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THE PRIEST AS SPIRITUAL FATHER
by Tim Drake Imagine someone rushing toward the altar after the consecration during Mass, with the intent of profaning the Eucharist. The priest would instinc-tively move to protect the Eucharist, acting with fatherly concern for the sacred host that is entrusted to him in a unique way. While this scene is rare, it is nonetheless true that we have lost sight of an important aspect of Catholic life called the Church militant, which recog-nizes that the Church is still engaged in a battle against forces of evil. On the night of his arrest, Christ ordered Peter to sheath his sword drawn against Roman soldiers. Christ then went to the cross, and with the sword of salvation, slew death and descended into hell, mortally wounding Satan. But the battle against evil still rages and will continue until Christ returns. How often do we recall that Christ is a king, and that sometimes kings
must lead in battle. The Church is assembled and waiting for that final battle. It’s a fight that doesn’t de-pend on human strength, but entirely on God. This is why we need priests, to lead us in this battle and to feed us with the sacraments, the source of divine life and strength in our souls. Fraternal Communion There are many examples in the world and media today of disordered male relationships. The priesthood, based on the life of Christ, is the supreme example of rightly ordered male communion. Whenever Catholics gather at Mass to remember (“Do this in remembrance of me”) the central event of salvation history, they are gathered by a male in the priestly fraternity – men who have sacrificed both mar-riage and children to give witness to the truth that eternal life comes from sacramental union with Christ. They forgo marriage to better carry out Christ’s mission in the hierarchical structure of the Church that Christ founded. The Mystery of Paternity “Authority ... obedience: To be frank, these are not easy words to speak nowadays,” said Pope Benedict XVI during Mass at Yankee Stadium on April 20, 2008. “Words like these represent a ‘stumbling stone’ for many of our contemporaries. ... Yet, in the light of our faith in Jesus Christ ... we come to see the fullest meaning, value, and indeed beauty, of those words." Just as male authority and fatherhood have fallen on difficult times, so the fatherhood and authority of the priest has suffered. We’ve lost the capacity to see that ecclesial patriarchy – or priestly “fatherhood” – is a reflection of a natural good. The Church, through its structure, is teaching the world a truth that is difficult to accept. Christ built the Church upon a body of men who entered into a new relationship at the Last Supper. Like the Trinity, the Church’s hierarchy is a relationship of persons made up of the pope, bishops, and priests centered on Christ. Just like biological fathers, they may not all be perfect, but they carry an image of God the Father that reaches be-yond their human limitations. We call priests “Father” because they engender new life within us and lead us to our home in heaven.
Knights of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus is proud to be the co-sponsor of many Catholic Men’s events, conferences and gatherings each year. As the original Catholic men’s organization, we are both men of prayer and men of ac-tion. Recapturing the founding genius of Father Michael McGivney through the Order’s “Building the Do-mestic Church” initiative, we bind ourselves more closely to our Church, enabling us to witness to and serve more effectively the communities we live in – our families, parishes, cities, state and nation.
We pledge to each member that we will support and assist each other to become better Catholics, better men, better husbands, better fathers and better citizens. Our devotion to the Rosary, prayer programs like the travel-ling icon, silver rose and dedication to the Holy Family endear us to the Church we support as its strong right arm, celebrating our clergy and religious and supporting their vocations.
We provide many opportunities for meaningful service, the true measure of manhood, sacrificing our time, talents and treasure to serve others; sacrificing our own interests in a “Service Inspired by Faith”. Whether through wheelchairs, emergency relief, food drives, Special Olympics, blood donations or any one of a hun-dred other programs, if we as Knights did not organize or volunteer for these continuous opportunities to give of ourselves, how would we become better men?
We include our families in most of the activities we undertake, inviting our wives and children to join us as we celebrate family life, pray and take action together to better the world around us, in the first and most re-markable expression of the domestic Church. Through Squires and scouts, youth activities and scholarships, retreats and appreciation events, we honor and support our wives and children. We also provide for their fi-nancial security through our life insurance and other income support programs.
In a unique way, we bear the challenges of living out our faith in the workplace and in social and civic com-munities beyond our parishes. We encourage civic participation through voter registration efforts and publicly stand up for life and religious liberty as we claim our God-given freedoms without apology. Standing with the Church as a witness to eternal truths, we work to ensure our civic structures support the human rights and dig-nity of all, and do not undermine that which aligns with God’s revealed plans.
temporal to the eternal? Our faith teaches us that Jesus has conquered sin and death – and we believe in this truth – together.
Ask a Catholic man if he would like to live as a part of a group which will commit to these principles and ac-tions on his behalf. What do you think his answer will be? Jesus Lives! Vivat Jesus! Viva Cristo Rey!
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Knights of Columbus Council 7983
Slate of Officers 2017-2018
• Grand Knight - Russell Williams
• Deputy Grand Knight - Hank De La Garza
• Chancellor - John Enyeart
• Recorder - David Flores
• Treasurer - Marcus Villegas
• Advocate - Victor Gomez
• Warden - Carlos Hernandez
• Inside Guard - Charles Wrencher
• Outside Guard - Guillermo Torres / James Gonzalez
• Trustee 1 year – Ambrose Cordero
• Trustee 2 year – Vince Aguero
• Trustee 3 year-- Dan Rangel
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May Events
• Tootsie Roll Drive May 6, assigned in- tersections and May 7 at Prince of Peace Church, (PoP) after all Masses.
• Officers Meeting, May 9, 7pm, room 105, (PoP)
• Admission Meeting, May 11, at 7pm, portable #4, (PoP)
• First Degree ceremony, May 15, 730pm, portables 3 & 4 (PoP)
• Council General Meeting, (election of new officers) May 18, at 630pm, Hall,
(PoP)
• BBQ plate sale May 20 & 21, at (PoP) hall
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
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7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31
May 2017
Council Officers 2016 - 2017
Grand Knight Dan Rangel
Deputy Grand Knight Russell Williams
Financial Secretary Craig Schmidt
Chancellor John Enyeart
Recorder Enrique De La Garza
Treasurer Marcus Villegas
Advocate Victor Gomez
Warden Carlos Hernandez
Inside Guard Charles Wrench
Outside Guards James Gonzalez
Guillermo Torres
One Year Trustee Alfred Ziska
Two Year Trustee Ambrose Cordero
Three Year Trustee Vincent Aguero
Contact Us
Knights of Columbus
Council 7983
8459 Timber Loche
San Antonio, Texas 78250
Grand-
Visit us on the web at
www.kccouncil7983.org
