Council – Page 5 – Good Samaritan Council 13096

October 27, 2015December 27, 2019

Fire For Discipleship and Sleep Out

We have been requested to participate with the annual SleepOut and Fire for Discipleship. This event is hosted by Holy Name of Jesus to benefit the IOCP. The event takes place from December 16th through December 17th. We as a council have signed up to participate on the evening of December 16th into 17th at midnight for one hour. Please consider joining us for prayers, companionship, brotherly discussions and supporting Chris Kostelc, Coordinator of Adult Formation; Murray Wolf, Pastoral Council Chair; and Deacon Dennis Hanson as they sleep outside in the dead of winter.

Learn more about this event here and if you are interested in participating please contact Earl Forrence

January 1, 2015December 27, 2019

Grand Knight New Year Message 2015

Happy New Year!

January 1^st marks the half way point through the KC fraternal year. This is a good time to reflect on the Council’s activities over the past six months and to consider upcoming activities. As you make new year’s resolutions, please think about your involvement with the Council. It’s a great bunch of guys, activities are fun, and it hits the mark as far as discipleship goes.

It has been a busy six months. Take a look at these pictures that I feel capture the spirit of our Council during this time: http://hnojkc.org/index.cfm?pageid=182. The pictures don’t show all activities. Here’s a comprehensive list of activities/programs that were completed:

1. Fall Fest KC Grill	2. Coats for Kids to IOCP	3. Religious bracelets to HNOJ school children
4. Rosary for the unborn at site of the Memorial for the Unborn	5. Four RSVP scholarships to seminarians	6. Painting of the Good Samaritan Center
7. Building of shelving unit in storage room	8. Wednesday evening Faith Formation fine dining	9. “Get out the vote” program
10. Monthly lecturers reports	11. Special Needs Fall Class Bowling	12. Memorial Mass at St Anne’s with district councils
13. KC adoration chapel hour	14. Donation to Global Wheelchair Program	15. Donations to three pro-life organizations
16. Donation to HNOJ kitchen operation	17. Participation in KC Auxiliary Home Free Fund Raiser	18. KC breakfast buffets (two)
19. Tending the HNOJ-IOCP Discipleship Fire	20. Donation to IOCP discipleship program	21. Parking cars for Christmas Eve Mass
22. KC Christmas party

My appreciation to all who have contributed their time and energy to these projects!

If there’s been a theme for this past six months, I suggest that it is “communications” – better communications with other HNOJ ministries and better communications within our Council. Fr. Andrew has been especially helpful here and we look forward to working with him more as we move forward.

Another significant effort started in the first half was the complete review and rewrite of the Council bylaws. This effort, led by our Advocate and Trustees, involves a review of all facets of Council operations. This is good for our Council as it causes us to question current processes and if necessary modify them to better support the Council’s mission.

The time ahead promises to bring many new opportunities for us to serve our parish and community – opportunities to become better disciples of Christ. A number of 2015 activities have already been posted to the Council’s calendar at http://hnojkc.org/index.cfm/pageid/99 (click on “Open Item”). Those coming up are:

January 13^th, KC Council Meeting, 7:30PM, Staff Lounge (in the office area behind reception desk). Rosary at 7:10PM.
January 23 – 25^th, Annual Pro-Life Cinnamon Roll Bake Sale
January 31th, KC Free Throw Championship, 1:15PM, HNOJ Gym
February 1 – 6^th, Immaculate Conception Icon, Adoration Chapel (service time to be determined)
February 14^th, District Free Throw Championship, 1:15PM, HNOJ Gym
Wednesdays January 7^th, 14^th, 21^st & February 4^th, 11^th, 25^th: Faith Formation Evening: Fine Dining

Then there are also those projects that are in process or ongoing:

The “communications” theme will continue with Fr Andrew serving as our primary conduit to HNOJ ministries.
The Trustees will continue their work reviewing and rewriting the Council bylaws.
Discussions on “HNOJ Property enhancements” will continue.
The Council completed the painting of the sacristy & the Good Samaritan Center and also the building of the requested shelving unit last November. An “adopt an island” program will now be considered where parish groups and families would “adopt” flower bed(s) around the parish grounds.
A “rosary promotion” project would involve soliciting “inspiring Rosary essays” from parishioners and the publishing/distribution of selected essays in May, the month of Mary.

And finally, we should make a stronger effort at growing our Council. I ask that you make a concerted effort to share the good news of our Council with your friends and encourage them to join.

Please continue to monitor the Council web site at http://hnojkc.org for the latest Council news and activity updates.

Stay warm & have a blessed new year!

October 7, 2014December 27, 2019

LECTURERS REPORT OCTOBER 2014

Gentlemen,

As you may know, Bill Swing and I are re-crafting the HNOJKC.org web site archives to be more user-friendly and informative. Over time, we will be building and adding content. We hope to eventually post what we are calling, “a Knight’s guide to the Rosary.” It will be for all the public to see (not just KC’s) and tabbed for varying degrees of users between beginners and advanced Rosary users. Feel free to direct friends and relatives to the site, if something jumps out at you that you want others to read. Future articles and Lecturers reports will be written to fill content for that reason. Past articles will be tabbed and posted and a few old articles will be re-written to better serve tab headings.

