Marlena (holding a neighbor’s child) with daughters Elvira and Wendy, husband Julio and son Julio Cesar, stands near a garden planted near their front door. (Marty Denzer/Key photo)

By Marty Denzer
Catholic Key Reporter

EL SALVADOR — The mountainside village was surrounded by coffee plantations and sugar cane fields. Despite a lowering sky, with clouds so close you could almost touch them, a table was set out in the center of the village, displaying a big vase of flowers and fruits and vegetables, all home grown. A group of women stood near the table chatting, occasionally stooping to pick up a small child. Other children rode bikes or kicked a soccer ball around. A brood hen sat on a nest off to one side of the village center, clucking quietly to her chicks, a pony grazed contentedly in a patch of grass while dogs, cats and an occasional goat wandered by.

As we approached, applause and smiles greeted us. The two blondes in our group fascinated several children, who reached up to touch the light hair. Plastic chairs were hurriedly brought, we sat down and the Community Arenales Mothers Group meeting began.

The group, begun in 2009 as part of another mothers group before becoming independent in 2011, is comprised of 17 mothers with 24 sponsored children through Unbound. They meet regularly to discuss community challenges, successes and reports of the finance, education, nutrition and health and recreation committees. But first they wanted us to see and taste some of the fruits and vegetables grown in the community.

Olga told us, “We all work together. We share all the fruit and vegetables. We have roses. We’ll have corn and beans come harvest time. We also grow limes, paterna (a large pod of beans covered with a fluffy white, sweet coating like cotton candy), maranon or cashew fruit (the actual fruit surrounding the nut), mangoes and other fruits. We are surrounded by green. At this time of year, all is green.”

She added that some of the families in the community have small farms and raise chickens and some cows for milk and cheese.

A member of the finance committee, Olga has charge of record keeping: attendance, expenditures and deposits. Each mother deposits $2 every month in her bank account, saved from the children’s sponsorship contributions, fundraisers and raffles, and what they earn from a small business. Mothers also pay .50 monthly collaborative dues.

“Everything is written down,” Olga said. If a mother cannot write her name on the attendance sheet, her fingerprint is used.

The deposits build up a mother’s bank account and credit rating and help the members save for purchases like a new roof, an electric stove or plastic chairs. The deposits also help a mom apply for a loan through the Mothers Group to start or add to a small business and to make loan repayments. Some of the mothers are members of a co-op which also helps their small businesses, which includes handmade jewelry, clothing, or food sales.

Marlena, a member of the education committee, takes charge of keeping the minutes of every Mothers Group meeting and of every meeting with Unbound’s social workers. She checks the grades of every sponsored student quarterly to see if anyone needs help academically. If so, a group of scholarship students are available to tutor.

She also helps the children write letters to their sponsors and delivers them to the social workers who send them to the center in Santa Ana to be translated and forwarded to the U.S.

The health and nutrition committee members visit sponsored children to check on their overall health. They also assist visiting doctors on health campaigns, running tests and doing lab work.

Julia, on the recreation committee, works to provide dancing and music in the community, as well as other activities.

“We are all here to care for each other,” Olga said.

Marlena (32) and her husband Julio (43) have three children, Elvira (16), Wendy (12) who is sponsored, and Julio Cesar (2). With smiles the couple told of their meeting and courtship, saying “We started to talk and since we started talking, everything has been beautiful!” The family lives in the house where Julio grew up.

Every morning Julio heads for the fields to cultivate the growing corn and beans, some of which he will sell at harvest time. Marlena makes sure Wendy and Elvira are getting ready for school. Wendy is in the fifth grade and attends school a short walk from home. Elvira must walk 45 minutes each way to high school, where she attends both morning and afternoon sessions. She is unable to come home for lunch. The teenager was recently awarded an Unbound scholarship which will help a lot. Pedro, the community’s social worker, said it is important to help someone who has the willingness to study and parental support because the scholarship will benefit the whole family.

After the girls leave for school, Marlena takes maize (corn) to the mill to be ground into meal which she boils into dough over an open fire. When the corn dough has risen, she makes and grills tortillas from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Some are sold to others in the community, the rest provide food for the family.

The parents have dreams for their children; wanting them to study and get ready for something better in their lives. Marlena makes “this effort so they can have opportunities we didn’t have.”

Julio, who completed third grade before having to quit school to work in the fields with his parents, agreed.

Marlena said Elvira’s scholarship is most welcome. “I feel a big relief now that Elvira has the scholarship. She will be able to study and eat!”

Oh, they have also dreams for themselves, mainly a bigger house. Elvira plans to find a job after graduation so she can help pay to enlarge the house.

“We have received so many blessings from Unbound,” Marlena said. “Because Wendy is sponsored, I was able to join the mothers group, and we have learned so much. The 3-month savings program helped us fix a leaky roof, pay to make the house a little bigger, and helped us buy plastic chairs and a chest with drawers for our clothes.”

Julio added that once, when the harvest was bad, there was little food in the house. Unbound helped with an emergency bag of food. “It was like it fell from heaven,” he said. “Oil, corn and beans to help us live.”

As the mouthwatering smell of grilled tortillas sprinkled with salt and lime juice caused a few rumblings in our stomachs, we said, “Adios and gracias.” Lunch was waiting down the hill.

Delmy Garcia, learning to dream in English.

By Marty Denzer
Catholic Key Reporter

ATACO, EL SALVADOR — Ataco is a picturesque town located in the Apaneca Mountains not far from the Guatemalan border. Homes and businesses are painted pink, yellow, blue and green with flowers and harvest scenes or religious images. Cobblestoned streets pop up in the midst of asphalt, and curbs are high to keep water from heavy rains or flooded streams from getting into buildings. Banners of Pope Francis hang from street poles on almost every block. People are friendly and the nearby mountain tops disappear into the clouds.

Delmy Garcia (21) lives with her family in a house painted yellow. She has been sponsored for about 15 years, and was recently awarded an Unbound scholarship to attend the public university in Santa Ana, an hour or so away.

The freshman is studying English, Spanish grammar, psychology and Visual Expression, an education course. Delmy hopes to be a teacher.

In order to be on time for her first class, at 6:45 a.m., she gets up at 4 a.m., and takes two busses to Santa Ana. “The busses are really crowded,” she said, “and sometimes it’s difficult to be polite because I don’t want to be late for class. But I try because I like to be kind.”

She gets lots of practice at being kind: she is one of 14 people living in the house, which belongs to her grandmother. One of four families living in the home, hers lives there rent free, as her grandmother insisted that any rent her parents would pay be directed toward their children’s education. Delmy also works weekends at a restaurant in Apaneca, about 15 minutes from Ataco.

Besides transportation, Delmy faces other challenges to completing her education. The biggest challenge is that she doesn’t have a computer or the Internet at home, which causes problems when her teachers want homework or papers emailed. The computers in the center at the university often don’t work and she has to compete with other students to use the computers that do work. She often gets home late and the cyber cafes are closed, and “they aren’t very safe anyway.”

Her scholarship helps pay the weekly tuition costs, but she works to cover other expenses, including transportation, cyber café charges if she needs to use their computers, food and photocopies.

Delmy is confident that she will succeed.” I don’t believe in obstacles!” She wants to teach children of all ages, in a public school where instruction in English may be lacking.

Right now she finds it easier to write in English than to speak it. She proudly, but shyly showed off an essay she had penned.

“My dream house will be in New York City. It will be original. The rooms will have a TV, a sofa and a hot tub. It will be three floors, and the color will be blue and white. There is a pool and there is a big garden. There are many trees. There are two garages because I will have two cars. I will share my dream house with my mother, my father, my sister and my brother.”

She has dreams, oh yes, and her sponsor’s monthly contribution and encouraging letters are helping her get closer to realizing them.

“I feel great,” she said. “The foundation is great to my family. I have learned to be responsible and to care for others. The biggest benefit I have received is the opportunity to continue my education. I come from a humble family and it would be very difficult if I wasn’t sponsored.”

Delmy’s brother, Saul, is 10 years old and her sister Jancy Zisela is 16. Although neither is sponsored, Delmy tries to share by teaching Zisela some English when she helps her sister with her homework.

When she’s not attending classes, riding busses, working or studying, Delmy enjoys music and the company of friends. She also likes to paint sometimes.

She said she would encourage teenagers to “believe in yourself and most of all, believe in God because he will be there to support you. If there are obstacles, don’t let them stop you. Continue with your dreams, God is there.”

As we rose to go, Delmy darted into her room and reappeared with a painting wrapped in plastic. The pastoral scene showed the sun, the moon and three stars predominately positioned. “A friend painted this for me. He said the moon represents my father, the sun is my mother and the three stars are Saul, Zisela and me.”

The painting was obviously very special to this young woman, and I felt tears in my eyes; they overflowed when she hugged me. She reminded me of my own daughters, determined to succeed with her dreams.

After lunch with the Unbound- Ataco staff and social workers, we paid a visit to Iglesia Ave Maria, a century-old Franciscan church. I found myself saying a little prayer that the dreams of Delmy, Marlena, Julio, Faustina, Carlos and their families come true. I suspect the others in our group were also whispering hopes for the families they had met on this trip to the Presence in the beautiful church.

To learn more about sponsorship opportunities through Unbound, visit their website, www.unbound.org or contact Unbound, 1 Elmwood Avenue, Kansas City, Kan., 66103, (800) 875-6564 or (913) 384-6500.

Bishop Robert W. Finn carries the Body of Christ through the streets of Kansas City’s Westside neighborhood, from the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, to Sacred Heart-Guadalupe Church on the June 22 Feast of Corpus Christi.
(Kevin Kelly/Key photo)

By Kevin Kelly
Catholic Key Associate Editor

KANSAS CITY — Their faces had seen neither soap nor razor in quite some time. Likewise, the tattered jeans and T-shirts that the two men wore had also seen newer and cleaner days, as they sought refuge huddled under a railroad bridge along Summit Street to escape the early summer heat.

But as Bishop Robert W. Finn, carrying the Body of Christ in a golden monstrance, led a procession of some 500 people under the bridge between the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Sacred Heart-Guadalupe Church, the two men knew what to do.

They took off their sweat-stained billed hats, laid them across their hearts, bowed their heads and dropped to their knees on the concrete pavement.

Thus is the power of the Holy Eucharist.

“What we do is also a great act of faith,” Bishop Finn told the congregation that filled the Shrine for an hour of silent, prayerful adoration before leading them on the procession.

“We are saying to those along the way, ‘This is the Lord God. We believe he is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament, and that he is the Savior of the World,” Bishop Finn said.

The scene was repeated along the route.

People, both customers and staff, poured out of the restaurants along Southwest Boulevard, many of them crossing themselves as the sacrament passed, many of them taking pictures with cell phones. Families stood on their front porches and front yards, some clutching rosaries.

Since 2005, Bishop Finn has led such a procession, nine times through the streets of metropolitan Kansas City, and once in St. Joseph.

For the last seven years, the annual Corpus Christi procession — which dates back centuries in church history — has been a joint event of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph and the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. This year, however , was the first year since 2007 that Kansas City, Kan., Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann was unable to attend.

This year, the procession was brief. Only a half-mile, 880 yards, separates the Westside Shrine from Sacred Heart-Guadalupe, two locations very much part of the fabric and life of the Hispanic neighborhood.

In remarks in both sanctuaries, in both Spanish and English, Bishop Finn thanked the crowd for its display of faith.

“Today we come before our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament to honor him in his Body and Blood, and to ask his mercy and blessing on us, on our diocese, on our community and on the whole world,” he said at the Shrine.

As they filled Sacred Heart-Guadalupe, the crowd knelt for Benediction and a blessing, as the Sacrament was placed back in the tabernacle.

“Thank you for walking this path of this Corpus Christi procession today,” Bishop Finn said.

“What a wonderful act of faith,” he said. “I know that Jesus extended his power and his love to our Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, and to the Archdiocese of Kansas City (in Kansas) as we carried him among us.

