HOBART – The July 1 feast day of their patron, St. Junipero Serra (1713-1784), was celebrated a day early by the Serra Club of Northwest Indiana, which took the occasion to thank religious sisters for their service to the Diocese of Gary with a Mass, picnic dinner and games at St. Bridget.
Serra Club members support religious vocations in the Diocese of Gary financially and with their prayers, hosting several events throughout the year, fundraising, and corresponding with diocesan seminarians. The club meets monthly at St. Bridget, hosts speakers, and new in 2022, encourages member families to “Adopt a Seminarian” they keep in touch with throughout the year.
“The Sisters Picnic was revived last year after being suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic,” noted club president Susan Gryfakis. “We want to express our appreciation to the Sisters who serve our hospitals, schools, parishes, charities and senior homes, and this event enables us to do that with a fun social outing and some gifts.”
Father Dominic Bertino, club chaplain, celebrated Mass to start the evening, recalling the missionary work of Father Junipero Serra of Spain. “In a letter he wrote home from the United States (where he opened a number of missions throughout California), he said, ‘All my life I’ve wanted to be a missionary, to carry the Word of God to people who have never heard it. It’s not easy, but we can do it.’”
Father Bertino admitted that it is also not easy to bring the message of Jesus Christ to people in current times, “when the world has gone crazy,” but it is worth the effort to follow in the footsteps of the Franciscan priest. “He went out not to destroy, but to build up,” Father Bertino said of Jesus. “We spread the Gospel message not just for our own good, but for the good of the world.”
“What I like best about the Serra Club is the unity of the group in prayer,” said member Agnes Zellers, outreach chairwoman. “I love being with the seminarians and learning about their lives, and the sisters and their work.”
Sister Anija arrived from her home in Paincourtville, La. just in time to attend the Religious Sisters Picnic before going on retreat with the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration in Mishawaka along with fellow members of the Congregation of the Mother of Carmel from St. Michael Convent in Schererville. “The picnic has been entertaining and brings all these sisters together,” she said. “It is so nice of the Serrans to host it.
“I met Sister Loretta Schleper of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ (justice coordinator and resident at Sojourner Truth House in Gary), at my table, and I learned that it is cold here in the winter,” Sister Anija said, thankful her visit came during the warm summer.
Seminarian Alex Kouris, who returned to his internship at St. Matthias in Crown Point after the picnic, said he considers “the support for the seminarians and the spiritual aspect of the Serra Club” to be the strengths of the group. “They are very generous and gave us an ‘adopted’ family this year. Chip and Beth Cooke, parishioners at St. Matthias, have welcomed me into their family and I feel their friendship; it is a joy to minister to them and everyone else in the club.”
Ted Vinyard, father of seminarian Ethan Vinyard, said he and his wife recently joined the Serra Club and are still learning about the group. “The support they give to vocations is super important,” he said. “Being able to host events for these men while they are in the seminary, or even still discerning, and for priests and Sisters, is always important.”
Mary Ann McCully, of Lowell, is a Serra Club member honoring her father’s memory. “My father belonged to the Serra Club and I know the need for priestly and religious vocations,” she said between the picnic games. “I picked up a church bulletin and saw an ad for the club and felt I was being called. This group of people is really trying to encourage priests, Sisters and seminarians in their vocation, and to foster new vocations, and I feel like I am doing something concrete by serving with them.”
For information about joining the Serra Club, contact Gryfakis at 688-8209.