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June 2021 Dispatch

Brother Knights,

Our parish is celebrating its founding this month, a very special occasion for all of us as we reflect on the blessings we have received as a result of St. Bellarmine Catholic Parish being present in our lives. A church or parish is so much more than just a building we belong to and meet within. A parish is a family of the faithful that gathers weekly to worship God in His house. It is in God’s house where we receive the life-giving Sacraments established by Jesus for the good of His Church, the mystical Body of Christ. The ministry of the Church is offered to us fully and unconditionally, yet free of charge. We owe so much to God for His goodness.

 

Not only has God given us a beautiful facility to worship and celebrate life within, He has given us Himself in the Eucharist, He has given us the Holy Spirit, and He has given us our past, present, and future, animated in goodness by the Holy Spirit, which providentially includes the parish of St. in Omaha, Nebraska. Hopefully we are excited and honored to celebrate the founding of this parish that God has given us for our overwhelming benefit and the communities of Omaha altogether.

Consider the many ways that St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Parish has blessed its parishioners, the residents of Omaha, and even people across the world. The charity of our parish ranges from monthly food drives for the local Juan Diego food pantry, monetary and volunteer support for local charities such as St. Vincent de Paul Society, Essential Pregnancy Services, Mater Filius, and financial support for global causes such as Unbound child/elderly assistance, cradle of Christianity (Iraq and Iran) assistance, and Holy Land Christians assistance. We as parishioners and as a Knights of Columbus council at St. Robert Bellarmine are truly part of something big and special in God’s plan of salvation.

It certainly is good that we celebrate the founding of our parish, but let’s also remember that we are celebrating the outstanding service of our soon to be retired pastor Fr. Stillmunks. We have been very blessed to enjoy his leadership and spiritual gifts the last nine years. He is about to embark on a well-earned retirement, which paves the way for our new pastor, Fr. Dave Reeson, to step in and lead us over the next several years through any victories or storms we are destined to encounter along the way. There is so much to be thankful for, so let’s celebrate it!

St. Robert Bellarmine, pray for us!

May God abundantly bless you and your families!

Happy birthday to Mark Floersch! Upcoming Events Summary – Mark Your Mobile Calendars! It’s the only way one can remember these things!

 Knights of Columbus Holy Hour – due to the success of the Knights of Columbus weekly holy hour in the St. Robert Bellarmine chapel during Lent, I am going to extend this indefinitely. This is due to my strong conviction that there is truly no better investment of one’s time, other than the Mass, and our council will be rewarded greatly for our faith. The holy hour is on Thursdays after 5:30 PM Mass, from 6:00 to 7:00. This holy hour is intended to bring more Knights without a holy hour into the chapel to spend time with Jesus. I am not asking anyone to cease or add to an existing holy hour.

 2021 St. Robert Bellarmine Parish Picnic – the parish picnic will be held on Saturday, June 5, after a 4:00 PM Mass. This is also Fr. Stillmunks’ farewell party. The Knights of Columbus are responsible for the best parts of making this a successful picnic – the beer and the food! We will be selling the beer (via beer truck), margaritas, pop, and water as well as grilling the hamburgers and hotdogs. Please help us during one of the shifts as this is a very important responsibility for the parish picnic. The link for the shifts and stations is below.  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0C44AFA92CAAFB6-2019

 Moving Fr. Reeson to St. Robert Bellarmine – the council has been asked to help our new pastor Fr. Dave Reeson move a small number of items from St. Columbkille to the parish rectory on Saturday, June 19. Fr. Stillmunks will be flying down to Florida that morning, so we are clear to move Fr. Reeson in and get him set up and ready to serve the needs of the parish. If you would like to help out, please let us know by signing up at the link below. Also, if you have a truck that could be used, it would be a great help to us.  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0C44AFA92CAAFB6-moving

 St. Vincent de Paul Store Setup – there is a new and large St. Vincent de Paul store opening soon in west Omaha near 120 th and Center. Our council has been asked to assist with some small yet tedious tasks in preparing the store for opening. Please let me know if you are interested in stopping by to put in a couple hours and I will direct you to the right person to coordinate with.

Monthly Calendar

June Upcoming Events Birthdays Holy Days / Feast Days

1 Mark Floersch St. Justin

St. Marcellinus and St. 2 Peter St. Charles Lwanga and 3 Knights Holy Hour Companions, St. Kevin Blessed Angelina of 4 Marsciano

5 Parish Picnic Steven Smith II St. Boniface 6 Shawn Watson St. Norbert

7 Blessed Franz Jägerstätter

8 Deacon Fletcher St. William of York

General Council Meeting Richard Dibelka, Thomas 9 St. Ephrem and Election of Officers Drzaic, Michael Menke

