12-10-10 Vol. 32 No. 18

www.theleaven.com | Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas | Vol. 32, No. 18 december 10, 2010

A fireproof faith The new St. Ann Church in Effingham is dedicated

By Joe Bollig

E

Leaven staff

FFINGHAM — Gene Hegarty nearly shed a tear as the bell was rung for the last time before it was removed the fireweakened tower of the 111-year-old St. Ann Church here.

The burning down of the venerable structure on April 21, 2008, was a terrible shock.

But there were nothing but smiles on Dec. 5 as that same bell was rung in the tower of the new St. Ann Church at the conclusion of a dedication Mass.

It was a bright but cold day when parishioners and other members of the community gathered in the church hall and then processed to the new church’s front door, led by Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, pastor Father Benjamin Tremmel, OSB, and the other concelebrants.

Building committee co-chairman Duane Coder presented the key to Archbishop Naumann, who then handed it to Father Benjamin, who promptly opened the doors to the congregation.

The parishioners responded to the loss of their church in 2008 with commitment, faith, and dedication. It gave the parish new strength, said Hegarty, president of the parish finance committee. “[Building the new church] united us,” said Hegarty. “It appears to me that now we have more vitality in the parish.

I’m totally impressed with the younger people, how they grabbed ahold of this project. I’ve been here 77 years, and I feel good about our parish. I’m impressed with where we’re going.”

Archbishop Naumann was the main celebrant and homilist of the dedication Mass. Concelebrants included Benedictines Father Benjamin, Abbot Barnabas Senecal, Abbot Ralph Koehler, Abbot Owen Purcell, Father Denis Meade, and Father Jeremy Heppler. Msgr. Gary Applegate was master of ceremonies.

In his homily, Archbishop Naumann praised parishioners for their determination to rebuild their church, congratulated them for doing so in a relatively short period of time, and expressed his gratitude for the outpouring of support that came from the entire community of Effingham — Catholic and non-Catholic alike.

“Today, we celebrate the completion of the building of this beautiful church, and we dedicate it to the glory of God,” he said. “With all the challenges of finance and construction behind you — or at least most of them — we give thanks today for this building, which stands truly as a striking symbol of the priority this parish, St. Ann’s, gives to God.” The archbishop also thanked Father Benjamin for his outstanding leaderTurn to “beautiful” on page 15

Leaven photo by Joe Bollig

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann joined members of St. Ann Parish in Effingham on Dec. 5 for the dedication Mass of the new church, which replaced the previous century-old structure destroyed by fire on April 21, 2008. The archbishop congratulated the pastor, Father Benjamin Tremmel, OSB, for his leadership, and the parishioners for their determination to rebuild.

2 archbishop

THE LEAVEN • December 10, 2010

THE LEAVEN • DECEMBER 10, 2010

Stamped out

LIFE WILL BE VICTORIOUS

W

Distorted media coverage reveals a surprising irony

hile driving home one night listening to a British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) “World News Report,” I first heard the media claim that Pope Benedict XVI had modified the Catholic Church’s position on condoms.

The report was based on an excerpt from the book, “Light of the World: The Pope, the Church, and the Signs of the Times.” The book is the publication of an extended interview of Pope Benedict XVI by Peter Seewald, a veteran German journalist. I was confident that the report was inaccurate and anxious to have the opportunity to read the actual words of the pope that had triggered such an interpretation.

While reading the Holy Father’s book, I was impressed by the author’s difficult and penetrating questions, which the Holy Father answers with clarity and charity. I was amazed again and again at how thoughtfully and insightfully the pope responded to the vast array of questions, several of which were inspired by the more controversial events of his papacy.

On the Holy Father’s pilgrimage to Africa, during an in-flight press conference, a journalist, who first characterized the Catholic Church’s methods of addressing AIDS as being perceived as “unrealistic and ineffective,” then asked the Holy Father if he intended to address the African AIDS epidemic.

Pope Benedict responded with candor: “I think that the most efficient, most truly present player in the fight against AIDS is the Catholic Church herself, with her movements and various organizations. . . . I would say that this problem of AIDS cannot be overcome merely with money, necessary though it is. If there is no human dimension, if Africans do not help [by responsible behavior], the problem cannot be overcome by the distribution of prophylactics: On the contrary, they increase it.

“The solution must have two elements: firstly, bringing out the human dimension of sexuality — that is to say, a spiritual and human renewal that would bring with it a new way of behaving toward others; and secondly, true friendship offered above all to those who are suffering, a willingness to make sacrifices and to practice selfdenial, to be alongside the suffering.

And so, these are the factors that help and lead to real progress: our twofold effort to renew humanity inwardly, to give spiritual and human strength for proper conduct toward our bodies and those of others, and this capacity to suffer with those who are suffering, to remain present in situations of trial.”

In “Light of the World,” Seewald recalls the severe criticism that the Holy Father endured for these statements and observed: “In Africa you stated that the church’s traditional teaching has proven to be the only sure way to stop the spread of HIV. Critics, including critics from the church’s own ranks, object that it is madness to forbid a high-risk population to use condoms.”

Pope Benedict responded by reiterating that the church is doing more than anyone else both to prevent AIDS and to care for those with AIDS: “She (the church) is the only institution that assists people up close and concretely, with prevention, education, help, counsel, and accompaniment. . . . The church does more than anyone else, because she does not speak from the tribunal of newspapers, but helps her brothers and sisters where they are actually suffering.”

Then he reiterated what he had said in Africa: “We cannot solve the problem by distributing condoms. Much more needs to be done. . . . As a matter of fact, you know, people can get condoms when they want them anyway.

But this just goes to show that condoms alone do not resolve the question itself.

More needs to happen. . . . The fixation on the condom implies a banalization of sexuality, which after all, is precisely the dangerous source of the attitude of no longer seeing sexuality as the expression of love, but only a sort of drug that people administer to themselves. This is why the fight against the banalization of sexuality is also part of the struggle to ensure that sexuality is treated as a positive value and to enable it to have a positive effect on the whole of man’s being.”

It was against this backdrop that the Holy Father expressed the hope that perhaps the use of a condom by “a male prostitute” might be the beginning of a moral breakthrough in showing some minimal regard for the safety

of another. He characterized it as perhaps “a first assumption of responsibility, on the way toward recovering an awareness that not everything is allowed and that one cannot do whatever one wants. But it is not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection. That can really lie only in a humanization of sexuality.”

It is important to note that Pope Benedict uses the example of a male prostitute, implying that his comments are directed toward homosexual activity where there is already no possibility of openness to engendering new human life. The individual is already involved in a severely disordered behavior that by its nature is incapable of fulfilling one of the essential purposes of sexual intimacy — the potential creation of new human life. In this context, actions to prevent conception are irrelevant, because there already is no possibility.

The pope is obviously not granting any measure of moral approval to homosexual behavior or, for that matter, any sexual intimacy outside the marital covenant. The Holy Father is straining to find some glimmer of hope in a morally dismal circumstance. One commentator compared the Holy Father’s example of a male prostitute using a condom to a bank robber who does not use a gun. These actions reduce the risk of harming others, but they do not alter the moral reality that robbing banks is wrong or that sexual intimacy outside of marriage is intrinsically evil.

The Holy Father had already identified the trivialization of sexuality as one of the primary reasons we are fighting an AIDS epidemic. It is not following the church’s teachings — (1) abstaining from sexual activity outside of marriage; 2) monogamy; and 3) fidelity within marriage — that is fueling the AIDS epidemic.

No, just the opposite. The conditions that created the social environment for the AIDS epidemic to erupt and continue have been fostered by those asserting that chastity, monogamy and fidelity are passé. It has been the promotion of homosexual activity as moral and the denial of a binding commitment and openness to the creation of new human life as integral to sexual intimacy between a man and a woman that continues to encourage high-risk behavior which has left millions either dead or suffering.

The distorted media reports regarding this matter reveal a great irony: A secular culture, which claims the Catholic Church has become irrelevant and embraces uncritically the so-called

SECOND FRONT PAGE 3

Archbishop Naumann’s

This Marian art can’t be licked

weekly calendar

Dec. 11-12 Mass and pastoral visit — St. Ann, Hiawatha

Dec. 13 Adoration and Benediction with Bishop Ward High School — Cathedral of St. Peter, Kansas City, Kan.

On display

Below is a sampling of Phil Jensen’s artwork on display at Savior Pastoral Center.

The Shepherd’s Voice recording Dec. 14 Administrative Team meeting Priests Personnel meeting Southern Region planning meeting — Sacred Heart, Ottawa Dec. 15 Donnelly College board meeting

Dec. 16 Steering Committee meeting for Southern Region Dec. 18 Mass for nocturnal adoration group — All Saints Parish, Kansas City, Kan.

Archbishop Keleher’s weekly calendar

Dec. 11 26th anniversary as a bishop Dec. 14-15 Ethical Review Board Dec. 15 Cardinals’ dinner — Chicago Dec. 17 The Catholic Way program taping Executive Ethical Review Board — New York Dec. 19 Federal prison Mass

sexual revolution, still craves the pope’s approval.

I encourage you to read “Light of the World” in its entirety. It reveals a man who is a great intellectual, a master teacher, a dedicated priest, but first and foremost a devoted disciple of Jesus Christ who has been transformed by his love and mercy. It is from this perspective of one who has encountered the risen Jesus that the Holy Father offers with humility and love the beauty and truth of the Gospel to a confused modern world. Reading “Light of the World” will, among many other benefits, make you proud that Benedict XVI is our pope.

Leaven photo by Joe Bollig

A boyhood hobby of stamp collecting and a love of painting has led Phil Jensen to create an unusual exhibition of watercolor paintings of Marian stamps from nations and provinces around the world — even North Korea. The stamp paintings are the first of rotating art exhibits at Savior Pastoral Center.

K

and send them in for a box of foreign ANSAS CITY, Kan. — Who stamps. is the woman who has ap“You’d get these in the mail and paste peared on more postage them into books, and it was a great deal stamps than any other? of fun,” said Jensen. “The stamps were Is it Marilyn Monroe? not valuable.”

The Queen of England?

