What is: Basic Training

“And in truth, I’ve never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart didn’t appreciate the grind, the discipline. There is something in good men that really yearns for discipline and the harsh reality of head to head combat.

I don’t say these things because I believe in the “brute” nature of man or that men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in God, and I believe in human decency. But I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour – his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear – is that moment when he has to work his heart out in a good cause and he’s exhausted on the field of battle – victorious” (Vince Lombardi).

Knights are not content to live what Pope John Paul II calls a “life of mediocrity, marked by a minimalist ethics and a shallow religiosity” (Novo Millenio Ineunte, 31). Genuine knights come to see that the primary purpose of their lives is to seek holiness: “This is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thes 4:3), and “You, therefore, must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:48).

“The time has come,” writes our Holy Father, “to re-propose wholeheartedly to everyone this high standard of ordinary Christian living: the whole life of the Christian community and of Christian families must lead in this direction. It is also clear however that the paths to holiness are personal and call for a genuine ‘training in holiness’ … (Novo Millennio Ineuente, 31).

This Basic Training section takes seriously our Holy Father’s encouragement to seek this “training in holiness.”  Articles, stories and teachings will help our knights to learn all of the ways God is raising us up to lead exceptional lives as His saints.