May 2019 Bulletin: Easter Vigil

Lead article from the May 2019 bulletin, online now.

For the first forty-nine years of my life, the Easter Vigil meant nothing to me. That all changed at the Easter Vigil 2009 when Fr. Gregory Abbott and Fr. Michael Becker led me into the water as a Catechumen as I welcomed the light of Christ. I found myself immersed in the same baptismal font that my youngest daughter Anna was baptized in five years earlier. I had literally followed all three of my girls into the faith.

The occurrence would not have taken place without them. God set me on my path in February 1986 aged twenty six years. The journey was started as a result of my signature on a document that clearly explained my commitment to raise my future children in the Catholic faith. Father Joe at St. Gerard's Catholic church would not marry us without it. After all, I was being honest when I informed him of my agnostic beliefs. We hoped to have a bunch of kids, but they did not come.

The next 14 years were filled with infertility, doctors and frustration. As a Catholic, my wife Gina prayed on it. I also offered prayers that followed within my agnostic parameters, you know, "If you are up there please present us with children" type of prayer.

Those prayers were answered in 2001- 2003 when we journeyed to the Russian Republic on four occasions and gained our daughters through adoption. We moved to Albertville between daughters and set up shop. We were reminded of our commitment to raise our daughters Catholic and began to attend Mass on Sundays. Father Siebenaler then baptized Marina in 2003 and Father Michael Becker baptized Anna in the new church in 2005.

For the next five years I attended Mass with my family on a weekly basis. I behaved myself as a non-Catholic and stayed in my seat during communion while paying close attention to that which was going on around me. I asked Gina many questions about the Mass the stand- up-sit down stand-up sit-down, the doing of the dishes and such. What I witnessed also was a lot of men bringing their families to church, and leading them to faith filled lives.

This began to chip away at my uncertain position about Christ and God. I began to watch the EWTN network and studied Pope John Paul to some extent due to his huge cultural impact in the Christian world. My wife asked me if I was stalking the Catholic church. I guess I was, and we placed both girls on the list to attend the Catholic school and continued attending Mass. One day I found my way to Father Abbott's office discussing the RCIA program. I joined and spent the next year pouring over the Catechism.

The long, 49-year, meandering path then ended in 2009 at the Easter Vigil where Fr. Abbott and Fr. Becker led me into that same baptismal font that my daughter was led into five years earlier. The congregation that night could not have made me feel more welcome. I was bathed in Christ's light for the first time in my life. Delivered there in no small part due to my three girls.

So when you are thinking about which Easter service to attend, please consider the wonderful Easter Vigil. Where else can you witness a large group of people coming into the light of Jesus and embraced by his welcoming arms?

God bless, 

Gary Frandsen

Grand Knight

April 2019 Bulletin: "Prickly Pear"

Lead article from the April 2019 bulletin, online now.

The working definition of faith has always been belief without proof. Inasmuch as the word relates to Christians. Consider the Opuntia "Prickly Pear" that not only grows, but flourishes in my back yard garden. One would seldom associate this thorny cactus with the inhospitable climate we Minnesotans tolerate. It is much more prevalent in Mexico and the southwest United States. Yet here it is. Last year it produced over 100 obnoxiously gorgeous bright yellow flowers. Each one features a blaze-orange bed deep within its depths to tantalize bees and hummingbirds into spreading its pollen which cling precariously in clumps on the ends of pale green stems. I have watched many territorial hummingbird skirmishes over these blooms. Each flower lives exactly 24 hours with 15 or so per day for a week or so. The fruit that follows is sold in the open markets of central America and Mexico. 

Charles Darwin was fascinated with these little gems and studied their peculiar tendency to setup shop in northern climates. Even before I was welcomed into the Church in 2009, the beautiful realities of nature (Gods creation) would not allow me to step out of pantheism into outright atheism. It was much easier to call myself agnostic. The Church gives none of the three a passing glance. And for good reason. All of the three fail to recognize what God intended for them to see. For a long time I wanted proof for the existence of God. I needed a miracle just for me and I felt that I deserved one. None came. I did not realize nor pay heed to the fact that these miraculous things were all around me. I simply had lost my ability to wonder. Something I possessed as a child had been vanquished as a mature adult. Beaten into submission by years of capitulation to the cynical contemporary culture we exist in. 

Luke 12:12 2-9: "Consider the lilies, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."

Proof enough if I could hear. I don't need to test God and have him preform a miracle on a stage with me alone in the audience. He has given us a bounty of evidence. Just open your eyes, the proof is everywhere. It is not without irony that I offer up the vagaries of this little plant species with its glorious flower as evidence of God. Even Charles Darwin, the man cited for a theory used to argue against God also fell under its spell. The next time you think you need some kind of supernatural proof or you travel to some far away destination to be where miracles have taken place, remember to pause for a second and realize you may need travel only as far as your back yard. God bless!

Gary Fransen

Grand Knight

Job 12 7-9: "Ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the sky they will tell you or the bushes of the earth; they will show you and the fish of the sea will teach you.  Who among all of these does not know that the hand of the lord has done this"

March 2019 Bulletin: Ice Cream

Lead article from the March 2019 bulletin, online now.

I tend to struggle with the Lenten tradition of giving up some perceived vice or indulgence in order to suffer to some extent as we consider the profound suffering of Christ in the time leading up to his passion. I will of course follow all the Lenten rules. I also have much admiration for those who give up significant habits and routines so as to draw them closer to our saviors suffering.

