Our Catholic Faith is said to be important to the Knights of Columbus. Below is a discussion of our Catholic Faith based upon lessons from the Knights and including many questions you can use in a personal self-assessment in your own spiritual journey. Join us and let's grow in our faith together.
Bishop
Vann’s Call to All Knights
Bishop Vann called on every Knight in every Council in the
Diocese of Orange to take a leadership role in establishing Perpetual
Eucharistic Adoration at every parish.
Do you take seriously the Knights of Columbus claim that we
Knights are at the service of our Bishops and that we will do what they ask to
the best of our ability?
Do you know the Pas Supreme Knight Carl Anderson says we are
also “The Knights of the Eucharist” and that over the years Supreme has urged
Knights to support Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration? Our current Supreme Knight from his openning address also said we are "Knights of the Eucharitsc" and urged the Knights to be "at the forefront" of promoting the Eucharist.
Do you have a love and devotion for Jesus in the Most
Blessed Sacrament? How so?
Do you spend time in the Real Presence of Jesus in the
Blessed Sacrament? When was the last time?
Do you know what Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration is, which
is what Bishop Vann is calling us to champion?
Do you understand the importance of the statement by St Jose
Marie Escriva which is:
“In the first place prayer. In the
second place reparation. In the third place, and very much in the third place,
action”?
Fr
Jerome Karcher and Fr Joseph Knerr's Call to All Knights
St Vincent de Paul Pastor Emeritus Father Jerome Karcher told the Knights of Columbus Council 6020 to
work on growing in personal holiness and to inspire the rest of our parishes to
do the same. Recently retired St Bonaventure Pastor Father Joe Knerr concurred with
this call to the Knights made by Fr Jerome.
What are you doing to grow closer to God each and every day?
Do you pray daily?
Do you do daily spiritual reading with Sacred Scripture
having pride of place?
Do you make sacrifices such as fasting or tithing or
volunteering on a regular basis? And
offering those to God prayerfully?
Do you go to Confession on a regular basis?
Do you go to Holy Mass as often as possible, and when in
Church, do you act appropriately by maintaining a quite prayerful disposition
without chatting to neighbors, etc.?
Did you know that in the Book of Revelation Jesus speaks
those who are “hot”, “cold” and “lukewarm” in their faith and that of the three
he “hates” the lukewarm?
Have you ever attended a Catholic retreat of any kind? Do you attend them regularly?
Have you ever prayed via Catholic meditation? Do you know
the saints say this is the key to holiness?
Do you follow the Greatest Commandment which is to “Love the
Lord Thy God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength”? Think of your favorite sports star. Do you love God the way, for example, our brother Knight Kobe
Bryant(RIP), loved basketball? The Greatest
Commandment calls us all to be obsessed with God, over and above everything
else in our lives. Are you?
The Most
Holy Rosary and Devotion to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary
At our induction into the Knights we are given a rosary and told to carry it
with us always and to pray it daily. We
are urged to grow in our love and devotion to the Blessed Mother Mary.
Are you carrying your rosary with you?
Are you praying the rosary daily?
Do you meditate on the Mysteries of the Rosary, which is a
most critical part, and “ponder in your heart” the lessons for you in each of
those mysteries?
Have you ever read a book on the Rosary, or on devotion to
Mary, especially consecration to Mary?
Have you ever studied the prayers of the rosary? The Creed, Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be,
Fatima Prayer, Hail Holy Queen, Closing Prayer?
Are you growing in your love and devotion to our Most
Blessed Mother? Can you say you have more devotion to her now than on the day
you made your 1st Degree?
Tempus
Fugit Memento Mori
Time flies. Remember Death. This is the slogan of the Knights.
The devout Catholic faith urges one to meditate on the Four
Last Thing: Death, Judgement, Heaven, Hell.
A Satanic problem in our culture today is we not only do not
think of death but many of us actually consider it a blessing to die
suddenly. In point of fact for centuries
the Litany of Saints included the invocation “From a sudden death deliver us Oh
Lord!”
Do you meditate on death like so many of the saints? Do you understand why the Church
considers this so important? Do you know
of any resources to do so?
Do you have a concern for the salvation of your soul and the
souls of others?
Do you pray for the dead?
Do you have Holy Masses offered for the dead?
Do you realize there is a Hell and that Scripture strongly
implies more people go to Hell than go to Heaven? Do you know that is highly
unlikely that most people who go to heaven go there directly but rather must
spend time in Purgatory?
The Cross
The Knights are taught that the crucifix is to remind us of
Christ’s passion and death on the Cross. We are reminded that Christ told us to “Deny yourselves, take up your
cross, and follow Me!”
Once again, do you make sacrifices such as fasting or tithing
or volunteering on a regular basis? And
offering those to God prayerfully?
Do you “live for Christ Crucified” as St Paul admonishes us
to do in Sacred Scripture?
Do you meditate on the Passion of Christ as so many saints
recommend us to do?
Have you ever read a book on the Passion of Christ, or the
Catholic explanation for suffering?
Do you unite yourself, and all your personal sufferings, to
the Cross of Christ and the sufferings of our Savior?
