UPCOMING EVENTS

Welcome Reception for Fr. Andy Walsh & Fr. Andrew LabenzJuly 2, 2-4 p.m., Cana Hall

CYM Adoration Under the StarsJuly 5, 7 p.m., St. Joe, Ost

Totus Tuus Twilight Retreats, grades 7-12 July 9-13, 7:30-9:45 p.m., CYM Room

Totus Tuus Day Program for grades 1-6 July 9-14, 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. See Bulletin for details

CYM Summer Monday July 17, 7-10:30 p.m., SFA back lawn

St. Francis spirituality inspires FF Strategic PlanJUNE 2017

Wichita, Kansas

ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI CATHOLIC CHURCH

THE V E R N A C U L A R

Asked by God To Rebuild His Church

Having gone one day into the fields, the better to contemplate and meditate upon heavenly things, St. Francis came to the church of St. Damian, which, from its old age, was fast falling into decay, and, by the inspiration of the Spirit of God, he went in it to pray.

As he lay prostrate before a crucifix he was filled with great spiritual consolation, and gazing with tearful eyes upon the holy Cross of the Lord, he heard with his bodily ears a voice from the crucifix, which said to him three times: “Francis, go and build up My house, which, as you can see, is falling into ruin.”

The front cover of the Faith Forward Strategic Plan handout is an image of St. Francis receiving the stigmata. On the back cover of the handout is an image of St. Francis rebuilding the Church. Below are the excerpts of St. Bonaventure’s retelling of these events in his book “Life of St. Francis of Assisi.”

Then Francis, trembling, and full of fear, being in the church alone, wondered at the sound of that marvelous voice, and as his heart received the meaning and power of the divine words he fell into a great ecstasy.

When he had recovered his senses, and came to himself, he prepared to obey, and set himself at once to fulfill

St. Francis as builder, shown in this portion of a panel painting by the Italian artist Giotto, painted around 1295-1300 and now in the Louvre in Paris.

the command which he had received to repair the church he was in, although the principal intention of these words referred to that universal Church which Christ has purchased and built up with His precious Blood, as the Holy Spirit afterwards revealed to him.

Received the StigmataEarly in the morning of

the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, as St. Francis was praying in a secret and solitary place on the mountain, he beheld a seraph angel, having six wings, all on fire, descending to him from the height of Heaven. As the angel fell with great swiftness toward the man of God, there appeared between the wings of the angel the form of One

crucified, having His hands and feet stretched out and fixed to the Cross. …

When St. Francis beheld this, he marveled greatly, and his heart was filled with mingled joy and sorrow. He rejoiced at the gracious aspect with which Christ, under the form of the Seraph angel, looked upon him; yet to behold Christ thus fastened to the Cross pierced St. Francis’ soul like a sword of compassion and grief. …

He understood, by the revelation of the Lord, that this vision had been presented to his eyes by Divine Providence, that the friend of Christ might know that he was to be

St. Francis Spirituality … cont. on p. 5

June 2017 THE VERNACULAR2 Layout by Guy Gallant

BAPTISMS

Tyson David, son of Andrew and Erica Weishaar, on May 6

Charles Thomas, son of Brett and Whitney Troxel, on May 7

Lily Frances, daughter of Adam and Meghann Zarchan, on May 7

Ava Deines, daughter of Michael and Anna Eastman, on May 13

Thomas William, son of Jose and Kendra Lopez, on May 13

Sullivan Richard, son of Kalen and Elizabeth Kubik, on May 20

Cleo Lane, daughter of Brandon and Jessica Provines, on May 21

Paxton Maddox, son of Jesse and Alisha Vigil, on May 21

Stewardship witness: Stan & Connie ZienkewiczThe following is from the testimony

the Zienkewiczes gave during the 8:30 a.m. Mass on Nov. 13, 2016, as part of our parish’s annual Stewardship Renewal.

Stan: We are Connie and Stan Zienkewicz, and we have been members of St. Francis for 27 years. Our six children went to St. Francis and to Bishop Carroll. We are proud to have 20 grandchildren, seven in Catholic schools and eight more headed that way.

Stewardship is the grateful response of a Christian disciple who recognizes and receives God’s gifts and who shares these gifts in love of God and neighbor. This year’s theme is “Stewarding our Gifts.”