I have given up things in past Lenten seasons only to feel underwhelmed about my sacrifice as I resume them after Easter Sunday. Did I suffer much? Nope. Did it bring me closer to understanding his suffering? Not really. So what should I do?

I may have had some small revelation in this regard on our recent trip to Florida. We were Staying at a Daytona beach hotel. Hotel guests were venturing out to the beach to see the strange family who were swimming alone in 65 degree cloudy skies weather. They came wearing parkas and took our pictures and asked us where we came from that we would be swimming on this day. We told them and a look of "Oh, I get it now" came over their faces. We hit the hot tub for a bit then decided to walk downtown where we could see a boardwalk and amusement park waiting for our arrival.

There were some Hurricane "Irma" ravaged hotels along the beach as we made our way. A few lined with fence and under repair and others seemingly abandoned. We noticed that the homeless were taking up residence in some of the lower floors of the abandoned buildings. Makeshift homes consisting of wood, cardboard, worn mattresses and the like. A young couple caught our attention as they moved a mattress out of the chill drizzle that was falling at the time. They were in the middle of a heated obscenity laced exchange about some grievance between them. There were many homeless along our way. Their deeply lined faces spoke to the nature of the untold witness they held from us. We made it downtown and the homeless quickly slipped from our minds.

We had much fun looking at shops, walked the pier and listened to the Atlantic. We had a great meal and started back. My youngest noticed a Baskin Robins Ice Cream shop and grabbed my arm. We made progress across the street via skyway where a vagrant was taking some rest. As we approached our destination, a tall thin elderly homeless black man was speaking to each passerby with his head down. I grabbed my eldest daughter and shifted her to my left as we neared the tall man on my right. I could barely hear him speak as we passed. "Could you please buy me some food, good sir." We hustled our step as we passed him a glance.

My eldest told me that he looked hungry. I mentioned some nonsense about his life choices and we joined the line at Baskin-Robbins. We were waiting about a minute for our 1,000 calorie indulgence when the brick fell upon my head. I looked at Marina and told her that she was spot on. He did look hungry. We bolted out and found the same tall black homeless man making his way down the sidewalk. When the distance was made up my daughter ask him if he was hungry still. He affirmed this and we crossed the street to the Burger King restaurant.

Marina then bought him a meal with a $20 bill and gave him the change. We could barely hear him say as we left "God bless you". I think it's more likely that God dropped the brick on my head than bless me. What value was the cash to me? Very likely much less than it was to him. What did he give up for lent? What did the homeless couple moving the mattress out of the rain give up for lent? Unknowable. Here is what I am going to give up for this Lent. I am going to give up making assumptions about homeless folks. I am going to give up judging them. I am going to give up donating nothing to their empty pockets. Hopefully it will continue long past Easter. I will end by quoting our new homeless and hungry friend.

God Bless.

Gary Frandsen

Grand Knight

February 2019 Bulletin: Miracle of Life, Culture of Death

Lead article from the February 2019 bulletin, online now.

Think for a few minutes back to your youth when life was full of energy, reckless abandon and sheer excitement. When all of Gods miracle's were first presented before your inquisitive eyes. You probably played with your friends each day until the earth blocked the days light. Think about how play had worn you down and how quickly you fell into sleep. Every new day was met with the same eager commitment. Think of how your parents must have looked on at your youth with just as much joy and excitement reminding them of their youth, innocence, and vigor for life. Think of your grandparents and relatives looking on during family gatherings at all the children playing and how it might have reminded them of their youth and the beauty of life. Try to comprehend the sum total of all the blessings in your life. Think of all that you are and all you ever will be. Even the sadness, pain and misery inexorably connected to what you have become. Think of the grace that finally released you from that pain and doubt.

Think then of how your mom must have felt with you growing in her womb. The life about to be brought forth and what would come of it. What would your personality be like? Your sense of humor? Your laughter? Those secrets of course would remain mysteries that would only reveal themselves while watching you grow. Think of her thoughts as you kicked and fidgeted within the warm comfortable confines of her womb.

There is and was of course one who did know. From him no secret could be held. One who had designed. One who had determined. One who had chosen. One who knew intimately the tone of your laughter and the signature of your smile. By now you know of whom I speak. All of this He knew the moment your mother's egg was fertilized. All of this was set into motion by His hands, just as his hand set the stars tumbling throughout the sky above.

Each and every embryo God has ever created has a life in front of him/her. Each one a possible patriarch or matriarch of dozens if not hundreds of lives. So when the abortionist reaches for the tools of his/her misguided trade, and his/her final act on the operating table brings about the release of the soul of a beautiful baby to fly on angels wings into Gods arms, one can only imagine the pain that our Lord feels. He knows intimately and all too well the hurt as He himself watched His only Son on the cross.

I am convinced there is a place where all of these babies reside. Surely, It is the most joyful and laughter filled place in heaven. One day we can all hope to hear the laughter they were robbed of here on earth. My wife and girls attended the March for Life last week and inspired me to contribute some small thing.

You may think these words over the top and idealized. I believe this message can't be overstated. You need to ask yourself if it's even possible to exaggerate or idealize the snuffing out of a baby's life. We live in a culture where half of us believe it's okay to terminate a pregnancy because it's inconvenient to our lifestyle. Or we may fear the child might not have a good quality of life. How dare we endeavor to do this dark work! To end that which He has begun. Shame on us!

