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September 2004

VOLUME XXIX    ISSUE 3     

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Contents . . .

HONORING THE PAST ~ EMBRACING THE FUTURE

FIRST FRIDAY DEVOTIONS

MASS OF REMEMBRANCE

DISTRICT DEPUTY REPORT

FRATERNAL BENEFITS

BASILICA OF THE NATIONAL SHRINE USHER MINISTRY

PATRON ADS

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES KORNER

DINNER DANCE AND AUCTION

RETREATS HOSTED BY MARYLAND STATE COUNCIL

HEALTH FOR K OF C MEMBERSHIP LONGEVITY

POPE JOHN PAUL II SENDS GREETINGS TO THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS

HONORING THE PAST ~ EMBRACING THE FUTURE

GRAND KNIGHT'S MESSAGE

Dear Brother Knights and Ladies, on Sunday, August 22 Father Peter Paul Maher Council held its Installation of Officers for Fraternal Year 2004-2005. This glorious event was held at St. Andrew Kim Korean Catholic Church.

I want to thank all of the Brothers and Ladies who came to help us celebrate this new beginning. Our theme for this year is "Honoring the Past, Embracing the Future." I would like to give thanks to all of our past officers and their families for the direction and support that they have given to the council. Facing our future, we are asking the Lord to give us the strength and wisdom to follow the vision of our founder, Father Michael McGivney.

I want to especially thank our Council Chaplain, Father Fred Close for accepting this important position. Our council will benefit from all of your prayers during this Fraternal Year. Many thanks to our worthy State Secretary, Edgar Haynes and his lovely wife Lisa for being with us and representing our State Deputy. Thank also to the Color Corps for helping us make the Installation a memorable occasion. I also want to thank District Deputy Kevin Jefford and his wife Shirley, grand knights and past grand knights and other dignitaries that were with us, including His Excellency Cyrille Oguin, Ambassador of the Republic of Benin, my native country, and his wife. Many thanks also to Mr. Ike Leggett, Chairman of the Maryland Democratic Party and his wife Catherine.

The Reverend Monsignor Thomas Kane of St. Patrick's Church was acknowledged as "Honored Guest" for the Fraternal Year 2004-2005. Monsignor Kane is a strong and consistent supporter of Fr. Peter Paul Maher Council. He is also a Brother Knight.

I want to thank all who made this Installation celebration possible. Special thanks to my friend and companion, my wife Donna who for the past 40 years has supported me day and night. Lastly, I want to thank my children - Paulin and his wife Gail, Monique, Sabrina, my two wonderful grandchildren Victor and Grace, as well as my niece Deborah.

In closing my message, I would like to share a personal prayer: O God of infinite love and unending challenge, help us to listen to your call. Inspire us to use the varied gifts with which we have been blessed. We pray for our newly elected officers and their families so that the Council might apply the Motto of our State Deputy: "It is in giving that we receive." We pray to you O Lord to keep our troupes safe. God Bless America.

Yours in Christ,
Innocent P. d'Almeida
Grand Knight

FIRST FRIDAY DEVOTIONS

Each month at St. Peter's Church, First Friday Mass is held at 7:15 p.m. followed by Eucharistic Adoration and Confession. The evening concludes with the Benediction at 10:00 p.m. It was mentioned in the St. Peter's Bulletin that several men in the parish attend the last half hour of the service (9:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.) to pray. The Church Activities Committee would like to encourage the members of our council to set aside some time for all or part of these special evenings. First Friday Devotions present a wonderful opportunity to help fulfill our spiritual needs.

The next First Friday Devotions will be held on October 1. If you cannot attend the entire service, consider arriving at 9:30 p.m. for the last half hour of prayer. Future dates for the First Friday Devotions include November 5 and December 3. For more information, please call E.J. Cummings, Church Activities Director, at 301-260-2846.

MASS OF REMEMBRANCE

The Cardinal Patrick A. O'Boyle Assembly #386

Mass of Remembrance

September 11, 2004

Saint Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church
11600 Kemp Mill Road
Silver Spring, MD
Celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of Mass 5:00 PM
Reception following

Contact:

• Lawerance P. Grayson, PGK, PFN 301-933-8731
• Kevin L. Jeffords, PGK, PFN 301-649-3986
• Patrick M. Sharkey. FN, PGK, 202-497-1559

DISTRICT DEPUTY REPORT

"The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual" (Vince Lombardi)

The first, 1st Degree of this fraternal year will be September 21st at Father Rosensteel Council #2169 and candidates should arrive by 7:30PM. Father Maher Council #6793 will also hold its first 1st Degree on September 22nd and candidates should be at the Marian Center by 7:30 PM. There will be a 2nd Degree at Father Maher Council #6793 on October 21st at the Marian Center. Even if you are already a 3rd Degree member, you should consider attending one of these Degrees, especially if the only one you have seen was your own.