Connie: When we moved to Wichita we bought a house in this parish and came to register. We had the great pleasure to meet and get to know Fr. McGread. He introduced us to the Stewardship way of life as he had developed it here at St. Francis and spread throughout the diocese and the nation.

We found the concept challenging and we started slowly to get involved, volunteer our talents and learn to give sacrificially from the gifts we had been given by God.

Shortly after we came to St. Francis, a parishioner showed hospitality by inviting me to join a rosary group. I found that group of ladies to be prayerful and as warm and inviting as the first person who invited me. This very large parish became so much smaller very quickly. That led to activities with the Ladies Auxiliary, music ministry, volunteering at school and so much more.

One of the things we are most grateful for is the wonderful legacy passed on to all of us from those who started the Stewardship Way of Life at St. Francis. We each reap the fruit of those who have generously given before us, and it is now our responsibility to give sacrificially of our time, talent and treasure to ensure that future generations of families at St. Francis will learn to grow spiritually in

this radical way – the Stewardship Way of Life.

Stan: We are grateful for the gift Fr. McGread gave to us and to this parish. We want to make sure it is here for the next generation, too. We owe a debt to all those parishioners who came before us and started Perpetual Adoration, built a beautiful church for us to join with our fellow stewards to receive the Eucharist, gave sacrificially so our school would give our children a great education in their faith, and continue to share their gifts to make this parish a wonderful place to experience God in each other.

You may recall from last year’s successful run to the World Series by the KC Royals the saying “keep the line moving.” The players referenced it when the team needed to recover from a large deficit or had to cover for an injury to a teammate. It refers to just doing your part to make the team successful in accomplishing its goal.

Well, I believe it’s our time to step up to the plate and honor those who come before us and showed us the way to live this marvelous Stewardship Way of Life. It will lead us down the path to meeting our parish’s spiritual goal of attaining heaven for each parishioner of St. Francis. Many of you, like us, do not have children in school, but we continue to give at a different level than we were able to when our children were little. Our parish plant, including the school, continues to serve our parish and we are honored to continue to help support the parish.

Connie: This year’s theme uses “stewarding” as a verb – the action of using our gifts, not just recognizing and receiving them. We share our time and talent with the parish as members of the Stewardship Committee. Our family has received SO much from St. Francis, and we know that our faith has grown as we continue to learn more, share our gifts and gratefully receive the gifts of our fellow parishioners. All of us stewarding our gifts together make St. Francis a prayerful, generous, grateful family.

We had the opportunity to attend the International Stewardship

Stan & Connie Zienkewicz with Daughter Julie

Conference this fall with Fr. Jarrod. We were astounded at the reaction of the other participants when they heard we were from THE St. Francis of Assisi in Wichita! We have a reputation across the country, and other parishes look to us as an example. All of us should be proud to know we are part of the inspiration for others, but we have to keep holding ourselves to the standards we have set for others.

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St. Therese Girls Club

Recently graduated Little Flowers from SFA helped with the parish home visit project by filling 2,700 Holy Water bottles to be presented as gifts to parishioners during home visits.

Have you had a chance to see the beautiful pictures on the front and back cover of the Faith Forward Strategic Plan? We intentionally chose these two pictures of St. Francis because they depict the stories of him receiving the stigmata and of him being told to rebuild the Church.

You can read the actual accounts of these stories by St. Bonaventure on page 1 of this issue of the Vernacular.

But why did we specifically choose to use these two images? Because they capture the essence of St. Francis’s spirituality.

St. Francis received the stigmata as an outward sign of his inward holiness. From his earliest years, he strived to imitate the Lord Jesus Christ. St. Francis is one of the most charismatic saints of all time. He truly loved the Lord with his whole heart, soul, mind and strength. He delighted in

contemplative prayer, rejoiced in going frequently to Mass, was transported in love upon hearing the scriptures, and conversed frequently with the Spirit of God and angels of heaven.

He also ardently loved his neighbor. He embraced poverty, hugged lepers, fed the poor, gave away all that he had, preached the Gospel of love, sacrificed daily for others and did penance for the reparation of sin.

