Bishop Paprocki: Speaking About the Upcoming Vote

This is an important issue for practical Catholics.  We must heed the words of our bishops.  While they may not be infallible statements, they should be afforded all manner of respect and consideration as Catholics.

Bishop Paprocki has a very clear and balanced view of the issues Catholics face in the next election.

Prospective 4th Degree and 4th Degree Knights

Brother Knights,

If you happen to be in the market for a tuxedo, I  have a strong recommendation for you.  Contact Kim at Floral Creations in Humboldt.  She can arrange for a wool two-button tuxedo with cummerbund, bow tie, cuff links and lay down collar for under $200.  It is $160 plus tax and shipping.

This is by far the best deal that I've found and it is good to keep business in town if possible.  If you look in our links section, I have placed her information there.  Please strongly consider Kim for this.  Thanks.

AMDG+

Who is Jesus Christ, To Me?

Today at Holy Mass, Fr. Tigges challenged each and every person to ask and reflect on "Who is Jesus Christ, to me?"

For the Catholic person, this is not a difficult question.  Because we are Catholic, the Church gives a clear, concise and perfect answer as to who Jesus Christ is.

Jesus Christ is God made man.

That may seem like a very simple answer and it is.  But it is the most perfect answer, because it directly, clearly and properly answers the question.  Many will say there has to be more than that.  Many will say that He is this or He is that.  And that is all opinion.  But in essence and in reality, Jesus Christ is God made man.

Some may ask why is Jesus God?  Jesus Christ is God, because He is the only Son of God, having the same Divine nature as His Father.  Some may ask, why is Jesus man?  Jesus Christ is man, because He is the son of the Blessed Virgin Mary and has a body and soul like ours.  Others may ask since Jesus is part of the Blessed Trinity, He must be more than one person, right?  No.  Jesus Christ is only one Person; and that Person is the second Person of the Blessed Trinity.  It gets a little more complicated, but as questions keep getting asked, the answers around Jesus remain simple in answer.  Jesus Christ has two natures: the nature of God and the nature of man.  This is because He is the Son of God and He is the son of the Blessed Virgin.

As we continue to look at who Jesus is, we must understand that Jesus was not always man.  He became man at the time of the Incarnation.  Some will ask, what is meant by the Incarnation?  By the Incarnation is meant that the Son of God, retaining His Divine nature, took to Himself a human nature, that is, a body and soul like ours.  The next question often asked is how was He made man?  The Son of God was conceived and made man by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  When did this happen?  The Son of God was conceived and made man on Annunciation Day, the day on which the Angel Gabriel announced to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she was to be the Mother of God.  When was Jesus Christ born?  Christ was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Christmas Day, in Bethlehem, more than two thousand years ago.

When we look to who is Jesus, this is the easiest answer.  It is also the most complete.  There is a misconception in today's world that there must be some deep theological and philosophical answer.  That isn't the case.  The best answer is the most simple.  When Catholics look to answer the question, "Who is Jesus Christ, to me?"  He can answer that in solidarity with all other Catholics in the world and say with all confidence and right thinking, Jesus Christ is God made man.

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

Religious Liberty...

This week’s look into the Knights of Columbus is understanding what His Excellency, William Lori, Archbishop of Baltimore and Supreme Chaplain recently said regarding Religious Liberty.

Archbishop Lori states, “According to the perspective of the administration and editorialists, the Church’s freedom extends only to worship, preaching and teaching. It does not extend to putting its teachings into practice through its own institutions when they hire or serve people of other faiths. But when freedom is reduced to individuals choosing whatever they want, so long as it’s a choice condoned by the government, religious liberty is severely limited…And the Church’s assertion that it is free to run its own institutions according to its own values, even when these are countercultural, is roundly rejected by pundits and power brokers.”

His Excellency’s critique of the current administration is spot on.  Our forefathers spoke clearly and distinctly about our right to be able to function according to our own religious understanding without government interference.  We have been severely challenged in this area by the healthcare mandate which was recently passed.  It affects Catholics in a special way because it defies our teaching and our belief in the immorality of birth control and abortion.

Signs are going up on the 4 main entrances to Humboldt.  They will speak to the importance of protecting life at conception.  Along with Zion Lutheran Church LCMS, St. Mary’s has made a concerted effort through the Knights of Columbus and Women of Spirit (formerly known as the Ladies’ Society) to make it known that we must stand up to the evils of the healthcare mandate in the form of abortion.

Part of our mission of being “In Service to One, In Service to All” is that we must be patriots.  We have the right as Catholics in America to practice our Faith freely and without reservation or fear of reprisal from the government.  We are not only to worship, but we are to live our lives not as American Catholics, but as Catholics in America.  It is our Catholic faith which helps to make us good citizens and good stewards of this great country we live in, not binding ourselves to the secular world first.  Please look to our website, www.humboldtkofc.org  May God Keep you close.

Prayer Requests

Hello All,

I have added a prayer request page in lieu of a guestbook.  Part of the responsibility of the Knights of Columbus is to pray for the individuals of St. Mary's, the parish church, and Holy Mother Church.

If you have any prayer requests that you would like the Knights to pray for, please add them to the board.  They will remain in perpetuity, but they will be offered as soon as they are seen.

