The Cavalcade
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Volume LIII, No. 2 The Cavalcade The Role of the Grand Knight On Saturday, August 13, 2011, and State Warden (and Past October 2011 council officers from the forty-one President of the Federation) Robert councils in Bergen County gathered E. Hatler. INSIDE THIS ISSUE: at St. Thomas More Council 2188 in Westwood for a Grand The program, entitled “The Role of State Deputy’s Knight Training/Information Session the Grand Knight, Running a Message 2 hosted by the Bergen County Successful Meeting, and Having a Productive Year” was presented as State Chaplain’s Federation. Presenters included part of the on-going mission of the Message 2 Bergen Federation President Russell D. Petrocelli, DD; Peter Briody, FS; Bergen Federation to provide valu - General Program Bergen Federation Warden Silvio able in-service, training opportuni - Director’s Message 3 Sartori, DD; General Agent Charlie ties to the councils of Bergen Membership Miraglia; Bergen Federation Trustee County. For more information on Chairman’s Vito Mazza, DD; Past President Bergen County Federation events, Message 3 John Leclerq, DD; Newark please visit our web site at Archdiocese Membership Chairman www.bergenfederationkofc.org or Culture of Life join us on Facebook (Knights of Director’s Message 4 Fred Shaver, FDD; Newark Archdiocese Retention Chairman Columbus - Bergen County Annual Fund Raiser 6 Hal Delaney, FDD; Past President Federation). Don Ulisse, FDD; Supreme VIVAT JESUS! Membership and Program Russell D. Petrocelli, DD Consultant Tom Ciborski, PSD; Past President State Deputy (and Past President of Bergen County Federation the Federation) Herbert C. Meyer; Official Publication of the NEW JERSEY STATE COUNCIL KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS State Warden Robert E. Hatler addressing the Grand Knights and council officers. G GOD’S IN FA W M I O L R Y G NJNJ Bergen Federation President Russell D. O N E E Petrocelli, DD welcomes the grand M KN TI knights to the training session entitled IGH T A T A "The Role of the Grand Knight, Running Brother Knights from across Bergen County a Successful Meeting, and Having a gathered for the county-wide training session. Productive Year." The Cavalcade PAGE 2 State Deputy’s Message Brothers, helping each other bail out basements; Brothers deliver - We have officially entered into autumn and while the ing food, clothing and other outdoor temperatures are beginning to drop, our ser - necessities to other Brothers; vice, social and membership programs are really heating and Brothers bringing gener - up. As I think about fall and the upcoming holidays, I am ators to others without remembering some of the things I treasure most. As it is, power. Then I saw the imme - they, like “fall,” also start with the letter “f.” They are diate and overwhelming faith, family and fraternity. Oh, yes there is also football! response to our request for financial assistance for our One of the ways the Knights of Columbus has affected Brothers in need. me beyond what I ever could have expected is how my membership in it has assisted me in my faith journey. I What Catholic man would not benefit from joining our do not think I am alone. Through our charitable pro - Order and having the same experiences we have had as grams, we are living the life that our Savior prepared for we continue our journey together? When we ask others us. As we serve the needy, as we feed the less fortunate, to join our Order, we are not imposing on them but pro - as we provide coats for children without any, as we sup - viding them an opportunity to be better Catholics, better port the Special Olympics athletes, we not only grow in husbands, better fathers and grandfathers, better sons. our faith, but we also demonstrate to the world what One of our Brothers summarized this by simply saying Catholicism really means. that being a Knight has made him a better man. What a powerful statement! The family is the core unit upon which our society and our Church are based. Our founder, the Venerable And before I forget, there is football. We get to cheer on Father J. McGivney, understood this and developed the our favorite high school, college and professional teams. Knights of Columbus to protect and nurture it. We are We will savor the victories and try to forget the losses. living his vision as we strive to grow God’s family and as However, your State Council plans to help you and your we strengthen our own families through their involve - councils enjoy this year’s Super Bowl whether your ment in our many service and social programs. favorite team is in it or not. Please stay tuned in for the announcement of our SUPER BOWL CHALLENGE! I have learned a lot about fraternity