NAVIGATION

K of C Links

Chapter Presidents Update

January/February, 2023
Dear Brothers in Christ,

I hope each of you had a chance to spend time this Christmas Season with family and friends and enjoyed the Holiday Season. I wish each of you and your families a New Year filled with good health and happiness.

As I reflect on the past year, I am astonished at the challenges we have faced in our District as District Deputies and in our Councils as Grand Knights. I personally feel that the demands that are being made on us have taken away from the reason I joined the Knights.

My goal for the New Year is to make sure that you remember why you became a Knight. And, the principles of our Order should be revisited by our members and ourselves. Our Order was built on Charity, Unity, Fraternity and Patriotism. These are the principles of our Order and the reason why we became a Knight – as it should be!

My introduction to the Knights was at my church, seeing these men in their Regalia at a church service and then seeing these same men serving as Ushers or doing the lamb roast at our church fundraiser, or on the street corners collecting for handicapped children. I was approached and asked if I could help next Sunday for a church fundraiser at the KC hall. Meeting these men and watching how hard they worked and how much they enjoyed being with each other. I asked myself, “How do I become a Knight?”

Over the years I have seen many changes in my Council, neighborhood and church. Some changes have been good and some not so good. We dealt with Covid for several years and are still dealing with the repercussions of that on our Councils.

I am asking all Grand Knights to get back to the fundamentals of our Order. For example, this past year I had the pleasure of working with GK Joe Angelillo, who is our Bombas sock program chairman. The hours he and his Council members put forth to give to the needy are inspirational. DD Joseph Kunnengode and his Council and family served food to the needy on the Christmas weekend. Cardinal Stritch Assembly donated funds to over 13 charitable groups from their Christmas Cheer Program. Councils collected “Toys for Tots” for Christmas. Trinity Council and District 24 have started collecting recycled plastic bags to donate to a women’s group who are making plastic sleeping mats for the homeless.

These are only a few of the examples I want to convey to each of you. I will leave it to others to prioritize their agendas of Quotas and Goals. My goal is to bring our principles of our Order back to our Councils. Let’s get our members back into our churches and bring back the fun so that those men who are watching us will want to join our Order.


Vivat Jesus and Happy 2023!

Fraternally yours,
Stan Wiejak
Chicago Archdiocesan Chapter President