One of his first stamps was a red Lady Liberty? and yellow one-mark stamp, printed in None of those, according to Phil 1920, from Bavaria, Germany. It depicts Jensen, a longtime stamp collector and the image of the Madonna and Child. member of St. Ann Parish in Prairie VilMany years later, as an adult, he lage. taught himself to paint, but The woman who has graced

By Joe Bollig always continued his stamp more postage stamps than any Leaven staff collecting. Finally, about eight other is the Blessed Virgin months ago, he combined his Mary, Queen of Heaven. two hobbies and began to paint the colAnd he should know. Not only has he lection on display now. He spent about collected more than 850 stamps from three or four days per painting.

197 countries and provinces depicting The paintings found their way to the Blessed Mother, he has reproduced Savior, after Jensen showed the collec44 of these stamps as enlarged watertion to its new director, Tim Chik. color paintings.

Chik then invited Jensen to mount The watercolors, in fact, are now on an exhibit of his watercolors — the first temporary display on the west main in what Chik hopes to be a regular feachapel wall at Savior Pastoral Center in ture of the center.

Kansas City, Kan. “I find them fascinating — the variThe paintings, many of which depict ous ways that Mary is depicted around the Nativity or the Madonna and Christ the world and [how] people idenChild, will remain on display throughtify Mary in their own time and in the out the Advent and Christmas season. world,” said Chik.

“I’ve always had a strong love for the Some of the stamps are quite unVirgin Mother,” said Jensen. “But [the usual. The Bavarian stamp, among his idea to paint] came to me as I read an earliest, has risen in value quite a bit bearticle that said she appeared on more cause of its relative rarity. Nearly every stamps than any other woman in the country in the world has made a Marworld. I don’t know how many, but a ian stamp, except for a few Muslim naheck of a lot.” tions and, inexplicably, Denmark.

Jensen, now retired, has been colThe collector has purchased most of lecting stamps since he was 10 or 11. his stamps from a dealer in Milan, Italy, He’d cut off the tops from cereal boxes

Advent and art

Savior Pastoral Center will present an evening of Advent preparation and art from 6 to 8 p.m. on Dec. 21.

The evening will begin with vespers and a rosary at the large chapel at 6 p.m., followed by a reception and opportunity to meet the stamp artist, Phil Jensen.

The event is free and all are welcome, but donations are accepted. To RSVP by Dec. 17, call Martha at (913) 721-1097, or send an e-mail to: saviorsec@archkck.org. although he’s bought from other dealers as well.

Some stamps are unusually shaped, or are a collector-type stamp sleeved in a larger souvenir sheet, perforated so the stamps can be removed.

“The hardest stamp to get is from North Korea,” said Jensen. “You can’t get anything out of North Korea. After two years of trying, I found a [French] guy with three. He said, ‘They aren’t perforated,’ and I said I didn’t care and would take them anyway.”

But it’s Jensen’s art, rather than the stamps themselves, that has gotten Chik looking to the future.

“It’s an exciting, new development,” he said. “We’d like to establish a rotating exhibit of art — Catholic art — that celebrates our heritage in the archdiocese and the greater church. We’re proud of the Catholic [artistic] heritage. Art and Catholicism have always been closely linked. We’re excited to be a part of that.”

Publication No. (ISSN0194-9799)

Editor Reverend Mark Goldasich, stl frmark@theleaven.com

Senior Reporter Joe Bollig joe@theleaven.com

Advertising Representative Jennifer Siebes jennifer@theleaven.com

President Most Reverend Joseph F. Naumann

Managing Editor Anita McSorley anita@theleaven.com

Production Manager Todd Habiger todd@theleaven.com

Reporter Kara Hansen kara@theleaven.com

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4 LOCAL NEWS

THE LEAVEN • december 10, 2010

THE LEAVEN • december 10, 2010

Retired, but still in the game

By Joe Bollig Leaven staff

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — During these busy times of Advent and Christmas, you might see a different priest at the altar instead of your regular pastor.

Don’t call him the “new guy,” however. He’s a veteran who has done and seen it all. And now, he’s retired.

But retirement hasn’t taken him out of the game.

The archdiocese has 24 retired priests, not including those who belong to religious orders. Some of them are ill and no longer exercise their ministry. Others, however, fill a vital role in the life of the church in the archdiocese. When pastors need an extra hand or a substitute, the retired priests step forward.

One such priest is Father Tom Hesse, 73, now living in Lecompton.

His last assignment as administrator at Holy Family Parish in Eudora ended five years ago.

“My practice of ministry helps me appreciate my priesthood,” said Father Hesse. “The day I retired, I didn’t just drop off a cliff not to be seen anymore, nor did it mean I didn’t enjoy my priesthood.”

Father Hesse celebrates Mass at various parishes twice a week and on most weekends. The pace is even now picking up, though, as the church enters one of its busiest liturgical seasons, with additional reconciliation services.

“I don’t do weddings or funerals unless they are private or for my relatives,” he said. “I celebrate quite a few Masses and a few penance services.”

But Father Hesse’s ministry is also just one of presence — he particularly likes to visit pastors assigned to the farthest reaches of the archdiocese.

He knows firsthand that visits from fellow priests are always welcomed by pastors isolated in a rural community with no other Catholic priests nearby.

“It’s a goal of mine during retirement that I visit other priests as I would have liked to be visited by them,” said Father Hesse. “I visit them because I think it’s important to support them. I was out there for quite a while, and I always enjoyed it

“My practice of ministry helps me appreciate my priesthood. The day I retired, I didn’t just drop off a cliff not to be seen anymore, nor did it mean I didn’t enjoy my priesthood.”

”

Father Tom Hesse, 73 when someone visited me. I felt supported.”

Father Hesse’s empathy for hardworking pastors is shared by 80-yearold Father George Seuferling, who now lives in Meriden.

He retired in 2001 as pastor of Good Shepherd Parish in Shawnee, but now he’s a substitute celebrant for Masses almost every weekend.

“I like to do it,” said Father Seuferling. “I was a pastor once, and I know how desperate you can get. And it’s a big part of my spirituality, preparing homilies.”

That’s not to say he’s not enjoying retirement. There’s a lot of fulfillment to be found in it, he said.

“Being retired has freed me up to be a priest,” he said. “I wasn’t trained to be a CEO, but a pastor has to do a lot of that. Now I can spend a lot of time in prayer and writing homilies, [and] work at the prison, the House of Prayer or campus ministry. I don’t have to do administration. It’s a whole new priesthood.”

He also celebrates Mass every six weeks at the Topeka women’s prison, and at the Catholic Campus Center at Washburn University, Topeka.

Sometimes it seems that very little changes.

Father Thomas Kearns, who now lives at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Kansas City, Kan., celebrates the same Mass schedule he’s had for his entire priesthood.

“I would say this is a very good time for my priesthood,” said Father Kearns, 76, whose last assignment as pastor of Holy Trinity Parish in Paola ended six years ago.

“I’ve been very fortunate,” he continued. “I have good health and continue to enjoy celebrating the Mass.

It’s simpler — I don’t have meetings or the responsibility of budgets or collecting money, so I can spend more time visiting people, especially

parishioners and those in the hospitals.”

Like most retired priests, he doesn’t miss much of his former role, except the relationships he had with parishioners.

“It’s a really strong and beautiful relationship I feel I don’t have as a retired priest,” said Father Kearns. “I have good relationships, but it’s just different. To a degree, I miss [being a pastor], but not enough to go back to being a pastor.”

Without these retired yet active priests, some Catholics — those in prisons, nursing homes, hospitals and campus ministries — would have fewer opportunities to receive the sacraments.

Another priest filling an important niche is Father Robert Burger, 87, who now lives at Villa St. Francis in Olathe.

“My job is sacramental minister at the Villa,” he said. “I take care of all the [sacramental needs].”

Although his “parish” is a small one, he is greatly appreciated by his fellow residents. He helps them to grow spiritually and, in turn, experiences that growth himself.

“I think [spiritual growth] is my primary interest these days,” he said.

“I don’t know how much longer God is going to give me life. I’m the second-oldest priest in the archdiocese.”

Even so, Father Burger understands that his ministry is an important one. His fellow retired priests agree.

“We fill a very important role,” said Father Kearns. “The pastors say that, and I know the archbishop feels that way. All of us who are retired, I think, feel fulfilled in our ministerial roles. All of us are doing things to various degrees. These are different ways of helping out that helps the church and makes us more fulfilled.”

Judy (Rattazzi) and Jerry Brownawell, members of St. John the Evangelist Parish, Kansas City, Kan., celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary Anniversaries at their home on Oct. 23, with friends and family. The couple was married in Greenville, S.C., on Oct. 19, 1960. Their children and their spouses are: Jay and Melony Brownawell, and Brett and Jamie Oswald. They also have four grandchildren.

Ben and Jean (Spellman) Maimer, members of St. Philip Neri Parish, Osawatomie, will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary on Dec. 16. The couple was married at St. Mary Church in Kansas City, Kan., on Dec. 16, 1950. Their children and their spouses are: Kathleen Allen, Ann Feuerborn, Neil Maimer, Vivian Maimer, Mary Maimer, Michael Maimer, Mark and Cheri Maimer, and Paul and Heidi Maimer. They also have 18 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. A trip to Branson, Mo., is planned to celebrate.

Sister Sheila O’Neill, SCL LEAVENWORTH — Sister Sheila O’Neill, a Sister of Charity of Leavenworth, died Nov. 24 at Exempla-Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver.

Sheila Aileen O’Neill was born on Oct. 16, 1931, in Rock Springs, Wyo., to James obituary E. and Helen Agnes Beatty O’Neill.

She entered the religious community of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth on Aug. 18, 1950, and, as Sister Mary Gabriel, made her profession of vows on Aug. 15, 1952. She taught at schools in Missouri and Kansas and cared for children at Mount St. Vincent Home in Denver, later returning there as director of volunteers.

In 1966, Sister Sheila became acting post mistress for Xavier, which served the University of Saint Mary and the motherhouse. In 1975, she began a long association with Exempla-Saint Joseph Hospital, first in the business office and later as sacristan in the hospital chapel.

LOCAL NEWS 5

Praying for life

Archdiocese joins pope and world in praying for human life during prayer vigils

By Marc and Julie Anderson Special to The Leaven

TOPEKA — A pro-life vigil might seem like a strange start to the Advent season.

But this year, Pope Benedict himself called on dioceses around the world to join him in opening the new liturgical year by praying for the protection of all nascent human life.

The archdiocese responded with two separate prayer events — one led by Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann at Mater Dei-Holy Name Church in Topeka; the other by Archbishop Emeritus James P. Keleher at St. Joseph Parish in Shawnee.

