CARROLLIAN NEWS. July 2018 GRAND KNIGHT S REPORT FOURTH DEGREE

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1 CARROLLIAN NEWS July 2018 GRAND KNIGHT S REPORT Happy Birthday America!!! I hope this finds everyone enjoying this great holiday. Also, Happy New Year to our council as July 1 starts another fraternal year where we stop resting on our laurels and roll up our sleeves. Speaking of rolling up our sleeves, I need help with the home bathrooms. I will be working Thursday, July 5th from 4 till I get the Ladies restroom done. If you can help let me know. Our next meeting, Tuesday, July 10th will be our annual cookout from 5-6:30 followed by members-only installation of Officers. Our council will provide all the fixins except for your grillin meat and desserts. If you re cooking a burger, please bring your own bun. Please bring a dessert also. The golf club will provide mixed drinks while the council will provide all other drinks. I need more volunteers for the St. Michaels Parish Mustang Festival Beer Booth. I need volunteers for all three days, Thursday, July 12, Friday, July 13 and Saturday, July 14th. The times are 6-8 and 8-10 on Thursday and 5-7, 7-9 and 9-11 on Friday and Saturday. It s fun and it s a great way to spread the good word about us Knights. That s it from here. I hope I hear from you all soon. God Bless, Ray Blust, Grand Knight FOURTH DEGREE We bid a fond farewell to our Worthy Faithful Friar Fr. Bill George. He has been assigned to the Gregorian University Foundation in Washington DC. We thank him for his stories, knowledge, advice and being a down to earth good friend to us all. You will be sorely missed, but please know you are always welcome at this Assembly anytime you are back in the area. Welcome to our newest member Eric Mowry who took his 4th Degree Exemplification last month at the Meadow Lands. We will be having our officer installation and summer cookout at the July meeting. The cookout starts at 6:30 and the installation starts at 7:30. The Assembly will provide burgers, dogs and drinks. Feel free to bring a covered dish to share. Family and guests are welcome. Also at the July meeting we will be having a 3rd reading and vote on the proposed by-law change. The change will be moving the meeting time to 7:00 p.m. If the proposed change passes it will take effect at the August meeting. Continued on Page 2 1

2 The Honor Guard will be participating in the Italian Festival Mass on July 29th. It will be held at 10 a.m. at the Wheeling Waterfront. I will need Honor Guard members suited up and ready at 9:30 a.m. so we can receive instructions. This might be our last Italian Festival Mass as the new regalia requirement goes into effect Next meeting will be June 19th at 7:30. Matt Koval, Faithful Navigator May 24th Close to pin Leasure Winning team minus 7 Knutsen - Wagner - Conti - Kolas 2nd Place minus 1 Leasure - Blust - Blust -Vogler June 7th Close to pin Morgan Winning team minus 10 Widmer - Klamut - Wagner 2nd Place Vcelka - Knutsen - Coyne GOLF NEWS June 14th Close to pin Widmer Winning team minus 11 Widmer - Conti - Wagner 2nd Place minus 6 Leasure - Nau - Morgan - Griffith June 21st Close to pin Vogler Winning team minus 6 Knutsen - Klamut - Wiley 2nd Place minus 6 Widmer - Griffith - Tepe June 28th Close to pin Wagner Sr. Winning team minus 6 Widmer - Klamut - Vogler - Coyne 2nd Place minus 3 Griffith - Conti Wiley Chuck Wagner, Chairman KNIGHTS ARE PRO-LIFE Facebook confirms that it partners with Pro-Abortion Groups that target Pro-Life Organizations. Mark Basich, Pro-Life Director 2

3 MEMBERSHIP MATTERS emembership: This pilot program for joining the Knights of Columbus is the result of several years of research and reflection by the Supreme Council, which engaged state and local council leaders, as well as prospective members, through surveys and focus groups. This process identified several membership goals, including developing a new way to introduce men to the activities of our Order that would strengthen and benefit all councils and members. Members who join online ( emembers ) are members of the Knights of Columbus who have not yet taken a First Degree or been admitted to a local council. As a member, like all members of the Knights of Columbus, they will have the right to purchase insurance through a Knights of Columbus field agent. They will also receive Columbia magazine, the free accidental death benefit (age restrictions apply), and are eligible for participation in the family fraternal benefit. They may also attend select local and state council events which are promoted by your state division. More information on this will be provided at the next meeting. The great thing about this is that you can now direct a prospective new member to and they can sign up immediately. Recruiting Tip of the Month: Follow-up with all prospective members in a timely manner. It is essential that follow-up communication, by personal contact, occurs within a few days at the most. Remember, it s not about the numbers, but membership matters because God wants us to take care of our families and live out our faith in love. Brian Gordon, Membership Director TRAINING OPPORTUNITY The Knights of Columbus has an enhanced Training Portal that aims to help you develop your skills, thus propelling your effectiveness and aiding the mission of your council. You will be provided targeted learning while being able to search through Video Channels for information. You can proceed at your own pace, as the content is accessible 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. As your schedule permits, please take some time to take advantage of all the new resources available to you. An Open Enrollment site has been established so that any officer or member can take any of the courses currently available. All Brother Knights are encouraged to go to kofc.org/trainingmicrosite to register. The next Supreme Training Webinar, entitled Council Officer Duties - Quick Start Training, will be presented on Thursday, July 26 th at 8:30 pm. Each council officer, whether elected or appointed, becomes a fraternal leader. A council can only be successful by working as a team. A team or council can accomplish far more than individuals acting alone. Thus it only makes sense for everyone to fully understand the duties of each officer. Every council officer or member will benefit from participating in this webinar. To register go to and click on the For Members button in the upper right corner. Then go to the Resources tab and click on Fraternal Training Webinar. You will also find all of the Webinars on Demand section there as well. Even if you can t attend live, registering will allow you to be able to access this presentation on demand at a future date. Brian Gordon, State Training Coordinator 3

