Immaculate CONCEPTION Catholic Church Contents: 3 Celebrating Christ’s Resurrection 4
The Joy of the Easter Vigil
6 Explaining Our Sacramental Worldview How Ordinary Things Are Crucial in the Christian Life 7 Meet the Stewardship Committee Helping to Lead Our Parish in Active Discipleship
APRIL/MAY 2021
COOK FAMILY: Finding Faith, Friends and Fellowship
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IN OUR PARISH COMMUNITY
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hen Fran Cook first moved to our area, she felt a little lonesome. But thanks to the warm, welcoming atmosphere of Immaculate Conception’s parish family, it didn’t take long for her to feel right at home. “I have met a lot of people and made many social connections through our parish,” Fran says. “It is really like a second family to my husband, Rick, and I. We have so many friends here!” However, the Cooks’ sense of belonging didn’t come from popping in the door just in time for Sunday morning Mass and taking off right afterward. In a sense, it has been the rewarding result of being faithful stewards of their time, talent, and treasure. Since Rick and Fran joined our continued on page 2
Since Rick and Fran Cook joined our parish in the 1980s, they have helped out in numerous ways, giving generously to our faith community and beyond.
Immaculate CONCEPTION
THE COOK FAMILY continued from front cover parish in the 1980s, they have helped out in numerous ways, giving generously to our faith community and beyond. “We have enjoyed getting involved in many ways at the parish, instead of just sitting on the sidelines,” Fran says. “Now we are getting up in age, so we can’t be as active as we used to, but we do what we can.” In the past, Rick served as a lector and an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion. He also helped provide donuts for the Coffee and Donuts Ministry and served on the Parent Teacher Organization as well as the Parish Council. Of all of the ministries in which Fran is involved, she finds that Martha’s Kitchen is one of the most meaningful for her. “We are currently cooking meals in our homes and bringing them to the coordinator of Martha’s Kitchen so that she can deliver them to Jericho Way in Little Rock, which is a day resource center for homeless people,” Fran says. “I enjoy helping with this ministry because I love to eat, and I hate to think of others going hungry.” Fran also has a real heart for the pro-life movement, and the unborn babies it works to save. She participates in 40 Days for Life, which is a peaceful effort of prayer and fasting to end abortion. This well-organized outreach takes place a couple of times per year. It enables volunteers to take a time slot to pray in front of local abortion clinics. Our parish covers a day during the 40 days.
“I am also on the board of Birthright, which is a crisis pregnancy center,” she says. “I believe Catholics should stand up for the cause of life. I am very proud of Arkansas because they are really leading the charge in pro-life legislation and working hard at it. We live in a very pro-life state. As Catholics, it is important to take part in its pro-life efforts.” Also, Fran has enjoyed serving others through the Altar Society. “We cook meals for people who have had a death in the family, and we have a Christmas fundraiser and collect donations to purchase a gift for our parish priest,” Fran says. “Being part of the Altar Society is a wonderful way for women to meet other women that they wouldn’t normally get to otherwise. I am looking forward to the Altar Society getting more active again.” Together, Rick and Fran have prayed for the Church to carry on her mission by participating in the Vocations Chalice Box Ministry. They also love being part of Golden Falcons, which provides social gatherings for our older parishioners. They have also enjoyed going to Eucharistic Adoration over the years as well. “It is great to have the opportunity to sit in the church by yourself, and have one-on-one time with Jesus,” Fran says. “It helps me sort things out in my mind, allowing me to just give everything over to God.”