“I pray that this expression of our faith will help us grow in God’s grace and be a blessing to the whole community,” he said. “Many thanks.”

In a Camp Savio exercise that emphasizes teamwork and trust, Brianna Munsterman of Sacred Heart Parish in Warrensburg and Margaret Banlon of St. John Francis Regis Parish in Kansas City walk across a double tightrope.
(Kevin Kelly/Key photo)

ATCHISON, Kan. — Camp Savio may no longer be just for middle-schoolers any more.

The camp, held on the grounds of Maur Hill-Mount Academy, has certainly gotten popular among young Catholic teens.

In its fourth year, a record 136 teens attended one of two weeklong sessions, more than double the 60 who attended the one-week first camp.

But they are also attended to by an army of adult staff, volunteers and chaperones, practically on a one-to-one basis.

And a strange thing happened this year under the theme “Be Transformed.”

It wasn’t just the middle-schoolers who got the message. Many of those adults did too, some of them even going to Confession for the first time in years.

Mary Grisolano, a parent volunteer from St. John LaLande Parish in Blue Springs, said she had already gone through her adolescent-young adult “atheist” phase years ago, and had long since returned to the practice of her faith.

But at Camp Savio the week of June 15-21 with her daughter, Abigail, Grisolano found hope that yes, she could raise both her daughters in faith because there is a lot of help out there.

“As parents we have serious challenges,” Grisolano said. “We need to rise to it. Don’t be complacent. Act to save your children.”

She was particularly impressed with the straight-forward, down-to-earth and non-condescending talks offered all week long by Kevin Bailey, youth minister at St. Michael Parish in Leawood, Kan., and the songs written and performed by “MC” — up and coming Christian music star Mary Clare Stroh.

“Those two have really reached the kids,” Grisolano said. “And they’ve given me hope.”

Grisolano said she came to the camp “disillusioned” by the secular world that is steeped in sexual gratification. Now, she said, she’s got both the hope and the strength to counter that.

“It is so important to help kids negotiate the secular world,” she said.

Fifteen-year-old Alan Freese, from St. Gabriel Parish in Kansas City, knows all about that. He aged out this year after going three straight years to Camp Savio. But he came back as a volunteer.

He admits that the only reason he went back then was because St. Gabriel’s youth minister, Diane Pickert, who also dreamed up Camp Savio, had encouraged his friends to go.

But once he got there, he had to come back, Freese said.

“They hit the faith really hard,” Freese said. “They put it in ways that give it a whole new life.”

Freese said his three years as a camper were so meaningful to him that he came back as a volunteer to give the same opportunity to other young people.

“I wanted to come back. I saw that it helped me so much, and I know kids out there who need help. This is my opportunity to pay it back,” he said.

Pickert, who holds the annual distinction of being the oldest kid at the camp, did admit at the end of the second week that she was “exhausted.”

But at the same time, she can’t wait to do it again next June.

“It’s been a good two weeks,” she said. “What we find out is that it is not just work.”

Ditto, said Katie Troup, youth minister at XII Apostles Parish in Platte City and Holy Trinity Parish in Weston in addition to assistant at the diocesan Youth Office whose job it was to nail down all the Camp Savio details.

“I’ve got scrapes and cuts. I’m sunburned,” Troup said. “So what? It’s been great.”

Both Bailey and Stroh gave credit to the campers for making their experience come alive.

“They are awesome,” Bailey said. “You can’t ordinarily talk for 40 minutes to adults. These kids are lapping it up. I love middle-schoolers. They are my favorite.”

“They are just super fun,” Stroh said. “One of the most inspiring things for me is to hear them sing with me at the top of their lungs. That is why I do this.”

Participants from the 2013 Hispanic Youth Conference pose for a group picture.
(File photo courtesy of Edith Montes, Hispanic Youth Coordinator, Diocese of Kansas City-
St. Joseph)

By Marty Denzer
Catholic Key Reporter

KANSAS CITY — “Hispanic ministry is rooted in the idea that we are all one family,” said Miguel Salazar, diocesan Director of Hispanic Ministry. “We have an obligation to be welcoming to each other, in our jobs, in our schools, in our parishes and in our lives!”

When a person arrives in an unfamiliar country, there are inherent challenges. The language, the laws, the culture, climate and religious traditions may be difficult to comprehend. For the traveler, the challenges are accepted as part of the experience. For the immigrant, however, they can be overwhelming.

As the percentage of Hispanics in this country increases, Hispanic ministries work to help integrate Hispanic pastoral and cultural issues into the Catholic Church in America.

A recent Pew study indicates that 61 percent of Mexican immigrants and 59 percent of Dominican immigrants identify themselves as Catholics, while high percentages of Salvadoran (42 percent), Puerto Rican (45 percent) and Cuban (49 percent) immigrants also say they are Catholic. Overall, more than half the Hispanic immigrants in the U. S. are Catholic.

As of the latest estimates, Hispanics make up 16 percent of the U.S. population and overall, 51 percent of all U.S. Catholics are Hispanic. By 2050, it is estimated that one in three Americans will be Hispanic.

In the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Salazar said, about 85,000 Hispanics claim Catholicism, although only about 1/5 are registered in parishes.

“We care about these people,” Salazar said, “and want to see them succeed in life.”

Hispanic ministry, bilingual and inclusive, works to build bridges connecting Anglo and Latino cultures. Salazar explained, “We work to show hospitality, seeing Christ in the stranger who knocks on our door, as the Benedictines do. One of the ministry’s goals is enculturation and integration — the understanding and blending of faith, culture and language.”

As such, the ministry provides opportunities for interactive learning of each other’s cultures, including theological terms, especially geared toward the youth.

“The kids are the heart of this ministry,” Salazar said. “They are living between the two worlds — Anglo and Latino; a big part of the ministry seeks to smooth out the language and cultural tension. But we are not reaching them as we want to. We need more bilingual youth ministers.”

Right now there are eight parishes in the diocese with active Hispanic/Hispanic Youth ministries —St. Patrick in St. Joseph, St. Sabina in Belton, Our Lady of the Presentation in Lee’s Summit, St. Mark’s in Independence, Holy Cross, St. Anthony and Our Lady of Peace in Old Northeast Kansas City, and Sacred Heart – Guadalupe on the West Side.

Realizing that the language barrier isn’t the biggest challenge faced by young immigrants from Mexico and Central America, Hispanic Youth Ministry focuses on bridging the cultures: keeping cultural and religious traditions, professing the faith, while accepting the language, cultural norms and mores of Americans. They need the tools to integrate, enculturate and succeed.

“One big difference between Latino and Anglo teens and young adults,” Salazar pointed out, “is the family influence. Hispanic youth and young adults view the family as extremely important to their identity. The family is a kind of domestic ‘church:’ everything we learn comes from our family. Hispanic Ministry/Youth Ministry has to connect with the families, make them feel welcome, accepted and important to us. The families will help us connect with the youth.”

He added that “as the family is central to Hispanic culture, to integrate youth into adulthood and keep them in the Church, we need to bring the whole family into the recipe. Parent participation in sacramental preparation, especially Holy Communion and Confirmation, affirms the faith and the Church for the youth, so we should encourage it.”

Nationally, Hispanic youth is one of the most underserved sectors in the whole Church, he said.

Edith Montes, Hispanic Youth Coordinator, is developing several programs designed to bring Latino youth and young adults together, to teach and learn from each other, and help them see that “in the Church, you have a voice, you have position, and you can communicate.” The programs include faith formation; monthly youth group meetings; a newly formed leadership team, and retreats.

The second annual Hispanic Youth Conference, to be held Aug. 16 at St. Teresa’s Academy in Kansas City, will bring together Hispanic teens and young adults from the four corners of the diocese, for a day of talks, discussion, formation and prayer. Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Robert W. Finn.

Montes is excited about the upcoming conference as St. Teresa’s students will be working at the conference and learning more about their Hispanic peers. One of the goals of the Hispanic Youth Ministry is to help the youth feel comfortable with Americans. Both Montes and Salazar are confident the conference will be a step in the right direction.

In order to be welcoming, Salazar added, “we need to re-look at how we approach Hispanic culture. Spanish-speaking people, from different nations, are all too often viewed the same way — stereotypically — as gangsters or shiftless individuals who don’t want to work but want the benefits of working, etc. Developing a missionary outlook, as opposed to an immigrant view, can help transform the way Americans see Hispanics and how Hispanics view Americans.

“We have to take the mission of the Gospels seriously,” Salazar said, “get out of our comfort zone, reaching out to those who are living on the peripheries, the urban core people, as most Hispanics in this society are. Christ is the only one who can change minds and mindsets, but if we are missionaries, we can begin transforming outlooks and perspectives.”

Hispanic Ministry can help by providing opportunities for interactive learning of each other’s cultures. Understanding and being open to different cultures leads to cultural competency, which can lead to empowerment. This fits right in line with Pope Francis’ call for the new evangelization — a cultural evangelization. Salazar describes cultural evangelization, leading people toward the faith and the sacraments, as a first coat of paint. Hispanic Ministry/Youth Ministry seeks to keep applying layers of paint, building a deeper relationship with Christ, he said.

“The ministry specializes in promoting the art of integration,” Salazar said. “Integration involves cross-cultural awareness, consciousness and appreciation. It takes skills, especially listening. By really listening to what people of other cultures are saying, we can appreciate your culture while we celebrate our own.”

The new evangelization, both of faith and of culture, is a blessing, a challenge, and it touches the whole Church, he said. “It’s a huge opportunity to put into practice what our Lord teaches us — to go into all nations and preach the Gospel. It’s good for everybody!”

Kansas City–St. Joseph diocesan Bishop Robert W. Finn and Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas join city and business dignitaries at the ribbon cutting and grand opening ceremonies for Phase I of St. Michael’s Veterans Center June 30. The Center, which will provide permanent housing and a full spectrum of services to homeless and at-risk veterans from all branches of the military, was officially opened by the ribbon cutting ceremony. Kansas City Mayor Sly James, Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders, Housing Authority Board Chair Donovan Mouton, former Catholic Charities CEO Mike Halterman and other guests helped St. Michael’s Veterans Center Board Member Art Fillmore cut the ribbon.
(Marty Denzer/Key photo)

By Marty Denzer
Catholic Key Reporter

KANSAS CITY — Monday, June 30, dawned hot and sticky, but nobody at the St. Michael’s Veteran’s Center campus minded. It was the official grand opening of Phase I of the center — fully-equipped apartment homes with access to supportive services to meet the needs of homeless and at-risk veterans. Located near the Veterans Administration Hospital, eventually the campus will consist of three buildings providing housing for 180 veterans, and 10,000 square feet of office space to provide supportive services and case management focused on residents’ long-term success and better lives.

A standing-room-only crowd of veterans, clergy, Knights of Columbus, city officials and service providers joined the staffs of Catholic Charities and their development partner, Yarco Companies, in greeting the new facility.

Called to order by Eric Verzola, Catholic Charities Director of Veteran’s Affairs, those gathered stood for the entrance procession led by the Knights of Columbus Father Donnelly Council 566 Assembly, followed by Kansas City-St. Joseph Bishop Robert W. Finn and Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.

Following the Presentation of Colors led by an Honor Guard from the VFW Post 10906 (Gladstone), and the National Anthem sung by vocalist Michael McGlinn of St. Thomas More Parish, Verzola opened the ceremonies by saying, “Welcome to St. Michael’s Veteran’s Center, a place that veterans can call home.”

Kansas City Mayor Sly James reminded the assembly that statistics show “there are about 1,800 homeless veterans in the city. This work of Catholic Charities gives veterans not only a place to live but resources to give them strength, a community of their peers, medical, psychological and social services, proximity to shopping and, the VA Hospital, should they need it, is close by. They took care of us when they were in combat. Now we can take care of them.”

