by Michael Podrebarac
It goes without saying that without the ministerial priesthood of the church, we wouldn’t be able to celebrate the Mass, among other deficiencies the church would experience.
We read about shortages of priests in many parts of the world, even in places like South America, where the faith has long been established and the church has been present for centuries, but where some of our brothers and sisters can only experience Mass monthly, if not less frequently.
Even in our own country, there are places where the need for more priests is acute. I once met a priest who had been driving the same Saturday-Sunday round trip of over 250 miles in the far northwest corner of Nebraska for over 20 years, making sure his four parishes never lacked the Eucharist.
The church needs priests and is greatly blessed by those men who have answered the call to serve as Jesus himself served, making him present to his church through their daily ministry. We should all pray and work in support of priestly vocations!
And one particular lay apostolate does just that, and with extraordinary zeal and distinction. These men and women are known as Serrans, members of Serra International, whose objective is to promote and foster priestly and religious vocations, and to grow in their own personal holiness as they do so.
They take as their patron, inspiration and namesake St. Junipero Serra, an 18th-century Franciscan priest who, despite his own successful life as a seminary professor in Spain, heard the call at age 35 to become a missionary to the “new world” of the Americas. He freely chose a humble and dangerous life, serving mostly in Mexico for 20 years before venturing to California where he established the historic missions there.
The members of the Serra clubs, as they are commonly called, are inspired by St. Junipero’s heroic commitment to making the sacraments available to all the faithful, and they draw their energy today from his energy from over 250 years ago.
We are particularly blessed to have active Serra clubs in our region between our own archdiocese and the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. These local Serrans have been hard at work for over a year preparing to host the 82nd Serra International Convention in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, this June 26-29. Information for the convention may be found at: www.si2025-kcconv.org. It will no doubt be a great experience of fellowship, learning and prayer.
Please support the work of our local Serrans by your prayer and financial support. And consider joining their ranks in promoting priestly and religious vocations for the church!
