Though I'm certainly not the only one at Sacred Heart that was born and raised in Arkansas (Hot Springs), most of our wonderful parishioners have come to our quaint Village and parish from places across the United Sates. Many of you come from dioceses that you loved and lived in for a few or many years. It is understandable that some (or maybe more than some) have a connection with their previous diocese that might include still getting the diocesan newspaper from your previous diocese.
One of the many blessings that has come to our parish through the efforts of our V.I.P. of the month of July 2021, Bob Honzik, is his efforts and encouragement to get all of our parishioners conncected to the Diocese of Little Rock (that covers the whole state of Arkansas). From supporting and promoting the many ministries of our diocese that benefit us and so many others through our giving to the Catholic Arkansas Sharing Appeal, to our prayers and ongoing financial support for our seminarians (most of whom will become the future priests of Arkansas, to encouraging all of us to read the weekly diocesan newspaper (The Arkansas Catholic) in print or on the internet. Bob (who is from Illinois) has definitely supported not only our parish but our diocese and has inspired many to do the same.
Speaking of supporting the parish, Bob is (and has been) an usher at the 10:00 Mass (and now head usher of our usher ministry) a longtime member of the finance council of Sacred Heart Church, and a key figure in efforts to expand our parish building (including both the A&E wing of our complex and the rectory where I live (where Msgr. Malone lived) and where future pastors will be blessed to call home during their time here. Bob has been the Grand Knight of our Knights of Columbus Council (and active member and recruiter of our Council and Assembly for many years) and his ongoing efforts to have our seminarian fundraising dinner (which he was in charge of with the help of his faithful and hardworking wife and support, Mary Anne, until the last few years) and other initiatives in our Council led he and Mary Anne to be named Knights of Columbus State Family of the year a few years ago. Bob and Mary Anne were great supporters and a friend (host in their home) to Msgr. Malone in his time as pastor here and in the time after he became a senior priest and they are a great support to me now in many ways.
I could go on and on about the blessings that have come (and continue to come) through and to Bob Honzik in his time as a parishioner here and I bet I would still leave something out (like heading up the video production of the Fr. Vic Bieberle story)!! Thank you Bob AND Mary Anne for all you have done and are still doing and for how much you mean to so many (including of course me) here at Sacred Heart Parish throughout the diocese and far beyond (including Honduras and the effort he and Mary Anne started and supported to help a young girl, Karen, who obtained a prosthetic leg and many other blessings as well as blessings to the needy community she lived in). That's a story worth hearing about some other time.
One of the many blessings that has come to our parish through the efforts of our V.I.P. of the month of July 2021, Bob Honzik, is his efforts and encouragement to get all of our parishioners conncected to the Diocese of Little Rock (that covers the whole state of Arkansas). From supporting and promoting the many ministries of our diocese that benefit us and so many others through our giving to the Catholic Arkansas Sharing Appeal, to our prayers and ongoing financial support for our seminarians (most of whom will become the future priests of Arkansas, to encouraging all of us to read the weekly diocesan newspaper (The Arkansas Catholic) in print or on the internet. Bob (who is from Illinois) has definitely supported not only our parish but our diocese and has inspired many to do the same.
Speaking of supporting the parish, Bob is (and has been) an usher at the 10:00 Mass (and now head usher of our usher ministry) a longtime member of the finance council of Sacred Heart Church, and a key figure in efforts to expand our parish building (including both the A&E wing of our complex and the rectory where I live (where Msgr. Malone lived) and where future pastors will be blessed to call home during their time here. Bob has been the Grand Knight of our Knights of Columbus Council (and active member and recruiter of our Council and Assembly for many years) and his ongoing efforts to have our seminarian fundraising dinner (which he was in charge of with the help of his faithful and hardworking wife and support, Mary Anne, until the last few years) and other initiatives in our Council led he and Mary Anne to be named Knights of Columbus State Family of the year a few years ago. Bob and Mary Anne were great supporters and a friend (host in their home) to Msgr. Malone in his time as pastor here and in the time after he became a senior priest and they are a great support to me now in many ways.
I could go on and on about the blessings that have come (and continue to come) through and to Bob Honzik in his time as a parishioner here and I bet I would still leave something out (like heading up the video production of the Fr. Vic Bieberle story)!! Thank you Bob AND Mary Anne for all you have done and are still doing and for how much you mean to so many (including of course me) here at Sacred Heart Parish throughout the diocese and far beyond (including Honduras and the effort he and Mary Anne started and supported to help a young girl, Karen, who obtained a prosthetic leg and many other blessings as well as blessings to the needy community she lived in). That's a story worth hearing about some other time.
