Spring Convention 2010 issue The official newsletter of the BC & Yukon State Council
State Deputy’s Message My dear Brother Knights, I want to take this occasion to welcome each of you as we gather here in Surrey for our 99th Annual Meeting. Your participation in this meeting shows Unity as exemplified in our second principle. The weekend will also afford opportunities to meet with old friends and new as well as to strengthen our fraternity. This BC and Yukon newsletter is being distributed at this convention for two reasons. The first one is to make our Knights in the local councils aware of the changes we have made to our electronic state bulletin that is published quarterly. The second is to encourage you to send your good ideas from council events so that we can share them within the jurisdiction. As you can see from the
State officers format and style we have changed the way we published our news. Instead of just having lots of reports from the officers and directors we are now interested in giving our subordinate councils ideas to use and to improve the various programs that they have. These ideas may bring more men to join us. Certainly, it will encourage our existing members to stay and assist us in our mission of making the world a better place. Ideas may be a-dime-a-dozen but even the simplest one can prove to be a gem, when applied. Just like the graphic below, every single council can be like a piece in the giant mosaic that is Jesus himself. Who knows, maybe within these pages, you’ll find your gem. Hope your weekend will be filled with friendships and memories to last a lifetime. Vivat Jesus, Michael Yeo State Deputy
State Deputy Michael Yeo State Chaplain Most reverend David J. Monroe Bishop of Kamloops State Secretary Wil Wilmot State Treasurer Ed Shawchuck State Advocate Arcie Lim State Warden Barrie Stickland Immediate Past State Deputy Dan O’Hara
Living the New Evangelization Knights are called to demonstrate the truth of the Gospel to lapsed Catholics and to the next generation by Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson
During the season of Lent, many dioceses, parishes and Catholic organizations run programs to bring lapsed Catholics back to the Church. Such programs are to be applauded. But as good — and even necessary — as these programs are, they often do not address the root of the problem: No one leaves the Catholic Church if Jesus Christ has changed his or her life and continues to be at its center. Of course, we each bear responsibility for our lives and our choices. As in the parable of the seeds in Chapter 8 of Luke’s Gospel, for many reasons, faith sometimes grows cold or is lost altogether.
art can only be communicated by [one] who has life — he who is the Gospel personified.” How should this evangelization be “new”? For one thing, it must include the laity. Every member of the Knights of Columbus has a role in demonstrating what Pope Benedict refers to as the joy that comes from saying “yes” to Jesus Christ. And our role as witnesses of the Catholic faith to the next generation has never been more important. A new Knights of Columbus/Marist poll revealed a combination of hopeful news and areas of concern for the Catholic Church among young Catholics. Encouragingly, the survey found that among young Catholics — not just practicing Catholics — 85 percent believe in God. Their top two priorities are marriage and closeness to God. Eighty-two percent think marriage is undervalued, and more than 60 percent think abortion and euthanasia are morally wrong.
Reaching lapsed Catholics is important, and it requires a commitment to what Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI have called a new evangelization.
That’s the good news. But what’s worrisome is that 61 percent believe Catholics can practice more than one religion; about two-thirds identify themselves as more “spiritual” than religious; and 82 percent see morals as relative.
In an address to catechists and teachers Dec. 12, 2000, Cardinal Ratzinger — now Pope Benedict XVI — said this:
For them, and all who have lost the faith, we must be “the Gospel personified.” As Catholic laymen, Knights of Columbus have a key part to play.
“We can see a progressive process of deChristianization and a loss of the essential human values, which is worrisome. A large part of today’s humanity does not find the Gospel in the permanent evangelization of the Church: That is to say, the convincing response to the question: How to live?
Pope Benedict laid out a plan for this new evangelization in a speech to the Scottish bishops this past February. He said: “The Church offers the world a positive and inspiring vision of human life, the beauty of marriage and the joy of parenthood. … Be sure to present this teaching in such a way that it is recognized for the message of hope that it is. All too often the Church’s doctrine is perceived as a series of prohibitions and retrograde positions, whereas the reality, as we know, is that it is creative and life-giving, and it is directed towards the fullest possible realization of the great potential for good and for happiness that God has implanted within every one of us.”
