NH Knights

Here you'll find information to support the running of our Knights of Columbus Councils, Assemblies and Circles in New Hampshire. Our goal is to continue expanding state and local programs for Church, Community, Council, Family, Pro-Life and Youth while practicing the principles of our order - Charity, Unity, Fraternity and Patriotism.

Worthy State Deputy, State Officers, Worthy Supreme Director,
My Brother Knights, Good Morning. It is truly a great day as we gather for the Annual New Hampshire State Council Convention 2012.

What a blessing for us last night as we gather at the table of Lord with our Bishop Peter Anthony Libasci, who spoke to us and challenged us to be true disciples of Christ. Called and chosen to be one with Christ.

Our meeting here today is important because we, you and I, are the NH Knights of Columbus and we have a role to play in the life of the Church as disciples of Christ.  My role as the State Council Chaplain is to be the spiritual leader, who can assist and guide the council, be it the state council or the local council. The role of the Chaplain is essential. Every council should have one and the chaplain should be a member of the team of leaders, the officers of the council.

Our order was truly honored recently as our Supreme Chaplain, Bishop Lori was named to be the new Archbishop of Baltimore, our prayers and best wishes go out with him as he undertakes the leadership of this First Archdiocese in the United States.

As your spiritual leader it is my responsibility to remind you of your call to live the Gospel of Jesus. To be true disciples. To be Christ to the other.

We are called to serve and to live the principles of our great order;  charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism. Each principal expresses who we are and what we do. We have all learned the lessons in our ceremonials, yet each of us needs to be reminded of the importance of the lessons and how they must be lived each and every day.

Let me present and provide you with just a brief refreshing review; Charity flows from what we believe and think, it flows from our interior lives, it flows from our God who is love. Everyone wants and needs to be loved. Love is a constant need, it is essential, it is what we all search for and desire in our lives. The first document written by Pope Benedict XVI  as Holy Father was “God is Love” a communion of live and love, Father, Son and Holy Spirit - love is revealed and experienced. Every time we pray, every time we attend Mass and receive the Eucharist, we are strengthened for the journey. The Body and Blood of Christ, the Eucharist, is the source and summit of our faith. We are nourished and strengthened as the Eucharist is our source of charity, Eucharist produces the charity that helps us to see Christ in the poor, the needy, the lost, the forgotten. We are called to renew the sacrifice, that reveals the love of Christ, who died for us.  It was love, not the nails that held Christ to the cross. Out of pure love he died for our sins, yours and mine. Hence our first principle is charity.

Unity, Fr. Michael McGivney knew the importance of the second principle of the order, unity. He had a God-given knack for bringing people together, for calling forth their talents and generosity. By making unity a principle of the order, he realized that none of us is as good as all of us. To be Christian, to be Catholic, to be a Knight is to be part of a community. Each one of us can do a charitable act, but when we do it together we make a difference. We change our world by the way we live our faith. In our faith the perfect source of unity is the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The Father shares everything with the Son, the Son who perfectly reflects the Father, the Holy Spirit, the personal bond of love and unity between them a communion of live and love that is one God in three persons.  This unity is revealed by Jesus, “the Father and I are one” (John 10:30)  at the last supper he prayed “that they may be one” (John 17:21) and achieved on the cross, by which our peace with God and one another was made. The unity of the church and the Order are called to be one, it is not our project, but rather we are as stewards of a unity that far transcends us our unity is in the Eucharist. We are made new in the body of Christ. In baptism we become one with Christ, in Eucharist we are nourished and strengthened in Christ, we are the living body of Christ. We are his hands and feet in our time and place.  We are one in the Spirit, we are one in his love, we are the body of Christ. Our unity is attained through our prayer, that we allow the trinity to dwell within us, that nourished in the Eucharist we become one.

