Brothers,

 

With this being my first article as State Deputy, I want to take a moment to say "Thank You" to all the Knights.

 

Thank you for electing me as your SD. It is an honor and privilege to serve you. And thank you to all the Knights and Past State Deputies who supported me as I worked through the offices. It is very humbling to have your vote of confidence to lead the Oklahoma Knights of Columbus. I must say that since the convention in April, my emotions have been everything from excited to eager to stressed. But most of all, I have a strong desire to put into action ways to increase family involvement and grow our order.

 

We held our 2021 organization meeting on July 10th-12th at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Edmond. We gathered all state officers, district deputies, grand knights, program and membership chairs. We also had some attendees on Zoom. New officers and district deputies were installed and we shared ideas on how to get people back to our parishes and how to get out councils active again. 

 

This fraternal year is going to be a year to refocus. In many ways, we have lost sight of the core mission of the Knights, so some changes are coming to redirect us into becoming a true fraternal community. This may be a new term for some, but it has been a longstanding tradition for many councils. It is a tradition we have seen diminishing over time with phones attached to our sides, continuous access to the internet and society's never-changing attempts to erode our values. Yes, times have changed in the last few years, but what has not changed is our increasing need for us Catholics to be leaders and stand firm in our core values. One does not have to look far to see that today, more than ever, our faith and core values are under constant attack. Now is the time for the Oklahoma Knights to stand up and support the Church and our core values as Catholics. 

 

In this day and time, it is difficult to envision fighting the fight on the world level. The battle lines must first be established in out local communities. As Knights, many of us have been known to say, "The Knights of Columbus has made me a better man, husband, father, and Catholic." Now is the time to walk the talk. It is easy to say we will do it, but it is much more difficult to put our faith into action. 

 

Just like our forefathers, for us to fight the fight, we must have soldiers. In our fraternal community, our soldiers are those men we call dads, coaches, teachers, city leaders, the police and firemen protecting our communities, priests, deacons, Catholic educators, and yes, even the guy flipping pancakes. These are the men we want our children to look up to. Today, more than ever, we need every Catholic living out their faith. So for those of you who say, "All the state is interested in is the numbers," I say YES! It is all about the numbers. The number of Knights you want your children to know and become involved with, the number of Knights it takes to support our widows, the number of Knights it takes to maintain our parishes, the number of Knights we need to support our communities, and the number of new Knights it will take to carry on the great work you have done over the years. 

 

During this past year we have been called to assist our parishes in reopening, helping our parishes contact members, and keeping our churches as clean and safe as possible. This is where the Knights should be hard at work, but without continuous growth in our councils, we will not be able to support our parishes and communities as we should. Therefore, we must ask men to join the Knights. It is not to fill a quote, but to continue our work for charity. 

 

Having families involved, doing charitable service work, promotes the value of the importance of family in the church and in our communities. Now is the time for the Oklahoma Knights to get as many people as possible to live their faith within our communities. As Oklahoma Knights, we do not have to fight the whole world. We just need to work on building the faith in our own communities. By having families involved in our councils, we will increase support of the church. Our success starts in your home, your parish and your community by your Faith in Action. 

 

I am looking forward to building our faith and our families with you in our communities. 

 

VIVAT JESUS!

Dennis Kunnanz, Oklahoma State Deputy