IMPORTANT TOPICS TO CONSIDER THIS COMING MONTH: THE APPOINTING OF A NOMINATING COMMITTEE FOR UPCOMING VACANCIES, POSSIBLE CHANGES IN DUES STRUCTURE, AND MANY MORE. PLEASE SHARE YOUR IDEAS WITH US.
Calendar of Events.
For Our Club:
April 10, 2017. Evening Meeting and Speaker, 5:30 p.m. at the University Club.
Board Meeting 4:30 p.m.
Our speaker for April will be John Smietanka, former U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan (from 1980 to 1992). He will talk about how his faith has guided him in his chosen vocation of the law. Please do continue to invite guests, as several of you are doing now.
April 27, 2017. We will meet for Mass at the chapel of the Cathedral of St. Andrew and then will gather as a group for an informal discussion of club affairs. This is for the time being our format for our second monthly meeting as we continue to support our double-fold mission: to support priestly and religious vocations and to seek our own spiritual growth in the faith.
For Special USA and International Days:
April 29, 2017. Serra International Rosary for Vocations.
May 7, 2017. World Day of Prayer for Vocations.
May 27, 2017. Serra International Rosary for Vocations.
May 30, 2017. Delegates to the convention must submit their credentials to the Serra International office in Chicago by no later than May 30, 2017. Download the credential form from the convention page at www.serrainternational.org Also, Our Lady of Sorrows Spaghetti Dinner, 11:00-3:00.
Tickets $10, at the door or $9 in advance. Call 243-0222 if you have questions or want to buy the advance tickets.
June 22-25, 2017. Serra International Convention. These activities will include an audience with our Holy Father. As a testament to the outstanding work of our Italian Serrans as well as a sign that Serra International is ever more recognized for its essential vocations apostolate, all convention attendees are invited to be present for a private audience with the Holy Father after the convention's opening Mass at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City on Friday morning, June 23;. Convention registrants will be transported to the basilica by bus. The Vatican Swiss Guards will allow us to skip the line and enter through a special door.
Source: Serra International Magazine, April, 2017.
Let us pray for our club members as they participate in this great honor.
Priests' Anniversaries for April.
Fr. Steven Cron, April 1, 1978.
Fr. Peter Damian, April 2, 2005.
Fr. Roc Gerald Magalla, April 29, 1992,
Fr. Sahaya Stanley, SAC,
Ideas for a Membership Drive.
Nancy E. Gibson, USA Council Membership Vice President offers a fresh, new approach to increasing membership, suggesting a "Family First" fall or spring membership drive.
"This particular drive does not target your own family members, (though you should always promote membership in Serra to them, too!) What is unique and brilliant about the Family First approach is that it targets the siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews of priests and religious sisters and brothers. Think about it; these are ideal prospects for Serra!...
Here's How it Works:
Each Serran submits to the club Membership Team the names of four priests or sisters who could furnish names of family members who might be good Serrans. The team then makes the phone calls and invites the prospective members to the membership drive event.
Handy forms for collecting names, a suggested script for phone calls, and a recruitment drive timeline are provided free for download at the membership link of the serraus.org website.
Here's Another Idea for a Club Activity:
Please refer to "Try a Vocations 'Rehearsal Dinner' In Your Club." Col (Ret.) Jim Halloran, Jr. USA Council Vocations Vice President, from the Serra Club of Lake Charles, LA outlines a successful plan for honoring prospective deacons and their families.
Read more from The Serran,Vol. 63, No. 3).
A Message from our President.
In his message for the 54th Annual World Day of Prayer for Vocations, his holiness Pope Francis states, "In the last few years, we have considered two aspects of the Christian vocation: the summons to "go out from ourselves" to hear the Lord's voice...." Not unlike Saint Junipero Serra who traveled, we too must go out from ourselves to continue our mission. During this holy month of Lent, Easter, and May 7, the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, let us remember to go out from ourselves here in our own parishes and hometowns and be the Lord's voice for vocations.
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