01 27 23 Vol. 44 No. 23

MARCHING ON

Even after Roe, the March for Life continues to matter

By Jack Figge Special to The Leaven

WASHINGTON — Tears trickled down Dina Rickert’s face as she stood facing the thousands of prolife advocates processing past the Capitol during the annual March for Life here. Two minutes earlier, she and her students had met the daughter of St. Gianna Molla, Gianna Emanuela Molla, a speaker at the rally for life. Surrounded by her students, Rickert shared why that encounter brought her to tears.

“Once I got the job at St. James [Academy, Lenexa], Molla was the house community that was handed to me,” said Rickert.

Molla was an Italian pediatrician who declined both a recommended hysterectomy and an abortion when she was pregnant with her fourth child,

putting the life of the child she carried before her own. She died shortly after the child’s birth and was canonized in 2004.

“This appointment [to the Molla student community] was especially beautiful because when I had my fourth son, I had to risk my life to have him,” continued Rickert. “The doctors asked me to abort him, and I developed a great devotion to St. Gianna Molla during the pregnancy. It was very special to meet her daughter and just made me feel very close to Christ.”

Earlier in the day, Gianna Emanuela Molla spoke to the crowd gathered at the National Mall for the Rally for Life about her mother’s legacy. Other national pro-life figures from House Majority leader Steve Scalise to Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus in the popular media series “The Chosen,” also

>> See “WE STILL” on page 8

LEAVEN PHOTO BY JAY SOLDNER

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann blesses the marchers from Benedictine College in Atchison. This is the first March for Life to be held after the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade.

LEAVEN PHOTO BY JAY SOLDNER

Archbishop Naumann marches down Constitution Ave. with tens of thousands of other pro-life advocates at the annual March for Life in Washington on Jan. 20.

KBI produces what archbishop had requested: A serious study

On Friday, Jan. 13, in the late afternoon, then-Attorney General Derek Schmidt released a summary report conducted by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) on Catholic clergy abuse in the state of Kansas. The investigation was undertaken on Nov. 15, 2018, after my request to Attorney General Schmidt. I had made this request after consultation with the other three Kansas diocesan bishops — Bishop John Brungardt, Dodge City; Bishop Carl Kemme, Wichita; and Bishop Gerald Vincke, Salina.

I am grateful to the attorney general and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation for the considerable time and resources they devoted to this investigation. They provided what I hoped for: an objective, thorough examination of the issue of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy and the deficiencies of the response by Catholic officials, namely bishops.

Reading the report was painful — but not nearly as painful as the wounds experienced by victims of sexual abuse. I apologize again for the failure of the church to adequately protect children entrusted to our care and for the times where bishops failed to respond with respect and care to the accusations of victims. I take seriously my responsibility to make amends for times when either of these failures occurred.

Priests who sexually abused children and young people acted in a way not only contrary to the most basic human decency, but in complete violation of the teaching of Jesus and the church. It saddens me to no end that priests, whom victims had every right to trust as representatives of the church, took

advantage of innocent children and youth. Instead of helping children and youth, they used their position of trust to harm physically, psychologically, emotionally and spiritually the innocent.

When a child or young person is abused by a member of the clergy, it often has the additional consequence of impeding their ability to trust God and the church, preventing victims from being able to go to the sources where they should be able to turn for comfort, healing and consolation. It also saddens me that victims and their families were not always received by bishops with respect, compassion and an eagerness to help.

At the same time, I am pleased that the report provides evidence that what the church has been doing for the past several decades has been effective in dramatically reducing the instances of abuse by Catholic clergy. Equally important are efforts to improve how victims are received, accompanied and assisted by the church. I hope that the report will empower more victims to come forward to receive help and healing.

The church has made significant strides with the implementation of best practices for the prevention of abuse in our churches, schools

and ministries. Every report of abuse is taken seriously and immediately reported to the appropriate law enforcement jurisdiction. The archdiocese uses professional lay investigators to help us ascertain the truth of allegations. In recent years, our investigator was both a former FBI agent and Kansas state trooper.

Our Independent Review Board members — based on their study of the investigator’s report and drawing upon their expertise and backgrounds in law enforcement, psychology, therapeutic care of victims, legal advocacy for victims, the firsthand perspective of a victim of clergy abuse, and a priest — provide me with wise counsel on ascertaining the truth of an allegation and proposing the best assistance the church can provide to the accuser and the accused. I am resolved to do everything possible to bring healing to victims.

Similar to the acknowledgment in the KBI report, I have been edified and inspired by the courage of victims, who are motivated to protect others from being victimized. I am heartened and encouraged by those who, despite the injustice and harm done by a member of the clergy, have a great love for God and many that persevere in living their Catholic faith, enriching our church by their continued participation.

While in my experience many of the allegations of clergy

abuse are true, some are not. There are instances, for example, in which the accuser has been abused but has misidentified the perpetrator. According to the church’s law, criminal law, and our own archdiocesan policy and protocols, the accused person is presumed innocent until proven otherwise. My commitment is to always pursue, to the best of my ability, the truth wherever it leads.

I will be reviewing more carefully with our vicars general and our office for protection and care the KBI report to discern where we can improve our safe environment policies as well as our care for victims. The report provides us with much opportunity for self-examination and how we can strengthen our current protocols and practices.

The KBI report was a massive undertaking. It confirms the effectiveness of our current policies and protocols, while at the same time providing us with recommendations where we can still improve.

Understandably, the KBI report is not perfect, particularly when it speaks of canon law, taking concepts out of context or offering an inadequate interpretation. It failed to mention or consider canon law that is particular to the United States, as well as current archdiocesan policy that has enhanced our vigilance to protect children and the vulnerable as well as requiring full cooperation with civil law enforcement.

There are also some very serious errors in their description of the function of internal review boards. Most significantly, the report does not make clear what were historic problems and what are the current practices of the church.

The report is a sober reminder of

ARCHBISHOP NAUMANN’S CALENDAR

Jan. 27

Mass — St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Overland Park

Jan. 28 Dedication Mass —St. Isidore, Manhattan

Jan. 30

Clergy open house — residence

Jan. 31

Mass — Hayden High School, Topeka

Leavenworth regional priests meeting — Holy Angels, Basehor

Administrative team meeting — chancery

Feb. 1

Mass — Bishop Miege High School, Roeland Park

Recently ordained priests vespers and dinner — Savior

Feb. 2

Religious Alliance Against Pornography board meeting

Communio update with Tory Baucum

Feb. 3

Bishop’s advisory group - Eucharistic Revival

the humanity of the church and the consequences when we fail to live the most fundamental of our moral teachings. The church should not only meet the requirements of civil law, but we must hold ourselves to the higher standards found in the Gospel.

I took particular note that the KBI report on page 11 stated that “a common thread regarding the prevalence of sexual abuse at the hands of clergy within a particular diocese . . . appears to be directly related to the degree of tolerance allowed by a bishop.” I assure you that I take very seriously my responsibility to provide the leadership to make the safety of our children the highest priority.

I am grateful for the efforts of our office for protection and care and our Independent Review Board in

helping me to be vigilant in the protection of our young people and in our response and assistance to victims. We have made great strides, but there is always room for improvement and more that we must do. I ask for your prayers that I can be ever vigilant in the protection of children and youth and responsive and compassionate with victims. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will give me wisdom and courage in my responsibilities to be a shepherd after the example of Jesus. There is so much good happening every day in the church, but it can all be undermined if we fail in this critical area of protecting from abuse and harm not only children and youth, but all members of the church and society, especially those that are most vulnerable.

ARCHBISHOP

Art teacher finds a new ministry in retirement

By Jill Ragar Esfeld jill.esfeld@theleaven.org

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — After teaching art in a public school for 35 years, Phyllis Gipson retired in 2015. But conventional retirement wasn’t a concept she could grasp.

“My father told us all the time that when you retire, you serve your community,” she said. “And he was the perfect model for that.

“The expectation to come home and sit until I die was never an option for me.”

When retirement was on her horizon, Gipson approached Cathy Fithian, principal of Christ the King School in Kansas City, Kansas, and told her she would like to teach there.

“She was in a public school catty-corner from our school,” Fithian recalled. “And she said, ‘I always knew, someday, I would be in your school to teach art.’”

Fithian told Gipson that art instruction was a luxury Christ the King could not afford.

But Gipson, a devout Christian, responded, “You don’t understand — this is my calling.”

And so, for eight years now, Gipson has been “retired” teaching art at Christ the King two days each week — and students are delighted with her wonderfully creative lessons.

“The first year, I would show up in the building with all my bags and stuff,” she said. “They would start applauding, yelling, ‘Today is art! Ms. Gipson’s here!’

“How affirming is that? It made me know I was doing something to help somebody.”

Gipson knows firsthand how important art can be to a student.

“School was difficult for me,” she said. “But I always had the art and drawing.”

Art is the subject of Gipson’s curriculum. But she believes her lessons are important for every child, because they involve so much more than art.

“Even though students are taught techniques of how to get media to move according to plan,” she said, “for the most part, I teach skills of problem solving — that’s really my focus.

“Don’t we all need problem-solving skills?”

That focus becomes clear in the third grade art class when Gipson dumps a large bin of wooden shapes on the floor

and students scramble to find appropriate pieces to create angels.

The problem is there are no wings per se, so students have to improvise, finding wooden heart shapes that can work as wings.

Problem solved.

The next class of fourth graders is transforming castles they’ve drawn on paper into ceramic clay sculptures.

Unfortunately, the plastic knives allowed for cutting leave rough edges in the clay.

Students find that brushes and a little water are the perfect tools for smoothing out their creations.

Problem solved.

Another angel project is tackled by the sixth graders — drawing and painting the cherubs from Raphael’s famous “Sistine Madonna.”

But how do you reproduce such detail when your freehand drawing skills are

not on par with Raphael’s?

Students use windows as makeshift light tables to trace the artist’s images. Problem solved.

Angels are special to Gipson because her public-school curriculum was limited to secular projects.

But in Catholic schools, there is plenty of time to do angels, she said.

Gipson has raised three children of her own and is now caretaker for her mother, who lives with her, and her husband who is in a nursing home.

She attends a caregiver support group through the Keeler Women’s Center in Kansas City, Kansas, where members are counseled to do something for themselves.

“This is what I do for myself,” she said as she stacked clay castles on a shelf.

When her art lessons are done for the day, Gipson always stops by the office to thank Fithian for the opportunity.

“This is such a tender mercy for me from the Lord,” she said. “That I get to expose children to different media, and then I get to see them sail.”

Christ the King feels blessed, too.

“I think she is an outstanding educator and a beautiful person,” said Fithian. “She brings not only so much richness to our students’ lives, but she does the same for our faculty.

“She is part of our family now and we are the ones who are so gifted to have her here.”

Gipson considers her teaching a ministry, and she is happy that she’s found like-minded people at Christ the King.

“All the teachers I interact with here — they understand that,” she said, “and they have a higher calling and a higher expectation.

“They have so much compassion and love for children.”

