Enter your search terms Submit search form

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS

---

 
Happy St. Patrick's Day 2008
 

---

March's Attendance Award - $10.00

Each Month one council member is selected to receive an attendance award. The only requirement is to be present at the monthly meeting. The attendance award accumulates until a member wins. Come out to the monthly meeting for a chance to win. Bill Emanuel won the February pot of $60.00. March's pot is $10.00.

GRAND KNIGHT'S COMMENTS

As I write this, we approach the mid-way point of Lent. Lent is a wonderful time for spiritual growth. We have the opportunity to grow with many prayer forms - the parish "Little Black Book", the Stations of the Cross, the parish Wednesday evening programs, the rosary every Monday night. If you have not devoted as much energy to your Lenten journey as you had hoped, there are several weeks left until Easter. Reflect on your role as Catholic gentlemen in the Knights and your individual role as the spiritual head of your family. My hope for us all is that the remaining days of Lent will afford us an opportunity to grow spiritually. Each of us must take the step to make this growth a reality.

I encourage you to look at the Holy Week calendar and attend as many services during the Easter Triduum (three days before Easter) as you can. Holy Thursday and Good Friday services are unique and part of the rich tradition of the Catholic Church. The Easter Vigil service on Saturday evening is likewise a special service rich with meaning and tradition. It's a longer service than Sunday morning mass but its well worth the time. Consider attending the Saturday evening service and be a part of the parish that welcomes the members of this year's RCIA class to the Catholic faith.

There are two days of note during the last week of March. The Supreme Council designated March 25th as the worldwide K of C Day of the Unborn Child. Please pray for the unborn. And March 29th is Founder's Day - the 126th Anniversary of the founding of the Knights of Columbus - a cause for celebration and for prayer for the continued success of our order.

Vivat Jesus!

John Bellono

Brother Knights, Catholic Gentlemen,

As we know, Lent is a time of reflection and preparation. During a recent telephone conversation with my brother, a 1st Degree Knight in St. Louis, I asked him why he joined the Knights. He responded with "for the insurance", and I realized that he was just another guy on their council's rolls.

This past week in an interview with a potential Knight, I found myself anxious about his admittance into our council, until he said that he was joining to be an active participant, volunteer, give something back to our parish and community. My initial apprehension had more to do with the conversation with my brother and my own shortcomings in past years as a Catholic Christian. There are about 100 Knights in our council that I rarely see. I know many are contributing greatly to our parish and community in ways I don't see, and a few just can't get around anymore.

During this period of reflection and preparation for Easter I will pray for all Knights; that we reflect on our Knighthood and what it means in the context of the great sacrifice our Lord made for us. Our 1st Degree is not about 'joining for the insurance', its about charity...volunteering time, talent and treasure.

Vivat Jesus!

Bob Spuhl

Personal Information Update

Please check to ensure that your contact information is updated with the Financial Secretary. This includes an e-mail address (if you have one) for the sending the Monthly Newsletter. The Shepherd’s Watch is available through e-mail and it can be gotten off the Parish website.

Service Hours

It's that time of year. The council will prepare the annual service hours report in January. Please deliver all your service hour data to Bob Spuhl as soon as possible (email is fine). Remember to include your charity hours to organizations and efforts in the community not directly associated with the Knights or the Catholic Church.

"Keep Christ in Christmas" Magnet Sales Update

Amazingly, we continued to have inquiries about these magnets until mid-January. This success story continues - the next chapter is that we plan to sell them again next year and keep the "message" on the magnets alive.

Hockey Night

Knights" on Friday night March 7th at 7:30 PM when the Huntsville Havoc face-off at the Von Braun Center. This is a new council social event that should be a lot of fun. All Brother Knights and their families and friends are invited. Tickets are $12 each (the lower level). We do need a commitment to obtain group seating. All orders must be placed no later than Thursday February 28th (tickets to be purchased on February 29th). Please contact Zach Wible or John Bellono to make your reservation or to ask any questions. Payment instructions will be forthcoming. We apologize for the short notice. Hopefully many of you can make it that night.

