Thank you for a great year this year. I would like to
extend a special thank you to my catechists. The
catechists are invited to our annual Appreciation
Dinner at 6pm on the 1st of May. We will have a
potluck dinner at the Knight of Columbus Hall.

Our big event in May is First Communion. Practice
for all First Communion students is Friday May 3rd
from 4-5pm in the church and then practice for
students and parents is 10am on Saturday the 4th
in the church. First Communion will be celebrated
during our 8:30am Mass on Sunday May 5th. I
want to thank our two catechists, Linda Conkle and
Jim Wessling for their hard work this year. Please
pray for the students as they receive Jesus for the
first time.

Sunday, May 12th, during our 8:30am Mass we will
celebrate our graduates. All High School and
College graduates are invited to wear their cap and
gowns to Mass and sit up front. Coffee and rolls will
be served after Mass. Congratulations on a job well
done and good luck in the future.

Totus Tuus will be the week of June 22-28th. All
K-5th graders from this year are invited to the
day time program from 9am-3pm Monday
through Friday. Registrations will be mailed in early
May and the cost is $10 per students. All 6th-11th
grade students are invited to the youth program
from 7:30-9:45pm Sunday through Thursday that
week. We will end with a pool party at the Cantata’s
which will be earlier than 7:30pm on Thursday. Cost
here is also $10 per student. Please keep up to date
with the information via the bulletin and the website.
I hope your student can attend. This will be a great
part of the summer.

All 5th-8th grade students are invited to the
Diocescan youth camps in June this year. A
registration form is available online at
www.dcdiocese.org/youth, look for the Summer
Youth Camp registration. Deadlines are May
24th for the 5th/6th grade camp and June 7th
for the 7th/8th grade camp. These are a faith
filled experience. Please consider participating.

Calling all Sophomores and older to Teens
Encounter Christ (TEC). We have two TEC
weekends this summer. One in July on the
6th-8th in Garden City and then one here in
Pratt on August 3rd-5th. This can be a very
spiritual weekend and it will be right here in our
parish. You can sign up on the diocese's
website at www.dcdiocese.org/youth.

On May 11th the NCYC youth are hosting a
Disc Golf Tournament as a fund raiser for
our trip. We would gladly take donations for
individual chip bags, cookies, pop, and water to
use for the lunch included in the registration.
The cost to play is $25.00 per person and
includes the option of playing individual and
with a team. Registration is at 9:30am at May
Dennis Park and play will begin for individuals
at 10am. We will offer lunch of hamburger,
chips, cookies, with pop or water. Then team
play will be at 1pm. Please come out and
support the group.
Have a safe and blessed summer.
Erin Crouch,
Director Religious Education

Hello and Happy Easter to you all.  This is our last month of PSR till in the fall.  It has been a good year.  I would like to invite all the wonderful catechists to our Cathechist appreciation dinner on May 1st at 6PM at the Knights of Columbus building. Spouses are welcome as is the Religious Formation Commission.  It will be a potluck.  So bring your favorite dish to share.  If we get all deserts that is fine.  I can't thank each of you enough but you have my deepest gratitude for all the hard work you put in this year. 

Our regular PSR classes are on the 3rd, 10th, and 17th of April.  We will have Mass during PSR on April 3rd.  Our end of the year parties are on April 24th.  The plan right now is for the K-5th graders to go to the skating rink from 7-8:30PM, the Middle school students (6-8th) to go to the Teen Center and bring finger food, drinks will be provided.  The High School will come to the school. 

Our big event for April and early May is our First Communion.  Parents and student are invited to the First Communion centers activity on April 7th from 9:30-10:30AM, right after Mass, to learn together more about the Eucharist.  Then on May 3rd at 4PM in the church all First Communion students have practice for the sacrament.  On May 4th at 10AM is practice for parents and students.  Then during 8:30AM Mass on May 5th we have our First Communion.  We will have a photographer to take pictures during the sacrament and also after the Mass. 

This year the week of June 24-28th we are inviting in a Totus Tuus team from the Wichita Diocese.  The 1st-6th grade (2013-14 grade) will go from 9-3PM Monday through Friday.  The Youth (7th-High School) will meet from 7:30-9:45Pm in the evenings Monday through Thursday.  The 7th/8th grade will meet separate from the High School. I will still need volunteers for during the day.  I need 4 adults for each day during the week and also 1 or 2 to help in the kitchen.   I will need host families to feed the team each evening Monday to Friday.  We would like to do a potluck on the 22nd (Saturday) with the parish after Mass to meet the team.  If you would like to help in any way please contact me.  Parents be on the look out for enrollment forms.  This should be an exciting opportunity.  Cost will be $10 per child or youth.  

