In This Issue. And the angel said to them, FEAR NOT, FOR BEHOLD, I BRING YOU GOOD NEWS OF GREAT. JOY that will be for all people.

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1 FATHER EDWARD FOX COUNCIL 6747 & FATHER JAMES BURGE ASSEMBLY 2707 NEWS Fraternal Year, Issue 8 January 2017 Faithful Navigators Message Peace and Blessings as we enter a new year. Thank you for your charity, unity, and fraternity this past year and especially your service to God through your works with the Knights of Columbus. I would like to share a meditation. This is an excerpt from Bountiful Goodness by Thomas a^ Kempis: "Charity is a noble virtue, superior to all other virtues, knowledge, and gifts. Charity embraces God, unites angels to men, and transforms the sons of men into sons of God and friends of the saints. It was charity that made Christ be born of a virgin and be crucified for our salvation. Charity cleanses the soul from sin and draws it to love God with one s whole heart, mind, and soul; it also inflames it and fills it with a marvelous sweetness. Charity justifies sinners, makes slaves into free men, enemies into friends, foreigners into fellow citizens, strangers into acquaintances, and wanderers into settlers; the proud become humble, the stubborn meek, the lukewarm fervent, the sad happy, the stingy generous, the worldly heavenly, and the unlearned wise. All this comes about through charity, which is poured into the hearts of the faithful by the Holy Spirit and given them from heaven." Thomas à Kempis, p. 57 For the New Year, consider these gift suggestions: To those who have wronged you, give forgiveness. To those who are your opponent, give tolerance. To your friends, give your heart. To those in need, give service. To everyone, give Charity. To children, give a good example. To yourselves, always give respect. In this new year, I ask my Heavenly Father to Grant me the strength to be Content where I am, the patience to wait on His timing, and the faith to remember that He has His hand always on my Heart. Blessed are they who bring peace among us, they are the children of God. May the Lord fill your lives with his choicest blessings on earth and in heaven. Amen. Happy New Year 2017! Encounter the Lord! Viva Cristo Rey! Claude Steele, Ed. S And the angel said to them, FEAR NOT, FOR BEHOLD, I BRING YOU GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY that will be for all people. Luke 2:10 In This Issue Faithful Navigator s Message Grand Knight Message Faithful Friar s Message Save the Date Photos Remembering Marilyn Baker Bishop Burbidge Photos Contact Us

2 Grand Knight s Message Brothers, Supremes' advice to new Grand Knights is that the measure of their success is if, when leaving office, their council is better off than when they took office. With six months remaining on what will be my final term, it is my assessment that the past 2 and ½ years has been a mixed bag. Most successes have been the result of the efforts of the same few of us. Most failures have been the result of my attempting to take on too many battles. As a result of trying to change too much, our course has tacked first one way, then the other. What I HAVE learned is that it s not the GK s role to set the agenda for the council. Nor is it the role of only handful of members. No, it takes the entire membership working together as a TEAM to elevate a council to the level of its potential. Supreme offers a broad, flexible outline, a veritable plethora of ideas through Columbia, videos, webinars, etc. that they urge the locals to consider adopting and adapting to local conditions. When I was growing up there was a cereal commercial on TV in which an older brother, eschewing trying the cereal, would say, Let Mikey try it, he ll try anything! And when Mikey tried it of course he liked it. Well Mikey, it s high time that you try it. Try to cease being a passive Knight. If you do nothing other than pay your dues, I urge you to participate in one activity. If you never attend a meeting, attend one. Yes, assisting at Mass as Lector, Eucharistic Minister, Usher, etc. is acting the Knight. But you ll be at Mass anyway, so don t expect to get brownie points for that from this quarter! Father James Burge Assembly Officers Navigator Friar SK Claude Steele SK Rev. Fr. Charles Ssebalamu Comptroller SK Adam Cassol Captain Admiral Purser Pilot Scribe SK Nelson Carey SK Clarence Rose SK Donald Melia SK Humberto Rodriguez SK Arnold Bohanan Inner Sentinel SK Edward Schack Outer Sentinel SK Frank Gwazdauskas 1 Year Trustee SK Edward Yadlowsky 2 Year Trustee SK Nelson Carey 3 Year Trustee SK Arnold Bohanan As your GK, my role should have been to preside at meetings, mentor our younger members and our passive members and urge all of you to become more involved. Yes, we have limited time. But don t hide behind family as your excuse. Bring them with you to hang out in front of the grocery stores to solicit food or funds for the food pantry or KOVAR. Your wives know a lot more folks than you do And your children know classmates of families you don t. Have a babe in arms? What better way to draw folks to our appeal! I believe we are on the brink of experiencing a significant increase in membership in the next 6 to 12 months. While more members in and of itself may earn us brownie points with Supreme, it will not make us a better council. That will happen if each of us resolves to increase our participation. If each of us were to spend, say 5% more time on toward the K of C Mission, perhaps Nelson would send one less seeking volunteers for our food drives. I don t believe that our membership has kept pace with the growth of the Catholic population in the area. Resolve to up your participation. It s too crowded in the cheap seats! Vivat Jesus Tommy Susano

