msSeptember 2011

The Metro

 The Newsletter of the Serra Club of Metropolitan Dallas 

In This Issue
September 2011 Calendar
Article Headline
2011 Seminarian Welcome Dinner
UD Ministry Conference
The Priests In Concert
The 31 Club
Saint of the Month

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Areas of Effort for 2011-2012

- Presence at Serran            functions;

- Promote Serran awareness;

- Promotion of Serran membership.

New Members

A Warm Serran Welcome To Our New Members
Diana Romagnoli

 

Richard Wood
Fast Facts
Here are some quick facts concerning Holy Trinity Seminary and vocations for the Diocese of Dallas:

Holy Trinity Seminary opens the 2011-2012 academic year with 67 seminarians.

Although all are not at Holy Trinity, there are 19 new seminarians for the Diocese, bringing the total to 66 in formation for Dallas.

Next summer, five men will be ordained for the diocese. 

 

Fifteen of the new seminarians come from Diocese parishes, including three from All Saints. 
News You Can Use from CNS

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SPREAD THE WORD
If you have a friend that is interested in the work of Serra, consider forwarding our email newsletter or invite him or her to visit our website. Better yet extend an invitation to join you as a guest at a First Friday Mass or one of our monthly luncheons. 
  
  

President's Letter by Roland Pedevilla

Dear Serrans:

 

Having recently been privileged to be a part of initiating the Family Chalice for Vocations Program for the St. Rita parish community it has been most gratifying to witness the presentation each Sunday. The pastor, Father Bob Coerver, has elevated the event as a significant conclusion to the Mass. The congregation is invited to stand as the participating family is called to the altar, presented a chalice and commissioned through the Serran Prayer for Vocations to pray together in their home each day of the week for the intention of increased vocations.

 

Other parishes in our diocese have a similar practice but there are some who do not and might consider it if encouraged by Serran efforts. This would make a good ministry for our club - to assist a parish in implementing the program. It is not a difficult project and there are various models a parish could adopt. It is consistent with our mission and significantly increases the prayers being offered for those who are discerning the call to a vocation that ultimately becomes a service to us.

 

This will be on the agenda for the up-coming General Business meeting, Friday, September 9 following the 6:45 a.m. Mass at St. Monica. Meeting will be in the Family Center, room 109. Will enjoy seeing our membership there and we can all enjoy a hot breakfast.

 

Roland Pedevilla

September 2011 Calendar

Friday, September 2 - No First Friday Mass & Breakfast - Enjoy the Labor Day Weekend

 

Friday, September 9 - 6:45 a.m. - Mass & Breakfast - Saint Monica. General Business Meeting - Members only.

 

Sunday, September 11 - 9:15 a.m. - Mass with the Seminarians - Holy Trinity Seminary. Other seminarian Masses are set for November 6th,  December 4th, February 12 and April 15th and 29th.

 

Friday, September 16 - 11:45 am - Monthly Luncheon Meeting - Park City Club. Speaker: Steve Landregan - Islam: A Quick Look. 

 

Thursday, September 22 - 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. - Orientation Meeting for Prospective Members - Saint Patrick Catholic Church, Parish Center, 9643 Ferndale Road, Dallas 75238. 

 

To view the complete Metro Serra calendar, click HERE.

Orientation Meeting For Prospective Members

The club will be holding an Orientation Meeting for Prospective Members on Thursday, September 22 at Saint Patrick Catholic Church, 9643 Ferndale Road, Dallas 75238. The meeting, which will be held in the Parish Center, begins at 7:00 pm and will conclude by 8:30 pm. This will be a great opportunity for prospective Metro Serrans to learn about our mission, have their questions answered and meet several of our members. If you have someone who is considering membership or would simply like to have more information, please invite them to join you at this informative session. Future meetings are planned at Saint Monica and Saint Rita.

 

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2011 Seminarian Welcome Dinner

Flores

The 2011 Seminarian Welcome Dinner will be held Saturday evening, October 1, 2011 at The Fairmont Hotel, 1717 N Akard Street, Dallas. The keynote speaker will be Most Reverend Daniel E. Flores , Bishop of Brownsville. Individual tickets are $150 each and tables of 10 begin at $1,500.

 

Don Wetzel is organizing tables for Metro Serrans who would like to sit together. If you are interested please forward names and a check, made payable to Holy Trinity Seminary, to Don at 5706 Trailmeadow Drive, Dallas 75230. To register for the dinner or for more information on sponsorship and advertising opportunities, click HERE

 

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University of Dallas Ministry Conference, October 28 - 29, 2011, Dallas Convention CenterUDMin
ud ministry 
The University of Dallas Ministry Conference, featuring Francis Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago, will be held at the Dallas Convention Center October 28 - 29, 2011. To obtain the early registration rate of $65 per person you must register by September 16. After that the pre-registration rate increases to $80 per person. Pre-registration ends on October 14.  You may also register at the Conference at a rate of $100 per person. To register online click HERE. While UD prefers that all registration be completed online at the link above, a paper registration form is available for those who do not have access to a computer or the Internet. Contact UD at 214.295.4269.for that form, and they will be happy to send it to you. 

