It was a very upbeat and determined group of people who gathered early on a Saturday morning at the Cortez Pavilion. Over 115 Sacred Heart Parishioners signed up for the Village Cancer Walk, and many of them were there with me (and so many others) to walk in memory of, or in honor of, someone who had or has cancer.  I am so happy that so many of our parishioners responded in such a loving, sincere, and generous way.  They announced at the walk that over $30,000 had been collected for cancer research.  I pray that next year we will see even greater participation from members of this wonderful parish and that someday we will not have a need for such a walk because the scourge of cancer will no longer affect the human race.  We are a people of hope.  Alleluia.

Every time I come out of the church into the narthex after we have prayed the Patriotic Rosary, I hear positive comments of how powerful it is.  I always leave feeling thankful for the blessings that have poured out on our country by God over its relatively short history.  I am inspired by the powerful quotes from some of our early leaders who connected God and country so beautifully.  Finally, I have a sense of accomplishment that I have joined with others to pray for our country, its leaders and every citizen in every state of the union confident that through the intercession of Mary, many more blessings will come to our country in the future.  Please join us for the next recitation (and singing) of the Patriotic Rosary.  We will pray it this Sunday (09/11) during our holy hour between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m., and we will pray it next month on Columbus Day, October 10.

After participating in a leadership training program for bishops, our bishop, Anthony Taylor, has set priorities for our diocese for the next 18 months.  These have come-out in brief form in the "Arkansas Catholic" a number of weeks ago. Next weekend the bishop will speak to all the Catholics of Arkansas during the homily time about these priorities. Please pray this week that our Catholics throughout Arkansas, and especially in our parish, will respond positively to the challenges that the bishop places before us and find ourselves growing in The Lord during this period of time.