August 13, 2012. Luncheon Meeting and Campus Tour, 12:00 Noon at St. John's Home, 2355 Knapp Street NE. We will begin with luncheon in one of the cabins, followed by the campus tour. We have sent an e-mail from Tim Hile with a map attached.
August 14, 2012. This date is outside our regular pattern, so please read carefully.
Serra Internatinal representatives John Woodward and President Tomi Asuenga will be in Grand Rapids on August 14 to meet with our club and members from several of the other clubs in our region, including Saginaw, Muskegon, and South Bend. They will appear at the University Club from 5:00-7:00 p.m. to address the members and to receive questions. Heavy hors d'oeuvres will be served, along with beer, wine, and soft drinks. President Tim Hile has asked that as many of you as possible will try to attend. R. S. V. P. to Nancy at njking50@gmail.com or to Tim Hile at thile@okins.com or 616 437-1404.
Also, Serra International has asked the membership from all clubs to pray a 54-day Novena for the Unity of the Club. We did not receive the information in time to start the novena in unison with the other clubs, but we may still pray for that cause and for priestly and religious vocations. If one starts a 54-day Novena, the prayers must be said every day, wtih the proper sequence of the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries. The Luminous Mysteries ar not included in the 54-day Novena.
Note: Information about this special devotion to Our Lady can be found on the internet, and you may order special booklets on the subject as well, if you are not already familiar with the special devotion.
August 20, 2012. Serra Board Meeting and Luncheon, 12:00 Noon at Sacred Heart.
August 27, 2012. Luncheon Meeting, 12:00 Noon at the University Club.
September 28-30. Great Lakes Regional Conference, Cleveland, Ohio. Reservation informatin should be coming available soon. We highly recommend attending these regional meetings, especially for those who are serving on our 2013 Conference Committee. Getting together with other Serrans for a weekend of meetings, prayer, and masses is always an inspiring experience.
Opportunities for confession and adoration will also be available. We will post the full information next month.
Priests' Anniversaries for August.
Reverend Donn Tufts, August 20, 1980.
Reverend George Darling, August 11, 1984.
Reverend Stephen Dudek, August 11, 1984.
Reverend Dennis Morrow, August 24, 1985.
Reverend Dennis O'Donnell, August 20, 1983.
Reverend James Wyse, August 29, 1987.
Annual Financial Report. Pat Leikert distributed copies of our annual financial report at the last Serra Board meeting. If you would like to receive one, let Nancy know at njking50@gmail.com or leave a message at 616-662-4569 and we will mail you one.
2013 Regional Conference. The committee continues to meet every other Monday at St. Stephen's. Check with Tim Hile if you'd like to join in. ExperienceGR.com is assisting with a website so that we can post information about the conference and receive registrations and payments. Margaret Leiber is helping with the artwork and the design of the brochure. The committee is still seeking a keynote speaker.
Holy Family Radio. Holy Family Radio will conduct a fall pledge drive. Also, there is a radio station license coming up for sale in Battle Creek. Holy Family Radio might assist in the purchase of that station.
The July 29 edition of the National Catholic Register reinforces the message that Catholic Radio fosters conversions (and vocations):
"When Christie Martin was growing up, her family belonged to the Church of Christ. When she first converted, she didn't tell anyone; she knew she would face disapproval from her family. As David Bacheresse, general manager of the EWTN Global Network says, 'The unique aspect of Catholic radio is it gives a person the opportunity to learn about the Catholic faith without others knowing about it.'
Martin enrolled in the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults program a week after her first Mass. One evening after class, she saw a bumper sticker: Catholic Radio 1230 AM. 'I got into my car, found the station--Immaculate Heart Radio out of Stockton, Calif. (an EWTN Radio affiliate) and began to find answers to all of my questions. I even began generating new ones.'
Today, Martin listens to St. Valentine Radio in Amarillo, Texas, also an EWTN affiliate, with her husband, who grew up Catholic but had fallen away from the Church. He began his journey back once Christie began RCIA. ...'any time that I can be busy with my hands and and free with my ears and mind, I am listening.'
David Morris came across Catholic radio by accident. 'I was scanning and came across a discussion on the Scripture,' he recalls. 'I was surprised when I heard them say it was a Catholic radio station.'
Morris was an elder at the Centerburg Church of Christ in Centerburg, Ohio, at the time. 'I had been told Catholics were not Christian, but I was learning differently now. The programs on Catholic radio answered several questions about the Catholic Church and corrected some of the things I had been told about it.'
One day Morris told his wife he was drawn to the Catholic Church. 'After we went to RCIA to get some questions cleared up, we--my wife and I--started discussing things we learned at RCIA and on Catholic Radio,' recalls Morris. They were comfirmed in 2007.
Today St. Gabriel Radio, another EWTN affliliate, in the Columbus area is their local station. 'If I....hadn't started listening to that particular discussion on Scripture that day, I would still be mistaken about the Catholic Church,' Morris says. 'Both my wife and I have fallen in love with the Catholic faith.'
Charles Johnson, who lives near Buffalo, N. Y., found Catholic ration when he stopped watching and listening to secular media. 'I wasn't looking to convert when I started listening to Catholic radio,' says Johnson. 'But the Catholic message--that of love--was far more attractive to me than the messages on secular or even Protestant radio.'
Listening to WLOF, the Station of the Cross in Buffalo, helped Johnson make his decision. 'Having listened to and prayed with the radio station over a number of years kept bringing me closer to the Church. RCIA abrought me the rest of the way.'
Thom Price, director of programming for EWTN Radio and co-host of Register Radio with the Register's Tim Drake--which features Register topics and writers--'heard a great story just the other day.