Annual Dues

Please contact the Financial Secretary as soon as possible if you haven’t paid your annual dues. As our FS, Ben Cumbie has many things that he must do to keep the Council in running and needs your help in keeping your dues current.

Our Council Financial Secretary Ben Cumbie prepared and mailed statements to all members in December for remittance of annual dues for the 2008 calendar year. Annual dues are $36. Please be prompt in replying to Ben to help make this annual task as smooth as possible.

New Council Members

Let us give a big welcome to two members of our council.

Bill Emanuel - Transferred In
Dennis J. McGuire - Made First Degree January 30th, 2008
Terrance J. Nordmann - Transferred In
Raymond D. Wesley - Made First Degree January 30th, 2008

First Degree Exemplifications

Congratulations to our two Brother Knights who completed their first degree on Wednesday January 30. Congratulations to Dennis McGuire and Raymond Wesley.

Second Degree Exemplifications

A 2nd Degree Exemplification is scheduled for Sunday March 2nd at 2:00 PM at St. John the Baptist Council 10232 in Madison. All current 1st Degree members are encouraged to participate. If you are interested, please contact our membership chairman Paul Lucas.

Third Degree Exemplifications

A Third Degree Exemplification is scheduled for Saturday March 8 at 9:30 AM at Good Shepherd. Our council will serve as the host. All current Second Degree members are strongly encouraged to participate. The third degree is typically offered once or twice a year in North Alabama. The location cannot be more convenient - right here at Good Shepherd. It is important that we have an accurate count of how many plan to participate several weeks in advance. If you are interested, please contact Paul Lucas, Bob Spuhl, or John Bellono as soon as you can but no later than Sunday February 17

Fourth Degree Exemplifications

A 4th Degree Exemplification is scheduled for Thursday April 24th in Birmingham. This is an annual event on the eve of the State Convention. All current Third Degree members are welcome to participate. The event will take place in the evening hours - exact time TBD. If there is sufficient interest, we will consider taking one or more vehicles and drive the round trip to Birmingham that Thursday afternoon/evening. You would probably have to take off that afternoon from work. If you are interested in participating, please contact John Bellono or Bob Spuhl no later than Friday March 14th. Commitments to participate must be made in advance.

Catholic High School Registration

For information, contact Brittany Martin at 256-430-1760, extension 102 or bmartin@chsfalcons.org.

Birthdays

Officers and members of Council 11672 want to extend a Happy Birthday to the following members whose birthday falls in March:

Candido P. Damian	3/29
Albert A. Dillman	3/11
George T. Ellis	3/24
Gerard J. Gotvald	3/6
Joseph J. Jeries	3/18
Michael A. Lenahan	3/21
Paul W Lucas	3/13
Joel T. Mayo	3/29
Thomas A. Raebel	3/7
Rosalio Rodriguez	3/22
Christopher D. Waters	3/22
Walter A. Wible	3/6

Knight and Family of the Month

The Council and members want to congratulate Arthur Thompson, our December the knight of the Month, and the December family of the Month is the Marty Siebert family.

Insurance News

"We are pleased to announce the introduction of the Knights of Columbus Single Deposit Paid-Up Additions Rider. This addition to our portfolio of life insurance plans means that policyholders have greater flexibility in choosing where to place their tax favored savings dollars.

The Single Deposit Paid-Up Additions Rider offers you and your family the opportunity to guarantee higher cash value accumulation while providing additional life insurance coverage. Both of these features offer the benefit to leverage the unique tax favored benefits of life insurance and a very effective means for generating income in later years without the tax consequences of other financial instruments. This new Knights of Columbus product portfolio enhancement can help provide you and your family with additional financial security."

Call me your field agent.

Brother Mark P. Yosway, FIC
Field Agent
Tel/Fax: 256-772-7666 or 888-246-5632
Cell: 256-679-5632

Life, Long Term Care, & Annuities
Insurance for your whole life
Serving Families for Over 125 Years

Canned Goods Drive

Don't forget those canned goods. Each Knight is asked to bring just one canned good or money to the monthly Council meeting. The food or money goes to the Church pantry for support of the poor and hungry in our community. Remember charity is a Knight's duty, not a courtesy.