The vigils featured vespers, adoration, a rosary, Benediction, and a homily by the presider.

In his comments, Archbishop Naumann discussed the meaning of the word “nascent” and the many threats to early life in our society, including abortion, embryonic stem-cell research and artificial fertility techniques that often result in the destruction of extra embryos.

“Nascent is not a word that is used frequently in ordinary conversation,” he said. “It is derived from the Latin word ‘nasci’ — meaning ‘to be born.’ It is defined as: ‘coming into being’ or ‘being born’ or ‘beginning to form, start, grow or develop.’”

“The Holy Father has chosen to focus the prayer of the entire church on the worldwide need to renew the respect for the sanctity of human life from its very beginning — its earliest stages,” he continued. “The very fact that Pope Benedict XVI recognized a need for such an outpouring of prayer underlines the many threats to the sanctity of human life in our time.”

Elsewhere in his homily, Archbishop Naumann reflected on the timing of the Holy Father’s request.

“We might ask ourselves why the Holy Father summoned us to prayer for this intention at the beginning of Advent,” he said. “I think that the Holy Father has asked us to pray for nascent human life at the beginning of Advent because of the nature of this season and the events so central to our salvation that we remember at this time.”

During the vigil in Shawnee, Archbishop Keleher reflected on the threat to human life both within the United States and around the world.

Leaven photo by Marc Anderson

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann prays the rosary between seminarians Mark Ostrowski (left) and Luke Doyle (right) during the Nov. 27 Vigil for Nascent Human Life held at Mater Dei-Holy Name Church. The vigil was held in response to Pope Benedict XVI’s invitation for Catholics worldwide to join him in praying for the protection of every human life. The pope led a similar vigil at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Within the archdiocese, a second vigil was led

by Archbishop Emeritus James P. Keleher at St. Joseph Parish in Shawnee.

“Jesus once said, ‘I have come that they may have life and have it to the full,’” said the archbishop. “That meant the full human life — from the tiniest human embryonic cell to the last breath we take. It also means that he would give up his life on the cross so that we might someday enjoy eternal life.”

“This truth is affirmed from the beginning by the church,” he continued. “But it is not just a Catholic thing — it is a grand human reality.

“Even our forefathers, who penned the beautiful Declaration of Independence, could glimpse it as they proclaimed that it was an inalienable right to have life. . . . ‘Inalienable’ means that it is a right that is inherent in the very nature of being human — it is not a right that the state gives us.

“And it cannot be taken from us, ei-

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ther. We have it from on high — from the God who created us and breathed into us an immortal soul.”

Later in his homily, Archbishop Keleher expressed his concern for the United States and how it seems to straying more and more from God’s ways.

“Isaiah once spoke of his people who were straying from God’s way as if they were living beneath a dark cloud which blinded them from the truth,” he said. “I think much of America and the Western world now walk beneath that same cloud that darkens their minds and hardens their hearts — so much so that they justify denying the inalienable right to human life and do so to the most innocent of God’s creatures: the nascent unborn.”

“I think many factors have made this situation so common in our culture to-

day,” continued the archbishop. “I single out only one unfortunate fact that cannot be denied: Our society has so trivialized sexual activity and so successfully separated it from its natural companion — i.e., wholesome married life — that it has led to millions of abortions and to the experimentation with the very beginnings of life.”

The archbishop concluded his remarks with a prayer that all might grow in awareness of the great beauty of human life.

“And so on this Advent night and through the intercession of his Blessed Mother,” he prayed, “we beg for his Holy Spirit, who brought life to her womb, that he might enlighten our world to the beauty of all human life and give it the respect it deserves.”

6 LOCAL NEWS

THE LEAVEN • december 10, 2010

THE LEAVEN • december 10, 2010

Student tutors fill gap between available aid and kids’ needs

By Steve Johnson

Special to The Leaven ATCHISON — When the economy went south, the federal government cut grants for elementary school tutoring, leaving districts struggling to find a replacement for the program.

School officials in Atchison, familiar with the Benedictine College Hunger Coalition’s work with the needy, called Richard Coronado, the group’s faculty advisor, and asked for help.

His students readily agreed to fill in as tutors, signing up for 30-minute shifts throughout the week.

That was 1991.

Now, nearly 20 years later, the program is still flourishing.

But what does tutoring have to do with hunger?

“It is consistent with long-term alleviation of hunger,” explained Coronado.

“We’re helping to keep kids in school and giving them the opportunity to learn the skills that will allow them to prosper and take care of themselves as they grow up.”

Each year, anywhere from 35 to 50 tutors sign up to help at Atchison Elementary School. This year there has been a surge of volunteerism, with more than 70 students giving at least 30 minutes once a week. Many volunteers work more — some putting in as many as six hours a week to help struggling elementary school students keep up with their reading and math lessons.

The fact that a record number of

Photo by Steve Johnson

Dani Moody, a Benedictine College freshman, reads to preschoolers at Atchison Elementary School.

Benedictine College students signed up as tutors came at an opportune time for the elementary school, which has more than 900 students from pre-K to 5th grade and a 40 percent at-risk population.

“For a variety of reasons, we have a high population of at-risk students this year,” said Thomas Sack, principal of Atchison Elementary School. “We need as many Benedictine students as possible to come over here and address kids one-on-one.

“They really need that mentoring from an older student who says, ‘Hey, you’re important and I’m going to help you.’”

Dani Moody, a freshman in the prenursing program at Benedictine College, volunteers an hour on Mondays and Wednesdays in Amy Edwards’ preschool class.

“I only have one class on Mondays and Wednesdays,” said Moody, a member of St. Joseph in Shawnee. “So I do an hour instead of a half-hour. The Hunger Coalition is going to do another sign-up for next semester but, regardless, I’m going to come back. I love the kids.”

Edwards has worked with Benedictine students in her classroom for the past seven years. She said the extra help is important to her as well as the young students.

“We have four- and five-year-old students and with only two adults in the room. That can be a challenge,” said Edwards. “The extra set of hands in the classroom to help with anything from daily routines, to communicating with the students during lab times, to working with them on individual academic skills — it helps in all areas.”

She said the 20 students in her class look up to the Benedictine College volunteers as teachers and show them the same respect they do the other teachers in the room. She also noted that, for some of her students, getting the one-onone attention makes a huge difference.

She has seen the evidence: The extra attention has turned students around, even when they have a combination of behavior and academic problems.

“I have four or five Benedictine College students this year who are really reliable,” she said. “For instance, this year we had a field trip. One [Benedictine] student came in an hour early to go with us and another one surprised me and met us at [the location] to help out.”

The students are generally self-starters, according to Edwards, and don’t need a lot of direction from the teaching staff. They fill whatever need is necessary.

“They’re not coming because they have to,” said Edwards. “They’re coming because they want to.

“You can really tell that they’re here for the kids.”

LOCAL NEWS 7

Planned giving program helps parishes with the ‘ask’

By Joe Bollig Leaven staff

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — It’s just a little word, but it means so much: ask.

If you don’t believe it, consider this true story about a church in North Carolina. It was told by keynote speaker James K. Kelley at the annual meeting of the Catholic Foundation of Northeast Kansas (CFNEK) on Nov. 4 at Savior Pastoral Center in Kansas City, Kan. A well-off, elderly couple had been faithful members of their church for years and had always given generously.

Upon their death, however, they left $5 million to a museum — and nothing to their church. Mystified, a member of the church’s staff asked their daughter why.

The answer was astoundingly simple: They hadn’t been asked. No one at the church talked about it, and the couple didn’t know it was a possibility.

The CFNEK is working to make sure that “ask” isn’t forgotten through its Planned Giving Initiative, which was launched as a pilot program in six parishes and two schools a year ago, and which Kelley praised on Nov. 4.

“I love your mission,” said Kelley.

“Your mission is to foster a culture of planned giving across the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, where all practicing Catholics have updated wills that include charitable gifts.”

The Planned Giving Initiative’s pilot program began on June 30, 2009, and continued to June 30 of this year. The result was a more than 300 percent in-

James K. Kelley delivers the keynote address at the annual meeting of the Catholic Foundation of Northeast Kansas on Nov. 4 at Savior Pastoral Center in Kansas City, Kan.

crease in confirmed planned gifts, and the addition of 65 new, confirmed names to the Catholic Legacy Society.

“The work actually began [in 2008] when we decided to do this project,” said Lesle Knop, CFNEK executive director. “There was a big, behind-the-scenes effort to focus on planned giving. It was part of our core mission to enhance estate planning and planned giving in the archdiocese. [How to create] a culture of philanthropy in the archdiocese was the question the [CFNEK] board asked.”

The pilot program was so successful that the CFNEK is now seeking to expand the Planned Giving Initiative to all Catholic parishes and institutions of the archdiocese. To this end, the CFNEK has developed a “planned giving toolbox” that parishes and other entities can use

to bring the Planned Giving Initiative to their location.

“What we are trying to do — systematically, methodically — with our plan is to work regionally with parishes and schools to develop legacy societies and endowment committees,” said Knop.

“We have a ‘toolbox’ of things they need to do.”

“It’s very simple, in steps,” she continued. “They can’t do everything at once.

But we want to work with parishes to build the foundation of . . . a five-year plan to create a culture of philanthropy and planned giving in each of those entities, based on the best practices that we’ve learned from our pilot program.

We’re ready to launch.”

The CFNEK will contact each parish, but parishes don’t need to wait.

“The Planned Giving Initiative is available to all parishes immediately,” said Gary Pratt, CFNEK associate director of planned giving. “We’ll help any parish that shows interest [to] get started on year one of the five-year plan, which is to create the infrastructure [of philanthropy] in the parish culture.”

Most active Catholics are faithful supporters of the church all through their lives, said Knop and Pratt. They make sacrifices and give out of their income because of their love for the church.

Through planned giving, though, they have the opportunity to make a much greater impact by giving with their assets.

“We’re trying to help people live their Catholic faith with a planned gift,” said Pratt.

Bringing planned giving to a parish is not difficult.

“All [parishes] need is a very small committee that meets three to five times a year,” said Knop. “They don’t need a lot of events or to reinvent the wheel. We have the methodology.”

“All the pilot parishes are ready to help them,” Knop continued. “We now have a network from the foundation board and the pilot parishes ready to help sustain and launch Catholic legacy societies. It’s our goal that every parish and school have one.”

