July 9, 2007…....Luncheon Meeting, 12:00 Noon, Louis Benton Steak House
July 16, 2007…..Board Meeting, 12:00 Noon, Louis Benton Steak House
July 23, 2007…..Prayer Service and Lunch, 12:00 Noon, Sacred Heart Parish
Mark Your Calendars for These Upcoming Events
July 16 and July 20, 2007. These are the dates for delivery and pick-up for NDVI students. Our Director of Vocations Abe Rossi plans to drive for one of these occasions. Call him for details if you’re thinking about helping out. Our club provided two scholarships for these students.
August 9-12, 2007. Join Serrans from around the world in Atlanta, Georgia. The Hilton Atlanta will serve as Serra’s convention hotel for this event, which will feature some of the most dynamic speakers in the world. In addition, the Serra International community would like to extend a special invitation to our Serra chaplains.
Serra International encourages every Serra club to send a delegate. It is important that each club’s voice be heard and each vote counted. Go to the Serraus.org website, which provides a link to the Bellringers to find the Delegate Credential form. It appears in the June 2007 edition. Fr. Ed Hankiewicz plans to attend from our club. Please let us know if you have decided to do so as well. We need delegates.
Internationally recognized journalist and EWTN News Director Raymond Arroyo is set to welcome members as Atlanta’s 2007 official Master of Ceremonies. Registration and additional information about pre-and post-convention activities may be found by visiting the Serra International website. You will find a link at the left of our page.
August 17, 2007. Muskegon Serra Club’s shrimp dinner will begin at 5:00 p.m. Muskegon Catholic Central High School. New members may call their sponsors or any other veteran member for more information. This event is the Muskegon Club’s principal fundraiser for sending students to Steubenville for a week of prayer and reflection.
August 27, 2007. Our annual Summer Picnic will take place on this date. Pam Szczesny and Nancy King will assist chairman Joseph Scoville in planning the picnic. We are tentatively planning to hold the event at the Franciscan House in Lowell. We will confirm the information in the August newsletter.
September 10, 2007. This will be an evening member-guest reception at Louis Benton Steak House. Let Membership Chairman Tim Hile know if you would like to invite someone. He needs the addresses so that he can mail invitations to prospective members.
October 18-21, 2007. The Saginaw Serrans will host the 2007 Great Lakes Conference. The club has put together an outstanding selection of speakers and presenters and have arranged several activities for you leisure enjoyment.
Go to http://www.saginawserraclub.org/page5.html for details. For those of you who do not use computers, Ray Bartels informs us that the conference will be held in Bay City at the Double Tree Hotel (989-891-6000).
The workshops will focus on our mission to foster vocations. Bishop Robert J. Carlson, bishop of the Diocese of Saginaw, and Bishop Daniel E. Flores, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit, are scheduled to celebrate masses and speak during the conference. Other confirmed speakers include Fr. Joseph Fessio, S. J., founder of Ignatius Press and instructor and former Chancellor at Ave Maria University in Naples, Florida; Sr. Molly Neville, SNJM, vocation director for the Diocese of Monterey, California; and Fr. Jay Scott Newman, Pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in Greenville, South Carolina.
On Thursday evening there will be a special show and dinner at the Delta College Planetarium. On Friday the club has planned trips to Frankenmuth, “Michigan’s Little Bavaria,” and the state’s number one tourist attraction and to Midland to visit the beautiful home of the famous architect Alden B. Dow.
District Governor Nate McKenzie reminds fellow Serrans that if they are planning to attend, they should register now. Not only does early registration help the hosts' cash flow, but also allows them to plan more accurately.
For more information call Mr. Louis Rapin at 989-781-1878.
December 6, 2007. Thursday, December 6 has been the date selected for our annual Vocations Dinner, with Noto's as the tentative location. This dinner is one of the highlights of our Serra Year and we invite all of our members and guests from other clubs to participate. The Most Reverend Bishop Hurley plans to attend.
More News from the Saginaw Club
The Saginaw Club inducted its new officers on June 19, 2007. They are as follows:
President: Bernie Coppolino
President-elect: Jean Seamon
Programs: William Ruger
Vocations: Sharon Wahl
Membership: Kathy Bronz
Communications: Ray Bartels
Secretary: Cyril Schultz
Treasurer: David Beyerlein
Trustees: Scott Seamon, Tracy Knaub, and Dick McKinley.
