Fathers Day, Beer and the Church of England

Seen on Curt Jester Catholic blog, a story about a Fathers' Day service in St. Stephen's CofE Church:

[The Rt Rev John Inge, the Bishop of Worcester] argued that the free beer was intended to be symbolic of "the generosity of God".

Men at St Stephen's church in Barbourne, Worcester, will be handed bottles of beer by children during the service. A prayer will be said for the fathers before the gifts are distributed.

The Ven Roger Morris, archdeacon of Worcester, who will be leading the service at St Stephen's today, said that it was a practical way of sending a message to fathers.

"I don't see any other time that we can stop and remember fathers, and this is a gesture saying 'Here's something that will bless you,'" he said.[reference]

Preach the Gospel at all times and if necessary use beer.

The story illicited the following response:

By John V on June 23, 2009 10:39 PM

Blessing of Beer
P. Our help is in the name of the Lord.

All. Who made heaven and earth.

P. The Lord be with you.

All. May he also be with you.

Let us pray.

Lord, bless + this creature, beer, which by Your kindness and power has been produced from kernels of grain, and let it be a healthful drink for mankind. Grant that whoever drinks it with thanksgiving to your holy name may find it a help in body and in soul; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

The beer is sprinkled with holy water.

--From the 1964 Roman Ritual, VIII:5
Seen a few years ago at Shrine of the Holy Whapping

Pancakes this Sunday at OLPH!

Bring your family to this Sunday's PANCAKE BREAKFAST FOR FOOD FOR THE POOR, 7-11a in the OLPH PLC. This month, we'll feature Brother Rich Castle's KICKIN' 7-UP PANCAKES. If you haven't had them, you don't know what you're missing! Only $3.00 for all you can eat pancakes! Sausage, OJ, Milk and all the fixin's included! Last fraternal year, Holy Family Council raised more than $16,000 for Food for the Poor, enough to build 16 houses for families in need. THANK YOU! We can do it again!

Tragedy for Diocese of Knoxville Family

Please pray for the repose of the soul of long-time Bishop's assistant for the Diocese, Nancy Feist, a mother of five , who died suddenly Friday night at 43, along with the sixth child she was expecting in September with her husband, Dave, an elementary school teacher in the East Tennessee church. Read more... Also, click here to read her obituary

New Mass for Life approved by Bishops

This is an idea whose time came a long time ago. Click here to read more.

Mark Your Calendar:

• CATHOLIC MENS' FAITH NIGHT, MONDAY, JUNE 22: Brother George continues his Catholic learning series at the hall at 7p.
• FOOD FOR THE POOR PANCAKE BREAKFAST AT OLPH, SUNDAY, JUNE 28: $3.00 all you can eat pancakes this Sunday in the PLC from 7:30 until 11:30a
• FAMILY PICNIC, SUNDAY, JUNE 28: St. Stephens. Time change to 5:00pm to dusk. If you have a pop-up canopy tent, please bring it.
• FIRST DEGREE, WEDNESDAY JULY 1: This is the first First Degree exemplification of the new fraternal year. Recruit a candidate and be an observer! Starts at 6:30p at the hall. Candidates should be there by 6p.

See other upcoming dates on the website calendar below this blogspace.

Happy Fathers' Day!

The title says it all! If you are a dad, or you have a dad still with you, make sure you take time to make today a family day, and celebrate the gift of fatherhood and the importance of fathers to our society and the common good. Edify yourself with a few of the following fatherhood links:

• KofC Fathers For Good: Simply the best Catholic Fatherhood-focused news site there is. Tons of great articles and resources.
• Fathers For Good video site: featuring videos from Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, Raymond Arroyo of EWTN and more.
• Article: Five Myths on Fathers and Families: Great article on National Review Online warning about anti-father and anti-family themes you'll likely here (or have heard) played up by the media.
• In the Beginning, there were Diapers: Blog post on Happy Catholic about a book by Catholic humorist Tim Bete

Speaking of Fathers...

In case you don't know, June 19th, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, was the official start of the Year of the Priest as proclaimed to the Church worldwide by Pope Benedict. Council 6099 is famous for supporting our priests through our (now award-winning) can collections to support our seminarians as well as through support and assistance in parish activities and continued prayer. As Knights, we must continue to support our priests and be ready to offer our collective and individual "YES" when asked to lend them our aid. If you're interested in learning more about the Church's official celebration year of the Priesthood, here are a few links you may want to check out:

• Official Vatican Website for Priests: Made for priests, but loaded with interesting information, videos, etc. for anyone interested.
• USCCB Year of the Priest Site: Includes official announcement and other events.
• St. Padre Pio and the Year of the Priest: Article about the Pope's first official visit of the year to the hometown of St. Pio.
• Learn about St. John Vianney: Named by Pope Benedict as the patron saint of Parish Priest, this humble French priest led a most holy and interesting life.

The Demise of Fatherhood?

