Maggie Mosher, Chief AI Consultant for the Center for Reimagining Education,
Assistant Research Professor at the University of Kansas shared information on AI at our Luncheon Meeting, on Wed. June 24th.
 
See inspiredbi.org website for IA Information.
Click here to download a .pdf version of her presentation to our Serra Club.

Brian Schenk shared their mission, vision and Strategic Plan at the June 10th Membership Luncheon Meeting.

He stressed keeping the increase in tuition under 5%/yr. so our Catholic schools do not become for the affluent only.
Twenty-nine students became Catholic in the last 7 years.
Two past students are in the seminary.
You can view the full Strategic Plan Document for a more in-depth breakdown of the school's vision.

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Do you have an IRA or similar tax-deferred retirement account?  Here is one way to save on income taxes and help the Serra cause.

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See this informative article written by Michael Skoch of the JOCO Serra Club on the Pontifical College Josephinum where the archdioceses will be sending some of our seminarians this fall.

Father Scott will be leaving St. Joseph Parish at the first of July.  Father was our Serra Club luncheon speaker at the June 27th Meeting.  We  appreciate Father Scott for supporting our Serra Clubs by allowing our club to hold our meetings at St. Josephs. Continue to pray for Fr. Scott and his new parish Church of the Ascension. 

Also, at this meeting Jeff Eaton introduce the Traveling Crucifix program that a Serran will take home and focus on as he and his family pray for Vocations.

   Fr. Skoch shared with the Serrans some of the history of his great great grandfather immigrating to the US and how his family passed on the Catholic faith. 
   Fr. Skoch said two things help him decern his vocation to the priesthood.  Time to step out of today’s world and invest in God’s work.  Pray changed me not God.  Fr. Skoch is now invested in Glory to God.
   As the new Director of Vocations Fr. Skoch asked for our prayers.  He also asked us Serrans to be bold and talk about God, the gifts of celibacy and invite men to consider the priesthood and woman religious life.
   He will also be part-time sacramental assistance at the St. Lawrence Center at the University of Kansas, while continuing as Chaplain of Bishop Ward High School.
   When asked why there were so many KU and K-State students that came into the Catholic Church this Easter; he said even the bishops were not able to answer this question.  Maybe these students are looking for the objective truth and want to be part of something good.

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Mitch Nolan, Director of Mission Outreach and Development Catholic Community Health, Kansas City, MO, shared information about the Catholic Community Health - Home Care - Villa St. Frances - Hospice at our April 22nd Membership Meeting.  Mitch left us with 3 handouts and how to access more information at CatholiccommunityHealth.org or (913) 621-5090.
  Three key items Mitch shared with our Serrans:
1. Be sure to request Catholic Hospice for yourself and your love ones.
2. Verify or update you End of Life Legal documents to follow Catholic Ethical and Religious Directives.   A fillable PDF version of a Catholic advanced directive is HERE.
3.  I refer you to our Chief Health and Ethics Officer, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Dr. Skoch is an expert in the ERDs, a Serran, and will be able to provide a clinical opinion on an directive.

Fr. John Riley, Pastor of Cure' of Ars, said Personal Invitations had a lot to do with his vocation to the priesthood.  After working nearly 15 years in the finance industry, at 36 years old Fr. Riley enters the Seminary at Mundelein and then completed his theology studies at the North American Collage in Rome. 
A number of Catholics invited Fr. Riley to get more involved in Queen of the Holy Rosary – the parish he grew up in.  A tall usher asked him to usher; Jean Humphry asked him to be a lecture; Angelina Perez asked him to be a substitute in the Adoration Chapel.  During these hours of adoration, Fr. Riley prayed to know God's will for his life.  God's will -- be a priest.  Fr. Riley trusted that what God wanted for him was better than what he wanted for himself. So, he left his work career and entered the seminary.  He was ordained a priest in June 2003 at 41 years old. 
He has held a number of positions at the archdioceses – chancellor for 16 years and Vicar General for 4 years, and now is the pastor of Cure' of Ars.  He is looking forward to retirement in only 6 years.

Fr. Luke Doyle gave an inspiring presentation on what Jesus is doing at the St. Lawrence Catholic Center.

Here are a number of statements (and numbers) Fr. Doyle made in his presentation to our Serrans.

* Pray for KU 4,000 Catholic students, 2,000 attend Mass on Sundays – there are KU 40,000 students.
* These young university students are the future of the Church and world.
* Our young students have an opportunity to learn of Christ at KU.
* Pray for the Catholic mission at KU.
* 64 OICA students will come into the Church this Easter.
* 17 men are discerning the priesthood meet with Fr. Doyle Weekly.
* 11 women are discerning the religious life.
* 24 of our archdioceses priests passed through St. Lawrence Center.
* 49 other priests serve outside our archdioceses are from KU.
* 3 bishops are from KU.
* 10 young missionaries – 6 FOCUS and 4 SPO – work with Fr. Luke at the KU mission.
* There has been an uptick in the interest of the Catholic faith since the death of Charlie Kirk.

