August 13, 2007. Luncheon Meeting, 12:00 Noon at Louis Benton Steakhouse.
August 9-12, 2007. International Convention at the Hilton Atlanta in Atlanta, Georgia. Fr. Ed, Mark Kubik, and Dennis Leiber plan to attend from our club. Mark will serve as our delegate and Dennis has been designated the alternate. Information may be found by visiting the Serra International website.
August 17, 2007. Shrimp Dinner at Muskegon Catholic Central, beginning at 5:00 p.m. This dinner is the Muskegon club's principal fundraiser for sending students to Steubenville for a week of prayer, reflection, and fellowship. Those who have attended in the past highly recommend it.
August 27, 2007. Serra Picnic with the Franciscan Sisters at the Franciscan Life Center, 11650 Downes St. NE. If you haven't been there before, find driving directions on the Internet. The evening will begin at 6:00 with Mass in the chapel, with Fr. Ed as celebrant. Committee members Joseph Scoville, Pam Szczesny, Nancy King, and Barbara King will furnish everything you need.The menu is planned for a South of the Border flavor. Also, we're hoping for fresh, picked-the-same-day sweet corn, seasoned with real butter and salt and pepper to taste, and some homemade desserts, along with a number of other good dishes. The cost will be $7.50 per person, $15.00 per couple and $25.00 per family, with a family consisting of grandparents and grandchildren or parents and children, for example. Serrans are invited to bring friends, relatives, children or grandchildren. Note for new members: We can't make any guarantees because one can never predict the future precisely, but judging from past history, when G. R. Serrans put on a spread, the results are usually VERY GOOD! Remember that there will be no noon meeting on that day.
Mark These Dates on Your Calendar.
September 10, 2007. Member-Guest Reception will take place at Louis Benton Steakhouse, beginning at 6:00 p.m. Tim Hile is still taking names of prospective guests. There will be no noon meeting on that day.
October18-21, 2007. Regional Meeting hosted by the Saginaw Club at Doubletree Hotel in Bay City, Michigan. District Governor Nate McKenzie urges either your attendance or your support in some form, including monetary contributions. Nate reiterated that regional conventions were started so that people who could not attend the International Convention would have a chance to get together and stay current on Serra issues. Dick McKinley would like to speak to our group to promote the regional meeting, but the time and place have not yet been confirmed.
Grand Rapids Serrans should have received a mailing about the event from the Saginaw Club. If you're planning to attend, remember that early registration makes life much easier for the hosts.
October 22, 2007. Regular meeting at 12:00 noon at Sacred Heart. The program for that day will include orientation for new members.
Looking ahead...
December 6, 2007. Vocations Dinner at Noto's. Chairman Bob Paul reminds his fellow Serrans that this is the major event of our year and the primary source for funds that support the Bishop's and the club's vocation efforts. We have guaranteed an attendance level that will support these activities. Therefore, we need every Serran's support to make this event a success.
Other upcoming events for which the dates have not been confirmed: Seminarian Luncheon, which will take place between Christmas and New Year's Day; and Sisters' Appreciation Dinner, which will be held sometime in April. Pam Szczesny is working with Father Danner so that the dinner can be held at St. Jude's.
Mary, Mother of Vocations, Pray for Us.
News from Notre Dame Week. West Catholic students Katie O'Connor and Anthony Olin left for Notre Dame on Monday, July 16, with Father Ed extending them a blessing upon departure. Abe Rossi and Jeanne Host drove the students to Notre Dame, and Pam Szczesny and Nate McKenzie brought them back. The students will speak to our group on August 12, and their parents will attend that meeting as well.
Thanks, Aaron. Seminarian Aaron Ferris ended his internship at Sacred Heart on August 1. Aaron looks forward to a pilgrimage in the Holy Land, a Diaconate Retreat in Rome, along with sightseeing, and further studies. His Diaconate ordination is planned for June of 2008, and a Mass of Thanksgiving is on the calendar for June 9, 2009 at Sacred Heart. At the July 23 meeting the club presented Aaron with a thank-you card and a gift certificate for the fine work he did in planning and conducting our prayer meetings at Sacred Heart.
Farewell to a Beloved Mother
The family of Mary Ancona wrote the following tribute in her honor. Mary departed earthly life on July 6, 2007.
Born in Grand Rapids in 1916 and baptized as Maria Antoinette, Mary was the first child of Illuminata and Pietro Mancusa. Italian was Mary's first language. Her father died when she was eight years old and Mary had many household responsibilities when she was very young.
From her upbringing and her faith, she learned the virtues of anticipating the needs of others, providing for them and serving them with joy. "Providence" for Mary meant not only the Lord's watchful care for us, but her own watchful care for her family and for the needs of others. She "looked ahead" in order to serve. These were the gifts she brought to managing her household with great orderliness.
Mary also had the gift of making an environment beautiful. She loved crocheting, knitting, and sewing and often made gifts of blankets, sweaters and baby clothes. She tended her gardens and plants until the end. She made a dozen loaves of bread every week, signing each loaf with the cross before it went into the oven, thus teaching her family to love not only those loaves but the Bread of Life.
