The Knight’s Herald

From the Desk of the Grand Knight

Greetings Brothers Knights! I would like to start this installment off by first of all thanking Brother Paul Patak for his selfless performance as Grand Knight. The effort he put into his duties shows in each achievement of our council during his tour of office. Thanks, Paul, for a job very well done. I would also like to thank each of you, my Brother Knights, for the confidence you have shown by electing me as your Grand Knight. I will strive always to be worthy of that confidence. I would also like to thank and congratulate all the other officers and committee chairmen. Their dedication to our order and our council will ensure that we continue to be a prosperous and vital council.

For those who may have been out of the loop during the summer the new officers and committee chairmen are as follows:

Grand Knight Mike Mitchell Trustee 3 Year Paul Patak

Deputy Grand Knight Mark Shows Trustee 2 Year Duane Andrews

Chancellor Joe Tull Trustee 1 Year James Reid

Financial Secretary Joe Supple Program Director Mark Shows

Treasure Eddie Metrejean Membership Director Bob Hudson

Warden Walt Turnbull Church Committee Chairman Jacob Eftink

Advocate Jacob Eftink Community Committee Chairman David DiCarlo

Inside Guard Tom Taylor Council Committee Chairman Jeff Hooper

Outside Guard Scott Shows Family Committee Chairman Bill Reynolds

Recorder Jeff Hooper Youth Committee Chairman Jeff Hallam

Lecturer Ron Rychlak Newsletter Committee Chairman Bob Hudson

I ask you to share your advice, assistance and encouragement whenever possible with these men as they are the guides and shapers of the future of our council.

In the next few weeks we will also be revising the committee assignments and call lists. If there is a particular committee assignment you would prefer, please make this known to one of the men above as soon as possible.

We have many wonderful programs planned for Autumn already but I will leave those details to the worthy Program Director. I also remind all of my Brother Knights that the business meeting is on the second Thursday of each month, the Rosary is prayed at 7:15 PM and the business meeting begins at 7:30 PM. I hope to see you all there.

Vivat Jesus

Mike Mitchell

For the Month of August:

Family of the Month — The Minor Family

Knight of the Month — Dennis Ott

From Your Membership Director

Congratulations are in order for our Brother Knight Tom Taylor. Tom became a Second and Third Degree Knight on Sunday, August 25^th, in Tupelo. Please congratulate Tom at your first opportunity.

Our Fraternal Year ended on June 30^th and, as you should recall from a previous newsletter, our membership goal was eight new Brother Knights. Since July 2001, the beginning of that year, we recruited seven new Knights and suspended three for non-payment of dues, which gave us a net, new Knights, of plus four. That’s the good news. But the bad news is — we also, unfortunately, lost an additional fourteen Knights due to suspensions, transfers and withdrawals. These negative numbers dropped our Council membership from over one-hundred Brother Knights to only ninety-two members. That is unfortunate but, Knights must pay their dues. Knights will relocate and transfer and some will withdraw — that’s a given.

So where does all of that leave us for now and our membership goals for our 2002 — 2003 Fraternal year. Well, here is how it lays out — our membership goals are seven new members between July 1 of 2002 and June 30 of 2003. Hopefully, our Council will not loose any additional Brother Knights to suspensions or relocations this year.

Needless to say, we have our membership recruitment challenge ahead of us, but together we can make it happen. Remember, none of us is as strong as all of us. Let’s all pull together and make 2002 — 2003 a great membership year for our Council. The Membership Committee needs your help.

As always, the Membership Committee has scheduled a First Degree Exemplification for Thursday, September 12^th, at 7:00 pm., at our next regularly scheduled Council meeting. Please do your best to contact any potential new members as soon as possible.

Remember, "Ask another man to become a Knight of Columbus"

Vivat Jesus,

Bob Hudson,

Membership Director

Church Committee Report- Jacob Eftink

      The Parish Fair is on Saturday, September 28th.  This is usually a fun event and a good way to socialize with members of the Parish and the community.  I hope to see many Knights and their families there. 

      The Knights will help set up and tear down the booths for the Parish Fair.  On Sunday, September 22nd we will set up the booths and on Sunday, September 29th we will tear down the booths.  Both of the events will take place after the 11:00 AM Mass.  We need as many bodies and tools as possible, so I ask my Brother Knights to come to this event if you can.

      We as a country are approaching the one-year anniversary of one the worst tragedies in American history- the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.  I encourage that we as Knights each pray a Rosary for the victims of this event, the rescue workers, and the families of those who were lost because of these events.

