St. Augustine s Knights of Columbus Council 7273 December 2018 The Apple Tree Council Calendar December 12 - Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe 15 - Ecumenical Choir 7:30 p.m. 16 - Kids Day Out 11 - Bingo Team #3 18 - Bingo Team #4 25 - Bingo Cancelled 25 - The Nativity of Our Lord 30 - Feast of the Holy Family January 1 - New Year s Day 1 - Bingo Team #2 6 - Officers Meeting 1 p.m. 7 - Council Meeting 7 p.m. 8 - Bingo Team #3 15 - Bingo Team #4 17 - District Meeting at Morrisonville Council 6067 19 - Council Spaghetti Dinner 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. 22 - Bingo Team #1 23 - Semi-Annual Council Audit 11 a.m. 29 - Bingo Team #2 Grand Knight s Report - Keith Kemp I ll keep my report very brief this month. Merry Christmas to all members and your families. I m looking forward to 2019. A Message from Financial Secretary Gordon Burdo I will be sending out the annual dues notices this month. In an effort to save money, the first notices will be sent by email. The emails will also have an attachment that I am asking you to print, fill out, and submit with your dues. The attachment is a survey of volunteer hours that you donated during the past year. There is a category for almost every program we have. Please write in how many hours you put in for each category. This information will be used in a report of activities that we submit to Supreme each year. Thank you for your help and have a great Christmas. Welcome Bob Welcome to Brother Bob Bilow, the newest member of Council 7273. Bob is a longtime K of C member who grew up near Malone and formerly resided in Delaware. He has already attended two meetings and volunteered to work council functions. Ironically, Bob and his wife Ginny purchased their new home from Bob and Jane Woods. Bob Woods made sure Bob Bilow joined Council 7273 and for that we are very grateful.
December Birthdays 1 - Matt Stygles 2 - Bob Durgan 5 - Kevin Downs 9 - Cormac O Callaghan 12 - Dick Garrant 16 - Dan Wood 17 - Dana Bashaw 18 - Jim Durgan 26 - Chris Eamer 29 - Dexter Clemons 30 - Dale Clemons 30 - Bruce Frechette January Birthdays 1- Jason Nisoff 1 - Wayne Twining 5 - John Stefanov 6 - Scott Osborne 12 - John Theisen 18 - Michael Sullivan 19 - Michael Kelly 23 - Jeremiah Ston 24 - Kevin Manchester 26 - Lee Clemons 26 - Shawn Murphy 27 - John Kanoza Congratulations to Our December Knight of the Month Lecturer James Bosley is December Knight of the Month. Grand Knight Kemp recognized James for his excellent work as Lecturer. His fiveminute presentations are informative and extremely well-prepared. Thank you James for educating your Brother Knights on so many of the wonderful aspects of our faith. Why I m An Active Knight - John Ryan A paragraph in the Advent issue of the booklet The Word Among Us a paragraph reads: Try an experiment at Mass today. Every time you stand, look at the people standing with you. Tell yourself, These are my brothers and sisters. Jesus has given them to me so that I might find him more easily. Each one of them reveals a different facet of God s love and faithfulness. A few weeks ago when our Grand Knight asked Knights to stand during a membership drive the first thought that came to mind as I looked around the church was how much I respect the men who stood up. I ve witnessed their love of our parish, our council and Brother Knights. Having been active in the Knight of Columbus for almost 40 years I know Knights who reveal God s love each and every day. Some of their acts can be as simple such as attending a meeting, visiting the sick or serving food at a council function. Other acts are more time-consuming such as leading an important program or serving in a major office. All these gifts of time and talent inspire me and for that I am very grateful. May we continue to reveal God s love in word and action. That s the mission Christ gave to us.
