Brother Knights,

We have embarked on the season of Lent.  For Catholics (and non-Catholics too) it is a time for reflection, introspection, repentance, and spiritual preparation.  Lent mirrors the biblical time of Jesus in the wilderness.  This is our time to deepen our faith and promote self-discovery, learning about those things you may not know and spreading what you do know throughout the community.

It’s also a time for fish fries!   If this doesn’t get you excited, there’s nothing wrong with looking forward to great fellowship, comradery, conversation, and great fish with a motley crew!  We need your help!  These fish fries are one of our main fundraisers and we need lots of folks to help out, especially during the third shift, clean up.  Please sign up or show up, we’ll find a spot for you.

Vivat Jesus!
  
Matt Schafers
Grand Knight 833

Brother Knights,

I hope your new year is off to a great start.  If you’re struggling to think of a good resolution, try stopping by the church for a few minutes extra one day a week.  Gradually increase that to 5 minutes, then 10.  Maybe attend daily Mass once a week.  There are numerous opportunities throughout Lincoln to attend Mass at various times and our parish is smack dab in the middle making it easy to get to several churches in a short drive.  I have it easy at Pius.  Mass is offered every day and throughout the day but I still find it a struggle to get there reliably.  I have committed to once a week, but we have folks that take advantage and attend every chance they get.  Whatever it is you choose to do, before long, you’ll be on your way to a deeper and more meaningful understanding of what God wants from you and how you can give back to Him.
 
A very big way to give back is to help out at the upcoming fish fry events!  We need everyone to pitch in.  This is one of our biggest fundraisers of the year but it is also a social event.  Not just for fellow Knights but our loyal patrons too!  There are a lot of different jobs that need to be done.  Don’t fight over being named the fish squeezer, there’s 6 fish fries, you’ll get your chance to see what it’s all about.  We got the patio crew, the kitchen crew, the bar crew, and the dining room help, there’s plenty of opportunities to get involved and find your niche.  Be a part of the motley crew that make our fish fries the best in town.
 
Brother Ron sent out the Sign-Up Genius already.  Please look it over and sign up for a slot.  If you can only make one Friday, we’ll take your help.  Kids are a great help as well.  They can help in the dining room with table service.  The seasoned citizens love seeing the young girls and boys helping out.  Our fish fries are a destination, not simply a meal spot.  

Let’s all pitch in and continue this great tradition we have of providing the best fish, the best location, and the best service in Lincoln!

Vivat Jesus!
Semper.
Matt Schafers
Grand Knight 833

Brother Knights,
 
Well here we are, the second week of Advent!  Boy time flies.  Soon it will be Christmas and the new year upon us.  This coming Sunday is Candy Cane Sunday and we could use men to post the exits at church and collect donations/pass out candy canes.  No verbal exchange is necessary (you don’t have to ask just hold the basket out and the money flies in!).  Pass out the candy canes to anyone and everyone, we got plenty.  We’ll have them in the ushers closet.  Just come to the back of the church after Communion and volunteer, no sign up on this one.  The money goes to purchase the remaining items on the Giving Wreaths so it’s a great cause.
 
Also along with that, Santa and Mrs. Claus will be in the church basement to meet and greet all the little ones after the 10am and 12pm Masses.  Kids will get a small gift bag and the photos are free!  Bring your kiddos down and get that off your list of to do items.  100 bags available until they are gone.
 
This has been a very productive year for the Council.  We need to continue to grow and enlist new Knights and get more Knights helping out at all the activities we field throughout the year.  If you aren’t growing, your dying.  I read somewhere that there are only 2.1million Knights in the US.  If that is correct, it seems mighty small.  Let’s buck that trend and keep this Council thriving!
 