Not only did he love God and neighbor, but he delighted in “brother sun,” “sister moon,” “brothers wind and air,” and all creatures of our God and king. (see "Canticle on p.4.)

Imitating St. Francis who imitated Jesus While we find it amazing that

anyone should receive the stigmata in their hands, we must realize that it is more amazing that a stigmata is only an outward sign of the inward holiness already achieved. It is more blessed to be holy, in imitation of Jesus, than to have a stigmata. And, indeed, a stigmata is only present in those persons who first learned to imitate Jesus in love!

Part of St. Francis’ holiness was his deeply contemplative prayer life. In fact, it was in such a state of prayer that he first heard God tell him, “Francis, go and build up My house, which, as you can see, is falling into ruin.”

The reason why we included this picture on the back cover of the strategic plan was because we, at St. Francis, are working to build up our parish as St. Francis was sent to build up the Church.

You see, as part of our five-year strategic plan, it is my hope, as your pastor, to include many references to St. Francis’ spirituality so that we can learn to imitate him as he learned to imitate Jesus. We are called to “clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 13:14) and to do what St. Paul asks, “imitate me as I imitate Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1).

It is my hope that we, as a parish, can take on some of St. Francis’ spirituality and learn from him how to physically represent Christ whom we inwardly imitate in love.

Message From

THE PASTOR

June 2017 THE VERNACULAR4

Canticle of Brother Sun & Sister MoonMost High, all-powerful, all-good

Lord, All praise is Yours, all glory, all honor and all blessings.

To you alone, Most High, do they belong, and no mortal lips are worthy to pronounce Your Name.

Praised be You my Lord with all Your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, who is the day through whom You give us light. And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour. Of You Most High, he bears the likeness.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars. In the heavens you have made them bright, precious and fair.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air. And fair and stormy, all weather’s moods,

by which You cherish all that You have made.

Praised be You my Lord through Sister Water, so useful, humble, precious and pure.

Praised be You my Lord through Brother Fire, through whom You light the night and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.

Praised be You my Lord through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, producing varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

Praise be You my Lord through those who grant pardon for love of You and bear sickness and trial.

Blessed are those who endure in peace, By You Most High, they will be crowned.

Praised be You, my Lord through Sister Death, from whom no-one living can escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin! Blessed are they She finds doing Your Will.

No second death can do them harm. Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks, and serve Him with great humility.

– St. Francis of Assisi

Sacred art enables us to encounter God“The Word became flesh and dwelt

among us” (Jn 1:14)God wants to be known by us. The

great apologist, Frank Sheed wrote, “It is the surest mark of love to want to be known.”

But how can the infinite God be known by limited human minds? God’s answer to this complex question is called the Incarnation, when God became man. Humans learn and come to possess knowledge of immaterial realities through their senses. God made us this way, so He knows exactly how to give us knowledge of Himself. If humans were to have substantial, familial knowledge of God, He would have to make Himself accessible to us. He did, and still does.

The Incarnation radically changed the relationship between God and man. Mary, a human woman, felt God flip and kick within her womb. She held God in her hands, took in His likeness with her gaze, smelled His infant head, kissed His face, and heard His cries and laughter – all of which deepened her knowledge of her maker.

As her knowledge increased, so did her love of her Divine Son. Jesus Christ’s physical body becomes the way by which we come to know God’s love (CCC #458).

From the beginning of the Church’s history, disciples of Jesus Christ have allowed God to continue His work through their human hands to create images, which enable God to be known. Artists have been fashioning images of Christ and His saints from the beginning. Sacred art, patterned after the Incarnation, has always been a way of reaching Christ, of coming to a greater knowledge of Him. When aided by sacred art, we think about the Word made flesh, our knowledge of Him increases, our prayer life is nurtured, and our relationship with Christ is strengthened.

“It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20).

By the power of God’s grace and man’s free cooperation, our lives and God’s life are united. The relationship between Christ and His saints is one in which, “they become one flesh” (Gen 2:24). The unity between the Father and the Son is the same unity

Christ prays to have with His saints (cf. Jn 17:20-23), and His prayer is accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

When we use sacred art to prayerfully venerate a saint, such as St. Francis of Assisi, we encounter Christ through that saint. As you take time to look at the images of St. Francis in this issue of the Vernacular and in the Faith Forward Strategic Plan, reflect on Jesus Christ who conformed Francesco Bernardone to His image.

