"As one Serran said to another, a Serra meeting should be like spending an hour with Jesus."
Serrans believe than when members gather for prayer, a meal, and conversation, they grow in faith an are inspired and challenged by each other.
Calendar of Events.
November 14, 2016. Member-Guest Reception, 5:30 p.m. at the University Club. Hot and cold hors d'oeuvres will be served. Please let us know if there's anything we can do to assist you in your participation in this drive. Board meeting begins at 4:30 p.m. Members please RSVP to Sara and let her know your guest count as the replies to your inquiries come in. The chef needs to know by Thursday
November 6-12, 2016. National Vocation Awareness Week. Any day is appropriate for the message of The Most Reverend Peter A. Labasci, Bishop of Manchester, New Hampshire: "I urge you to make your appreciation known to your parish priest. An invitation to lunch, a card, a smile--even the simplest of gestures to assure him of your gratitude for his service to the people of God...will mean so much."
November 20, 2016. Christ the King. End of Ordinary Time for 2016.
November 27, 2016. First Sunday of Advent.
November 5, 2016. World Day of Prayer for the Consecrated Life.
February 16-19-2017. Serra Rally, Phoenix, AZ
June 22-25, 2017. Serra International Convention, Rome, Italy.
A message to pass on to prospective members: "We invite you to join us at these events and learn more of why we are Serrans."
Priests' Anniversaries for November.
Rev. Daniel DePew, November 2, 1982.
Rev. Rock Badgerow, November 3, 1979.
Rev. Thomas Bouffard, November 7, 1981.
Rev. Brian Johnson, CSsR. November 8, 1986.
Rev. Peter Schaefer, November 12, 2005.
Rev. Wayne Wheeler, November 3, 1979.
An Invitation.
On October 21, 2016, members of the Serra International Board were granted a private audience with the Holy Father during their Executive Committee meeting in Rome. As luck would have it, it was International President Dante Vannini's birthday. At the meeting, Pope Francis presented him with a special rosary as a gift. Dante Vannini is a member of
the Serra Club of Siena, Italy.
An opportunity to meet the Vicar of Christ is only one blessing of responding to the call to lead in Serra International's Board. If you have leadership experience and a desire to help guide our apostolate in one of the brightest times of its history, consider applying for a position on the Serra International Board. The application can be downloaded from the Serra International site.
Applications are due by e-mail to John Liston by December 16, 2016. Both Grand Rapids Serrans Dennis Leiber and Dan Grady have served on the Serra International Board
Meet Sister Madonna Buder, the "Iron Nun."
A Nike ad released last summbre introduced the world to the amazing Sister Madonna Buder, who, at 86 years young, has completed 45 Ironman triathlons. The race requires participants to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles. Sr. Madonna is the oldest woman ever to complete the race and holds the record for best finishing time in the 80-84 age group.
The next time you feel overwhelmed in your Serra work, just remember what Sister Madonna said: There are lots of times when I had to think about failures and not reaching the goal I may have set for myself. Then I realized, the only failure is not to try. Because your effort in itself is a success."
Source: Always Forward, Never Back: News you can use from Serra's USA Council, October 12,
2016.
Another Way to Assist Priestly Vocations.
Recently we were invited to contribute to the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA.
The AMS Office of Vocations informs and supports men exploring a priestly vocation and provides opportunities for vocation awareness and discernment with a focus on military chaplaincy. The AMS Co-Sponsored Seminarian Program is a partnership with local dioceses and religious communities around the country. Currently, the AMS partners with 23 doioceses across the U. S. with 28 co-sponsored seminarians studying in 16 seminaries. As many as 20 additional candidates are in processing for 2016, and since the fall of 2014, 113 candidates have been on one or more of the AMS discernment retreats and expressed interest in the Co-Sponsored Seminarian Program and military chaplaincy. Once a seminarian is in the Co-Sponsored program, the AMS covers half the cost to his home diocese for priestly formation.
To learn more about the mission and ministry of the AMS, please visit
www.milarch.0rg/nationalcollection.com
If you missed out on this collection, it's never too late to contribute by visiting the website.
News from Aid to the Church in Need.
A request from Aid to the Church in Need. Visit the site, which can easily be found by typing in the search words, Aid to the Church in Need, and find the news from the suffering Church around the world. "Please help us raise awareness of the plight of Christians by sharing our news stories on your social media networks and in your parish and community. We are generally happy to give you permission for your news stories to be reproduced in publications and on websites, provided Aid to the Church in Need is credited as the source and the usage does not breach our copyright.
Some recent stories are as follows:
1 Novemb3er 2016. Displaced Iraqi Christians are determined to return to their homes in areas liberated from ISIS control. Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil has led the relief effort during their period of exile.
7 October 2016. More than one million children in Syria have been calling for peace as part of a fresh appeal to political leaders to end violence engulfing the country.
5 August 2016. As fierce bombardment continues in Aleppo, a Carmelite nun whose convent is at the center of the fighting says the nuns are determined to stay and help those afflicted by the war.
A Message from Our President.
The September issue of The Serran paid a nice tribute to Grand Rapids' own Ralph Hauenstein (1912-2016), including a reprint of his President's Message from August 1960 magazine. I found it interesting to note.
"The short history of Serra, though rich indeed in accomplishment, has had its growth in an era of wars, false ideologies and world tensions...Now I ask you to form more solidly in the ranks of Holy Mother Church and go forward with renewed purpose and dedication.>"
As we look forward to our November Member-Guest Reception and our nation's Day of Thanksgiving, let us remember Sir Hauenstein's word and "go forward with renewed purpose and dedication."
Sara Vander Werff
Mary, Mother of Vocations, Pray for Us!
What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justlyl and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God? Micah 6:8.
