May 2003
Dear Brother Knights,
March and April have proven to be very busy months. Actually
ever since the end of February is when it all got started. Our council
recorder and youth director Bro. Troy Yoner and his wife welcomed their
new addition to the family, a baby girl, at the end of Feb. Then eight
days later in March, the family of our worthy Deputy Grand Knight, Darren
Allen introduced us to a little baby girl as well. Eight days after that
my own family watched as our little baby girl was born. And then shortly
thereafter, a little boy arrived in the home of our family director Bro.
David Allen and his wife. We slowed down our duties in the council as
a result, but that is only to be expected. I have to admit that all these
new babies seems to be some kind of strange and welcome gift from God
to us all. Darren and I notice that in the time between December 02 and
September 03, our council will be strangely blessed with the arrival of
seven new family members. I don’t quite know what to make of it,
but we thought it might be worth a group picture of all the lucky parents
and their children.
We think that it is also significant to note that of the seven new and
soon to be new fathers, six of them have taken positions to one degree
or another in our council and its rolls. I hope that you see the success
that reflects upon you all as a council in the order. It means that at
the ripe old age of 25 years, our council is vibrant, healthy and growing
still, while others struggle in our modern age of competition for time
and membership. This I attribute to those who have come before me. I think
that it was foresight and planning that afforded the new and younger growth
we currently enjoy.
March 4 also saw the official anniversary of the council. We celebrated
this by offering a Shrove Tuesday pancake breakfast at St. Ben’s
for the students, and then again that night at the church for the community.
Darren led a team of members who went and cooked at the school. It was
received very well by the kids and is looking at the possibility of growing
to include Notre Dame as well for next year. The community dinner was
well attended too. I have to admit that this took some of us off guard.
Not only did we double and triple our expectations for attendance, but
we just didn’t get there early enough and start cooking fast enough
to keep the line up moving. This is also going to be addressed for next
years Shrove Tuesday dinner. As it was a community event, we were fortunate
enough to see Knights, Catholic’s and also family members who normally
have not been able to share in our extended family. It was a great success
in my eyes and I hope that it isn’t going to be the last time we
see such joy and friendship.
You will have to excuse me for forgetting some of the other good things
that March brought us but it was for me, mostly a family month. Lent being
in high gear, we hosted a Friday night Way of the Cross, very successfully
organized by Bro. Shane Knysh. He has already been making plans for next
year.
We prepared ourselves as Easter approached, but we also faced a great
loss. Bro. John Langlois had been dealing with Cancer for some weeks already.
His good family and friends stood by his side and prayed the Rosary with
him several times daily. I was trying to find a way to get into a prayer
session with them without pushing my way in to a difficult time for a
family. Somewhere along the way, it was suggested by one of his neighbors
that we do a prayer vigil for him.
At this point in my letter I want to take a moment to clear something
up. I have been wanting to make sure that we are all aware of the fact
that this function was not a plan or construction of the council. The
credit for this belongs instead to John’s loving neighbors. However
we asked the council to support it and I am proud to say that as a council
we showed incredible support for this effort. What I saw was exactly what
this. I saw a group within a community come together in faith and love
and put their best foot forward.
The vigil required there being two or more people at all times praying
the Rosary for 40 one-hour shifts, consecutively in the garage of John
and Linda Langlois. We started on Holy Thursday in the afternoon and we
concluded with about a dozen or more crusaders of faith praying the last
hour out until after 7AM Holy Saturday morning. While there were time
slots calling for a minimum of 80 people, and also while there were many
who came more than once throughout the 40 hours, I know that we welcomed
well over 100 people praying when they could and how they could from wherever
they could, as many people were otherwise occupied over the Easter weekend.
John had expressed his interest in this event being at his home so that
if he was able, he could take part in it with us from time to time. Unfortunately
John’s illness brought him into the hospital earlier that week and
he was unable to be there in body. I was fortunate enough to be invited
to go and meet him and Linda in the hospital while their group prayed
with him. They both expressed their appreciation for the efforts made
by our community and our council, and I felt that I should share that
with all of you.
It is important to note that when we pray for intervention, we really
are praying for the will of God to be done, no matter what that may be.
It is our faith. On April 25th at 10:30 AM, Bro. John Langlois passed
away while the Rosary was being said over him in the hospital. It may
be argued that our prayers weren’t answered or that it didn’t
work. However we must remember that as is said at the funeral mass, the
will of God is beyond our understanding. It just may be that the will
of God was that one of his children was to show us what it means to be
a community in faith under the Lord as a last task to complete before
going home.
I learned a lot about a man that I never knew until he was gone through
this all. I also learned a lot about many men, women and children that
I thought I already knew too. Treasures of Heaven abound in and through
us all, and through this time of pain and sadness, I know that these things
were revealed to me. We stood up at the prayer service for John as his
brothers. We stood up with the community, his family, his friends, his
coworkers, and others at the funeral. I am proud to have been touched
by the path that John Langlois walked, even if it was only the last few
steps. I walked it with my brothers for my brother.
Today as I write to you, I’ve been informed of another man within
our church that has been taken from us this morning in a tragic car accident
near Beaumont. I only knew him and his family in passing, but he was young
with a young family as well. He wasn’t a member of our council,
but I will submit this to you. Our order was founded with the idea of
assisting the widow’s of Catholic men who had passed on. I don’t
think that you had to be a family within the council to qualify for help.
Here we are presented with two widow’s, one from our council, one
from our church. Which one is more worthy of our aid? Which family mourns
more or less. Which group is worse off? Neither is worse off than the
other of course. In the eyes of God we are all equals and the Knights
of Columbus are here as a tool for God to work with. We have talked about
establishing a program of practical assistance for widow’s to be
facilitated by our council. That is not to say that we will be setting
up a money account to just throw money at a problem with. In fact there
should be no money involved in this at all. It has been brought to my
attention that some of the things that these ladies face are things like
taking over responsibilities, traditionally that of their husbands. Some
have never done the books before. Some have never applied for a loan before;
some do not have their own credit as they have not need to have it before.
Some need advice when buying a new car or maybe some simply need to have
an avenue to take when getting small jobs done around the house, changing
locks, fixing gutters, lawnmowers, etc.
What I am saying is this. As we develop and evolve this into an actual
program, keep in mind that it shouldn’t take a program to show our
Catholic community that they can trust us with good clean ethical help
when it is needed. We intend to structure a program in order to make sure
that no one gets missed, and also that no one gets taken advantage of
either. But realize that while a widow is very much in a common state
of immediate assistance at first, a senior in our community is also in
need of the exact same thing, and as Knights we should be stepping up
for it.
I listened to a radio program the other day that talked about how the
art of being a father has been eroded and lost over the last several generations.
This results in many things, not the least of which is the fact that young
men aren’t being taught just what it means to be a man. Many young
men are waiting to be shown this and wanting to know that they can be
welcomed into manhood psychologically. If you look around today it is
very clear that this is true. But I think that as men of the order we
should remember that we set the example for each other as well as those
who may be in need of that. Carry that in the things that you do and know
that I am proud to be a brother to men like these, helping to create more
men like these.
Vivat Jesus
Chris