June 29-July 3, 2016. Serra International Convention, St. Louis, Missouri.
July 1, 2016. Feast of St. Junipero Serra.
July 11, 2016. Serra Club Evening Meeting. Board meeting begins at 4:30 p.m. Regular meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. Father Joachim Lalley will speak, leading us through a guided retreat.
July 29, 2016. The first of a Novena of Friday devotions dedicated to the Seven Sorrows of Mary, 7:00 p.m. at Our Lady of Sorrows, followed by Benediction. The plan this year is for a guest priest to join us each week to give a talk about one of the Seven Sorrows. We urge our fellow Serrans to join the members of Our Lady of Sorrows for at least one of these devotions. Listen for further information on Holy Family Radio.
We will keep you posted as to further developments.
Looking Ahead.
February 16-19, 2017. Serra Rally, Phoenix, AZ. Hotel information TBA.
July 11, 2015. Outside the Club Special Event.
Fellow Serran Sara Vanderwerff calls our attention to the upcoming 17th Circuit Court Town Hall to be held in the basement of St. Thomas the Apostle, 1449 Wilcox Park Dr. SE, at 7:00 p.m.
The Town Hall features three candidates for the Kent County 17th Circuit: Curt Benson, Professor Emeritus at WMU Thomas M. Cooley Law School; Thomas P. Murray, Jr., 25 year veteran lawyer & Lead Attorney at Hanover Law Group; and Joe Rossi, United States Marine Corps Veteran and Former Assistant U. S. Attorney at the U. S. Department of Justice. On August 2, 2016, Kent County voters will select 2 of the three candidates for a November general election runoff with the winner to be the new Judge in Kent County's 17th Circuit Court. R. S. V. P. on Eventbrite. If you have questions, call Mike at 616-634-0418.
Liturgical Calendar and Other Events during July, August, and September.
July 22, 2016. Memorial of St. Mary Magdalene.
July 26, 2016. Memorial of Sts. Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
August 6, 2016. Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord.
August 15. Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
August 22, 2016. Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
September 8, 2016. Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
September 14, 2016. Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
September 15, 2016. Feast Day of Our Lady of Sorrows.
Report on the 2016 Convention.
On July 4, 2016, John Osterhart reported as follows, answering an inquiry regarding George Reichel.
"George Reichel is the President of the Greater Muskegon Serra Club and represented his club at the 2016 Serra International Delegates' Meeting.
Weldon (our Grand Rapids Serra Delegate to the 2016 SI Delegates' Meeting) and Karen Schwartz, Dan Grady, and Ellen and I attended from the Grand Rapids Serra this year, and I represented the Serra Clubs of Saginaw and Detroit/Oakland.
All of the proposed Constitutional Congress Amendments (one to the SI Constitution; and ten to the SI Bylaws) passed unanimously or by large margins, as did other matters related to the Minutes, the financial report and coming year's budget, and the slate of officers and trustees, etc.
All in all, it was an outstanding convention with three Masses, a Perpetual Adoration Chapel, a benediction and mini-retreat, ongoing confession opportunities, and great speakers, panels, and information to bring back and use. I only wish more members would have had the opportunity of attending."
Blessings,
John
Priests' Anniversaries for July.
Fr. Raymond Bruck, July 20, 1958.
Fr. Thomas Danielson, CSSR, July 2, 1964.
Fr. Larry King, July 8, 1989.
Fr. Peter Omogo, July 10, 2004.
A Pleasant Surprise.
Editor's Note.
On Saturday, June 25, Bishop Walkowiak concelebrated 4:00 Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows with Fr. Ted Kozlowski. Earlier that week, Fr. Ted gladly accepted his offer to visit our parish. The Bishop, during his homily, mentioned that he had just attended the open house of a Catholic Central graduate who is headed for the seminary in the fall and also announced that we will have eight new seminarians in the coming year. Let us all thank the Bishop for his interest in and his support of vocations.
Membership.
