Worthy Chapter President and Brother Knights,
I bring you greetings from our State Chaplain, Bishop Mulvey, and our Associate State Chaplain, Fr. Chen, whom I am in contact.
In this month's report, I want to reflect briefly on the virtue of Hope. In his Columbia (January / February 2025) article, titled "The Door of Hope", Supreme Chaplain Archbishop Lori has this to say about hope, in this Jubilee 2025 year of Pilgrims of Hope.
The virtue of hope fixes our gaze upon something that appears at the forefront of our minds and in the depths of our hearts: Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of Mary, the One “who loved us and handed himself over for us” (Eph. 5:2). If this is who God is, and if this God is on our side, who and what an be against us” (cf. Rom. 8:31).
Our Lord Jesus Christ is our reason to hope because, every time we gaze upon our Crucified Lord on the Cross, our hearts are filled with His love and mercy for us because He died on the Cross for us. Archbishop Lori continues:
The Holy Door that the Lord wants most open is the door of our hearts - hearts that are sometimes shut tight because of sin, anger, fear or discouragement. . . the Lord continues to knock at the door of our hearts (cf. Rev. 3:20). . . let us hasten to open our hearts.
And here is the hinge, something extremely important for us to understand about Hope in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Archbishop Lori writes:
He will not necessarily grant our wishes, but he will satisfy our yearning to see his face and to be loved infinitely, even amid our frailty. . .may we experience the “hope [that] does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts” (Rom. 5:5).
Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent is on March 5th. It is a penitential season that can help us grow in the virtue of hope. Prayer helps us grow in our relationship with God because we realize that Jesus is the reason for us to be hopeful. Fasting helps us discipline ourselves so that we can focus on things of God to overcome sins and temptations. Almsgiving is the key to hope. . . “it is when hope overtakes us that we begin opening the doors of hope for others. . . When we love, and when we experience love, our hearts are opened” (Archbishop Lor).
I hope to see many of you at this Saturday Diaconate Ordination at San Jose. Please know of my prayers for you and your families.
Vivat Jesus!
Here is a link to my previous report from the Chapter meeting in November:
Knights of Columbus Austin Chapter - A Report of the Spiritual Director (11/25/2024) https://dcnphuc2019.blogspot.com/2024/11/knights-of-columbus-austin-chapter.html
Deacon Phúc’s challenges for all Knights for the month of March
- PERSONAL & FAMILY: “10 Things for a Transformative Lent” (Updated: 2/20/2025) https://dcnphuc2019.blogspot.com/2023/02/10-things-for-transformative-lent.html or something similar for you and your family.
- COUNCIL: Stay prayed up in the midst of the busy-ness of Fish Fry, etc. Almsgiving is taken care of so focus on prayer and fasting.
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