LEAVEN PHOTO BY JILL RAGAR ESFELD

Cristal Santos (left) looks on as art teacher Phyllis Gipson explains the final steps in making a clay castle.

LEAVEN PHOTO BY JILL RAGAR ESFELD

From left, Marisol Martinez shows Ariah Dixon and Briseldy Loya-Mondragon a wooden heart she will use for her angel’s wings.

LEAVEN PHOTO BY JILL RAGAR ESFELD

Jessica Gayosso completes her drawing of Raphael’s famous cherubs before painting it with watercolors.

LEAVEN PHOTO BY JILL RAGAR ESFELD

Manuel Matta (foreground) and Yoni Zamora search for wooden pieces they will use to construct their angels.

Topeka area teachers ‘ignite a fiery passion’ for science

By Marc and Julie Anderson mjanderson@theleaven.org

TOPEKA — Approximately 100 pounds.

That’s how much a firefighter’s protective gear weighs.

And that’s just one lesson a group of sixth through eighth grade students at Topeka’s Holy Family School learned earlier this school year when Chuck Thompson, the school’s physical education teacher, brought in his own gear.

For 20 years, Thompson has served as a volunteer firefighter at Topeka’s Mission Township Fire Station, but teaching grade school students about fire safety and the science behind fires was not something he planned to do. At least, initially, that is.

Eight years ago, another teacher suggested he design an elective on health and safety. That got him thinking.

During the elective’s first year, Thompson focused mostly on basic first aid for bumps, bruises, minor cuts and scrapes, broken bones and other injuries children sometimes experience during recess or PE class.

“[The curriculum] keeps evolving as the years go by. I just keep adding to it,” he said.

Although he has always included components of safety and first aid, Thompson said it was during the course’s second year that he shifted gears to talk about firefighting.

Besides extinguishing fires, Thompson said he’s shared with the students “the different types of things that throughout the day a firefighter might be called to do,” such as responding to car accident scenes, rescuing someone trapped in a building and performing CPR. For that, he brings two mannequins.

Although he’s not a certified instructor and cannot provide certification, because of the length of his tenure with the fire service, Thompson can “teach them everything they need to know.” Then, if students enroll in courses offered through organizations such as the Red Cross, they can more easily pass the course and obtain certification.

Besides, he said, it can save a life.

“It’s a skill I feel people need to know how to do or least try to do until help gets there,” he said.

Caesar Hernandez, an eighth grader, said he found the CPR component helpful. Additionally, he has learned about 9/11 as well as a lot about a day in the life of a firefighter. He even got to try on Thompson’s protective gear.

“It was heavy,” he said with a laugh.

While Hernandez and other students have been learning from Thompson, seventh and eighth graders at Most Pure Heart of Mary School in Topeka are learning about forensic science in an elective taught by Britta Pischer, one of the school’s seventh grade teachers.

Retreat focuses on adults whose parents divorced

By Joe Bollig joe.bollig@theleaven.org

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The wounded walk among us. You may not see them or their wounds, but they are hidden in plain sight.

These wounded are the adult children of parents who are divorced, separated or never married. The broken relationships of their parents affect them still.

But thanks to the ministry Life-Giving Wounds, these individuals are finally getting the help they need.

The archdiocesan office of marriage and family life has invited Life-Giving Wounds to hold a weekend retreat, Feb.24-26, at Savior Pastoral Center in Kansas City, Kansas.

The retreat offers help to adults whose parents had broken relationships to give voice to their pain and find spiritual healing through this peer-led ministry.

“There certainly is a need for this retreat,” said Brad DuPont, consultant for the archdiocesan office of marriage and family life. “I know from personal experience that divorce has an impact on children.

“I personally am looking forward to attending the retreat, coming from a family whose parents are divorced, and I think it will help me address those wounds and to be a better husband and father.”

Life-Giving Wounds, a 501(c)(3) notfor-profit organization based in the Washington, D.C., area, was founded by Daniel Meola, director and chairman, and his wife Bethany, vice president of operations.

Daniel has a doctorate in the theology of marriage and family, and Bethany has a master’s of theology degree. Both spouses earned their degrees from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Washington. Life-Giving Wounds grew out of work done at the institute.

“I knew I wanted to teach a forensics elective simply because forensics is really applicable to everyday jobs the kids are more or less aware of,” she said. “But what they may not be aware of is how science plays into some of these jobs. And being that they’re in seventh and eighth grade, it’s the time now to show them how science and careers go together.”

The elective is new this school year, but is generating a lot of buzz.

Intended to be a yearlong class, 50 of 80 eligible students signed up for it. So, she split the course into semesters so more students could take it.

Like Thompson, Pischer is developing the curriculum on her own, “trying to figure out what the kids are interested in learning” and teaming up with a friend, Wally Roberts, chief of investigations for the office of the state fire marshal.

One lesson focused on diagramming crime scenes. After the lesson, Roberts visited the class to show

how he would have mapped it, following it up with a demonstration of a 360-degree camera scan of a room.

In another lesson, Roberts partnered with Rusty Vollentine, an investigator with the Topeka Fire Department, and students learned about the state’s five accelerant detection canines.

As part of a hands-on learning experience — and without telling the students or Vollentine — students placed a few drops of gasoline on the shoe of Father Nathan Haverland, the parish’s pastor.

Afterward Benny, the accelerant detection canine Vollentine brought to the class, located the scent.

“We didn’t know what [the liquid] was at the time,” seventh grader Blakely Teske said, “and the dog walked across the room right up to Father Nathan’s shoe.”

“It took like 10 seconds,” he added. “It was really cool.”

The ministry offers retreats, establishes support groups through local chapters, provides online ministry and outreach, offers both print and online resources, gives presentations, and does leader training and consultation.

The retreat will also see the launch of a local chapter. Life-giving Wounds has 10 chapters in 12 dioceses — some dioceses share chapters. The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas chapter will be the 11th chapter and 13th diocese.

“The first part of our mission is to give voice to the pain of adult children of divorce and separation,” said Daniel. “When we say ‘separation,’ it refers to all kinds of separations, like cohabitation dissolution, parent abandonment, unmarried parents, parents who received a declaration of nullity and even high-conflict homes.”

The pain is ubiquitous and has been normalized in society. In other words, people are just supposed to move on. The wounds, however, are real.

“We explore that pain in a constructive atmosphere,” said Daniel. “This is important because we don’t know how we’ve been affected. There is a

LEAVEN PHOTO BY JULIE ANDERSON

Caesar Hernandez, an eighth grader at Topeka’s Holy Family School, tries on the firefighting gear of Chuck Thompson. In addition to being employed as the school’s physical education instructor, Thompson has served as a volunteer firefighter at Topeka’s Mission Township Fire Station for the past 20 years. For the past several years, he has taught fire safety and the science behind fighting fires as part of an elective he designed for sixth through eighth grade students.

Former Donnelly campus ministry director dies at 62

By Joe Bollig joe.bollig@theleaven.org

KANSAS CITY, Kan.

— Priest and educator Father John Edward Melnick, 62, died on Jan. 15 at St. Luke’s Hospital North in Kansas City, Missouri, from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

“Father John was faithful to the charism of the Augustinian way of life,” said Father Peter Jaramillo, SSA, pastor of St. Mary-St. Anthony and All Saints parishes in Kansas City, Kansas.

“He followed his restless heart and continued to seek the joy of his life in community,” he added, “to be of one mind and heart with the Lord and with those whom he lived with.”

Father John is remembered for his love of his priesthood and the church, Father Peter said.

Father John — who was also known by his religious name Father John Stone of the Holy Cross — was born on Feb. 28, 1960, in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada. He was the only child of Edward and Beverly (MacKenzie) Melnick, members of St. Joseph Parish in Reserve Mines, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

He attended St. Joseph School, 1965 to 1971, in Reserve Mines and graduated from Reserve District High School in 1977. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, in 1980; a bachelor’s in education from St. Francis Xavier in 1981; a

master’s of divinity from the Toronto School of Theology in 1986; a bachelor’s of theology degree (STB) from St. Paul’s University in Ottawa in 1986; and a licentiate (STL) from the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome in 1989.

A visit to a monastery inspired him to enter the Order of St. Augustine in 1979. After completing his postulancy and novitiate, he professed simple vows on Aug. 13, 1983, and solemn vows on May 12, 1986, at St. Augustine Monastery in Monastery, Nova Scotia.

Father John was ordained a deacon on May 16, 1986, and ordained a priest on June 14,

1986, by Auxiliary Bishop Robert Clune of Toronto.

Father John had an active and varied ministry as a friar, educator and priest in various pastoral and academic assignments.

He was a pastor, retreat director, vocation director, and seminary teacher and formator. He served in various capacities in his religious order and for different dioceses. While in Rome he worked part time as a secretary for Cardinal Paul Augustin Mayer, OSB, at the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei.

While teaching at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Scranton, Pennsylvania

Retreat explores pain of divorce

well-documented ‘sleeper effect’ that doesn’t rear its head until adulthood.”

The retreat explores six common aspects of the wound: silence, identity, faith, the pursuit of love, unforgiveness, unhealthy family dynamics and the meaning of suffering in a Christian context.

The three-day retreat will include small group discussion, prayer, eucharistic adoration, music, confession and a closing Mass on Feb. 26. Father Dan Morris and Deacon Steve Nguyen will be at the retreat.

Craig Soto II, a member of St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Leawood, attended a Life-Giving Wound retreat while in Denver in 2021. He’ll be part of the team as a small group leader and speaker at the upcoming retreat.

“It’s not like a self-help retreat,

where you simply talk about the things that we’ve experienced, although there is some of that,” said Soto. “I think the most important thing is how we are inviting Jesus into our wounds that we’ve experienced from our parents’ divorce.

“That’s where we can find true healing — where I found healing myself. And we allow ourselves to trust Jesus and bring him in the areas that we are really protective of: those deep, dark places.”

The cost to attend is: $75 for one registrant commuting; $145 for one registrant with two nights in a double room; and $175 for one registrant for two nights in a single room. Scholarships are available. For information about scholarships, call Brad DuPont at (913) 647-0301. To register online, go to: archkck.org/lgw/.

from 1997 to 1998, Father John became acquainted with members of the Society of St. Augustine. He became incardinated in the Diocese of Scranton and later became a member of the Society of St. Augustine on Oct. 19, 2002.

After serving (and merging) four parishes in Freeland, Pennsylvania, from 2002 to 2009, Father John came to Kansas City, Kansas, to help establish a new community of friars of the Society of St. Augustine. Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann met Father John and told him about the need for a Catholic priest at Donnelly College in Kansas City, Kansas. Father John became director of

campus ministry and religious studies instructor at Donnelly.

“While at Donnelly, Father John touched the lives of countless students through campus ministry programming, RCIA, theology courses and [celebrating] daily Mass on campus. He also provided friendship and counsel to all faculty and staff, including the president and board of directors,” said a 2020 “Donnelly Digest” article announcing his retirement.

