KEARNS – The pandemic, which has now lasted more than a year, has been particularly difficult for service organizations and the people they rely on. Like most other service groups, the Knights of Columbus in Utah has been unable to do many of the things they would in a normal year. For some programs, like Coats for Kids, they have found ways to continue. Others, like most of their fundraisers, have had to be suspended.
This has hit the Knights of the Bishop Hunt Council No. 5214 particularly hard, because the council has been helping to pay off the mortgage on St. Francis Xavier Elementary School for close to 11 years. In good times, the Knights were able to make almost-double payments. In fact, when Bishop Oscar A. Solis challenged Fr. Eugenio Yarce, pastor, shortly before the pandemic to pay off the mortgage as quickly as possible, Grand Knight George Jockisch felt confident that, with the Knights’ help, the parish could make that happen.
“In a normal year we were doing good; it was like a well-oiled machine,” Jockisch said.
Then COVID-19 hit. Utah’s Catholic churches closed, and all parish activities ceased. At first, Jockisch wasn’t concerned; the council had savings and he felt they, and the mortgage, could weather the crisis. But as the lockdown turned from weeks to months, the council’s savings dwindled. Last summer, they began to pay just the interest on the mortgage, but by January the Knights were out of funds.
With that news, Jockisch said he approached Fr. Yarce in early-January with a heavy heart.
“As Grand Knight, I took it very personally, the Knights’ commitment to pay the mortgage, and now I had to do one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done: Tell Father Yarce that the Knights were unable to pay it,” he said.
He recalled the conversation:
“That Sunday after early Mass I caught up with Father in front of the church, in front of the tabernacle.
“‘Good morning Father, I have some bad news. I’m so sorry, we hit that point – the Knights can no longer pay the mortgage,’ I said.
“‘Don’t worry, you’ll think of something, ‘ he responded.
“‘Father, you don’t understand, we don’t have the money, we can’t pay the mortgage,’ I said.
“‘It will work out, don’t worry,’ he told me. ‘I can see the Holy Spirit working in you. We’ll get together after Mass and brainstorm. We’ll think of something.’”
“I trust that God is the one that opens all of the gates that we need,” Fr. Yarce later told the Intermountain Catholic of why he said those words. “He is the one who shows us the way, so I am a priest and I have really, really great confidence in God’s providence.”
Jockisch said at the time he had no idea what they were going to do, but after he met with Fr. Yarce he did come up with an idea: an every-other-Sunday after-Mass breakfast-to-go program sponsored by the Knights, which they began Jan. 24.
Jockisch enlisted the help of other Knights in the council, particularly Rafael Castillo and Jorge Aguirre, who had been running the Spanish breakfasts prior to the shutdown. The first Sunday they had no idea how many people to expect and ended up running to the grocery store for more food
“After the first Mass, they kept coming,” Jockisch said. “We prepared some food, but not nearly enough.”
Since that bumpy beginning, things have progressed more smoothly. The menu for the to-go breakfast varies. Knights and their wives bring the pre-prepared food from home, then they assemble and package the food at the church. Most of those who purchase breakfast do so after attending Mass, but some parishioners come by specially to pick up breakfast. Numbers for the breakfasts have varied; at its peak, the Knights have served 160 meals. The eight to 12 Knights who participate put in a full day, arriving at 7 a.m. to get ready for the first wave after the 8 a.m. Mass and finishing clean up around 4 p.m.
In recent weeks, as pandemic restrictions have eased, the Knights have set up a few tables where some families, socially distanced, stay and eat and visit with other parishioners.
“This has given us a little opportunity to get some normalcy back in our lives,” Jockisch said.
With the funds from the breakfasts, the Knights can cover almost all of the monthly interest payments on the mortgage, Jockisch said. He expects to continue the to-go program for a couple more months until hopefully, all restrictions are lifted. Then, the Spanish breakfasts will go back to their normal schedule and after-Mass coffee and doughnuts, along with Bingo and other Knight fundraisers, will resume.
“Everything is going to have to be rebuilt,” Jockisch said. “It will probably take us a year to start getting close to what we were doing before.”
Fr. Yarce said he appreciates the Knights for their fundraising efforts as well as everything they do for the parish.
“They are a team, that they have always, always with their responsibilities, they are always there,” he said. “They are always attending to the needs of the congregation. I feel really great about the way they support the Church.”
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