NCYC discount cards are still available to purchase through me.  We would also like to request anyone willing to sponsor a bus seat or part of one for $170 please let Erin know.  We are taking 40 people this year and at $600 per person,  it is a lot of money. 
We will have a NCYC youth gathering on April 28th here in Pratt from 2-5pm at the school.  All youth and sponsors attending are invited.  This is an effort to make this a journey of prayer and pilgrimage and not just a cool trip.  

Have a wonderful Spring.  God Bless.

Hello and Welcome to Spring (well almost). March is starting off at a run for Religious Education with the celebration of Confirmation for our 8^th grade class. Confirmation Mass will be at 1PM on Sunday March 3^rd. All candidates and sponsors are asked to meet at 12:40pm in the school cafeteria to line up and go to Mass. We have 16 students receiving the sacrament this year.

We will have regular PSR classes from 7-8PM on Wednesday nights in March except for March 20^th. March 20^th is the Wednesday during Spring Break and PSR class is closed.

The Diocese's Junior High Youth Rally is March 24^th (last Sunday of Spring Break) from 10-5:15pm in Dodge City at the Cathedral. I have forms to sign up or you can go to http://www.dcdiocese.org/youth and sign up on the right side of the page. I have some adults willing to go and so let me know if you are going. This is open to all 6th-8^th grade students.

The Wichita Service Camp applications are in my office for any High School Student wanting to attend the service camp this summer June 16-21st.  The registration form and a $50 deposit is due to me by March 15th.  You can see more at http://www.youtube.com/user/newmanservicecamp

NCYC parents we are having a meeting on March 13^th at 8PM to finalize discussion on fund raising for the next 6 months. This will be after PSR like before in the school cafeteria.

RFC meeting is March 6^th from 5:45-6:30pm in the rectory.

Hello and Welcome to another issue of the newsletter.  We have a lot of Adult Education going on in Feb. and also the regular PSR classes on every Wed. night including Ash Wed. (Feb. 13th).  Our Confirmation students are preparing for Confirmation on Sunday March 3rd at 1PM.  The Confirmation retreat for candidates and sponsors is Feb. 17th after church from 10AM-3PM in the school.  The Signing of the Book rite will also take place during the 8:30AM Mass on the 17th.  Then on Wed. Feb. 27th during PSR we will have Confirmation Practice in the church. 

I invite all Freshman and Sophomore High School students to consider attending the JOY (Jesus, You, Others) retreat the weekend of Feb. 9-10th in Garden City. It is a wonderful weekend for these students to draw closer to their faith, have fun, and meet new people.  You can sign up at http://www.dcdiocese.org/youth

Happy New Year to all.  I hope your Christmas was full of Christ and love.  PSR classes will resume on Jan. 16th at 7PM with Mass that night.  Then on Jan. 23rd, Ellsworth prisoners will be here to have pizza with the students at 6PM in the school cafeteria and then will visit the classrooms.  Then is is on with regular scheduled programing for PSR the rest of January.
Confirmation students and sponsors or parents are invited to attend the Enrollment rite during the 8:30AM Mass on Jan. 13th, to make a commitment with parish to go forward with confirmation preparation. 
Catechists are invited to attend one of two Interactive Television presentation on "Marriage and Family:  The Call to Love and Life". The two classes are the same and are offered on Wed. January 9th from 6-9PM with a light meal provided or on Saturday Jan. 12th from 9AM-12PM.  The ITV room is located in the church basement and you enter off the alley behind the church.  There will be no PSR on that Wed. the 9th. 
Religious Formation Commission will meet on Jan. 2nd at 5:30PM in the rectory. 
NCYC update:  We have around 45 people wanting to attend NCYC in November.  The youth are currently selling Discount cards for $20.00.  The cost of the trip is $600 per person.  I have included the list of the discounts below to give you an idea of what they are.  They are all for local businesses and for two in Hutchinson. Please contact the office if you would like to purchase a card.  They are good for 1 year.  If we sell all the cards we can generate $6000.00 towards our trip. 
Have a good January.  Thanks.  Erin Crouch

