‘droves came Southwest Kansas forward, all feeling a tug at their hearts towards the religious life.’ atholic atholic -- Page 7 C CNewspaper of the Catholic Diocese of Dodge City www.dcdiocese.org/register Vol. L, No. 98 • Sunday, September 6, 2015 t. Rose: A century of service Priorities and the Good Shepherd e worry about a lion Win Zimbabwe and prairie chickens in Kan- sas, while taxpayers give Planned Parenthood $500 S million each year as they allegedly sell the organs of unborn girls and boys, and provide hundreds of thou- sands of deadly abortions. When will we realize that our little human brothers and sisters in the womb, + Most Rev. and their moms, are more John B. Brungardt important than animals? Bishop of the Catholic Defense contractor Ray- Diocese of Dodge City theon has recently received nearly $1 billion in new government contracts, while we struggle to provide Medicaid funding to our working poor. When will we realize that our struggling sisters and brothers are more important than weapons? George and Ruth Weber at left and above (as children) -- The portrait was one The Civil Rights Act was passed more than 50 years of dozens on display at the St. Rose Parish Center in Great Bend celebrating ago, yet we still have distressed race relationships in our the 100-year anniversary of the church. -- See Page 11 country and around the world. When will we realize that those who are different from us are our brothers and sisters? Nothing wrong with treating animals with respect. Little parish on the plains celebrates We have a long tradition of self defense of ourselves and the innocent who need protection from aggressors. unprecedented number of vocations Yet, why the massive press coverage for the senseless ODIN shooting of a lion, when the killing of more than 600,000 unborn babies in the United States so far this year, barely warrants a single headline? Animals. Weapons. Prejudice. Don’t we have greater priorities? What should be our priorities? When asked about priorities, Jesus responded to the scribe: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. … You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:30-31). I believe that we have gotten so far away from Jesus’ priorities, that we have embraced many false priorities. How do we re-connect to the true priorities given by our Good Shepherd? A few ideas: • Pray daily as a family, read a Bible verse, say a meal prayer, pray before bedtime, pray the Rosary, spend time in silent encounter with our Loving God, celebrate Holy Mass each weekend to receive the Bread from Heaven, celebrate God’s mercy with the Sacrament of Penance. -- See Page 13 • Support Crisis Pregnancy Centers, Adoption Services, and Rachel’s Vineyard Retreats. • Listen to one another each day; really listen. • Unplug from technology and play together. • Get to know someone who is different from you. The extraordinary Research your immigration roots – what languages did your eight great-grandparents speak? • Let go of things, things, things. Recycle. Simplify. tale of Sister Blandina • Be grateful. Show compassion. Be patient. illy the Kid, a notorious bank and stage- • Encounter. Invite. Accompany. (see Pope Francis) • Share. Serve. Love. Bcoach robber of the Wild West, met his Trust in the Lord, our God, for help. Our Savior match in the most unlikely of people when he loves pre-born children and their moms, the poor, and all His children, including you, more than you can ask met Sister Blandina Segale. -- See Page 24 or imagine! Page 2 September 6, 2015 The Southwest Kansas Catholic Listen to Him he world is too much with us, late and soon, form of prayer that only He can give), we try to We want Him. This is true whether we feel his Tthe poet Wordsworth said. He might have been keep our minds and hearts free for Him, we watch presence strongly, or whether we feel his absence speaking of Distractions. and we wait, but human minds and hearts abhor strongly. In the one case and in the other, he is When we set ourselves to pray (Breviary, Rosary, a vacuum, and are always prone to replace the there, setting us free. Novena, Devotions), our minds will wander as we waiting and the watching with more comfortable It’s not complicated, really. When we catch say the words. Their meanings pass through our human wandering. ourselves straying from his presence, we simply heads without disturbing the furniture. Only God can set us free from this meandering. come back, and start over again. Don’t think about When we set ourselves to meditate, to think about But he does so in a way that may surprise you. It the distractions at all. You cannot chase them away God and the things of God, we awake with a start is hidden in the very distractions