3 From the Faithful Friar s Desk Father Fox Council Officers Chaplin : Fr. Anthony Senyah Grand Knight: SK Tommy Susano Deputy Grand Knight: Bill Murray Chancellor: Joseph Mukuni Recorder: Samuel Swindell Treasurer: SK Claude Steele Financial Secretary: SK Nelson Carey Advocate: Robert Bolger Warden: Carl Dietrich Inside Guard: SK Peter Gwazdauskas Outside Guard: John Mukuni Dear Brother Sir Knights, I proclaim to you good news of great joy: today a Savior is born for us, Christ the Lord (Lk 2:10-11) 2016 is almost gone with all its many surprises and memories. Christmas is here and then a New Year. As we celebrate Christmas, we know that the main purpose of His coming is to take away our sins and show us the way to the Father and our eternal home. May He motivate us to do whatever we do in His name. May He fill us with a joyous spirit of service in his vineyard. As we celebrate the Nativity of the Lord Christmas, I want to thank you all Brother Sir Knights, for your service to the Church and to God s people in the Year A BIG THANK YOU. As we begin 2017, let us look ahead with openness to the presence of God in His own way and leave behind the preconceived notions of what things need be. Let us commit ourselves to leave behind, the past the angers of the last year s issues and be prepared to start anew, forgive again, and commit ourselves to leaving old toxins behind. Only a heart and life made blank can be a slate upon which Grace can inscribe new lines. Start off on a new foot, and leave the old trail behind. Bring no preconceived notions to this new slate of time save this: if Jesus is in it, the year bears riches yet unseen! MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR BROTHER SIR KNIGHTS AND YOUR FAMILIES. Fr. Charles Ssebalamu Faithful Friar Trustee 3rd Year: SK Frank Gwazdauskas Trustee 2nd Year: Timothy Leake Trustee 1st Year: Gregory Blaz Save the Date January 7-8, 2017 January 8, 2017 January 21, 2017 January 27, 2017 January 31, 2017 State Mid-Year Meeting (Richmond) Religious Freedom Day (Fredericksburg VA) Free Throw Competition Roanoke Catholic March for Life (Washington, DC) Annual Survey for Fraternal Activity due Special Olympics Profile due (form 4584)

4 Pictured: The Nativity of the Lord, Children s Mass at St. Mary s Catholic Church. December 24, 2016.

5 Pictured: Keep Christ in Christmas Magnet Sale at Kroger on University City Blvd. Blacksburg. Sir Knight Frank Gwazdauskas and Sir Knight Humberto Rodriguez. Pictured: Sir Knight Donald Melia at KCIC Magnet Sale in front of Kroger Blacksburg University City