Each year the Saginaw Club announces its Serran of the Year. This year Dick McKinley was chosen. We congratulate Dick McKinley upon receiving this honor.
Meet Our New Members
New members David and Judy VanderLinde reside in Walker. They recently celebrated their 30th anniversary with a trip to Hungary and Germany. They have two children. David and his wife Sarah live in Hudsonville, and Amanda and her husband Shaun live in Walker. They are eagerly awaiting their first grandchild.
Travel is a way of life for David, Vice-president of Sales and co-owner of Envirotronics, Inc. He visits China and other parts of Asia at least twice a year. He also goes at least twice a year to various locations in eastern Europe. This year the VanderLindes were also able to spend a month in New Zealand and Australia.
They are 25-plus-year members of SS. Peter and Paul Parish in Grand Rapids. Between the two of them, they are either serving or have served on almost every committee or every organization within the parish.
In their spare time they enjoy camping trips throughout the U. S. in their travel trailer.
We welcome them into our club.
WE GIVE THANKS FOR THIS VOCATION
Fr. Mark Przybysz began his funeral homily for Fr. Nash with the story of a confirmation which took place shortly after Fr. Mark had been assigned there as Assistant Pastor under Fr. Nash. The 15 or so young confirmants, the boys all scrubbed and dressed in their white shirts and ties and the girls with their hair done especially for the occasion, stood in a row as Fr. Nash spoke at some length about how they were about to receive the Holy Spirit via the holy oil in the bowl he was holding in his hands. As the ceremony continued, he dipped his hand in the bowl and anointed each child, quite a bit more abundantly than is the usual practice, with the oil of the Holy Spirit. But behind the humor of the incident, says Fr. Mark, there is a lesson: “Father Nash loved the sacraments and he taught me to love them as well,” says Fr. Mark.
Fr. Nash died Sunday, June 3, 2007. He was born on January 18, 1931, in Rossmore, Tahilla, County Kerry, Ireland. He came to the United States when he was 18 and was ordained in 1954. He served the parishes of St. John Vianney in Wyoming, St. Mary in Spring Lake, St. Ambrose in Delton, St. Paul the Apostle in Grand Rapids, St. Charles in Greenville, Our Lady of the Lake in Holland, and St. Dominic in Wyoming. His last parish was Holy Redeemer, where he remained as part of the parish family after retiring to senior priest status in 2000. He continued to serve there as well as at neighborhood nursing homes and at St. Mary’s Living Center, Lacks Cancer Center, Villa Elizabeth, and other parishes throughout the diocese.
Serran Pam Szczesny recalls Fr. Nash’s skills both as an investor, to the great benefit of whatever parish or charity he was serving at the time, and as a gardener. The geraniums which adorn the grounds at St. Dominic are the very ones he planted when he began his ministry there. He taught the parishioners how to take care of the plants not only in the summer but during their dormant season as well.
Every parish he served was represented either at his Vigil Mass or his funeral. His guest book paints a picture of a memorable character who loved life to the fullest and who committed acts of kindness, both great and small, all the days of his life.
“He was the most PASTORAL pastor I ever met,” writes Mary Mooney of Spring Lake. “Fr. Nash knew everyone’s name and was always standing outside at the entry door to greet people as they came to mass (usually with his ND jacket on), and to greet them afterward again.” He once held up a Saturday evening mass for a few minutes as Notre Dame finished playing Florida State. A family in Delton fondly remembers that he would frequently call up and ask, “Are we having burgers tonight?” This family was honored to keep Fr. Nash’s Kerry Blue Terrier Blarney when Father was assigned to St. Paul the Apostle and couldn’t take Blarney with him. The book even tells us that he gave out the best candy in Georgetown Forest at Halloween.
What was so charming about him was that he said exactly what was on his mind, and he expressed his thoughts exactly in the order in which they occurred to him, an explanation, perhaps, for his stream-of-consciousness style of preaching. I saw Fr. Nash as he celebrated one of his last daily masses at Holy Redeemer. I had never been to a daily mass there and wasn’t sure where the chapel was. The mass was already underway when I arrived. As I entered, a little hesitantly, Fr. Nash interrupted his comments with, “Come on in, dear. We won’t hurt you.” A few moments later, he interrupted himself again and said, looking my way, “I know you. Where do I know you from?”
