Before he became the rector of the United States’ only freestanding, bilingual college seminary in the US – before he even became a priest – Msgr. Pablo Navarro was a kid wondering what he would be when he grew up.
A Cuban immigrant, Msgr. Navarro was raised in Miami, Florida, and his path towards his priestly vocation (and later Rector/President of local St. John Vianney College Seminary) was influenced by his family and community. One story in particular has stuck with him.
“When I was growing up, my pastor didn’t have the temperament for kids,” he recalled, chuckling. Even so, he said, his parish priest went out of his way to support children’s participation in church: “Whenever he had a sick call at the hospital, he would take three or four of us altar servers, so that we would see him doing priestly things, taking communion to the sick. For me, that was a great example. That was one of those seeds of my vocation.”
However, nowadays, most young people don’t have the opportunities to see vocations in action. As Msgr. Navarro noted, many Catholic families used to look upon religious vocations as a positive thing, and religious and priests commonly taught at schools and “were seen as role models.” Today, it’s rare to find religious sisters, brothers, or priests teaching in schools, and many families aren’t too keen on the idea of religious vocations, said Msgr. Navarro.
In our secular culture, how can we help young people become aware of vocations and the journey of discovery we all must undertake?
On January 18-21, 2024, people from across the US will gather in Miami for the Serra USA Rally for Vocations to learn “best practices for promoting vocations among Catholic youth,” according to the press release. Renowned figures such as Cardinal Thomas Collins of Toronto, Bishop Thomas Daly of Spokane, and Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami will be speaking at this national event. However, many people have never heard of the annual rally, much less the Serra Club.
What is the Serra Club, and why are events like the rally so important? We’re going to unpack these questions and show the great work that ordinary people are doing to answer God’s call and help others pursue their God-given mission.
America’s response to the vocations crisis
The Serra Club, which began in Seattle more than 80 years ago, is an international lay organization and “the Holy See’s official organization to promote vocations,” according to the rally’s press release.
The United States has over 200 clubs with an estimated 8,000 members. The 10 umbrella councils include the Serra US Council and about 14,000 members around the world.
The President of the Serra US Council, Mike Downey from Des Moines, Iowa, shared about the origins of the Serra Club: “Serra International is named after St. Junipero Serra, a Franciscan friar who went to the New World, California. Our mission is to foster new vocations, affirm and support vocations, and grow in holiness.”
“It’s a great group of Catholics – very humble. I think what distinguishes us is that all of us have a special place in our heart for vocations,” said Downey. “There are a lot of other organizations that help with vocations, but we’re the only one that has vocations as our sole purpose.”
President Elect of the Serra US Council, Dr. Anne Roat of Lafayette, Indiana, talked about Serra Spark, “28 tools guaranteed to help get vocations,” which includes outreach programs for young men and women who may have religious vocations.
The Past President of Serra International, Greg Schwietz of Omaha, Nebraska, has been involved in the Serra Club for 40 years, ever since he was in his 30’s and “appreciated the intergenerational aspects of Serra… the mentorship and example, whether they know they’re giving it or not.”
Service in the Serra Club runs in the family for Peter Jude, Past President and Treasurer of the Serra Club of Miami and member of the Serra International Membership Committee. Jude’s father, and then mother, both served as president of the club and encouraged their children to participate. Jude has been a member for 20 years, and, along with his wife Maria, have been dedicated members and leaders in the club. Their children, in turn, have also been active participants.
Along with organizing rosaries, Eucharistic Adoration events, and prayer groups for vocations, the Serra Club has created projects such as the Adopt a Seminarian program, where Serrans can volunteer to pray for and/or form supportive friendships with designated seminarians.
The church’s goal is to “create a culture of vocations,” Downey said. “What Serra does is help bring that culture all across the parishes and dioceses, and all around the world.”
The importance of the Serra USA Rally
“I look at the Serra Rally as being like a vitamin,” Schwietz said. “It’s like going on a retreat, in a sense. It sets a bar of understanding how important the work is, because sometimes we don’t know what we’re doing is making that much of an impact.”
