Fr. Herald Brock sent a picture of the completed roof on St. Peter Claver Church in Lowoi, Diocese of Torit, South Sudan. The roof was completed in June with the help of financial assistance from the parishioners of Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church. Fr. Brock is affiliated with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. This group has been supporting the people of South Sudan and plan on continued assistance in the future. Click here for more photos in photo gallery. 
Sacred Heart of Jesus has been invited by the Village Bible Church to join with them in sponsoring the Crosses for Life Memorial. This is a statewide outreach project of the Benton County Right to Life, and has been displayed in various locations throughout the state of Arkansas since January 2000. There are 4,000 white crosses displayed that represent the 4,000 pre-born children who die daily in the United States as a result of induced abortion. The purpose of the display is to memoralize those children and increase public awareness of the magnitude of what has been called by some, "The American Holocaust".The crosses will be displayed on the property of both churches, from Monday, August 20 through September 22. The Crosses for Life Memorial is available to pro-life organizations throughout the state, and the project is funded by individual donations.
The new Recycling Trailer has replaced the old Recycling Bin in our parish parking lot. This trailer is also used by the parish Disaster Response Team for pick-up and removal of debris after destructive storms. While it is not in use for disaster purposes, it serves as our means for collecting aluminum beverage cans. Parishioners can continue to bring their aluminum cans, tied in plastic bags, and deposit them into the trailer. The Ladies of the Sacred Heart arranges for the transport of the accumulated cans to recyclers in Hot Springs on a timely basis. The money collected for the cans is donated at the end of the year to nearby organizations assisting women and children in poverty. Please remember that the recycle trailer is only for aluminum cans. Thank you for your continued support of this fundraising activity by the Ladies of the Sacred Heart. 
Parish Hand & Foot members invite all parishioners to meet each month for a fun evening of cards. Hand & Foot is a great game that only takes a few minutes to learn. Transmit an e-mail to Ed Harrigan at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 915-0314 for more information. Current members are asked to transmit their e-mail addresses to enhance communication. We play September through May. Send $8 per couple; $4 per single, $5 per substitute couple, and $2.50 for single substitute to SHHFC, Ed Harrigan, 320 Maderas Drive, 71909, before August 15. Please include your e-mail address.  |
| Seated in front of 14 seminarians are (l-r) Monsignor Bernard Malone, Bishop Anthony Taylor, Monsignor Scott Friend, and Father Bill Elser. |
Following the dinner, the 200 attendees received special envelopes for their individual donations. The Hot Springs Village 300-member Knights of Columbus Council will conduct additional fundraisers to help equip the dining room. As a start, Grand Knight Bill Roe presented a $2,000 check to Bishop Taylor. He also gave a $1,000 check to Monsignor Friend to be used in assisting individual seminarians as needed. Again this fraternal year, the Council has committed $500 to each of four seminarians, and the 4th degree Assembly will do the same for two seminarians. It should be noted that the Arkansas State Knights of Columbus has already donated $187,000 for construction of the chapel.
Each of the clergy involved in this event has a nephew who is either a priest or a seminarian. Monsignor Friend has two. The seminarians at the dinner included: David Aguilar, Joseph and Patrick Friend, Juan Guido, Kardly Isidor, Thomas Johnson, Jose Luis Quijada, Daniel Phillips, George Sanders, Emmanuel Torres, Taryn Whittington, and Luke Womack. Please click on Knights of Columbus to view photos of the House of Formation Dinner.
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| Pictured in the first row are Dianne Gleason, JoAnn O’Brien and Mary Ann Honzik; second row, Dave Witchger, Chris Gleason, Mike Frantz, and Terry O’Brien; and top row, John Bodensteiner and Larry Lipsmeyer. |
The parish Treasure Sale will be held on Friday and Saturday, September 28/29. To collect donations, the following dates have been scheduled from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon: August 8, 11, 22; September 8, 19, 22, 24, 25, 26. Call Chris or Mike Frantz at 922-5877 or Lucy or Marvin Young at 915-8028 for more information or to arrange a pick-up of donations. More information about the sale and volunteer sign-up forms are on a table in the hallway.
