Kolping banner December 2015

Kolping Banner
Official Publication of the Catholic Kolping Society of America
Vol. 91 – No. 2
December 2015
Christmas Greetings 2015
Dear Kolping Sisters and Brothers of the Catholic Kolping Society of America,
We greet you warmly this year again on the occasion of Christmas.
Every year Christians around the world celebrate at Christmas that God became man
in Jesus Christ in Bethlehem. With this birth, God shows us the depth of his closeness
to us and his identification with us.
Already the Old Testament states in Genesis that God sees man in His image and crowns
His creation of this world with the creation of man.
In the New Testament, the shepherds in the fields are the first ones to see this child, the
Messiah. He is born in their midst in a stable in Bethlehem. The birth in a stable among
the shepherds is a birth in the outskirts of the city, at the margin of society. It is not in
a palace that the Son of Man is born but among the lowly and the poor. Of these, Paul
Claude! once said: “They are so poor that our loving God does not even notice it, and
His son feels immediately at home when he joins them”.
Msgr. Ottmar Dillenburg
General Praeses
These poor are among a billion people around the world who have to struggle for their
daily survival and are in urgent need of our help.
We thank all those who contribute in the International Kolping Society to making “help
for self-help” possible, so that the structural misery around the world becomes less and
will, hopefully, belong to the past entirely one day.
On another level, we may, however, count ourselves among the poor, too, even if we
have achieved a certain outer prosperity. Because we are, in the last analysis, all poor
before God. We have nothing that we have brought into this world, nothing that has
not been given to us. And we will take nothing out of this world.
As the Archbishop of Cologne, who is also the Protector of the International Kolping
Society, puts it: “We have to be grateful for our life, because it is God’s gift to us.”
Dr. Markus Demele
General Secretary
From Cologne we wish you all a Merry Christmas 2015. May God’s blessings be upon
the Kolping Society in the United States and upon each of you throughout 2016.
Msgr. Ottrnar Dillenburg General Praeses Dr. Markus Demele
General Secretary
In the Banner this Month:
From the President’s Desk . . page 2
A Praeses Proclaims. . . . . . . page 3
2 Kolping Banner
Kolping Banner
The Kolping Banner, published monthly, is the
official newsletter of the Catholic Kolping Society
of America.
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Send subscription requests with check, materials for publication, and address changes by the
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Catholic Kolping Society
of America
Mission Statement:
We, the members of the Catholic Kolping
Society of America, extend the vision of our
founder, Blessed Adolph Kolping, by promoting
the development of the individual and family;
we foster a sense of belonging and friendship
through our program of spiritual, educational,
charitable and social activities.
Episcopal Moderator:
Bishop John M. Quinn
National Officers:
Praeses, Fr. Engelbert Michel
Associate Praeses
President, Bernhard Preisser
Vice President, Walter Amrein
Secretary, Helene Schrand
Treasurer, Ted Wilke
Trustees Lisa Brinkmann
Betty Amrein
Robert Mayer
John Reitter
Marilee Uhlhorn
Kolping Family Locations:
Brooklyn Kolping Family, 6504 Myrtle Ave.,
Glendale, NY, 11385-6250, 718-456-7727
Buffalo, New York Kolping Family, 1145
Cleveland Drive, Buffalo, NY 14225-1257,
716-632-7360
Chicago Kolping Family, 5826 N. Elston Ave.,
Chicago, IL 60646-5544, 773-792-2190
Cincinnati Kolping Family, 10235 Mill Rd.,
Cincinnati, OH, 45231-1924, 513-851-7951
Detroit Kolping Family, 24409 Jefferson Ave.,
Saint Clair Shores, MI, 48080-1318,
586-775-9159
Glendale Kolping, Holy Family Church, 209
East Lomita Avenue, Glendale, CA 91205,
818-720-1124
Los Angeles Kolping Family, 1225 S. Union
Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90015-2021,
213-388-9438
New York Kolping Family, 165 E. 88th St.,
New York, NY 10128-2241, 212-369-6647
Philadelphia Kolping Family, PO Box 52651,
Philadelphia, PA, 19115, 215-676-8977
Panorama Kolping, St. Genevieve Parish, 14061
Roscoe Blvd., Panorama City, CA 92402,
818-968-2526 Rochester, New York Kolping Family, 284
Malden Street, Rochester, NY 14615-2658,
Saint Louis, Missouri, 4035 Keokuk St., Saint
Louis, MO, 63116-3513, 314-776-5312
San Francisco Kolping Family, 440 Taraval
Street, San Francisco, CA, 94116-2530,
415-831-3989
For more information about the Catholic Kolping
Society of America, becoming a member, or establishing
a Kolping family in your parish or community, please
contact the Catholic Kolping Society of America,
P.O. Box 4907, Clifton, NJ, 07015-4907, Telephone:
1-877-659-7237, e-mail: [email protected].
