FIVE STAR PROGRAM
October is the Month of the Most Holy Rosary.
Calendar of Events.
October 12, 2014. Our Lady of Sorrows Spaghetti Dinner, 11:00-3:00. Call 243-0222 for tickets. Cost is $8.00 for tickets purchased in advanced and $9.00 for tickets at the door.
October 13, 2014. Luncheon Meeting and Speaker, 12:00 Noon at the University Club
October 20, 2014. Board Meeting, 12:00 Noon at Ss. Peter and Paul.
October 22-October 24, 2014. Fall Pledge Drive, Holy Family Radio.
October 24, 2014. Our club's sponsorship of Bishop Walkowiak's hour on Holy Family Radio, 9:00 a.m.
October 26, 2014. Priesthood Sunday. Priesthood Sunday and other special vocations-related Sundays are one of the phases of the Five Star Program.
October 27, 2014. Luncheon Meeting and Book Discussion, 12:00 Noon at Ss. Peter and Paul. We will be discussing the last chapter of The Be Happy Attitudes.
Looking Ahead. December 13, 2014. Schubert Concert. We need Serrans to attend and to sell tickets. This will be our only meeting date as a club in December.
Priests' Anniversaries for October.
Fr. Darrell Kempf and Fr. Michael Hodges, both ordained on October 27, 2012.
ABOUT HOLY FAMILY RADIO. A Message from Dan Grady, sent September 17, 2014.
Fellow Serrans:
Our local Catholic radio station, Holy Family Radio, is preparing for its Fall Pledge Drive, which will run fromWednesday, October 22 through Friday, October 24. We have participated in HFR pledge drives previously in 2012 and 2013. In the past we have contributed in three ways:
**volunteers to answer phones and record pledges during the drive
**representatives to promote our apostolate during the Serra hour
**provide matching funds for pledges made during the Serra hour
After some discussion of our participation and the schedule for this pledge drive, we are going to change our participation slightly this year. Rather than have Serra members on the air, we are recommending that we provide matching pledge dollars and phone volunteers for the hour during which Bishop Walkowiak will be on the air--Friday, October 24, 9:00 aAM. Our sponsorship will be promoted during the hour.
Our request to our members is as follows:
If you can make a contribution to provide matching funds for this hour, please send your contribution payable to Holy Family Radio directly to:
Lisa Brown
Holy Family Radio
2504 Ardmore SE
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506
Please include a note that your contribution is for the Serra Club Matching fund for the pledge drive. We ask that contributions to the matching funds be sent to HFR before October 20, 2014.
If you can help answer the phone during this hour (or any other hour), please notify
Elaine White at (616) 456-1140 or elainewhite12@gmail.com
Thanks for all of your support!
Mary, Mother of Vocations, Pray for Us!
Dan Grady
ABOUT THE FIVE STAR PROGRAM. A Message from the Diocese of Grand Rapids was sent on September 22, 2014.
Dear Monsignors and Fathers,
We are writing to recommend a new resource to your parish for promoting vocations, in particular religious and priestly vocations, from the USA Council of Serra International. Serra USA has launched the Five Start Program in an effort to provide resources for parishes in building a culture of vocations. In choosing to use the free resources, you also have the opportunity to create a local committee of lay volunteers who can coordinate the activities for promoting religious and priestly vocations in your parish.
The Five Star Program can also strengthen the faith of the families who participate. Components of the program provide opportunities for parents to have faith conversations with their children, to pray together as a family, and to participate in service together as a family. Research shows that these three activities as a family are the top means of children having a faith that "sticks" with them into their emerging adult years.
We recently met with Mr. Michael Fiorenzo, a member of the Grand Rapids Serrans who is coordinating the local implementation of the Five Star Program. Members of the Grand Rapids Serra Club are ready to assist your parish volunteers in using the resources. In the coming months, a member of Serra will be following up this message by calling ou to see if you have any interest in beginning the program in the coming year and to address any questions you may have.
Thank you for your consideration of this matter. Finally, thank you for your own "yes" to God's call to the priestly ministry.
Sincerely,
Rev. Ron Hutchinson, Office of Priestly Vocations, Mr. Carl Apple, Office of Communications, and Mr. Mark Mann, Office for Families, Youth, and Young Adult Ministries.
To the Club: To date, Mike is ready to go forward with the program and has been given full authorization by the board to do so. Aggie has volunteered to help, but he will need others as well.