“This is why we are searching for, along with permanent and uninterrupted and never-to-be-interrupted evangelization, a new evangelization, capable of being heard by that world that does not find access to ‘classic’ evangelization. Everyone needs the Gospel; the Gospel is destined to all and not only to a specific circle, and this is why we are obliged to look for new ways of bringing the Gospel to all.” Both John Paul II and Benedict XVI have understood the need for a new discourse — an increased focus on the Eucharist, the sacraments and the liturgy — communicated by those who have a true relationship with Christ. As Cardinal Ratzinger said a decade ago: “This is why we are in need of a new evangelization — if the art of living remains an unknown, nothing else works. But this art is not the object of a science — this
Working in solidarity with our bishops and priests, we must lead by example and show the world the joy that comes from love and hope inspired by our faith. Vivat Jesus!
From the Desk of the Supreme Knight Benedict XVI’s Papacy a Failure?
conversion.
Not Even by Society’s Standards
A society that has no room for God -- and the media outlets of such a society -- also appear to have no room for this message, and so some have attacked the messenger, grasping at any straw to discredit him.
By Carl Anderson NEW HAVEN, Connecticut, APRIL 12, 2010 (Zenit.org).- In early April, the
German Magazine Der Spiegel weighed into the recent attacks on the Church with the following headline: “The Failed Papacy of Benedict XVI.” Failed papacy? Not by a long shot. Even by this world’s standards, the papacy of Pope Benedict has been remarkable. He has led the Church forward with a focus on engaging the culture around us with love. His two encyclicals on charity, his encyclical on hope, and his letter on the Eucharist -- Christ at the center of our faith -- have taken us back to the most basic and profound message of Christianity -- faith, hope and charity. Benedict’s Christianity is the Christianity of the Beatitudes. The reason some see a “failed papacy” is that they want to see just that. Too many in Europe want to see this papacy fail -- any papacy fail -- because the Church stands counter to their secularist agenda. What some cannot tolerate is the vision articulated in Pope Benedict’s most recent encyclical, “Caritas in Veritate,” in which the pope reminds us: “Without God man neither knows which way to go, nor even understands who he is” (No. 78). This week we will hear the Gospel proclaimed in which Christ asks Peter, “Do you love me?” And Peter replies that he does. But he can only reply that he does because Christ has loved him first. The secularist turns his back on God’s love. He refuses Christ’s invitation to love him in return. We should remember that the two great commandments of Christ are to love God wholeheartedly -- and our neighbor as ourselves. The first must lead to the second. But eliminate the first commandment -- love of God -and the execution of the second -- love of neighbor -- will be unable to fulfill its promise. The dream of the utopian secular society is a dream at best. In “Caritas in Veritate,” Pope Benedict reiterated his point from “Deus Caritas Est” -- that no state would ever be so perfect as to eliminate the need for charity. He wrote: “When animated by charity, commitment to the common good has greater worth than a merely secular and political stand would have.” (No. 7) The idea that solutions to the world’s problems are to be found in the Gospel not in secularism has long been a theme of this pope. He has consistently maintained that the Church is different from secular society in that it does not seek a political messiah, but calls people to constant
The Pope who has called us to charity in truth, who warned us that the economy would collapse if religious values were excluded from the marketplace, who did so much to address and put right the actions of those priests who have caused scandal -- this man has been targeted, because he believes that we can only authentically love our neighbor if we have first allowed God to love us. That idea -- no matter how often it is proven correct by circumstance --is something that some secular minds just cannot tolerate. So there is a rush to judgment, a jumping to conclusions, an attempt to discredit the pope. The champion of charity in truth has received neither charity nor truth at the hands of too many in the media. There is a culture of suspicion against the Catholic Church today in which virtually any accusation is given credibility by the critics of the Church, while no amount of explanation in defense of the Church seems to be sufficient. How else to explain the media frenzy now against the man who has done more than almost anyone else to deal effectively with those who abuse children? The Holy Spirit will continue to lead Pope Benedict to the great work we have come to know him for, for his great witness to the love of Christ. It is up to us today to follow our pope’s witness. We must stand with Pope Benedict and say yes to Christ’s love, and then bring that love to our neighbor, to our society. We must evangelize by our witness. The poor witness of a few -- their manipulation and abuse rather than love -- have been seized upon by some trying to discredit the authentic Christian message and way of life. This is why scandal is so harmful, but also why our witness today is so important. Speaking in 2000, Cardinal Ratzinger said that the art of living “can only be communicated by one who has life -- he who is the gospel personified.” We must be that gospel personified, and in saying yes to Christ’s love, and yes to loving Christ, we must then extend authentic charity in truth to our neighbor. Then the world will see that we are Christians by the way we love one another -- and the way we will love one another will be the way we were first loved by God.