I am told to pray for the abortionist. OK, I will, but only as time allows having prayed for all those innocents whose lives were snatched from within reach of the living. And the poor mother who must now live with her decision. March for Life received a few minutes of coverage on most news channels. C-SPAN aired a rebuttal of sorts before and after the event (as if stopping the purposeful killing of a human life somehow deserves a rebuttal). How in God's name did we get to this place? It's up to us to convince our political leaders and pro-choicers that this is profoundly wrong. Please resolve to do something this year to help these innocent souls. God bless.

P.S. There is a movie coming out later this year called "Unplanned" it may change the direction in the argument about abortion. Please make plans to go see it. Bring someone who is pro-choice with you..

P.S.S. Disclosure statement: Insomuch as it relates to this article and my being welcomed into the Church in 2009. Back in 1979 as a senior at Robbinsdale High School having been prompted by my English teacher, I wrote a similar paper based on the songs "Brain Damage" and "Eclipse" that run together from the album "Dark Side of the Moon" written by David Gilmour and Rodger Waters of the rock band "Pink Floyd". I wrote about the songs and how spiritual I thought they were--the first of which, "Brain Damage" being an allegory on life turned upside down (our current pro-death abortion culture); the other, "Eclipse," a reflection on affirmation and redemption. Little did my English teacher know it would send me in some small way on a path to the church some 30 years later. If you haven't you should listen to it and see if you agree.

Gary Frandsen
Grand Knight

October 2018 Bulletin: Cultivate Fraternity to Remain Strong

Lead article from the October 2018 bulletin, online now. It was originally published by past Grand Knight Steve House and is as true today as it was when this was written in 2011. God bless, Gary Frandsen, Grand Knight

Brother Knights, 

In our fallen world, Catholics are often called upon to be counter-cultural, to “go against the grain” of our secular world. The forces arrayed against the faithful are formidable. Satan prowling the world looking to devour us is bad enough, but consider that many other mainline Christian denominations are not aligned with the Church on abortion:

• Mormons allow exceptions for rape, incest, risk to the mother, and severe birth defects. 
• The Episcopal Church similarly allows for those exceptions.
• The Southern Baptist Convention allows the exception for risk to the mother. 
• The Evangelical Lutheran Church allows exceptions for risk to the mother and severe birth defects. 

And, don’t walk into any Catholic Church and believe you’re all .singing from the same hymnal. Just this week the Star Tribune article regarding the Archbishop’s call for parish action on the 2012 Minnesota marriage amendment, noted that the archdiocese has many “diverse” parishes and parishioners—meaning, I suppose, that many Catholics are out of step with the Magisterium on these fundamental topics. All of this is no surprise to any of us who pay even slight attention to the world around us. 

Being counter-cultural can indeed be a daunting prospect for Catholic men. The moral responsibilities of honesty, fidelity and chastity are difficult compared to the ease of going along with the world and its values. That’s where the men of St. Michael and St. Albert parishes can take heart that they are not alone, that organizations such as the Knights of Columbus offer a brotherhood that promotes love (charity), fidelity to the Magisterium (unity), and moral support (fraternity). In addition, we have various men’s faith-sharing groups, the Man Night events and the Archdiocesan Men’s Conference.

Brothers, avail yourselves of these opportunities to support one another in the daily struggle for holiness, for yourself and your families. You need those other men, and they need you!

September 2018 Bulletin: Stewardship

Lead article from the September 2018 bulletin, online now.

It's great to go on vacation and escape the everyday stresses and routines once and a while. It gives you valuable insight on how others live as well as that which you temporarily left behind. Of course one thing we can't vacation from is our Catholic faith. Our home parishes of Albertville and St. Michael have a long and rich history. We have been parishioners for only 15 years but it seems like we've been here all our lives.

We were recently on vacation in St. Augustine, Florida, where we attended Masses in the very first and oldest parish on the North American continent. It was established September 8th, 1565, by Spanish Catholic Priests. Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine was not unlike our own. The homilies were very good, and Father Willis spoke eloquent about the problems facing his 458-year-old parish. They needed more readers, extraordinary ministers, servers, ushers, more folks for their music ministry and such. It occurred to me that these were some of the same needs at our own parishes here at Albertville and St. Michael. 

I believe words hold great power when used correctly. I tend to be very literal. The word stewardship is a perfect word to attach to any parish in general and ours in particular. I think its great that we now "officially" belong to stewardship parishes. The definition of the word itself when applied for our purposes would surely be to leave in our care as stewards and protect something that is truly precious. Something that deserves and needs care and protection. Insomuch as our faith needs a strong and well-cared-for church and parish in order to thrive. This charge is not just for priests, deacons and administrators (they of course are immensely important), but for the parishioners themselves. 

Parishioners will be there for the long road. No matter what trials befall the Church, a strong stewardship flock can save any Church from any trial. Many of our prayers have been answered here in our home parishes. We are somewhat insulated from the disturbing developments within the larger Catholic Church. We have been blessed with wonderfully faithful and good priests, deacons, church staff and volunteers. I believe the best way to ensure the continued strength of our parishes is to embrace the word stewardship. Each and every one of us hold the key as true stewards to this great and strong parish. 

