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Santa Maria Express!
Santa Maria Council #4654
October, 2015
**ROLL CALL**
Grand Knight’s Corner

Membership – The Lifeblood of the Order
We hear the drum beat at State
functions, “one member, per
Council, per month.” The vast
majority of awards and
recognition for Councils
throughout the Order is based
not as much on our service
programs as on membership
performance. This sounds
backwards but think about it
for a minute. Without an
organizing teams to greet
potential candidates in the
Narthex, answer their questions
and tell our story. I urge you to
contact him and help us build
our Council.
State Deputy Steven Raschke
challenges us, “to step up to the
task of asking at least one man
in the coming month to join the
“If we have no peace, it is because we have
forgotten that we belong to each other.”
-- Mother Teresa
expanding and evolving
membership base we run the
risk of becoming stagnant and
irrelevant. Without strong,
active and growing
membership as the foundation
for our service programs we
cannot be successful, and our
Fraternal Benefits Program will
suffer immensely.
We will be conducting
Membership Drives at our
churches, OLGC Nov 7-8 and
St. Mark Nov 14-15. Our clergy
will announce from the pulpit
and invite parishioners to join
our Council at each Mass.
Chancellor Tom Reed is
Knights of Columbus… Now is
the time to take this
opportunity to gain strength
from a group of like-minded
men who have been following
the Pope [over the] past
week[s] and are now asking,
‘What can I do to be a better
man, father and Catholic?’”
I ask you to reach out to those
you know in our parishes and
ask, “Have you ever thought
about being a Knight?” The
answer may surprise you.
Vivat Jesus
Grand Knight:
Jon Engelbrektson
(703) 319-4285
[email protected]
Deputy Grand Knight:
Roberto Bacalski
(323) 841-3482
[email protected]
Chancellor:
Thomas Reed
(703) 356-0940
[email protected]
Financial Secretary:
Randy Bordelon
(703) 938-1487
[email protected]
Recorder:
David Pfirrmann
(703) 906-7433
[email protected]
Warden:
James Milosavich
(703) 573-0052
[email protected]
Treasurer:
Sam Althoff
(703) 255-9273
[email protected]
Advocate:
Karl Lesher
(703) 847-9516
[email protected]
Inside Guard:
Joe Cacciapaglia
(703) 242-2373
[email protected]
Outside Guard:
Christopher Fortier
(757) 880-1019
[email protected]
1st Year Trustee:
Sandy Struckmeyer
(703) 281-4915
[email protected]
2nd Year Trustee:
Andy Stumpf
(703) 255-2355
[email protected]
3rd Year Trustee:
Mark Vitalie
(703) 758-8521
[email protected]
Committee Reports
Here’s what’s been going on in our Council…
out our Council Calendar at:
http://www.knightsvienna.org/.
PGK Struckmeyer and the
“Wrecking Crew” once again
scored a big win for the needy
bringing a whopping 1988 lbs of
food from St. Mark’s pantry to
the St. Lucy Project. Can
anything stop these men?
The youth volunteers put
together over 1000 family meals,
that's enough to feed over 4000
people! Before the day was
through our Council brought
over 1615 lbs to the St. Lucy
Project warehouse. We got great
feedback from the folks at
Catholic Charities, OLGC parish
and the youth participants.
The September Social
was a huge success
with over 30 Knights
and family attending.
Congratulations to Sal Infante,
rd
But c’mon, who
Santa Maria Council’s newest 3
doesn’t like Grandma
Degree Knight, who received his
DiCarlo’s lasagna?
“Knighthood” Degree on Sep
th
Many thanks to Br.
26 at Mt. Vernon Council
Brian O’Connor for his
#5998.
presentation on
There’s a full schedule of degree
Catholic Charities of
opportunities for members who
Arlington Diocese Car
wish to advance to the 2nd
Ministry and their
GK Jon Engelbrektson and PGK Sandy Struckmeyer accept
(Formation) and 3rd
many, many other
the Columbian Award from DD Bill Cinnamond.
