The Knights Priest
By: Christy Miron -
Thu, Nov 28, 2024 8:02 AM
As we celebrate Thanksgiving, let us pause to express our gratitude for the life and commitment of our Knights of Columbus Founder, Blessed Michael J. McGivney. Below, you will find an excerpt from an article shared by Christy Miron, the wife of our esteemed Worthy State Treasurer, Vern Miron.
"If you know anything about Fr. Michael McGivney, it is that he founded the Knights of Columbus, when he gathered a number of the men of his parish for a meeting to discuss what could be done to help fatherless families. The preeminent Catholic fraternal organization of this country was born. One hundred forty-plus years of fish fries, coat drives, and honor guards have resulted. But 134 years after Fr. McGivney’s death, it can become obscured what made the young curate so special, and so holy."
Blessed Michael McGivney, pray for us!
Read the full article by clicking here
Help Marie Find A Kidney
By: Lawrence Grabowski -
Fri, Nov 22, 2024 5:35 PM
UPDATE
Thank you for all your prayers! Marie Grabowski, the wife of our Executive Secretary Lawrence Grabowski, received a Kidney Transplant on November 21st and is doing great!
Please continue to keep the Grabowski Family in your prayers as she continues her recovery!
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Brother Knights, Marie Grabowski, wife of State Executive Secretary Larry Grabowski, is in urgent need for a kidney. Please read "Marie's Story" below, spread the word to help find a donor, and most importantly, keep Marie in your prayers.
MARIE'S STORY
My name is Kathryn and I am writing because my mother, Marie Grabowski, needs a kidney. My mom donated a kidney to her brother over 30 years ago when his kidney health was compromised from medication. I know this decision was one she did not make hastily, as I was only 5 years old and my sister was 11 when the transplant took place.
For many years, my mom’s kidney health was great. Unfortunately, a few years ago, it became evident that she herself has chronic kidney disease, and in the last year, the function of her single kidney has decreased dramatically. At 11% kidney function, my mom is hopeful that she can receive a transplant before ever having to get on dialysis, which will greatly limit the things she is able to do on a daily basis.
The waiting list in Michigan for a kidney donation is generally 5 to 7 years. A living donor coming forward would allow her to receive a kidney much sooner. Her quality of life would dramatically improve, and with two young grandchildren, she has a lot to live for. We all wish that she could gain her energy again that she once had; a kidney would be life-changing.
The evaluation to be a kidney donor is very thorough and paid for by the recipient’s (in this case, my mom’s) insurance. The transplant team won’t let you donate unless they determine you are healthy. Most living donors have laparoscopic surgery and are in hospital for only 1-2 nights.
I hope you’ll consider sharing my mom’s story as we search for a donor, or maybe you’ll even consider contacting a transplant center yourself to be evaluated! Thanks so much for reading this. For more information, please do not hesitate to contact me at grabowski.flute@gmail.com or 586.925.3369.
Assembly 2050 awarded with To Be A Patriot
By: Joseph Yekulis -
Wed, Nov 20, 2024 12:11 PM
On Thursday November 14, 2024, Msgr. Fedewa Assembly #2050 of Howell received a visit from Vice Supreme Master Ed Ponder and District Master Joe Yekulis at their monthly assembly meeting to receive the "To Be a Patriot" award given by Supreme at their annual Summer Conference in Quebec.
The Assembly received the award for their work in support of Blue Star Service Dogs, a 501 C3 non-profit that trains therapy dogs for Veterans who are suffering from PTSD.
The Assembly's project was chosen as the winner in Michigan District 2, then went on to win in the Fr. Hennepin Province in Michigan & Ohio, and finally was chosen as one of three TBAP awards given out nationally at the Supreme Convention.
More than 60 people were present for this special event, which also provided a catered meal for the SK's and Ladies who were in attendance at St. Agnes Parish in Fowlerville, MI. VAVS Director John Yanok was the coordinator of the project, supported by PFN Don Powell and FN Paul Funk.
Spreading the Word About Cor
By: Paul Kelsey -
Wed, Nov 20, 2024 6:22 AM
Spreading the Word About Cor
Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly updates U.S. bishops on the Cor initiative and asks for their support
Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly addressed the annual plenary assembly of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore Nov. 13, offering the Order’s assistance in the bishops’ evangelization efforts and asking for their support of the Cor initiative.
Amid the “modern crisis of isolation that comes from ruptured relationships,” Supreme Knight Kelly said, “Catholics need places to grow in friendship with God and one another — places where they can commit together to answer our Lord’s call to evangelize. This is the insight that led us to create the Cor initiative.”
