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A Spiritual Thought
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On May 18, we will be celebrating the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity: Three Persons in one God. We will be receiving grace that day just as we do each day of our lives. As St. Josemaria de Balaguer states in the Forge: “The Most Holy Trinity grants you grace and expects you to make use of it responsibly. Given such an endowment, there is no place for your adopting easy, slow, lazy attitudes, because, apart from everything else, souls await you.”(page 957 of the Way/Furrow/the Forge by St. Josemaria de Balaguer).
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This last week has been a great one for us Catholics and for the nation. Our Pope, Benedict XVI,paid us a visit. I hope all of you had a chance to watch or read about the Pope’s time here in Washington, DC and New York. The Knights of Columbus were very much a part of the event from their Color Corps presence on the south lawn of the White House (an historic first) to guest commentaries by several Knights including our Supreme Knight Carl Anderson. You can read all about the visit at www.kofc.org) and the April issue of the Columbia is filled cover to cover with details about Pope Benedict, his itinerary and quotes he has made. It is worthwhile reading the issue.
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Also, Supreme Knight Carl Anderson’s new book, “A Civilization of Love” made the New York Times best sellers list; so it is worthwhile reading it. You can order a copy of the book at the Knights of Columbus web site.
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Finally, as I’m writing this report, the State is in the middle of their Spring membership blitz drive. I hope several of you councils participated in it and gained new members as a result.
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Degrees
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Only two degrees took place in April but there a few more coming up in the next month or two. Here are the details (unfortunately, there are no 3rd degrees planned until the fall):
- A 1st degree was held on Monday, April 14 at Council 5300 in Goleta. Seven new Brother Knights joined the council that night: Brothers Mauricio Cuevas, Abel Salcedo, Matthew Drammer, Leonardo Curti, Patrick Donohoe, Dr. Robert Pacheco and Andrew Nguyen. Congratulations, to our new Brother Knights!
- By the time most of you read this report, the 2nd degree at Council 750 on April 30 will have already occurred. I’ll pass on the district results of that 2nd degree in my emails and in my June report.
- Council 1684 will be hosting a 1st degree at Serra Hall on May 14. Candidates should be there for that degree at 7 PM.
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Programs:
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Council 1684 has been busy their dinner socials and events. A scholarship dinner was held on April 23 for the essay contest winners from various local elementary schools. On May 28, the council will be hosting their annual high school scholarship awards dinner.
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Council 5300 was very busy during the month of April with a number of events: In addition to the first degree mentioned above, the Council also hosted their regular monthly pancake breakfast and a Past Grand Knight’s party on April 28. Events coming up include: the Mother’s Day orchid distribution on May 11 and the Memorial Day picnic on May 26 at Tucker’s Grove Park. Also, GK Ray Centeno from Council 750 will be coming the council on Monday, May 12 to talk about the Squires.
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Council 10067 (Saticoy) had a very busy business meeting in April: the local Scout troop presented their charter to the council and a resolution was passed to give the proceeds of the March tri-tip sale ($1,500) to Jeannette, a local 4th or 5th grader who is dying of cancer. On April 27, the council hosted a pancake breakfast and blood drive and did some recruiting as well.
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Finally, Council 13756 (Carpinteria) continues to be busy with projects around the church. The council also hosted a very nice birthday party for their pastor, Fr. Beto on April 26. Both Brother Cherif Khoury and myself took the opportunity to do some recruiting and were able to recruit one new member for the council with a potential for at least 3 or 4 more.
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Other Notes:
- Right now, the district is at 100% of membership and 67% of insurance. However, those numbers don’t reflect several insurance transactions that our insurance agent, David Farebrother has completed in the last week or so nor do the numbers reflect members that could be potentially dropped due to nonpayment of their dues. It is imperative that we make every effort to continue contacting the late paying members to encourage them to stay with the council. Again, as I state every month, there are plenty of potential members who can join our Order. All we have to do is ask. When you are recruiting, mention to potential members that they will be joining a fraternity that was founded by a future saint.
- As I stated in point 1 above, the membership and insurance percents do not reflect the potential dropped members due to late payment. Unfortunately, as I recently learned, Council 13756 (Carpinteria) has many members in the late payment category. Only 9 members have paid their dues so far this Columbian Year. I’ll be working closely with GK Rufino Murillo, Chapter Vice President Cherif Khoury and Brother David Farebrother to solve this problem. We have much work to do and only a short time to get it done.
- The next Chapter meeting is on Wednesday, May 7 in Santa Barbara. Every Brother Knight is more than welcome to attend. The Grand Knights and Deputy Grand Knights are especially encouraged to do so.
- Several of the Knights who joined Council 5300 at the April first degree are from the Santa Ynez area and are anxious to start a council there. I will be contacting the pastor at Mission Santa Ynez shortly for a discussion on starting the council.
- The election process for the next Columbian should be well under way. I know that most councils in the district have already started the process, but for any that haven’t, please start now.
- The discussion regarding Bishop Lori’s article in the Columbia is going full steam ahead. Council 10067’s chancellor, Brother Andy Stay has already been doing a great job of not only recapping the article but also leading a brief discussion of it. GK Mark Wietstock of Council 1684 asked another member Brother Jim Garland to recap it and ask a few questions during the April meeting. Council 5300 skipped it at the April meeting due to the first degree but will resume discussions on it in May. Thanks Brother Knights for allocating time for this important endeavor. Let’s keep up the momentum on this project and make it a routine part of every meeting. Again, remember that the article is available online at www.kofc.org.
- As stated for the last few months, all new first degree Brother Knights who take their first degree between December 1 and June 30, 2008 will be presented with a limited edition certificate acknowledging their joining the Knights during the 125th year of our Order. Also, the Knight’s recruiter will receive a minted medallion acknowledging their efforts.
- My next report will include a recap of the State Convention that will occur in just a few weeks. Also, the DD’s convention is coming up in June, so I’ll probably schedule a district meeting to go over the details of both the state convention and the DD convention sometime in July.
- Thank you again to all the councils who participated in the “California One Man, One Woman Marriage Initiative” signature drive that was recently held. We did it! The initiative made onto the ballot for the November election. However, as GK Mark Wietstock (1684) put it, the real hard work is about to begin. Since the initiative is an amendment to the State constitution, GK Mark stated that it will take 67% of California’s voters to vote for it in order for it to become law. Keep praying!
- Please continue to pray for all our sick and deceased Knights in the district including Brother Richard Rink’s (1684) brother who recently passed away, Brother Sam Alfano’s (5300) brother who also passed away and Judy Klinge (PCP Brian Klinge’s wife) who is suffering from Parkinson’s disease and is not doing well. Also, Brother Ray Ruiz (10067) recently lost 3 family members.
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