February, 2019 FY 18/19 Issue 8 Knights of Columbus St. Francis of Assisi Assembly # 2136 Our next Assembly meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 13th at 7:30 pm at Our Lady of Sorrows Parish Church Hall North. Your attendance is greatly appreciated! E-mail: [email protected]Website: http://www.mikofc2136.org NOTICE OF ASSEMBLY MEETING The Sentinel FAITHFUL NAVIGATOR’S REPORT My Brother Sir Knights, Vivat Jesus! As we have moved past the festivities and joyfulness our the Christ- mas season, and into a time of Jesus’s life and ministry, I begin to think about what it means to be a disciple of Christ in our world. We are called to “live” in this world, but not “of” this world. But how do we do that? In researching this question more, I found an interesting article from the Catholic Answers Website (www.catholic.com) With permission, I share this with you. Being in, but Not of, the World Donald DeMarco The notion that a Christian should be in the world but not of the world is a scriptur- ally sound theological principle. It is also a paradox. The linguistic difference be- tween a true Christian and a pretender turns on a mere preposition. But we should not take prepositions lightly. They often serve pivotal and powerful purposes. We want to be liberated through reason but not from reason; we want people to laugh with us but not at us. Christ told us that if we are not for him, we are against him. Prepositions alert us to relationships, and it is critical for Christians to have the right relationships with people and things. A loving relationship is more valued than a lustful relationship; benevolence is more praiseworthy than possessiveness. As peo- ple commonly say about New York City, the world, too, "is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there." We are born into the world and spend our lives here, but it is not our ultimate destiny. Many Christians make the grave mistake of allowing their eternal destiny to be over- shadowed by their worldly preoccupations. They become both in and of the world. A disconcerting example of this is found in a letter by the president of the Canadian Religious Conference, an organization that represents 230 religious orders. The let- ter, intended for Canadian bishops as they prepare for their once-every-five-years visit with the pope, outlines the conference’s strong opposition to traditional Church teaching concerning divorce, contraception, abortion, the male priesthood, same-sex marriage, and assisted suicide. (continued on page 2) OFFICERS Faithful Friar: Fr. Jeff Day Faithful Navigator: Gary Mallia, PGK Faithful Captain: Bill McKeever, FDD, PGK Faithful Admiral: Nino Abate, PFN Faithful Pilot: Dave Stulock, GK Faithful Scribe: Dean Wojtowicz Faithful Purser: Jim Nitkiewicz Faithful Comptroller: Norm Pranger Faithful Trustee 3 year: Ed Waldecker Sr, PFN, PGK Faithful Trustee 2 year: Tom Rancour Faithful Trustee 1 year: Marty Kozicki, PFN, PGK Faithful Inner Sentinel: Joe Hejka, PGK Faithful Outer Sentinel: Paul Toth ........................................................... In this issue Faithful Navigators Report Notice of Assembly Meeting Sen. Sasse introduces legislation Presidents Day Prayer Requests Spiritual Reteat This Month in History Sir Knight of the Month Honor Guard Assignments In Memorium Birthdays/Anniversaries
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February, 2019 FY 18/19 Issue 8
Knights of Columbus St. Francis of Assisi Assembly # 2136
Our next Assembly meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 13th at 7:30 pm at Our Lady of Sorrows Parish Church Hall North. Your attendance is greatly appreciated!
As we have moved past the festivities and joyfulness our the Christ-mas season, and into a time of Jesus’s life and ministry, I begin to think about what it means to be a disciple of Christ in our world. We are called to “live” in this world, but not “of” this world. But how do we do that? In researching this question more, I found an interesting article from the Catholic Answers Website (www.catholic.com) With permission, I share this with you.
Being in, but Not of, the World Donald DeMarco
The notion that a Christian should be in the world but not of the world is a scriptur-ally sound theological principle. It is also a paradox. The linguistic difference be-tween a true Christian and a pretender turns on a mere preposition. But we should not take prepositions lightly. They often serve pivotal and powerful purposes. We want to be liberated through reason but not from reason; we want people to laugh with us but not at us. Christ told us that if we are not for him, we are against him. Prepositions alert us to relationships, and it is critical for Christians to have the right relationships with people and things. A loving relationship is more valued than a lustful relationship; benevolence is more praiseworthy than possessiveness. As peo-ple commonly say about New York City, the world, too, "is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there." We are born into the world and spend our lives here, but it is not our ultimate destiny.