For more information about the Planned Giving Initiative, call the CFNEK at (913) 647-0325, or visit the foundation’s Web site at: www.cfnek.org.

Listen, Pray, Love

I

by Gerald Schiffhorst

magine yourself in a subway station at rush hour. As you’re hurrying to the trains along with everybody else, a young man is playing a beautiful melody on his violin.

Would you stop to listen?

If you knew beforehand that the seem to be listening, but most tend to be young man was the world-famous violin- so anxious to find an opening to speak that ist Joshua Bell and that the violin he was they’re not really listening at all. playing was a Stradivarius valued at $3.5 Genuine listening requires the virtue million, would you stop and listen then? of patience and the ability to slow down You may think that if a master violinist the rush of our thoughts so we can pay full were playing a classical masterpiece on a attention to another, knowing our turn to priceless violin, everybody would notice. respond will come. This type of listening is But when the Washington Post staged this hard and takes practice, so it’s not a habit exact experiment in a Washmany people develop. ington, D.C., Metro station Giving full attention to Gerald J. Schiffhorst, in January 2007, thousands the ideas and concerns of professor emeritus of rushed past Mr. Bell. Only six another person is a form of English at the Univerpeople stopped to listen. love, a source of happiness, sity of Central Florida, If the transcendent beauty a type of prayer. It requires is the author of several of the music offered to comwhat Jesus emphasized in books and numerous muters that morning is a the first beatitude: poverty articles on literature symbol of a divine moment of spirit. “Blessed are the and spirituality. breaking into our world and poor in spirit” reveals that being ignored, it’s easy to see emptying ourselves of ego by how disconnected we’ve become from the putting our own needs aside is the essence present. The here and now has almost no of love. This is what we do when we depower to hold us. Each of us is hurtling on vote time to another so that we can underthe subway of our daily routine toward a stand that person by listening deeply to future of more appointments, obligations, him or her: We show that person our love. and distracted busyness.

Real listeners are people who have How busy we can become, how preoc- learned to overcome the fear we all have cupied with ourselves and disconnected that we won’t “get our oar in” the converfrom one another — and from God. How sation or that we must keep one eye on can we be prayerful or pursue anything the person talking and one on the clock resembling spirituality if we are so over- so we can make our next appointment. booked we have no time for the reality of But to listen well, we have to respect the the present moment? other person in a two-way conversation; we have to look at the other person as if he or she were the only other person on Earth. In taking time to draw others out, we make them feel we understand who they really are. Isn’t this what we all seek: to be known for who we are, to be loved?

Some years ago my wife Lynn and I learned a simple strategy we still use when The problem of not listening well is thorny issues arise in our marriage: We set found in all walks of life. Health profes- aside a period when both of us can disconsionals are rarely taught to listen to pa- nect from the outside world, sit side by tients, and many teachers struggle to lis- side, and face each other. Each of us then takes whatever time we need to talk while ten to their students amid the competing busyness of the classroom. Models of gen- the other listens, not interrupting (unless uine listening are rare in the media: pun- to ask for clarification). Then the roles are dits on TV news shows tend to fire ques- reversed.

When we have shared this listening tions at guests and interrupt their answers strategy with others, they are invariably before their commercial sponsors interamazed at how easy it is to use twenty or rupt them. In social settings, people often

Listening to others

thirty minutes of real communication to clear the air when misunderstandings occur. To know you can speak without interruption for a set period means you might actually be heard.

Listening to God We listen best to those we know, and we get to know them by listening to them.

If we learn to give loving attention to others, this habit of listening can carry over to our relationship with God. Listening deeply to a friend or family member is one of the many ways of encountering God. Two of the more traditional ways of listening to God come from the monastic tradition. The first uses the wordless prayer of contemplation. Thomas Merton called contemplation “listening in silence.” What are we listening for? The Catholic mystical tradition would respond: We hear the voice of God that comes as a wordless invitation to be in his presence. The scriptural basis for such contemplative prayer is the example of Jesus, who often fled to the mountains to be alone in the silence of God and who advised us, “When you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret” (Mt 6:6).

The second tradition is the ancient prayer practice of lectio divina (sacred reading), in which we read a line of Scripture and reflect on God’s invitation to listen to his word. Fundamental to this practice is silence. The body is still, the mind is quiet, limited to turning over the scriptural word or words until we let go of all words and enjoy resting silently in the presence of God. In “New Seeds of Contemplation,” Merton says that prayer usually begins as petition but ends in the wordless contemplation of God, who is beyond all language and knowing.

When asked why he used parables in his preaching, Jesus responded that many people “look but do not see, and hear but

do not listen or understand” (Mt 13:13).

Frustrated by many people’s lack of attention, more than once Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear” (Mk 4:9).

The Gospels contain numerous variations on this imperative to pay attention.

The repeated use of “behold” often seems to be a call to stop and listen: Something important is about to happen. So, too, the influential Rule of St. Benedict, father of Western monasticism, begins with the word “Listen!” The way to make listening prayerful, writes the contemporary Benedictine monk David Steindl-Rast in “Listening Heart,” is to let go of self and be aware of God.

An act of love Many people beginning their exposure to this type of prayer often see silence as emptiness or absence; in fact, contemplative silence evokes presence. Words don’t last, but silence does. Ordinarily, silence means being quiet and passive. But sacred silence is active. Of course, our attention to the silence, our awareness of it, makes it prayerful, just as we have to be attentive to those we listen to.

One way to define prayer is to think of it as total attention. Giving a friend full attention takes effort; giving attention to prayer is even more demanding.

As Steindl-Rast points out, listening to a friend requires the gift of our presence; it means suspending our preoccupations so we can be fully present to another. To give someone else attention is an act of love.

So, too, with prayer: We give up our ego for a time, losing ourselves and resting in God. Our silent attention to God is an act of love; God’s silent presence with us is an even more beautiful act of love. This is the goal of contemplative prayer, which takes place wordlessly in our hearts. To be in the timeless present of contemplation is to be in God’s time.

Most of the people who attend my retreats on contemplative prayer want a time to be quiet, slow down, and pay attention to the here and now. They learn that prayer is much more than asking God for help with problems; it is about asking to be in God’s presence by being fully aware of the here and now. The most rewarding and powerful way of praying is simply listening to the gentle whisper of God that Elijah heard. (See 1 Kgs 19:11–13.)

God speaks to us every day. To hear his voice, we have to climb out of the dark subway of our tightly scheduled lives and silently enter the light of God’s present reality. Since the voice of God comes in unexpected ways that don’t always involve words, we have to be open to it in the contemplative listening of silence or in the voices of those we love.

From the November 2010 issue of Liguorian magazine. Reprinted with permission of Liguorian magazine. For subscription information, visit its Web site at: www. liguorian. org.

“Giving full attention to the ideas and concerns of another person is a form of love, a source of happiness, a type of prayer.”

10 nation

THE LEAVEN • december 10, 2010

Friends recall commitment of women slain in El Salvador MELBOURNE, Fla. (CNS) — December 2 marks the 30th anniversary of the martyrdom of Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel, lay missionary Jean Donovan and Maryknoll Sisters Maura Clarke and Ita Ford, the four churchwomen of El Salvador who were savagely brutalized and killed for spreading the good news and teaching people to read and pray. In October 1980, El Salvador was experiencing civil unrest, repeated military coups and finally civil war. Amid the death squads and countless disappearances, the four churchwomen attempted to bring life to the communities they served. “Dorothy had a true and genuine concern for people,” said Sister Martha Owen, a former missionary partner of Sister Dorothy. “She was always open to both sides of an issue — trying to bring light, not heat, to the issue. The preferential option for the poor was in her heart even before we went. She felt the needs of the poor so deeply within herself that she identified with them. She was willing to sacrifice anything. She offered herself for the violence to stop.” Sister Martha had shared a one-room hut with Donovan.

“Jean had a call there and tried to follow that,” she said. “She was easy to be around. She was involved with the young people and totally committed to the kids.

Jean was everybody’s sister and daughter and maybe God had exactly that in mind.”

Service for unclaimed cremains gives deceased ‘back to God’ STURGEON BAY, Wis. (CNS) — The prayers recited Nov. 18 at St. Joseph Cemetery were identical to any other Catholic funeral rite. But this service, led by Father Carl Schmitt, pastor of Corpus Christi Parish, was different. The funeral service was for the unclaimed cremains of 33 people, donated to St. Joseph Cemetery by Huehns Funeral Home and Forbes Funeral Home of Sturgeon Bay. Many of the remains had been at the funeral homes for decades. “A lot [of the cremains] were just unclaimed and for a number of reasons,” said Father Schmitt. “The funeral homes did their diligence in trying to find family members first.” As the priest said during the service, no one in attendance knew the deceased, but everyone understood it was a way to “give them back to God.” According to Todd Huehns of Huehns Funeral Home, giving the cremated remains a dignified resting place was the main reason he contacted St. Joseph Cemetery earlier this year. All but one of the cremains were identified, and after unsuccessful attempts at uniting them with families, the funeral homes decided to approach the Catholic cemetery.

THE LEAVEN • december 10, 2010

Iowa Trappists close chapter on farming Catholic News Service

PEOSTA, Iowa (CNS) — Farmers from miles around gathered at the New Melleray Abbey farm south of Dubuque Nov. 20 for a historic auction that marked the end of farming as a means of support for the Trappist community.

On the cold sunny morning, potential buyers climbed in the cab of the tractors and examined the well-maintained equipment that worked the 2,000 acres of cropland owned by the monastery.

Abbot Brendan Freeman, who spoke to the crowd before the auction, said it was a “bittersweet day for us, as all through our history we have been farmers,” summarizing the 160-year tradition that was coming to an end.

Factors in the decision included the costs involved in farming, low prices paid for crops and the fact the abbey has fewer members and those who do live there are getting older.

The first monks came to Dubuque from Ireland at the invitation of Bishop Mathias Loras and established New Melleray Abbey in 1849. They supported themselves through the sale of farm animals and crops raised on their acreage, which includes 600 acres of prairie given to them by Bishop Loras and 600 acres they bought for $1.25 an acre.

Abbot Freeman told how the early monks sold hogs to William “Hog” Ryan in nearby Galena, Ill., who sold pork to the Union Army during the Civil War. But eventually the economy took its toll. “Prices went way down,” the abbot continued, “and we don’t have the monks to do the fieldwork anymore.” At one time in years past, there were 150 monks so there was no shortage of ablebodied workers.

