Want to adopt a seminarian?
Monday, May 17, 2021
*Emily Chaffins
As an outgoing high school student with a schedule to end all schedules, I can sympathize with those who want to be part of a ministry but feel that they don’t have the time. Maybe you’ve tried to join a ministry, but the time commitment has been too much, or the ministry has been one of those “false-advertising” groups, where a lot is promised but not much gets done.
Well, if you’re one of those folks, then I’m going to extend an invitation to join the Serra Club of Miami – a ministry that does the ever-important job of supporting vocations, and that provides a welcoming, upbeat atmosphere, stress-free commitment, and does extensive outreach in the community (and if you’re a fellow high-schooler, there’s plenty of opportunity for those service hours you need!)
Our Serra Club is part of Serra International, which takes its name from St. Junipero Serra. It is an international organization with a mission to support priests, seminarians, and religious around the world in their challenging vocations.
When you become part of the Serran family, a wealth of fun community outreach activities opens up to you. We only meet once a month (currently on Zoom) for one hour, which means that there’s little to no strain on the schedule, and within those meetings we have wonderful guest speakers who provide inspiring talks about the faith. In addition, we plan our many events. For example, we organize an annual Christmas party at the seminary, can attend special Masses at the seminary and have breakfasts with the priests and seminarians, raise scholarship money for seminarians, and, lately, are planning an in-the-works project for a movie night at the seminary once quarantine is over.
But I would have to say that my favorite part of being a Serran is the Adopt-A-Seminarian Program.
In the Adopt-A-Seminarian Program, you donate your time by writing letters, as well as offering your daily prayers, to the seminarian you are selected to spiritually accompany throughout their journey to the priesthood. By becoming a seminarian’s prayer warrior, you become their adopted father or mother, brother or sister in Christ.
I enjoy writing letters to my seminarians, hearing about where they’ve come from and in what unique and important ways each seminarian is planning to serve the Church. Just as there are different jobs within the workforce, there are different charisms within the priesthood, from special Marian devotion to military chaplaincy to canon law.
In addition, it’s amazing to gain a new brother in Christ. It’s wonderful to be able to put a face and a name to those who are served by the Serra Club’s overarching goal of supporting vocations, and to get to know some of the lives that are impacted by our help and prayers – as well as to receive their support and wisdom in return. And once quarantine is over, my family is planning to invite our seminarians to dinner to celebrate.
It’s wonderful to be able to support priests, seminarians, and religious, especially in these challenging times for the Church and for the world. The community needs to come together to support our seminarians in these difficult days, so that they can one day strengthen us with their wisdom and with the sacraments.
So if you feel called to join in the Serran mission, be assured that you’ll be welcomed as one of the family.
To learn more about Serra Club of Miami or become a member, log onto serraclubmiami.org. We will be happy to have you there!
Editor’s note: For those who live in Broward, a Serra Club is also active there. Contact Malcolm Meikle, president, at 207-8331-0385 or email [email protected].
Comments from readers