NORTH PROVIDENCE — The Serra Club of Providence hosted its annual Seminarian-Parent Dinner on June 20 to honor the parents and families of seminarians and the role they play in helping to foster vocations.
The Serra Club also raises awareness of the role of families in the fostering of vocations.
“Of course, there would be no seminarians without amazing parents,” said Keith Kline, one of the coordinators of the Serra Club. “We know in ways big, and ways small, you have helped to raise these amazing sons to simply say ‘Yes’ to whatever Jesus may be calling them to serve Him in His Church.”
Such sentiments were shared by Msgr. Albert A. Kenney, Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Providence, in his speech before the Serra Club.
“We are certainly grateful to God for the prayerful and talented members of the faculty who help form our future priests,” Msgr. Kenney said.
“The faculty are men of the Church, with a keen awareness of the role of the priest in today’s society. Their commitment to their ministry of priestly formation is very much appreciated. And certainly we’re grateful to God for our seminarians, with a selfless, courageous and joyful spirit, they strive each day to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit, as they are formed to walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, the High Priest, the Shepherd of our souls, Who is the model of every priest.”
Equally important, he added, is that we must be grateful to God for the parents, members of the Serra Club, members of the McVinney Foundation, and all the faithful parishioners throughout our diocese who support priestly vocations by their prayers, sacrifices, and especially the powerful witness of their good example.
Mark and Elena Habershaw, parents of Providence seminarian Adam Habershaw, were asked to speak before those present at the Serra Club dinner in order to provide a parent’s perspective on the journey towards becoming a priest.
While noting that their son showed signs of interest in the priesthood even as a youth, he initially showed hesitation in acting upon his calling.
As Mark and Elena committed themselves to praying for their son, he became ever more committed to acting upon his vocation. While they see their son’s commitment to the priestly path as a fulfillment of their prayerful trust in God, the events leading up to that point were in many respects filled with uncertainty, thereby forcing them to trust in God to ever greater degrees.
“Looking back, the hand of God was involved in all of this,” said Mark Habershaw. “I wanted God to be straight with me, but God brought me left, and right.”
Steven Diel, a seminarian for the Diocese of Providence, said his road to formation as a priest has been an amazing one.
“It’s been quite the journey, and my family’s been behind me the entire way,” Diel said.
Seminarian Patrick Barr said being a member of a family of devout Catholics inspired him to want to enter the priesthood.
“I have an uncle who’s a priest, so just growing up, getting to observe him, I see behind the scenes of what the life of a priest was like, it made the decision to join the priesthood easier for me,” said Barr.
“As I get closer [to my ordination], I see [that] none of us deserve this, and God is so good calling some of us [to this vocation], but also He’s not going to strand you without His grace,” noted seminarian Nicholas Jones.
During the dinner, the Serra Club honored Cynthia DeAngelis, who recently retired as the administrative secretary of Our Lady of Providence Seminary, Office of Vocations, Office of Pre- and Post Ordination Formation, and the St. John Vianney Residence. DeAngelis also served as the former liaison for the Serra Club. After the dinner, she was given a gift as a token of appreciation for her years of service to the Diocese of Providence and the Serra Club.
Founded in 1934 in the Diocese of Seattle, the Serra Club is an international organization dedicated to promoting vocations to the priesthood. To this end, the Serra Club will organize private prayer meetings to pray for an increase in vocations to the priesthood and religious life, as well as organize public events to raise awareness of the priesthood and give resources to help seminarians and newly ordained priests and religious. The organization takes its name from the 18th-century Spanish-born Franciscan missionary St. Junípero Serra, who traveled throughout Mexico and the west coast of the United States establishing missions. Upon his canonization in 2015 by Pope Francis, St. Junípero Serra was declared the patron saint of vocations.
