March 2003

Dear Brother Knights,

I am struck by a thought that just won’t leave me. Not long ago we were given a sermon on the lepers of our day and age. The sick, elderly, homeless and downtrodden have been awarded the status and treatment given the lepers of old. This is a bold and eye opening statement, especially in our modern age of enlightenment and tolerance. I urge you all to consider not what it means in regard to our society, but instead what it says of each of us who live our comfortable lives, not having to fight for our freedoms, not being forced to hunt for enough food to last our family through the winter, not having to travel miles and miles in the dead of winter to attend a mass when the priest has come to the area for his bi-monthly visit. I am suggesting to you that we live lives of comfort and convenience that blind us from the necessity to love and live for God. That isn’t to say that none of us live for God and none of us love Him either. What I am saying is this.

The modern Catholic Church is suffering from leprosy. Leprosy of faith. Slowly and undeniably our Catholic faith is rotting away. With the doctrines and sacraments remaining unchanged and constant, and pillars of faith like Pope John Paul II and Mother Theresa, the age of the Catholic faith has entered an age of uncertainty. It isn’t because of corruption or scandal. It is a loss of compassion and education. There is no doubt that the average age of a Catholic parishioner has risen dramatically in the last few generations. There is much talk about the need for retaining the youth of our faith that seem to either prefer to move on to worship our Lord within the constructs of the Protestant religions, or choose to abstain from celebrating faith altogether. Retention of our youth is a necessary task to be sure, but not without it’s pitfalls, both grand and subtle alike.

There is a risk of a good intention going bad and here is fundamentally how. Faith is a growth process for us all and should be a lifetime of new revelations, experiences, understandings and teachings. That is hopefully what keeps us all inspired to keep working towards our eternal rewards. Unfortunately, we are seeing the systematic dismantling and diluting of our Catholic morals and values by society, especially within education. It seems that while good quality education can take place, there is always a new challenge in the name of someone’s right to not have to be taught about God and how to love life for Him. The case last year about the homosexual boy who wanted to bring his boyfriend as his escort to the senior prom at his Catholic high school is a prime example. It is a basic truth within the church that homosexual behavior is not acceptable and is contrary to what has been taught to us by Jesus and the prophets. This is a huge issue with our faith as it is not a clear directive on how to actually deal with people who choose this path. Using Jesus’ example, it is easy to say that we should be spending time with people like this and fostering their faith in God in order to help them return to Him in body mind and soul. Instead we are all to often just tossing them away to live in the hopelessness of the modern lepers. This is the easy way out. “Let he who has not sinned, throw the first stone.” On one hand we have our teachings and truth, and on the other hand we have a lost soul that fights for its right to be allowed to sin without loosing the right to praise God. How do we make these ends meet without more compromise? And further to that, how can we possibly expect today’s youth to maintain the doctrines and morals we have set for when they become the leaders and backbone of our faith, if we have already stretched the path with moral compromises of our own?

I am adding a copy of the speech that Bro. Everett wanted to present to us at our last meeting. He spoke of a Catholic Education course that he had been taking. His intention was to find a way that the Knights could sponsor someone to take this course, as it has proven so valuable to him and he wants to share it with many more people. Fr. Len informed us that the church has a commitment to fund 50% of this particular course and as such the Knights shouldn’t feel responsible to provide for it. While Bro Everett still feels that we could contribute to help offset the remaining cost for a student to take this course, he will settle for just getting exposure for education, the Formation for Pastoral Service Program specifically. Further education in religious aspects is of such value to more than the student. It will benefit each end every person who crosses that students path.

I am also including a second letter that I received from a Brother Knight. It speaks specifically to the attendance of a Chaplain at our meetings. I have left out the name of the Brother Knight who wrote the letter on this matter, not to protect him from anyone looking for an apology, but because I feel that the point of his letter may be overlooked. I can assure you that the point of the letter is the important part here. This is the honest feeling of an honest member who has legitimate concerns for our well-being, and that is all that we need know. Thank you to this Brother for caring so much. The Chaplain is so important to us simply because we need to have the guidance and perspective of someone qualified in the service of the Lord to help keep us informed and conducting good works. This I find is so very important, but as we all know, there isn’t one of us that can make it to everything all the time. Part of the reason that Fr. Len hasn’t been at many of our meetings is due to the fact that I haven’t been pushing to make it into his schedule. It was my feeling that he was busy enough and if I had any questions that I could just go to him with it when time permitted. But as I noticed at the last meeting, it certainly grounded us to have his presence and his comments. I would like to request of you as Knights of Columbus, as Catholics, and as men of this community, to make a conscious effort to not pass around ‘hear-say’ or rumors. I know that you can always ask Fr. Len anything, as long as you are prepared to get the honest answer and not just a comfortable one. This is so very important to the community that we work on clarity and honesty as opposed to perpetuating just whatever comes your way. Don’t run away from something that bothers you. Instead, face it down and ask the question as you would of any aspect in faith. This is the only way to figure things out accurately and honestly. Ask the question of those involved, beyond Fr. Len. Never avoid things if you intend to discuss them later. Get the information and hear it as well.

