They are Among the Most Apostolic, They are Your Shock Troops!
by Fr Richard Heilman | February 8, 2020 10:02 AM
St. Joseph Strong!
On Friday evening, February 7, over 300 men from all around the Diocese of Madison, and beyond, gathered with our Bishop Donald Hying to ready ourselves for what we were all about to embark upon: 33 days of preparation for Consecration to St. Joseph. All across the nation, men (and women too) will be entering into these 33 days, beginning on February 16, and ending with our consecration on the Feast of Joseph on March 19, 2020.
In this exchange (photo for this article) with Bishop Hying and me, just as our evening was ending, I told Bishop that these guys came from every corner of the diocese, and they are among the most apostolic in our diocese. They are totally obedient to him, and they are ready to receive their marching orders from him. Bishop wants our diocese to embark upon a great evangelizing campaign. I told him, this is his core team, right here.
It was Pope St. Pius X who said:
“The most necessary thing of all, at this time, is for every parish to possess a group of laymen who will be at the same time virtuous, enlightened, resolute, and truly apostolic.”
Chautard comments on this,
“Further details enable us to assert that this holy pope at the end of his life saw no hope for the salvation of the world unless the clergy could use their zeal to form faithful Christians full of apostolic ardor, preaching by word and example, but especially by example. In the diocese where he served before being elevated to the papacy, he attached less importance to the (count) of parishioners than to the list of Christians capable of radiating an apostolate. It was his opinion that shock troops could be formed in any environment.”
“Shock troops” (or assault troops) is actually a military term that refers to infantry formations, along with supporting units, created to lead an attack. Consider the Allied Forces of World War II moving toward the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944. That first wave of men knew full well that their chances were extremely poor of ever leaving that beach alive, but they knew somebody needed to go first. It is no less than profound that the holy Pope St. Pius X would use a military term, shock troops, to describe the most necessary need of our times. The pope is resolute in acknowledging we are in spiritual warfare as he calls for an uncommon valor willing to be the tip of the spear, the vanguard, warrior saints.
I believe, with all my heart, mind, soul and strength that it is high time we gather men, one evening a month, to get them to “plugged in” to the Divine Life. We need to talk about GRACE! We need to help men understand what that is, and how very necessary it is. In fact, without grace, the devil easily manipulates us, and fills our lives with grief and chaos. With grace, we discover a life of blessing and amazing “order.”
The Suscipe Prayer of St. Ignatius puts it best:
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding,
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.
You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.
Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace,
that is enough for me.
Here is the very simple design for these monthly gatherings:
Whether you are a Knight of Columbus or Knight of Divine Mercy or Knight of the Holy Sepulchre or just trying to do your best to be God’s Holy Knight, these evenings bring all men together to become igKNIGHTed in the power of supernatural grace!!
6:00pm – Adoration with Confessions
7:00pm – Inspirational talk
7:45pm – Rosary or Chaplet of Divine Mercy, Benediction
8:15pm – Fraternal Social
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