In his younger days, Abbot Freeman said he also worked on the farm, but now the average age of the 35 monks who live in the monastery is 70.

The monastery also has 1,200 acres of timber, and this renewable resource will help to support the community as their nationally-known casket production business continues to grow. The monks will maintain a few acres to grow produce for themselves.

Pakistan’s president wants to revise blasphemy law

Sanctuary open amid clash between dealers, police

By Sister Carol Hoverman

By Lise Alves

Catholic News Service

CNS photo/ Karen Callaway, Catholic New World

CNS photo/Paul Haring

VOLUNTEERS SET UP NATIVITY SCENE — Members of the God Squad set up the outdoor creche at Chicago’s Daley Plaza for the official opening of the city’s Nativity scene Nov. 27. The God Squad, which is made up of volunteers from Chicago-area parishes, has set up the outdoor creche scene annually for the past 25 years.

VIEW OF SOLAR PANELS AT VATICAN — Solar panels are seen on the roof of the Paul VI audience hall at the Vatican Dec. 1. The 2,400 solar panels on the roof were installed in 2008 thanks to the work of Bonn, Germany-based Solar World. The Vatican is now open to the idea of having an electric-powered popemobile.

Bishop Hubbard urges Senate to ratify START during session

Crucifixion relics stolen from shrine in southern India

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Citing the Catholic Church’s concern for the sanctity of human life, the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace called on U.S. senators to set aside politics and ratify the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany, N.Y., speaking on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, urged senators in a Nov. 29 letter to approve the treaty known as START during the lame-duck session in the final weeks of 2010.

Citing earlier statements by both Pope Benedict XVI and the bishops’ conference, Bishop Hubbard called ratification of the arms control accord critical “because it is a modest step toward a world with greater respect for human life.”

Bishop Hubbard’s letter pointed to statements that Pope Benedict and the U.S. bishops have made welcoming the treaty, which was signed April 8 in Prague by U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev as well as long-standing support within the church for nuclear arms control.

The treaty would commit the two nations to reducing their strategic arsenals to 1,550 warheads deployed on longrange missiles, bombers and submarines.

Under the previous START pact, which expired in December, both countries reduced their strategic arsenals to 2,200 weapons each.

“Nuclear weapons are a grave threat to human life and dignity,” the bishop said. “Nuclear war is rejected in church teaching” because it targets innocent civilians, threatens to spew radiation far and wide, and would cause untold devastation.

The bishop added that the treaty would be a step toward further cooperation internationally to limit the spread of nuclear weapons and nuclear material.

“Military experts and former national leaders have come together across party lines to support the new START treaty,” Bishop Hubbard wrote. “Leaders from both parties, diplomats and military experts argue that the treaty does not constrain U.S. missile defense and that announced investments in our nation’s nuclear weapons infrastructure will keep our nuclear deterrent safe and reliable.”

“The U.S. bishops’ conference is urging strong bipartisan support for the new START treaty because the treaty makes our nation and world safer by reducing nuclear weapons in a verifiable way. We urge the Senate to take up the new START treaty without delay,” he concluded.

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By Anto Akkara

Catholic News Service BANGALORE, India (CNS) — Three historic relics of crucifixion preserved at a 10th-century church under the SyroMalabar Irinjalakuda Diocese in India’s Kerala state were discovered missing Nov. 30.

Police are investigating the disappearance of the relics from the Holy Cross Shrine Church Mapranum in Irinjalakuda.

“Everyone is stunned here as the sacred relics have been stolen,” Bishop Pauly Kannookadan of Irinjalakuda told Catholic News Service Dec. 1.

The stolen relics include what is believed to be a piece of the cross on which Jesus was crucified, a blood stain of Christ and a piece of the towel with which his face was wiped during the Passion.

The shrine houses a letter from Pope Leo XIII confirming the authenticity of the relics that reached the church in September 1887.

“We have no clue regarding this theft,” said Bishop Kannookadan, who spent several hours Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 at the shrine where hundreds of stunned faithful gathered.

Father Joji Kallingal, vicar of the

parish that was elevated as a shrine in 2008, told CNS that the parish sacristan noticed the theft when he opened the church early Nov. 30.

“They (thieves) did not touch the offertory box with a lot of cash,” the priest said. “They also uprooted the centuriesold five-metal cross on top of the tabernacle but did not take it away.”

Built in 928, the shrine is one of the oldest Catholic churches in India. Its archaeological department oversees the preservation of historical parts of the old church, which was largely dismantled in 1989 to make way for a spacious new church.

Since police collected fingerprints from the altar shortly after the theft was discovered, pilgrims have offered prayers continuously seeking the return of the relics.

Police officials hinted that the theft of the sacred relics, venerated by many including Hindus and Muslims, was the handiwork of black magicians who thrive in the area.

However, M. P. Dinesh, superintendent of police in the Thrissur district of Kerala under which Mapranam falls, told CNS Dec. 1 that investigators had no “specific clue yet about the identity and motive behind the crime.”

world 11

SAO PAULO (CNS) — Even as intense gunfire between drug traffickers and law enforcement authorities in late November lit up Rio de Janeiro’s sky, Father Serafim Fernandes made sure the doors of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Penha remained open.

“The sanctuary has been and will always be open for those who seek comfort,” the priest said. He has taken care of the church perched atop one of the city’s highest cliffs (“penha” in Portuguese) for the past 14 years.

The sanctuary is one of the city’s most famous landmarks, attracting visitors from all parts of Brazil. Many climb its 382 steps on their knees in thanksgiving for prayers answered.

Because of its strategic location, however, the church also attracts drug traffickers from the nearby crowded Complexo do Alemao slum. The traffickers find the church’s towers the perfect place from which to monitor police activity below.

During the two-day confrontation between Brazilian armed forces and drug traffickers, the sanctuary maintained its daily Mass schedule. Father Fernandes said that although slum residents were weary of going outside during the gun battle, many took to the streets to attend Mass.

Residents have seen violence in the slum increase throughout the past five years, paralleling a surge in drug trafficking and gang activity. Father Fernandes complained that city officials never gave the slum complex the attention it deserves, making it an easy target for hoodlums.

The priest explained how he often talks with the young men who terrorize slum residents and force them to keep quiet about their illegal activities. With neighborhood’s unemployment rate at 20 percent, the highest in the city, he said the men have little opportunity for work and are attracted to the easy money made from selling drugs.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pakistan’s president may not have the political strength needed to abolish the anti-blasphemy law that places Christians at risk, but he has promised to try to revise the law, said Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran. The cardinal, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, spent four days in Pakistan in late November and met there with President Asif Ali Zardari, he told Vatican Radio Dec. 1. “He demonstrated great interest in the Holy See’s position on religious freedom,” the cardinal said. President Zardari has formed a commission “to reexamine the blasphemy law with a view toward possibly eventually abrogating it,” Cardinal Tauran said. “I told the president and everyone else I met that Christians in Pakistan are under the impression that they are considered second-class citizens,” Cardinal Tauran said.

The country’s blasphemy laws make insulting the Quran, the sacred book of Islam, an offense punishable by life imprisonment, while being found guilty of insulting the Prophet Mohammed brings an automatic death sentence. The Catholic Church, other Christian groups and human rights observers repeatedly have complained that making an accusation is so easy and disproving it is so difficult that the blasphemy law is often abused as a way to harm a Christian with whom one has a complaint or grudge.

South Korean church leads drive to abolish death penalty SEOUL, South Korea (CNS) — An organization representing the Catholic Church joined a Seoul street campaign seeking to abolish capital punishment in South Korea. Members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea’s Subcommittee for the Abolition of Capital Punishment helped organize a Nov. 30 event with Amnesty International and other human rights groups to mark the International Day, Cities for Life/Cities against the Death Penalty. Campaign participants joined in street performances and sent postcards to lawmakers urging them to abolish the death penalty, reported the Asian church news agency UCA News. South Korea stopped implementing the death penalty in December 2007, but the country’s capital punishment law remains on the books. At a special Mass at Hyehwadong Church in a busy part of the city, Bishop Matthias Ri Iong-hoon of Suwon, president of the bishops’ Committee for Justice and Peace, warned that demand for capital punishment would continue as long as the laws remained in force. “Now and forever, executions must stop,” Bishop Ri said. “Demand for executions will continue whenever brutal crimes happen.

The laws should be abolished as soon as possible,” he urged.

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12 CLASSIFIEDS

THE LEAVEN • DECEMBER 10, 2010

Employment

Services

Principals - Seeking dynamic Catholic school principals who embrace the Catholic faith and possess spiritual leadership skills blended with strong instructional leadership and managerial skills. Two elementary schools in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas have openings for the position of principal for the 2011-2012 academic year: St. Patrick, Kansas City, Kan. – Serves 273 students in grades K-8 and employs 19 teachers. The preschool is comprised of 57 students and 5 teachers.

The community is looking for a vibrant, faith-filled principal with excellent educational and administrative skills to both maintain the current programs as well as effectively address future programs. In addition, the principal at St. Patrick is expected to implement a comprehensive marketing initiative to increase school enrollment. In order to be successful at this effort, the principal will need to have an energetic and creative approach to reaching the entire St. Patrick community.

Curé of Ars, Leawood, – Serves 579 students in grades K-8 and employs 39 teachers. The preschool is comprised of 57 students and 2 teachers. The Curé of Ars community is looking for an excellent communicator, a vibrant, faith-filled principal with excellent educational and administrative skills to maintain and build upon the strong Catholic identity and academic programming that is a hallmark of the school as well as effectively address future challenges.

Principal applicants must be practicing Catholics and hold (or be eligible for) an administrative license from the Kansas State Department of Education. Interested individuals should complete the principal application available on the Web site at: www.arch kckcs.org. Applications are due by Jan. 7, 2011. Questions may be directed to Dr. Kathleen O’Hara, superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, at (913) 721-1570 or, via e-mail, at: kohara@archkckcs.org.

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Administrator - The Diocese of Wichita is seeking an administrator for All Saints School, Wichita, for the 2011 - 12 school year. Candidates must be practicing Catholics; be eligible for Kansas licensure as an administrator; promote a standards-based instructional program; and possess strong interpersonal and organizational skills. Interested candidates may contact Dan McAdam, director of staff services, Catholic Diocese of Wichita, 424 N. Broadway, Wichita, KS 67202. Application deadline is Jan. 15, 2011.

