District Deputy

Message from District Deputy Don Snow

Brothers,
Every Mass we attend we affirm that we “believe in one God”.  Most of us take this statement for granted, but it requires that, like Mary, we keep it and “ponder it” in our heart. Is this not the path to effective faith formation?  Men have formulated many gods.  Some worship Science, some politics and some elevate ego to divinity.  As Catholics, should not our model of formation be our Lord, Jesus?   A fourth grader was one quoted as saying that “Jesus was the best picture that God ever took”.  We believe that the Catholic Church presents the clearest print of that portrait.  As we enter the Lenten season let us remember the season with prayer, fasting , abstinence, and Confession.

Now that we have started our New Year, we must reflect back to 2012 and all of the accomplishments in your council. I want to personally thank each and every knight in your council who worked so hard at helping us achieve a successful year of charitable work. Our impact on Our church and community is difficult to measure, but the recipients of Our efforts are certainly aware of how great the men and their families are and how hard they work to make a difference in peoples lives.

God Bless
Don Snow
District Deputy #9

Council

Council 953 to Host a 2nd & 3rd Degree Exemplification

On Saturday, February 16, 2013 Council 953 will Host a 2nd & 3rd Degree Exemplification to be held at the Newman Center. Registration and lunch will be held at the Council Hall.

Registration for 2nd & 3rd degree:  9:00 – 10:45 AM
Exemplification of the 2nd Degree:  11:00 AM
Lunch (No Dinner) – 12:15 PM
Registration Closes for 3rd Degree at 1:15 PM
Exemplification of 3rd Degree – 1:30
No Host Bar – 4:00 PM

Dress Code is Business Causal (Collared Shirt and Slacks) nd be will strictly enforced

For reservations contact Ricardo Saldana at gk@kofc953.org or 916-712-7355 or PSD Richard Cutting.

Youth

Results of Council 953’s Basketball Free Throw Championship

This year, our Council held the contest at St. Mary’s and Sacred Heart schools.  Between the two schools 170 kids participated, and the ten Council winners were evenly split between the two schools. The ten winners will go on to participate in the district championship on February 2nd at St. Joseph’s school in North Sacramento.

My thanks to my Brother Knight helpers this year: George Mills, Frank Philips, Alex Kachmar, John Sheldon and Jesse Williams. Some of these are repeat helpers. Thanks again, I couldn’t do the contest without you.

Good news for our Council’s kids. Out of ten winners in the district contest, our Council had six of the winners. They were evenly split, 3 from St. Mary’s and 3 from Sacred Heart.

Dale Edwards, PGK
Youth Director

Insurance

Beneficiaries…Who Do You Love? ♥♥

Valentine’s Day will soon be here!  Do you know who the beneficiary is on your life insurance policy?  Sometimes it is easy to overlook the simplest of things.

Why is it so important to know and to have your beneficiary information updated?  A life insurance policy protects the financial status of another person – or people – in the event of your death.

When Purchasing Knights of Columbus insurance policy, you have selected a primary beneficiary, and if you desire, a contingent, or secondary beneficiary.  It’s always a wise choice to have a contingent beneficiary because you may outlive your primary beneficiary.  A contingent beneficiary is the person designated to receive life insurance policy proceeds if the primary beneficiary dies.

By being specific as possible in the wording your beneficiary designation you make sure that the life insurance proceeds will be available to your wife, daughter, son, etc., in a timely manner  when needed most.

Your life situation will undoubtedly change over time.  Plan to update your beneficiary designations periodically.  This will ensure that your life insurance coverage will protect those you love and want to protect.

Changing your beneficiary is fairly simple.   I can provide you with the necessary forms, and can help you fill them out.    I can also help you with all of your life insurance policy beneficiary designations for any life insurance policy you hold – regardless of the company that issued it.

To contact me with regards to any of your insurance needs, please call my office at (916) 482-9044 or e-mail
me at stephen.cooper@kofc.org
By Knights … For Knights ….
Stephen Cooper
CA Lics #0H90754

Insurance

HAPPY NEW YEAR Brother Knights – 2013!

