THE EXPLORER

December 2011 KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS Official Publication of Kingsway Council #3387 4202C Dundas Street West Etobicoke, Ontario M8X 1Y6 Published the 15th day of each month www.kingsway3387.ca Volume 51 Issue 4

WORK HARD - PLAY HARD - PRAY HARD CELEBRATING 60 YEARS OF SERVICE TO CHURCH AND COMMUNITY

MEETING DATES Here is the complete list for the fraternal year. Meetings will be held in our hall at 4202C Dundas Street West @ 8:00 p.m.
2011-2012 MEETING SCHEDULE
DATE DECEMBER 12 JANUARY 10 JANUARY 24 FEBUARY 14 FEBUARY 28 MARCH 13 MARCH 27 APRIL 10 APRIL 24 MAY 8 MAY 22 JUNE 12 JUNE 26 MEETING TYPE GENERAL MEETING GENERAL MEETING EXECUTIVE MEETING GENERAL MEETING EXECUTIVE MEETING GENERAL MEETING EXECUTIVE MEETING GENERAL MEETING EXECUTIVE MEETING GENERAL MEETING EXECUTIVE MEETING GENERAL MEETING EXECUTIVE MEETING

What follows is a list of council events. We understand if you can not make it out to all of the events, but we encourage you to attend as many events a possible.

DATE Sunday, January 8, 2012 Saturday January 14, 2012 Saturday, January 21 2012

EVENT Out of the Cold with use of kitchen at Our Lady of Peace Pasta Night at St. Gregorys Co-hosted by the CWL Pasta Night at St. Clement Parish

May we suggest you copy and place this list on the refrigerator or on your desk so you dont forget when there is a meeting. All members are welcomed to attend both types of meetings.

Kingsway Council 2010-2011 Executive

CHAPLAIN Fr. Leo Burns C.S.B GRAND KNIGHT Paul Bryce DEPUTY GRAND KNIGHT Michael Doerig PAST GRAND KNIGHT Denis Tisdel CHANCELLOR WARDEN Chris Tisdel FINANCIAL SECRETARY Danny Franchi TREASURER Rodger Bodrug ADVOCATE Joe Wosik RECORDER Ron Craddock LECTURER TRUSTEE 1 YR Vince Conforzi TRUSTEE 2 YRS Joe Magalhaes TRUSTEE 3 YRS Frank Ficker GUARDS INSIDE Chris Columbus David Young
GUARDS OUTSIDE

Kingsway Council General Meetings

The 2nd & 4th Tuesday of each month at 8:00 P.M. sharp (except July & August) at the Council Chambers, 4202C Dundas St. W., Etobicoke. The second Tuesday meeting is a general members meeting and the fourth Tuesday is an executive business meeting.

416-847-6131 416-799-0445

Grand Knights of Kingsway Council

James Armstrong Wally Evans Jack Dunn Vince Colgan Jack Harnett Furgus Walsh Paul Grace Gilford Leinster Wally Bedolfe John Quinn Maurice OKelly Thomas Keating Jack Wallace E. Paul Butler Enio Biason Daniel McKeon Leslie Karnac Philip Catalano Herbert Hunter Carl Nuss Larry Zinkel William Greaves Charlie Brochu Victor Castrucci Steve Harvey Maurice OKelly Stanley Leonard John Bothello John Feeley J. Paul Balog Placido Natale Peter Flanagan Michael Breton Thomas Troke John Lametti Chester Sitarz Joe Wosik Sam Tassone John Chiappetta Tom Potocnik Stefan Horodeckyj Danny Solomon Danny Franchi Denis Tisdel Paul Bryce 1951/52 1952/53 1953/54 1954/55 1955/56 1956/57 1957/58 1958/59 1959/60 1960/61 1961/62 1962/63 1963/64 1964/65 1965/66 1966/68 1968/69 1969/70 1970/71 1971/73 1973/74 1974/76 1976/78 1978/80 1980/------/81 1981/82 1982/84 1984/86 1986/87 1987/88 1988/90 1990/92 1992/93 1993/95 1995/96 1996/98 1998/00 2000/02 2002/04 2004/06 2006/08 2008/10 2010/11 2011/.

416-231-8469

416-559-0085

Father Gregory Kelly Assembly General Meetings

416-233-8363 The 3rd Thursday of each month at 8:00P.M. St. Gregorys Parish Hall. (Except July, August and December) For more information contact: Brother Frank Ficker @ 416720-8663.

