While it was many years ago, I remember my fifth grade teacher, Sister Laurene quoting from St. Augustine over and over again with his statement that when we sing (at church) we are "praying twice". She was obviously stating how important singing is when we gather to celebrate the Eucharist. I can truly say how impressed and proud I am of our congregation when it comes to singing at Mass and that has been echoed by some of the priests who have subbed for me over the years I have served as your pastor. I dare say all of us "older people" have developed quite a repertoire of hymns that we are familiar with and we all have certain hymns that are our favorites. If I asked you to what or to whom are our hymns directed, I'm sure many of you would quickly answer, God, and in many cases you would be correct. There is, however, a difference in that some are speaking ABOUT God and some are speaking TO God. I must say, I prefer the ones that speak to God, as this is what prayer, spoken or sung is all about. Two hymns that immediately come to mind are "Holy God We Praise Thy Name" and "Beautiful Savior" Some hymns speak about our calling as disciples of Christ in the world. Two songs that come to my mind are "Go Make A Difference" and "Take The Word of God With You".
Perhaps, we are so caught up in the melody of some hymns and even the words that we don't realize that they speak more "about us" than they do "about" or "to" God. One favorite hymn, "Here I Am Lord" by Dan Schutte sings with self-possessive language twenty-nine times and directly to God only six times. Another popular song, "Be Not Afraid" seems to use words that are completely oriented toward oneself and none that address God directly. Those who are caught up in the "me, I and my" way of thinking or speaking no doubt love the song that quotes the repentant thief on the cross next to Jesus who calls out "Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom." (Lk 23:42) After saying all this, let me clearly state that I believe all types of hymns have their time and place in our gathering to give worship and praise to God. One favorite hymn that is often used at funeral Masses is "On Eagle's Wings" a song that speaks (at least in the refrain) about what God will do for us. We can and should find and use songs that speak to God like "O God Beyond All Praising" and that praise God like "Praise To The Lord", with regularity and without fail at every Mass, recognizing our God as worthy of our praise and the source of all blessings that come to us and others (especially the poor and poor in spirit).
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Perhaps, we are so caught up in the melody of some hymns and even the words that we don't realize that they speak more "about us" than they do "about" or "to" God. One favorite hymn, "Here I Am Lord" by Dan Schutte sings with self-possessive language twenty-nine times and directly to God only six times. Another popular song, "Be Not Afraid" seems to use words that are completely oriented toward oneself and none that address God directly. Those who are caught up in the "me, I and my" way of thinking or speaking no doubt love the song that quotes the repentant thief on the cross next to Jesus who calls out "Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom." (Lk 23:42) After saying all this, let me clearly state that I believe all types of hymns have their time and place in our gathering to give worship and praise to God. One favorite hymn that is often used at funeral Masses is "On Eagle's Wings" a song that speaks (at least in the refrain) about what God will do for us. We can and should find and use songs that speak to God like "O God Beyond All Praising" and that praise God like "Praise To The Lord", with regularity and without fail at every Mass, recognizing our God as worthy of our praise and the source of all blessings that come to us and others (especially the poor and poor in spirit).
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It won't be long (March 7 at 4:30) that we will offer on that day and every Friday of Lent the opportunity to come together and pray the Stations of the Cross as we journey toward the Easter Triduum (April 17-20). Each Friday we will use a different set of reflections on Jesus's passion, death and resurrection, and how they speak to our lives in Christ in a variety of ways.
While Catholics in general are very familiar with the "Stations of the Cross" of Jesus Christ, I would say that they are few in number who have heard of and prayed the "Stations of the Eucharist". I was recently introduced to these by a parishioner who attended the Arkansas Catholic Men's Conference in Little Rock a few weeks ago. They are written by Fr. Jonathan Meyer who was a speaker at that conference. In the introduction to these "stations" he says that they "walk us through the Bible and show references that support the doctrine of the Eucharist in Sacred Scripture AND our 2,000 year Catholic Tradition".