Father John was known for his approachability, and people felt free to speak to him about any problems they had, and he inspired them to keep the faith during very difficult times in society and the church, said a friend.

Father John left the Society of St. Augustine in 2020, while retaining his status as a diocesan priest incardinated in the Diocese of Scranton.

“Father John was faithful to his prayers and spiritual duties,” said Father Peter. “He enjoyed great theological conversations while having a nice vodka martini in hand, discussing the ecclesiastical issues of the day. And sometimes, stirring the pot to seek the truth of the matter or the best answer to his concerns.”

He was preceded in death by his mother and is survived by his father.

Archbishop Naumann celebrated the funeral Mass on Jan. 25 at St. Mary-St. Anthony Church in Kansas City, Kansas. Burial was at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Kansas City, Kansas. Arrangements were by Skradski Funeral Home in Kansas City, Kansas.

PHOTO BY AUSTIN WALSH STUDIOS

Father John Edward Melnick, former director of campus ministry and religious studies instructor at Donnelly College in Kansas City, Kansas, died on Jan. 15 at St. Luke’s Hospital North in Kansas City, Missouri.

“I’m a recovering Catholic,” our contractor announces jauntily, apropos of what I can’t remember.

I think we were trying to decide on flooring for the front deck.

It’s a phrase with which we’ve become familiar, so common that this guy we know only because he’s overseeing some basic repairs to our old house can throw it out casually.

Another common phrase in today’s parlance: “I was raised Catholic.” I can’t count the number of interviews with famous people in which I’ve read that statement. Often, it’s said with fondness. The people being interviewed are ascribing their beliefs in social justice, charity and right order to the

years they spent at Mass or in a Catholic school classroom or gathered around the table for grace.

But let’s be clear, their comment implies, “I took the good part and left.” In many circles, to declare one

is still a “practicing” Catholic is to admit to being old-fashioned, to still believing in Santa Claus. They’ve left that behind with the avocado appliances and shag carpeting of their childhood.

For those of us who still place their faith in this community of saints and sinners, it can feel lonely. Many people around me are not going to church at all, and some of the stalwart Catholics I knew from my youthful days as a Jesuit Volunteer and young wife and mother are dropping out or experimenting with Christian denominations.

I have a young friend who threw up his hands at the church because he saw our leadership failing to embrace Catholic social teaching. The

Catholics

abuse cover-up was the last straw.

“But what about the sacraments?” I asked. “Don’t you miss the Eucharist?”

His answer was vague. Those other things were very important to him. OK, those things are important to me, too.

But don’t you miss the Eucharist? Don’t you want to be part of the change, part of the synodal process?

At a book sale, I found a used copy of Henri Nouwen’s book, “Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith.” This Dutch priest and theologian, who died in 1996, was a prolific writer. The book was published in 1997, before the abuse scandal hit the news.

Nevertheless, in his entry for Oct. 20, he

writes: “Over the centuries, the church has done enough to make any critical person want to leave it.”

He recounts “violent crusades, pogroms, power struggles, oppression, excommunications, executions, manipulation of people and ideas, and constantly recurring divisions.”

Whew. And he hasn’t even touched on more recent headlines.

But then he asks if we can believe “that this is the same church that carries in its center the Word of God and the sacraments of God’s healing love?”

He speaks of the human brokenness of the church, which presents the broken body of Christ to the world. Human promises are broken; God’s promise “stands unshaken.”

I love the church because I love the communion of saints. I love the sacramentals, the sacraments, the mystics and monasteries, the heroes from Teresa of Avila to Thea Bowman, from Ignatius of Loyola to Dorothy Day, from Francis of Assisi to Edith Stein. Would this cloud of witnesses want me to leave?

I wish that young man would stay. We need him. We need him involved in the conversation, we need him prodding his pastor and his bishop. We need him finding the promise among the brokenness of an imperfect church. We need the community of each other.

Peter’s plaintive words in John’s Gospel echo: “Lord, to whom would we go?” (6:68)

60 Plenty

61 Cooking measurement

63 Old Testament city

65 Talk Solution on page 13

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EFFIE CALDAROLA

Effie Caldarola writes monthly for OSV News.

Roman and Gloria Girrens, members of St. Joseph Parish, Shawnee, will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary on Jan. 28 with a Mass at 5 p.m. at St. Joseph. They are also planning a family vacation in the spring. The couple was married on Jan. 26, 1963, at Christ the King Church in Wichita by Father Vincent Eck. Their children are: Tammy Nigus, Olathe; and Troy Girrens, Spring Hill. They also have three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Don and Cindy Fox, members of St. Dominic Parish, Holton, will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on Feb. 2. They will host a family gathering at a later date for this occasion. Their children are: Bruce Fox, Holton; and Cheryl Banks, Topeka. They also have five grandchildren.

ANNIVERSARY SUBMISSIONS

POLICY: The Leaven prints 50, 60, 65 and 70th anniversary notices.

WHERE TO SUBMIT:

Email: todd.habiger@theleaven.org.

COMING DOWN

Removal of the deteriorating upper thirds of the Assumption Church twin towers in Topeka began the second week of January by Concrete & Masonry Restoration, Inc., of Kansas City, Missouri. The domes probably cannot be salvaged, nor the bricks, but the crosses that topped the domes and some stonework likely will be saved, said Dan Himmelberg, archdiocesan director of real estate and construction. The bells were removed and are in storage. After the two towers are removed, the openings will be capped. The parish hopes to raise funds in the future to rebuild the towers. The cost of the removal project is approximately $945,000. Mass is not celebrated in the church because of the structural problems. Assumption and Holy Name parishes merged to become Mater Dei Parish on July 14, 2006. The current Assumption Church, built in 1923, stands on the site of the first Catholic church in Topeka, built in 1862.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF CONCRETE & RESTORATION, INC.

‘We still need a national movement’

>> Continued from page 1

addressed the crowd, encouraging attendees to recognize the need to continue to build a culture of life in America.

Following the rally, the 50th national March for Life ensued. However, this year, a new cheer rang out above the demonstrators: “1, 2, 3, 4 Roe v. Wade is out the door; 5, 6, 7, 8, now it’s time to legislate,” referencing the overturning of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case this past June.

“Though the overturning of Roe was a huge win for our country, it really put more hardship and pressure on Kansas and other states,” said Melissa Joerger, a parishioner at Ascension Parish in Overland Park. “I am marching for Kansas and the other states that are still fighting the battle against abortion.”

Joined by her husband, over 200 pilgrims from the archdiocese and area high schools, and Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, Joerger and the others marched through the National Mall to the Capitol building instead of to the Supreme Court building, as in past years, now advocating for legislators to protect the right to life for the unborn.

“Congress can actually do a lot of things that could be either good or could be very bad for the pro-life movement,” said Archbishop Naumann. “It’s very important that Congress is aware of this movement — we still need a national movement, so the March for Life will continue in Washington. But we’re also going to build up our state marches and advocacy as well.”

Last August, the “Value Them Both” amendment that would have overturned the 2019 Kansas State Supreme Court decision ruling that a woman has a right to terminate her pregnancy failed to pass. With this setback, Kansas pro-life advocates saw this year’s March for Life as a critical event to attend to continue to show their support for the pro-life movement.

“It is very important for Kansans to be here because we want everyone in Kansas to know that even though we were not successful in passing the ‘Value Them Both’ amendment, we still value both the woman and the child in Kansas,” said Deb Niesen, the lead consultant for the archdiocesan pro-life office. “We want everyone to know that we are not going to abandon women. And we are not going to abandon preborn children to the despair of abortion.”

Despite this setback last August, the March for Life infused many of the pilgrims with a renewed vigor for the pro-life movement and a desire to serve expectant mothers.

“Being here has made me want to do more when I get home,” said Isabelle Connealy, a sophomore at St. James Academy. “I think I am going to hopefully volunteer at some different pregnancy centers and continue to participate in our school’s pro-life club, Thunder for Life, and go to all of their events.”

LEAVEN PHOTO BY JAY SOLDNER

Father Thomas Maddock, chaplain of Hayden High School in Topeka, leads a group of students from Hayden, Sacred Heart, Emporia and ReachKCK in prayer during the bus ride to Washington.

LEAVEN PHOTO BY JAY SOLDNER

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann and archdiocesan pro-life consultant Debra Niesen were among the thousands of marchers that made their way to the Capitol.

A participant waves a flag featuring Our Lady of Guadalupe Court, the customary end of the March. This year, the

Tens of thousands of demonstrators take to the streets to advocate for life. The national March for Life ington in 1974 in response to the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide the previous held in Washington each year since.

LEAVEN PHOTO BY JACK FIGGE

Archbishop Naumann and Deb Niesen pose with Gianna Emanuela Molla, center, daughter of St. Gianna Molla, an Italian pediatrician canonized in 2004.

Individual witness defines the pro-life movement

Jack Figge Special to The Leaven

Using my 6-foot-3-inch build and the press pass draped around my neck to my advantage, I navigated the dense crowds gathered at the 2023 Rally for Life and forced my way to the very front. My sole intention: to capture the essence of the rally to the best of my abilities.

But I walked away with so much more than video and photographs of the rally. I left with the powerful image of a couple weeping with joy as their daughter with Down syndrome spoke to the thousands gathered forever embedded in my memory.

Directly in front of me stood the parents of the speakers — Sister Mary Casey O’Connor and her twin sister Casey Gunning. Both 39 years old, Sister O’Connor joined the Sisters for Life in 2015, adopting the last name of the order’s founder Cardinal John O’Connor, while Gunning, who has Down syndrome, works as a teaching assistant and a longtime Special Olympics athlete.

As Sister Mary Casey led her twin to the podium, both of their parents — Jim and Cindi Gunning — waved their arms ecstatically from the crowd, catching the eyes of Casey and providing visible comfort to their child merely through their presence.

Three minutes later, after Casey testified to the value that her life — and all life — has, the crowd gathered at the Rally for Life erupted in applause, chanting the name, “Casey! Casey! Casey!”

With tears streaming down their faces, the women’s mother and father turned to the teenagers packed around them. Unable to speak through the emotions of proud, joyful parents, they simply mouthed “thank you,” over and over and over.

Surrounded by thousands of marchers from across the country, the human element to the pro-life movement often becomes overshadowed during the March for Life. Media outlets become more concerned with numbers and the political ramifications of the event, losing the human stories that distinguish the pro-life movement.

As a young, ambitious reporter, I too became caught up in trying to capture the big picture. But witnessing the emotion in the parents of Casey Gunning, it forced me to slow down — to stop zooming out and start zooming in.

It is the individual stories, the individual reasons for why people are marching, why they are bearing witness, that make the pro-life movement so powerful.

Hearts will only be transformed, minds will only be changed and lives will only be saved through showing love, and love is best expressed through individual encounters.

Jack Figge

LEAVEN PHOTO BY JAY SOLDNER Guadalupe as he processes past the U.S. Supreme March ended at the Capitol.

LEAVEN PHOTO BY JAY SOLDNER

A demonstrator holds up a crucifix near the end of the 50th annual March for Life.

