2015: Year of the Consecrated Life and Year of Family
Save the Date: As part of our way of celebrating the Year of Consecrated Life, our club has set a date for the 2015 Sisters' Appreciation Event. We are planning a dinner on April 25, 2015 at St. Jude's. Details to follow. Look for more information after our February Board Meeting. As we prepare for this event and offer our time and talent in whatever way we can, let us remember in our prayers Nate McKenzie, who passed away this past June. He was the person who initiated this celebration within our club and a person who took great pleasure in this event. Beth Gumina is the chairman of the committee and of course, we will need helpers.
We'll keep you posted as plans progress.
Calendar of Events.
February 2, 2015. The Presentation of the Lord, otherwise known as Candlemas.
February 8, 2015. World Day of Prayer for the Consecrated Life.
February 9, 2015. Luncheon Meeting and Speaker, 12:Noon at the University Club. Speaker will be Deacon Douglas A. Braun of St. Stephen's. We thank Beth Gumina for the slate of excellent speakers she has recruited.
February 16, 2015. Serra Board Meeting, 12:00 Noon at Ss. Peter and Paul.
February 18, 2015. Ash Wednesday, a day of fast and abstinence.
February 22, 2015. First Sunday of Lent.
February 23, 2015. Luncheon Meeting, Ss. Peter and Paul.
Looking Ahead...
March 8-14, 2015. National Catholic Sisters Week.
April 9-12, 2015. USA Council Transitional Executive Committee Meeting, Techny, Illinois.
April 26, 2015. World Day of Prayer for Vocations.
July 30-August 2, 2015. Serra International Convention, Melbourne, Australia.
October 25, 2015. Priesthood Sunday.
November 1-7, 2015. National Vocation Awareness Week.
Priests' Anniversaries for February.
Father Phillip Witkowski, February 2, 1975.
Fr. William Langlois, February 24, 1974.
Building a Legacy Catholic Men's Conference.
This conference will be held at West Catholic High School, 1801 Bristol Avenue on Saturday, March 14 from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. It will feature presentations by San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, Fr. Leo Patalinghug, the founder of Grace Before Meals, and more. Registration rates $40 and $35. The conference includes AM Mass, with reconciliation available. For complete information, find the Events page of the Diocesean website.
About the Presentation of the Lord.
The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, which falls on 2 February, celebrates an early episode in the life of Jesus. In the Eastern Orthodox Church and some Eastern Catholic Churches, it is one of the twelve Great Feasts, and is sometimes called Hypapante lit., "Meeting" in Greek). Other traditional names include Candlemas, the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin, and the Meeting of the Lord...
...In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, the Presentation if the fourth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary. The episode was also reflected in the once-prevalent custom of churching new mothers forty days after the birth of a child.
The event is described in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 2:22-40)...
Source: Wikipedia.org
Preview of Pope Francis' 2015 Lenten Message.
...As a way of overcoming indifference and our pretensions to self-sufficiency, I would invite everyone to live this Lent as an opportunity for engaging in what Benedict XVI called a formation of the heart (cf. Deus Caritas Est, 31). A merciful heart does not mean a weak heart. Anyone who wishes to be merciful must have a strong and steadfast heart, closed to the tempter but open to God. heart which lets itself be pierced by the Spirit so as to bring love along the roads that lead to our brothers and sisters. And, ultimately, a poor heart, one which realizes its own poverty and gives itself freely for others.....
During this Lent then, brothers and sisters, let us all ask the Lord: "Fac cor nostrum secundum cor tuum." Make our hearts like yours (Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus). In this way we will receive a heart which is firm and merciful, attentive and generous, a heart which is not closed, indifferent, or prey to the globalization of indifference....
Source: Zenit.org
Serra Reading Project.
At our January 26, we concluded the discussion of The Be Happy Attitudes. At our February Board Meeting, we will discuss a) whether to continue with the book discussion practice, and b) if so, what would be some appropriate titles for our consideration. We welcome your suggestions. If you have some titles in mind, please notify Nancy King, and I will pass the word along to the Board.
Possible Charter Night.