The seventh of these stations is "Bethlehem, the House of Bread" In addition to quoting part of the Infancy Narrative according to Luke (2:1-7) which describes Mary and Joseph going to Bethlehem for the Roman census and the subsequent birth of Jesus, he shares and reflects on the fact that the word "Bethlehem" literally means "House of Bread". This makes sense as Jesus said "I am the Living Bread, come down from Heaven." (Jn 6:41). We might therefore look at Bethlehem as the birthplace of the Eucharist". Jesus came down from heaven to earth to save us and give us the food of immortality, Himself. There are also Eucharistic connotations in the fact that the newborn child Jesus was laid in a feeding trough, a manger. The animals fed from a trough known as a manger and in faith we feed on the one who was placed in that "feeding trough" in the Eucharistic food that is Jesus at every Mass. In some sense every Mass is a "little Christmas".
I will try to share more of these "Eucharistic Stations" in future pastor's columns, and if I can get copies of this booklet, we may have a communal praying of these stations in the future. I want to close this column with the prayer that accompanies this Seventh Station in Fr. Meyer's booklet. He does say in the back of the booklet that these stations (and I assume prayers) were inspired by the Poor Clare of Perpetual Adoration in Hanceville, Alabama.
Let us pray....
Dear Lord, You are the Bread of Life. You were born to become our Food. You are our daily bread, born in Bethlehem and laid in a manger. Thank You for giving us Your very self. Thank You for Your Body and Blood. Help me to see every celebration of Holy Mass as another Christmas, as You come down from heaven to be with us and save us. Amen.
While Catholics in general are very familiar with the "Stations of the Cross" of Jesus Christ, I would say that they are few in number who have heard of and prayed the "Stations of the Eucharist". I was recently introduced to these by a parishioner who attended the Arkansas Catholic Men's Conference in Little Rock a few weeks ago. They are written by Fr. Jonathan Meyer who was a speaker at that conference. In the introduction to these "stations" he says that they "walk us through the Bible and show references that support the doctrine of the Eucharist in Sacred Scripture AND our 2,000 year Catholic Tradition".
The seventh of these stations is "Bethlehem, the House of Bread" In addition to quoting part of the Infancy Narrative according to Luke (2:1-7) which describes Mary and Joseph going to Bethlehem for the Roman census and the subsequent birth of Jesus, he shares and reflects on the fact that the word "Bethlehem" literally means "House of Bread". This makes sense as Jesus said "I am the Living Bread, come down from Heaven." (Jn 6:41). We might therefore look at Bethlehem as the birthplace of the Eucharist". Jesus came down from heaven to earth to save us and give us the food of immortality, Himself. There are also Eucharistic connotations in the fact that the newborn child Jesus was laid in a feeding trough, a manger. The animals fed from a trough known as a manger and in faith we feed on the one who was placed in that "feeding trough" in the Eucharistic food that is Jesus at every Mass. In some sense every Mass is a "little Christmas".
I will try to share more of these "Eucharistic Stations" in future pastor's columns, and if I can get copies of this booklet, we may have a communal praying of these stations in the future. I want to close this column with the prayer that accompanies this Seventh Station in Fr. Meyer's booklet. He does say in the back of the booklet that these stations (and I assume prayers) were inspired by the Poor Clare of Perpetual Adoration in Hanceville, Alabama.
Let us pray....
Dear Lord, You are the Bread of Life. You were born to become our Food. You are our daily bread, born in Bethlehem and laid in a manger. Thank You for giving us Your very self. Thank You for Your Body and Blood. Help me to see every celebration of Holy Mass as another Christmas, as You come down from heaven to be with us and save us. Amen.