LEAVEN PHOTO BY JAY SOLDNER

Nathan Brune, a junior at St. James Academy in Lenexa, carries the St. James flag in the March for Life. The school took 44 students to the March.

OSV NEWS PHOTO/GREGORY A. SHEMITZ

Casey Gunning, an athlete in the Special Olympics, speaks as her twin, Sister of Life Mary Casey O’Connor, looks on during the 50th annual March for Life rally in Washington on Jan. 20.

LEAVEN PHOTO BY JAY SOLDNER

Bishop Michael F. Burbidge, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Pro-Life Activities, processes with the monstrance during eucharistic adoration Jan. 19, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, after concelebrating the opening Mass of the National Prayer Vigil for Life.

LEAVEN PHOTO BY JAY SOLDNER Life first took place in Washyear. The protest has been

Eucharistic Revival songwriting competition seeks to inspire Catholic music

By Kate Scanlon OSV News

Historically Black Catholic university announces new medical college

By Peter Finney Jr. OSV News

WASHINGTON

(OSV News) — A songwriting competition aims to inspire new Catholic music as a part of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ Eucharistic Revival initiative.

The Eucharistic Revival Musical Competition, sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat for Evangelization and Catechesis, seeks entries from Catholic composers, poets and songwriters for Catholic music, with a particular emphasis on texts that focus on the Eucharist or the church’s unity as the body of Christ, according to a Jan. 17 announcement from the USCCB.

“Music has this really unique ability to really capture the heart of the mystery of the Eucharist,” Marilyn Santos, associate director of the USCCB’s Secretariat of Evangelization and Catechesis, told OSV News.

Throughout the ages, music has been a beautiful way of “expressing our faith,” she said.

The people of God have always sung, she said. “If you think back in the Old Testament, David danced and the Israelites sang their praises.”

Launched last year, the National Eucharistic Revival is a three-year campaign by the U.S. bishops to increase the Catholic understanding of and devotion to Jesus’ real presence in the Eucharist. It was prompted by studies showing that only 30-40% of Catholics profess that belief, and that only 15% of Catholics go to Mass every Sunday.

Santos said music can help the faithful carry the mystery of the Eucharist “with us in our hearts and in our heads.”

In announcing the contest Jan. 17, the U.S. bishops said they are seeking submissions for hymns and a theme song. A winning submission in each category is expected to be featured at the 2024 National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, as well as at diocesan Eucharistic Revival events. Winning composers will receive a $2,500 cash prize. A $25 entry fee per submission will offset some logistics-related expenses, such as travel costs for volunteer judges, Santos said.

Submissions will be judged on “poetry, musicality, creativity, theological and doctrinal soundness, beauty, appropriateness for liturgical use, and expression of the mission of the Eucharistic Revival (as applicable),” the announcement stated.

They will be considered by a panel of judges, including representatives from Oregon Catholic Press, the Society for Catholic Liturgy, Source

and Summit, the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions, and GIA Publications/World Library Publications.

Tim Glemkowski, executive director of the National Eucharistic Congress, said in a statement that the contest “is just the beginning of a number of initiatives on the horizon for the Revival in 2023 that celebrate the beauty and mystery of the Eucharist.”

“Beauty is the mark of a loving God, and we are excited to see creative expressions from talented Catholic artists that embrace the beauty of Christ and give new light, color, and voice to the truths of our faith,” he said.

Submissions are being accepted through April 21, with winners announced June 9. More information, including guidelines and submission instructions, is available at: eucharisticcongress.org/musical competition.

Few frowns among Catholic nonprofits as AmazonSmile closes

By Gina Christian OSV News

SEATTLE (OSV News) — Amazon’s decision to end a decadelong charity program is leaving a number of Catholic nonprofits unfazed, while serving as a prompt to reflect on their approach to fundraising.

On Jan. 19, the Seattle-based online retail giant announced it would end AmazonSmile, through which participating charities received 0.5% of supporters’ qualifying purchases. Since the program’s launch in 2013, payments — issued quarterly via electronic bank deposit — have totaled more than $400 million for U.S. charities and more than $449 million globally.

Despite those numbers, Amazon said in its statement that it would close AmazonSmile by Feb. 20 since the program’s impact was “often spread too thin” among the more than 1 million registered organizations worldwide.

On its website, Curé of Ars Catholic School in Leawood reported receiving a $445 check from AmazonSmile in March 2022.

Trudy Rocks, tuition officer of Presentation B.V.M. Catholic School in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, told OSV News that over the past two years, her school “didn’t make a killing with (Amazon Smile), although it certainly helped.”

At the same time, Rocks, who registered Presentation B.V.M. for the program two years ago, said she and her colleagues were not panicking over the closure. The school signed up for AmazonSmile with only modest expectations.

“Every little bit helps,” said Rocks.

Dominican Sister Joseph Maria, prioress of the monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary in Summit, New Jersey, put her community’s monthly Amazon Smile amount at “under $100.”

When a benefactor recently suggested trying to get more donors to make use of AmazonSmile for the monastery, Sister Joseph Maria was skeptical.

“My reaction was, ‘OK, that’s fine, but it’s not going to affect us much, and it’s not going to get us more revenue,’” she told OSV News.

The lack of panic over Amazon’s announcement squares with data observed by Emily Gambino, chief partner development officer of the Catholic Foun-

dation of Greater Philadelphia.

“The organizations that we’ve worked with have received less than $100 a year from AmazonSmile,” said Gambino in an emailed statement. “Most nonprofits will not feel any major financial impact.”

CFGP president and CEO Sarah Hanley also noted the AmazonSmile site itself could be easily overlooked.

“You had to log in directly to Amazon Smile,” said Hanley. “If you just went in through the regular [Amazon] website, the purchase didn’t register [for the charity].”

Cory J. Howat, executive director of the Catholic Community Foundation in New Orleans and president of #iGiveCatholic organization, said Amazon’s announcement is a teaching moment for Catholic nonprofits.

AmazonSmile was more about “income, not philanthropy,” said Howat.

While the program offered nonprofits “an easy way” to bring in some extra revenue, ultimately the “end game was . . . to solidify Amazon’s market share,” rather than build “a mission-driven connection” between donors and the causes they support, he said.

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana, which for decades has placed the most African American graduates into medical schools across the country each year, will open a College of Medicine in a partnership with Ochsner Health, executives of Xavier and Ochsner announced Jan. 17.

The new medical school, expected to open within four to five years, has as its primary goals building a pipeline of African American doctors for a healthcare field in which people of color are underrepresented and extending the founding mission of St. Katharine Drexel “to promote a more just and humane society,” said Xavier President Reynold Verret.

“It’s very exciting because we are basically moving in what we are expected to do in being of service,” Verret said. “We have been evaluating how we should be of service and what we should do. Our dedication to preparing more Black health care professionals in our fight against health inequity is our answer to the call of our nation’s critical need and makes [the Sisters’] legacy proud.”

Dr. Leonardo Seoane, executive vice president and chief academic officer of Ochsner Health, said the partnership with Xavier extends an excellent working relationship between the two. The first cohort of 37 Xavier students graduated in 2022 from a new XavierOchsner Physician Assistant Program.

“The Physician Assistant Program has gone great and really speaks to the trust and the bond between Ochsner and Xavier,” Seoane said. “We graduated our first class last year, and we at Ochsner hired 17 of those 37 graduates, so it’s fulfilling its mission.”

Xavier has produced more African American students who go on to earn medical degrees and doctorates in the health sciences than any other college or university in the country.

According to a Human Resources for Health analysis, African Americans comprise about 5% of the nation’s physicians while accounting for 13% of the U.S. population. Hispanic Americans comprise 6% of the country’s physicians while accounting for 19% of the population.

“Xavier has the distinction of putting more African Americans into medical school that go on to finish medical school than any other university in the United States,” Seoane said. “They have held that distinction for many years, and it’s not a big university. People connote Xavier with excellence in science, technology and math degrees, and they have lived their mission to promote justice and promote diversity, especially in the sciences. It is truly a privilege to work with Xavier.

“You take Ochsner as a premier academic medical center and you take Xavier with its excellence in STEM education and its reputation for living their mission and you put that together, and it really will address a crisis,” he said.

Seoane anticipates the medical school opening within four to five years with an estimated first-year enrollment of 50 students.

OSV NEWS PHOTO/GREGORY A. SHEMITZ

Members of the St. Agnes Cathedral Chorale of Rockville Centre, New York, sing as they participate in a eucharistic procession in New York City, Oct. 11, 2022.

Preaching peace amid violence: Pope heads back to Africa

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis’ fifth trip to the African continent will highlight gestures of peace and reconciliation, consoling the victims of violence but also emphasizing the importance of each person sowing peace in the family, the neighborhood and the nation.

The pope is scheduled to travel to Kinshasa, Congo, Jan. 31-Feb. 3, before making an ecumenical pilgrimage to Juba, South Sudan, Feb. 3-5, with Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury and the Rev. Iain Greenshields, moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

“It is enough, or it should be enough, that the pope is going to support the peace process; but the fact that he and his colleagues have committed to doing this as a joint visit should be understood to be a spectacular commitment to the peace process itself,” said Chris Trott, the British ambassador to the Holy See and former British envoy to Sudan and South Sudan.

Although the civil wars in both Congo and South Sudan officially have ended, the people continue to suffer from horrific acts of violence, which force the large-scale displacement of communities and keep much of the population in poverty.

Both countries are rich in natural resources, which makes the poverty even more glaring, but also gives the powerful or the disgruntled something else to fight over.

Pope Francis frequently decries the notion that “Africa is to be exploited.” As he told the Comboni Missionaries’ magazine in an interview published Jan.

By Justin McLellan Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — To be credible messengers of the Gospel, Catholic missionaries must be authentic, open to others and to dialogue, Pope Francis said.

Speaking to seminarians from the Pontifical Urban College, a seminary in Rome for priests from the church’s traditional mission territories, the pope said the students are uniquely positioned to inspire others at a time when the church is called to a “pastoral and missionary conversion.”

Meeting the seminarians at the Vatican Jan. 21, Pope Francis gave them advice on how to better live out their calling as missionaries.

A missionary’s closeness to God and others does not come from the appearance of being perfect, the pope said, but from having the “courage to be authentic.” He encouraged the seminarians to “overcome the fear of being judged for not corresponding to an ideal model, which often only exists in our minds.”

Missionaries are credible not because of “a habit they wear or an external attitude,” he said, but rather because they have a “style of simplicity and sincerity.”

He also warned them against the temptation of “formalism,” or of being overly fixated on their position. He encouraged them not to be afraid of showing themselves for who they are

14, the world’s powerful nations gave Africa “independence halfway: they give them economic independence from the ground up, but they keep the subsoil to exploit,” extracting oil or minerals and paying only a pittance.

Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, the nuncio to Congo, told reporters in Kinshasa Jan. 10 that Pope Francis’ plan to visit the country is an acknowledgement of Congo as the African nation

with the most Catholics — close to 50 million faithful — and “the country of the first black bishop of the African continent,” Nzingo Mpemba, also known as Bishop Henrique de Portugal, the son of the ruler of Kongo who was ordained a bishop in the early 1500s.

The theme of the pope’s visit, “All reconciled in Jesus Christ,” he said, is a call to the Congolese to set aside grudges and unite to end the great suffering

of their compatriots who live under the constant threat of violence, particularly in the eastern part of the country.

Pope Francis will stay in Kinshasa, the capital, but his original itinerary for Congo included a day trip east to North Kivu province for Mass and a meeting with the survivors of the conflicts there.

But the violence in North Kivu has flared up again, canceling that part of the papal trip.

Media needs truth, kindness, pope says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The media and the field of communications need to exercise more kindness and share the truth with charity, Pope Francis said.

“Kindness is not only a question of ‘etiquette’ but a genuine antidote to cruelty, which unfortunately can poison hearts and make relationships toxic,” the pope wrote in his message for World Communication Day.

to others and “especially to those older brothers that the church put by your side as formation leaders.”

The pope’s meeting with the seminarians marked 400 years since the foundation of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, which became part of the new Dicastery for Evangelization in the pope’s reform of the Roman Curia.

Pope Francis told the seminarians to “go out from themselves” in order to challenge their perspective.

“The life of faith is a continual

‘exodus,’ a going out from our mental framework, from the enclosure of our fears, from our small certainties that reassure us,” he said. “Otherwise, we risk adoring a God that is only a projection of our needs, and therefore an idol.”

The pope said one way to put this idea into practice is by accepting the “challenge of fraternity” while in seminary, and to be witnesses of that fraternity when they return to their home countries, especially in nations experiencing conflict.

Just as kindness is needed in social relationships, “we need it in the field of media, so that communication does not foment acrimony that exasperates, creates rage and leads to clashes, but helps people peacefully reflect and interpret with a critical yet always respectful spirit, the reality in which they live,” he added.

“We are all called to seek and to speak the truth and to do so with charity,” he said in the message released at the Vatican Jan. 24, the feast of St. Francis de Sales, the patron saint of journalists.

The pope said, “We should not be afraid of proclaiming the truth, even if it is at times uncomfortable.”

CNS PHOTO/JUSTIN MAKANGARA, REUTERS

Rose Nasomani, a street vendor, reacts as police prepare to seize her bags of corn as part of an effort to clean up the Congolese capital ahead of Pope Francis’ visit, in Kinshasa, Congo, Jan. 12, 2023. The pope is scheduled to visit Kinshasa Jan. 31-Feb. 3.

Missionaries are credible because they are not perfect

CNS PHOTO/VATICAN MEDIA

Pope Francis accepts a gift during an audience with seminarians from the Pontifical Urban College, a seminary in Rome for priests from the church’s traditional mission territories, at the Vatican Jan. 21.

EMPLOYMENT

Part-time retail sales associate - Trinity House Catholic Books and Gifts is looking for retail sales associates to become part of a team of the largest Catholic book and gift store in the archdiocese. Candidates must have excellent interpersonal skills, exceptional knowledge of our faith and the desire to help others in their journey. Position requires 24 - 32 hours per week, but willing to entertain a flexible schedule. Send resume via email to: trinityhouse01@gmail.com.

Director of human resources - Catholic Community Health (CCH) of Northeast Kansas is looking for a proven human resources director to join our management team. CCH owns and operates a skilled nursing facility, hospice company and in-home care service company. Reporting to the chief executive officer, this position manages and oversees all human resources functions for Catholic Community Health and its individual companies in a professional, ethical, efficient and organized manner, including recruitment, policy development, compensation, benefits administration and employee relations. The incumbent works directly with the executive management team and direct reports to ensure compliance with all federal, state and local laws and regulations as well as archdiocesan policies and procedures. To learn more about this position or to apply, please visit: archkck.org/jobs.

Website SEO and social medial specialist - Trinity House Catholic Books and Gifts is seeking an individual for full- or part-time employment or independent contractor to help manage and grow our web store and social media platforms. Candidate should have a proven track record of success with development, expansion and integration of several technology platforms. Candidate must have excellent written communication skills and understand application of HTML, Java, CSS and web platforms such as Volusion and Square Space. Please send resume via email to: trinityhouse01@gmail.com.

Chief executive officer - Catholic Community Health (CCH) of Northeast Kansas is looking for a proven health care executive to join and lead our management team as the chief executive officer. CCH owns and operates a skilled nursing facility, hospice company and in-home care service company. Reporting to the board of trustees, the chief executive officer (CEO) provides strategic leadership for the organization by working with the executive leadership team to establish and execute both short- and long-range goals, strategies, plans and policies. To learn more about this position, or to apply please visit: archkck.org/jobs.

Pastoral coordinator - Haskell Catholic Campus Center, Lawrence, seeks a flexible, creative person to provide a nurturing space for prayer, religious education and Christ’s joy. Our Catholic community of Haskell Indian Nations University students, employees, university personnel and alumni calls for good communication skills and solid grounding in Catholic religious education and practice. Flexible and creative coordination of the varied tasks of sacramental formation, activity planning, cooking, cleaning, bookkeeping and property maintenance are key! This is a full-time position (40 hrs./week). Annual salary, $32,000 (negotiable) plus benefits. Please email Jean Finch at: katerihcsc@gmail.com for more information, or mail a resume to: Jean Finch, 2301 Barker, Lawrence, KS 66046.

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Part-time program coordinator - St. Michael the Archangel preschool is seeking a part-time program coordinator. The position involves administrative responsibilities and assisting curriculum development. Specific duties include: processing payments using preschool data software; corresponding with families; assisting with classroom instruction; implementing preschool programs and policies; and abiding by principles of sound Catholic education. The program coordinator must meet state requirements for working as a lead teacher in a preschool classroom. Please submit resume and cover letter to Jennie Wente at: jennie.wente@stmichaelcp.org.

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Director of music ministry - St. St. Pius X Parish in Mission is seeking a director of music ministry. The music director is responsible for facilitating the worship life of the parish by coordinating and providing quality liturgical experiences that celebrate and strengthen the parish journey of faith with special emphasis on the musical leadership, coordination and formation of parish cantors, choirs and accompanists. The director should have a deep knowledge of Catholic liturgy and traditions and be able to integrate him/herself into the current music culture of the parish and build on the program. The position includes planning and developing the full liturgical cycle, including Sunday and holy day liturgies and other major parish celebrations. The director is expected to assist liturgical teams and committees. Other responsibilities include: maintains the parish liturgical music collection; orders music as needed; manages the parish copyright and licensing programs; directs, coordinates and/or performs music that is liturgically appropriate for parish liturgies and other celebrations. Serves as a resource to clergy, religious education/formation staff and catechists in selecting music and planning liturgies and prayer services; invites, encourages and enhances assembly participation in the sung liturgy; assures ongoing expansion of the parish music repertoire. Schedule requires weekend hours, evening hours and holiday hours as needed. Contact Search Committee c/o: lawagner@arch kckcs.org.

Parish business manager - St. Ann Parish in Prairie Village, is seeking a full-time business manager to oversee all financial, human resource and other administrative aspects of the parish. The position will have responsibilities for budgeting, financial reporting, and cash flow management, as well as managing the human resource and IT functions. The individual will work closely with the pastor, school principal and young child-care director regarding financial, human resource and other administrative matters, and positively interact with volunteers and parishioners to support the parish mission. The successful candidate will have a business-related or human resource degree with a working knowledge of accounting principles and practices. The ideal candidate will also be a proactive, team-oriented leader and possess strong communication and interpersonal skills. The position should have at least five years of demonstrated supervisory experience. A complete job description can be found at: www.stannpv.org. Interested candidates should email a cover letter and resume to Father Craig Maxim at: frcraig@stannpv.org.

Board members – Santa Marta, Johnson County’s premier life care community, sponsored by the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, is actively seeking board members for the current term. Applicants selected will begin serving April 1. The board meets during the business day six times a year, and each board member also serves on a committee that meets six to 12 times a year. We are seeking applicants who have experience serving on a not-for-profit board and have a concern for our senior citizens. In particular, we are seeking individuals who have a background in law, board governance and finance to serve a three-year term with the option to extend for a second three-year term. Those who wish to be considered for appointment to the board are encouraged to submit a letter of interest, resume or details of relevant experience and home parish to Heidi Abeln at: habeln@santamartaretirement.com by Jan. 31. Any questions regarding the application process can also be emailed to this address. Be sure to include your phone number and mailing address. Additional information about Santa Marta can be viewed at: www. santamartaretirement.com.

Web and graphic designer - Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas is looking for a talented Web and graphic designer to join the marketing team! This position is responsible for enhancing and strengthening communication with those served, volunteers and donors through the design and functionality of the public website, as well as keeping employees up-to-date through the intranet. Ideal candidates must have 2-4+ years of experience designing, building, implementing and managing responsive web pages and be skilled in WordPress. Graphic design skills and knowledge of Adobe Creative Cloud are also required as this role will take the lead in designing agency marketing materials. For more information and to apply, visit: https:// catholiccharitiesks.org/careers/.

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Staff job openings - Donnelly College in Kansas City, Kansas, has the following staff job openings available: Academic librarian; vice-president of business affairs/chief financial officer. Find job descriptions and details at: www.donnelly.edu/careers.

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Assistant principal – St. Joseph School in Shawnee is accepting applications for a new assistant principal for the 2023-24 school year. The preferred applicant is a practicing Catholic; has a strong desire to help others foster a relationship with Christ; has demonstrated experience in spiritual and instructional leadership within Catholic schools; and holds or is working toward Kansas licensure in educational leadership. The assistant principal works directly with the principal to uphold the mission of the school and to provide ongoing support in a variety of ways for teachers, students and parents. The assistant principal is responsible for specific tasks related to discipline; school-wide assessments; scheduling; technology; classroom support for teachers; supervision; as well as other duties. Interested applicants should apply online at: www.archkckcs.org and select “Employment” to access the online application. Once the online application is submitted, email resume and cover letter to Jodie Maddox, principal, St. Joseph School, at: jmaddox@stjoeshawnee.org.

Early childhood educators – With multiple locations in Johnson County, Special Beginnings Early Learning Center provides high quality child care in a safe, loving Christian environment. Our classrooms are full, and we are looking to add to our amazing team. We are looking for both full-time and part-time teachers for all ages of children. If you have an excellent work ethic, a heart for children and a willingness to learn more about early childhood education, we would love to meet you. For more information or to apply, call Carolyn Andruss at (913) 894-0131, ext. 102.

After-school care provider - St. Michael the Archangel School is looking for a part-time after-school care provider. Monday through Friday, 3:30 - 6 p.m., on days school is in session. Duties include gathering students when school is out; planning activities for students in program; monitoring and assisting children while in program; releasing to parent or guardian at the end of the day; and picking up the space at the end of the day. Must work well with children and parents. Email your resume to the principal, Diana Tate, to apply: diana. tate@stmichaelcp.org.

