Fraternal Greetings from the Supreme Council.
Every 18th day of November, we as Marshallans remember the solid foundation that was laid by 13 noble men of our society; a foundation 85 years old, and upon which we continue to build the church with the aim of winning every soul to Christ.
Brothers and sisters, as we celebrate the foresight of these noble men, it is appropriate for us to take a closer look at the reasons which guided the founders to form this society, to see how relevant those reasons are today and how we measure up to the inherent challenges.
Jesus commanded his apostles to be the fishers of men. In obedience to this call of our Lord, the founding fathers were challenged to form this society.
In the year 1926 there was an urgent need to form a Catholic society whose ideals attracted young Catholic laymen to stay true to the teachings of the Holy Church rather than drifting to societies whose belief were against those of the Catholic Church. In 1926, the movement of catholic laymen was from one society to another. The subject of concern was therefore a loss of the Catholic identity.
In 2011, the Catholic Church faces even stronger challenges. Today, the problem is no longer an intra-denominational drift from one society to another, but a loss of catholic laymen to newer Pentecostal and Charismatic churches. Today, the Holy Church faces persecution of its teachings, its beliefs and its people.
Brothers and Sisters, as we celebrate our Founder’s day, we need to ask ourselves, why are people not flocking en masse to our church? Why are Catholics moving to these mushrooming churches? Are we doing enough as Marshallans to prevent this exodus?
Are we living lives that illuminate the light of Jesus? Do our actions render us opaque to the light of Jesus? Are we actively playing our role as fishers of men?
In 1926, the Noble Order of the Knights and Ladies of Marshall was formed with the goal of bringing to a halt, a drift of Catholics from the teaching of the Holy Mother the Catholic Church. What are we also doing in 2011 to stop a similar drift in our time?
On a day like today, as we gather to celebrate the lives of our founders, we should take the opportunity to reflect on their ideals and goals. We should revisit the motives and aims which formed the basis of the formation of our enviable society 85 years ago. We should re-dedicate and commit ourselves to these goals with the same zeal and vigour as those 13 young men did in 1926.
A solid foundation has been laid by the 13 founding fathers, what is expected of us is to hold on to the beliefs and ideals, nourish them and see them flourish. The future of the church and our noble society certainly depends on what we are able to do today.
On this occasion of our Founder’s Day:
I salute our founding fathers.
I salute you my brothers and sisters of the Marshallan fraternity,
I pray that we will continue to emulate the ideals of our founders.
Enjoy this day in the spirit of unity, charity, fraternity and service and be true and dedicated fishers of men for Christ.
SIR KNT. DERX BAFFOUR
(SUPREME KNIGHT)