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The Knights Moral Compass - Food For Families
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ontinuing on the last issue’s Food Drive kick-off at the DD’s Meeting, we have this submission by Grand Knight of council 9846 in Port Moody: In January we had a successful food drive over the three week period. We collected close to 100 kilograms of food for our local food bank. We have demonstrated unity and charity through this project.
The 9846 team with youth volunteers
The Knig hts
Hall wa s a busy one!
Paying it Forward Have you done anything lately for someone? It could’ve been as simple as letting a harried mother with 3 screaming children in the car have that parking spot that you’d waited 15 minutes for. It could could’ve been as monumental as donating blood, which goes to strangers and helps people you don’t even see. Or it could be simple act of offering to take a sick colleagues work on. What’s your story? Tell the editor and pass the card on! Pay it Forward, and make the world a better place for us all, one act at a time.
Lady Knight Diane helping sort out the contributions
The Knights Moral Compass - Community Category Report from Kitimat District 16, Pancake Breakfast with the youth!
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just got back a little while ago from our Pancake Breakfast. This time the proceeds are going to the Youth of the Parish, they are going to attaint a Youth Conference in Prince George for our Diocese. It was a great pleasure to see some of our Youth come out to help raise funds by helping out and trying to learn how to make a Breakfast work. A total of $ 350.00 was raised and will be presented to the Parish some time next week. I hope this will show that we are still alive and well even with all the bad news lastly. Under the leadership of John Medeiros the young People sure had a super good time. God Bless you and hope you are having a great Sunday Thank you Brothers for being there and doing this for our Council 5148 CHRIST THE KING COUNCIL - Kitimat Max Petzelt
The Knights Moral Compass - Community Feature Article Being Catholic at Work … A feature article from Catholic Exchange.com March 9th, 2010 by Randy Hain
This is a talk I gave at the recent 2nd Annual Atlanta Catholic Business Conference. Good morning! Welcome to the 2nd Annual Atlanta Catholic Business Conference. We are grateful that you have chosen to spend part of your busy Saturday with us. For any attendees today who are in career transition, we extend you a special welcome and please know that you are in our prayers during these challenging times. The theme of this year’s Conference is “Being Catholic in the Workplace.” Let’s address the obvious question: “Why is this important?” Most of us spend the majority of our adult lives at work. The workplace today can be a challenging environment to be open about our Christian beliefs. Political correctness and rigid company policies have led many of us to compartmentalize our faith in an unhealthy and unnatural way. I often hear people say “I just leave my faith at the door when I get to work.” But, how can we possibly separate our spiritual selves from our physical being? In Gaudium et Spes, the Second Vatican Council weighed in with this declaration: “One of the gravest errors of our time is the dichotomy between the faith which many profess and the practice of their daily lives… The Christian who shirks his temporal duties shirks his duties towards his neighbor, neglects God himself, and endangers his eternal salvation. Let Christians follow the example of Christ who worked as a craftsman; let them be proud of the opportunity to carry out their earthly activity in such a way as to integrate human, domestic, professional, scientific and technical enterprises with religious values, under whose supreme direction all things are ordered to the glory of God.” How can we overcome secular obstacles to our faith and fully embrace Christ in every aspect of our day, especially work? The Conference hopes to address the obstacles (many of our own making) to our ability to lead fully integrated lives and provide practical and actionable ideas to achieve this worthy goal. The concept of being Catholic at work is a daunting idea for many and the thought of acting, thinking and leading through the lens of
our faith is an alien concept. In my profession, I encounter scores of business men and women who incorrectly perceive “faith at work” as leading bible studies in the break room over lunch or loudly evangelizing to co-workers. It rarely occurs to us to think about our own faith journeys, the example we set for others and the Christ inspired joy we should radiate as the most effective ways to share our faith. Letting others see Jesus Christ at work in us is a powerful form of witness that will attract others who want what we have in our lives. Ponder the words of Pope John Paul II, who said in his Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici:
to others.”
