Annual State Car Raffle. Grand Knight's Message. Pancake Breakfast Update. August Knight at the Movies. Spring is Around the Corner

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1 KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS COUNCIL NEWS Monsignor Thomas M. Wells Council Volume 11, Issue 1 #13008 Silver Spring, MD September 2012 Grand Knight's Message Grand Knight Werner W. Moeller Spring is Around the Corner Worthy Brother Knights and friends of Council 13008: Greetings to all and thank you for bestowing on me the honor of selecting me to be your Grand Knight for the Fraternal year. I wish to offer my appreciation for Marvin s service during the previous year and hope that he will continue to offer his advice and assistance during the coming year. It is summer and I hope that you are able to take some time off to relax with family and friends. A change of scenery or just some time away from work often helps us refresh for the year ahead. However the work of the Council goes on even though individuals may be off on vacation. July was a busy month with the first Silver Rose celebration ever for our Council on July 16th. The Council and parish right-to-life group s and bulletin announcements resulted in a gratifying attendance at this rosary, prayer service and Mass. The Council Mass and installation on July 21st featured the installation of District Warden Marvin Schuttloffel and included the Archdiocese of Washington District s J. Kemp Cook 4th Degree choir and the Color Corps led by John Fox and was attended by our newly installed District Deputy George Carter and State Secretary Steve Adamczyk and their lovely ladies Patti and Kathleen. The annual Program meeting on the following Wednesday the 25th was attended by 5 of our Council Members, a very gratifying learning experience. We were reminded that recruitment is the life and future of our Order. We know that to do the Order s work we need funding and during the coming months we must plan for the fundraising work ahead. You are aware of our Christmas card sales. This year we have all-purpose cards to add to that effort. The annual Ford Mustang car raffle campaign ends Annual State Car Raffle This year's State Car Raffle is going on at St. Andrew's after Masses on September and First Prize is a 2013 Ford Mustang. If you can help with sales on the weekend of September 29-30, please respond to Bill Bolin's (wbolin@hotmail.com.) It only takes a few minutes after Mass. Knights should have received 12 tickets in the mail. Please mail the stubs and $10 to Financial Secretary, Paul Sanneman. Paul Sanneman 2803 Beechmont Drive Silver Spring, MD Please mail the stubs and payment by September 25-ish.* Pancake Breakfast Update Our council held our last breakfast on Sunday, September 9th. We sold 100 breakfasts and raised about $280. So far the council has raised about $2,000 for our parish education fund. Thanks are due to all the Knights who selflessly give of their time and energy to support this project. We've had a great council turnout at every breakfast. Our next breakfast will be held on Sunday, October 14 after all morning Masses. If you would like to help out, contact PGK Bill Bolin, wbolin@hotmail.com. No experience necessary. * August Knight at the Movies The August social meeting featured a screening of the film Bella. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office for Film and Broadcasting rated Bella as the secondbest film of 2007 noting that Bella presents an "affirmative pro-life message," along with "themes of self-forgiveness, reconciliation and redemption that should resonate deeply. Thanks to PGK John O'Donnell for arranging the set up and showing. * Grand Knight Message continued to page 2 Knights Of Columbus 1

2 Grand Knight Message continued from page 1 October 1, so there is not much time to get behind this effort that has traditionally provided a great portion of the Council s discretionary funding. The Tootsie Roll campaign can start up as soon as we are ready and I think we would be better off starting early while the weather is still warm and comfortable. Finally, in September we will be back to serving pancakes, eggs and sausages. The breakfasts will be a great place to tell the parishioners about our great work. Vivat Jesus. Deputy Grand Knight's Message Deacon Michael Bond This is the one hundred and thirtieth anniversary of the Knights of Columbus; it is also the eleventh anniversary of Msgr. Thomas G. Wells Council # As your new Deputy Grand Knight, I commit myself fully to working with Grand Knight Werner Moeller to make this the best year ever for our council. I ask every brother knight of our council to make that same commitment; after all, it is the same commitment that you made when you became a Knight of Columbus. Take a moment for an examination of conscience and ask yourself if you have truly honored that commitment: Are you active in council activities? Do you attend council business and social meetings at least once a quarter? Do you regularly receive the Sacrament of Penance? Do you regularly attend Sunday mass? Have you recruited a new member to our council since you became a Knight? Do you serve in any of our parish ministries such as: Usher Extraordinary minister of the Holy Eucharist Lector CYO St. Andrew Apostle School Youth ministry Social Justice Health and Safety Sacristan Choir Pro-Life To paraphrase St. Francis of Assisi, let this be the year that we make our council an inspiration not only to the other councils in our district and our state, but to the men of our parish by our example; using words only when necessary.