There are a great many things in the world today that can generate worry. Job security, family issues, car problems, garage doors malfunctioning (that last one just happened to me as I came home from Rosary Sunday Mass), and so on. So many times I’ve started to panic as one or more of these issues crossed my path. That’s when the words of St. Pio come to my mind. “Don’t waste energy on things that generate worry, anxiety and anguish. Only one thing is necessary: Lift up your spirit and love God”.

St. Pio was born on May 25th, 1887, in Pietrelcina, Italy. At the age of 16, he entered the novitiate of Capuchin Friars, and four years later made his solemn profession. Early on in his life he faced hardships. Shortly after being ordained a priest in 1910, he would have to spend the next six years at his home in Pietrelcina for health concerns. Having devoted his entire life to Jesus Christ in service to his people, just two years after arriving at the Friary of San Giovanni Rotondo, he came into a closer union with Christ by receiving the wounds of our crucified Lord on September 20th, 1918.

In 2008, at the request of Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican opened the archives on the Church’s investigation into then Padre Pio’s claims of having the stigmata. There is an article attached through EWTN’s website that gives the sworn statement of the saint in which he stated he was praying in the choir loft after Mass and was visited by the crucified Christ. He stated that he asked how he could be closer to Christ. Our Lord asked him to “join souls to his Passion”. St. Pio then asked him what he could do. At that moment, Jesus said,” I will unite you with my passion.”

From that moment on, St. Pio undertook the salvation of others through his sufferings, offering them up to the Lord for all the ingratitude of man. It’s here that I tell myself that for all the problems that I may have, I can never outdo Our Lord in suffering. Rather, as St. Pio did, we should unite our suffering to His, even in the smallest things, and in that way, not lose the hope for a better future.

Going through my journey to understand the vocation God is calling me to, I found time in August to visit the Benedictine monks of St. Andrew’s Abbey up in Cleveland. Around 22 monks reside in the abbey, of which about 8 or nine of them are priests, who on the weekends go out to various parishes in the Cleveland diocese to say Mass.

The theme of the retreat was “Work and Prayer in Balance”. It is a theme that for many of us has been hard to embrace these hectic and multi-tasking days. The talks over the weekend centered on how to put St. Benedict’s Rule for Monasteries into practice in the working environments. Discussions ranged from making one’s work a living prayer to our Lord, to dealing with co-workers of different temperaments. I’ve read some of St. Benedict’s Rule and there are sections that actually do teach monks how to deal with others in the community whose personalities just don’t blend very well together.

The idea of community was presented very strongly among the monks of St. Andrew’s Abbey. Each and every man there has a role to accomplish much like a well maintained watch. Without one of the parts, the watch itself doesn’t function properly. So it is with the monks. One washes the clothes, anther cooks, another cleans the kitchen afterwards, another buys the food and supplies for daily living, so on and so forth. It’s done in obedience to the Abbot which is also a showing of obedience to God.

The other major thing they stress is the point of consistency. Our Lord was the same in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Why is it so hard for us to imitate that? I have at times not been able to even leave the television set to one channel to watch the football game. As soon as commercial come on, I’m flipping channels. The monks on the other hand stress staying consistent even in work. One monk was given the job of washing clothes the day he joined the order, and he’s been doing that job for over the last 40 years without the need to have to jump around from position to position within the order. The weekend I was visiting, there was a young monk that just joined who had been given the task of being the barber for the community. This role was new to him, and he was nervous ( so too were some of the other monks going for haircuts), but given time and obedience in training, he’ll be just as good as the last barber who had cut hair for so many years before.

Now I’m fairly new to the Knights of Columbus, but I see much of the same elements here with this group of men as I did in Cleveland. There has always been a strong sense of community within the group, ever since the founding days. Working to improve the community one pizza sale at a time, everyone has a key role to play. And while positions change every couple years or so, the same sense of dedication to helping the community has been the constant theme of the Knights and it will not change. I’m not sure of where I am on my journey, but standing among my brother knights, I know I’m on the right road.
Thank you and God bless.

Thank you to all the brothers who helped with the coat drive this year. I was thoroughly impressed with the amount of items that were given by the parish this year.

For those who don’t know, the coats are brought to Otway county in southern Ohio where they are given to two clothing “stores” which are manned all by volunteers. The stores sell the items for “pennies on the dollar”. The money is first used to pay utilities for the buildings and then the extra money is given to the food bank which uses it to buy food that is given away to the poor down there.

This year we were able to fill a 3/4-ton pickup truck full of bags of clothing! It was amazing!  Thank you St. Patrick Church parishoners for your generousity and thank you Knights for your work in helping move all those bags.

Dear Brother Knights,

First, I would like to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

As the new year is upon us it is time for us to make our new year resolutions. We all know that the number one reason for the Knights of Columbus is Charity. Giving Charity is accomplished in a number of ways, Time, Talent and Treasure.

There are some members of our council, who wish to give money to everyone who is in need. They live by the motto quoted in the Bible, “Ask and you shall receive”. Unfortunately, before you give, you have to have the means to give. As we all know, from our Worthy Grand Knight’s maticulous financial report, money is not falling freely into our bank account like manna falling freely from heaven.

To put money into our bank account, we have to work to put the money there, and that is accomplished by giving our Time and Talent to our Council’s fund raisers. We have two main fund raising projects each year, the Fish Fries and the Pizza sales.

Our Worthy Grand Knight, Fletcher Hastings, does all that he can, however, he cannot do it all by himself. He needs ALL of our help to accomplish our fund raising goals. I am personally asking each and every one of you, to make a New Year’s Resolution, to give of your Time and Talent, during this upcoming year in the assistance of Fletcher, in reaching our financial goal.

If we all work together, then the burden will not fall on the shoulders of a few, but on the shoulders of the many.

PKG Bill Harris

This was sent to me by a Vietnam Veteran.

The story is told of an old man who lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading from his old worn-out Bible. His grandson who wanted to be just like him tried to imitate him in any way he could.

One day the grandson asked, “Papa, I try to read the Bible just like you, but I don’t understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do?”

The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water.”

The boy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked out before he could get back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, “You will have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.

This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was “impossible to carry water in a basket,” and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, “I don’t want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You can do this. You’re just not trying hard enough,” and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.

At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got very far. The boy scooped the water and ran hard, but when he reached his grandpa the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, “See Papa, it’s useless!”

“So you think it is useless?” The old man said, “Look at the basket.” The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket looked different. Instead of a dirty old coal basket, it was clean. “Son, that’s what happens when you read the Bible. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, it will change you from the inside out. That is the work of God in our lives. To change us from the inside out and to slowly transform us into the image of His son.”

Take time to read a portion of God’s word each day, Oh I need to do that, and remind a friend by sharing this e-mail. For God so loved the world that He sent His Son for me, and because I believe in Him I will live eternally. In Jesus’ name, Amen.