Learning
Our Faith
Can you name the 20 Mysteries of the Rosary because of regular
praying of the rosary? Do you know the
10 Commandments and try to live them? Can you name the Seven Sacraments and are
they a central part of your life?
Do you know your faith better now than you did, say, six
months ago?
If someone comes up and tells you the Catholic Church is not
scriptural, for example, can you cite Scripture to show that someone that they are very much mistaken?
Have you read any books written by Catholic Saints, Popes,
or Fathers of the Church?
Are you well versed in Sacred Scripture?
Are you well acquainted with the Catechism of the Catholic
Church?
The Eucharist,
the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Priesthood
Look at the top right of this web page and you see Knights medallion, which not only states our three
main pillars, Charity, Unity, and Fraternity but in the center emphasizes the “Source and Summit”
of our Catholic faith, i.e., the Eucharist.
We Knights are told to support our priests and bishops, to
respect them, to defend them, to help them, to be their “spiritual right
arm.” We are taught to foster vocations
even within our own family.
We are taught the importance of the Mass and the Eucharist.
We are told by our Supreme Chaplain, Archbishop Lori, to make the Eucharistic
the center of our lives, to attend daily Mass, to participate in Eucharistic
Adoration. We Knights are further told by a
canonized saint, Pope John Paul II, to make the Eucharist the center of our
lives and to work on our Catholic Spirituality. St John Paul II did this in a video message specifically for the Knights of Columbus!
Do you love the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass?
Do you pray the prayers at Mass such as the Agnus Dei or are
you too busy high-fiving, so-to-speak, your friends and neighbors at the Sign
of Peace such that you don’t even realize you were supposed to be begging Jesus
Christ present on the altar in the Eucharist to “have mercy on us”?
When you are in Church do you act as you should in the House
of God with silent reverence and prayer before, during, and after every
liturgy, especially the Mass or are you prone to chit-chat with neighbors,
and/or day dream about what you will be doing once this event is finally over with?
Do you make visits to Jesus hidden in the tabernacle and/or
exposed in the Monstrance as often as you can? When you arrive at Church, even for an event as mundane as a Council
Business meeting, do you make a point to make a visit to Jesus in the Blessed
Sacrament?
Would you ever think of visiting your parents house and not
at least saying hello to them? No? They why not treat God at least the same?
Have you ever made a Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration?
Have you studied the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass? In theology books? In Sacred Scripture? In the writings of the saints?
Do you ever make spiritual communions? Have you ever heard of “spiritual
communions?”
Our Lady
of Fatima
The messages of Our Lady of Fatima encompass all of the
spiritual lessons of the Knights. In
addition, Pope Francis made Our Lady of Fatima the patron of his pontificate.
Are you familiar with Our Lady of Fatima? Do you know her story, the story of the child
visionaries, two of whom are now canonized saints? Do you know the story of the
Angel of Fatima, of the warnings, of the admonishments, of the promises?
*** The fine print ****
Bishop Vann's call to all the Knights of the Diocese is a long story. To find our more CLICK HERE.
In The
Soul of the Apostolate by Jean-Baptiste Chautard, a book mentioned by Bishop Timothy Freyer in a video made for all the Knights of Columbus in the Dioceses of Orange (link available on request), the author
places a strong emphasis on the interior life of prayer as the foundation for
any external apostolic work. He argues that without a deep, disciplined life of
prayer, any external activity will be spiritually fruitless and ineffective.
Key Points from Chautard’s Teaching:
- Primacy
of the Interior Life: Chautard stresses that the interior life—the
life of prayer, contemplation, and union with God—is more important than
external works. He believes that apostolic efforts without a solid
interior foundation risk becoming mere activism, lacking spiritual power.
- Prayer
as Labor: Chautard acknowledges that maintaining a vibrant prayer life
is hard work. He draws attention to the effort, perseverance, and
discipline required to sustain a life of prayer, especially for those
engaged in active ministry. He warns against neglecting prayer in favor of
external works, as this will lead to burnout and spiritual dryness.
- Active
Life Rooted in Contemplation: For Chautard, external works
(apostolate) must flow from an interior life rooted in prayer. He
illustrates that, like a tree drawing life from its roots, a person must
draw spiritual strength from God through prayer to produce good fruit in
their apostolic activities. Without this grounding, any outward work will
be hollow.
- Balance
of Action and Contemplation: Chautard refers to the example of great
saints who combined intense prayer with active ministry, showing that the
two are not opposed but complementary. He advocates for a proper balance,
where prayer feeds action, and action leads back to deeper prayer.
- Prayer
as Essential for True Success: According to Chautard, true success in
apostolic work doesn’t come from human effort alone but from grace, which
is obtained through prayer. He teaches that those involved in ministry
must prioritize their own relationship with God to be effective instruments
of His will.
Summary:
In The Soul of the Apostolate, Chautard teaches that
prayer is not only essential but hard work, requiring dedication and
perseverance. He insists that the interior life of prayer is the source of all
apostolic fruitfulness, and without it, external works will be spiritually
empty. True apostolic success is found when action flows from a deep,
disciplined, and prayerful union with God. Therefore, Chautard calls for a
balance between contemplation and action, with a focus on the primacy of the
interior life.