The Columbus Day Ball is fast approaching and you will need to get your reservation in quickly. The date will be October 9, 2004. As I co-chaired this event for the State the past two years, I know that the room fills up quickly. The hall will only hold 800 people and we had to turn away many Knights. See your Council chairman or Grand Knight soon. The cost is $35.00 per person and it will be at the La Fountain Blue in Glenn Burnie.

By now each Council should have appointed a Tootsie Roll Chairman. This Chairman should have started setting up sites and started calling members to man these sites. This is an event that every member can take part in. It's only a few hours of fraternalism. If you cannot stand for those few hours, make a small donation to your Council's fund.

All Grand Knights and Council Chairmen should be working on the first quarter reports. The new forms can be found on the State web site (www.kofc-md.org/pages/forms/mdform.htm). If needed, I will make copies for those of you that do not have access to the web. October 21, 2004 is the date that these forms must be turned into me.

On September 11, 2004, there will be a Mass of Remembrance held at St Andrew the Apostle Church. The Mass will begin at 5PM. All are welcome.

Please continue to pray for our men and woman serving our country.

FRATERNAL BENEFITS

INSURANCE ODDS ARE SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

When the buyer of a new home takes possession of his dream house, the first thing he usually does is to protect his investment with an insurance policy against loss or damage by fire. It's the sensible thing to do, but the homeowner who lets it go at that is making a mistake which could later be a source of great hardship to his family.

Insurance actuaries, the people who calculate the risks and set the premiums, offer statistical evidence that fire is not the greatest hazard to the average homeowner. For every home destroyed by fire, sixteen homeowners will die before they pay off their mortgage.

This means that the homeowner who protects his investment against fire and similar hazards without also protecting his family against his own death, is playing a long shot at sixteen-to-one odds with his family taking all the risk!

The simple and relatively inexpensive answer to this problem is mortgage redemption insurance. This insurance is a guarantee that if the breadwinner dies at any time prior to full payment of the mortgage, his family will inherit their home debt free. Such policies usually become a source of substantial savings.

Call me today for your free analysis.

Fraternally,

Rick Morin, FICF/LUTCF
Your K of C Agent
301.384.7627

BASILICA OF THE NATIONAL SHRINE USHER MINISTRY

Members of the Knights of Columbus serve in the Usher Ministry at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception located in Washington, D.C. The Ministry is responsible for having ushers in attendance at each of the seven weekend Masses and at some 75 special events each year. To fulfill these responsibilities, each usher in the ministry is assigned to one or two masses for one weekend of each month. Any Knight who is in good standing in the Third Degree, in good health and has not passed his 70th birthday may apply for the Usher Ministry.

If you are interested in this special ministry, please contact E.J. Cummings, Church Activities Director, at 301-260-2846 for more information.

PATRON ADS

The solicitation of patron ads has been rather slow this year. The Council said with the Car Raffle tickets, do not sit them aside and then forget to send them back. We think this is what you have done because in 2003 the Council had a total of 93 members and widows who were patrons on our Columbus Day Ball program Ad. As of August 20th we have a total of 56 patrons and that includes 8 new patrons. Please look up that request, fill it out, put in your check and send it in before September 10, 2004 if you want to be a Patron on the Columbus Day Ball Ad. Let's do it right now before we forget it again!

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES KORNER

by Bill Gulban

It is official now, our Council has been accepted to join the membership to The Greater Olney Non-profit Consortium. The Consortium is open to all non-profit organizations that operate within the areas of Olney, Sandy Spring, Ashton, Brinklow, Brookeville, and Laytonsville. Currently there are over 27 member organizations represented. A few of them include, Greater Olney Civic Association, (GOCA), Marians Fathers Assisted Living, MHH Health Foundation, Olney Chamber of Commerce, Olney Gazette, and Olney Lions Club. The mission of the Consortium is to: 1) provide a forum for sharing information and resources. 2) Publish a periodic calendar of known community events that will help organizations schedule their events more effectively and avoid, to the extent possible, conflicts with other scheduled events. 3) Educate and inform the public of upcoming events through publication and distribution of the community calendar. Our Council can benefit by spreading the news to our community about such events as the upcoming Tootsie Roll Project, Inwood House Halloween Festival, and Silent Auction Fund Raising Event. The Consortium calendar is published quarterly and distributed to area stores, libraries, and government centers.

