Membership and Court Development: CDA on Fire His Dream Is to Spread the Truth of the Gospel As a Religious Priest
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SUMMER 2015 SHARE ® Membership and Court Development: CDA On Fire His dream is to spread the truth of the Gospel as a religious priest. Ready to serve. Brenden Bell holds a degree in Theology and a heartfelt desire to serve our Lord as a priest of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary. Sadly, thousands of vocations are in jeopardy. Many devout, educated young people like Brenden seek vocations to religious life and the priesthood each year. Many are highly accomplished professionals — all are ready to answer God’s call; but something stands in their way. The problem? Religious institutions and seminaries rarely accept individuals burdened with outstanding educational loans. This year, nearly half of all candidates in the U.S. will abandon their vocations for this very reason. The good news is, Brenden’s vocation With the help of Catholic Daughters and many others can be saved! like you, Brenden can Since 2003, Labouré has helped deliver over 255 dedicate his life to preaching worthy young people to priestly and religious the Gospel and administering formation. Will you join us in building a bridge the sacraments. to miracles? Donate today at www.LaboureSociety.org! (Or use the mail-in form below.) Help us deliver YES! I will support educated, qualified young people seeking new Catholic religious life through prayer and donations of: vocations by making a $25 $50 $100 $______ (your choice) tax-deductible Donate at LaboureSociety.org or mail a tax-deductible donation to: donation today! Labouré Society, 1365 Corporate Center Curve, Suite 104, Eagan, MN 55121 CD-6-2015 LaboureSociety.org BRIDGE TO MIRACLES 651.452.1160 National Regent’s Message Dear Sisters in Catholic Daughters, Our State Conventions are now history. Congratulations to the new State officers. You are now at the helm leading your state in everything Catholic Daughters will do for the next two years. Thank you for saying “yes” to this awesome responsibility. Remember to ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and pray to our Patroness, the Blessed Mother, to intercede for you in your Catholic Daughters work, and you will be successful in everything you do. Thank you to the outgoing officers for a tremendous job. Please stay very active helping your local courts and states in all Catholic Daughters activities. National Regent Our theme for this issue of Share is “Membership and Court Development: Shirley Seyfried CDA on Fire.” Why is it important for CDA to be “on Fire?” Fire connotes a sense of urgency. What is urgent in Catholic Daughters? Spreading the word of the value of Catholic Daughters is very urgent. We aren’t just Catholic Daughters because it is another social club to which we belong. We are Catholic Daughters because we believe in the word and message of Jesus Christ, and through Catholic Daughters we want to spread His love by our service to others. ACTS 1:15-17 and 20-26 tells the story of replacing Judas in the twelve apostles. Why was it important to find another apostle or more disciples? As the reading says, the Apostle was replaced to fulfill what is written in the book of Psalms: “May another take his office.” The apostles continued to find more disciples because the more followers there are the more preaching and spreading of the word of God will be done. Catholic Daughters are today’s disciples. We are here to spread God’s word and live it through our actions so the more Catholic Daughters there are, the more we will spread His word. This is our real reason to increase our numbers. This is a reason to be on Fire- to find as many new Catholic Daughters and Catholic Daughters courts as we can, to spread the love of Jesus through our service to others. I found this poem last weekend and it reminds me not only of our theme these two years, “Whatever you do for the least of My brethren, you do for Me,” but also of our theme for this issue, “CDA on Fire.” At Day’s End (By John Hall) Is anybody happier because you passed their way? Does anyone remember that you spoke to them today? The day is almost over, and its toiling time is through, Is there anyone that will utter a kind word about you? Can you say tonight in parting, with the day that’s slipping fast, that you helped a single person of the many that you passed? Is a single heart rejoicing over what you did or said? Does the one whose hopes were fading now with courage look ahead? Did you win the day or lose it? Was it well or sorely spent? Did you leave a trail of kindness, or a scar of discontent? As you close your eyes in slumber, do you think that God will