It’s the only way one can remember these things!
October 2020 Dispatch
Brother Knights,
I pray that this dispatch finds you well and in a state of sanctifying grace. We are entering the final quarter of 2020, and I believe many people are looking forward to a new year. However, although I also get caught up in wishing for 2021 to just be here (with the hope of more normalcy accompanying it), I am always brought back to the realization that there is still more time left in 2020 to make a difference, to help build the Kingdom of God, to work on holiness, and become closer to God, even within the unusual circumstances we currently find ourselves.
October is the month of the Rosary (see Good of the Order below for more), so I am making an earnest push to support more prayer with the Rosary and pro-life causes throughout Omaha this month (see events below). Please join me and many others throughout the country in praying the Rosary more fervently this month for a good outcome with the elections, for an end to the culture of death, and that God’s grace may be abundant in the hearts and minds of our fellow citizens.
Fun fact: The founder of the Knights of Columbus, Father Michael McGivney, will be beatified at the end of the month on October 31 (see details below).
May God richly bless you and your families!
Happy birthday to Steven Stratman today! Holy Guardian Angels around each one of us, pray for us.
Upcoming Events Summary – Mark Your Mobile Calendars!
Life Chain Sunday – on October 4 (USCCB Respect Life Sunday), from 2 to 3 PM, St. Robert Bellarmine parish will be standing on the north side of West Dodge Road from 88th Street to the Cass Street Intersection to show Omaha that we are a pro-life parish in a pro-love, pro-woman, and pro-information manner. Signs will be available. If you are unable to stand for an hour, please bring your own lawn chair. It would be wonderful to see a greater attendance from the Knights of Columbus than past years. St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us!
40 Days for Life 2020 Campaign – on October 9, St. Robert Bellarmine parish will be praying in one spirit as a Catholic community for the protection and dignity of the unborn outside the Bellevue Abortion Clinic (1002 W. Mission Avenue) for an hour at a time. You will be able to park at EPS. On October 26, St. Robert Bellarmine will pray outside Planned Parenthood (3105 N. 93rd Street). You will be able to park at HopeEvangelical Free Church. Sign up for an hour on either day with some close family or friends! If you have questions or would like to know how you can sign up or help out, you can contact Ann Bauer at [email protected] or sign up at the link below. Again, it would be great to have more representation and participation from brother Knights and their families this year than in the past. This is such an important
cause! I think it could be argued that this is certainly a year where we need to make the extra effort to pray for the unborn together, as in one body and spirit, in supplication to the Holy Trinity!
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050b49a5ae2a1-40 days6
Tootsie Roll Drive – on Saturday and Sunday, October 10 and 11, our council will be conducting the annual Tootsie Roll Drive to raise funds for people with intellectual disabilities. We will be stationed at each exit after all Masses through the weekend. If you are attending Mass in person this weekend, please consider helping out, which takes for no longer than 10 minutes, after whichever Mass you attend. If you can volunteer, please let us know by signing up at the web address below. Additionally, we will attempt to conduct the drive on a second weekend – stay tuned. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0D4CA9AD23AAFA7-kocweekend6
Lasagna Dinner / Sale – on October 17, we need volunteers to help “build/construct” lasagnas for the dinner and sale we will host the following day. With that said, the following day, October 18, the council will host our annual Lasagna Dinner and sale from 4 to 8 PM. These will be a fun and easy way to help raise funds for our charitable council donations and hang out with brother Knights. If you are able to help out, please let us know by signing up at the link below. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0C44AFA92CAAFB6-lasagna1/
St. Robert Bellarmine Trunk or Treat – cancelled this year, had been planned for October 25.
