Monday, April 7. Adoration at Holy Spirit Parish, 2230 Lake Michigan Drive NW from 9:00-10:00 a.m. Call Abe Rossi at 735-3312 if you have questions. Note that this is a change from the information in the March newsletter.
Friday, April 11. Set-up for Sisters' Appreciation Dinner, St. Jude Brophy Center, 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 12. Sisters' Appreciation Dinner. Joseph Scoville is program chairman.
Mass will begin at 4:00 p.m. Social time and hors d'oeuvres will take place after Mass. Dinner, with a slightly German theme, will be served at 6:00 p.m. Entertainment will follow. We are especially in need of hors d'oeuvres for the social hour and door prizes for the sisters. Those who wish to help in any way should notify Joseph at jscoville8@comcast.net or call him. Serrans are also welcome to bring spouses, friends, and/or older children or grandchildren to help.
Sunday, April 13. World Day of Prayer for Vocations.
Sunday, April 13. Our Lady of Sorrows Spaghetti Dinner, 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.
Tickets are $7 in advance or $8 at the door. Call 243-0222 if you have questions.
Monday, April 14. Meeting at Louis Benton Steak House, 12:00 noon. Speaker TBA.
Monday, April 21. Board Meeting, Louis Benton Steak House, 12:00 Noon
Monday, April 28. Meeting at Sacred Heart of Jesus. 12:00 noon prayer service followed by lunch.
Monday, May 12. NO NOON MEETING. Charter Night. All Serrans and their guests are cordially invited to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the Club's founding. This will be a special, black tie optional event, to reflect the importance of the occasion. We begin with a Mass of Thanksgiving at the Cathedral of Saint Andrew at 5:30 p.m. Bishop Hurley will celebrate Mass, with a number of concelebrants, including Father Hankiewicz, Monsignor Ancona, and Minsignor Duncan. Immediately afterwards, we will have a reception and catered dinner at St. George's Banquet Center, 336 LaGrave Avenue SE. The St. George's location represents a change from our original plans, and it will allow us to accommodate many more people than before. See the President's Message for more information. Lloyd Crockett, President of Serra International, will be the featured speaker. Ralph Hauenstein, one of our founding members, will serve as honorary chair of the event. The cost of the dinner will be $60 per person. See our president's message for further information.
Monday, May 19. Board meeting for new and outgoing board members, Louis Benton Steak House, 12:00 noon. Remember that Bob Paul is serving as chairman of the Nominations Committee.
Monday, May 26. MEMORIAL DAY. NO MEETING.
Saturday, June 7. Ordination of one priest and two deacons, Cathedral of St. Andrew.
Our club has been asked to serve as ushers and greeters. Those who wish to participate should arrive at 9:00 a.m.
Monday, June 9. Meeting, Louis Benton Steak House, 12:00 Noon. Guest speaker TBA.
SERRA USA COUNCIL ANNUAL MEETING AND SUPER WEEKEND. This year the USA Council of Serra International and the Serra Clubs of Indiana are sponsoring the Serra All American Conference at Notre Dame, Indiana. 2008 USAC Officers will meet on June 18 and 19, and all Serrans and guests are invited to attend during the weekend of June 19-22.
Dick Doornbos spoke at our March 24 meeting at Sacred Heart to provide information about the meeting. He outlines the highlights of the conference as follows: Serrans and guests will enjoy
a) meeting in the newly completed Hilton Garden Inn Conference Center at St. Mary's college,
b) hearing extraordinary speakers Bishop Blase Cupich, Episcopal Advisor to USAC;, Sr. Amy Hoey, RSM, PhD; Br. Paul Bednarczk; Deacon Mark Pliess; Tim Montovina, PhD, and more,
c) obtaining up to date and first-hand knowledge regarding USAC actitivies,
d) attending daily mass,
e) seeing old friends and making new ones at various panel discussions and workshops,
f) concluding the conference with Liturgy on Sunday, June 22 at 10:00 a.m. in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart with a rosary at the famous Lourdes Grotto at Notre Dame.
Tours, golf, and other activities are available as well. There will also be an opportunity to see
Put the Nuns in Charge, now in its third year. The $30 show ticket price is included in your registration fee.
