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'Action' is the expression the Knights have for putting
ideas into practice, for the day-to-day work they undertake within
the parish and to help the Parish Priest, for fund-raising for good causes, for liaising with
Christian and other faith groups and a multitude of other tasks,
as well as, for recruitment purposes, trying
to raise the general level of
awareness about what they do.
Although they have a mission to support the Roman Catholic church
many of their efforts are ecumenical. The main focus of charitable
work might be on local projects but each year the Order undertakes
to support a national scheme. Working both in local groups and on a
national level the Knights also take a special interest in the
welfare and the spiritual development of young people.
National fund-raising projects in the recent past have been
for providing fresh
water wells in the third world, raising funds for The Samaritans,
for Vision Aid Overseas (an international charity dedicated to
transforming access to eyecare services in developing countries)
and from the Autumn of 2011 it is to raise funds for the charity
'Aid for the Church in Need', and specifically to help children in
the newly formed country of South Sudan to receive a Christian education.
Members of Council 518 serve on
the Parish Council at Lowestoft,
are 'extraordinary lay ministers
of the eucharist',
are collection counters
and generally carry out
a number of the regular routine
tasks of a functioning Parish.
A brief calendar of many
of the non-routine events and projects in which Knights of Council
518 have also been involved is below (most recent
first):
May
2012
May 13th-17th
and Spring must be slightly
later this year than last,
or Christain Aid Week is
earlier, because some of
the shrubs on our usual
area for collection in South
Lowestoft are noticeably
less advanced. Several members
of the Council have once
again helped in this
worthwhile project.
One of our
first duties in May was
the Requiem Mass for our
late Brother, Philip
Rosindale
on the 8th. As a Past
Provincial Grand Knight
and a steward at our national
shrine at Walsingham Philip
had made a lot of friends
in his lifetime which was
reflected by the numbers
that attended.
April
2012
April
29th saw the installation
of Council Officers for
the year 2012-13 at a Mass
for deceased members of
the Order of St. Columba
and for our recently deceased
Brother Philip Rosindale,
at Our Lady Star of the
Sea, Lowestoft.
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Officers
of Council 518
after installation
29-04-12
(click
image for larger
version)
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Our Chaplain
Fr. Brendan celebrated the
Mass, the Deputy Provincial
Grand Knight Bro. Brian
Lafferty was the Presiding
Officer and Past Provincial
Grand Knight Bro. Mike Fathers
was the Master of Ceremonies.
On April
21st we had the sad
but not unexpected news
of the death of one of our
senior members, Bro.
Philip Rosindale, after
a long battle with cancer.
April
19th and we are pleased
to be able to announce the
launch of this years National
Youth Prayer Competition:
2012 Prayer Competition
There is a competitive project for our younger people during
this summer to write a prayer. The theme is:
'The Homeless
and
the Unemployed'
Open to anyone aged between 12 and 18 years, entries must be submitted by 25th August
2011,
full details here.
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Members of the
Council helped
and supported a Parish event,
an Organ Recital
at Our Lady Star of the
Sea by the international concert
organist Martin Kasparek
on 13th April. By
Easter
Monday, 9th April
the first three months of
the year have already past
and there have been
few 'photo opportunities'
to show what we have been
up to but most of our 'action'
has been in the background
preparing for the future.
Much of
the last few weeks has been
spent in preparing for
the major festival of Easter
at Our Lady's,
preparation which included
the Mass of Chrism at
the Cathedral of St.
John the Baptist, Norwich.
Knights
have also supported the
usual ecumenical Lenten
services, this year at
the Baptist Church,
St. Andrews in Roman
Road and the Walk of Witness
from Our Lady's to
the United Reformed
Church on Good Friday.
Domestic
Council business has seen
the revamping our fund raising
capability and bringing
our Lottery into line with
current legislation as we
reached the end of our financial
year and prepare for the
next. Earlier
in the year, in January,
members of the Council
supported Christian Unity
by attending services at
St. Margaret's Church,
United Reformed Church
and sung Vespers at Our
Lady Star of the Sea
in Gordon Road and we also helped out
at the Fairtrade Fair
in the Stella Maris
Hall on 3rd March.
At the end
of 2011 the Council
was approached to help
with the Parish's contribution
to a project called the
Lowestoft Church Fest
in September 2012.
The Lowestoft
Church Fest is an exciting
ongoing project for the
town involving many of
the local Christian churches
in the Trinitarian tradition
who are getting together
with a co-ordinated programme
of events for the last two
week of September, to highlight
the Christian presence in
the town and surrounding
district.
For Knights
Action prior to 2012 see
About
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