Posts tagged with 'Recap'
Marian vestments, World Youth Day, and upcoming events
August 24th, 2008
We met on August 18 at St. Mary’s Parish in Waltham, celebrating Mass and then meeting for discussion. Fr. Rene van Hissenhoven from Bogota, Colombia was visiting, and celebrated Mass with Fr. Dan.
Marian Vestments
Thanks to Diane and Michael O’Sullivan for generously donating Marian vestments to the Serra Club of Boston. The O’Sullivans bought the vestments during a visit to Rome, and Fr. Dan wore the vestments (shown below) to celebrate Mass.
World Youth Day
Fr. Dan Hennessey told about his experiences at World Youth Day in Sydney. Events such as youth festivals, music, and adoration offered a great opportunity for catechesis, confession, and celebration of the faith.
Fr. Dan noted that when the Holy Father led Eucharistic Adoration at Randwick, it was “stunning” to see him backed by 400,000 young people also adoring the Eucharist. Attendees discussed other powerful visuals from World Youth Day, such as the Pope’s entrance via boat in Sydney Harbor, the Aborigines bringing up the gifts during Mass, and the Vigil with the Holy Father.
When travelling and doing the “pilgrim thing,” it can be hard to pray - there are numerous distractions, duties, and events to attend during a pilgrimage. After the closing Mass, the Holy Father gave an address intead of the final blessing. His address addressed the challenges of continuing to live the faith in the materialistic “real world,” after the comfortable environment of World Youth Day.
At our meeting Fr. Dan read from the pope’s address, which is reproduced in full below:
Dear Young Friends,
In the beautiful prayer that we are about to recite, we reflect on Mary as a young woman, receiving the Lord’s summons to dedicate her life to him in a very particular way, a way that would involve the generous gift of herself, her womanhood, her motherhood. Imagine how she must have felt. She was filled with apprehension, utterly overwhelmed at the prospect that lay before her.
The angel understood her anxiety and immediately sought to reassure her. “Do not be afraid, Mary …. The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (Lk 1:30, 35). It was the Spirit who gave her the strength and courage to respond to the Lord’s call. It was the Spirit who helped her to understand the great mystery that was to be accomplished through her. It was the Spirit who enfolded her with his love and enabled her to conceive the Son of God in her womb.
This scene is perhaps the pivotal moment in the history of God’s relationship with his people. During the Old Testament, God revealed himself partially, gradually, as we all do in our personal relationships. It takes time to get to know and love another person. It took time for the chosen people to develop their relationship with God. The Covenant with Israel was like a period of courtship, a long engagement. Then came the definitive moment, the moment of marriage, the establishment of a new and everlasting covenant. As Mary stood before the Lord, she represented the whole of humanity. In the angel’s message, it was as if God made a marriage proposal to the human race. And in our name, Mary said yes.
In fairy tales, the story ends there, and all “live happily ever after”. In real life it is not so simple. For Mary there were many struggles ahead, as she lived out the consequences of the “yes” that she had given to the Lord. Simeon prophesied that a sword would pierce her heart. When Jesus was twelve years old, she experienced every parent’s worst nightmare when, for three days, the child went missing. And after his public ministry, she suffered the agony of witnessing his crucifixion and death. Throughout her trials she remained faithful to her promise, sustained by the Spirit of fortitude. And she was gloriously rewarded.
Dear young people, we too must remain faithful to the “yes” that we have given to the Lord’s offer of friendship. We know that he will never abandon us. We know that he will always sustain us through the gifts of the Spirit. Mary accepted the Lord’s “proposal” in our name. So let us turn to her and ask her to guide us as we struggle to remain faithful to the life-giving relationship that God has established with each one of us. She is our example and our inspiration, she intercedes for us with her Son, and with a mother’s love she shields us from harm.
More transcripts from World Youth Day can be found at WYD2008 site (use the search box in the upper left to search). Video, images, and other text can be found at the Pope in Australia site.
Upcoming Events and other items
We discussed other upcoming events, and various items around the Archdiocese of Boston.
- The Altar Server Appreciation Mass is coming up on October 4. Last year, more than 500 altar servers from parishes across the archdiocese gathered together to receive certificates of appreciation and participate in a vocations fair. This year, people can register for this event at www.altarserversunday.org.
- Priesthood Sunday will be held on October 26. Loretta Gallagher has submitted an article to the Pilot, and Serrans are asked to advertise the event in their local parishes.
