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Our Lady Seat of Wisdom
Council No. 11259
DECEMBER 2005
For The Good of the Order!
!
“For everything that’s lovely is/But a brief, dreamy, kind
delight.” - ‘Never Give All the Heart.’ William
As
Knights, we have all made our degrees.
Whether we are a first, second, third, or even a fourth degree Knight,
we are enjoined by our organization to always remember one of the central facts
of our lives. “Tempis Fugit, Memento Mori,” which means “Life is short, remember
death.” This is one of the gems buried
in our ceremonials that speaks to a central fact of our lives. We are here only for a short time, and we
should keep this fact ever on our mind, so that we can make the most of the
time that we are given. One of the core
lessons of our faith that each and everyone of us struggles with on an ongoing
basis is our need to live in the moment.
This is important because if we are focused on a future event, what exciting
thing we will do tomorrow, or the hurt, insult, or pain we suffered two days
ago, we have a greater chance of missing God’s grace for us today, right
now.
During
the Christmas Season, the danger of looking forward to what is coming is all
the greater because of our anticipation of what is to come. Knowing what is coming, and living now to
experience it are two different things.
This is one of the reasons our Church Fathers and Mothers, and
particularly the saints fasted and gave up certain things for the advent
season. We fast, give up chocolates, ice
cream, or whatever, because such deprivations bring us back to the here and
now. That craving for what we have
determined to offer up in preparation for the coming of Jesus focuses our
attention in missing it on our lives in the present moment. Yeats’ reminder in the quote above that what
is lovely is but a brief dreamy delight, and his enjoiner not to give all of
our hearts is not to say that we should not put all of our hearts into the
events of our lives, but rather that we should not give ourselves over or lose
ourselves to completely in the brief and all to transient delights of the world
we live in. These things will pass away
and are not worth the commitment of all of your heart. While he does not say this, what is worth the
commitment of all of our hearts, minds, and souls is the development of our
faith. That development is a three
pronged commitment that requires living a holy life, studious commitment to the
formation of our spirituality, and the commitment to live out our faith on a
moment by moment basis – being the hands of Christ in every situation we find
ourselves in. All piety with no
formation or action, all formation, with
no piety or action, or all action without living the other two commitments, and
we have a great imbalance in our lives that imperils the possibility of our
living up to the potential God intends for us to achieve as His instruments
here on earth, can imperil the very seed of our faith, and eventually could even
cause us to lose our faith. This advent,
it may be a wise thing to look at our lives from the perspective of determining
whether we have struck the right balance in our responsibility to live piously,
study and do positive things to know more about our faith and to notice God’s
action in our lives, and to do charitable works and live our faith in a way
that brings others to God. Have a very
merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Grand
Knight’s Report
My Brother Knights and Families,
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with your family and friends. So, now the Christmas season is upon us and will still have a few activities planned before getting ready for 2006. Here goes:
(1) First Friday All-night Eucharist Adoration at JDW (7p-9a) - Friday 12/3- Sat., 12/4
I will start the adoration at 7pm and then stay for a few hours. So, I need a volunteer for each hour of adoration from 8p on Friday through 9a on Saturday and also to say the Rosary at the top of each hour. If you’re available and can commit to an hour or two with the Lord, please let me know. (410) 586-0317. I will also call during the week to fill all of the slots. Please note, that there will be no breakfast after the Saturday 9am Mass this month, due to another activity in Doran Hall.
(2) Christmas Cards sales - We are doing fantastic again this year. Larry Donnelly has served us well as our Christmas Card Chairman. Please show him your appreciation for the time his has committed to making things run smoothly. Next weekend (12/3-12/4) will be our last weekend for sales for this year. We will keep whatever cards are leftover (hopefully, not many) for next year.
