I am so happy and proud of being part of St Thomas KOC Council which is the first Indian council in the history of the Knights of Columbus. And I take it as a great privilege for me to be the chaplain of it and engage in the work of evangelization through this Council. The work of evangelization is the duty of every Christian as it is mentioned by the Second Vatican Council. The work of evangelization is much more than doing some social work. Mother Teresa of Calcutta was once asked why you don’t stop relating your works with Jesus Christ and his mission so that the great social work that you are doing can have a greater acceptance among the non Christians too. But the answer to that by Mother was “we are called for the work of evangelization rather than doing some Social work”. When we think of the ministry carried out by the Knights of Columbus we understand that there is lot of social work involved but the stress is that it is carried out by practicing Catholics. Therefore it is important that we are rooted in Jesus Christ and in prayer to carry out our ministry meaningfully and effectively. Therefore I think we have taken the right step towards doing something as members of this council by coming together in prayer occasionally and also by a greater participation in the First Friday Adoration. Let God enlighten us and inspire us to do for others whatever he wants us to do for them.

When we think of our mission as evangelizers we know this mission has to be deeply rooted in the life and teaching of Jesus himself. The life of Jesus made so much impact in this world because it was a life that was well spent for others in conformity to the will of His Father. The biggest hindrance to living our life meaningfully is our own selfishness and egoism. There is a saying “what we receive gives us a living but what we give gives us a life”. Therefore living a life of holiness and service can make our life meaningful and at the same time it can make an impact in the life of many others. There are many who seek real and lasting peace in their life and families and a life of service is very essential to reach that goal. The teaching of Mother Teresa is very relevant here. She said “the fruit of silence is Prayer. The fruit of prayer is Faith. The fruit of faith is Love. The fruit of love is Service. And the fruit of SERVICE is PEACE.

A patient asked Dr Karl Menninger what he should do if he felt a nervous break down coming on. He expected the famous psychiatrist to respond “call me immediately”. In stead, he said, “go out and find somebody in trouble and help that person”. Let us not forget the fact that we are all called to be service minded. There is an inner joy in serving and a divine reward promised. When we do it prayerfully and out of love for Jesus Christ we become genuine evangelizers who spread the Good News that Jesus is in us and among us. Jesus said “whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward” (Mt. 10/42). Let us therefore be committed to the wonderful mission we take up as Knights of Columbus. Do not be concerned about your inabilities and imperfections because when God entrust some one with a particular mission he also provide them the tools and grace needed for it. Let us therefore trust in the Lord and be committed. God bless you all.

With love and prayers.

Fr. Kurian Karikkal, MSFS

My dear fellow Knights and members of our parish.

I am really excited about the installation of this council at our church. This is the first Indian council of this Order. All of us are fortunate to be associated with this council. We are completing one year of its activities. We all agree that this order is new to our culture and tradition and hence, the past year was a year of learning for us. Even when we were going through the learning process we did the best we could. I would like to comment each and every member of this council for their support and co operation. I express the council’s gratitude to the members of the parish for their support in our food sales. The initiative and participation of our members in the twenty four hour adoration speaks about our dedication and unity in catholic faith, which is the foundation of the order. I am proud of every member of this council and I am honored to be your Grand Knight. Together we shall serve God and man. In the coming year we will have more activities planned.

More Charity work and fraternal activities can be accomplished only through the increased membership in the council. I cordially invite all adult male members of our parish to be part of this great order. Let us unite under the banner of KOC for the service of God and Mankind.

With prayerful wishes

Jose P Nedumpurath