from our grand knight- "innocent believing is good life practise"

GOD LIVES UNDER THE BED
I envy Kevin. My brother, Kevin, thinks God lives under his bed. At least that's what I heard him say one night.
He was praying out loud in his dark bedroom, and I stopped to listen, 'Are you there, God?' he said. 'Where are you? Oh, I see. Under the bed....'
I giggled softly and tiptoed off to my own room. Kevin's unique perspectives are often a source of amusement. But that night something else lingered long after the humor. I realized for the first time the very different world Kevin lives in.
He was born 30 years ago, mentally disabled as a result of difficulties during labor. Apart from his size (he's 6-foot-2), there are few ways in which he is an adult. He reasons and communicates with the capabilities of a 7-year-old, and he always will. He will probably always believe that God lives under his bed, that Santa Claus is the one who fills the space under our tree every Christmas and that airplanes stay up in the sky because angels carry them.
I remember wondering if Kevin realizes he is different. Is he ever dissatisfied with his monotonous life?
Up before dawn each day, off to work at a workshop for the disabled, home to walk our cocker spaniel, return to eat his favorite macaroni-and-cheese for dinner, and later to bed. The only variation in the entire scheme is laundry, when he hovers excitedly over the washing machine like a mother with her newborn child. He does not seem dissatisfied.
He lopes out to the bus every morning at 7:05, eager for a day of simple work.
He wrings his hands excitedly while the water boils on the stove before dinner, and he stays up late twice a week to gather our dirty laundry for his next day's laundry chores.
And Saturdays - oh, the bliss of Saturdays! That's the day my Dad takes Kevin to the airport to have a soft drink, watch the planes land, and speculate loudly on the destination of each passenger inside. 'That one's goin' to Chi-car-go! ' Kevin shouts as he claps his hands. His anticipation is so great he can hardly sleep on Friday nights.
And so goes his world of daily rituals and weekend field trips.
He doesn't know what it means to be discontent. His life is simple. He will never know the entanglements of wealth of power, and he does not care what brand of clothing he wears or what kind of food he eats. His needs have always been met, and he never worries that one day they may not be.
His hands are diligent. Kevin is never so happy as when he is working. When he unloads the dishwasher or vacuums the carpet, his heart is completely in it.
He does not shrink from a job when it is begun, and he does not leave a job until it is finished. But when his tasks are done, Kevin knows how to relax.
He is not obsessed with his work or the work of others. His heart is pure. He still believes everyone tells the truth, promises must be kept, and when you are wrong, you apologize instead of argue.
Free from pride and unconcerned with appearances, Kevin is not afraid to cry when he is hurt, angry or sorry. He is always transparent, always sincere. And he trusts God.
Not confined by intellectual reasoning, when he comes to Christ, he comes as a child.. Kevin seems to know God - to really be friends with Him in a way that is difficult for an 'educated' person to grasp. God seems like his closest companion.
In my moments of doubt and frustrations with my Christianity, I envy the security Kevin has in his simple faith.
It is then that I am most willing to admit that he has some divine knowledge that rises above my mortal questions.
It is then I realize that perhaps he is not the one with the handicap. I am. My obligations, my fear, my pride, my circumstances - they all become disabilities when I do not trust them to God's care.

Who knows if Kevin comprehends things I can never learn? After all, he has spent his whole life in that kind of innocence, praying after dark and soaking up the goodness and love of God.
And one day, when the mysteries of heaven are opened, and we are all amazed at how close God really is to our hearts, I'll realize that God heard the simple prayers of a boy who believed that God lived under his bed.
Kevin won't be surprised at all!

When you receive this, say a prayer for the one who sent it to you and those you are sending to. That's all you have to do.

October Elimination Draw

Councils 9262 and 13442



Handy information and check list on our October 18 charity elimination draw

Sponsers ? Council 9262---October 18, 2008 Draw---Council 13442

Where will the money go? "Worthy causes” local charity need

Who can participate? Anyone

What are the prizes? $ 4000, plus great fun, great lunch

Where can I get my tickets? Knights, Church, Groups

Does Performance count? Dinner for two for the most sold

When? 3 Early bird draws : July 6 - Aug 2 - Sept 6

Lunch and main draw at St. Basils Oct 18

If you need tickets, additional information, or want to help- please contact us- committee chair respondfeedbacknow@yahoo.ca

Religious News - Catholic bishops reject gay marriage law - ArcaMax Publishing

Religious News - Catholic bishops reject gay marriage law - ArcaMax Publishing: "Catholic bishops reject gay marriage law
As California officials prepared for gay nuptials Monday, Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony and other bishops said marriage should be between and man and woman.

In a statement, the Roman Catholic officials said marriage 'has a unique place in God's creation, joining a man and a woman in a committed relationship in order to nurture and support the new life for which marriage is intended,' the Los Angeles Times reported.

'The meaning of marriage is deeply rooted in history and culture, and has been shaped considerably by Christian tradition. Its meaning is given, not constructed,' their statement said.

The earliest time gay and lesbian couples in California were to be allowed to marry was 5:01 p.m. PDT Monday.

A handful of counties were to begin issuing marriage licenses at that time, but most will begin Tuesday, the newspaper said.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.

This news arrived on: 06/17/2008"

Shrove Tuesday a success

Pope stresses faith, reason harmony

ROME, Vatican City, Jan. 30 Pope Benedict XVI Wednesday stressed St. Augustine's insistence that reason and faith must be harmonized. "These themes are not to be opposed to one another, but must always go together" to arrive at the truth, he said. Speaking to 6,000 at the general audience, the pope said St. Augustine's intellectual and spiritual journey represents "a model of the relationship between faith and reason, a central theme for the equilibrium and destiny of every human being." These two dimensions "must not be separated or opposed, but rather must be harmonized": they are, in fact, "the two forces that lead us to knowledge," AsiaNews reported Wednesday.

The pairing of faith and reason is therefore central in Augustine's life and thought: he had learned that faith as a child and had rejected it as an adolescent, "because he did not see its reasonableness, and it was not an expression of his reason", meaning truth. "His search for the truth was so radical that he could not be satisfied with philosophies that did not arrive at God", who "is not only a cosmological hypothesis" but "a God who gives life". Augustine said, "'believe in order to understand', but also and inseparably, 'understand in order to believe'", which indicate that "God is not far from our reason and from our lives ... on the contrary, he is close to every human being, and he is as close to his heart as to his reason," the pope said.