Having said that, I would like to suggest something to you. How many of us have opened our homes to a new community member for dinner? What have we done to make people feel welcome with us? When was the last time we seriously introduced ourselves to someone new at church and offered our attention and love to him or her? And now when was the last time we offered our community love to the priest? Who was the last priest that sat at your table? Ask yourself why and when. Now ask yourself why we see the national Catholic community dissolving. I suggest that it is because it is dissolving. Every community group and dynamic is sharing this effect. This is due to the lifestyle that we all live with now. High paced and busy all the time. Never has the phrase ‘slow down and smell the roses’ meant so much, but have such a pathetically small impact.

I watched a television program that showed footage of poachers in action. One scene in particular stuck with me was the sight of a man stripping a large tortoise of its shell. The poor animal was alive and this man used a large machete style knife to slowly chisel a circle on the massive shell. The tortoise shell is not just sitting there and is attached to the animal like a fingernail is to your finger. I watched as this man slowly tortured the helpless animal. This to me was horrific, but due to the fact that it was being done right in the middle of some kind of street market, it must be an everyday activity for some. The commentator mentioned that the animal couldn’t scream out in pain or call for help, and as such was not awarded the status and respect of a living being. On this same token I regard abortionists and Pro-Choice programs as an even more uncaring and selfishly motivated group. It is fair to say that these people are poaching our children. They kill living beings in the name of money. Such a horrible thought, and yet we have allowed our lives to stretch the morals and values that make us Catholic, generation by generation, until we now give our tax dollars to this legalized brutality. As angry as this makes me, I am also terrified to see the next generation and what they will compromise in the name of convenience and self-indulgence.

For a guy who is waiting on a new arrival, this sure sounds like a lot of doom and gloom doesn’t it. Why am I telling you this stuff? Why do I complain about the perils of society and constantly point out the evils of our own laziness? It is definitely not because I just walk around hating those who live lives this way. It is because I find myself with a baby on the way, the leader of a Catholic men’s group and still full of faults and sins. I complain, because I worry that an organization such as the Knights of Columbus can get so preoccupied with itself that it wouldn’t notice the need for it as defenders and stabilizers of the faith, rather than a separate facet of the church.

Don’t spend your time perpetuating the leprosy of faith by not paying attention. Hold fast to the things that you have been called to do for God. Learn about our Lord. Learn more than you thought possible about what it means to be a Catholic and put that into your life. This will make the community a pillar of strength. This will make it easier for us all to be Catholic in the face of society. This will make it one generation stronger than one more generation thinner and weaker morally. Make yourselves true to the title granted to you all of Knights.

Vivat Jesus
Chris

This is the speech that Bro. Everett presented to us at the February general meeting. His original intent was to create a kind of scholarship that would help subsidize those people heading in for this course. Fr. Len announced that this is a parish responsibility and that the parish already provides half of the tuition for this course. Bro. Everett and I now aim to create an awareness of this program now and spark some interest in people to take it. He is currently finishing his second year and has many good things to say about it. Please ask him about it. Also find out as much as you can about this course.
Chris

I am calling on the Knights of Columbus to support the Formation for Pastoral Service Program. This is a two-year course, one weekend a month with the exception of July and August. The cost of the program is $1500.00 per year, but I am not asking for money.
Have you heard this one? The Bishop was standing in front of the alter in the cathedral shouting “I am absolutely nothing in your eyes God!” Over and over he shouted.
A priest was working nearby in his office and could hear this loud echo. When he saw the Bishop, he came over and began shouting the same thing.
Then the janitor came along and saw the two men shouting. So he too approached and began shouting the same thing.
Then the Bishop leans over and whispers to the priest, “Who does he think he is saying he is absolutely nothing.”
This is just a joke, but it tells us a lot about our lives. It tells us even when we are trying to be humble; we still think that we are better than the next person. Even when we just employ the idea that we are better then the next person, God flops the table on us.
Another thing that it tells us is that we are very mechanical. We can do all the right worldly things, but leave out God. We need the Holy Spirit to dwell inside of us.
Over the years we sometimes get a build-up of dirt and grime encasing our hearts. If you do not have this build-up then there is no need to go. Whoops! There is one that needs to go.
On parish council we need people that have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside, so that they can make Christ-like decisions.

Here is the letter regarding the Chaplain. By all means, let me know thoughts and complaints that you have about any issue. I am not in the business of solving problems, but I certainly like to try at least.

Chris Carr,
Grand Knight,
Father Leduc Council #7061

Dear Brother Knight:

I am writing this note out of concern for the lack of a presiding Chaplain at our general meetings. I perused the minutes of the past fourteen meetings to determine how often the chaplain had been in attendance. Thirteen meetings, the chaplain was “excused”, on April 8, 2002, the chaplain was in attendance.

I personally believe that the position of Chaplain is at least as important as that of --- Grand Knight, Recorder, Financial Secretary, Warden, or any other position on council. I also take exception to the designation “excused”. A council member is either “present”, or “absent” unless a substitute is assuming the position. I do not believe that a meeting should be carried out unless a Chaplain is in attendance.

I once belonged to a council that acted as though the position of Chaplain was superfluous. That council got so far “off track”, that more than half of the membership disappeared. I sincerely hope, that somehow, we can ensure that a Chaplain is in attendance at all general meetings of the future.

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