Serra GB National Conferences
National Council meeting and AGM October 2021,
Following some 19 months of restrictions due to Covid. Our board and members set out our plans to resume normal activities with emphasis on restoring our membership which has declined over the past two years.
Shared vocations programmes from our Serra GB clubs were explored and further developed in order to encourage more vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life including better use of social media to attract younger people to our apostolate.
Emphasis was placed on the continued support we must give to our Bishops and vocations directors, through prayer and action, the most important aspects of our work.
Our last National conference of 2019, .
developed on the Holy Father's document "Christus Vivit." past with great memories
Theme: "Serra and vocational discernment."
Glasgow Serra had the honour of organising and hosting our
Serra GB National Conference of 2019
at The Best Western Lancashire Manor Hotel. It was indeed a most inspiring presentation given by our keynote speaker Fr Eamonn Mulcahy C.S.Sp. (Spiritan Fathers) who guided us through the Holy Father's apostolic exhortation "Christus vivit." We were introduced to Fr David Pember from the "Just Youth Volunteers" also of the Spiritan Fathers with some of his young members. Many of the young volunteers go forward to seminary or novitiate to become priests or religious, but mainly they work promoting our faith among young people. Serra International Conventions
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| As the world works to manage and control the pandemic affecting international travel, and in the interest of the health and safety of our Serrans all over the globe, the Serra International Board made the decision to postpone the Toronto June 2021 convention until June 2022.
The re-scheduled streamlined Serra International Convention 
Chicago, October 7-10, 2021 allowed those countries principally from the USA to attend. Regrettably there was no easy corridor from the UK to the USA.
****** Our Serra International Convention for 2022 will return to Toronto on 14th - 17th July 2022. ****** |
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77th Serra International Convention 2019
Our convention was a great success. Delegates were treated to a typical Mexican, Serran hospitality and joined in the celebrations with members from around the world .They enjoyed speakers of international renown. Serrans from across the world were honoured and indeed priveleged to visit the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe as a special highlight of our convention programme. Most outside the Americas were not familiar with Our Lady of Guadalupe. See our article in the August '19 edition of Serra GB focus.
The 76th Serra International Convention 2018 Our convention in Nashville Tennessee was an outstanding success with 5 prelates of the church as speakers and celebants at our liturgies. The introduction of our new Episcopal advisor, His Eminance Cardinal Collins of Toronto was our keynote speaker expressing the need for more vocations, encouraging our apostolate to continue carrying out the necessary work and expanding our membership throughout the world. The Cardinal's homily here .
Serra GB focus newsletter.
October edition 2021
August edition 2021
The October 2021 edition of the focus reflects on the core mission of Serra, to encourage vocations, and assist our members and friends in knowledge and understanding of our faith.
The bi-monthly Serra GB focus contains information about our apostolate, vocations stories, articles relating to our liturgical calendar and news items from home and abroad. The Serra GB focus is distributed to our members, associates, friends of Serra and those interested in our vocations apostolate. Should you wish to view previous issues, enter Serra GB focus on your browser and select the month from the dropdown list or contact the Secretary. Retrace St Junipero Serra's footsteps, courtesy EWTN : here
As we slowly return to some kind of normality we hope to return to our normal programme of events in the near future.
Our Serra clubs are slowly reopening returning to our normal meetings.
Consult each club for their progress. Online Mass is still relevant for those who cannot physically attend,
Spiritual Communion and Prayers for release from Covid-19 here
Vigils for vocations: Around the time of the Holy Father's vocation messages on Good Shepherd Sunday, our Vigils take on national and international importance with vigils being held around the country. Vigils for Vocations will return in various parishes throughout the country, with Mass, reflections, Eucharistic Adoration, speakers, seminarians and finishing with Benediction and Night Prayer. Contact your local Serra club for more information. Schools events:We expect to return when schools deem it responsible to do so.
Our senior schools events, with students from 4th-6th years, attract some 500-600 students viewing our religious and diocesan exhibitions for priesthood and consecrated life, followed by discussion groups and concluding with concelebrated vocations mass. School events are very popular with staff and chaplains. We hope we are planting the seeds for the Lord's call. 
Rosary for Vocations: Serrans from all over the wrld are invited to join in a recoitation of the Rosary for vocations. Our monthly international Rosary which started in 2017 continues on the last Saturday of every month. To join the Rosary free of charge from your computer, tablet or smart phone, click: here :
You can also download a Rosary for vocations for you or your Rosary group, with intentions, from our resources page under Holy Hours
World Day of Prayer for Vocations 2021.
The Holy Father's message "The Dream of vocation." This year “The year of St Joseph” Saint Joseph suggests to us three key words Dream, Service and Fidelity for each individual’s vocation. The Holy Father inspired by the life of St Joseph interpretes these three key words. The first word Dream, everyone dreams of finding fulfilment in life. We rightly nurture great hopes, lofty aspirations that ephemeral goals – like success, money and entertainment – cannot satisfy. If we were to ask people to express in one word their life’s dream, it would not be difficult to imagine the answer: “to be loved”. It is love that gives meaning to life, because it reveals life’s mystery.
The second word Service, marks the journey of Saint Joseph and that of vocation: His service and sacrifices were only possible, however, because they were sustained by a greater love: “Every true vocation is born of the gift of oneself, which is the fruit of mature sacrifice. The priesthood and consecrated life likewise require this kind of maturity. Indeed, we only have life if we give it; we truly possess it only if we generously give it away. Saint Joseph has much to tell us in this regard, because, through the dreams that God inspired in him, he made of his life a gift.
The third word Fidelity, Joseph is the “righteous man” who daily perseveres in quietly serving God and his plans. At a particularly difficult moment in his life, he thoughtfully considered what to do. He did not let himself be hastily pressured. He did not yield to the temptation to act rashly, simply following his instincts or living for the moment. Instead, he pondered things patiently. He knew that success in life is built on constant fidelity to important decisions. This was reflected in his perseverance in plying the trade of a humble carpenter, a quiet perseverance that made no news in his own time, yet has inspired the daily lives of countless fathers, labourers and Christians ever since. For a vocation – like life itself – matures only through daily fidelity. Read the full text of the Holy Father’s message
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