Manager assistant - St. Mary’s Food Kitchen has an immediate opening for a Manager Assist. Duties include: work closely with the manager, provide support to the day’s coordinator, ensure policies and procedures are followed and operational standard are achieved, participate in the frequency and scope of required daily cleaning tasks, availability to fill in for manager when absent, perform other work-related duties as assigned, interact with guests for improved service. This position is part-time. Weekends and holidays (time and a half). 9am-2pm with the occasional start time of 8:30am. $20/hour. To apply, please send a resume along with two references to Amelia Cortes, kitchen manager, at: stmfoodkitchen@gmail.com.

Extended day care position - Holy Spirit Catholic School in Overland Park is seeking an enthusiastic person to be the group leader in our after-school care program. This well-established program runs from 3 - 5:45 p.m. each school day. We are looking for a faith-filled, responsible, organized and creative person. Applicants should have knowledge of child development and be able to implement age-appropriate activities. The ability to communicate clearly with children, colleagues and parents is most important in order to foster positive relationships. Applicants must attend Virtus training, ongoing childcare training and be at least 18 years old. Contact Tessa Piscitello at (913) 492-2582 or email: tpiscitello@hscatholic.org for more information.

Faculty and adjunct faculty job openings - Donnelly College, Kansas City, Kansas, a Catholic college offering higher education for those who may not otherwise be served. Adjunct faculty job openings include: biology; clinical nursing and math coordinator. Faculty job opening available for the nursing school and for professor of philosophy. Find job descriptions and details at: www.donnelly.edu/careers.

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

Drivers and aides - Assisted Transportation is now hiring safe drivers and aides to transport students with special needs in Johnson, Wyandotte and Clay County, Missouri, in company vans. Drivers earn $14 - $16 per hour. Aides earn $12 per hour. Part-time and full-time schedules available. CDL not required. Retirees encouraged to apply. Make a difference in your community by helping those in need. Call (913) 521-4955 for more information. EEO

SERVICES

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

Need junk hauled or a cleanup? Will do rental homes/houses for sale, etc. Lawn care and trash cleanup as well. Will travel between Topeka and Kansas City and surrounding areas. Contact Alice at (785) 447-3062. Member of St. Matthew Parish in Topeka.

ACT Prep - Founded by a Bishop Miege graduate, Pathway Prep has helped over 250 students during the last four years improve their scores. In-person or virtual sessions available. For more information, visit: pathwayprepkc.com and contact Alex Pint at (913) 991-8217 or: alex@pathwayprepkc.com.

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.

Catholic counseling - For individuals, couples, families, adolescents and young adults. Sam Meier, MA, LPC. Call (913) 952-2267 or book an appointment at: StillwatersKC.com, in-person or Telehealth.

Memory quilts - Preserve your memories in a keepsake quality quilt, pillows, etc. Custom designed from your T-shirt collection, baby clothes, sports memorabilia, neckties . . . Quilted Memories. (913) 649-2704.

HOME IMPROVEMENT

Popcorn ceiling texture removal

Interior painting

Call Jerry at (913) 206-1144. 30 years’ experience. Member St. Joseph Parish, Shawnee.

Local handyman - Painting int. and ext., wood rot, masonry (chimney repair), gutter cleaning (gutter covers), dryer vent cleaning, sump pump (replace, add new), windows, doors (interior and exterior) honey-do list, window cleaning and more! Member of Holy Angels Parish, Basehor. Call Billy at (913) 927-4118.

Garage Door Repair

New Garage Doors

A Total Door - KC family owned since ‘83. www.ATotalDoor.com or (913) 236-6440

A Total Door (913) 236-6440. (913)205-0926 cell

Handyman - Home repair; skilled labor; remodeling; handyman work done in a timely manner. References available on request. Call Jeff Mauk at (913) 915-4738.

Gearing up for spring! We now offer financing on all your home improvement projects with approved credit. Here is a list of the construction services I offer: flooring; tile; interior/exterior painting, as well as deck and fence staining; ceiling scraping/re-texturing; bathroom, kitchen and basement remodeling; siding; decks and covered porches. We also do cabinet refinishing! Look me up on Facebook at “Father & Son Home Exteriors & Remodeling.” I work on all jobs, no subcontractors. Thank you to all my clients! (913) 709-7230.

Painting - Diamond Painting, (913) 648-4933, Residential/Commercial, Exterior/interior, Free Estimate, Affordable, Decks, DiamondPaintKc.com. Kcmo/ Overland Park Metropolitan area.

STA (Sure Thing Always) Home Repair - Basement finish, bathrooms and kitchens; interior & exterior repairs: painting, roofing, siding, wood replacement and window glazing. Free estimates. Call (913) 5791835. Email: smokeycabin@hotmail.com. Member of Holy Trinity, Lenexa.

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

FOR SALE

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

For sale - Double crypt at Holy Trinity Mausoleum in Topeka. Located in the middle corridor. Family owned, must sell. Call (785) 580-3928.

For sale - Two cemetery plots at Resurrection cemetery in Lenexa. Located in the Assumption section near the front of the cemetery. Valued at $5190 for both, asking $4000 for both Call (816) 388-3573 and leave a message or email: cindzers@bellsouth.net.

WANTED TO BUY

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

>> Classifieds continue on page 13

‘JOURNEY TO JOY: BROKEN MOMENTS, HEALING MOMENTS, HOLY MOMENTS’

Church of the Nativity

3800 W. 119th St., Leawood

Jan. 28 from 9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Mass will be at 8:15 a.m. followed by a light breakfast. Kelsey Skoch will be the speaker, focusing on topics of evangelization and missionary discipleship. Skoch is best known for her ministry and talks helping women in their personal purity. Space is limited. The cost is $20. Register at: kcnativity/org/journey.

TASTE OF KCK AT RESURRECTION SCHOOL

Resurrection School

425 N. 15th St., Kansas City, Kansas

Jan. 28 from 6 - 9 p.m.

The event will begin with a social followed by an ethnic buffet and then a program. Proceeds benefit students through academic programming, classroom supports, needbased scholarships and operations. Ticket are $100. For more information, go online to: rcskck.org/taste-of-kck or call (913) 371-8101.

NATIONAL CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK

Schools across the archdiocese

Jan. 29 - Feb. 4

During National Catholic Schools Week, schools and parishes take time to recognize and celebrate those in the community who make Catholic education possible. For many schools, this week is the kickoff to enrollment for the next school year, and special activities take place. Contact a school directly for more information.

CATHOLIC ESTATE PLANNING WITH WILLS AND TRUSTS WORKSHOP

St. Michael the Archangel Parish

14251 Nall Ave., Leawood

Feb. 1 from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.

Casey Connealy, estate planning attorney, will share ways to help families reduce estate taxes, minimize probate and finetune an estate plan that will benefit each family’s lifestyle, profession and specific circumstances. RSVP to: plannedgiving@ archkck.org or call (913) 647-0365.

SIXTH ANNUAL KATIE SCOTTINSPIRED BLOOD DRIVE

Sheraton Overland Park Hotel

6100 College Blvd.

Feb. 3 from 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.

In February of 2018, Katie Scott, a graduate of Bishop Miege High School in Roeland Park and Benedictine College in Atchison, lost her fight to Ewing sarcoma, a rare bone cancer. During her battle, she received multiple blood transfusions, which helped her recover from chemotherapy and radiation treatments and keep fighting. Donate blood in her honor with the American Red Cross at the sixth annual drive she inspired before she passed away. Call 1 (800) 733-2767 or visit the website at: redcrossblood.org and enter the sponsor code: KatieScott to schedule an appointment.

CALLED TO LOVE AGAIN

DIVORCE MINISTRY

Church of the Ascension (St. Luke Room)

9510 W. 127th St., Overland Park

Feb. 4 at 6 p.m.

Are you divorced and feeling lost and alone? The church welcomes you and offers healing. Please join us for formation and fellowship. For more information, send an email to: info@thecall2love.com.

IGNITE THE GREEN AND WHITE

2023 FOR XAVIER SCHOOL

Riverfront Community Center

123 S. Esplanade St., Leavenworth

Feb. 11 at 6 p.m.

Prepare to be ignited as we celebrate Catholic education! Xavier school’s Ignite the Green and White event features a cocktail reception with heavy appetizers, a student showcase and a silent auction. Visit the website at: leavenworthcatholicschools.org/give/ ignite-the-green-white and scroll down to sponsor a child, purchase event tickets and register for the silent auction.

GREEN CLUB EVENT

St. Patrick Parish Center

1086 N. 94th St., Kansas City, Kansas Feb. 11 at 6 p.m.

There will be 15 games of bingo beginning at 6:30 p.m. Concession food stand will have nachos for $4; hot dogs for $2.50; and chili dogs for $4. There will also be bottled water, candy and chips available for purchase. For more information, call Fritz at (913) 515-0621.

SEASONS OF HOPE GRIEF GROUP

Sts. Peter and Paul Parish

411 Pioneer St., Seneca Sundays at 5 p.m.

Anyone dealing with the loss of a loved one is welcome to join the Seasons of

Hope Grief Group. For further information, contact Roger Becker at (785) 364-6393.

PANCAKE BREAKFAST

St. Bede Parish

7344 Drought St., Kelly

Feb. 19 from 7:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Join us for our annual pancake breakfast. There will be pancakes, sausage and eggs. Takeout meals will be available. The cost is a freewill donation.

LITURGY OF THE HOURS WEEKEND

Conception Abbey (Guest Center)

37174 State Hwy. VV, Conception, Missouri

Feb. 17 - 19

Embrace the rich history behind the practice of sanctifying the hours of the day, and learn how to continue to pray these hours on your own once you return home. For more information, go online to: www. conceptionabbey.org/guests/.

MARDI GRAS AT THE CATHEDRAL

The Cathedral of St. Peter

416 N. 14th St., Kansas City, Kansas

Feb. 19 from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Come celebrate the last Sunday before Lent at the cathedral and enjoy a delicious spaghetti dinner. A freewill offering is requested for the dinner. Takeout is available. There will also be several great prizes to be raffled at the event. Raffle tickets will be available for purchase at the event. Proceeds will go to support future programming at the cathedral. For more information, call (913) 371-0840 or visit the website at: www.cathedralkck.org.

HOLY ROSARY RALLY IN HONOR OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA

St. Mary/St. Anthony Parish 615 N. 7th St., Kansas City, Kansas Feb. 22 from 3 - 4:15 p.m.

We will pray the joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries of the rosary. Benediction will follow, as well as an opportunity for attendees to enroll in the brown scapular. For more information, visit the website at: www.rosaryrallieskc.org.

FINISH FAITHFUL CONFERENCE

St. Michael the Archangel Parish Hall 14251 Nall Ave., Leawood

Feb. 25 from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.

All things preplanning for your legacy

will be presented by six speakers on different topics. To register and for an agenda, go online to: archkck.org/finishfaithfulregistration or call Terri Lynn in the archdiocesan office of stewardship and development at (913) 647-0365.

