Arizona State Council Knights of Columbus - Fraternal Year 2020-2021
Arizona State Council Knights of Columbus - Fraternal Year 2020-2021
My dear Brothers,
This past month the Knights of Columbus hosted the annual Arizona Rosary Celebration. Due to the Corona Virus pandemic, the celebration was broadcast virtually from Saint Augustine Cathedral in Tucson and from Saint Juan Diego Catholic Church in Chandler. The virtual celebration was broadcast through the Dioceses of Tucson and Phoenix YouTube channels. Using these technological methods, we estimate that approximately 23,000 people watched the event over both days. This was a great success as we reached nearly 4 times the number of people who have attended physically in the past. People participated in the virtual celebration in over 20 states, Mexico, and Guam.
My gratitude and thanks to Former Supreme Master and Past State Deputy Larry Costanzo and the Arizona Rosary Celebration team for producing such a beautiful and edifying event that has touched the hearts and souls of so many people. The State Council is grateful for the cooperation and assistance received from the Dioceses of Tucson and Phoenix’s media staff and Father Dan McBride, Pastor of St. Juan Diego and Director of Catholic Media, for broadcasting the event.
Mark your calendar today for the 46th annual Arizona Rosary Celebration scheduled for October 16 and 17, 2021. Next year we will honor Mary under her title, Our Lady of Sorrows. The plan is to hold a combined physical and virtual celebration next year.
If you haven’t done so yet, please don’t forget to vote on November 3rd. Pray that leaders we elect will
uphold the sanctity of life from natural conception to natural death, protect our religious freedoms, and support our Catholic moral teachings.
The 2020 Tucson Men’s Conference will be held Saturday, November 7, from 9:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. It is a virtual event and registration is free. The theme for the Conference is Be a Man…Be a Saint from Saint Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei, and the one who promoted the sanctity of everyday life. Speakers include Matthew Leonard, founder of Next Level Catholic Academy and John Sablan, a child of God, a devoted husband and father, and co-founder and president of World Ablaze Incorporated which is a Catholic apostolate focused on evangelization and discipleship. You must register for the event at www.tucsonmensconference.org.
Recruitment efforts need to be increased as we have only added 207 new members so far this year. Continue organizing membership drives to recruit quality Catholic men into the Order. Start at recruitment to retain our new members. Promote our Faith in Action programs to attract prospective members. Utilize our Field Agents and the insurance program in your recruitment efforts. Inform prospects that our Order was founded by a priest who was just Beatified. Online first-year membership is FREE until December 31 when prospects use MCGIVNEY2020 code when they join.
Very soon the season of Advent will begin. These are the weeks leading up to the birth of Jesus when we should prepare as a family for our Lord’s birthday party. Send out your Christmas Cards and invite your family and friends to this grand celebration. Set up your Advent Wreath and as a family make a focused weekly or daily devotion that include prayer and activity around the wreath. Set up your Nativity Scene and share stories from Luke’s Gospel (Chapter 1) with your children and grandchildren about the birth of Christ. Reflection and reconciliation make a great personal Christmas gift. Polish your halo with a good Advent confession. In whatever way you and your family prepare for Christmas, remember its Christ’s birthday. So, let us Keep Christ in Christmas!
Preparations are underway to hold our State Council Mid-Year Meeting over the weekend of January 8-10, 2021. We are hoping to be able to conduct it in-person at St. Andrew The Apostle Parish in Chandler. More details will be forthcoming. Check the State website frequently for updates.
During Saint Paul’s time with the Ephesians, he impressed upon them that it was their duty to live in the Light. How often these days do we find ourselves in the dark? There’s just something about being in a dark room without light and not being able to see that terrifies us; even when we know there is no danger. In the fifth chapter of his Letter to the Ephesians, Saint Paul instructs us on how to find our way out of the darkness and into the light. He wrote:
“Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient. So, do not be associated with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth. Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness; rather expose them, for it is shameful even to mention the things done by them in secret; but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, it says: Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light (Ephesians 5:6-14).”
We don’t have to be afraid of the dark anymore. Let Christ be your light.
Mary Ann and I wish each of you and your families a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving.
Vivat Jesus!
Mario Vassallo,
State Deputy