Knight Worthy News St. Joseph Council 10627, High Bridge, New Jersey A Catholic men s organization promoting Charity, Unity, Fraternity, Family and Patriotism May 2015 (Area Code 908 unless otherwise noted) Officers: Grand Knight Kevin Loughney 638-5917 Chaplain Fr. Gerard Lair (973) 538-3231 Deputy G. K. Mark Kucharski 638-4577 Chancellor Tom Corrado 638-0177 Recorder Steve Bauernfeind 638-4285 Fin. Sec. Dennis Noonan 638-9949 Advocate Treasurer Paul Lipani 638-4585 Warden Mario Bernardo 638-6318 Inside Guard Tom Klawunn 537-6744 Outside Guard Jim Codd 892-1089 Past Grand Knight Bill Mahoney Trustees: John Furnari, PGK 693-2782 Bill Cerwinski, PGK (732) 715-0057 Chris Wade, PGK 638-6895 Directors: Program Mark Kucharski 638-4577 Church Bill Cerwinski, PGK (732) 715-0057 Community Robert Young 832-2721 Council Tom Klawunn 537-6744 Family Mark Kucharski 638-4577 Membership Mario Bernardo 638-6318 Culture of Life Rich Mirocco 638-4804 Youth Chris Denis 617-5345 Dist. Deputy: Wayne McKay, PGK 328-2979 Ins. Agent (Inter im) Br ian Daly 229-2600 Brian_daly96@yahoo.com Website www.kofc10627.org 1
ARE SACRAMENTALS BIBLICAL? There are many Catholic practices that many non-catholic Christians reject as non-biblical. This month of May, called Month of Mary in many Catholic circles, is an ideal time for us to ask why we Catholics use statues (of Mary and saints) as well as other objects of devotion. One of the basic principles of the Sacramental Theology is that divine grace is mediated through created realities. Every sacrament uses some things taken from our daily life through which grace is communicated. Thus water is used for baptism symbolizing the inner cleansing by which our sins are washed away. Bread, wine and oil are other examples of materials used in the Sacraments. Similarly, the Church encourages the use of statues, icons, rosary beads, crucifixes, scapulars, medals, holy water and other such created realities to remind us of the sacred. These are called sacramentals. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sacramentals are sacred signs instituted by the Church to prepare us to receive the fruit of the sacraments and to sanctify different circumstances of our lives (no. 1677). Are Sacramentals superstitions? Are they holdovers from pre-christian days? No. The beauty of being Catholic is that we are a very earthy people, that we can use these ordinary things to take us to the divine. There is a part of us that longs for something tangible we can hold on to, something to look at, something to touch, something to sing, chant or recite, something that interacts with the senses. The sacraments, and in a lesser way the sacramentals fulfill that need. Catholics who choose to weave the use of sacramentals into their daily lives can experience a richer, more textured Catholicism. Since it is in Christ and especially through his death and resurrection that God pours out his blessings upon us, virtually all the sacramentals contain the name of Jesus and the sign of the cross (Eph 1:3; CCC 1671). In requiring that proclamation of God s Word never be omitted from the celebration of the sacramentals, the Church wishes to make clear that these rites depend on and are intended to strengthen faith. But are the sacramentals biblical? Read Acts 19:11-12: God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. Don t you wish you knew this verse so you could have answered when someone questioned you or argued that these are non-biblical practices that must be rejected? Well, better late than never! Easter Blessings! Your brother in Christ, Fr. Abraham Orapankal Fr. Abraham Orapankal 2
Thanks to the guidance of Community Director Robert Young, the council brothers who volunteered to collect at Shop Rite on two days, and to the parishioners at St. Joseph Church, we had another successful collection for people with intellectual disabilities. The chart below shows the success of this annual effort since 1991. 3