LENTEN SILENT RETREAT: PENETRATING MYSTICAL

TRUTH

Christ’s Peace House of Prayer

22131 Meager Rd., Easton

Feb. 24 at 5:30 p.m. - Feb. 25 at 4:30 p.m.

Start your Lent with a deep understanding of the mystical, with insight and practical usefulness. This retreat will give you an overview of the brilliant vision, helping know the Christian mystical vision of truth. The more deeply you comprehend mystical truth, the more you will be transformed by its power. There will be conferences, eucharistic adoration, confession, and time for private prayer, reflection and walking. Cabins/courtyard rooms: $170 single/$250 couple or single guest rooms $100. To attend, fill out the form online at: Christs Peace.com or call (913) 773-8255.

WOMEN’S CONFERENCE ON HEALING AND FORGIVENESS

Holy Trinity Parish

13615 W. 92nd St., Lenexa

May 4 from 5 - 9:30 p.m.

May 5 from 2:30 - 4 p.m. and 6 - 10 p.m. May 6 from 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Come join us to experience Christ’s divine mercy and the power of healing and forgiveness in your life. We will have several inspirational speakers, exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, eucharistic adoration and opportunities for reconciliation. There will also be a wine and cheese social on Friday evening. The early registration cost of $85 ends March 19. The registration fee after that will be $125. For more information, visit the website at: CatholicWomens ConferenceKC.com.

CALENDAR SUBMISSIONS

DEADLINE: Noon, Thursday, eight days before the desired publication date.

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

>> Continued from page 12

Will buy firearms and related accessories - One or a whole collection. Honest evaluation and top prices paid. Contact Tom at (913) 238-2473. Member of Sacred Heart Parish, Shawnee.

Wanted to buy - Do you have a car or truck that you need to get rid of? If you do, CALL ME! I’m a cash buyer. We’re Holy Trinity parishioners. My name is Mark. (913) 980-4905.

CAREGIVING

Classified Advertising

The Leaven reaches approximately 50,000 subscribers. Cost is $20 for the first five lines, $1.50 per line thereafter.

To purchase a Leaven classified ad, email: beth.blankenship@theleaven.org.

Caregiving - We provide personal assistance, companionship, care management, and transportation for seniors in their home, assisted living or nursing facilities. We also provide respite care for main caregivers needing some personal time. Call Daughters & Company at (913) 341-2500 and speak with Laurie, Pat or Gary. Family member with dementia or need help at home? - We specialize in helping seniors live SAFELY at home, where they want to live! We also offer free dementia training and resources for families and caregivers. Benefits of Home - Senior Care, www. Benefitsofhome.com or call (913) 422-1591.

REAL ESTATE

We buy houses and whole estates - We are local and family owned, and will make you a fair cash offer. We buy houses in any condition. No fees or commissions and can close on the date of your choice. Selling your house has never felt so good. Jon & Stacy Bichelmeyer (913) 599-5000.

WE WANT TO BUY YOUR HOUSE - There are so many new companies in town advertising to buy houses. But we’re the only ones that have been here and we’re local Holy Trinity parishioners. I will give you a fair price on any conditions you are up against. Call Mark Edmondson. (913) 980-4905.

DAILY READINGS

FOURTH WEEK OF ORDINARY TIME Jan. 29

FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Great teachers move us to the head of the class

Idon’t recall having Catholic Schools Week when I was a student. Of course, those were the days when we walked to school barefoot, in snow every day, and uphill both ways.

MARK MY WORDS

Heb 11: 32-40

Ps 31: 20-24

Mk 5: 1-20

Jan. 31

John Bosco, priest

Heb 12: 1-4

Ps 22: 26-28, 30-32

Mk 5: 21-43

Feb. 1

Wednesday

Heb 12: 4-7, 11-15

Ps 103: 1-2, 13-14, 17-18a

Mk 6: 1-6

Feb. 2

THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD

Mal 3: 1-4

Ps 24: 7-10

Heb 2: 14-18

Lk 2: 22-40

Feb. 3

Blaise, bishop, martyr; Ansgar, bishop

Heb 13: 1-8

Ps 27: 1, 3, 5, 8-9

Mk 6: 14-29

Feb. 4

Saturday

Heb 13: 15-17, 20-21

Ps 23: 1-6

Mk 6: 30-34

If you look at the masthead at the bottom of page 3, you’ll see my name followed by the letters “stl.” People often ask what that stands for, wondering if perhaps I belong to a religious order. After almost 23 years of Catholic education, I tell them it stands for “Slow. To.Learn.” (Actually, it stands for Licentiate in Sacred Theology, an academic degree midway between a master’s and a doctorate in American terms.)

This year’s Catholic Schools Week theme is: “Faith. Excellence. Service.” Honestly, I experienced all three throughout my education. I remember with gratitude and fondness the many teachers who

FATHER

MARK GOLDASICH

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

inspired me by their dedication, expertise and love of learning. They instilled in me a thirst for knowledge and an ability to think critically.

I can’t help but think of this story, from Kevin G. Harney’s “Seismic Shifts,” as I reflect on those teachers:

Every day, at the same time, Margaret

would open the bathroom cabinet, take out a huge bottle of castor oil and head to the kitchen for a tablespoon.

At the sound of that silverware rattling, Patches — her Yorkshire terrier — would sprint off and hide.

Someone convinced Margaret that Patches would have strong teeth, a beautiful coat and a long life if she gave him a spoonful of castor oil daily. So, as an act of love, every 24 hours, Margaret would corner Patches, pin him down, pry open his mouth and pour that castor oil down

his little doggy throat. Neither Patches nor Margaret enjoyed this daily wrestling match.

Then one day, in the middle of this battle, Patches sent the dreaded bottle of castor oil flying across the kitchen floor with one powerful kick. It was a victory for Patches, since Margaret had to let him go and grab a towel to clean up the mess.

When Margaret returned to the kitchen, she was shocked at the sight. There was Patches eagerly licking up the spilled castor oil with a look of utter contentment. Margaret burst out laughing. Now, it all made sense!

Patches liked the castor oil. What he hated was being pinned down and having it poured down his throat. (Story found in “1001 Illustrations That Connect,” edited by Craig Brian Larson and Phyllis Ten Elshof.)

Those memorable

teachers from my past had a gift of providing students what was good for us (“the castor oil”) without shoving it down our throats. Particularly when it came to the faith, we could sense their joy and enthusiasm; it was something more “caught” than “taught.”

My one regret is that it took me so long to appreciate those long-ago teachers, and that I never took the opportunity to tell them how much they influenced me.

If you’ve made the same mistake, Catholic Schools Week is an ideal time to rectify it. Make time to let those inspirational teachers know the impact they’re having, whether in Catholic schools or in religious ed programs.

And above all, let’s remember what those teachers knew so well: Our faith is attractive in itself . . . without having to be shoved down people’s throats.

Make living the Beatitudes your resolution this new year

Chances are most of us struggle to keep New Year’s resolutions concerning our health, habits or relationships.

Perhaps you have, like me, already fallen behind on spiritual resolutions. Thanks be to God, the Lenten season approaches in a few weeks.

seeking humility are spiritual paths that are pleasing to God.

BLAISE

Fourth century

This bishop and martyr lived in the fourth century in Turkey and Armenia. For a time, Blaise lived in a cave to escape persecution. On his feast, the church recalls a miracle cure associated with him and celebrates the blessing of the throats. Blaise apparently saved the life of a boy who was choking on a fish bone. The saint said that anyone who lit a candle in his memory would be free of infection, thus candles are used in the traditional throat blessing. He is listed among the Fourteen Holy Helpers — saints revered as healers.

In the meantime, the table of God’s word nourishes us with the extraordinary graces even outside of our most sacred seasons. Such is the case with this Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, when the wisdom of Scripture offers another approach to spiritual resolutions in the form of the Beatitudes, given by Jesus during his Sermon on the Mount.

In Sunday’s first reading, the prophet

Zephaniah reminds the Israelites that they might be sheltered from the day of the Lord’s anger if they resolved to “seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth, who have observed his law: Seek justice, seek humility.” Seeking God, seeking justice and

The psalmist invites us to make his words of blessing to God our own song of praise. And the psalmist prefigures the blessings of the Beatitudes when he says, “The Lord gives sight to the blind; the Lord raises up those who were bowed down. The Lord loves the just; the Lord protects strangers.”

The same divine reversal of worldly values unfolds in Sunday’s First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians. Paul reminds the Christians of Corinth that many of them were not of noble birth or high ranking in society. Yet by God’s action in their lives, they became humble instruments of divine love and mercy to others. As

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Christians must develop a pastoral heart to care for those who have not heard the Gospel or who have left the fold, Pope Francis said.

“By being with Jesus, we discover that his pastoral heart always beats for the person who is confused, lost, far away,” the pope said at his weekly general audience Jan. 18.

“Jesus never said, ‘Let them sort themselves

the apostle Paul writes, “God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God.”

In giving the crowds the Beatitudes, Jesus directs their gaze to the higher values of the kingdom of God in contrast to the values of this world, formed, so often, in isolation from or in opposition to God.

The beatitudes are the “perfect standard of the Christian life,” wrote St. Augustine in one of his homilies.

Prior to a 2011 Sunday Angelus, the late Pope Benedict XVI noted

that the “Beatitudes are a new program of life, to free oneself from the false values of the world and to open oneself to the true goods, present and future. . . .

The Beatitudes are the transposition of the Cross and Resurrection into discipleship. They mirror the life of the Son of God who let himself even be persecuted and despised until he was condemned to death so that salvation might be given to men and women.”

What would this year look like if we turned the Beatitudes into our spiritual resolutions? Jesus invites us to do just that so we can discover the exhilarating path of Christian discipleship as we pray in confidence, saying, “Speak to me, Lord.”

Shepherd, pope says

out’; he went out to find them.”

Pope Francis encouraged Christians to model themselves on Jesus, the Good Shepherd, longing for those who have left the church just as a shepherd longs for lost sheep, rather than treating them as “adversaries or enemies.” “When we meet them at school, work or on the streets of our city, why don’t we think instead that we have a beautiful opportunity to witness to them the joy of a Father who loves them

and has never forgotten them?” the pope asked.

He encouraged the pilgrims and visitors gathered in the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall to reflect on how God seeks out those who distance themselves from him. “The Lord suffers when we distance ourselves from his heart,” he said, “but in response to this suffering he does not withdraw, rather he risks. He leaves the 99 sheep who are safe and ventures out for the lost one.”

JEM SULLIVAN

Sullivan is a professor at The Catholic University of America.

To be pastoral, look to the Good

It takes all of us to create a safety net of protection

As the director of the office for protection and care and formerly the ombudsman serving the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, I have been working in the ministry of church abuse for well over a decade. Although I have experience addressing victim crimes as a former prosecutor, I have learned so much from this ministry.