4 Knights of Columbus Insurance Our Guarantees Set Us Apart Knights of Columbus life insurance offers something precious few other financial products can guarantees. As long as you pay your premiums, the policy proceeds will be there for your beneficiaries, should something happen to you. That s peace of mind, and that s what we offer with every product in our portfolio. We guarantee the cash value in your whole life policies will be there. We guarantee the rates on your term insurance. We guarantee our retirement products will provide a stream of income when you need it. On top of those product guarantees, I guarantee that I will offer professional, high-quality service that you would expect from our organization. Our Order is among the highest rated life insurers in North America. AM Best has rated the Knights of Columbus A+, Superior, or better, for over 40 consecutive years. It s a testament to our track record for excellence and security. I would suggest that a principal reason that we were able to achieve those accolades is because we remain steadfastly committed to the vision of Venerable Father Michael J. McGivney by providing life insurance by brother Knights for brother Knights. That commitment is an essential core value of the Knights of Columbus, and our core values permeate all levels of our organization. We pledge to serve our brother Knights, and their families, according to our Golden Rule: In all my professional relationships, I pledge myself to the following rule of conduct: I shall, in light of all conditions surrounding those I serve, render that service which, under the same circumstances, I would apply to myself. Let s talk soon to discuss how our products can bring that peace of mind to you and your family. 4

5 MARK YOUR CALENDAR! - UPCOMING EVENTS Tuesday, July 10 th, July Council Meeting. Annual in-house picnic at 5 p.m. followed by installation of Officers. Thursday, July 12 th through Saturday, July 14 th, St. Michael s Parish Festival. Council will be working both beer booths all three days. Sunday, July 29 th, 10 a.m., Italian Festival Mass Sunday, July 29 th, Fifth Sunday Rosary CANDLES AT THE BLESSED MOTHER S SHRINE JULY 2018 WK 1 ST WK 8 TH WK 15 TH WK 22 ND WK 29 TH RAY AND JULIE BLUST (ANNIVERSARY 7 TH ) DAD GRUBLER (DEC) ANNIV. 11 TH JULY LEW AND BETTY NEWMAN III (DEC). DUTCH AND CEIL FROHNAPEL (DEC) WAGNER-MADL FAMILIES (DEC) JOANNE AND KEN BURKHART DOT SCHMITT (DEC) JIM POWELL AND RV BURKE FAM KATIE AND JACK FAHEY CHUCK AND JEAN GRIFFITH PLEASE CONTACT PHIL EMMERTH AT FOR CANDLES AT THE BLESSED MOTHER S SHRINE OFFICERS FOR FRATERNAL YEAR 2017/18 Grand Knight: Ray Blust Inside Guard: Patrick Baltzell Chaplain: Fr. Bill Matheny Deputy Grand Knight: Art Bertol Outside Guard: Joe Markovich District Deputy: Brian Gordon Chancellor: Matt Koval Trustee 1 Year: Bernie Grubler Recorder: Bill Buchanan Trustee 2 Year: Chuck Wagner Field Agent/ Treasurer: Ed Novotney Trustee 3 Year: Brian Gordon Fraternal Benefits: Eric Mowry Advocate: Steve Borkoski Financial Secretary: Ken Staley Warden: Pat Plunkett Newsletter Editor: Matt Mandarino 5