A VERY Inconvenient Truth In 2006, a documentary film about former VP Al Gore s campaign to educate citizens about global warming won an Academy Award. The film, An Inconvenient Truth is one of the top grossing documentary films ever produced. In 2007, Gore was awarded a Nobel Prize for that educational campaign. Gore also won several other awards including a 2009 Best Spoken Word Album Grammy for his book, An Inconvenient Truth. In 2008, current VP Joe Biden issued a statement about global warming warning asserting that the US has to act To stop global warming. Also in 2008, when Biden debated Sarah Palin, Biden said (verbatim): We know what the cause is (of global warning). The cause is manmade. That s the cause. That s why the polar icecap is melting. Palin s rebuttal was (again verbatim): I m not one to attribute every activity of man to the changes in the climate. There is something to be said... for man s activities, but also for the cyclical temperature changes on our planet. (See www.ontheissues.org/ Archive/2008_V_P_Energy_+_Oil.htm for their complete comments but don t bother reading the NY Times transcript of that same debate published 4 years later. The Times shortened Biden s statement to, Well, I think it is manmade. I think it's clearly manmade. thereby eliminating the assertive and pompous attitude displayed by Biden.) Gore, Biden and others were solidly on the We are to blame for global warming band-wagon. And who could blame them given the decades of hype about holes in the ozone layer, rising ocean levels, increasing numbers of severe tropical storms and shrinking goats (yes shrinking goats!). Some even claimed that redheads are going to disappear as a result of climate change! Whether or not you or I believe that hype isn t relevant. But we can t ignore the fact that the climate has changed. To deny that fact is one of the greatest forms of ignorance. The Earth and its climate have been changing - FOR- EVER!! 100 million years ago, the entire middle of what s now the USA was under water. And then the water was gone, only the Mississippi River remains. 12,000 years ago the northern hemisphere was covered by ice in much of the USA the ice was 10,000 to 14,000 feet high. Then the ice melted. Who was responsible for the warming that melted the glaciers? Primitive man? The digestive emissions of mammoths? That s nonsense of course, it was just the climate doing what it does changing. Even more recently, there was the Medieval Warm Period (perhaps to be blamed on all the heat generated by knights in armor and their sweating horses) and then came the Little Ice Age (largely ignored by the experts on climate change). But now in the 21st Century, many intelligent people believe that climate change occurs solely because of what man is doing? What colossal nonsense! Our politicians and many experts continue to tell us that the debate is over and that everyone agrees that our use of fossil fuels is causing climate change and mankind is doomed. Fortunately, the debate is not over. More and more scientists and the public at large have begun to show skepticism about the claims made by the We are to blame for global warming crowd. By now, many if not most people in the know about such things are aware of a VERY Inconvenient Truth" about Gore s "Inconvenient Truth namely, that Gore was wrong! Some, like Meteorologist John Coleman who founded the Weather Channel, are even saying that not only is man not responsible for global warming, the threat of global warming is a hoax! Listen to what Mr. Coleman says at www.tpnn.com/2014/03/17/ weather-channel-founder-explains-the-history-of-the-globalwarming-hoax/ Likewise, Greenpeace founder Dr. Patrick Moore described his change of heart in a March 2015 article available at news.heartland.org/newspaperarticle/2015/03/20/why-i-am-climate-change-skeptic 4
A Very Inconvenient Truth Sidebar You might be prompted to ask, Why did he put (continued) Or, check the comedic approach to debunking the climate change hoax by Michael Loftus at www.youtube.com/watch? feature=player_embedded&v=2tvpad4oatk a climate change treatise in Knight Worthy News because it has nothing to do with the Order s mission? The answer is simple, it s because I can! Any Before you decide to denounce me for my opinions take a moment to know them: reader who finds that offensive is invited to not read the article. Any reader who is really offend- I believe climate change is happening just has it has been happening for more than 4 billion years. I believe mankind is impacting climate change. I don t know the extent of that impact or even that it s any kind of a threat to mankind. ed can send me a message to remove him/her from the KWN distribution list. I will and will promptly refund the balance of your subscription payment! When I see a nighttime