October 8. Luncheon meeting, 12:00 noon, Louis Benton Steak House.
October 10. All school mass at West Catholic High School, 10:00 a.m. in the cafetoria, with reception to follow. At that time West Catholic alumnus Reverend Peter McCormick, C. S. C., will be inducted into West Catholic's Hall of Fame, an honor bestowed upon West Catholic's graduates who answer the call to the priesthood and the religious life. Fr. McCormick graduated from West Catholic in 1995 and then earned a B. S. degree in biology from Grand Valley State University in 1997. He graduated from Notre Dame University in May, 2007 with a Master's Degree in Divinity, and was ordained on April 14, 2007. He has served in various capacities at St. John Vianney Parish in Goodyear, Arizona, and at Notre Dame University, where he now directs the Freshman Retreat Program and was recently appointed Assistant Director of Vocations.
October 15. Board meeting, 12:00 noon, Louis Benton Steak House.
October 19, 20, and 21. Regional meeting for Regions 5 and 6, sponsored by the Saginaw Serra Club, to be held at the Double Tree Hotel inBay City, Michigan. It's still not too late to sign up. All of the latest news, including recent revisions, can be viewed at the Saginaw Club's website at http://www.saginawserraclub.org/page5.html. Page 4 of the Saginaw club's newsletter contains a tentative schedule of events, and page 5 gives detailed information on speakers and participants.
Also, those who cannot attend the entire event may consider attending at least some of the sessions.
October 22. Prayer meeting and luncheon, 12:00 noon, Sacred Heart Parish.
October 25. Leaf raking with the Consolata Missionary Sisters, 6801 Belmont NE, from 8:00 until the job is finished. West Catholic students will arrive at 8:30 and will work until 11:30. The Consolata Sisters will provide lunch. For those who wonder why the event is not held on a Saturday, West Catholic sponsors an all-school community service day each year, and this year that day falls on Thursday, October 25. West Catholic provides transportation to various service destinations, including Belmont, and the students are freed from their regular classroom obligations on that morning.
Vocations Director Abe Rossi invites all Serrans who want to help with this project to provide assistance and adult supervision for the students. Bring rakes and leaf blowers and any other useful equipment. Although the students must be back in school for the afternoon, Serrans will stay on until the job is finished.
October 28. Priesthood Sunday. Serrans recently received a copy of the Summer 2007 Serra Leader,
which announces Priesthood Sunday and contains a parish planning guide. At the September 24 meeting, some discussion took place at to how we might observe this special day. One problem is that the North American Council of Catholic Bishops does not officially recognize the Serran version of Priesthood Sunday, and our members concluded that, at least for this year, it was too late for us to follow any of the outlined suggestions within our parishes. We may look into the cost of an ad of appreciation to be published in the Grand Rapids Press.
December 6.17th Annual Vocations Dinner. Serrans should have received their invitations by now. Chairman Bob Paul urges each Serran to make an all-out effort toward the success of this wonderful event. By now everyone should have received the mailing announcing the Vocations Dinner. Act as soon as possible to reserve a table of eight or to become part of someone else's table of eight. The early bird reservation program will continue, with group reservations made before October 30 at $65 per person and individual reservations at $70. All reservations made after October 30 will be $75.
The evening will be celebrated at Noto's Old World Restaurant in the presence of His Excellency Walter A. Hurley, Bishop of Grand Rapids. It is our major fundraising event of the year, and proceeds go to the Bishop to help support his vocation-related activities. Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres will be served at 6:00 p.m. and dinner will be served at 7:00. If you have questions, please call Bob Paul at 616-949-9133.
Our next member/guest reception will be held in January. Exact date and time TBA.
Serran Larry Mulligan sends us this good news, the title of which is What Vocational Crisis? We include this information not to encourage complacency but to encourage our members to persevere in fostering and nurturing religious vocations.
32oo Youth Show Readiness to Follow Call.
When the leaders of a Loreto youth rally made a vocations call, some 2,000 men and 1,200 women stood up to show their readiness to become priests or consecrated persons.
The September 3 rally gathered about 100,000 youth from the Neocatechumenal Way, as a follow-up visit from Benedict XVI, who had been with the youth the two days before.
Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, presided over the meeting, accompanied by several other bishops. The rally was animated by the founders of the Neocatechumenal Way, Kiko Argüello and Carmen Hernandez, along with Father Mario Pezzi.
A Neocatechumenate communique explained that since Pope John Paul II's 1984 meeting with youth in Rome, the movement has called together its young people for a vocational meeting in order to harvest the fruits from the encounters with the Holy Father. The meeting included a procession of about 1,000 priests and a reading of the Gospel.
Archbishop Rylko commented on the Gospel reading, saying: "The Holy Father wants to convey a message to all young people, that being a Christian is beautiful."
After more commentaries, the leaders invited those youth who think they have a call to the priesthood or consecrated life to stand and receive a blessing from the bishops. That's when 2,000 young men came forward to show their interest in the priesthood. And 1,200 women expressed a similar desire for alife consecrated to God.
"The large number of participants--mostly Italian, but also many delegations from all countries of Europe--is a sign that in many families, the faith is being taught to the young people," the communique said.
To prepare themselves for the meeting with Benedict XVI, the youth made a pilgrimage, stopping in streets and plazas to witness to their faith and talk with other young people.
Cardinal George Pell of Sydney was inspired by the rally and invited the young to engage in a similar preparation for World Youth Day, to be held in Australia next July.
Source: National Catholic Register, September 16-21. Also, Zenit, the world seen from Rome news agency.
Get reacquainted with long-time Serran Aggie Kempker-Cloyd and husband Brian Cloyd. When membership chairman Tim Hile sent us this information, we decided to turn the tables a bit, and we present this good news about Aggie and Brian in lieu of our usual Meet our New Members column.
