Grand Knights MessageDear Brothers in Christ,

I would like to start the first newsletter of this calendar year with the one wish that we all have a wonderful, blessed, and productive year ahead. As you all know, it is not an easy task to do our work as Knights and by helping each other, we make our council a great place to witness Christ in our activities for the Church and our local community. I thank you all for that.

There is a lot going on at the Knights of Columbus Council 5385. First, let me recap some of our recent events. On January 28th, our very own Brother Benjamin was ordained a deacon in a beautiful ceremony at Holy Family Cathedral. We also were blessed to have an Our Lady of Guadalupe Icon visiting our parish and the St. Thomas Syro Mala-bar parish from February 15thto the 20th. We had two church rosary services, seven mass processions, and five rosary services at brother Knights’ residences. I want to thank our Church Director, Brother Chris McCann, for taking the lead on this and also Brother Fred Martinez and Brother Nelson Thomas along with all other brothers who made this a successful event. My sincere thanks goes out toFr. Al, Fr. Thomas, and Fr. Vincent for their support and prayers. I am also pleased and proud to report that our First Degree ceremony team, captained by Brother Tom Collins, was certified by our District Deputy, Don Ehrman in February. Lastly, it is my honor to welcome to our council three new brothers: Vinh Pham, Woody Aghnatios, and Phil Sallaway who took their First Degree on February 20th.

March and April are going to be great months for the Knights. We have a lot of events planned, and we hope all can participate and attend them. I will mention them here briefly. This month, we have the St. Patrick’s Day dinner/dance on March 17th, and next month, the Columbian Square Circle Investiture ceremony, Officer Elections, Corporate Communion, and Blood Drive. Also, our inaugural First Degree ceremony is on April 25th. Please take a look at the UP-COMING EVENTS section in the newsletter for details.

Brothers, we all have received “gifts from God” that he expects us to use wisely, be it time, talent, or treasure. All are from God and we are expected to do what is right with them. Scripture tells us, “As each has received a gift, employ it for one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” 1 Peter 4:10. We are not blessed with the same opportunities or skills, but we all have the responsibility to use what is given to us.

As we enter the season of Lent, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you and your families a very happy and holy Lenten and Easter season. Please continue praying for the men and women in our armed services, and for those who made the ultimate sacrifice.May God Bless them, their families, and our One Nation Under God.

Vivat Jesus,Abraham JamesGrand Knight

Knight’s PageCouncil 5385 March 2012

Upcoming Events

1. April 1stMembership DriveChair: Leonard Gonzalez

2. April 22ndBlood DriveChair: Leonard Gonzalez

3. April 25thInaugural First DegreeCeremony Chair: Tom Collins

4. April 29thCorporate Commu-nion & Potluck brunch Chair: Chris McCann

5. April (TBD)Columbian Square CircleChair: Pete Kirk

General meeting is on the first Wednesday of every month @ 8 PM

Officers meeting is on the third Wednesday of every month @ 8 PM

OFFICERSGrand KnightAbraham James

Deputy Grand KnightLeonard N. Gonzalez

ChancellorEric A. Lenning

RecorderJeremiah E. Donoghue

TreasurerEdward E. Haske

AdvocateJoseph B. McAleer

WardenFred Martinez

Inside GuardMichael W. Churchill

Outside GuardAndrew V. Noriega

Trustee (3 Year)Peter C. Kirk

Trustee (2 Year)Robert E. Toombs

Trustee (1 Year)Karl R. Gaugel

Knigtsin

Action

Last summer, Fr. Vincent went on a pilgrimage to Santiago in Spain. For those who may have missed it or those who heard it and want to delve into it more deeply, the following is his homily on this subject.

“The Way” Fr. Vincent’s Reflection on the Camino to Santiago

“I must continue on my way, today, tomorrow, and the following day”. “I must ac-complish my purpose for which I came”. “A prophet should not die outside of Jerusa-lem”, words of Jesus’ Gospel. There was a sense of purpose and procession to Jesus’ life, each day moving closer to the goal. Jesus is always moving towards Jerusalem, there He will meet the destiny for which He came, to suffer, die, and rise again on behalf of mankind. All this would be accomplished in Jerusalem. In the final days, Jesus is making His final journey “Up to Jerusalem”.