The concept of housing combined with services to help homeless veterans was the dream of Army veteran Art Fillmore, an attorney with Levi and Craig. About four years ago, he took his concerns for veterans and his dream to then-Catholic Charities CEO Mike Halterman. Catholic Charities picked up the idea and formed a board to explore and flesh out Fillmore’s dream. Many people and organizations collaborated to develop, finance and build Phase I of St. Michael’s Veteran’s Center, and make the dream a reality. As Fillmore said, “When people in uniform die, wherever they die, they aren’t singling out who they die for. It is our responsibility to take care of them, not singling out one or the other. This is important to our community and I hope we can count on everybody to stand behind our vets.”

In June 2011, the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City selected the proposal from Yarco and Catholic Charities to build St. Michael’s Veterans Center on 24 acres of overgrown, blighted property near 39th Street and Leeds Trafficway in east Kansas City. The redevelopment process included approval by the Seven Oaks Urban Renewal Area and 10 years tax abatement for Phase I.

In January 2012, Catholic Charities and Yarco’s application for Low Income Housing Tax Credits for Phase I was approved. And in August 2013, U.S. Bank partnered with Catholic Charities and Yarco to provide more than $17.7 million in financing for Phase I. Tax credits subsidize the development’s cost, allowing veterans to rent the apartments at below-market rates.

Ground was broken for St. Michael’s Center Sept. 25, 2013 and, in January this year, funding for Phase II was received. Designed by Rosemann and Associates Architects, built by George Shaw Construction and managed by Yarco Companies, Phase I is complete; move-ins began July 7. Phase II construction is slated to begin early in 2015.

In his remarks, Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders said that “a building like this only comes into being through the vision of movers and shakers.” He acknowledged state representatives who provided tax incentives to help make it possible.

“St. Michael’s Veteran’s Center is one of a kind, the first in the country to provide permanent housing and ancillary services for veterans in one place,” he said.

Keynote speaker Lieutenant General John Miller, U.S. Army, Ret., said, “I stand before you as a man of faith and also a veteran. This is a place where both come together.”

Many willing faith and secular groups join Catholic Charities in providing services to veterans:

• Jewish Family Services —transportation, care and professional management programs

• Metropolitan Lutheran Ministry —GED education referrals, and job skill training through the Learning to Earning program

•Knights of Columbus —peer-to-peer counseling and an active corps of volunteers

• Wounded Warrior Project — supplemental support resources for post 9/11 veterans including peer support, economic empowerment, family support and combat stress recovery

• Legal Aid of Western Missouri — custom-designed legal aid based on the specific, assessed needs of residents

• Linwood Family YMCA — healthy living classes and hands-on instruction

• Manpower Group — resume writing, interview preparation, job availability and placement services

• Prosperity Center of Kansas City — employment services, financial education and coaching, as well as income support access

• Team Red, White and Blue — one-on-one physical training, group physical classes and opportunities to participate in community events

• U.S. Bank —financial literacy classes

• University of Missouri Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction — pairing with companion animals for stress reduction, support and physical activity

• V.A. Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment — higher education assistance and job placement for veterans with service-connected disabilities.

General Miller enlarged on the statistic indicating 1,800 homeless veterans in the Kansas City area saying that 12 percent of the U.S. population are veterans and I in 4 of them await eviction. “For veterans, ‘home’ is a powerful word,” he said, “a place of comfort, security and friends who share similar experiences (or are interested and care). Here, home is real, real in body, mind and soul. Everybody knows you’re home and is glad you’re here. It is a place where you can keep your things safe, provides fellowship and community and also space if you need it. It is a place you can trust and people you can trust, where you can relax with friends or spend time alone. St. Michael’s is the fulfillment of the promise generations of Americans made to servicemen and women: to serve and protect those who put their lives at risk to protect and serve their country. “

Bishop Finn and Archbishop Naumann, Mayor James, Mike Sanders, Mike Halterman and other guests joined Art Fillmore in cutting the ribbon to officially open St. Michael’s Veterans Center.

While the ribbon cutting group toured the building, Jonathon Cohn, CEO of the Yarco Companies, spoke of the “overwhelming, unmet need to provide housing and services to veterans.” Missouri is the 5th highest state in the nation when it comes to numbers of homeless vets, he said. “Today is the real public opening. Over the past months, 58 applications were received for the apartments. Thirty have been approved, 28 are in process and 14 are on the waiting list. All 58 apartments should be occupied in the next 30 days.”

He praised U.S. Bank for funding St. Michael’s and for employing about 2,000 veterans at their various locations, exemplifying their commitment to veterans.

Other speakers included Melba Curls, Councilwoman, Third District At- Large; Jermaine Reed, Councilman, Third District; Donovan Mouton, Board Chair, Housing Authority of Kansas City Mo., and Jennifer Tidwell, Regional Administrator U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development. The ceremonies were also attended by representatives of the Seven Oaks Neighborhood, which enthusiastically approved of St. Michael’s Veterans Center.

Veterans and families, city officials and other guests attending the grand opening of St. Michael’s Veterans Center chat in the Grand Lobby under the sign ‘Welcome, Homes for Our Heroes.’ (Marty Denzer/Key photo)

In closing, Archbishop Naumann applauded St. Michael’s Veteran’s Center, and “the vision and the dream to see what others couldn’t see,” — the growing numbers of disconnected, homeless veterans in the Kansas City area. The security of permanent homes and services to help veterans reintegrate into families and jobs, should “help all those who come here know how important they are to us,” he said.

Verzola said later, “This is not three hots and a cot. This is permanent housing and a family, whose members are the service providers and the veteran community. Vets could stay here the rest of their lives. We will give them all the time they need to get things right.”

A former career Army officer, Verzola knows first-hand what a veteran goes through. “Veterans face different challenges than non-vets. The biggest challenge is not being a soldier any more. It’s difficult to get back to what you were before.”

Dan McKenzie, 48, former Private First Class, U.S. Army, served in the Air Defense Artillery on the West German/Czechoslovakian border from 1984-86. When he returned home, he worked as a union carpenter in Joplin. As time passed, however, physical problems and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms began interfering with his job and relationships. He suffered several mini-strokes and is now totally disabled.

“It’s been a struggle. I won’t deny it,” he said. He and his wife, Karen, were living with a sister-in-law in her trailer, trying to get by, day-to-day.

He first heard about Catholic Charities through the Salvation Army. “They handed me an orange piece of paper which had the names of service providers in the Kansas City area. Right at the top of the list was Catholic Charities.”

Dan had been refused assistance from several faith-based charities because he was not of the denomination or a member of the local church, so he was skeptical. “I figured Catholic Charities would be the same. I’m not Catholic, I was raised Pentecostal, so I didn’t think they’d help me. I was wrong, thank God! They helped us right from the get-go. My caseworker told us about St. Michael’s and helped us apply for it. I was on pins and needles until we got the approval.”

Dan views the center as “a benefit all around.” He and Karen will have permanent place to call home, utilities are paid for and rent is affordable. “I’ll be around other vets, who’ve had some of the same experiences I had, and it’s a fresh start. I may even be able to do something special for my wife, which I haven’t been able to do for several years. Take her out to dinner or something. I am so looking forward to just moving in. I’m ecstatic!”

St. Michael’s Veteran’s Center is “the biggest gift I’ve ever had in my life,” Dan said. “Words can’t describe it, a breath of freedom, a new start, a life!”

Dan and Karen were scheduled to move at 9 a.m., July 7, into a furnished 1-bedroom apartment.

“At St. Michael’s, we’ll have a community,” Dan said, “we can share memories of the good ole days and we can look forward to the future. We can be proud of who we are.”

To learn more about Catholic Charities Services to Veterans, visit www.catholiccharitieskc-sj.org.

Msgr. Ralph Kaiser (Key photo/Marty Denzer)

By Marty Denzer
Catholic Key Reporter

BUCKNER — He strolls around several red rose bushes planted outside the door to the Church of the Santa Fe, occasionally leaning over a bloom to inspect it. The years lie comfortably on his shoulders. Msgr. Ralph Kaiser, pastor of The Church of the Santa Fe since 1978, celebrated the 60th anniversary of his priestly ordination May 29.

Ralph LeRoy Kaiser, a native of Hohokus, New Jersey, was born in 1928. He attended St. Luke’s elementary and high school, taught by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Newark (now Peace). “We had good Catholic schools,” he recalled, “taught by the Sisters. Of course, vocations were always encouraged. In high school I had a job with the Erie Railroad. ‘What’s it going to be?’ was always the question in the back of my mind.” A long-cherished dream of serving in the U.S. Navy was also in the back of his mind.

Looking back on those days, he said it was interesting “how well off we were, despite the Depression years, because of the quality of the education taught by the nuns.” He learned to play the piano and the trumpet as a boy as part of his education.

He attended Seton Hall for his undergraduate studies. “A priest there who was a good friend of mine was also a friend of Bishop Edwin O’Hara of the Diocese of Kansas City, and he started talking about Kansas City. That got me thinking about the priesthood and Kansas City. The whole thing appealed to me.”

After graduating from Seton Hall, Ralph enrolled at Christ the King Seminary, then on the campus of St. Bonaventure University in Olean, NY. Although he was sure of his future as a priest, he never stopped nurturing a childhood dream of serving as a chaplain in the U.S. Navy.

After four years of study, prayer and fellowship with other seminarians, Ralph was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Kansas City May 29, 1954 at St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Patterson, N.J. He remembers that, of the nine young men ordained that day, “three were for (the Diocese of) Patterson, four were Benedictine priests, one for Salt Lake City and me, for Kansas City.”

Kansas City. In the mid-1950s, the city was still living down its Depression era, speakeasy, gangster reputation as a wild, wide-open town. “Different people had spoken of Kansas City to me,” Msgr. Kaiser recalled with a grin, “warning that I ‘had my work cut out for me.’ I have never regretted it!”

He said he was surprised and delighted to find a number of “St. Bonaventure boys” in the diocese, and many young and not so young priests from the eastern U.S., especially Pennsylvania.

The newly ordained Father Kaiser was assigned to Assumption Parish in Old Northeast Kansas City. He was to serve there until 1957, when he was assigned to Christ the King Parish on the other side of town.

The year before the young priest’s second assignment, Pope Pius XII redrew the Catholic map of Missouri, creating two new dioceses — Jefferson City and Springfield-Cape Girardeau — and merging the dioceses of St. Joseph and Kansas City, with the seat at Kansas City. Archbishop (a personal designation he received in 1954) Edwin V. O’Hara was appointed the first Bishop of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph on Aug. 24, 1956. Less than a month later, while en route to Rome, Archbishop O’Hara died in Milan. He was succeeded by Bishop (later Cardinal) John P. Cody.

With the realignment of the dioceses, a number of priests transferred to the Jefferson City diocese in 1956. Father Kaiser remained in Kansas City and served at Christ the King with Father Vincent L. Kearney until being to assigned Holy Trinity Parish in 1960.

He was not cut off from his family when he moved to the Wild West. “I went home to see my mother now and then,” he said. His father had died when he was a small child, and he was raised by his mother and grandparents.

During his time of service at Holy Trinity, Father Kaiser’s long-cherished dream of being a Navy chaplain came true. He was to serve for 14 years, both aboard ship and in ports. “Let’s see,” he said. “I spent three years in Rota, Spain. Being in Spain allowed me to visit Rome, and yes, I visited Santiago Compostela, although I never made the pilgrimage. I was at Parris Island with the Marines, oh lots of years serving as shipboard chaplain, and I spent one year on Diego Garcia Island.” He shook his head with a rueful smile.

Diego Garcia is an atoll in the central Indian Ocean, south of the equator, under British control but with the American Naval Support Facility (NSF) Diego Garcia, a large naval ship and submarine support base, military air base, communications and space-tracking facility. Msgr. Kaiser remembered his stay on the island. “It was lonely as all get out,” he said. “I built three radios from kits to ward off insanity! And I taught myself to play the recorder.” He gazed off into the distance for a moment, obviously remembering. “You know, the Indian Ocean is a huge expanse of nothing! No land within sight, no landmarks, nothing.”

When orders placed him on land, Msgr. Kaiser’s mother would fly to the port to visit him. He showed off a framed photograph of the two of them at a dinner while he was stationed in Rota.