as I have received the stories of Brothers helping Brothers during the Vivat Jesus, recent hurricane and flooding. Stories about: Brothers Dan State Chaplain's Message THANKSGIVING God always hears us and that we know that the Lord This year is going by pretty fast for me. The calendar always answers our prayers. reminds us of Thanksgiving Day. It tells us we should be We often pray to God for thankful of the many gifts we have received from those something we really want His who came before us. It is a special time that we should help with. When it happens consider all that God has done for us. We should take we forget that we asked time to sit back and consider the many gifts God has God’s help and we don’t take given us because of His great love for us. Thanks for our the time to say thank you to families whom we love and those who love us. We Him. We believe that if we thank Him for giving us the gift of life and the gift of mention God’s goodness to our faith. These are precious gifts that God has chosen to us in front of others, they give us. Do we consider how well we use them? They might try to embarrass us. But, in fact, we might help give us the opportunity to help our neighbors in need. them to see the great love the Lord has for all of us so Do we act like those in the Scripture who see someone that they may try to seriously pray to God for their needs in need and ignore them because we are afraid of and know that God will always answer their prayers. involvement? God has given us the gift of our faith. We can give good example to others if we really try to live I suspect that we often do not really understand the our faith. We can encourage them to be strong in their depth of God’s love for us, and his willingness to answer faith and maybe help to save their souls. How often do our prayers. We believe that God died for us, but we feel we speak about God and the things He does for us. The secret of God answering our prayer is that we believe (continued on page 4) The Cavalcade PAGE 3 General Program Director’s Message Worthy Grand Knights and Brothers All: State activities for Council participation including: Fall is fast approaching and our new Columbian year is now in full swing. Following our brief summer respite, • Keeping Christ Before Us we should be renewed and re-energized ready to tackle • Seminarian Letter Writing the important work ahead. The weeks after the Grand Program Knights’ meeting in June, I was encouraged by the • Youth Essay Contest excitement and enthusiasm shared in your calls and e- • Drug & Mental mails regarding our programs. It’s now time to put that Awareness Poster energy into action! Program • Numerous Recognition In order for our overall program to be successful, we Programs for Church, need to communicate, promote, coordinate, collaborate Community, Council and and most important of all, participate! The last element Youth is your job – participation! There is no success without you! By now, you should have outlined some goals and Worthy Grand Knights, please remember that much of expectations for yourself and your Council and shared your success will depend upon programs, activities and with them your vision for the upcoming year. I hope you recruitment opportunities that you institute in the have accepted my challenge to select and initiate 3 to 4 Council during your tenure. All of the State programs programs new to your Council this year. This is a great have detailed descriptions, guidelines, rules and report - opportunity to revitalize your current program, motivate ing forms and can be found on the Grand Knight’s your Brothers and recruit new members. Handbook CD or on the newly designed State Council web site at: www.njkofc.org Allow me to highlight some of the programs you should consider. The State Directors and Program Chairmen are readily available to help you reach your goals. Please don’t hesi - • State Council Golf Tournament tate to call or e-mail any of us if the need arises. • Holy Rosary Rally Likewise, we welcome your input. Please share your • State Council Retreat thoughts, ideas or program recommendations as we look • Soccer Skills Contest – Local, District & State for ways to grow and improve. • Christening Gowns Program • Homeless Shelter Support I wish all my Brothers and your Councils all the best the • Coats for Kids year has to offer. • Bocce Tournament Fraternally, This is but a small sample, but a great way to get started Tom Ponting, FDD and involved. In addition, be thinking ahead to other State Director of General Programs State Membership Chairman’s Message Worthy Brothers, accomplish that empty space without new members! Once again, we, the Order of the Knights of Columbus, will be summoned to do incredible acts of charity.