Parish Priest: Father Michael McGivney and American Catholicism by Douglas Brinkley and Julie FensterI became a Knight of Columbus about six or seven years ago. I was also curious about the founder of the group. Who was this elusive Fr. Michael MicGivney, who's picture was in every KofC hall.
This book was one of many books I found in a library book sale. 50 cents for a book is nearly always worth it. This surely was a find for me.
I was inspired by the hard simple work of this parish priest. He had a vision and desire to unite men under the same purpose of charity and community in order to keep them from drunkenness and the allure of the secret societies prevalent at the time.
The Knights of Columbus became an effort to take an already present desire in men's hearts, the joining of social clubs, and baptize it in the richness of our Catholic faith.
It wasn't just his work in founding the Knights that struck. In fact, the stories of his regular ministry as a priest are most profound, more due to their simplicity than anything else. He served the Lord without flash, without much advertisement, and gave his life in service of the Catholics in Connecticut. I hope to be as a good a priest as he was.
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