Serra Club of Siouxland holds annual banquet

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
October 16, 2003

The Serra Club of Siouxland held its annual Mass and banquet on Oct. 13 at Briar Cliff University. Mass was celebrated in the Our Lady of Grace Chapel on the BCU campus and dinner followed in the Stark Student Center.

The Serra Club is an international organization of Catholic men and women dedicated to promoting vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

Bishop Daniel N. DiNardo presided over the 6 p.m. Mass and inducted the new officers and members. Priests from parishes in Sioux City were present as concelebrants. Religious sisters from the Siouxland area were also in attendance.

At the Mass, the officers for 2003-2004 were inducted. They include: Lynne Paulsen, president; Dick Billings, vice-president of programs; Mary Stevens, vice-president of vocations; Frank and Mary Ann Audino, vice-presidents of membership; Jim Wharton, vice-president of communications; Toby Berg, secretary; Shirley Gruenzner, treasurer; Father Brian Hughes, chaplain; and trustees Jerry Reinert, Jack Berg and Beth Golden.

There were five new members also brought into the Serra Club of Siouxland. The new members include Cleo Harder, John Hamilton, Terry O'Gorman and Jim and Bev Wharton.

"For you as Serra Club members, that obedience of faith and call to holiness has lead you to a second level of reflection and action, which is to reflect and to pray for all shepherds of the church beginning with our Holy Father, John Paul, and I hope you include the local shepherd here in Sioux City," said Bishop DiNardo. "More importantly you are called to pray for shepherds, for priests and religious in this local church of Sioux City. You need to promise yourself that you are going to pray for that everyday intensely. It is source of affirmation and support for me as shepherd of this diocese to have you around."

The bishop challenged the congregation to keep praying and working for vocations.

At the banquet, Paulsen, master of ceremonies, welcomed the Serrans and guests. She proceeded to explain why the club meets each year for the banquet.

"Not only is it to officially induct our new officers and welcome new members but also, more importantly, it is to reflect on our reason for the Serra Club to in existence - to foster and encourage vocations to the priesthood and religious life," said Paulsen. "We need to remember to pray, invite, encourage and affirm. In the words of our USA council president, 'let's all work for vocations.'"

The Region IX District Governor, Paul Drey, is in his third year and was asked to share a few words. Paulsen is the district governor elect and will take the position next year.

"Our prayers and the efforts that we make are the seeds that get planted in the people's heads about vocations," said Drey. "There is also the important of God's grace coming down which is the rain. Then we are hopefully able to have a rich harvest of the vocations that we have to our priesthood and religious life."

The guest speaker for the evening was Father Richard J. Hauser, S.J., a professor of theology at Creighton University in Omaha. He spoke about finding God in troubled times.

"We must constantly remind ourselves that we are the lay vocation arm of the church, and it is through our prayers and affirmation that an increase to the priesthood and religious life are possible," said Paulsen. "We Serrans know that God is calling forth new shepherds to lead his people. It is our ministry to find these potential shepherds that are so desperately needed today. Vocations are out there if we remember to plant the seeds and ask someone if they've ever considered the possibility, giving them an opportunity to discern their vocation."

The Serra Club of Siouxland provides educational opportunities along with praying for and promoting vocations. Each year they hold a creativity contest for students in kindergarten through eighth grade. This makes the students aware of the people in their lives that have taken a vocation as well as allow them to consider it for themselves.

"It provides the most visible form of lay involvement in encouraging vocations," said Jim Wharton. "Any way that we can affirm the good work that our priests are doing and also encourage others to consider that as a vocation is the important part."

One new activity the club tried during this last summer was taking the religious sisters of the Siouxland community to an Explorers baseball game.

"We're always looking for ways that we can publicly demonstrate our appreciation for the work they do," said Jim Wharton. "We are starting to talk about other opportunities that we might have for the upcoming year."

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