Agnes Kempker Cloyd wears an unusual necklace--truly one of a kind. The necklace was a gift from Brian, something he had made especially for her on their first wedding anniversary 33 years ago. The charm shows their first initials, A and B, connected by an infinity symbol, representing their connection, which they describe as limitless and everlasting.
Though certainly not as romantic as the charm on her necklace, the idea of perpetuity is part of what attracted the Cloyds to Grand Rapids Community Foundation.
Aggie and Brian met at freshman orientation at the University of Detroit. He was from St. Louis and moved to West Michigan after graduation to start his life with Aggie, who was from the area. Today he is vice president of global community relations for Steelcase, and Aggie is an attorney with the Department of Justice U. S. Attorney's Office.
Brian and Aggie first became donors to the Community Foundation when Brian was asked to serve as a trustee in 1996.
"The Community Foundation has a legacy of involvement and sustainability," Brian said. "We want to give to an organization that respects its donors' wishes, stewards the funds responsibly, and will continue to give. The Community Founcation has the processes in place to have a lasting impact. It is not going away." With a gift through their estate plan, the Cloyds hope to help the Community Foundation continue to expand, influence, and regenerate.
Influenced by his work, Brian is interested in diversity, education, and economic development. "Our community is becoming more diverse, and we need to make sure all people here have the opportunity to learn and develop. This influences our local economy," he said.
Aggie is passionate about the arts and programs that meet basic human needs. The latter she attributes to her experience in Upward Bound as a teen. "The experience taught me that we are all one person; potential exists in each and every one of us. The only thing wrong with the poor is that they lack money. I believe everyone should be treated with dignity and respect," Aggie said.
The Cloyds describe giving as part of their belief structure--a concept they've passed on to their adult children, Barrett and Brandon.
"When they were growing up, we gave the boys an allowance. We taught them that a portion went to the bank, part was for them, and the rest should go to helping others," Aggie said. During high school, both Barrett and Brandon served on the Community Foundation's Youth Grant Committee.
"For us, giving back to our community is an obligation. We have been blessed with resources. Community is a place where everyone can participate, and it is our responsibiolity to help in any way we can," Brian said.
Source: The Metz Society magazine.
Congratulations to our newest members, Leonard Grotenrath, Joe and Kathy Westdorp, and Chris Grady. Their profiles will follow in subsequent newsletters. Now that Chris has joined our club, Mark Kubik has graciously surrendered his title as our youngest member. Chris, among others, helps to bring the demographics down a bit, and that's a good thing. Also, let us keep prospective member George Lewis in our prayers, as he has lately experienced a bit of a setback in his recovery from hip replacement surgery.
Good News from our area's newest parish. Grand Rapids Press reporter Matt Vande Bunte writes that attendance at the first mass of our diocese's newest parish, St. Luke University Parish in Allendale, was much larger than anticipated. The turnout of 170 or so people pushed the crowd into the gym of the Allendale Christian School for the time being.
Paulist Fathers Rev. Donald Andrie and Rev. Brad Schoeberle will take on the responsibility of building the new parish and establishing an ongoing Catholic presence at Grand Valley State University. Along with celebrating weekly masses, they envision regular office hours, counseling, retreats, mission trips, and educational programs as part of their campus ministry.
Sunday mass is held at 10:30 a.m. Learn more about the new parish at lukespot.com
Source: The Grand Rapids Press, Saturday, September 29, 2007.
Let us wish Abe and Anne Rossi and their family a safe and wonderful trip!
Abe and Anne left for Europe on September 28. Their plan was to spend a few days in France and then move on to Tuscany, where a total of 33 of their family members have rented two villas in the vicinity of Assisi.
A Message from our President.
Dear Serrans:
I am confident the members who attended the fall member/guest reception had a wonderful evening. Fr. Hankiewicz and Nate McKenzie did a wonderful job describing the objectives of our organization and what the club means to them. Special thanks to Tim Hile, our Membership Co-ordinator, who organized the event. We are proud to announce our newest members: Chris Grady, Leonard Grotenrath, and Joe and Kathy Westdorp.
Just over two months away is the 17th Annual Vocations Dinner, which we be held at Noto's on 28th Street in Cascade. We will once again be in thepresence of our Bishop, His Excellency, the Most Reverend Walter A. Hurley. The Programs Committee and Bob Paul have been working diligently to make this a wonderful evening and successful event raising monies for Bishop Hurley to promote vocations in our diocese. A portion of these monies are used to fund our Notre Dame Vocations program, providing scholarships to high school students to discern their calling to the ministerial priesthood or religious life and to allow us to host the Sisters' Appreciation Dinner. If you did not receive your official invition, or if you have further questions, please call Bob Paul at 616-949-9133.
This event provides a wonderful opportunity to introduce your colleagues, neighbors, and prospective guests to an example of the work our organization does. Please take a moment and invite them to attend or to join in sponsoring a table. For many Serrans this moment has become the "kick-off" to the Christmas season; I look forward to seeing you there.
Dr. Patricia Hughes from the Diocese of Grand Rapids will be our featured speaker at the October 8 luncheon at Louis Benton Steak House. As a reminder for new members and the guests you will invite, parking is available in the City of Grand Rapids structure next to the restaurant. The entrance is located on Ionia Avenue, with complimentary one-hour parking.
From October 21-18, Fr. Hankiewicz will be leading a pilgrimage to Rome. Nancy King and I will be attending, along with two prospective members of our club, Pat Polega and Carolyn Etheridge. We look forward to sharing our experiences with you upon our return.
Very truly yours,
Mark A. Kubik, President