“The fundamental objective of the formation of the lay faithful is an everclearer discovery of one’s vocation and the ever-greater willingness to live it so as to fulfill one’s mission. …The lay faithful, in fact, are called by God so that they, led by the spirit of the Gospel, might contribute to the sanctification of the world, as from within like leaven, by fulfilling their own particular duties. Thus, especially in this way of life, resplendent in faith, hope and charity they manifest Christ
The mission of the lay faithful forces us to consider the workplace as fertile ground in which to do God’s work. As we know from numerous scripture passages and Church teaching, we are all called to lead lives of holiness and to be witnesses for Christ. Our workplace vocation is necessarily a critical component of responding to that call. This article has been shortened. For the full article, click here and be taken directly to CatholicExchange.com.
The Knights Moral Compass - Church Category
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nights of St. Bernard council 11072 spent an afternoon in honor of their Parish Priest who comes all the way from India. Father Tom Kakkaaniyil attends to the spiritual needs to the parish and Knights there decided to show him their appreciation by organising a Town Hall Meeting in his honour and that of visiting Bishop John Corriveau. Members of the parish were invited, and Worthy FS Neil Pelletier read the poem “The Beautiful hands of a priest�.
The Knights Moral Compass - Church Category
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nights of Our Lady of the Valley Council 10889 Celebrated Year of the Priest with their pastor Father Amador Abundo with a presentation of the Knights of Columbus Chasuble. As reported by SK Jim Brown PR Editor of the council: In Celebrating the Year of the Priest and in appreciation for his faithful service as our Worthy Chaplain, Our Lady of the Valley Council 10889, presented Fr. Amador Abundo with a special Knights of Columbus Chasuble, at the 11 am Mass on Easter Sunday.
The Chasuble is white silk with a gold embroidered Cross on the front and features a Knights of Columbus Logo, in gold, on the back. A Fourth Degree Colour Guard led the procession of Our Lady of the Valley Brother Knights and Sir Knights from Pope John Paul II Assembly to the Altar rail. There, Grand Knight Gerry Perras and Past Grand Knight SK Jim Brown presented the Chasuble to Father Abundo while Past Grand Knight Marcel Renaud explained the presentation to the Congregation from the commentators microphone. Father Abundo, a Fourth Degree Knight, was very pleased with the gift and said “this is a very special gift which I will be very proud and happy to wear for any Knights of Columbus, or other special Masses” The presentation day , at the Resurrection of our Lord, was chosen to honour the special gift of Holy Priesthood and also as it happened to fall on Father’s Birthday. SK Jim Brown Newsletter and PR Editor Our Lady of the Valley Council 10889 St Luke’s Parish, Maple Ridge
The Knights Moral Compass - Youth Category
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red Weigman of St. Clare of Assisi in Coquitlam wrote to say: A great big thanks to all those who helped out at the Easter Egg Hunts last Easter Sunday. Special thanks to our sisters, Joanne Schultz & Megin Alvarez for their assistance in bringing so many older youth to help out & for the pictures, and to our brothers, Gerry Scallion, George Blackstock, Milo McGarry, Joey DiPalma, Cesar Inducil, and any other Knights & family who I may have forgotten were there. Thanks so much. It was a blast. About 200 kids participated in the hunts after the last two Easter Masses. Everyone left with either a goody bag and/or a prize. Even some adults that hung around long afterwards found a few tasty treats. The kids absolutely loved it as you can see from some of the pictures. Hopefully this will be another continued tradition for St. Clare’s to be enriched by. Happy Easter All and Happy Divine Mercy Sunday!
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he competition was heated att the Annual Knights of Columbus Regional Speaking Contest for District 16. In the end the winners went home with prizes and much satisfaction! Held April 17th 2010 in Kitimat B.C. Host Christ the King Council 5148 in Kitimat, B.C.