(Knighthood) Degrees. Contact
worthy programs.
“Da Chancellor,” Br. Tom Reed
We’ve already been contacted
Join us on Oct 22nd at Foster’s
at [email protected]
by Catholic Charities for a
Grille for the October Social!
for more information or check
follow-on event and to help
The Sep 27th
another Council facilitate an
"Feed a
event at their parish. Thank you
Family" event
to all the Santa Maria Knights
at OLGC
who helped out, it couldn’t have
cohosted with
been done without you!
Catholic
Despite some pretty soggy
Charities of
weather and significantly less
Arlington
than SRO crowds, DGK Bacalski
Diocese was a
and his waterproofed team
huge success!
carried our Council banner high
We had almost
and wide at the Town of Vienna
50% larger
LtoR, Br. Jim Milosavich, Br. Nathan Coussens, GK Jon
Oktoberfest, bringing in $335 for
turnout than
Engelbrektson, Br. Tom Nassief, and Br. Sal Infante deliver 1615 lbs
“Coats For Kids.” Outstanding
we originally
of packaged "Feed a Family" meals to the St. Lucy Project
job men!
planned for.
warehouse.
Br. Jim Milosavich and GK Jon Engelbrektson
with Br. Sal Infante receiving his "Knighthood"
Degree.
Between Oktoberfest, the OLGC
Showcase and both parish Fall
Festivals we’ve brought in 5
new members!
 Tim Argauer
 James Cotter
 William Doyle
 Guy Miconi
 Joseph Ressa
we’re also supporting the OLGC
Halloween Party/Dance. Check
out the Announcements section
for all the details, contact DGK
Bacalski and Br. Bob Kelly
respectively to participate.
This month’s education event is
scheduled for Nov 1st, a “Knight
Out” at the ICC.
The program,
Spiritual
Bondage: The
Cult of Death
and the Call to
Holiness, looks
to be particularly
intriguing!
Come join us at
6:00pm at St.
Veronica Church
Fr. Metzger thanks participants at "Feed a Family," in the
Hall and let’s get
background are Brs. Bob Kelley, Risden Wall and Tom Nassief.
edjumacated!
Congratulations men and
We’re gearing up for our KCIC
welcome to our Council.
Christmas Card sales drive.
We’ve got our initial inventory
Come see PGK Stumpf perform
ready, we start at OLGC on Nov
with the St. Mark and St. John
21st and 22nd. Sign up now to get
Neumann combined choirs as
they perform Vivaldi’s Gloria on
Oct 16th and 18th. It promises to
be an event to remember.
Color Guard at the Oct 3rd State Meeting.
a good timeslot and help us
support our Seminarians, the
signup sheet is online at:
http://www.knightsvienna.org/k
cic/.
On Oct 25th DGK Bacalski will
be Racing for Seminarians at the
Marine Corps 10k. To support
this worthy cause and help
sponsor him go to our Council
Facebook page and follow the
link there.
This year’s Halloween events
will be better than ever! We’re
marching as we always have in
the Vienna Halloween Parade,
Brs. Jim Milosavich and Joe Cacciapaglia with DGK Roberto Bacalski braving the
weather and raffling off a stein at Oktoberfest.
For Men Only: A Call to Battle
Bishop Olmsted issues "Into the Breech," an apostolic exhortation for men in the midst of a
world of confusion
by John Burger, October 2, 2015 – aleteia.org
There’s all kinds of fighting
going on these days, it seems.
Russia is ramping up its
involvement in the Syrian civil
war, while Christians are
fighting for their lives. The UN
is fighting climate change,
while Kim Davis is fighting the
establishment. Republican
presidential hopefuls are
fighting for the nomination,
while Hillary is fighting for her
political life.
But a bishop in Arizona is
calling men to join a different
kind of battle—to fight for their
souls and the soul of Christian
culture.
Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of
Phoenix penned a letter to the
men of his diocese, and issued
it Sept. 29, the feast of the
Archangel Michael, known for
doing battle. The letter’s
message, though, will resonate
with Catholic men
anywhere. Into the Breach: An
Apostolic Exhortation to
Catholic Men, My Spiritual
Sons in the Diocese of Phoenix
takes a look at the special role
men have to play in the New
Evangelization.
Aleteia spoke with Bishop
Olmsted Wednesday about the
letter and plans to get the
message out.
Why did you feel this letter to
Catholic men had to be written?
I think there is a crisis that we
see happening. If you look at
the statistics about young
people’s involvement in
sacraments, in marriage and all,
if you look at the statistics
about the number of fatherless
homes, the growing problem of
pornography in society, the
decreasing numbers of
marriages each year, those are
signs that there’s a lack of
courage and readiness to make
commitments to relationships,
to make a gift of self to others,
that many of our men have. So
it seemed to me to be important
to point out the crisis and to
call our men to deepen their
faith and to rely on God to give
them the grace to fulfill their
mission in the world and in the
Church.
What overarching message do you
hope men will come away with?
I would hope that they would
want to really begin to live
their faith. I tried to be very
practical about that. I think it’s
important that they see that
there is a spiritual battle, and if
there is, then we need to be
aligned with the one who gives
us strength to win the battle. So
we need to be praying every
day, we need to be deepening
conversions. So that means we
need to be examining our
consciences every evening and
make an Act of Contrition.
The big crisis that we see is a
lack of going to Mass on
Sunday and keeping the
Sabbath day holy. Men should
be taking the leadership in that.
I think there’s also a need to
build up fraternity with other
men who themselves are
wishing to grow in their own
faith and the practice of the
faith in their role in society.
You focus a lot on the need to do
battle, to prepare for battle. But
doesn’t it seem like the messages
we’re getting from the Church
today, from Pope Francis on down,
are more of a pacifistic nature? “Be
merciful,” for example. How do
you reconcile the two calls?
I don’t see them as in conflict at
all. The spiritual battle is not
the same as a physical battle.
The battle is within. The battle
is with the evil one tempting
us—to possessiveness, to go
with the passions of the flesh.
And I think Pope Francis sees
that very much. He frequently
refers to the devil. He so often
reminds us of the need to avoid
temptation. From the very first
day after he was elected, he
spoke about the fact that the
only way we succeed is
through the mystery of the
cross. This is the kind of battle
that I’m talking about, and I see
Pope Francis calling us to do
that.
It seems to me that in order to
be merciful you have to first
yourself have conquered your
selfishness and overcome
focusing on your own needs
and be able to look beyond that
to see the needs of others and
have compassion for others.
That’s why I want to focus on
the spiritual battle, one’s own
personal conversion and the
grace of Christ to go beyond
ourselves to see the needs of
others.
feel somewhat more drawn to
read and that may lead them to
want to read other parts.
Are you asking your priests to
bring this up in homilies?
When we had a convocation of
our priests a week and a half
ago, I told them that I would be
coming out with this letter and
asked them to be close
collaborators with me in
bringing this message to our
men themselves, helping our
men to know about it and to
appreciate its importance and
begin to process it and put it
into their lives.
Men are so busy, and this is not a
short letter. How will this message
get to them?
What forums are there in the
diocese where men can get together
and discuss this and other
writings and grow in their faith?
That’s why it’s important that
we encourage our men to make
friendships with other men. If
they belong to a Catholic men’s
fellowship they can read parts
of it at a time, discuss it
together. Those who don’t read
a lot can meet other men who
do. We always feel we don’t
have enough time. How we use
our time is always a measure of
where our commitments are.
And in order to engage in a
spiritual battle—or any battle—
you have to set priorities in
your life. That’s what I hope
men will do—set priorities.
[The letter] is a little longer
than some men may wish to do.