Please note that registration rate does not include parking or meals.
  
Full details of the conference are available at the conference website (click HERE). Also the conference video: 
UDMC 2011 Promotional Video
UDMC 2011 Promotional Video
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The Priests to Perform at McFarlin Auditorium on December 4
Perhaps you saw The Priests in Concert at Armagh Castle recently on KERA. Now you have an opportunity to see them in person on December 4 at McFarlin Auditorium on the SMU campus. As soon as details regarding times and tickets are available, an email will be forwarded to the club. You may also visit the McFarlin Auditorium website by clicking HERE.

 

The Priests are a classical musical group made up of three Catholic priests all from Northern Ireland. Father Eugene and his brother Father Martin O'Hagan are originally from County Londonderry while Father David Delargy is from County Antrim. The trio has been singing together since they boarded as students at St. MacNissi's College in County Antrim. After signing a record deal in April 2008 the priests recorded their debut album in Northern Ireland and Rome, with the unusual honor of having been allowed to record in St. Peter's Basilica. To view a sample of their work click on the below video. You may also visit The Priests official You Tube page by clicking on the icon below the video. 

 

The Priests in concert at Armagh - www.thepriests.com
The Priests in concert at Armagh Castle

 View our videos on YouTube

 

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The 31 Club 

The 31 Club, an integral part of Serra and required of Metro Serrans, was initiated in the 1970's by Father Clive A. Litton in his parish in New Zealand. Seeing a need for support of current religious vocations as well as an increase in vocations, Father Litton encouraged his parishioners to select a particular date each month to attend Mass and offer it with prayer for those currently serving the Church as priests and religious and for an increase in vocations.

 

While we have at least one Metro Serran assigned to each date, we still have a number of members that have not selected a date. To view the current Metro 31 Club Calendar, please click HERE. To add your name to the calendar, please email [email protected].

 

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Saint of the Month - Saint Vincent de Paul - September 27

The deathbed confession of a dying servant opened Vincent's eyes to the crying spiritual needs of the peasantry of France. This seems to have been a crucial moment in the life of the man from a small farm in Gascony, France, who had become a priest with little more ambition than to have a comfortable life.

 

dePaulIt was the Countess de Gondi (whose servant he had helped) who persuaded her husband to endow and support a group of able and zealous missionaries who would work among poor tenant farmers and country people in general. Vincent was too humble to accept leadership at first, but after working for some time in Paris among imprisoned galley-slaves, he returned to be the leader of what is now known as the Congregation of the Mission, or the Vincentians. These priests, with vows of poverty, chastity, obedience and stability, were to devote themselves entirely to the people in smaller towns and villages.

 

Later, Vincent established confraternities of charity for the spiritual and physical relief of the poor and sick of each parish. From these, with the help of St. Louise de Marillac, came the Daughters of Charity, "whose convent is the sickroom, whose chapel is the parish church, whose cloister is the streets of the city." He organized the rich women of Paris to collect funds for his missionary projects, founded several hospitals, collected relief funds for the victims of war and ransomed over 1,200 galley slaves from North Africa. He was zealous in conducting retreats for clergy at a time when there was great laxity, abuse and ignorance among them. He was a pioneer in clerical training and was instrumental in establishing seminaries.

 

Most remarkably, Vincent was by temperament a very irascible person-even his friends admitted it. He said that except for the grace of God he would have been "hard and repulsive, rough and cross." But he became a tender and affectionate man, very sensitive to the needs of others.

 

Pope Leo XIII made him the patron of all charitable societies. Outstanding among these, of course, is the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, founded in 1833 by his admirer Blessed Fr餩ric Ozanam.


svdepaulThe Church is for all God's children, rich and poor, peasants and scholars, the sophisticated and the simple. But obviously the greatest concern of the Church must be for those who need the most help-those made helpless by sickness, poverty, ignorance or cruelty. Vincent de Paul is a particularly appropriate patron for all Christians today, when hunger has become starvation, and the high living of the rich stands in more and more glaring contrast to the physical and moral degradation in which many of God's children are forced to live.

"Strive to live content in the midst of those things that cause your discontent. Free your mind from all that troubles you, God will take care of things. You will be unable to make haste in this [choice] without, so to speak, grieving the heart of God, because he sees that you do not honor him sufficiently with holy trust. Trust in him, I beg you, and you will have the fulfillment of what your heart desires" (St. Vincent de Paul, Letters).

  

Source:  www.americancatholic.org. To receive "Saint of the Day" as an email from St. Anthony Messenger Press click here.


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