November 1, 2012. All Saints Day. Holy Day of Obligation.
November 2, 2012. All Souls Day.
November 4, 2012. Dedication of the Garden of Light, 3:00 p.m. at 659 Bridge Street NW. Reception and light luncheon to follow. We find the following on the website:
What: a formerly barren lot next to the Help offices is blooming into a beautiful garden! Join us November 4 for a blessing and dedication of this space, designed to be a place of prayer, healing and hope. Following the dedication, Jonny B'z will serve hot dogs and other refreshments. Please RSVP to John and Sandy Lowery at jlowerly34@comcast.net or 942-6756. We are hoping for a nice day, but encourage people to bring umbrellas in case it is raining, as the event will be outdoors. Also, please wear shoes that can get a little dirty, as the path through the garden may not be entirely completed at that time.
Also, please visit helppregnancy.org not only to learn more about the Help Center, but also to watch a beautiful video.
November 12, 2012. Luncheon Meeting at West Catholic High School, 1801 Bristol Avenue NW, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49504. We will meet with the seven West Catholic young men in discernment. Serrans can park in the north lot and volunteer greeters will assist with the parking. Please note the schedule:
11:30 a.m. Billy K. serves the young men lunch in Room 103.
11:40-11:50 a.m. Ken Baldwin greets arriving Serrans and helps with parking.
12:00 Noon. Prayer, introductions, and lunch.
12:05-12:20 WC students share their stories.
12:20-12:25. Serrans talk about their mission.
12:25 p.m. Students get back to class.
After Ken will give a tour of the school.
From Ken Baldwin
Director of Institutional Advancement
West Catholic High School
Office: 616-233-5918
e-mail: kennethbaldwin@grcss.org
Ken Baldwin says WC will have someone outside to guide Serrans to the North parking lot, which will be close to the Media Center where we will meet.
Looking Ahead.
December 15, 2012. Schubert Choir at East Grand Rapids High School. LaVilles will host a pre-concert reception. Please notify Aggie regarding tickets to this event. Exact times and locations TBA.
January 28, 2012. Member-Guest evening reception at the University Club. Tammy Mann, editor of Faith Magazine, is the tentative speaker for this event. Please keep in mind that new members are our lifeline. Think about people you might invite, and continue to pray for the well being of the club and its very important mission.
June 20-23 2013. Serra's 71st International Convention will be held in the City of Palma de Mallorca located on the island of Mallorca in Spain. As in past years, the convention will commence with the Opening Mass in the local cathedral to be celebrated by the new Bishop of Mallorca 9the See is currently vacant) at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 20, 2013.
The theme of the 2013 convention is: For woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel--the spiritual journey of Fray Junipero Serra.
Stimulating and informative convention sessions will be held on Friday and, on Saturday after the delegates' meeting, there will be a pilgrimage to the peaceful rural town of Petra, the birthplace of Blessed Junipero Serra. The convention will conclude with the Annual Banquet on Saturday, June 22, 2013.
Invited speakers for Mallorca 2013 are:
His Eminence Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education in Rome.
His Eminence Sean Cardinal O'Malley, Archbishop of Boston, Massachusetts, U. S. A.
The 2013 convention headquarters hotel will be the 5-star Grand Melia Victoria Hotel located in the heart of Palma, close to the Mediterranean coast over which overlooks the beautiful 13th century Cathedral of Santa Maria de Palma. If there is a need for lower cost accommodations, Serra will also secure additional convention guest rooms at 3-star Hotel Tryp Palma Basque, which is also located a short bus ride from the Cathedral, the venue for all convention Masses.
We also note that nominations to the International Board of Trustees are now open. You will find nominations information and forms at the Bellringers website. Nominations are to be returned to Serra headquarters no later than Friday, January 4, 2013.
Priests' Anniversaries for November.
November 1--Reverend Daniel DePew
November 2--Reverend Charles Hall
November 3--Reverend Tom Bouffard
November 4--Reverend Peter Schafer
November 5--Reverend Wayne Wheeler
We thank Lee Sullivan for her anniversary card ministry.
Thank you. Thanks to the Serrans who served on the Hospitality Team at the October 27 ordination of Darrell Kempf and Michael Hodges. Let us keep the newly ordained in our prayers.
Good News. Hazel Paul has received word that she is entirely free of infection. She is making a slow but steady recovery. The family thanks you for all of your prayers and support. Let us continue to pray for Hazel and her family.
A Reflection on All Saints Day.
"What is the Church if not the assembly of all the saints?" wrote the fifth-century bishop Niceta. Each Sunday, in the Profession of Faith, we express our belief in the communion of saints, the one body--with Christ as its head--made up of "those who are pilgrims on earth, the dead who are being purified and the blessed in heaven." We are not alone!