Happy New Year to all my Brothers! As Catholics, our new year begins at Advent. We have our own special start then. As citizens we celebrate the annual festivities of a new calendar year. I want to wish you all the safest of new years and to remind all my Brothers that the safest way to start the New Year is to protect all we own. Our loved ones cling on to our support and love, and when we leave they lose them both. We can show them as a Catholic Gentleman, the responsibility we have by leaving them with Catholic Protection. And I might add the finest of Catholic protection. This will enable them to weather the storms of survival through your love and your intelligent management of your assets.

Our annuities can be obtained in 2013 for tax obligations of 2012, but you must act quickly. This is a time sensitive decision.
Our Long Term Care is budget friendly and you can modify the plan to create your own affordable premium.
Of course, the finest of Life Insurance is available and this is the time to look at the safety of a plan from your Brotherhood.

Wishing you and yours a responsible start to the New Year leaves me open to your availability. I am here for you my Brothers and you only.
Please call me for a quick review and some tax saving advice for 2013.
May the Good Lord be with you this new season.

To contact me with regards to any of your insurance needs, please call my office at (916) 482-9044 or e-mail
me at stephen.cooper@kofc.org
By Knights … For Knights ….
Stephen Cooper
CA Lics #0H90754

Pro-Life

Pro-Life Report, January 2013

The Christmas month began with a victory for life. On December 4, LifeSiteNews.com reported that the US Senate fell short of the two-thirds majority vote needed to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The UN treaty calls upon nations to provide free or affordable reproductive health care, including abortion, to disabled persons. The article quotes Josh Craddock of Personhood USA, who observes: “The irony of including abortion in this treaty is that abortion especially targets the disabled in the womb. Persons with disabilities should not be exposed to violence and discrimination, either before or after birth.”

Later in the month, Pope Benedict XVI addressed abortion in his Message for World Day of Peace 2013. An article in LifeSiteNews.com on December 14, offers the following excerpt from the Holy Father’s address:

“Those who insufficiently value human life and, in consequence, support among other things the liberalization of abortion, perhaps do not realize that in this way they are proposing the pursuit of a false peace. The flight from responsibility, which degrades human persons, and even more so the killing of a defenseless and innocent being, will never be able to produce happiness or peace. Indeed how could one claim to bring about peace, the integral development of peoples or even the protection of the environment without defending the life of those who are weakest, beginning with the unborn. Every offense against life, especially at its beginning, inevitably causes irreparable damage to development, peace and the environment. Neither is it just to introduce surreptitiously into legislation false rights or freedoms which, on the basis of a reductive and relativistic view of human beings and the clever use of ambiguous expressions aimed at promoting a supposed right to abortion and euthanasia, pose a threat to the fundamental right to life.”

Here in Sacramento on December 28, Bishop Jaime Soto led a candlelight Rosary procession for the sanctity of life to commemorate the feast of the Holy Innocents. Beginning at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, the procession ended at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, where Bishop Soto presided at Mass. On January 22, Bishop Soto will lead a six-mile “Pilgrimage of Churches in Reparation for Abortion and other Sins Against Human Dignity.” The Bishop has designated January 22 as a Diocesan Day of Reparation on the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, which the faithful are asked to observe by fasting, prayer, penance and works of charity. For more details, please see the diocesan website at http://www.diocese-sacramento.org/.

The 9th annual Walk for Life will be held on Saturday, January 26, 2013. The Info Faire at Civic Center Plaza will open at 11 am, followed by the main speaking event at 12:30pm, and the Walk at 1:30pm. The Walk will end at the Justin Herman Plaza. Please consider witnessing to the sanctity of life by participating in the Walk. For a bus ride, please contact Gary Hickman at (916) 806-6736. For more information about the Walk, please visit: www.walkforlifewc.com.

Fraternally in Christ,

William (Bill) James
Culture of Life Director
Knights of Columbus
Council 953

St. John Vianney, Pray for Us.