Father Michael McGivney Beatification – on Saturday, October 31 (All Hallows Eve), the founder of the Knights of Columbus, Fr. Michael McGivney, will be beatified by Pope Francis as a miracle has been confirmed from him. This is a really big deal! Our founder will be called Blessed Father Michael McGivney and is one miracle away from being declared a full blown saint in Heaven! I have not received any communication on the special event or arrangement that Supreme will provide, but stay tuned and mark your calendars.Monthly Calendar
October Upcoming Events Birthdays Holy Days / Feast Days
1 St. Thérèse of Lisieux
2 Steven Stratman Feast of the Guardian
Angels
3 St. Theodora Guérin
4 Life Chain Sunday St. Francis of Assisi
5 St. Maria Faustina
Kowalska
7 Our Lady of the Rosary
8 St. John Leonardi
9 40 Days for Life 2020
Campaign Jeff Sterba St. Denis and Companions 10 Tootsie Roll Drive John Lingo St. Francis Borgia 11 Tootsie Roll Drive Tom Heafey St. John XXIII 12 Joseph Long, Richard Ramm Blessed Francis Xavier
Seelos
13 Jon Eden Blessed Marie-Rose
Durocher 14 General Council Meeting Michael Jareske, Michael
Ryan, Dr. Joseph Scott, Jr. St. Callistus I
15 Dan Peitzmeier St. Teresa of Avila
16 Lonnie Gates St. Margaret Mary
Alacoque 17 Lasagna Building Schuyler Dougherty St. Ignatius of Antioch 18 Lasagna Dinner / Sale Robert Clemens St. Luke
19 St. Isaac Jogues, St. Jean de
Brébeuf, and Companions
20 James Headrick St. Paul of the Cross
21 St. Hilarion
22 Joseph Temme St. John Paul II
23 Scott Stara St. John of Capistrano
24 State Soccer Challenge
(Schuyler, Nebraska) St. Anthony Marie Claret 25 St. Robert Bellarmine
Trunk or Treat Cancelled
St. Antônio de Sant’Anna Galvão
26 40 Days for Life 2020
Campaign Steven Schweiger St. Peter of Alcantara
27 Blessed Bartholomew of
Vicenza
*Bold Underlined Numerical Dates Represent Sunday – Don’t Forget Mass and Rest! *Bold, Italicized, and Underlined Dates Represent Holy Days of Obligation
Good of the Order
He who follows Me will not walk in darkness.
- John 8:12, Revised Standard Version (RSV) Brother Knights,
Jesus is the Light of the world, the darkness of the world has not and never will overcome it. Jesus is the light of the human race, the Word by which all has been created and subsequently enlightened. Consider the enormity of knowing that we need Jesus, Who is God, and then to have the desire to follow His ways in the manner of a good and holy life. If that seems impossible, that’s because it is. It is impossible for us to follow Him and there is absolutely
29 Jeff Kopietz, Art McCarty,
Scott Pfeifer St. Narcissus of Jerusalem 30 Fr. Jeremy Hans, Daniel Krist St. Alphonsus Rodriguez 31 Fr. Michael McGivney
Beatification Anthony Gross
St. Wolfgang of Regensburg
no way that we can live a holy life without some cooperation in the grace He ceaselessly offers us. It is also very hard to live a holy life without knowing and reflecting on His earthly life, death, and Resurrection. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. It is so important that we meditate on the events of Jesus’ life because there is not only deep, exciting, and spiritual wisdom and mystery to discover and ponder, but we are supernaturally lead into a personal invitation to follow Him in His own footsteps, into an imitation of Christ.
We know that Jesus is the Light of the world, we must strive to be like Him, to live the same virtues that the Incarnate God did, and in turn, become a light for others. The more we study and reflect upon the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus, the easier it will be to accept the graces that Jesus won for us in those events and continues to offer us, especially in the mysteries. We will then be able to allow those graces to spill over into our daily lives so that we and others may benefit.
Everything we need to know in order to follow Jesus and be instruments of grace has already been written down in Sacred Scripture, barring the necessity of having a proper disposition for allowing it to penetrate our hearts and minds. I am constantly amazed at the timeless wisdom and relevance the Word of God has for my life at so many moments and milestones on the journey. I am convicted at many points to reflect on my life and be better in one area or another. If you are uncertain of what I’m talking about, I know that you will be pleasantly surprised if you start devoting five to ten minutes to Scripture each day. However, there is an even easier way to obtain grace and closeness to the LORD than studying Scripture, in my opinion.