The preface for All Saints begins, "For today by your gift we celebrate the festival of your city, the heavenly Jerusalem, our mother." What astounding words! All Saints Day, like every solemnity, is nothing less than the festival of the fullness of the paschal mystery, our dying and rising in Christ. Of course, now in autumn the mystery comes clothed in glorious autumnal garb, and so we celebrate our Easter faith with signs of the harvest, signs of nature's dying, signs of the "homecoming" that happens naturally when the weather gets cold and families find themselves together more often. While the dying can point to our own mortality, the homecoming reminds us of the mystery of our own resurrection with Christ.
Source: Treasures from our Tradition, Our Lady of Sorrows Bulletin, October 28, 2012.
Saint of the Day. From the www.americancatholic.org website we find the following: Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives. Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts. God calls each one of us to be a saint. Saint of the day is now available on the IPhone. Or, click on the link to receive Saint of the Day in your e-mail.
An American Saint. November 13 is the feast day of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini. She was the first United States citizen to be canonized. She became a citizen in 1909. Her deep trust and in the loving care of her God gave her the strength to be a valiant woman doing the work of Christ.
Refused admission to the religious order which had educated her to be a teacher, she began charitable work at the House of Providence Orphanage in Cadogno, Italy. In 1877 she made her vows there and took the religious habit.
When the Bishop closed the orphanage in 1880, he named Frances as prioress of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. Seven young women from the orphanage joined her.
Since her early childhood in Italy, Frances had wanted to be a missionary in China, but at the urging of Pope Leo XIII, Frances went west instead of east. She traveled with six sisters to New York City to work with the thousands of Italian immigrants living there.
She found disappointment and difficulties with every step. When she arrived in New York City, the house intended to be her first orphanage was not available. The archbishop advised her to return to Italy. But Frances, truly a valiant woman, departed from the archbishop's residence all the more determined to establish that orphanage. And she did.
In 35 years Frances Xavier Cabrini founded 67 institutions dedicated to caring for the poor, the abandoned, the uneducated and the sick. Seeing great need among Italian immigrants who were losing their faith, she organized schools and adult education classes.
As a child she was always frightened of water, unable to overcome her fear of drowning. Yet, despite this fear, she traveled across the Atlantic Ocean more than 30 times. She died of malaria in her own Columbus Hospital in Chicago.
Comment: The compassion and dedication of Mother Cabrini is still seen in hundreds of thousands of her fellow citizens, not yet canonized, who care for the sick in hospitals, nursing homes and state institutions. We complain of increased medical costs in an affluent society, but the daily news shows us millions who have little or no medical care, and who are calling for new Mother Cabrinis to become citizen-servants of their land.
At her canonization on July 7, 1946, Pope Pius XII said, "Although her constitution was very frail, her spirit was endowed with such singular strength that, knowing the will of God in her regard, she permitted nothing to impede her from accomplishing what seemed beyond the strength of a woman.
Source: American Catholic.org.
Holy Family Radio. On the weekend of October 28 and 29, Vocation Boom radio host Jerry Usher featured Mother Mary of the Angels of the Sisters of Reparation of Portland, Oregon as his guest.
One of the major dedications of the order is the priesthood. Mother Regina Rose, co-foundress of the Reparation Sisters, had a special concern for priests. She dedicated part of her ministry to the sick and to those who found themselves penniless--or even homeless-- in retirement.
Learn more about this order at reparationsisters.org.
A Message from our President.
Dear Serrans:
Advent is quickly approaching and the calendar and temperature point out the change in seasons every morning when I scrape my windshield. Because of the way Thanksgiving and Christmas fall on this year's calendar, please note we will NOT be meeting on the fourth Mondays of the month during November or December.
The LaVilles have again so graciously offered to host a holiday reception prior to the annual Schubert Christmas Concert, "The Spirit of Christmas--A Night of Christmas Classics, Carols and Spirituals"
will be held on Saturday, December 15, 2012, at the East Grand Rapids High School. The concert always makes for a wonderful evening as well as a great way to support our Serra Club. Feel free to invite friends and family to join us for this event.
Over the weekend of October 19-21 selected members of both Serra International and USAC met in Chicago to work through the 11-point proposal for ending the dissention between the bodies. It sounds as though progress is being made on both sides. Continue to pray for a rock solid and unified Serra.
We will be meeting on November 12 at West Catholic to meet with a group of young men who are in a discernment group. Several of these young men have visited St. John Minor Seminary last spring at St. Thomas University in St. Paul, MN. New Serran Ken Baldwin has met with this group and thought we needed to hear their story! Pray for them and their journey. We look forward to meeting with them and supporting them in prayer, word and action.
Mary, Mother of Vocations, Pray for Us!
Tim Hile
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