The Knights of Columbus launched Cor in 2023, first as a pilot program in 16 jurisdictions and later that year across the Order. Cor groups have now formed in more than 3,000 parishes to provide men — including men who are not Knights — with opportunities for prayer, faith formation and fraternity.
“Men of all ages are hungry for spiritual community. And we know many priests want to set up small groups to meet that need, but they can’t quite do it on their own. Cor is the solution,” the supreme knight told the bishops. “It enables priests to draw on the structure and resources of the Knights of Columbus, getting small groups off the ground quickly, and — importantly — sustaining them over time.”
The supreme knight asked the bishops for their help spreading the word about Cor in the dioceses and among their priests, and promised that the Knights will continue to carry out Blessed Michael McGivney’s mission in support of the Church and the family.
He concluded, “To all of you, our bishops, we thank you for your support and recommit ourselves to standing in steadfast solidarity with you. And as always, we pray for you, just as we count on your prayers for us.”
USCCB president Archbishop Timothy Broglio thanked the supreme knight for his remarks, adding that Cor “certainly falls very well in this time of New Evangelization and in this time of synodality.”
In his presidential address to the plenary assembly the previous day, Archbishop Brolio also commended the Knights of Columbus for its humanitarian work in Ukraine. The archbishop, who leads the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, visited the war-torn country in December 2022.
“With my own eyes I saw what the Knights of Columbus were doing on the ground in Ukraine,” Archbishop Broglio said, adding, “What was born of concrete needs for widows in the 19th century still serves today for formation, charitable action, and authentic patriotism.”
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CECILIA HADLEY is editorial director of the Knights of Columbus communications department.
Missionary Zeal
By: Paul Kelsey -
Thu, Nov 14, 2024 2:10 PM
US Nuncio: Bishops Must Foster Missionary Zeal
‘The deeper we go into [Christ’s] heart, the more strengthened we will be to proclaim the Good News together: the news of a hope that, in spite of everything in this world, does not disappoint,’ Cardinal Christophe Pierre said Nov. 12. A major challenge facing U.S. bishops today is to move faithful Catholics from private faith to a missionary commitment to lead others to Christ, the apostolic nuncio to the United States said Tuesday.
Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the Holy See’s U.S. ambassador, delivered his remarks Nov. 12 at the opening of the bishops’ annual fall plenary assembly in Baltimore, reflecting on a momentous year highlighted by the National Eucharistic Congress in July, a new encyclical on the Sacred Heart from Pope Francis, and the conclusion of the three-year Synod on Synodality in October, as well as final preparations for next year’s jubilee year for the worldwide Church.
Striking a pastoral tone, Cardinal Pierre offered an overarching theme linking all these initiatives: a call to “return to the heart” of Christ and then moving outward from this personal encounter to heed his call to spread the Gospel.
“All of these experiences will produce fruit, provided that we return to the heart of Christ, that sacred place where human longing and divine love are united,” Cardinal Pierre told the bishops.
“It is there, in the heart of Christ, where we rediscover in a personal way the kerygma that we preach: Christ has become one of us, he has suffered and died to heal our wounds, he has risen, and he is alive with us now in the Spirit,” he said.
“The deeper we go into his heart, the more strengthened we will be to proclaim the Good News together: the news of a hope that, in spite of everything in this world, does not disappoint.”
Cardinal Pierre was among the featured speakers at the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, the first such event in the U.S. in 83 years. As he did in July, he emphasized that the congress, the culmination of years of planning, ought to be viewed as only a beginning rather than an event that has now ended.
“When we encounter Christ’s love in this way, we are compelled to share it with others,” he said of the intense encounters with the Eucharistic Lord that many participants experienced there.
Building on that momentum, Cardinal Pierre said, the country’s bishops must now “help the Church find the answers to the questions that were being asked at the conclusion of the Eucharistic Congress: How do we move from personal encounter to mission? Where are the new directions that the Spirit is leading us in our evangelization? What new avenues do we need to open in the life of the Church?”
“After all,” Cardinal Pierre added, “a broad Eucharistic Revival can only occur if we are able to live the Eucharist in all its dimensions: not only by gathering to adore, but also by going out on mission, so that Christ can encounter others.”
Cardinal Pierre said Pope Francis’ new encyclical on the Sacred Heart, titled Dilexit Nos (On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ), cites St. John Henry Newman as an example of someone who made the connection between Eucharistic encounter and Christian mission.
“What Newman discovers is what each of us has discovered in his own encounter, both with the Eucharist and with that ‘beating heart’ of the Lord whom we sense when we receive the gift of prayer,” Cardinal Pierre said.
