Monthly moment in U.S. History...

​
For those who have not read our country’s founding document, the Declaration of Independence (the Constitution came later and is designed to operationalize the principles of the Declaration), or have not read it in a while, here is a version of the famous document using plain language to make it easier to read.
As President Lincoln once said: “All honor to Jefferson--to the man who, in the concrete pressure of a struggle for national independence by a single people, had the coolness, forecast, and capacity to introduce into a merely revolutionary document, an abstract truth, applicable to all men and all times, and so to embalm it there, that to-day, and in all coming days, it shall be a rebuke and a stumbling-block to the very harbingers of re-appearing tyranny and oppression.”
  
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America:
Sometimes it becomes necessary for a group of people to declare their independence from a government they used to be connected to. They have a right to do so under natural law, though they should respectfully lay out the reasons for the separation.
It is obvious that all people have the right to equal treatment, and that God gives people rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness that can be neither taken nor given away.
The only legitimate purpose of government is to make sure that these individual rights are protected, and the only legitimate way for such governments to exist is for the people to consent to their existence.
But, if a government ever fails in its task to protect individual rights, the people have the right to alter or abolish it, and create a new government based on whatever principles they think best.
But we need to be careful not to be too quick to change or abolish long standing governments, even though people will usually continue to suffer under unjust governments rather than take action to change an existing system that they are used to.
But when a government continually violates the rights of the people, clearly and with the purpose of exercising absolute power over them, the people have a right and duty to throw off that government.
That is exactly what has happened here in British America, and which compels us to throw off the government of Great Britain. The current King has continually violated our rights, obviously intending to exercise absolute power over us. These violations include:
• He has refused to approve useful laws.
• He has interfered with the rightful lawmaking of individual colonies.
• He has refused to allow new sovereign political 
​• He has called legislative meetings in strange and uncomfortable places.
• He has dissolved the legislatures that tried to oppose his violations.
• He has refused to allow those legislatures to be re-formed.
• He has refused to allow us to make immigrants citizens, or pass
laws to encourage them to immigrate here, including the use of
public lands.
• He has refused to allow us to pass laws to establish courts.
• He has created a conflict of interest where judges are more loyal to
him than the law.
• He has created a vast bureaucracy that harasses and harms our
people.
• He has kept armed agents of the state among us, even in times of
peace.
• He has made the military independent of and superior to civil power.
• He has subjected us to the laws of a foreign government without our
consent:
• He has forced us to house foreign troops in our homes.
• He has removed them from the operation of the criminal justice
system.
• For not allowing us to trade with the rest of the world.
• For imposing taxes on us without our consent.
• For taking away our right to have a jury trial.
• For transporting us across the ocean for fake crimes.
• For abolishing the laws and government in a neighboring colony,
establishing a false and unjust government, and enlarging its borders as an example of the same unjust measures that could be applied to any other colony.
• For not letting us control our own colonial governments and laws.
• For suspending our legislatures and asserting his power over us.
• He has declared us out of his protection and attacked us.
• He has attacked us on the sea, land, burnt our cities, and killed our
people.
• Even now he is transporting foreign armies to these shores to assert
power over us and attack us, rivaling even the most cruel acts in
history.
• He has forced our fellow citizens to fight against us.
• He has caused domestic unrest among our cities, and prompted
violence from indiscriminate savage native inhabitants (historical context being important here.)

​The entire time we have humbly asked for these actions to stop, but we have been repeatedly ignored. A King who acts this way is not fit to be the ruler of a free people.
We have also told our fellow citizens in Britain about what has been happening here. We have specifically warned them about what the government was up to, and all that has happened since we immigrated here. We have tried to remind them of our common bonds, but they too have ignored us. Thus, we have to treat them like we would any other people, enemies in war or friends in peace.
Therefore, we as the Representatives of the United States of America, appealing to the judgement of God for the purity of our intentions, do in the name of the people declare that we are independent states that shall have no further political connection with Great Britain.
As independent states we have the power to engage in war, make peace, make alliances, engage in trade, and every other power that independent states possess.
In support of this declaration, relying on the protection of God, we pledge to each other our lives, fortunes, and sacred honor.







Recent Honor Guard Call Outs

​The night before Bishop Pham was installed, there was a call out is for Vespers at St. Joseph Cathedral. Traditionally the Bishop, on the night before Installation will walk to the front door of the Cathedral, asking to be let in. Members of our Assembly participated in this ceremony. Next is our Honor Guard team after the installation of Bishop Pham last Thursday. Includes Supreme Director Rene Trevino, District Master Roark Galloway, District Marshalls Charlie and Jessie, three Color Corps Commanders, Chris, Ed, and our own Dan Plein and SK Luigi Zoni, and SK Chris Maurer

​Finally, this call out was for the Blessing of the Bells and the 256th Anniversary Mass at Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala last Sunday.


​Finally, a a group of Sir Knights, including our Worthy District Master, attended and provided an honor guard at the funeral of SK John Agresti.