Many Christians make the grave mistake of allowing their eternal destiny to be over-shadowed by their worldly preoccupations. They become both in and of the world. A disconcerting example of this is found in a letter by the president of the Canadian Religious Conference, an organization that represents 230 religious orders. The let-ter, intended for Canadian bishops as they prepare for their once-every-five-years visit with the pope, outlines the conference’s strong opposition to traditional Church teaching concerning divorce, contraception, abortion, the male priesthood, same-sex marriage, and assisted suicide. (continued on page 2)
OFFICERS
Faithful Friar: Fr. Jeff Day
Faithful Navigator: Gary Mallia, PGK
Faithful Captain: Bill McKeever, FDD, PGK
Faithful Admiral: Nino Abate, PFN
Faithful Pilot: Dave Stulock, GK
Faithful Scribe: Dean Wojtowicz
Faithful Purser: Jim Nitkiewicz
Faithful Comptroller: Norm Pranger
Faithful Trustee 3 year: Ed Waldecker Sr, PFN, PGK
There is no possibility, of course, that the Holy Father would capitulate on these issues. Nonetheless, the letter indicates how powerful the temptation can be, even for professed religious, to follow the enticements of the world and for-sake one’s commitment to the Church that Christ founded. Christ is a light that comes into a darkened world. Like the sun that provides us with the light by which we see everything else, the light of Christ, which shines through his Church, has its source outside of the world. It reminds us that we are transcendent beings. The Catholic convert and existentialist philosopher Gabriel Marcel expressed this idea beautifully in a book called Homo Viator ("Man the Traveler"):
The soul always turns toward a light that it does not yet perceive, a light yet to be born, in the hope of being delivered from its present darkness, the darkness of waiting, a darkness that cannot be prolonged without dragging it in some way toward an organic dissolution.
We are, as the book’s title says, travelers. We are wayfarers, pilgrims, journeymen, sojourners, traveling—with no little difficulty—from one plane of reality to another. How else can we understand this world but as a proving ground that ena-bles us to secure a higher ground?
If we try to settle down to a comfortable life in this world as if it could serve us efficiently on a permanent basis, we will be betrayed by the very world in which we’ve placed our hopes. Particularly in recent centuries, this world provides lit-tle hope of cozy hideaways. Marcel wonders whether:
the systematic refusal to accept this other world is not at the origin of the convulsions that have reached their paroxysm at the present. Perhaps a stable order can be established only if man is acutely aware of his condition as a traveler, that is to say, if he perpetually reminds himself that he is required to cut himself a dangerous path across the unsteady blocks of a universe that has collapsed and seems to be crumbling in every direction. This path leads to a world more firmly established in Being, a world whose changing and uncertain gleams are all we can discern here below.
The Christian motto Memento mori ("Remember death") w arns us not to allow ourselves to be contained
by the world and to understand that death is the gateway to a better life. Man, as a spiritual being, does not belong to the
corruptible world.
The Russian existentialist philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev wrote:
Our attitude to all men would be Christian if we regarded them as though they were dying and determine our relation to them in the light of death, both their death and our own. A person who is dying calls forth a special kind of feeling. Our attitude to him is at once softened and lifted to a higher plane. (Destiny of Man, 121)
It is easier to express a Christian concern for one another when we realize, as G. K. Chesterton once said, that we are all in the same boat and owe each other a fierce loyalty. One wonders if we could love one other at all if we were not mortal. Were we indestructible, the need for care would evaporate. As it is, though, the world needs help from another world. It needs the gospel message. The grasses will wither and flowers will fade, but "the word of our God," we are told, "will stand for ever" (Is. 40:8). Paul Cardinal Poupard, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture and author of The Church and Culture, draws at-tention to the critical importance of inculturating the word of God in a world that sorely longs for it. It "stands at the very heart of the Church’s mission to this world." By contrast, the world suffers from what Poupard describes as "enculturation," a process by which the world shuts out the light of the gospel message.
Enculturation is synonymous with secularization. It represents an attitude "that leads man to cling to the profane aspects of nature and man," that disengages politics from theology, science from faith, nature from revelation, the state from the Church. Secularization impoverishes the human spirit, but the gospel liberates it. We often hear dissenters clamoring for the Church to become "progressive," to become "a Church of the people," or to interest itself "more in people than in rules." But if Christianity were to adapt itself in this way it would not have the effect anticipated by its advocates. Instead, it would become entirely redundant and completely irrelevant. It would cease to exist, and dissenters would have to look to themselves and the world for meaning and salvation.
The fundamental problem among those who reject all religion is that they have not found a way to conquer death. A group of wishful thinkers called "transhumanists" believe they can overcome all finite obstacles, including mortality. They are committed to overcoming human limits in all their forms by extending lifespan, augmenting intelligence, perpetually increasing knowledge, achieving complete control over our personalities and identities, even gaining the ability to leave the planet. Transhumanists seek to achieve these goals by reason, science, and technology, according to a spokesperson, an enterprising individual who dubs herself Natasha Vita-More (née Nancie Clark). The notion of human life without limits belongs to the realm of fantasy. But the beliefs expressed by transhumanists, in-cluding the eradication of all pain, illustrate how desperately unrealistic people can become when they reject their super-natural destiny. Nick Bostrom, a professor of philosophy at Oxford University and another apologist for transhumanism, anticipates a universal cure for aging:
Today we can foresee the possibility of eventually abolishing aging and we have the option of taking active measures to stay alive until then, through life extension techniques and, as a last resort, cryonics. This makes the illusions of deathist philosophies dangerous, indeed fatal, since they teach helplessness and encourage passivity.