I will, God willing, go on many more vacations in my life and visit many churches. I also believe that I will always look forward to coming back to my home parish where I will hope to continue my role as a steward.

God bless,

Gary Frandsen

Grand Knight

August 2018 Bulletin: Dryer Sheets and the Pro-Life Battle

Lead article from the August 2018 bulletin, online now.

I remember well the time in my life when I discovered the dryer sheet. I believe these important little wonders are underappreciated. My clothes would sometimes linger in the machine much too long after the last cycle had spun. The result of this was a slight mildew/rot-like smell that would remain even after they were sent to the dryer. I had no idea these little gems existed until one day I extracted a small box of them from our mailbox. They were sent to me free from the manufacturer. How did they know that I would always pass through the laundry aisle indifferent to any of the products there. 

I then began to receive breakfast cereals, snack products, laundry detergent products and more. It was like mailbox magic. I would grab them and quickly look around as if I was getting away with something, then scurry home to try them. These free gifts were delightful.

Flash forward many years....The other day I came upon another freebee in my mailbox. It was a certificate for birth control pills without a prescription. (See above.)The offer was disguised as a pill study and open to all ages. It would also include a special deal to compensate participants for their time. 

Wow! We've come a long, long way since free dryer sheets and Coco Puffs. As a Catholic pro-life advocate, I suddenly felt that the pro-life movement had taken a major hit. As if a World War II "Missouri" class battleship had just emptied nine 16-inch shells from its massive gun turret directly into the home of the pro-life base. 

 How can you fight this? Free birth control pills and free cash as a reward for preventing life. What's next? Free morning-after pills? Abortion vouchers? Who on earth knows? 

The certificate that found its way into my mailbox was offered to any age participant. The picture on the certificate showed a healthy and eager group of young girls grinning happily. I am pretty sure most reading this are engaged in the pro-life struggle. If not, this sheet of paper that may or may not have arrived in your mailbox hopefully will have given you a nudge to join the battle. 

God bless,

Gary Frandsen

Grand Knight

May 2018: Building the Domestic Church: The Family Fully Alive

Lead article from the May 2018 bulletin, online now.

By Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson

In founding the Knights of Columbus, Venerable Father Michael J. McGivney sought to respond to the crisis in family life affecting Catholics in 19th-century America. As a young man he witnessed firsthand the challenges his widowed mother faced with seven children at home. Later, as a priest, he confronted on a daily basis the problems affecting the families of his parish community due to poverty, violence, alcoholism, immigration, anti-Catholic prejudice and discrimination.

Father McGivney’s vision for family life was not only that each family might find financial and material aid. He understood that holiness is the calling of all baptized Christians. And considering that two brothers followed him into the priesthood, we can understand how truly important the sanctuary of the home was to the McGivney family.

His family was a living example of what the second Vatican Council later taught: each man, woman and child is called to holiness through proclaiming the Gospel and communicating the divine gift of love in the activities of their daily lives.

When Christian families respond in this way to the design of the Creator, they become a “domestic church” that, as Pope Paul VI explained, mirrors “the various aspects of the entire Church.” (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 71).

The modern family recently has been a topic of particular focus for the Church, with the two-year synod on the family and the post-synodal exhortation by Pope Francis, Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love). During this time, the Knights of Columbus has been involved in supporting families in their Christian vocation through our new Building the Domestic Church While Strengthening our Parish initiative. This initiative, which includes The Family Fully Alive program, is designed to help families become more centered on their task of serving God, neighbor and parish.

Since the second Vatican Council, and especially during the pontificate of St. John Paul II, it has become clear that the family is “the way of the Church.” In one sense, this obviously means that the family is the object of the Church’s evangelization efforts.

But the Christian family too has its own indispensable mission. As St. John Paul II wrote in Familiaris Consortio, “The family has the mission to guard, reveal and communicate love.” This mission is at the heart of the “community of life and love” that begins with the married couple in the sacrament of matrimony.

To lead us in that mission we are fortunate to have a guidebook — Pope Francis’ exhortation Amoris Laetitia— to help us build the Catholic family as a domestic church. In Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis describes the Church as “a family of families.” He reminds us to view the family as the sanctuary of life and love that is at the heart of the domestic church. Our Knights’ families can take special guidance from Pope Francis as he calls us to a new “family apostolate” based upon “joy-filled witness as domestic churches.” Our parish-based councils also have a role in connecting men and their families with the parish.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us, “Conjugal love involves a totality, in which all the elements of the person enter. … It aims at a deeply personal unity, a unity that, beyond union in one flesh, leads to forming one heart and soul.” In other words, sacramental marriage involves not just an agreement between the spouses but a radical transformation of the spouses.

As Pope Benedict XVI wrote in Deus Caritas Est, “Marriage based on an exclusive and definitive love becomes the icon of the relationship between God and his people and vice versa. God’s way of loving becomes the measure of human love.”

In this way, the witness of husband and wife within the daily life of the family can guard, reveal and communicate love as they make their own the gifts of marriage — unity, indissolubility, faithfulness and openness to new life.

A Vatican document on the role and mission of the family states, “The family needs to be rediscovered as the essential agent in the work of evangelization” (Instrumentum Laboris, 103). It also points to the necessity to better understand the “missionary dimension of the family as a domestic church” (Instrumentum Laboris, 48).