​​Special Occasions
If you are celebrating a birhtday or anniversary this month, please let our Worthy Faithful Captain Nick know and we will make sure you get a drink ticket for our next get together! Congratulations!
    
• Birthdays:
o SK Sabri Yako
o SK Daniel N. Yakob
o SK Andrew T. Hayes
o SK Carlos I. Cuellar
o SK Alan E. Collins
o SK Salvatore G. Filippone o SK Mark D. Frizzell
o SK Larry B. Vaught
o SK Christopher T. Warner o SK Kristopher K. Sheddy o SK Lou Crow
o SK Glenn A. Meyer
o Lady Patricia Dondero
o Lady Nancy Missey
o Lady Renee Barbat
• Anniversaries:
o The Kirkmans o The Lyons
o The Sgueglias o The Adzimas o The Alkatibs o The Wolperts o The Finos
o The Warners o The Isaccos
o The Hansons o The Wastlims o The Meyers
o The Zunigas





​Request for Prayer

  From SK Mike Lyons:
​
“This past 3 weeks has been an emotional and intense journey for our family. We brought my mom to the hospital because she was suffering from severe, debilitating back pain. What began as a visit to the ER for what we thought was an isolated issue quickly turned into something much more unexpected.
During routine evaluations, the doctors performed an EKG and an MRI, not because of her back, but as part of their comprehensive workup. That’s when they discovered something we never anticipated: a serious blockage in her heart. In a moment that felt both surreal and urgent, the medical team acted quickly, and the very next day, she had a pacemaker implanted.While this was certainly a shock, we are so deeply grateful. Through the grace of God and the power of prayer, my mom’s heart is now stable. Her blood pressure is holding steady and her oxygen levels are in the high 90s, numbers we couldn’t have hoped for a few days ago.
However, she is still in a great deal of pain. That continues to weigh heavily on all of us. It’s hard to see someone you love suffer, especially after going through so much already. But we remain hopeful and prayerful for her full recovery. Every day we hold onto faith, trusting that healing is coming, body, mind, and spirit. Please include Nancy Ann Lyons in your prayers.

Message of the Faithful Friar

  Dear Brother Knights and family:
​
We are in the middle of Summer. August is a key demarcation of the hope that awaits all of us disciples of Jesus with the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary in heaven. In this Ordinary Time of the liturgical calendar of the Church, we have all been given an opportunity to sow the seed to build up the kingdom of God. The journey of discipleship for all Catholic begins at baptism and how it takes shape in our lives depends on the openness of our heart to God’s grace. Grace is all we need.
What is grace? From the Catechism of the Catholic Church, grace is the free and undeserved gift that God gives us to respond to our vocation to become his adopted children. As sanctifying grace, God shares his divine life and friendship with us in a habitual gift, a stable and supernatural disposition that enables the soul to live with God, to act by his love. As actual grace, God gives us the help to conform our lives to his will. Sacramental grace and special graces (charisms, the grace of one's state of life) are gifts of the Holy Spirit to help us live out our Christian vocation (1996,2000; cf. 654).
That is correct, we do not deserve this gift and yet God is so generous that gives us through the sacrifice of His Only Begotten Son, He gave us this gift and will continue to give as long as we are open to this divine life in us. This habitual gift through our prayers will, as stated above, give us a habitual, stable, and supernatural disposition, to live and act by his love for us. This grace conforms us to His Divine will for each of us, to usher ​in the Kingdom of God to all at every stage in our life.

I invite you to always be open to the Holy Spirit as He breathes his life into you so that may give witness to the world about the Good News of salvation. In your knighthood with the Knights of Columbus, May God who has begun his good works in you bring it to fulfillment on the day of the coming of the Son of Man, Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.

Stay the course,

​Fr. Minh


​

Most Worthy Sir Knights and Ladies,
​
July is here and we have reached the end of the 2024-2025 Fraternal Year. Congratulations to the newly elected officers and thank you for your service to Our Lady of Guadalupe Assembly and the Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus. Some officers are continuing in their current position, two are assuming a new position, and four others are becoming officers for the first time. A big thank you to these four Sir Knights for stepping up to help. They are SK Dave Lewis – Faithful Pilot, SK Robert Yslas – Faithful Inner Sentinel, SK Mike Green – Faithful Outer Sentinel, and SK Mike Marmolejo – Faithful One Year Trustee.
Our July get together and meeting was a big success. We had a very good turnout and a great meal thanks to the efforts of our new Worthy Faithful Captain, Nick Coppola, and the brother knights of St. Michael the Archangel #9590, who helped us host the event.
Our next get-together will be on Friday, August 8th, at the usual time, also at Guardian Angels Parish in Santee. The cost is still only $15 per person. Please RSVP to the Faithful Captain Nick by Wednesday, August 6th.
RSVP: [email protected]; [email protected]
The California State Convention was held May 15-17. There were five members from Assembly 2449 in attendance representing their councils. Both the opening and closing masses were spectacular and included many Fourth Degree Knights in regalia. The closing Mass was held at nearby St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church with Bishop Joseph Brennan, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Fresno presiding. St Charles
  