From Veritas School in Terrace: Kailey daSilva, Nicole Alexander From Annunciation School in Prince Rupert: Aoife Tighe, Hannah Komadina, Ashtyn Andreesen From St Anthony School in Kitimat: Chantel Almeida, Hayley Bantle, Libby Towse
The Winners: 1st Place Nicole Alexander, Second Place Chantel Almeida,Third Place Hayley Bantle (are the 3 Centre Children left to right) In the back Principal of St Anthony School Paul Cornthwaite and Grand Knight Daniel Gueguen
The Knights Moral Compass - Council Category
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hey came from everywhere! Well actually from Abbotsford and Burnaby specifically. When the dust had settled, Rev. Fr. James Hughes, Worthy Chaplain From St. Ann from Abbotsford, BC. Council 6767 walked out of the Burnaby Bowling Center at REVS, holding bragging rights to the the top kegler of the meet. Together with brothers Wayne Doucette, Chris Currao, Paul Jelinski, and Shawn Veters, they had come all the way from Abbotsford to Burnaby just to have this fraternal gathering and fun Even their best efforts though, could not garner them the Annual Council Trophy. Honours for that went to the crack team of St. Mary’s Strikers, consisting District Warden, brother Manny Mandoza, FDD#4, Renato Delos Santos, Rik Villanueva, Cesar Tomayao, and Mary Costales. This team is from Saint Mary’s Council 13072. They made a team score of 615 which no other team could match. Saint Mary’s also had a second team on hand, lead by Deputy Grand Knight, and Grand Knight-Elect, Gabby Sta. Maria. Together with Bob Ma Xormita, Andrew Costales, Kat Costales, Adel Aguilar. Special mention goes to Andrew, Deputy Grand Knight-Elect, who brought his Family and made this a family-Function Event. The other team was from Saint Francis De Sales, Burnaby. Team Captain Brother Henry D’Souza, leading Omer Robison, Mark Dimawala, and Grand Knight Herme Devera. Brother Mark Dimawala had just went through his First Degree on March 21 at St. Mary’s Council along with 21 other candidates. Brother Mark also brought along his wife and his baby to the Bowling Tournament to enjoy the game. I congratulate Brother Mark for bringing his new born baby to the event thus also making it
PRO-LIFE as a baby shower function. The baby will likely become a future Bowling Champion and, who knows, maybe an Olympian.
Letters to the Editor Letters to The Editor are welcomed. Due to time and spoce contstraints though, your letters may be edited for brevity.
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t is always a pleasure to receive a fresh issue of the BC & Yukon Knight newsletter. It is well laid out and contains important news. Ever since the 98th Convention, our Council took the State Chaplain’s exhortations to heart. Starting in September 2009 once a month our Council Chaplain agreed to cover a part of the JP II letter during the Good of the Order agenda item, with a plan to complete our journey through it by June of 2010. In order to accommodate up to 25 min presentation at every general meeting we restructured the administrative portion to a minimum time: it now averages about 20 min instead of at least 40 min in the past. With already seven sessions behind us, the new meeting format, with a strong emphasis on spiritual development, appears to be working. One request we would have. Up to the July 09 issue of BC & Yukon Knight you were scanning it into .pdf page by page. The last issues has the front and back pages on their own and the rest as two newsletter pages per pdf page. This presents a problem with printing – the font becomes so small it is practically non-legible.
Some of our Members do not have computers and printed copy is the only way to share the Knight with them. Would you kindly please go back to the previous system of scanning only one page at a time into .pdf. Thank you for your consideration. Fraternally yours Mark Lopianowski PS A minor thing: I wonder whether in the header it was intended to show “Fall 2009”. Firstly, thanks for your kind comments regarding layout and content. A lot of work goes into each issue and sometimes, it becomes a real struggle to get things ready on time. Its good that you are taking the trouble to print the Knight for your members. At considerable cost of time, I’ve reformatted the BC & Y Knight to a single-page PDF format. FYI, these pages are not scanned, but created on software. Thank you for your feedback, and I’m sure our Worthy Chaplain will be happy to know that your council is taking the JP II journey. And yes, it was meant to be Winter 2009. Mea Culpa. Mark Pan, Editor, State PR & Communications Director markpan.koc@gmail.com
Obituary For an Old Friend Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
- Why the early bird gets the worm; - Life isn't always fair; - and maybe it was my fault. Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when wellintentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition. Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights I Want It Now Someone Else Is To Blame I'm A Victim Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.