Thanks for this important apostolate.

4th Degree Exemplification

Knights of Columbus

Fourth Degree

IOWA DISTRICT - FATHER PADILLA PROVINCE

DES MOINES EXEMPLIFICATION

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2012

St. Theresa Parish

1230 MERLE HAY ROAD, DES MOINES, IOWA

HONOREE – STATE DEPUTY JOSEPH RAMIREZ

Registration - School Gym 12:45 – 1:35 PM

Exemplification 1:45 – 3:45 PM

Photo Opportunity 3:45 – 4:00 PM

Equipment Teardown 4:00 – 4:20 PM

Mass 4:30 – 5:30 PM

Knighting - Church 5:30 – 5:45 PM

Social 5:45 – 6:30 PM

Banquet 6:30 – 9:00 PM

Now is the time to begin recruiting candidates for this exemplification. This class in the
central part of Iowa provides easy access for all Third Degree Brother Knights. Let us
continue to grow the Fourth Degree by adding new members and new assemblies like we
have over the past several years.

The exemplification fee is set at $70 by Supreme. It provides the candidate with a Fourth
Degree pin, social baldric, class certificate and banquet ticket. It also covers the fee required
by Supreme. The candidates are required to wear a black tuxedo, white tux shirt with
regular collar, black cummerbund, black shoes and socks. The Military, Police and Fire
Personal are allowed to where their formal uniform.

Any Third Degree Knight is eligible to join the Fourth Degree if he has been a First Degree
member of the Knights of Columbus for six (6) months. Just complete a Fourth Degree
Membership Document with all signatures (candidate, proposer, financial secretary, faithful
navigator and faithful comptroller). Send the document and a check for $70 (plus any
additional banquet tickets @ $18.00) made out to “Pat O’Keefe, Master” and mail to:

Francis E. Schlueter

District Secretary

452 NW 70th Place

Ankeny, IA 50023-9536

All Fourth Degree members are urged to attend the banquet to show your support for the
new members. Order your tickets from Francis at the above address with your check
payable to “Pat O’Keefe, Master.” For additional information, call Pat at 515-253-0551 or
Francis at 515-289-1877. Banquet Ticket Deadline – October 8, 2012

Don’t delay; we need you NOW to replenish those who have gone before us and move
forward with even greater acts of Charity, Unity, Fraternity and Patriotism.

A Prayer...

In your prayers for the next few days, please keep our Grand Knight, Dick Danielson in your prayers.  He had an episode today and was taken by EMS to Rochester, MN.

It is our hope that Dick's recovery is swift!

Ave, Pater, Gloria.

Pro-Life Stance

This week’s look into the Knights of Columbus is a look into a very important position that the Knights have and that is the Pro-life issue.  The Catholic Church is very clear in her teaching about what the  Catholic person is to accept regarding this most important issue of our time.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that all life is sacred from conception to natural death.  There are many facets to this, not just the two major issues that most latch on to, abortion and the death penalty.

The Church teaches regarding life, “Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church #2270)

The Knights are very clear and consistent with Holy Mother Church when speaking of the human person, we understand that the right to live is something that God freely gives and that we are participants in.  That is why the term procreation is used.  Because God freely gives this gift to human persons, we have the obligation to maintain that dignity throughout our lives and to defend it as we would defend anything that God gives to us.  

As we (Catholics) continue to look into the issues that face our day, we must come to understand that by protecting human life we are acting in a truly free and liberating manner.  We are opening the door to fully accepting the gifts that God gives to us.   This has been a clear and consistent teaching of the Church from the beginning of the Church until today.  As such, we Catholics (from the smallest child to the most prominent Catholic in the land), are bound to accept and defend this teaching as a matter of faith and morals.  In other words, this is an infallible teaching of the Church and necessary for our salvation.  For further reading please refer to the Catechism of the Catholic Church #2258-2330.  May God keep you close.

Andy Milam

1 Year Trustee

Council 8592

Introduction

Greetings St. Mary’s Parishioners,

My name is Andy Milam.  I am a Trustee with Council #8592 St. Mary’s Knights of Columbus.   The Knights will be posting to the bulletin regularly about various activities and events coming up, as well as some history and spirituality of the Knights of Columbus.  I hope that you will find the posts to be informative, entertaining and educational.

The motto of the Knights of Columbus is “In Service to One, In Service to All.”  That really does embody what the Knights are all about.  We are charged with serving the parish of St. Mary’s, but we are also charged with serving Holy Mother Church.  We accomplish this in a number of ways, most visibly through our service efforts as well as our participation in life of the parish, both fiscally and spiritually.

We can’t do this alone though.  We need men who are willing to join the Knights and keep our membership growing.   It may sound a little strange to hear this, but it is not an overbearing commitment, but it is one of the most important commitments a Catholic layman can make.  In no other way can a Catholic layman promote Catholic values and Catholic virtue in a more visible way.  Please consider joining the Knights of Columbus.  You can talk to any Knight and they will be able to help you with information.

Over the next weeks, I will be posting on the history, the example and the spirituality of the Knights.  We are here to serve you and we are here to serve Holy Mother Church.  May God Keep you close.