In July 1977, Father Kaiser was released from active duty as a Naval Chaplain and returned to Missouri. “I stayed in active reserves for 10 years, and then they kicked me out at age 60. Mandatory retirement from the Navy.”

He was assigned to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception for a brief period before he was assigned to pastor the Church of the Santa Fe in Buckner. He was only the second resident pastor in the 13 years since the parish’s founding. “Bishop Sullivan sent me here in 1978. I’m still here,” he said.

The parish was founded in 1965, with Msgr. Martin Froeschl as the founding pastor. The church was built a year later.

Just before Father Kaiser became pastor, the Church of the Santa Fe was air conditioned. Then in 1990, the parish’s Allen Digital Computer Organ was dedicated. To mark the dedication and celebration, Father Kaiser and five parishioners and guests gave a recital. Father Kaiser played the organ, as did William Harkins and David Russell, Seth Spurlock, Jamie Gibson and Derek Olson all played trumpet.

His mother moved to Buckner to be near him soon after he was released from the Navy. She died some years ago, and is buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Kansas City.

Over the years, he has learned a great deal, but “I’ve always felt I had an awful lot to learn,” he said. He has literally become a one-man show in running the parish: he cuts the grass, cares for the rose bushes, works up the annual financial report, celebrates Mass, answers the phone, and takes care of the church building and the grounds. Volunteers help him with the bookkeeping, but he does everything else.

He is justifiably proud that all bills get paid on time and that the accounts payable column shows a “0” balance at the end of each year.

Under his watch, a parish hall was built several years ago.

For a number of years, he has been directly involved in the parish’s religious education of youth. He also directs a group of youthful musicians in the nearby public schools. “I dabbled in different musical styles and musical instruments,” he said. “I played some duets with the music teacher at the high school here and then started working with some of the kids in band programs. We have a recital for the folks here in Buckner and then we go to music festivals either in St. Louis or Kansas City. This year it’s in St. Louis. My group this year is two alto saxophones, an oboe and a piano. There used to be more kids in the band programs; it gets smaller every year.”

He will play the piano accompaniment at the recital, and will play a trumpet solo in the adult hobbyist division at the St. Louis Music Festival.

The strong pro-life effort of the Church of the Santa Fe is led by its pastor, who travels to Washington D.C., annually for the March for Life.

He is also chaplain for the local Knights of Columbus Council.

In 2006, he received word from Bishop Robert W. Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph that he was to be elevated to the rank of Monsignor, Chaplain to his Holiness. This is one of three honors granted by the pope, usually proposed by the local bishop, to Catholic priests who have rendered particularly valuable service to the Church. Priests given the Pontifical Honors are addressed as ‘Monsignor’ and have certain privileges, such as those regarding ecclesiastical dress and vestments. Msgr. Kaiser was one of a group of 11 diocesan priests elevated to Monsignor at that time.

Msgr. Kaiser has served at the Church of the Santa Fe for 36 years now, but he has no wish to retire. “My health is good, I like being pastor and I like what I’m doing,” he said with a big smile. “I have developed relationships with people, God’s people, and the joys of my work are great.”

When time allows, he wants to go on learning about many things, see friends and do a bit of traveling. He said he always travels with an agenda. For instance, his trip to St. Louis this summer will be to the Music Festival.

Later he plans on taking a week’s vacation to see the Canadian Rockies, and visit some friends in Calgary whom he met on tour of France years ago.

He is interested in watching Buckner grow and develop; even more he is interested in working on the growth of the Church of the Santa Fe parish.

What does he foresee for the next decade? “Assuming my continued good health, I would like to continue as pastor here. I want to keep on slugging it out with what I’m doing.”

Scout Riley Vandaveer, a member of Prince of Peace Parish in Olathe, Kan., assists Bishop Robert W. Finn as he celebrates Mass July 20 for Catholic Boy Scouts at the H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation. (Kevin Kelly/Key photo)

By Kevin Kelly
Catholic Key Associate Editor

ICONIUM — This was indeed the day the Lord had made as Bishop Robert W. Finn celebrated Sunday morning Mass for Boy Scouts at camp at the H. Roe Bartle Reservation.

Ordinarily, when he celebrates his mid-summer Mass for the camping Scouts in the open air Chapel of the Twelve Apostles, it is either broiling hot or pouring rain.

But on July 20, the weather was spot-on perfect 70 degrees with the slightest of breezes blowing under a cobalt blue sky.

And what better place than nature, on such a day, to contemplate the splendor of God’s creation, Bishop Finn told the Scouts, many of whom came from the Kansas City metro area.

“I grew up in the suburbs outside St. Louis,” Bishop Finn said.

“Getting out away from the city lights, I remember looking up at all the stars. I had no idea there were so many stars,” he said.

“Truly, there is a God,” Bishop Finn said. “Truly, he has created a universe. Surely, this becomes an opportunity for you to think about God and his immensity in a new way,” Bishop Finn said.

Recalling the Gospel of the wheat that grows strong if it falls on good ground, Bishop Finn told the Scouts that God has given them everything they need to grow strong, and Scouting will reinforce that.

In fact, the very virtues that Scouting teaches are also virtues that God also desires for his people.

“These are human virtues, but they can be strengthened by God’s grace,” Bishop Finn saod.

Bishop Finn also told the Scouts that Jesus himself was keen observer of nature and often wove stories from the natural world into his teachings.

“Jesus observed things like plants growing and birds in the air,” he said, reminding the Scouts of the parable of the lilies of the field.

“They don’t worry about whether they have everything everyone else has. They have everything,” he said.

Too often, humans worry about material wealth, he said.

“Before you know it, we are spending all our energies on material things and we forget what we already have,” Bishop Finn said.

“What is it about the plants and animals in nature, though,” he said. “They aren’t influenced by the media that wants to teach its own set of values. So it’s good at times to find out we can survive without TV, radio, newspapers or the Internet.”

God has also given humans a special charge to care for nature so that future generations will have it, Bishop Finn said.

“We have to love the world and seek to take care of it, and we have to look out for each other, too,” he said.

Bishop Finn said that quite often, what another person needs the most is not their problems instantly solved, but a friend to be with them through difficult times.

“Sometimes, they don’t need material things. They need friendship,” he said. And by being a friend in a time of need, the faithful spread the teachings and love of Christ.

“You can be a teacher for another person just as Jesus is a teacher for us,” he said.

Bishop Finn also told the Scouts to look at the chapel created for them and the wooded 4,000 acre reservation in which it sits.

“Generations before us provided this place,” he said. “It is so easy for us to take these things for granted.”

Vietnam-era veteran Terry Cade, now a resident of St. Michael’s Veterans Center, shows off the 10 inch skillet he received, part of 60 three-piece sets of cookware donated to the Veterans Center by Vita Craft Corporation of Shawnee, Kan. The donation was the inspiration of Deacon Bill Pearson of St. Robert Bellarmine Parish in Blue Springs. (Marty Denzer/Key photo)

By Marty Denzer
Catholic Key Reporter

KANSAS CITY — There must be something that connects veterans to each other —a tie that gives insights into the needs of other vets. At least that seems to be what happened after Rev. Mr. Bill Pearson, deacon at St. Robert Bellarmine Parish in Blue Springs and a Vietnam veteran, visited the recently opened St. Michael’s Veterans Center and met some of the veterans getting ready to move in.

Many of the new tenants had no furniture or ways to cook food in their new kitchens. Permanent homes need furniture and cookware.

Deacon Pearson helped move a donation of beds and bedding to the Veterans Center. And, as he pulled into his driveway one evening, he saw his next door neighbor Gary Martin getting out of his car. Inspiration!

Deacon Pearson hailed his neighbor, who happens to be president of Vita Craft Corporation in Shawnee, Kan. As the two men chatted, Deacon Pearson told Martin about the Veterans Center, the soon -to-be -moving-in veterans and the need for cookware. “Did Gary think maybe Vita Craft could help?” Certainly!

Early in the afternoon of July 10, Deacon Pearson and three friends, Vietnam veterans all, arrived at Vita Craft to pick up the donated cookware. Members of the staff had stacked the boxes of cookware to make it easy to load. To Deacon Pearson’s surprise and delight, Vita Craft was donating 60 sets of stainless steel cookware, all crafted at the Shawnee plant, to St. Michael’s Veterans Center.

One set was left unpacked to allow Deacon Pearson to see the cookware. Each set contained a 10 inch skillet, a 2 quart saucepan and a 4 quart Dutch oven, all with lids. Each set also contained cleanser and a polisher to clear any burned on food or scratches from the bottom of each piece. Each set came with instructions, recipes and a lifetime warranty. The donation’s retail value came to $12,000.

There was excitement at St. Michael’s when Deacon Pearson and his transportation crew arrived. As there were veterans signing leases, moving in and trying to get organized, Christina Taylor, Catholic Charities onsite service coordinator, made the decision to distribute the cookware when most of the veterans had moved in.

A few days later, after he had moved in to his new apartment, Terry Cade received his cookware. Cade, who grew up in Kansas City, Kan., enlisted in the army soon after graduating from De La Salle Academy. “I was in the last class to graduate from De La Salle, in 1971,” he recalled. “I joined the army on July 19, 1972.” De La Salle, run by the Christian Brothers, added military training to its curriculum in 1942, which continued until 1960. Even a decade later, there were many who still called the school De La Salle Military Academy. The high school, which had been at 16th and Paseo since 1912, closed in 1971.

“I served two years stateside,” Cade said. “Then I got this idea I wanted to go to Panama. When the orders arrived, I learned I wasn’t going to Panama. I was told the closest I’d get to Panama was Frankfort, Germany. I was bummed until I got there. Then all I could say was, ‘Wow!’”

He served in Germany until he was discharged. He returned to the Kansas City area, and went to work for the automobile industry. He was earning good money, had a girlfriend and a lot of buddies. Life was good until Nov. 18, 1998.

“That’s the day I was diagnosed with M.S. Multiple Sclerosis. Three months later I had lost everything, my job, my girlfriend and my house.”

He tried to stay connected. He lived in Atlanta with two of his sisters for about 8 years, but it didn’t work out. Then he came back to Kansas City and couch-surfed for several weeks, during which time the Social Security Disability office decided he wasn’t homeless, “which had me getting just a little over $500 a month. Try living on that, especially when taxes come due!”

He doesn’t allow his M.S. to incapacitate him. Someone asked me, ‘what are you going to do if it gets worse?’ I told him, ‘I can fall down or I can get up. I get up.’”

Cade finally sought shelter at Harbor House. Cade heard about St. Michael’s from his social worker at Harbor House. He applied for an apartment, and grew frustrated and worried when completion of Phase I of the Veterans Center was delayed a few weeks. It opened June 30.

“I moved in July 7,” he said.

And now he had brand new shiny cookware to begin cooking with. He pointed to the skillet with a grin. “The first thing I’m gonna cook in that skillet is a “ghetto burger!” You know what that is? It’s a burger with bell peppers, jalapenos, and onion mixed into the burger, with cheddar cheese on top. I’ll make home fries with the rest of the peppers, onions and jalapenos in the potatoes. I’m gonna cook a chicken dinner and chili, can’t wait!”

Getting serious again, Cade said, “None of us wanted to be homeless! We had jobs, homes, families, lives. But something happened to each of us. Me, I’m happy, no, I’m more than happy. I’m blessed!” And with that, Cade grabbed his cane, walked slowly but deliberately over to a St. Michael’s staffer and cajoled him into carrying the box of cookware up to the apartment. Following the man toward the elevator, Cade turned around and waved. “Stove and refrigerator, here I come!”

To donate home furnishings, bedding, and other items to the residents of St. Michael’s Veterans Center, or to make a cash donation, contact Eric Verzola, Director of Veterans Services (816) 221-4377 ext. 8210, or email everzola@ccharities.com.

CONCORDIA, Kan. — Dorothy spent the entire “Wizard of Oz” on one adventure after another as she tried to find a way back home.