The Knights Moral Compass - Pro-Life Dramatic Vegas Abortion-Reversal Results in Healthy Birth March 3rd, 2010 by Peter J. Smith
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ll is well that ends well. For pro-life advocates the healthy birth of ‘Baby Claire’ puts a fitting close to Las Vegas’ most dramatic pro-life rescue and gives further proof that a late-term abortion can successfully be reversed in some cases. Several months ago, Jamie Stout, a young woman in her late twenties to early thirties who was addicted to drugs and unable to take care of a ten-year-old daughter, decided she would abort her 20-week-old unborn baby. The late-term abortion – which takes between two to three days – was just underway when two pro-life crisis pregnancy counselors at First Choice clinic in Las Vegas were able to reach out to Jamie and convince her that she still had a window of opportunity to stop the death of her child. The pair was Executive Director Pam Caylor and neighbor and ultrasonographer Maria Cortopasso After a dramatic five and a half hours, an Emergency Room doctor was finally able to remove all the laminaria sticks the abortionist had inserted into Jamie’s cervix for dilation and induced labor. Despite the doctor’s fear that Jamie had a high chance of miscarrying, she gave birth fifteen weeks later to her baby Claire Stout, who was several weeks premature but healthy, weighing 5 pounds, 2 ounces and 18.5 inches tall. Pam Caylor spoke with LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) about the rescue and birth of baby Claire, saying it was “amazing” to see the complete transformation of the family – Jamie, her mother, her father, and her other daughter. Caylor’s crisis pregnancy center, First Choice, serves about 400 new women each month, and has helped save over 7,000 babies in just the past five years, making it one of the busiest centers in the nation. “It was amazing to see them all go from having the abortion done to within a few hours to rejoicing over this baby and this turn-around that God has brought to their life,” Caylor said, adding that they went from “not knowing when it is a baby” to seeing that life truly begins at conception. “They are an amazing family,” continued Caylor. “The father said two days after the abortion was reversed, ‘Pam, this is nothing but the work of the Holy Spirit.’” Caylor shared with LSN a quote from Jamie: “Thank you God for loving us! CLAIRE IS Beautiful! We promise to take good care of her. Love – The Stouts.” The pregnancy counselor revealed that the Stouts originally did not have the money to afford the abortion, until the last minute when someone stepped forward to loan them the money: an event that the Stouts had thought looked like “God’s answer” and prompted them to go ahead with the abortion. However Caylor said, “even that person kind of had a change of heart.” A close relationship now exists between Jamie and
the Stouts, and Caylor. In fact, Caylor was the second person Jamie called after Marina Cortopassi, to let her know her water broke. “The baby is a gift from God and God’s intention with that baby is to turn things around,” she said. “Because when that mommy looks in that baby’s face or that daddy looks in that baby’s face, all of sudden they have a new lease on life, and they have a new responsibility, and they have a new motivation to get their life in order.” Caylor said that it is clear that Jamie Stout has been given a new beginning: she is now completely clean off drugs and determined never to go back. “This baby is motivating her to turn her life around.” Caylor discovered that late-term abortion could be reversed at a conference organized several years ago by the National Institute for Family Life Advocates (NIFLA) – a legal and medical umbrella company for crisis pregnancy centers. Caylor attended a medical workshop with her nurse, where a pro-life doctor gave testimony and showed a picture of a two year-old child whom he had saved by successfully reversing a late-term abortion. In the meantime, however, she also learned that some clinics will also inject the baby’s heart with poison so that the baby is not born alive. In Jamie’s case, Caylor and Cortopassi were not sure whether that had been done. If baby was dead, Jamie would actually have had to go through the rest of the abortion. The ER doctor obtained a portable ultrasound machine to make sure that the baby was still alive. Caylor described the ultrasound: “Baby’s looking up, baby rolls over, so we know there is a heartbeat, and then [the doctor] finds the heartbeat.” “Jamie was the most amazing one through all of it, because she was the one who had the peace,” said Caylor. Although both the doctor and the attending nurse thought Jamie had a 75-85 percent chance of miscarrying, Caylor described Jamie as placing complete trust in God no matter the outcome, and happy that she stepped back. “And this is a girl who two and a half hours earlier was in the abortion clinic having this laminaria inserted in her for a 20 week baby.” “She was like, I’m at peace, whatever happens, happens,” she continued, “and here I am going, ‘God did not let us go this far to have [losing the baby] happen.’” Caylor said pro-life advocates should take away from baby Claire’s story that when it comes to reversing late-term abortion, “number one, know it’s possible; number two, get educated on it; number three, find doctors in your community who will intervene when that situation arises and will take the client.” This article is courtesy of LifeSiteNews.com.
