I want to wish all my Brother Knights a very Happy New Year, may God's peace be upon you and may 2010 be a properous one for you and your councils. Also, may God send more laborers into the field, we desperately need more priests in our parishes. Vivat Jesus!

As Pope Benedict XIV has declared this year The Year of the Priest, I think it is appropriate to offer up prayer for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, and to pray for all our priests serving now.

O God, You sent Your Son, Jesus, to bring eternal life to those who believe. We pray for laborers for the harvest. May Your Holy Spirit inspire men and women to continue the mission through the priesthood, diaconate, religious life and lay ministry. May the same Spirit make known Your will for our lives, we ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.

This prayer from the North Carolina State Council is a prayer for our priests.

"God our Father, You have chosen men from among Your people to be faithful shepherds after Your Son's Sacred Heart. Strengthen them to carry out their ordained ministry with constant joy and genuine love, striving for ever greater holiness.
Help them serve Your people with humility and charity. Inspire them with zeal to proclaim the Word, celebrate the Eucharist and live as Christ's presence in the world. Keep Your priests faithful to their vocation to Your Church. We ask our Lord Jesus Christ, the High Priest and Good Shepherd, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God forever and ever. Amen."

Mary, Mother of all priests, pray for us. st. John Vianney, pray for us.

As we approach the Christmas season, we should start considering Keep Christ in Christmas activities. Last year I went into a business that had Keep Christ in Christmas magnets that one of their employees had on the counter. He was the Grand Knight from the Waynesboro, PA council. I thought that was a great idea. Even if you don't do the magnets, do something in your council, ie. christmas cards, maybe even have a float in your local Christmas parade. Today it seems like too many people think of Christmas as a secular holiday based upon shopping and being with family. Well, those two things are part of it ,but the most important thing about this holiday is that it is about Jesus Christ's birth! Our Savior came to earth as an infant to one day die on a cross and rise from the dead to save humanity from their sins! This was the first step that was made manifest, and that should not be forgotten, but in our secular society it seems it is not politically correct to speak about the real meaning of Christmas! Not even to sing Christmas songs that address Christ and the joy of His birth. If you want to sing Winter Wonderland, Jingle Bells, etc. that's fine, but break out Silent Night then that's not acceptable.
Please consider some kind of activity that celebrates Keep Christ in Christmas; now is the time to get started, it's only a little over 2 months away.

The Knights of Columbus was founded in 1882 in New Haven, CT at St. Mary's church by Father Michael J. Mcgivney to benefit the widows and orphans of the area. This organization has grown to include several million men and to encompass several countries. The first principle of the KofC is charity. Over the years the order has developed an insurance arm to continue the work of Father Mcgivney in supporting those who need help once loved ones have passed on. Charity is a fundamental aspect of the Knights of Columbus, so much so that the members have donated 68,783,653 hour of volunteer service, just last year alone. Over $1.39 billion over the course of a decade have been donated (Columbia, Oct. 2009 issue, p.#15). The men of the KofC do more than just gather one or two nights of the month to swap stories and such. As the numbers show, we are active not just in the church but also in the community, from Habitat for Humanity to Special Olympics, to local projects in our communities. We do not do these charitable deeds to toot our own horn we do it because it's what should be done. Most of the things that are done by the councils go unnoticed by the many, but God knows. Matthew 6:3-4 says, "But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly." (NKJV) Above all, what we do is to serve God by helping our neighbors.

This is Venerable Father Michael J. Mcgivney, the founder of the Knights if Columbus.

This one comes the recent convention in Phoenix, AZ. This is a procession of the 4th Degree Color Corps.

This is the emblem of our order. This one comes from the Knights of Columbus museum.