We will post all the Lecturers Reports in the HNOJ KC council section as they are geared for our council and retrievable if you want to go back and read them. However, some of them will be edited down to just the content or story format and posted on some of the other tabs in the writing section of the site for all to see. Expect to see some duplication, as some of the articles are multi-purpose. Much of the last years Lecturers Reports were written with this big “…..guide” picture in mind. Bill and I are open to suggestions and ideas, as well as new content. We also intend to ask Fr. Steve to invite or let us tender an open and ongoing appeal to invite parishioners to share inspiring Rosary stories for us to post on the site, as they get sent to us.

If you or someone you know, has an inspiring story to share, but lack confidence in writing it, I would be happy to co-author it with you or them. However, we may not run everything that comes our way. It’s not an open forum or a blog for people to crank out endless material or opinions. We’re hoping for inspiring prayer and Rosary related stories. Bill and I will determine what is compatible with our web site goals.

A media page for inspiring Catholic/Christian-related books, movies and printed media articles will also be tabbed and maintained, so we will be in constant search to add good content. Please direct us or email us pertinent links, books or copies of news articles that pertain to our Rosary promotion efforts. Eventually, there will be an education tab for classes or formal presentation notes that some of our members present to various groups like the ninth and tenth graders or other pertinent instruction. If any of you teach a class or present something special and you deem it worthy of being on the site with your outline or notes, forward it to us.

Specifically to Earl, we would like to drag in or build a whole section on the Franciscan Rosaries (both sets of seven-Joys and Sorrows of Mary), so give us a hand with that. We want to encourage and even urge all members to direct people to our Rosary articles. If you have the right skills and would like to be more involved with our council, Bill would love to train you in on assisting the management of the site. Please volunteer and we will put you to work.

It seems appropriate to start with THE ORIGIN OF THE ROSARY article which will be posted in the Monthly Lecturers Report section of the web site and separated out in one or more other sections for those who surf the site later. Comments made at the Rosary Oct. 14^th procession will come from this.

THE ORIGIN OF THE ROSARY

In the year 1208, the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Dominic and instructed him how to build and pray the Rosary. If you recall your AP European History classes from high school, all of Europe was in a massive downward spiral of chaos, disease, debauchery, barbarianism and self-destruction. Marauding hoards were raping and pillaging every village in Europe, killing as many as they could. Rats were spreading “the plague”, also killing many people. Rome sent soldiers to intervene before all was lost. Mary wanted Dominic to use the Rosary to calm the masses by praying for real hope and change, for faith, hope and charity. It was also used by the soldiers to protect them in battle. Many miracles were recorded during this time frame, directly related to the use of the Rosary, too many to mention in this writing.

St. Dominic was born in Castile Spain in 1170. While she was pregnant, Dominic’s mother had a vision of Dominic lighting Europe on fire like a hound running with a torch in his mouth. Many of today’s Dominican Institutions depict the Dominican Order with stained glass windows featuring a star-crowned shield with a hound holding a torch in his mouth. After attending the Paris University, Dominic traveled throughout France with his Bishop to teach and share what they referred to as, “the fruits of contemplation”. Later, the Bishop, Dominic and other followers founded the “Order of Preachers” to continue that evangelical work. It later became known as the Dominicans, now serving in over eighty five different countries. “We set the world on fire”, is their motto.

Within that same era, the Franciscans, the Carmelites, the Benedictines, the Jesuits and many other worthy and Holy Orders of the Catholic faith were founded throughout Europe by deeply spiritual priests and Catholic people guided by divine intervention. Coincidentally, but also during that same time frame, the Roman Catholic Church was in turmoil. As Catholics, we all get side-swiped by anti-Catholic historians who remind us of this short time span when we had a 13 year old Medici family Pope and what a corrupt Church we all belong to. Don’t you think it’s interesting how God directed so many different Holy Orders to be formed during that dire time frame, not just for the survival of His Church, but to magnify its world-wide impact and strength? It’s also very interesting how rapidly and wide-spread the Rosary traveled the world and became the conduit for many of those new Holy Orders to gain momentum.

The Rosary is the single most important prayer form for the entire worldwide Catholic community. Unity! More miracles are associated with the Rosary than any other prayer format. If you need a miracle, don’t wait around. Start a daily Rosary regimen right now. By the way, it’s a “two-for” i.e. the Blessed Virgin is praying it with you, every time you go. She is our “advocate” and will hand deliver your petition to God. With all the turmoil over public Catholic issues, abortion, ethnic cleansing, etc. the Rosary can have an impact on resolving overwhelming obstacles and defeating enemies. It worked before, it can work again if we all pray, together, for a miracle.