Serrans who use the Internet will find all the information they need at serraus.org. Co-chairs Tom Hausladen and Dick Dornbos have sent paper copies of all of the information to the Communications Committee. Those who have questions may call Ed Verbeke at 888-777-6681, Ex, 226 or FAX 888-777-6803, or Dick Dornbos at 574-271-7853 (home phone), in South Bend, Indiana, or FAX 574-272-3183 (Harris Branch Library). Promotional tickets are also included in the mailing. The raffle allows us not only to raise money for our own club, but also includes 12 prizes, among them four football tickets to a Notre Dame football game in the fall of 2008. Dick Doornbos reminds us that those who can't sell any of these tickets, or don't care to, may send a donation to the South Bend Club to help defray expenses for the Super Weekend.
August 12-17. Serra International will met at Aguas de Lindois, Sao Paulo State, Brazil.
December 2. Vocations Dinner. Dinner Chairman Bob Paul will keep us posted as the arrangements become finalized.
News from SS. Cyril & Methodius Seminary. Serran Mark Levandoski sends us a letter from the Chancellor of Orchard Lake Schools. We include the following excerpts:
Dear Friends (of the Orchard Lake Schools),
They are Tomasz, Adam, Karol, Leszek, and Marcin. They are just some of the 38 seminarians on campus who have come from various regions of their native Poland to study for the priesthood.
Perhaps you are unaware that they are pursuing their studies for the priesthood to serve the Church here in the United States. They have taken leave of their families and their homeland to support the needs of the various dioceses and archdioceses in the United States...Of the 435 men ordained for the priesthood in 2007, thirty-one percent were immigrants from other countries. Eight of those were from our seminary here at Orchard Lake.
We cannot continue to prepare future priests without your help. Today, we have the young men ready to respond to God's call who need financial support. That's where you can help...
Of course, I also ask for your prayers for our current seminarians and those who are still discerning whether or not they have a vocation. This gift of your prayers is precious, and only you can give it...We pray that your gift of charity will be returned to you in the form of blessings for you and your family....
Gtatefully yours in Christ, Rev. Timothy F. Whalen
Donations may be sent to SS. Cyril & Methodius Seminary, 3535 Indian Trail, Orchard Lake, MI 48324-1623. Telephone 248-682-1885, or visit the website at http://www.orchardlakeschools.com/
A Letter from a friend in Japan. Serrans John and Mary Stepanovich received this letter from a dear friend, Fr. Graham McDonnell, written on New Year's Day, 2008.
Dear Mary and John:
Here it is, the beginning of the year, when a long, restful silence settles on Kyoto. The whole country closes down for about ten days, from December 29 until January 6. As usual, at this time each year, unsent Christmas cards are resting on my desk, with a number of your cards awaiting answers. Last year marked my 80th birthday on Mary 31st. Forty-eight of those years have been spent in Japan...
During the year there was lots of activity on our home page, with a special Christmas slideshow of stained glass windows in Japan, Hawaii, Minnesota, New Your, Ohio, and Michigan. I took the photos and Tomiko Minakuchi, whom you met in Kyoto, worked miracles with the editing. As our computer guru, whe keeps the editorial department of the "Light of the Heart" going.
Our annual Christmas pamphlet featured the windows of Saint Patrick's Church in Cleveland, Ohio. These windows were installed more than 100 years ago, when my dad, then about eight years old, was entranced by the dazzling colors. Those windows still glow with the story of Christmas keeping our Faith warm and vibrant. The pamphlet was so popular that we had to repring. We like those kinds of problems.
The small Catholic community in Japan is looking forward to the beatification of 188 Japanese martyrs in October...In June, 2008, I will teturn to the States for my 50th anniversary of ordination.l I am grateful for the time and good health the Lord has allowed me to live in Japan. I pray for each of you. I am looking forward to seeing you in June. I would like to meet the Serra Club, if there is a meeting when I am home.
With prayers, Graham McDonnell.
A Fellow Serran Asks for your Help. Some time ago Darlene Braunschneider offered to take over a project once performed by Joe Cavera, who sent birthday and anniversary cards to each of our diocesean priests. Darlelne has encountered some difficulty in carrying out this work and would like someone to assist her, especially with obtaining the necessary information.
If you'd like to become part of this activity, notify her at xdarlenex2002@yahoo.com or call her at 364-4355.
