Fourth Degree Exemplification - Tucson - March 3

Brothers All;

Each ‘degree’ of the Knights of Columbus is associated with a particular virtue, the fourth being “Patriotism”. Consequently, the 4th Degree is often known as ‘The Patriotic Degree’.

It was established in New York on 22 February, 1900. The requirements for joining the 4th are that a brother Knight must be a third degree member in good standing, be an exemplary Catholic, and be of sound citizenship of his country.

The Fourth Degree is frequently regarded as an honorary title but should rather be thought of in terms of service to church and country, and the goals of the Fourth Degree may be summarized as the promotion of the ideals of Catholicism and Patriotism side by side.

In more detail, these goals may be stated as:

• To promote and strengthen the patriotic spirit of the civic community.

• To educate its members, and others, both in the teachings of Holy Mother Church, and the history of our nation.

• To promote by example the highest type of citizenship so necessary for the preservation and perpetuation of republican form of government, and its democratic institutions.

• To oppose dissemination and spread of doctrine dangerous to our form of government, and to the Divine law of faith and morality.

• To support by word and deed, the duly constituted authorities of local, state and national government, and to recognize excellence in public life.

Therefore, it is not unusual to find Fourth Degree Knights participating visibly in church events, such as Eucharistic processions, and others, and in the community, standing up for the unborn and the elderly at Pro-Life events, and commemorating the sacrifices of previous generations.

The primary purpose of the Fourth Degree is to foster the spirit of patriotism by promoting responsible citizenship and a love of and loyalty to the Knights' respective countries through active membership in local Fourth Degree groups called assemblies.

The next Patriotic Exemplification will take place on March 3, 2018 in Tucson, Arizona. The full packet can be found here:

March Exemplification Packet

March Exemplification Packet Spanish

Please take the time during both Council and Assembly meetings to promote the Fourth Degree Exemplification and encourage Third Degree or lower members to attain the title of Sir Knight. Make sure a candidate receives the full packet of information which includes valuable instructions on what is needed for registration. 

Note: Forms can be filled out on your computer then printed. This is the preferred method to ensure legibility.  

At this time when our way of life is being challenged both locally and globally, we ask that all men rise up to answer the call of becoming a Fourth Degree member to show that we will publicly defend both our rights and religious responsibilities. 

Vivat Jesus!

Bryant Sayers

Arizona State District Master

arizonadistrictmaster@gmail.com

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Veterans Benefit - Tucson

The Msgr. James T. Weber Assembly #2152 held its 15^th Annual Veterans Benefit Dinner last November 11 to raise funds for the personal needs of veteran patients at the Southern Arizona VA Hospital in Tucson.  On Feb 2, 2018, members of the Weber Assembly visited Deborah Brookshire, VA Volunteer Services supervisor and presented her with a check for $3,000.00, the proceeds of that dinner. Photo shows (l-r) Faithful Captain Chris Rod, Faithful Navigator Emmanuel “Dutch” Steenbakker, Deborah Brookshire, NEW S.K. Charles Beaty, Faithful Pilot Fred Falgiano.

The dinner is known as the Richard J. Venegas Veterans Benefit Dinner in honor of S.K. Richard J. Venegas, PFN and former color corps callout coordinator for Tucson, and one of the kindest and most deeply faithful Knights many of us have ever known.

The dinner on Veterans Day featured keynote speaker Ron Furtak, Lt. Col., USAF (Ret). Col. Furtak was a Search and Rescue (SAR) pilot in Vietnam with almost 900 hours combat time on 191 missions for the rescue of 27 souls. He is today a DOCENT at the Pima Air & Space Museum. 

The Weber Assembly Color Corps demonstrated the Flag-Folding Ceremony (which you can see here http://kofcknights.org/AssemblyPhotoGalleries.asp?A=2152) and the powerful and moving  POW/MIA ceremony. We also had a display of military memorabilia from WW I to the war on terror. 

We had a record turnout and eagerly look forward to Veterans Benefit Dinner No. 16 next year.

Vivat Jesus!

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State Deputy Message - February 2018

February 1, 2018

Brothers,

What a Great January we had with 99 new members joining us in our work for the Domestic Church.

Thank you all for your efforts but let’s not rest on the past.  Our Membership team has come up with some Spring Member Recruiting incentives to get us active in bringing in even more men to join us in our Order.

For District Deputies, and they already know about this one, we have the ‘Every Council Active’ program to encourage them to work with their Councils to be successful.  To win they need to have each active Council in their District recruit at least one new member in the first quarter of 2018. 

For all members, we have TWO contests going. 

The first is for the month of March.  The State Council, in association with the Arizona Knights of Columbus Charity Inc, is a sponsor of the Annual Phoenix Diocese Golf for Vocations tournament being held at the Legacy Golf Club in Phoenix on April 12, 2018.  For every member that joins their Sponsor will be placed in a drawing to be on Team AZ Knights at the event.  Any member that recruits 4 or more men to join in March will be an automatic winner. 

The second program will run for the months of February, March, and April.  For every member that joins, his Sponsor will be placed in a drawing for one of 10 Leatherman Wingman, which will be engraved with your name.  For each member you recruit you name goes into the drawing.  Recruit 3 men and you have 3 chances to win.

Remember, you must put your Membership Number and your name on their Form 100 as we pull the recruiter list from Supreme’s records.

Still have some guys not ready to sign the Form 100 and commit to the Council?  Talk to them about E-Membership.  This new way to join the Knights of Columbus takes some of the pressure off and provides these men with the benefits of Membership and a path to join you at your Council.  They still need to complete their Admission Degree, but you are over half way there with them joining this way.  Send them to KofC.org/joinus for more information.  Have them list your Council number so you get information when they join.

Have you checked your Fraternal Leader Success Planner for the February Spotlight?  Food for Families is shown with information about conducting this program.  This can be both a Service Program and a Membership recruiting opportunity.  What better way to introduce a man to the Knights of Columbus than by showing what we do.  Some areas run a 40 Cans for Lent as their Food for Family Programs.

Last month I introduced the start of a 2-year fund raising campaign to provide Ultrasound equipment to a pregnancy center that follows Catholic teaching.  Former District Deputy Joe Kramer is our new Ultrasound State Chairman.  He and State General Program Director Larry Powers are putting the final touches on the program.  If you are ready to donate now make your checks payable to Arizona Knights of Columbus Charity Inc and put Ultrasound in the memo line.

Some of you will be attending this weekend’s Catholic Men’s Fellowship Phoenix Conference. This will be the third year with the message related to Bishop Olmsted’s Apostolic Exhortation “Into the Breach”.  For those of you unable to attend in person, the Catholic Man Show will be webcasting the entire day.  You may access this on the event website cmfp.org. By now you know that Supreme has included “Into the Breach” as a centerpiece of our Building the Domestic Church program emphasis. 

Finally, we say goodbye and thank you to Pat Maloney, PSD from Washington and our Supreme Membership & Program Consultant for the last 3 ½ years.  The State Leadership team has learned a great deal from Pat about what it takes to be successful as a state and work toward Circle of Honor status.  The Supreme Knight has reassigned many of the MPCs so that they are more geographically centered.  This will allow them to spend more time with their assigned jurisdictions with less time traveling.  Going forward we will have the opportunity to work with Utah PSD Ray Lopez as our MPC.  Several of us already know Ray and are confident he will bring with him the same commitment to help Arizona grow that Pat brought.

For February my prayer for each of you is that you experience the power of the Holy Spirit in your lives and show those around you they Joy of being an example of the love of Jesus Christ to those you encounter each day.

Vivat Jesus,

Sean Halpain

State Deputy

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