December 7, 2008February 11, 2021

KC’s, HAVE YOURSELVES A CONSUBSTANTIAL CHRISTMAS

Hi guy’s,

This new word is kind of growing on me. It is substantially confusing, but flows better than, “have a, one in being with the Father, Christmas”. The changes in the literature are a little disruptive, aren’t they. My first reaction was, “REALLY?…….I MEAN…..REALLY!” I’ve also picked up others questioning it, too. It’s probably a pretty normal reaction. Think about how petty it seems. Is, “with your spirit” any more common or natural then “also with you” in our daily patterns of word use? What’s the difference in sins being forgiven or souls being healed? I would imagine every Priest in the Roman Catholic Church is getting his ear chewed off and is now trying to take the high road with his reply. I had relatives, in the ‘60’s who could not embrace Vatican II changes from Latin to English. This is not all that different.

I operate on the assumption that there are a lot of folks, In Rome, that are a lot smarter than I and felt the “word-smithing” is designed to be more inclusively diverse (Joe Sucheray would have hit the fog horn on that) and that there are probably translations to languages, foreign to us, that didn’t fit with the old wording as well as the new version. I mean, really, don’t we receive the same amount of grace from attending Mass with the new wording? Will anyone stop being Catholic because of the changes? Will anyone say, “now that these changes have been made, I can now become Catholic”? Who cares!

I want to caution every KC from getting too wrapped up in this and become too vocal in their protests. The Second Degree in our Order is UNITY. It applies to being united in whatever our Priests, our Church, our Arch Diocese needs us to be. Negativity is contagious and it erodes authority and credibility. The Catholics are getting hammered by the media, every chance that arises. As trivial as this all is, people think the Knight’s of Columbus are beacons for the church and I think it matters if we trash talk ecumenical attempts at improvement in the Mass, even if we don’t agree. Suck it up and embrace the change, one in being with the Churches teachings……oh, and Merry Christmas, consistently, substantially, piously and most consubstantially.

May 18, 2008December 27, 2019

Fr. Fernando’s Mass of Thanksgiving

Pictures featuring Fr. Fernando Ortega’s Mass of Thanksgiving at Holy Name of Jesus. We at HNOJ served as Fr. Fernando’s Teaching Parish for three years prior to his ordination. Fr. Fernando has been assigned to Divine Mercy in Fairbault.

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May 7, 2008March 28, 2021

KC recap 2008 message from the Grand Knight Marty

The parish is mildly concerned over the fact that volunteerism is down, according to a meeting Tom Silver sat in on, the night of the ministries BBQ. I have few thoughts we could discuss in the future that I’d like to throw out there. Perhaps the spirit of volunteerism is alive and well at HNOJ. I think in a parish like HNOJ, where so many parishioners are so active, so often, some assumptions get made like; “I don’t need to show up. There will be lots of people there. They don’t need me.” Sometimes I think that happens at our KC Council level too. We only had 3 guys show up to grill the food for the Ministry crowd on May 15th, which was adequate to serve, but not a good showing. One of the blessings we have is the KC Grill that Chuck Grabowski welded up for us. It brings us together almost like a camp fire. The parish sees us all socializing around the grill and they get a little envious of our camaraderie. We still need to be highly visible to grow into the next phase as a council. I think we ramped up OK, but now we need to fill in some of the gaps to be a well established KC Council.

When we first formed this KC Council, the first four Grand Knights were elected by default, as we were the only ones who could or would serve those positions. The entire council had to be everything to every one and be ready to be what ever office there was a need to fill at any point in time. All of had to volunteer for every event we sponsored, all had to know every offices duties and be ready to fill in as necessary. No complaints, however, as we had a blast doing it all. We got lucky and were well received by the parish even though we made a few mistakes along the way. Thank God none of them came back to bite us later. As we grew, we were blessed in getting guys like Steve Zylla, Greg Hegi, Dave Stumpf, and Jim Seifert which enabled us to take on more projects i.e. six breakfasts/year, the alter servers night of appreciation, the VBS picnic, the fall festival, staff appreciation dinner, HNOJ Ministries special night and ultimately the Wednesday Night Fine Dining, which is our greatest contribution to the overall parish.

I’d like to reiterate a point I made a year ago relating to taking ownership of the council. Anyone and everyone should feel free to take ownership of all we do for HNOJ. You all play a roll, whether it’s on a committee for either the KC’s or the parish, whether you volunteer for breakfast or bring your whole family to eat at breakfast and whether you just pay your dues, which benefits many of us who use the multiple grants and scholarships and special benefits the KC’s offer their members. It also benefits me in recruiting new members when I can count you in our numbers and point out similar situations and time constraints that each person struggles with. Let’s just call it commonality that we have with one another.

