September 2017 Newsletter
From the Grand Knight’s Desk:
One thing I enjoy about traveling is attending Mass at other parishes. The different people, Priests, customs, music all wrapped up in the familiarity of the Catholic Mass. This past weekend I attended Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington, MI. As luck would have it they have a Knight’s council so I reached out to their membership director. He was very friendly and introduced me to other Knights and invited me to their council picnic. They are an active council but their concern is their membership is literally dying out and they were unsuccessful in recruiting new members even though the parish has many young families in the grade school.
Although we all share of the responsibility of recruiting we are blessed to have many younger Knights we can trust to keep our council vibrant for years to come. Speaking of our youth, I’m delighted to see how strong the faith is among so many of our younger parishioners. Namely Elizabeth Philipps , Connor Orabutt and those who submitted essays for the scholarship. It is obvious that the Holy Spirit is working through these young people. Please make sure you are encouraging these teens and others so they maintain their faith and use it to strengthen faith in others. As these youth and others start back to college they face many challenges and one of the biggest challenges is to their faith. It can be tough these days to be a Catholic. Our beliefs and views are not always popular in today’s culture. People want to challenge our views on marriage, abortion, and other beliefs. It’s easier to just hide our Faith so as not to be challenged. As tough as this is for adults, for a college kid this must be terrifying. I know how tough it was way back when I was in college, today it must be much more difficult. So reach out and encourage our youth and pray for them. Support them and programs such as Focus and the Newman Center’s so they can help college students keep their Faith.
Last month I proposed that our council look into an ultra sound machine and asked for your thoughts. No one reached out to me. I’m not sure if this is because no one read my article or if there is indeed no interest. Supreme continues to support this initiative and is well on the way to 1000 machines donated. Please reach out to me if this is an initiative you would like to be involved with.
Well so much for best laid plans. So much work, planning and prep went into founders and then mother nature threw a huge curveball. But not all is lost as we had a nice picnic at church and in September we will participate in the makeup event to support those affected by the flood. I also believe we are better prepared for future events. New fryers, a sink with hot water heater and all the equipment is clean and scrubbed.
Thanks to those who helped Aldo on August 5 get his property cleaned up. This is such an important part of being a Knight knowing we can rely on each other for help and support.
Big thanks to Mark Ostrowski and his grilling crew for taking on the school’s family cook out. This is a great way for us reach out to all of the new school families and show them what we do and are all about. Hopefully we will get a couple of these families to join the council and run next year’s event.
I believe there are a few spots left for the men’s fall retreat. This is a wonderful event at an absolute beautiful location. There’s so much to do and this is a great way to bond with your brothers and for some Knights to even get a great sleep on the kitchen table. Please see Stuart Kuczynski for Ken Prigge if interested.
I have spoken about how it’s all of our responsibility to recruit and to make new members feel welcome in our council. But it is also our duty to advance to the 3rd°Degree. A large percentage of our council have not advanced. Why haven’t you? There are no additional dues, no more meetings to attend and you learn more about the Knights. Our council is hosting a major degree on October 19 at the school. Please invest the hour or so if it takes to become a full Knight. For more information please reach out to Mark Halper.
See you at Mass. God Bless.
Vivat Jesus
Christopher Hubbuch