In a "perfect parish world" (or close to it) every parishioner would, besides participating in Mass at least on the weekends (EVERY weekend) would be involved in a ministry at Mass AND in at least one parish activity or ministry outside of Mass. I dare not even dream of that being a reality, because if I did so, I
could only imagine the countless blessings that would come from it both within the parish and outside of the parish community!
Thankfully, our parish is blessed to have people like Marie Hylden, our Very Important Parishioner for the month of November who step up and get involved in multiple ministries and activities in the parish AND larger community that blesses the people impacted by her efforts and the happy, helpful and kind disposition she exudes in her interactions with others. Given all she does, it seems like she has been doing it for many years, though the reality is that she has lived in Hot Springs Village for just 8 years as she and her husband, Rick moved to the Village from Plano, Texas. For those who don't know this, Rick died suddenly about two years ago. They were blessed to be husband and wife for 44 years and have three children and seven grandchildren, (who Marie goes to see quite often) and who are the "loves'' of her life. Marie is often present on the altar as a lector and Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion and has recently started taking Communion to the homebound. She served enthusiastically as the
vice-president and the president of the Ladies of the Sacred Heart. She is the captain of Guild 2 and has recently accepted the leadership of the Spring LOSH Charity Golf Tournament. She has taken over as head of the holiday food basket effort and the Angel Tree, and works with various people and organizations of the parish to help these needy families from the area schools. She joins in the seasonal efforts of our church decorating committee and helps to take down and put up the drapes in the sanctuary when the Church seasons change. She is also a member of one of the Parish counting teams which gathers on Monday mornings to count the stewardship from the weekend Masses. In the larger community, Marie is very involved with he Hot Springs Village Symphony Guild (currently as the
president) in its efforts to support the Arkansas Symphony and the beautiful concerts it puts on (including a concert for a large group of school-aged children this month). She is a past president of the Desoto Women's Club and an active member of P.E.O. Chapter CU. As you can see, Marie is much more likely to say "yes" than "no" when asked to do something, AND she is one who I'm truly thankful for, not only because of all that she has done and continues to do, but also because she takes initiative even when not asked to give of her time, talents, treasure and faith to benefit others! God bless you Marie for being the person God calls you (and all of us) to be!
could only imagine the countless blessings that would come from it both within the parish and outside of the parish community!
Thankfully, our parish is blessed to have people like Marie Hylden, our Very Important Parishioner for the month of November who step up and get involved in multiple ministries and activities in the parish AND larger community that blesses the people impacted by her efforts and the happy, helpful and kind disposition she exudes in her interactions with others. Given all she does, it seems like she has been doing it for many years, though the reality is that she has lived in Hot Springs Village for just 8 years as she and her husband, Rick moved to the Village from Plano, Texas. For those who don't know this, Rick died suddenly about two years ago. They were blessed to be husband and wife for 44 years and have three children and seven grandchildren, (who Marie goes to see quite often) and who are the "loves'' of her life. Marie is often present on the altar as a lector and Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion and has recently started taking Communion to the homebound. She served enthusiastically as the
vice-president and the president of the Ladies of the Sacred Heart. She is the captain of Guild 2 and has recently accepted the leadership of the Spring LOSH Charity Golf Tournament. She has taken over as head of the holiday food basket effort and the Angel Tree, and works with various people and organizations of the parish to help these needy families from the area schools. She joins in the seasonal efforts of our church decorating committee and helps to take down and put up the drapes in the sanctuary when the Church seasons change. She is also a member of one of the Parish counting teams which gathers on Monday mornings to count the stewardship from the weekend Masses. In the larger community, Marie is very involved with he Hot Springs Village Symphony Guild (currently as the
president) in its efforts to support the Arkansas Symphony and the beautiful concerts it puts on (including a concert for a large group of school-aged children this month). She is a past president of the Desoto Women's Club and an active member of P.E.O. Chapter CU. As you can see, Marie is much more likely to say "yes" than "no" when asked to do something, AND she is one who I'm truly thankful for, not only because of all that she has done and continues to do, but also because she takes initiative even when not asked to give of her time, talents, treasure and faith to benefit others! God bless you Marie for being the person God calls you (and all of us) to be!
I'm sure that many of you are like me when it comes to "relief" that election day is almost here (November 5). I hope the electorate as a whole has truly come to know where all the candidates for elected office stand on important issues and their record on what they have done when they have
served in an elected or appointed office in the past. There is no doubt that emotions are high and
sadly are anything but Christ-like in their verbal expression, especially when it is against a candidate or candidates.