Stations of the Cross

We are encouraging all Council members to attend the Stations of the Cross at our parish on Friday night February 15 at 7:00 PM. Although the stations are held every Friday night during Lent, we want to encourage participation as a council for a single Friday night. Please bring your entire family. We'd like an estimate of how many will attend - please reply to John Bellono. We hope to have enough to justify saving a section of seating for the Knights and their families.

K of C Free Throw Contest Results

The annual council Free Throw Contest took place Saturday February 16th at 10:00 a.m in the Family Life Center at Good Shepherd. We only had three participants - Sammy Spuhl, Alex Sutton, and Raul Alonso Jr. Raul Alonso Jr. participated in the District Free Throw contest on Saturday February 23rd. Congratulations to our participants. We hope for more in next year's contest.

St. Patrick's Day Parade

Madison County's 31st annual St. Patrick's Day Parade will be held on Monday, March 17th, in downtown Huntsville. The parade will begin at 11:30 AM and will last about an hour. The parade begins at the intersection of Jefferson and Monroe streets, proceeds south on Jefferson, goes around the Courthouse, proceeds north on Washington, and west on Monroe back to the starting point. K of C members and their families are welcome to participate and be a part of the parade contingent. We hope you will come out and join the tradition!!! For further info, call Sonnie Hereford on 541-2530.

Monthly Meeting and Recruitment Social - Monday Night April 7

We've scheduled a council social and recruitment event on Monday night April 7th to coincide with our monthly meeting. That night is the Men's NCAA Basketball Championship. The schedule for the night is - Monthly Meeting at 6:00 p.m. in the all purpose room, weekly rosary for the sick of the parish at 7:00 p.m. in the chapel, and the social at 7:30 p.m. in the Family Life Center. We hope this schedule will better support the weekly rosary and that the "heavy" snacks we serve at 7:30 p.m. will allow the members to attend the 6:00 p.m. meeting and have a late "dinner" at 7:30 p.m. Recruits are invited to join us at the rosary at 7:00 p.m. and then accompany us to the Family Life Center. Everyone is strongly encouraged to invite an eligible member of the parish to join the Knights. This is a great opportunity for us to expand our membership. If you have any questions about the April 7th "event", please contact John Bellono or Bob Spuhl. We're hoping for a great turnout of members (and prospective members).

Council Social

Our council is planning a social for council members and spouses and families Saturday night May 17th on the church grounds. We're planning a potluck with the main dishes provided. Good weather will allow us to make use of the athletic field. Please mark your calendars with this date. Details to follow.

Pope Benedict XVI

Many of you may know that Pope Benedict XVI has planned his first visit to the United States on April 15-20. The Knights are busy "preparing the way" for the pope's visit, including a special recruitment program. All First Degree exemplifications through June 30 will be held in honor of Pope Benedict. Candidates will receive a commemorative certificate. Every Knight who proposes a new member through April 20 will receive a commemorative medallion. Every new Knight initiated through April 20 will have his name listed in a special book that will be presented to Pope Benedict. There were already many great reasons to recruit new members to our order. There are now a few more. Time for us all to get busy - wouldn't you say?

Volunteer Hours

Remember if you do any type of volunteer work, please keep track of the hours and report it to the Council. This information is submitted to the State in periodic reports. This helps the Council, the Parish, the community, and the Knights of Columbus receive recognition for these efforts. Please inform the Deputy Grand Knight of your hours every month.

Resolution

At the February 4th council meeting, the Financial Secretary reviewed the current balance of the council's general fund. There was a consensus that the general fund balance was excessive given our current operating expenses and that some of these funds should be transferred to the charity fund where they would be eligible for disbursement to charitable causes. Members in attendance asked that council officers further review the council finances and make a recommendation in the form of a resolution for presentation at the next monthly meeting. Here is the resolution that will be forwarded to the March 3rd business meeting.

