Following in His Footsteps

Up until about two years ago, we had a Catholic singles group here in Wichita. I was pretty active with the group. I served as the president, treasurer, and newsletter editor. We did some community service, a few religious, but mostly social activities. It was a way great for single Catholic adults to meet each other. It was part of my stewardship to the church. I was willing and able to donate the gift of my talent and time. Our only problem is that we had a difficult time getting new single adults to join, and become active. At the end of December 2007 we decided to call it quits. That was the end of our group.

At first I didn’t know what to do with my time. Then in the October of 2008, our parish had a stewardship fair after all the Masses one Sunday. I went in and looked around. There were a number of ways that I could get involved and donate my gift of time and talent. I thought about a few of them. Greeter, Usher, Social Committee, Welcoming Committee, Compassion Ministry, Respect Life Committee, Youth Ministry, Youth or Adult Education, RCIA, Parish Newsletter, Knights of Columbus, and SEAS Navy. The possibilities were endless and I had so much time and talent to give that I could fit into any one of these.

I put off making a decision, maybe hoping the singles group might get back together. Then when I went home to visit my family for Christmas, my parents had gotten from one of our relatives, a cd with lots of old family photos. Someone had taken the time to scan all of them and put them on a disc. One of the photos was from a newspaper clipping from August 4, 1965. It was of my grandfather accepting the gavel as the Grand Knight of the Martins Ferry, Ohio Knights of Columbus. He ended up passing away from colon cancer in December of that year.

My dad had never been a Knight, but he has gotten involved in the community and the church in other ways. He was and continues to be a Lector. He has served on parish committees, and he is very active with the local Kiwanis Club, and volunteers at the local senior center delivering meals on wheels.

I didn’t know much about the Knights other than what I had seen at church. Those were the guys who handed out tootsie rolls and had pancake breakfasts after Mass. Those were the guys who wore those funny looking hats (chapeau) and capes for special processions.

When I got back to Wichita, I did some research. I found out that the Knights were more than tootsie rolls and pancake breakfasts. I have a friend (Tom) who has been in the Knights for years and had invited me on many occasions to join. I called my friend Tom and followed in my grandpa’s footsteps. I joined the Knights of Columbus. Here’s why!

The Knights were founded by a Catholic priest, Fr Michael J. McGivney. Many Catholics who came to the United States in the 1800’s were Irish immigrants. His parents were among them. Michael was one of 13 children, 6 of whom died as infants or in childhood. He learned early about sorrow and the harsh grips of poverty. He also learned about powers of love and faith, and family fortitude. As he grew up and became a priest, he saw how the Irish immigrants were discriminated against and looked down upon as a lower social class. Many lived in unsanitary conditions and performed hazardous jobs for poor pay. As a result, many Catholic husbands and fathers lived short lives. He saw what could happen to a family when the breadwinner died. He also saw a need for a fraternal organization for Catholic men similar to the Freemasons. Freemasonry was condemned by the Catholic Church and Catholic men were prohibited from joining the organization because of their anti-Catholic and Christian beliefs.

On February 2, 1882, at St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, Connecticut, Fr McGivney gathered 24 men from his parish to address these needs. That was the beginning of the Knights of Columbus.

Within the order, there are four “Degrees” of Knighthood, each one meant to exemplify one of the four principles. “Charity” and Unity were the first two in 1882. “Fraternity” and “Patriotism” would be added later.

Today the Knights have grown to more that 13,000 councils and 1.7 million members in the United States, Canada, the Philippines, Mexico, Poland, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Panama, the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, Cuba, Guatemala, Guam, and Saipan.

To this day the Knights of Columbus are still true to its founding principles of charity, unity, and fraternity. Charity is the foremost principle of the order. The order has been called “the strong right arm of the Church” for support of the Church programs of evangelization and Catholic education, civic involvement, and aid to the needy. During the year ending December 31, 2008, total charitable contributions reached $150,036,865 ---exceeding the previous year’s total by more than $5.1 million. The figure includes $32,295,376 donated by the Supreme Council and $117,741,489 in contribution from state and local councils, assemblies, and Squires circles.

The quantity of volunteer service hours to charitable causes grew to 68,783,653 in 2008. That’s 87,885 hours more than the year before.

Cumulative figures show that during the past decade the Knights of Columbus has donated more that $1.325 billion to charity and provided nearly 626 million hours of volunteer service in support of charitable initiatives.

Fr McGivney’s founding vision also includes a life insurance program that offers member, spouse, and children the opportunity to provide for their security and well-being. Rated AAA (Superior) by Standard & Poor’s and A++ (Superior) by A. M. Best.

If a Catholic man would like to get involved or learn more about the Knights of Columbus he should contact his local council or check out their web site at http://kofc.org/eb/en/index.html.