Those who are observant at the start of Mass on the weekends know that I often introduce the Mass by saying something like:  "Today we join the Church in celebrating ........."  Such a statement is meant, in part, to remind us that we are joined in our Mass with Catholic Churches all over the world in observing a common liturgical calendar that uses the same readings from Scripture and prayers that are spoken in a myriad of languages on the same day.  There are, however, a few exceptions to this rule, such as the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord which most diocese's observe on the Sunday following the Sixth Sunday of Easter, though there are some who still celebrate it liturgically on the 40th day of Easter and still refer to it as "Ascention Thursday."

There is now one more exception that applies to our diocese, the Diocese of Tulsa, Oklahoma and the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.  It is the feast day of Blessed Stanley Rother, the first priest/martyr who was a priest of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and who died for his faith in Guatemala on July 28, 1981.  Instead of celebrating the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time next weekend, many of the Catholic Churches in Oklahoma and Arkansas (which all belong to the same province), will celebrate the Feast of Blessed Stanley Rother with prayers, Scripture and music that apply to the feast of this martyr from our region of the world.  (Remember Bishop Taylor did much work before he became our bishop in promoting the cause of canonization for Father Stanley Rother).  For those who look at the readings from Mass before they are proclaimed, I want to tell you what they will be for the Masses on July 27 and 28.

The First reading will be Isaiah 61:1-3a, the Second, 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23, and Gospel, John 10:11-16.

I hope we can all recognize and celebrate the fact that for this weekend only, we will be unique among our Catholic brothers and sisters around the world and proudly celebrate the feast of the first priest and martyr of the United States who has been declared "Blessed" and hopefully one day, a declared saint of the Church.

This coming Thursday, July 19, marks the one year anniversary of the death of former pastor of Sacred Heart Church and beloved servant of God, Monsignor Bernard Malone.  It is hard to believe that it has been a year since the Lord called Monsignor Malone home after over 65 years of priestly life and service to God's people here in the Diocese of Little Rock.  There is much that I could reflect on when it comes to Monsignor Malone, as I was blessed to know him since I was an altar server for him at St. Mary's in Hot Springs when I was 13 years old.  I feel truly blessed to have seen him close-up on so many occasions in the time after he retired (at the age of 86).  Even as his body started weakening and eventually failed him, his spirit remained ever strong and ever committed to doing the Lord's work in whatever way he could and was asked of him. He supported, encouraged and was an inspiration (and confessor) to many of our seminarians which I know had an immediate AND I believe, long-term impact on them and their priesthood.  His faithfulness to the Lord and longevity in ministry, will hopefully mean that our priests (like me) and like our newly ordained, will be inspired to serve the Lord and His people well past the normal age of retirement for priests (75 years) until we can no longer do it physically, mentally, or both.  When we are long gone from this world, many of our young priests will still be administering the Sacraments and bringing Christ's love and mercy to those in need for many years to come; thanks, in part, to the great example given by Monsignor Malone.

While I (and I know many of you) miss him greatly, we are comforted by our confidence that we have an advocate in heaven who is ready to intercede for us.  One of the wonderful blessings of being your pastor for the past eight years is the opportunity to see Monsignor Malone so often as he was welcomed back to be with us here at Sacred Heart for ministry and to enjoy social time with us.

On the one-year anniversary of his passing from this world, I ask you to join with me in saying a prayer of Thanksgiving to God for Monsignor Bernard Malone and for all that God did through him in his life, especially in his priestly life in our diocese.

WE MISS YOU, MONSIGNOR MALONE!!!

The "dog days of summer" seem to already be here.  As I write this pastor's column, the temperature is already 90 degrees outside with a heat index of 99 degrees, and it's not even noon yet!

O course, there are a number of things that occur differently during the summer months at home and at church.  One of these has to do with the clothes we wear.  Recently, someone handed me a bulletin from another church and pointed out what it said about "proper" dress when coming to church.  "Church attire should not distract others and reflect an interior attitude."  It goes on to say that our dress, our demeanor, our discipline ought to speak of our recognition of the sacredness of what we do (the Mass) and manifest a genuine respect for Jesus truly present in the Blessed Sacrament.

I have heard it said that how we choose to dress for church (in every season) should be likened to how we would dress to meet a great dignitary in the field of religion, politics, entertainment etc., but magnified-because at every Mass we are meeting the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  I'm not writing on this subject because of anything someone has said to me about the way people dress when coming to Mass here, nor is it because of anything disrespectful that I have noticed in the way people dress.  I write so we can be thoughful about how we dress when coming to church during the summer months (and every month) and be sure that the "interior dress" of our minds and hearts is ready to give attentive and energetic praise and thanks to God, and hospitality to those who are worshiping with us-some of whom are looking for and/or need a friendly and kindly encounter.