•  Serran, please pray for the Catholic Mission at KU, Fr. Luke Doyle, and the men and women discerning religious and marriage vocations.

Wednesday March 11, 2026, -- the 6th Grade Essay Contest Winners read their winning essay and received their award.

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Archdiocesan vocations director Father Dan Morris shoots over transitional deacon Will Sutherland (No. 25) and Father Dan Mauro (No. 9). LEAVEN PHOTO BY JAY SOLDNER

More Photos of the Runnin' with the REVS game HERE:

Below you find two videos featuring Father Dan Morris and Father Tim Skoch.  Father Dan talks about the vocations ministry and his vision for the future, this is approximately 15 minutes.  Father Tim Skoch, is our newly appointed associate vocations director, introduces himself to the entire diocese talking about the upcoming IGNITE program on March 28th, this is roughly 2.5 minutes. Father Tim's video was sent to all the pastors in the diocese.

Father Dan Morris and Father Tim Skoch

Sr. Mary Jacinta writes: Peace in Christ. This past Saturday was our regional gathering for women religious, which your Serran helped support. Attached is the thank you note to your fellow Serrans.

Kurtis Grothoff shared with us at our regular Lunch Meeting on February 25th the great work being done by Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas.  We heard about all the good Catholic Charities does and their future plans.

If you have a Traditional IRA and over 73 years old, you can make donations directly to a charity and the donation is not taxable.  Why does this reduce the taxes you have to pay even if you do not Itemize Deductions?  It is because the donation from your IRA is not added to your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI).  Therefore it is not taxed. 

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Vince Anch - Executive Director of the Catholic Education Foundation (CEF) presented a "Tax Guide" to donating to Catholic Schools at our February 11th Luncheon Meeting.  There are more ways to donate to CEF for Catholic Schools Scholarships that do not have the restrictions that come with saving on your Kansas State and Federal (beginning in 2027) taxes.  CEF focuses scholarship support on 22 schools in the Archdiocese that have the highest rate of poverty among their student population, awarding over 2,000 scholarships to students most in need.  For the 2025-2026 school year, $5,600,000 in scholarships were awarded.  Most of these funds come from 900+ donors. If you have questions about CEF or the Tax Credit programs, contact Michela Marquez at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Tax credit scholarships are just one of two kinds of scholarships that CEF provides.

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Sebastian D'Amico involved the Serrans at our luncheon meeting on Jan. 28th by asking what we saw in this piece of Art. 

Since 2005 Sebastian D'Amico has taught theology at St. James Academy. He currently works for the Bl. Seelos Institute for Catholic Education at Donnelly college and is the director for the team that provides the faculty formation at ten diocesan Catholic Grade Schools and St. James Academy and Miege High Schools.
Sebastian tries to help the lay faculty to make the Catholic Faith the foundation no matter which subject they teach.
 
He projected a religious Art piece and asked us – “What do you see in this painting?”  By the time a number of Serrans shared what they saw, we learned more about the interaction between Mary of Magdala and Jesus outside of the tomb after His resurrection (John 20:11-18).  This is one of Sebastian's techniques for getting the faculty of our schools to grow in the Catholic faith.  This seems to me, Gene Schreiner, a powerful teaching technique. 

Religious Sisters' Appreciation Day 2025

Sunday Aug. 10, 2025, 3-6 p.m.
We had 146 sisters attend - each received a $100-bill.
There were 77 Serrans and Guest serving the sisters.
Five Students from Sacred Heart volunteered to serve popcorn, desserts, and help with setup and cleanup.
In addition to Archbishop McKnight and Bishop Johnston; 5 priest attended -- for a total of 235!

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 Our youngest priest in the Archdioceses.

Fr. Dan Mauro, who was ordained in May 2025, shared with the Serra Club at the January Luncheon Meeting his vocation story.  Fr. Dan talked about the people that influenced him to consider the priesthood.  He never imagined he had a vocation to become a priest until the Spring Semester at St. James Academy.

He when to Holy Spirit grade school where he was influenced by Fr. Story.  As a server he was allowed wear cassock and surplice that as a child he thought only a priest could wear. He thinks Adoration impacted his faith journey. 

He then attended St. James Academy for high school and was influenced by our Vocation Directors - Fr. Scott Wallisch and Fr. Dan Morris.  The number of students going to Daily Mass and the depth of theology taught by the teachers impressed him.

His older sister entered the religious life when Dan was 14 years old.  Therefore, Dan did not feel any pressure to be a priest – his family was covered.  He thought he should not enter the seminary – at least the students in his circle did not think he should.

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Caption for photo (left to right) - Jimmy Mendoza, Dcn. John Donart, Alex Rickert, Dominic Victor, Mark Dold, Trey Niesen, John Weber (front), Drew Stanley, Dcn. Will Sutherland, Zane Roberts

Mark Dold, from our Serra club and John Weber from the Johnson County Serra club hosted eight of our Seminarians for a tour and lunch at the WWI Memorial and Museum.  John is a Tour Guide at the Museum and gave the Seminarians a private tour.  click the Blue Button for details...

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