Jesus Christ in St. Francis and with his free cooperation rebuilt the 13th century Church. Jesus Christ in St. Francis bore the wounds of His passion to communicate the love of God for man anew.

The same Christ who became incarnate and made Himself accessible to the Blessed Virgin Mary and Francis of Assisi makes Himself accessible to you. Seek Him in the sacred art used by the Church as a way of encountering God. He wants to be known by you because He loves you.

– James J. Bitting Jr.

June 2017THE VERNACULAR8 5

St. Francis finds joy in his infinite debt to GodI got homework. That seemed a

little strange in the summertime, but I accepted what seemed to be a fairly straightforward assignment from Fr. Jarrod. Find a story of stewardship about St. Francis of Assisi, our parish patron saint.

My son, Deacon Garett Burns of whom I am very proud, stepped forward to assist me by giving me a book. I’m sure some of you have read “St. Francis of Assisi” by G. K. Chesterton, and if you haven’t I recommend that you add it to your summertime reading list. The author gives a deep and fascinating account of the life of the man he calls “one of the strongest and strangest and most original personalities that human history has even known.”

Maybe this homework was going to be a little more difficult than I thought. This man was a “furnace – glowing with gratitude and humility.” He had a sense of great gratitude and

a dependence upon God that was the very rock of his reality. His love of nature was an outpouring of his love for people and the thankfulness that he felt to his Creator.

St. Francis famously stripped himself of his father’s garments and declared “I am a Servant of God.”

He had found the joy in his life by complete surrender to the will of

God and humbling himself to rely completely on divine providence. Chesterton says that St. Francis made the “discovery of an infinite debt. It may seem a paradox to say that a man may be transported WITH JOY to discover he is in debt.”

This gift of life we have been given did create for us and for everyone a debt that cannot be repaid.

“It is the highest and holiest of paradoxes that the man who really knows he cannot pay his debt will be

forever paying it,” Chesterton writes. “He will be forever giving back what he cannot give back and cannot be expected to give back. He will be always throwing things away into a bottomless pit of unfathomable thanks.”

Maybe I should have read this book a long time ago! Chesterton captures the essence of St. Francis and of our life in stewardship. We are to make our feeble attempt to act in thanksgiving for all the good our Lord and Savior has done for us.

Our vision is to joyfully take this life of stewardship to all we meet, in our homes, in our workplace and to those in our parish we meet in home visits. Faith Forward and our five-year strategic plan give a roadmap to actively live out these acts of gratitude and humility, to live as St. Francis lived. Now that sounds like homework for all of us.

– Pat Burns, Director of Stewardship & Finance

transformed into Christ crucified, not by the martyrdom of the flesh, but by the fire of the spirit. The vision, disappearing, left behind it a marvelous fire in his heart, and a no less wonderful sign impressed on his flesh; for there began immediately to appear in his hands and in his feet the appearance of nails, as he had now seen them in the vision of the Crucified.

His hands and his feet appeared pierced through the midst with nails, the heads of the nails being seen in the insides of the hands and the upper part of the feet, and the points on the reverse side. … On the right side, as if it had been pierced by a lance, was

the mark of a red wound, from which the sacred blood often flowed, and stained his tunic.

When the lover of Christ had been transformed by his true love into his own image, having fulfilled the 40 days which he had thus spent in solitude before the feast of the Archangel Michael, this angelical man, Francis, descended from the mount, bearing with him the image of the Crucified, engraved, not on tables of wood or stone by the hand of the artificer, but written on his members of flesh by the finger of the living God … openly manifested many miracles by their power that the hidden and miraculous virtue of these Stigmata might be clearly made known by many signs.

St. Francis Spirituality ... cont. from p. 1

In this painting by José de Ribera (1591-1652), St. Francis is shown with the Stigmata, the first recorded case of the phenomenon. He received the marks after a 40-day fasting retreat in the mountains.

June 2017 THE VERNACULAR 56

Beauty and the Beast

In May, SFA School’s sixth graders took a field trip to the Cathedral in Downtown Wichita. Fr. Rick Kotrba and Deacon Michael Brungardt gave them a guided tour, followed by Confession and Mass.