One thing to keep in mind is that we all need to be diligent long after the election is over in standing
up for the teachings and values that come from the bible and the Tradition of the Catholic Church and be involved in the public arena in the ways we can to influence the decisions that are made on the local, state and national level that have an impact on people's lives in our country and around the world.
In addition to praying continually for our Church's leaders (the pope, bishops, and clergy) which we
do during the Prayer of the Faithful at Mass, the Church urges us to pray at Mass and other times
for our elected and appointed leaders that they will serve with integrity and promote policies that will benefit the common good, with special concern for the poor, the vulnerable, and those who struggle to care for themselves and their families. I want to urge you to consider joining us not only on election day, Tuesday, November 5 for Mass followed by the "Patriotic Rosary", but also join us throughout the year whenever we offer the Patriotic Rosary (usually on civic holidays) to pray for our country's public leaders on the national, state and local levels as well as citizens in every state in our country!
While there many things that have the potential to divide us when it comes to the public arena (and in
the Church itself), I hope we would all agree that prayer is something that always unites us as we ask for the Lord's unfailing help to make us what he wants us and everyone to be .
served in an elected or appointed office in the past. There is no doubt that emotions are high and
sadly are anything but Christ-like in their verbal expression, especially when it is against a candidate or candidates.
One thing to keep in mind is that we all need to be diligent long after the election is over in standing
up for the teachings and values that come from the bible and the Tradition of the Catholic Church and be involved in the public arena in the ways we can to influence the decisions that are made on the local, state and national level that have an impact on people's lives in our country and around the world.
In addition to praying continually for our Church's leaders (the pope, bishops, and clergy) which we
do during the Prayer of the Faithful at Mass, the Church urges us to pray at Mass and other times
for our elected and appointed leaders that they will serve with integrity and promote policies that will benefit the common good, with special concern for the poor, the vulnerable, and those who struggle to care for themselves and their families. I want to urge you to consider joining us not only on election day, Tuesday, November 5 for Mass followed by the "Patriotic Rosary", but also join us throughout the year whenever we offer the Patriotic Rosary (usually on civic holidays) to pray for our country's public leaders on the national, state and local levels as well as citizens in every state in our country!
While there many things that have the potential to divide us when it comes to the public arena (and in
the Church itself), I hope we would all agree that prayer is something that always unites us as we ask for the Lord's unfailing help to make us what he wants us and everyone to be .
We are in the process of ordering our church calendars for the year 2025, and will be passing them out by the time we come to the end of 2024. While I look at the calendar every day to see what we, as a Church, are celebrating whether it be a saint or in the case of November 1 (All Saints), I notice that the color of the print is different (red) for solemnities that are Holy Days in which ALL Catholics are obliged (like for the Lord's Day) to attend and participate in Mass. I continue to pray that those who were not coming to Mass during COVID and were instead watching (and hopefully participating) on television or through the internet and have not returned to church for Mass, will somehow be inspired to come back, as we, as Catholics, are obliged under pain of mortal sin to do. I would hope that many more (than not) are coming to Mass every weekend (Saturday evening or Sunday) primarily because it is the best spiritual help that we have from Jesus. We are blessed to be together to listen to HIS WORD that instructs us and inspires us to live purposeful, meaningful and blessed lives with and in His name, and partake of the food and drink that is HIS Body and Blood, the foretaste of the paschal Feast of Heaven! Those of us who recognize the blessings of participating in person every weekend in the Holy Eucharist need to be aware of a change in expectation and obligation when it comes to the Solemnities of All Saints Day, November 1, The Immaculate Conception of Mary (this year December 9 because December 8 falls on a Sunday and will be celebrated as the Second Sunday of Advent), The Nativity of the Lord (December 25), Mary the Mother of God (January 1) and the Assumption of Mary (August 15). The Holy See has declared that all of these solemnities are to be celebrated by ALL THE FAITHFUL no matter what day of the week they fall each year. To be clear, we are ALL obliged to participate in a Mass in person for these solemnities every year from this time onward. This replaces what has been the reality in our country and I'm sure in some others, for a long time, that removed the OBLIGATION to attend Mass when these solemnities fell on a Monday or Saturday. There were reasons for this practice, which I won't get into now. I just want to say I am pleased about this change as it is emphasizing that these solemnities are important for us to celebrate with Mass and in other ways EVERY YEAR! PLEASE mark these days on your personal calendar and look forward to growing in grace and holiness by participating in Mass on these special solemnities at the days and times they are offered!