On the other hand, I hope it
follows somewhat logically,
and they can take passages they
It’s nearly 10 years now that
we’ve had Catholic men’s
conference. Those have been
really wonderful occasions for
us, and as a result of that we
have a number of men’s groups
that have started in parishes
and continue, some meeting
monthly, some biweekly. We
also have men’s conferences in
the Spanish language or
bilingually. We just had one
last weekend for Catholic
Charismatic men in Spanish,
and 1000 men gathered for that
at one of our arenas here in a
university. Coming up in
another couple of weeks we
have another one in Spanish—
Hombres de Cristo, Hombres
de Fe—Men in Christ, Men of
Faith.
We also are grateful that we
have very active Knights of
Columbus councils in nearly all
of our parishes, great
leadership at the state level and
at the local level. They have
already been helpful in
activating men in their faith
and their service.
Do you feel that Pope Francis,
during his visit here, had a special
message for men?
He met with us bishops twice—
once in Washington, DC, at the
Cathedral of St. Matthew and
once at the Seminary of St.
Charles Borromeo in
Philadelphia—and he was
certainly urging us to be close
to our priests, to engage our
priests, support them, and to
challenge them as well.
He urged two things in
particular that we do, going
back to the reason the Apostles
chose the first seven deacons,
which was so that the Apostles,
the first bishops, would have
time for prayer and for
teaching. Those would be
exactly what we need in order
to engage in a spiritual battle.
In order to find the fire of the
Holy Spirit alive in our hearts
and the Word of God alive in
our hearts we have to be
praying—praying ourselves, to
deepen our relationship with
Christ, praying with others,
and teaching.
So especially those of us who
are bishops and priests and
deacons, I think he gave us
some very helpful challenges
for our leadership of all those
who are ordained men.
What impressed you most about
his visit?
There were several things. One
is his constant thought of those
who are forgotten, who are
poor, who are overlooked or
who are vulnerable. That’s
exactly the kind of thing that
men should feel drawn to. His
example of going out to others
and taking notice of them, I
found that to be a really
inspiring thing.
Secondly, I was very pleased
that he spoke in Spanish. A
high percentage of our young
people are Hispanic, and a
growing population of our
Catholics are Hispanic, and I
think that hearing the Pope
speak in the Spanish language
was an encouragement in that
regard. But he was also very
much embracing of all cultures
and all sectors of the Church.
Anything else?
At the meeting with bishops in
Philadelphia, he compared the
family to the way we used to
have these little mom and pop
stores, and now we have
shopping malls. He said that
we used to have an intimacy of
family that culture kind of
supported, but now it’s become
large and impersonalized in
many ways. He pointed out
why we need to be men of
prayer—so we have a centering
in Christ in our own lives, and
to help our men to move in that
same direction.
The Synod on the Family is about
to begin in Rome. What do you
predict will be the greatest longlasting effect of this undertaking?
I don’t have any predictions of
what will come out of it. I am
certainly praying for it and am
very interested in it. I think the
fact that we’ve had a consistent
focus on marriage and family
for two years now, the whole
Church getting engaged in this
by having a “pre-synod” and
the World Meeting of Families,
and the synod coming up. And
the position of the Holy Father
to already simplify the ways
the annulment process can be
handled, all of that has helped
us to be praying about,
thinking about, focusing on the
real great importance of
marriage and the family in the
Church today. And because it’s
gone over this long length of
time, it’s led all of us locally in
parishes and families, the
whole Church, to focus on a
really huge issue, and that is
really a great grace for us, and
that will continue to bear fruit.
