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Memorial Mass Offered for Deceased Members of the Order
| Mass Photos | Homily |
In the final Mass of the convention, offered for the souls of deceased Knights of Columbus, Supreme Chaplain Bishop William Lori summed up the theme of the three-day meeting, “Building a Civilization of Love Through Charity, Unity and Fraternity.”
The key to a civilization of love, he said, is recognizing the God-given dignity of every human person and respecting life from conception to natural death.
Such a civilization cannot be the work of one person, or even of one organization alone, Bishop Lori noted. All people must work together in charity and unity.
Alluding to the souls of the deceased, he continued, “We can easily overlook some fellow members of our team. … These unseen members of our team we remember today at this celebration of the holy sacrifice of the Mass. They include our founder, the Venerable Father Michael J. McGivney, and all the saints and blessed of our Order.
“Many of these were martyrs, witnesses to the faith in Mexico; another was a Catholic intellectual of extraordinary virtue, and all of them were exemplars for leading a life of genuine love.”
Seven clergy members of the Knights of Columbus have been canonized and four other members have been beatified.
Following the homily, Supreme Secretary Donald Kehoe read from the Order’s necrology, as the hundreds of Knights and their families assembled prayed for fraternal leaders who died since the last convention.
Bishop Lori concluded, “Is it not our obligation to remember our beloved dead, to listen to them because we pray for them, to praise those recognized for their holiness and to seek the full joy of heaven for those who have loved us so?”