Thursday, 15 September 2011 09:44

SVDP hosting murder mystery Oct. 8 for The Lord’s Diner
St. Vincent de Paul Parish, Andover, is hosting “Murder At Mothropp Manor,” a murder mystery fundraiser at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, in the Ville, the parish hall.
All proceeds will go to support The Lord’s Diner. Local talent, such as Sierra Scott and Bucky Walters, will take part. Dinner and adult beverages will be served and silent and live auctions will be held.
Tickets are $50 per person or $350 for a table of six. For tickets contact Linda Litavniks at (316) 218-0840.
Those wishing to make a donation for the auction may contact Marian Stuhlsatz at 733-5881 before Sept. 15.

Thursday, 01 September 2011 13:20

St. Mary Parish, Derby-Rose Hill, has been busier than usual lately. In addition to moving from the old to the new school, the parish is preparing for Bishop Michael O. Jackels’ TOGETHER Vision visit Sept. 24-25.
As a result of the move, the parish will host an auction at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 18. On the block will be pews, statues, and other items from the old church and school.
Other activities planned:

Thursday, 01 September 2011 13:12

By Matt Vainer
ANDOVER – St. Vincent de Paul Parish’s youth group returned from a summer mission trip with a new perspective on how our plans are not always God’s plans.
In first arriving in early June at St. Augustine’s Indian Mission, in Winnebago, Neb., the youth group had no idea their mission trip duties of scraping walls, painting, and cleaning up around St. Augustine’s school and parish were about to receive a serious change in direction.
While receiving work instructions from Sister Agnes of St. Augustine Parish, leaders were informed that South Sioux City, 20 miles north, was in dire need of help to hold back the flooding waters of the Missouri River.
“It was a fun way for the youth group to escape the limited confines of our views on society, to see and impact the lives of others as we grew closer to God and create new bonds with other teens,” said Josh Knapp of Derby.
For three days, the youth decided to run in shifts, traveling back and forth between South Sioux City and St. Augustine to shovel sand, fill sand bags, load pallets, and build retaining walls, all while keeping up with work back at the parish and school.
“If God gives you a lemon, you make lemonade. If God gives you a flooded river, you fill sandbags,” said Matt Vainer, St. Vincent’s volunteer youth leader.
Each day temperatures reached well over 100 degrees, and yet the youth continued to pull double duty working together, growing closer in their relationship with God while carrying out His mission.
“It was amazing seeing the teens work for hours in the hot sun and being so happy at the end of the day because they made a difference for a whole city,” said Desirae Cox, St. Vincent’s youth leader.

Thursday, 01 September 2011 13:07

By Joe Rodriguez
WICHITA – Family fragmentation, generational poverty, and a shortage of adult role models are just a few of the factors students of Holy Savior Catholic Academy deal with on a daily basis. So when Pastor Father James Billinger and Principal Delia Shropshire received notification recently of state assessment successes from the Kansas Department of Education, they knew it was the result of the academy’s focus on encouragement, evangelization, and educational excellence.
Students and educators at Holy Savior Catholic Academy received word in June that 100 percent of the academy’s seventh-grade students met the state’s academic standard in science. In addition, 88 percent of the seventh graders met the standards in reading, and 100 percent met the standards in math. All three scores marked dramatic increases from 2010. Each helped the school earn Standard of Excellence recognitions in each category.
Other grades up, too
The success on the state assessments was visible in other grades, as well. In all areas of testing, the percentage of students meeting academic standards either equaled or increased from last year in 11 of 14 areas.
For a school where only 30 percent of students reside with both parents, the news was further confirmation of what Father Fr. Billinger and Principal Shropshire already knew: That through determination and faith, the social ills resulting from poverty can be managed and often reversed.
Holy Savior serves all faiths
Holy Savior serves primarily African American children and youth of Northeast Wichita, pre-K through eighth grade, with 72 percent coming from a low socio-economic level. Although the academy operates under the auspices of the Catholic Diocese of Wichita, its mission is to serve students of all faiths and as such 80 percent of HSCA students are people of other faith traditions.

Thursday, 01 September 2011 13:04

Editor’s note: Fr. Colin Boor recently returned to Arma, his first parish, for a Homecoming Reunion. He served there from 1955 to 1961. He was interviewed by Nikki Patrick of the Pittsburg Morning Sun. Her story is reprinted, in part, here with permission.
“I loved working with the youth in Arma and Mulberry,” Fr. Boor said, I was half a kid myself then.”
Born in Odin, Kan., in the 1920s, he remembers the hardships of farm life during that time.
“We farmed a half-section near Fowler and Meade, had no electricity, no telephone, no bathroom, and got water from a windmill,” Fr. Boor said. “We went to one-room schools. The crops failed for about seven years because of the dust storms.”
An accident in 1938 led to his becoming a priest.
“I had a busted arm – not broken, busted,” Fr. Boor said, “I was in St. Anthony’s Hospital in Dodge City. They wanted to cut my arm off, but I wouldn’t let them. Then it turned brown and started to stink.”

