Building a culture of vocations

by Claire Howard, USAC President 2001-2002
USAC Annual Luncheon June 29, 2002

This text has been lightly edited for space consideration

Having served on the Board of the United States (and originally Canada Council) since its formation has given me a great perspective of the progress USAC has made in spreading “a culture of vocations” in the United States for the past eight years. As an organization, USAC is doing quite well, but as individual Serrans we can never sit back and take a breather.

The past year has truly proven this point. Perhaps we thought that “the vocation arm of the church” was moving along nicely and that maybe we were doing a pretty good job after all. But then September 11 changed all that. Then we were hit by a Catholic crisis that will go down in history.

What does this mean to us? It means we need to strengthen our affirmation programs as we have never thought possible. We need to tell our priests and religious that we love them more often and in more ways then we ever have. They should not be the ones bearing the sorrow and shame because a few have betrayed the grace of ordination. But they are the ones suffering and it is our job as Serrans to lighten their burden.

Now is a perfect opportunity to recruit new Serrans and form new clubs to help in this crisis. Look around; you will find dedicated Catholics looking for ways to help affirm our good priests. Your job is to introduce these Catholics to Serra.

We began this Serran year with one of the strongest USAC Executive Committee planning sessions ever held. (Yes, district governors, we too have a intensive training weekend!) Ours was a long weekend of goal setting, committee planning, assigning, and setting realistic priorities about the work we can build on from the previous years and what we can accomplish in the coming year. The Executive Committee chose this year’s theme, “Creating a Culture for Vocations.” I’m proud to announce that most of our goals for the year have been reached. The major change for committee chairs was to become coordinators of committee task forces and not to do all the work of the committee. As you read their reports you will get a flavor of the wonderful work these dedicated Serrans are doing for our benefit.

In April, USAC was given the honor of sending 30 delegates to Montreal, Canada, to participate in the North American Vocation Congress. This Congress, at the request of the Holy Father, was then first for our continent and only the third such vocational study in the world. USAC was indeed honored to have been invited because of our lay ministry work for vocations here in the United States.

The United States has 193 dioceses. Sixty-four do not have Serra clubs. We have had requests for clubs in several of these dioceses, but USAC has never had the manpower nor the funds to do anything about it. This year, the Membership Committee began a task force to address the issue. The core of this task force will be former presidents of USAC. Funding and extra manpower are needed, but we hope to begin in the state of New York before the Toronto Serra International Convention. This has been a year in planning and one of the most frustrating aspects of this job. Working with volunteers is a slow process. Needless to say, we are looking for your help, in any way that you can, to bring our presence to all U. S. Catholic communities. This is important, especially now during the crisis in the Catholic Church.

I want to thank all the committee members for their hard work this past year. There are too many to mention individually, but I must mention the Chicago (very sparse, usually only four) staff under the very able direction of Executive Director Ed Verbeke. Ed recently celebrated his 10th anniversary with Serra. And aren’t we glad we have him?
God bless this staff and all the work they do for Serra, keep them in your prayers. Remember, they are serving 13,000 Serrans in the U.S., not to mention all the committees they help to coordinate.

It has been my pleasure to serve as your president this year. I have been most graciously accepted at all Serra functions across these United States. We Serrans are truly a loving family, blessed by God to do this ministry.

Please continue to say the following prayer of Jabez for the success and growth of Serra:
 
Oh, that you would bless Serra abundantly
And enlarge Serra’s territory
That you will be with Serra in all Serrans do
That you will keep Serrans from evil,
And that Serrans may not cause pain.
Paraphrased from the Prayer of Jabez, Chronicles 4:10
 
May God Bless You and all that You do for Serra.

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