So, we only have 2
more dates for this year: Sat., 12/3 at the Safeway from 10am-1pm, and Sat.,
12/10 at the Giant from 10am-1pm. Please
donate an hour or two of your time for God's special people. We have to turn all of the money in to the
State by 12/15/05. We will then a have a
dinner in March or April 2006 in order to present the checks to each of our 3
charities (Arc of Southern Maryland,
(4) Council / Lord Baltimore Assembly Christmas Party
Thursday, December 15 is the date and 7:30p is the time at St. Francis de Sales in Benedict. Everyone in the family is invited. It is potluck so please bring your favorite dish and/or dessert. I will coordinate with our Faithful Navigator, Ed Waskiewicz, for the main course. I have also spoken with Santa’s chief elf, and he assures me that Santa will be joining us in the celebration. A Color Corp escort is requested, so I will be calling our Worthy Color Corps
(5) Most importantly, the date for our Youth Christmas Party has changed from 12/3/05 to 12/17/05. We will be having a Breakfast with Santa / Fundraiser for Calvert Advanced Life Support (CALS) - Calvert County volunteer paramedics in the Vianney Room at St. John Vianney.
Vivat Jesus, Stephen Bayliff – Grand Knight
Calendar of Events
Council Meeting Schedule
!!!!!!!!
Council
meetings in November will be held on November 10th, at St. John
Vianney, and the meeting on November 24th is canceled. All meetings start promptly at 7:30 p.m.
Monthly Rosary -- Important – Important – Important!
The Council Rosary schedule is as follows: Every 1st Saturday of a month at
St. John Vianney Parish at 5:00 p.m. before the 5:30 Mass. Every 2nd Sunday of a month at St.
Francis De Sales at 8:30 a.m. before the 9:00 a.m. Mass. Every 3rd
Sunday of a month at Jesus the Divine Word at 9:00 a.m. before the 9:30 a.m.
Mass.
Tootsie Roll
Dates: Rob Sullivan is the Tootsie Roll
Chairman this year. Here are the dates
and locations for our donation drive:
Saturday, 12/3 Safeway (?) 8a-11a Saturday, 12/10 Giant 8a-11a
Chaplain’s
Corner
Merry Christmas and A Happy New
Year!
As you may be aware, in the
current culture war that is being waged in our nation today, this greeting
during the Christmas Season is not one that any longer rolls off our tongues
without a thought. For the most of us,
before we say it, we usually think a moment about how the person we are about
to say it too is going to receive our greeting.
Is the person we are about to drop this wish on a Christian? Will they take offense at it? Will they become mad or upset? Concern for others during the Christmas
Season is not a bad thing. Concern for
how you greet is a part of the type of concern we should show others. So why do we feel sometimes hurt and
sometimes upset by our having to greet others during the Christmas Season with
wishes for a Happy Holiday? Are we
justified in feeling that we are being imposed upon when we have to adjust how
we greet others, or should this not be a big deal for us?
As Christians, and particularly as
Christian gentlemen, we should be attentive to the desires of others. That would mean that we adopt an attitude of
understanding, and extend to everyone we deal with according to what we know of
them. If we truly do this, then
extending greetings for a happy holiday season to those we do not know should
not cause us discomfort. In a
multicultural society, attentiveness to not offending others in the small ways
of life is good sense because it can lead to a larger understanding with the
others we deal with. The example set by
doing the small kind things in life can often be the best demonstration of our
Christianity and the love Jesus would want us to exhibit in our dealings with
others. Yes this is an imposition on what
we may want to do, but isn’t that what living a Christian life is really all
about?
God Bless and Merry Christmas!
Please note: information about the Knights of Columbus and our
council is now available at www.calvertkids.net – this web site provides a guide to family
events and organizations in and around
Remember,
if you have access to a computer and the Internet, I urge you to try to visit www.priestsforlife.org This website is an amazing fount of
information available to priests and non-priests alike on Pro-life issues. Please visit the website, and please keep the
unborn in your prayers.
News from the District Deputy: Jim Rank, SK
District Deputy's Report:
Advent is a time of
preparation. A time where we attempt to
make ready for our Lord’s visitation with us.