Organizers of the September CSJ Reunion hope former Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia and Apostolic School students will be just as homesick for the Nazareth Motherhouse.

The gathering begins with supper Sept. 19, and concludes with a special Mass followed by brunch Sunday morning, Sept. 21.

Registration deadline is Sept. 1, and online registration is available at www.csjkansas.org/2014-csj-reunion/. The website also has information on local motels and a printable registration form.

You may also register by contacting Katie Macke (913) 579-1943 or ckmacke@gmail.com.

Some of the highlights of the program include:

• A slideshow of contributed photographs from participants’ time at the Motherhouse. (Send digital images to reunion@csjkansas.org OR send prints to Reunion Photos, Sisters of St. Joseph, P.O. Box 279, Concordia KS 66901. Please include a self-addressed stamped envelope so photos can be returned.)

• A presentation titled “A Faith Journey: The Father’s Relentless Guiding Love,” by Dorothy Mallon (formerly Sister Marie Elise) of Atlanta.

• Prize drawings and a special silent auction for a quilt handcrafted by Sharon Corpstein (formerly Sister Mary Frowin) of Beeville, Texas.

• A special Sunday Mass with a choir made up of participants and directed by Sister Philomene Reiland of Grayslake, Ill.

• A showing of the 2012 documentary “Band of Sisters,” which was shot in nine states and features sisters from 11 congregations.

• Saturday evening banquet, with a welcome from Sister Marcia Allen, president of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia.

• Tours of the Motherhouse and lots of time to get reacquainted.

Boston-based photographer Lora Brody will be on hand throughout the weekend, inviting participants to be a part of her “Then I Was… Now I Am…” project. She will take studio portraits of women attending, and asks women interested to bring with them a photo of herself as a teenager.

Organizers have also worked with the Cloud County Tourism office to put together a daylong tour for husbands, drivers and friends on Saturday. Robert Robles, Rose Schamberger’s husband, will lead the tour and stops will include:

• National Orphan Train Museum

• Brown Grand Theatre

• Whole Wall Mural, the longest sculpted brick mural in the U.S.

• POW Camp Concordia, where German World War II prisoners were held

• Lunch at the historic St. Joe Store in St. Joseph, Kan.

The group will probably end up at Heavy’s Restaurant & Bar with college football on the big screen.

For more information on the reunion, or if you have questions, contact Connie Tavanis (774) 722-1481 or connietavanis@gmail.com, or Mary Miller Decremer (906) 280-3278 or marydecremer@charter.net.

Bishop Robert W. Finn anoints the altar with Holy Chrism July 19 as he consecrates the new St. Bartholomew Church in Windsor. (Kevin Kelly/Key photo)

By Kevin Kelly
Catholic Key Associate Editor

WINDSOR — The pastor who started the whole thing put it bluntly.

“It looked like a chicken coop,” said Father Tom Hermes, describing the former St. Bartholomew Church that served the Catholic community of Windsor for 58 years.

Not that they were ever not proud of the nine Catholic families in 1946 who were the foundation of the new Catholic mission in Windsor. They did what they could.

But the some 75 Catholic families who now call St. Bartholomew their spiritual home decided to do more. And on July 19, their dream was realized when Bishop Robert W. Finn consecrated a new – and proper — St. Bartholomew’s.

No, it is not one of the grand cathedrals of Europe.

But with much sacrifice, they built a gem — a small (capacity about 250) country church with a steeple and a cross, and an elegant yet simple interior that lacks nothing for beauty, from its polished wood ceiling, to its stained glass windows representing the sacraments, to its “must-have” ceramic tile floor. Even architect Vince LaTona was beaming at what everyone working together was able to produce on a budget of $600,000.

It wasn’t quick, and it wasn’t easy, said Ron Schuler, who helped lead the drive to build the new St. Bartholomew.

More than a decade ago, when Father Hermes was serving the mission as pastor of Holy Rosary in Clinton, the people expressed their desire for a new, more beautiful space to celebrate their one Sunday Mass.

Father Hermes’ message was simple. Give generously, spend only what you must, save the rest, then we’ll go from there, Schuler said.

“Father Tom encouraged frugality,” Schuler said. “He wouldn’t spend any more than he had to on anything.”

By adding any one time gifts such as bequests from wills, St. Bartholomew soon had $250,000 saved, enough to launch a formal building drive, which raised enough money to borrow with confidence the remaining costs.

“Everyone had to donate,” Schuler said. “We have lots of farmers, cattle ranchers and so on. They all participated.”

Father Hermes was there on July 19 to celebrate. So was Father Phil Egan, who took over in 2005, and Msgr. Bradley Offutt, who succeeded Father Egan in January.

“Be proud and evangelize well,” Father Egan told the congregation that packed the new church. “People will be coming to see what happened at St. Bartholomew in Windsor.”

Bishop Finn told the congregation that they have built their new home not for themselves, but a worthy space for generations to come.

“Faith finds a way,” he said. “I commend you for your generosity and zeal which shows itself in this new House of God.”

The bishop called July 19 a “new start for St. Bartholomew.”

“I urge you to use the occasion of this church’s dedication to renew your own dedication to Jesus Christ, to the one holy, Catholic and apostolic church, and to the life of the Catholic community on this memorable day,” he said.

“The focus of these sacred rites is to consecrate the work of your hands, this stone and glass and wood that you have worked so hard and have made so many sacrifices to see established on this holy ground,” Bishop Finn said.

“Here we today invite Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, confident that he hears and accepts our invitation to dwell among us in his Real Presence in the Most Blessed Sacrament, in his Word, in the Universal Church gathered around the successor of St. Peter, in the living stones — his faithful people — the Mystical Body of Christ,” he said.

“The new church is a holy place, marked out and set aside for the celebration of the most extraordinary of realities,” Bishop Finn said.

But as beautiful as the new church is, more important is the worship that will go on for years within its walls.

“In a way similar to that by which a house becomes a home, the holiness of this place will also be verified and intensified by the actus which will continue to be celebrated here, the ecounter with Christ in the church’s sacramental life,” Bishop Finn said.

“Here you will bring your babies for Baptism, and adults will similarly profess their newfound faith on Holy Saturday night,” he said.

“Here you will be reconciled in Confession, and couples will be joined in Holy Matrimony,” he said.

“Families will gather for First Communion and Confirmation. On occasion, the sick will be anointed here, and from this gate of heaven, your beloved dead will be commended to God’s mercy,” he said.

“The life and prayer of the St. Bartholomew community will reach its crescendo in the Mass, where united in that heavenly cloud of witnesses, our eyes and hearts will be lifted to remind us of the eternal destiny to which we are called, and in hope of which, we will lay down our lives in union with the saving sacrifice of Christ,” Bishop Finn said.

Bishop Finn reminded the congregation that the Gospel of John says Jesus once said of their patron apostle, “There is no guile in him.”

“We ask St. Bartholomew’s intercession that we also will be known as people of truth, without deception, and generous in responding to the Lord,” he said.

“We consecrate this place,” Bishop Finn said. “We set it aside as a sacred place and we as God’s grace to worship him here with authentic faith.”

Bishop Finn also told the congregation that they can always turn to Mary, “our mother in faith.”

“Mary became the first earthly dwelling place for our Lord,” he said. “She welcomed the Word with humility and love. May Mary help us provide here, and in our hearts, a pure and holy place for God,”

Transitional Deacon Ryan Koster sprints to home with an important run for Kansas City-St. Joseph in their 27-25 win over the priests and seminarians of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas July 14 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. (Kevin Kelly/Key photo)

“I firmly believe that it doesn’t take any talent to play hard.”

— Derek Jeter, July 15

By Kevin Kelly
Catholic Key Associate Editor

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — One thing for sure. The priests of the two Kansas City dioceses are better priests than they are ballplayers.

But nobody — including the 2,424 people who paid $10 a head July 14 to watch the first “Pitching for Priests” slo-pitch softball game — would want that the other way around. And not a single person there asked for their money back.

In fact, the crowd came for an opportunity they don’t often get. They came to cheer priests.

Including sponsorships, the event at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, home of the American Association Kansas City T-Bones, raised $25,500 to be split between the Vocation offices of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph and the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.

And that’s the number that should be remembered.

As high school coaches are particularly fond of saying, when athletes leave everything they have on the playing field, there are only winners. The game simply ended with one team ahead.

This game ended with the Kansas City-St. Joseph taking a football score 27-25 victory in the two-hour contest that lasted until the sun went down. And had they agreed to play under the lights, the two teams might have played all night long.

Yes, they are priests firsts. But there were some athletes mixed in there.

Father Steve Cook, pastor of St. Peter and St. Therese Little Flower parishes in Kansas City, Mo., played like he grew up in the country with lots of brothers and sisters. Playing third base, he ended a KCK threat in the bottom of the second by diving to his left to glove a hot smash from the bat of Father Adam Wilczak and flip to second base for the force out.

Missouri-side seminarian Andrew Mattingly drilled the game’s first home run — a line drive that split the KCK outfield for an inside-the-park job.

Two Benedictine “ringers” from Conception Abbey (KCK also brought in its own “ringers” from St. Benedict’s Abbey in Atchison, Kan.) contributed with the bat especially with the glove. Shortstop Father Paul Sheller and leftfielder Father Victor Shinstock.

But the Dirty Uniform Award went to Kansas City-St. Joseph seminarian Jonathan Davis who collided at full speed with KCK catcher Father Anthony Oulette, still with the presence of mind to slap the plate and score an important run, before he laid back on the ground until the church bells stopped ringing in his head.

The crowd gave him a standing ovation as he got back to upright.

So player-coach Father Evan Harkins? What wins a 27-25 softball game?

“Defense,” said the pastor of St. James Parish in St. Joseph. “And offense. And Bishop Finn. When he pinch-hit, he rallied us. Once we saw our leader at bat, we were a well-oiled machine.”

The Missouri side did rally for six runs in the top of the sixth and final inning to break a 21-21 tie. Then they held the Kansas side clergy to a mere four runs in the bottom of the inning to seal the win.

If Bishop Finn was the Missouri side’s inspiration, the Kansas side had to be impressed with Msgr. Mike Mullen, aged undisclosed, but old enough to have played in pick-up softball and basketball games between priests of the two dioceses more than 40 years before.

Even Missouri fans cheered for him as he strode to the plate, and the entire stadium picking up the chant, “Mon-sign-or! Mon-sign-or!” With a pinch-runner assigned to do the footwork, Msgr. Mullen rapped a shot at Father Cook at third, who graciously stuck it in his pocket.

Monsignor Mullen wasn’t the only veteran of those long-ago games between the priests. Co-captain of the Missouri team was Father Ernie Gauthier, also age undisclosed. Both remembered those days fondly.

“We had two softball games at the seminaries, one at Savior of the World (on the Kansas side) and one at St. John’s). We also had two basketball games in the winter,” Msgr. Mullen recalled. (Then-Kansas City-St. Joseph Auxiliary) “Bishop (George K.) Fitzsimons would arrange things. It was just for fun and we would have dinner afterwards. It was a chance to get to know one another, and a lot of great friendships came out of it.”

“All they did was complain about our showers,” Father Gauthier joked. “That’s why we called it ‘The Toilet Bowl.’ But the Missouri guys and the Kansas guys didn’t have much contact with each other. It was a good spirit, and a good time.”

Msgr. Mullen brought his own “ringer” — his golf buddy 77-year-old Diego Segui, a veteran pitcher of 15 major league seasons, including five with the old Kansas City A’s. Segui is also the father of David Segui, who put in another 15 years in the majors as a first baseman. Fortunately for the Missouri side, it was the elder Segui who strode into the batter’s box.

But don’t tell him pitchers can’t hit.

“I hit four home runs with the A’s,” he said, rattling off the names of the pitchers he hit them off — Jim Perry, Mudcat Grant, Denny McLain and Tom Hall.

“When I was in the minor leagues, they would have me pinch-hit,” Segui said. “I hit a grand slam as a pinch-hitter in my second year in Class A.”