Bostrom deprecates those "deathists," especially Christians, who accept the inevitability of death. Christians would un-doubtedly prefer to identify themselves as loving realists. The inevitability of aging and death does not dull their respon-sibility for caring for people or making great strides in medical technology. Rebellion against death is, ultimately, rebellion against God. John writes in his first epistle:
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If any one loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. (1 John 2:15–16)
Yet the world is good, because it was created by God. The world as a way of life that is enveloped in darkness is the result of human sin. It is precisely this world that Christ tells us to "hate" and not to "be of. " Christians are to contrast the world of God’s kingdom with the world that is alienated from him and try to bring these two worlds together. After all, it is while we are in this world that we are sanctified. John does not neglect the significance of being in this world:
If anyone says "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should love his brother also. (1 John 4:20–21)
We merit heaven only through loving our neighbor on earth. Our role as Christians is to love one another while we are in a world that is only a temporary dwelling place as we.aspire to be of that heavenly abode to which we belong eternally.
Catholic Answers, "Being in, but Not of, the World" –Donald DeMarco (San Diego: Catholic Answers, 2006)
SENATOR BEN SASSE CORNERS DEMOCRATS ON KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS
DISPUTE IN JUDICIAL NOMINATION
GOP Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska introduced a Senate resolution on January 16th providing that it is unconstitutional to disqualify a nominee from public office based on their membership in the Knights of Columbus. The resolution, which The Daily Caller News Foundation obtained in advance of its introduction, comes after Democratic Sens. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Kamala Harris of California pressed a judicial nominee to the federal trial court in Nebraska about his affiliation with the Knights, a Catholic mutual benefit society with almost 2 million members worldwide. Sasse’s resolution passed without opposition just after 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, following a floor speech in which the senator extolled the importance of religious liberty. “There are many people on the left who act like every political fight is going to bring about heaven or hell on earth — and so there are a lot of folks for whom politics is a religion,” Sasse told TheDCNF after the resolution was adopted. “I think America at its best has af-firmed the dignity of every individual and their right to free speech, free press, and freedom of worship.” Resolutions of the sort Sasse put forward are generally offered to support non-controversial propositions and are adopted by the unan-imous consent of the chamber. “Unanimous consent” means that the Senate endorses the resolution without a vote. As such, Sasse’s resolution was tactically shrewd: passage effectively amounts to a rebuke of Harris and Hirono. Adverse political con-sequences could have followed had Democrats opposed it. A Marist poll sponsored by the Knights of Columbus released Wednesday found that 85 percent of respondents — including 90 percent of Democrats — said religion should not be a factor when assessing someone’s fitness to serve in the federal government. “It is the sense of the Senate that disqualifying a nominee to federal office on the basis of membership in the Knights of Columbus vio-lates the Constitution of the United States,” the resolution reads. Article VI of the Constitution forbids the imposition of a religious test on prospective officeholders. Harris is expected to declare her bid for president in the near future. The senator has embarked on something of a soft launch in recent days, featuring a Jan. 10 ap-pearance on “The Late Show” that left little doubt as to her intentions. The controversy over the Knights of Columbus emerged in December 2018 when Harris and Hirono asked a federal judicial nominee named Brian Buescher about his affiliation with the group in a series of written questions, which followed his Nov. 28 confirmation hearing. The senators cast the knights as an “all-male society” that takes “extreme” positions on social questions like abortion and gay marriage. Hirono proposed that Buescher resign his membership in the group to avoid the appearance of bias. In response, Buescher said that the knights “do not have the authority to take personal political positions on behalf of all of its approxi-mately 2 million members.” Hirono’s office has dismissed criticism of her inquiries as “far-right wing manipulation of straightforward questions.” Sasse drew an explicit parallel between the Buescher nomination and that of Judge Amy Coney Barrett who was questioned about how her religious convictions would bear on the discharge of her judicial duties, in view of Barrett’s scholarly writings on that subject as a student at Notre Dame Law School. Those questions were roundly condemned by Christian leaders. Like Buescher, Barrett is a Catholic. She was confirmed to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in October 2017. “Brian Buescher’s experience with the Knights of Columbus is very similar to what you heard for Amy Barrett,” Sasse told TheDCNF. “I think there is a pattern here and I think we need to shine a big spotlight on it and make sure folks can’t get away with this nonsense.” Buescher is an attorney in the Omaha offices of Kutak Rock LLP, where he leads the agribusiness litigation practice. His nomination to the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska is pending. Source: “The Daily Caller” on-line news service https://dailycaller.com/2019/01/16/ben-sasse-knights-of-columbus/
Presidents Day is an American holiday celebrated on the third Monday in February; Presidents Day 2019 occurs on Mon-day, February 18. Originally established in 1885 in recognition of President George Washington, the holiday became popu-larly known as Presidents Day after it was moved as part of 1971’s Uniform Monday Holiday Act, an attempt to create more three-day weekends for the nation’s workers. While several states still have individual holidays honoring the birthdays of Washington, Abraham Lincoln and other figures, Presidents Day is now popularly viewed as a day to celebrate all U.S. presidents, past and present.
