News & Events

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!

Posted in Recap

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!

Posted in Recap

New England soccer player signs on for priesthood

July 16th, 2008

Chase Hilgenbrinck, defender for the New England Revolution, will enter the seminary:

When Chase Hilgenbrinck bounced from Chile to Colorado to New England this spring, his eyes were already on another path. Not toward another MLS club or Europe. Toward the priesthood.

MLS fans might have been startled to read the New England Revolution’s announcement this week that the defender was ending his career in midseason to enter a seminary at Mount St. Mary’s in Maryland, but the decision wasn’t abrupt

Full article at USA Today: MLS player Hilgenbrinck has a new goal: priesthood

The USA Today blog offers Chase’s commentary on his calling:

Why?
Because I feel called. I’ve actually had my calling. I’ve been discerning this decision for several years now. I had a chance to go play professional soccer in Chile. For a long time, I felt called to something greater, and I didn’t know what it was. I thought maybe it was professional soccer. In playing soccer, I realized that wasn’t it. I continued searching.

Full blog at: From soccer to seminary

Posted in Links, Testimony

Next meeting: Saturday July 19

July 13th, 2008

Our next meeting is this coming Saturday, July 19th at St. Mary’s in Waltham. We will be honored to have Fr. Mike Harrington, Assistant Director of Vocations for the archdiocese, as the celebrant for Mass at 8:30 AM. (Fr. Dan Hennessey is making his way “Down Under” for another “intimate gathering” with the Holy Father at World Youth Day in Sydney!)

Michelle Dickson and Loretta Gallagher will report on their participation at the Serra National Conference held in South Bend, Indiana in June. One thing we can tell you: there is great excitement from Serrans all over the country about the future chartering of the Serra Club of Boston — and that joy is very contagious !! So please, everyone, try and bring a friend to the meeting so we can reach our quota of members for club chartering in the spring!

The sale of the “Pray for Our Priests” magnets is going really well. Thanks to the June 8th article in Our Sunday Visitor (a national publication), we have had many requests for them from all over the country. We now have lapel pins for sale also. They will be available at the meeting.

One of our members, Geraldine DiBenedetto has been invited to talk about Serra on radio and also represent Serra Boston at an upcoming Catholic festival in North Andover. The Adopt-a-Priest Apostolate is almost ready to roll and you can hear more about that on Saturday. So a lot is happening and all are invited to share in the excitement !!

See you Saturday, God-willing. If it is warm, we will have that much more to “offer up” on behalf of our seminarians, priests and religious (not to mention Fr. Dan and all those traveling to Australia for World Youth Day)

Posted in Meetings

Fr. Mark Barr’s reflections on ordination

July 12th, 2008

As he did last week, Cardinal Sean has allowed one of the newly ordained priests for the Archdiocese of Boston to blog about his experience. This week, it’s Fr. Mark Barr, who serves at St. John the Baptist Parish in Quincy:

When first I began to seriously consider the priesthood, it seemed a nebulous and distant reality. I thought God was calling me to a priestly vocation and I wanted to pursue it, but I really had no idea who the priest is or what he does. I attended Mass regularly and Mass I understood. I could even see myself acting as a sacramental minister but I could not grasp what it would mean, for me, to actually be a priest the other twenty-three and a half hours of the day.

Fr. Barr comments on the difference that attitude can make in a priest, reinforcing the need to support priests in their chosen vocations:

…a joyful priest is a better encourager of vocations than one who is very experienced, very skilled and able but angry or dour. It is not how good we are at our “job” that makes the priest a better priest, but how much we love. How much he loves, loves the people of God with Christ’s own pierced and Sacred Heart, the heart he receives in ordination, this is the measure of a priest. And this is not a distant or nebulous thing, but a real and good life, a life that ought to be pursued by all who are called, something that is concrete and doable.

The full essay is available on Cardinal Sean’s blog entry: ‘Quis Alter Christus Es’ (scroll about 1/5 down the page).

Thanks to Fr. Barr for sharing his experience and insight into the priesthood, and to Cardinal Sean for sharing his blog with the new ordinandi.