* Chaplain's Message Deacon Michael Bond This past August we celebrated the memorial of St. John Mary Vianny, the patron saint of priests. While we normally think of priests as members of the ordained clergy, Pope Benedict XVI, in his 2011 Holy Thursday homily, urged us to remember Christians are a priestly people for the world [they] should make the living God visible to the world, they should bear witness to him and lead people towards him. He further stated that this priesthood which received by virtue of our baptism, challenges us to ask are we truly God's shrine in and for the world? Do we open up the pathway to God for others or do we rather conceal it? This means that St. John Vianny the patron saint for all Christians, and most especially for us as Knights. Here at St. Andrew Apostle, as Knights, disciples, and priests, we have a covenantal responsibility to call the men of our parish to be better husbands, fathers, sons, godfathers, etc. through our council. Our council exists for no other reason than to build and support the families of the domestic churches of our parish. It is a responsibility that we must embrace with will all our hearts, body, and spirit. As such, the Holy Father s question bears closer scrutiny, particularly when we apply it to our own council. Although our council is currently celebrating its eleventh anniversary, its membership has been somewhat stagnant. It perfectly proves the rule where twenty percent of the membership does eighty percent of the work. It can be a very daunting endeavor for a small group of believers to bring together the men of an entire parish to serve its parishioners. However, two thousand years of church history provides abundant evidence that it can indeed be Chaplain's Message continued to page 3 Knights Of Columbus 2

3 Chaplain Message continued to page 2 done. Indeed, as Catholic gentlemen, if we as Knights are to truly call ourselves a priestly people, it is imperative that we do so less another eleven years goes by with God s work undone. In his concluding remarks, Pope Benedict XVI could easily be speaking about our parish when he observes We have reason to cry out at this time to God: "Do not allow us to become a 'non-people'! Make us recognize you again! Truly, you have anointed us with your love, you have poured out your Holy Spirit upon us. Grant that the power of your Spirit may become newly effective in us, so that we may bear joyful witness to your message! Citing such examples as Blessed John Paul the Great and those that he beatified and canonized, he challenged us to be radiant examples of faith in our time. For the Knights of our council, the Holy Father thus challenges us to bloom here at St. Andrew s where the Holy Spirit plants us. Luke 10:2 says, The harvest is abundant but the workers are few; ask the Lord to send more workers to the harvest. May the Knights of Msgr. Wells Council reply, Here we are Lord; send us. St. John Mary Vianny, pray for us; St. Andrew, pray for us; Mary, Queen of the Knights, pray for us.* Monsignor Wells Message [From the Pastor s Desk, Spiritual Reflections by Msgr. Thomas M. Wells] Mortification Word Check September 24, 1997 cable ordered cheesecake (not my table, I assure you). Even the waitress (oops, wait staff) shuddered. All turned out well, however: the cheesecake lover assured companions that it was the first and only dessert for the week. The new Puritanism, with its shunning of immorality, is alive. It is merely directed to goals the Pilgrims may not have understood. But what of believers? Where those in the world will change habits of a lifetime to add six months to that life, what are followers of Christ willing to do in the battle against eternal death? Our Catholic tradition speaks of mortification (a word now so unfamiliar my computer word check does not recognize it); Scripture speaks of prayer and fasting as being essential in the battle against evil. Oh yes, many of us pray, at least in some habitual and half-conscious way; and for sure, prayer is of the spirit and self-denial is of the flesh. Is there, however, in most of our lives, any recognition that the desires of the flesh must be disciplined; is there any recognition that there is a battle between the world, the flesh and the devil on the one hand and the power of God on the other? As Catholics, we glory in the things of creation, whether music, good food, the glories of nature or whatever. However, we also recognize that, because we are weak and easily deceived, we can confuse creature with Creator. To deny ourselves, both for love of God and to keep ourselves on our toes spiritually, is not Puritanism; it is simply to be reminded, Who is the ultimate source of every good.