Please visit the Catholic Kolping Society of America
internet website at:
http://www.kolping.org.
December 2015
From the President’s Desk . . .
Families
Chris and I had the privilege of attending the
Papal Mass in Philadelphia and were struck by
the general feeling of happiness by the attendees.
The World Meeting of Families occurs every 3 years (the next is
in Dublin, Ireland) and emphasizes a theme which should resonate
with Kolping members as Blessed Adolf Kolping founded his society
around the principle that the family is the basic unit of society. The
happiness of those attending the event with us was due in large
part, I believe, to their feeling part of the church family. Each of us
should try to carry joy with us as we go about doing our daily tasks
and recognize that we are doing God’s work here on earth each day.
We should be one of those people who by being happy and upbeat
inspire others to do the same. If we smile at others, as one homilist
suggested recently, we may make others smile and in this way we
have had a positive effect on that person and may just make their
day a little brighter.
As we enter the holy season of Christmas, let us be aware of those
who do not have a family. As I have written in the past, the onset of
longer nights and colder weather tends to keep people inside more
and if you have no one to share the time with, can lead to depression.
So as I have asked in the past, in the interest of another’s well-being,
reach out and ask someone who you know is alone to share your
holiday festivities. It is truly making Kolping members who are the
entire Kolping family feel that sense of family at work. Remember
that Christ told us that what we do to the least of our brothers is
what we do unto him.
On behalf of all the members of the Kolping National Office I want
to extend our best wishes for a Blessed Christmas and a Happy, Holy
and Healthy New Year.
Bernhard Preisser
December 2015
Kolping Banner 3
A PRAESES PROCLAIMS...
THE NATIONAL PRAESES SPEAKS
By
Rev. Engelbert Michel
National Praeses and Praeses of Philadelphia Kolping Society
Kolping Brothers and Sisters;
coming into the working-world. Father Kolping saw
this as a means of keeping families fully alive. Many of
our Kolping activities today encourage us to reach out
internationally with donations that will help families
grow strong and fully alive in the poorest areas of the
world. But as we know there are many areas even in our
neighborhoods that call upon us to reach out as Father
Kolping did to improve living conditions and work
opportunities for others who are struggling.
‘LOVE IS OUR MISSION – the Family “fully alive!” No
doubt all of you are familiar with this expression – the
theme of the World Meeting of Families held recently in
Philadelphia. Certainly everyone in Philadelphia and all
its surroundings have become familiar with this saying,
and the call to all families to be fully alive in our 21st
century world by carrying out our mission – “To love one
another”, to bring God’s kindness and love
into our homes and thereby into our world
L OVE I S OUR
as Jesus encourages us.
As Pope St. John Paul II said at the beatification
of Blessed Adolph Kolping in 1991:
MI SSI ON – t he “He gathered skilled workers and factory
Father Kolping saw the Catholic and the
laborers together. Thus he overcame their
Christian world losing the Mission God gave
isolation and defeatism. A faith society
Family “fully
to us all, to bring a God-like love into our
gave them the strength to go out into their
world every day. To accomplish the goal set
everyday lives as Christ’s witnesses before
alive! ”
for the young men and women entering the
God and the world.” This remains our duty
working world, he emphasized to them that
today. As Jesus said, “Whatever you do for
they came from families built up on God’s love, which
the least of my brethren, you do for me.”
they must continue to pass on through their generation.
That will help keep all families alive.
One rule of the “Young Men’s Society” (Gesellen verein)
that he founded, was that they spend time praying
A Blessed Christmas and a Happy & Healthy New Year,
together. He also encouraged them to share their love
and blessings from God by acknowledging the dignity of
Treu Kolping!
labor and sharing their “know-how” with new members
Catholic Kolping Society National Convention
The New York Kolping Society Family is honored to host the 2016 National Convention in our city during the
Labor Day Week-end, September 2-5. Our theme will be “Through Faith, Courage and Communication we can
build stronger families.” These thoughts and aspirations will run through all of our presentations.
We have chosen as our hotel, the Marriot East Side, located in the heart of one of the most desirable locations in
Manhattan. Not only is it beautiful, but it is located close to shopping, museums and transportation. We were
able to get a fantastic price; King $199 and Doubles at $229. As an added bonus since we are a nonprofit tax
exemptyou will save 8.75% on local taxes and 9% on hotel taxes!
