Happy November Brother’s,
Welcome to the November edition of the Cross & Compass. I hope this newsletter finds you and your family doing well. It is hard to believe we are in November but you sure can tell as our Council is in high gear, and almost all of our members have returned for the Season, Welcome Back Brothers! We kicked off the season with our Annual Golf Outing and I’m happy to report this event raised over $44,000 for the 3 charities it supports. Way to go Dave and Team as well as to all the members who contributed by having a foursome or made a donation to this event. We also finished the month with our monthly food drive. I heard the numbers were down a bit, but this was probably due to the continuing impact from the hurricane. Thanks to Eric and your team for your continued efforts of having the monthly food collection.
We have a lot going on in November and we really need everyone's help and support. We start the month with the All Soul’s Mass on Saturday, November 2nd at 2:00 pm at Venice Gardens Cemetery. Then on November 3rd we will have our first pancake breakfast of the year. Please come to the breakfast and invite your friends and family to come to one of the sittings. George Bevis and his team have been very busy working on the breakfast in order to make it a successful event as they look to grow it to serve over 200 people. You can purchase tickets online now, just go to our website. On November 8th, we will be hosting our 2nd Annual Italian Night at the Venice Community Center. Over 211 tickets have been sold for the event, and we still have some tickets to sell. This is going to be a great night as we are raising money for our Veterans and the money raised will go to Operation Warrior Resolutions. They save vet’s lives through their program, and the stories of success are absolutely amazing. Also check the website out for Breakfast with Brother’s. This is another great opportunity to strengthen our fraternal bonds with one another on a monthly basis.
I really love this time of year as we begin to enter into the holiday season. This time of year the most popular question seems to be what are you thankful for? I’ve actually been asked this question a lot lately. I am most thankful this year for my wife as she encouraged me and really made the Camino happen for me. After a major job loss, typically the last thing you would think your spouse would tell you is to take 6 weeks off to complete a life’s dream. I am extremely thankful for the memories I made on the Camino as it taught me a valuable lesson. It wasn’t until the Camino that I really understood what it meant to offer my sufferings up for the church. Carrying the heavy backpack on a daily basis and the aches and pains that came from all the walking and climbing really did take its toll on me. It wasn’t until Father Jay sent me a couple of texts that said for me to continue offering up my sufferings for the church, and that I had all the prayers of the church behind me. These texts actually seemed to lighten my load so to speak and I began walking with a new enthusiasm. I still offer my sufferings up on a daily basis as my feet are still healing from the trip. But now I know how to offer up my sufferings. It took me to age 53 to figure that one out. How about you, what are you thankful for? We are going to spend some time at our meeting this month answering this question. As I think it's important that we all get to know each other a little more, and we all can learn something new.
Lastly, as we enter November, we’re reminded of the importance of prayer, remembrance, and community. This month, dedicated to the Holy Souls, encourages us to pray for the faithful departed, especially our brother knights who have gone before us. Let's keep them, and all departed souls, in our thoughts and prayers. Let us continue to work hard to help our Church and the Communities we live in and be the feet and hands of Jesus.
I look forward to seeing everyone at Mass or our next meeting on November 13th. Starting at 5:30 with the Rosary. Thank you for your dedication and brotherhood. May God bless each of you and your families as we move toward Thanksgiving and the Advent season.
Your fraternal brother,
Rick Kuertz, Grand Knight 