“Our Lady of Sorrows,” I replied. “Oh, yes. Our Lady of Sorrows. A fine parish.” Without skipping a beat he went on to complete the homily, which covered a large number of topics in a short time. Even during his last days he celebrated mass with such enthusiasm that an outsider would never have guessed the gravity of his condition.
Though he had his own illness to deal with, he brought love and comfort to his fellow travelers in the world of cancer treatment. A grieving mother writes, “We met Fr. Nash when our 15-year-old son was admitted to Trillium Woods. Fr. Denis formed an immediate friendship with him and visited his room every day for conversation and cookies. He provided so many moments of joy to our family during the final weeks of our son’s life. We fully believe that God put him there to be a light for us in our darkest hour.”
As he completed his earthly journey, Fr. Nash knew exactly where he was going, and as far as we know, he was as ready to go there as any of us could ever be. Though we miss him greatly, it’s hard to think of him without smiling through the tears. Recalls Stan Roth of Jenison, “He was one of the most giving men I have ever met and he had no aspirations for promotion and public acclaim. He went about doing good to countless people.”
He bore his suffering with extraordinary grace and dignity. May he rest in peace.
By Nancy King
More Thank You Notes from the Sisters' Dinner
Dear Mr. Kubik and all the members of the Serra Club:
We, the Consolata Sisters, would like to express our deepest gratitude for the Mass, dinner, and entertainment organized for us at St. Robert's. You truly went out of your way, and everything was just wonderful! May the Lord reward you for your kindness and generosity as only He can.
With much gratitude and love,
The Consolata Sisters
Dear Members of the Serra Club of Grand Rapids:
Thank you for inviting all of the women religious to your dinner last Saturday evening. The dinner was delicious and the music and singing were enjoyable. We also had fun with the prizes.
Most of all, thank you for all you do to promote vocations to the priesthood and religious life. May our Loving Lord continue to bless you personally and the work you do for the Church.
Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist, per Sister Bernice Blake, F. S. E.
Dear Mark,
I am writing to thank you and all the Serrans of my gratitude for hosting the sisters of the Diocese for a lovely reception and dinner. It was an outstanding occasion.
God Bless You! Sister Aquinas Weber, O. P.
A Message From our President
Dear Serrans:
Summer is my favorite time of the year! I don't know if it is because of the more relaxed business pace, the ability to eat outdoors, or just because everything is in bloom, except for many lawns!
This past month I traveled to Ireland and France for a project I am involved with at the University of Michigan. I had been to France many times and even studied there as an undergraduate. This was my first time to Ireland, a very interesting experience. I am not sure whether the statistics are completely accurate, but I was told that Southern Ireland is 98 percent Catholic. A 38-year-old colleague of mine from Cork reiterated that the majority practice their faith and raise their children in it as well.
When I was taking the train from Cork to Dublin, I was going through the countryside and thinking about the mission of our organization in fostering vocations to the ministerial priesthood and the religious life. A component that I highly appreciate is the furthering of our own vocations as lay men and women through our lecture series and club activities. This year's lecture series focuses on the forms of worship we have available to us as Catholics. As a cradle Catholic, I am looking forward to these talks because like anything one has been exposed to throughout one's lifetime, there are components we lose as we become accustomed to our traditional ways of worshipping.
The annual International Convention is around the corner and has always been a time for Serrans and their families to renew old friendships and gain new ones with Serrans from around the world. We will talk about this topic and other upcoming events such as the annual club picnic at our next meeting.
I look forward to seeing you at our next regular meeting on July 9 at 12:00 noon at Louis Benton Steak House.
Very truly yours,
Mark A. Kubik, President
If you know of anyone who would like to receive
an electronic copy of this newsletter,
please write to Nancy
King at njking50@hotmail.com
with an e-mail address for that person.
The Serran Spokesman is published by the Grand Rapids Serra Club,
founded February, 1948,
District 15. The Serra Club meets at noon on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month. The first meeting of the month is held at Louis Benton Steak House at 12:00 Noon
and the second meeting of the month takes place with a prayer service and luncheon at 12:00 Noon at Sacred Heart Parish. Our Moderator is Fr. Ed Hankiewicz. Comments or inquiries may be sent to: Editor
the Serran Spokesman
GRSC 3920 Acadia Drive Hudsonville
MI 49426
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