These observations echo those of St. John Paul II, who said, during a meeting with the Latin American bishops in 1979, that “in the future, evangelization will depend largely on the domestic church.” (Pope John Paul II, Address to the Third General Conference of the Latin American Episcopate).

Clearly, the role of the family in the work of evangelization is not primarily a matter of programs, projects or strategies. These all have their place, but they are secondary. Their place is to be at the service of what is essential — the love between a husband and wife that, sanctified through the love of Christ, radiates to each member of their family.

The family as domestic church is a place of encounter with Christ within the community of a particular Christian family — a place where each member of the family has an important role.

The “mission” of the family in the task of evangelization is to be what it is called to be — that is, to live its daily life as a Christian family. As St. John Paul II said so often, “families, become what you are!”

The family’s mission to “guard, reveal and communicate love”— like the parish community — does not exist in an ideal place. The truth and beauty of the family must be communicated to every Christian family, even those that are fragile, wounded or broken. These families too may read the words of St. Paul with confidence: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (Rom 8:35). And they may find in that confidence a path of hope and healing.

During his visit to the Philippines, Pope Francis cited the need for “holy and loving families to protect the beauty and truth of the family in God’s plan and to be an example for other families” (Pope Francis, Address to Families at the Mall of Asia Arena. Our Building the Domestic Church initiative and The Family Fully Alive monthly devotions are concrete ways that Knights of Columbus, in solidarity with Pope Francis, can offer holy and loving families for the Church’s mission of evangelization in our time.

March 2018 Bulletin: Ice Cream

Lead article from the March 2018 bulletin, online now.

I tend to struggle with the Lenten tradition of giving up some perceived vice or indulgence in order to suffer to some extent as we consider the profound suffering of Christ in the time leading up to His passion. I will of course follow all the Lenten rules. I also have much admiration for those who give up significant habits and routines so as to draw them closer to our Savior's suffering.

I have given up things in past Lenten seasons only to feel underwhelmed about my sacrifice as I resume them after Easter Sunday.  Did I suffer much?  Nope.  Did it bring me closer to understanding His suffering? Not really. So what should I do?

I may have had some small revelation in this regard on our recent trip to Florida. We were staying at a Daytona beach hotel.  Hotel guests were venturing out to the beach to see the strange family who were swimming alone in 65-degree cloudy-skies weather.  They came wearing parkas and took our pictures and asked us where we came from that we would be swimming on this day.  We told them and a look of "Oh, I get it now" came over their faces.  We hit the hot tub for a bit then decided to walk downtown where we could see a boardwalk and amusement park waiting for our arrival.

There were some Hurricane Irma-ravaged hotels along the beach as we made our way, a few lined with fence and under repair and others seemingly abandoned. We noticed that the homeless were taking up residence in some of the lower floors of the abandoned buildings. Makeshift homes consisting of wood, cardboard, worn mattresses and the like. A young couple caught our attention as they moved a mattress out of the chill drizzle that was falling at the time. They were in the middle of a heated, obscenity-laced exchange about some grievance between them. There were many homeless along our way. Their deeply lined faces spoke to the nature of the untold witness they held from us. We made it downtown, and the homeless quickly slipped from our minds.

We had much fun looking at shops, walked the pier and listened to the Atlantic. We had a great meal and started back. My youngest noticed a Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream shop and grabbed my arm. We made progress across the street via skyway where a vagrant was taking some rest.  As we approached our destination, a tall, thin, elderly, homeless black man was speaking to each passerby with his head down. I grabbed my eldest daughter and shifted her to my left as we neared the tall man on my right.  I could barely hear him speak as we passed: "Could you please buy me some food, good sir?"  We hustled our step as we passed him a glance.

My eldest told me that he looked hungry. I mentioned some nonsense about his life choices, and we joined the line at Baskin-Robbins. We were waiting about a minute for our 1,000-calorie indulgence when the brick fell upon my head. I looked at Marina and told her that she was spot on. He did look hungry. We bolted out and found the same tall black homeless man making his way down the sidewalk. When the distance was made up my daughter ask him if he was hungry still.  He affirmed this, and we crossed the street to the Burger King restaurant.

Marina then bought him a meal with a $20 bill and gave him the change. We could barely hear him say as we left, "God bless you." I think it's more likely that God dropped the brick on my head than blessed me. What value was the cash to me? Very likely much less than it was to him. What did he give up for Lent? What did the homeless couple moving the mattress out of the rain give up for Lent?  Unknowable. Here is what I am going to give up for this Lent.  I am going to give up making assumptions about homeless folks.  I am going to give up judging them.  I am going to give up donating nothing to their empty pockets.  Hopefully it will continue long past Easter.

I will end by quoting our new homeless and hungry friend: God Bless.

Gary Frandsen
Grand Knight

January 2018 Bulletin: Holiday Concert

Lead article from the January 2018 bulletin, online now.

For the first time in a long time I was able to attend a holiday concert to watch and listen to my daughter sing. In previous years my job prevented me from getting there on time, if I could get there at all. I showed up an hour early this time to grab a great seat.

I found said seat and opened up the program and began to read: STMA High School proudly presents "High School Holiday Concert." My mostly under-control cynicism nerve was involuntarily activated,and I immediately started complaining about the secular public school dissing (disrespecting) Christmas and its true meaning. 

How cliché and predictable of me. I have no idea where Joseph Osowski or Brandon Berger are located in the spiritual and religious spectrum. In many ways that would be reason enough not to assume the program would be antithetical to the Christmas message. But go there I did. My doubts lasted about 10 seconds into the first bars of this magnificent performance.