For the modern mind it is hard to grasp the sense of procession and movement because we move so quickly and cover such long distances. Jesus did not take a car, train, or plane, Jesus walked. Jesus walked with His disciples, Jesus walked up and down Galilee, Jesus walked up to Jerusalem to die and rise there. There is something we do not grasp about walking because we don’t do much of it anymore. There is something about putting one foot in front of the other and moving across the surface of the earth, one foot at a time and being exposed to the elements: heat, cold, wind, sun, and rain. This walking can either be done alone or with others. Jesus usually walked with oth-ers. It was a time to get to know them and to teach them lessons. Many lessons that Jesus used from nature were right before them. I never really understood the notion of walking and the fact that Jesus walked, until I walked the Camino to Santiago in Spain. On my Camino I came across a guy from the UK, a fellow pilgrim, who said He was walking with Jesus. Jesus walked with His disciples, now he was walking with Him. We had a long conversation on how the Camino was a “metaphor” for life, a kind of discussion that could only happen on the Camino with fellow pilgrims. I want to share with you some of that discussion, but first what is the Camino, or the Way?

The Camino goes to Santiago, Spain, which is in the Northwest corner of Spain in a region called Galatia. In former times, the Camino started from your home or wher-ever you happened to live in Europe - from within Spain or nearby France or as far away as Poland, Sweden, or Holland. Major routes developed across France and con-verged at a place called St. Jean Pie de Port to cross the Pyrenees into Spain. From St. Jean, the Camino heads West to Santiago covering over 500 hundred miles. Santiago stands as one of the three major pilgrimage destinations in the Middle Ages: Rome,

Jerusalem, and Santiago - and remember, all were reached on foot. Today, people take planes, trains and cars to these places. Why Santiago? Santiago is the tomb of the Apostle Saint James, the Greater.

In former times, people made pilgrimages to these holy sites for very particular re-ligious reasons. It was not for a vacation or to sightsee. No, these were pilgrimages and “The Way” was arduous, dangerous, and required a significant time commitment. Many pilgrims died along the way from sickness or exposure to the elements. Unlike today, when a pilgrim reached Santiago, he or she had to walk back home. Nowadays, everybody takes a train or plane back home. Why did people brave the elements and hardship of a pilgrim and head to Santiago? There were several reasons: to do pen-ance, to give gratitude for graces received, to ask for something from God, to discern God’s will, or to come closer to God. Today, the reasons are more mixed but are simi-lar to those in the past. For whatever the reason, something happens to everybody on the Camino. People have beenw alking the Camino to Santiago for over a thousand years.

I began my journey/pilgrimage to Santiago from a place called Le Puy in South Cen-tral France. It started with a lovely Pilgrim Mass in the Cathedral with the local Bishop sending about sixty of us pilgrims out with a medal and pilgrim’s blessing. As I said, the Camino is a metaphor for life. The Camino is a lesson in providence, you really don’t know what is going to happen but accept what does. The first day out, with out knowing it, I got very lost. I was following the wrong signs. I wondered why I didn’t see the other pilgrims; I was going to a different town not on the path that leads to Santiago. When I finally discovered it, it was too late. I neither had the time nor the energy to get to the town I needed to be at. Where I was, no one spoke English and I do not speak French. I asked for a taxi; however, there were no taxis or any kind of transportation. I kept pointing on the map to where I needed to be and must have looked pathetic enough that a woman went and got her car and two of them drove me seven miles to were I needed to be. I was so grateful, I was completely helpless. The next day I connected with a group of French pilgrims who knew where they were go-ing and they took care of me, they became my friends and traveling companions. You really get to know people when you walk with them on the Camino. I discovered that the French I traveled with all knew English and I helped them improve it.

Everyone suffers on the Camino. There were several sayings I heard, “It is not a mat-ter of if it hurts, but where it hurts” and “You pray with your feet”. “No suffering, no glory, or no pain, no gain”. The second day, the French people asked me, “where does it hurt?’’, I said my shoulders from my pack. They gave me some cream. The pack was too heavy, so I began to get rid of what I did not absolutely need and trav-elled lighter - another metaphor for life. Later, my feet began to hurt and I developed

blisters, the French people had stuff for that too. The days were hot and tiring, and by the end of the day, I was so happy to find a place to stay. We encouraged each other to go on, and sometimes you needed that because you often felt like sitting down and stopping, the pain was that great. The lesson here: we need each other’s support to continue on.