This is an extraordinarily insightful article on First Things into the ever-sorrier state of fatherhood in our country (and the rest of the world, for that matter). As a new father, this whole article spoke to me -- disturbing, hopeful and challenging all at the same time while speaking to the Catholic understanding of true freedom. Those of you with fatherhood under your belt already, you'll be nodding right along with it. It's marginally long, but worth every word you read,

"I would like to propose that the demise of fatherhood is largely the result of a relatively recent and thoroughly unjustifiable faith in rational self-determination. Indeed, nearly all of the culprits that cultural observers have previously identified—contraceptives, abortion, women’s liberation, increased secularity, the usurpation of the functions of the father by the state—can probably best be understood as instances of this more general tendency... " READ MORE.

Come to the Council Family Picnic!

Come one, come all to the last family event of the fraternal year! Come to the Knights of Columbus Holy Family Picnic, Sunday, June 28, 5p - dusk at St. Stephen's Church. This will be full afternoon of family fun and free food and drink for all! Games for kids of all ages, or bring your own bats and balls, croquet sets, horseshoes or lawn darts -- whatever says FUN to you! Also, if we get enough interest, the Knights of OLPH and St. Jude will play St. Stephen's Knights in a winner-take-all softball matchup that will leave you wanting more (or something to that effect). Mark your calendars now and be there!

Thanks to Fr. McGivney's Holy Family Singers at OLPH

An enthusiastic choir of Knights sang at the 10:00 Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish on Sunday, June 14th. They included Andres Alisago, George Ames, Wayne Collins, Frank Delaney, Russ Ferguson, Allen Greenwell, Steve Reker, Isaac White, and Warren White. Paul Blazek directed the choir and Bill West played the organ and piano. Thanks to all the brothers who participate in this valuable visibility program for our council.

Council 6099 scores seven awards at State Convention

Holy Family Council 6099 left the Tennessee KofC Convention as one the most-decorated councils in the Volunteer State. GK Jason Randall, DGK Richard Buske, and FS Ron Schleifer were among the representatives who attended the convention where the council won a total of seven awards and honors. Council 6099 received the following:

• The JOY Award - Presented to Wayne Collins for bringing truckloads of unmitigated joy to lives everywhere.


• State Deputy Award - For completion of council administration requirements for the fraternal year


• State Program Consultant Award - For excellence in presentation of program award nominations


• MR Foundation, 2nd Place - For raising over $15,000 for programs that help people with mental disabilities. The council was first in amount of increase of dollars raised over the previous year.


• Vocations Activity Award- For outstanding promotion of vocations and seminarian support for our aluminum can program.


• Charity Activity Award - For best charity activity of the fraternal year, awarded for the Council's succes in raising nearly $11 thousand for the Wheelchair Foundation, which represented more than a third of the funds raised in the entire state!


• Bishops' Award - This is the most prestigious award given by the Tennessee State Council. The award was established to recognize councils that best promote awareness of membership, pro-life, church, family, youth, and work with the physically and mentally challenged. It is notable that there are a total of 82 KofC Councils in Tennessee, and only 8 councils received this award. (P)GK Jason is pictured with the award and DD Bill Markiewicz.

These awards are not possible without the participation of members like you! Thanks to everyone who helped make this fraternal year a big success!

Council 6099 delivers big for the Wheelchair Foundation & Food for the Poor

The council fried a lot of fish and cooked a lot of pancakes, among other things, to support the Wheelchair Foundation and Food for the Poor. WF Director Moe Rivers (pictured) led the charge that raised nearly $11 thousand for Wheelchair Foundation. Grand Knight Jason Randall presented a check to the state deputy. The council was also received the State Charity Program Award for our efforts. In fact, Council 6099 represented more than a third of all funds raised for the Wheelchair Foundation in the State! The fund drive for Food for the Poor in the last fraternal year also netted an amazing $16,850, which was sent to the charity, enough to build 8 houses for destitute families, plus 8 more through government matching programs. Congratulations to FFP Chairman Dennis Meinert for his leadership, and to all brother Knights who donated so many hours of labor to make a tremendous impact for these two organizations!

6099 gets 2nd place in the state for 2008-09 MR effort

Holy Family Council 6099's hundreds of man-hours put toward the MR drive in the 2008-09 paid off at state convention! The council was awarded 2nd place in the state of Tennessee for the amount raised in our MR drive, which totaled more than $15,000. That was a $3,000+ increase over the previous year, which was good enough for first place in amount of increase in the campaign over the previous year. Congratulations to retiring MR Director Steve Reker (pictured with partner Frank Oliveto) for going out on his highest note ever, and for meeting the council MR goal every year he was in charge! Brother Ken Stroop will be the new MR Chairman for the 09-10 fraternal year.

Knight of the Month - Jim Costello

Congratulations to Holy Family Council 6099 Knight of the Month for May, Brother Jim Costello.

Family of the Month - The Rieckes!

Congratulations to the family of Earl Riecke, name Holy Fmaily Council 6099's Family of the Month in May.