As I mentioned, I have no idea if the producers of this event were Christian. I can, however, unequivocally claim with confidence piled high that Jesus Christ was not only in attendance, but indeed held the invisible baton and occupied the director's podium for this Christmas present to all who were in attendance. The traditional carols were delivered intermingled with witty arrangements of some classics, world premieres, and above all, music singing the praises of Jesus Christ. Indeed, music fit for the celebration of the Mass including the Angus Dei from William Albright's Chichester Mass. 

Our children's voices were pitch perfect (in my estimation) and quite professional in execution. The story of the first family and the birth of Christ never left the auditorium. I am quite sure Jesus was the one who locked up after the last had left.  We had starting Knights football players standing in front of the crowd to sing God's messages. Choir concerts have traveled a great distance from my high school days!  

For those of you that are worried about God's departure from the public school, go ahead and give your pillows an extra punch tonight and rest easy, because at least in our district, thanks to the wonderful work of Joseph Osowski, (Mr. "O"), Brandon Burger and a bunch of great kids, Jesus is alive and well.

God Bless,

Gary Frandsen

Grand Knight

Watch Brother Knight Steve Sustacek's recording of the STMA High School Holiday Concert.

December 2017 Bulletin: Merry Christmas

Lead article from the December 2017 bulletin, online now.

We have Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's all within the final five weeks of the year. It is a wonderful  opportunity to bring our families together and experience the blessings of the season.

First there is Thanksgiving, a day to get together, bond and give thanks for all we have.  It is relatively stress-free, and you can eat great food and watch football all day.  It sets the table, if you will, for Christmas inasmuch as it refocuses us on the most profound and influential things in our lives: our faith and our families.

Try as it may, the secular world, filled with its hyper-consumerism, glam and outright indifference to Christ, can never diminish our Savior from the season. We spend many stressful hours shopping, preparing, running, planning and worrying. When Christmas finally comes we find ourselves giving it up to Christ at Mass. Millions of Americans in countless communities fill our churches. God refocuses us and sets our year's end on His terms.

Even unbelievers in the secular world are compelled to take stock in their disbelief. Does Christ not cross the minds of doubters as they lay awake just having watched their children at their most happy? They know what the day is about. Does the plastic nativity scene made in China that a stressed-out father struggling in his faith plugs in the day after Thanksgiving not give him pause? What about those factory workers in China seeing them roll by the assembly line? How many of them have explored Jesus as a result of this?

These are not just rhetorical questions. I truly have not a clue, but surely God has countless ways to plant Himself in our conscience.

Every year we watch A Christmas Carol in its many incarnations. A miraculous allegory written by Charles Dickens, a self proclaimed Christian who never mentions Christ in the novelette, but for his final entry when Tiny Tim proclaims, "May God bless us, everyone."  The story itself glistens with biblical references and values.  Many must have been moved by this story and many others during the holiday season.  I wish all Knights and their families a very merry and blessed Christmas.

Gary Frandsen
Grand Knight

November 2017 Bulletin: God’s Not Dead! He Is Surely Alive!

Lead article from the November 2017 bulletin, online now. Reminder: The November council meeting is moved to Thursday, Nov. 9!

OK, so in 1990 I ventured out of my indifference to embrace my higher power that was and is God almighty.  I left behind my irreligious, if not atheist, upbringing that stood at odds with that which was all around me.  I was no longer an agnostic; I was officially a believer.  What then to do?  It was much easier just to believe in God than to sort through all the organized manifestations of worship.

Because the beauty of my natural surroundings brought me to where I was, pantheism seemed the place where I stood.  I saw God everywhere!  Nature was God, and it left me underwhelmed.  It gave me little passion.  I could never bring myself to hug a tree.  Nature was awesome!  But God created nature.  I was much more likely to cut it down and have a fire.  My kids then came, and I remembered a commitment.  My wife Gina was Catholic, and Father Joe at St. Gerard's would only marry us if we agreed to raise our kids in the Catholic faith.

We started going to Mass and enrolled them in the parish school.  I found passion as I observed the way fathers and husbands led their families to Mass and conducted themselves.  I then realized and embraced the truth of Jesus Christ.  I went thru RCIA and was led into the water by Fr. Gregory Abbott at the Easter Vigil 2009, the same baptismal font my daughter Anna was baptized in five years earlier.  I then went through CRHP and joined the KCs. I became hyperactive with all things Catholic.  And then one day I was told it was my job to get my family to heaven.  What?!  Great, I was pretty sure I would not be allowed safe passage considering some things I left out of the introduction I just wrote.   Now I was faced with a heavy task, like three tons laid on my shoulders.  Just do good works, go to Mass and enroll them in the parish school? That was all I needed do, right?

All of a sudden it all seemed insufficient.  I worked 60 hours a week and only saw my wife and kids on weekends, which were also filled with doing "good works" and such.  Was I doing too much?  Was it getting in the way of my task?  It looked as if the train was going to derail.  Flash forward eight years or so, and I am now retired with two teenage girls and a wife who still needed me to help get them to heaven.