416-732-4648 416-247-5491 416-622-7735 416-997-6707

Kingsway Columbus Club

416-233-3712 416-537-0485 416-720-8663 416-239-9109 416-899-8036 416-523-9733 647-351-2879
PRESIDENT Paul Bryce VICE-PRESIDENT Michael Doerig SECRETARY Frank Ficker TREASURER Joe Wosik DIRECTORS Danny Franchi David Young 416-732-4648 416-899-8036 416-247-5491 416-622-7735 416-720-8663 416-231-8469 416-799-0445

Tom Potocnik Cesar Fernandez Stoll

ONTARIO STATE COUNCIL State Deputy Joe S DISTRICT DEPUTY DIST. # 106 Sam Tassone 647-225-2020

Rodger Bodrug

DISTRICTWARDEN DIST. # 106 Danny Franchi Archie Lobo 461-732-4648 905-567-1698

Deceased

FRATERNAL ADVISOR

CHAPLAINS CORNER
O Come, O Come, Emanuel. Advent, already! Where has the year gone? Our secular society celebrates New Years Day on January First with parties and oftentimes pagan revelry. But for Catholics, New Years Day occurred on November 27 which was the First Sunday of Advent. And we ushered in the New Year, not with wild parties but with Mass, Holy Communion and prayers. No one except God knows what the New Year will bring, whether it be happiness or tragedy, health or sickness, good fortune or destitution. And so we enter into the 365 days of the year 2012 with hope and optimism and enthusiasm and especially with trust in the goodness the love, the providence of Almighty God. He has been so good to us in the past and we have no reason to think He wont continue His love and care for us in the New Year. As a sign of His love and care for us, two thousand years ago God the Father gave to us the greatest Christmas gift He could think of. i.e. His only Son. His coming is the basis for all the excitement, the Christmas cards and happy greetings, the glittering Christmas trees and the joyful Christmas carols as, first of all, we celebrate the arrival of that little Baby in Bethlehem. Whose arrival changed the subsequent history of the entire human race. But we only have to watch the television or read the newspapers to see how badly we need the Prince of Peace in this coming year of 2012. And the

Son of God wants to bring love, respect, honesty, into our world of 2012. This is why God inspired Fr. McGivney to found the Knights of Columbus. Through you, as through Our Lady two thousand years ago, Christ wants to be born into the world of 2012 to show His love for us today, to bring peace, love, harmony, respect into our world which looks for Him with His much needed gifts. You, in virtue of your Baptism and also because Jesus is born in your heart each Sunday in Holy Communion, have been chosen by God, as Mary was two thousand years ago, to bring Jesus into your families, your homes, your parishes, our Council, our world. And so our world decorates its homes and trees with lights to celebrate the coming of the Light of the World in Bethlehem two thousand years ago and also to testify to its desire and hope that the Light of the World will come into our homes, our country, our world and our hearts in the year 2012 with His gifts as the Prince of Peace. May each of you experience the presence of the Prince of Peace in your hearts and homes this Christmas and throughout the year 2012. And may Mary, the Mother of God help you to bring her Divine Son into this world this Christmas and throughout 2012. Rev. L.D. Burns. C.S.B. Chaplain

