Calendar of Events.
April 2, 2015. Holy Thursday. Mass of the Lord's Supper.
April 3, 2015. Good Friday. Day of Fast and Abstinence.
April 4, 2015. Holy Saturday and Easter Vigil. Also, Passover Begins.
April 12, 2015. Divine Mercy Sunday.
April 13, 2015. Luncheon Meeting and Speaker, 12:00 Noon at the University Club.
April 20, 2015 Board Meeting and Luncheon, 12:00 Noon at Ss. Peter and Paul.
April 25, 2015. Sisters' Appreciation Dinner at St. Robert's. Mass begins at 4:30 p.m., with Social Hour and Dinner to follow. Beth Gumina will serve as head chef, and Nancy King is assisting with desserts. We need hors d'oeuvres and helpers for cooking, serving, and clean-up. Let Beth or me know if you can help. Beth's e-mail address is guminasflowers@gmail.com, and her cell phone number is 706-4733. Nancy is available at njking50@gmail.com. The theme of the dinner is Italian, so we are especially looking for hors d'oeuvres compatible with that cuisine.
April 26, 2015. World Day of Prayer for Vocations. This would be a good opportunity to
make our fellow parishioners aware of Serra and its mission.
April 27, 2015. Luncheon Meeting and Book Discussion, 12:00 Noon at Ss. Peter and Paul.
See below for more information about the book discussion.
April 30, 2015. Deadline for the early bird special of $100 per person for the Serra International Convention at Melbourne, Australia.
Looking Ahead.
June 19, 2015. Charter Night. Mark Kubik is serving as chairman of this event. Please make a special effort to attend, as it is a very important occasion for our club. It is in part a celebration of our representation in Serra USA and Serra International. (John Osterhart recently took his post as new President of the USA Council, and Dan Grady will remain President of Serra International until the Melbourne convention. We are inviting other clubs to join us at Cathedral Square for Mass and Dinner. Please do what you can to make this a memorable event.
July 28-August 2, 2015. Serra's 73rd International Convention, Melbourne, Australia.
Priests' Anniversaries for April.
Fr. Steven Cron, April 1.
Featured Prayer for Vocations.
Lord Jesus, we pray to you for the Catholic priesthood. Give us more priests, but most especially we ask you to give us holy priests who know how to offer this truth to the people of their own time and place. Holy men for today, priests firmly rooted in the tradition, yet imbued with the spirit of this age. They have undertaken a mission in your name, Lord. May the reflection of your power in them always make it clear that they are your witnesses. Grant that they may conform their lives to the paschal mystery that they celebrate each day in the Eucharist. May they sense in this mystery the anxious hunger of the world and of their own brothers and sisters for salvation. May they know, despite this hunger, how to respect the spiritual freedom of others; for it is your word which has given the world a taste for this freedom. May they understand and speak the language of their own time. And may they be careful never to compromise, with opinions that come and go, the imperishable newness of the Gospel. May they always keep through the dark wintry night of the soul an obstinate hope for the springtime to come. And when they meet those who persecute you, may they always remember the road to Damascus and the hidden ways of your providence.
Source: From USCCB.
Membership. Not only do we need to pray for priests, but also to pray for and to promote the recruiting of new members for our club. The least we can do is ask those people who would
make good and dedicated Serrans who are interested in our mission of praying for, nurturing, and fostering priestly and religious vocations and of deepening our own spiritual development. We can all attest that Serra does indeed help us in the practice of our Catholic faith. Let each of us
do something in the coming weeks to promote this cause. We can all start by inviting prospective members to our meetings so that they can see for themselves what we're all about.
Book Discussion. As you are aware, Barbara Rylko Bauer's book, A Polish Doctor in the
Nazi Camps, was the subject of her talk at our March meeting. At our last board meeting we voted to make this book our next reading project. It is available at Schuler Books, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.com. Our first discussion, scheduled for the April 27, will cover Part I.
I have read the book and highly recommend it. I must confess that at first my inclination was not to want to read still another account of those terrible Nazi years, but of course I found that I had much to learn. We think of the Holocaust as a persecution of Jewish people, but the Nazis, after they invaded Poland, targeted Polish Catholics as well. Barbara's mother, for example, was arrested for owning a
radio!
