Author: Tim Kelley
Greetings from the mountains of Western North Carolina.
Wanna get HIGH? I know what you are thinking…our Advocate has lost it. But this is a different type of HIGH and has nothing to do with drugs or the Rocky Mountains, for that matter, with all apologies to the late John Denver. I am talking about being Happy, Impassioned, Genuine, and Holy.
Happy – Everybody is looking for true happiness. Countless millions of dollars have been made creating products designed to make consumers “happy,” but is that true happiness? Well, let us ask St. Augustine. St. Augustine says, “True happiness is to rejoice in the truth, for to rejoice in the truth is to rejoice in you, O God, who are the Truth” and “Those who think there is another kind of happiness look for joy elsewhere, but theirs is not true joy.” No matter where we look in this world, we will only find true happiness in our Lord. So, it is important to take time out of the busyness of our lives to spend time with Him – in prayer, in the Mass, in Adoration – and to spend time in fellowship with our brothers and sisters in the faith, so that we may help each other grow in happiness. COR is a great way to do this, by the way.
Impassioned – If we are truly happy, then it’s easy to be impassioned – because we want to spread happiness, am I right? Those of you who are grandparents can relate to this. These little ones bring you such joy that you cannot wait to share pictures and stories with everyone else. Well, when we find our true happiness and peace in the Lord, we want to go out and share His love with everyone else. One way we as Knights do an amazing job of this is through our service. As one of your State Officers, I had the honor to participate in the Build A Bed event in Jacksonville. It was amazing to see all those men and women participating, filled with passion, wanting to spread the love of Jesus to those children who need a place to sleep, and helping to build 137 beds in around 6 hours. With October being Respect Life Month, our ASAP program allows us to reach out and help those young mothers most in need. There are so many other ways to do this as well that I cannot possibly mention them all. Our Faith in Action handbooks are a guide, but there is no greater guide than your heart after time in prayer with the Lord.
Genuine – People can see a fake from a mile away. In turn, they can also tell if you are genuine and, if you are genuine, that will draw people to you. I am sure you are all familiar with the song that says, “They’ll know we are Christians by our love.” As happy, impassioned Catholics, the love in our hearts and in our actions will shine through. Others will see the genuine joy emanating from us. They will want to be a part of that. They will see us smiling and having fun as we serve God and serve others and want to join in. It’s part of human nature. When you were 5 years old and saw a bunch of kids on the playground having fun playing kickball, what was your first reaction? “Can I play too?” you likely asked. Our genuine joy in loving and serving the Lord will generate that same reaction in our Brothers. They will want to ask us, “can I play too?” There is no greater evangelization tool than genuine, impassioned happiness in the Lord. This is a key to success in membership. Men will want to join us in building the City of God here on earth.
Holy – As followers of Jesus, we are called on a path to holiness. Paragraph 826 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “Charity is the soul of the holiness to which all are called: it ‘governs, shapes, and perfects the means of sanctification (Lumen Gentium, 42).’” Through being happy, impassioned, genuine Catholics, we grow closer to Jesus on this path to holiness in a spirit of Charity, which is one of our guiding principles as Knights of Columbus. So, let us all strive to get HIGH together every day as we grow closer to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Now time for some Advocate business: the most important of the hats I wear as your Advocate is to help make sure your councils are Safe Environment compliant, and I will be working with your Grand Knights and District Deputies throughout the year as we work towards 100% compliance. Our young and vulnerable parishioners deserve no less. Unfortunately, we still have many councils that are non-compliant for the sole reason of not having submitted their forms. You will likely hear more about this from our Worthy State Warden. If you have not submitted both your Form 185 and Form 365 to Supreme, this should be a top priority, as these were due back on July 1. Without these forms, the required Safe Environment positions are considered vacant, which means your council is not Safe Environment compliant and should not be hosting any programs with youth. Please treat this situation with the seriousness it merits. I am here to help you.
For those of you attending the banquets for Mountain Area Pregnancy Services and MiraVia this month, I look forward to seeing you there.
“Serve the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful song.” – Psalm 100:2
Vivat Jesus!