Youth minister - Most Pure Heart of Mary Parish, Topeka, is seeking a youth minister. This position will lead our junior and senior high youth in developing their faith through the four pillars of discipleship: hospitality, spirituality, formation and service. This person must be a faith-filled practicing member of his/her parish and eager to work with young people.

Send a resume and cover letter to: Most Pure Heart of Mary Search Committee, 1800 S.W. Stone Ave., Topeka KS 66604.

Secretary - For St. Joseph School, Shawnee.

Positive people skills and computer expertise are required. Applicants may send resumes, via e-mail, to Sue Carter at: sjoseph@archkckcs.org.

Part-time bookkeeper - For Blessed Sacrament - Our Lady and St. Rose Church, Kansas City, Kan. Applicant must have basic accounting skills as well as proficiency in Quickbooks, Excel and Word. 20 - 24 hrs. per week. To apply, call (913) 321-1958 or send an e-mail to: BlessedSacramentkck@gmail.com by Dec. 13.

Part-time bowling machine mechanic - St. John’s Catholic Club, Kansas City, Kan., needs someone to maintain a six-lane house in the men’s club. All late model 1960s Brunswick equipment. Call Kenny at (913) 788-9758.

Financial representative - Due to the success and growth of the Knights of Columbus, we are adding financial representatives in the Kansas City and Emporia areas. This position is ideal for a determined, high-energy, high-expectation, professional, selfdisciplined, independent individual desiring to serve others, yet earn a better-than-average income. We provide top-rated financial products to our members and their families and will provide excellent benefits and training. For information or an interview, contact John A. Mahon, 307 Dakota, Holton KS 66436; or call (785) 364-5450.

Housecleaning - Woman with 30 years cleaning experience wants to clean your house. I’m dependable and thorough. Call Sandy at (913) 788-7676 (home) or (913) 956-1626 (mobile).

Old-fashioned cleaning - Hand-mopping; a consistent, thorough job every time! Years of experience; excellent references. Special occasion, party and holiday cleaning. I make a great gift! Call Sharon at (816) 322-0006.

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KS mortgage number MC0002252 Tutoring - Available for ages K - 12 and college level. Sessions are customized to fit the student’s needs.

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Bankruptcy - When debt becomes overwhelming, seek professional help. Experienced, compassionate Catholic attorney Teresa Kidd. For a confidential, no obligation consultation, call (913) 422-0610; or send an e-mail to: tkidd@kc.rr.com.

Counseling - Topeka Marriage and family, child, teen, personal Shunga Creek Mental Health Call Ken Zweig, LSCSW at (785) 969-5308.

Machine quilting - by Jenell Noeth, Basehor.

Also, quilts made to order. Call (913) 724-1837.

Foley’s Lawn Care Now scheduling fall cleanups.

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Tree service - Pruning trees for optimal growth and beauty and removal of hazardous limbs or problem trees. Free consultation and bid. Safe, insured, professional. Brad Grabs, Green Solutions of KC, (913) 244-5838. www.GreenSolutionsKC.com.

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Local parishioner. Free estimates.

Call (913) 620-6063.

Need a ride? Where to? I am available to take you to your doctor’s appointment, hairdresser or shopping. Maybe you aren’t driving anymore or just prefer a chauffeur; I’ll get you there. I can also run errands for you or do the grocery shopping. Just give me a call to discuss your needs. Johnson County only.

Call (913) 469-6211 or (816) 806-0564.

Therapeutic life coach - If you are tired, depressed, anxious, fed up or aren’t living the life of your dreams, therapeutic life coaching may be the answer! Call Adrienne, a therapeutic life coach, at (913) 568-5930 or visit the Web site at: www.quantumchangetherapeuticcoaching.com.

Mention ad for a 50% discount.

Home Improvement STA (Sure Thing Always) Home Repair - Basement finish, bathrooms and kitchens; interior & exterior repairs: painting, roofing, siding, wood replacement and window glazing. Call for free estimates. Cell: (913) 579-1835; phone: (913) 491-5837; e-mail: smokey cabin@hotmail.com. Member of Holy Trinity, Lenexa.

THE LEAVEN • DECEMBER 10, 2010 Custom countertops - Laminates installed within 5 days. Cambria, granite, and solid surface. Competitive prices, dependable work. Call the Top Shop, Inc., at (913) 962-5058. Members of St. Joseph, Shawnee.

Clutter problems? Embarrassing garage, basement, attic or any room? Let me help you get organized! Items sorted, grouped, boxed and labeled; areas clean when finished. Great references and insured. Twenty years experience! Handyman repairs also available. To view “before” and “after” pictures, visit my Web site at: WWW.SWALMS.COM. Tillar Swalm (913) 375-9115.

Need to get ready for the holidays? Clutter getting you down? Organize, fix, assemble, clean – we do it all! For a free consultation, call your professional organizing handyman, Kevin Hogan, M. Ed., today at (913) 271-5055. Insured; references. Visit the Web site at: www.KOATINDUSTRIES.com.

Tile and painting - Complete tile and paint repairs and renovation. Ceramic, porcelain, certified limestone tile master. Complete interior paint services and drywall texture finishes. Over 20 years experience. Fully licensed. Service 7 days a week.

Contact Mike at (913) 488-4930. Member of Church of the Ascension Parish, Overland Park.

Thank you to all my customers for a great summer! We’re looking for indoor work. We can do bathroom, kitchen, and basement remodeling.

Includes floors, cabinets, doors, windows, sheetrock, painting, and wood rot. You name it – we can do it; just ask. Christmas lights, too! We’re reasonably priced, fully insured. Call Josh at (913) 709-7230.

Electrician - Free estimates; reasonable rates.

JoCo and southern KC metro area. Call Pat at (913) 9639896.

Woodbright - A very affordable alternative to refinishing, refacing or replacing stained cabinets and woodwork. The average kitchen only costs $500. 18 years experience. Call Woodbright at (913) 940-3020.

Adept Home Improvements Where quality still counts!

Basement finishing, Kitchens and baths, Electrical and plumbing, Licensed and insured.

(913) 599-7998 Carpet direct – We cut out the middle man and bring the showroom to you! The best place to see your flooring is in your own home or office. Save 40 - 80% on carpet and hard surfaces. Residential and commercial. For a free estimate, call Amanda at (913) 742-4003.

The Drywall Doctor, Inc. - A unique solution to your drywall problems! We fix all types of ceiling and wall damage — from water stains and stress cracks to texture repairs and skim coating. We provide professional, timely repairs and leave the job site clean!

Lead-certified and insured! Serving the metro since 1997. Call (913) 768-6655.

EL SOL Y LA TIERRA *Commercial & residential * Lawn renovation * Mowing * Clean-up and hauling * Dirt grading/installation * Landscape design * Free estimates Hablamos y escribimos Ingles!!

Call Lupe at (816) 252-3376

Caregiving Do you or your parents need help at home? For as little as $60/week, Benefits of Home-Senior Care can provide assistance with personal care, shopping and many other daily needs. For details, visit our Web site at: benefitsofhome.com or call (913) 422-1591.

Caregiving - We provide personal assistance, companionship, care management, and transportation to the elderly and disabled in home, assisted living and nursing facilities. We also provide respite care for main caregivers needing some personal time. Call Daughters & Company at (913) 341-2500 and speak with Laurie, Sara or Gary.

Real Estate Wellsville - 3 BR, 2-1/2 BA ranch home on 5 acres with a 30 x 30 metal shed. New paint and carpet throughout. Kitchen has new stainless steel appliances and quartz countertops. Master has large walk-in closet; double vanity in master bath. Large great room with attached sunroom. Finished basement with wet bar. To schedule an appt., call (785) 883-2224.

Leawood - 4 BR, 3 BA reverse story-and-a-half home in St. Michael the Archangel Parish. 2 BR, 2 BA on the first floor; 2 BR, 1 BA on lower level. Two-car garage. HOA dues include snow removal, lawn care, sprinkler system, trash and recycling. All appliances included. New exterior paint Sept. ‘10. Located near 138th and Kenneth Rd. $249K. Call (913) 515-5789.

Lawrence - 3 BR, 3 BA, updated ranch-style home with full basement (half finished). New furnace and AC, remodeled kitchen, new chimney, new roof, private backyard with patio, gorgeous sunroom/ office. Excellent location near St. John the Evangelist Parish and the Catholic campus center. To view, visit the Web site at: www.tom-harper.com. 855 Avalon Rd. $189,900. Stephens Real Estate, call (785) 218-6351.

Classic Leawood ranch - Lots of new features — roof ’10, HVAC ’07, windows ’05 — for this 2 BR, 2 BA, one-car garage property located at 2015 W. 84th Terr. Park-like lot with mature trees. Expansive feel to the living/dining combo with shady views of charming backyard. French doors open onto back deck.

Separate den off updated kitchen. Hardwoods under carpet. Wheelchair accessible. $159,900. Call (913) 908-2841.

Ottawa home - 3 BR, 3 BA ranch. Full fin. walkout bsmt. Across from country club. Easy access to I-35. Next to park. $149,950. MLS#1692987. Call Betty Birzer, Reece & Nichols, at (785) 418-5701 or (785) 229-8890 or visit: www.betty birzer.com.

Three-acre building lots - Located just 15 minutes south of Olathe on I-35 at exit 198. Shawnee Estates subdivision, just south of the Wellsville exit. Two lots available. $26,000 each or possible trade. Owner financing possible. Call (913) 980-3559.

Olathe home - Very large 5 BR, 4-1/2 BA home in excellent condition! Largest lot on quiet cul-de-sac in Prince of Peace Parish. Perfect for a large family.

Two-story hardwood entry with French door opening to formal dining and versatile fifth bedroom (or schoolroom) with full bath. Large kitchen and family room open at back of home with rear staircase. Newly finished basement with natural sunlight. Huge, fenced yard with play equipment. Walk-in closets in large bedrooms. Separate laundry room with utility sink on main level. For information, call Janet Fournier, RE/ MAX First, at (913) 338-8482.

Vacation Ski Winter Park, Colo., this spring break! 2/26/11 - 3/5/11. Pets are OK. Very nice condo. 2 BR, 2 BA, with kitchen and fireplace. Rent for $400 per week, or buy for $1200. To view, Google “Inn at Silver Creek.” Call (913) 649-7596.