10 Knights Holy Hour St. Joachima

Joseph McGuire, Alexander 11 St. Praus

12 Blessed Jolenta of Poland

13 Mike Owens St. ^

14 John Dahir St. Albert Chmielowski

15 St. Marguerite d’Youville

16 Kenneth Fisher, Bill Schmidt St.

17 Knights Holy Hour St. Cafasso

18 Venerable

Moving Fr. Reeson to 19 Dr. Bessmer St. Romuald St. Robert Bellarmine

20 St. Paulinus of Nola

21 St.

22 John Kuhns St.

23 St.

Nativity of St. John the 24 Knights Holy Hour Tom Kopfle, Max Mumby Baptist

25 Charles Moore Blessed Jutta of Thuringia

26 Gary Beller Blessed Raymond Lull 27 Our Lady of Perpetual Help St.

Terry Foxhoven, Mike 28 St. Lawler Jack Chapman, Jay Marshall, 29 St. Peter and St. Paul Steven Rowley First of the Church 30 Officer Meeting of * *Bold Underlined Numerical Dates Represent Sunday – Don’t Forget Mass and Rest! *Bold , Italicized, and Underlined Dates Represent Holy Days of Obligation ^St. Anthony of Padua is the patron to ask for help in finding lost/missing things. *The First Martyrs of the Church of Rome were the Christians martyred in Rome during the persecution of Emperor Nero in the year 64 AD. The martyrdom of these brave men and women no doubt helped to inspire the rapid growth of the early Church, which is solidly built on the testament of the blood of early believers.

St. Anthony of Padua Adores the Child Jesus

Jesus and the Rich Man

Good of the Order

 “No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”  - Matthew 6:24, New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE)

Brother Knights,

Memorial Day 2021 has just come to pass, one of the most appropriate holidays our nation freely celebrates year after year in light of the sacrifices our veterans have paid for that very same freedom we continuously enjoy. May God have mercy on all our servicemen and women who have died defending this freedom. Freedom is a very interesting concept. As with many words and ideas in the English , freedom can have a number of different definitions. Freedom in the United States most often refers to being afforded the God-given rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in a society of free commerce that allows for individual decisions and the building of wealth. These things are inherently good; however, the pursuit of happiness, free commerce, and building of wealth are sometimes abused and misunderstood to allow for anyone to do whatever they want as long as it makes them happy.

In the Catholic worldview, we know that true freedom is being able to make free choices ordered toward following the will of God. Freedom is sometimes the exact opposite of doing exactly what we want, when we want. Consider freedom being the ability to deny ourselves of things that harm us physically, mentally, emotionally, and/or spiritually. Freedom is being detached from disordered affections, especially when they lead us away from God. Recall the famous quote from St. Augustine, “You have made us for Yourself, O LORD, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” At times we get caught up in the notion that we need to have and add things to our lives in order to be happy. We have to be this, do that, and gain esteem in the eyes of society. Unfortunately, the best lessons are sometimes learned the hard way, but most achievements deemed good by society do not lead to happiness. It is precisely because our true source of life and happiness is God.

All too frequently, we seem to need reminders of the true meaning of happiness and freedom. Fortunately, the LORD is patient and merciful in all of His dealings with our frailties. He offers us plenty of opportunities to look back and make amends accordingly. June marks the final month of our council fraternal year, but that also implies that it is the beginning of my last year of service as Grand Knight. As with all endings, there’s always a new beginning. As with any new beginning or cycle in our lives, it is good to take time to reflect on the progress made – failures survived, victories won, and the lessons learned along the way. Life is full of seasons, ups and downs, progression and regression, surprises. Only one thing is constant, and that is the love of God for each of us. We must turn to Him in all times and at all junctures. We can only properly turn to Him and rely on Him if we are placing Him first in our lives. We must make sure our priorities are aligned correctly, we must be detached from the material things of this world, and remember that this life is not the end of things. We are destined to be with God in Heaven for all eternity, the last victory, the final beginning; thus, we need to properly order our lives so that God is first, our families second, and everything else will fall into its proper place in our lives.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Undoer of Knots, pray for us!

For the good of the Order, think of areas of your life that could benefit from rearranging, possibly a partial or full detachment for a time or maybe permanently. Also, please continue your prayers for and visits to our sick or deceased brother Knights and their families, those in our parish, and especially those who have asked for our prayers (see also bulletin requests and Fr. McKercher’s prayer requests on Facebook). I would ask that you consider offering prayers for the repose of the souls of those who have died protecting our freedoms. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you know of anyone who could use our prayers and would like to be added to the prayer intentions of our council and state.

Vivat Jesus,

Kyle K. Uhing Grand Knight St. Robert Bellarmine Council 10108 Call or Text: (402) 640-3604 Email: [email protected]

“Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of Mine, you did for Me.” – Matthew 25:40, NABRE

Prayer for Detachment

I beg of You, my LORD, to remove anything that separates me from You, and You from me. Remove anything that makes me unworthy of Your sight, Your control, Your reprehension; of Your speech and conversation, of Your benevolence and love. Cast from me every evil that stands in the way of my seeing You, hearing, tasting, savoring, and touching You; fearing and being mindful of You; knowing, trusting, loving, and possessing You; being conscious of Your presence and, as far as may be, enjoying You. This is what I ask for myself and earnestly desire from You.

Amen.

Tempus Fugit, Memento Mori 