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Fourth degree Knights process to the flagpole during a 2008 Memorial Day Mass at Queen of Heaven cemetery in Mesa.

The state’s Knights of Columbus councils will soon be consumed with its international conference to be held in Glendale next month. Before they fully get into “convention” mode, many Knights are taking a little family time this weekend.

St. Joseph’s Youth Camp, which the Knights sponsor and operate in Mormon Lake, is hosting a Fourth of July celebration weekend for council members and their family. The loosely structured weekend includes meals and lodging, hiking, rock climbing, music and fellowship.

Camp for the general public runs throughout July. Register now. New to the camp this year is the Fr. McGivney Trail. Fr. Michael J. McGivney, who founded the Knights of Columbus, took a step toward sainthood last spring.

St. Joseph Youth Camp hopes to line the Fr. McGivney trail with memorial bricks, especially around its distinct areas:

• flagpole which builds patriotism
• picnic area which builds Christian family life
• campfire hearth which builds apostleship, especially to the young
• stations of the cross which builds a life of prayer

For more information on the bricks or the camp, call (480) 449-0848.

Eighth graders at Holy Trinity School in St. Ann, Missouri, remembered their classmates who couldn't graduate with them because they were aborted before birth. St. Louis Review photo.

I noticed a photo and story in another diocesan newspaper lately that struck me.

Most graduation stories — like in The Catholic Sun — talk about how many were filled. This one focused on how many were empty. Apparently every year at a Catholic school in the St. Louis area, students drape six empty chairs in their school’s T-shirt. A single-stemmed rose fills the seat. 

The act represents their classmates they never met because they were killed by abortion. The students also pray for their deceased classmates and their parents. It’s a 15-year tradition.

One of the graduates who is continuing at a Catholic high school and placed one of the chairs in front of the altar at graduation, said:

Being raised through a Catholic education, it’s important we brought this up.

Page 1 of the July 2nd issue.

We’ve got some great stories in the upcoming issue of The Catholic Sun.

To lead things off, J.D. wrote a story previewing the upcoming international Guadalupe Festival taking place in Phoenix this August. It’s being hosted by the Knights of Columbus.

Also on page 1 is a roundup of the recent United States Conference of Catholic Bishops meeting in San Antonio. The bishops discussed the liturgy, marriage and immigration among other issues.

The Year for Priests officially began with a Mass at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral. There are a couple of stories that pick up on the Year for Priests themes.

First, Joyce continues her Your Catholic Priest profile series by interviewing Fr. Rob Clements, rector of the cathedral. Bishop Olmsted is dedicating his column to highlighting exemplary priests. This isssue, he took at look at Blessed Junipera Serra, the great evangelizer to the California Indians.

Ambria wrote a story about a new diocesan school opening this fall that will serve families in north Scottsdale. She also has an article about some pro-life billboards that are showing up around the Valley.

I wrote a story on Joe Reynolds of Skyline Productions and his new evangelization project: St. Kolbe Productions. A number of his programs have already been picked up by Catholic television stations around the country. I also profile a new crucifix at St. Steven Parish in Sun Lakes that was made by a local artist.

There are a number of other stories, as well. Look for it next week in your mailbox.

Join the Poor Clare Sisters of Perpetual Adoration daily in praying for priests worldwide. They're also remembering one local priest each day throughout this special year.

Church leaders worldwide have encouraged Catholics to pray for priests and an increase in vocations during the Year for Priests.

If you’ve had trouble getting started with that in the past week, the Poor Clare Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Black Canyon City posted some handy resources on their special Web  page including a prayer booklet available for downloading.

From prayers, to homilies to blogs, the sisters are committed to honoring priests worldwide in the coming year. They’re paying particular attention to local priests.

Starting with Pope Benedict XVI and Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted, and then working their way through the alphabet, the Poor Clares are praying for one local priest each day of this special year.

Catholic Sun readers should already know about Fr. Stephan Adrian, whom the sisters kept in prayer Wednesday. They might know a bit about Fr. Aliunzi, AJ, yesterday’s priest, too, for his work on poverty in Uganda.

Consider joining them in prayer for one priest each day. When you don’t know much about the priest for that day, look up his role in the diocese and learn more about him.

Arizona offers licensed drivers the chance to purchase this frontal plate.

When I wrote about pro-life license plates last week, I had no idea that Arizonans and drivers in many other states could order a “choose life” vanity plate for the front of their vehicles. I’ve never seen them on the road.

I noticed during a campus visit the other day that the Sanctity of Life ministry at St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish in Cave Creek sells the “choose life” vanity plate. In short, these plates allow you to spread the pro-life message without having to pay a special fee each time you renew your vehicle registration.

As a quick side note, the state of Florida is marking 10 years of offering its “choose life” plate. And the opposition has endured, according to a Catholic News Service story.