The programs will include a dinner cruise around Manhattan and riverside dining on the Hudson at the Kolping
House located in Montrose NY. There will be many other interesting sites and tours available to delegates and
non-delegates alike, so please mark your calendars for September 2-5 to be at the Kolping Society National
Convention in New York City.
Christine Preisser
4 Kolping Banner
December 2015
International Board of Directors Meeting –
Cologne, Germany
I had the good fortune of participating in my 3rd International
Board of Directors meeting which was again held in Cologne,
Germany from September 20th to 23rd 2015. In addition
to the International meeting, Kolping Germany celebrated
a “National Kolping Day” from Friday September 20th to
Sunday September 20th.
Over 15,000 German Kolping
members converged on Cologne for this special weekend, and
I am happy to say that the delegates of the International Board
of Directors meeting were invited to participate in this event.
A full slate of events were planned by Kolping Germany. The
theme was “Mut Tut Gut” / Courage Does Good. The Kickoff
event Friday was an evening of entertainment at the Lanxess
Arena where everyone was given orange scarves with the
“Mut Tut Gut” theme printed on them. We were entertained
with various musical and variety acts from different Kolping
families throughout Germany. Saturday had a full slate of
events throughout the city which addressed various areas of
interest for the membership. These included Family Life, One
World, The Working World, The Church in the Modern World,
and Youth. The Kolping Youth of Germany had a special
project for the weekend entitled – “Mein Schuh Tut Gut” –
My Shoe Does Good – and had asked all of the participants
to bring shoes that would be collected and donated to worthy
causes. This was a very ambitious and fruitful project. One
special pair of shoes donated to the collection was a pair of
Red Papal Shoes provided by Pope Benedict XVI (which ended
up in a museum). At the end of the weekend, over 22,000
pairs of shoes were collected by the German Kolping Youth.
Saturday evening the theatric musical production of Kolping’s
Dream - was presented at the arena. It was a very special
presentation with the original cast from the 2013 & 2014 show
reunited for this production. Live music was provided by the
Berlin Pops Orchestra, who were accompanied by the Sound
of Music Choir from Wuppertal. What a great show!!!! The
weekend was capped off by the celebration of mass at the
Lanxess Arena for all 15,000 participants by Cardinal Rainer
Woelki – Archbishop of Cologne. Also celebrating the mass
with him was Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, Apostolic Nuncio
of the Vatican, Josef Holtkotte, German Bundes Praeses, and
Monsignor Ottmar Dillenburg, International Praeses. It was an
impressive sight as all of flags from the various Kolping families
processed into the mass.
Immediately following the mass, the International Board
of Directors meeting was convened. This year we had 54
participants from 27 different countries. We were blessed with
the presence of the Papal Nuncio – Nikola Eterovic who spent
about 2.5 hours at the beginning of our meeting learning about
Kolping and its international presence before having to depart
for other commitments. The primary topic of discussion on this
first day was to further discuss Kolping 2017 and to vote on
various proposals for clarifications in the document describing
the purpose of the Kolping Society.
On Monday we continued to discuss the Kolping 2017
initiative, and also heard a presentation by General Secretary Dr. Markus Demele. His talk centered around his topic “What
do Sustainable Development Goals mean for the International
Kolping Society”. After his presentation we broke into small
groups to further discuss this issue and its significance for the
various national Kolping organizations in attendance. Monday
evening we had mass at St. Enblebert’s Church, which was
within walking distance of our location.
Tuesday we received reports and presentation’s from the
International Praeses – Ottmar Dillenberg, General Secretary
Markus Demele, and a report by the International Executive
Board. At issue on an international basis is the fact that
German funding for many international projects sponsored
by Kolping are become increasingly difficult to obtain as cost
cutting measures continue to be implemented in the German
government. Suggestions for alternative funding sources were
discussed. In addition to these discussions we also viewed
presentations on Flagship Projects from the various National
Kolping organizations. It is encouraging to see the many ways
that Kolping is still relevant through these projects in today’s
modern world. Tuesday evening we celebrated mass at the
Minorite Church and toured the newly renovated International
Office located directly across from the church. Renovations
have now been completed and what had been offices for
both Kolping Germany and International Kolping have now
December 2015
Kolping Banner 5
been converted into market rate apartments and offices for
International Kolping. The International offices are very nicely
renovated, and almost all of the apartments are now occupied.
Rents received from these apartments will help to fund the work
of International Kolping.
