Tower Topics ~ Spring 2003

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Dinner-auction participants agree, 'It's great to be Catholic'

The following article originally appeared in The Catholic Key newspaper of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. It was written by Kevin Kelly, associate editor.

Don’t count the 860 people who crowded the Hyatt Regency Hotel Ballroom Jan. 31 among those who have lost faith in the Catholic Church.

“It’s great to be Catholic,” said Mark Ledom, a member of Cure of Ars Parish in Leawood, Kan., as he opened the 10th annual Support Our Seminarians banquet and auction.

Ledom and wife Lisa were co-chairs of the annual event to raise money to support all seminarians of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, and Conception Seminary College in Conception.

Patricia Murphy of Cure of Ars parish in Leawood, Kan., shares
a laugh with Father Thomas Wiederholt, pastor of Our Lady of
Sorrows parish, Kansas City, Mo., and Abbot Gregory Polan.

The event annually raises more than $200,000 in a single night. But this year, with the economy in a downward spiral and the sex abuse scandal rocking the U.S. church, the Ledoms admitted that they worried over how well this year’s event could do.

“We know that based on the current environment as it relates to the
economy and the issues the church has gone through that we would be fighting an uphill battle,” Mark Ledom said.

But through the hard work of a cadre of people interested in maintaining the strength of the priesthood in both dioceses, the event was another in a decade-long series of successes, he said.

“Even though this is the 10th annual event, every year the people involved and the time it takes to put it all together are tremendous,” Mark Ledom said.

He paid particular tribute to Lisa, and to their four children — Mark, 13; Matt, 12; Maddy, 11 and Mary, 7.

“They lost her as a mother and I lost her as a wife for the last three weeks, but it was worth it,” Mark Ledom said.

“It was nothing that I didn’t want to do,” said Lisa Ledom. “My kids know it’s all for the church.”

The Ledoms are no strangers to volunteer work on behalf of the church. They had organized the annual Cure of Ars school auction in the past, and served as co-chairs of the Cure of Ars drive on behalf of the archdiocesan “Future Full of Hope” campaign.

When Archbishop James P. Keleher personally requested that they lead Support Our Seminarians, the Ledoms agreed.

“I can’t say no to the church,” he said. “It’s easy to say yes to the archbishop when the event is as meaningful as this.”

The crowd that attended was wined and dined, at $125 a plate, on an “Italian bistro dinner” that included shrimp and ravioli appetizers, linguine prima vera, and biscetta alla pizzaioli (filet of beef with tomatoes and garlic).

For the 10th year in a row, KMBC-TV9 news anchor Larry Moore served as master of ceremonies, cranking up the bids during the oral auction for items ranging from group dinners with Archbishop Keleher, Kansas City-St. Joseph Bishop Raymond J. Boland, and Conception Abbot Gregory Polan, to sports memorabilia such as an autographed George Brett bat and baseball and an autographed Trent Green Chiefs’ jersey, to various vacation packages including a week in Ireland.

But the attention remained firmly fixed on building the priesthood.

“You are a great source of hope for the diocese and archdiocese,” Bishop Boland said. “God blesses you all.”

“The future belongs to those who can give hope to succeeding generations,” Archbishop Keleher said, quoting Vatican II documents.

Directors of vocations for both dioceses introduced to thunderous applause seminarians attending Conception Seminary College.

“Each time I visit our seminarians, they tell me how much they appreciate your prayers and financial support,” said Father Michael Mullen, Kansas City, Kan., archdiocesan director of seminarians. “The confidence you show in a young person called to the priesthood or to religious life makes a difference and might be the spark to get them to follow a religious vocation.”

“This event has helped increase awareness in the diocese and archdiocese of the need for vocations,” said Father Robert Stewart, Kansas City-St. Joseph diocesan vocation director.

The event did leave the Ledoms exhausted, Mark Ledom said.

“We're going to take a sabbatical for a couple of years,” he said.

But maybe not entirely.

Lisa Ledom noted that the co-chairs for next year's event will be Jeff and Louisa Weinrich of Visitation Parish in Kansas City, Mo.

“You might put in there,” she told The Catholic Key, “that we'll help them in any way we can.”

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