I received a reply to my thank you note to Barbara and told her we were looking forward to our club's discussion of the book. She said she was excited about that and said she will want to know of our thoughts about it. This would be something to keep in mind as we reflect on the happenings she describes.
Serra International Convention. July 28-August 2 in Melbourne, Australia. The line-up of great speakers includes Archbishop Denis Hart, Archdiocese of Melbourne; Father Brendan Lane, Rector of Corpus Christi College and Seminary, Archdiocese of Melbourne; Bishop Gerard Hanna, Diocese of Wagga Wagga; Father Morgan Batt, Keynote Speaker, Rector of Holy Spirit Seminary, Archdiocese of Brisbane; and Bishop Michael Kennedy, Diocese of Armidale.
There are two special opportunities for extra curricular tours: a two night stay in Melbourne, July 28-30, and a Sydney post-Convention tour, August 2-5. Go to Serra International for all you need to know about venue and accommodations.
Come to Melbourne and be resurrected by the light of Christ in the Great South Land!
Preparing for Blessed Junipero Serra's Upcoming Canonization.
Since the Holy Father announced his intention to canonize our patron when he travels to the United States this September, some voices have arisen objecting to the elevation of Fray Junipero Serra to sainthood.
Because we as an organization are visible to the public and take our name from Junipero Serra, it is possible that in the coming months, individual Serrans or clubs may be confronted with such an opposing view.
How should one respond? We hope sticking to the following key messages will help you to handle such a situation firmly and tactfully:
1) Be able to articulate Serra International's specific mission.
For example: "Serrans come from all walks of life, but they have one thing in common--they actively support the Catholic Church by encouraging men into the priesthood and women and men into religious life."
2) Talk about the actual work we do to help us achieve our goals.
For example: By organizing meetings, appreciation events and prayer services, our local Serra Clubs bring members together to exchange ideas on ways to further our mission to support our priests and the Church."
3) If a person who believes Serra treated American Indians cruelly asks why our organization chose him as our patron, speak about his achievements in context of the time in which he lived:
For example, "The only thing I can speak to is what our founders knew about Father Serra when they named our organization after him. He was devoted to the Catholic Church, and he worked tirelessly to introduce our faith to as many people as possible."
Or, "Father Junipero Serra felt called to serve the Catholic Church. He left a very comfortable life in Spain to come to the New World and share his love of the Gospel. He was so dedicated that he walked thousands of miles across what is now California and Mexico to spread the faith. That is why we selected Father Serra as our patron, named our organization after him, and support the Pope's decision to canonize him."
4) If pressed to make a statement about the controversy surrounding Father Serra's canonization, direct the questioner to Serra International Executive Director John Liston:
"Our executive director, John Liston, is the best person to answer all of your questions.; Would you like me to pass on your contact information to him?"
Source: Always Forward, Never Back E-News, serraus@serraus.org
Note: This material is especially helpful to those preparing to invite prospective members to join our club. The upcoming Canonization presents a further opportunity to acquaint our fellow Catholics with the club.
A Message from our President.
Please pray for me and our local Serra Club as we work on our vocations mission to foster vocations and help each other in our spiritual growth.
As I reflect on Palm Sunday, this prayer expresses the joy of Easter. "Lord Jesus, by dying on the Cross, and rising to a new life, you brought hope to the new world. Help us hold fast to that hope. By your willingness to suffer for us, you showed us the meaning of love. Help us to love as you love. Through your gift of the Eucharist, you nourish our faith. Grant us the joy of sharing that faith with others."
I want to thank Beth Gumina, our program chair, who has invited a variety of interesting speakers for our U-Club luncheon meetings. If any of you have suggestions for speakers in 2016, please tell Beth about them.
May the peace of Christ be with you and your families this Easter season. Mary, Mother of Vocations, pray for us and guide us to dedicated leaders to hear the call of service to the Holy Catholic Church.
Agnes Kempker-Cloyd.
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