Calendar of Events.
October 4-25, 2015. XIV (14th) Assembly of Bishops at the Vatican, Rome. The synod, themed "The vocation and mission of the family in the Church and in the Contemporary World," will mark the 50th anniversary of the Synod of Bishops.
October 5, 2015. Deadline to register for Celebrating Autumn on the Farm at the Franciscan Life Process Center, Saturday October 17. Spend the day with the children in your life. RSVP to Sister Colleen Nagle at 616-459-7267. The day will begin with a short reflection on celebrating God's Creation. Then enjoy activities that include lunch, hayrides, visiting farm animals, making caramel apples, pressing our own apple cider, playing kickball, and walking the trails. Adults $10. Families of four $25, with $5 extra per person. This sounds like a wonderful way to reflect on the upcoming National Vocation Awareness Week on November 1-7. 2015.
October 6, 7, 8, and 9, 2015. Holy Family Radio Fall Fund Drive, Call 844-337-2346 to pledge, or call the HFR general telephone number at 616-940-1140. Check the HFR website for a schedule of programming during drive. The website also offers the opportunity of donating to the drive online. The theme of this year's drive is, "A Light in the Darkness."
October 12, 2015. Meeting and Speaker, 12:00 Noon at the University Club. Our speaker will be Sister Margaret Mary of the Franciscan Life Process Center.
October 17, 2015. Respect Life Day.
October 18, 2015. Spaghetti Dinner, 11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. at Our Lady of Sorrows. Call 243-0222 for tickets in advance. Adults $8 in advance or $9 at the door.
October 19, 2015. Board Meeting, 12:00 Noon at Ss. Peter and Paul.
October 25, 2015. Priesthood Sunday. Sponsor a special activity at your parish. This day would also provide an excellent opportunity to teach fellow parishioners about our club following the canonization of our new saint.
On or about October 26, 2015. Mass in celebration of the canonization of our patron Junipero Serra. Exact date, location, and time to be announced. We will keep you posted.
April 16, 2015 and April 17, 2015. Retreat at Franciscan Life Process Center, 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m., both days, with Fr. Vincent O'Malley. Father will speak on "Anti Christian Persecution Around the World: Its Extent and our Response
in the morning and "Mercy and Compassion" in the afternoon. Attendees may attend the full day, or attend in the morning only or in the afternoon only. The day will begin with the Rosary and end with Mass. Adoration will be available throughout the day. We will keep you posted in coming weeks for registration information. Other retreat classes at the center will be posted preceding Lent as they become timely.
Outside the Club.
November 12, 2015. 6th Annual Widowed Persons Service--Fall Fundraiser. An Evening of Art Appreciation, with Hors d'oeuvres, Wine, and Silent Auction. 6:00-8:00 p.m. at LaFontsee Galleries, 833 Lake Drive SE. Proceeds help to continue the mission of offering supportive services to those individuals in the Greater Grand Rapids area who have suffered the loss of a spouse through death. Serran Mark Kubik is on the Board of Directors of this organization. No need to buy tickets or RSVP. Just attend.
Priests' Anniversaries.
There are no priests' anniversaries in our diocese. But let us continue to pray for our priests and for
an increase in priestly and religious vocations.
Local Serrans Celebrate St. Junipero Serra Canonization.
Dennis Leiber writes,
"I want to thank Nancy King for inviting me to share my impressions of the Canonization Mass of our Patron, Junipero Serra. As you can imagine, the interest to attend far exceeded the number of tickets available. I was greatly honored to be present among Serrans representing Canada, the United States, Mexico, El Salvador, Italy, Great Britain, Brazil, Hong Kong, Nigeria, Thailand, Australia, India, and the Philippines.
The historic significance of this occasion cannot be understated. This was the first Pope from the Americas to the United States to celebrate his first Mass in which the first person to be canonized in North America is our patron, Junipero Serra.
Reports of the security in the place were not exaggerated. I left the hotel six and a half hours early for the Canonization Mass scheduled for 4:15 p.m. While the cab ride to the barricaded entrance to the site took 12 minutes, the walk to the security area was 25 minutes, followed by an hour and a quarter wait for tens of thousands to pass through one of seven magnetic security screens where every bag and purse was examined, followed by another twenty minute walk to the seating area on the grounds of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception.
The crowd was infused with joyful expectation. Seminarians sang hymns. Groups of pilgrims wearing brightly colored shirts so as not to get lost in the crowd prayed the Rosary. A mother spotted her newly professed daughter with her congregation in the throng and they embraced in a happy, tearful family reunion.
You hear the Pope's arrival before you see him. Thousands waited for hours behind tall metal barricades to catch a glimpse of the fabled Popemobile. At the appointed hour, a roar was heard in the distance and two large screens on the campus of Catholic University of America broadcast the televised coverage of the Pope's arrival. Slowly, the cortege entered the grounds and drove down and back so that the faithful, waiting on both sides of the road, could see him more closely.
Nine hundred priests concelebrated the Canonization Mass. Msgr. Edward Hankiewicz, Moderator of the Serra Club of Grand Rapids, and Father Scott Nolan, whose own father is a Serran from the Muskegon Club, were in attendance in an area closest to the altar.
It is difficult to describe the prayerful atmosphere. Rather, one feels the presence of over twenty-two thousand gathered in a relatively small space. Respectful. Reverent. Silent.