“It is great to have the opportunity to sit in the parish by yourself, and have one-on-one time with Jesus. It helps me sort things out in my mind, allowing me to just give everything over to God.” — FRAN COOK 2
A Letter From Our Pastor
Celebrating Christ’s Resurrection Dear Parishioners,
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ow did you feel at the end of the Palm Sunday Mass? You may not have noticed, but there was an abrupt shift of tone in that liturgy. It began with great joy, as we celebrated Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem to the acclamation of the crowds. But then the mood shifted to sorrow, despair even, when the Passion Gospel was read, for we heard the shouts of “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” from those same crowds a few days later. Palm Sunday, of course, was the beginning of Holy Week, the most important week in the Christian year. The confusion of conflicting moods is spread through the week, especially during the Easter Triduum — from sundown Holy Thursday to sundown Easter Sunday. Holy Thursday offers us the glorious Mass of the Lord’s Supper celebrating the institution of the Eucharist before we pass to the sadness of the betrayal and arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. The next day brings us the Good Friday Liturgy of the Passion with our recognition of what our sins did to the Incarnate Son of God. Then, after a day of waiting as we mourn Jesus’ burial and repose in the tomb, we celebrate His victory over sin, Satan and death at the Easter Vigil on Saturday night or at the Masses the next day. If we have participated in all the main services of the Triduum, we arrive at Sunday evening exhausted but joyful. This year, Palm Sunday fell on the final Sunday of March, and we observed Holy Week and Easter Sunday early in April. That means we will spend most of April in the Easter Season, a period filled with joy and thanksgiving. Our gladness comes not only because Christ rose from the dead, but also because we benefit from it. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church (§654) puts it, “The Paschal mystery has two aspects: by his death, Christ liberates us from sin; by his Resurrection, he opens for us the way to a new life.” In other words, Christ’s Resurrection is the source of our own future resurrection. St. Paul wrote about it to the Romans in the following words
(Rom 6:5): “For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.” Eternal life in union with Christ — a hope for a new life beginning now and extending on into heaven — is the result of Jesus’ Resurrection. What greater grounds for thanksgiving can there be than this Easter hope? We should sing with joy about this promise from God! What’s more, Paul also wrote (Col 3:1-2): “If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.” Jesus’ Resurrection and His promise of a new life for us mean that we need to live in conformity with our status as adopted children of God. And how do we show our joy and our gratitude to God for this amazing gift He has given us? We join in worship and praise God by word and song. We share the Good News of Jesus’ victory over death with our family, friends and neighbors. And we offer back to the Lord a portion of the time, talent and treasure He has entrusted to us. Yes, the Easter message that we share in the benefits of Christ’s Resurrection is the ultimate foundation for all Christian stewardship. The Lord is risen, alleluia. Sincerely yours in Christ,
Rev. John Wakube Pastor 3
Immaculate CONCEPTION
The
Joy
of the
We would like to welcome those who came into the church at the Easter Vigil:
Jerreace Carneal Morman, Sr. Natalie Long Morman Jerreace Carneal Morman, Jr. Janiah Jamice Morman Jaylin Nathaniel Anthony Morman Jayla Natalie Nicole Morman Jaydin Kyle Douglas Morman Jaxyn Adrian Janelle Morman Barbara Ann Lusk Casi Nicole Runnells John Matthew Runnells
It was such a blessing to have so many people join us for the Holy Triduum this year. Happy Easter!
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Easter Vigil
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Immaculate CONCEPTION
EXPLAINING OUR
Sacramental Worldview How Ordinary Things Are Crucial in the Christian Life
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hy does a parish need money? Perhaps the parish needs a new building, or must hire new staff members. Why might the parish need a new building or staff members? The parish may require a new Education Center, or need a talented new Music Director to further the mission of the parish. But what is the mission of the parish? The parish mission is to locally perform the mission of the Church, which is to bring people into a living relationship with God and each other, through Jesus Christ. The parish staff, buildings, programs and money must all ultimately work toward this goal. Various aspects of parish life may seem more directly connected to this mission than others. Sunday morning Mass obviously brings people into communion with each other and with God, as do many other parish ministries. But what might be regarded as the “ordinary” aspects — such as the Thursday night finance committee meeting, the new office computer system or new landscaping on church grounds — are also essential to the parish mission. We may think of these tasks merely as administrative, and having no connection to the spiritual elements of Catholicism. However, this line of thought is thoroughly nonCatholic. Catholicism does not separate the temporal from the spiritual. It is no more unseemly to speak of money at Mass than it is to use water to baptize — or, for that matter, to speak of Christ as both human and divine. The Catholic worldview demonstrates that ordinary things are always conjoined with unseen realities. This is exactly how the Sacraments of 6
the Catholic Church work — the bodily conveying spiritual grace. Indeed, a sagging parish budget or peeling paint in the church building aren’t simply administrative issues unrelated to the parish’s spiritual mission. The two may be distinguished, but they should never be divorced. The entire operation of the parish is of one piece — everything sacred and ordinary should be incorporated into a singular mission. Of course, the same is true for our personal lives. An authentic Christian doesn’t compartmentalize his or her life into “time for God” and “time for me,” or even “God’s money” and “my money.” Instead, a Christian is always conscious that everything is under the umbrella of God’s providence. A Christian understands that he or she fits into an ultimate plan that transcends the workaday world, yet also includes it. As strange as it may seem, things like time and money — and parish budgets, candles and missalettes — are rungs on the ladder to heaven. St. Thomas Aquinas disagreed with philosophers who thought that material things, and even our own bodies, were shackles on the soul. He instead believed that we are extremely fortunate to exist as embodied creatures, being able to see God in physical things like mountains, smiling faces and, of course, bread and wine. Catholics reject any notion of spirituality that excludes the material world. Instead, we believe that the same principle behind the Seven Sacraments — that God works through ordinary things — is applicable to our whole lives. So being conscious of how we spend our money and our time is, indeed, very Catholic.