The Eucharist: The Foundation of our Faith. The Disciples of Emmaus: return with hope. Everything had gone wrong. Jesus' friends, who had harbored the hope he would demonstrate the power of God and that he was the Messiah, who came to free them from oppression, now believed it had all failed. So two of them decided to abandon Jerusaleml, and feeling discouraged, as though they had failed, and hopeless, they embarked on the journey toward Emmaus. There was no reason left to hope.
Emmaus is the name of several cities in Israel, but it seems that this one is located some six miles from Jerusalem. It is not well known who the disciples were, but they could have been a married couple. The name of one of the disciples is not given. But along the way a stranger who appeared to have no idea what had happened approached them. They spoke to him about what had happened to Jesus and their anguish. Jesus began to speak of the Scriptures and everything the prophets had said about the Messiah. Even with all this, the disciples did not recognize Jesus, but felt comfort and a spark of recognition of the promises of God. With everything that had occurred, they could not perceive how these promises could still be realized. They thought it had all ended with the death of Jesus. But they felt better with the stranger and invited him to stay so that they could continue talking. They recognized Jesus when he broke the bread, a gesture he had done often with them. He took the bread, blessed it, gave thanks, and broke it.
It was not just this physical action that seemed so familiar; it was in the action of giving thanks that they had witnessed during the multiplication of the bread, when everything appeared to be scarce and insufficient. In the blessing and breaking of the bread, which they had witnessed just prior to the final anguish, abandonment, betrayal, and the apparent failure of their plans, it was the absolute surrender that Jesus had asked them to repeat. "This is my Body, which is given up for you. This is my Blood, which is spilled for the world's salvation.
Then Jesus disappeared from their sight, leaving them with the strength of hope that allowed them to return to Jerusalem, possibly to endure danger and persecution. They returned to Jerusalem to do what Jesus had asked of them: Proclaim hope and repeat his actions; take bread and give thanks for the memory and security of everything they had, break it and give to themselves and others. Only then could they be filled with hope and strength. They had become witnesses to the power of the Resurrection of Jesus which conquers death and evil, despite all appearances, and brings us surrender and an abundance of grace and joy.
Source: Bulletin, Our Lady of Sorrows, April 6, 2008.
Please Pray for the Following Serrans and Friends of Serrans: Monsignor Ancona's friend Monroe Sullivan and his sister Annette, Deacon Dale Hollern, Paula Mulligan, and Abe Rossi.
Make these changes to your directory: Carl Rossi's business phone, 453-8818, is no longer in service. He has also changed his e-mail address to rossi58@att.net. Add the following new members:
Nancy Mulvihill, 2247 Anderson Drive SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506. Telephone 245-1672. E-mail address: ncmulvi@cs.com
Robert VanderLaan, 822 Brownwood, Grand Rapids, MI 49504. Telephone 454-0054. Business telephone: 454-0900. E-mail address: vanderlaan@triton.net
Other online news: Dominican Sister Rosanne looked us up online so that she could make Sister's Dinner Reservations for 35 Dominicans. Also, pope2008.com provides a link to news of the upcoming papal visit to the United States. The pope plans to be in Washington, D. C. from April 15-17 and in New York City from April 18-20. The Serra Leader Newsletter Online can be found at serraus.org.
Our President's Message: Dear Serrans: In just over a month we will celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the chartering of our club. The Honorable Joseph Scoville and members of the Progrms Committee have finalized the details. Formal invitations will be forthcoming.
The evening of May 12 will begin with mass at the Cathedral of St. Andrew at 5:30 p.m. with the Most Reverend Walter A. Hurley as the principal celebrant. This signature event will be black tie optional, and will include Lloyd Crockett, of Nashville, Tennessee, the current president of Serra International as our keynote speaker. Dimmer will immediately follow at St. George's Conference and Banquet Center located at 334 LaGrave Avenue SE. St. George's is just a block from the cathedral. Parking is readily available around the facility. To better acquaint you with this exquisite environment I have included the website address:
http://www.stgeorgebanquetcenter.com
The setup will be similar to that of our Vocations Dinner, and the St. George's facility will allow us to accommodate more guests for our celebration. Please consider inviting family members, fellow parishioners, and prospective members who would enjoy this event. Charter Night will be a feature topic at our April 14 meeting at Louis Benton. I am confident that all who attend Charter Night 2008 will truly enjoy the evening.
I look forward to seeing you at future meetings.
Very truly yours,
Mark A. Kubik, President