Denny Madden is a prime example of someone who takes ownership of the council. He holds no office but continually finds worthy Catholic and HNOJ projects for us to support. Several times a year, he shows up at a meeting with a baseball field project or a pro-life concern or a speaker we need to engage. He comes prepared with all the info and follow-up recourse and we vote. Nice and simple. Please take ownership of the KC’s.

One of the most recently exciting things I saw was at the May dinner meeting. The list of new and future officers of the Good Samaritan Council is stellar. Pat Karn will be the Grand Knight next year. It will be the 2nd time he’s been a GK, as he served his last council in the same office. He will need little or no time to launch his term. On Pat’s heals as Deputy Grand Knight, is Jim Seifert. Jim is a successful business consultant with tremendous capabilities and is probably already preparing for his term as GK, following Pat. Jim Grube committed to the job of Chancellor and will move through the chain of command to be Deputy GK then GK after Jim Seifert. I challenge anyone to find someone with better organizational skills in all of HNOJ than Jim Grube. The caliber of the next set of KC Council officers is beyond what any council in the country could ever hope for. Tom Silver and I are committed to be the best Trustees we can be and will make our selves available to assist in any way to take this council to the next step. I’ve been approached by others who want to be more involved in 3 years or so and would encourage you all to pray about your involvement and assure you it won’t hurt your marriage or relationship with your kids. Inversely, it will enhance family relationships and pave the way for other family members to step it up a notch in volunteering for other things going on in the parish and community.

If you have students intending to apply for “reach schools” for college acceptance, they cannot get an invite without documented service projects. They no longer want to recruit just brain-iacks, but young people who will get involved in college service work and “greater good” kinds of school sponsored projects. Many of the KC’s service projects we and our families do at HNOJ qualified my kids to get into the schools they wanted. They took it upon themselves to work on Habitat Homes, Fr. Wasson’s orphanage and other service projects, but I think it was easier for them because we involved them at a young age to work our KC functions.

Most of you wish you did more with the council, but find it difficult to adjust your schedules. Don’t keep any small desire to become more involved with KC business, a secret. If some of the upcoming officers are people you want to work with in the future, tell them to keep you in mind when it’s their turn to run the council. They will gladly find room for you. Let’s continue to show the parish what volunteerism is all about by leading the way.

Have a great summer,

November 7, 2006January 31, 2021

LENGTHY MESSAGE from new Grand Knight – Marty Dehen

My apologies for the length of this, but as both Grand Knight (GK) and Membership Director and in the fog of confusion over loosing our beloved Benedictines, there is quite a bit to cover. As I accept the responsibilities of the 4^th ever GK at HNOJ, I want to thank a number of others who paved the way for all of us. Mike McDole and Dave Mazurek, our first 2 GK’s, had to swim against a lot of current for this brand new council to get off the ground from that very first informational meeting we had in the lunch room. They and several others broke us away from an old established council of 7 different parishes at the Fr. George – Wayzata Council to start our own “in house” council at HNOJ. Many predicted we would fail. There were 10 of us to fill 16 positions and we often stepped on one another’s toes, but remained friends and committed to the council’s success. Thanks Mike and Dave. Also a special note of thanks to Don Carsten for showing us what true value a strong spirituality can bring to an organization. Don is totally submersed in Christ’s Love and Spirit and it’s been a privilege to work with Don as his Deputy GK this last year.

On our 1^st anniversary of that very 1^st Major Degree that the Charter members earned their 3 Degree’s, a new batch of men joined our council. Two key people were Jerry Sisk and Jim Grube. To this day, many other councils still talk about what a moving Degree that was, thanks to Jim Grube. Jerry and Jim jumped in right from the start and kept us organized and to task. With their help, I was able to sign up many HNOJ ushers and meet all of our recruiting goals of the 2^nd and 3^rd year. Jim is the first to show up and one of the last to leave and tirelessly called our entire roster over and over again for volunteers in our various KC events. As Financial Secretary, Jerry has a job that nobody wants that involves a great deal of paperwork and correspondence with the State and Supreme Councils. We are all grateful for Jerry’s efforts.

During the last 2 years, the KC’s have become somewhat of a fixture in the HNOJ kitchen on Wednesday nights and Sunday breakfasts, thanks mostly to Steve Zylla, Greg Hegi, Dave Stumpf and Jim Siefert. Ultimately, the real thanks should go to Diane Pasquerella for asking us to help her. Truly, we have been the real benefactors, as is often the case in service projects. There are so many others that show up to work and to eat that all contribute to successful events and I thank you all as a group with no intention of neglecting names. So, thank you all as well. I’d be remising if I didn’t thank Tom Silver, both for past efforts, as he volunteers tirelessly for everything we do, and in advance, as he agreed to be my Deputy Grand Knight. The Silvers have moved to Delano, yet find time to be involved in so many HNOJ Ministries. I challenge anyone to find two people more involved in our HNOJ Community than them. God Bless you both.

