Knights of Columbus Austin Chapter - A Report of the Spiritual Director (11/25/2024)

Worthy Chapter President and Brother Knights,

I bring you greetings from our State Chaplain, Bishop Mulvey, who I will see at the Mid-Year Meeting in Dallas next weekend.

This past Sunday, we celebrated the great feast of Christ the King. As we end the liturgical year with Christ the King and start the new liturgical year with Advent, let us ask ourselves the following questions. Is Christ the King in our lives, in our families, and in all that we do? If not, then, like we do every new year, let us make new liturgical year resolutions to make Christ the King in our lives. How can we do this?

In her wisdom, Holy Mother Church gives us the season of Advent to prepare ourselves to receive Christ as King in our hearts. While the world around is busying itself with the "hustle and bustle" of the Christmas season that, for them, ends on December 26th, let us Catholics not take for granted the season of Advent to help us prepare ourselves for Christmas. If it is not already a tradition in our families, then let us put out of Advent candles and light up each candle for the four Sundays of Advent.

The first purple candle is the Prophecy Candle. The reading of the Old Testament (Jer 33:14-16) reminds us of the HOPE of the coming of the Lord, a Savior who redeems his people:

The days are coming, says the LORD, 

    when I will fulfill the promise 

    I made to the house of Israel and Judah.

In those days, in that time, 

    I will raise up for David a just shoot ; 

    he shall do what is right and just in the land.

This candle reminds us that no matter the challenges in our lives, there is always HOPE and so we put our trust in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The second purple candle is the Bethlehem Candle, we prepare ourselves to receive the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ into our hearts and help bring peace in our families and community because he is the Prince of Peace (Lk 3:1-6).

A voice of one crying out in the desert:

    “Prepare the way of the Lord,

        make straight his paths.

    Every valley shall be filled

        and every mountain and hill shall be made low.

    The winding roads shall be made straight,

        and the rough ways made smooth,

    and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

How can we bring peace in our families? It is said that religion and politics should not be discussed at family gatherings, particularly at Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is also said that the art of public discourse is lost in our society. And so we ask ourselves, how can we be instruments of peace by rising above our ideological differences and sow seeds of peace, not division, especially in our families?

The rose (or pink) candle is the Shepherd's Candle that we light on Gaudete Sunday, reminding us that even in the midst of a penitential season, we can still experience the joy of the birth and coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Zep 3:14-18a).

Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!

        Sing joyfully, O Israel!

    Be glad and exult with all your heart,

        O daughter Jerusalem!

Our society desires to keep the spirit of Christmas throughout the rest of the year in the same way that we Catholics desire to keep the joy of Christmas throughout the year. And we can by being rooted in our faith because the joy that we experience in Jesus Christ is supernatural and cannot be found in anything of this world but in our Father in heaven who loves us.

The third purple candle is the Angel's Candle and it reminds us of the great love that God has for us for He so loved the world that He sent his only Begotten Son (Lk 1:39-45).

Blessed are you among women, 

and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

And how does this happen to me, 

that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

At Christmas, we celebrate the single most greatest moment in the history of mankind - the Incarnation. God becomes man and dwells among us because He loves us. For us, love starts with forgiveness. Can we forgive ourselves and see ourselves as God sees us - beloved sons and daughters? We can forgive others? In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus teaches us "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. . ."

And so, the challenge for us is to be instruments of hope, peace, joy, and love in our families, parish community, and society. The season of Advent gives us the opportunity to invite Baby Jesus into our hearts and transform us and our families. We who are created in the image and likeness of God. We who God thought of us before he formed us in our mother's womb. God could have come to us in any way He wanted, yet He chose to be born of the Virgin Mary. Through his Incarnation, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ sanctified life from conception to natural death and the family.

Since we will not see each other again until January 2025, I wish you and your families a blessed Thanksgiving, a peaceful Advent season, and a joyous Christmas season. Also, a blessed Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God (also know as New Year's).

Vivat Jesus!

Here is a link to my previous report from the Chapter meeting in August:

• Knights of Columbus Austin Chapter - A Report of the Spiritual Director (10/28/2024) https://dcnphuc2019.blogspot.com/2024/10/knights-of-columbus-austin-chapter.html 

Deacon Phúc’s challenges for all Knights for the month of November

• PERSONAL & FAMILY: Invite / bring someone who has not been to Mass in a long time to Christmas Mass with you and your family and walk with them..

• COUNCIL: Help our pastors this Advent and Christmas season by being instruments of hope, peace, joy, and love at our parishes.