- Serra Boston will be sponsoring an Adopt-a-Priest apostolate. Check this site for more information!
- Michelle Dickson continues to research the history of the Serra Club in Boston. The older club was very active under Cardinal Cushing, and in 1955 the annual meeting of Serra International was held in Boston. Anyone who has more information on the old Serra Club is invited to contact us at information@serraboston.org.
Next month’s meeting will be held on Saturday, September 20. We will have a special guest speaker: Dan Kennedy, Sr (father of Fr. Dan Kennedy) will speak on his son’s life and commitment to the priesthood.
See you in September!
Recap of Serra USA Conference at Notre Dame
July 21st, 2008
During our July meeting, Michelle Dickson gave a recap of the All-American Conference for Serra USA, held on June 18-22 at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. The theme for the conference was “Vision of the Catholic Church in 2025.”
The meeting was an “amazing experience,” with 180 Serrans attending the conference. Being a Serran had clearly become a way of life for some attendees, who have been Serrans for 10-20 years.
Word of our activity is spreading, and members from several clubs expressed enthusiasm for the Serra Club of Boston. Serra clubs from New Jersey, Michigan, Indiana, Georgia, Texas, Montana, and Maine have asked us how they can obtain the magnets for their own dioceses.
On Friday there were two sessions of workshops. Serra Boston was listed as a “successful club” during a presentation on membership. The outgoing president of Serra specifically commented on the Serra Club of Boston, and urged attendees to meet Loretta and ask about the Pray for our Priest magnets.
Speaker at the Serra USA conference
Michelle spoke of meeting Fr. David Lincoln, a priest ordained at the age of 71. Fr. Lincoln had been dean of the law school at the University of Notre Dame, and was married until his wife died of cancer in 2003. After his wife’s passing he felt a call from the Holy Spirit to become a priest, and a Serra Club member was crucial in supporting him during his vocation discernment. Michelle passed out an article about Fr. “Link,” which you can read in full here: 71-year-old lawyer to be ordained priest, become prison chaplain
The conference ended with a rosary at the Notre Dame grotto, offering a quiet and prayerful atmosphere to finish the Serra conference. Two photos from the Grotto can be seen below:
Rosary at the Notre Dame Grotto
Michelle Dickson in front of the Notre Dame Grotto
After Michelle’s recap, Loretta gave out a handout on “World Priest Day” distributed at the conference. The last Sunday of October is designated annually as Priesthood Sunday (also known as World Priest Day), a one-day celebration of the priesthood organized by parish lay leaders and coordinated by the USA Council of Serra International. Loretta is writing an article for the Pilot to publicize this event, which will occur on October 26, 2008. More information on this national event can be found on the official World Priest Day web site.
Thanks to Michelle and Loretta for attending the conference and sharing their experiences with the rest of the Serra Boston club!
Spiritual Motherhood
June 23rd, 2008
At our meeting on Saturday, June 21, we discussed the practice of “spiritual motherhood” discussed by the Congregation for Clergy, and shared personal stories and practical benefits of providing priests with this form of support.
Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy, explained the practice of spiritual motherhood:
“Regardless of age and marital status, all women can become spiritual mothers for a priest,” he explained. He said the commitment implies praying “for a specific priest and thus accompanying him for life,” usually anonymously.
Cardinal Hummes added, “This, as history tells us, produces great spiritual fruits for priests” who “spend their whole life, even with their limits, for God and for their neighbor […] preaching and cultivating the good, helping people.”
More of Cardinal Hummes’ remarks are available at Zenit.org: Priests need prayers.
In a document published in 2007, the Congregation for Clergy wrote of spiritual motherhood, giving some historical examples:
Independent of age or social status, any woman can become a mother for priests. This type of motherhood is not only for mothers of families, but is just as possible for an unmarried girl, a widow, or for someone who is ill. It is especially pertinent for missionaries and religious sisters who have given their lives entirely to God for the sanctification of others. John Paul II even thanked a child for her motherly help: “I also express my gratitude to Bl. Jacinta for the sacrifices and prayers offered for the Holy Father, whom she saw suffering greatly.”(13 May 2000)
Every priest has a birth mother, and often she is a spiritual mother for her children as well. For example, Giuseppe Sarto, the future Pope Pius X, visited his 70-year-old mother after being ordained a bishop. She kissed her son’s ring and, suddenly pensive, pointed out her own simple silver wedding band saying, “Yes, Giuseppe, you would not be wearing that ring if I had not first worn mine.” Pope St. Pius X rightfully confirms his experience that, “Every vocation to the priesthood comes from the heart of God, but it goes through the heart of a mother!”