“This experience imparts a knowledge that is deeper than any doctrinal formula: Christ is alive in our midst, and he desires to be one with us. This is what has the power to change our lives, first at an individual level, and then as members of the Body, the Church.”
Cardinal Pierre pointed to Pope Francis’ desire that the Church become more “synodal” as another expression of this sense of mission.
“Several years into our synodal journey as a Church, some are still asking, ‘What is synodality?’” Cardinal Pierre said.
“Perhaps the language of devotion to the Sacred Heart can give us a way to understand,” he suggested. “The synodal Church is a gathering of people who have come into relationship with the heart of Christ and who are journeying together in order to share that relationship with others.”
“This Synod on Synodality was never about completing a ‘to-do list,’” Cardinal Pierre continued.
“As Pope Francis has always said, synodality is not about predicting certain outcomes. Instead, it’s about inviting more participation in the Church’s missionary discernment while at the same time deepening our shared participation with the Lord,” he said. “For that reason, we shouldn’t judge the ‘success’ of the synod based on which decisions have been made or whose vision for the Church has prevailed. If we are looking to see what the synod has ‘accomplished,’ we should look instead at the way in which conversations are happening at various levels in the Church. Is everyone participating who should be? Does listening take priority over competing? Is it an exercise of shared discernment?”
“To dialogue in this way requires constantly ‘returning to the heart,’” he said. “This takes a lot of discipline! It doesn’t yield immediate ‘results,’ and it doesn’t win quick and decisive ‘victories.’”
Rather, synodality offers something “more powerful in terms of communion,” Cardinal Pierre noted.
“First, when we return to our own heart, we find what is actually there: our true desires, our hopes and dreams, our thoughts and our judgments. We also encounter our fears, our disappointments, our disdain and our enmity. By opening our hearts — and all that is in them — to the heart of Christ, we allow him to unite his heart with ours, which both affirms and purifies our hearts as they become one with his,” he said.
“With a heart that is more united to the heart of Christ, we have more capacity for unity with the hearts of others.”
Finally, Cardinal Pierre spoke in anticipation of the 2025 Jubilee, a yearlong celebration featuring a host of special events in Rome and around the world.
“A jubilee is exactly what our world and our country need right now, but which no secular power or political solution could ever achieve,” said Cardinal Pierre, who described it as an antidote to a deeply polarized political climate “that seems like a kind of war.”
Cardinal Pierre called on the faithful to make their hearts into a “guest house” for another person with whom we might disagree, borrowing a phrase from German philosopher Martin Heidegger.
“This would be a work of synodality,” the cardinal said. “It would also be a work of jubilee: a work that will help us, as bishops, to give a more credible witness to our people of the hope that does not disappoint.
“This is the work to which we are called in this coming jubilee year,” Cardinal Pierre told the bishops.
Sacred Heart Major Seminary Endowment Fund - 2025
By: Kenneth Unterbrink -
Mon, Nov 11, 2024 5:13 PM
Worthies: Make Seminarian funding a priority for the upcoming Diocesan and District meetings!
We urge all Councils to emphasize the importance of donating $6.00 per member, in addition to their dues, to the Michigan Knights of Columbus Endowed Scholarship Fund for Sacred Heart Major Seminary.
It is crucial that all Financial Secretaries provide every council member, including Life and Honorary Members, with the opportunity to contribute to this fund for seminarians in need.
We call upon all District Deputies and Diocesan Program Directors to ensure that councils are promptly offering this opportunity to all members, as dues notices will be sent out starting in December. You can personally contribute by utilizing the QR code on the Buck Slip. Take a moment to familiarize yourself with the process of donating to the Endowed Scholarship Fund so that you can assist others in doing the same.
Let us come together to support the future leaders of our faith community. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
Kenneth Unterbrink, PSD & SHMS State Director
Coat Giveaway in Flint
By: Richard Perry -
Mon, Nov 11, 2024 5:09 PM
On Saturday, November 9th, several Councils in Genesee County came together to host their annual coat giveaway at the Catholic Charities Center for Hope in Flint.
The event was a resounding success, with over 500 coats distributed to ensure that children stay warm throughout the winter season. A dedicated group of over 25 Knights and their family members participated in the event, making it a truly personal experience by assisting families in selecting coats for their children.
A heartfelt thank you goes out to Council 6742 from the Church of The Holy Family in Grand Blanc for generously providing coats and mittens. Additionally, Council 7482 from St. John’s Parish in Fenton donated an additional 80 coats, supplementing those purchased through the Supreme Council.
Special recognition is owed to Catholic Charities for graciously hosting the event and storing all the coats acquired by the Lansing Diocese Councils.
Diocesan Program Director - Lansing north