Colorado ski vacation - Winter Park. 2 BR, sleeps 6. Fully furnished, fireplace, rec. center with pool & hot tub. Bus to ski area. $125/night; $700/ week. Call Joe Frederick at (913) 385-5589.

Hawaii vacation condo(s) - Spend two weeks this winter (Feb. 11 - 25) basking in the tropical sun on the beautiful island of Kauai. Two condos available – each sleeps 4. Walking distance to the beach. $1200 a week per condo. Possible trade. Private, local owner.

Call (913) 980-3559.

Wanted to buy Lionel trains – Any condition. Call Donald at (913) 485-6700.

Antique/Vintage Costume Jewelry ***Wanted to Buy*** * Member St. Joseph Parish Renee Maderak (913) 631-7179 (Classified ads continued on page 13)

CALENDAR 13

(Classified ads continued from page 12)

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*** I buy coins, older watches, silverware, slot machines, old rifles and shotguns, stoneware crocks and jugs, old furniture from basement or attic.

Call Chris at (913) 593-7507 or (913) 642-8269

For Sale American Girl-type solid wood doll furniture - Heirloom quality, built to last a lifetime. 48 years experience. Many types of beds – trundles, daybeds, canopy, bunk, and four-poster. Tables and chairs, clothes bars, and a very rare, ornate old-fashioned two-piece school desk. Plus beautiful custom-made bedding. Open house from noon - 5 p.m. on Dec. 11 and 12 at 5619 Widmer Rd., Shawnee. Quantities are limited. For information, call John Hember at (913) 631-4060. Member of St. Joseph Parish, Shawnee.

For sale – Two cemetery plots at Resurrection Cemetery, Lenexa. $1150 each. Call (913) 271-7524.

Residential lifts - Buy/sell/trade. Stair lifts, porch lifts, ceiling lifts and elevators. Recycled and new equipment. Member of St. Michael the Archangel Parish, Leawood. Call Silver Cross KC at (913) 3932042.

Roommate Mature woman - To share my home. Retired or working; will consider student. $500/month; includes cable, telephone, Internet and all utilities. Call Theresa at (913) 768-4323.

Entertainment New Years Eve all-city Catholic/Christian singles dance - Beginning Experience will sponsor a fundraising dance in the parish hall at St. Patrick Church, 94th and State Ave., Kansas City, Kan. Just two blocks east of I-435 at the Nebraska Furniture Mart exit. Doors open at 8 p.m.; dancing from 8:30 p.m. - 12:30 a.m. Tickets cost $30 in advance; $35 at the door. Beer, wine, soft drinks, and finger foods will be provided. Music by Zepster the DJ. To order tickets, send a check or money order, payable to Zepster’s A to Z Party DJ’s, to: P.O. Box 14321, Kansas City MO 64152. For information, call (816) 292-2848 or visit the Web site at: www.zepster.com/dances.

11

Dec.

The St. Thomas Aquinas High School Library will host a book fair at the Barnes and Noble store in Oak Park Mall, 95th and Quivira, Overland Park, from 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. on Dec. 11. Student groups will be present throughout the day. A percentage of net sales will be credited to the library when you use a voucher, which can be printed from the school’s Web site at: www.stasaints.net.

Online purchases can benefit the library as well. Visit the Barnes and Noble Web site at: www.bn.com/bookfair. Enter book fair ID # 10100006 during the checkout process.

The Knights of Columbus of Good Shepherd Parish, Shawnee, will host a spaghetti dinner following the 5 p.m.

Mass on Dec. 11 in Seuferling Hall. The cost is: $8 for adults; $4 for children ages 5 - 12; children under five eat free.

Proceeds will benefit the El Buen Pastor community recreation center in El Salvador. There will also be a raffle for a Sony PlayStation 3 with move/motion detection.

St. Columbkille Church, Blaine, will host a Christmas fiesta from 8:30 a.m.

- 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 11 in the fellowship hall at the United Methodist Church, Westmoreland (due to the demolition and construction of our parish hall).

There will be homemade goodies sold by the pound, craft booths and lunch available.

12

An Advent prayer service in the Taizé tradition will be held from 6:30 - 8 p.m. on Dec. 11 at Sanctuary of Hope Prayer and Retreat Center, 2601 Ridge Ave., Kansas City, Kan. For information or to register, call Julie at (913) 321-4673.

The Daughters of Isabella, Little Flower Circle No. 503, will host a Christmas party and buffet dinner at 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 12 at Rossiter Hall, 204 S.W. 8th, Topeka. All interested in participating in the gift exchange are asked to bring a gift.

The Fatima rosary rally devotions will be held at 3 p.m. on Dec. 12 at Christ the

King Church, 8510 Wornall, Kansas City, Mo. Join in praying 15 decades of the rosary, Benediction and enrollment in the brown scapular.

The Knights of Columbus of Christ the King Parish, Kansas City, Kan., will host a pancakes-and-more breakfast from 8:30 - 11 a.m. in Davern Hall on Dec. 12 from 8:30 to 11 a.m. Santa will arrive at 9 a.m. for pictures. A freewill offering will be accepted.

Rd., Leawood. The bereavement ministry will have its monthly meeting following Mass in the Father Burak Room. Msgr. Charles

McGlinn, pastor of Curé, will speak on “Spirituality and Grief.” For information, call (913) 649-2026.

Sts. Cyril & Methodius

12-18

The Shawnee Knights of Columbus, along with Shawnee Community Services, will host a Christmas clothing drive from Dec. 12 - 18. Warm

used clothing in good condition, bedding, and household appliances can be donated from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. at 11110 W. 67th St., Shawnee. For information, call (913) 268-7746.

16

A healing Mass, sponsored by archdiocesan charismatic prayer groups, will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 16 at Curé of Ars Church, 9401 Mission Rd., Leawood.

Father Dennis Wait will preside; fellowship follows.

Prince of Peace, Olathe

Father Greg Hammes will celebrate the archdiocesan monthly pro-life Mass at 8 a.m. on Dec. 18 at Sts. Cyril & Methodius Church, 44 N. Mill, Kansas City, Kan., followed by a rosary procession to an abortion clinic four blocks away. Eucharistic adoration is available for those not processing; Benediction concludes services at 9:45 a.m.

21

St. Agnes Parish, 5250 Mission Rd., Roeland Park, will host a Christmas concert, featuring concert pianist Humberto Sierralta, at 7 p.m. on Dec. 21 in the church. Freewill offerings will benefit the poor of the parish.

The Johnson County Unos will host bingo from 1 - 3 p.m. on Dec. 21 in the Father Burak Room at Curé of Ars Church, 9401 Mission Rd., Leawood.

The bereavement support group at Prince of Peace Parish, 16000 W. 143rd St., Olathe, will meet from 7 - 8 p.m. on Dec. 16 in the faculty lounge. Guest speaker Harold Ivan will discuss practical holiday survival ideas. Light refreshments will follow. For information, call Donna Kaberlein at (913) 829-5320.

17

The Johnson County Unos will gather for 4:30 p.m. Mass on Dec. 17 at St. Pius X Church, 5601 Woodson, Mission. Dinner will follow at Red Lobster, 9547 Metcalf, Overland Park. For information, call Dorothy at (913) 894-4399.

18

A memorial liturgy for deceased loved ones will be held at 8 a.m. on Dec. 18 at Curé of Ars Church, 9401 Mission

6

Jan.

Sophia Center, 751 S. 8th St., Atchison, will host a one-day retreat, entitled “The Christian Call To Prayer: Rediscovering The Angelus,” presented by Sister Eleanor Suther, OSB, from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. on Jan. 6. The cost is $50. For information

or to register, call (913) 360-6151 or visit the Web site at: www.mountosb.org/ sophia.html.

Notice: There will be no calendar in the Dec. 24 issue of The Leaven. The calendar will, however, be updated online at: www.theleaven.com. Send notices to: jennifer@theleaven.com. Submissions may be mailed to: 12615 Parallel Pkwy., Kansas City, KS 66109.

Villa St. Francis

16600 W. 126th Street • Olathe, Kansas 66062 Phone: (913) 829-5201 Fax: (913) 829-5399 Daily Mass in the Chapel at 10 a.m.

• Medicare and Kansas Medicaid certified • 24 - hour nursing care • Dementia/Alzheimer’s unit • Physical, occupational and speech therapist on staff/ Rapid recovery • Nutritious Home cooked meals • Private and Semi Private rooms • Beauty and Barber Shop • 24 hour snacks Affiliated with the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas

14 COMMENTARY

THE LEAVEN • december 10, 2010

THE LEAVEN • december 10, 2010

Mark my words

Catholic Press Association Award Winner 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010

Quote Week

of the

“[Building the new church] united us. It appears to me that now we have more vitality in the parish. I’m totally impressed with the younger people, how they grabbed ahold of this project. I’ve been here 77 years, and I feel good about our parish. I’m impressed with where we’re going.”

Gene Hegarty , parishioner of St. Ann, Effingham See story on page 1

I

These books will really stick with you

don’t want to brag, but I may be single-handedly keeping the coffers of the 3M Company overflowing.

You see, I’m one of its best customers when it comes to Post-It notes.

And, deep down, I’m wondering if Father James Martin, SJ, isn’t secretly on the 3M payroll. I say that because one place where I use Post-It notes is to mark memorable passages in the books I read.

The latest one by Father Jim, entitled “The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything” (HarperOne, 2010; 420 pgs.; $25.99), is so good it’s put a huge dent in my Post-It inventory.

Every holiday season, I recommend a few books that have grabbed my attention. If you’re still searching for that special something to give someone on your list — something that will make an impact long after the eggnog is gone and the Christmas tree is discarded — check out these titles.

Father Jim’s leads the pack. Subtitled “A Spirituality for Real Life,” his book provides “a friendly introduction for the general reader” to the spirituality of St. Ignatius Loyola and shows “how to find God in everything and everything in God.” Father Jim writes with clarity, honesty and humor. Everyone, from a beginning pray-er to a seasoned pro, will find much food for thought here.