The third principle of fraternity, simply put it has to do with watching out for one another, caring for one another, as our Supreme Knight says we are “our brother’s keeper” We are a mutual benefit society, our insurance allows us to serve the needs of our families, especially those who experience the loss of a loved one. We are a Christian brotherhood, we are one in faith and love. Brotherhood is given to us and we need to share in it by our relationship to Christ as our brother.  Christ answered the question, “who are my mother, brother and sisters?” and the answer, “whoever does the will of my heavenly Father.”  (Matthew 12:46-50) this is our call to be a community.

Fraternity is taking care of one another’s faith as well as their material and financial needs, we need to pray for one another.

The fourth principle is patriotism, mention patriotism and the 4^th degree comes to mind. It is easy for us as Americans to get caught up in our love country, we must respect that patriotism it is not just an American ideal, but brother knights throughout the various countries where the knights exist have proudly served their country, be they, Americans, Canadians, Mexicans,  Cubans, Poles, Filipinos, or Dominicans, all have served. Men and women have paid the supreme sacrifice, offering their life for freedom in our world.  Our patriotism is real, genuine down to earth but it is surely rooted in a longing for our homeland in heaven. We are patriots who have our hearts set on what is above, not below, men who take seriously the promise a new heaven and a new earth.

As people of faith, we seek the kingdom of God.

The four principles of the Order … charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism challenge us and also provide us with a roadmap in our ministry, as disciples of Christ. In closing, my prayer and my hope is that we the NH Knights of Columbus - can be the disciples Christ desires.  Let us be Christ to the other.

Vivat Jesus.
Fr. Aggie

Reverend Fathers, Worthy Supreme Guest, Director Harris, Worthy State Officers, Worthy District Deputies, Worthy Past State Deputies, Worthy Grand Knights, Worthy Council Officers, Worthy Delegates to this 113^th Convention and Brothers all, WELCOME.

This morning we are gathered to conduct the business of the New Hampshire State Council, to hear the various reports of the Brothers who have held leadership and program positions, to hear about our budget balances, our great works of charity, unity and fraternity.  Bear with me as I attempt to summarize the fraternal year in review.  I suppose it’s best to begin with the mission of our State Council.  For the written mission statement we thank Assistant State Chaplain Father Robert Smolley for his never tiring, unflinching support of our every endeavor.

We, the Knights of Columbus, are an organization of Catholic men living in the State of New Hampshire and abiding by the principles of our Founder, Fr. Michael J. McGivney – charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism.  We provide charitable services to our Church, our community, and our brother Knights and families.

As Knights, we stand in allegiance to our Holy Father and the teachings of our holy Catholic Church.  We stand in solidarity with our bishops and priests, pray and support them in all their ministerial responsibilities.  We stand at the service of our Church, our parishes, and our society at home and around the world.  We strive for a closer union with our Lord, Jesus Christ, through prayer and works of charity.  We understand our duty to God, to our families, and to the Knights.

It is our goal as Knights to serve the Church in her mission to make the gospel known to all both in word and in action.  We serve the family which is the core of society and the Church by supporting one another and our families both physically and spiritually. We serve our youth by showing them how to build a strong sense of civic, patriotic and religious responsibility.  We commit ourselves to the dignity of human life as we pledge ourselves in the work of the Pro-Life movement.

True to its founding principles, the Knights of Columbus provides support to its members and their families through its insurance program and other fraternal benefits.

As Knights of Columbus in the State of New Hampshire, we commit ourselves to remain true to the vision and ideals of Venerable Fr. Michael McGivney, our Founder, and we pledge, with God’s help, that we will continue to be true sons of the Church and faithful followers of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

So let us break down the mission and see what we have done in the fraternal year to support the cause.

• We are abiding by our principles of charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism.