I now have more time. I also have much more to do.  I thought I could get it all in if I did not work.  What was I thinking?  I found myself losing ground to contemporary culture (they wanted to go to a movie about a homicidal clown bent on murdering kids) rather than a Christian one: smart phones, social media apps, pop song lyrics and teenage drama to beat the band!  The train is still clearly in danger of coming off the rails.  I sometimes search and long for signs of progress.  Some evidence that my duty is not left undone.  They are only going to be with us for five or six more years.  I spend much time worrying about it, praying on it, thinking about it and trying to unwrap its mysteries.

Recently, following some significant turbulence there was a time of peace and enjoyment on a family three-day outing in Rochester, where these signs came in at a pace I was not prepared for.  My daughters both made me aware upon arrival that we would need to plan for Mass.  We toured the city on foot, ate at expensive restaurants, laughed and had the most fun we have had in a long time.  Marina asked me if she could go with her friend to a Catholic youth retreat called Steubenville next summer.  Anna wanted to listen to Christian pop music the whole time there.  We walked our dogs in the park in between showing them in competition, and the girls worked together at the dog show.  It seemed too good to be true, but it was true.  An answer to my prayers?

We arrived home and my wife was at work and the kids were in school while I was chasing dust balls and dog hair bunnies with my "Shark" vacuum. When going by my little Anna's room I sent skidding across the room a piece of art that had been taped to her door and fallen.  It had been there since the third grade. The artwork read, "Gods Not Dead He Surely A Live," and it was a drawing of Anna, God, God's people, the sun and a roaring male lion, maybe representing  fathers trying to get their kids to heaven.

Was it a sign that the weekend had not been a fluke, that indeed the train to heaven was not derailed?  Had God himself caused the bonds to be loosed?  It was progress in my task to help get them where we all long to be.  God can do anything.  He can surely borrow a third-grader's illustration to bring his point home to a struggling servant on Earth.

God Bless.

Gary Frandsen

Grand Knight

May 2017 Bulletin: 100th Anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima and Reminders!

Lead article from the May 2017 bulletin, online now.

2017 marks the 100th Anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to three shepherd children at the Cova da Iria, Fatima, Portugal, beginning on May 13 and ending October 13, 1917.  The children were Lucia Santos, age 10, and her younger cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto.

This amazing story begins with these children reporting that on May 13, 1917, a woman adorned like the sun appeared to them from the sky and lighted on a shrub.

The woman asked them to devote themselves to the Holy Trinity and to “pray the Rosary every day, to bring peace to the world and an end to war.”  The woman asked the children to return on June 13th, and when Lucias’ mother heard about this she sought counsel from the parish priest, Fr. Ferreira.  He suggested she allow them to go and said he would question them afterward.

The Virgin Mary appeared as promised and told the children to pray the Rosary daily to bring an end to World War I – the war which precipitated the rise of godless Communism in Russia with the Bolshevik Revolution occurring in October, 1917.  Mary also revealed that Francisco and Jacinta would be taken to heaven soon, but Lucia would live longer to spread her message and devotion to her Immaculate Heart, which she promised would eventually triumph over Communism’s errors.  The 1918 flu pandemic, from which about 50 million died globally, took Francisco in 1919, and Jacinta in 1920.  Both were beatified by St. John Paul II on May 13th, 2000.

Our Lady allowed the children to see a vision of hell and asked them to pray for sinners.  They became fervent in their prayer life for the conversion of hardened sinners.  She also entrusted to them a secret.

Government officials intercepted the children before they reached the Cova da Iria on August 13th.  The parents and officials tried to convince the children to stop what they perceived as nonsense; but neither derision nor threats persuaded the children, and they courageously held true to their witness.

The Virgin Mary appeared to them on Sunday, August 19th, at nearby Valinhos, and spoke to them about a miracle at the Cova da Iria on October 13th. She reminded them to pray the Rosary daily and “pray a lot… for sinners and sacrifice a lot, as many souls perish in hell because nobody is praying or making sacrifices for them.”

Although it rained incessantly for three days before October 13th, an estimated 70,000 people gathered to witness the promised miracle, soon to be called “Miracle of the Sun”.  Our Lady appeared to the children and Lucia saw light rising from Mary’s hand and reportedly cried out, “Look, the sun.”  For about 10 minutes the sun seemed to dance and then zigzagged to the earth only to spring back to its original position.  The people were at first horrified thinking it was the end of time, but then they broke out in praise as the sun returned to its position, and all their clothes had become dry. 

In 1930, after ongoing investigations, the Catholic Church officially recognized the apparition events as “worthy of belief”.  It is important to note that the Catholic Church defines these events as “private revelations.” They do not form the deposit of the Catholic faith, and we are not bound to believe in them.  Yet, Holy Mother Church holds them out to those who wish to receive such miracles as supernatural gifts to deepen the practice of their Catholic faith by following Jesus in his Catholic Church.

In the coming monthly newsletters there will be small vignettes of the miracles and messages of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Fatima until its conclusion on Oct. 13th, 2017.   Look for opportunities at both St. Albert and St. Michael Churches to draw closer to God’s promises through devotion to Our Lady of Fatima.  First monthly event: Mass, May 13th, 9:30 a.m. at St. Michael Catholic Church with Patriotic Rosary until Noon near the Historic Church (unless inclement weather).

Father Thomas McCabe

Council Chaplain

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Deputy Grand Knights Message

Hello Knights.

