IWKnights Corner For June 6, 2021
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christie)

Did you know this about the IW Knights of Columbus?

"FIVE CENTURIES AGO, the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan reached the Philippines with a fleet of three ships.  He was sailing under the patronage of Charles V, the grandson of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain.  As with the arrival of Columbus in the Americas nearly three decades earlier, Magellan and his international crew were accompanied by Christian missionaries.  They celebrated Mass on the small island of Limasawa on Easter Sunday, March 31, 1521, and two weeks later, the Indigenous ruler of nearby Cebu and his wife were baptized, along with their subjects.

The 500th anniversary of these events is being widely celebrated this year in the Philippines, where a large majority of the population is Catholic and the Knights of Columbus has been present for more than a century.  The quincentenary of the first baptisms was declared a holiday in Cebu City, where a pontifical Mass was held April 14 to mark the anniversary. Archbishop Charles Brown, apostolic nuncio to the Philippines, pointed out in his homily a 'paradox' in the arrival of the Christian faith in the Philippines — 'that the faith which itself was born in Asia was then brought here first by means of European explorers.'

Christianity is not, as many presume today, a product of Western imperialism, nor is it a European religion that seeks to repress other cultures.  To the contrary, as Archbishop Brown explained, 'In these five centuries, the Catholic faith has entered deeply into Filipino culture and produced a distinctively Filipino expression of the unchanging and universal truth of the Catholic faith.'  This faith', he added, 'cannot be identified with any single culture; it is rather the life-giving truth of God.'

This was manifested in a powerful way 10 years after Magellan’s journey — on the opposite side of the globe.  The apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico marked a significant turning point in the evangelization of the American continent.  When all seemed to be lost, God’s intervention through the Virgin of Tepeyac opened millions of hearts to the Gospel   And, centuries later, when the Church in Mexico came under attack in the 1920s, there were many who died for the faith under the banner of Christ the King and Our Lady of Guadalupe.

All of this is to say that the Gospel does not destroy culture, but transcends and transforms it in a spirit of truth and love. Knights of Columbus around the world exemplify this reality through the principles of charity, unity and fraternity, just as we profess our belief in one, holy, catholic (that is, universal), and apostolic Church.

Before ascending to the Father, the risen Lord gave his apostles a missionary mandate, which he speaks anew to us today: 'Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age' (Mt 28:19-20). ”

The above article, entitled "The Universal Faith", was written by Alton J Pelowski, the editor of the Columbian, and published in the May 2021 edition  Find more about the Knights of Columbus at  IWKnights9981.com/bulletin or on facebook.com/IWknights9981 and NOW on Twitter at twitter.com/IwKnights.

Links Related to this week’s column:

The Universal Faith
	The 500th anniversary of these events is being widely celebrated this year in the Philippines, where a large majority of the population is Catholic and the Knights of Columbus has been present for more than a century....
		By Alton J Pelowski, Knights of Columbus (4/30/2021)
			Click here for Article

Prayer for Protection in Time of Pandemic
	A Novena which seeks Our Lady’s Intercession for Protection in Time of Pandemic
		By His Holiness, Pope Francis (3/2020)
		A PRAYER FOR PROTECTION IN TIME OF PANDEMIC (PDF Version)
				Click here for the Prayer