I can honestly say that I, and more than a few of our parishioners, received an early Christmas present in attending the Ordination and/or First Mass of "Father" Nelson Rubio.  In the beautiful setting of the Cathedral of St. Andrew  in Little Rock, some witnessed Nelson receiving the priesthood through prayer and the silent "Laying on of Hands" by Bishop Taylor than by all the priests who were concelebrating the Ordination Mass.  We watched the bishop anoint his hands with the Sacred Chrism and be vested with a priest's stole and chasuble.  Finally, Father Rubio joined with other priests in praying the words of consecration along with Bishop Taylor and took a solo part of the Eucharistic Prayer.  At the end of the Mass, Father Rubio offered his first blessing to the bishop who knelt before him and then to the rest of the congregation.

Speaking of "Consecration," those who participated in Father Rubio's First Mass were touched, and will long remember Father Rubio's cracking and tears coming down his eyes as he spoke the words of consecreation with the priests concelebrating, saying the words with him.  His long journey to the priesthood that was delayed for awhile in Venezuela and which brought him to Arkansas to be a priest for our diocese and included a serious sickness which still weakens his body at times, has ended, and his new life as a priest of God has begun.  He thanked everyone, especially you, our parishioners, for your love and support these past few years as his adopted parish family.

I also thank you for helping to get Father Nelson to this "life-changing" point in his life.  Continued prayers for him as he begins serving the people of God with Father Rueben Quinteros in Marche and North Little Rock are needed and will be appreciated.

I want to thank our Ladies of the Sacred Heart, our Knights of Columbus, and our Men's Club for the support they have given to Father Nelson, and our parishioners who gifted him.  Finally, for those who were not at the First Mass reception, I want you to know that the parish gifted Father Nelson with four beautiful chasubels for him to wear as he celebrates Mass in the future.

Thanks to Parish Life coordinators Sherrie Nichols, Jennifer Rivera, as well as Cathy Silk, and all those who brought food for the reception.  It was nicely set-up and the food was delicious.

Let's remember Nelson at Christmas as he celebrates his first Christmas Masses and rests before his new ministry begins.

Finally, a Blessed Christmas Season from me to all of our parishioners and your families.  May God's love and peace fill your hearts in a special way on these special days.

The diary of St. Faustina, which was written by her from 1934-38, contained her thoughts, prayers and reported visions and conversations she had with Jesus on "Divine Mercy."  In one particular excerpt she is told to write this:  "I am Thrice Holy, and I detest the smallest sin.  I cannot love a soul that is stained with sin; but when it repents, there is no limit to My generosity toward it.  My mercy embraces and justifies it.  With My mercy, I pursue sinners all along their paths, and My heart rejoices when they return to me. . .   Tell sinners that I am always waiting for them, that I listen intently to the beating of their heart. . . when will it beat for Me."  I thought this would be a good passage to quote and reflect upon in light of our upcoming Advent Reconciliation Service this Tuesday, December 19, at 4:30 p.m.

Whether we have sinned slightly or gravely, the Lord wants to be generous in forgiving us all of our sins.  John the Baptist continues to cry out "Prepare the Way for the Lord.  Make straight his paths." (Mk 1:3).

I pray that many of us will heed the call and give time to join "fellow sinners" in our communal Word service and consider going to individual Confession to the six or more priests who will be with us that day.  If you cannot be there for the start of the service, please come when you can as our priests should be here until at least 6:00 p.m.  The greatest gift you can give yourself BEFORE Christmas is an experience with our merciful Lord and rejoice in the peace that he gives to us through his forgiveness and that of his Body, the Church.

For those who can't join us on Tuesday, I will offer the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Friday, December 22, and Saturday, December 23, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (and the normal times:  8:30-8:50 a.m. on weekdays, 3:15-3:45 p.m. on Saturday, and 7:15-7:45 a.m. on Sunday).

I am the first to admit that I have yet to embrace all aspects of social media including Twitter, tweeting and Facebook.  I am also deficient when it comes to all the things one can do on the computer and Internet.  I can do enough things to be helped in my ministry, especially when it comes to e-mail and "Googling" to get further information on something.  I'm not sure where most of you are when it comes to using the Internet, but I am excited to tell those of you who do use it, that our parish has joined a network called FORMED, which gives our parishioners access to many religious instructional, spiritual and entertainment possibilites.  This will aid in home efforts to grow in your faith as well as continued possibilities to use materials that are offered for group study and reflection here at Sacred Heart Church.

I'm going to turn the rest of my Pastor's Column over to our parishioner Tom Canavan's explanation of this program and hope that many of you will log on soon to see what is possible, especially for those who have internet access.  Please try it soon!

FORMED

FORMED.org is an online resource of Catholic materials that supports instruction and independent study in four major areas:  Adult Faith Formation, Youth Formation/Confirmation, RCIA, and Bible Studies.  Today, let's just deal with Adult Formation.

The FORMED.org website provides direct access to many materials useful in adult faith formation.  There are links to group and independent study programs on the Bible, the sacraments, the lives of saints, prayer, and many other subjects.