Serra Club Programs

"Serra gives members, who are leaders or potential leaders, the opportunity to develop Christian vision in themselves so they can bring about a great Christian social renaissance."

Samuel Cardinal Stritch

Since 1934, Serra Clubs have worked to establish programs for adult education and faith formation.

We believe that our adult education and faith formation can and must be a crossroad where all the vital intellectual currents of our times meet in dialogue... where the great issues of our religion and the church today are plumbed to their depths... where every sincere inquirer is welcomed, listened to and respected by a serious consideration of what he or she has to say about his or her belief or unbelief; his or her certainty or uncertainty... where differences of culture and religion and conviction can coexist with friendship, civility, hospitality and especially love... a place where the endless conversation is harbored, not foreclosed."

Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, CSC

"Blest are they who hunger and thirst for holiness; they shall have their fill." (Matt. 5:6)

Serra was founded to promote Catholic values by fostering vocations to the priesthood and religious life and by increasing its members' common Catholic faith. Each objective is worthy. The two are more so because they combine the ingredients necessary for understanding and appreciating God's love in giving us the great gift of his Son, Jesus: priesthood in the Son's Church and love of our Catholic faith.

Priesthood is the necessary element for the Eucharist, the central action of our faith, in which we sum up Jesus' life, death, and resurrection for our redemption. Greater understanding of our Catholic faith serves to increase our personal holiness so that we can give of our imperfect love in thanksgiving for God's perfect love.

The Reverend J. Kevin Kenny, Manchester, England, said it well: "A Catholic joins Serra to perfect the call to holiness in Christ....Serrans have seen a vision. They are to live a fellowship for justice and human fulfillment, especially in the practical task of humanizing society in God's way."¹

Serrans are yearning for programs directed towards increasing their personal holiness. Your United States Council Program Committee developed Program Manual Part Two: Program Themes for this purpose. This manual contains program material designed to help Serrans enter into the spirit of the new millennium by coming to a greater understanding of God's love and their commitment to promoting and maintaining vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

These themes are not a substitute for your own well-planned and carried out program schedule, but they do provide a source of ideas to add to your planning process when you desire the equivalent of a twenty- or thirty-minute retreat.

¹ Kenny, Reverend J. Kevin. Quoted in Organizing a New Serra Club. Chicago: United States Council of Serra International, 1992.

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