satellite photo of Earth showing so many points of light, I have to accept that all of those lights are generating heat and all of those lights are just visible signs of energy consumption. Energy consumption generates heat and must impact the temperature of the Earth s atmosphere to some degree. Arguably perhaps, we can also accept the notion that carbon emissions also impact the Earth s atmosphere. We can surely agree that cleaning up the environment and reducing power and fuel consumption is a good thing and can benefit the earth in many ways whether or not those efforts have any real impact on climate change. But the hysteria over climate change is absurd. The public at large seems to accept that we are in a dangerous period of global warming and rising oceans without considering that s what s been happening for more than 4 billion years! There is one simple explanation for why so many seemingly intelligent people have swallowed all the hyperbole. As the saying goes, Throw enough mud against the wall and some of it is bound to stick. That s exactly what the doomsayers have been doing and doing if effectively enough to ensure they profit from it. According to CBS News, by 2013, Al Gore s net worth exceeded $200 million. Other sources say it s now in excess of $375 million. This from a man who had filed a public financial disclosure report in 2002 that revealed that his net worth was somewhere between $700,000 and $1.9 million. Greg Boyle May 2015 5 Setup help needed Friday, May 15th We help them, they help us (and the community). Win-win! Sign up at www.kofc10627.org/ sign-up.html
We welcome brother Ken Whalen who recently completed his first & second degrees. Ken, who is retired, and his wife Ann live in Annandale and are parishioners at Immaculate Conception Church. They have 3 young adult children, Christopher, Megan and Caitlin. Congratulations to our Council Chaplain, Fr. Gerard Lair and brother Dennis Baucom who completed their Fourth Degrees in April (shown above with G. K. Kevin Loughney and Trustee Bill Cerwinski. Nationwide Mass information is available at: www.masstimes.org/ or by calling 1-800-MASS TIME (1-800-627-7846). The on-line version also links to maps showing the location of each Catholic church. 6
Pride in Priests Dinner 2015 St. Joseph Council joined other councils and assemblies at the annual Pride in Priests Dinner hosted by NJ Chapter 4 for the clergy in the Diocese of Metuchen. Above: Bishop Paul Bootkoski with council PGK and Trustee Bill Cerwinski. Below: council members including Fr. Abraham Orapankal who attended the dinner. Life Quotes We often hear life quotes without realizing where they originated. Herein are several that have been distorted a bit since they were first uttered! 1. King Ozymandias of Assyria was running low on cash after years of war with the Hittites. His last great possession was the Star of the Euphrates, the most valuable diamond in the ancient world. Desperate, he went to Croesus, the pawnbroker, to ask for a loan. Croesus said, I'll give you 100,000 dinars for it. But I paid a million dinars for it, the King protested. Don't you know who I am? I am the king! Croesus replied, When you wish to pawn a Star, makes no difference who you are. 2. Evidence has been found that William Tell and his family were avid bowlers. Unfortunately, all the Swiss league records were destroyed in a fire,...and so we'll never know for whom the Tells bowled. 3. A man rushed into a busy doctor's surgery and shouted, Doctor! I think I'm shrinking! The doctor calmly responded, Now, settle down. You'll just have to be a little patient. 4. Back in the 1800's the Tate's Watch Company of Massachusetts wanted to produce other products, and since they already made the cases for watches, they used them to produce compasses. The new compasses were so bad that people often ended up in Canada or Mexico rather than California. This, of course, is the origin of the expression -- He who has a Tate's is lost! 5. An Indian chief was feeling very sick, so he summoned the medicine man. After a brief examination, the medicine man took out a long, thin strip of elk rawhide and gave it to the chief, telling him to bite off, chew, and swallow one inch of the leather every day. After a month, the medicine man returned to see how the chief was feeling. The chief shrugged and said, The thong is ended, but the malady lingers on. 6. A famous Viking explorer returned home from a voyage and found his name missing from the town register. His wife insisted on complaining to the local civic official, who apologized profusely saying, I must have taken Leif off my census. 