Upcoming Events
Here’s what’s coming up in the next few weeks… Council events are Blue, Degrees are Red
October 18 Sun – Vivaldi Gloria
Concert at St. Mark
October 22 Thurs – “Knight
Out” at Foster’s Grille
October 24 Sat – OLGC
Halloween Party/Dance
October 24 Sat – Second
Degree, Fr. Vincent S. Sikora
Council, Burke
October 24 Sat – Third Degree,
Fr. Robert E. Nudd Council,
Chantilly
October 28 Wed – Town of
Vienna Halloween Parade
October 31 Sat – Fourth Degree,
Dulles
November 1 Sun – “Knight
Out” at the ICC, St. Veronica
Church Hall, Chantilly
December 3 Thurs – First
Degree, Mt. Vernon Council,
Alexandria
November 7-8 Sat-Sun – OLGC
Membership Drive
December 5 Sat – Third Degree,
Fr. Herman J. Veger Council,
Warrenton
November 10 Tues – Second
Degree, St. Mary of Sorrows
Council, Fairfax
November 12 Thurs – Rosary
7:30 pm Business Meeting to
Follow
November 14-15 Sat-Sun – St.
Marks Membership Drive
November 17 Tues – First
Degree, Holy Spirit Council,
Annandale
November 21 Sat – Third
Degree, Fr. Vincent S. Sikora
Council, Burke
November 21-22 Sat-Sun –
KCIC Card Sales, OLGC
November 25 Wed – Feed the
Homeless, Christ House,
Alexandria
November 28-29 Sat-Sun –
KCIC Card Sales, OLGC & St.
Mark
December 5 Sat – Creche Setup
December 5-6 Sat-Sun – KCIC
Card Sales, OLGC & St. Mark
December 7 Mon – First
Degree, Fr. Edwin F. Kelley
Council, Woodbridge
December 8 Tues – Creche
Lighting
December 8 Tues – Second
Degree, Mt. Vernon Council,
Alexandria
December 10 Thurs – Rosary
7:30 pm Business Meeting to
Follow
December 15 Tues – Second
Degree, George Brent Council,
Manassas
December 16 Wed – First
Degree, Fr. Robert E. Nudd
Council, Chantilly
November 30 Mon – Church
Street Holiday Stroll
Check out our Calendar online at http://www.knightsvienna.org/council-calendar
Announcements
More happenings and events…
 Happy Birthday! 
Hats off and three cheers to our
Brothers born this month:
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John A Power
Aime C Fountaine
Ronald E Burr
Robert J Furukawa
Jonathan S Elliott
Thomas A Mc Laughlin
Ralph P Fischi
Patrick A Trueman
Christopher R Fortier
Kenneth L Opachko
Robert A Coffman
Jack M Byrne
Robert J Fronzaglia
Congratulations!
Br. Sal Infante, our newest 3rd
Degree Knight, for service
above and beyond the call
of duty at Catholic Charities
“Feed A Family,” Oktoberfest
and the OLGC Showcase, he
is our Knight of the Month.
Br. Nate and Tracey
Coussens and family, for
managing the chaos at the
“Grand Central Pasta
Station” at “Feed a Family,”
they are our Family of the
Month
JOIN THE KNIGHTS! WEEKEND
We will be conducting Membership Drives at both our parishes, Nov 7th
and 8th at OLGC and Nov 14th and 15th at St. Mark. Council members
will be at the doors and in the Narthex after Mass greeting parishioners,
answering questions about what it means to be a Knight of Columbus,
and spreading the word about our Council Service Programs. We need
your help! Contact “Da Chancellor” Br. Tom Reed at (703) 356-0940,
email: [email protected] and help us to recruit new Knights!
Help fill the empty spaces in the Santa
Maria Yellow Pages section of this
newsletter. FREE ADVERTISING for
any Council members’ business, see
GK Jon Engelbrektson for details.
The Santa Maria Express!
Monthly Newsletter of the Knights of Columbus,
Santa Maria Council #4654, Vienna VA
Serving St. Mark’s and Our Lady of Good Council Parish Communities
David Pfirrmann, Recorder
Santa Maria Council #4654
214 Lawyers Road
Vienna, VA 22180
Website: http://www.knightsvienna.org/
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: (703) 938-8670