Segui was thrilled to feel a bat in his hands again.

“It’s been years,” he said after he rapped a single in his only at-bat and gave way to a pinch-runner. “I’m glad to be here. Monsignor (Mullen) teaches me golf, so I teach him how to hit.”

Everybody that night was glad to be there.

Sam and Erin Caughron of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish dropped $130 to bring the entire family and all 11 children — Patrick, 14; Michael, 13; Peter, 12; Theresa, 11; Clare, 10; Joseph, 8; Benjamin, 7; Daniel, 5; Alexander, 4; Charlie, 2, and one-year-old Angela.

“It’s a good cause,” Dad said. “And we’re seeing a great game.”

Patrick came for one particular priest — Father Kevin Drew, who was a member of the parish when he heard his call to the priesthood.

“We met him at Our Lady of Good Counsel when we started serving Mass,” Patrick said. “He’s just a great guy.”

They are all great guys, said Jeff Faudere of Holy Trinity Parish in Weston.

“I just wanted to watch everybody have a good time. It’s fun to get together in God’s name and enjoy ourselves,” he said.

Sister of Charity of Leavenworth Mary Laura betrayed her many years of teaching. She could help notice all the children who seemed to be having the highlight of their summer.

“It just pleases me so much to see so many people turn out,” she said. “Look at all these families and children. They are all so friendly, and they are all having such a good time.”

Their friendship dating back to their priesthoods in St. Louis and long before they came to Kansas City a decade ago, the two leaders of the dioceses couldn’t resist some gentle ribbling as Catholic Radio Network’s Jim O’Laughlin presented Bishop Finn with the traveling trophy.

“We salute the the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese. You played well,” KCK Archbishop Joseph Naumann said, but without resisting the temptation to note the rather youthful Missouri roster liberally sprinkled with seminarians and the recently ordained. “But you went to a kindergarten to get some of these players.”

Bishop Finn responded with a call for some of those young men to play in this game in the future as seminarians and priests.

“Mainly for Kansas City-St. Joseph,” he joked. “But OK, for Kansas City, Kan., too.”

O’Laughlin, who could finally draw a breath after weeks of organizing every detail of the game, looked in awe from the field at the crowd in the stands.

“We were hoping for 1,000. We got 2,400,” he said.

“I was talking to a lot of people during the game. I thought the players had fun. I though the crowd loved it,” O’Laughlin said.

Yes, they loved it, said Kansas City-St. Joseph Vocation Director Father Richard Rocha, who also did duty with a perfect a capella rendition of the National Anthem then led the crowd in pre-game prayer.

The crowd showed their love for their priests, and the priest showed it right back with their hard play, Father Rocha said.

“It was good for these young kids to see priests as athletes, as men battling in a competitive game and having fun,” he said.

“To see Father come out from the altar, out from the ambo, out from the confessional, it’s good for them to see that we are men, playing hard and having fun,” Father Rocha said.

“That’s what plants the seed of vocations,” he said. “And the money? Wow! I give all the credit to Jim O’Laughlin for coming up with this idea.”

Dr. Mario Pearson plays the Cathedral’s Rufatti/Rodgers organ. (photo courtesy of the Cathedral)

By Kevin Kelly
Catholic Key Associate Editor

KANSAS CITY — Fun? Summer fun? Indoors in a church?

You bet, said Dr. Jan Kraybill, featured artist at the second annual French Organ Music Festival, to begin at 1 p.m. Aug. 24 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in downtown Kansas City.

“I always have fun when I play, and I endeavor to help audiences have fun, too,” Kraybill said.

“French organ music is all about color — creating a mood, invoking a character, painting a tonal picture with the wide variety of sounds you can create at an organ such as the Cathedral’s,” she said. “I know everyone will enjoy this afternoon of music-making.”

Best fun of all? The French Organ Music Festival is free, although donations will be graciously accepted. And it will also be Kansas City informal, though it will be in a sacred place of worship. Leave the tuxedo at the cleaners and come as you are.

And even though the entire afternoon will encompass four hours of performance by an all-star lineup, “Reste comme tu veux, pars quand il te faut — Stay as you wish, leave as you must,” said Dr. Mario Pearson, the Cathedral’s director of music and liturgy.

He’s betting, though, that once the audience stays, they won’t want to leave.

Consider the lineup.

The festival will open with Pearson at the Cathedral’s Ruffatti/Rodgers organ, accompanying the Schola Cantorum, the Cathedral’s 12-voice professional level choir.
Next up will be Nicholas Mourlam, who is pursuing a Master’s degree in Sacred Music at the University of Notre Dame where he serves as graduate assistant organist at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, as well as organist at St. Peter’s United Church in South Bend, Ind.

Soprano Rachel Priest will be accompanied by Ray Smith, organist at Colonial Presbyterian Church in Kansas City, and United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood. Priest holds master’s degrees in voice from New England Conservatory and the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music. She recently made her debut at Kansas City’s Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, singing the Mozart Laudate Dominum.

The fourth set will belong to Mary Bronaugh Davis, immediate past dean of the Kansas City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.
The middle set of the afternoon will be a change of pace with Rebecca Bell and Bill Banks, as Organetto Organestrum, performing a selection of French provincial folk songs on the organetto and hurdy-gurdy.

Karen Engebretson, with over four decades of performance and teaching experience, will perform next, followed by John Davies, who has toured extensively in Great Britain.

Kraybill’s job will be to ice that cake.

She is the principal organist for the Dome and Spire Organ Foundation, affiliated with the Community of Christ and its magnificent instrument at the world headquarters in Independence. She is also organ conservator at the Kauffman Center for Performing Arts, and has toured the world both as a solo and a collaborative artist.

“I am grateful to be included in this list of performers, and to be invited to perform the closing segment of the festival for the second year,” she said.

“The Cathedral is a gorgeous venue, both visually and acoustically, especially since the (2003) renovation,” Kraybill said. “It certainly deserves its reputation as a very worthy performance venue, and it’s especially kind to music for organ and/or voices. The digital additions that Mario has overseen to enhance and enlarge the tonal range of the Rufatti/Rodgers instrument provide an amazing range of possibilities for all the French music that will be performed.”

The musicians will put the Ruffatti/Rodgers through its paces, playing from an extensive body of literature that sprang up from the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries, immediately after the now legendary organ builder Aristide Cavaille-Coll revolutionized the construction of the instrument, adding ranks, sounds, stops and innovations that produced sounds never before imagined.

The composers themselves were a closely knit community borrowing on musical, cultural and religious themes of France.
For instance, Engebretson will be performing selections from Symphony No. 5 by Charles-Marie Widor, a protégé of Cavvaille-Coll himself. In fact, upon Cavaille-Coll’s insistence, Widor became principal organist at Saint Sulpice Church in Paris, which is the home of the organ considered to be the master’s masterpiece.

Pearson and the Schola Cantorum will perform a piece by Olivier Messian who studied under Widor. They will also be performing, as will Davies and Mourlan, works by Louis Vierne, who died a musician’s death. On June 2, 1937, Vierne collapsed of a stroke while performing his 1,750th concert at the organ of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Other featured composers will be Cesar Franck, who taught Vierne, and Jean Langlais who was another Franck protégé.
For her set, Kraybill has chosen Maurice Durufle’s “Scherzo , Op. 2,” Felix-Alexandre Guilmant’s “Caprice in B-flat Mjor, Op. 20, No. 3,” and Joseph Bonnet’s “Variations de Concert, Op. 19.” Durufle was a protégé of Vierne and succeeded him as organist at Notre Dame.

Even though he was never satisfied and constantly revising his own material, Kraybill called him “one of the iconic composers of the French Romantic Organ School.”

He and his wife Marie-Madeline also performed in the Kansas City area in 1959 and on the Community of Christ’s 113-rank Aeolian-Skinner that Kraybill now oversees.

“Scherzo No. 2 was his first composition,” she said. “It is a fanciful scampering of themes aross the organs manuals and pedals. Durufle transforms the themes harmonically and rhythmically until closing the piece with the organ’s softest voices.”

Kraybill will next perform “a little bonbon” from Guillmant. It will be especially interesting for the audience to watch the video set up to view the organist as she is performing.

“The piece calls for the organist’s hands to make quick changes between manuals, sometimes playing only two short eighth notes before moving on,” Kraybill said.

Giullmant also has a Kansas City connection of sorts. In 1904, Kraybill said, Guillant played 40 concerts at the St. Louis World’s Fair on what was then the largest pipe organ. That organ was to be installed across the state in the Kansas City Convention Hall, but was instead purchased by John Wannamaker for his department store in Philadelphia.

“That was fortuitous for the organ in the end,” she said. “The Convention Hall later burned.”

The organ, now called the Wannamaker Organ, is still the largest operational pipe organ in the world and is still heard daily by shoppers at Macy’s in Philly, she said.

The final piece of the festival comes from the mind and pen of Joseph Bonnet, who was forced to flee France at the outset of World War I for the United States where he established the organ department of the Eastman School of Music. He later returned to France where he succeeded Vierne upon his death as a professor at L’Ecole Cesar Franck, but fled again for the United States at the outset of World War II.

“’Concert Variations for Organ (Op. 19) was his first published work,” Kraybill said. “The audience will hear an amazing array of variations, opening with a dramatic introduction, progressing through many different characters and sounds, and ending with a virtuosic cadenza for the pedals alone.

“It will end the festival with a bang,” Kraybill promised.

Bill and Margie Stump smile with their daughters Sister Mary Gemma and Bethany, and sons Kevin and Dan in the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Nashville following her first profession of vows as a Dominican Sister of the Congregation of Saint Cecilia, July 28. (Photo/courtesy Bill and Margie Stump)

By Marty Denzer
Catholic Key Reporter

KANSAS CITY — Sister Mary Gemma Stump made her first profession of vows as a Dominican Sister of the Congregation of St. Cecilia in Nashville, Tenn., July 28, at the Cathedral of the Incarnation. The Kansas City native grew up in St. Charles Borromeo Parish.

Her parents, Bill and Margie Stump, and other relatives attended the ceremony. Margie recounted her daughter’s growing up and becoming interested in a religious vocation.

“We always wanted our kids to be open to the option of the priesthood or the religious life,” she said. Natalie was homeschooled. When she was in the fifth grade, she heard about Fifth Grade Vocation Days from some friends after it was over and was disappointed that she hadn’t attended. Margie arranged for her daughter to go as a sixth grader.

The rest of grade school and high school passed and Natalie enrolled at Benedictine College intending to major in English and Education. Halfway through college, Margie said, she switched her major to Education and Theology. She made a practice of attending retreats, Mass, prayer services. A month before graduation, Natalie took a one-hour class from Dr. Edward Sri, speaker, author, faculty member of the Augustine Institute and a visiting professor at Benedictine College. Natalie decided to seek a Master Degree in Theology from the Augustine Institute near Denver after taking the class, her mother said.

During her first year of study at the Institute, she met a Dominican nun, Sister Mary David. A latent spark was ignited.

“She first told us she was in the process of discerning if she was called to the religious life around the beginning of her second year,” Margie recalled. “In fact, she visited several communities, including the Dominicans, and said, ‘I came, I saw, I said no.’ She still felt called to the Dominicans but the order is a teaching order and she didn’t have a teaching degree. She graduated from the Augustine Institute with her M.A. in Theology, came home and found a job with the sports authority.”

Then things started to fall into place. She saw and answered an ad for a religion teacher at Bishop LeBlond High School in St. Joseph. Despite the fact that her credentials and experience weren’t in education, she was hired to teach religion to juniors and seniors. She started just after Thanksgiving break and taught until the end of May. Her decision was made to enter the community of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia at Nashville.

The weeks before her entry were hectic, Margie remembered. Her daughter was talking with the Mother General, having required physical, dental and psychological exams, finding a spiritual advisor, committing to daily Mass, and oh, she needed eight aprons, 4 white and 4 blue. She and her aunt made the aprons. She had to have certain shoes, socks and other things, and send all her measurements to the community for her pre-postulant uniform, her habits and veils. Bill and I took her to Nashville and on Aug. 15, 2012, she became a postulant.”