We are accustomed to inclusion in diocesan-wide Eucharistic celebrations. The Canonization Mass was no different. Here, petitions were read in languages not generally heard in Western Michigan, including the language that Fra Junipero Serra spoke when he preached in the tongue of the native peoples he had come to evangelize.
I am grateful to have witnessed the canonization of Saint Junipero Serra and proud to be associated with Catholic men and women who support the ministerial priesthood. Serra lived a life of dedication and commitment to God's people no different from the men of today who evangelize in our own back yards.
Editor's Note. We thank all from our club, those who attended the Mass in person, and Sara Vanderwerff, who witnessed the proceedings from the Mayflower Hotel. And let us pray that that the canonization will bear rich fruit for Serra Clubs throughout the world.
World Meeting of Families.
Takeaway from Papal Visit One Week Later.
Philadelphia, (CBS), October 4, 2015.
Last week, Pope Francis was spending his final day in Philadelphia. In the seven days since he's been gone, much has been said about the man who touched the heart of tens of thousands who came to the City of Brotherly Love to see him.
St. Joseph's University theology professor William Madges says the Pope's message continues to reverberate in Philadelphia and beyond.
"Appreciating the richness of our diversity when he talked about immigrants coming to this country. He did the same thing when he was talking about religious liberty, talking of appreciating the diversity of religion. But namely, this diversity is intended to enrich all of us and build a stronger community that's bound together in love and commitment to the common good."
He says Pope Francis was very aware of the hot-button issues, but chose to approach them using a pastoral approach rather than with a scolding or judgmental tone:
"Try to find what are some of the values in American culture that provide common ground with his own sense of what it means to be a human being or what it means to be a good Catholic Christian."
Madges says he felt the Pope's awareness of the realities of family life--saying sometimes plates fly and children cause headaches for their parents--showed his true love for humanity.
And Madgtes believes the Pope's message about a family being the place where love and compassion and learning to work together will stick with those who heard it.
By Mark Abrams, KYW Newsradio family.
Let us Pray...
for our persecuted Christian brothers and sisters in the Middle East, and especially for the work of Dominican Brother Augustine Marogi for his work in providing relief for displaced Christians in Iraq. In just over a decade, the number of Christians in Iraq has plummeted from more than 1 million to fewer than 300,000. Many who remain have been forced out of their homes, and displaced families are now scattered in temporary camps, living among tents or caravans. Some 125,000 refugees from Mosul and the Nineveh Plains region are now in the Kurdish-controlled city of Erbil.
Mar Elis Chaldean Catholic Church in Erbil is one site where some 200 Christian families have found some shelter...The city was seized by ISIS on August 6, 2014. The attack intensified, and (families) were forced to flee when Kurdish forces surrendered the town...
Source: Columbia, September 2015.
Editor's Note: The above item is just one of all too many examples of the increased incidences of persecution in recent months. The internet offers a variety of opportunities to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in the Middle East and elsewhere. Examples of listings are Samaritan's Purse for international relief, Open Doors, Christian Solidarity International, Release International, and Voice of the Martyrs, to name a few. Let us by ever mindful of the plight of those persecuted in the name of the Lord.
A Message from our Bishop.
My dear friends in Christ, the theme of Respect Life Month this year is, "Every Life is Worth Living." Whether it lasts for a brief moment or for a hundred ears, each of our lives is a good and perfect gift. At every stage and in every circumstance, we are held in existence by God's love.
Our relationships on earth are meant to help us and others grow in perfect love. We are meant to depend on each other, serve each other with humility and walk together in times of suffering. Pope Francis reminds us of the profound nature of our connections as human persons when he wrote his encyclical Laudato Si, 'The human person grows more, matures more, and is sanctified more to the extent that he or she enters into relationships, going out from themselves to live in communion with God, with others, and with all creatures.'
An elderly man whose health is quickly deteriorating; an unborn baby girl whose diagnosis indicates that she may not have long to live; a young boy with Down syndrome, a mother facing terminal caner--each may have great difficulties and need assistance, but each of their lives is a good and perfect gift.
In recent months, we have been reminded with often shocking imagery and language that the 'business' of abortion providers has no regard for the sanctity of unborn life. Pope Francis has called abortion the product of a 'widespread mentality of profit, the throwaway culture, which has today enslaved the hearts and minds of so many.' We must renew our efforts to prayerfully and peacefully act on behalf of these most vulnerable unborn babies, embracing life and remembering that every life has worth.
I am grateful to the parishes and schools throughout our diocese who participate in the Respect Life program during October and who make our respect life efforts a priority throughout the year. I invite everyone in our diocese to continue to pray and witness our commitment as Catholics to being people of life."
Sincerely,
Most Reverend David J. Walkowiak
Bishop of Grand Rapids
A Message from our President.
My Fellow Serrans:
I was very pleased with our recent event honoring the canonization of Junipero Serra, our club's patron. There were good speeches from Sister Serra, a Franciscan from the Franciscan Life Process Center in Lowell, and from our own Serran, the Hon. Judge Lieber, who has personally witnessed the canonization Mass in Washington, D. C. We are planning another event, a Mass later this month, again to celebrate the canonization of St. Serra.
Mary, Mother of Vocations, Pray for Us.
Weldon Schwartz
Adoration.
IHM, 24/5, Code 5412.
St. Isidore, 24/7 Code 613.
