The Serra Club of Owatonna Area

11/01/2025

This is a Serra Club International Newsletter

Email from Corefocus Solutions Serra News From Around the World October 2025, 6th Edition     Message from SI Leadership Message from Cindy Bell, President SI Foundation Dear Serrans, My name is Cindy

10/29/2024

The St. Serra Club of Owatonna Area had a celebration commemorating 25 years of praying for vocations on Oct. 22, 2024. We had a Mass of Thanksgiving with three priests concelebrating, our Chaplain Deacon assisting, and Lee Jardine serving.
Then we had a wonderful luncheon, a video from Bishop Barron congratulating us on 25 years and challenging us to do more. This was followed by Judy Cozzens speaking about what the St. Serra Club does and about the new ideas for projects we can do to keep doing more to promote vocations and our own spiritual life.
We had a table displaying the eight people from our area who have followed God's call in their priestly and vowed religious life vocation in the last 25 years. These new vocations are some of the fruit of our prayer. Praise God, He listens to all of our prayer!

10/18/2023

The St. Serra Club of Owatonna Area had as a speaker, Sr. Ann Immaculée, who professed her Final Vows to her Beloved Spouse in her Religious Order the Sisters of Life.

11/14/2022

On Oct. 4th, 2022, the St. Serra Club of Owatonna Area joined the Clubs of Winona and Wabasha for a Cook-Out with the Seminarians and Priests and Sisters that live by the Seminary. We had a beautiful October day!

We had such a good time! It was a wonderful evening of everyone getting to know each other, and I know some names were exchanged to write to each other. Who'd have thought? A pen pal with a Seminarian! And chatting casually with priests, and even with the Rector! of IHM Seminary.

11/14/2022

Our ministry prays for new vocations to the priesthood and religious life. We work to affirm the priests we have, which increases our own spirituality.

10/10/2022

12/07/2021

Great Promise Award
At the end of each school year, (2020 - 2021, the St. Serra Club asks each of our sixth grade teachers to nominate: caring for others/compassion, courage to do what is right/moral values; willingness to volunteer and to serve/generosity; influences the thinking actions of peers/relates well, to name a few qualities.
During the parish's weekend masses on 10/16 & 10/17/2021 the pastors helped award these students with a hand-tied blue rosary which was made by Pete Connor (St. Joseph Parish), a Youth Catechism (YOUCAT), and a certificate from the St. Serra Club.
The students are:
Holy Trinity Parish (upper right, with Fr. Fogal):
Gracelyn Anderson/parents - Troy & Monica Anderson
Alexandra Herget/parents - Matt & Jamie Herget
Isabella Schiller - Tony & Heather Schiller
Christ the King Parish (upper left, with Fr. Pete):
Jayden Schweistahal/parents - Jake & Nicole Schweisthal
Kaylee Sammon/parents - Storm & Jenna Sammon
St. Joseph Parish (lower right, with Fr. Jim):
Annika Slacter/parents - Matthew Pobanz & Samantha Evans
Gavin Laughlin/parents - Chris & Meghan Laughlin
Sacred Heart Parish (lower left and middle, with Fr. Swamy):
Ella Seykora/parents - Charlie & Theresa & Seykora
Lowell Schultz/parents - Grant & Julie Schultz
Special Note: The award for Sophie Oswald/parents - Kirk & Becky Oswald, Sacred Heart Parish, will be awarded in the near future.
On Saturday, November 27th Sophie Oswald was awarded the Great Promise Award, sponsored by St. Serra Club. Sophie and her parents/family were unable to attend the GPA award several weeks ago.
Congratulations to all the students!
St. Serra Club

11/12/2021

Fr. Swamy spoke to the St. Serra Club of Owatonna Area at our membership meeting on October 11, 2021. Father has been at Sacred Heart Church for a little over a year and is loved by Owatonna.
We had 12 guests at our meeting!
Father is from India and was asked by his Bishop to go to the U.S. and work in the Diocese of Winona-Rochester. India is the second most populated country in the world. Because of the large and devout catholic families, there are a good number of vocations to the priesthood and religious life. ,So, many priests were sent to many places in the world like U.S. Europe, Germany, and South America. But now there’s starting to be less vocations due to small families and better education, and the present young kids are getting to like material things and have less quiet time, just like in the U.S.
Father Swamy says, “If you want to help me, pray for me.”

10/26/2021

The May 10th, 2021 St. Serra Club of Owatonna Area membership meeting was held at Divine Mercy Catholic Church in Faribault, MN. It began with Mass at 5:30 pm. The program was Fr. Carlos Marlins, who spoke eloquently for an hour about the extraordinary Vatican collection of over 150 relics, which he brought, some as old as 2000 years old. We brought articles of devotion such as rosaries, holy cards which we were able to touch to the reliquaries as a means of intercession.
The picture below is of the members who came from the left, Rose Ann and Bruce Kubicek, president, JoAnn Eichten holding the reliquary of St. Junipero Serra's relic, Tom Eichten, Romana Wesely, and Shirley Schultz.

10/29/2020

On October 3rd & 4th 2020, seven recipients received the Great Promise Award, which is sponsored by the Serra Club of Owatonna Area. The recipients are from St. Joseph and Sacred Heart Parishes, Owatonna; Christ the King Parish, Medford; and Holy Trinity Parish, Litomysl. The Great Promise Award has been presented to our Catholic youth over the past 15 years!

Our recipients' teachers nominated them based on core Christian values: Service, Intelligence, Sociability, Trustworthiness, Commitment, Purposeful, Compassion, Inquisitiveness, and Leadership. The recipients each received a certificate from the Serra Club, a YouCat (youth catechism), and a beautiful rosary made by "Rosaries by Peter" (Pete Connor).

The 2020 Great Promise Award recipients are: Tyler Anderson, Kaitlyn Dobberstein (Holy Trinity Parish); Jose Flores (Christ the King Parish); Mason Klecker, Noelle Kubicek, Emma Meiners (Sacred Heart Parish); and Amelia Baldwin (St. Joseph Parish). Congratulations!!

The Serra Club of Owatonna Area prays for and supports vocations to the priesthood, consecrated religious, deacons, married couples, and the single life. The Serrans assist members to recognize and respond to God's call to holiness in their own lives as well.

06/15/2019

8 people from the Owatonna Area Serra Club went to the Bishops and Rector's Dinner on April 12th, 2019 and saw many priests, nuns, and seminarians we knew. We were even serenaded by some seminarians!