The pain in my feet became progressively worse, and each day, I hoped in vain that it would get better, but no. I soon came to the realization that the shoes I had were not working, so I got a different pair. The new shoes were much better. Another metaphor for life: sometimes things aren’t working and there needs to be a change. The new shoes were better, but because I had been walking for so long in pain, I was compen-sating for the pain and, as a result, developed tendinitis. It was terribly painful and made one of my ankles swell up. I did not want to stop. I did, however, have to stop one day and slow down; I could not keep the pace I had planned. This was a lesson in humility. I thought I was to going to tear up the trail and make good time; however, circumstances and physical limitations dictated otherwise: I HAD to slow down. I had made fun of a German guy who was moving very slowly on the trail and who called himself “escargot” (snail). Now I was the one moving slowly with all kinds of people passing me so that I too adopted the name “escargot”. The lesson here: we have to accept the limitations of our lives, whether physical or otherwise and re-adjust our expectations or plans.

On the Camino, everyday has pretty much the same routine: get up early, get your stuff together, walk, and walk, and walk. On the Camino you walk five to seven hours a day. Sometimes I walked with others, most of the time alone. Walking is a very con-templative activity. It calms and frees the mind. I had so much walking time, I had time to focus my mind and pray. I had time to exam my entire life from childhood to the present, the good, the bad, and the ugly, all my relationships and experiences in my family, seminary, and priesthood. I had time to see where providence had lead me and gave gratitude for all. I had time to pray for and give thanks for those relation-ships and realities that have become particularly meaningful: my family, my Abbey, my priesthood, and friends. My prayer was basically the Rosary, modified, it kept me going. I would spend a lot of time on each mystery and of course nature gave me ample material for reflection since I was walking in it every day. I also stopped at many beautiful chapels and churches along the way where I was able to pray and celebrate Mass.\Each day was a little victory. When I made it to the next town, it was one day closer to Santiago. No matter what the pain and difficulty, there is a good feeling about get-ting closer to the destination and making progress. There is a Latin word that is used on the Camino: Ultrea. It was used by the early pilgrims as a greeting and encour-

agement. It means: keep going - moving forward. All along the way, there were so many signs of encouragement left by other pilgrims. There is a definite feeling of procession, moving to an end, to a goal, and it is always towards Santiago. This is a metaphor for Heaven. On the Camino, Santiago is like Heaven. In life, if each day we continue to make the effort to keep going, serving God and neighbor, then each day is a little victory. Heaven, like Santiago, must be the concrete and definitive goal of each day. Life is a journey, with a beginning and an end.

When I arrived in Santiago, it was like coming into Heaven. I had finally arrived, it was hard to believe. From Le Puy, France, in the space of forty-five days, I had covered over one thousand miles, five hundred and twenty-eight miles on foot, the other by train or bus. When the pilgrims come into Santiago, they congratulate and embrace each other. Only a pilgrim knows what it takes to get to Santiago and bonds are formed across all national lines. Most of my pilgrim friends were French and Ger-man and this is also a metaphor, we travel not alone to Heaven. Providence places all kinds of people on our path either to help us or for us to help them. I was able to give and receive and minister as a priest. I think there may be two possible vocations from the Camino. Please pray for two young people: one from France named Clarisse and one from Honduras named Marvin.

And finally, the Camino is Incarnational. It unites the body and spirit in a common activity and goal. On the Camino, you really do pray with your feet, and the opportu-nity for physical suffering is ever present. We often separate, or our world does, the physical from the spiritual. Jesus became man and walked this earth as God and man. He came to save our bodies and souls. The Camino is so physical it forces a spiritual change of outlook. Our bodies are integral to our spiritual journey and should never be left behind. I lost twenty pounds on the amino and I hope this is a reflection of also becoming more spiritually lean. My fellow pilgrim from the United Kingdom had it right when he said he wanted to walk with Jesus on the Camino. It is what we all should be doing on the Camino of life.

Most will never have the opportunity to walk the Camino; however, each day we are on the Camino, The Way, not to Santiago, but to Heaven, and we have to keep going, Ultrea - always moving forward. ¡Buen Camino!