6 Technology and the New Evangelization: Criteria for Discernment Fr. Jonah Lynch, FSCB & Michelle K. Borras NIHIL OBSTAT SUSAN M. TIMONEY, S.T.D. CENSOR DEPUTATUS IMPRIMATUR DONALD CARDINAL WUERL ARCHBISHOP OF WASHINGTON Technology Is Not Neutral The changes in our approach to the world brought about through the use of technology are quite important. In particular, much depends on which aspects of life are made easier and which ones are made more difficult through a given technology. In my conclusion, I will propose that we ask first of all what we wish to do or say through technology, in order to be conscious of the gains and losses incurred through its use. But first, we must tackle a common misconception. Very frequently, we say or hear others say that technology is neutral, and everything depends on how you use it. The analogy is made to older tools: a knife, it is said, is neither good nor bad, and can be used either to slice bread or to kill a person. I would like to face this question head-on. First, I need to clarify that in saying that technology is not neutral, I am not saying that it is intrinsically evil. By neutral we usually mean taking things to the extreme that the Internet was not invented by the devil. And even if there were a whiff of sulphur involved, it is undeniable that along with the bad, many good things can be found on the Internet. Thus, we presume, the only real problem is to use the Internet and other technologies well. The problem is that at this point we tend to make an unjustified leap. That is, we tend to think that only the user uses the technology. But this is not true: it is also the technology that uses its user. Every tool has an impact on the person using it. In that sense, they are not neutral. The foregoing examples can be understood more clearly if we briefly mention a recent development in neuroscience called neuroplasticity. The term indicates the fact that experience modifies the human brain in physically measurable ways, including the growth and death, the strengthening and weakening of dendrites (something like connecting wires) between neurons, and the reprogramming of groups of neurons for new functions. These developments have been discussed in many recent books, to which I refer the interested reader. For our purposes, it is enough to state that the changes which occur in the brain as a result of repeated activity can have substantial consequences. A personal example which I would like to mention has to do with reading and prayer. At one point in my life as a priest, I spent a lot of time speed-reading textbooks, news web sites, and educational studies while working on a Master s degree. I became good at multitasking and quickly finding relevant information for the papers I wrote. At the same time, I experienced a growing difficulty in keeping my mind on one thing at a time, in particular when reading complicated theological works and while praying my breviary. My eyes kept jumping down a few lines, 6

7 looking for key-words, and not following the more leisurely pace of the biblical text. At first, this did not seem to be a serious problem, and I kept pressing ahead. When a friend gave me a copy of Nicolas Carr s The Shallows, I realized that my experience was more important than I had first thought. Carr shows in his book that the kind of reading I was doing was literally re-wiring my brain! Once it was thought the brain reached a substantially fixed form with physical maturity, and it worked more or less like a computer. Carr s book helped me see that the reality is quite different. Neurons continually form new connections between themselves. We were born with some neurological structures, but these structures are profoundly modified by experience. The meaning and importance of this discovery is hard to overestimate. One of the underlying dynamics is called Hebb s rule, formulated by the Canadian neuro-scientist Donald Hebb in 1949: Cells that fire together wire together. If two neurons more or less in the same area of the brain are stimulated at the same time by an experience, they can form physical connections between themselves through the growth of new dendrites. More recently Edward Todd and Michael Merzenich have demonstrated that there are other possible mechanisms. Not only does experience generate neurological structures, strengthening and weakening the links between neurons, but it can also make entire groups of neurons change roles. Thus, for example, stroke victims can recover body movement by reprogramming the neurons in an undamaged area, which then substitute for the damaged neurons. And that isn t all. It is sufficient that an experience be remembered in order to strengthen the connections in play. A notable example of this phenomenon regards musical practice. One can practice even by only thinking of playing, without actually touching the keyboard of a piano, and really improve. A study done in 1995 by Alvero Pascual- Leone demonstrated that a group of pianists who only imagined playing certain notes registered the same changes in their brains as others who actually played the keyboard! When connections are strengthened between neurons, they can become the easiest route of communication. That is how habits are formed, both of action and of thought. All of this has deep implications for our relationship with reality. We become what we think, what we see, what we read, and what we do. This is not a mystical affirmation; on a neurological level, our experiences never leave us unchanged. They modify us, for better and for worse, creating or strengthening new connections in our brains, weakening or eliminating others, forming us in the image of our actions, thoughts, desires, and tools. If there is a two-way relationship between a tool and its user, between man and technology, which are the tools we would most like to resemble? Reading the Scripture creates a powerful capacity for reasoning and an attention to subtle detail that man does not naturally have. It can only be acquired by long experience, and by the decision to concentrate on certain types of reading. Meditating the lives of the Saints helps us to form our will and our intelligence to the highest standards. Good moral action creates virtuous habits. In other words, all of the above actions partially rewire our brains in the image of those same actions. In this brief pamphlet, there is not enough space to go any further with this line of reasoning. I hope that these comments help at least to see that the question we began with How can the Church use new technologies to further her mission? does not have an easy answer, precisely because the technologies themselves modify the messages they carry. This is not a new problem; every form of communication shares in it. But it is a particularly important problem today, as a result of the continual acceleration in development and use of communication technologies. To be continued... 7

8 Sub tuum praesidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genetrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen. We fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen. Interested in learning more about the Catholic Faith? Visit the Knights of Columbus on-line Catechism at: Nuptial Blessing Holy Father, who formed man in your image, male and female you created them, so that as husband and wife, united in body and heart, they might fulfill their calling in the world; O God, who, to reveal the great design you formed in your love, willed that the love of spouses for each other should foreshadow the covenant you graciously made with your people, so that, by fulfillment of the sacramental sign, the mystical marriage of Christ with his Church might become manifest in the union of husband and wife among your faithful. May they also sustain, O Lord, by their deeds the home they are forming and prepare their children to become members of your heavenly household by raising them in the way of the Gospel. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. 8