Knights of Columbus Council 6793

Father Maher's Knightly News is
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Knights of Columbus
Fr. Peter Paul Maher Council 6793
P.O. Box 570
Olney, Maryland 20830

Please e-mail your articles in WORD
format by the 20th of each month to:
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I want to again thank Deputy Grand Knight Paul McFarlane for filling in admirably, and I know he will continue to do good work. Hang in there Paul; only two more trips. We had our first ethnic (German) dinner last month, and although we could have a fed more, those who attended had an enjoyable time, and are looking forward to the next dinner. As I mentioned in last months Knightly News October is an especially busy month for the Council.

The Tootsie Roll Campaign is being scheduled for the dates of October 25th to November 2nd. We are going to try something different this year. Instead of four or five weekends, we will do one then five evenings and then another weekend. So far only about four people have offered to help; one of whom is the wife of a Knight. If we are to staff all six locations at two hour tours; we'll need almost a hundred tours. I'm asking for volunteers; Knights, wives, and children who need service hours.

Please call me on (301) 774-9260 or e-mail at jem1234@verizon.net. Let's see if we can make life a little better for those who are intellectually challenged.

October is a beautiful month and is one of the busiest for the Knights of Columbus. The State Council Fall Meeting in Hagerstown on October 25th and most of should have the Fall BLITZ behind us. October 11, 2008 is also the date for the Columbus Day Ball at the Fountaine Bleu in Glen Burnie. I hope we will have a large number of Knights and Ladies from our District attend and have a great time. The following day we can all join in the Columbus Day Parade in Baltimore. Details for both of these events have been forwarded to our Grand Knights or if you wish you can give me a call. Monday October 13, 2008 is the celebration at Union Station where hundreds of Knights gather to honor Christopher Columbus. This starts at 11:00 am and is convenient because the Metro stops at Union Station. Our own Steve Upton is on the Board of Directors for this celebration.

Tootsie Rolls will be the order of the day for most if not all weekends in October. All councils in Montgomery County really work hard during the campaign to support our brothers and sisters with Intellectual Disabilities. We all should give a little time to this very important and worthwhile endeavor.

Finally, I would encourage everyone to read Bishop Lori's column in the Columbia magazine. His Excellency is writing a series of articles to help us grow spiritually and to help us understand what our faith is all about.

There will be two 1st Degrees in the District in October. Thursday the 2nd there is a degree at Our Lady of Guadalupe (tentative) and Tuesday the 7th a degree will be held at Montgomery #2323. The Second Degree scheduled for October 18th is cancelled due to a hall rental.

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.

In the Book of Revelation, St. John writes in symbolic terms of the struggle between good and evil, the conflict between the worldly Babylon and the divinity-seeking Jerusalem, of the difficulties we must contend with on earth to gain our reward of an eternity with God. In our earthly existence, Satan tempts us with alluring idols, false prophets, and sensuous pleasures so that we will turn away from God, attracted by the material present, forgetting why we were created.

The second, mounted on a red stallion, is secularism, which prompts people to wage war against God. The campaign occurs gradually, incrementally, consistently in efforts to prohibit any public expression of faith and in attempts to force people to act in opposition to their consciences. There are movements to ban the display of the Ten Commandments in courthouses, to forbid non-sectarian prayers in public schools, to force pharmacists to dispense abortifacient medications, to require Catholic hospitals to perform abortions, to compel the Boy Scouts to accept homosexual men as scout leaders, to take the words "under God" out of the Pledge of Allegiance, to deny board certification to physicians who refuse to provide abortion and sterilization services, to redefine the meaning of marriage, to mandate that Catholic social service agencies allow same-sex couples to adopt children. Religion is presented in the major media in the form of controversies and scandals, while moral issues are often represented as a clash between secular views that promote tolerance and pluralism and religious views that are narrow and dogmatic.

The clash, however, is not between religious and the secular views-which can coexist as demonstrated by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution -- but between those who believe in a higher moral law and those who reject any infringement on their desire to live as they please. It is a conflict between religious faith and a secular ideology.

Council shirts are now available for $20. They are Maroon in color, Gildan Ultra Blend, 6.5 ounce, 50/50 cotton, poly pique knit sport shirts for men and women. The K of C insignia is just above the left pocket. We currently have all sizes available, medium, large, extra large and 2 extra large. To order your shirts please call Jack Giacalone at 301-774-6338. Thank you.

Would you consider receiving only our electronic newsletter at www.kofc6793.org and, thereby allow us to save the expense of mailing a hard copy to you each month? This can also be used to issue prayer requests or changes /notices to events in a timely manner.

Please reply to Grand Knight John E. Moore (jem1234@verizon.net) (301-77-9260) or Don Hemke, Financial Secretary (gumpermd@verizon.net) (301-774-7511). Thank you.