I need to thank our priests, Fr. Jonathan and Fr. Joseph, for believing in us and for letting us do so many things within the parish. Fr. Joe gave us one of our highest and lowest feelings within a year’s time when he first joined us and again when we found out we were loosing him 3 weeks ago. We are excited for him getting his pastoral duties at a name-sake parish in a name-sake town. I’m thinking of setting up an award in his honor, where the winner will get a cup of “joe” with Fr. Joe at St. Joe’s in St. Joe, MN., but it might be a little over-kill on the whole “joe” thing. I’m looking forward to a memorable last year with Benedictine influence and a great “Iron Range” sense of humor that Fr. Jonathan brings to the western suburbs. Hopefully the two of us can bring the right influence to his replacement, next year, to be as involved with the KC’s as our two wonderful Benedictine priests were. God Bless both of you and good luck in your future endeavors.

Fr. Jonathan couldn’t have found a more difficult pair of shoes to fill, when he first arrived. Many parishioners made the transition even more difficult with seemingly harmless criticism that constantly nibbled away at his effort to make badly needed changes. We, as KC’s will have an opportunity, next year, to make sure that doesn’t happen again in this next transition. Many of us are already being asked on what we think is going on and the answer is, “life” is going on. Stuff happens! Fr. McGivney got transferred out of St. Mary’s 2 years after he started the KC’s. It was the neighboring parish’s KC council that hit the ground running that made the KC’s as successful as they are. If you want some really great insights to what’s going on in our parish, read the book “The Parish Priest”. There is as great a shortage of priests today as there were in 1882. The emigrants entering this country, today, are predominantly Catholics that nobody wants to let in from Mexico, there weren’t enough priests to go around then or now and many other parallels are evident in the book. It’s a good read that we will loan out to all who ask. I think we have 3 copies floating among us and 2 in the HNOJ library.

As KC’s we must never loose sight of the need for us to be what our priest needs us to be. It isn’t about us, it’s about them. That’s what Fr. McGivney so badly wanted. We need to finish out Fr. Jonathan’s term as he needs us to be and we need to be what ever the next priest wants us to be and we need to be prepared for subtle differences, but hope for a strong relationship. For those that remember the importance the DP played in the Degree Ceremony; all this was designed into the KC’s formation 120 some years ago. Now it’s our turn to shine. There is a Fr. Arnold “ism” that just can’t be ignored in this scenario. “We can be bitter or better”. I’d like everyone to try to imagine the many different phone calls a priest gets on any given day. Death, birth, wedding, hospital calls, marital problems, job losses, disease diagnoses, school issues, financial issues, diocese issues, just to name a few topics. These guys give their entire heart, soul and very being to God, who throws them into the middle of us. They are expected to have all the answers and are often subjected to ridicule by us, the press, and anyone who feels like taking a shot and work 100% of their waking hours. We are blessed to have them.

While we empathize with our priests, it’s also important to accept each other as we are (another Fr. Arnold favorite). Though we are not yet very diverse in ethnicity, we are a strange mix of people and backgrounds. Some of our members have down right fascinating stories to tell of the journey’s that brought them to us. I would like to urge each of you to find one another and occasionally socialize with your families. Yes, it’s easier said than done, splitting duties with your wife running to soccer, softball little league, dance, piano, etc., but we need to try. I’ll even go as far to say it’s more important than attending our meetings. Stay united in Christ, united in Catholicism, united in family, community and in each other.

When we first formed our charter, we had aspirations of forming card clubs, golf leagues, annual hunting and fishing trips, dinner dances and BBQ’s. Many of us had childhood memories of very involved KC councils with numerous activities. It was a form of excitement for us to be enthusiastic about our new council, but I don’t think it’s realistic in these times. If we had 500 members, I’d be singing a different tune. Those of you, who know me, might be afraid of me starting a bunch of new events that require many volunteers and I’m here to tell you I won’t, so you can all relax. I will make a number of appointments to outside areas of interest in hopes of seeding future activities that may take years to spawn. I’ll call them teams of people with similar interests who may or may not meet and discuss ideas or brain storm. It would be a nice luxury to create annual social traditions for us to enjoy one another’s company and would constantly feed the need for membership recruitment. A social function doesn’t have to mean scheduling a whole new event on an already crowded calendar. There are possible social opportunities such as an event within an event. Examples: sitting together at the Cana Dinner or St. Pat’s party, crashing a wedding at the Medina Ballroom (it’s always open to the public and often 3 weddings share the band and dance floor), caravanning several families to Mile Lacs Lake to spend the afternoon on a fishing launch, BBQing at a public pavilion with other families while the kids participate in rec-league sports, or how about spending a day at the dome on Nuns Day with the MN. Twins in August.

