Knights must proclaim Good News

By KARA KOCZUR, Globe staff reporter
May 8, 2008

To be men of the Knights of Columbus, they must go out and proclaim the Good News, said Father Tom Dooley, state chaplain of the Knights of Columbus.

"If we follow Christ Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life, we will come to experience the intimate love of God," Father Dooley said during his homily May 3 at the Iowa State Knights of Columbus Convention.

The presider at the Mass was Bishop R. Walker Nickless of Sioux City.

"As Knights, it is our duty to live this truth in the society that we find ourselves in, to encourage

Men from across the state, many joined by their wives, gathered to do just that May 1-4 at the Sioux City Convention Center. According to Mike Gaspers, state deputy of the Knights of Columbus and a parishioner at St. Mary's in Danbury, 600 tickets were sold for the banquet Saturday night, 246 of which were to voting delegates.

Although she isn't a Knight herself, Berenice Freidhof couldn't wait to get to the state convention with her husband Fabian.

"I couldn't wait until we got here to see everybody again," said Berenice, 80. "They holler at you and hug you. It's fun."

Fabian, 81, has been a Knight for about 55 years and has been to about 25 conventions. He became a Knight he said, because he was asked to join. State conventions, like the one in Sioux City, are important because they allow members "to keep up with the goings on of life and everyday living," he said.

For Leon Feldmann, 47, of Farley, the convention allows him to meet other councils.

"Everybody gets to know what's going on, from one council to another council," said Feldmann, who has been a Knight for 29 years.

Sean Singewald of New Hampton said the convention serves as a reminder that the organization extends beyond his local council and is a way to get new ideas.

"It's a good way to network, get ideas from other councils that you can bring back to your council to improve what you're doing for your parish, what you're doing for your priest and what you're doing for your community," he said, adding that this is his third overall convention, but first as a delegate.

At 33 years of age, Singewald defies the stereotypical Knight. He was one of the younger delegates at the convention. It is important to reach out to the younger generation of men, those in high school and college, he said, to help them see what the Knights of Columbus is about.

"[We need to] get them involved at a young age doing as much as we can with them. . . and to get away from that idea of the 'old guys in the funny looking hats,'" he said.

Singewald also bought into the belief that the organization was for old men, he said. However, he was encouraged to look into it by a friend who had joined. Growing up with his dad as a Knight, seeing that the Knights was a family organization and that it does a lot of good for the church and community, he joined in 2000.

"There's a whole group of people who share the same values as you do," he said of his fellow Knights. "It's a good support system."

Singewald experienced that support firsthand when his son, Sam, was born with a heart defect. He and his wife had to spend a month in Iowa City, and his local council gave them money to stay in the Ronald McDonald House, as well as food.

"We didn't have to worry about anything," Singewald said. "We could just focus on helping Sam get better and supporting our family, and that's probably the best thing anyone could have given us at that time."

While many enjoyed the social atmosphere of the convention, there was business pertaining to the organization that also needed to be addressed, such as the election of officers for the coming term and resolutions determining how the Knights function as a fraternity, Gaspers said.

"We are asking our supreme office to change their rules regarding expansion of our fraternal insurance for widows and grandparents," he said of one of the resolutions. "Currently there are limits and conditions for these classes of individuals."

Another resolution, Gaspers said, is that the Iowa Knights of Columbus are "going to purchase a group liability insurance for all non-hall active councils across the state of Iowa."

One of the new things at the convention this year, was the afternoon seminars, he added.

"Where we typically would have reports, we substituted an opportunity for training and interaction and let the delegates read the printed reports for themselves," Gaspers said.

Besides social activities and business meetings, on Friday afternoon about 200 men became fourth-degree Knights. There was also a Eucharistic procession and crowning of Mary at Trinity Heights on Sunday.

"Everyone seemed to enjoy their time spent at the various events," said Robert Kenaley, secretary of the convention committee and a parishioner at St. James Parish in Le Mars. "The pilgrimage to Trinity Heights for the May crowning of the Blessed Virgin was a very impressive ceremony for those who attended."

With the convention completed, Knights from across the state have returned to their own communities ready to proclaim the Good News Father Dooley preached about, reminded that it will take sacrifice.

"To follow the way of Christ, we must realize that it involves self-giving," Father Dooley said.

And as Father Dooley mentioned, a Knight's self-gift may be through sacrifice at work, in hours offered to his local parish or in caring for his family. But that Knight knows he is joined in his sacrifice by his brother Knights and by Christ.

"As members of the Knights of Columbus, all the hours of service that we offer on our projects are a reflection of the depths of our faith," he added. "We are united together and we are united in Christ."