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A Spiritual Thought
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On September 14, we will be celebrating the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. We need to embrace the Cross every day of our lives. As St. Josemaria de Balaguer states in the Forge: “When you walk where Christ walked; when you are no longer just resigned to the Cross, but your whole soul takes on its form-takes on its very shape; when you love the Will of God; when you actually love the Cross…then, only then, is it he who carries it .” (page 765 of the Way/Furrow/the Forge by St. Josemaria de Balaguer).
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August has been a very busy month and September promises to be even busier, but before mentioning some of the highlights, one of the most important priorities as Brother Knights is ensuring that Propositions 4 & 8 both pass in November. Proposition 4 is the Sarah’s Law proposition and Proposition 8 is the Marriage Initiative Amendment. To underscore the importance of these Propositions, Supreme recently donated $1,000,000 to ProtectMarriage.com. Both Propositions will be discussed at a Chapter wide workshop on September 13 at St. Paschal Baylon Church in Thousand Oaks from 9:30 AM to 12:30 AM. DD Dave Lavoie recommended that there be a representative from each council there. I agree with him.
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In addition to the workshop, the Proposition 8 coalition is already out canvassing neighborhoods via neighborhood walks and informing voters about that proposition. Chapter President Cherif Khoury and myself participated in one of those walks on Saturday, August 23 with about 76 other volunteers in the Goleta and Santa Barbara areas. The coalition hopes to contact many voters over the next few weeks and needs all the help they can get. Please visit the www.catholicsforprotectmarriage.com website for additional information and a place to sign up as a volunteer (the next local walk here in the Santa Barbara area will be on September 6 from 8:30 to 11:30 AM).
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Degrees
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- Council 5300 will be holding a 1st Degree at their business meeting on Monday, September 8 at St. Raphael’s Church Hall. Candidates should be there at 7 PM with the degree to start at 7:30 PM.
- Council 1684 will be holding a 2nd degree at Serra Hall on Wednesday, September 10 at 7:30 PM in Serra Hall. Candidates should be there at 7 PM.
- Council 750 in Oxnard will be holding a 2nd degree on Thursday, September 11 at the council’s hall (6th and D). Candidates should be there by 6:30 PM.
- The next 3rd Degree in the district will be held on Sunday, September 21, 2008 at Serra Hall in Santa Barbara (I finally received confirmation from the State). Candidates should be there by 1 PM with the degree starting at 2 PM. There will be events planned for the ladies during the degree, so wives are invited. Also, there will be a dinner immediately following the event. The next 3rd degree probably will not take place until March, 2009 in Simi Valley so plan to take advantage of this degree if you are eligible to do so.
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Awards:
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I just received word this week that Brother Sam Alfano from Council 5300 has received the top recruiter award for the 2007-2008 year. Anyone who knows Brother Sam knows that is a long overdue award. Congratulations, Brother Sam, and thanks for all your great work! We will be presenting Sam the award at the Chapter installation on September 3 at Serra Hall.
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Programs:
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Council 1684 manned a soda booth at Mercado de la Norte (Mackenzie Park) and did quite well. The earnings from this year’s soda booth were the best ever. In September, in addition to the degrees mentioned above, the council will be resuming their 4th Wednesday of the month dinners at Serra Hall (the next one is on September 24).
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Council 5300 also sponsored a soda booth at Mercado de la Guerra and did quite well. The earnings there were also a record. Additionally, the council hosted a membership drive on the weekend of August 9-10, 2008 combined with a blood drive and pancake breakfast. 5 men filled out Form 100s and 15 showed some interest in joining. For a complete list of upcoming events, please visit www.KC5300.org.
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Council 10067 hosted a benefit tri-tip sale for one of their members, Brother Raul Castro and his family and fell slightly short of their goal. At their business meeting, PGK Ben Martinez proposed a resolution to make up their shortfall, but before the resolution could be voted on, several Brother Knights in attendance quickly donated the difference. It was a very heartwarming display of the principles of our Order: Charity, Unity and Fraternity.
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Council 13756 had a quiet month of August. St. Joseph’s Church (where Council 13756 is based) will be celebrating their 75th anniversary on September 14. All are welcome to attend.
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Other Notes:
- The District meeting took place in Carpinteria on August 2 but due to various circumstances, only Brother David Farebrother, GK Rufino Murillo, CP Cherif Khoury and myself were there. We had a fruitful discussion and learned that Brother David talked with Fr. Rafael Marin Leon at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Santa Barbara about possibly starting a Spanish council there to be joined with the Carpinteria council. Cherif and I then visited Fr. de Leon and found out that Our Lady of Guadalupe will be undergoing some remodeling over the next year and that we should wait until that process is completed. However we will undertake some recruiting drives there and hope to gain a few Knights that could be the nucleus for the future Council.
- The news about the possible Santa Ynez council was not as positive. Fr. Michael Mahoney informed me that the Men’s Group at the parish is still firmly entrenched there and does not want a Knights of Columbus presence at this time. If anyone has any ideas on an approach that might help with starting a KC council there, please let me know.
- Right now, the district is at 0% of membership and 0% of insurance. During the month of July, we gained 6 new members and 2 new insurance members but dropped the same amount due to drops held over from the 2007-2008 Columbian Year. Further, as mentioned in my last report, several councils in the district have a significant number of potential drops so we have our work cut out for us.
- As I state every month, there are plenty of potential members who can join our Order. All we have to do is ask. At the State Convention, our Supreme Director, Emilio Moure gave us a challenge. Emilio asked each Brother Knight present to recruit 2 new Knights before the end of the Columbian Year. In line with Emilio’s challenge, I’m adding a challenge of my own, between now and June 30, 2009, I would like each one of you to recruit 2 new Knights into our Order. If you do, you may be eligible for the Shining Armor Award.
- The next Statewide Blitz coming up is October 10-11, 2008. If you haven’t planned on hosting blitz drives at the various parishes you serve, please plan to do so either sometime in September or on the October 10-11 weekend.
- The next Chapter meeting is on Wednesday, September 3 in Santa Barbara. The Chapter Officer installation is the same night and it promises to be a fun evening. Most of the State officers will be there.
- The MR drive is fast approaching and CP Cherif Khoury has requested that all Councils in the Chapter make an effort to participate. Councils 1684 and 5300 already have plans in place to collect at many stores in the Santa Barbara area with the help of athletes from the Special Olympics.
- Several parishes have shown some interest in hosting a Wheelchair Sunday. I’ll keep you informed when definite dates are set.
- 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!
- September 11 is the annual World Day of Prayer for Peace. Each council should make an effort to mark that day either by praying the prayer card issued by Supreme, holding a special Mass, prayer service, etc. See www.kofc.org for more ideas.
- The Junipero Serra Assembly will be hosting a Blue Mass on September 15 at St. Raphael’s Church in Goleta at 6 PM. There will be a dinner afterwards open to all Knights and their families. The cost is $20 and an RSVP must be made by September 8 to Faithful Navigator Jack Turney at (805) 967-9473.
- The 126th Annual Supreme Convention was held in Quebec City from August 5 to 7. For a recap of the convention, please visit www.kofc.org.
- Please continue to pray for all of our sick and deceased Knights in the district including Judy Klinge (PCP Brian Klinge’s wife) who is suffering from various illnesses, Brother Raul Castro and Brother Don Benn (Council 5300) who recently underwent surgery.
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