The first two years are busy ones. A young woman is a pre-postulant for one year, and a postulant of one year, as part of the novitiate. At the end of two years, she becomes a novice, receives a name in religion and the white habit and black veil.

During the ceremony at the Cathedral, Natalie was given the name Sister Mary Gemma, one of the three names she had offered. Mary has several connotations for Sister Mary Gemma. Mary is of course the name of the Mother of Our Blessed Lord, Margie said, and the Dominicans have a great reverence for and devotion to Mary. Also, both her grandmothers are named Mary. “Gemma Galgani was an Italian mystic and saint, a modern saint, whose story inspired our daughter. And my mother’s roots were Italian,” Margie said. (Saint Gemma Galgani was a mystic and stigmatic who died of tuberculosis in 1903 at the age of 25. She was beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1933 and canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1940. She is the patroness of students and pharmacists.)

From now on, Sister Mary Gemma will celebrate her namesake’s feast day, April 11, instead of her own birthday. She will be able to receive mail on her birthday however, Margie said.

Sister Mary Gemma was one of a class of 21 postulants. Of the class, 11 young women made their first profession of vows of chastity, obedience and poverty for three years that morning. The new novices are called “First Year Black Veils.”

Sister Mary Gemma and her sister novices will remain in the novitiate for two more years. The period of time in the novitiate, from pre-postulancy to the close of two years as a novice, they cannot return home except in case of an emergency, such as a death in the family. The formation period is seven years. She is attending classes to finish her education degree, and plans on a Master’s in Education also. She has been told she will be teaching English to middle and high school students, grades 7 – 12.

Margie said, “What we’re giving up is grandchildren from her, and closer contact. But, what she has is so much joy! It’s impossible to not be happy for her, with all that joy. And the other sisters feel like family to us now.

“The convent community and campus is just permeated with joy. You can really feel the presence of the Holy Spirit.”

Margie suggests to young women to “just consider the idea of a religious life. God finds ways to make us happy no matter what vocational choice we make, whether it’s to the priesthood, religious brother or sister, or layperson and parent. But oh, the joy in the eyes of the Sisters of St. Cecilia community. It’s in the air!” o

Bishop Robert W. Finn speaks with Sarah and Alexander Stover after he celebrated Mass July 26 at St. Patrick Parish in Kansas City, north, for the parish and some three dozen youth attending the annual Teen Pro-Life Boot Camp. (Kevin Kelly/Key photo)

KANSAS CITY — What a day to hold Teen Pro-Life Boot Camp.

Bill Francis, director of the Diocesan Respect Life office, had just led some three dozen teenagers in prayer for the unborn at Planned Parenthood in Overland Park, Kan., where abortions are performed, when his cell phone went off.

It carried the news that the operators of another abortion clinic, Aid for Women in Kansas City, Kan., had apparently placed a sign that the clinic was closing for good.

“It’s not our work,” Francis said that afternoon after Bishop Robert W. Finn celebrated Mass for the boot campers, and the people of St. Patrick Parish across the street from St. Pius X High School, where the daylong camp was held.

“It’s the work of the Holy Spirit,” he said.

Later, Francis blasted the news to the pro-life community on the Respect Life Web site and through e-mail, noting the hours upon hours in all kinds of weather that pro-lifers had spent in prayer near the now-closed clinic.

“On behalf of the Diocese Respect Life team, thank you to every prayer warrior and sidewalk counselor who stood outside this facility for your witness to this truth, to every pregnancy resource clinic for your tireless work in Christ and for your support of these individuals, to every person who worked for legislation to hold this den of darkness accountable, and especially to the countless others who have prayed over the years for this day,” Francis said.

That one victory won, Francis and his team, and the teenagers spent the day strengthening their witness on behalf of life through prayer, reflection, and good old fashioned teaching.

“We learned about contraception and abortion and how to talk about it to others,” said Alexander Stover, a member of Coronation of Our Lady Parish in Grandview.

“People don’t always understand or know the facts about the issue,” he said. “For example, post-abortive people go through so much pain and the suicide rate is very high.”

That’s the kind of truth people need to hear, and they can only hear it from people who put life and Christ at the center of their lives, Bishop Finn said in his homily.

Noting the day’s first reading, Bishop Finn said God told Solomon that he would grant him whatever he asked for. Solomon asked for wisdom.

“Solomon realizes that he has a huge task on his shoulders. He’s young and inexperienced, so he says, ‘God, give me wisdom,’” Bishop Finn said.

“He doesn’t ask for riches. He doesn’t ask for power over his enemies. He wants a heart directed in the right way,” the bishop said.

Too often, people today do not have their priorities in line with God.

“If you want to see what you think is important in your life, tell me how you spend your time and your money — your calendar and your budget,” Bishop Finn said.

“We can be very consumed with our day-to-day responsibilities, then someone we love has a great crisis. Suddenly, all our priorities change,” he said.

“Seek first the kingdom of heaven, then all falls into proper place,” said Bishop Finn, echoing his own episcopal motto.

“If we find things that are distracting us from God we may have to learn to leave them behind,” he said.

“But how can we move away from those things so we are directed to the path of eternal life?” he asked.

“By realizing there is no goal other than heaven. If we don’t make heaven, the things that distracted us here on earth will mean nothing,” Bishop Finn said.
Bishop Finn specifically and publicly thanked the Teen Pro-Life Boot Campers for placing their priority on the protection of human life.

“Our young people have been gathered here all day to focus on life,” Bishop Finn said.

“The church is second to none in assisting people, and through the generosity of its people, we take care of all kinds of people daily,” he said.

“But life first has to come into the world,” Bishop Finn said. “It has to be protected, because it has no voice except the voice of you and me.

“Let us pray for the unborn. Let us pray for the things that really matter. And let us realize that the one way for us is Jesus Christ,” Bishop Finn said.

Archbishop Jerome Hanus, O.S.B. lays hands on Macario Martinez-Arjona at his ordination to the priesthood at Conception Abbey Basilica. (photo courtesy of Conception Abbey)

By Fr. Pachomius Meade, O.S.B.
Special to The Catholic Key

At the end of his ordination banquet Fr. Macario Martinez-Arjona shared a story about his late mother with the gathering of Conception monks, his family and friends. While confined to her sickbed Rachel Martinez phoned her son at theological seminary to ask him a question. She had been watching a priestly ordination on EWTN and noticed that in the rite the bishop put oil on the ordinand’s hands. And she asked the then-Br. Macario, “Miho, are they going to put oil on your hands too?” He replied in the affirmative, explaining that this was the sign that the priest will use his hands to continue the ministry of Jesus and when the bishop puts his hands around his afterwards that he was a priest forever. To this reply, his mother said, “Good, I’m glad.”

The future Fr. Macario first came to Conception Abbey in 2001, spurred on by two female friends at Fort Hays State University who were coming to the graduation of a friend at Conception Seminary. He knew the moment he stepped into the Abbey Basilica that this place would play a part in his life, though he was not sure that it would necessarily be joining the monastic community. After completing the pre-theology program at CSC, he entered the monastery and professed vows in 2004.

It has taken a few stops and starts for him to make it to Holy Orders, but he says that he is grateful for extra time. “It was a long time, yes, but it was an opportunity for growth.” He explains, “It was about formation and not a race to get done.” Archbishop Jerome Hanus, O.S.B., reaffirmed this notion in his admonition homily during the ordination Mass, stating, “Ordination is not just something that you have long looked forward to. Others have observed and helped you grow in fitness.” He then acknowledged the monastic formation he received, that of his formators at St. Meinrad Seminary and the foundation given him by his parents.

In preparation for the ordination homily, Archbishop Jerome and Fr. Macario met to discuss the Scripture texts together. They arrived at the connection between monastic consecration and the vocation of a priest as a path to holiness.

“Priesthood means dying to self and rising with Christ to a life of virtue and sacrificial service. If a priest monk practices this in community, he will be more ready to help the needy in the wider church and in the world,” stated the archbishop. “Using the expressions found in the Letter to the Ephesians, priest monks can do this by serving as ‘pastors, teachers, prophets, evangelists’ and even apostles.”

Fr. Macario’s upcoming ministry will include teaching in the seminary’s Language, Culture & Church program, where seminarians – mostly Spanish-speaking – are taught English. However, being a pastor to the men adjusting to life in a new country and culture will be essential for effective language mastery. Fr. Macario is Conception Abbey’s first priest fluent in Spanish. Speaking of this fact he says, “It is significant and I wish more of our priests in the community spoke Spanish.” He adds matter-of-factly, “But I see it as significant for me only in that this is who I am, how I was raised and it is the future of the Church in America.”

When asked what he remembers most from his ordination, Fr. Macario says, “I have to say what I remember most was what was different from diaconate ordination, which was the anointing with chrism.” This was the part of the ceremony his mother had wanted to see, a woman who took great pride in hard work and responsibility—values she instilled in her children—and the values of priestly service embodied in this sacramental sign. “Right after Archbishop Jerome anointed my hands,” Fr. Macario recounts, “he said, ‘We got you!’ That was very moving for me.”

Thirty-nine members of the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration served as official delegates to the 16th General Chapter meeting held in June at the Clyde, Mo., monastery. (photo courtesy of Kelly Baldwin)

By Kelly Baldwin
Special to The Catholic Key

CLYDE - The members of the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration opened their 16th General Chapter by discerning “God’s will, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else” in mid-June at the monastery in Clyde, Missouri.

Thirty-nine delegates (of the congregation’s 76 members) spent two weeks discussing the congregation’s activities since the last chapter held six years ago. This included reports on the different works, monastery renovations, leadership
accomplishments, finances and vocations. In addition, delegates shared their vision for the future and collaborated on the steps necessary to achieve it.

The chapter also included a day-long presentation on Good Zeal, presented by Abbot Philip Lawrence, OSB of Benedict Abbey of Christ in the Desert in Abiquiu, New Mexico.

Toward the conclusion of the meeting, the delegates elected the new general council that will serve the congregation for the next six years. Sister Dawn Annette Mills, OSB was elected prioress general. Sister Ruth Elaine Starman, OSB, Sister Joan Ridley, OSB and Sister Valerie Stark, OSB were elected general councilors.

“We elected a faith-filled and competent prioress general and general council who will continue to lead us in the ways of the Lord’s design for our congregation,” said Sister Pat Nyquist, OSB who recently completed her own term as prioress general. “I was privileged to serve as prioress general and look forward to serving in another capacity.”

Members of Catholic Charities Junior Board gather in the cafeteria at Our Lady of Angels School July 30 to pack brand new school supplies for students at Our Lady of Angels and Holy Cross schools and children of Our Lady of Peace Parish. The supplies were distributed Aug. 3. (Marty Denzer/Key photo)

By Marty Denzer
Catholic Key Reporter
KANSAS CITY — The cafeteria at Our Lady of Angels School in Westport was hoppin’ July 30 as the setting sun’s rays striped tables laden with school supplies. About 20 members of Catholic Charities Junior Board gathered to pack bags of the school supplies for kids at Our Lady of Angels and Holy Cross schools and kids in Our Lady of Peace Parish.

This is the third year for the School Supply drive and distribution. The Junior Board is comprised of young adult professionals from both sides of the state line who volunteer their time to serving those in need. Frank Allen, Board President, said that about 15 members make up the Junior Board’s Executive Committee with a constituency of about 400 members. Allen and Events Committee member Nick Suarez, stood ready, armed with large contractor’s plastic sacks, to load up plastic Wal-Mart bags stuffed with brand new school supplies. When filled, each contractor’s bag would hold 20 stuffed Wal-Mart bags.