The story of Presidents Day date begins in 1800. Following the death of George Washington in 1799, his February 22 birth-day became a perennial day of remembrance. At the time, Washington was venerated as the most important figure in American history, and events like the 1832 centennial of his birth and the start of construction of the Washington Monu-ment in 1848 were cause for national celebration. While Washington ’s Birthday was an unofficial observance for most of the 1800s, it was not until the late 1870s that it became a federal holiday. Senator Steven Wallace Dorsey of Arkansas was the first to propose the measure, and in 1879 President Rutherford B. Hayes signed it into law.
The holiday initially only applied to the District of Columbia, but in 1885 it was expanded to the whole country. At the time, Washington’s Birthday joined four other nationally recognized federal bank holidays —Christmas Day, New Year ’s Day, the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving—and was the first to celebrate the life of an individual American. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, signed into law in 1983, was the second.
The shift from Washington’s Birthday to Presidents Day began in the late 1960s, when Congress proposed a measure known as the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. Championed by Senator Robert McClory of Illinois, this law sought to shift the celebration of several federal holidays from specific dates to a series of predetermined Mondays. The proposed change was seen by many as a novel way to create more three-day weekends for the nation’s workers, and it was believed that ensuring holidays always fell on the same weekday would reduce employee absenteeism. While some argued that shifting holidays from their original dates would cheapen their meaning, the bill also had widespread support from both the private sector and labor unions and was seen as a surefire way to bolster retail sales.
The Uniform Monday Holiday Act also included a provision to combine the celebration of Washington ’s birthday with that of Abraham Lincoln, which fell on February 12. Lincoln ’s Birthday had long been a state holiday in places like Illinois, and many supported joining the two days as a way of giving equal recognition to two of America ’s most famous statesmen. McClory was among the measure’s major proponents, and he even floated the idea of renaming the holiday Presidents Day. This proved to be a point of contention for lawmakers from George Washington ’s home state of Virginia, and the proposal was eventually dropped. Nevertheless, the main piece of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act passed in 1968 and officially took effect in 1971 following an executive order from President Richard M. Nixon. Washington’s Birthday was then shifted from the fixed date of February 22 to the third Monday of February. Columbus Day, Memorial Day and Veterans Day were also moved from their traditionally designated dates. (As a result of widespread criticism, in 1980 Veterans ’ Day was re-turned to its original November 11 date.)
Knights of Columbus Spiritual Retreat Friday, March 22nd – Sunday March 24th
St. Paul of the Cross Retreat Center 23333 Schoolcraft Road, Detroit, MI 48223
Come and join with your brothers as we gather for a very special weekend of prayer, relaxation, fellowship and spiritual
renewal! Enjoy a weekend away from the stresses of everyday life and allow yourself time to listen to God and to what His
will is in your life. Each retreatent is given their own private room with private bath/shower facilities. There are quiet are-
as for reading and reflection, an extraordinary chapel for private prayer as well as where Mass, morning prayer, and the
Sacrament of Reconciliation are celebrated. There are several acres of grounds for walking, and great meals provide nour-
ishment for the body!
This Year’s Retreat Theme
REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS: AGAIN, I SAY REJOICE!
Our lives today are continually bombarded with challenges and temptations that can lead us away from living lives of joy. Our faith invites us to “open our hearts to be touched by Jesus” and to rejoice in the knowledge that we have been given an Advocate who will be with us
always.
The prophet Zephaniah reminds us:
“God…will rejoice over you withgladness…He will renew you in his love.”
This retreat experience is designed to help us rediscover the intimate call of God to each one of us to grow in holiness and live in JOY!
Suggested Donation: $215 (a minimum $30 deposit will be required to secure your reservation) ________________________________________________________________________
Registration
Please provide the following information to Retreat Captain, Gary Mallia at [email protected] or 248-496-9838
Name, Address, Phone, e-mail address
This will allow Gary to follow up with Retreat Center to ensure they’ve received your deposit. DO NOT SEND ANY MONEY TO GARY!
