Register The Southwest Kansas Newspaper of the Catholic Diocese of Dodge City

Vol. XLVI, No. 8 • Sunday, August 7, 2011

+ Most Rev. John B. Brungardt

Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Dodge City

Simplicity of life in the priesthood? But money and my things are important to me! Well, I guess they aren’t important -- just useful. True, my family and friends are more important than money and possessions. And yes, God is the most important. But how can I focus on God, people and my faith in this materialistic world?

When I was a young adult, I bought a new car. I had paid off my school

loans, and had just received a raise at work. I drove my new car to my brother’s house 100 miles away to show it off, but he wasn’t home. I didn’t care, since I was so pleased that I had a new car!

The next morning I woke up, thought about my new car, and said to myself, “Self, big deal; I have a new car.”

I was quite shocked that this car did not give me lasting happiness, that this material possession did not fulfill me. Less than 24 hours after I bought the car, it was no big deal to me!

Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (Matthew 6:21). As I listened to God’s call to the priesthood, I found what my treasure is -- being a priest, giving myself to Jesus as priest, prophet, and shepherd, caring for His flock. Since my heart is in this treasure, the priesthood, I find happiness. Not a short-term pleasure, not a fleeting high, but a lasting joy.

Guys, letgo of an emphasis on posses-sions. Listen in prayer to what treasure God has planned for you - to be a priest or to be a husband and dad. Jesus will tug your heart toward this treasure, and you will find lasting happiness, joyous fulfillment.

Jesus wants this for you; He loves you more than you can ask or imagine!

Bishop, Are you kidding me? Simplicity of Life?

‘The Source and the Summit’

Youth take a deeper look at Mass during Catholic summer camp

-- Page 13

At left, Bishop John B. Brungardt poses for a photograph with a young-ster who attended the Liberal gathering, where he met the three seminar-ians for the Catholic Diocese of Dodge City.

‘The Lord is leading us to a life in the full’

Local Catholics meet with seminarians for fun, food and faith

DavidMyers/SKRPhoto

PhotobyStevenPolley

By DAviD MyeRsSouthwest Kansas Register

In the cool shade of several tall trees at Blue Bonnet Park in Liberal July 17, seminarians for the Catholic

Diocese of Dodge City, Tylan Ricketts and Jacob Sch-neider, shouted their approval as a participant scored three points in a game of “ladder ball”.

Meanwhile, seminarian Juan Salas braved searing heat while playing soccer in a nearby field with three other participants.

The games were just the first event for the afternoon gathering, which included a prayer service, a steak dinner hosted by the Knights of Columbus, and brief presenta-

Continued on Page 7

Page 2 August 7, 2011 The Southwest Kansas Register

+ Most Rev.Ronald M. Gilmore

Bishop Emeritus of Dodge City

Catechist Formation classes are presented via the Interactive Tele-

vision (ITV) system, with locations throughout the diocese.

The September program includes the session, “New Words, Same Mass” / “Priestly Vocations”.

Presenters include the “New Words Team” and Father Wesley Schawe, the new full-time Director of the Office of Priestly Vocations.

The session description reads as fol-lows: “When something as central as the words at Mass change, it is important for us to prepare as well as we are able. The changes in wording for the prayers at Mass give all of us a reason to think carefully about what we say when we pray the prayers at Mass. This session

continues what we began in our Janu-ary Catechist Formation Sessions. We will again consider the new texts to be used in Mass, so that you may prepare yourself, your children or others for the changes coming in Advent 2011.

“During the September Catechist Formation session, we will also turn our hearts to diocesan priesthood and how ‘it takes a church to raise a priest.’”

This session will be presented: Wednesday, Sept. 7 - 6 to 9 p.m.Saturday, Sept. 10 - 9 a.m. to NoonSunday, Sept. 11 - 3 to 6 p.m. (in

Spanish)For more information, or for ITV

locations, go to dcdiocese.org/catechist-formation, or call Coleen Stein, (620) 227-1538.

