Calendar of Events.
October 1-31, 2013. October is the Month of the Holy Rosary. Let us remember especially to pray the Rosary for vocations, among our other intentions. See below for more information.
October 7, 2013. Our Lady of the Rosary.
October 13, 2013. Save the date. Our Lady of Sorrows Spaghetti Dinner, 11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Advance tickets are now available. Call 243-0222.
October 14, 2013. Luncheon Meeting and Speaker Father Ray Bruck, 12:00 Noon at the University Club
His topic will be, "Examples of Personal Witness to Faith and Evangelization in My Life". Also, Columbus Day will be observed on October 14.
October 20, 2011. World Mission Sunday.
October 21, 2013. Board Meeting and Luncheon, 12:00 Noon at Sacred Heart of Jesus.
October 27, 2013. Luncheon Meeting and Book Discussion, 12:00 Noon at Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Remember to read Chapter 1 of Dr. Robert Schuller's book, The Be Happy Attitudes. Books are available at very reasonable prices at Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. Jim Hunter will lead the planned discussion, which was postponed last month because a number of our members were not aware of the plan and had not bought the book.
Priests' Anniversaries for October. Special congratulations to Father Darrel Kempf and Father Michael Hodges, who were ordained on October 27, 2012.
A Good Idea from the Archdiocese of Boston, Massachusetts. The Monthly Prayer Request for Priests. Would you pray for a priest each day? Prayer suggestion:
O Jesus, Eternal High Priest, live in (name a priest), act in him, speak in him and through him. Think your thoughts in his mind, love through his heart. Give him your own dispositions and feelings. Teach, lead, and guide him always. Correct, enlighten and expand his thoughts and behavior. Possess his soul; take over his entire personality and life. Replace him with yourself. Incline him to constant adoration and thanksgiving; pray in and through him. Let him live in you and keep him in this intimate union always. O Mary, Immaculate Conception, Mother of Jesus and Mother of priests, pray and intercede for (for...) Amen.
You may make your own list as you wish, but the Boston Archdiocese suggests that one pray for All Franciscans on October 4, All Carthusians on October 6, Pope Francis on October 7, All Passionists on October 20, and All Claretians on October 24.
Month of the Most Holy Rosary.
Overview. The month of October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary. According to an account by a fifteenth-century Dominican, Alan de la Roch, Mary appeared to St. Dominic in 1206 after he had been praying and doing severe penance because of his lack of success in combating the Albigensian heresy. Mary praised him for his valiant fight against the heretics and then gave him the Rosary as a mighty weapon, explained its uses and efficacy, and told him to preach it to others.
"Since the prayers of the Rosary come from such excellent sources--from Our Lord Himself, from inspired Scripture, and from the Church--it is not surprising that the Rosary is so dear to our Blessed Mother and so powerful with heaven.
"If we consider the power of the Rosary in its seen effects, we find a great abundance of proofs of its wonderful value. Many are the favors granted to private individuals through its devout recitation: there are few users of the Rosary who cannot testify to experiencing its power in their own lives. If we turn to history, we see many great triumphs of the Rosary. Early tradition attributes the defeat of the Albigensians at the Battle of Muret in 1213 to the Rosary. But even those who do not accept this tradition will admit that St. Pius V attributed the great defeat of the Turkish fleet on the first Sunday of October, 1571, to the fact that at the same time the Rosary confraternities at Rome and elsewhere were holding their processions. Accordingly, he ordered a commemoration of the Rosary to be made on that day. Two years later, Gregory XIII allowed the celebration of a feast of the Rosary in churches having an altar dedicated to the Rosary. In 1671, Clement X extended the feast to all Spain. A second great victory over the Turks, who once, like the Russians, threatened the ruin of Christian civilization, occurred on August 5, 1716, when Prince Eugene defeated them at Peterwardein in Hungary. Thereupon Clement XI extended the feast of the Rosary to the whole Church .
"Today, when dangers far greater than those of the ancient Turks threaten not only Christianity but all civilization, we are urged by the Blessed Mother to turn again to the Rosary for help. If men in sufficient numbers do this, and at the same time carry out other conditions that she has laid down, we have the greater reason for confidence that we will be delivered from our dangers."--Mary in our Life by Fr. William G. Most. Source: Catholic Culture, www.catholicculture.org/liturgicalyear/overviews/months/10
More About the Rosary. From September 27, 2013, Serrans United in Prayer, A Serra International Monthly Prayer Initiative.
...Why pray the Rosary? The Rosary is a powerful weapon, and Our Lady has promised that everyone who recites the Rosary faithfully daily will receive an abundance of graces, both now and at the hour of death.. His Grace Archbishop Fulton Sheen (1885-1979) said, "The power of the Rosary is beyond description.."
At Fatima, our Lady exhorted all of us to pray the Rosary daily: "I am the Lady of the Rosary. I have come to warn the faithful to amend their lives and to ask pardon for their sins. They must not offend our Lord any more, for he is already too grievously offended by the sins of men. People must say the Rosary. Let them continue saying it every day."
Therefore, on the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, let us all take some time to offer a decade of the Rosary for our common intention--that all Serrans will pray the Rosary daily for all priests to have the grace to overcome the trials and challenges that come their way...
Thank you and God bless.
Mary, Mother of Vocations, Pray for us!
Yours in Christ, Sean Yeo, President, Serra International, www.serra..org
Second Annual Catholic Legacy Award Dinner. All those who attended on September 28 can attest that the long-awaited event met and surpassed our expectations of a wonderful evening. See Aggie's note for a complete list of the Dinner Committee, to whom we owe our heartfelt thanks for their hard work, their perseverance, and their dedication to the task of planning and carrying out this event. We thank our Moderator, Msgr. Hankiewicz, for his part in inviting Archbishop Lori as our keynote speaker.
