Greetings Brothers,
Welcome to the May edition of the Cross and Compass. I hope this newsletter finds you and your
family doing well. It is hard to believe we are in May already and many of our members are
returning North for the summer. It has been a busy season for all of us and things are finally
starting to slow down a little bit. For those traveling back home, safe travels, we will see you soon.
April was a busy month for us. We started the month with the Divine Mercy Service. If you
couldn’t make it, you may want to come next year as it was an amazing service. We also hosted
our last pancake breakfast for the year. The attendance for our breakfasts keeps getting better and
better. Thanks to Dave Kristie and the Kitchen Team for all your help. Many thanks to Dave Kristie
who is turning the spatula over to George Bevis. We also held our monthly Food Drive, and it was
another great success. Thanks Eric and Team for all your efforts. We finished the month strong,
and I am happy to report we have sold all 700 tickets for the CFA Raffle. Thanks to Ron and
everyone who helped us sell all the tickets. We broke a record and raised $70,000 of which
$60,000 will be going to Father Jay for the CFA. GREAT JOB!
As we transition to the month of May I want to pause for a moment as we have been getting a lot
of prayers requests lately. I am glad our brothers share these requests with us so that we can all
pray for them together. Prayer is the most powerful thing we have. The Bible teaches that God is
searching for those who would stand in the gap, to intercede for others. This invitation from God
is for all Christians to serve through intercessory prayer. I have come to realize that praying for
our fellow brothers is our privilege. Some of our brothers are going through a lot right now, let us
continue to lift them up in our prayers before the Father. When all our prayers are combined
before him, miracles happen. Let us keep praying!
As we enter this month, let us remember that May is the Month of Mary. As Knights, we honor her
with fervent devotion, and recognize her as a guiding light on our journey of faith. We are also
approaching the Feast of the Ascension. During this time let us reflect on the significance of
Christ’s triumph over sin and death. His ascension into heaven fills us with hope and reminds us of
the ultimate earthly goal, unity with God for all eternity. At the end of the month, we will also
celebrate Memorial Day, let us all remember those that died, especially those that gave their life for
our country which has given us the freedoms we have today.
A couple quick announcements. You can participate in placing flags on the graves at Sarasota
National Cemetery on May 25th. If would like to help, please contact brother Jim Palermo for
more information. Also, our Church needs twenty ushers, if you can help at any service, please let
me or one of the officers know. They need a lot of help, if you feel called, please consider.
In closing, brothers, let us renew our commitment to the principles of charity, unity, fraternity, and
patriotism that lie at the heart of our order. When we do this, we can be beacons of light in a
world that needs hope, healing, and prayer.
I look forward to seeing you at Mass or the next meeting.
Vivat Jesus
Rick Kuertz, GK 