It is a time when we are sorely tested because we still have all our
normal responsibilities, yet we must also find the time to make our hearts
ready for the coming of our Lord in Christmas.
Going to Sunday mass is not enough to help us prepare. For sure it provides us with many graces, and
spending an hour with Him who is coming gives us strength. I heard once someone ruminate that if he was
only able to spend an hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament a day that he felt
that he would be able to withstand any temptation. I believe his view to be a correct one, but
few of us think this way. Not many of us
are focused as much as we should be on reducing the occasions of sin in our
lives because we allow ourselves to be distracted by the things of this world
too much. We should not and can not
shirk our responsibilities to our families, our jobs, our charitable commitments,
and so on. However, if we do not strike
a balance in our lives between these responsibilities and our duty to live our
lives in a Christian manner, we are lost.
I urge each of you this Christmas Season, this Advent, to think some
about how you might strike this balance between your responsibilities to
family, job, and charity, with your deadly serious responsibility for advancing
your perfection in Christ. Too much
charity at the expense of time in silence listening for God. Too much running around popping between
activities for the kids, home chores, or time working at your job. Too much putting up lights, wrapping
presents, cooking, running between parties, or for that matter any of the
worldly concerns we can sink our attention into with no time for listening for
God, and we will miss the message of Christmas for sure. This Advent, try to take some time in silence
to identify how God is working in your life.
Listen for Him. Try to
incorporate some time sharing how you see Him working in your life. Spend some time sharing this with others,
listening to how they find Him working in their lives. Put aside some time to read some spiritually
uplifting material or contemplating His words found in the Bible. You will do more to prepare for our Lord’s
coming by spending a couple of hours a week doing this, than all of anything
else you can do. The Knights is a
charitable organization and this is why most of us joined it. But each of us can not afford to spend all of
our time in charitable acts without reflection and time communing with our
Lord. Do you have a good balance in your
life between the activity demanded of us in our daily lives and our need to
listen for God working in the life we lead?
You won’t know unless you set aside some quiet time to think about
this. Merry Christmas!
Vivat Jesus!
Jim Rank DD # 9
If you haven’t visited the State Web site recently, take some time
to peruse it at
http://www.kofc-md.org/ A reminder: The Knights of Columbus Supreme
Council ‘s Web Site is http://www.kofc.org
there you will find information regarding the Father McGivney Guild.
IMPORTANT, IMPORTANT, IMPORTANT!
Our council under the great efforts of
Also, do you want to know a little more about the new Pope? GO TO www.vatican.va You will find a
Fourth
Degree
I want to take this
opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. As my
friend, Stephen, noted the Christmas party for both the council and the
assembly will be held on Thursday, December 15th at 7:30 pm, at St. Francis de Sales
in Benedict. Everyone in the family is
invited, please call me to let us know if you are
coming. Ed Waskiewicz at 410 535-0408.
Attention Ladies: Council 11259 is starting the process of trying to form a Knight’s
Auxiliary, which is an organization that will ultimately function much like the
Ladies of the Fourth Degree function now.
The formation of a Knight’s Auxiliary might best be handled if a few of
our fine ladies who already participate in the Ladies of the Fourth Degree
would step forward and take the lead in starting up the Knight’s Auxiliary. If you are interested in helping us start an
Auxiliary, please contact the Grand Knight at 410 257-2072.
Pro-Life
As you know, we spend a lot of time
putting out information concerning abortion.
We are losing many of the graced people God intends for us through this
scourge conducted in the name of allowing a choice. The same choice is being fostered by some in
our society regarding old and infirm people.
Where would we be if Mary had exercised such a choice. She had all the same reasons many women today
have. They are single, as Mary was. Many are young, as Mary was young. They are afraid of suffering social stigma,
Mary faced a possible death sentence by stoning. Bearing a child to term and then taking care
of the child imposes a large imposition on a young single mother, just as
bearing Jesus imposed many hardships on Mary, including fleeing her home to
take up residence in a foreign land. There
is no really good excuse for taking the life of an innocent. Please pray to end this scourge. Merry Christmas.
