Hello to all Brother Knights and ladies. I hope you all had a good Valentines Day. We are into February and now our Lenten fish fries have begun. We can use some help, so if you can, come on down. Another thing that we continue to have is our Sunday Brunches. We only have a couple left so come out and help if you can. We can use you, never think that you are not wanted, we need your input at our monthly meetings. They are still held on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month.
For the good of the order:
For Dave Van den Broeke who has cancer.
For Bob Murphy who is recovering from surgery.
For Margo Arett who is recovering from surgery.
For all of our Brother Knights and their families.
Keep these people in your prayers. Give Dave a call, look him up in your membership list.
As always,
Dick Smith
Grand Knight
The 24th annual Concertina Bowl went really well. Many thanks to the 40 knights and ladies who volunteered their time to make the day a success. Some 732 paying customers came through the door on the 26th of January. The KC Ladies Auxiliary coat check and the St.Tim's Mens Club pull tab booth also did a good job. Thanks also to Art Ohotto, the overall chairman, who worked many hours behind the scenes. All profits from this event go towards charities.
Dick Dols
The February meeting was held at Anita Loerzel's. We were all well-fed, played fun games, and viewed the baby items for the Birthrite organization. I would like to personally thank Anita for hosting this event.
Every year, we are asked to submit our volunteer hours tally. Our group recorded a total of over 1000 hours. Thanks to all who took the time to volunteer and record your hours.
We have already begun our 7 weeks of Bake Sales. Please consider helping even for an hour or so.
This month we nominate officers for next year. I will be running for the State Vice President office in April and will need to move to the trustee position. Please consider running for an office. Training is available.
Jean Ackermann
President
To the fine folks who donated door prizes given away at this years Concertina Party.
Knights of Columbus 5141
Leroy Kulla
Tequilaberry's
Bob's Produce Ranch
TGI Friday's
Old Country Buffet
Perkins Family Restaurants
Applebee's
Fuddrucker's
Mayslack's Polka Lounge
Sandee's Restaurant
Gasthof zur Gemutlichkeit
Red Lobster
Old Chicago
Blainebrook
Champion Auto - Fridley
Tmberlodge Steakhouse
Menards - Coon Rapids
Your help is needed. Part of belonging to the Order is to give assistance to a Brother in need. A request for help has come to the attention on the council. Your help is needed.
Dave Van Den Broeke was a very active member of the council in the 80's. He (and wife Judy) worked the Sunday night activities at the hall (also called bingo). In fact, the couple were the hall managers for much of that period. Dave worked his way through the chairs and was the Grand Knight in the late 80's. He was the chairman of many activities including youth, Pro-Life, family, and council. The whole family always went on the council camping weekend and we gave them a hard time since they erected a two-room tent in order to house the whole family. He played softball for our council all the way up to just a few years ago. Dave was on the first-degree staff for our council. He is a member of the fourth degree. Dave also led many of the rosaries at the wakes of brother Knights. They were Family of the Year in the mid 80's.
In the 90's Dave and Judy directed their attention more to their church (St. Paul's) and worked with the youth of the parish and therefore spent less time with us. But they always continued to be a KC family.
Last summer Dave was diagnosed with a very rare form of colon cancer that was spreading rapidly. He went in for surgery in October and the results were mixed. The doctors went and tried new procedures & treatments to try and slow down the progression of the cancer; again with mixed results. Dave is now going through chemo treatments. Dave & Judy are truly disciples of Christ and know the fate of Dave is in God's hands. We pray along with the family to know God's intentions.
Your help is needed. The family has requested help in preparation of meals on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings, the days that Judy works. The parish has been doing this since October but they need some new blood to relieve those who have been participating in this project. The coordinator of this project is Jill Swanson (daughter of Tim Skillings, a brother knight) who happens to live next door to the Van Den Broeke's. Her number is 763-767-4843. The meal needs to feed 5 adults; there are no dietary restrictions. Jill says the two most common meals are lasagna and a chicken/rice hotdish; so please stay clear of those entrees. Try to send meals in throwaway containers. The family usually eats about 6 PM; however you can get it there anytime during the day and just leave it at Jill's house. The meals can be hot; ready to serve or frozen and ready to be cooked. If you are willing to help with this project, call Jill at 763-767-4843 and sign up for a day. Please check your calendar and schedule a day now lest you forget As of press time, all dates are open all the way through April. Your help is needed.