From the Desk of Fr. Joe

During the last week of August I attended the Pan African Roman Catholic Clergy Conference in Techny, Illinois. There were black priests and bishops (3) from the USA; black priests from Africa; and a black bishop and three priests from Brazil. The overall theme of the meeting was "Building Bridges." There was lots of lively discussion and next year’s meeting will include professionals who will teach bridge-building skills. Most of the priests from the USA were from large parishes in Northern dioceses and at least half of them were bi-lingual (Spanish) or becoming so. The African priests all spoke at least two languages.

Some things I learned:

-There are over 40 million black Catholics in Brazil.

-There are about 250 African American priests in active ministry in the USA; there are more than 800 African priests in active ministry in the USA.

-The Church in the USA is more and more relying on foreign born priests with large numbers coming not only from Africa but from Poland, India, South and Central America. This situation has not existed in the USA since the turn of the 20^th century.

I don’t know where the Spirit is leading the Church in the USA. I am glad to be a part of it and I find what I can see in our predicted future very exciting.

From your State Warden:

Over the past few months, our Parish had the opportunity to celebrate two special occasions: Walt and Jo Turnbull’s fiftieth wedding anniversary and Deacon Ted’s twentieth anniversary of his ordination. Both are reasons to celebrate. However, I think that both provide something more than an excuse for a party. Each clearly demonstrates commitment. If we look around our society these days, there are, unfortunately, all too few examples of people being committed to something worthwhile: marriage, education, religion, … I can see it often in my students and in myself. Why spend time on this pursuit or that subject? It’s too hard. It takes too much time. It’s not "fun" all the time. I can be content, for a little while at least, doing something else.

A successful Council, a successful State jurisdiction, also requires commitment, not just on the part of the officers, but on the part of all the members. This past August, Mississippi was singled out at the national Knights of Columbus convention in California as being part of a select group, the Circle of Excellence. This was the first time in many years that Mississippi was so honored. The award is based on membership, programs and reporting. It was the result of effort and commitment not only by the State Deputy, Tom Chady, but also by the District Deputies, Grand Knights and the 6,000 members of the Knights of Mississippi. Congratulations.

The Knight’s Herald

A brief breakdown of whom did what may be in order:

Dennis and Carrie Ott Crafts Booth

Ron and Joseph Rychlak Softball Toss Booth

James and Bonnie Reid Dime Toss Booth

Mark and Debbie Shows Religious Article Sales

Mike Namarato Teddy Bear Booth (with help from Scott Vitale)

Paul Cassasia Bingo (first year for this and it seemed to do well)

Mike and Gill Mitchell Bean Bag Toss

Stan Sandroni Master of Ceremonies

These are just the men I know of. I am sure there are others whose efforts were just as great behind scenes or in the set up, preparation and take down for Oktoberfest. I want to thank all the Knights who did participate and apologize to those whose names I failed to mention.

I would like to offer a special thanks to Peter and Maria Lee for the many hours of work and planning that they put into making this Oktoberfest the success that it was. I know what it takes to make it work right and it did.

We have a fairly busy October coming up so everyone should be getting ready for some of the different events ahead. October 10^th will be our regular business meeting and I hope to see you all there. On the 12^th we will be parking cars for the Arkansas State game. The car parking is where we earn our operating funds for the year so please make an effort to come out and help. The 26^th will be the annual (3^rd I think) hay ride at Camp Hopewell, where we will be cooking hot dogs, hamburgers and roasting marshmallows. And finally on the 31^st (Halloween) we will be doing hot dogs for all the little ghosts, goblins and witches of our parish. I hope to see you at all of these events.

Vivat Jesus

Mike Mitchell

Three months of our Fraternal Year has passed and we have no new members nor has anyone been proposed for membership. Your Membership Committee is planning our Fall Membership Drive from October 10 thru November 10.

First Degree Exemplifications are planned for our October 10^th and November 14^th regular monthly council meetings. Your help is needed for this Membership Drive. The Membership Committee has set a goal of four new members for this time period. Please make any contacts you can to help your Membership Committee reach our goal.

As your Membership Director, for over ten years, my job has been to continually ask the help of all my Brother Knights to help me, help you and our council to give the opportunity to the men in our parish to become members of the Knights of Columbus.

You probably also remember that in the past I have said "each Knight has a responsibility, taken at the time he become a Knight, to the help the council and his Brother Knights to meet the membership goal of our council each year. Membership is one of these goals."