Did you
know the State Council has a new web site containing a clearinghouse of info on
the Pro-life efforts of our Order? It is
http://www.kofc-md.org/pages/Service/community.htm#ProLife
McNamara
Chapter
Chapter Schedule for 2005-2006
Fraternal Year is as follows:
Dec, 2005 Christmas Party TBD
Jan 18, 2006 St. Mary of the
Assumption #9302
Feb 15, 2006 Our Lady of Guadalupe #12127
Mar 15, 2006 Mater Dei #9774
Apr 19, 2006 Immaculate Heart of Mary #9968
May 25, 2006 Prince Georges #2809
Jun 21, 2006 Father Horace B. McKenna #11024 -
Officers trade jewels
INSURANCE
The Wizard of Oz has been playing on
some of our television stations recently.
If you remember the Wicked Witch of the West was in her castle
surrounded by her troops and facing a young girl, and three cowering companions. Eminent victory was in her grasp. There was no way out for Dorothy, and no
conceivably obvious way the Wicked Witch could fail. That is until the water was accidentally
thrown and most of it landed on the Witch.
The result was a memorable scene as the Witch screams, at first, that
she is melting, and in ever shrinking protestations winds up a smoking pile of
rags at Dorothy’s feet. Unintended consequences
can catch you off guard and if you are not prepared, your family will suffer. What goals have you set for your family’s
financial well being? Do you have a
financial plan that includes taking care of your family after you are
gone? Do you know if the amount of life
insurance you now have is enough to ensure your family will not have a
noticeable change in financial fortunes when you are gone? Questions like these are ones that I am ready
to answer, if you will give me a chance.
If you want to know more about what I can do for you, just call me at 301-262-4300
Cell: 301-335-7939 Fax: 301-262-6304.
God Bless!
William
Guinane
Trivia
Question
Last
Month’s trivia question was as follows: what did the word “liturgy”
originally mean, and what has it come to mean in the Christian tradition? Originally the word liturgy originally meant
a “public work” or a “service in the name of/on behalf of the people.” In Christian tradition it means the
participation of the People of God in “the work of God.” In the New Testament the word liturgy refers
not only to the celebration of divine worship but also to the proclamation of
the Gospel and to active charity. See the
Catechism of the Catholic Church at 1070.
This month’s trivia question is as follows: This December’s trivia question is a hard one because it is really 4 questions in one, and it deals with something we Catholics don’t focus too much on these days: patron saints. Here goes -- who is the patron saint of explosives, armaments, and gunsmiths? Who is the patron saint of childbirth? Who is the patron saint of flower venders? Who is the patron saint of libraries and philosophers? (Hint) we are looking for 4 different saints, and most importantly, they are all women celebrated by our Church for centuries as being paragons of heroic virtue due to their martyrdom.
Christmas Party
Christmas Party Christmas Party
Saturday, 12/17 for the youth of our parishes. The event will be a breakfast and will be a
joint venture with Calvert Advanced Life Support (CALS). This is our county’s paramedic corp., which
is in need of funding. A nominal fee
will be collected at the door and donations will be accepted for CALS. SANTA WILL MAKE AN APPEARANCE FOR THE
KIDS! The breakfast will be held at the
Vianney Room, at St. John Vianney from 9 am to 1 pm.
Our council will hold its Christmas Party for its
members with the Assembly on Thursday, 12/15 at 7:30 p.m. at St. Francis de
Sales Church Hall. Bring a dish to
share.
WE WILL BE SHARING GOOD CHEER AND MAKE MERRY WITH
OUR ASSEMBLY BROTHERS.
SPOUCES ARE WELCOME AND WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO BRING
YOUR BETTER HALF, SO WE HERE WHETHER YOU HAVE BEEN BAD OR GOOD.