The final day of the meeting on Wednesday was occupied with
the discussion of the financial condition of International Kolping
. With the major renovations that occurred in the prior fiscal
year, operations were in the red, however are expected to improve
with the completion of renovations. The location of the 2016
International Board meeting was announced and will be in
September of 2016 in Kigali, Rwanda. In addition, the site of the
2017 International Kolping Convention was announced and will
be held in Lima, Peru.
Holiday
Greetings
from the
Kolping Family
in
Rochester N.Y.
As with the prior conferences, this is an exceptional experience to
be able to meet and learn from our Kolping Brothers and Sisters
from around the world. It is a privilege to be able to participate,
and I look forward to next year’s meeting
National Treasurer
Theodore Wilke
May each day of Christmas be filled
with peace, and may God’s love light
your way through the new year.
Los Angeles Kolping Society
2015
6 Kolping Banner
December 2015
To All Our Kolping Brothers and Sisters
May you have the spirit of Christmas
which is
peace
The gladness of Christmas
which is
hope
The heart of Christmas
which is
love
The Brooklyn Kolping Family Sends Best Wishes for a Blessed and
Happy Christmas and Good Health and Happiness in 2016
May the peace of
Christ Jesus
fill your hearts this
Christmas
and bring happiness
to you in 2016
2010
from the
Cincinnati Kolping Family
December 2015
Kolping Banner 7
Catholic Kolping
Society of
New York
Let the children
­gather ’round and
quietly remind us . . .
Praeses ������������ Rev. Richard J. Bretone
President��������������������� Katrina Dengler
Vice President������������� Gerhard Schmitt
. . . of all the simple
joys of Christmas.
Catholic Kolping Society of New York
Kolping House - 88 St. • Kolping-On-Hudson
Kolping-On-Concourse
8 Kolping Banner
December 2015
The National Administrator Writes...
2015 is at an end and we now look forward to 2016. December is a time of
celebration. We celebrate the Birth of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. How often we
get wrapped up in the commercial activities of the holiday and forget what
Christmas is all about. We should use the remaining time this Advent season to prepare
spiritually for Jesus’ coming.
Our annual raffle was concluded on December 6. The winners will be listed in our
February Banner. The next raffle will most likely be held in the Fall of 2016. I thank
everyone who participated in the 2015 raffle. Your support is greatly appreciated for the
running of the National Office.
The 41st National Convention will be held in New York City the Labor Day weekend.
The committees have been working diligently to make sure everyone who attends will have
a memorable weekend. Sunday’s Mass will be held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral with Cardinal
Dolan celebrating which should be the highlight of the convention. Please mark your
calendars for that weekend in anticipation of coming to New York City. More information
will be forthcoming in future Banners.
Finally, I would like to thank the following branch reporters and members for sending
articles for the Banner during the year. I encourage all branches to appoint a member who
can periodically send me articles on the events of your society.
Lisa Brinkmann Mike & Nancy Pelzel
Bill Conte Heinrich Prommer
Christa Maier Doris Wilke
On behalf of my family and myself, I wish each of you a blessed and joyous Christmas
and a Healthy and Happy New Year.
Patricia Farkas
Cincinnati Jody Hargis
Please Remember to Pray for
Los Angeles
All Our Departed Members
New York
Who Have Gone to Their Eternal Rest Frank Sciuto
Rudy Koller
Elsie Schull
Marion Ulrich
St. Louis William Dundon
December 2015
Kolping Banner 9
Best Wishes for
A Joyful Christmas
and
Happy New Year!
Catholic Kolping Society of Philadelphia
9130 Academy Road, Philadelphia, PA 19114
10 Kolping Banner
December 2015
To All Our
Kolping Brother and Sisters
A Merry Christmas
and a
Happy New Year
from the
Detroit Kolping Family
December 2015
Kolping Banner 11
National Endowment
Fund
The National Endowment Fund received
the following contributions for the months of
August 15, 2015 to October 15, 2015.
Donations
Cincinnati Kolping Society
$3,000
Lisa Brinkmann
$100
In Memory of Frank Sciuto,
deceased member of the Los Angeles Kolping Society
Los Angeles Kolping Society
Kolping Society National Endowment Fund
c/o Lisa Brinkmann
311 Greene Street
Mill Valley, CA 94941-4132
CATHOLIC KOLPING SOCIETY
Of America
P.O. Box 4907
Clifton, NJ 07015-4907
Address Service Requested
Dated
Material
May the Birth of the
Child Jesus
Life your heart with
Joy this Christmas
The Editor and Staff
of the Kolping Banner
Non-Profit Org.
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