About 10 years ago, a guy who was far from this faith tuned into a local Catholic station--the station here in Birmingham. He sent a check of support to the manager and said he would keep listening. The checks kept arriving every month for several years. Then the station got a letter from him saying he was going into the seminary. Today he is a priest in the Diocese of Birmingham.'
By Christine Smyczynski, writing from Getzville, New York.
Family's three sons called to priesthood.
Fellow Serran Nate McKenzie forwarded the following article which appeared in The Freeman on March 27, 2008. While we were pondering whether a 2008 story is still of interest to our readership, we found that the same three brothers were being featured on Holy Family Radio's Vocation Boom this past weekend.
Luke, Jacob and Vincent Strand, sons of Jerry and Bernadette Strand of Dousman, Wisconsin, "followed distinct paths to the same destination in the Catholic Church." Growing up as Catholics in Dousman, the three brothers considered themselves religious but never seriously considered becoming priests.
Luke Strand, the oldest of the three, was the first brother to consider becoming a priest. As a college student at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, he wanted a degree in marketing, to have a large Catholic family, and to make money. During that time he started to frequent the Newman Center chapel and to help at a homeless shelter, Father Carr's Place 2B.
"As I continued this journey, priesthood began to seem like something God was calling me to--something God was putting in the front of my mind," he said. He studied at St. Francis Seminary and was ordained as a priest in May 2009.
Father Jacob Strand said he started to think about becoming a priest while a senior at Kettle Moraine High School. After completing two years at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse, the desire became stronger.
"This began to occupy a larger area of my life," he recalls. "When I began to look into this more closely, there was a strong sense of peace and that I was fulfilling what God wanted for me." After completing his studies at St. Joseph College Seminary in Chicago, he was the second Strand brother to be ordained.
Vincent Strand was a student at Marquette University studying biological sciences and theology when he began to feel that God was calling him. He said he began to spend time with people from the Society of Jesus.
"I really became convinced that God was calling me to be a Jesuit. I really thought he was asking me to do it personally...The call was not vague or abstract, it felt very concrete to me and that Jesus was speaking directly to my heart." In December 2004 he began applying for admittance to start the novitiate process with the Jesuits. Having completed a master's degree in philosophy as part of his education in the Society of Jesus, he is still in formation.
It hasn't always been easy for the friends and family of the Strand brothers to understand their decisions.
"It's always surprising. It's something parents don't expect," Luke Strand said, adding, "They've been very encouraging in the process."
Jerry Strand admits it's been difficult to accept their decisions at times...But he and his wife Bernadette have realized how happy their sons' chosen vocations have made them.
"You get behind them and you give up the personal selfishness," Jerry Strand said. "We're just happy that our boys are able to make tough decisions."
The brothers have also received support from their younger sister, Theresa Strand.
Throughout the process, the brothers have been there for each other as well. "It's a great support to have my brothers in many ways walking a similar path. We can understand one another--the struggles, as well as the joys, that our vocations offer us," said Vincent."I think there is a great wave of young people who are zealous for the Catholic Church."
Lucas Strand agreed. "People are searching for truth, and I think that search for the truth has led a lot of young people to the church, to priesthood, and the religious life.
Lucas Strand feels optimistic. "I think there's something really happening in the church and it's exciting to be a part of it," he said.
Thank you, Nate, for calling our attention to this inspiring vocation story.
Editor's Note: Nate is making a good recovery from his second knee replacement surgery. Let us keep him in our prayers.
Note from a Notre Dame Vision Alumnus. Tim Hile forwarded the following note from Tony Oleck, a former Notre Dame Vision participant whom we sponsored.
Dear Tim: I am e-mailing you because I just wanted to say thank you again for that opportunity, as it was a very formative part of my life. I am actually e-mailing you as I prepare to head back to meet my small group at the very same ND Vision, where I am working this summer (now as a mentor)!
I am also a current ND student and I will be starting my third year in the seminary here with the Congregation of the Holy Cross this fall. I thought you and the Serra Club might be interested to know that the Lord has truly blessed me through your generosity and support, which has offered me such great opportunities to discern God's will in my life. This discernment has led me to enter the seminary and, I hope, to the Holy Cross priesthood in a few years. I will be a junior at ND, and I am studying history and philosophy in order to prepare myself for a life in the Church, whether the Lord leads me to the priesthood or not.
So, thank you so much for your generosity and support, as I would never have been able to attend the ND vision without the help of the Serra Club. I now hope that I am doing my small part to try to repay that a little bit by giving my love and attention to other high schoolers who are seeking to do the same thing as I was doing when I was in high school. Please give my best to all of the Serra Club members. Know of my prayers! Please remember me in yours as well as I continue to discern God's will and as I continue on in the formation with the Holy Cross. It has been a truly blessed ride so far!
Yours in Christ,
Tony Oleck
A Message from our President.
Please pay particular attention to the special announcement regarding the visit of Serra International President Tomi Asuenga. This is a great honor as well as an opportunity for us to see and hear the direction of Serra International.
As we begin to plan for this fall and beyond, what would you like to see us do? What can we do to help you in your faith walk? Whom would you like to suggest as speakers for our club?
Will you promote another Member-Guest function this fall? Do you like the evening format for these meetings? Please send your respons to me via e-mail to thile@okins.com or 616-437-1404. Your feedback is essential for us in growing our club and meeting Serra's mission as the global lay apostolate for vocations in the Catholic Church. We welcome your comments.
Continue to pray for vocations. You have already seen the letter from Tony Oleck above and read how his Notre Dame experience continued to ignite his passion for the priesthood. We do good work, but the results are not always seen quickly or in plain sight. But we will continue to persevere to ask young people to consider vocations and pursue our faith as brothers and sisters united by Serra.
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