IWKnights Corner (Bulletin Insert) For October 6, 2019

Did you know this about the IW Knights of Columbus?

From the Knights of Columbus on-line magazine the Columbia - 'Go and Do Likewise'"

"THE ROAD FROM Jerusalem to Jericho was perilous.  Travelers were vulnerable to being attacked and robbed as they made the 18-mile descent through steep desert terrain.  Jesus, in one of his most famous parables, speaks of a man who was stripped, beaten and left for dead along the narrow route (cf. Luke 10:30).  A priest and a Levite passed him by; only a Samaritan, moved with compassion, stopped.  He tended the man’s wounds, took him to an inn and ensured he was cared for, acting as a 'neighbor' by showing mercy.  Jesus concluded, 'Go and do likewise'.

Recent popes have emphasized this well-known story as central to our understanding of Christ and the Church.  St. John Paul II declared, 'Christ, the Son of God, is the Good Samaritan par excellence,' and elsewhere: 'The Good Samaritan is the Church!'  In his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, Pope Benedict XVI wrote: 'The Christian’s program — the program of the Good Samaritan, the program of Jesus — is ‘a heart which sees.’ This heart sees where love is needed and acts accordingly '.

Pope Francis has stressed this theme as well.  In a 2013 interview at the beginning of his pontificate, he compared the Church to 'a field hospital after battle' — an analogy which he has often repeated.  'I see clearly that the thing the Church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful,' he said, adding that the Church’s ministers must 'take responsibility for the people and accompany them like the Good Samaritan, who washes, cleans and raises up his neighbor'The mission of the Church, the Body of Christ, is to heal the whole person, body and soul alike. This is clear in the sacraments, including the sacraments of healing: anointing of the sick and reconciliation. The Church’s healing mission is also expressed through the theological virtue of charity.  In words attributed to St. Teresa of Ávila: 'Christ has no body now but yours / No hands, no feet on earth but yours / Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world'.

In this issue of Columbia, we look at several ways that the Knights of Columbus is living out the vocation of the Good Samaritan today. A new initiative challenges councils to attend to the spiritual and material needs of our Native American brothers and sisters in the faith (see page 6).  A historic pilgrimage of St. Jean Vianney’s heart has encouraged prayer for sanctification and reparation of crimes that have gravely wounded the Body of Christ (see page 12).  Knights in Washington State and elsewhere have long provided free support to people who are sick, disabled or injured (see page 18).  Finally, the Order is helping families to prevent sexual abuse, wherever it occurs, and promote healing (see page 21).

In each of these ways and many others, the Order remains faithful its founding principle of charity and to Christ’s command to “do likewise.

Additional links to information/articles/videos about this article KofC.org web site or at www.IWKnights.com/bulletin or at facebook.com/IWknights9981 and NOW on Twitter at twitter.com/IwKnights.

Links Related to this week’s column:

FOLLOWING HIS HEART
	MORE THAN A QUARTER MILLION CATHOLICS VENERATED THE INCORRUPT HEART RELIC OF ST. JEAN VIANNEY
		By Columbia Magazine staff (9/1/2019)
			During times of crisis, Christ sends saints. In the early 19th century, in the wake of the French Revolution, he sent Jean Vianney, whose witness of love and humility rekindled the faith of thousands as they flocked to his tiny parish in Ars, France. Thousands again flocked to the holy Curé of Ars this past year, in the wake of the sexual abuse crisis affecting the Church. This time, they encountered the incorrupt heart of the patron saint of parish priests as it crisscrossed the United States in the care of the Knights of Columbus from Nov. 10 to June 13.
				Click here for the article.

EQUIPPED TO HELP
	WASHINGTON KNIGHTS LEND FREE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT TO THOUSANDS IN NEED
		By Jean Parietti (9/1/2019)
			It’s a sunny spring day, the kind that draws Seattle residents outdoors to walk, bike and kayak. For 27-year-old Tiana, though, getting outside her small apartment to enjoy life in the city — or even go grocery shopping — isn’t easy. Born with a foot disability, Tiana had multiple surgeries as a child, with mixed success. Despite braces prescribed more recently by her podiatrist, pain in her feet and knees has sometimes kept her homebound for days.
				Click here for the article.

IN SERVICE TO OUR NATIVE NEIGHBORS
	ORDER LAUNCHES A NEW INITIATIVE TO SUPPORT INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA
		By Columbia Magazine staff (9/1/2019)
			Ground was broken last month on a new national shrine dedicated to St. Kateri Tekakwitha in Gallup, N.M., one of several projects to support Native American and First Nation communities announced by Supreme Knight Carl Anderson at the 137th Supreme Convention in Minneapolis.
				Click here for the article.

OUT OF DARKNESS AND INTO THE LIGHT
	A NEW KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS INITIATIVE HELPS FAMILIES TO PROTECT THEIR CHILDREN FROM SEXUAL ABUSE
		By Columbia Magazine staff (9/1/2019)
			While the spotlight that shines squarely on the abuse crisis in the Catholic Church has helped to further much needed reforms, it has also led many to believe that the sexual abuse of minors is a “Catholic problem.” To the contrary, child sexual abuse is a widespread cultural problem, and children’s safety must not be left only to the offices of dioceses and parishes, but must begin in our homes. To this end, the Knights of Columbus launched a new program — Protecting Our Children — in June..
				Click here for the article.

Printer Friendly Version of above Links (PDF)

Click here for the article.