Bishops, Priest & Deacons, State Families and Membership,
My brothers and sisters in Christ, Greetings and Blessing from the Nowak Agency,
I would like to share a short story. After hearing a Homily this week of Lent, I wanted to share the passage from Matthew 25:31-46. You all know the story- when did we see him hungry, thirsty or in jail? Then Father said something that I thought was profound and that I had not heard. He said that there are two kinds of hate, Animosity and Apathy. I guess I want to expound on this thought with you for a couple of paragraphs if you will let me. First, I had to think about this in the matter of truth. Is there truth in the statement “there are only two kinds of hate?” If you google it, it says there are 4 kinds (I don’t agree). Then if you look at your own likes and dislikes, that is not the same as hate, is it? So, it is back to truth. It seems to me that it is true. Most people would not expect animosity to be the word most associated with Hate or Apathy for that matter.
So, Jesus Christ’s deepest teaching on what Heaven is like, discusses the separating of the goats and sheep, is based on how they treated those who were in need. It is also going to happen based on how we were or weren’t indifferent to those around us. This topic is not to make us feel bad or point fingers in any one direction but is to be a topic of discussion at your council level and maybe your small group level. Let me start with what I thought - is my apathy really hate or something more or less? Then I move to Jesus’s discussion - when I was thirsty, when I was naked, when I was hungry -I could have done more than I had done in all these areas. Okay, then I need to create a plan to not have as much apathy in my life.
Let me start again, Animosity, by definition is a strong feeling of dislike or hatred or hostility and resentment. OH, I used webster and don’t like Wikipedia almost hostile toward them oops. The discussion should not surprise us. That we don’t like some things or persons or behaviors is a lot like a house divided that Past Supreme Knight Carl Anderson wrote about. I would say voting for none of the above sounds about right. However back to us, for a minute. I have been at council meetings when discussing to have a fund raiser for someone’s needs, a member asked “ Is he even a Knight?” That, my friends, is not a good question. I was with a family who had a child with cancer. As we talked, she had lived 5 years longer than expected, and was still fighting hard. I asked her dad when did he became a Knight? His name was John. He looked me right in the eye and said, “The day we went to the church for the spaghetti dinner that the Knights put on for us. I will never forget when we arrived the line went all the way around the church and weaved inside and out. I wasn’t even a very good Catholic at the time” he said, “But man was I a believer in the Knights of Columbus doing charity for my baby girl. I am a little better Catholic today but I am a Knight so I can do the same for the next family, no matter the need and no matter the race, religion, or nationality. Yes, I am a Knight for life” he told me and gave me a hug as I left his home that day. Our councils must know we are needed today just as much or maybe even more than 30 years ago, one generation. We need more to see Jesus in all of those in need and do something - a lot of somethings- because at the end of the gospel reading it says “and these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life”. I don’t know much about goats and sheep, but I don’t know about good works and what we are capable of doing. So, let’s commit this Lent to be driven by Charity in 2024.
Vivat Jesus, Tim Nowak