The church’s prevention efforts over the last 20 years, along with society’s better understanding and response to sexual abuse, has significantly decreased its occurrence. It takes every single one of us to create a strong safety

GUEST COMMENTARY

net of protection. We are grateful to all of you who have done your part to strengthen our awareness and prevention efforts.

The office for protection and care ministry includes both abuse prevention and also the response to sexual abuse, caring for abuse victims that are harmed by someone in a position of trust in the church. Our team is responsible for responding to abuse by conducting

investigations as well as accompanying victims in their journeys of healing. I have seen the wounds caused by the abuse, but it has been especially painful to witness the devastation caused when our response to a victim’s disclosure fails to live up to our Catholic values.

Several years ago, I resolved to help the church take a different approach to responding to abuse, an approach based on restorative principles. Restorative principles recognize that humans are fundamentally relational, and church sexual abuse creates harm in a variety of relationships. According to these principles,

anytime harm is caused, it creates needs in those who have been hurt and it creates the obligation by the person or institution that caused the harm, to work to make it right.

I wish we could turn back time and stop past abuse, but since we cannot do that, we must, as a church, work to meet the needs that have arisen out of that harm. Often, sexual abuse steals dignity and control and creates profound feelings of shame, denial, anger, depression, shattering trust. Restorative practices are designed to empower the victim and support them on a healing path while aiming for true accountability.

I often hear well-meaning people assert that this is a church problem of the past. While our prevention efforts have made great strides, the wounds from the abuse and, oftentimes, the church response to that abuse, remain. Trust has been broken.

Our team strives to serve this important ministry with humility and grace, recognizing we have lots more to do and learn. If you or someone you know has been sexually abused by a cleric, employee or volunteer of the archdiocese, it would be our honor to visit with you in the hopes we can work to atone for those sins.

Let Rice Bowl help you answer the cry of the poor this Lent

Over the last 40 years a remarkable thing has happened so quietly, that hardly a newsgroup has noticed: The global absolute poverty rate has fallen from 42% in 1981 to 8.6% today.

As American Catholics, we can be proud that through our support of Catholic Relief Services (CRS), and by the grace of God, we have helped humanity reach an unprecedented milestone. Most people no longer live in abject poverty for the first time in human history.

The yearly Lenten almsgiving done through the cardboard CRS Rice Bowls has

DO UNTO OTHERS

empowered CRS to go to the poorest areas of the world and help families lift themselves out of poverty — by building wells, giving HIV treatments, providing hunger relief and teaching sustainable agriculture. The

“Lord hears the cry of

the poor” (Ps 34:18), and the Lenten giving of Catholics through Rice Bowl (see the website at: CRSricebowl. org) has been part of his answer.

Each Lent, we as a church meditate upon the life, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus by which we are reconciled with God. We spiritually enter into the 40-day desert with Jesus through prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

It is a season in which God especially wants to give us the grace to personally transform us. How wonderful, then, to realize that as God was transforming us,

he has also been using our “fiat,” our sacrificial “yes,” to quietly transform the world.

If you go online to: CRSricebowl.org, you will have a chance to connect with the stories of families who have experienced God’s help through our CRS efforts.

Stories such as the Padilla family of Honduras, who have learned new eco-friendly farming techniques. The mother Reina shares these words: “I think the people who are helping our community are touched by God because God looks at the needs of families of the communities.”

Certainly, much has been done to alleviate global poverty that secular news has hardly noticed, but still there is much to be done as the church strives to answer that cry of the poor by bringing people into economic conditions that enable human flourishing.

Lent starts Wednesday, Feb. 22. This year, we expect to reach more than 190 million people with life-saving support. So as you prepare for Lent, please be sure to bring a “rice bowl” into your home and utilize its resources for prayer, almsgiving and fasting.

Core principles guide all that Catholic schools do

This year’s Catholic Schools

Week theme is: “Catholic Schools — Faith, Excellence, Service.”

The primary goal of our schools is nothing less than to help each one of our students reach heaven. With that in mind, the archdiocesan schools office has developed core principles to guide all that we do within our schools. These core principles are:

Joyfully Catholic Personnel — Teachers who embrace the faith; who are happy about being Catholic; who want to learn more about the faith and deepen their relationships with Christ; who are active in their parishes; and who are

FROM THE SUPER

beautiful witnesses of the faith to their students, parents and the school community.

Curriculum — Instruction that reflects a Catholic worldview, grounded in the moral theology and social justice teachings of

the church; the contributions of doctors of the church and other church scholars are presented, in age-appropriate ways, to students.

Environment — We respect the human dignity of everyone we encounter within our schools and community, and live as powerful witness to the Gospel of Jesus; we embrace Virtuous Behavior

Formation based on Jesus’ example; our school buildings and classrooms display Gospel-centered art and other beautiful images that inspire thoughtful contemplation.

Community — We recognize parents have the original, primary and inalienable right as the first educators of the child. Schools share in the responsibility of educating all God’s children.

Diligently achieving Our schools focus on guiding students to develop their God-given talents by attending to the individual needs of each student’s spiritual growth, academic success and emotional well-being. All schools provide faith forma-

tion, rigorous curriculum and instruction, and a virtue-based approach to students’ personal development.

Intentionally self-giving

Our service toward others is rooted in an individual, age-appropriate, discernment process that asks students to reflect on their God-given talents. Reflecting on their work, students will learn to hear God’s desires for them and others in fulfillment of the Gospel.

Prudently managed

We are blessed by the financial gifts to our schools from benefactors, parishes and fundraising. We utilize all finances to the glory of God by prudently budgeting and

incorporating strategic planning. Communication to all stakeholders provides transparency and allows for opportunities for cultivating relationships.

Forward thinking

We continually use data, both historical and projected, to set a strategic vision and plan for our schools. This plan articulates goals and tactics, the cost of implementation and a development plan for acquiring the needed revenue. The plan is comprehensive and reflects the true cost of operating the school and implementing the strategic plan.

Above all, we call upon the Holy Spirit to provide us with wisdom to guide these and all our efforts.

JENIFER VALENTI

Jenifer Valenti is the director of the office for protection and care for the archdiocese.

DEACON BILL SCHOLL

Deacon Scholl is the archdiocesan consultant for social justice. You can email him at: socialjustice@archkck.org.

VINCE CASCONE

Vince Cascone is the superintendent of archdiocesan schools.

BUILD A BETTER PARISH

Six ways I can make my parish better

By Lorene Hanley Duquin OSV News

Today, parishioners are expected to feel a true sense of ownership in their parish. That means looking at your parish as more than just a place where you go to Mass.

A parish can be a sacred place where the human and the divine meet, where people of all ages grow in the knowledge and understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

It can be a place where people receive spiritual nourishment, guidance, inspiration and strength — not just from the priests but from other members of the parish as well.

It can be a spiritual home where people share in each other’s joys, support each other in times of sorrow, offer encouragement to those who are struggling and help to heal anyone who feels battered or broken by life’s trials and tragedies.

Or it can be a social place where people make new friends, reach out to those less fortunate and invite others to become part of a community of believers who try their best to live the Gospel message.

Maybe your parish is already all of this and more. But even the best parishes can become even better when parishioners take an active interest in making the parish grow and prosper. Here are six ways to do just that.

1. Think of yourself as part of a parish family. Family members share a common heritage and history. They are grounded in the same beliefs, values and traditions. They embrace new members of the family with a spirit of love and acceptance. Family members don’t always agree, but they do feel a strong commitment to one another and to the family as a whole.

2. Be welcoming. When you come together on the weekend for Mass, think of it as a large family reunion — with people you know well, know slightly or don’t know at all. Introduce yourself to people you don’t know, especially if they are sitting alone in church or standing by themselves at the coffee-and-doughnut hour. If they’re new to the parish, offer to give them a tour, introduce them to other parishioners or simply tell them why you love the parish. Enthusiasm is catching! Watch your nonverbal communication, too. If you’re sitting on the end of a pew, for example, don’t make others crawl over you to get to middle seats. Remember to smile; take the time to compliment the people sitting around you on everything from their singing ability to the cuteness of their kids.

3. Use your gifts and talents for the good of the parish. God has given each person unique gifts and talents that are intended to be shared. Like public speaking? You might get involved as a lector. If you’re friendly and outgoing, you could be an usher or a greeter. You can share your deep devotion to the Eucharist by becoming a eucharistic minister or an adult altar server. If you play an instrument or sing, the music ministry might

be the place for you. Maybe you’re a teacher and could help in religious education; if you love children, you could assist in the babysitting room. Any expertise — business, finance, public relations, photography, grant writing, engineering, carpentry, building maintenance or even such skills as cooking, baking, cleaning or gardening — can find a place in the parish.

Maybe your greatest gift is time; if you’re already a eucharistic minister, you can take Communion to the sick and homebound. Or you can help with your parish outreach ministry to the poor. You might even have an idea for a new ministry, support group, organization or event, and your enthusiasm and energy can help other people get excited and involved.

4. Attend parish events. Although Mass is our central focus, other parish ministries, activities and events help to increase spirituality and build community as well. Whether it’s a mission, a lecture, a lawn fête or a spaghetti dinner, take advantage of opportunities to meet new people, feel more connected and affirm your fellow parishioners who work hard to plan and execute these events.

Invite family members, friends, neighbors and co-workers to join you — especially those who are not Catholic or may have stopped practicing their faith. These folks may not be ready to attend Mass, but they might enjoy coming to a parish event, meeting other parishioners and seeing some of the good things that the Catholic Church has to offer.

5. Support your parish financially. You know how expensive it is to run your own home. Parishes face even higher costs — and depend on parishioners to help meet them. Take a serious look at the money you give to your parish each week. Do you increase your contributions each year as the cost of living rises? Giving to the church is more than just a financial obligation. Once you recognize that everything you have is a gift from God, you see that giving generously to continue God’s work in the parish is an essential part of your spirituality.

6. Pray for your parish. Keep your pastor, parish staff and fellow parishioners in your daily prayers. Praying a rosary, spending time in eucharistic adoration, fasting or offering up any suffering, annoyance or inconvenience you experience for the well-being of your parish will bring rewards not just for the parish but for you personally. You will begin to see yourself as spiritual support for all the good work being done in and through your parish.

Pray also for the return of Catholics who have strayed from the practice of the faith, people raised with no faith and people searching for meaning and purpose in life.

No parish is perfect, and even the best parishes can improve. Imagine what would happen if every person in your parish did one little thing to make the parish better!

Lorene Hanley Duquin is the author of Catholic books, pamphlets and articles on a variety of evangelization and ministry topics.

LEAVEN PHOTO BY KATHRYN WHITE

The work of a parish is ongoing. Just as continued financial support is critical to a parish’s success, so, too, is spiritual support. Keep your pastor, parish staff and fellow parishioners in your daily prayers. Pray, as well, for the return of Catholics who have strayed from their practice of the faith.

LEAVEN PHOTO BY KATHRYN WHITE

Another way to make your parish better is to donate your time. If your passion is for the poor, every parish has an outreach. You might even have an idea for a new ministry.