* This week its green tea! Drink green tea and some wonderful thing will happen: maybe it counteracts the effects of Pocomoke River fish. Anyway, wish I had stock in green tea: it might be just the place to invest since stock in tofu seems to be dropping. The word "puritanical was once a terrible insult especially when applied to constraints upon behavior for a shared moral purpose. Puritanical blue laws closed doors on Sunday and meant that families actually had to spend a day together. The phrase, "banned in Boston," referred to puritanical judgments on the moral character of movies or books that prevented folks from openly and honestly exploring various kinds of deviant activities with which we should al1 be acquainted. Thank God, Puritanism is dead. Or is it? I saw a woman of mature age cringing behind a tree at a cook-out recently. In a parish bulletin, I will not write what she was putting in her mouth, but the worldlier among readers will know. Likewise, at a restaurant, someone at the next Knights Of Columbus 3

4 C O U N C I L #13008 OFFICERS: Chaplain Associate Chaplain Grand Knight Deputy Grand Knight Chancellor Warden Recorder Financial Secretary Treasurer Advocate Lecturer Inside Guard Outside Guard Trustee(3) Trustee(2) Trustee(1) CHAIRMAN: Program Director Church Activities Dir. Community Activity Dir. Council Activities Dir. Family Activities Dir. Youth Activities Dir. Vocations Chairman Membership Director Recruitment Committee Retention Chairman Tootsie Roll Chairman Pancake Breakfast Chair Pro-Life Couple Health Services Newsletter Editor Webmaster Father. Dan Leary Deacon Kenneth Barrett Werner W Moeller Deacon Michel Bond Thomas Beck William E Taylor Jr Marvin Schuttloffel, PGK Paul Sanneman David Keefe George Gillespie Wayne Miller Roderick O'Neil Nicholas Orechwa William Bolin, PGK Prosper Youm, PGK John O Donnell, PGK Deacon Michel Bond George Gillespie William Bolin, PGK Dave Czarnecki David Keefe M E M B E R S H I P M E E T I N G S All council meetings are held in the KoC Meeting Room in the basement of the old convent. Officer s meetings are held at 7:45 on the first Wednesday of the month. Business meetings are held at 7:45 on the second Wednesday of the month. Social meetings are held at 7:45 on the fourth Wednesday of the month. October Meetings Oct 03 Officer s meeting 7:45 PM Oct 10 Business meeting 7:45 PM Oct 24 Social meeting 7:45 PM November Meetings Nov 07 Officer s meeting 7:45 PM Nov 14 Business meeting 7:45 PM Nov 28 Social meeting 7:45 PM July Knight of the Month The July Knight of the Month for Council is Marvin Schuttloffel. He has been extremely supportive of the Council, the parish and has stepped forward as District Warden to assist the District Deputy in his important work.* July Family of the Month The July Family of the Month for Council is Lise and Kevin Baur and their sons James and John. Lise is extremely active in getting out the word to the parish regarding pro-life activities and was helpful in bolstering attendance at the Silver Rose ceremony. Kevin, while not a Catholic, attends Mass regularly and is active in other parish activities. John can be counted on to serve at the 8:30 Mass most Sundays.* July Birthdays Assoc. Chaplain Deacon Mike Bond on the 10 th ; Brother Michael Felde on the 12 th ; Brother Carlos Gamundi on the 14 th ; Brother Jay Dhanaraj on the 17 th ; Brother Deacon Harry Davis on the 24 th ; Brother Robert Cowley on the 27 th ; and, Brother Deacon Kevin Mukri on the 30 th. Also, Hema, wife of Brother Norman Marshall on the 6 th ; Isabel, wife of Brother Dennis Gorres on the 7 th ; Jean, wife of Brother Bernie Hillig on the 13 th ; and, Anne, wife of PGK Bill Bolin on the 22 nd.* August Birthdays Brother James Fahey on the 9th; Advocate George Gillespie on the 12th; Brothers Michael Aitken and Tony Gentilcore on the 16th; Trustee PGK, PFN Wayne Miller on the 17th; and, Brother Peter Sanneman on the 24th. Also, Karen, wife of Brother George Hardman on the 10th.* July Anniversaries Brother George Hardman and his wife Karen celebrate their thirty-first on the 17 th ; Brother Michael Caruso and his wife Cathy celebrate their eighteenth on the 18 th ; and, Brother Jay Dhanaraj and his wife Christina celebrate their twenty-seventh on the 28 th.* August Anniversaries If anyone got married in August, they neglected to inform the editor (It was probably too hot!).* Remember In Your Prayers During the family journey from Milwaukee the last week of August (while helping get my son Philip checked into Marquette), brother Knight Dave Keefe slipped by a hotel pool and broke his hip. Dave s surgery went well, replacing the left side ball joint.* Knights Of Columbus 4