The long winter's over and we will be mowing our lawns soon.  We are also nearing the end of Grand Knight Joe VanHoorik's  second year at the helm and I would like to personally thank him for his great leadership and the great things he has accomplished for Council 4174.  We are also closing in on the Albertville Friendly City Days (AFCD) softball tournament and beer tent event.  This three day annual effort funds much of what we do during the year.  We will need the assistance of many Knights to make this important three day event a great success.  Multiple shifts on June 8th, 9th, and 10th will be open on the Sign Up Genius website soon.  We will need more volunteers than in years past.  There will be opportunities to serve beer as well as help out with score keeping and ball shagging during our new multi-tier softball tournament.  I would like to ask the new Knights in particular to sign up for this year's AFCD events.  Let's get this new 4174 Council year started with a bang!  Thank you for your help. God bless you and your families.

Gary Frandsen

Deputy Grand Knight

  

December 2016 Bulletin: Thanksgiving Reflections

Chaplain's column from the December 2016 bulletin, online now.

Thanksgiving is a national holiday that recalls the Pilgrims who sailed from the old world to the new world on the Mayflower around 1620.  These devout Christians were Protestants seeking to live their faith as their consciences directed them, formed primarily by the Bible.

Too often in the old world of Europe, Catholic and Protestant kings and leaders alike would oppress those who chose not to believe the entirety of what their leaders believed.  Instead of entering into dialogue centered on the Natural Law, the Ten Commandments and Jesus Christ and his Beatitudes, these various factions began to fight and seek political hegemony.

This occurred in Catholic Europe before the Protestant Reformation of 1517, and at times “Catholic” emperors would imprison or exile Popes and Bishops.  Some people truly wanted to live the Christian life different from the prevailing culture, but instead of leaving their culture they became salt and light for their culture.

The most prominent figure is St. Francis of Assisi.  He found common ground with most people based on the Ten Commandments and the person of Jesus Christ, but he lived out the Beatitudes with a new dynamism.  His religious order attracted lay people to this spirituality and a Third Order for lay people continues today.  There are many other religious communities that have different charisms that have provided salt and light for our flagging Christian culture.

Another example of pluralism within Catholicism is the fact that there are over twenty different Catholic Rites.  We belong to the Latin Rite, but there are the Eastern Catholic Rites, including the Byzantine Rite, Coptic Rite and Marionite Rite.  Each Catholic Rite has the same essential beliefs, elements and rituals, but different ways of expressing them and governing them on a local level.  However, all of them are united to the Pope.

“E PLURIBUS UNUM” is minted on our money to remind we Americans that “from many, one” is a reality that we must live to flourish.  Also written on our money “IN GOD WE TRUST”, our National motto, to remind us from whom we came, and to whom we are ultimately accountable. 

Most everyone knows that Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas in 1492, but many do not know that he was a devout Catholic and had the youngest ship hands pray the “Ave Maria” (Hail, Mary) every half hour since they were in charge of keeping time with the hour glass.

Hennepin County, MN; Marquette, MI; Joliet, Illinois; these names have memorialized Catholics like Fr. Hennepin who named the St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, and Fr. Marquette and fellow explorer Louis Joliet who explored the upper Mississippi River.

George Calvert, a convert to Catholicism, was the first Lord Baltimore who founded a new colony which he named “Maryland”, not after the reigning earthly queen, but after the Queen of Heaven.  His son, Cecil, the second Lord Baltimore established it and in 1649 the State passed Lord Baltimore’s famous Toleration Act, which guaranteed all colonists religious freedom.  There were moves by opponents to keep Catholics from political office, but the truth prevailed.  For this heritage, let us be vigilant and thankful to God.  God bless America and our Catholic Church.

Fr. Thomas McCabe

November 2016 Bulletin: Faith-Based Friendships

Lead article from the November 2016 bulletin, online now.

I’ve watched as my daughter has grown up and how some of her very best friends as a little girl have disappeared completely from her social circle.  It’s interesting because, with some, I could see the conflicting personalities at a young age while there are others who came as a surprise.  As she gets closer to leaving our home and venturing out on her own, my wife and I have some very interesting conversations on what advice we can still give to her.  The topic of friends came up recently, and it really got me thinking about the role they play in our lives.

As a kid your friendships are built around what you did in the past and what you are doing now.  You met your friend because you had something in common (you lived close, were in the same class, your parents knew each other, etc.).  These friendships can last for a long time but eventually if you don’t have the same outlook for the future those friendships start to dwindle.  When you start thinking about the person you want to be, we find that certain friends no longer have so much in common with us.  Personally I find it hard to maintain many of the friendships from my life prior to becoming a faithful man.  It’s nice to reconnect with an old friend and reminisce about the past, but it quickly becomes obvious that our friendship is only tied to the past, and we are more different then we are alike.  Those friendships never go away, but they aren’t the ones that drive you to be a better person.  The friendships you truly value are those that share the same values as you and help you be the person you want to be.  Those friends for me are the ones I’ve developed through the church.  We have different pasts and do different things in the present but we share the same ultimate goal in life.  That goal is to get ourselves and our families into Heaven.  These are friends I can ask for advice on anything and know that if I ever needed them they would be there to support me.  If life sent us to different ends of the world I know that those friendships would not go away.

So my advice to my daughter is to always maintain faith-based friendships no matter where life takes you.  Other friends are great and very important but those friendships created around your faith will always hold you up and never let you forget about your true goal in life.

God Bless, 

Joe VanHoorik

Grand Knight