Each new GK should have the opportunity to “flavor” the office with a bit of their own personality. My goal is to keep 2 themes in the forefront; the wilderness and the Rosary. With me they’re connected. Many of the holiest biblical figures and prophets gravitated to the wilderness in times of trouble or stress. In Exodus the Israelites ask Moses why God sent them into the wilderness for 40 years. His reply was that they find what is in their hearts. The Book of Kings tells of the thundering noise from wind, quake and fire are paled to the whisper of God. Hosea has one of my favorites, “…the wilderness will lead you back to Me where I will speak to you…” Gethsemane, Mt. of Olives, the desert, were all favorite places for Christ to meditate and pray. Many of history’s greatest writers, world leaders-including Pope John Paul II, politicians, etc. found solace in the great outdoors. Fr. Arnold found it on his lawn mower and Fr. Jonathan can often be seen walking the HNOJ grounds practicing his homily before early Mass. Neither saw or heard the cars on Co. Rd. 9 whizzing by. They were somewhere in a memory of Collegeville in the peak of fall colors or the pristine beauty of northern Minnesota, finding their “zone”. Many of us work 48 weeks a year and use 80% of our 4 week vacation time on wilderness retreats not completely aware of its importance to God. Knowing it’s not possible to head for the woods every time we pray, I’m willing to bet that many transcend there in their imagination while they pray in the Adoration Chapel or in their “quiet place” or in the car or airplane. Though the large Rosary processions are moving, I prefer the solitude of a deer stand or fishing boat, which I’m told is a family tradition. I’m the 4^th generation to be a GK in my family tree and it feels pretty special.

In 2008, the Vatican will most likely celebrate the 800^th anniversary of St. Dominick receiving the Holy Rosary from the Blessed Virgin in the Chapel of Notre Dame. All next year, I urge all KC’s to help themselves to our storage cabinet and find the two bags of colorful plastic Rosaries and hand them out to as many parishioners and ministries and youth groups as possible. If we run out, I will order more from Jim Herzog. When we know the date that the Vatican sets aside (probably the first Sunday in May) we’ll ask all those who have ever received a Rosary from the KC’s to show up and be part of something special. It will be difficult to say no to us.

When the world spins too fast for me to keep all the projects and activities and worries from blending together, the Rosary is usually the best way to slow things down enough to get a handle on things. I’m aware of several of our own Knights going through some heavy issues, more than there’s room to write about. There are a variety of medical issues, diseases, devastating losses, marriage problems, job problems, law suits, just to name a few. If nothing else is working, try supplementing professional help with the Rosary. The rest of us who pray the Rosary on a regular basis, need to add the needs of our members to the list of intercessions and petitions we pray for. The Rosary is directly associated with more miracles than any other prayer devotion in the history of its origin. Something that simple might be all that our brothers need right now.

One other thing I’d like us all to pray for is the Women’s Auxiliary. I understand they voted to disband or go dormant at their last meeting. Getting back to the importance of us socializing more, that might be all it takes for them to discover one another and re-organize. Should that happen, we must do a better job to support whatever they do in the future. One of the big fears wives have of me recruiting their husbands to join the KC’s is taking them away from their family. Having an active Women’s KC Auxiliary, somewhat, takes the edge off that argument. If anyone has any ideas as to how to help them revive themselves this coming September, I’m all ears.

In closing, I’d like to ask each member to continue to support all our regular functions and breakfasts. Continue to pay your annual $30 dues. Even if you can’t volunteer that often, make sure you bring your friends and family to what we are sponsoring. Our own member attendance is what breaks us even on the cost. I’m proud to say we run a guilt free council. We’ve been asked again to assist in the parish fall festival that Brother Knight, Mike Wagener and his wife Mary are chairing. It’s great visibility for us to have a strong showing for Fr. Jonathan’s last hurrah and can’t hurt recruiting new members either. If anyone feels they could assist me in membership director while I serve as GK, it would be greatly appreciated. These next 2 “transition” years are crucial we stay united and not allow ourselves to be distracted by changes or differences of opinion on various issues and even more important we continue to grow in number. I likened us to being new enough to still have that new car smell a year ago and I’d like to suggest we are still new enough to be under manufacturer’s warranty. Let’s help Fr. Jonathan go out on a high note and bring the new priest in to a fine tuned machine that he’ll want to be part of. Let’s lead by example when it comes to dousing criticism and speculation.

God Bless and good luck,

Marty Dehen-Grand Knight

August 7, 2006January 31, 2021

Grand Knight Update Summer 2006

Another Lengthy Message
(from new Grand Knight)

Yeah, I know, there’s a pattern starting to form here, but there’s also a lot going on.

I had a meeting with Fr. Jonathan about the upcoming year. He shed some light on the whole transition process and shared a few thoughts as well as appreciation for our presence. In particular, he most appreciates the work we do on Wednesday nights for the Religious Ed. dinner bell. The Fall Festival is coming fast and I’ll highlight our expected roll in the middle of this letter. We need all hands on deck. Also, Tom Silver and I met and I’ll finish with the direction we want to take these next two years.

