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.
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.
(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..
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
Fr. Bill presenting plaque to Mary Ann Miller. |
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.”
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!
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. |
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!
Ed Voss, Dick Hill, Jim Passe, & Chuck Ralph cooking at the Men's Club Steak Dinner |
Helping Hands Ministry Co Chairs Cathy Wedwick (r) and Pat Widlowski greet Father Bill Elser, Pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church, prior to the recognition dinner for volunteers. |
Father Bill Elser, Pastor of Sacred Heart Church, also spoke to the gathering. He thanked the volunteers for their unselfish service noting that there are always new needs arising within the parish community. Helping Hands volunteers Sissie Arnoult, Ed Cudworth, Mike Miller and Jack Widlowski served the dinner, catered by Home Plate. Father Bill also brought along some of his homemade ice cream which the group enjoyed as dessert served with a special cake that had been made for the event which included a big “THANK YOU” decoration.