ll parishioners who seek to grow in their relationship with the Lord first and foremost, then their brothers and sisters "in the Lord" that is fostered in a variety of ways, especially in our celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
I also appreciate those who come out from the pews to serve the Lord and their fellow parishioners in the liturgical ministries that we have during Mass and before and after Mass (like the sacristans and ushers)
Then there are those who put in some or a great deal of extra time in serving the Lord outside of our times of worship. Two people who do this are our V.I.P.'s for the month of February, Mark and Kacky Leslie. When I think of Mark, the first thing that comes to mind is all the work he does in financial matters for our Knights of Columbus Council (10208). With all the fundraising activities of our Knight's and the normal collecting of dues and other monies that come in, Mark puts in an unknown (by me anyway) number of hours being proficient and responsible in his duties which is a blessing to our Knights and many others as well. There are of course other activities he is involved in and even takes a leadership role in such as the newcomers welcoming committee that he and Kacky have been heading up and coordinating for a while. I'm thankful to them for this and also appreciate all those who are in this ministry of welcoming and informing new parishioners about Sacred Heart Church. Mark is a past "Scribe" for our Knights 4th degree assembly, is part of the "kitchen crew" for Knights breakfast fundraisers, and comes early and at times stays later to set-up and clean-up for Knights events (which are mostly fundraisers that assist a variety of people in need). He has attended the annual parish men's retreat and has repre-sented our Knights Council at the annual state convention. He has been serving on the Sacred Heart Parish Life Commission for a significant period of time and is currently one of two representatives from that commission on our pastoral council.
Kacky is a native-born Arkansas, who has been a faithful, loving wife to Mark for over 50 years and a support to him in his career, much of which was in the military. Since they moved to Hot Springs Village in January of 2018 she has been an active member of LOSH, a past co-captain and now captain of Guild 6 and co-leads that guilds' efforts to minister to our bereaved through funeral receptions when her guild is called upon to do it. She and Mark have volunteered for the annual Arkansas Special Olympics event in Searcy Arkansas and has been blessed with Mark and others by attending the Knights couples retreat in Subiaco. As mentioned above she and Mark have been members of the welcoming committee, and have done a great job leading this ministry in our parish. Both Kacky and Mark have shown themselves to be always ready to help out when needed in too many instances to mention. I dare say that even though they have been here for a relatively short time (7 years) they are wonderful contributors to the growth and stability of our parish (and our Knights council and assembly) which hopefully is an inspiration for others to do the same!
I also appreciate those who come out from the pews to serve the Lord and their fellow parishioners in the liturgical ministries that we have during Mass and before and after Mass (like the sacristans and ushers)
Then there are those who put in some or a great deal of extra time in serving the Lord outside of our times of worship. Two people who do this are our V.I.P.'s for the month of February, Mark and Kacky Leslie. When I think of Mark, the first thing that comes to mind is all the work he does in financial matters for our Knights of Columbus Council (10208). With all the fundraising activities of our Knight's and the normal collecting of dues and other monies that come in, Mark puts in an unknown (by me anyway) number of hours being proficient and responsible in his duties which is a blessing to our Knights and many others as well. There are of course other activities he is involved in and even takes a leadership role in such as the newcomers welcoming committee that he and Kacky have been heading up and coordinating for a while. I'm thankful to them for this and also appreciate all those who are in this ministry of welcoming and informing new parishioners about Sacred Heart Church. Mark is a past "Scribe" for our Knights 4th degree assembly, is part of the "kitchen crew" for Knights breakfast fundraisers, and comes early and at times stays later to set-up and clean-up for Knights events (which are mostly fundraisers that assist a variety of people in need). He has attended the annual parish men's retreat and has repre-sented our Knights Council at the annual state convention. He has been serving on the Sacred Heart Parish Life Commission for a significant period of time and is currently one of two representatives from that commission on our pastoral council.
Kacky is a native-born Arkansas, who has been a faithful, loving wife to Mark for over 50 years and a support to him in his career, much of which was in the military. Since they moved to Hot Springs Village in January of 2018 she has been an active member of LOSH, a past co-captain and now captain of Guild 6 and co-leads that guilds' efforts to minister to our bereaved through funeral receptions when her guild is called upon to do it. She and Mark have volunteered for the annual Arkansas Special Olympics event in Searcy Arkansas and has been blessed with Mark and others by attending the Knights couples retreat in Subiaco. As mentioned above she and Mark have been members of the welcoming committee, and have done a great job leading this ministry in our parish. Both Kacky and Mark have shown themselves to be always ready to help out when needed in too many instances to mention. I dare say that even though they have been here for a relatively short time (7 years) they are wonderful contributors to the growth and stability of our parish (and our Knights council and assembly) which hopefully is an inspiration for others to do the same!