The Knights of Columbus is a brotherhood and one of its goals is to spread the opportunity for membership to every Catholic man eligible to become a Knight. The men at St. John’s deserve the opportunity to become members of the Knights of Columbus. But they may never get that opportunity if one of our Brother Knights does not ask each one of them to consider becoming a Knight of Columbus. Would any one of us Brother Knights consider, if for only a moment, to deny anyone of these Catholic men that opportunity? I don’t believe so, but only you, as a Brother Knight and as a member of St. John’s Council 10901, in Oxford, Mississippi, can make that decision. Only you can decide whether you will or you won’t "ask another man to become a Knight of Columbus."

Vivat Jesus,

Bob Hudson,

Membership Director

From your state warden — Peter Sukanek

Recently, I had the opportunity to participate in two special events for the Mississippi jurisdiction. On September 8, the Vicksburg council hosted a second and third degree. What made this particular exemplification special was that the new degree teams from the Jackson area made their debut. The Supreme Ceremonials Director, Sam Dambroshia, was present. With him were two Supreme Directors and a number of representatives from the U.S. and Canada. These individuals were being trained as regional ceremonial directors. I don’t know if the team was aware of the significant scrutiny they were under. Nonetheless, they did a terrific job and were congratulated. This is the first new team certified in Mississippi in over ten years. I’m certain we will be seeing them in our part of the state.

On September 22, Brian Engelland, FS of the Starkville council, and his wife hosted a reception at St. Joseph’s church in Starkville in honor of their daughter, Mary. Mary, who graduated from the University of Dallas last year, is currently working for the diocese of Washington DC. She has decided to join the Carmelite religious order as a cloistered nun. She will be leaving for the monastery in New Jersey in mid-October. Many of the people from the Council and from the parish were present to show their support for Mary. This is a calling that not many people receive, and one that requires a good deal of courage to pursue in these times. Try to remember to keep Mary and her family in your prayers.

On January 22, 1973 the Supreme Court made abortion on demand legal at every stage of pregnancy, including the stages at which the foetus is capable of life outside of the womb. Since that date thirteen (13) million children of African American descent have been killed in utero–nearly twice the number of African Americans who have died from all other causes combined. In Brooklyn, in 1997, there were more abortions than live births in the Black community; this was not true of Whites and Hispanics.

October is Right to Life Month. Please continue to support life issues in your prayers this month and all year long. For more information on abortion and Black babies you may contact: National Black Catholic Apostolate for Life

440 West 36^th Street

New York, NY 10018

(212) 868-1847

When I left home at age 18 the teachings I received at home stayed with me. Although there were years between then and now when I strayed from the road less traveled, the good Lord always guided me back via some situation or blessing in my life. One of those blessings was meeting my beautiful wife Heather. Heather and I meet in 1994 and were married in June of 1996. It was between 1994 — 1996 that Heather introduced me to the Catholic faith. I began to realize that the more I went to Mass and learned about the

Catholic faith, the more I wanted to keep attending Mass. As most of you know I joined the Catholic Church and was confirmed November of 2001 at St Johns in Oxford.

I will never forget the Sunday morning Paul Patak asked me if I would be interested in joining the Knights of Columbus. I had never heard of the Knights of Columbus and had no idea what to expect. Paul seemed like a fine Christian man so I did some research, filled out the Form 100 and a month later attended my First Degree Exemplification. I became a Knight of Columbus through an act of faith but mostly because of the charity and service functions of our organization. Having been a Knight for over a year now, the Knights of Columbus has become very dear to me on a more personal level.

Becoming a Knight has been another blessing in my life. I feel I am a better Catholic because of Knights of Columbus. I have found myself praying the Rosary almost on a daily basis. Words can not describe the blessings I have received by praying the Rosary. Being an "active member" in Council 10901 means a great deal to me. I have made some very fine friends by being an active member. Like Mom and Dad always stressed, you can only get out what you put into something. There are so many positive ways we as "Active Knights" can affect our community and the surrounding communities. Not often does the opportunity present itself to be an active participant in the life of Charity, Unity and Fraternity. To me the Knights of Columbus is just that. When you are preparing to leave this life, God Bless You, I doubt you will say I wished I had watched more TV or I wished I had worked harder at my job. Hopefully you will reflect on the many blessings you experienced by helping others who were not as fortunate as yourself and the positive impact you had on the lives of your family, friends and community.

Count your blessings while you still can and become more involved in our KOC council. It seems as it is always the same faces showing up for events. Lets see some new faces. We will always be busy but more importantly we need you. The Community and Church need you. Together, we can and will make a difference in our community and the communities around the world. Get involved ! Who will be the next man you ask to become a Knight of Columbus? Jeff Hooper