GRAND KNIGHTS MESSAGE

Brother Knights, Just a quick note about some of the successful activities over the past little while. I had the pleasure of presenting Brother John Frampton from St. Francis Table with a cheque for $1790 at the November Western Zone meeting held in Brampton. This was made possible from the bottle drive we held at the beer store on Dundas near Jane earlier this year. Brother Chris Tisdel, who was instrumental in arranging this event, has suggested that we should plan another one for the New Year, and I agree that this is a good idea. More information will follow once details are finalized. I also made a request, along with Brother John, to all the councils of the Western Zone that they each hold at least one fundraiser for St. Francis Table to raise funds to help make the necessary repairs to their foundation wall, and the rest of the building. Let us all hope and pray that these councils make the effort to help Brother John. We also just completed our kitchen duties at Holy Angels for their annual Christmas Craft/ Flea Market Sale. It was a resounding success, with everyone complimenting us on our secret pasta sauce. My thanks and compliments go out to Brothers Michael Doerig, Cesar Fernandez-Stoll, Urs Doerig, Vince Conforzi, David Young and Tom Potocnik who all went over and above what is expected to make the event a success. Numbers are not yet finalized, but we made a net profit of just under 300 dollars. I also must thank a special volunteer who came to help, Lara Perlas, who is a lector at Holy Angels. Her assistance brightened up the kitchen, and her personality and smile made all who came for lunch feel warm and welcome. Very special thanks for arranging her help goes to Brother Danny Franchi. Thanks must also go to Brother Christopher Columbus and his wife Julie for their continued generosity to the council. Julie approached me at St. Gregorys and told me that she and Chris wanted to donate another chafing dish to the council. They brought it to Holy Angels on December 3rd while we were cooking the pasta, and it came in handy to serve the pasta during the event. Heartfelt thanks to Chris and Julie. St. Gregorys Parish was presented with the New Roman Missal by our Council at all the masses on the first Sunday of Advent. Our council donated the altar version of the Missal, and Father Gregory Kelly Assembly donated the chapel version. Father John seemed very happy, and it was a wonderful turnout of Brother Knights at each mass. On a more serious note, let us all keep in our prayers Brother Dannys grandfather who died this week. May his soul be united with God our Almighty Father before this newsletter reaches you. Advent is here, the celebration of Christs birth is approaching fast, and we are all very busy with our various preparations for our Christmas celebrations. But in our secular world, Christmas is becoming more and more commercialized, and the true meaning of this holiday seems to be lost. A friend sent me a link to youtube.com of a singer named Becky Kelley. For those of you that have a computer, I recommend that you view this video. The song is titled Wheres the line for Jesus and the web link is http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=CA&hl=en&client=mvrim&v=OExXItDyWEY . Let us all Keep Christ in Christmas. I wish each one of you, and your family, a Blessed, Holy and Joyous Christmas, and hope that I will see more of you in the New Year. God Bless and Vivat Jesus. Paul Bryce Grand Knight

Taken from the website http://www.theholidayspot.com/christmas/history/

Christmas is for joy, for giving and sharing, for laughter, for coming together with family and friends, for tinsel and brightly decorated packages... But mostly, Christmas is for love. It was this love for which Jesus came to this world and sacrificed his life. Thus Christmas is a celebration of love and mirth symbolized by the Nativity, the Santa, the caribou, the poinsettia and the evergreens. All that bring home the spirit of love and life. And this is the spirit that makes Christmas so popular throughout the world. Though originated by the Roman Catholics who commemorate the December 25th as the day of birth of Christ Child, it has gradually come to be celebrated by the non-Catholics as well. As far as the United States goes, the celebration of X'mas is comparatively of recent origin. Much of the world was already well into Christmas celebrations by the time the United States began to wake up. In the first half of the 19th century the Sunday schools in America held Christmas celebrations. And the celebration of Christmas in America owes its origin to these schools. Alabama was the first state to grant legal recognition to X-mas in 1836. The DC did it in 1870. By 1893 all the states and territories had made similar acknowledgements. So be it the United States or in other parts of the world Christmas is celebrated as the commemoration of the birth of Christ Child -- very likely the holiest event ever to take place anywhere on the Earth, and an entirely worthy occasion to celebrate. But don't we often wonder if we've got these things about it right? And why is the difference of opinion (however immaterial) regarding the date of birth? Is it even on the right date? We bring to you a story of the Birth of Christ Child along and offer you a short tour across the world to know the way Christmas is celebrated in different parts. But before doing this please don't forget to brush up some historical trivia regarding Jesus' birth. Click here to know the answers to some simple yet vulnerable questions. The whole world goes into the celebration mood during the mid winters. Long back even before the arrival of Jesus, Europeans started celebrating the light in the gloomiest days of winter. During the winter solstice, many of the Europeans began to celebrate because the tough time of winter was behind them and they felt it was the period of prolonged hours of sunlight. Norse celebrated Yule from December 21 in Scandinavia. To celebrate the magic of sunlight, fathers and sons used logs and set them on fire. People around enjoyed these 12 days until the logs were not burned out completely. It was their belief that each fire spark represented a new pig or calf that would be born in the coming year. Mesopotamians used to celebrate 12 days long New Year festival before 4000 years. This festival was called Zagmuth. The Mesopotamians, believers of multiple deities, started the celebration to honor their chief deity, Marduk. They used to believe that Marduk fought against the monsters of chaos at the onset of each winter season. It was believed that this was the festival where from the 12 days long Christmas had originated. Most of the European countries thought that the end of December was an appropriate and ideal time for celebrations. It was a high time to celebrate because there were no cattle left for feeding as most of the cattle were already slaughtered. Celebration could continue with fresh meat and it was the only time of the winter when they had that opportunity. The fermented wine and beer during this time were the additional spice for the celebration.

Our Council in Action Please note all photos are posted on our website www.kingsway3387.ca Breakfast with Santa Holy Angels November 13, 2011