Most of us are familiar with the annual March for Life which happens in our state every January.  It is an opportunity for all people of faith, who believe that human life is a precious gift from God that must be protected at every stage of its existence from the womb of the mother until its natural death, to stand up for this belief and stand up for those (especially the unborn) whose voice and presence can only be seen and heard through us.

On Saturday, October 12, there will be another march in Little Rock.  This one is held to promote the passage of comprehesive immigration reform in Congress.  This gathering is an opportunity to stand and march with immigrants and others, who will stand and march with them, to promote laws which respect the human dignity of those who have come to us from other countries to seek refuge from political, social and/or economic conditions, and live and work in hope of a better future for themselves and their families.

Two simultaneous marches begin at 3:00 p.m., one leaving the entrance of Philander Smith College and the other one leaving across the street from Dickey Stephens Ball Park in North Little Rock, both converging on the State Capitol for a rally at 4:00 p.m. on the front steps of the Capitol.  While I would like to participate in this effort, our Saturday evening Mass time presents me from doing so.  Bishop Taylor asks that all people of faith join him for this march and program.  He asks those who come, to wear white clothing to show solidarity and bring, if you wish, the American or Arkansas flag.  For more information or to volunteer to help for this event, call 479-871-2168 or logon www.arkansascoalition.org.  In the Gospel on Tuesday, September 24 (Luke 8:19-21), Jesus speaks of His family as those who hear the Word of God and act on it.  Here is a great opportunity to respond to Jesus' call to love our neighbor as ourselves.  I pray you consider doing so in this and in so many other ways.

IT'S TIME.  After much prayer, presentation and information, we will be given the opportunity to commit ourselves to Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration for our parish at next weekend's Masses.  Father Joseph DeLuca from the Missionaries of the Blessed Sacrament will preach at all the Masses, and invite and encourage the members of our parish family to commit at least one hour a week before Jesus exposed in the Monstrance in our chapel for prayer, adoration spiritual reading and/or other spiritual exercises.  I reported last week that a visitor to our parish told me that she has been blessed greatly throughout her 28 straight years of participation in Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration at her parish from midnight to 1:00 a.m. every week.

This proposed Adoration will take an ongoing commitment from those who say yes to being adorers as well as leaders behind the scenes who are needed to make this a blessing for so many.  Please pray especially hard this week for God's grace to touch discerning hearts.

The clock is ticking on the start of our prayer formation series, Oremus, which begins the first week in October.  This eight-week (one, to one and a half hours each week) program encourages and teaches new ways of prayer through the use of the Bible.  We have a variety of days and times (as listed in the Oremos article in the Parish News section on our website) that you can choose to participate and grow in the most important relationship that any of us can have, with God.

Recently we were informed by the publisher of this program that they had to reorder 10,000 more copies to accommodate all the requests for workbooks for this study.  The workbooks will cost the participants $12, plus shipping and handling, so you will have an investment of time and money if you choose to say "yes" to this experience.

I pray that we will offer this experience again in the future, as the first participants hopefully will encourage their friends to do it after they have finished the program.  The sign-up tables are in the narthex and registration ends September 23, so please don't delay in signing up.