A word from our spiritual director, Father John Lindsay:
The warmer months brings with them some of the most significant national observances: Memorial, Independence and Labor Day. In an election year, we will bear the press of non-stop commentary and media coverage. Freedoms have a price. You may have been struck by the coverage of the funeral for Tim Russert. I certainly was. Part might be our common western New York background. More to the point I think was the decidedly Catholic nurtured character of his life and work. I venture to recommend a visit to www.faithfulcitizenship.org, a ministry of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. In the Catholic Tradition, responsible citizenship is a virtue, and participation in political life is a moral obligation. As Catholics, we should be guided more by our moral convictions than by our attachment to a political party or interest group. In today’s environment, Catholics may feel politically disenfranchised, sensing that no party and few candidates fully share our comprehensive commitment to human life and dignity. Catholic lay women and men need to act on the Church’s moral principles and become more involved: running for office, working within political parties, and communicating concerns to elected officials. Even those who cannot vote should raise their voices on matters that affect their lives and the common good. How Does the Church Help Catholics to Address Political and Social Questions? A Well-Formed Conscience The Church equips its members to address political questions by helping them develop well-formed consciences. “Conscience is a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act. . . . [Every person] is obliged to follow faithfully what he [or she] knows to be just and right” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1778). We Catholics have a lifelong obligation to form our consciences in accord with human reason, enlightened by the teaching of Christ as it comes to us through the Church. One of the qualities that colleagues pointed out about the character of Tim Russert was that he did his homework. He worked diligently to seek the truth. “You are the light of the world. A light is not put under a bushel basket.”
Mission Statement
As Catholic professional and business men and women, we are called to live as disciples of Jesus Christ not only on Sundays, but every day at home and at work. Our goal in the Catholic Professional and Business Club (CP&BC) an unincorporated association, shall be to continue our faith formation as Catholics so that we can bear witness in our daily lives by word and deed to the Good News of Jesus Christ. We gather to share with others who seek a more ethical business environment. These goals shall be attained by coming together monthly to hear from an informative and motivational speaker during the meeting. Each of us shall strive to integrate our ethical values as Catholics into our professional and business lives.
Next Meeting, Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Join us at 7:15am at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Modesto. Breakfast will be at 7:30am. $15 for members, $20 for non-members. For reservations please call 521-6849 or email Kathy Etchebarne at suezbear@aol.com.
September 9 , 2008
CSU Stanislaus President Ham Shirvani
The Order of Malta is the common name for The Federal Association of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta. It is a lay religious order of the Catholic Church, founded in 1099. According to its Web site (www.smom.org), there are about 12,500 Knights and Dames of Malta worldwide. To become a member, applicants: * Must be Catholic lay men or women in good standing with the church * Must be at least 25 years old * Should be regarded as leaders in their fields and in the community Must have a record of service to the Catholic Church and hands-on volunteer service to the poor * Must be sponsored by two members of the knighthood * Must participate in a year of formation, which includes meetings and volunteer activities * Must pay an initiation fee of $3,500, part of which goes toward international relief programs The High Five In "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," in order to save his father (Sean Connery) from a gunshot wound, the title character (Harrison Ford) must choose the correct chalice used by Jesus Christ on the eve of his crucifixion. The task is challenging because many potential Holy Grails rest in a chamber guarded for centuries by a medieval knight. Knights in the Middle Ages served in a variety of roles -- as military support to kings, lords and religious leaders -- and as defenders of their faith. Usually sons of aristocrats, the future knights were sent to other families at about age 8 to be raised without a lenient parent to spoil them. In their midteens, the boys became squires, assisting other knights, before attaining knighthood in early adulthood. Although there are no knights in shining armor sitting around King Arthur's round table today, knights remain active in the Catholic Church. The Knights of Columbus, for instance, were founded 125 years ago and exist in many parishes to help raise funds for needy individuals and families. Less well known are the Knights of Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and the Knights of Malta, which trace their lineage back to the 11th and 12th centuries. They were established to protect people making pilgrimages to Jerusalem and to care for the sick and handicapped. Ham Shirvani, president of California State University, Stanislaus, is a modern-day knight. He's a member of the Holy Sepulchre group and a provisional knight for the Malta fellowship. He carries no sword and rides no steed, but his mission otherwise is much unchanged from those performed centuries ago. "Obviously, there are no military components to the order anymore. The promotion of the faith is not by the sword," said Monsignor Jim Kidder, pastor of the Holy Trinity parish in El Dorado Hills and chaplain to the two orders in the Sacramento diocese. "The mission hasn't changed. From the beginning, it was taking care of the sick and nurturing and promoting the faith." There aren't many knights from the two orders in the area, he added -- about 25 in the Sacramento diocese, which numbers roughly 600,000 Catholics. No one is quite sure how many exist in the Stockton diocese, which has about half that many Catholics on its rolls. "I haven't met anyone yet from Stanislaus County," Shirvani said. "Most of the activities are in San Francisco or Palo Alto. But I've heard there are people in Stockton and Fresno. I'll be interested to meet them." As part of his provisional training, Shirvani traveled last month to Lourdes, France, where he helped people with physical and mental ailments get to various sites for healing. Following the claims that Jesus' mother, Mary, appeared to a peasant girl and others in 1858, Lourdes has become a major place of Catholic pilgrimage and reported divine healings. "We put the people in something like a wheelchair, but it's much larger," he said. "One person pulls on it and one pushes it. Lourdes has a bunch of hills and slopes, so it's up and down. We take them either to the grotto or the main church or a variety of religious places where Masses take place. "It's all about spirituality and service. I was sometimes pulling, sometimes pushing. It's an incredible experience. While you are there in that holy place, you are also serving. "I've fulfilled my mission of taking a person who couldn't afford to go to Lourdes and have that holy water and ask to be healed."
From an article By
SUE NOWICKI Modesto Bee snowicki@modbee.com