Awards Mass This Weekend

This Sunday is a big day in the life of hundreds of Catholic Scouts around the Archdiocese. Archbishop Naumann will celebrate a special Mass for scouts in the Cathedral of St. Peter and make the annual presentation of religious emblems and other awards. This Mass marks the culmination of hard work that, for many of the scouts, began last September or even earlier.

I'll never forget the first time I ever stepped foot in the Cathedral of our Archdiocese. It was almost 20 years ago to the day and I was receiving my Ad Altare Dei award. That award still hangs on my wall next to my Eagle Scout medal. Let's help make sure that all the scouts who have earned their awards have a chance to receive them from the Archbishop next Sunday. See the article below for details.

I look forward to seeing many of you this weekend. There is a reception after the Mass I would love to talk with you about Catholic Scouting!

Peace and all good,
Fr. Shawn P. Tunink

Holy Smokes!

As we wrap up the school year and prepare to head off for summer scouting fun, don't forget the first big event that will kick of the new year this fall. Plan now to attend the

4th Annual Holy Smokes Cookoff and Catholic Family Campout
Saturday September 8th, 2012

This event takes place each year on the Saturday after Labor Day and is a leisurely day of fun, food and faith. Our hope is that every Catholic scout in the Archdiocese will come for at least part. We have a cooking competition throughout the day with judging in the evening. The highlight of the event is Mass celebrated under God's beautiful sky with hundreds of scouts and leaders. Please plan to come at least for this big Mass on Saturday evening.

Following Mass we have an outdoor concert put on by one of the most famous Christian bands in the area, The Mikey Needleman Band. Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts typically camp overnight with their troops while Cub Scouts go home...full of BBQ.

More information to come, but for now just save the date on your annual calendar.

Become a Religious Emblem Counsellor

One of our big initiatives for this upcoming year is to greatly expand the number of places where scouts have an opportunity to earn their religious emblems. We have some truly dedicated people that have offered classes in the same place for years. This is truly amazing. Yet we also know that there are many places, particularly those further from Kansas City and Topeka, who have never had a scout receive a religious emblem.

What we really need are people that are willing to be trained to be a religious emblem counselor. This is not a difficult process; we'll even come to you! We've got some great scout troops out in places like Nemaha and Marshall counties that we'd love to help get a program going.

Please contact Fr. Shawn or Harold today for more information. This is sometimes the best way that a young person will learn their faith. Please consider this important ministry in the Church.

Join the Catholic Committee on Scouting

Our email list is growing every day and we're staying in touch with Catholic scout units in the Archdiocese better than ever. Electronic communication has made it possible for just a few dedicated people to do a lot of the work. However, we could really use some more people who would be willing to become members of the Catholic Committee on Scouting for the Archdiocese.

We have basically three events each year that we plan: the Holy Smokes, the Winter Retreat, and the Awards Mass. We also help coordinate the religious emblems program. Right now we are in need of a new person to serve as the Awards Coordinator as our previous one has retired.

If you are interested in learning more about how you can help as a member of the Committee, please contact Fr. Shawn or Harold. We only meet 4 times a year and you can be as involved as your schedule allows. Thanks for your consideration.