Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church
Hot Springs Village, Arkansas
On the day I was going to write this Pastor's Corner, I looked through my mail which contained letters of solicitation from more than a few charities.  While they are all worthy of support by me, you and everyone, I also came upon the annual solicitation for supporting the Catholic Church in the Holy Land through the collection taken up on Good Friday as well as the annual collection to support our diocesan seminarians that is taken up at the Holy Thursday evening Mass.

One can be overwhelmed by the various needs that present themselves to us.  I also was made aware today of the effort on April 7, 2016 called "Arkansas Gives" that offers the opportunity to give to a list of charities in Arkansas through credit card online donations from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. that day.  The list is LONG of the non-profits that included themselves on this list.  Now I am overwhelmed in a positive way that here are so many organizations out there who are helping people who are in a variety of needy situations.  They remind me that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is being preached and promulgated not only in churches like ours, but daily through these organizations and charities.

I am asking here that even if you don't make it to church on Holy Thursday and/or Good Friday, that you use the envelope in your stewardship packet to support the Church in the Holy Land and our seminarians and put it in the collection basket whenever you come to weekend Mass over the next few weeks.  While many non-profits I mentioned solicit and get support throughout the year, the two collections I mentioned are annual and ask our support ONLY ONCE A YEAR.  Please give and give generously if you can.