Address to the Knights of Columbus Supreme Convention
August 4, 2022
Nashville, TN
Introduction
Thank you, Worthy Supreme Knight, and good afternoon dear brother Knights. In welcoming us so warmly to Nashville, Bishop Spalding captured something we were all thinking and feeling. After two years of virtual conventions, we are glad to be together. After all, seconding a motion just isn’t the same virtually. Only now are we discovering our Supreme Secretary’s skill in recognizing every jurisdiction that wishes to second a motion.
This is also the first in-person convention under the leadership of our Worthy Supreme Knight, Patrick Kelly. As this gathering nears its conclusion, I would like to capture and give voice to what we would all like to express – We are united in our gratitude to God for the inspiring and courageous leadership which you, our Worthy Supreme Knight, are giving to our Order. Thank you!
I also want to join with you, brother Knights, in thanking our chaplains – the successors of Blessed Michael McGivney. These priests play a pivotal role in the Order’s mission, especially its mission of evangelization, catechesis, and formation. They help us keep the flame of charity, unity, and fraternity burning brightly.
Finally, I would like to thank all of you, brother Knights, for your service to the Order. During these days, so many of you stopped to thank me for my ministry, and I am glad you did because it gave me the chance to get directions back to my room! This is my chance to say thank you to you and the brother knights you represent for your fidelity to the principles of the Order, for all you are doing to grow the Order, and for your witness of charity, a charity that evangelizes. May the Lord continue to prosper the work of your hands.
Eucharist and Ministry
During our Convention, two topics have been addressed frequently. First is the Eucharistic Revival project of the U.S. Bishops. Second is renewed efforts to build a culture of life following the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, a decision which our Past Supreme Knight rightly termed “morally repulsive”. What I would like to do in the few remaining moments of my talk is to bring those two things together, to reflect on how they are related, indeed to speak about the Eucharistic foundations of a culture of life.
Yesterday, Bishop Cozzens’ homily underlined a teaching of the II Vatican Council, viz., that the Eucharist is the Source of every ministry, every apostolate, every good work. For the Eucharist is not merely a symbol pointing to Christ. Rather, the Eucharist is the true and substantial Presence of Christ, and thus the Source of the Church’s spiritual wealth and all its apostolic strength. For example, at the Baltimore Basilica, we have a program called ‘Source of All Hope’. Young people, urban missionaries minister to the homeless. But the source of this ministry is not merely their desire to help others. This ministry is rooted in the Eucharist as the source of love and hope for the missionaries, for those they serve, and for the City.
What Is a Culture of Life?
Every ministry, then, finds its source in the Lord’s Eucharistic Presence. Yet, I think there is a special relationship between the Eucharist and the work of building a culture of life, the kind of society which recognizes each human life as God’s gift, thus possessing inviolable dignity from conception until natural death. In a true culture of life, respect for human life and dignity permeates society. It informs how we think about human life, how we portray it in art and literature, the media, including social media, how we address human need, how we frame our laws, how we treat one another. A culture of life recognizes that in caring for its most vulnerable members it is fostering the common good and creating an environment of human flourishing. A culture of life rejects death as a solution to problems, whether personal or societal, be it the death of an unborn child, or the death of a disabled, elderly or chronically ill patient.
So too, a culture of life does not choose between mother and child, it values them both. Nor does it force a mother to choose between her child and her future. A culture of life respects marriage and the family as the first sanctuary where children are protected, fostered, and love, and given the opportunity to grow into the persons God meant them to be. A society that truly values human life will enact laws and policies that encourage marriage and family and help families to flourish.
And if it is a true culture of life, it is more than a set of just laws and policies, important and desirable as these are. To create a culture, minds and hearts need to be changed, a lot of them, not merely enough to elect wise and compassionate leaders, but enough people to transform society from the inside out. The task of building a culture of life rests with each one of us. We have to take personal responsibility for this task by decisions we make, how we speak about life, and how we ourselves protect and serve the vulnerable in our midst. This requires more than good moral choices; it requires a sacrificial, self-giving love, like God’s unconditional love for us.
Finally, while the culture of life is not a vision for some distant millennium. It is not an earthly paradise conjured up by dreamers. No, in spite of how entrenched the culture of death seems to be, it cannot be the last word about human existence. Hope bids us to believe that a culture of life is attainable in our generation and prods us to work all the more diligently to attain it.
How Is the Eucharist Foundational to a Culture of Life?
This is just a thumbnail sketch of what a culture of life looks like. But already, I think you can see the centrality and unique importance of the Eucharist for building a culture of life. For in the Eucharist, we receive Christ himself, the whole Christ, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity and we participate in everything Christ did to restore our life. With that in mind, let me suggest three ways the Eucharist is foundational for a culture of life.
First, in the Eucharist, we receive the Incarnate Lord, the Son of God who took flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. To save us, God sent his Son into the world and it was in the womb of the Virgin Mary that the Son of God took on our flesh, our humanity. The humanity of the child Jesus in his mother’s womb is like a sacrament, a sign of God’s love for every child in the womb. This truth sheds the beautiful light of God’s glory on every child in the womb, even the child conceived in the most tragic of circumstances. In the same way, by becoming one of us Christ in some way united himself with every person without exception. He reknit a kinship with humanity that excludes no one. Welcoming the Incarnate Lord into our hearts opens our eyes and gives us strength to cherish the unborn, and indeed to grasp ever more profoundly our kinship with each person.
Second, the flesh of Christ is the hinge of our salvation. The Son of God assumed our nature, our body and soul, and made it the means by which he restored our humanity, the very humanity he created and endowed with inalienable dignity. When participate in the Eucharist, we enter into the mystery wherein Christ suffered, died, and rose to save us. That God chose our humanity, the human nature shared by every person, as the means to redeem us and our world reveals the depth of God’s love for us.
Third, by sharing in this mystery we receive not only the inspiration but the grace and strength we need to be the Lord’s co-workers in creating a culture of life. Studies show that Catholics that go to Mass consistently, especially those who go to Mass every Sunday are much more inclined to accept the Church’s teachings on the dignity of human life than those who attend occasionally or not at all. Attending Mass makes a difference not only in how we think, but also in how we act. Eucharistic adoration only strengthens the process of conversion. If we would build a culture of life, we need to convince more of our fellow Catholics of the importance of the Eucharist in their lives and in ours, both for their personal salvation but also for building a culture of love and life.
Conclusion
Much more could and should be said about this important topic but for now, I simply wanted to make the connection in your mind and mine between the Eucharistic Revival Project and the work that lies ahead of us in building a culture of life.
In the battle for human life and dignity, we, the Knights of Columbus have always stood in the breach. Let us continue to go into breach, enlightened, confident, and fortified by our Eucharist Lord. Thanks for listening! Vivat Jesus!