According to Downey, attendees will be traveling from an estimated 2/3 of the 50 states, as well as Nigeria, Canada, Mexico, and Central America.
As Downey explained, “Events like the rally bring Serra members and leadership together…. At the rally, we can exchange information and best practices. It’s invaluable. It reinforces that we’re part of a larger group.”
The rally will include many panels and speakers, including a talk by Sister Irene Regina and Sister Margaret Anne Laechelin, local basketball-playing religious sisters featured on EWTN. In addition, among many other events, participants will tour St. John Vianney College Seminary.
“With the rally, my hope for the seminarians is that they will see they are supported: there’s a group of people praying for vocations and assisting,” said Msgr. Navarro. “For young men who are discerning, but who haven’t entered seminary yet, I hope the rally can help them think seriously about the priesthood. People can be on the fence, and things like this rally and retreats can be a gentle kick in the rear!”
“All Catholics have a responsibility to raise up priests and religious from their ranks,” said Schwietz. “Serra allows you to focus your attention on vocations for your diocese… and allows you to organize things that can’t be done by an individual.”
Why Miami? What Miami brings to the table
“The Serra Club of Miami was almost a miracle for us,” said Downey.
The Serra Club of Miami expanded from 12 members to 154 members in three years and is currently at 129 active members, according to Jude.
I became involved in the Serra Club of Miami three years ago and witnessed the growth. The club has been doing membership drives in parishes where they have existing members to promote vocations, target specific communities, and support a recent program called Hispanic Ambassadors. The Serra USA Rally will be in Miami in 2024 and 2025 so that other clubs can learn from these methods.
In addition, Miami was chosen because of its culture.
“Miami is unique because it’s a melting pot of cultures,” Jude said. “There are places in the country where you have pockets of cultures, but Miami has Little Venezuela, Little Haiti, Little Havana.”
As Msgr. Navarro noted, “the growing Catholic population in the US is Hispanic.”
Dr. Roat shared that Jesse Gallegos, the Vice President of Cultural Outreach with Serra International, will be on a panel at the rally.
“Jesse’s whole job is reaching out to other cultures, so I know that’s going to be wonderful in Miami,” Dr. Roat said. “Also, on the Serra Spark website, we’ve had so many requests to translate it into Spanish. We recently got a $10,000 grant, so we’re in the process of having all of those materials translated into Spanish, because that’s so critical here in the United States.”
How can we overcome today’s vocational challenges?
The 2024 Serra USA Rally’s theme, “best practices for promoting vocations among Catholic youth,” is essential in today’s culture.
“I don’t think the crisis is that God isn’t calling young adults,” Schwietz said. “The crisis is in young adults answering. Nowadays, people have a lot of choices. They overanalyze where they’re at and get analysis paralysis. In our culture, there’s a lower sense of urgency to decide. The decision process in life-commitment activities seems to be delayed.”
What can the average person do to support young people to discern their vocation?
“First and foremost, we start with prayer, and prayer leads us to action,” Msgr. Navarro said. “We need to do more than pray for vocations: we need to advocate for vocations.”
Msgr. Navarro observed that vocations flourish in parishes where laypeople are not afraid to approach a young person about the priesthood or religious life.
According to Downey, survey evidence points to Eucharistic Adoration as having a significant impact in young people’s discernment journey.
God also can use ordinary people like us to impact others’ lives and support them in their discernment.
“Nowadays, young people don’t leave home and are instead online,” Msgr. Navarro said. “There are drawbacks to having community, but in community, there is a joy of having someone there always to listen and understand you. Culturally, we miss this.”
That’s why, as Schwietz said, “An important part of what Serra does is walk with young adults, so they don’t have to walk alone.”
For more information on the Serra US Council and the upcoming Serra Rally, please visit https://serraus.org/event/serra-rally-2024/.
Image by ThalesAntonio on Shutterstock
