the Nativity 3800 W. 119th St., Leawood May 13 from noon - 2 p.m.

Come celebrate Miss Margaret Fay’s 100th birthday and honor her years of teaching students at Bishop Ward High School.

20TH ANNUAL HANK KRAMPS GOLF TOURNAMENT Prairie Highlands Golf Course 14695 S. Inverness St., Olathe May 13 at 7 a.m.

The tournament is sponsored by the Knights of Columbus Council 1913. This will be a four-per-

SUMMER LEADERSHIP CAMP University of Saint Mary 4100 S. 4th St., Leavenworth June 19 - 21

Young women entering sixth, seventh and eighth grades are invited to the Summer Leadership Camp hosted by the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth and the Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica in Atchison. The registration fee of $125 covers lodging, meals, special activities and a T-shirt. Partial scholarships are available. Registration deadline is May 1. For more information, call Sister Vicki Lichtenauer at (816) 718-2660; send an email to: vickiL@ scls.org; or visit the website at: www.scls.org for a brochure with registration form.

WRITER’S WORKSHOP Keeler Women’s Center 2220 Central Ave., Kansas City, Kansas Wednesdays in May from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

This writer’s workshop will be presented by Kari O’Rourke. The first session will be held May 3. Learn how to make your voice be heard.

GOING TO BRANSON CHECK OUT www.bransonlocalbusinesses.com Help support Local Businesses In Branson

Bill

visitus@bansonlocalbusinesses.com (816) 419-0957

APRIL 28, 2017 | THELEAVEN.ORG

COMMENTARY THIRD WEEK OF EASTER April 30 THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER Acts 2: 14, 22-33 Ps 16: 1-2, 5, 7-11 1 Pt 1: 17-21 Lk 24: 13-35 May 1 Joseph the Worker Acts 6: 8-15 Ps 119: 23-24, 26-27, 29-30 Jn 6: 22-29 May 2 Athanasius, bishop, doctor of the church Acts 7:51 – 8:1a Ps 31: 3cd-4, 6-7b, 8a, 17, 21ab Jn 6: 30-35 May 3 PHILIP AND JAMES, APOSTLES 1 Cor 15: 1-8 Ps 19: 2-5 Jn 14: 6-14 May 4 Thursday Acts 8: 26-40 Ps 66: 8-9, 16-17, 20 Jn 6: 44-51 May 5 Friday Acts 9: 1-20 Ps 117: 1-2 Jn 6: 52-59 May 6 Saturday Acts 9: 31-42 Ps 116: 12-17 Jn 6: 60-69

“T

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Head to the hospital(ity) for healing

hank you so much for the HOSPITAL-

ity!”

Oh, I thought I was so clever writing this in the guest book at a rectory in Nyeri, Kenya, where I stayed a couple of days. It was 1980 and I’d just been ordained a deacon and was spending the winter — Nyeri is below the equator, so the seasons are reversed from ours — doing pastoral work in East Africa with another American deacon.

Before arriving in Kenya, we stopped off to tour Cairo and stayed at a Jesuit residence there.

After being assured by an elderly Jesuit that the water in the place was safe to drink, we did . . . only to experience its quasi-lethal effects on our insides days later in Kenya. I was the first to be shipped off to the hospital run by the Consolata order, followed a day later by my fellow deacon. We were released a few days later, none the worse for wear, to do our diaconal ministry (with no subsequent hospital trips).

Did you know that the word “hospitality” actually does stem from “hospital,” whose Latin root means “of a guest”?

MARK MY WORDS

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

In fact, the original meaning of a hospital was “a place of shelter and rest for travelers.”

Hospitality has been on my mind since my parish hosted a stewardship conference this past weekend focused on the critical importance of hospitality. Keynote speaker Sheri Wohlfert came to us from Westphalia — Michigan, that is. Her presentations were informative, lively, inspirational, humorous and challenging. One of her main points was: When we are hospitable in our parishes, we’re being evangelizers. If

people feel a coldness or indifference when entering our churches, you can bet that they won’t return.

The good news is you don’t need any special degree or training to be hospitable, as seen in the following story: A pastor received a letter marked, “Please give to Harry the Usher.”

This is what it said: “Dear Harry: I’m sorry that I don’t know your last name, but then, you don’t know mine.

