Mass stipends to increase
A letter from the Kansas Catholic Bishops
For a great many years the customary Mass stipend in the Province of Kansas City in Kansas (the four dioceses within the State of Kansas) has been five dollars. The bishops of each province determine the amount of the Mass stipend.
On Jan. 17, 2014, during our provincial meeting, we, the Bishops of Kansas, decided to designate the customary Mass stipend within Kansas to be ten dollars as of May 1, 2014. This brings the ordinary stipend amount into conformity with many dioceses around us.
While this is not a critical matter we believe that this is a good time for some appropriate catechesis on the topic of Mass stipends.
RCIA training April 5-6 at the Spiritual Life Center
• An invitation from Bishop John B. Brungardt
• The who’s, what’s, where’s and when’s
• Schedule of events
• Article about the program by Father Ken Van Haverbeke
Aprendizaje sobre RICA Abril 5-6 en el
Spiritual Life Center (Centro Espiritual)
• Una invitación del Obispo Juan B. Brungardt
• Los quienes, porqués, dóndes y los cuándos
• Horario de eventos
Liberal youth, catechists, attend 2014
Religious Education Congress in Los Angeles
More than 90 youth and adults from St. Anthony Parish in Liberal joined an international group of some 41,000 people for the 2014 Los Angeles Religious Education Congress March 13-16.
The annual event drew people from every state in the union and 17 countries.
“We would laugh because it’s the only place where you have a break-out session and it’s more than 2,000 people,” said Matilda Scheurer, pastoral minister at St. Anthony Parish. The St. Anthony group began their journey by bus, van, and private cars at 5 p.m., arriving in Los Angeles at around noon the following day.
The first day of the congress, March 13, was set aside as a youth day.
“We would start out with morning prayer, end with Mass and a concert,” Scheurer said.
The congress contained a smorgasbord of more than 300 presentations by some 200 speakers, and included talks in English, Spanish and Vietnamese. Participants chose their focus; Scheurer chose to use this, the eighth congress she has attended, to focus on personal prayer.
In the evening, participants could choose between several different Masses, each offering a different “character”; Black culture, Celtic, contemplative jazz, Mayan, Native American, Spanish, Urban Fusion, Vietnamese, and young adult.
After Mass, they could attend a 9 p.m. Celtic prayer service, or one of two concerts. Sister Maria Conuelo Garcia Sifuentes, MCMI, and Sister Arlene Vasquez, MCDP, pastoral council members, and people “involved in all ministries” at St. Anthony were invited to participate.
Inside the April 28 issue:
PAGE 1 Father Kapaun receives posthumous Medal of Honor
3 Boston bombing; story of running physician
16 Catholic community reacts to Texas explosion
7 Sisters share vocation message with children
3 Oration contest winning speech
6 St. Rose Hospital celebrates 110th birthday
Inside the May 12 issue:
Celebrating Seniors! Coverage throughout.
Father David Kraus bid sad farewell; Page 1
Graves of Cordia innocents disinterred,
reburied at Liebenthal; Page 3
Priests attend Presbyteral Assembly; Page 20
Fishers of Men: Fathers Labrador, Stoecklein to assist Priestly Vocation Director
By DAVID MYERS
Editor
Fathers Rene Labrador (far left) and Ted Stoecklein (far right) have been appointed assistant directors of priestly vocations to Father Wesley Schawe (second from left) for the Catholic Diocese of Dodge City by the Most Rev. John B. Brungardt (center; second from right is Becky Hessman, Coordinator of Vocations.)
Father Schawe has served as the full-time director of priestly vocations for nearly two years. He was recently appointed pastor of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Dodge City, and will continue to serve as director.
“Both of our new directors bring with them unique gifts to help our boys and single men--and for that matter, all our faithful--discover what God already has planned for their lives,” Father Schawe said. “Their presence is also a reminder that the task of promoting priestly and religious vocations is the special responsibility of every priest.”
Mining the Archives
Does an unpublished manuscript solve the Odin windows mystery?
By TIM WENZL
Archivist
Nothing is more exciting to an archivist than a little detective work. This mystery can be called “The Tale of Two Histories.”