The Pastoral Ministry Formation pro-gram of the Catholic Diocese of Dodge City, which is open to any Catholic wishing to learn more about their faith, is presenting the following two classes via Interactive Television (ITV):

“Christian Morality and social is-sues,” by Father Wesley Schawe

Class description: “This three hour course is a study of basic Christian beliefs about the origin, destiny, and meaning of the person, the nature of Christian life as the fundamental commitment to follow Christ, and the moral principles that flow from this. Students will explore the importance of moral ‘self-determination’ through free choices and will explore how appropriate moral choices are made within the Christian faith commitment. Contemporary moral issues will be studied and analyzed from a Christian perspective.”

The class will be presented Saturdays from 8:30 - Noon on Sept. 17 and 24,

Oct. 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29, and Nov. 5 and 12.

“Thank you, Gracious God,” by Eric Haselhorst

Course Description: “‘If the onlyprayeryousaidinyourlifewasthankyou - that would suffice.’ -- Meister Eckhart, Dominican preacher, theolo-gian and mystic. ‘Tobegratefulistorecognize the Love of God in everything God has given us - and God has given us everything.’ -- Thomas Merton

“This course will give concrete ideas on how one becomes a true follower of Jesus Christ. ‘Thank You, Gracious God’ will use scripture and liturgy to discover the Spirituality of Stewardship in which we are called to live.”

This class will be presented Wednes-days from 6-9 p.m. on Sept. 21. and 28, and Oct. 12 and 19.

For more information, or for ITV lo-cations, go to dcdiocese.org/catechist-formation, or call Coleen Stein, (620) 227-1538.

Catechist Formation sessionSchedule for September

Pastoral Ministry Formation

The ITV network is offered as a partnership between Newman University and the Diocese of Dodge City. Through this “Church in Partnership,” students can also earn a pastoral ministry degree.

For more information, go to www.dcdiocese.org/church_in_part-nership, or visit www.newmanu.edu/.

In 1685 a French Carmelite Brother wrote to a nun of the same order:

If I were a preacher, I would preach nothing but the practice of the pres-ence of God; and if I were a spiritual director, I would recommend it to everyone, for I believe there is noth-ing so necessary, or so easy. (Letter 3, 57) Just who was this Brother, and just what is that practice?

The monk’s given name was Nico-las Herman, and he was born in 1614 in Lorraine. In 1640 he entered the Order of Discalced Carmelites in Paris as a lay brother, and he took the name Lawrence of the Resurrection.

He spent the rest of his life (he died in 1691 at the age of 77) as a cook and a sandal-maker in that monastery of more than 100 monks, most of them students.

A brown-robed presence, the pres-ence of a religious soul in constant search of the presence of God, who revealed to many others the “prac-tice” of this presence among the “pots and pans” of his hidden life: that’s how a 20th century follower described him 300 years after his death in 1991.

What was this thing he searched for, this practice he taught, this Pres-

ence of God? In the end, it was the repeated and affective remembering of God. It was as simple as that. It was the habit of rising more easily from the works of creation to the Creator himself. It was the happy intuition that God is in all his works, in the persons, places, and things of a life ... or, as Lawrence put it, even in the omelet frying in the pan.

I plan to turn this over in my mind, and in yours, over the next few issues of the Southwest Kansas Register. Will you come along for the trip? It will be another way of thinking about God.

‘Another Way’... It was the happy intuition that God is in all his works, in the persons, places, and things of a life ... or, as Lawrence put it, even in the omelet frying in the pan.

Sister Louise Hageman, 78, died Monday, July 25, 2011, in the Dominican Sisters’

convent infirmary, Great Bend.Born Nov. 26, 1932, in Willowdale, Kan-

sas, as Rita Hageman, Sister Louise was the daughter of the late Fred and Louise Schulte Hageman. She entered the Dominican Sisters of Great Bend June 13, 1948, and pronounced her first vows June 11, 1951. She celebrated 60 years of religious profession this year.

Sister Louise began her ministerial life as a teacher of elementary students in seven different parochial schools of Kansas. After completing studies at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Sister Louise served on the Formation Team for young religious of Great Bend for about ten years and then as Prioress of the Dominican Sisters of Great Bend for eight years. Following continued studies in the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California, she served as Direc-tor of the Spirituality Program at Benet Hill Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Since 1989 Sister Louise has served on the staff of Heartland Center for Spirituality in Great Bend as its Director, then Co-Director, and finally as a staff member and consultant.