At our January 26 meeting, we discussed the possibility of scheduling a Charter Night Dinner for our club as a way of celebrating the canonization of Blessed Junipero Serra. We will need a chair or co-chairs for this occasion but haven't chosen a date or a location. Another reason for the Charter Night is to celebrate something special about our club: We are the only Serra Club to enjoy the leadership of two national/international officers in the same year. Dan Grady is President of Serra International and will serve until the International Convention on July 30-August 2, and John Osterhart is President-Elect of Serra USA. As you may have noted, John will follow Robert Labat after the Transitional Executive Committee Meeting of USAC which will take place this coming April. We haven't set a date and we haven't set a location, but will be discussing and finalizing our plans at future Board Meetings. We welcome your suggestions.
Speaking of international presence, we welcome the resumption of The Serran, our international magazine, after an eight-year absence. Please enjoy Dan Grady's article on Page 12. Dan brings us up to date regarding Serra International's activities and priorities for this Board's term.
Also, please note in the same edition a tribute to the late Edmund V. Verbeke, who served Serra in so many ways, most recently as Chief Financial Officer and Interim Executive Secretary from 1991-1994 and as USA Council's Executive Director from 1994-2013. Let us continue to remember Ed and his family in our prayers.
Nominations.
Bob Paul is taking nominations for officers. If you wish to serve as an officer, please let him know. We especially need nominations for President-Elect, as Weldon will follow Aggie as our club president.
Let us pray for our seminarians, as requested by the Most Reverend David Walkowiak: Deacon Douglas A. Braun, Deacon William R. VanderWerff, Thomas J. Cavera, Patrick Jegar N. Fickel, Colin J. Mulhall, Daniel P. Schumaker, Stephen J. Durkee, Steven W. Geerling, Kyle J. Kilpatrick, Michael M. Steffes Jr., Justin J. Wiltse, Dominic T. Couturier, Michael J. Goodwin, Daniel R. Orris Jr., Jonathan W. Johnson, Andrew M. Ayers, Patrick R. Byars, Robert C. Mulderink, William R Marckinus, Andrew J. Decker, Mitchell E. Dietrich, Philip A.Wasinski, Timothy J. McKeeby, and David J. Sacha.
The Houston Serra Rally.
John Osterhart forwarded the following information from Dan Spencer, Region 9 Director:
...The Rally was truly outstanding with excellent speakers, timely subjects, good board meetings, and great camaraderie! Highlights of the meeting as expressed by attendees included topics of improved communication, such as our magazine, The Serran, bi-weekly e-mails, and reaching out to other groups such as St. Paul's Outreach, FOCUS, etc.
News of the Canonization of Junipero Serra started the weekend off in celebratory mode and Mass celebrated by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo (who loves to sing) was a truly unique experience. The meetings had good "spirit" and were well done. A leadership presentation by Richard Arians set the stage for future training for District Governors and Regional Directors.
Bishop Andrew Cozzens presented one of the most outstanding talks about inner faith I have ever heard. He compared private (humble) means to public (rich) means in achieving a mission like the support of vocations to priesthood; he pointed out the many paradoxes in the Faith (Christ DIED) on the cross to provide us with eternal LIFE) and how these apply to Serrans in our third objective of recognizing and responding to our own call to holiness...
Other subjects on long range planning and committee projects were discussed and presented.
Budget Item.
Treasurer Pat Leikert has budgeted $25 Speedway gas cards for our speakers.
A Message from our President.
Dear Serrans:
Please pray for me and our local Grand Rapids Serra Club as we work on the vocations mission as well as our spiritual growth.
There is a leadership opportunity within the Grand Rapids Serra Club as we set forth earlier in this newsletter. We need volunteer(s) to chair/co-chair the Charter Night celebration to honor Dan Grady and John Osterhart in their leadership roles with Serra International and USAC (United States Council). The celebration was suggested by Msgr. Ed at the Serra Board meeting last week. Please, seriously consider helping our club by volunteering your time and talents to make the Charter Night Dinner as well as the Sisters' Appreciation Dinner successful.
I want to recognize and thank Beth Gumina for her efforts each month in bringing us a diverse and interesting group of speakers who help us grow in our faith and understanding of the Church. Beth, along with Nancy King, is taking the lead in planning the Sisters' Appreciation Dinner.
May the peace of Jesus Christ be with you and your families. Mary, Mother of Vocations, pray for us and guide us to dedicated leaders to hear the call of service to your Son's Holy Catholic Church.
Agnes Kempker-Cloyd
What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" Micah 6:8.