Thursday, 01 September 2011 12:27

Bishop Jackels names Fr. Shockey pastor of St. Patrick in Kingman
Bishop Michael O. Jackels has named Father Benjamin Shockey as pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Kingman, effective Sept. 1, 2011.
Ordained in 2004, Fr. Shockey most recently was pastor of St. Andrew, Independence, and St. Francis Xavier, Cherryvale.

Thursday, 18 August 2011 14:03

Hall will be used as temporary Mass site when work begins in church

By Christopher M. Riggs

WICHITA – Recent rains have cut down on the dust around the construction site at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, but work is progressing – especially in the old gym, which will become a social hall.

Chris Baalmann, project manager with Simpson & Associates, recently gave the Catholic Advance a tour of the project’s progress.

Workers are busy in the new social hall, Baalmann said. “We are finishing up the mechanical and electrical rough-in in the ceiling here, and in the next couple of weeks we will be working on the hanging and finishing of drywall.”

Thursday, 18 August 2011 13:16

Thursday, 04 August 2011 14:06

Bishop Michael O. Jackels shared the TOGETHER Vision with parishioners of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Wichita on July 9 and 10. Go to TOGETHERvision.org to see more pictures from the bishop’s parish visits.

So far our diocesan family has pledged more than $21 million toward seminarian education, Catholic formation programs and the renovation of our Cathedral campus, but your support is still needed. Please continue to pray the Hail Mary daily and – if you haven’t yet – make a generous, proportional and sacrificial gift in support of our diocesan family.

“Your family comes first. Your parish family and its needs come second. But there are needs at the diocesan level that I cannot hope to address without the help of every Catholic, and it is my hope – a hope greater than this monetary goal – that every Catholic in Wichita, Fort Scott, Zenda, Bushton, Baxter Springs and all points in between, that every Catholic young and old make some contribution to the welfare of our Church family.”
– Bishop Michael O. Jackels

Goals of the TOGETHER Vision
• Strengthen the oneness between parish and diocese.
• Deepen our practice of stewardship as a way of life, sharing responsibility for the mission of the Church.
• Invite everyone to help fund seminarian education, Catholic formation programs and a renovation of the Cathedral campus.

Where will Bishop Jackels visit next?
Bishop Michael O. Jackels continues his TOGETHER Vision visits. Here is a schedule for the next few weekends.
Aug. 6-7: Our Lady of Guadalupe, Newton
Aug. 13-14: St. Rose of Lima, Council Grove
Aug. 13-14: St. Anthony of Padua, Strong City
Aug. 20-21: St. Joseph, McPherson
Aug. 20-21: St. Bridget of Sweden, Lindsborg

Thursday, 04 August 2011 14:04

Six young men get a couple of weeks of vacation before returning to their seminary

By Christopher M. Riggs

Pittsburg might seem like an odd choice for seminarians to participate in an intensive Spanish language program, but the Southeast Kansas city has a long history of associating itself with many cultures.

Father Michael Simone, director of Vocations for the Diocese of Wichita, said, “the people of Pittsburg have been welcoming the migrant worker since its founding. In fact, during the time of the coal mining, it was said that up to 57 languages were spoken there.”

Being able to immerse the seminarians in such a welcoming atmosphere is helping form their hearts, he said. “The entire city of Pittsburg, and especially the parish, should be proud of the way they not only remember their roots but are continuing to welcome migrants to their community today.”

Fr. Simone said the parish has also been a good location for the seminarians to interact with the migrant population because many of those in the area’s Hispanic community have been living in in the United States for less than a decade.

“The new population – and even the Hispanic ministry – is in some ways in its infancy in this parish,” he said. “With the help of the Missionary Catechists of the Poor and the parish community, who are so welcoming, we also have a perfect environment where the men are able to come into contact with various families, both in the Hispanic community and the Anglo community. It’s really a joint effort, if you will.”

Another reason the program was so successful, Fr. Simone said, was because the university was so open to adapting classes to fit the needs of the seminarians.

“Our men came in with various levels of Spanish and Pittsburg State, being a small regional college, has a limited number of classes that they are able to offer during the summer, but they were eager to welcome our six students and were able to accommodate their needs,” he said. “So it’s been a great fit for them this summer.”

On Wednesday, July 27, the Spanish faculty department hosted a luncheon for the seminarians who completed their work on Friday, July 29. The men will get a couple of weeks of vacation before hitting their theology books back at the seminary around Aug. 15.