WHEREAS, the Officers of the Knights of Columbus Council 11672, Good Shepherd Parish have conducted a review of our General Fund and determined as of January 1st, 2008, the fund should maintain a balance of $7,500 which is approximately equal to one and one-half years operating expenses and the general fund contained $13,740 as of January 1st, 2008;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the approval of the transfer of funds totaling $6000.00 to the Council Charity Fund for use in carrying out our charitable mission.

Respectfully Submitted by: John A. Bellono, Grand Knight, Council #11672

PRAYER LINE

Taking care of our Brother Knights in distress is one of basic principles espoused by our founder, Father McGivney. Please remember our sick Brother Knights and those deceased in your prayers. If anyone knows of a Brother Knight in distress, contact Kirk Foeller (885-9788 or email).

Remember the Prayer Line also includes family members and friends. Being Catholic is not a requirement to have a person's name placed on the prayer Line.

An Easter Prayer
1st Station of the Cross - Act Of Contrition
Oh my God, my Redeemer, behold me here at Thy feet.
From the bottom of my heart I am sorry for all my sins,
Because by them I have offended Thee,
Who art infinitely good. I will die rather than offend Thee again.

AREA MASS SCHEDULES

About 10% of U.S. households pay their bills in cash.

When the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers play football at home, the stadium becomes the state's third largest city.

Most car horns honk in the key of 'F'.

A frog can't empty its stomach by vomiting. To empty its stomach contents, a frog throws up its stomach first, so the stomach is dangling out of it's mouth. Then the frog uses its forearms to dig out all of the stomach's contents and then swallows the stomach back down again. And you thought you had ingestion problems.

On May 22nd, 1849, Abraham Lincoln received Patent No. 6469 for a device to lift boats over shoals, an invention which was never manufactured. However, it did make him the only U.S. president to hold a patent. A scale model can be seen at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

March 10th, 1876 - 1st telephone call was made.

"Most hotels are already booked solid by people, plus 5,000 journalists." Bangkok Post

Everything that can be invented has been invented." Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899.

"I made a wrong mistake." Yogi Berra

Newsletter Submissions

This is your Newsletter and that anything you would like to let the Officers and Council members be aware of, please submit the information to the Newsletter Editor, . His telephone number is 213-2876 and his e-mail address is sfmedic1970@bellsouth.net.

The information submitted can be of a general interest to the Council members. It does not necessarily have to be directly connected to the Council, the Knights of Columbus, or the Church, e.g. a Boy Scout or Girl Scout event, or something the members might enjoy such as a play or art show. It can be of interest to the Huntsville community at large. Please submit text, photographs, etc. Anything submitted is subject to review and editing by the Editor.

The deadline to have information included in the next publication of the Shepard's Watch is the 20^th day of the month preceding the next publication.

The Council is also always looking for material to submit to the One Voice and the Columbia.

We ask you also to keep you mailing address, telephone numbers, and e-mails current.

The Monthly Feature

The human seasons
FOUR Seasons fill the measure of the year;
There are four seasons in the mind of man:
He has his lusty Spring, when fancy clear
Takes in all beauty with an easy span:
He has his Summer, when luxuriously Spring's honey'd cud of youthful thought he loves
To ruminate, and by such dreaming high
Is nearest unto heaven: quiet coves
His soul has in it's Autumn, when his wings
He furleth close; contented so to look
On mists in idleness-to let fair things
Pass by unheeded as a threshold brook.
He has his Winter too of pale misfeature,
Or else he would forego his mortal nature.
- John Keats - Written in 1820 -

Questions for the Mind

February’s Questions and Answers:

The Philocalian Calendar is also know as the Chronography of 354 (as in year 354 AD), and also known as the Calendar of 354. This document is a Fourth Century illuminated manuscript, which was produced in 354 AD for a wealthy Roman Christian named Valentius. It is the earliest dated codex to have full-page illustrations. The original copy or copies of calendar or in today's vernacular a first edition has not survived, but copies from an original have. The term Calendar of Filocalus is sometimes used to describe the whole collection, and sometimes just the sixth part, which is the Calendar itself. Other versions of the names (i.e. the "Philocalus" and the "Codex-Calendar of 354") may be used. The text and illustrations are available online. Amongst other historically significance of this document is that it contains the earliest reference to the celebration of Christmas as a holiday or feast. It is noted that Christmas as an official holiday or feast as set on December 25th did not occur until the Sixth Century.

