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A Spiritual Thought
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On October 7, we will be celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. As Knights, we should carry our rosaries with us and say it often and well. As St. Josemaria de Balaguer states in the Furrow: “The Rosary is said not with the lips alone, muttering Hail Marys one after the other. That is the way over-pious old men and women rattle them off. For a Christian, vocal prayer must spring from the heart, so that while the Rosary is said, the mind can enter into contemplation of each one of the mysteries” (page 403 of the Way/Furrow/the Forge by St. Josemaria de Balaguer).
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September turned out to be just as busy as expected. There were numerous degrees, the Chapter installation, various council events, Proposition 8 meetings and parish celebrations and picnics. Before, highlighting the details, I would like to once again encourage all of you to get involved in ensuring the passage of Proposition 4 (Sarah’s Law) and Proposition 8 (the Marriage Amendment). We have only a few weeks left before absentee ballots are mailed and only a few more weeks before the general election. Please, please sign up to help at www.catholicsforprotectmarriage.com and get involved. Most of the work from now on will involve phone calling. It is an easy task and the Protect Marriage Committee has set up call nights to assist in the process. There may be a few more neighborhood walks as well. Also, if you are interested in displaying a yard sign and/or bumper sticker, please let Cherif or myself know and we will pass on your request to the committee. Remember, our State Deputy, Bob Villalobos has asked that we help with these propositions. As Knights, we have an obligation to follow our superior officers.
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Degrees
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- At the same time that the Chapter Installation was being held, Council 10067 (Saticoy) conducted a first degree in which 2 new Brother Knights were welcomed into our Order.
- Council 5300 held their first degree on September 8 and 4 new Brother Knights took the degree: Brothers Mike Hannen (5300), Pete Leyva (5300), Juan Navarro (5300) and Antonio Reyes (13756).
- Council 1684 held a 2nd degree at their council on September 10 and 8 1st Degree Knights attended the ceremony: Fr. Rafael Martin-Leon (1684), Dcn. Mike Betliskey (13756), Brothers Jim Neary (5300), Patrick Donohoe (5300), Jose Rodriguez (5300), Steve Romonofsky (1684), Theo Provencio (10067) and John Contreras (10067).
- Council 750 also held a 2nd degree ceremony at their council on September 11 and 8 Brother Knights from Districts 62 & 63 took their degree that night. There were 3 Brother Knights who took their degree from our district (62) who were all members of Council 10067: Brothers Jose Munoz, Marco Flores and Rafael Ojeda.
- Finally, we had a very impressive 3rd degree ceremony at Council 1684 on Sunday, September 21. 42 2nd degree Brother Knights took their 3rd degree that day including 2 priests: Fr. Rafael Marin-Leon and Fr. Francis Davaro as well as Deacon Mike Betliskey.
- The next degrees coming up include a 1st degree at Council 1684 on Wednesday, October 8 and a 3rd degree on March 1, 2009 at St. Peter Claver’s in Simi Valley. Before the 3rd degree in March, there will be a few more first second degrees although, at this time, no dates have been set for those degrees.
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I just wanted to say THANK YOU to all who helped and participated in the above degrees. As most of you know, there is quite a bit of behind the scenes work that goes on to ensure that these degrees run smoothly. The various councils that hosted the degrees did an excellent job.
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Programs:
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In addition to the degrees mentioned above, Council 1684 also hosted a very nice fourth Wednesday dinner on September 24. At the dinner, GK Mark Wietstock played the Wheelchair Sunday DVD video and the Catholic Vote video. A copy of the video is available at www.kofc.org and if you haven’t seen it yet, you should do so. It is very short and well worth viewing it. GK Mark also made a very impassioned exhortation for all of us to get involved and ensure that Propositions 4 & 8 pass in November.
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Other than the degree, Council 5300 hosted their annual Labor Day picnic at Tucker’s Grove, their pancake breakfast, a Blue Mass sponsored by the 4th Degree, and finally, the council helped at the parish picnic by providing Tri-Tip sandwiches, beer and nachos.
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Council 10067 has been busy with work around the parish including painting of the curbs in front of Sacred Heart Church (the paint and labor were donated by the council). In addition, the Council participated in the parish’s annual festival by manning several booths. Brother Gerry Morrison chaired the activity.
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Finally, Council 13756 helped Fr. Beto and St. Joseph’s parish with their 75th anniversary celebration. The celebration included a special Mass presided over by the Bishop and a very nice luncheon afterwards.
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Other Notes:
- As noted previously, the Chapter installation took place on September 3 and it was a very impressive ceremony. The ceremony itself took place outside of Serra Hall followed by a very nice sit down dinner. Chapter President Cherif Khoury arranged for a few speakers including Paul Sorensen who is the Santa Barbara area coordinator for the Yes on Proposition 8 Campaign.
- On September 13, a number of us Knights from the district along with other groups attended a very informative meeting at St. Pascal Baylon in Thousand Oaks on Proposition 4 and Proposition 8. The Archdiocese along with the California Bishops are strongly supporting both issues. If you need more information about either issue, please log onto www.yeson4.net for Propostion 4 and the Catholics for Protect Marriage website mentioned above for Proposition 8.
- Right now, the district is at 13% of membership and 17% of insurance. Brothers we can do much better. We only have 9 months left in this Columbian Year to increase those numbers to 100%. Let’s get to work. The next blitz drive is coming up on October 11 and 12 and I would like to see 100% participation in the event by all the councils even those councils who have recently held a blitz drive. Remember, it is every Knight’s responsibility to recruit.
- The next Chapter meeting is on Saturday, November 8 at Council 5803 (Simi Valley) starting at 10:30 AM with lunch at 12:30 PM. If any of you need directions, please let me know and I’ll email you the details.
- The Drive to help those with Intellectual Disabilities is scheduled for the weekend of October 17-19. So far, Councils 1684 and 5300 are planning on participating and I am hoping that Councils 10067 and 13756 will be doing likewise. Of course, the collection can take place any time of the year but the State has asked us Knights to focus on this particular weekend for this activity.
- Will each council be participating in the free throw contest this year? It is a very worthwhile activity. If any council would like to participate, they should get busy now since the free throw kits have to be ordered this month.
- We have been asked by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops to pray a Novena for Faithful Citizenship prior to the elections in November. A link to the Novena can be found at www.kofc.org. If you haven’t already started praying it, the suggested start date is October 26.
- As mentioned in previous columns, we would like to host a Wheelchair Sunday in as many parishes in the district as possible during the next 6 to 9 months. Please contact your pastors, let me know and I’ll pass on your requests to DD Dan Mohberg and Brother Chris Lewis.
- The position of District Warden is still open to anyone who wants to apply although I’ll only be serving as your District Deputy until June 30, 2009, so now is the chance for a Brother Knight to step up and learn the job. The job does require work but the rewards are well worth it!
- Please continue to pray for all of our sick and deceased Knights in the district.
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