One sees this particulary well in the life of St. Monica. Augustine, who lost his faith at the age of 19 while studying in Carthage, later wrote in his famous “Confessions” regarding his mother:“For love of me, she cried more tears than a mother would over the bodily death of her son. Nine years passed in which I wallowed in the slime of that deep pit and the darkness of falsehood. Yet that pious widow desisted not all the hours of her supplications, to bewail my case unto Thee where her prayers entered into Thy presence.”
The full document is available for download at the Congregation for Clergy web site, or at the link below:
Congregation for Clergy: Spiritual Motherhood for Priests (PDF)
At our last meeting of Serra Boston, Fr. Dan noted that there was a groundswell of support for vocations in the archdiocese of Boston. For example, the St. John Vianney Society, a women’s prayer group which meets every 3rd Saturday for Eucharistic Adoration and prayer for vocations at St. Mary’s in Waltham. The society was started spontaneously as a way to gather women to pray for vocations to the priesthood - about a month BEFORE Our Sunday Visitor published an article on spiritual motherhood in their May 25 issue!
Attendees at the meeting shared stories about supporting priests, praying for priestly ministry, and the practical nature of spiritual motherhood. No human being is meant to be alone, and all too often the “human” side of priests is overlooked as people view them as something other than men. It greatly helps when priests can interact with their community and socialize with others.
Here are links to several publications we talked about during the meeting:
- Our Sunday Visitor
- Our Sunday Visitor: Eucharist and Motherhood article (paid subscription required)
- Congregation for Clergy
- The Pilot
Our next meeting will be Saturday, July 19 at 8:30am at St. Mary’s Parish (133 School St, Waltham, MA). We hope to see you there!
Our Sunday Visitor and other events
June 19th, 2008
Serra Boston was featured In the June 8th edition of Our Sunday Visitor. Page 3 had a sidebar article telling of our “Pray for Our Priests” car magnets, with an accompanying photo. Fr. Mike Harrington, Assistant Director of Vocations for the Archdiocese of Boston, was quoted in the article. To date we have received requests for the magnet from Missouri, Indiana, Texas, Georgia, Michigan, Maryland and Massachusetts. Clearly, the word is spreading fast!
Serra USA is looking into the possibility of getting involved with the distribution of the magnets on a national level. Two of our club members, Loretta Gallagher and Michelle Dickson, will be attending the national Serra conference in South Bend, Indiana from June 19-22, meeting Serrans from all over the country and attending various Serra workshops. We have been asked to present a short report on Serra Boston to the Vocations Committee; they are impressed with all we have done in so short a time.
Serra Boston was also in the news recently in the Vocations issue of the Pilot issued the weekend of the ordinations (May 23). We took out an ad congratulating the new ordinandi, and there was an accompanying article about Serra Boston. We have received several thank you notes from the seven newly ordained priests, thanking Serra Boston for the gift of a clerical shirt and collar. We are only too happy to have provided them, thanks to the donation of a generous benefactor!
Next meeting
At our next meeting on June 21, Fr. Dan Hennessey will give a talk on the recent Vatican document describing deep prayer and Eucharistic Adoration for an increase in vocations and the sanctification of the priesthood. There will be a day of Eucharistic Adoration in St. Mary’s chapel following the Serra meeting until 7:00 PM, sponsored by the St. John Vianney society. Why not invite some friends to join and spend some time in prayer in front of the Blessed Eucharist?
That’s all for now. Thanks for all your wonderful support and encouragement — we ARE making a difference in helping to create the culture of vocations that we all desire so deeply for our beloved archdiocese.
See you Saturday, God-willing!
Apr 26 meeting: The Papal visit
May 10th, 2008
Special thanks to those who attended our April 26 meeting.
Fr. Dan Hennessey shared his experiences during the weekend of the Papal visit, as well as his time at the Papal Mass in Yankee Stadium. Fr. Dan even got to kiss the pope’s ring, and told how powerful it was to kiss “the ring of the Fisherman.”
You can use the slideshow below to see video stills of Fr. Dan kissing the pope’s ring. The first photo was taken by a photographer at the event; all video stills are taken from EWTN’s video footage of the event.)
As a reminder, our next meeting is this Saturday, May 17. We will begin at 8:30am with Mass, followed by our monthly meeting at 9:30am.
We hope to see you there!
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