As we continue to turn our attention to membership, we can prepare by downloading and reading the Serra International's membership recruiting materials. One of the very helpful suggestions comes from Lloyd P. Crockett, Charter Member of the Serra Club of Williamson County, TN and Serra International President during 2007-2008.
He writes, "The best prospects for Serra are those lay Catholics who attend daily Mass. Why? They have a love for the Church, the Eucharist, and the Priesthood that is unsurpassed. And in most instances, they have the time and the financial resources to be good Serrans." He adds that eighty percent of the members of his club were daily Mass attendees and says that many good Catholics want to become Serrans who are just waiting to be asked. Please let us know your thoughts on membership recruiting.
Continued Report on Aid to the Church in Need.
As a club, we always welcome opportunities to support priestly and religious vocations in big ways and small. A recent success story comes from The Democratic Republic of Congo: two mopeds and eight bicycles for the work of the pastoral team in the parish of St. Augustine in Poko:
In the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the parish of St. Augustine, in Poko, two priests are delighted to have moped each each, and the catechists are equally please to have eight bicycles among them. Thanks to generosity of the benefactors of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), who have given $14,600, they no longer have to spend hours walking to reach their destination.
Also sharing in the general rejoicing are the ordinary Catholic faithful, who indeed stand to benefit most from these gifts. For now the priests and catechists can much more easily reach even the remotest villages, and so the people can receive the sacrament more frequently, receive instruction in their faith, and participate more fully in the life of the Church.
Needless to say, this parish is situated in a predominately rural area. The people here struggle to support themselves on what they are able to grow in the fields. Sadly, the armed conflict in the region has only made their poverty worse and has devastated the local infrastructure. Roads, bridges, medical centers, parish centers--everything has been destroyed or damaged. But what the people need here more than anything else is spiritual help and support. Hence these simple items, funded by the benefactors of ACN, have brought untold spiritual blessings to the Catholic faithful of the area. Their heartfelt thanks to you all!
The vital work of Catholic charities like Aid to the Church in Need provide a lifeline to the Church wherever she is poor, persecuted, or threatened. Please help our work by donating online or send your donation to Aid to the Church in Need, P. O. Box 7246, Baulkham Hills NSW 2153,
Source: Catholic News, 20 June 2016.
A Message from our President.
We have a few things of importance to discuss in this message. The first is my resignation as president of the club so that Sara Vanderwerff can assume her duties effective immediately. This change in leadership is needed because Sara expects to have to run for re-election in the next year for her current position as controller of Grand Rapids and she would not have the time or energy to devote both to her re-election campaign and to the position of presidency. Therefore, I agreed with Sara to step aside so that she could be president for the next year. Her term would be one year rather than the normal two years. We could then revisit who will succeed her next year.
Several of us, including Monsignor Hankiewicz, myself, Sara Vanderwerff, and Bob Nolan from the Muskegon Serra Club met with Bishop Walkowiak last Wednesday to discuss our plans for increasing membership by making presentations at some of the parishes in the diocese at the end of Sunday masses followed up by having one or more Serrans at the back of the church to answer questions for the prospective members. As a result of the meeting the Bishop was very supportive of our plan and said he would support it. We will have to develop a plan to work with the parishes with other members of Serra to make the most effective use of time and effort.
Mary, Mother of Vocations, Pray for Us!
Weldon Schwartz
Editor's Note: As of that writing, on June 30, Weldon mentioned that would soon be on his way to St. Louis. He, along with John Osterhart, Dan Grady, and George Reichel from Muskegon, attended.
On Friday, July 1, Weldon announced that our club was one of eight to receive the Padre Award from Serra International Foundation. Those winning the award contributed between $3000 and $4999 to the Foundation.
Download the Region/District Convention Manual for club requirements for winning the Outstanding Club award at the next Region/District Convention.
Let us Pray...
for all of our priests, and especially for those who began their new assignments as of July 1, 2016.
Let us give thanks for their vocations.
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