6 Remembering Marilyn Baker Pictured: Honor Guard for Marilyn Baker at McCoy Funeral Home December 16th. Brother Knight Frank Baker's wife Marilyn passed away on Saturday, December 10, Frank, is a 3rd Degree member of St. Jude Council and former Brother Knight in Council Marilyn Echavez Baker, 50, of Blacksburg was born in the Philippines on November 26, 1966 to the late Cipriano and Basilia Valdez Echavez and was also preceded in death by a son, Nathaniel Baker; two brothers, Mario Echavez and Narciso Echavez. She is survived by her husband, Franklin Michael Baker, of Blacksburg; sons, Thaddeus Michael Baker, Mathias Alexander Baker, all of Blacksburg; sister, Arlyn Patatag; seven nieces and nephews. Funeral Services were conducted on Saturday, December 17, 2016 at St. Mary's Catholic Church with the Father John Asare celebrating. Pallbearers included Bob Canfield, Rick DiSalvo, Daniel Ferrell, Don Melia, Joe Merola, and Dick Neves. Interment followed in the Westview Cemetery, Blacksburg. The visitation, arrangements, Rosary, and an Honor Guard provided by the Father James Burge Assembly 2707 took place at the McCoy Funeral Home, 150 Country Club Dr. SW, Blacksburg. Marilyn was a longtime food service worker in the Owens Dining Hall at Virginia Tech. She passed away at Carillion Roanoke Memorial Hospital at 10:15am on December 10, 2016 surrounded by her family after suffering a stroke the previous Thursday (Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary). Please keep the Baker Family in your thoughts and prayers.

7 Pictured: Honor Guard for Marilyn Baker at McCoy Funeral Home December 16th. Pictured: Honor Guard for Marilyn Baker at McCoy Funeral Home December 16th.

8 Bishop Michael F. Burbidge Fr. Michael Burbidge s first priestly assignment was as Parochial Vicar of St. Bernard Church in Philadelphia, where he served for two years. From he was on the faculties, successively, of Cardinal O'Hara High School, Archbishop Wood High School and St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, where he also served as Dean of Students. In 1992 Fr. Burbidge was named Administrative Secretary to Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua, Archbishop of Philadelphia, and served in that capacity until In 1998 he was made Honorary Prelate to His Holiness Pope John Paul II, with the title of Monsignor. Most Reverend Michael F. Burbidge was born June 16, 1957, in Philadelphia, PA, the second son of Francis and Shirley Burbidge and brother of Francis Burbidge, Jr. He attended Catholic grade schools and graduated from Cardinal O Hara High School, Springfield, PA, in From high school he went to St. Charles Borromeo Seminary and was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia by John Cardinal Krol in Bishop Burbidge holds a B.A. in Philosophy and an M.A. in Theology from St. Charles Borromeo, an M.A. in Education Administration from Villanova University, and a doctorate in Education from Immaculata College. Monsignor Burbidge was appointed Rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in In 2002 he was ordained an auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia. As auxiliary bishop, he oversaw the Office of the Vicar for Clergy and the Office of Communications. On June 8, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI named Bishop Burbidge the fifth Bishop of the Diocese of Raleigh; he was installed in Raleigh on August 4. On October 4, 2016, Bishop Burbidge was announced by Pope Francis as the fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Arlington.

9 Pictured: Freedom Bust at McCoy Funeral Home in Blacksburg which contains ashes from 9 /11. This Bust is number 11 of 28. Number 1 is in the Office of former President George Bush.

10 Pictured: Sir Knight Frank Gwazdauskas at Red Robin in Christiansburg for the Toys from the Heart NRV Christmas Assistance Program Drive 2016 Pictured: Sir Knight Donald Melia, CCC at Red Robin in Christiansburg for the Toys from the Heart NRV Christmas Assistance Program Drive 2016

11 Contact Us Would You Like More Information? If you have any questions, please contact: Grand Knight SK Tommy Susano Financial Secretary SK Nelson Carey: Faithful Navigator SK Claude Steele Faithful Comptroller SK Adam Cassol Like us on Facebook: VAKofC6747 Pictured: Toys from the Heart NRV Christmas Assistance Program Pictured: Sir Knight Nelson Carey, PFN at Red Robin in Christiansburg for the Toys from the Hear NRV Christmas Assistance Program Drive 2016.