themselves. He with a swift stroke, so don’t even try. Just ignore twenty minutes in, to find that we have been day- so fills us with his Reality, his Love, and his Pres- them and return to the business at hand …prayer… dreaming all along, dreams markedly free of God. ence, that he himself releases their hold on us. again and again. That’s praying like the big girls Bishop Emeritus When we set ourselves to contemplate God (a They are no longer enough for us. We want more. and the big boys. Ronald M. Gilmore PROTECTING GOD’S CHILDREN This new feature, created by Bishop John Brungardt, will appear intermittently. The Diocese of Dodge City (620) 655-6701; PGC Facilitator: Sources of Truth requires all employees and vol- Sharon Stuart (620) 225-5164. unteers who work with children Hugoton (English); Sunday, Mass times app to participate in a Protecting Oct. 4; 2-5 p.m.; Hussman Learn- God’s Children awareness ses- ing Center; 1011 South Jefferson. A challenge for travelers is finding a Catholic Church sion. Through the Diocesan Contact person: Carrie Baeza; on the route or nearby your motel. A great app to assist Awareness Sessions and other PGC Facilitator: Cherry Deges is “Mass Times for travel” by Mass Times Trust (Apple App Store). It is free, with no ads. This info can also be educational efforts of the dio- Reporting Abuse cese, all people of the diocese accessed on the web at http://masstimes.org/ Just enter If you or someone you know your location, and the nearest few Catholic Churches are can learn how to discuss differ- may have been a victim of sexual ent aspects of abuse -- including listed, with the Mass times of each. If you know how (I abuse by clergy, an employee don’t!), you may turn on “Location Services” to determine sexual abuse -- with children and or volunteer of the Diocese of how to teach them to protect your approximate location automatically. hat a blessing Dodge City, you are asked to to find and celebrate Holy Mass! -- Bishop John themselves. contact Dave Snapp, Fitness Protecting God’s Children Review Administrator: (620) awareness sessions, as of press 225-5051 or dsnapp3@starrtech. Keeping pornography off your computer, and other helpful sites time (please visit dcdiocese.org/ net Sam Meier of My House Ministries in Kansas kck.org/MyHouse; ChastityProject.com; Covenan- safe-environment for updates): You always have the right to City spoke at the Stewardship Conference Aug. tEyes.com; EndSexualExploytation.org; Integri- Plains (English); Sunday, directly contact the Department 22 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe in tyRestored.com; PornHarms.com; PureHope.net; Sept. 20, 2015, 2:30 -5:30 p.m.; for Children and Families/Kansas Dodge City, and shared these websites designed to ReclaimSexualHealth.com; ReligiousAlliance.org; St. Patrick Church Hall, 601 Protection Report Center. The inform, to help those addicted to pornography, and SatpInstitute.com; and ThePornEffect.com. Superior St., Plains, KS 67869; hotline number is 1-800-922- to help keep pornography out of your home: Arch- Contact Person: Carmen Puentes 5330. Fa The Southwest Kansas Catholic September 6, 2015 Page 3 Stewardship Day requests participants... By SKC STAFF And the better gift we are for ourselves, she is hope, said Eric Haselhorst at the open- said. “The more virtuous we are, the happier Hing welcome to the Aug. 22 Stewardship we will be, and the happier we will be around Show me the ... faith! Conference, was that each of the nearly 300 others. In the long run, virtue becomes its own participants would take home “one thing” -- a reward.” lesson, an idea, a hope – that they could then Using Money Wisely share with their parish. Ross and Tracy Smith, Cathedral parish- The Meaning of Life ioners, shared their story of paying off their For speaker Jake Samour (second from top student loans and becoming debt-free. The photo), that one thing was, simply, the mean- couple attended Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace ing of life: “To become a gift.” In order to University facilitated by Eric Haselhorst several become that gift, you must find yourself, he years ago. Their presentation included some said, and in order to find yourself, “you must staggering figures. Seventy percent of people lose yourself.” in the United States live paycheck to paycheck “That’s it, I’m done!” Samour said laughing, with little or no savings; forty percent of divorces as his breakout session on “Discovering Me” had are caused by money problems. just barely gotten started. Samour is the director The Smiths spoke about how they worked for the Office of Marriage and Family Life for together to examine their spending habits and the Catholic Diocese of Wichita.