Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church

Sacred Heart parishioner board the bus to Little Rock to participate in the March for Life.On Sunday, January 22, 2012, parishioners from Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church took a bus ride to Little Rock to participate in the annual March for Life.  The march is held annually on or near the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.  A national march and rally takes place in Washington, D.C. on January 23^rd.  Catholics from around the state joined together in Little Rock to celebrate life at a Noon Mass on Sunday officiated by Bishop Anthony Taylor at the Robinson Center.  Following the mass, those attending joined hundreds of additional Pro-Life Arkansans from all over our state in the march from Capital and Louisiana streets to the State Capital where several speakers addressed the crowd including U.S. Representative Tim Griffin.  Sacred Heart has participated in the march for several years to give witness to the need to “Choose Life” and “End Abortion Now”.

Fr. Bill Elser demonstrating that he can use his smart phone to down load the app for Liturgy of the Hours devotions.Sacred Heart Men’s Club held their monthly meeting on January 10^th.  There were over 85 members in attendance to participate in the prayer service, dinner and meeting.  The featured speaker following dinner was Father Bill Elser, Pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church.  Father Bill began his talk by asking those present when is the best time to pray.  After hearing a variety of answers, Fr. Bill heard the answer he looking for – anytime!  Building on this he talked about the many reasons to pray which can be summarized into four main categories namely petition, praise, thanksgiving and penitential.

Under Father Bill’s direction, Sacred Heart has initiated a few new prayer activities recently.  The first is the reciting of the Patriotic Rosary.  Once a month at mass the Patriotic Rosary is recited as a prayer for our country, our leaders and those who have sacrificed for our liberty.  It is usually done coinciding with an appropriate national day of recognition such as Veterans Day or Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

The second prayer activity recently initiated is to pray the morning prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours prior to the start of mass on Monday through Friday.  The Liturgy of the Hours is a common prayer started in the days of the very early Christian church.  The prayer grew out of the Jewish tradition of praying at specific times of the day and from Jesus’s teaching, as recorded in the bible, for all to pray at all times.  Ordained priests and religious of the Catholic Church are obliged to daily pray the morning and evening prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours.  In this way the Church offers a common prayer to Christ and with Christ to sanctify the entire day.  The Liturgy of the Hours prayer is built around scripture and includes readings from the old and new testaments, the psalms, songs of praise and specific prayers.  The Liturgy can be done in a group with a leader, such as a priest or a deacon, or privately by an individual.  There are books available to help facilitate those wishing to do the Liturgy as well as an app that can be downloaded to your smart phone, which Fr. Bill then demonstrated.

Father Bill concluded his remarks by calling on the men of the Sacred Heart Men’s Club to become “prayer warriors”.

On Monday, January 9, approximately 45members of the Sacred Heart Singles gathered for their monthly meeting in the hall at Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church. There was a delicious potluck dinner followed by a variety of games. After the games, Father Bill treated the group to his homemade ice cream. Everyone enjoyed the fun, good food and fellowship.

(Pictured) Father Bill (third from left), Pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church, joined the Sacred Heart Singles for their January meeting.