Life of Sister Louise Hageman, OP mourned, celebrated

Sister Louise is survived by her Dominican Sisters of Peace religious community, one brother and four sisters: Richard of Spivey, Rosemary Kennedy of Frankfort, Alice Demuth of Dodge City, Leora Adelhardt of Wichita and Phyllis Lopez of Topeka – all of Kansas.

Father Robert Schremmer presided at the Liturgy of Christian Burial. Memorials in honor of Sister Louise may be sent to: Do-minican Sisters of Peace, 2320 Airport Dr, Columbus OH 43219-2098.

sister Louise Hageman, OP

WASHINGTON — Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, president of the U.S. Confer-ence of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), will celebrate a Memorial Mass, Sept. 14, at noon, for the late Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States. The Mass will be at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.

Archbishop Sambi, a Vatican diplomat, died July 27, at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore from post-operative complica-tions. On July 29 and 30, his body lay in state at the Apostolic Nunciature in Wash-ington and was then to be transported to Italy for funeral services.

The Mass on Sept. 14, which is the Feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross, coin-cides with the fall meeting of the USCCB Administrative Committee. Bishops from around the country will concelebrate the

Mass, which will also serve as an opportu-nity for the diplomatic corps to pay its re-spects to Archbishop Sambi. As the Vatican ambassador to the United States, Archbish-op Sambi was a member of the corps.

In his July 28 memo to the bishops, Archbishop Dolan said the Memorial Mass for Archbishop Sambi stands as an oppor-tunity to express “gratitude for his priestly example and timeless service to the Holy Father and to the Church.”

“Together with Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington; and Msgr. Jean-François Lantheaume, Chargé d’affaires at the Apostolic Nunciature; I invite you to concelebrate the Eucharistic celebration and to join the many faithful who will pray with us in thanksgiving for the life and ministry of Archbishop Sambi, our brother bishop and devoted servant of the Lord,” Archbishop Dolan said.

Memorial Mass for Vatican Nuncio to U.S. slated for September

The Southwest Kansas Register August 7, 2011 Page 3

Faith and Light“every time you smile at some-

one, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.”

—MotherTeresa

There were smiles, smiles, and more smiles; there were water

balloons; there were burgers; there was a large piñata filled with candy; and of course, there was prayer. This was the annual picnic for the Faith and Light Community of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadal-upe, held July 17 at Wright Park in Dodge City. Nearly 70 physically and intel-lectually disabled children and adults, their friends and family

-- this year including partici-pants from Arrowhead West -- took part in what has

become a bright and shining light in the diocese.

Faith and Light began in 1968 when a couple organized a pilgrim-age to Lourdes with their two intel-lectually disabled children. Today, more than 70 countries host Faith and Light communities. Attending the gathering was Bish-op Emeritus Ronald M. Gilmore, Sister Veronice Born, who started the cathedral Faith and Light com-munity, and Edie Loughmiller, who hosts the monthly gatherings held throughout the year at the cathedral. The monthly gatherings include a prayer service, songs of praise, dance, games, skits, and a potluck meal, all in a non-threatening atmo-sphere where all feel welcome. Loughmiller wished to thank the Knights of Columbus for prepar-ing the burgers. Other parishes are encouraged to form their own Faith and Light communities.

Photos by Edie Loughmiller

Page 4 August 7, 2011 The Southwest Kansas Register

Official Newspaper Published Semi-Monthly by the Catholic Diocese of Dodge CityAll material in this newspaper credited to Catholic News Service (CNS) is copyrighted 2011.

