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Father Blaha honored by FOCUS

Father Nick Blaha (second from left) pastor of Blessed Sacrament, Our Lady & St. Rose, and Christ the King parishes in Kansas City, Kansas, was honored with the St. Francis Xavier Award at the Fellowship of Catholic University Students national event Jan. 3. PHOTO COURTESY OF FOCUS

by The Leaven

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The Fellowship of Catholic University Students honored Father Nick Blaha for outstanding service to the new evangelization at its national event SLS20, held Dec. 30 to Jan. 3 in Phoenix.

Father Blaha is pastor of three Kansas City, Kansas, parishes: Blessed Sacrament, Our Lady & St. Rose, and Christ the King.

He is the fourth recipient of the St. Francis Xavier Award, given to alumni, but the first to be awarded at a national Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) event.

Father Blaha was a FOCUS missionary from 2003 to 2006. He has an ongoing investment in the men who attended his Bible study while he was a missionary at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Six men from his Bible study are priests — seven, counting Father Blaha.

He also began a group — consisting of two FOCUS missionaries, who went fishing every year — that has grown to include seven priests and four married men who continue to develop their relationships  and brotherhood rooted in Christ.

About the author

The Leaven

The Leaven is the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.

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