Studying Scripture is wonderful, and I believe every Catholic should make it a priority as it is the eternal and life-giving Word of God, but it can be quite tedious at times when attempting to delve deeper as it is not always clear what the proper interpretations for many passages are. Therefore, I posit that the easiest way to grow in the knowledge that God has intended from studying Sacred Scripture is the most holy Rosary! In fact, I believe that frequently and devoutly praying the Rosary helps us to concretely develop a better disposition for effectively reading the Word of God.
The month of October is the month of the Rosary. This is one of the greatest prayer devotions to the life and ministry of Jesus Christ and Mother Mary that Catholics have been blessed with. The recitation of the Rosary includes meditating on five mysteries while praying the Hail Mary, Our Father, Glory Be, and so forth. The mystery sets are actual biblical events that happened in the lives of Jesus and/or Mary. The Rosary has clearly been ordained by God as a formula of prayer that is most efficacious in obtaining grace upon grace for the betterment and knowledge of all those who pray it. God must be very pleased when we set aside time to recount the most consequential events of salvation history that peace, joy, sorrow, enlightenment, and many more graces just seemingly begin and expand out of such a simple act of faith, hope, and love.
The Rosary is also of particular importance to us Knights because it is the foundational prayer devotion chosen by the Knights of Columbus. It is so important that the Order gives a Rosary to each new member… let me know if you somehow did not receive one, if yours is in rough shape, or if you have since misplaced it – I will get you a new one! It is for this reason and the reasons I am communicating here that I have committed to praying the most holy Rosary every day, and also before each 5:30 Mass that we celebrate as a council prior to the general and officer meetings each month. I or another brother Knight will begin and lead the Rosary at approximately 5:05 PM. I would absolutely love to have any and all of you join us for the Rosary at these particular times.
Did you know that there are 12 Knights (no Apostles that I know of) in our council that currently lead the Rosary before our 8:00, 9:30, and 11:00 Sunday Masses? If you have a desire to be one of these men, please let me know. We would love to have you join the team and be a light for the parish!
Below you can see the mysteries that we venerate in the recitation of the Rosary. There are five mysteries in each set, which consist of the Glorious, Joyful, Sorrowful, and Luminous Mysteries.
Glorious (Sundays, Wednesdays) Joyful (Mondays, Saturdays) Sorrowful (Tuesdays, Fridays) Luminous (Thursdays)
The Resurrection The Annunciation The Agony in the Garden
The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan
The Ascension The Visitation The Scourging at the Pillar
The Wedding Feast at Cana
Pentecost The Nativity/Birth of Jesus
The Crowning with Thorns
The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God The Assumption of
Mary
The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple
The Carrying of
the Cross The Transfiguration The Coronation of
Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth
The Finding of Jesus in the Temple
The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus
The Institution of the Eucharist
Each mystery has plentiful grace to bestow, and there are many lessons one can attain through many paths of meditation. Since I’ve been talking about Jesus being the Light of the world, let’s first use a Luminous Mystery as an example. If someone is struggling with understanding or accepting that they are a beloved son or daughter of God, if someone has lost hope in their worth or purpose, in God’s love and mercy, and/or in the forgiveness of sins, faithfully and reverently praying a decade of the Rosary while reflecting on the first Luminous Mystery, the Baptism of Jesus as documented in Scripture, will ultimately lead to a greater appreciation of the Holy Spirit opening the gates of Heaven to all the baptized. Hope will be restored that the baptized faithful who follow Jesus are His brothers and sisters, beloved sons and daughters of the Father. Understanding this particular truth also helps us to believe in the infinite love of God, our great worth in His eyes, and that we will always be forgiven our sins if we just repent. In my reckoning, this is one of the most important truths a Christian must come to realize and accept. I would suggest committing a significant amount of prayer to this very basic, yet powerful concept and to keep returning to it at various points on the journey. This kind of knowledge is the foundation for returning love and thanksgiving to God, which then leads to a greater desire to know, love, and serve our Divine Master.