Meet the
Stewardship Committee
Helping to Lead Our Parish in Active Discipleship
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e are blessed to have a pastor who is dedicated to helping parishioners grow closer to the Lord. Indeed, Fr. John Wakube does a wonderful job of nurturing our spiritual growth! Along with our pastor, both staff and volunteer parishioners are working faithfully to help make the pastoral vision for our community a reality. You may already know some of them — the parish office staff, Parish Council, and the directors of various ministries, to name just a few. Another invaluable group working behind the scenes to make our parish a wonderful place to call home is the Stewardship Committee. The central mission of this committee is to facilitate communication about opportunities for stewardship throughout the parish. “Mainly, the members of the Stewardship Committee are people who represent the other parishioners,” Fr. John says. “They are supposed to propagate the message. They are sharing the life of the church with different spiritual groups.” When Fr. John first arrived at Immaculate Conception, he was thrilled to find a Stewardship Committee had already been established here. At the time, the group was doing a great job of
maintaining many of the beloved traditions in the parish, such as the Parish Picnic and existing ministries. Then, several years ago, Fr. John attended the Msgr. Thomas McGread Stewardship Conference in Wichita, Kan. with a group of parishioners. Following the inspiring experience of the conference, Fr. John and the Stewardship Committee members took their mission to a whole new level. “We have improved our Stewardship Committee and now we are doing more,” Fr. John says. “We are involving new things now, like new members, new groups, and ministries. For example, the Rosary we started before the Sunday Mass was an idea that came from the Stewardship Committee. We have also started having new parishioners stand up at Mass for a blessing so that they feel at home. And we started including stewardship in our RCIA classes. I think knowing about stewardship before entering the Church will make an even bigger difference.” The efforts of our Stewardship Committee to make discipleship a way of life at Immaculate Conception have certainly not gone unnoticed — more and more parishioners have expressed to Fr. John their desire to get more involved in parish life. More continued on back cover
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Immaculate CONCEPTION 7000 John F. Kennedy Blvd. North Little Rock, AR 72116 Church Office: (501) 835-4323 www.iccnlr.org
Stewardship Committee people than ever before are offering to serve during the Mass, teach RCIA classes, deliver food to those in need, and sign up for Adoration. In addition to providing parishioners with opportunities to share their time, talent, and treasure, our Stewardship Committee has also placed a renewed emphasis on hospitality and community building. While the
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pandemic-related restrictions have put most of our usual gatherings on hold, Fr. John is confident that a strong sense of fellowship will continue to blossom at Immaculate Conception in the future. Looking forward in faith, Fr. John is excited to see our Stewardship Committee facilitate for our parishioners a closer walk with Christ in the months and
years to come. “The fruits of stewardship are the life of the parish and seeing people fully committed,” Fr. John says. “I have seen a tremendous change, and I think most people have seen a change in the parish since we started this. People are not only happy but energetic in their spiritual life. The future looks very bright!”
If you are interested in learning more about our Stewardship Committee, please contact Parish Manager Carmen Sellinger at 501-835-4323, ext. 102.
LITURGY SCHEDULE
Saturday Vigil: 4:00 p.m. | Sunday Masses: 8 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Daily Mass: Wednesday, Thursday, and First Saturday of the Month at 8:15 a.m. Confessions: Tuesday: 6:00 - 7:00 p.m., Thursday: 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
ADORATION
Tuesday thru Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. in the main church