John Bodensteiner is once again coordinating the Treasure Sale with the assistance of new member and co-coordinator Chris Gleason. Financials will be handled by David Witchger. Terry and JoAnn O'Brien will oversee floor sales, while Tom Yerina and volunteers to his committee are in charge of setting up the church hall for the sale. Information regarding collection dates and requests for assistance in getting donations to the church is being handled by Mike Frantz and Marvin Young. The job or sorting and pricing donations is in the very capable hands of committee chairs Claudia Keearns and Mary Ann Honzik. Deacon Lipsmeyer juggles all the miscellaneous matters that fall to no specific committee's oversight, and Kathy Geske is handling publicity.
With 900 plus parish households assisting with their donations, as well as by their participation in the various Treasure Sale committee activities, the 2012 Treasure Sale is promising to be another resounding success. While the coordinators and committee chairs have a busy summer to look forward to, their dedication along with the support of willing parishioners will guarantee the end result of jobs well done.
Join others in your parish and throughout Arkansas on a pilgrimage to the magnificent Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament of Our Lady of Angels Monastery in Alabama. Stops include Ave Maria Grotto at St. Bernard Benedictine Abbey and EWTN Studios in Birmingham. Enjoy Masses, spiritual talks and be on a live TV show. It's a great time to be refreshed in mind and soul. Cost is $220 which includes the bus trip and two night motel (based on double occupancy). Pay $100 deposit now to reserve your seat. Call Marj Hunecker at 501-568-5390. The bus will leave from St. Theresa's Church in Little Rock. 
The Rosary Makers had an outstanding year. They sent over 9,000 rosaries this year alone. This total is almost 2,000 more rosaries than last year and it brings their grand total since the group began to over 46,00 rosaries. The rosaries are sent to countless missions, schools and military groups in the United States and around the world. The Rosary Makers do not meet during the summer months and will begin again on Thursday, September 6 in classrooms C & D in the A & E Building. For more information about this group, call Delores Griffin at 915-0826.(Pictured l-r) Dee Griffin, Marge Newburn, Arlene Thompson, Rose Kutsch, Heidi Hubanek, Terry Heisler, Phyliss Zappala, P.J. Jendro, Mary Lucas, Barbara Shurtleff, Marguarita Butler, Betty Maier, Jean Krantz. Missing is Carol Cruz..
The Arkansas Knights on Bikes are part of the National Knights on Bikes Catholic Motorcycle Ministry. We are looking for new members to join us. The only requirements to join our group include the fact that you own, or anticipate owning, a motorcycle capable of highway speed; and, be a First-Degree Knight in the Knights of Columbus. For information, contact Michael Huber, President, Knights on Bike Arkansas, 479-387-4751. E-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or go online for www.KnightsonBikesArkansas. 
Hello Everyone,I want to share with you some photos I recently received of the construction on the church in Lowoi, Diocese of Torit, South Sudan. These photos are already a few weeks old, and the work has likely been completed by now. The Diocese celebrated its patronal feastday on June 29 (Sts. Peter and Paul), and South Sudan just celebrated its one-year anniversary as a new nation on July 1, so it may be a little longer before I'm able to share with you photos of the completed project, which I will do as soon as I receive them. Check photo album for more pictures.
But as you can see the entire structure of beams to support the roof were already in place when the photos were taken, and seems to be very professionally done, praise God.
When I was in South Sudan in May, things were very peaceful, though the economy was noticeably depressed. Pressure from the international community helped both sides to back away from increasing tensions, though the north still has to comply with troop withdrawals from the Abyei region. International loans and promised investment has helped to shore up the economy a little, too. There are still many challenges for South Sudan to face, but they are an amazingly resilient people, loved and blessed by God in a special way.
Thank you again for all your assistance and collaboration in making this miracle possible for the people in Lowoi. It's a great gesture of encouragement for them and a reminder that God is still mindful of them, too.
God bless,
Fr. Herald
"I Corinthians" Little Rock Scripture Study at Sacred Heart will begin on Tuesday, June 12, for women only, from noon until 2:00 p.m. On Wednesday, June 13, for men and women, from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. The Scripture Study is a nine week class, with no classes on June 26/27, or July 3/4. The last class will be on August 28/29. If you cannot make the class every week, we would still love to have you come when you can. Please call Mickey Townsend at 922-0705 or sign up in the narthex. Your study guide/commentary can be purchased at www.littlerockscripture.org/en/Studies.aspx?ID=106 or purchased at class on June 12/13.  |
| Fr. Bill presenting plaque to Mary Ann Miller. |
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| The Young Catholic Musicians in concert at Sacred Heart. |
After the concert, The Young Catholic Musicians were provided overnight housing with fifteen Sacred Heart of Jesus families. The Knights of Columbus provided breakfast on Sunday for the host families, the young musicians and their parent/chaperons.
