Catholic Men's Club


Aug. 11, 2008
 7:00 PM St. Mary’s Parish Center

Vespers were read as the opening prayer.
Communion Breakfast; Discussion about potential speakers with a deadline of one week to secure the service of a speaker. Vin Cahill & Paul Murphy to work on this.

Fr. Andres Serrano is visiting our parish this month and he offered several images of the church in Spain and Rome.

Fr. Andres has been ordained for six years. His first three years as a priest were spent in parish life in Madrid. The next three have been spent studying in Rome where he is a doctoral candidate. Fr. Andres spoke of the church in Madrid as being highly influenced by movements such as the New Catholic Catechumens, Opus Dei, Catholic Action, the Legion of Christ (originating in Mexico), Etc. He
said these are the sources for most religious vocations although he was not a member of any of these movements. He sees the movements as being primarily good for the church as they create many pro-active Catholics and engender much vitality in the church. Masses can last for up to two hours as often lay person who are part of a movement speak during the mass on topics relating to the readings and their interpretation. They speak on God’s word and its personal effect.

In Madrid, the church is sometimes in opposition to the secular government. Priests need to be careful about what they preach especially regarding moral arguments. Fr. Andres knows of at least three priests who have been beaten because they are priests.

While the movements are strong, there are few lay workers in a typical parish. The priest has to do everything sometimes including maintenance of the property.

Teaching catechism is done by young volunteers. Usually the teacher is only about three years older than the student which Fr. Andres sees as a good thing since the students can readily relate to the teacher. The faith is brought to the young through retreats, spiritual exercises, Summer theological courses, etc.

Also, faith is formed by charity.

When asked, Fr. Andres said he would bring a non-believer to the faith, first through example by introducing the person to one who leads a good Christian life before bringing the person to the Mass or the Eucharist. In this way, the non-believer could question the reasons for the Christian’s daily life and the answers could bring him to Christian conclusions.

Regarding the challenges of the church in Madrid, they are similar to those faced by the church in the U.S. Materialism, secularism, and the need to define the real purpose of our lives is the same.

However, many more Catholics attend mass in Madrid than here. The family is most important. There are many vocations in Spain. In one convent Fr. Andres said there were about 120 nuns with 40 being under thirty years old. There are more Catholic schools in Madrid than here.

Everyone present found the presentation to be most informative and we all thanked Fr. Andres for it.

Joe Godzik led us in the closing prayer.

Next meeting is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 13 as we return to a Wednesday night format for the fall.

Respectfully submitted.
Paul Murphy