DENVER 11 (NE) Strong families give the church great seminarians, Bishop Raymond J. Boland of Kansas City - St. Joseph told Serra Club International members gathered to celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family last December in Denver. Reflecting on the Gospel narrative of the presentation of the Christ child to Simeon and Anna at the temple, Bishop Boland said that strong Catholic families are open to God's call to the lives of their children.

    "In a day and an age when pleasure, wealth and greed are often the goals people seek, when a priest or religious stands in the marketplace, they are a contradiction," Bishop Boland said. "They are contradicting the prevailing culture and saying, 'There is another way,'" he said, recalling that "Christ was also a contradiction to the prevailing culture of his time by offering himself in sacrifice for the good of all".

    At the end of the Mass, the Serrans honored four elementary students who won top prizes in an annual essay contest on religious vocations. Boys were asked to write on the theme of, "What I would do if I were a priest or a brother." Girls wrote on the theme, "What I would do if I were a sister."