Serra clubs promote vocations

BY BILL DOYLE | CFP CORRESPONDENT

When Roland Malboeuf decided to step down as president of the Serra Club of Southern Worcester County, he asked James “Jim” Gondek to replace him.
Mr. Gondek couldn’t say no because he believed in the mission of the club, which encourages men to become priests.
“Churches throughout the world are suffering from a lack of ordained priests,” said Mr. Gondek, who became president in January, “and so anything we can do to encourage young men to become seminarians and proceed through the training period and the educational period is something that is significantly important to a number of us.”
Mr. Gondek, 77, and his son, Daniel, joined the Southern Worcester County Serra Club of Webster 2½
 years ago when Mr. Malboeuf became the club’s president. Due to a drop in interest by meeting only online during the pandemic, membership had plummeted to about a dozen and the club was in danger of folding. Under the guidance of Mr. Malboeuf and vice president John Hickey, membership jumped to 38.
The USA Council of Serra International in Texas was so impressed with the growth of the Southern Worcester County club, that Mr. Malboeuf and Mr. Hickey were invited, at the national organization’s Zoom meeting in early 2022, to explain how they boosted membership.
The club has 31 members now, Mr. Gondek said.
Mr. Gondek, who is retired from the insurance business, is the longtime chair of the finance committee at St. Roch Parish in his hometown of Oxford. He was asked to join the Serra Club board to assist with fundraising events.
The club sold frozen chicken pot pies and raised about $500 in April to support seminarians and the Holy Name of Jesus House of Studies. Mr. Gondek hopes to stage another fundraiser in the fall.
Each year, the Serra Club invites all seminarians in the diocese to attend a Christmas party and presents them $100 or $200, depending on how far along they are in their discernment process. Last year, about 15 of the 22 in the diocese attended.
“They’re all very appreciative, especially when our members are in touch with them,” Mr. Gondek said.
The Serra Club of Northern Worcester County, based in Leominster, also holds a Christmas party for the seminarians and provides them with $100 each, according to club president John Shannon. The two clubs invite members of the other club to their Christmas parties as well.
Serra USA was formed by a group of Catholic lay people in Seattle, Washington, in 1935 to promote and foster vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life. The organization is named in honor of Father Junipero Serra, a Franciscan missionary who founded a string of California missions in the 18th century.
Serra Club of Southern Worcester County, which was founded in 1954, and Serra Club of Northern Worcester County, which was founded in 1951, are among the more than 700 Serra clubs in 40 countries.
The two local clubs also rotate hosting a Serra Bishop’s Night for all seminarians and the newly ordained each year. The Northern Worcester County Serra Club will host this year’s event on June 20 at St. Cecilia Church in Leominster, beginning with Mass at 5:30 p.m. followed by dinner and a meeting. The Serrans recognize the priests and seminarians, pray for an increase in vocations to the priesthood and religious life, and socialize with other Serrans. The two club presidents will present Bishop McManus with a donation to be used for vocations.
Monsignor James Moroney, pastor at St. Cecilia Parish, is chaplain of the Northern Worcester County club.
Mr. Shannon said the Serra Club of Northern Worcester County has 45 active members, the same as the past several years.
Mr. Shannon has been president for five years. He is a parishioner at St. Leo Parish in his hometown of Leominster.
“Serra exists to foster, promote, support and affirm vocations to the ministerial priesthood and vowed religious life in the Catholic church,” Mr. Shannon said.
Members from both clubs are welcomed to attend monthly meetings and events conducted by either club, including the outing the Northern Worcester County club holds each August for seminarians before they return to the seminary.
Mr. Gondek said encouraging and supporting women to become nuns will be discussed at an upcoming board meeting. The board will meet next on July 31 at the St. Roch Church hall.
The Southern Worcester County club held its monthly meetings this past year at St. Roch, St. Joseph Basilica Parish in Webster and St. Andrew Bobola Parish in Dudley. Mr. Gondek would like to hold meetings at other parishes in southern Worcester County as well. Prior to those meetings, he’d like to have a club member speak at a Sunday Mass at those parishes to explain what the Serra Club does and invite the parishioners to the club’s Mass and meeting.
From September through May, both clubs conduct half an hour of Eucharistic adoration, followed by Mass, dinner and a meeting with a guest speaker. Dues for club members includes the cost of the dinner. Dues are $20 a month for Southern Worcester County and $147 a year for individuals and $244 for couples for Northern Worcester County.
Each club has a voluntary adopt-a-seminarian program in which members are encouraged to select a seminarian, keep in contact throughout the year and send cards on birthdays and holidays, sometimes with money in them.
“It’s not a must,” Mr. Shannon said, “but it’s to just have contact with the seminarians so they know they’re not forgotten and people in the diocese are praying for them and certainly want them to become priests.”
Serrans also have Masses said for seminarians and they pray for them at each monthly meeting.
Mr. Gondek corresponds with Conner Morgan and John Sullivan, who attend St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Mr. Sullivan, whose home parish is St. John the Guardian of Our Lady in Clinton, served an internship last summer at St. Roch and he grew to know Mr. Gondek and his wife, Marlene. Mr. Morgan’s home parish is St. Peter Parish in Worcester.
Mr. and Mrs. Gondek attended the ordination of Father James Boulette, who was assigned to their parish, St. Roch, as pastor.
Following Mass and a novena at St. Joseph Basilica on May 22, Sister Jeanne Marie Akalski spoke at a Southern Worcester County club meeting at Point Breeze in Webster about her 66 years as a nun.
Sister Mary Ann Papiez, who teaches with Sister Jeanne at St. Joseph Elementary School and has been a nun for 50 years, was also on hand.
Father Michael J. Roy, retired pastor at St. Roch, is chaplain of the Southern Worcester County club. Father Michael Lavallee, pastor at St. Peter Parish in Northbridge; Father Adam Reid, pastor at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Webster; and Father Grzegorz Chodkowski, pastor at St. Joseph Basilica in Webster, are members of the club.

If interested in joining the Northern Worcester County Serra Club, contact Mr. Shannon at john_shan5@hotmail.com.