After many years of searching, we finally have a Chaplain for the Chapter! I am grateful to Fr. Charlie for saying "yes" to my invitation to be our Chaplain! It is a blessing to serve with him again.
In his Chaplain Report, Fr. Charlie shared a bit about himself. You can read his biography on the Holy Trinity Seminary website. We were certainly blessed to have him as our pastor at Saint Albert the Great Catholic Church from 2019 to 2025 and really shepherd us through the pandemic with the heart of a pastor after the Good Shepherd.
As a Knight himself, Fr. Charlie thanked the Order for their support of seminarians, especially men like Fr. Kingsley Ohaeri (Parochial Vicar at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Manor, TX) who came to the U.S. to become a priest for the people of God. He shared that there has been an increase in the number of men applying for the seminary because of the "Leo effect". He encouraged the Knights to continue to support seminarians with their prayers and concrete expression of love however they can at their parishes and councils.
On the topic of being a Knight of Columbus and bringing men into the Order, he encouraged us to be diligent with our recruitment of new members. Particularly, he encouraged us to help men become Catholics in good standing so that they can be on the path of discipleship in the Order to serve the parish and the Universal Church. This suggestion should not be new to us, because our State Deputy Ron Alonzo has been encouraging us to be good mentors to new members.
Then, during the Spiritual Director Report, Fr. Charlie talked about the three pillars of Lent - prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. With prayer, he encouraged us to pray the Stations of the Cross. He shared his gratitude for the Council 10333, at Saint Albert the Great, for their commitment to leading the parish in praying the Stations. For those who have to set up for the Fish Fry and clean up afterwards, Fr. Charlie suggested that they incorporate praying the Stations during prep and clean up time. Perhaps, some person can pray the Stations on the speaker for all to hear as they are preparing for the Fish Fry. With fasting, Fr. Charlie suggested fasting with reason, as in, do not over do it that one might faint. Rather, he suggested fasting to the point of feeling "hunger pains" that will help us hunger for God, especially our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. Finally, with almsgiving, we should see the poverty of another person and desire to bring relief to their suffering, most especially within our families.
Fasting and almsgiving go hand in hand and prayer gives purpose to our Lent observances. For example, Fr. Charlie shared that, because the pace at the seminary is much slower than at a parish, he finds himself falling into the deadly sin of sloth. However, he is hitting that sloth with diligence by praying the litany of diligence, not hitting the snooze button, and he even started writing and thinking about doing a podcast. These are some of the ways that Fr. Charlie is overcoming the vice with virtue.
I am grateful to Fr. Charlie to sharing his wisdom with us. We are blessed to have him as our Chaplain. Next our next meeting, brother Knights. . .
"May the Holy Spirit walk with us throughout this Lenten season. May we grow closer to Christ and become peacemakers and a light to all people" Amen. (Bishop Garcia, 2/18/2026).
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