Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church
Hot Springs Village, Arkansas
Last weekend at two of the Masses (8 & 10 a.m.), I spoke, among other things, about the importance of being supported by God and others and of being a means of support to others and to our parish in the way we are called to live out the mission and commission of our Baptism.  I continually give thanks to God for the ways that I receive support for the ministries I am blessed to do for the people of this wonderful parish.  While I know I am the beneficiary of prayers for me on a regular basis, I felt supported in a special way recently as I celebrated my 60th birthday.  A large crowd of parishioners (and my mom and brother, Danny) gathered in the lower hall for a delicious potluck meal and I was serenaded not only with the traditional "Happy Birthday" song by the large crowd that was present, but also by an original song (set to the tune "Mack the Knife" - 1959) that was composed by Maureen Morgan and sung by her and some members of our choir and accompanied by Lynne Border.

A few gifts were presented to me publicly including a wonderful Spiritual Bouquet of Masses and prayers and a beautiful rendition of the poem, "The Beautiful Hands of a Priest" that was enshrined in a lovely frame and read out loud by a few members of the parish.

After most had departed, I opened the material gifts that some parishioners brought that day (which was thoughtful of them - THANKS) and left feeling good about my 60th birthday and reminded of the fact that I am older now and not old.  Honestly, it took me days to open all the birthday cards I received (some serious and some funny).  I appreciated reading all of them and I thank all those who gave me a monetary gift with your well wishes.  I will try to use it wisely.

Finally, I was blessed to be serenaded by the REY kids the evening of my birthday and enjoyed the scrapbook of homemade birthday cards with well wishes from our students and teachers.  Being supported on my birthday (and continually by some) keeps me ever energized and thankful to God for the vocation that has been given to me for 33 years (and over 9 years here at Sacred Heart Parish).  A special "God Bless you" to Cathy Silk and Cindy Lefler and their helpers who gave extra time and effort to make by 60th birthday one I will not soon forget!!
In line with Deacon John's homily last weekend, I want to express my sincere gratitude for all who have served or are now serving on parish commissions in our parish from Education to Liturgy, to Social Justice and Charitable Outreach to Parish Life and the Finance Council.  It is truly a blessing to have people agree to give time to promote, prepare and advise on these ministries and activities that are important for ours or any parish to accomplish its mission in faithfulness to Jesus Christ and in union with Catholic churches throughout our country and world.

I ask all adult parishioners to consider joining one of these commissions.  It is a great way to meet new people in the parish and offer your input in an area of ministry/activity that you have an interest and/or experience in doing.  It is through these commissions that we can best garner people to serve as a member of the pastoral council for a two year period.  This would mean attending a parish council meeting bi-monthly in addition to the bi-monthly commission meeting that is held six times a year and not necessarily in the same month as the pastoral council meeting.  You and/or the other elected member from your commission would answer any questions about what is reported from the minutes of your commission meeting at the pastoral council meeting.  We try to keep the meetings between one and one and half hours long and we are open to meeting during the daytime hours or at night, whatever will accommodate everyone who is on a commission (including parishioners who are still working for a living).

A parish can only be as strong and as active as there are people who are willing to give some of their time and talents OUTSIDE OF OUR WEEKEND MASSES to follow the call of our baptism to serve the Lord and one another.

Our next commission meetings are as follows:  Social Justice and Charitable Outreach, (November 22); Parish Life (December 4); Education (December 5); and Liturgy (December 13).  Please consider coming to one of these meetings and see if it is something that will lead you to become a member of that commission.  Please know that when we are in service of the Lord, his grace will lead us to do and accomplish things that will give glory to God and be a good example to others!
Our sister parishes in Hot Springs have joined together for the past 11 years to support St. Andrew's Catholic Church and School in Colladere, Haiti along with two outlying mission churches and schools.  Through ongoing donations, they have been a blessing to over 700 poor Haitian children who have received needed food and educational support.  A recent medical mission from St. Mary's in Hot Springs to these children, found that many of them are not receiving adequate, clean, healthy drinking water.  They are receiving their water from a dirty stream which is a long distance away from their village.  The distance requires a long walk and the use of buckets to carry the water from the stream.

Studies have been done and show two sites ON THEIR CHURCH PROPERTY that hopefully will provide wells of drinking water to the children and all those who live in that area.  The total cost of drilling the wells and getting the water to the people for the future is around $40,000!  Fr. Azimuth Servil, pastor of St. Andrew's is here with us this weekend and would greatly appreciate our help toward making the dream of good and accessible water available to those he serves a reality, as soon as possible.

I ask if you did not for whatever reason give to this worthwhile project at one of the Masses this weekend or would like to do more to send your generous checks payable to "Hot Springs Haiti Mission" to St. Mary's Catholic Church, 100 Central Avenue, Hot Springs, AR 79701.

Something that is so easy for us to procure-drinking water-is something that people in areas around the world like Haiti can only hope to find and have for their basic nutrition.  Please remember the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew (25:35) "I was thirsty and you gave me to drink," in reference to the final judgement at the end of time and help make this happen for the children and others in this area in Haiti.  THANK YOU!!!