The committee will be working with the board and with the priests to decide on a schedule for meeting with the various parishes. We expect to get the program underway within the next year. Please help if you can.
Find a wealh of information about the entire five-star program by searching
serra usa five star program. We recommend that you read the entire post, which takes only a very short time.
ABOUT PRIESTHOOD SUNDAY. HAVE YOU BEGUN PLANNING ACTIVITIES IN YOUR PARISH YET?
We received the following message the Serra USA Council on September 10, 2014:
The Serra Vocations Ministry Outreach Committee was delighted to host 36 people on its free conference call discussing ideas for Priesthood Sunday yesterday. Following is a great idea from Serran Jane Lyon of the Twin Cities MN Club:
"We handed out prayer cards for our pastor. His picture was on the front, along with the name of our parish, and an excellent prayer was on the back. We had these printed for a reasonable cost by a professional printer. People were so thankful that we did it! We figured one per family (1300) but had to order more."
The prayer:
Almighty Father, we thank You for the vocation of Father _____, whom you have called into the priesthood of your Son.
Jesus, may he always look to You as an example of humility, service, and charity. Holy Spirit, use him as an instrument to challenge many Catholics, especially the young, to love Christ and embrace the heart of the Church.
Mary, wrap your mantle around Fther_____and intercede for his strength and faithfulness to the Church.
Holy Trinity-bless him! Blessed Mother--intercede for him! Saint John Vianney-pray for all priests!
The club also made a card for their seminarian. The prayer for seminarians is ...as follows:
O Jesus, Eternal High Priest, I offer You through your Immaculate Mother Mary, Your own Precious Blood, in all the Masses throughout the world, as a petition for graces for all seminarians, Your future priests, especially for_____
Give them humility, meekness, prudence, and a burning zeal for souls. Fill their hearts with gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Teach them to know and love the church, that they may always and everywhere speak, act, and think with her, the glorious spouse of Christ.
Teach them generosity and detachment from worldly goods; but above all, teach them to know You and to love the One and Only Eternal Priest. God, Shepard of Souls, hear this, my prayer for saintly priests. AMEN
Serrans United in Prayer.Both Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II have blessed the Serrans in Brazil with gifts in recognition of their work for vocations. While few people today remember, it was in Brazil that Serra first welcomed and promoted the participation of women in Serra. Today, Brazil leads the way among Serrans who work to find ways for poorer faithful Catholics to participate in our apostolate. I am thankful for the blessings that God has bestowed on Serra through the efforts of our fellow Serrans in Brazil.
During (this month) let all Serrans join together in prayers of thanksgiving. Thank God for the blessings God bestowed on each of us through Serra.
May our expression of gratitude during this time nourish our personal growth in holiness, and inspire us to share the blessings and work of
Mary, Mother of Vocations, Pray for Us!
Dan Grady
President 2014-2015
Serra International
A Thank-you Note.
This past week, we received a note addressed to the club:
Thank you so much for remembering our dear sister Theresa. Your prayers and kindness have been a wonderful support.
With great appreciation,
the family of Theresa Ancona.
In Support of our Priests.
This past month Pat Leikert sent a check in our club's name for the annual Fall Priests' Conference.
A Message from our President.
Dear Serrans,
Please pray for me and our local Grand Rapids Serra Club as we work on our vocations mission as well as our spiritual growth. It has been a lively fall this month: the Club has been busy raising funds for Holy Family Radio through the Jockey clothing sale. Special thanks to the ladies of the club in this regard. It was a great way to raise money and do a little shopping. There are more opportunities to contribute our time, talent, and treasure to this worthy endeavor for Holy Family Radio. As urged by our International President, Dan Grady, please send in a matching contribution to Bishop Walkowiak's hour and/or help answer pledge calls if you can do so. I attest to the fact that Dan LaVille is so much fun to work with on pledge drives that it will not feel like work. We have also continued to work on the Five Star program and could use some additonal volunteers. This i.s a great way to promote vocations and the GR Serra Club. We donated money for the Priests' Conference to show our love and support for all they do for us in this diocese.
We are blessed as a community to have Art Prize at Cathedral Square and other venues in our city. When you view the art in all its various forms, you cannot help but reflect on the Divine Creator!
May the love and peace of Jesus be with you and your families this fall season. Mary, Mother of Vocations, pray for us and guide us to bring dedicated leaders to the call of service in His Holy Catholic Church.
Agnes Kempker-Cloyd
