VOCARE
The Quarterly Newsletter Of
THE SERRA CLUB OF THE BAY AREA
January 29 2014
HAPPY NEW YEAR
A day or two late but our prayers and sincere wishes God’s abundant blessings come your way
and your families this nascent 2014 New Year.
Chaplain’s Corner, How is our prayer life?
Our Chaplain Fr. Benny Thadathilkunnel wrote this reflection a few months ago and we think it
is an excellent way to start our new year.
Prayer is the utterance from your spirit to God. In simple terms, talking to God is called prayer.
It's the simple opening of one's heart to our Father in Heaven. It's coming to Him and telling
Him everything in your heart. Then, why do we find praying so complicated? Those of us who
say, 'I don't pray because I don't know how to pray', haven't understood that prayer is just
being yourself and talking to God with honesty and sincerity.
When I was growing up, I found prayer very boring. It's because it just seemed like an endless
stream of meaningless words to me. However, when I truly understood what prayer meant
(that it's speaking to God with complete honesty, without any kind of masks or worrying about
how and what you talk), my whole perspective about prayer changed. Prayer today is not a
burdensome task that I have to complete every day, but a joyful time I spend with my Lord. It's
such a privilege to be able to talk to the King of Kings; to share my innermost thoughts, my
deepest desires! However, this privilege came at a price. Jesus Christ died on the cross for me,
for my sins, just so that I could enter the throne of God's grace with confidence. So is it for you!
In our day to day lives we come across many challenges. We would require courage and
strength to face these challenges. So, where do we get the power to deal with un-ending trials
and tribulations of life? Regardless of whichever religion one belongs to, prayer or
communication with the almighty plays a significant role in our lives.
In prayers lie all the answers to our problems and the mystic solution to the accomplishment of
all our lofty goals, no matter how imposing they may appear to the human eyes. While for
some prayer may be expression of daily thoughts and words of which we are usually unaware
of, some believe in conscious, focused, intentional prayer or a practice or method that best
suits them. Whichever method you choose, what holds importance is not the technique but the
consistency of the practice.
When we pray to God for a fresh dose of daily strength to face the trials that lay ahead, God
grants us the willpower to resist sin thus releasing you from the grasps of darkness. So, what
sort of prayers work best? Only prayers that do not dictate God to respond in a specific way
work the best. In fact, when we let go of the ego or the desired outcome, our prayer becomes
more effective and you can be assured that the prayer is sure to be answered.
There are numerous benefits of prayer and you can claim them all if you just put aside all the
day-to-day hurdles that appear to ruin your life and just devote some quality time with God.
Where from here?
Attempting to follow our primary vocation that we received in Baptism, i.e. to be like Christ,
and aware of the present acute shortage of priests and consecrated religious in the Catholic
Church we have the opportunity and privilege to make a difference. Our prayer to Our Lord
Jesus should be the happy offering of all our efforts as members of Serra.
As the New Year commences taking Father Benny’s suggestion above we should have a
conversation with the King of Kings and seek His council and blessings as we initiate our
Vocations promotion activities. We should endeavor to increase our understanding of available
programs that we can implement for the continuation of our work.
Our participation in the various projects of our club, those of our District 10 and the ones
outlined in the Vocations Awareness Opportunities by the Office of Vocations is essential. Our
club will be having election of officers in the near future and it is everyone’s job to support this
activity.
On March 1 we all have the opportunity to join Father Dat Hoang and Sister Anita at the “Good
Morning Vocations” Program to be held at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Baytown. Father Dat
and Sister Anita bring local, national and world vocations-related news, including the vocations
forecast in this fast-paced show. We can be part of the studio audience and enjoy breakfast,
round-table discussions, networking, and a Holy Hour with vocations-minded Catholics. The
Office of Vocations (713 652 8239) needs a call to register for this event to be make adequate
food preparations.
Father Dat is a regular “columnist” contributor to The Texas Catholic Herald, in his article:
“Moments that show the will of God in daily life” published January 28, 2014 he talks and
shows in very precise terms how that is we can find the will of God in every aspect of our daily
lives.
On the mend
The inclement weather we have endured lately has claimed numerous Serrans with flue or flue
impersonations that thank God are on the decline. Our thoughts and prayers for our dear Mary
LeCompte who is rehabilitating at home from her heart problem, may God help her recover.
Hasta pronto, let me hear your suggestions/comments… till we meet again let us go to do our
vocations work as we look for the face of Jesus in one another.
Miguel A. Zamora