Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church
Hot Springs Village, Arkansas
Click here for information on the 2024 LOSH Charity Golf Scramble held on Monday, April 22, 2024.


Click here for information on the Knights of Columbus Charity Golf Tournament held on Saturday, June 15, 2024.



Eucharistic logo cropped Check out the new SHJ web page for the National Eucharistic Revival.
Today’s Gospel, next week’s Gospel and in fact the Gospel’s since the last Sunday in July are a continuous reading from the 6th chapter of John.  Each of these readings, starting with the story of feeding the 5,000, builds on the theme of nourishment, moving from physical nourishment to spiritual nourishment.  It is a beautiful pattern:  in the 1st readings we hear about God dealing with physical nourishment, manna from heaven to satisfy the Israelites in the desert, Elijah nourished in the desert when he was too weak to continue, and today Wisdom prepares a feast.  Taste and see the goodness of the Lord!

Then our Gospel moves us to spiritual nourishment.  Last week we heard that we have to believe in God for eternal life and the way to God is through Jesus.  A key line last week was “Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.”  That is what we are doing now in the liturgy of the Word; listening to and learning from Scripture, the words of God.  So that is one way we are spiritually nourished.  But there is more.
Today we hear that the place where the true believer, the place where the person nourished by the Word of God encounters the true Bread from Heaven is in the Eucharist.  This bread is not just blessed and broken.  It is Jesus.  And it is not just Jesus walking, or teaching, or even in union with his Father.  The Eucharist is Jesus sacrificing himself for us, dying for us and calling us to be willing to sacrifice for others.

You can’t eat physical food without your body transforming it, breaking it down into all the things you need for life.  The challenge when we are nourished by the Word and the Eucharist is to let it transform us, to be transformed, to be Eucharist to the world.  We can’t leave here the same as we came in.  This gift from God of Word and Eucharist is given to nourish us, but more than that, to change us, to transform us into the image of God, to make us the hands and feet of Christ.  Christ has set an example that just as he has done, we also should do.  Each one of us is called to be Eucharist to those we meet every day.

The challenge for a homilist is to get the homily out of the four walls of the church, get it out into the everyday world.  I wish I could do that for you, wish I could give you a simple formula, a couple of key ideas or a phrase that would change your life, change you.  But I can’t.  Each one of us has to answer that for ourselves.  We have to ask - am I willing to be transformed today, willing to be Eucharist this afternoon and Monday?  It might be where we work or volunteer with that person that always wants to talk and we just get tired of listening to them.  Will we be Eucharist?  It might be at school with the person that everyone says is weird.  Will we be Eucharist?  It might be at the grocery store or it might be in the parking lot as we race to get out.  It might be as we walk around our neighborhood.  Will we be Eucharist to those we meet, those we love and yes, those we just don’t love?  “I came to serve, not to be served.”  If we are going to be Christ’s hands and feet to the world we have to be willing to sometimes bite our lip, to sometimes choke back that sharp reply, to sometimes say I’m sorry even if it isn’t our fault.  We have to be willing to be Eucharist.  It might be by a smile, a hug, a word or just being with someone when they are alone and hurting.  BE EUCHARIST!

Why do we come back here week after week?  Because we need to be nourished; we need to be transformed.  We need God.  Not just out there somewhere but in here, part of us, transforming us.  When you approach the altar and say Amen to “The Body of Christ” and Amen “The Blood of Christ” that’s what you are committing to.  Don’t say it casually, it can transform you!

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Mass Times

Tuesday, Thursday, Friday   9:00 am
Wednesday   4:00 pm
First Saturday   9:00 am
Saturday    5:00 pm 
Sunday   8:00 am
10:00 am
Holy Day Vigil (with obligation) As announced
Holy Day (with or without obligation)   9:00 am


Confession Schedule
Tuesday, Thursday & Friday 8:40 to 8:55 am
Wednesday 3:30 to 3:50 pm
Saturday 4:00 to 4:45 pm
By Appointment Call Pastor