Since many people feel they’re too busy to read, especially “dry and boring” spiritual books, these next two will prove them wrong. “Reflections for Busy People: Making Time for Ourselves, Jesus, and God,” (Paulist Press, 2009; 126 pgs.; $14.95) is written by a former teacher of mine, Jesuit Father Gerald O’Collins. Through short, two-to-three

third Week of advent Dec. 12 third SUNDAY OF ADVENT Is 35: 1-6a, 10; Ps 146: 6-10; Jas 5: 7-10; Mt 11: 2-11 Dec. 13 Lucy, virgin, martyr Nm 24: 2-7, 15-17a; Ps 25: 4-9; Mt 21: 23-27 Dec. 14 John of the Cross, priest, doctor of the church Zep 3: 1-2, 9-13; Ps 34: 2-3, 6-7, 17-18, 19, 23; Mt 21: 28-32 Dec. 15 Wednesday Is 45: 6b-8, 18, 21b-25; Ps 85: 9-14; Lk 7: 18b-23 Dec. 16 Thursday Is 54: 1-10; Ps 30: 2, 4-6, 11-13; Lk 7: 24-30 Dec. 17 Friday Gn 49: 2, 8-10; Ps 72: 3-4, 7-8, 17; Mt 1: 1-17 Dec. 18 Saturday Jer 23: 5-8; Ps 72: 1, 12-13, 18-19; Mt 1: 18-25

page essays, he helps readers examine what it is to be human, how Jesus impacts and influences us in this life, and ways to prepare for our final move to be with God in eternity. Each entry can easily be read while waiting for the coffee to brew or before drifting off to sleep at night.

The second work — “Moment by Moment” (Ave Mara Press, 2000; 96 pgs.; $13.95) by Carol Ann Smith, SHCJ, and Eugene F. Merz, SJ — is “a retreat in everyday life.” This wonderfully simple work provides readers with 32 “moments” for prayer. Each contains Scripture passages to meditate on, questions to pray about, a practical action, and an examen prayer to say at the end of the day. The book helps readers “attend more deliberately to the gift of life and to choose to reorient our lives to God in ways that make them more meaningful” and to “pause in the midst of any busy time in order to be aware of yourself, your desires, your longings.”

A new year is a time for resolutions.

Author James L. Papandrea asks: Do you feel your life is fragmented, disorganized, chaotic, too fast-paced? If so, his practical workbook will remedy the situation and bring life back into harmony.

“Spiritual Blueprint: How We Live, Work, Love, Play and Pray” (Liguori, 2010; 144 pgs.; $16.99) leads readers to examine and write about (right there in the book) the five “homes” of their life — body, hands, heart, mind and spirit.

Its very accessible style encourages readers to see which of their “homes” need

to be rebuilt, remodeled, redecorated or simply appreciated and savored.

Our primary spiritual book should, of course, be the Bible. However, it can be intimidating. These last two works can help make the Scriptures a better source for guidance and prayer.

For many people, the Old Testament is a great mystery and how it fits into our Christian life can sometimes be underappreciated. Mary Katharine Deeley admirably deals with this in “Mothers, Lovers, Priests, Prophets, and Kings” (Liguori, 2010; 120 pges.; $10.99).

Subtitled “What the Old Testament Tells Us About God and Ourselves,” this book looks at a number of Old Testament figures — like Jeremiah, “the prophet who got a message from God in an art studio” — and helps readers understand them better. For each character, Deeley presents a short passage of Scripture, gives its backstory, explains its meaning in everyday life, suggests reflection questions and closes with a prayer based on the person being explored. It’s highly readable and makes the Old Testament come alive.

Finally, Paulist Press recently published “The Catholic Prayer Bible” ($29.95). Billed the “Lectio Divina Edition,” almost every page helps readers to pray better by means of a little box off to the side of the Bible verses. The box contains a short explanation of the verses, gives readers an idea to reflect on, presents a short prayer, and concludes with some action step. It links reading the Scriptures with living out our faith.

God wants to be a vital force in our lives. These books can open up our hearts, in the midst of busy lives, to give God that opportunity.

Incidentally, if you do give any of these books as a gift, don’t forget to also include plenty of Post-It notes.

Beautiful new sanctuary an expression of the priority of faith Continued from page 1 ship throughout the process. He said that Catholics build their churches and make them places of great beauty, not to glorify themselves, but to be imperfect expressions of their love for God. “We believe our churches are made very special by the One who makes himself present here in the Eucharist,” said the archbishop, “the same one John [the Baptist] prophesied about, who we are unworthy to hold his sandals and be in his presence.

“But he makes himself present here uniquely in the Eucharist to us, as well as in the proclamation of the word of God.” After the homily, the archbishop offered the prayers of dedication, incensed the altar and then anointed it with sacred chrism. The walls were also anointed. Afterward, the church lights were turned on and the altar was dressed.

Archbishop Naumann greeted parishioners at the end of Mass, which was followed by a catered pulled pork dinner in the parish hall.

The new church was built on the site of the old church. And although it isn’t a copy, it has an updated but traditional design that echoes the older structure.

The rectangular structure has a footprint of about 60 by 110 feet. It has a 75-foot bell tower, slightly shorter than the 1897 church. The bell is the only

Leaven photo by Joe Bollig

Archbishop Naumann offered a prayer before receiving the church key, which he in turn gave to pastor Father Benjamin Tremmel, OSB, to unlock the doors. In his homily, the archbishop said Catholics make their churches beautiful as an expression of their love for God and the priority of faith. object that survived the 2008 fire in- dark brown oak. There is a choir loft, with rounded windows overlooking the tact. The exterior is red brick with beige cast-stone highlights. The design has a narthex. The cathedral roof features exmixture of Gothic and Romanesque el- posed wooden box-beams with arches, ements. The roof is dark gray asphalt to echo the windows and other design elements. composite.

The altar area has blue walls and a The 8,700-square-foot interior has a spacious narthex (gathering space) maroon reredos, upon which a large beige wooden crucifix is mounted. The that features an off-white ceramic tile floor with an inlaid dark brown/red, altar is handicapped accessible via a ramp behind the reredos. The altar feapolished cross. tures statues of St. Joseph and St. Mary.

The 240-seat sanctuary has a blue carpet and white walls. The pews are A statue of St. Ann and the Virgin Mary

T

he 50 or 60 women in the room looked like most women you would meet anywhere on a given day in the grocery store, the elementary school parking lot or the coffee shop.

Representing third sunday of ages 17 to 70 and advent attractively dressed, Mt 11: 2-11 they helped themselves to coffee and doughnuts and chatted about their day-to-day activities the way most women would at a genteel Saturday morning gathering.

But as soon as the retreat began and each woman came to the microphone, the veneer of gentility quickly dissolved and the ordinariness became extraordinary. Story after emotional story poured forth — personal accounts of their life experiences — revealing a depth and magnificence of God’s power and presence that few observers would have guessed merely

“They will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God.”

— Is 35:2

moments before.

In the first reading for this week, the prophet Isaiah describes an unbelievable sight: the desert blooming with “abundant flowers,” its desolate silence breaking forth into “joyful song.” James’ epistle offers the image of a tilled but barren field waiting for fruitfulness that is all but invisible. And somewhere in the wilderness, a fiery, eccentric-looking preacher prepares the way for the Lord, who, at the time,

was walking among the people, still unrecognized.

During the season of Advent, because most of us know what’s coming — the birth of Jesus at Christmas — we “over-anticipate” and look for the Lord’s appearance in all the expected ways and places. Despite the obvious liturgical shift from green to purple, we still can feel like we’re in “ordinary time.”

But Advent is really about surprises, about seeing the magnificence of God breaking forth in the unexpected, the overlooked and the hidden. Advent calls us to fine-tune our eyes and ears to the “splendor of our God” already in our midst — and then to tell others what we have seen.

as a child backs a bank of vigil candles.

The liturgical furniture is dark oak, with white marble topping the altar, ambo, tabernacle and baptismal fount.

The floor is off-white ceramic tile with insets of four-by-four-inch squares of brown/red, highly polished granite.

The windows are Romanesque, with arched tops. There is one large rose window behind the altar and 12 in facing rows of six on the walls. At the time of the dedication, only the Sacred Heart rose window and four other windows were installed. The remainder will be made and installed soon by Tobiason Studios of St. Joseph, Mo. The rooms of the interior include a small half-basement storage area, vesting room, reconciliation room, and a multipurpose area that will serve as a cry room, bride’s room, and for eucharistic adoration.

An enclosed breezeway connects the church with the parish hall, for access during all kinds of weather.

The general contractor was Free Country Design of Atchison; the architect was HTK Architects, PA of Overland Park.

The total cost of construction and furnishings was approximately $2 million. The parish incurred no debt thanks to insurance on the old church, a successful fundraising campaign, and contributions from people from all faiths in the community, as well as the archdiocese. The parish has 106 families.

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16 local news

THE LEAVEN • december 10, 2010

UNFURLED ON HIGH

Members of three fourth-degree Knights of Columbus councils raised the American and papal flags on the refurbished flagpole at Savior Pastoral Center in Kansas City, Kan., on Nov. 11. The 60-foot pole had been unusable for several years until Father John Riley, archdiocesan chancellor, asked Bishop John Ward Assembly 0292, Shawnee, for help. The pole is lighted at night. Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann blessed the flags and pole.

Award winner

Mike Scherschligt, founder and director of the School of Faith, was the 2010 recipient of the St. Rose Philippine Duchesne Award Nov. 21 at Sacred Heart Church in Mound City. The School of Faith offers doctrinal and spiritual formation for Catholics through catechetical programs that stress the call to prayer, virtue, and holiness of life. Pictured are: (from left) Sacred Heart parishioner Don Poole; Father Reginald Saldanha, pastor of Sacred Heart; Scherschligt; and Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann.

Leaven photo by Joe Bollig

Leaven photo by Susan McSpadden

Honoring education

The Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, the Benedictine Sisters of Atchison and the Ursuline Sisters of Paola were honored with a special Catholic Education Community Award on Oct. 30 by the Catholic Education Foundation at the annual Gaudeamus fundraiser. Above, representatives from the honored orders stand for a group photo.

Ann Ekis accepts a gift from Archbishop Naumann Nov. 21 on behalf of the family being named a stewardship award winner. The rest of the family are: (from left) Brian, Beth, Joel and James Ekis. They are parishioners at St. Michael the Archangel Parish, Leawood. Other stewardship award winners were: Carrubba and Grace Anthony, and Carl and Sherri Mayer, all parishioners of St. Michael the Archangel; and James Schramm Sr., a parishioner of St. Gregory Church, Marysville. The award winners were honored following the Crosier Society Mass at Savior Pastoral Center in Kansas City, Kan.

Leaven photo by Lori Wood Habiger

Stewardship Award winner