7. There were three Indian squaws. One slept on a deer skin, one slept on an elk skin, and the third slept on a hippopotamus skin. All three became pregnant. The first two each had a baby boy. The one who slept on the hippopotamus skin had twin boys. This just goes to prove that... the squaw of the hippopotamus is equal to the sons of the squaws of the other two hides. 8. A skeptical anthropologist was recording South American folk remedies with the assistance of a tribal elder who indicated that the leaves of a particular fern were a sure cure for any case of constipation. When the anthropologist expressed his doubts, the elder looked him in the eye and said, Let me tell you, with fronds like these, you don't need enemas. 7
Insurance Corner Have You Insured Your Most Valuable Asset? Is your income protected if you become sick or injured and cannot work? Your ability to work and earn an income is your most valuable asset. Yet a disability could prevent you from earning that income. Just one year of a disability could eliminate your savings. Income Armor, an individual disability income insurance product from the Knights of Columbus, should be a key part of your overall financial plan and family s protection. If you are ill or injured, Income Armor provides tax-free monthly benefits to help you meet living expenses and maintain you and your family s standard of living. Your monthly benefits help you pay your mortgage and other monthly bills, while your savings and retirement assets remain intact. Purchase your Shop-Rite Gift Cards from the council. Contact brother Charlie Bruton, PGK. In short, if you have a job and don t have a way to protect that paycheck, you should seriously consider Income Armor today. I look forward to meeting with you. Fraternally yours, Brian Daly (908) 229-2600 brian.daly@kofc.org 8
Happy Birthday! Bernard Mariano May 1 Ken Brown May 2 Rev. Fred Otieno May 3 Jon Richardson May 7 Anthony Birritteri May 8 Dave Kinsky May 8 Brendan O Shea May 9 Nancy Bauernfeind May 11 Tom Klawunn May 12 Frank Schiller May 13 Deborah Bernardo May 13 Robert Sepe May 15 Maureen Gargas May 15 Mary Garcia May 18 Mary Sorgi May 26 Mark Niederle May 27 Barbara Cerwinski May 31 Happy Anniversary! Bob & Victoria Wise May 1 Paul & Donna Connell May 5 Dave & Anne Ongaro May 5. Bruce & Kathy Teeling May 8 Joe & Florence Labuta May 9 Robert & Maria Sepe May 12 Mark & Denise Drabich May 14 Ed & Lori Beth Santillo May 21 Kevin & Karin Teeling May 22 Ken & Jeanne Brown May 28 Kevin & Holly Gilligan May 28 Rev. Gerard Lair May 28 (Ordination) All the News That Fits. Lyons VA Masses Sundays: May 31 Bourbon Street Blues Festival Saturday May 16 St. John Neumann Auction & Dinner Dance Saturday, June 6 Council Charity Golf Day Friday June 12 Unity Bank Car Show Sunday June 20 (tent. Date) Chapter 4 Degrees First: None Second: None Third: None Fourth: None See latest statewide information at: www.njkofc.org/start/degrees/ degree-information/scheduleddegrees/scheduled-firstdegrees.html Knight Worthy News is published monthly and distributed via E-mail. Submit comments to: gaboyle1@comcast.net Find St. Joseph Council at: www.kofc10627.org 9
3 ~ May 2015 ~ Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat St. Joseph Confirmation 10 Mother's Day Carnations 4 Suspension of delinquent members 11 SJN Committee Meeting 5:45 pm 1 Scholarship Application Submission Deadline 5 Cinco de Mayo 6 7 8 9 12 13 14 Ascension of Jesus Council Meeting 15 NJ State Convention 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 2 16 Armed Forces Day Bourbon Street Blues Festival NJ State Convention 24 Pentecost 25 Memorial Day 4th Degree Meeting 26 27 28 Council Meeting 29 30 31 Lyons Mass K Club Ends ~ June 2015 ~ Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 Corpus Christi 5 6 SJN Annual Auction 7 8 SJN Committee Meeting 5:45 pm 9 10 11 Council Meeting 12 13 Council Charity Golf Day Tournament 14 Flag Day Scholarship Presentations (tent.) 21 Father's Day / Summer Solstice 15 16 17 18 International Picnic Day 22 23 24 25 4th Degree Meeting Council Meeting 19 20 26 27 28 Lyons Mass Unity Bank Car Show 29 30 10