say, “you have earned one more tomorrow by the good you did today.” Summer is just around the corner and most of our courts will take a couple months off to rest, relax, and refresh. Enjoy time off with your families and come back re-energized for our work in Catholic Daughters. Don’t forget to plan your new court project for next year, take pictures, write it up, and send it in to be featured in Share or the Quarterly. May God always bless you, your families, and your work in CDA. Peace and Love, Shirley Seyfried National Regent The Catholic Daughters of the Americas 1 Summer 2015 SHARE Volume 45• Number 3 Catholic Daughters of the Americas National Officers 16 National Regent “A Good Leader Fires Up a Good State Court.” Shirley Seyfried Minnesota National Regent-Elect 20 Helene Shepard Catch Fire! New York First Vice National Regent Olga Samaniego Texas Second Vice National Regent Sherry Nilles Iowa ® National Secretary-Treasurer SUMMER Vickie Feist 2015 ® AbouttheCover South Dakota SHARE The cover of this issue of Share illustrates our theme for the National Directors issue, Membership and Court Development: CDA On Fire! Carolyn Bachmann Ruth Guidry Susan Moné Membership and Court Development: Texas Louisiana Arizona CDA On Fire Letty Calvetti Jo Hammen Margi Oller Pennsylvania Wisconsin Ohio Mission Statement Joyce Ann Fleming Janet Martineau Sheila Storey Catholic Daughters of the Americas strives to embrace the Massachusetts Montana North Carolina principle of faith working through love in the promotion of justice, equality, and the advancement of human rights and human dignity for all. National Chaplain www.catholicdaughters.org Rev. Matthew Kuhn Minnesota Editorial Offices: Advertising Sales Share Magazine Representative: National Office Staff Catholic Daughters of the Americas Tom Panas Executive Director/Publisher 10 West 71st Street (212) 877-3041 Mary Impellizeri New York, NY 10023 Email: (212) 877-3041 [email protected] 2 Share Magazine • Summer 2015 Contents 6 CDA is on the Move! 12 Members on Fire! Departments 1 National Regent’s Message 17 CDA in Action 32 People 4 National Chaplain’s Message 23 Focus on Youth 34 Anniversaries 9 New Catholic Daughters Projects 26 News & Notes 36 Book Corner Submission of materials for publication in Share: All articles, stories and items must be submitted electronically via email to Tom Panas at the following email address: [email protected]. They should be submitted in a Word document attached to your email or within the body of your email. Photos must be sent in JPEG format as attachments to your email. Beginning with the Fall 2015 Issue NO HARD COPY PHOTOS WILL BE ACCEPTED. Be sure to identify individuals in photo, “from left to right.” Deadlines for final emailing of materials for publication are: Spring Issue—January 15; Summer Issue—April 15; Fall Issue—July 15; Winter Issue—October 15. Due to limited space all material appearing in Share is evaluated for interest to readers, theme in keeping with the purpose of Share, educational, informational, and religious value to readers and date received. The publishers are not responsible for factual errors from information submitted by authors and readers. The Catholic Daughters of the Americas has 70,000 members in 1250 courts in the United States, Mexico, Guam, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The Catholic Daughters of the Americas 3 National Chaplain’s Message Dear Sisters in Christ, Fire is one of the richest symbols in Sacred Scripture. From the burning bush that captivated Moses to the fires of the temple sacrifices offered to God in Jerusalem to the flames of God’s wrath in the book of Revelation, fire has always had a primal symbolic power. There is something in fire that captures our attention and our imagination. Burning, consuming, and growing in its own wild way, fire is alive. “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” (Luke 12:49) These words from our Lord Jesus Christ set the tone for the radical transforming power of his coming passion, death, and resurrection. Saint Peter also speaks of how our faith must be purified like gold “tested in fire.” Fire changes whatever it touches. It burns up its fuel; fire has its cost. Yet fire also brings light Father Matthew Kuhn and warmth. A pillar of fire guided the Israelites to follow the way of God, and “tongues as of fire” came to rest on the Apostles at Pentecost, showing the presence of the Holy Spirit who set their hearts on fire for the spreading of the gospel. “Stir into flame the gift of God that you have received,” says Saint Paul, “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:6,7) Paul, on fire with the Spirit of God, wants his spiritual son, Timothy, to have the same fiery passion in his faith.