Bishop John B. Brungardt ................................................................................................................. PresidentMrs. Margaret Klenke ...............................................................................................................Editor EmeritaDavid Myers .......................................................................................................................................... EditorTim Wenzl ...................................................................................................................... Advertising ManagerDaniel Stremel, CPA ...........................................................................................................Business Manager

The Southwest Kansas RegisterP.O. Box 137, Dodge City, KS 67801

Phone: (620) 227-1519 Facsimile: (620) 227-1570

e.mail: skregister@dcdiocese.orgwebsite: www.dcdiocese.org/register

Service of EditorsMsgr. A.J. Felling 1966-1971

Byron Hull 1971-1974Margaret Klenke 1974-1990

Tim Wenzl 1990-2001

Holy Ones of Our

Time

By Sister Irene Hartman, OP

Commentary

By DAviD MyeRsSouthwest Kansas Register Sometimes it’s wise to take a good, long look back on our lives: where we came from; where we’ve been; and where we’re going (not to mention how long it will take to get there and whether or not we should bring a sandwich).

With this in mind, I’ve decided to provide an ex-ample to you, the reader, of someone who has peered into the windmills of their mind and have had the seeds of the past blown into the present day that they may sprout fruit and provide food for thought.

The following text is taken directly from the journal of the late author, speaker, and inventor of the Wilber-smith Push-Pin, Wisely Wilbersmith. It is reprinted here with permission from the Wilbersmith Estate:

• • •

We begin with the night I was born, when the violent waters of the Irish Sea turned its wrath

inland like an aggressive dog with a new chew toy. The wind battered the tiny hospital on the Isle of Man, inside which my mother, a baker who specialized in extravagant pies, exotic cakes, and unusual Rice Crispy treats, struggled bravely against the pain of childbirth.

My father, an ensign with the British Royal Navy who had been dealt more violent seas than anyone on this earth is allowed, tightly grasped her hand until her fingers turned a shade of blue.

Mother peered into his warm, worried eyes and ut-tered, “Leggo! You’re squeezing too hard!”

I was born at 3:24 a.m., the security of the womb left behind as I slipped into the cold world of the post-born.

When she first laid eyes upon me, Mother was still somewhat delirious from the medication. Through a weak voice, she uttered, “Is that … a warthog?” to which the nurse said, “No, Mrs. Wilbersmith; this is your son,” to which my mother replied, “I’d prefer a warthog.” Fortunately, my looks improved over the weeks to come.

As I grew older, my father would take me out on his sea vessel, and on one memorable night even allowed me to steer while he played cribbage with his crew. When he returned to the bridge he found that in two brief hours I had somehow managed to take us 12,000 miles off-course, the last 2,000 miles of it over land. A sign off the bow of the ship read, “Welcome to Hays, Kansas.” Though puzzled, Father wasn’t angry. In fact he often said how well I did considering I was only two months old.

My life growing up on the island was much like the average young lad, I imagine. By day I’d go to school where I’d learn things like: when not to approach a squid; the many other uses of electrical outlets; and why Winston Churchill had an irrational fear of after-dinner mints.

In the afternoon, my friends and I would go on sea outings where we’d sometimes hold spelling bees. During one tie-breaker, the winner successfully spelled “inconsequential” while attempting to eat seven Fig Newtons at a time.

Our priest at the time was one Father Fin O’Malley,

a walrus of a man with a wall of hair. Although he had terrific homilies that never failed to instill is us hope and faith, we kids were never entirely sure he wasn’t in reality, Big Foot.

Only one child dared ask the kindly priest about the rumor. In response, Father O’Malley grunted and ambled off into the forest, his arms swinging at his sides. His next Sunday’s homily had suspiciously to do with why Christ’s admonition that we not judge one another also went for missing links. (Turns out he wasn’t the missing link, but he did have an above average sense of humor.)

This was St. Sebastian’s Church, located next to St. Sebastian’s High School for the Uninteresting, which I attended all four years. My senior year, I nearly won the coveted “Most Uninteresting Student of the Year” award, but was disqualified when it was learned I had a pet gerbil named “Fremont,” a fact that, after much debate, the judges deemed “somewhat interesting.”

Then came a troubled period, those years following graduation. I didn’t know who I was, where I was go-ing, or what I wanted to be. I prayed and prayed for an answer. But in my ignorance, I required that to receive an answer, Christ had to practically climb down from the cross and give it to me face-to-face, perhaps even providing a pamphlet that I could refer to later. Obvi-ously, I never heardthe answer I sought.