News
from the
Grapevine - The Ideas Page
This is the page for the new, the unusual or the downright ridiculous! The only criteria is that it makes the editor go WOW! That’s a GREAT IDEA!! And so you get to share your idea with the hundreds of other councils in the BC & Yukon jurisdiction. The objective of course, being that your idea could very well work for the council in need of a boost and something different. Send your ideas to: Mark Pan, Editor, State PR & Communications Director markpan.koc@gmail.com
Council 13356 is a young council at 7 years old but we are extremely active in our parish and community. Our membership has grown to 70 members from our conception of 30. There is a Knight involved in literally every aspect of our parish ministries and programs. If ever the parish needs volunteers or something done, we are always called and we always get the job done. We are successful in all our fundraising events from pancake breakfasts, BBQ’s, phone book collections and more. All our fundraising efforts are
designed to involve the parish in a fun and enthusiastic way. Our most original and fun event to date has been our annual November beard and mustache growing contest (Movember) where the Knights
challenge all the men in the parish to grow facial hair. All proceeds go to the youth ministry of our parish and in the last two years we have donated over $1900 and have had terrific participation from parishioners. Another extremely popular event is where we auction 4 Knights for 4 Hours as a prize item at our school or church raffles. In the last few years we have averaged $400 as a bid and have pulled weeds, cleaned decks, moved furniture and even done minor renovations. To be honest, some of the highest bids at some auctions were from friendly (and elderly) parishioners that liked having company. It is a popular auction item though. As I mentioned, we are very active in our parish and we strive to promote the ideals of our order. I have no doubt that our council will continue to grow in our faith, in membership and in our parish and community involvement.
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March for Life is Next Month! The obvious question is...have you done anything about it yet? May 13th, 2010 is D-Day!
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o what can you do to drum up support in your parish for this oncein-a-year event that happens all across Canada and the United States? If you haven’t started yet, there’s still time to initiate some simple events, to bring top-of-mind awareness of the event to your fellow parishioners. Day of Prayer for the unborn: The Knights of Columbus has been a leader in the pro-life movement for over 30 years. Although the Knights of Columbus Day of the Unborn Child has already passed on March 25, the feast of the Annunciation this year, your council can choose any Sunday as this Day of Prayer for the Unborn! Councils use the Knights of Columbus Day of the Unborn Child, always a successful event throughout the Order, to come together with friends and family to host a variety of prayer programs within their parishes and their communities that show our never-ending commitment to unborn children and their mothers. Start a Knights of Columbus Baby Shower in your parish! This has got to be the simplest, yet far-reaching event that your council can do to further the cause. Here are some steps to follow when conducting this program. In a nutshell, here’s all that needs to be done:
for Life!) and ask your parish priest or make an announcement about the initiative, or get permission to have a council officers make an announcement before or after each Mass. • Request a written announcement be included in the parish bulletin. In the announcement ask parishioners to consider donating new or used baby or maternity clothing, baby and pregnancy supplies, diapers, bottles, formula, etc. • If collecting monetary donations, make sure to have a secure receptacle in your collection area for cash and checks. TIP: Place some nice baby/ maternity items and supplies in the collection receptacle after setting it up so people can see what types of items are needed. Put a sign on the collection receptacle so people who miss the announcement will know what it is for. • Collect the items after Mass each weekend. • With permission of the organization you are donating to, send a photo and press release on the donation to the local media. Try to avoid a “grip and grin” type presentation photo and instead send photograph of people at the center sorting the donated items or the items being used. How much more simple is that! In our parish, we use this simple initiative as a buildup to the March for Life.
