What do you think of when you think of a "knight?" I imagine a strong man, a man of integrity and self-control, a man who loves God, his country, and his family. I think of a man ready to stand in the gap upholding truth, defending what's good and battling against evil. The Knights of Columbus was founded for exactly that -- to defend the faith and support widows and orphans. Yes, a primary focus was defending the weak and vulnerable against unjust attack and exploitation.So when Norfolk Council 3845 invited extreme pro-abort Terry McAuliffe to be the Grand Marshal of their St. Patrick's Day Parade they betrayed everything the Knights stand for. If nothing is done about this travesty, if the council proceeds without consequences, the Knights might as well fold up their tents and go home. They have abandoned the field of battle and left it to the enemy of life. Any man who turns his back on the most vulnerable member of our human family is a coward.
But what can be done? At the bare minimum, join the effort to expel the council from the K of C. Sign the petition posted by Knight Pete Barker of Virginia Beach Council 10601. And then share it far and wide urging all your family and friends to join the effort calling the K of C back to their roots. As of this afternoon only 52 people have signed the petition. Many more would if they knew about it. Won't you pass the word?
When men act like men and take the field of battle under the banner of Christ, great things can happen. You don't need to be a knight to sign the petition. Won't you help? Call on the Virginia State Knights of Columbus to disband renegade council 3845 and restore the honor of the Knights as a courageous pro-life organization.
A couple comments and observations and I'll try to be nice...
ReplyDeleteMy local chapter of the KofC is basically a Filipino social club. Nothing against the Filipino folks. Great Catholics. But, not focused on active faith and works, IMO. And, besides, they look like the Filipino Navy in the Fore and Aft hats and swords... If you want to delete this post, go ahead. No hard feelings.
It's easy to say we need men to be warriors!!! But, the opportunity to fight for the Faith is no longer present in the West. The military orders are dead dead dead. And, candidly, it's easier to hack an islamic warrior with Richard than suffer the "white" martyrdom of living isolated in this culture. Who has greater Faith in the eyes of God? the man who suffers with Christ in an awful novus ordo parish for 20 years or the soldier who dies quickly?
I guess that I am being prickly because I continue to hope and pray for God to direct me on what he wants from me. I wish I could just "take the cross". THAT would be a gift and relief. A man HAS to be part of a group! He simply cannot do these things without other men in the trenches with him. Believe me, I look around I don't see any other men other than the priests and religious brothers at my local shrine.
No, we don't. Leave the religious wars to the kooks.
ReplyDeleteYou think it's kookie to defend the faith and battle to take back the culture? As a mother and grandmother I not only think the war is necessary, but I think everybody, men and women, need to line up on the field of battle choosing between the standard of Christ or the standard of Satan. St. Ignatius gave us the battle plan in the Spiritual Exercises. And I will fight until my last breath. My 23 grandchildren are worth it.
ReplyDelete'Leave the Religious wars to the kooks'??? If you are a Catholic Christian and live on the planet, you are at war and expected to fight. No two ways about that. We are the 'Church Militant' not the 'Church Passive' where we roll over and play dead.
ReplyDeleteYes, we *do*!
ReplyDeleteNot only *should we* defend the faith, it is commanded by St. Peter and the CCC:
"Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence;" (1 Peter 3:15)
"For "by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed."" (CCC 1285)
So the question is, anonymous @ 7:56: Are you a confirmed Catholic? If so, then you are "more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed." According to the Sacred Scripture and the Catechism it is *not* an option.
You call us kooks. Yep! I am a kook for Christ. More precisely, "fools" as St. Paul puts it:
"We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute." (1 Cor. 4:10)
I am proud to be held in "disrepute" and I will defend Holy Mother Church and the teachings of Jesus Christ just like Mary Ann.
Catechist Kev
@newguy40,
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain. In fact, after the 'spirit' of Vatican II was implemented in the Church, I just wasn't being spiritually fed and soon I wandered from the Church. I have the greatest respect for those who have stayed faithful despite all the destruction of the Catholic Faith in the last 50 years.
I drive 60 miles one way to go to Sunday Mass at an FSSP parish. I have become heavily involved. Sadly, they don't a very strong men's group but the men are very faithful and about half the parish comes down for breakfast and lunch on Sundays. We all meet after all the Masses. It is a long drive, especially during Easter season when I will go almost every day, but it is my fuel.
Sadly, I have seen these same types of statistics for most every effort to fight for truth. Sadly, many faithful Catholics have given up on the K of C and the Novus Ordo parishes and have just moved to the Traditional parishes where you get the Church Militant Men, Women of Faith, solid faith formation in a great Parish environment, and of coarse, a most reverent and holy Traditional Latin Mass.
I just stopped fighting a loosing battle at my local parish and went to where I had support. One man can't fight an army, only and army can fight an army. I know some of the Traditional parishes have K of C councils and become a haven of Holiness for Men.
ReplyDeleteAfter the First Crusade St. Bernard of Clairvaux wrote a treatise titled "In Praise of the New Knighthood" (see: ww.the-orb.net/encyclop/religion/monastic/bernard.html). This exhortation led to the rise of approximately 100 military orders (more than few stillborn) between the First Crusade and the Reformation. These orders largely carried the burden of defending Christendom from the Muslim onslaught.
However, the military monks were relatively few in number. The Templars for instance at their height could count no more than 1,000 Knights in the ranks world wide; and many of these were elderly, wounded, diseased and otherwise incapacitated. Most of the Christian soldiers who fought under the Monks' banners were laymen equivalent perhaps to what we would now call Third Order members. The fact that we are still practicing our Faith today is testament to both their effectiveness and sacrifice.
IMO we again need, desperately need, a New Knighthood. But individual Catholic men cannot do it alone. They need both inspiration and a banner to rally around. The FFI, before their suppression, seemed to be heading in that direction. I pray that God will send us a another St. Bernard; but until he does I am afraid we must concentrate on survival and passing on the Deposit of Faith.
God bless
Richard W. Comerford
Great insight and information, Richard. Thank you!
ReplyDelete