Bishop William R. Johnson Council 9487

Grand Knight's Report

Iron is sharpened by iron;
one person sharpens another.

Brothers,

January was another busy month for the Knights. I will start by echoing the theme our Worthy Deputy Grand Knight will expand upon later in this newsletter: please join your brother Knights in as many of these events as you can. Even if you feel you are not physically up to the task at hand, or only have a small amount of time to offer, stop by! We will always be glad to have you. Nick Thomo and his volunteers put on another successful (and delicious) Breakfast Burrito fundraiser. We seem to get more streamlined every time, and Nick is always looking for ways to improve the next one. Our Car Wash Fundraiser had great weather, and $944 was raised to help our brothers in the Marriage Enrichment program. Aside from abortion, the high divorce rate in our country is perhaps the most scandalous and pernicious issue facing us. This group does their part to help turn the tide.

We had our annual Outback Steakhouse Past Grand Knight dinner, and our very worthy PGK Tom Sixsmith was awarded a medal for his great efforts. Thank you to our DGK Mark Angel for spearheading this dinner with his wife Eileen.

PGK Mike Sofka arranged another Brizio’s Fundraiser, one of our most successful to date.

Upcoming events:

January 31, Saturday Recycling, February 4, Council Meeting Rm. A , February 6, First Friday Adoration, February 7, Isaiah House food bag builds, February 8, Coffee & Donuts, and February 7/8, ID Drive Tootsie Roll Drive and Blood Drive Recruitment. Emergency Training on the 11th, Lenten Books and Blood Drive recruitment on the 11/12th. The actual Blood Drive is on the 17th. Our officer’s planning meeting will coincide with Ash Wednesday on 2/18.

Our “Saint of the Month” for February joins two of our previous “not quite saints, yet”, Blessed’s Miguel Pro and Solanus Casey: Venerable Fulton Sheen. Bishop Sheen is on the opposite side of the academic spectrum from Blessed Solanus. He was a brilliant man, gifted both academically and as a communicator. He is sometimes described as the world’s first televangelist. He rose from parish priest to Bishop of Rochester, New York. For twenty years (1930-1950) he hosted the radio program “The Catholic Hour”. He then moved to television and hosted “Life is Worth Living” from 1952-57, and finally “The Fulton Sheen Program” from 1961- 68. He won an Emmy for Most Outstanding Television Personality, and was once featured on the cover of Time magazine.

May almighty God Bless and protect us and our families.
Venerable Fulton Sheen, pray for us!
Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!

Venerable Fulton Sheen

I highly recommend viewing videos of his sermons, you can still find them online (Bishop Sheen on the meaning of the Mass):