Inwood House Halloween Festival will be held Saturday, October 30, 2004. This activity has been very successful in the past especially due to the dedicated effort of Jim and Bertha Padams who prepared dinner food and organized this event. The residents of the Inwood House in Wheaton are excited about the prospect of another Festival. This year will be the fifth year offering this party for the residents. The guest attendance for the past two years was between 110-115 persons. Many volunteers of the Council membership and their wives are needed including many of last year's committee. Needed are kitchen helpers, servers from main table, and person's serving and assisting disabled residents at individual tables. All interested members and wives are asked to attend the "Kick-off" meeting on Tuesday, September 14th, at 7:30 pm at the Council cottage. Come with your ideas for planning the Festival. As a pre-planning venture, Brothers Gulban-Moore will cater the hot food. As a goal similar to last year's event a door prize for each resident. Please look through your house for some little "treasure" that will be suitable for a door prize. Last year's prizes included costume jewelry, knick-knacks, clocks, watches, store food certificates of $10, etc. This small consideration would provide much joy and happiness to the guests. Call or bring items to the writer, Bill Gulban, (301) 774-0424.

DINNER DANCE AND AUCTION

PLEASE KEEP THIS DATE OPEN! -- A DINNER DANCE AND AUCTION

To Benefit the Community Support and Charitable Programs of Fr. Maher Council 6793 Knights of Columbus

Saturday, November 13, 2004 -- From 6:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

McCarrick Hall-St. Andrew Kim Parish Center
(Corner of Old Baltimore Rd. & Rt. 108)

Buffet Dinner -- Dancing and DJ -- Live and Silent Auction

Donations are needed for the auction by October 15

Please contact Joe Feakes 301-774-0137
Gift Baskets, Collectibles, Services,
Gift Certificates, Get-Away Vacation Opportunities, etc.

Tickets are $25 each, invite your friends and fill a table for eight
To purchase tickets please contact Patricia Moore at 301 774 9260

For further information:
Contact Jack Giacalone at 301-774-6338 or Innocent d'Almeida at 301-871-6156

RETREATS HOSTED BY MARYLAND STATE COUNCIL

This fraternal year, the Maryland State Council will be hosting the Men's Weekend Retreat at the Loyola Retreat House in Faulkner, Maryland. The retreat will be held from November 5 -7, 2004. The cost for the weekend is $150.

In addition to the Men's Weekend Retreat, the Maryland State Council will be hosting three One-Day Retreats at The Shrine of St. Anthony in Ellicott City, Maryland. The cost of each retreat is $30 which includes lunch.

The dates for these retreats are:

• Saturday, October 30, 2004: For Knights Only
• Wednesday, January 12, 2005: For Knights, Wives and Widows
• Saturday, February 26, 2005: For Knights and Their Wives

If you are interested in attending any of the retreats, please contact E.J. Cummings, Church Activities Director, at 301-260-2846 for more information.

HEALTH FOR K OF C MEMBERSHIP LONGEVITY

by Bill Gulban

In following up to my promise from last month's article on obesity, I visited the National Institute of Health searching for latest information. I'm enclosing the following chart table so that you can exercise for yourselves just where you stand of your weight health. To use the body mass index (BMI) table simply follow the directions. As most of you may know that measure of body fat can be accomplished by using calipers, immersion in water, and electroanalysis. Your BMI results can be compared to the following: Underweight = <18.5. Normal weight = 18.5 - 24.9. Overweight = 25 -29.9. Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater.

Medicare, the government's health insurance plan for people over 65, currently pays for gastric bypass surgery performed on morbidly obese people, but only to help treat diagnosed weight-related conditions such as diabetes or heart disease. Changes are in the offing, however. One is that Medicare has just opened the door to treating obesity itself, in addition to the more extreme morbid obesity. In addition, Medicare has unlinked the surgery from disease treatment. That is, it now may be possible to treat obesity before it leads to illness, in effect, turning obesity itself into an illness that requires medical attention.

This article is supported by information from NIH, and Tufts University, Health & Nutrition Letter.

More information for computing your body mass index can be found at www.caloriescount.com/bmi.html

Compute BMI using calculator or lookup BMI using table below:

POPE JOHN PAUL II SENDS GREETINGS TO THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS

Group Reaffirms Stance on Catholics in Politics

DALLAS, Texas, AUG. 18, 2004 (Zenit.org).- In greetings to the annual meeting of the Knights of Columbus, John Paul II called upon its members to spread Christ's message "to every sector of social, cultural and political life."

The Pope urged the 1.6 million members of the world's largest Catholic lay organization to work within American society "for the promotion of social justice, the protection of human life and all forms of loving service to those in need."

At its annual convention, the Knights of Columbus reaffirmed its position that "Catholic public officials who support abortion on demand are cooperating in evil."

The Knights also reaffirmed long-standing policy of not inviting to Knights of Columbus events those public officials or candidates for public office who support abortion, euthanasia, or assisted suicide, and denying such officials and candidates any of the order's honors or use of its facilities.

In other resolutions, the Knights confirmed their support of the Federal Marriage Amendment, noting that "a constitutional amendment is the only sure way to prevent courts from 'discovering' a right to same-sex marriage where before there was none."