We appreciate the support of the committee, our membership, and our generous sponsors. Our Gold Sponsor was the Knights of Columbus, Michigan Council, and our silver sponsors were The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, the Catholic Lawyers Association of West Michigan, Holy Family Radio, and Mercy Health-Saint Mary's.
Joseph Scoville presented the award to Bishop Emeritus Hurley, and Aggie presented a check to Bishop Walkowiak for his use in furthering vocation-related activities in our diocese.
The topic of the evening, "Living as a Catholic in our Contemporary, Pluralistic Society," couldn't have been more timely. The Archbishop brought his talk to a powerful conclusion with these words:
A. All of which brings me to two final thoughts.
The Serra Club has always recognized the beautiful partnership that must exist between laity and clergy for the Church's mission to advance. Your love for the priesthood means much to me and to my brother priests; your love for the consecrated life means much to those seeking to live the heart of the Gospel in vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience. One thing we need to live in this passing world is unity--unity of faith, unity of worship, unity in complementary of our vocations--unity around our dedication to the mission of Jesus Christ to save the world. And the second thing we need is the intrepid missionary spirit of St. Junipero Serra whose motto is, "always forward, never back!"
B. May we advance, dear friends, in bearing witness to Christ, in season and out of season, whether convenient or inconvenient, welcome or unwelcome--for the good of souls, out of love for country, out of love for our Church, to the glory of God's name. Thanks for listening. God bless you!
Archbishop Lori is a member of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities and the Committee on the Doctrine of the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. In September of 2011, he was appointed to chair the USCCB's Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty. In this new role, he is in the forefront of the fight for religious liberty. Among other positions of service, he is the Supreme Chaplain of the Knights of Columbus.
Please note that we the speech in its entirety. If you'd like to receive a copy of your own, please notify Nancy by e-mail at njking50@gmail.com, and I will scan it and forward it to you from the e-mail address nancy@grbar.org.
Also, we note with sadness that Bob Paul, after all of his hard work on the Committee, was unable to attend.
Just a few days before the dinner, Hazel suffered another stroke. Let us continue to keep Bob and Hazel in our prayers, as we have over the past several months.
Good News. As we reflect on the role of our brothers and sisters in the faith in contributing to the success of our dinner, the Knights of Columbus, we might very well turn to the September 2013 issue of Columbia, a monthly magazine dedicated to the activities of the Knights in carrying out the Lord's work. The magazine is excellent every month, but this issue seems especially significant in reminding us of the good that takes place in our world by those who are guided and inspired by the Lord. Let us take this occasion to call to your attention to some of the highlights of Volume 93, Number 9. And one thing above all others we have in common is our love of and our support for priestly and religious vocations.
1) An editorial on Marriage and the New Evangelization, by Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William E. Lori: "Pray, teach, witness--live the vocation of marriage and family joyfully and robustly! This is what will open minds and hearts, defending marriage and religious liberty for the salvation of souls and the good of our society."
2) An article on the Oklahoma Disaster Relief headed by the Knights.
3) A story and aerial photograph of the three million people who packed Copacabana beach for the closing Mass of World Youth Day 2013 in Rio de Janeiro July 28.
4) "A Place Called Home," about the Knights of Saskatchewan, who established affordable long term housing for seniors in need.
5. In "A Journey of Faith and Healing," we read about New York area Knights who each year send children with illness and disabilities to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes and who sponsor military pilgrimages to Lourdes: "From May 24-26, approximately 160 active-duty and retired U. S. military and retired personnel, injured veterans, spouses, and family members participated in the 55th International Military Pilgrimage to the Catholic shrine at Lourdes with support from the Knights of Columbus and the Archdiocese for the Military Service, USA.
The Memorial Day weekend pilgrimage allowed those who had given some of the highest levels of service to their country an opportunity to rest, pray and heal around the miraculous waters of the Lourdes grotto...."Our pilgrimage in these days is also a time for us to deepen our faith," said (Archbishop Timothy B. Broglio) during a May 24 homily. "We come to this wonderful shrine with many intentions: For some it will be health of mind and body. For others it may be part of a vocations search. Still others ask the Virgin for blessings on their families..."
The Knights of Columbus organized its first military pilgrimage to Lourdes in 1919. During World War I, Knights were extremely active in serving American troops abroad.
6. And finally a vocations story, "God was Prompting Me," by Seminarian Joshua Stika, Archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa.
Once again, we thank the Knights of the Michigan Council and of Lowell for their presence and their support of the Legacy Dinner.
A Message from our President.
Dear Serrans,
I ask that you pray for me and the local Serra Club as we venture together with out important vocations work. These crisp fall days are filled with good cheer over sports (football) and the bountiful harvest. We are so grateful for all God's blessings. It's hard to feel stressed when you are mindful of all the good in your life.
Thanks go out to everyone who made the 2013 Legacy Dinner a financial success by spreading the word, getting a table, or by helping the hard-working committee. I especially want to thank the chairman of that committee, Magistrate Judge Joseph Scoville. Also working tirelessly were committee members Dan LaVille, Tim Hile, John Osterhart, Bob Paul, Weldon Schwartz, and Tom Curran. We thank Beth Gumina for the beautiful flower arrangements, and Bev Schields and Nancy for serving as our gracious greeters. Congratulations to all for the wonderful job you did!
I would also like to take a minute to thank Monsignor Hankiewicz for being our moderator with humor and style. Monsignor, it is always a pleasure to be in your company.
Mary, Mother of Vocations, Pray for us!
Agnes Kempker-Cloyd.
And finally, we congratulate Aggie and her husband Brian, who celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on the evening of the dinner.
