I want to start off by congratulating past Grand Knight Mike Engel on a great year—but why did it have to go by so fast? These last few years it was an honor and a privelege to learn from past Grand Knights Steve House and Mike Engel. They are hard acts to follow and I pray that I, too, can leave a mark on this great council.
For this fraternal year I would like to continue to grow this council in fraternity, unity and charity. I have to admit I really don’t know many of the men in this council, and I’m sure many of you don’t know or haven’t heard of me. So here is a brief overview: I am married and have two children, Jake (age nine) and Sophia (five months old). We have been members of the St. Michael parish for just over four years, which is about when we moved to the area. I have been a Knight for four years and am a fourth-degree member. My main reason for joining the Knights was to have a way to give back to such a warm, welcoming community.
To try to accomplish this, we are going to do a couple things: first after some constructive feedback, we are going to revert back to the old format for meetings—we will start the business meeting at 7 p.m. and have a light meal or snack afterward for those who want to hang around. The other idea is to bring back the Knight of Columbus family of the month. All that would be needed is a short intro like I offered above and maybe a picture. I would appreciate any feedback on how to do this.
We all joined the Knights for one reason or another, but a huge part of being a Knight is charity. In this council we are fortunate enough to have many activities in which we can participate. So I encourage you all to volunteer to help out in at least one event and maybe even show up to a business meeting. Along with that we are in need of some men to fill open directorships or to help lead some of the upcoming events. If you are interested or know of someone who may be, feel free to contact me or one of the officers for more information.
As a last thought I will leave you with these words from Pope Francis on the Christian life:
In this period of crisis, today, it is important not to turn in on ourselves, burying our own talent, our spiritual, intellectual, and material riches, everything that the Lord has given us, but, rather to open ourselves, to be supportive, to be attentive to others. Set your stakes on great ideals, the ideals that enlarge the heart, the ideals of service that make your talents fruitful. Life is not given to us to be jealously guarded from ourselves, but is given to us so that we may give it in turn.
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