Hialeah Opa Locka Lodge No. 391 F&AM

Hialeah Opa Locka Lodge No. 391 F&AM

150 West 20^th Street, Hialeah, Florida 33014

W\ Vincent Gonzalez                     R\W\ Harry B. Futch

Worshipful Master                                        Secretary

10990 SW 63rd Terr.                                     P.O. Box 820302

Miami, FL 33014                                           South Florida,

33173-1152                                                    Florida

(305) 279-1205                                               (305) 325-1230

JUNE, 2007

LEARNING BY DEGREES

We will have a stated meeting on June 7th 2007.

We have a new Master Mason, Brother Felix H. Quinones. We welcome him and his family to our lodge. We hope they will join us in all of our activities

We are having our Grand Lodge Meeting as this bulletin is going out.

MW Robert P. Harry is our new Grand Master.

We will be holding meetings throughout the summer, hopefully to confer degrees.

We are still working on our roof, our parking lot, our flagpole and our lodge room. There is much to be done, our building is aging along with us.

Don't forget Flag Day on June 14th. Recite the Pledge of Allegiance. It will give you a good feeling. We still do it at every lodge meeting.

Don't forget Dad on June 17th. If you can, give him a hug, if not, just  a few moments of sweet memories will do.

We are saddened by the lost of W Stanley Zalis and Milton Rosenblatt. They were a part of our fraternal circle for many years. We will miss them, ever miss them.

When is a man a Mason?

Joseph Fort Newton answers this question in the last paragraph of "The Builders," probably the most popular of all Masonic books, in these words: "When he can look out over the rivers, the hills and the far horizon with a profound sense of his own littleness in the vast scheme of things, and yet have faith, hope and courage, which is the root of every virtue. When he knows that down in his heart every man is as noble, as vile, as divine, as diabolic and as lonely as himself; and seeks to know, to forgive and to love his fellow man. When he knows how to sympathize with men in their sorrows, yea even in their sins - knowing that each man fights a hard fight against many odds. When he has learned how to make friends and to keep them and above all, how to keep friends with himself. When he loves flowers, can hunt birds without a gun and feels the thrill of an old forgotten joy when he hears the laugh of a little child. When he can be happy and high-minded amid the meaner drudgeries of life. When star crowned trees and the glint of sunlight on flowing waters subdue him like the thought of one much loved and long dead. When no voice of distress reaches his ears in vain, and no hand seeks his aid without response. When he finds good in every faith that helps any man to lay hold of divine things and see majestic meanings in life, whatever the name of that faith may be. When he can look into a wayside puddle and sees something beyond mud, and into the face of the most forlorn fellow mortal and see something beyond sin. When he knows how to pray, how to love, how to hope. When he has kept faith with himself, with his God; in his hand a sword for evil, in his heart a bit of a song; glad to live, but not afraid to die! Such a man has found the only secret of Freemasonry, and the one which it is trying to give to all the world."
 

So, what's a Mason?
A Mason is a man who has decided that he likes to feel good about himself and others. He cares about the future as well as the past, and does what he can, both alone and with others, to make the future good for everyone.

Many men over many generations have answered the question, "What is a Mason?" One of the most eloquent was written by the Reverend Joseph Fort Newton, an internationally honored minister of the first half of the 20th Century and Grand Chaplain, Grand Lodge of Iowa, 1911-1913.

Is Masonry a religion?
The answer to that question is simple. No.

We do use ritual in meetings, and because there is always an altar or table with the Volume of the Sacred Law open if a lodge is meeting, some people have confused Masonry with a religion, but it is not. That does not mean that religion plays no part in Masonry -- it plays a very important part. A person who wants to become a Mason must have a belief in God. No atheist can ever become a Mason. Meetings open with prayer, and a Mason is taught, as one of the first lessons of Masonry, that one should pray for divine counsel and guidance before starting an important undertaking. But that does not make Masonry a "religion."

 Fraternally

Hiram

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Last modified: November 11, 2007