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  December is here and Christmas will be here soon.   This month the youth will be selling Discount cards for $20 each.  We make $10 per card profit to go towards our trip to NCYC next year.  We have 300 cards to sell.  The card has different discounts to different businesses here in Pratt.  We will be selling these after Masses on a couple of weekends in December.  You can also purchase them by contacting Erin through the parish office or if you know one of the youth going to NCYC, ask them.  We appreciate your help with this fund raiser.
First Reconciliation practice for all 2nd graders is from 4-5PM on November 30th in the church.  Then we will have First Reconciliation on Saturday, Dec. 1st at 1PM in the church.  We will have a simple reception in the school cafeteria afterwards. 
Due to the Christmas Holiday season we will not have PSR on December 26th and Jan. 2nd.  Also on Jan. 9th is the Catechist ITV session, so no PSR that night either.  So our last PSR in December is December 19th and then the next one will be Jan. 16th.  The High School class has been asked to help decorate the church for Christmas on Dec. 19th during PSR class.  So they might go late that night. 
All are invited to Mass on Dec. 5th and Jan 16th during PSR class. Mass will begin around 7:10PM to give time for the classes to get organized before coming to the church. 
Confirmation candidates, please turn in your choice for sponsors to Erin by Dec. 5th.  I will send out letters to the sponsors during the Christmas break.  Religious Formation Commission will meet Dec. 5th from 5:30-6:30 in the upstairs rectory room.   
Adult Education:  Just a reminder that the Catholicism DVD series is still going on during PSR on nights we don't have Mass in the school conference room.  You can come and attend anytime.  Also the Bible study is meeting at 6:30PM on Thursday nights at the home of Ken and Jackie Woodruff.  I invite you the consider this even if we have already started. 

May everyone have a wonderful Christmas and travel safely.

Happy Halloween and soon to be Thanksgiving.   I wanted to thank everyone who came to the Greg Walton Youth event and concert on September 29th.  We had low turn out for all of the events but the presentation was great. I would really like to thank Stephanie Becker and family for hosting Greg and Bill during their stay.  On that note, we are gearing up for the National Catholic Youth Conference for November of 2013. We are just now wrapping up our Bierock fund raiser and will begin our Discount card sales.  These cards are $20 each, we keep $10 for the youth.  They have discounts to local businesses and a few in Hutchinson.   The business discounts are mostly different from other discount cards in Pratt.  So please support our youth by purchasing these cards.  If we can sell all the cards we will have $4000.00 in profit to go towards youth events/NCYC. 

Parents of High School and 8th grade students, the High School Youth Rally for the diocese is Nov. 17 and 18th in Dodge City.  The diocese is bring in Jesse Manibusan to work with the youth.  Many of our NCYC students will remember him from NCYC.  Jesse is an awesome musician and the youth loved him at NCYC.  The deadline for signup is Nov. 9th.  The cost for both days is $25 or you can do just Sunday for $15.00 plus $10 for a T-shirt.  I am planning to attend both days and I will leave from the church at 10AM on Saturday the 17th.  I can take 3 students.  I need at least one adult per 8 students.  So if we have 8 students go, I can chaperone them but I will need someone to drive them out and pick them up.  Let me know if you can help with this.  I have sign up sheets for the rally, I also sent them home with the students a few weeks ago during PSR.  If you need financial aide with this please let me know.  I don't want a student to miss this due to money.  It should be an exciting weekend that the youth will enjoy.

The Thanksgiving dinner by the Women of Sacred Heart (WSH) is Nov. 11th.  As always the youth are asked to help.  I have the 8th grade class busing tables from 1-2PM.  I am asking the 9th and 10th grade students to help with tables from 12-1PM.  I also need 11th and 12th grade students to drive for take out delivery.   This is a very important ministry in our parish.  The WSH support our parish through this one big event each year.  Please come, help out, and eat the great food.

Hello and Welcome back from the Summer.   Parish School of Religion (PSR) starts on Wed. Sept 12th at 7PM.  Kindergarten through 6th grade will meet in the school and 7th-High School will meet in the rectory.  Please enroll your student if you haven't already.  Forms are available in the office, to be downloaded from the website, or fill out the form online at www.sacredheartpratt.com/k-8/home.  I am in need of a 2nd grade and a 4th grade catechist.  You don't have to know everything to be a good catechist.  You just have to be willing to share and learn with the students.  I will help, and you will be suprised how much you can learn by teaching the kids.   Pray and consider helping with this important ministry.  Without volunteers, we will not be able to have class. 