Under the direction of Fr. Bruce Forman, The Young Catholic Musicians, represent over forty parishes throughout the Archdiocese of St. Louis. There are a total of forty-two musicians that make up this group; seventeen instrumentalists and twenty-five vocalists. They range in ages from 10-18 years old. This group leads the liturgical music at a different church once a month, performs two concerts during the school year and takes those concerts on tour during the summer. In the week before arriving at Sacred Heart they performed a concert at St. Pius X. Parish in Tulsa; Six Flags and City Hall in Dallas; Moody Gardens and NASA in Houston. The musicians also led the singing of the National Anthem prior to the Cardinal/Astros baseball game on June 6.
The Young Catholic Musicians ended their program with a selection made popular by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Happy Trails. They said they do not like to say goodbye, instead they believe in “Happy trails to you, till we meet again.” All of us wish this wonderful, vibrant and dynamic group “Happy trails to you, till WE meet again.”
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| Arkansas Travelers fans from Sacred Heart take in the game at Dickey-Stephens ballpark. |
Upon arrival at the ballpark the buses stopped just outside the park next to the pavilion where everyone was served all the hamburgers, hot dogs, and baked beans they could eat. By game time at 7:10 PM, everyone was seated in their reserved seats. The Arkansas Travelers were behind for much of the game but came back and won it by a score of 5 to 4 with 2 runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.
During the game Linda Good won a pizza presented by the Traveler’s mascot, one of our group won an Arkansas Traveler shirt (they actually caught it when it was shot from an air gun toward our group), and Bob Bowman caught a foul ball to take home as a souvenir. The game ended shortly after 10:00 PM and the group returned to the buses for the return trip to the Village, arriving there about 11:30 PM, tired, but all seemed to have a great time.
On the trip over to Little Rock, the participants were asked to guess the number of paid admissions to the game, with a prize of a $20 gift certificate for the closest estimate on each bus. On the trip back to the Village, Dorothy Weber won on Bus #1 and Scott Krantz's grandson won on bus #2.
Fr. Bill was able to attend the dinner, leading us in grace before the meal, but due to a death of a friend’s relative in Conway, had to leave before the game to attend the rosary. Many thanks to Buddy and Martha Dixon for all their work and especially to Buddy for all the details he worked out and the great idea for the Crackerjacks.
Check the Men's Club Photos for more pictures of this event. Let’s do this again next year!
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| Joe Petruk (l) and Steven Gregory congratulation Eugene Widlowski (r) on being selected as State Volunteer of the Month for his work as an AARP program instructor. |
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| Pictured (l-r): Msgr. Scott Friend, V.G. Karldy Hienz Isidor, Jose Luis Quijada, Luke Womack, Elden Labitad, Patrick Saint Jean, Thomas Johnson, Taryn Whittington, Father Ruben Quinteros, and Msgr. Richard Oswald. |
Msgr. was pleased to announce that there are currently 37 seminarians who are studying at eight seminaries in various United States locations and one in Rome. There will be three ordinations at Christ the King on May 26 and one, Andrew Hart, at the Cathedral on July 21. Little Rock Diocese ranks 12th out of 195 dioceses in the number of seminarians.
The ground has been broken for the $1.5 million new House of Formation on the Good Council Parish campus. The original plan to renovate a former convent that was abandoned due to the cost and other considerations.
The benefits of having a House of Formation in the Diocese include: developing a relationship with parishes; providing a place where men interested in a vocation can discern and seek spiritual direction; studying closer to home at UALR for basic courses; taking advantage of the excellent ESL program at ULAR; and, reducing costs.
The concept of a House of Formation is being well received by some dioceses which may also consider utilizing it for their men as an interim step before formal seminary training.
Msgr. Friend also spoke about the quality and maturity of the current seminarians. Of those in attendance, one has a PhD in philosophy and teaching experience, one was a 2nd year med student, and another will be receiving a degree from Seton Hall this spring.
It should be noted that the Sacred Heart of Jesus Council 10208 is supporting four seminarians through the RSVP program, and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Assembly 2316 has two.
Click on www.houseofformation.org to follow the progress!