Keep Christ in Christmas this year! Send and give religious Christmas cards and support a good cause. The Knights of Columbus invite you to call Marc Long on (301) 208-7134 to see our beautiful selection of religious Christmas cards. The proceeds from this year's sale benefit our council charitable programs.

On Thursday, October 16, 2008, at 6:30 PM the Sullivan Brothers Assembly will conduct a Flag Retirement ceremony at Montgomery Council in Derwood. The Council Hall is located at 17001 Overhill Road, Rockville, Md. The Assembly will be collecting all torn or worn flags to be retired. These flags may be brought to our Council on our meeting nights until that date.

The Flag Retirement Ceremony is an emotional and moving experience that you will never forget. You do not have to be a 4th degree Knight to attend the ceremony, or the Pot Luck dinner that will follow. If your last name begins with A thru M please bring and entr�e and for N thru Z please bring a salad or dessert. If you have any questions please contact John Moore, Faithful Pilot at (301) 774-9260.

On Saturday, October 25th, ghosts and goblins will visit our Council members and the residents of the Inwood House in Wheaton. This is our 9th annual celebration of our Council Halloween Festival.

Invited are the Inwood House residents, caregivers, parents, and Council family members and guests. This year over 120 masquerading people will attend the festivities including a pasta buffet dinner and dessert served by Council family members in a festive and decorated dining room. After dinner there is entertainment for the audience, and the gobbling up of 'witches brew' and 'bats blood' punch. Costume prize awards and door prizes will make for a fantastic evening of fun for everyone.

Council members old and new are asked to volunteer their time for party setup, kitchen help, serving at the buffet table and assisting to seat disabled residents at tables. Volunteers are asked to look through their houses for some little "treasure items" suitable for a prizes such as costume jewelry, knick-knacks, watches, etc. This small consideration would provide much and happiness to the residents of Inwood House. Help us to enjoy a fun and happy fall festival.

Benefiting the Knights of Columbus
Father Peter Paul Maher Council No. 6793
Fundraiser hosted by Mrs. Pat Moore at
St. Patrick�s Parish Hall
4101 Norbeck Road
Rockville, MD 20853

For more information or to RSVP, please contact Pat Moore at 301-774-9260 by October 12th
Friends are welcome! 15% of total sales will be donated to the Knights of Columbus

A very generous Brother Knight in our Council, who wishes to remain anonymous, would like to challenge his Brother Knights to donate to the Seminarian Fund. He will match all donations up to $1000. Please be generous in your donations and know that your gifts will have double the impact. This challenge will be separately recorded and the results will be reported monthly in the Knightly News. Send all donations directly to the Grand Knight, John E. Moore, 4500 Prestwood Drive, Olney, Md. 20832.

Brother Knights; a reminder to remember those less fortunate then we are. Please the envelopes which were attached to the August Knightly News.

The purpose of our CHARITY FUND is "TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO INDIVIDUALS IN TEMPORARY URGENT NEED" in the name of the KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS OF MARYLAND. The Fund is intended to be a "Bridge" to financial recovery and does not take on long-term cases. It is not designed to take place of the Council charity fund, but to supplement it.

The Flag Team lowers and returns our Flag to full staff. Innocent d'Almeida (l) and Larry Boesch (r)

On August 24th the Sullivan Brothers Assembly remembered the historical fact that Brookeville, Maryland was the Capital of the United States for one day August 26th 1814 when the British attacked and burned the White House.

Pictured to the right the Color Corps present arms as the flag is lowered and raised. Color Corps participating in the activity include: Joseph Murphy, Faithful Navigator; Joseph Feakes, IPFN; John Durbin, PFN; Jack Giacalone, Faithful Captain; Innocent d'Almeida, Larry Boesch, John Moore, Vice CC Commander & Faithful Pilot (not shown). Also not shown is David Marshall of Sheen Assembly, who sang the National Anthem.

Join the Maryland State Council Knights of Columbus on November 1, 2008 at the Navy-Marine Corps Stadium in Annapolis for the Navy vs. Temple football game. Please click on the flyer below for further details:

The upheaval in the financial markets in recent days has caused a great deal of concern virtually everywhere, among financial services professionals, regulators and consumers alike. Every major financial institution has been affected by the turmoil because of the complexity of our economy, and we are no exception.

But I report to you today that there is no reason to be concerned about the value of your Knights of Columbus annuity or life insurance. Because of our very conservative approach to investing our $14 billion in assets, the impact on the Knights of Columbus has not been material, in other words, it has been minimal � far smaller than for many other organizations and the industry as a whole.

We have purposefully avoided investing in the highly complex and speculative investments that have brought disaster to some of America's most well known companies.