There is an official hand-out from the Arch Diocese on how parishes handle a transition for new priests. Fr. Jonathan gave me a copy and I intend to have Jim Martin put it on our web site. Where ever it says “PASTOR”, Fr. Jonathan wants “Pastoral committee” inserted. Soon, he will open the door for HNOJ parishioners to join this new Pastoral committee that involves meeting with a panel of people appointed by the Arch Diocese to begin the selection process. He would like to see a broad representation of HNOJ’s finest. Many of us serve many different ministries and I urge as many as possible to sign up-the more the merrier. I specifically would like Ed Ayd, Jim Grube, Tom Silver and Mike Wagoner to be on that committee. The healthiest KC Councils in the state, have priests who are actively involved with their members and if we have choices in who becomes our next priest, it would be great if we could pick one that fits well with the KC’s. We’re at a critical stage in our growth and I don’t want to lose momentum with someone not familiar or at arms length with KC precepts.

Regardless of who becomes the next priest at HNOJ, we will support him and be what ever he needs us to be, even if it’s less than what we want. We must get behind him 100% and we must quell any kind of negative discussion or resentment within the parish or council if he is not as smart as Fr. Jonathan, as personable as Fr. Joe or as good a homilist as Fr. Arnold, and even if he doest have that much to do with the KC’s. He gave his entire being to God and His will and we will embrace him for that. Parishioners are naturally going to compare and it’s all counter productive. Many will ask us what we think of the new priest and I urge all to take the high road. Let’s not forget we have a solid school year left with Fr. Jonathan. He’s one of the most brilliant Canon Law Professors in the Arch Diocese and we should try to give him the best year he’s ever had as a priest. If any of you are having issues with church doctrine or precepts or prophecy, Fr. Jonathan can clear a lot of cob webs in a hurry. Need a spiritual tune-up? See Fr. Jon. He’s a home grown Minnesota boy and one of the most in-touch, “happening” priests around.

I asked Fr. Jonathan how we can serve him best, this year and he replied, “just keep doing what you’re doing”. He loves our breakfasts, he loves our involvement with the Fall Festival and most of all, he loves what we do on Wednesday nights. He credits the success of the program to us. In fairness to the six guys who put on the Wednesday night dinners, we could do even better if more of you would get involved. As many as 800 people get served, on the big nights. In my lengthy message #1, I referenced the need to do more, together, as families. I also mentioned the Women’s Auxiliary is struggling. Here’s an opportunity to involve your whole family with other KC families. If our wives knew each other better, they may be open to be more involved with those in the Women’s Auxiliary, later. Tom Silver is looking into some of the issues of the Women’s Auxiliary, more so, our lack of support and I’ll cover them in lengthy message #3, after we analyze the data.

Fr. Jonathan also suggested we socialized more often, and offered the HNOJ kitchen for our next dinner meeting. So here’s the official announcement:

WILD GAME/STEAK DINNER MEETING

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 28^TH AT HNOJ

If you don’t like venison, Bring your own steak, chicken, pork, or sea food to cook (Howie G’s style- yourself) on the official KC grill. The council will provide milk, beer, wine, baked potatoes, green beans, salad and desert.

RSVP!!!!-RSVP!!!!-RSVP!!!!-Marty Dehen

A 10$ or good will offering will be accepted at the meeting.

We will need a small staff of kitchen volunteers.

If you have “wild game”(elk, moose, caribou, etc.) to donate, contact Marty Dehen

I expect to hear from most of you on, during or before the Fall Festival and would love someone to step forward and handle the sign-up sheets for the meeting so we know how many baked potatoes, beans, beer etc. we need.

I had my first District Meeting with Eric Lloyd and the other 5 Grand Knights. The biggest concern from Supreme is memberships. More KC’s die each year than what get recruited. The attrition is alarming. October and April will both be official membership recruiting months. I don’t like loading up for one month. I like to see a constant effort to bring in new people. Everyone needs to dig deep and think of someone who would be a good KC. Next, you need to tell that person he would make a good KC and invite him to chat, informally, with me. Assure him there will be no high pressure to join and no high expectations to volunteer umpteen hours for stuff he’s not interested in. I will give him some interesting facts on the KC’s history and a few success stories and ask him to join.

(I will release his esophagus long enough to hear the words, “I will”) If you’re tired of being asked to volunteer too often, adding 30 new members would keep your volunteer hours in check. EVERYBODY! Think of one new guy.

