THE KNIGHTLY NEWS. FITZGERALD COUNCIL 833 KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS November 2018 Newsletter. A Pioneer Catholic of Lincoln

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1 A Message from our Grand Knight: Greetings Brother Knights and friends, Happy Thanksgiving everyone and I want to give thanks for all of you that take some time out of your busy schedules to read this. I open this month s article giving thanks because it is important for each of us to acknowledge how fortunate we are and that these are all blessings from God above. Give thanks during your pre- Mass mediation between the penance and petitions as you look up at the Crucifix and contemplate the greatest Gift of all. In addition to all of the holiday preparations that are going on at home, there are quite a few things going on in our council and in St Teresa s parish between now and Christmas. The logical successor to giving thanks is to show appreciation and we can do that by putting our faith in action. Be sure to reserve some time in your holiday schedule to give back to the community that gives so much to us. There is a church grounds clean up on Saturday, 11/10, and our parish bazaar on Sunday, 11/11. On that Sunday, please include in your prayers all the men and women who have served our nation in uniform over the years so that we continue to enjoy the gifts of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. On Tuesday, 11/13, we will hold our Annual Mass for the deceased members of our council as part of the November council meeting. Please note the date change. (Continued on page 2) Knight of the Month: Knight of the Month is Cliff Henggeler. Cliff helped work two shifts on both Saturday and Sunday for the Tootsie Roll Drive. We appreciate the extra effort for this traditional and important fund drive that the Knights of Columbus do every year. Thanks Cliff! Knight Family of the Month: The Family of the Month is Cindy Vestecka and the Thrift store family for having a record setting Christmas sale. Congrats! Upcoming Events: November 11th: St. T s Bazaar November 12th: Veterans Day November 13th: Mass for deceased Knights November 20th: KOC General Meeting 7:30pm November 22nd: Thanksgiving November 24th: Nativity Set-up November 26th: Officer s Meeting 7:30 pm OFFICERS: Chaplain: Father Hottovy Grand Knight: Jim Stell Dep. Grand Knight: Financial Secretary: Tony Schafers Treasurer: Mark Bauer Recorder: Barry Butler Chancellor: Alex Cordry Warden: Brad Behne Advocate: John Lenich Lectorer: Mike Szatko Inside Guard: Dylon Knudson Outside Guard: Philip Paitz Trustees: Dennis Hruby Ron Schinkel Marv Burbach

2 (Continued from page 1) The 3 rd Wednesday of the month is the day before Thanksgiving and we did not want to take brother Knights away from their families. With everything else going on, Tuesday the 13 th is the best fit. We begin our November monthly meeting with a Celebration Mass at Knight s Court and during the Prayers for the Faithful we will read all the names of passed Brother Knights. We take this time to remember and honor those that have gone before us. I invite everyone who has had a member of their family as a Brother Knight, whether that be a husband, a father, a brother, a son or uncle to come celebrate with us. After Thanksgiving on Saturday, 11/24, we Knights will set up the Nativity scene in the church courtyard and decorate the council hall. Finally, on Saturday December 15 th, is our council s annual Christmas dinner and party, home of the liveliest Dirty Santa gift exchange in town. I look forward to seeing all of you there. There will be separate invitations with RSVP s going out to all the knights for this event. In Service to One, In Service to All. Vivat Jesus! Fraternally Yours, Jim Stell Grand Knight, Fitzgerald Council 2

3 A Message from our Chaplain: Dear Brother Knights, Obviously we are living in very challenging times for the Church. Recently I came across an article from the Catholic New Agency entitled: The Seven in Heaven: Meet the new saints to be canonized this weekend. It summarizes the lives of the seven newest saints of the Church and the impact they had on their community, their country and their world. In reflecting on the life and times of St. Paul VI, he lived in very difficult and tumultuous times of social, political and ecclesial change. He is the pope that decided to continue the Second Vatican Council. He is the pope that, despite tremendous pressure both from outside and inside the Church, retained the continuity of 2000 years of Catholic Church teaching regarding the prohibition of artificial birth control in the writing of his historic encyclical Humane Vitae (On Human Life). St. Paul VI in this letter went on to prophetically list the many harmful effects of widespread use of the pill in society: increased objectification of women, increased infidelity and breakup of marriages, and a weakening of the overall morality of society. Fifty years after he wrote those chilling words we see how extremely accurate he was in his predictions. He was a light in a time of great cultural darkness. St. Oscar Romero was a courageous voice for the poor in El Salvador when so many in power wanted to silence him. As the bishop of San Salvador he ultimately was martyred for his being a champion of the impoverished. He was gunned down while he was celebrating Mass in front of a large congregation. He too was a light in a time of great political darkness and turmoil. We are called to be light in this dark time. It would be so easy and comfortable to be hidden. If we are to become the saints that God wants us to be we need to be the voice and witness of truth, virtue and courage in a time of so much division, violence and moral weakness. From the Office of Readings for All Saints Day, St. Bernard challenges each of us: Calling the saints to mind inspires, or rather arouses in us, above all else, a longing to enjoy their company, so desirable in itself. We long to share in the citizenship of heaven, to dwell with the spirits of the blessed, to join the assembly of patriarchs, the ranks of the prophets, the council of apostles, the great host of martyrs, the noble company of confessors and the choir of virgins. In short, we long to be united in happiness with all the saints. But our dispositions change. The Church of all the first followers of Christ awaits us, but we do nothing about it. The saints want us to be with them, and we are indifferent. The souls of the just await us, and we ignore them. Come, brothers, let us at length spur ourselves on. We must rise again with Christ, we must seek the world which is above and set our mind on the things of heaven. Let us long for those who are longing for us, hasten to those who are waiting for us, and ask those who look for our coming to intercede for us. We should not only want to be with the saints, we should also hope to possess their happiness. While we desire to be in their company, we must also earnestly seek to share in their glory. Do not imagine that there is anything harmful in such an ambition as this; there is no danger in setting our hearts on such glory. Let each one of us be the courageous light and witness of Christ in our world today. If we do this we will become the saints of our time that God created us to be. Yours truly in Christ, Fr. Hottovy 3

4 KOC St. Teresa Corporate Communion The October 28th, am mass was our council's Corporate Communion Mass, which is an opportunity for all the Knights of our Council and their families to sit and pray together in a show of unity and fraternity. Corporate Communions are a powerful sign of our fraternal solidarity. It provides a visible sign for the community to see the Knights gathered together. 4

5 KOC 833 Recruiting Update Congrats to Marvin Burbach, our recruiting coordinator, through lots of effort and hard work has put our council #2 in state for recruiting and Marvin is the #1 recruiter for the 1st Quarter of the Knights calendar year. Good job Marv! 5

6 Insurance Questions? Contact our Knights of Columbus Field Agent: John Costello Lincoln, NE