I’m Gert, Gert at the 10 o’clock Mass every Sunday. I’m writing to ask a favor. I don’t know the priests too well, but somehow I feel close to you. I don’t know how you got to know my first name, but every Sunday morning you smile and greet me by name, and we exchange a few words. . . . I just

wanted to say thank you for taking the time to remember an old woman, for the smiles, for your consideration, for your thoughtfulness.

“Now for the favor: I am dying, Harry. My husband has been dead for 16 years and the kids are scattered. It is very important to me that when they bring me to church for the last time, you will be there to say, ‘Hello, Gert. Good to see you.’ If you are there, Harry, I will feel assured that your warm hospitality will be duplicated in my new home in heaven.

With love and gratitude, Gert.” (Found in William J. Bausch’s “A World of Stories for Preachers and Teachers.”)

There’s much truth in that letter. It’s funny that parishioners will often know so much information about a person at church — where they typically sit, the kind of car they drive, the place they park in the lot, the number of kids they have, etc. — everything except the most important thing: the person’s name. They’ve just never had the courage or taken the time or cared to ask.

We’ve got to change that.

Since genuine hospitality starts with prayer, try out this one from

beliefnet.com, written by columnists Mark and Jill Herringshaw. (I’ve substituted “parish” where “house” and “home” appear in the original.)

“Father, you have given us a parish that has become our refuge. . . . Today, we are giving you our parish. If there is a weary soul who needs a respite, may they find it cozy here. . . . If there is a soul who is living in chaos, may they find in our parish a place of solace.

“Give us patience, Lord, when our parish gets messy. After all, what did you give it to us for in the first place? As a museum of collectibles or fine things? As a sterile environment that makes no one feel at ease? No. A parish is to be used, lived in, loved in, offered and given up for others.

“Jesus, you are most hospitable. You receive everyone who comes to you in need. Make us more like you. In Jesus’ name. +Amen.”

No wonder Pope Francis once referred to the church as a “field hospital.” May hospitality be our first step to turning our congregations — random people gathered together — into real-life communities of love and welcome.

‘Breaking of bread’ is most ancient form of Eucharist

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O

n Easter Sunday, the vast crowds of people attending Mass make it more difficult than usual to estimate the number of altar breads to set out for consecration during the Eucharist. It is even sometimes necessary to break up the hosts, in order to have a sufficient number for those receiving holy Communion.

By a strange twist of fate, this happened this past Easter Sunday at my parish, just as we were singing the song “At the Breaking of the Bread.”

We did not plan that. It just happened that way.

The song refers to the incident described in this Sunday’s Gospel reading, Lk 24:13-35.

Two disciples are fleeing the city of Jerusalem.

As they are walking on

THE GOSPEL TRUTH

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

the road to the village of Emmaus, they encounter a stranger, who enters into conversation with them. He explains to

POPE FRANCIS

Simple gestures of welcome and solidarity, when supported by faith in Jesus’ resurrection, proclaim the value of life, Pope Francis said. Being “men and women of the Resurrection, men and women of life” involves making “gestures of solidarity, gestures of welcome, increasing the universal desire for peace and the aspiration for an environment free of

them the recent events — specifically, why their master Jesus had to die on the cross. Once they arrive at Emmaus, they stop there for supper. As the stranger breaks the bread, the two disciples realize that he is Jesus, risen from the dead.

All this happened long before the days of sliced bread and before altar breads were manufactured as small, bite-size

wafers. When the early Christians celebrated the Eucharist, they would have used a single loaf of bread, which needed to be broken up in order for all to share. This practical necessity acquired a symbolic meaning among them. It represented the unity of the church.

That is why St. Paul writes: “The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf” (1 Cor 10: 16-17).

The action of breaking the consecrated bread held such importance in the early church that “the breaking of the bread” was the first term used to refer to the Eucharist.

That is what is meant

degradation,” the pope said April 17 before reciting the “Regina Coeli” prayer. On the Easter Monday public holiday, thousands of Italians and tourists gathered in St. Peter’s Square at noon to join the pope for the Easterseason Marian prayer, which begins, “Queen of heaven, rejoice, alleluia.”

Pope Francis told the crowd that the message of the angel to the women at the tomb, “Go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He

in this description of the life of the early Christian community in Jerusalem: “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers” (Acts 2: 42).

Even now, in these days of convenient bitesize wafers for Communion, the priest always breaks the large host in two. This action is not required for practical purposes.

