Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church
Hot Springs Village, Arkansas
Even as we are only into the second full week of the Lenten Season, many liturgical planners are already looking ahead and planning for the end of our Lenten Journey and the high point of the Church's Year, THE EASTER TRIDUUM (beginning on Holy Thursday evening and ending on Easter Sunday evening).  My plan this year (as in previous years) is to promote participation in the Easter Triduum, especially the liturgies of Holy Thursday evening (6:30 p.m.), Good Friday (3:00 p.m.), and the Easter Vigil (Holy Saturday night at 8:00 p.m.).  They are the most unique, beautiful and meaningful liturgies of the whole church year.  They help us grow deeper in our appreciation of what Jesus Christ did for us and for all of humanity through His Passion, Death and Resurrection.  They are CERTAINLY worth our time and effort to attend and fully participate.

Some of the Old Testament readings that we are hearing proclaimed during the Lenten Season are actually preparing us for the beautiful scripture passages that we will hear during the Triduum.  References to the "Passover" of the Israelites and the call of Abraham (in the first two Sundays of Lent) will be proclaimed in full at the Easter Vigil.  In fact, during the Triduum, the Church gives us more Old Testament passages to read and reflect on than New Testament passages.  This, among other things, reminds us of Jewish heritage and its importance to Christ, the early Church, and Christians of all times.

How blessed we are to live at a time in history when Jewish/Christian relations are better than they have been for years. To that end, I would like to encourage attendance at a special presentation by the Ouachita Speaker Series on Wednesday, March 9, at 7:00 p.m. at the Woodlands Auditorium.  The guest speaker will be Dora Klayman, a Holocaust survivor who will share her interesting, yet sobering, story.  Admission is free, but you need to reserve tickets.  Please look for the bulletin announcement about this event and find out how to obtain your ticket.  We will have our soup, sandwich and video that night, but we will finish in time for those who want to get over to the Woodlands.  I plan to go, and I hope some of you will join me.
When is a good thing, not completely a good thing?  The answer is: when it has to do with Mass Intensions that are requested at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church.  In part, because we have an "older" traditional congregation that appreciates the benefits of prayers and Masses being offered for people, especially the deceased, and in part due to the number of deaths we have each year in our parish, we have received an abundance of Mass Intention requests. Scheduling them in a timely manner is a great challenge.  When a loved one or friend dies, most of us want a Mass offered for him/her within a reasonable time.  Having the first Mass offered for him or her four or five months after they have died, doesn't seem reasonable for most of us.  I have therefore decided to place priorities on when Masses that are requested, are offered.

We will give priority to "death" anniversaries when someone requests a Mass for their loved one.  Also, I would like to see us schedule Masses for those who have recently died, no longer than one month after their death.  If more than one Mass is requested for that person, we will try to offer Masses for the happy repose of his/her soul at least once every two months during the first year after their death.  Other Masses that are requested may need to be sent off to priests (especially in Arkansas) who do not have enough Mass requests to fill the number of Masses they celebrate each year. Some of them are missionary priests who truly apreciate the money that is given by the person requesting the Mass. Also, we are blessed to have Father Mike Hinken still in the Village on an extended sabbatical from an assignment from his religious order.  He has been willing to accept Mass Intention requests as he celebrates Mass every day.  If he takes some Masses, we may try to indicate in the bulletin, which Masses are being offered by him on a particular day if we can coordinate that with him.  This could help especially on days when a death anniversary has been requested by two different people.

The bottom line is that we will do our best to respect the wishes of the person asking for the Mass Intention and try to satisfy it in a timely way, given the realities of the number of Masses that can be offered by one priest in this parish every year.  Thanks for your understanding and cooperation.
Last Sunday, I felt moved to preach a homily at the 10:00 a.m. Mass that was different from what was preached at the first two Masses of the weekend.  I was fully aware beforehand, that some would probably have a negative reaction to some of what was said.  I decided to go ahead and preach what I did, firstly because I felt that the points that were made were true to the message of the First Reading and the Gospel of the day.  Secondly, I was inspired by the example of Jesus, Jeremiah and others who have spoken words that they knew would result in some negative feedback, but who felt that what they said spoke a message that was consistent with the mind and heart of God.

I must say that I was surprised to receive far more positive than negative comments about points in the homily or the homily in general.  Nevertheless, given what some people "thought" they heard me say or given some people's interpretations of what was said, I decided to send a clarification out on Monday morning to the e-mail lists of parishioners who belong to parish organizations and our Knights of Columbus.  It was also put on the parish website. In case any of you didn't see this, I wish to repeat it in relation to this pastor's column for everyone to receive.  Refer to addendum article below this article.