Monsignor James S. Conlan Council #5329 – March-April 2024 Activities Summary
The Knights of Columbus Monsignor James S. Conlan Council #5329 worked on the following initiatives during the months of March through April 2024:
2024 Annual Knights College Scholarship Essay Contest – Once again this year our Council will hold our Annual Essay Scholarship contest that is open to all High School Seniors within the Pine Bush Central School District that are practicing Catholics. Essays about a specific theme have to be in to our Council either by email or US Postal Service by a specific date in May 2024. The selected essay winner gets a $500 scholarship check from our Council to use towards their military service, as well as, college or vocational education come Fall 2024. You can find out more details here.
2024 Annual Confirmation Candidates Gift – Once again this year our Council gave each one of the Church of the Infant Saviour Religious Education students who made their Confirmation at the church on March 9, 2024 a gift to foster their Catholic faith as they continue their journey with Christ in their young adult lives. Each Confirmation candidate received a rosary and plaque from our Council. Most Reverend Bishop Gerardo J. Colacicco, Vicar Bishop of the Archdiocese of New York, was the Mass celebrant. Fr. Niranjan Rodrigo, Pastor of Infant Saviour, and Deacon Frank Rose assisted Bishop Colacicco. Sister Shinti Anthony, Religious Education Director for Infant Saviour, also spoke during the Mass. The ceremony was beautiful and it is exciting to have another graduating class from our Religious Education Program to continue to foster our Parish Community and contribute to its various ministries. Please keep all this year’s Confirmed Religious Education students in our Parish, as well as, all those across the world in your prayers as they continue their journey with Christ through their teenage years and into their early adulthood.
2024 Annual Blue Mass – Once again this year we are co-sponsoring a Blue Mass for first responders, military, and law enforcement. The mass is open to all faiths as well as the community at large. This year the mass will be in Walden, NY. You can learn more about the mass and get directions here. We hope for a great turn out. There is a free dinner afterwards in the church’s hall. It is a small way we can say thank you to all those who literally risk their lives for ours everyday. Please keep all our first responders, military, and law enforcement (whether they are active, former or retired) along with their families in your prayers.
PB Catholic War Veterans Service Recognition – At March 2024 Council Meeting GK Joseph Ditizio presented Jim Gill of the Catholic War Veterans Post 1937 (Pine Bush NY) with a plaque thanking the CWV post for their continued support of initiatives within our Pine Bush community and our Church especially in our Parish that they have assisted and partnered with us over the last several years on so many initiatives. Many of our efforts would not be possible without both the financial and personnel support. Our Council is greatly appreciative of all they do for our Parish, Church, and community.
2024 Annual K of C RSVP Program – The Knights of Columbus Supreme sponsors a program called RSVP (Refund Support Vocations Programs). For every $500 a Council or Assembly donates to support a seminarian, Supreme will reimburse that Council or Assembly $100 until you hit the $400 refund max (which means the seminarian received $2,000 in support). This program is one way that the Knights help foster the religious vocation and how we continue to support priest, bishops, and the Church in making sure there are future clergy to serve it and its Catholic faith community. Annually our Council participates in this program by supporting a seminarian with a $500 scholarship donation towards to their educational formation that year. Our Seminarian this year is Jair Molina. As such, Jair received a $500 check from our Council in April 2024 for use with his religious studies. Jair kindly sent us a thank you card in May 2024 that expressed his gratitude for our Council’s continued support of Catholic religious vocations. Please keep Jair in your prayers as he continues to pursue and discern his religious vocation calling and works his way towards the priesthood.
Fourth Degree Exemplification – Congratulations to Brother Knight Bill Cronin, who is also a member of our Council, on his exemplification to the Fourth Degree in April 2024. Sir Knight Bill Cronin joined many other Brother Knights in moving to the Fourth Degree last month and joining our area’s assigned Assembly, the Carl Raymond Williams, Sr Assembly 762 in Middletown NY. The Assembly level of the Knights consists of Fourth Degree Knights from a cluster of local area Councils. These Brother Knights work on additional projects together that impact the higher level area of the communities within their service footprint along with all the parishes that fall within the Assembly’s underlying Councils’ footprints. In this way, we effect change not only a local level, but also a wider area multi-municipality level that helps support many Catholic causes, but is especially focused on value of patriotism and deeper service to Mother Church as lay members. There are also higher Chapter and Conference levels that focus on even wider impact that encompass entire regions (ours is the Hudson Valley Chapter and the Hudson Valley Conference). Finally there are state (our is NY Knights), national (Knights US), and International (called Supreme) that focus on Catholic initiatives, causes and projects that impact those various levels and areas of need. In this way, through the mutual support of the whole spectrum of Brother Knights across the world, we continue to support communities, parishes, and Church needs in the areas that are part of our Catholic faith’s concerns such as care of the elderly, wellbeing support of Christians in areas where they may otherwise be persecuted by the powers that be, all those people in need throughout the world regardless of religion or belief, the discarded and imprisoned, protection of the unborn, and advancement of Catholic social, moral, and ethical thought. You can see pictures of the Sir Knight Bill and our other Assembly Brother Sir Knights at the Carl Raymond Williams, Sr Assembly 762 FB page here.
Monsignor James S. Conlan Council #5329 – Looking Ahead
2024 Knights Membership Drive – We are looking for men who are 18 years or older who are in union with the Catholic faith to join our ranks. We cannot do all we do with just the Brother Knights we have today in our Council because the needs and work continue to grow each day. Do not get me wrong– we have an amazing group of Brother Knights who do so much for their Church and community, but that work is exhausting at times with our Council’s small number of active members and many hands makes a light load (as they say). With that in mind we are looking to recruit new members to our Council. We will be holding a membership drive in the upcoming months and more information will be made available as plans are firmed up. In the meantime, if you did want to become a Knight you can easily do so online here. We hope all those considering becoming Knights will pray and discern their calling. Truly there is no better way to give back to the community and Church than by volunteer work. You do not need a bunch of hours to make a difference nor do you need to donate a bunch of money to have an impact in the lives of others. You just need to be willing to give the time you can when you can. It is amazing how the Lord works through our Council with the Holy Spirit. These are not our works, but His alone. We just have to respond to the call and follow within His will for us to have the life He envisions for us to want for ourselves and others.
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