Thursday September 6th at Pratt Community College is the Church night from 8-10PM, this is a chance for the students to "check out" the churches in Pratt.  On that note, I would like to request some baked good donations to give out at the PCC church night.  This event is a chance for PCC students to learn more about our church, and a little food to give out would be great.  If you can donate please contact Erin. 
If you know students at PCC, please invite them to this event.  Pizza is also provided. 

All First Communion/Reconciliation parents, 2nd grade mostly, we will have a parent meeting in the church on Wed. Sept. 19th from 7-8PM to discuss the plans for the year.  If we don't have a catechist by then, we will still meet even if we don't have class yet.  Then on Sunday September 23rd at the 8:30AM Mass we will have the Enrollment of First Communion students during Mass.  This is a simple rite to begin the sacramental preparation in a spiritual way and a chance for the parish to connect with the students. 

All catechists, please notice the ITV sessions on September 5th from 6-9PM or 8th from 9-12AM.  A light meal will be provided on Wed. evening.  All catechists will be commissioned at Sunday Mass on September 16th.  Please plan to attend.  

Attention Youth: Calling all 6th grade students and older to a Call to Social Action event on September 29th from 1-4PM with Greg Walton at Sacred Heart School.  Greg is Catholic musician who will be doing the event using music to share a message.  You can check out Greg at gregwalton.com. Greg has performed at NCYC and also World Youth Day.  Greg will then host a concert at the PCC auditorium that night at 7PM open to all from the area.  Mark your calendars.  See the included poster in the newsletter.  Invite your friends.

Hello and Happy 4th of July.   July is a quiet month for Religious
Education.  We have an  opportunity for all incoming Juniors and older
in High School or Young Adult to attend Teens Encounter Christ on July
7-9th.  Let me know if you are interested.  We have one person going
from our parish.  It is located in Garden City at St. Dominic's
Church.  July 27-28th in Salina is the Religious Education Conference
for adults, Catechizing Kansas.  I will be attending the July 28th all
day sessions.  If you are interested in attending please let me know.
It is a great way for people interested in learning more about our
faith and sharing that faith with others be better equipped.

The adult Bible study: A Quick Journey Through the Bible, is starting
up at 7PM on Wed. in the rectory.  It is an 8 week course that walks
you through the "narrative" books of the Bible.  The Books that tell
the main story of the Bible.

If you are interested in watching the Catholicism Video Series by Fr.
Robert Barron, please let me know.  Patrice Egging has the video set
and would like to share them.

In June we had a great Vacation Bible School.  I would like to thank
all of the volunteers,  VBS would not have happened without you.  We
had 15 kids this year and we soared through the SKY learning to trust
God.

In August I will be looking for volunteers to help with PSR and anyone
who might be interested in an in depth Bible Study should contact me.

Hello and Happy Easter to you all or at least very soon.  This is our last month of PSR till in the fall.  It has been a good year.  I would like to invite all the wonderful catechists to our Cathechist appreciation dinner on May 2nd at 6PM at the Siemen's cabin in Elm Mills.  Many of the catechist carpool together for the drive down.  The dinner is a potluck and spouses are invited.  I can't thank each of you enough but you have my deepest gratitude for all the hard work you put in this year. 

Our regular PSR classes are on the fourth, 11th, and 18th of April.  Our end of the year parties are on April 25th.  The plan right now is for the K-5th graders to go to the skating rink from 7-9PM, the Middle school students (6-8th) to go to the Teen Center and bring finger food, drinks will be provided.  The High School still has to decide what they want to do for their party. 

Our big event for April and early May is our First Communion.  Parents and student are invited to the First Communion centers activity on April 15th from 9:30-10:30AM, right after Mass, to learn together more about the Eucharist.  Then on May 4th at 4PM in the church all First Communion students have practice for the sacrament.  On May 5th at 10AM is practice for parents and students.  Then during 8:30AM Mass on May 6th we have our First Communion.  We will have a photographer to take pictures during the sacrament and also after the Mass. 

Keep your eyes open for Vacation Bible School information to be in the bulletin and also to be sent home at the end of PSR.  VBS will be the week of June 11-15th in the morning.  If you are interested in volunteering please let me know. 
Have a wonderful Spring.  God Bless.