• Obtain your pastor’s permission to set up said crib or play pen in the church’s entry way or foyer.
There are quite a few other ideas that your council can use. A baby bottle drive to collect donations is one. A memorial to the unborn child is another. The list is endless, and in fact, if you have more ideas, please share them with the rest of the councils in BC & Yukon. Send your story with photos to The Editor at markpan.koc@gmail.com
• Set a period of time to run the event (for our purposes, the 2 weeks before the March
Put on your thinking cap brothers! See you at the March for Life, May 13th, 2010!
• Source an old crib that is in good condition or a portable play pen that is not being used.
Field AGents’ Space
A Strong Shield Inspired by Catholic values, Knights of Columbus Insurance continues to protect the financial future of families By Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson As our global economy continued to limp along in 2009, and as the life insurance industry saw lower sales and experienced significant investment losses resulting from the prolonged recession, the Knights of Columbus avoided the worst effects while recording record sales. The reason is simple: We continue to build upon more than a century of commitment to putting faith and families first. Speaking with people unfamiliar with the Knights of Columbus, I am sometimes asked, “Why insurance?” The short answer is that our insurance business follows the same philosophy as our Catholic charitable outreach: “Love of neighbor.” When Father Michael J. McGivney came to New Haven as a young priest, his parishWe will stay the course ioners worked in dangerous facand continue to build upon the tories. If a father died or was seriously injured, his family ethical and financial strength of the would suffer — often terribly. Knights of Columbus. Father McGivney wanted to protect these Catholic families, and he put his principles to work the storm of the past year, and it was in founding the Knights. another financially strong year for the True to his vision, the Knights of Knights of Columbus. Columbus has continued its high ethConsider this: Despite the turbulent ical standards because we view our economy, we ended the year in the brother Knights as family. As a result, black with investment returns in line our fine team of insurance, financial with market indices. And we did it by and investment professionals cares for investing ethically. We believe it is the money of our members as if it morally wrong to pay another man to were their own. do what we consider immoral. Thus, When it comes to shielding his fam- we will not invest a brother Knight’s ily from financial uncertainty, every money in companies that engage in family man looks for safety, prudence, things such as abortion or pornography, protection, quality and sustainable things that go against the fundamental growth of investments. Such thinking moral values of our Catholic faith. isn’t just “smart.” It is the right and What holds true for us at home moral course of action. should also hold true for our business Many companies were lured by the decisions, and at the Knights of promise of quick profits that put their Columbus, it does. This hasn’t hurt clients’ finances in jeopardy. With a business, either. business model based on Catholic Our rules bar us from investing in principles, however, we weathered companies and industries with im-
moral products, research or services, yet year after year — and again in 2009 — we have made money without compromising our principles. We have been successful for our members in other ways, too. During a year in which 140 banks failed, annuity sales at the Knights of Columbus were up 60 percent, or $180 million — a new record. In 2009, the Order’s overall assets grew by nearly 10 percent. Many insurance companies are cutting dividend rates in 2010; the Knights of Columbus is not. People sometimes ask why we maintain such a large surplus. In times like these, they have stopped asking. The Knights ended 2009 with nearly $75 billion of insurance in force. Once again we earned the top ratings for financial strength from A.M. Best and Standard and Poor’s, as well as certification from the Insurance Marketplace Standards Association for our commitment to ethical business practices. While many in the insurance industry struggled, we saw a flight to the kind of quality that comes from our philosophy: a mission to protect the financial security of Catholic men and their families based on Venerable Michael McGivney’s vision 128 years ago. People can see the difference. In 2009, we had our best year ever with more than $7 billion in sales. As we begin 2010, my pledge to every brother Knight and his family is this: We will stay the course that has proven so successful in the current financial crisis. We will continue to build upon the ethical and financial strength of the Knights of Columbus, and that strength will continue to be a strong shield to protect the financial future of our families. Vivat Jesus!
Reprinted from Columbia Magazine, Feb. 2010