Also, Dave would love to hear from you. A note, card, or letter can be sent. Also a phone call if you know Dave is fine. Judy has told me that Dave would love to hear from the council; so LETS DO IT!
1657 143rd Ln NE
Ham Lake, MN 55304
Finally, let's make sure the Dave, Judy, and the family is on your prayer list. Thank you.
Marc Peters, DD and a friend of Dave's.
Congratulations to Duane Arett. On Sunday, February 10th, during the knighting ceremony, Duane had the third degree exemplification named in his honor for all the work he has done for the Order. District Deputy Marc Peters explained this to the candidates. Marc brought Duane up to the front of the chambers to show by example what it is to be fraternal, to be truly a Brother Knight.
Also receiving honors for their work and having a degree named in their honor was Jim Schwalbe of Epiphany Council 10138 and Harold Murphy of Cedar Council 10138. All three recipients had no knowledge of the presentation until their name was called during the degree, which caught Duane completely off guard.
An early reminder that the spring casino trip will be held on April 28th. Keep a look out for more information in an upcoming issue of the guidepost.
by Paul Jarvis, third-year seminarian
The rector at the St. Paul Seminary has always advocated a rational approach to vocational discernment for priesthood. Surely, he thinks, God wants us to serve from our strengths; He would want us to find happiness in our life's work. It has been a cornerstone of vocational discernment within the Church that one be physically and mentally healthy, have a certain intellectual ability, a good character, and the ability to live a celibate life. These have been seen as the signs that God is calling. It makes good sense to our rector.
And yet the rector also understands that Scripture makes the point that God's Call is not always so neatly categorized, not always comfortably received. Other seminarians and I ask:
* Does God sometimes call us to work that we would rather not do?* Does God call us to work as well as a way of life that stretches us, even goes beyond the natural abilities God has given us?
* Does God's call ever ask us to do things we did not anticipate, things we would not have agreed to do, had we known the consequences?
Naïve questions coming from unmarried folks, perhaps. Because any married person could tell us here at the seminary that, Yes!, God does indeed call people to stretch themselves. It's called marriage. Then why all the talk in many seminaries and novitiates whether someone has the "stuff" - right off the bat, no less - to live the life of a priest or religious? … When they should be talking about how to stretch and transform seminarians and novices to rise to the Call.
My seminary rector, a wise man, also likes to say that God's voice launched Samuel into a turbulent career as an Old Testament prophet. There were no lengthy admissions interviews, no Myers Briggs inventory, no battery of psychological tests, no vocational preference inventory. There were no grades, no papers, no retreat to seek a guiding vision for one's life. Samuel was not given a list of ministries from which he could select the one that appealed to him the most.
He just said, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening."
These are frightening words for you (or someone you know) to utter when first hearing that wee voice within calling you to a truly radical path of prayerful service to God and His people. There is no amount of testing or retreat work that can replace up-close investigation … that is, that can replace just diving in. I say to people contemplating taking the plunge: You know you have the ability to swim, but you can only learn how to swim after jumping in. Just begin in the shallow end and trust in your Teacher.
I write to your club as a seminarian who has seen many fine men leave the seminary because they don't believe they have the "stuff" to make it as a priest. I think some sold themselves and the Holy Spirit short; I think most had unrealistic expectations of what God is looking for in His priests and religious. I also see even more people avoiding taking the plunge of a vowed life - in a religious order or in the priesthood - because they are waiting for certainty and perfection … in spite of having received the Call. What's needed is the humble knowledge that it is the Holy Spirit working through us - and the transformation of seminary or religious community - that makes possible what priests and religious do.
So please pray that those in formation allow for their own human imperfection as they seek transformation in the Spirit, realizing that no one enters vowed life ready-made and perfect in charisms. And gently challenge those with a potential Calling that the need for their service is too great to wait for perfection before jumping in. Because they never will be perfect. Only the One who Calls them - and works through them - is perfect.
The membership meetings are now in the hospitality center with some type of lunch afterwards. Keep in mind the April meeting where we will have the spring steak fry.