’06 FALL FESTIVAL, GOLF, DINNER, DANCE -SEPTEMBER 16^TH AND 17TH

We’ve been asked to increase our efforts this, coming September, to expand the Fall Festival into a limited 2 day event. Brother Knight – Mike Wagoner and his wife Mary are the co-Chairs. Brothers Hegi, and Zylla will be running the kitchen and Brother Tim Cavenaugh and wife Cindy (Forester’s Meat’s) are in charge of all the food-both days. Hopefully all the usual suspects will be operating the turbo-charged KC tractor grill that Chuck Grubowski welded up for us. There are three big additions to the festival. On Saturday morning, perspective KC candidate-Jim Terry-(golf pro) will be kicking off the first annual HNOJ golf outing. It’s not a tournament. It’s a social nine at Baker National followed by a luncheon for participants. As it “gets legs,” it may turn into a future tournament next year. Later that afternoon, following 5:00 p.m. Mass, the KC’s will be cooking pork chops for the parish dinner. Besides the normal kitchen volunteers, brother Mike Kelly and I will be looking for volunteers to set-up, cook and clean-up so the grill can be used the following day. Following dinner, Don Prisby and his musical band will be throwing a dance for the parish. The main Fall Festival will still be right after 10:30 Mass on Sunday the 17^th. If you volunteer for any part of the festival, please wear your KC shirts and hats. If you need one, contact Don Carsten , he has several sizes available.

I know how difficult it is for everyone to add things to an already full calendar, so I keep alluding to the concept of “an event within an event”. I also stress the need for our wives to get the opportunity to meet each other and hopefully form bonds or comfort zones. Let’s make an effort to participate in the golf outing (if you golf) and to sit together as KC families at the various activities surrounding the Fall Festival and let’s remember to make proper introductions when we do. This is really important! As Membership Director I observe a lot of other councils. The one’s who socialize together, thrive and the one’s who don’t, struggle. In an effort to identify the various commonalities we have with one another, we are preparing and sending a survey out to everyone to fill out that identify activities we each participate in; hunting, fishing, golfing, bowling, card playing, etc. We will publish a list on the web site of common interests and make it easier to find a fourth for that foursome, next time you golf, or someone to fill the shoes of a late drop out on a Canadian fishing trip, maybe a sub for a card club or bowling league. You get the picture. If anything it’s a good reference for topics of discussion at coffee after church.

Deputy Grand Knight – Tom Silver and I have a few simple goals, this year; to have more fun, to be more organized, to be a large part of the parish transition and to grow. We also hope to identify future leaders and officers for our KC Council. Hopefully you will find yourself critical of what kind of jobs we’re all doing. In the book of Kings, God’s whisper is louder than the roar of fire, quake or wind. The whisper, in this case, comes to you so you can ask yourself what you would do different if you were Grand Knight or other officer. It forces you to determine what you think should be important. It slowly creates a subconscious visual of what you would be like in that office. We have a policy in my deer hunting camp that the person who complains about breakfast, cooks it the next day. That’s not what I’m suggesting for our council, but there isn’t any formal training on these offices, only guidelines. District Deputy, Eric Lloyd is very helpful and very available to guide and train as needed. In a busy, busy world, everyone can only do what they can or what their calendar allows. Next April, we will be nominating new officers. It’s time for some of you with solid leadership skills to step forward and work your way into the chain of command. It’s not that time consuming and usually starts with a guard or advocate or chancellor role. Many of you have wonderful gifts to share, so I ask that you “awake from your slumber” as the song goes and tell me you want a small roll in the future.

As I mentioned earlier, Tom will be doing some research on how we can be better partners with the Women’s Auxiliary. A full report will be coming soon. I’ve also asked Tom to add one small aspect to our meetings. Tom has spent many years serving on various Serra Club activities and has accumulated a vast number of moving stories of how men get called to the priesthood. Being one of our best joke tellers from a life time of marketing experience, I’m going to have Tom share one entertaining or moving story at each future meeting. A parish the size of HNOJ should have more vocations and we all need to pray about that and open our hearts to possibilities and needs. We’re supposed to be doing something like that at meetings through our lecturer, but we’ve never fully understood the importance of all the different offices in the council.

THE CHARTER MEMBERS OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN COUNCIL OFFER A SPECIAL THANKS AND RECOGNITION TO JERRY SISK FOR ALL HIS HARD WORK AS FINANCIAL SECRETARY. GOOD LUCK – GOD BLESS!

Jerry has been an integral part of the success of this council ever since the first day he joined. He served us well and will continue to be involved in council meetings, breakfasts and projects. Jerry Sisk has done a terrific job for the past few years and needs to take a sabbatical. He’s going through a late season career change and we’re all praying for his success. We’re currently talking to several candidates to take over as the new Financial Secretary. Please call me with input, suggestions or nominations. It’s the most important roll in the council. A good computer and skills to use it would be nice as several forms need to be filled out and sent to various KC State and Supreme departments each year. Form 100’s for new candidates and transferees all get processed by the F.S. A nominal salary and reimbursed expenses can be applied, based on our bank balance. See me for more details. We all wish Jerry all the best.

Let’s all look forward to a great year by having a strong showing at the September BBQ meeting as well as the Fall Festival.

God Bless and good luck,

Pictures featuring Fr. Fernando Ortega’s Mass of Thanksgiving at Holy Name of Jesus. We at HNOJ served as Fr. Fernando’s Teaching Parish for three years prior to his ordination. Fr. Fernando has been assigned to Divine Mercy in Fairbault.

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