I briefly attended college where I studied hard and eventually learned to be the guy who refills the ink pads used to stamp people’s hands at amusement parks. From this experience I self-published the novel, “Wisely Wilbersmith: The Story of the Guy Who Refills the Ink Pads Used to Stamp People’s Hands at Amusement Parks.” But I was unfulfilled.

I had other jobs, to be sure: free-lance restaurant condiment-rack guard (for which I was given a permit to carry automatic weapons); shoe lace repairman (af-ter a two-year apprenticeship); and for a brief period, a fact checker at a pretzel shop.

Then came the day then I stood in my flat, lonely and sad, wondering what would become of me -- when my gaze was captured by the crucifix on my wall.

I looked up at the Savior hanging upon the cross and asked Him – pleaded with him! – “Give me an answer, Lord! What do you want me to do?!”

And suddenly ... suddenly I heard it. I heard the answer! Christ hadn’t climbed down off the cross; He didn’t have a handful of brochures for future reference. Instead, I heard His voice in the pounding of my heart, through the God-given life within me.

Through the silence of my heart, I heard God say, “Who”.

Huh? “No,” I replied. “I asked ‘what do you want me to be?’”

“Who!” “...What?”“WHO! … Okay, let’s start over,” God said. “What

I’m saying is, it isn’t a question of whatyou will be, it’s a question of who. Instead of asking yourself what I want you to be, ask yourself who I want you to be!”

And then it hit me! It was so simple!I realized that if I am who God wants me to be, then

the whatGod wants me to be will take care of itself!

A simple question, Lord: Who, what and where do you want me to be?

This little girl of six years was an Italian who may become the

youngest saint (who is not a martyr) to be canonized by the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict XXVI approved the process toward canonization by naming her Venerable in 2007. Two miracles are required for canoniza-tion; a woman in Indiana claims that she has been healed of Hepatitis C by praying to Antoinette.

Antonietta was born in Rome of up-per middle class parents, Michele and Mario Meo. She attended a Catholic school and was a charismatic leader, active in all games and a very kind child. She was noted for her personal charm and was blessed with a good sense of humor and joyfulness. At the age of five, Nennolino, as she was affectionately called, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of bone cancer which began with an injury from a fall. The amputation of her leg she bore cheer-fully. She was fitted with an artificial leg and continued playing with other children. She prayed, “Dear Jesus, you are holy, you are good. Help me, grant me your grace and give me back my leg. If you don’t want to, then may your will be done.”

Catholic theologians have called this child a mystic because of the extraordinary character of her letters. In the months

before her death, Nennilino wrote one hundred letters to Jesus or to the Blessed Virgin. “Dear Jesus, I love you very much. I want to abandon myself into your arms. Do with me what you want. Help me with your grace. You help me, since without your grace, I am nothing.” She prayed often, especially when she was in pain, and she offered her pain to Jesus. “He had suffered so much for humankind, and he had never committed any sin. He didn’t complain.”

In her last days, the little girl made her first con-fession, was confirmed,

received her first Communion, and was anointed. She wrote an especially endearing letter to Jesus on the vigil of her first Communion. “Dear Jesus, tell God the Father that I am happy that he inspired me to accept the proposal to make my first Communion on Christmas Day because it is in fact the very day on which Jesus was born on earth to save us and die on the cross. The first Communion dress is beautiful, but what is most essential is for the dress of the soul to be beautiful.” She prom-ised to receive Jesus in Communion every Sunday and to be the sanctuary lamp that burns day and night before the Blessed Sacrament. She prayed on that vigil for three graces; namely “to make me a saint, to give me souls for you, and make me walk well … though in truth this is not very important because I have given my leg to you.”

She insisted on writing a letter to Jesus a few days before her death, even though she was interrupted when she had to vomit. She asked Jesus to take care of everyone she loved, and she asked for grace to bear the pain. She finished the letter to Jesus with these words, “Your little girl sends you a lot of kisses.” As she was dying on July 3, 1937, Nennolino begged her mother not to cry. She said that Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus had told her that her time had come; the little crippled girl was ready to go home.

Editor’s Note:AbriefvideopresentationaboutNennolinocan be found at dcdiocese.org/register.

Venerable Antonietta Meo; Dec. 15, 1930 to July 3, 1937

venerable Antonietta Meo