Upcoming Council Events: December 15 - Our council will host the Ecumenical Choir refreshment table. Help will be needed setting up the chapel after 4:30 Mass and after the concert. Please stop by and help out. It shouldn t take longer than 15 minutes. January 17 - District Meeting hosted by District Deputy Tom McDonald at Morrisonville Council 6067 at 7 p.m. Attend to hear about all the wonderful works of the Au Sable Forks. Keeseville, Treadwells Mills, Morrisonville and Peru councils. January 19 - Spaghetti dinner. Call Grand Knight Keith Kemp at 518-593- 1198 if you would like to work at this dinner or at our February 20th or April 16th dinners. If you re not working, please attend and bring your family and friends. January 23 - Trustees Peter Glushko, Tony Andrews and Cormac O Callaghan audit the council s books at 11 a.m. March - Our Catholic Daughters decided not to host an Irish dinner in 2019, so our council will give it a try. If you can assist, please notify Keith Kemp at 518-593-1198. K of C Sashes Are Available Our Council s yellow and white sashes have been moved from the parish center to the church. We want them available to any knight who would like to wear one at Mass. We should all wear them at the funeral of a brother knight, at a recruitment drive and at any special K of C function. Thank-You Notes Thank-you notes have been received for our donations to Keeseville e Living Rosary, the CVPH Foundation and the Peru Elementary School by way of the Coats For Kids Program. Our council also recently donated $1,500 to St. Patrick s Oratory for its general maintenance and upkeep and $150 to the American Heart Association. Good of the Order: Please keep Past Grand Knights Bob Patnode and Jim McCarty in your prayers. Bob resides at the Clinton County Nursing Home and Jim resides at Meadowbrook Health Care in Room 263. Deacon and Brother George Benson and Brother John Soulia should also be in our prayers. All these men would appreciate a visit and/or a card. The Clinton County Nursing Home is at 16 Flynn Ave. in Plattsburgh. Meadowbrook is at 154 Prospect Ave., Plattsburgh. John Soulia s address is 775 Fuller Rd., Peru, NY 12972. Deacon George s address is 137 Jabez Allen Rd., Peru, NY 12972. St. Augustine s parishioner Joe Kelly, a member of Keeseville Council 4689, resides at Meadowbrook and is quite ill. Ralph Hensel, Mary Hensel s husband, also needs our prayers as he battles cancer. Ralph is a retired USAF pilot and
was a longtime manager of the Clinton County Airport. Remember Our Advertisers Please take a few moments to check out our two advertising pages. These are the local businesses who say YES when we ask them for support. Please give them an opportunity to serve you. Editor s Note - John Ryan For the past several months I have served as Apple Tree Interim Editor. If any member would like to be Apple Tree Editor I would welcome it. I would help you as much or as little as you like. The Apple Tree has been an important part of our council s life since 1980. It s an honor to be associated with it. December Lecture on St. Francis Xavier by James Bosley When I hear St. Francis, I automatically think St. Francis of Assisi, for which our Pope is named. But there is at least one other St. Francis, and he is one that is also well known and documented. St. Francis Xavier was born in the year 1506 in what later became part of northern Spain. His birthday was April 7 th and his feast day is today, December 3 rd. Francis was from a well-to-do family and got to go to university in Paris. There he met Ignatius of Loyola, who was the founder of the Society of Jesus, also known as The Jesuits. St. Francis Xavier and some of his best friends were some of the first Jesuits; charter members if you will. The formation of the order was approved by Pope Paul III in 1540 and is currently the largest male religious order in the Catholic Church. In addition to vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, Jesuits take a special vow of obedience to worldwide mission. Jesuits must be ready to accept whatever mission the Pope requires. Around that time the King of Portugal was colonizing India and asked the Pope to send missionaries there. The Pope asked the Society of Jesus to take on the task and Ignatius decided to send Francis Xavier. Francis ended up leaving on the day of his 35 th birthday. Many of the Portuguese settlers in India were Catholic, but were not well behaved and Francis was embarrassed by their bad behavior. Francis focused on ministering to the sick, the children, and the native people of the region he was in. 40 churches were built in that region because of Francis Xavier s missionary work. Later Francis traveled to islands in Malaysia and Indonesia and is credited in converting a man named Anjiro, who is said to be the first Japanese convert to Christianity. Anjiro had fled Japan and met Francis in Indonesia, but Francis did end up going to Japan in 1549. The local leader forbade his people from converting to Christianity. Some cultural differences made Francis ministry work difficult in Japan. Converts were often persecuted and had to worship in secret. Eventually Francis Xavier headed back to India before
traveling east yet again to China with the intention of asking the Chinese emperor to release some Portuguese prisoners. While undertaking this task he became ill with a fever and died on December 3, 1552. That would have made him 46 years old. So 40 churches built, so much distance traveled, and so much missionary work done; all within the span of just eleven years. Impressive indeed! St. Francis Xavier was canonized as a saint on the same day as Saint Ignatius of Loyola. There is a lot to say about Saint Ignatius of Loyola as well, but that can wait for another lecture. Also, in our parish we have our Mother Cabrini Shrine in honor of Frances Xavier Cabrini, a religious sister who added Xavier to her name in honor of St. Francis. But that too is a story for another day. Source: https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=423
St. Augustine s Knights of Columbus Council 7273 3035 Main St. Peru, NY 12972 Charity*Unity*Fraternity* Patriotism GK Kemp Email: kkemp1487@gmail.com Interim Editor John Ryan Email: johnryan6dale@gmail.com Find us Online at www.kofc7273.org