Once again in 2008, both Standard & Poor's and AM Best gave the Knights of Columbus their very best ratings, AAA (Extremely Strong) and AA+ (Superior), respectively. The K of C is one of only five insurance companies in North American to receive top ratings from S&P and AM Best, as well as certification by the Insurance Marketplace Standards Association.

The Knights of Columbus this week launched a brand-new Internet-based news and information service for Catholics everywhere � Headline Bistro. The new Web site provides a quick digest of daily news of interest to Catholics. Whether it relates to world affairs, politics or news specifically about the Catholic Church, you'll find links to the original sources here.

You'll also find video clips, detailed state-by-state information about voting and public policy, and recommended books. The Web address is http://www.headlinebistro.com.

Tense? Nervous? Upset? Stress can take a toll on mind and body. Here's how to cope. If you find yourself screaming, cursing, fist pumping, or crushing beer cans on your forehead while watching the World Series, be warned: Taking a game too much to heart may actually harm your heart, according to a recent study of researchers. They found that the number of emergency-room visits for heart problems more than doubled during and soon after a stressful sporting event. While some stress reactions are dramatic, others are subtle and can take a slow, stealthy toll on your health. Stress is now considered as much of a risk factor as excess weight, lack of exercise, and smoking for heart attack and stroke. Other research has linked stress to prompt unhealthy behaviors such as alcohol abuse, overeating, sleep deprivation, and smoking.

As a first step to gaining control, consider what areas in your life are stress-provoking. Common sources include everyday demands such as job strain, raising children, and caring for aging parents. But this year more Americans are putting financial worries at the top of list of anxieties, according to a recent poll of some 2500 adults by the American Psychological Association (APA). The rising cost of food and gas, the plummeting stock market, and the falling values of their homes are causing more stress, especially for people on fixed incomes and those planning to retire. Some 80% of Americans age 55 or over report moderate to high levels of stress, according to the APA. Another common source of stress is the hurried pace and frenetic multitasking that cell phones, e-mail, and laptop computers have wrought. Several studies published have helped document how some sources of stress affect the body: Troubled relationships, job strain, daily hassles. At this point scientists know more about how stress hurts us than about how to reverse its effects. But that picture is changing. NIH is now financing about 50 new studies on stress reduction�up from 15 a decade ago.

Eight warning signs that stress is taking a toll. 1) Unexplained physical symptoms, such as headaches, fatigue, muscle tension, teeth grinding, upset stomach, and change in sex drive. 2) Anger, depression, irritability, or nervousness that's more than circumstances warrant. 3) Increased smoking. 4) More arguments with friends and family. 5) Problems at work. 6) Lying awake at night worrying. 7) Eating more, especially of unhealthy foods, or skipping meals. 8) Increased drinking.

Self-help measures. Exercise, Yoga and tai chi, social support, some form of relaxation, cognitive-behavioral techniques, and simple steps. If you find yourself steaming at work or while stuck in traffic, don't vent. Instead, step back and look at the problem carefully. If it seems fixable, create a plan of action. If not, try one of these steps: 1) Breathe deeply. Take slow, steady breaths. 2) Tense and then relax each muscle. 3) Sing or hum a soothing tune. 4) Close your door and listen to a 10-minute relaxation tape. 4) Stretch. 5) Visualize a pleasant, peaceful scene. 6) Turn off your cell phone and ignore your e-mail.

October 1	Council Executive Meeting, Cottage, 7:30 pm
October 8	Council Business Meeting, 7:30 pm, OLGC*
October 11	Columbus Day Ball, (See this Knightly News for details)
October 16	Sullivan Brothers Assembly, Flag Retirement Ceremony, 6:30 pm, Pot Luck Dinner Montgomery Council #2323
October 18	Soccer Shootout, St. Patrick�s Soccer Field, 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm
October 19	Council FASHON SHOW � St. Patrick�s Parish Center, 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm
October 22	Council Social Meeting, 7:30 pm, OLGC*
October 25	Inwood House Halloween Party, 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm (See this Knightly News for details)

November 1	St. Peter�s Christmas Bazaar, St. Peter�s Parish Hall, 9:00 am -3 :00 pm
November 5	Council Executive Meeting, Cottage, 7:30 pm
November 9	Council Memorial Mass and Brunch, Divine Mercy Chapel at the Marian Assisted Living Center, 10:30 am
November 12	Council Business Meeting, OLGC,* 7:30 pm
November 15	Italian Dinner, St. Peter�s or St. Patrick�s Parish Center, 5:00 pm -7:00 pm
November 19	Council Social Meeting, ** 7:30 pm, OLGC*
November 20	Sullivan Brothers Assembly Business Meeting, Montgomery Council #2323, 8:00 pm
November 27	Thanksgiving Day; Give thanks to God and enjoy the day with your families.

* Our Lady of Good Counsel High School
** NOTE: This is a change from the 4th Wednesday to the 3rd Wednesday.

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