Rather, it hearkens back to the days of the early church. It reminds us that we are still participating in the breaking of the bread, just like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. That is how we encounter the risen Christ.

has been raised from the dead,’” is directed to believers today as well. Christians, he said, are called “to proclaim to the men and women of our time this message of joy and hope.” Jesus’ resurrection means “the last word isn’t the tomb, it is not death, it is life,” the pope said. “This is why we repeat so often, ‘Christ is risen.’ In him, the tomb was vanquished. Life was born.”

— CNS

APRIL 28, 2017 | THELEAVEN.ORG

COMMENTARY

15

Seminary studies culminate — rather than start — with Mass

W

hen Father Mitchel Zimmerman was nearing his ordination to the diaconate, I found myself curious about his seminary formation.

“Do you just practice saying Mass all the time?”

I asked. “Actually, we have not had that class yet” came the answer. I was shocked that he had spent four years in the seminary and had not even taken a class on how to celebrate the sacred liturgy. “What in the world are they doing all the time?” I thought. (Oh, how naive I was!)

You might think the same thing. Recently, we sent you a mailer about our annual Easter appeal,

VOCATIONS CORNER

FATHER SCOTT WALLISCH Father Scott Wallisch is the archdiocesan vocations director. You can email him at: frscott@archkck.org.

Priesthood: Present and Future.

One of the important

beneficiaries of your generosity is the seminarian education fund. Our seminarians spend anywhere from five to nine years in the seminary, depending on their age and academic background. That may seem like a long time, until you discover how much formation a priest receives before ordination.

In addition to the academics, there are three other important components of their formation.

I thought I would take a few of my columns to explain these four pillars of seminary formation: academic, spiritual, pastoral and human.

To start, we will focus on academics. College seminarians, who work toward a liberal arts degree, and pre-theology seminarians, who already have a degree in another field, both take philosophy classes. They learn the church’s philosophical heritage and then the various philosophies that shape other worldviews.

They also learn Latin, Greek and maybe even Hebrew. This gives them a good foundation for

theology studies in major seminary.

The four years of graduate level classes in major seminary form seminarians in the rich theological tradition of the church.

There are several classes in each of the various aspects of theology.

Seminarians take courses on Scripture — studying the Gospels and how the Old Testament prepared the way for Jesus, and how the epistles fleshed out his teachings. Seminarians are trained in giving homilies about the Scriptures (which perhaps is what people care about the most).

They are formed in ethics and God’s moral vision for the world. They also study the long, rich

history of the church.

Seminarians learn systematic theology, exploring the complexities of the Trinity, the Incarnation, salvation history and the church. They become grounded in canon law, which is the law of the church.

Finally, there are several courses on the sacraments and how they are administered.

A few years after I asked Father Mitchel about his seminary studies, I experienced them firsthand and found they are quite extensive (and just one pillar of formation).

Father Mitchel was right! I did not learn how to celebrate Mass until a couple months before ordination.

See why everyone is checking out The Joyful Marriage Project

W

hether a planter for an apartment balcony or patio, or a flower bed and a lush lawn, most people spend time, money and labor this time of year to beautify their dwelling with flowers and blooming bushes. We would never just plant and forget these beautiful gifts of God found in nature. We know they wouldn’t last for long.

Pope Francis wrote in “The Joy of Love”: “In marriage, the joy of love needs to be cultivated” (126). If we simply walk out of the church on our wedding day and forget the beautiful gift God has given us in our

FAMILY MATTERS

DEACON TONY ZIMMERMAN Deacon Tony Zimmerman is the lead archdiocesan consultant for the office of marriage and family life.

spouse, our marriage may well look like lifeless flowers exposed to

heat and drought.

A little further on in “The Joy of Love,” Pope Francis wrote: “Marital joy can be experienced even amid sorrow; it involves accepting that marriage is an inevitable mixture of enjoyment and struggles, tensions and repose, pain and relief, satisfactions

and longings, annoyances and pleasures, but always on the path of friendship, which inspires married couples to care for one another: ‘they help and serve each other’” (126).

Very simply, if we desire the joy of marriage to support us in the normal highs and lows of life, we have to commit to regular sources of enrichment. This is why the Joyful Marriage Project: Build Your Ultimate Dream Home was launched by the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas this past February.

Online at: www.

JoyfulMarriageProject. com, you will find various forms of enrichment for your marriage in three-hour sessions on

a Saturday morning or a Sunday afternoon, located in a parish, often with child care provided.

There is an online email marriage retreat which nearly 150 couples have experienced.

