Attention all Members.
Work and pray about the following: We have a trustee position vacant. Also, note Weldon's reminder, "I am nearing the end of my term of two years as your president, and it's time for one of you to step forward to replace me.
Our present board is as follows:
Weldon Schwartz, President John Osterhart, Trustee
Nancy King, VP, Communications Pat Leikert, Treasurer
Nancy Mulvihill, Trustee Trustee, Vacant
Sara Vander Werff, Past President Msgr. Edward Hankiewicz, Moderator
Dan LaVillel, VP Programs Dominic Niewald, VP Vocations, with
John Osterthart assisting
Also, our present membership is at 26. Work and pray for new members.
One other thing: Registration for the 76th Annual Serra International Convention is now open. See below for details.
Dates to Remember
March 10, 2018. 2018 Catholic Men's Retreat, "Behold the Man, "West Catholic High School, 7:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
March 11, 2018. The beginning of Daylight Savings Time.
March 12, 2018. Luncheon Meeting and Speaker, 12:00 Noon at Ss. Peter and Paul. Our speaker will be Fr. Rene Constanza, Director of the Catholic Information Center. If you're planning to attend, please notify Billy K directly at billmontk@sbcglobal.net so that he can plan on an appropriate amount of food for the event. If you're going to bring a guest, let him know that, too. Thank you for your consideration in this matter.
March 17, 2018. St. Patrick's Day.
March 25, 2018. Palm Sunday.
March 30, 2018. Good Friday.
April 1, 2018. Easter Sunday.
March 26, 2018. Board Meeting, 12:00 Noon at Ss. Peter and Paul
June 27-July 1, 2018. Serra International Convention, Nashville, Tennessee. Registration is now open. Theme: A Tribute to Serra Chaplains..
About the International Convention.
Remember that space is limited. On top of the rock bottom price of $250 for registration, enjoy the $155 per person, plus tax, when you reserve directly online at the Serra International site. Noting that the convention theme is: A Tribute to Serra Chaplains. Serrans need to look no further than their own chaplains for a powerful reminder of our unique vocations mission. Our chaplains serve us tirelessly as spiritual guides and advisors.
DO YOU WANT TO LET THE REST OF SERRA KNOW WHY YOUR CHAPLAIN IS SO SPECIAL?
We invite you to participate in our "25 words for $25 ad program": Write 25 words celebrating your chaplain, and see them printed in the convention program. Talk with Anne McCormack for details).
Side trips from Nashville:
Adore the Eucharist as never before. Pan a pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament and a visit to Our Lady of the Angels Monastery, cofounded by Mother Evangelica of EWTN fame, in Hancevile, Alabama, about 2.5 hours directly south of Nashville.
About St. Patrick.
Spend the day or perhaps the month of March learning more about this notable saint, who was born ca. AD 385. One of the world's most popular saints, he was captured and enslaved as a young teen by pagans and Druids. He turned to God in captivity. Escaping at age 20, he returned to his family and began studying for the priesthood. For 40 years he preached throughout Ireland, converting many. He died in AD 461 at Saul, the site of the first church he built.
Priests' Anniversaries for March.
Father Richard Host, March 17, 1974.
Promote Vocations with a Novel.
See Serra International's website to learn about an illustrated novel of St. Junipero Serra's life. This work is a teriffic vocation activity. The suggestion is to give a copy to each 8th grade student in a particular district or school in a club's area, or it could be distributed to all school and church libraries. One reviewer spoke of its design and printing as a fantastic, highly professional work.
Copies can be ordered at the Serra International web site.
Reminder of our Pontifical Work for Vocations.
As we work on increasing our membership numbers, keep in mind our club' special role in performing pontifical work for priestly vocations. Consult and download the information from the Serra International website:
Serra International is the only lay organization aggregated to a primary pontifical work. A pontifical work is an organization instituted by the Vatican to advance a particular goal of the Catholic Church. In 1941, Pope Pius XII created the Pontificium Opus Vocationum Sacerdptalium to encourage and coordinate efforts to promote vocations to the sacred priesthood of the Catholic Church. Aggregation, or affiliation, to this pontifical work reflects not only specific support from the Vatican for our mission, but also confers special spiritual benefits on all Serrans. (From "Pope Pius XII and Serra International."
Aid to the Church in Need.
One of the projects this organization has taken on is restoration and repair of another 2,000 homes on the Nineveh Plains.
Christians forced out of their ancestral lands in northern Iraq are rejoicing after we made the announcement that we are proceeding with the repair of 2,000 Christian homes...ACN Middle
East projects head Father Andrzej Halemba said he was encouraged that up to 35 percent of Iraq's Christians had already returned to their homes on the Nineveh Plains--homes they had to abandon in the summer of 2014 when ISIS invaded the region. He said, "More than 30,000 Christians have in the meantime gone back to where they lived before."
However, their situations are anything but easy," Father Halemba added, explaining that a severe winter had led to high heating and electricity costs. What's more, though ISIS had been expelled from the territory, Islamist ideas had taken root in some sections of society.
Rebuilding is being overseen by the Nineveh Reconstruction Committee, which was jointly formed by the Chaldean, Syriac Orthodox and Syriac Catholic Churches, the three main denominations in the Nineveh plains....
Father Halemba added that to keep people from emigrating from the area, further steps needed to be taken to ensure long term security.
Since 2014, when ISIS seized the Nineveh Plains, we have provided more than US$40 million for Iraq's Christians. That total covered nearly half of all emergency aid--food, medicine, shelter and schooling--for displaced families from the Nineveh Plains living under the care of the Chaldean Archdiocese of Erbil in Kurdish Iraq.
Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has stated that his country needs more than US$97 to fix its crumbling infrastructure.
There were more than 1 million Christians living in Iraq before the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003. Numbers have declined to between 200,000 and 250,000. (www.churchinneed.org).
A Message from our President.
Dear Serrans:
Greg Schweitz, the USA Council President, is planning on visiting Grand Rapids on May 14. We are planning to invite him to our May meeting on the same day. We are currently looking for a place and time. He will be flying in from Omaha, addressing the Detroit Club, and continuing on to Grand Rapids. I will keep you posted.
(As noted above): I am nearing the end of my term of two years as your president, and it's time for one of you to step forward to replace me.
Mary, Mother of Vocations, Pray for Us.