5 Reflections Lawrence P. Grayson Misguided Compassion A Sign of Cultural Decay She was raped and should not have to bear the child The baby has Down syndrome and can never enjoy a good quality of life He has an incurable cancer and does not want to live in pain. With compassion, a decision is often made to terminate these lives, to rid the afflicted of their unwanted burdens. While the emotional, physical and economic toll on the individual and his or her family may thus be reduced, the compassion expressed is corrupt. One may have a feeling of sympathy for the woman who is raped, but what she has conceived is not a malignancy, a pathogenic disorder, or simply a cellular growth. It is a child. Even at this earliest stage, it is human life and must be given the dignity and rights due to every human being. Compassion is misguided when people advise the woman to abort the baby, to take the child s life so that she is not inconvenienced and can resume her accustomed lifestyle. Many people who talk a woman into having an abortion want to alleviate her distress and truly may believe they are helping her through a misfortune. Abby Johnson, the former Planned Parenthood clinic director turned pro-life advocate, wrote in her book, Unplanned, when asked Were you and your pro-choice coworkers really driven by compassion and tenderness, by motives of truly helping women and making the world a better place?, she answered, Yes. But these feelings were misplaced. The sympathetic workers ignored the fact that in every pregnancy there is an unseen life. After Abby Hoffman participated in an ultrasound-assisted abortion, she recognized that it was not a fetal mass that was being excised, but a child being killed. This experience transformed her life, and she asked herself: How is it that I made the wrong choices for what seemed to be all the right reasons? Every person, whether born or unborn, in the prime or at the end of life, with full capacities or disabled, is made in the image and likeness of God and has a right to life. As the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith stated in Donum Vitae, Human life is sacred and remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator No one can, in any circumstance, claim for himself the right to destroy directly an innocent human being. With the tremendous advances in genetics and early pregnancy diagnostic tools, embryos can be screened for a huge number of diseases and disabilities. While knowledge of an abnormality can be used to treat a disability in the womb, it is more likely to result in the child s destruction. A baby with Down syndrome, for example, has an extra chromosome. This child does not have an infectious disease, and is not a threat to its parents health. Rather, as the child will likely have slower mental and social development, it is an imposition on their lifestyle. The baby is viewed as an undesirable occurrence, an inconvenience to be avoided whenever possible. New, non-invasive, highly-accurate tests for Down syndrome can only give impetus to a trend in which the vast majority of unborn children so diagnosed are already being methodically aborted. Any decision to eliminate a child on the basis of such tests is nothing less than modern eugenics to eliminate the weak and undesirable. The same mistaken intention applies to the person who is in the last stages of life, or whose capabilities have decreased significantly. That person or is his caregivers does not have the right to dispose of that life, regardless of prevailing law. The British Columbia Supreme Court recently ruled that any ban on assisted suicide is unconstitutional under Canadian law. It stated that since suicide is not illegal in Canada, any ban on assisted suicide would be discriminatory, as it would deny the disabled the ability kill themselves in the same manner as able-bodied people could. What perverse logic! Now both the disabled and the able-bodied have equal rights to violate God s Fifth Commandment. Every life, at every stage from conception to natural death, has meaning. A person may have pain, but if accepted willingly, there is value in suffering. It was through suffering and death that Our Lord redeemed the world. Mother Angelica has said that aside from her vocation as a nun, the greatest gift she has received is her braces. Her daily pain has brought her closer to God. This does not mean that anyone has to suffer unnecessarily or cannot take steps to alleviate it. Everyone is entitled to palliative care. But the person near the end of life can make those last days spiritually meaningful for himself and for those he loves. We live in a culture of unrealistic expectations. Hollywood and Madison Avenue, television and the Internet, magazines and popular entertainment unrelentingly assail our psyches with messages and images of instant gratification, hedonistic pleasures, and radical self-centeredness. We are led to believe fantasies about the sustainability of youth, the attainability of sculptured beauty, the maintainability of sexual prowess, the naturalness of same-sex attraction, the impermanence of marriage, the oppressiveness of children, Reflections continued to page 6 Knights Of Columbus 5

