December 2020 Bulletin: Tree Lot, In-Person Meetings and More

Lead article from the December 2020 bulletin, online now.

Happy Advent and Merry Christmas to you and yours. The Knight’s tree lot is up and running. There was a great group of guys who showed up to set up the tree lot and unload the trees. Many thanks to all the guys who showed up to work on the tree lot on November 14. Special thanks to Don Legatt who is the brains and organizer behind the tree lot. Please consider helping out the Knights by working for a shift or two at the tree lot selling trees and purchasing your Christmas tree at the tee lot which is in the parking lot of the St. Michael Catholic school. As mentioned before the proceeds from the tree lot are going to be used to support a number of different areas including the youth group, churches, as well as other groups. With all the craziness going on this year and possibly into next year, the planned budget for the remaining Knights year is going to be revisited by the officers and adjusted based on current and anticipated conditions.

I spoke with Rita at St. Albert's and as of the writing of this article in-person council meetings at St. Albert’s parish hall are still planned for the first Thursdays of the month at 7:00 pm. We will space out to keep physical distance at the meeting. Please continue to pray for one another, our church and country. Remember to keep the faith!!!!

Merry Christmas and God bless,

Andy Sipple

Grand Knight

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

December 2014 Bulletin: Christmas Fellowship

Lead article from the December 2014 bulletin, online now. 

Can you believe the fraternal year is half over already? Wow does time fly and our council has been very active yet again. We had a huge hand in building a new rectory for our priests, coat drive and we did a spaghetti dinner fundraiser for a fellow Knight. The youth had the soccer challenge, All Saints party and the St. Nicholas party is coming up. We did overnight adoration for the confirmation students retreat. We marched in 3 parades this summer, and made it through the storms during Albertville City Days. The trees are coming in for the tree lot and we are gearing up to start shortly, which will take us up till Christmas.

Let us not forget to keep Christ in Christmas; we need to help make sure the youth of our community don’t forget that it’s not all about just getting and receiving presents. I have to say our council does an excellent job of being active, visible and a positive influence on the youth of our community. Let us continue to be outspoken about our beliefs and support our faith.

Our next meeting will be an open meeting and we will be bringing back the wine tasting. So don’t forget to invite your spouse or significant other. We will have a shorter business meeting and get you to the sampling. It should be a good time and best of all you won’t have to listen to me fumble through a whole meeting!

Hope you all have a safe and joyful Christmas and a happy New Year!

God Bless,
Jim Wiegers
Grand Knight

December 2012 Grand Knight's Article: A New Beginning

Grand Knight's message from the December 2012 bulletin:

“Hail, Full of Grace” — Luke 1:28 

I promised myself this article would not be about the election. Personally, I feel the elections support a belief many of us felt: that our culture is sliding further from a just society—further and further into an unjust society. Many issues we hold in our hearts to be just and true were defeated. And what is important is seen as unimportant in our society.

Before I move on to the man point of this article, I feel it essential to recognize the courageous position the laity, priests and bishops took in speaking up on issues of morality. I have been Catholic for 18 years — and in the span of 2,000 years, that’s not much. However, I can say that in my short life as a Catholic, never before have I seen the Church defend her teachings so concretely. The next time you see one of our clerics, thank them for their bold proclamation of the truth. I am sure those who do not agree with their position on issues are more than happy to let them know what they think.

John Paul the Great, at the beginning of his pontificate, proclaimed “Do not be afraid.” In light of very uncertain times, Blessed John Paul always seemed to lead us with great joy and hope. The perfect response to poll results we do not like can be found in scripture:

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent forth from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this may be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God, And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” — Luke 1:26-31

In the Incarnation, hope is never lost. In fact, we shall, in the words of John Paul II, “fear not.” In the great mystery of the Incarnation, we place all of our hope and joy in the victory yet to come. We look forward with joy to Christmas morning and hope for the fulfillment of time when heaven and earth are united for eternity. The season of advent helps refocus our thoughts of things of this world, and direct them to what really matters, the supernatural world. It helps us to remember that while we must live in this world, we are intended for another. We should see this season as a time to focus and prepare on the greatest gift ever — Christmas morning, and ultimately our fulfillment with God at the end of time. In light of this truth, this great joy, our struggles here begin to be put into place. And while even greater persecution shall come to us, our hope is not lost. In fact, it can become a cause for joy. For in times of great persecution, God always raises up great saints to help guide Mother Church. He is calling each of us to become the saint we were intended to be. We are placed in a society in which we will be given plenty of opportunity to die to self for Christ.

The Incarnation is God’s response to darkness. For He sent his son, the “Light of the World,” to illuminate our world, and so this light overcomes all troubles we may have.

In light of this great truth, we begin to move forward with hope. Our mission is to spread hope this Advent and to let those who may think differently that we are not defeated, but rather, rejuvenated in Christ. So in Advent, we hope in the possibilities of a new beginning.

Fraternally In Christ,

Mike Engel

Grand Knight, Council 4174

 P.S. I apologize that this article had more to do with the election than I had hoped!