1. All one needs to do is take a look at the vast number of project sheets that local Councils submitted for judging to learn that these principles are alive and well.  Take a look at the breadth and depth of the care taken by local Councils to attend to the needs of those in our communities that are less fortunate.  Take a look at record amounts of donations made during this year when everyone is complaining that the economy won’t take it and you’ll see that the New Hampshire Knights are truly shining stars in this sea of need.  We have provided hundreds of pounds of food to local churches and food pantries not to mention tons of clothing donations.  At our winter meeting in Suncook the ladies collected hundreds of dollars worth of supplies that were later delivered to the Sisters of the Presentation in Manchester, The Carmelites in Concord and our retired priests in residence at Bishop Peterson House in Manchester.  When local families were faced with the real possibility of totally missing a Thanksgiving of Christmas meal you were there to provide what families needed.
2. We took care of each other as well.  Countless stories have come to me via email of Councils providing assistance to Brothers in need of assistance.  Ramps were built, roofs were fixed, transportation provided and just countless other good deeds too numerous to mention.  Some of you even took good care of your State Deputy by inviting him to very nice meals.  Notice that I don’t miss many of them if you would.
3. Take a look at the hundreds of man-hours expended to keep Camp Fatima in shape.  Again, Brother Knights doing what they do best.  Some even offering an entire work crew rather than being out there on a paying job.  Roofs were repaired, cabins cleaned, furniture painted and fixed, electricity installed, water lines and plumbing repaired, brush and down trees cleared and the boats and docks are installed at the waterfront.  All of that work helps the diocesan camps keep the tuition for the summer sessions low so that more kids can have a fun vacation in the summer.
4. Take a look at the thousands of dollars donated to Exceptional Citizen’s Week at Camp Fatima and all of the funds donated as a result of our annual Tootsie Roll Drives.  You guys have done one fantastic job after another.  Everyone should be thanking you for this outstanding effort.
5. How about our Brothers in Claremont at Father Cote Council leading the charge to fund an ultra-sound machine for the Claremont Pregnancy Center.  Many Brothers in that area joined with the Brothers at Father Cote to make that miracle happen.  These guys prove that Knights of Columbus is alive and well north of the Hooksett toll booth.

• We stand in allegiance with the Holy Father, our Bishop and priests.  We stand in service to the church and work hard to understand our responsibilities to Church and family.

1. Just take a look at the hundreds of dollars we’ve raised via the RSVP program to assist our seminarians and postulants,  We continue to encourage participation in our Penny a Day a Knight campaign to build a vocations fund so we can be of even more assistance to the Bishop of Manchester. Look at the many projects reported that have been a direct benefit to our local churches.
2. How about all of the fish that’s been fried, beans baked, pancakes tossed and spaghetti cooked up to earn support funds for so many other church projects.
3. Don’t forget all of the Brothers who are serving the Church as members of a parish council, an altar server, lector, musician, usher, custodian, yard man and who knows what else.  All of these jobs need to be done and our Knights have just stepped up to do them.  That’s what we do.  We see a need and we fill it.

• We serve our families and keep the organization strong by supporting the Order’s insurance programs.

1. We are proud to be able to say that our insurance program is second to none.  Sometime today you’ll be addressed by the General Agent.  Listen closely to what he has to say about that organization within the Order.  You could become a huge benefactor of that strength if you’re a participant.  Even if you choose not to participate the Order still knows that it can rely on the strength of that program to support the needs of the Church around the world.
2. Take a look at the wonderful support that has been generated by our Order to help the victims of weather disasters here at home and hundreds, maybe thousands of kids who were outfitted with replacement limbs in places like Haiti after the earthquake.
3. Check out the Wheelchair program that has given mobility to hundreds of wounded warriors here in the USA
4. Check out the Coats for Kids program that makes it possible for some many kids to get to school in the morning without freezing on the way.
5. During our Summer Meeting the ladies collected more than 100 back packs which were distributed to our Catholic Schools so that kids who come from homes financially strapped with tuition costs could have a back pack to carry their belongings back and forth from home.  Not only did they collect the back packs but they stuffed them with school supplies from a list provided by the Diocesan School Superintendant.
6. During that same meeting the ladies collected hundreds of dollars worth of additional school supplies that were distributed to teachers at the neediest schools so that the teachers would not take those expenses out of pocket.  Your support makes things like this happen.

• It is our goal as Knights to serve the Church in her mission to make the gospel known to all both in word and in action.