In 2000, I read every parish history that was in our archives as I gathered interesting tidbits for writing “A Legacy of Faith” for the 50th anniversary of the Diocese of Dodge City.
I learned a great deal about the parishes in the diocese and included some very interesting details in the historic sketches of the Catholic communities in our southwest territory.
The 1954 Diamond Jubilee booklet for Holy Family Parish in Odin is filled with historic gems. One of the most interesting is this paragraph:
“On the fifth of January, 1896, the Rev. Augustine P. Heimann took charge of the parish…. Under the new pastor’s supervision the work on the new church with some changes was pushed ahead towards the fall of 1896, the cornerstone could be laid and few years later the church was dedicated to the Holy Family. Father Heimann purchased the art glass windows, the three beautiful altars, the stations of the cross, the statues, the baptismal font, all the pews and the reed organ from the old pro-cathedral of Wichita. The expenditures for the new church accessories were close to $6,000 whereas the building itself was estimated to be $25,000.”
Shining bright from within
Stained-glass windows refurbished,
re-dedicated,at historic Holy Family
Church in Odin
By DAVID MYERS
and TIM WENZL
ODIN -- Darkness had fallen outside when the Most Rev. John B. Brungardt raised the aspergillum (Holy Water sprinkler) to the newly refurbished windows of Holy Family Church, blessing each one.
Although the windows appeared dark from inside the historic church, to those happening by outside, the light from within sent the windows ablaze in color.
The March 7 gathering followed a Lenten Friday dinner of potato soup and vegetable soup, and preceded a penance service in which Bishop Brungardt, and Fathers Pascal Klein, Ted Stoecklein and John Forkuoh, celebrated the Sacrament of Reconciliation with parishioners.
One Bread, One Body, One People
Mary, Queen of Peace Parish celebrates ‘unity, love and peace’
By DAVID MYERS
Southwest Kansas Register
ULYSSES – It was an especially poignant moment for parishioners past and present of Mary, Queen of Peace Parish gathered at the Ulysses Civic Center for Mass.
As music echoed throughout, approximately 350 people watched as a basket filled with loaves of bread, another with tortillas, and a third with rice, were carried toward the altar by families representing the Anglo, Hispanic, and Filipino communities as a symbolical offering.
The June 2 “Unification Mass” and pot-luck that followed was organized by Father Peter Fernandez with Parish pastoral council, parish commissions and groups, and a host of hard-working volunteers, as both a “Year of Faith” celebration and a lead-in to the 50th anniversary of the dedication of Mary, Queen of Peace Church, which will take place Dec. 29, 2013.
Celebrating the gift of Guatemalans
Bishop Brungardt honors Guatemalan community with special Mass
By DAVID MYERS
Southwest Kansas Register
While temperatures fought to reach above zero outside, on the inside of the old Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Dodge City more than 200 members of the Guatemalan community were warmed by festive music and the colorful garb of the Guatemalan women, which countered the cold grays of winter.
The annual celebration, held March 2, included a Mass celebrated by the Most Rev. John B. Brungardt, and Father Wesley Schawe, Pastor of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and a dinner reception of Guatemalan cuisine.
The Mass was celebrated in Spanish, except for a few moments when K’iche’ (or Quiché), the primary native language of Guatemala, was spoken.
Part way through the Mass, the bishop and Father Schawe greeted and hugged each person, kissing the young children on the top of the head and offering blessings. The length of the line seemed to belie the smallness of the inside of the church, as one person after another, their children in tow, gratefully embraced Bishop Brungardt and Father Schawe.
A band, including some nine members, performed both rousing and lilting songs throughout the Mass; a woman in a colorful blue dress sang, while two little girls danced and clapped to the music, much to the delight of those in the congregation.
After Mass, the congregation braved the biting winds and blowing snow to walk to the social hall, where several women had prepared and were serving a meal of roast beef, rice and beans and a stack of warm tortillas.
Bishop Brungardt, Father Wesley, and Sister Angela Erevia, MCDP, Director of the Office of Hispanic Ministry, sat together, surrounded by several members of the local Guatemalan community, who, like all those gathered, were delighted to offer their hospitality to their special guests.