The earliest reference to the date of December 25th (as be the birth of Jesus) comes from Theophilus of Antioch (A.D. 171-183). Hippolytus commented in c. A.D 202 not too accurately that Jesus was born in Bethlehem on December 25th, a Wednesday, in the 42nd year of the reign (27 B.C. to A.D. 14) of Augustus. Using the information that we now know, if one subtracts the approximate six-year inherent error in the current calendar, and the fact that Jesus was approximately 14 years old when Augustus died, if we were to believe Hippolytus, the current year is 1988. This just goes to show one how incomplete the records of the first several centuries Christianity are. To add further confusion, Pope Julius I in 350 degreed that December 25th is the feast day of Jesus Christ, but there is no original information of the inner working's of the Catholic Church during the reign of Pope Julius I. There are letters between Pope Julius I and high ranking churchmen (i.e. bishops, etc.), but none of them discuss Christmas.

References:

Weitzmann, Kurt. Late Antique and Early Christian Book Illumination. New York: George Braziller, 1977.

Salzman, Michele Renee. On Roman Time : The Codex-Calendar of 354 and the Rhythms of Urban Life in Late Antiquity (The Transformation of the Classical Heritage 17). Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.

Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia

What How is Easter determined each year?

Easter Sunday is the first Sunday, which occurs after the first full moon (or more accurately after the first fourteenth day of the moon) following March 21st. As a result, the earliest possible date of Easter is 22nd March, the latest 25th April.

It should be noted that algorithm to calculate Easter Sunday took many centuries to be agreed upon by the Catholic Church. Some Christian Churches to this day use a different algorithm. For example Orthodox Easter this year is April 27th. It took in some cases for the last of the churches loyal to Rome to the Ninth Century to use the Catholic algorithm to compute the annual date for the celebration of Easter.

What is the origin of Lent?

The Origin of the Word Lent: The Teutonic word Lent, which we employ to denote the forty days' fast preceding Easter, originally meant no more than the spring season. Still it has been used from the Anglo-Saxon period to translate the more significant Latin term quadragesima (French carême, Italian quaresima, Spanish cuaresma), meaning the "forty days", or more literally the "fortieth day". This in turn imitated the Greek name for Lent, tessarakoste (fortieth), a word formed on the analogy of Pentecost (pentekoste), which last was in use for the Jewish festival before New Testament times. This etymology, as we shall see, is of some little importance in explaining the early developments of the Easter fast.

Origin of Lent: Some of the Fathers as early as the fifth century supported the view that this forty days' fast was of Apostolic institution. For example, St. Leo (d. 461) exhorts his hearers to abstain that they may "fulfill with their fasts the Apostolic institution of the forty days" - ut apostolica institutio quadraginta dierum jejuniis impleatur (P.L., LIV, A.D 633), and the historian Socrates (d. A.D. 433) and St. Jerome (d. A.D. 420) use similar language (P.G., LXVII, A.D. 633; P.L., XXII, A.D. 475).

But the best modern scholars are almost unanimous in rejecting this view, for in the existing remains of the first three centuries we find both considerable diversity of practice regarding the fast before Easter and also a gradual process of development in the matter of its duration. The passage of primary importance is one quoted by Eusebius (Hist. Eccl., V, xxiv) from a letter of St. Irenaeus to Pope Victor in connection with the Easter controversy. There Irenaeus says that there is not only a controversy about the time of keeping Easter but also regarding the preliminary fast. "For", he continues, "some think they ought to fast for one day, others for two days, and others even for several, while others reckon forty hours both of day and night to their fast". He also urges that this variety of usage is of ancient date, which implies that there could have been no Apostolic tradition on the subject. Rufinus, who translated Eusebius into Latin towards the close of the fourth century, seems so to have punctuated this passage as to make Irenaeus say that some people fasted for forty days. Formerly some difference of opinion existed as to the proper reading, but modern criticism (e.g., in the edition of Schwartz commissioned by the Berlin Academy) pronounces strongly in favor of the text translated above. We may then fairly conclude that Irenaeus about the year A.D 190 knew nothing of any Easter fast of forty days.

