2015.1 Cor

Greetings, brother Knights. Council #10333 at Saint Albert the Great Catholic Church (Austin, TX) has been able to successfully implement Cor since October 2023. We are grateful to our pastor, Fr. Charlie Garza, not for his support of the Cor initiative, but he is also leading the faith formation part of the Cor meetings.

There are three main components of Cor: Prayer, Formation, Fraternity. Using this as a guide, we start with praying the Holy Rosary. The Grand Knight leads the Holy Rosary and five brother Knights take turns leading each decade of the Holy Rosary. We offer the Holy Rosary for the special intentions of our brother Knights and their families. After the recitation of the Holy Rosary, we go into Formation. Currently, we are using the "Into the Breach" series and study guide The videos and study guide are available on the Knights of Columbus web-site. At each Cor meeting, we watch a video from the series and then Fr. Charlie gives a brief talk on the topic covered in the video, for example, "Brotherhood" and "Fatherhood." We then have small group discussions for about 10 to 12 minutes on video and what Father presented in his talk. After that, Father blesses the food and we go into the Fraternity part of the Cor meeting. We enjoy a meal together and we either continue discussing the topic covered or just chat and enjoy each other's company.

This is a very simple format to follow. As the Director of Faith Formation & Evangelization for the KofC Austin, Chapter (Diocese of Austin), when brother Knights ask me about Cor, I encourage them to start Cor at their parish. I tell them that it is okay if there are other men's ministries at the parish, because they can start with brother Knights in the council first. For our Council, when we started Cor, we repurposed our "Social Meeting" to the "Cor Meeting," because our brother Knights already have that time of the month blocked off on their calendar. However, we also invite other men in the parish to attend the Cor meetings and encourage brother Knights to bring a friend with them to Cor. Most important of all, I encourage them to talk with their pastor and make sure that he is onboard with Cor.

To learn more about Cor, please visit this page on the Knights of Columbus web-site: https://www.kofc.org/un/en/who-we-are/our-faith/cor.html. You are also welcome to email me at deaconphuc@gmail.com but I would encourage you to contact your local Director of Faith Formation & Evangelization for guidance. Vivat Jesus.