If asked to do so, many priests and laypeople could name at least some of the prayers and responses at Mass that changed in wording with the revision of the translation of the Roman Missal from Latin to English some years ago. We went from answering "The Lord be with you," with "And with your spirit" instead of "And also with you," which to me is the most obvious change. These changes sought to reflect a more "literal" translation than what was first done after Vatican Council II decreed for the Mass to be in the vernacular (the native language of a country or region). Most laypeople and perhaps many priests do not realize that the prayer after the Gloria (the Collect) as well as the Offertory Prayer and the Prayer After Communion also were revised. I noticed this after praying "Morning Prayer" and finding that the closing prayer of that ritual of prayer is often (especially on Sundays) the same as the opening prayer of Mass that day.
This past Sunday (the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time), the prayer from the previous translation prayed to the Father, "Free us from darkness and keep us in the radiance of your truth." The new translation, which many of you heard at Mass, was almost the same EXCEPT it leaves out the "your" and just says "the radiance of truth."
We live in times where some people like to relativize truth and claim that each person can have and live by their "own truth" whatever they decide "the truth" is for them. This is a dangerous and wrong thing to do and certainly goes against what is promised by those who are witnesses at a trail who are required to say "I do" to the question "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me God." Christians believe and hopefully strive to live by a faith that tells us "the" truth that everyone should follow is that spoken and lived perfectly by Jesus Christ who was and is "God among us." Knowing, continually reflecting on, and following the truth will not only help us to reject all those "false truths" that are spoken by others, but hopefully we will respond to God's grace in such a way that others we encounter will come to follow and live the truth and we have the peace of knowing that we have the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth FROM God. Amen!
This past Sunday (the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time), the prayer from the previous translation prayed to the Father, "Free us from darkness and keep us in the radiance of your truth." The new translation, which many of you heard at Mass, was almost the same EXCEPT it leaves out the "your" and just says "the radiance of truth."
We live in times where some people like to relativize truth and claim that each person can have and live by their "own truth" whatever they decide "the truth" is for them. This is a dangerous and wrong thing to do and certainly goes against what is promised by those who are witnesses at a trail who are required to say "I do" to the question "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me God." Christians believe and hopefully strive to live by a faith that tells us "the" truth that everyone should follow is that spoken and lived perfectly by Jesus Christ who was and is "God among us." Knowing, continually reflecting on, and following the truth will not only help us to reject all those "false truths" that are spoken by others, but hopefully we will respond to God's grace in such a way that others we encounter will come to follow and live the truth and we have the peace of knowing that we have the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth FROM God. Amen!
We have all heard or read the saying, "Charity begins at home." Most of us think of home as the place where we and others dwell on a daily basis. Certainly we must consider in our spending what first supplies our needs (ie food, clothing, utilities etc.) and those of our family (at least those who live with us). Our "charity" is something that we give that supports the needs of others, some who we know and some that we'll never meet. A few weeks ago, a string of daily Mass readings from St. Paul's letter to the Corinthians, had Paul asking for the help of Christians in Corinth for the needs of Christians in the Church of Jerusalem. In it he teaches that "God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7) and he holds up as an example of generosity, the Church in Macedonia.
Throughout the Church year, we are given the opportunity individually, but within a Church community (along with others in the United States and sometimes all over the world) to give to support the "NEEDS" of Catholic Churches in Central and Eastern Europe (February), the Holy Land (Good Friday), the Church in Latin American (June) and the Vatican through Peter's Pence (this year, July 10-11), I would have to say that these "special collections" do not elicit the most support when compared with other special collections taken up annually for other causes. I would like to think that St. Paul would be the first to urge us to be a "cheerful giver" toward these brothers and sisters in Christ who are not able to fully support themselves. People who benefit from our caring monetary gifts live far from us and will never know in any detail where the help they receive comes from. Just know that they are truly appreciative of all the support they are given, and hopefully we who give (something or generously) will know we are heeding the voice of God that has come us over the years, starting from the days of St. Paul and are joining in with countless Catholics over the centuries whose throughtful giving is saying to the recipients, "My home is your home" when it comes to meeting their basic physical and religious needs.
Throughout the Church year, we are given the opportunity individually, but within a Church community (along with others in the United States and sometimes all over the world) to give to support the "NEEDS" of Catholic Churches in Central and Eastern Europe (February), the Holy Land (Good Friday), the Church in Latin American (June) and the Vatican through Peter's Pence (this year, July 10-11), I would have to say that these "special collections" do not elicit the most support when compared with other special collections taken up annually for other causes. I would like to think that St. Paul would be the first to urge us to be a "cheerful giver" toward these brothers and sisters in Christ who are not able to fully support themselves. People who benefit from our caring monetary gifts live far from us and will never know in any detail where the help they receive comes from. Just know that they are truly appreciative of all the support they are given, and hopefully we who give (something or generously) will know we are heeding the voice of God that has come us over the years, starting from the days of St. Paul and are joining in with countless Catholics over the centuries whose throughtful giving is saying to the recipients, "My home is your home" when it comes to meeting their basic physical and religious needs.