The same inference must be drawn from the language of Tertullian only a few years later. When writing as a Montanist, he contrasts the very slender term of fasting observed by the Catholics (i.e., "the days on which the bridegroom was taken away", probably meaning the Friday and Saturday of Holy Week) with the longer but still restricted period of a fortnight which was kept by the Montanists. No doubt he was referring to fasting of a very strict kind (xerophagiæ - dry fasts), but there is no indication in his works, though he wrote an entire treatise "De Jejunio", and often touches upon the subject elsewhere, that he was acquainted with any period of forty days consecrated to more or less continuous fasting (see Tertullian, "De Jejun.", ii and xiv; cf. "de Orat.", xviii; etc.).

And there is the same silence observable in all the pre-Nicene Fathers, though many had occasion to mention such an Apostolic institution if it had existed. We may note for example that there is no mention of Lent in St. Dionysius of Alexandria (ed. Feltoe, 94 sqq.) or in the "Didascalia", which Funk attributes to about the yearkú yet both speak diffusely of the paschal fast.

Further, there seems much to suggest that the Church in the Apostolic Age designed to commemorate the Resurrection of Christ, not by an annual, but by a weekly celebration (see "the Month", April 1910, 337 sqq.). If this be so, the Sunday liturgy constituted the weekly memorial of the Resurrection, and the Friday fast that of the Death of Christ. Such a theory offers a natural explanation of the wide divergence which we find existing in the latter part of the second century regarding both the proper time for keeping Easter, and also the manner of the paschal fast. Christians were at one regarding the weekly observance of the Sunday and the Friday, which was primitive, but the annual Easter festival was something superimposed by a process of natural development, and it was largely influenced by the conditions locally existing in the different Churches of the East and West. Moreover, with the Easter festival there seems also to have established itself a preliminary fast, not as yet anywhere exceeding a week in duration, but very severe in character, which commemorated the Passion, or more generally, "the days on which the bridegroom was taken away".

Be this as it may, we find in the early years of the fourth century the first mention of the term tessarakoste. It occurs in the fifth canon of the Council of Nicea (A.D. 325), where there is only question of the proper time for celebrating a synod, and it is conceivable that it may refer not to a period but to a definite festival, e.g., the Feast of the Ascension, or the Purification, which Ætheria calls quadragesimæ de Epiphania. But we have to remember that the older word, pentekoste (Pentecost) from meaning the fiftieth day, had come to denote the whole of the period (which we should call Paschal Time) between Easter Sunday and Whit-Sunday (cf. Tertullian, "De Idololatria", xiv, - "pentecosten implere non poterunt"). In any case it is certain from the "Festal Letters" of St. Athanasius that in A.D. 331 the saint enjoined upon his flock a period of forty days of fasting preliminary to, but not inclusive of, the stricter fast of Holy Week, and secondly that in A.D. 339 the same Father, after having traveled to Rome and over the greater part of Europe, wrote in the strongest terms to urge this observance upon the people of Alexandria as one that was universally practiced, "to the end that while all the world is fasting, we who are in Egypt should not become a laughing-stock as the only people who do not fast but take our pleasure in those days". Although Funk formerly maintained that a Lent of forty days was not known in the West before the time of St. Ambrose, this is evidence which cannot be set aside.

Reference:

Written by Herbert Thurston. Transcribed by Anthony A. Killeen. A.M.D.G.

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IX. Published 1910. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York

April’s Questions:

What is the origin of the word Easter?

When was Easter first celebrated?

What is exactly meant by the Passion of Christ?

---