As we wait and reflect during this Advent season in anticipation of Christmas, I would like to
share the words of St. John Paul II:  “In Advent we await an event which occurs in history and at the same
time transcends it. As it does every year, this event will take place on the night of the Lord’s Birth. The shepherds will hasten to the stable in Bethlehem; later the Magi will arrive from the East. Both the one and the other, in a certain sense, symbolize the entire human family.
 
Theresa and I want to wish all of you and your families a blessed Advent and Christmas season!  May your families gather and give thanks to God for all that he has blessed you with, big and small.  Thank you to all Knights for all you do for Council 833 and St. Teresa’s.

Vivat Jesus!
  
Matt Schafers
Grand Knight 833

Brother Knights,

It’s that time of year again.  Football is in full swing, the Holidays are coming fast and the leaves are falling slow.  There is a lot on our calendar the next two months.  Candy Cane Sunday will be Dec. 15th after all Masses.  Easy peasy, we just need men to stand at the exits handing out candy canes and taking donations.  We use the monies to purchase all the remaining items on the Giving Advent Wreaths.  This year, we are also having Santa and Mrs. Claus at our church after the 10am and 12pm Masses in the basement.  We thought this would be a great way to allow families to get their Santa photos done and be free of charge.  We haven’t done that for a couple years with our kids but I think the last time we visited the mall it was $25 minimum.  We’ll have a free will offering available down there too with some candy canes.
 
Nov. 20th is our Mass at St. Teresa church, 7pm, for the deceased Knights.  All Knights and their families, including the families of past Knights are welcome to attend.  We’ll have light refreshments in the basement and possibly a short meeting also.
 
Nov. 17th @10am Mass is our Corporate Communion.  What is a Corporate Communion, you ask?  I didn’t really know myself.  I learned a long time ago (the hard way) that words can have several meanings.  In this case, corporate means together, unified, one.  This is great way to show the parish two of our pillars, Unity and Fraternity.  Please consider joining us at Mass down in front with your family. 

Vivat Jesus!
 
Semper.
 
Matt Schafers
Grand Knight 833

Brother Knights,
 
Service and Community Involvement

Traditionally, as a contractor, I would know that if I had trenching or backhoeing to do for a job, I would try to have it complete by Oct. 1st knowing that the weather outside could change any day.  After that, it’s a Russel Stover time of year.  You never know what you’re going to get.  Even though it’s been warm the cold is coming.  We have 8 cases this year of coats to donate to our parish school for the annual Coats for Kids program.  Soon I will be dropping them off so they can be distributed to families in need.  This month we also have the annual Tootsie Roll Drive which collects monies to help fund the important work of Villa Marie School at the Marian Sisters.  This school helps the developmentally disabled.  Our city wide collection effort is this weekend and our location is Hy Vee at 50th and O St.  We have a sign up genius out and available so you can sign up for a time slot.  We really need to fill the slots to we can cover all three entrances with two men.  Having two men just helps give moral support to each other and also allows for folks to see two people with buckets, kind of making it more formal or real.  Its not about the Tootsie Roll, its about the impact they can have supporting the good work of the Marian Sisters.  If you’re a student of human interaction, it can be a good time to witness human generosity.  That is this weekend, Oct. 12th and 13th.  Our parish collection after Masses will be the following weekend, Oct. 19th and 20th. 
 
These are two examples of Community Involvement and Charity we do at the Knights of Columbus. 
 
Brother Nick, our Council Recruiter, has been hard at work.  He has organized a football watch party to be held at Fitzgerald Hall on Oct. 19th.  This is a great time to get together with your fellow Knights and make new friends and renew old ones.  Stay tuned for more info on that via emails.  Please support these events and activities.  If you know a man who could be interested in joining the Knights, bring them along.  Let them see what it is we do, how we do it, and why we do it.  This is how we grow and keep our membership active for the next generation of Knights and the service we provide.  Success comes from our collective efforts, it will not come on its own.
 
This is an example of Unity and Fraternity.
 
Vivat Jesus!
 
Semper.

Matt Schafers
Grand Knight 833