Let’s consider a Sorrowful Mystery, all of which help to realize the seriousness of our own personal sins, yet that Jesus willingly suffered, died, and conquered those sins for each us on an individual and universal level in the greatest act of love ever presented to the world. I would like to turn to the scourging at the pillar, where Jesus was brutally beaten and whipped until He was unrecognizable, His skin was torn apart, and His Most Precious Blood had been spilled excessively – almost beyond imagination. Meditation on this reminds me of Jesus’ sacrifice on behalf of my many sins of the flesh. Whether this be drunkenness, lust, idolatry, jealousy, and so forth, the LORD Jesus stood in my place and accepted what I justly deserve. His human flesh was destroyed because of my sin, yet I have been redeemed through this innocent and most holy bloodshed and I must do whatever I can to avoid these sins going forward. Jesus conquered all sins of the flesh in His ultimate sacrifice, and the grace for a human being to avoid these sins was specifically won in these mysteries when Jesus rose from the dead in His glorified body. Keep in mind that many other realizations could come from meditation on this and any other mystery of the Rosary.
Lastly, I would like to put forth five additional mysteries to think about including in your prayer, even within the Rosary from time to time. They will prove very fruitful as they will help one to see the everyday presence of Jesus in our lives.
If you are hesitant to pray the Rosary, just remember that your prayer does not have to be perfect, and it does take time to be able to focus on the mysteries while reciting the Hail Mary and so forth. However, that is all that you have to do; reflect on the mystery at hand, place yourself in the scene and in the presence of Jesus, and grace will proceed. We certainly need to revisit these events of Jesus’ life at many times on the unique journeys we each travel to Heaven. The desire to place ourselves in the important events that Jesus lived will lead to our inviting Him to walk with us in the joyful and sorrowful moments of our lives. Jesus’ presence is itself Heaven. Getting to know Jesus ever better through faithful reflection on His life, death, and Resurrection will place us in the greatest possible position at the end of our lives for accepting the gift of eternal life when we are before the LORD and He judges us as a friend, a brother. Not only will we know Him and love Him, but He will know us. The Father will recognize His Only Begotten Son within us, we will be an imitation of Him. The good that we have done that was born out of the love we nurtured for the LORD, aided in no small amount by the Rosary, will without a doubt give us the reward of hearing the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
For the good of the Order, please continue your prayers for and visits to our sick or deceased brother Knights and their families, those in our parish, and especially those who have asked for our prayers (see also bulletin requests and Fr. McKercher’s prayer requests on Facebook). I would ask that you consider a window visit to Roscoe Corell. Roscoe was a long-time usher captain for the parish, a great supporter of pro-life causes, and a very dedicated nocturnal adorer. Roscoe is now 96 years old and has recently recovered from a bad fall that nearly took his life. He is now able to enjoy daily window visits at the Rose Blumpkin Home at 10 AM. If you can make this happen, please arrange with Rita Corell by calling (531) 203-7395. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you know of anyone who could use our prayers and would like to be added to the prayer intentions of our council and state.
Ecclesial (Any Day) Encounter Jesus in Prayer and Worship Encounter Jesus in Sacred Scripture Encounter Jesus in the Holy Sacraments
Encounter Jesus in Faith and Works Encounter Jesus in
Vivat Jesus,
Kyle K. Uhing
Grand Knight
St. Robert Bellarmine Council 10108
Call or Text: (402) 640-3604
Email: [email protected]
“Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of Mine, you did for Me.” - Matthew 25:40
Prayer to Our Queen of the Most Holy Rosary
Queen of the most holy Rosary, in these times of such brazen impiety, manifest your power with the signs of your ancient victories, and from your throne, when you do dispense graces, mercifully regard the Church of your Son, His Vicar on earth, and every order of clergy and laity, who are sorely oppressed in the mighty conflict. Do you, who are the powerful vanquisher of all heresies, hasten the hour of mercy, even though the hour of God’s justice is every day provoked by the countless sins of men. For me who am the least of men, kneeling before you in supplication, do obtain the grace I need to live righteously upon earth and to reign among the just in Heaven. While in solidarity with all faithful Christians throughout the world, I salute you and acclaim you as Queen of the most holy Rosary!
Amen.
Queen of the most holy Rosary, pray for us!
