Grand Knight's Message Chaplain's Message
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GRAND KNIGHT’S MESSAGE CHAPLAIN’S MESSAGE Dear Brother Knights, January 4th, 2018 The expected day has come, the day that Brother Knights, ushers in the New Year. The old year has already The Christmas Season has come to a close. I hope you passed into the past. and your families had a joyous holiday season. As we We salute the passing year with joy, with get back to our regular routines, keep the spirit of gratitude or with regret; that depends on us, on how Christmas going all year long. We have over half a we have spent that year. Every day of that year the dozen new knights; make them feel welcome in our sun rose and set. In this New Year too, the same will fraternal organization, not only at our next meeting, happen. Irrespective of whatever we do or whatever but in our parish after mass. we become, the cycle of day and night will go on with Vocations and promoting the religious life are part of unaltered regularity. Time will pass for everyone: the the Knights’ mandate. It is important that we lazy and the active, the careful and careless, the good encourage young people to consider the religious life, and bad. whether it be as a priest, deacon, brother, or sister. On The New year has just stepped in. Let us th January 28 the Saint Luke’s Vocation Awareness welcome this year with Joy, hope and expectation. It is Committee will have religious medals for sale after the a precious gift from the hands of our loving Father in Sunday masses. Please consider purchasing one for a heaven; He is giving us new opportunities to grow in nominal fee and giving it to a young man or woman as mind, body and spirit, to better ourselves in every a symbol of your support of the religious life and to way, to know Him, love Him and serve Him and to be gently open his or her mind to the consideration of a happy with Him. He invites us and challenges us to religious vocation. venture into new, demanding and adventurous ways of responding to His love. The beginning of the New Vivat Jesus Year is a moment of expectation when we welcome with both hands the possibilities and opportunities Kevin Dick this year opens for us. It is a moment of joyful hope. Grand Knight For that reason, this is also a moment of decision and resolve. It is a moment for us to look back in review and to look forward in hope. It may be that the memory of the past year makes us sad because the mistakes we made and the failures we experienced. At the same to https://www.kofc.org/common/video/bplayer.html time the good things we did, the joy we experienced, ?id=5694873890001 the progress we made, and the success we had- all prompt us to give praise and thanks to God. Also upcoming on the 6th of January is the Feast of Theophany in the Eastern Church or Feast of the Three Life is made up of relationships, not of Kings in the Western Church. I have included an bondage. We should have the right kind of overview of these church feasts which some have relationship with our Creator, with our fellow beings, forgotten about. Enjoy and perhaps attend mass and and with ourselves. If we give love, we shall receive revisit these important church events. love. If we give God and our brethren the right place in our life, we shall also be given the right place. As St. As always, if you have any questions do not hesitate Paul says, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or to contact us at our KofC office. conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own W.C. (Bill) Lewchuk, FIC, CPCA interests, but to the interests of others.” (Phil 2:3-4). 403-239-8239 [email protected] In conclusion, my Brother Knights, “fill your minds with those things that are good, and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honourable... And the God who gives us Theophany is the Feast which reveals the Most Holy peace will be with you.” (Phil 4:8-9). If we follow this Trinity to the world through the Baptism of the Lord advice, this New Year will be for all of us a time of (Mt.3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22). God the blessings and progress. May the Lord make that true in Father spoke from Heaven about the Son, the Son was our life. baptized by the Saint John the Forerunner, and the Holy Spirit descended upon the Son in the form of a Fr. Vijaya Bathineni dove. From ancient times this Feast was called the Day of Illumination and the Feast of Lights, since God is council co-chaplain Light and has appeared to illumine “those who sat in darkness,” and “in the region of the shadow of death” FIELD AGENT’S REPORT (Mt.4:16), and to save the fallen race of mankind by grace. Happy New Year Br Knights and families. In the ancient Church it was the custom to baptize catechumens at the Vespers of Theophany, so that This is a perfect time to not only look forward to the Baptism also is revealed as the spiritual illumination of future but also to reflect on the past. To aid us in mankind. knowing where were are going and give us direction, we need to know where we have come from. Supreme has produced an excellent short video The origin of the Feast of Theophany goes back to which can be viewed on the KofC official Apostolic times, and it is mentioned in The Apostolic website, www.kofc.org. When you come to the main Constitutions (Book V:13). From the second century page, scroll the centre block to see the picture of we have the testimony of Saint Clement of Alexandria "Thank You to All" and click on the concerning the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord, video. Alternatively you can go and the night vigil before this Feast. There is a third century dialogue about the services for God incarnate as Jesus Christ. In Western Christianity, the feast commemorates principally (but not solely) Theophany between the holy martyr Hippolytus and the visit of the Magi to the Christ child, and thus Jesus' Saint Gregory the Wonderworker. In the following physical manifestation to the Gentiles.[3][4] Moreover, centuries, from the fourth to ninth century, all the the feast of the Epiphany, in some Western great Fathers of the Church: Gregory the Theologian, Christian denominations, also initiates the liturgical [5][6] John Chrysostom, Ambrose of Milan, John of season of Epiphanytide. Eastern Christians, on the other hand, commemorate the baptism of Jesus on Damascus, commented on the Feast of Theophany. both sides of the Jordan River, seen as his manifestation to the world as the Son of God.[7] Qasr The monks Joseph the Studite, Theophanes and el Yahud in the West Bank, and Al- Byzantios composed much liturgical music for this Maghtas in Jordan on the east bank, Al-Maghtas is considered to be the original site of the baptism of Feast, which is sung at Orthodox services even today. Jesus and the ministry of John the Baptist.[8] Saint John of Damascus said that the Lord was The traditional date for the feast is January 6. baptized, not because He Himself had need for However, since 1970, the celebration is held in some cleansing, but “to bury human sin by water,” to fulfill countries on the Sunday after January 1. Eastern the Law, to reveal the mystery of the Holy Trinity, and Churches following the Julian calendar observe the finally, to sanctify “the nature of water” and to offer feast on what for most countries is January 19[9] because of the 13-day difference today between us the form and example of Baptism. that calendar and the generally used Gregorian calendar.[10] In many Western Christian Churches, the On the Feast of the Baptism of Christ, the Holy Church eve of the feast is celebrated as Twelfth [11][12] proclaims our faith in the most sublime mystery, Night. The Monday after Epiphany is known [13] incomprehensible to human intellect, of one God in as Plough Monday. three Persons. It teaches us to confess and glorify the Popular Epiphany customs include Epiphany singing, chalking the door, having one's house blessed, Holy Trinity, one in Essence and Indivisible. It exposes consuming Three Kings Cake, winter swimming, as well and overthrows the errors of ancient teachings which as attending church services.[14] It is customary for attempted to explain the Creator of the world by Christians in many localities to remove their Christmas reason, and in human terms. decorations on Epiphany Eve (Twelfth Night),[15] although those in other Christian countries historically remove them on Candlemas, the The Church shows the necessity of Baptism for conclusion of Epiphanytide.[16][17] According to the first believers in Christ, and it inspires us with a sense of tradition, those who fail to remember to remove their deep gratitude for the illumination and purification of Christmas decorations on Epiphany Eve must leave our sinful nature. The Church teaches that our them untouched until Candlemas, the second opportunity to remove them; failure to observe this salvation and cleansing from sin is possible only by the custom is considered inauspicious.[18][19] power of the grace of the Holy Spirit; therefore it is necessary to preserve worthily these gifts of the grace of holy Baptism, keeping clean this priceless garb, for COUNCIL NEWS “As many as have been baptized into Christ, have put Our website is up and running at www.kofc6994.ca.