Salina Diocese Rural Life events featured in Magazine

Rural Life
Jul 7, 2022

Events and several diocese members were featured in the latest issue of the Catholic Rural Life Spring 2022 Magazine. To read the full issue click here. To learn more about the Salina Diocese Rural Life office, click here.

Celebrating the Feast of St. Isidore

Catholic Rural Life celebrated St. Isidore’s Day on Monday, May 16, 2022, in Hanover, Kansas. St. John the Baptist Catholic Church served as the host for this year’s event. Prior to the event, Catholics from the Dioceses of Lincoln, Kansas City, and Salina participated in an online Novena to St. Isidore. Approximately 70 people attended the Mass which was celebrated by priests of the Kansas City, Salina, and Lincoln Dioceses. Officiating the Mass were Father Quentin Schmitz of the Diocese of Kansas City, Kansas; Fathers Loras Grell and Brian Wirth from the Diocese of Lincoln; and Fathers Joe Kieffer, Rich Daise, Jerome Morgan, Soosai Rathinam, and Deacon Ed Souza, all from the Diocese of Salina.

Activities after the Mass included a blessing of animals and farm land, as well as visiting Rick and Jane Samland, local farmers known as Hired Hands. The Samlands have a small butchering operation and perform metal fabrication and repairs for fellow farmers. The group also visited Landoll Corporation, a manufacturer of farm and industrial equipment in Marysville, Kansas. Founded by Don Landoll, Landoll Corporation is a “home grown business” with worldwide distribution of their products.

News Item submitted by Linda & David Edell

International Priests Sharing in missionary zeal for rural ministry

By Tim Streiff

….. Likewise, Father Lourthu Antony Kulandeijesu, or Father Tony for short, came to Kansas from India in 2016 as a member of the Heralds of Good News. The Heralds have missions in Papua New Guinea, Africa, and the United States. Their charism in missionary work is characterized by hard work and zeal, as well as encouraging vocations to the priesthood and training seminarians. The zeal of the members of the Heralds of Good News also extends to works of mercy and numerous clinics, schools, hospitals, hospice centers, religious formation houses, and homes for lepers. Coming from a small town in India, Father Tony was moved by the words of Christ to the 72 disciples he sent out to preach the Gospel: “Take nothing with you.” This was his motivation for join- ing a missionary order. After be- ing ordained in 2010, he “wanted to go anywhere the church needed priests, but especially to rural communities.” Living close to the land and agriculture was easy for him since his family grew coco- nuts in India, but “Kansas has a much larger scale and the priest can be more integrated into the life of agriculture.” Father Tony is especially interested in sharing his priestly ministry with farmers through prayer and blessings in the fields. He makes time to visit many of his parishioners’ farms and always offers a blessing over their machinery, seeds, soil, and animals. “The priest integrates the family, the Church, and nature,” he said. “The sacraments rely on creation, the bread and the wine, the oils and the water.” Because of the interconnectedness of human nature and creation, Father Tony encourages his community to steward the land and not dominate it. He tells them to look for more opportunities to try new farming techniques that will help the land be fruitful for generations to come.

For Father Tony, doing missionary work has not been without its challenges. He found it challenging at first to acclimate to a new language and being away from his home and family, in addition to serving three parishes in Kansas “I had to change my accent,” he said. “I learned to speak English with a British accent since that is who taught English in India, but I had to relearn pronunciation when I moved to Kansas.” who are preparing to become missionaries themselves. He found his parishioners to be very welcoming and was grateful for their support when he became ill with COVID-19. “When you are sick, you see the love the people have for their priest,” Father Tony said He returns to India regularly to preach and share about his missionary work to the seminarians who are preparing to become missionaries themselves. He found his parishioners to be very welcoming and was grateful for their support when he became ill with COVID-19. Father Saju said he was glad he attended the retreat at St. Meinrad’s Archabbey because it showed him that there are others experiencing the same kinds of challenges in their ministry. They could also share successes with one another. Not only did the retreats provide additional ideas for best practices and help these priests gain additional insight into their own communities, but there is also a tendency for the prayerful and open atmosphere of the retreat to help bridge the gap sometimes felt by international priests serving in the U.S. and their brother priests.

These two missionary priests have found support through the Thriving in Rural Ministry pro- gram offered by Catholic Rural Life. “I was blessed to attend the retreat, I found spiritual nourishment and new ideas for my ministry,” Father Tony said about his experience at the October 2020 retreat. Father Saju said he was glad he attended the retreat at St. Meinrad’s Archabbey because it showed him that there are others experiencing the same kinds of challenges in their ministry. They could also share successes with one another. Not only did the retreats provide additional ideas for best practices and help these priests gain additional insight into their own communities, but there is also a tendency for the prayerful and open atmosphere of the retreat to help bridge the gap sometimes felt by international priests serving in the U.S. and their brother priests.

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