What her family learned about Mary most of all is that all her organizing, anticipating, cultivating, and creatively providing for the needs of others were not duties or bothersome responsibilities for her. They were her joy. For Mary, to serve the Lord, her family, and others was simply joyous.
Mary took great pride in her family but also in her extended family, the Church, especially the faith community at St. Sebastian's.
With loving thanks to God for the irreplaceable gift Mary has been, we offer her back to the
Lord from whom she came...Until we meet again.
Msgr. Gus, Theresa, Annette Herp, Mary, Peter, and Cindy
Our club presented the family with the Serra Bear and a Claretian Prayer Card signifying perpetual mass in her name. Serran Dennis Leiber also suggests memorial contributions to the Serra International Foundation. Dennis will bring envelopes for this purpose to our next several meetings.
How to Stay Catholic in College, by Christopher Kaczor, Catholic Answers, San Diego, 2007...is the title of a wonderful booklet that is worth far more than its nominal price. If you have children, grandchildren, friends or relatives of college-age, this booklet will surely be of interest to you. Or, if you don'thave any direct connections with college-age students, its relevance to our club is not only because we have set a goal of establishing and maintaining a Catholic presence on a number of our local college campuses, but also because it urges young readers to think about figuring out and praying about whatever vocation the Lord has chosen for them. Furthermore, the advice it has to offer is of interest to Catholics of any age. It might just as well be titled, "How to Stay Catholic in our Pop Culture Society."
I found my copy at God's Gifts, 1740-44th Street SW, Wyoming, near the corner of 44th Street and Burlingame.
Charter Member Ralph Hauenstein graced us with his presence at the July 9 meeting. At that time he briefly addressed the group, informing us that he is the only living person who knew all four of the founders of Serra mentioned in the sidebar of this newsletter.
An August Meditation. St. Monica, whose feast we celebrate in August, is often known as "the persistent mother." She watched her oldest son, Augustine, turn his back on the Christian faith.
Monica was exasperated. For years she gave up talking directly to her son on the advice of a local bishop, who told her that it was better to talk to God about Augustine than to Augustine about God.
The mother never gave up praying for her son. Eventually, Augustine abandoned his wild ways and was baptized and later ordained and named bishop of Hippo. St. Augustine went on to become one of the Church's greatest scholars.
Monica's story addresses the importance of persistent prayer. The Lord rewarded her perseverance. She reminds us that this is our charge: keep praying.
(Paraphrased from the bulletin of Our Lady of Sorrows, week of July 28-August 3).
News from thePerpetual Adoration Chapel at St. Isodore's. The 14th anniversary celebration of the Pope John Paul Adoration Chapel at St. Isodore Catholic Church is being celebrated the week of August 11-19, 2007. During this time the Vatican International Exhibition of the Eucharistic Miracles of the World will be on display. This is an extensive collection of photographs and historical records representing a sampling of ancient and modern eucharistic miracles that have taken place around the world. The collection was created by the Vatican in the Year of the Eucharist which took place from October 2004 until October 2005. After being shown in more than 500 parishes in Italy, it is now traveling around the world. For hourss during which the exhibit can be viewed, call Carol at 957-3340, Mary Lou at 233-8993, or Sabina at 459-8486.
A Letter from our President
Dear Serrans:
As members of the Grand Rapids club, we have been exposed to Serra internationally more so than other clubs of our size because three of our members have served as international presidents.
When Bernard Haviland, Ralph Hauenstein, and the Hon. Dennis Leiber returned to our club from their travels, they always shared their experiences with us. In my opinion the international scope of our organization is an example of how small the world truly is today, yet how much we have in common with Catholics around the world.
In October 2004 at the invitation of then International President-elect, Dennis Leiber, I joined him at the Vatican for the International Board meeting. I had the opportunity of observing the International Board at work and was impressed by the respect given to the Board by the Congregation for Catholic Education at the Vatican and His Eminence Zeon Cardinal Grocholewski, the Prefect for that congregation. Somewhat equivalent would be meeting with the U. S. Department of Education and its secretary. Dr. Giovanni Novelli, Serra International's Ambassador to the Holy See, was responsible for the organization and coordination of this meeting and Serra's reunification with the congregation.
At our last meeting, Dennis Leiber informed those in attendance of Giovanni's passing. Giovanni was a wonderful Serran who had been blessed with a prosperous career, not only professionally but also within our organization. Born in 1930, Giovanni lost his mother when the Nazis occupied Italy during World War II because the medical treatment she needed was no longer available. He became an internationally renowned chemist and represented the Italian government on many occasions around the world. Most recently Giovanni was working on a method to convert coal to a liquid fuel to be used in combustion engines. Giovanni was responsible for the meeting of Serra pilgrims from around the world with His Holiness Pope John Paul II on December 7, 2000. He served as International President from 2001-2002 and was then named Serra International's ambassador to the Holy See. Most recently he was laying the groundword for Serra's expansion into France and for a club to be chartered in Paris. Giovanni will be truly missed by those who have met him within and outside of Serra.
We pray that his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace through the mercy of God. Mary, Mother of Vocations, pray for us!
Very truly yours,
Mark A. Kubik, President
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