KoC Lecturer’s Note
For April 2018
Dear Brothers,
My wife (Carol) and I have just finished participating in Deacon David’s class on the book “Perfectly Yourself” by Matthew Kelly. The objectives of this book and class include learning how to unburden ourselves from worry and to find God’s mission for each of our lives. The section of the book which really caught my attention was on “Finding Your Mission”. The reason it caught my attention is because it repeatedly emphasizes service to others as being necessary for our individual spiritual happiness. So I thought how important this concept is to the Knights of Columbus, whose motto is: “In Service to One, In Service to All”
Rather than try to summarize this concept as presented in the book, I decided to present a few quotations from the text as follows:
“Service is at the very core of our identity as human beings and to neglect our ability to be of service to others is one of the surest ways to misery and quiet desperation.”
“Each of us must find a way to serve, ____. Albert Schweitzer, the French medical missionary and Nobel Prize recipient of 1953 expressed the same idea: ‘I am certain of one thing. The only ones of us who will ever be truly happy are those of us who have sought and found a way to serve.’”
“Service is essential if you earnestly seek enduring happiness.”
“Service provides the most direct route to establishing a clear sense of who you are and what you are here for. By shifting our focus from what we can get to what we can give, we open ourselves up to a life of service. God will freely reveal your mission once he perceives that you have made yourself available to serve.”
“Jesus placed an enormous value on service. He rejected all the ways the world measures greatness – fame, fortune, power, position, achievement, possessions and status. Jesus measures greatness by service. How many people have you served today, this week, in your lifetime? Is serving people a priority for you?”
My purpose in presenting the above is to hopefully inspire more members to participation in the Council’s service projects. By becoming members of the Council, each of us committed ourselves to service. For the most part, I am proud of the variety and amount of service being provided by our Council. We have members involved in youth ministry, parish council, lay ministry, RCIA, ALPHA, ushers, general support for parish events (planning, setup, and cleanup), food preparation for parish events, fund drive for intellectually disadvantaged, parish blood drive, volunteering for Ladies of Charity and Catholic Charities, Bridge Ministry, and several others. Just imagine how much more could be accomplished if more than 20-30% of the membership became actively involved!
I also want to call your attention to Deacon David’s upcoming bible study video class entitled “Unlocking the Mysteries of the Bible” by Jeff Cavins, which is scheduled to begin this next Sunday morning at 10:35 am. According to Deacon David, this is essentially the same video series as “A Quick Journey Through the Bible” which several of us enjoyed a few years ago in a men’s study class started by the Deacon. I and several other men such as Joe Petrolino, Mark Clubb, John Toman, Bill Menhenick, and Dave Wasil highly recommend attending this series as we learned much about the Bible that we should have been taught in grade school and high school. Each of the 8 classes consists of a 30 minute video followed by a small-group discussion.
Have a blessed Easter season!
Respectfully submitted,
Cy Henke
Council 15706 Lecturer
Vivat Jesus