1. Brothers virtually all that we do is designed to make the mission of the Church either known or just easier.  By our activity we bring the gospel to those around us who maybe don’t believe as we do or maybe are marginalized or on the edge.  Our many activities are exactly that live homily that many people need to believe that God is love.

Now let’s keep in mind that it’s not all good.  There are still plenty of challenges that need to be addressed.  Some of those challenges are political in nature.  On January 20 this year Health and Human Services issued a health insurance mandate that would force Catholic Institutions to provide or subsidize the use of FDA-approved contraceptive methods and sterilization procedures, including certain drugs known to cause and early abortion.  A little later HHS issued what it called an “accommodation” that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and others have deemed inadequate.  This mandate constitutes a very serious threat to our religious liberty.  In solidarity with our Bishop the Knights of Columbus in New Hampshire is urging all local Councils and all conscientious citizens to voice their opposition to this rule.  I’m proud to say that our own worthy State Advocate Brother Jordan Ulery has been a leader of this opposition here in the New Hampshire legislature.  Brother Jordan introduced House Resolution 29 which calls for the US Department of Health and Human Services to rescind the mandate.  This resolution was adopted and was sent to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in Washington.

It’s my opinion that we owe Brother Jordan our sincere gratitude along with the other NH Knights who stood to oppose this affront on life and religious freedom.

We also have another Brother Knight who stood up when it was necessary to fight off the federal government\’s intrusion into our lives.  Many thanks to the Honorable Daniel St. Hilaire for his courageous stance on defunding Planned Parenthood in the Governor’s Executive Council.

What about membership growth?

It looks like we’re holding our own for now but we need to concentrate some significant effort on improving our numbers here in New Hampshire.  If we look at the demographics we see that a larger and ever growing segment of our membership is over 75 years old.  So we have planty of men with long service and lots of experience in that group.  Now think about our Order’s watchword, Tempus Fugit Memento Mori and then think about the age demographic.  At some time, probably sooner than later, our elder statesmen are going to be no longer able to help serve the community, in fact in Fraternity we will need to be helping them.  Now the real issue is that If we look at the other end of the demographic scale our younger mebers, that is men between the ages of 18 and 28 are dwindling too.  We all get older and older.  Without a serious effort to place younger men into our Councils we are probably doomed to burn out at a minimum and failure will result.  We cannot and will not accept this fate.  I’m calling on every Brother in the room to become “Membership Active” before the end of the Fraternal Year.  If every Brother here recruits just one more new member we will be on the way to fixing our membership issue.  Right after that recruitment we’ll need to make sure that we give that new guy a project to run or to at least help with.  Keep that new man busy and interested.  There is plenty to do out there for everyone who is willing to lend a hand.  In order to survive we must continue to be membership active.  If every Council recruits one new family, one new member in each month from now to the end of the Fraternal year we can make our assigned membership goals.  Everyone needs to become a part of the solution in this case.

Our membership team on the state level has been active.  Recently we opened a new Council at the College of St. Mary Magdallen in Warner, we continue to work on a Council at St. Thomas More College in Merrimack and we have irons in the fire at Durham for a Council at the University of New Hampshire.  We’re working a managing a few Council mergers where that makes sense and there is hard work going on in both Manchester and Nashua for new Council development and membership renewals.

We rose to new heights as we learned to exemplify the Third Degree of the Order.  If you have not witnessed that degree I urge you to make the effort to attend the next exemplification in your area as an observer or better yet as a sponsor of a new Brother Knight.

We are actively planning a new and simpler calendar tool for the next fraternal year.  This calendar will go beyond the power of the calendar we presently use because it will mark important milestones that are necessary leading up to the actual event. Once again we need the support of our local Councils in UNITY with the State Council if we are going to be successful. We are also going to resurrect the Grand Knight Training program in the next fraternal year.  If your Council is electing a new Grand Knight we need you to mark your calendars for a special afternoon of training and fellowship at St. John Neumann Church in South Merrimack on June 30.  Grand Knights who are not standing for re-election are asked to pass this information on to your successor.  This session is being carefully planned and will focus on things that you absolutely need to know in order to be a successful new Grand Knight..

