The charity, unity, and fraternity for which the family of the Knights of Columbus is known were evident not only in your wonderful hospitality but especially in the works of faith and charity that you, the Knights of Columbus in the Philippines, are engaged in.
To decide for Christ is not merely a matter of adopting new rules of conduct. No, it means opening our hearts to Christ in the power of the Spirit, so much so that we can say with St. Paul, “It is not I who live but Christ who lives in me!”
Let us pray to the Holy Spirit as we seek to be renewed as missionary disciples. Like Ezekiel, let us pray that the Spirit would resurrect us in our dryness and heeding the voice of Jesus in the Gospel, let us pray for charity – love of God and neighbor, a charity that evangelizes, a charity that bears witness to Jesus Christ our King, living and reigning with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.
And so, the Lord promises us that he himself would take care of his people. He himself would shepherd his people. And he promises also that he would send shepherds after his own mind and after his own heart. Today, we celebrate the feast day of one of those shepherds after the mind and the heart of God — namely, Pope St. Pius X.
Like Pope St. Pius X, who worked tirelessly for the Lord and the Church, you and your colleagues work from sunup to sundown, and you work in a very special part of the Lord’s vineyard. While the Lord looks with love on all that he has made, I think he has special love for those places on this earth where the poorest of the poor make their home.
Today’s Scripture readings teach us that only the food God gives satisfies our deepest hunger, namely, the longing of our heart for the living Presence of God within us, our longing to be loved, unconditionally and infinitely.
So in these days when the Supreme Knight and his family as well as yours truly, have the privilege of being with the family of the Knights of Columbus here in the Philippines, let us ask for the grace to be renewed, endlessly, in the love God has for us his people, and within “the big tent” of his love, find our path to holiness, apostolic fruitfulness, and joy.
Mary, assumed body and soul into heaven, has gone ahead of us, helping to prepare a place for us in the Kingdom of Heaven where her Risen and Exalted Son sits at the Father’s right hand. In our lives on earth, may we join with Mary in proclaiming the greatness of the Lord, so that one day in the halls of heaven we may rejoice in God our Savior.
As the strong right arm of the Church, we, the Knights of Columbus, have never hesitated to meet challenges head-on and to respond to urgent need. Today, as never before, the Lord is calling us. The Church is counting us. And we shall not fail to respond!
For the bonds of our charity, unity, and fraternity are not broken by death. We are united with our beloved dead in the Communion of Saints. We are granted the grace of assisting them by the charity of our prayers and they, in turn, pray for us from their place in eternity.
It’s not hard for us to see the light which this great saint shed upon the Church which has just celebrated in the United States a beautiful Eucharistic Congress as part of an ongoing Eucharistic revival. It’s also not hard for us to see the relevance of St. Peter Julian in our lives as leaders in the family of the Knights of Columbus as we participate in and support the Eucharistic revival, not only in the United States but everywhere where the Order is present.
In the wake of the shooting at Butler, Pennsylvania, let us pray for the person who died and for those who were injured, including the former president. Let us also pray for an end to violence and for the wisdom to find pathos of honest and constructive dialog in these challenging days for our nation and for the world.