is the largest Catholic parish church in North America. There was a total of sixty Sir Knights in regalia, including Vice Supreme Master Tim Fukuda and all three of the California District Masters.
We had a great turnout for Assembly 2449 at the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery Memorial Day Remembrance Ceremony. Five 2449 Sir Knights participated in the ceremony and presented a floral wreath. Afterwards, we met the mother of SGT Rafael Peralta, USMC and asked if it would be alright if we laid the floral wreath at her son’s gravesite. We followed the family to the grave and Mrs. Peralta was quite moved. You can read the story of SGT Peralta at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Peralta
Finally, this will be my last newsletter submission. I wish our new Faithful Navigator Tim Snowball all the best. I know SK Tim will do a great job and will lead Our Lady of Guadalupe Assembly on to continue as the best Assembly in the San Diego Diocese Chapter. I would like all of you for your support these last two years. I have learned a great deal and got to know a many of you a lot better. To my mentors: Thank you, I could not have done this without you. I am truly honored to have served with you. I look forward to serving as Faithful Admiral for the upcoming Columbian year.

God bless
Faithfully and fraternally yours,
Ed Dondero
​Faithful Navigator 

​Monthly moment in U.S. History...

 The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on June 6, 1944, of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day (after the military term), it is the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of France, and the rest of Western Europe, and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front.
Planning for the operation began in 1943. In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted a substantial military deception, codenamed Operation Bodyguard, to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings. The weather on the day selected for D-Day was not ideal, and the operation had to be delayed 24 hours; a further postponement would have meant a delay of at least two weeks, as the planners had requirements for the phase of the moon, the tides, and time of day, that meant only a few days each month were deemed suitable. German leader Adolf Hitler placed Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in command of German forces and developing fortifications along the Atlantic Wall in anticipation of an invasion. US president Franklin D. Roosevelt placed Major General Dwight D. Eisenhower in command of Allied forces.
The invasion began shortly after midnight on the morning of 6 June with extensive aerial and naval bombardment as well as an airborne assault— the landing of 24,000 American, British, and Canadian airborne troops. The early morning aerial assault was soon followed by Allied amphibious landings on the coast of France c. 06:30. The target 80-kilometre (50 mi) stretch of the Normandy coast was divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. Strong winds blew the landing craft east of their ​intended positions, particularly at Utah and Omaha.

The men landed under heavy fire from gun emplacements overlooking the beaches, and the shore was mined and covered with obstacles such as wooden stakes, metal tripods, and barbed wire, making the work of the beach-clearing teams difficult and dangerous. The highest number of casualties was at Omaha, with its high cliffs. At Gold, Juno, and Sword, several fortified towns were cleared in house-to-house fighting, and two major gun emplacements at Gold were disabled using specialized tanks.
The Allies were able to establish beachheads at each of the five landing sites on the first day, but Carentan, Saint-Lô, and Bayeux remained in German hands. Caen, a major objective, was not captured until 21 July. Only two of the beaches (Juno and Gold) were linked on the first day, and all five beachheads were not connected until 12 June. German casualties on D-Day have been estimated at 4,000 to 9,000 men. Allied casualties ​were at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead.

Recent Honor Guard Call Outs
​
It was an honor to have five our assembly members in regalia at the annual ceremony honoring the fallen at Ft. Rosecrans on Memorial Day. As we were often reminded by those speaking at the event, it is never “Happy Memorial Day,” but “Remember Memorial Day.

​We also had a great turnout of Assembly members both in and out of regalia for the big annual Fourth of July parade in Coronado. If you have never been, you should definitely also mark this one on your calendar.

Requests for Prayer
​
 As many of you may know, Dick Wade, a Charter member of Valle De Oro Council 9332 and longtime member of our Assembly, recently returned home from the hospital and is currently receiving home care.
At this time, he has requested no phone calls or visitors to allow for a peaceful recovery. Dick wanted us to know that he is home, and we are grateful to hear this news. Mary Wade will keep us updated on his progress. In the spirit of our brotherhood and compassion, we encourage each of you to take a moment to pray for Dick's health and well-being during this challenging time.
Your thoughts and prayers are invaluable to him and his family. Thank you for your continued support and for embodying the values of our organization during this time of need.

Thank you.

​Prayer for Canonization of Blessed Michael McGivney
​
“God, our Father, protector of the poor and defender of the widow and orphan, you called your priest, Father Michael J. McGivney, to be an apostle of Christian family life and to lead the young to the generous service of their neighbor. Through the example of his life and virtue may we follow your Son, Jesus Christ, more closely, fulfilling his commandment of charity and building up his Body which is the Church. Let the inspiration of your servant prompt us to greater confidence in your love so that we may continue his work of caring for the needy and the outcast. We humbly ask that you glorify your servant Blessed Father Michael J. McGivney on earth according to the design of your holy will. Through his intercession, grant the favor I now present (here make your request). Through Christ our Lord. Amen.”