Some of the enrichments support couple prayer. Others provide practical tools for everyday use to strengthen communication and affection.

There are also sources for weekend enrichment such as Worldwide Marriage Encounter or “Living in Love” retreats.

Go online to: www.

JoyfulMarriageProject. com. It has been visited by nearly 14,000 people to date. Or go to The Joyful Marriage Project on Facebook at: Joyful MarriageProject. There,

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you can read the remarks of one of 35 couples who attended a Recharge retreat held on April 2 at Mother Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Topeka.

Upcoming events include: “Everyday in Love,” a great date night opportunity to be held at Holy Spirit in Overland Park on June 2, 9, 16 and 23; and a “Living in Love” retreat scheduled for June 10-11 at St. John the Evangelist in Lawrence.

Watch for information regarding a day for enriching couple and family prayer to be held on Dec. 2, presented by the School of Love and the office of marriage and family life.

Take time to cultivate the joy in your marriage!

APRIL 28, 2017 | THELEAVEN.ORG

LOCAL NEWS

16

DOG DAY AFTERNOON

Connelly captures hearts, brightens days of Sisters at motherhouse

By Doug Weller Special to The Leaven

L

EAVENWORTH — Carol Schmidt didn’t hesitate when the opportunity arose to bring a little joy into the lives of retired Sisters of Charity here.

“All the things I enjoy doing — playing the piano or the organ — these Sisters taught me to do,” she said.

And so, every Wednesday, she and her husband Ben arrive at Ross Hall at the order’s motherhouse to lead a singalong and show off their dog Connelly’s newest tricks.

“We wait for them to come in the door, and then we rush in,” said Sister Lillian Maguire, one of about a dozen residents at the Sisters of Charity nursing facility who gathered recently with the Schmidts.

Carol, who grew up in Leavenworth, has long known members of the congregation. Sister Mary Bridget Mullen, who sat in her wheelchair next to Carol’s piano, was Carol’s fourth- and fifthgrade teacher.

After graduating from the University of St. Mary, which the Sisters sponsor in Leavenworth, a Sister of Charity mentored Carol in her job as a science teacher. Later, Carol became a Sisters of Charity associate — nonvowed, laymen and women who support the congregation’s mission.

Giving back now, Carol said, is the least she can do.

At the motherhouse, the Schmidts took to their volunteer role quickly, even donating an electronic keyboard that Carol plays.

Soon after they acquired their dog, a toy poodle and bichon frise mix that bears Carol’s maiden name, Ben began teaching Connelly tricks.

“When I mentioned to my good friend Sister Mary Vincentia [Maronick] about bringing her to the motherhouse, the next day she had set it up, and I said, ‘Sure.’ We’ve been coming ever since,” Carol said.

Connelly’s eagerness to pirouette, roll over, squeak a toy and jump through a hula hoop on Ben’s commands prompts laughter and applause.

“She knows all the Sisters now,” Ben said of the dog, and she even will hop onto inviting laps.

The Schmidts’ — and Connelly’s — visits are a highlight of the week, said Jill Kruse, the activities director at Ross Hall.

The couple has developed close friendships with the Sisters, even remembering their birthdays, Kruse added.

The Schmidts, members of Sacred Heart-St. Casimir Parish in Leavenworth, were both longtime teachers in the city. Carol taught junior high science for 30 years, and Ben taught history and coached at the high school level for 35 years.

The couple met while teaching, not long after Ben’s career in the U.S. Army brought him to Fort Leavenworth from his native Pittsburgh.

Although Carol taught science, she has been a lifelong musician.

She learned to play piano as a young girl, then started playing the organ in church as a sixth-grader.

“And I’m still at it,” she said, noting

LEAVEN PHOTOS BY DOUG WELLER

Connelly dances at the behest of Ben Schmidt as, from left, Sister Lillian Maguire and Schmidt’s wife Carol look on. The Schmidts and Connelly entertain retired Sisters of Charity each Wednesday at the motherhouse in Leavenworth.

Sister Madonna Fink (background) laughs as Sister Sue Miller gives Connelly a hug. she is an organist for her parish.

Each Wednesday, after Connelly’s display of tricks, Carol distributes song lyrics to the Sisters, pulls out sheet music from a tote bag and begins to lead the group in a sing-along.

The couple’s enthusiasm is reflected in the delighted expressions of those gathered.

“These Sisters of Charity are always ready for a party,” Carol said with a laugh.