6 Reflections continued from page 5 the avoidance of suffering, the burden of old age, and the indignity of dying. Is it any wonder that our values are distorted, that feelings like compassion and corrupted, that abortion, genetic manipulation, euthanasia and assistedsuicide are acceptable life choices? The deterioration of our culture is a moral and spiritual problem. The only way it can be reversed is through a new religious awakening, a national religious renewal. And the Catholic Church, which is the largest religious denomination in America, with the strongest central authority and unchanging dogmatic principles, is best positioned to lead the revival. As so many people who identify with the church, however, clerical as well as laity, have been affected by the hedonistic culture, the regeneration must begin with a re-evangelization of the church s members, and proceed to the larger society. The forthcoming Year of Faith, which will begin on October 11, 2012, with Pope Benedict XVI s call for a New Evangelization, is the time and way to begin. It will be a difficult task, but it can be done. Be optimistic! Remember, Vivat Jesus!* Insurance Agent's Message Bob Callaway, LUTCF, FICF Raising Awareness About Life Insurance Since 2003, each September has been designated as Life Insurance Awareness Month. Like most awareness-raising campaigns, Life Insurance Awareness Month was created because there is an overwhelming lack of understanding of the product among the general public. Each year, the Life Insurance Market Research Association puts out the results from a recent survey, and unfortunately, the numbers they report continue to be discouraging. A recent survey found that 76 percent of people polled did not have a personal financial advisor. Sixty-eight percent of that same survey group said their opinion of the current economic conditions was somewhat unfavorable or very unfavorable. In other words, a majority of those surveyed were uncomfortable with the economy and the uncertainty it brings, yet they did not seek professional assistance. Maybe they spoke with their friends and family. Maybe they hoped the instability would go away on its own. Maybe they did not know to whom to turn. If you fall into this category, please remember that as a member of the Knights of Columbus, you have a full-time, professional agent you can call your own. My primary responsibility is the care and service of your family s life insurance, retirement, disability income and long-term care needs. I ll answer your questions because I want your decisions to be informed ones. I want to help. Another LIMRA statistic said 43 percent of people did not buy life insurance because they worry about making the wrong decision. Talk with me, and, afterwards, you ll understand that the only wrong decision was not protecting your family s future sooner.* Fraternally, Robert J. Callaway, FICF, LUTCF Office: Cell: rjcalla@gmail.com Knights Of Columbus 6

7 October 2012 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Officers Raffle Tickets Due 7 Baby Bottle Distribution 14 Pancake Brk 9:30 to 1:00 After all Mass District Soccer Shootout 2:00-PM 8 Columbus Day Federal Holiday Soccer Shootout 2:30--4:30 PM 9 10 Business Baby Bottle Distribution Columbus Day Ball Glen Burnie Columbus Day 13 Adopt-A-Road Cleanup Meet 9:00AM 5:00PM Mass Wheaton Giant Social 28 Baby Bottle Final Collection Aspen Hill Giant Baby Bottle Final Collection Halloween November 2012 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 All Saints Day 2 All Souls Day Officers 11 Veteran s Day Pancake Brkfst 9:30 to 1:00 Christmas Cards After all Mass Business Thanksgiving Christmas Cards After Mass State Soccer Challenge, Our Lady, Queen of Peace School, Balt Social St Andrew s Day 1 Knights Of Columbus 7

8 September 2012 Monsignor Thomas M. Wells Council #13008 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Labor Day 4 5 District Raffle Ticket Sales All Masses 9 Pancake Breakfast 9:30 to 1:00 16 Wheaton Giant Fr McGiveney s Birthday Officers Business Wheaton Giant Aspen Hill Giant 23 Raffle Ticket 30 Parish Picnc Raffle Ticket Sales All Masses Social MD DREAM Act Presentation by Chris Ross Raffle Ticket Sales All Masses Aspen Hill Giant If you have an address change, please send it to the editor at: david@czarnecki.com Council Newsletter Msgr. Thomas M. Wells Council # Claybrook Drive Silver Spring, MD Change Service Requested «AddressBlock» Zip code not valid! Knights Of Columbus 8