We also need to recognize a few other improvements that we’ve made during this fraternal year.  In some cases the changes came as a result of you asking for them and in others we realized that they were just plain required in order to keep the wheels on the organization.  Our thanks for PSD Greg Taillon and his talented team for modernizing and getting the state website into a more user friendly standard.  That work is continuing every day.  You should check it out.  We’ve also made efforts to build teams for our various state level projects.  To that end we invite all of you to think about putting in a bid to host one of these activities.  We are currently looking for host Councils for our summer quarterly meeting which we generally hold in July, our fall meeting generally held in October and the winter meeting in January.  Hosts are also needed for the Free Throw Contest, the Soccer Challenge and the 2013 Granite Award banquet.  On the Pro-Life side of things we need a host for the Pro-Life Seminar which we generally hold in April and the Birth Right Dinner in February.  Some of these activities are out there but getting them on the calendar and ensuring that we have a host Council is extremely important.  You can also plan of being contacted by the State Deputy to form a committee to explore how we do certain activities and we will then rely on that committee to provide ideas to improve the outcome.as State Deputy

Finally, let me just say that it has been an extreme pleasure and a high honor to serve the State Council.  I honesty did not realize what a gratifying undertaking this job really is.  While it is extremely busy at times I find that it is so exciting when we get it right.  I thank all of you for your confidence and your thoughts, prayers and suggestions.  Thanks to the corps of District Deputies, Chairmen and Directors for all your hard work.  Thanks also to the Board of Directors for your guidance, suggestions and your hard work too.

Here’s hoping that as we press on we can and will enrich the ranks of the Knights of Columbus and our Church with an abundance of great men and families.  We move forward by the grace of God so please continue to pray that all of our activities will be blessed by God Almighty.

Vivat Jesus
Joel

Reverend Fathers, Religious and Seminarians, Worthy Supreme Director Arthur Harris and Marlene, Brother State Officers, Worthy Madame President, District Deputies, Grand Knights, Convention Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, Guests of the New Hampshire State Council

– Welcome to our 113th annual Convention banquet and awards night.

Tonight we will celebrate the best of the best so to speak. I’ve been told by my predecessors that choosing these awards is one of the harder tasks that the State Deputy is charged with doing. They were right. So after hours of thought, prayer and more thought we come to tonight grateful for all of the work that these award winners have accomplished. The only regret in all this that I have is that we can’t award everyone although many of the accomplishments of this fraternal year have been the result of a collaborative effort.

Our sincere thanks to all of the Brother Knights and their families who have contributed in some way to any success that we’ve had. I know that there are parishes, communities and individuals out there in our world that are better off today because of the work of the Knights of Columbus. Our continuing efforts in so many areas have and continue to make life easier for those who find themselves on the short end of things.

I’d like very much to say a special thank you to the team that I have had the privilege of working with during the past fraternal year. We have accomplished a lot and we realize that there is more to do. Our goals must be to continue to look to the future, learn from the past and move forward to evangelize the community where we find ourselves.

We started this year with the theme “I Am My Brother’s Keeper.” We end on the same note knowing that we have indeed been successful at living this message in so many ways. There are so many accomplishments that we need to recall. We need to take from that energy and excitement and bring that level of enthusiasm multiplied by a factor of ten into the next fraternal year. It can be done and it will be done if we continue to act as a team to make it happen.

Vicki and I wish to express our sincere thanks to the many people who helped us get what we did get done….done. As always there isn’t time to recognize everyone so eliminate the risk of hurt feelings let’s just say thanks to everyone who took the time to coach, help, teach, pray and criticize when needed. Together we make a very good team that is building toward a brighter future for our state and the Order in New Hampshire.

Once again, welcome all to this convention awards banquet. Vicki and I are looking forward to meeting all of you as the evening moves along.

Vivat Jesus!
Joel