Each Wal-Mart bag was stuffed, assembly line style, with two folders, one pack of paper, one notebook, one pencil box, one box of crayons, two black and two red pens, one package of washable markers, one big glue stick or two small glue sticks, one eraser, six pencils, a ruler and a pair of scissors. As the bags received each item and passed to the next member in the line, there was chatter and laughter about all kinds of topics. Music from somebody’s phone played softly in the background. In about two hours, 37.5 contractor’s bags were filled with 750 Wal-Mart, er school supply, bags. Last year, the Junior Board filled and distributed 450 bags of school supplies.

Junior Board Treasurer Andrew Shepard said that most of the funds to purchase the school supplies come from the annual Soiree held each Spring at Union Station’s Science City. The 2014 Soiree raised about $3,500 to help fund various Catholic Charities programs as well as purchase the school supplies. Shepard said the Junior Board had also received 30 boxes of donated items from individuals in the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese and from several parish drives.

A truck was to pick up the 25 contractor’s bags containing school supplies destined to delight students at Holy Cross School and in Our Lady of Peace Parish. The remaining 12.5 contractor’s bags containing 250 bags of school supplies stayed at Our Lady of Angles School to be distributed to its students.

Aug. 3 was the big distribution day. Junior Board members signed up to be at Our Lady of Angels after the 8:30 a.m. Mass to help pass out bags of supplies to the students. It was part of the annual orientation day at Holy Cross School, and part of a parish festival at Our Lady of Peace Parish. The parish was hosting a barbecue and several vendors were to be there, including Holy Rosary Credit Union and representatives from the Mexican Consulate.

Catholic Charities Junior Board is a volunteer group of young adult professionals, age 21 and older. They are committed to serving those in need and want to make a difference in the lives of those they serve. The young adults participate in several social events and a number of volunteer opportunities throughout the year. The annual Soiree at Science City is the major social fundraiser. Another social event is held in early December.

Young adult professionals interested in learning more can “like” Catholic Charities Junior Board on Facebook or visit www.catholiccharities-kcsj.org, click on ways to help and Join Junior Board for registration forms and email requests.

Lexie Chirpich, Brenna Killen and Diana de la Cruz , winners of the 2014 Ancient Order of Hibernians scholarships pose with Garin Nolan, Bishop Robert W. Finn and Joe Flanagin before the awards presentations, Aug. 14. (Marty Denzer/Key photo)

By Marty Denzer
Catholic Key Reporter

KANSAS CITY — In May 2010, the Padraig Pearse Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians announced it had established four $500 scholarships benefiting eighth graders in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph who wished to attend Catholic high schools either in Kansas or Missouri. The first scholarships were awarded in August 2010. The scholarship award presentation has become an annual event.

Four students were awarded scholarships Aug. 14, at the Irish Cultural Center in the lower level of Union Station. Students applying for one of the scholarships complete an application, including contact information, a brief biography and why he or she believes they would be a good candidate for the award, including service to school, church and community, and transcripts from their school. The final part of the application process is a 500-word essay. Students are not required to be of Irish descent, but the essay must be on a topic related to the history of Ireland.

Joe Flanagin, president of the Padraig Pearse Division, welcomed the students and their families to the ceremonies before the closed-door monthly meeting of the members. He said that this year, more than 30 students applied for the four scholarships. The division’s teams of 10 judges were assigned different lots of essays, all of which were “de-identified” to ensure unbiased judging. “The entries were spectacular,” he said, “making the judging difficult.”

Garin Nolan, chairman of the scholarship committee, introduced the students, who then read their essays aloud to the Hibernian members present, fellow scholarship winners and Bishop Robert W. Finn, himself a member of the Padraig Pearse Division.

John Perlick, a senior at St. Pius X High School, was unable to attend due to football practice so his mother read his essay and received his scholarship check from the bishop. John wrote an essay on Ireland’s Scientific Roots, featuring Robert Boyle, the father of modern chemistry; Dame Kathleen Lonsdale, a British crystallographer born in Ireland of Irish parents, who finally proved that the benzene ring was flat by X-ray diffraction methods in 1929, and Ernest Walton, an Irish physicist and Nobel Laureate, known as “the atom smasher.”

Freshman Lexie Chirpich, who attends St. Pius X High School, wrote on The Giant’s Causeway. The site, in County Antrim, Northern Ireland is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of a volcanic eruption about 60 million years ago. The columns inspired many Irish fairy tales, legends and myths, especially the tale of Irish giant Finn McCool who was challenged to a fight by Scottish giant Benandonner. According to the tale, McCool built the causeway in order to meet Benandonner.

Lexi concluded her essay saying, “Like other grand formations, around the world, the Giant’s Causeway in fact begs us to consider the scientific questions and also helps us ponder all the possibilities, no matter how big or small.”

Diana de la Cruz, a freshman at Archbishop O’Hara High school, wrote on Irish Catholic missionaries serving all over the world, especially in impoverished countries. She focused on the more than 1,500 Irish-born Catholic missionaries serving in mission dioceses in India, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the Sudan.

She spoke of the Catholic Emancipation Act, passed in Parliament in 1829, which allowed Irish Catholics to be elected to political office except the highest offices.”

Diana also mentioned the Missionary Society of St. Columban, known as the “Columbans,” a missionary Catholic society of apostolic life, founded in Ireland in 1916 as the Maynooth Mission to China. It was approved by the Vatican in 1918. Members may be priests, seminarians or lay workers. The founders of the Society also founded the Missionary Sisters of St. Columban to share in their work.

“The contributions of Irish Catholic missionaries to healthcare, education, politics and Christian faith are many,” she said.

The Kansas City Irish Festival contributed $500 for one of the scholarships this year, the Irish Festival Award. Brenna Killen, a sophomore at St. James Academy in Shawnee, Kan., was the awardee. Her topic was Commodore John Barry, the Irish immigrant who became the father of the U. S. Navy (an epithet he shares with John Paul Jones). He was the first officer in the fledgling navy, commissioned by President George Washington in 1794.

She concluded, “When one enters the U.S. Naval Academy (at Annapolis, MD) through the ‘John Barry Gate,’ they should remember this Irish –American hero who represents an immigrant’s dedication to our nation, but also recognize that this County Wexford Irish immigrant merits the respect of all Americans as one who well served his adopted country.’”

The chairman of the KC Irish Fest presented Brenna with her scholarship check, made payable as were all the checks, to her school.

For more information on the scholarship program visit www.aohkc.org.

Teachers Helen Walterbach and Mariah Moseley guide infants at the St. Therese Early Education Center through play that is helping their brains grow and develop. (Kevin Kelly/Key photo)

By Kevin Kelly
Catholic Key Associate Editor
PARKVILLE — Pssst! “Day care.”
“We don’t use the D-word around here,” said Ann Lachowitzer, director of the Early Education Center at St. Therese Parish.
No, they don’t. The 33 staff members who are in charge of the world’s most precious gifts — 160 children between the ages of 6 weeks and 5 years — know that they have the most important job in the known world.
And that would be helping these growing brains reach their full potential as they physically develop as they never will again.
Michael Mannell has been doing it for 12 years as a pre-kindergarten teacher of children aged three to five.
“I had a friend who thought I’d be good with kids. So I applied here 12 years ago and I’ve been here ever since,” he said.
Sure, he could probably make more money doing some other job. But he wouldn’t enjoy his life nearly as much, he said.
“It’s the families. It’s the kids. It’s the whole community,” Mannell said. “I’m getting rich in the heart.”
Diocesan Assistant School Superintendent Pat Burbach said that early education was born out of the “day care” necessity of families needing two paychecks to earn a middle class lifestyle. But it quickly moved beyond that, and largely thanks to an old Lyndon Johnson “War on Poverty” program called Head Start.
That program began 50 years ago as a short-term summer program to prepare children in low-income families for kindergarten.
Burbach said that Head Start also opened federal dollars into long-neglected research into how the brain functions and forms during the earliest years of a human’s life.
That research revealed that from infancy through age 5, children’s brains are beginning to make critical connections as various brain functions begin to develop. Even newborns — especially newborns — are beginning to make sense of the world around them, but need the stimulation of language, pictures, play and activities to spark those critical brain functions and connections into life.
“Children learn from the moment they are born,” Lachtowitzer said. “That’s when the connections are being made.”
And that is why it is critical to have adults talking to them, reading to them, playing with them, and especially holding them.
“It’s what good moms have always done,” said Kelly Carroll, assistant director at St. Therese Early Education Center. “If those brain connections aren’t made, it’s a missed opportunity. It can’t be made up later. Those first five years are the most important.”
Burbach said that St. Therese is one of 26 Catholic early education centers in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, and one of four that enroll infants as young as six weeks. She is quick to point out that she is following the groundbreaking work of former diocesan Assistant Superintendent Tom Blake in championing early education.
She will also note that St. Therese is one of several in the diocese that is fully accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, and there is no higher accreditation for an early education center than that.
Soon, every one of the Catholic centers will be accredited, she said.
“They are all working hard at that,” Burbach said. “They are all doing fabulous things with children.”
And parents, too.
Lachowitzer said that St. Therese operates under the Catholic philosophy that parents are the primary educators of their children. It is the job of any Catholic school to assist parents in that all-important job.
She said that she, Carroll and all of the teachers and staff make sure that they know every parent that enrolls their child as soon as possible. Every staff member also assures every parent that every child will be loved, as well as nurtured physically, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually.
“These children deserve the same respect we give adults,” Lachowitzer said. “Every child is gifted. We just have to know what their gifts are.”
“One of the most important jobs we have is to get to know the students, get to know the families,” Carroll said.
And every moment is an opportunity for teaching and learning, Lachowitzer said.
For instance, a seven-month-old infant girl was playing with a shiny toy, when a bigger, older infant does what bigger, older infants do and took it away from the younger girl.
“You could just read her face — ‘What just happened?’” Lachowitzer said.
But before a crisis could erupt, the teacher turned to the younger baby, got down to her level, looked her directly in the eyes, and said, “Did he just take that away from you? Would you like me to find you another one?”
“That was all about the teacher giving that that child language and helping them identify their feelings,” Lachowitzer said. “That is so important, because infants need to hear those things because the language skills areas of their brains are still developing.”
She pointed to another classroom where teacher Elaine Bretz had just read a story to two-year-olds and had invited them to draw a picture about that story.
No, they weren’t coloring between the lines. One little girl had grabbed a gluestick and was pasting tiny colored pom-poms to a sheet of paper as her response to the story. What did that mean? Not important.
“Elaine is modeling reading to them. And she is also showing them respect by giving each one of them undivided attention at their eye level, which tells them that what they are saying and what they are doing is important,” Lachowitzer said.
At this age, all learning is child-centered. It may look like fun, it may look like play, but it is also helping that young brain grow, Lachowitzer said.
“Developmentally, their brains are not ready yet to handle the rigor of teacher-directed activity. We don’t want to push them too hard and too fast,” she said. “Our philosophy is to allow children to play. We allow them to make choices.”
“With child-directed activities, they get to use their imaginations,” Carroll added. “I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and so much has changed since then.”
In addition to being as state-of-the-art as possible, St. Therese Early Education Center is also fully Catholic to its core, Burbach said, as is every school in the diocese, from the early education centers through high school.
“We aren’t just about forming the minds. It’s also about the heart of that child,” Burbach said.
True, pre-schoolers may not be ready to learn the finer points of Catholic teaching and dogma. But they certainly learn by watching the adults around them model it, Lachowitzer said.
Every wall in every room at the St. Therese Early Education Center has a cross. Every child is learning to pray, or if they are too young yet, they are watching their teachers pray frequently throughout the day.
“It’s the way we teach. It’s how we model our own Catholic values. It’s a big part of who we are,” Lachowitzer said. “It starts in early education, and continues through elementary school and high school.”
“We’re praying, they know it, and they appreciate it,” Carroll said.
Burbach said the Catholic early education centers have another secret weapon — a core of dedicated staff who stay on the job for years despite an industry-wide low level of pay throughout early education.
“People enter this work by choice knowing it’s a service, it’s ministry,” Burbach said. “If they don’t have that heart, they don’t stay long. And in most of our centers, we have teachers who have been around for years and years and years.”