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Directed by music teacher Donna Mally, SFA School 7th and 8th graders put on Beauty and the Beast Jr. in late April. Auditions and crew applications were in December, with 50 cast members and 17 tech crew members selected. Rehearsals began in February. Leads were Grace Rosa, Belle; Florence Barles, Maurice; Cade Hilger, Beast; Joseph Poggi, Gaston; Luke Timmermeyer, Lefou; Josh Vo, Lumiere; Anna Engel, Cogsworth; and Erika Pearson, Mrs. Potts.

In addition to Mally, some of the other adults who helped were: Caitlin Marrero, assistant director; Dustyn Morgan and Lisa Exley, technical directors; David Hain, lighting designer; Tammy Bacha, costume design; Crave Beauty Academy, hair and makeup; and Bryan Malone, program, ad & poster design.

June 2017THE VERNACULAR 7

“ K e e p a c l e a r e y e t o w a r d l i f e ’ s e n d . D o n o t f o r g e t

y o u r p u r p o s e a n d d e s t i n y a s G o d ’ s c r e a t u r e .…

R e m e m b e r t h a t w h e n y o u l e a v e t h i s e a r t h , y o u c a n

t a k e n o t h i n g t h a t y o u h a v e r e c e i v e d . . . b u t o n l y

w h a t y o u h a v e g i v e n ; a f u l l h e a r t e n r i c h e d b y h o n e s t s e r v i c e , l o v e ,

s a c r i f i c e , a n d c o u r a g e .” – F r a n c i s o f A s s i s i

Stewardship Thought

Track & field team: ‘To the heights!’The 2017 track & field season

officially ended May 6 at the CSAL League Championship meet at Bishop Carroll Family Stadium, where the athletes were able to see their dedication and hard work pay off with many personal bests and even a few broken records.

The SFA Track & Field program

emphasizes that athletes always put forth their best effort. We run time trials at the start of the season so the athletes can compare those marks with those at the end of the season to see how much they have improved.

With this in mind, our theme this year was a quote by Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati: “To the heights!” Bl. Pier Giorgio was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed physical activities such as mountain climbing. Even with his sense of adventure, he still found time to serve those in need and be a pious, faithful young man.

I want to extend a special thanks to parishioners John Pirtle and Bryan Malone for helping design the

New SFA Records• 6th Grade Boys 4x200M

relay – Nick Brummett, Trent Zimbleman, Colin Tran, Zach Rogers, 2:02.45

• 8th Grade Girls 3200M run – Kadee Martinez, 13.22.89

• 8th Grade Girls 200M hurdles – Kadee Martinez, 34.68

NEW PARISHIONERSRyan DickHunter Ternes and Kirsten Kruse,

2 childrenDavid and Rebecca Loos,

2 childrenArmando and Karla Perez-Silva,

4 childrenReynaldo and Shelley Rodrigez,

2 childrenCaleb and Melissa Vogel,

2 children

track T-shirts of Bl. Pier Giorgio on a mountaintop.

I hope all of the athletes will be able to look back with fondness on

this season, reflecting on the memories and new friends made. Everyone did a great job of encouraging their teammates to do their very best in order to make it “to the

heights!” I also want to thank all of the

parents and coaches for the time and energy spent making this a successful and rewarding experience for the kids. It is your dedicated stewardship that makes St. Francis of Assisi a special place.

– Mark Powell, Head Coach

FUNERALS

Christopher Gutierrez, husband of Judith, father of Katarina Walker, Robert Gutierrez, Ashley Shorten and Christopher Shorten, on May 13.

Kelly L. Ollek, wife of Richard, daughter of Walter and Nikki Nelson, sister of Bryan Nelson, mother of Alyssa Andra, Heather Knight, Rebeka Stanley and Ryan Ollek, on May 15.

Konnie Ludwig, mother of TraceAnn Adkins, on May 17.

David Wood, husband of Maria Wood, father of Jennifer Wood, on May 18.

NONPROFIT ORGU.S. POSTAGE PAID

WICHITA, KSPERMIT #152

Catholic Diocese of WichitaSt. Francis of Assisi861 N. SocoraWichita, KS 67212-3237