Immaculate CONCEPTION Catholic Church Contents: 2 Celebrating Graduation and the Sacraments of First Communion and Confirmation 3 Stewardship Helps Us Endure the “Heat” 4 Welcoming Fr. Ben Riley into Our Parish Family with Open Hearts 6 The Sign of the Cross: A Powerful Prayer Tradition in the Catholic Church July 2021
Scouting Teaches Character,
Perseverance, and Duty to God and Country
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id you know that involvement in Boy Scouts can tie right into how we live out stewardship? After all, the Scout Oath itself can be read as a stewardship statement — “On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.” Here at Immaculate Conception, we are blessed to have a Boy Scout program that helps teach our youth important, lifelong lessons. And with summer underway, our scouts are ready for plenty of fun and learning. Meeting virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic proved to be difficult for the scouts, so our troop members and leadership welcome the opportunity for in-person gatherings “I am looking forward to the boys being able to get out more with more social interaction,” says Bill Wilde, who has served for about 20 years as Charter Organization Representative at Immaculate Conception. Bill most enjoys being outside and camping. He has appreciated the opportunity to witness many boys learn and grow into men during their time in the program. He also values the quality time he’s had with his sons, Jacob continued on back cover
Immaculate CONCEPTION
Celebrating Graduation and the Sacraments of Confirmation and First Communion Our Immaculate Conception community extends our warmest congratulations to our Eighth Grade graduates and our students who received the Sacraments of First Communion and Confirmation this spring. We pray for all our youth as they continue their journeys of faith and learning.
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A Letter From Our Pastor
Stewardship Helps Us Endure the “Heat” Dear Parishioners,
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t is natural to think of July as a time for recharging. After all, isn’t July the month most Americans would associate with the word “vacation”? Yes, Independence Day does provide a focus for the first part of the month, but then the rest of the month stretches ahead, seemingly empty of obligations for many of us. The month of July also represents the relative sameness of a farmer’s growing season. Like a farmer raising crops — having a busy spring planting season and a hectic fall harvest, with a long summer growing season in between — so it is with our lives. In our professional lives, completing our education, starting our careers, getting married, and beginning a family correspond with the planting season. Then, retirement, with the changes in our lives that come with it, is comparable to the harvest. But between the two lies 40 years of labor — for some people, these are years of exciting and fulfilling work, but for others, these are years of drudgery that seem to have no end. And just as the noonday sun of July shines the hottest, the “heat” of our working years can become overwhelming. The same is sometimes true of our spiritual life. Most of us don’t remember our Christian beginnings because we were baptized as infants. But we have witnessed this in the joy and excitement in the faces of those who come into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil. Their spirits have been planted in the rich soil of grace from God and begin to sprout. The harvest we have to look forward to is eternal life with God in heaven. But between our baptism and our arrival at heaven, there are years of Christian living.
For most of us, there are peaks and valleys, high points of joy and low points of sin, with long stretches of spiritual plateau in between. And that’s when the “heat” of the noonday sun seems to weaken our resolve to live for Christ. The best way to deal with that difficulty in the spiritual life is through the practice of stewardship. The commitments we make to devote some portion of our time, our talent, and our treasure to God guarantee that we come into contact with Him in regular worship and service. By maintaining our relationship with Him, we can grow in our trust in His love for us, so we do not need to fear “the scourge that lays waste” (Psalm 91) in the noon of our life’s demands. May God bless you and protect you this summer from all scourges, physical and spiritual. You’ll be more prepared to experience His grace if you’re at Mass each week. Sincerely yours in Christ,
Rev. John Wakube Pastor
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Immaculate CONCEPTION
Riley
Welcoming FR. Ben
into
O
n May 29, Deacon Ben Riley Reconciliation,” Fr. Riley says. “I want became a disciple of Christ in to sit with people in the midst of an extraordinary, generous their suffering and pain and way through his ordination to express God’s love and mercy the Eternal Priesthood of Jesus to them. I hope to be a conduit Christ. When he received the for Our Lord, and bring Sacrament of Holy Orders, people hope and healing in he was given a sacred power the confessional.” (sacra potestas) to act in total Looking back, Fr. Riley sacramental identification sees how God was preparing with Christ; his soul was him to become a priest ever surrendered to Holy Mother since he was young. the Church, and his heart was “My uncle was a Catholic given over to selfless service priest,” he says. “He was a until the end of his days. great role model and influence At this time, Fr. Riley is living for me, and he showed me how out the divine calling he has received great the priesthood can be. When I among us, as part of our parish family. was growing up, he asked me if I wanted Fr. Ben Riley Now as a priest, he hopes to shower God’s to be a priest. I said, ‘No, I am going abundant graces on our faith community and to marry this girl in my class, and we will be make it come alive with His goodness. together forever!’” “I am most looking forward to celebrating the Although this isn’t what ended up happening, sacraments, especially Mass,” he says. “I love of course, his uncle’s inquisition did make young the Mass because, through it, the community Ben wonder about God’s plan for his life. This of the Church comes together to offer worship lingering question remained in his heart throughout and praise to the Lord, and bring their gifts and his teenage years, while he attended the all-boys sacrifices to the altar so that the priest may Catholic High School in Little Rock. During his offer them up. The church is not just a building time in this unique academic environment, he for the sacraments, but it is also a social hub was deeply encouraged in his faith life, as well as for the faithful where they can express their in his vocational discernment. struggles and pains to people of similar beliefs. I “One of the positive aspects of attending an pray that our parish can build a fortress around all-boys school was that it helped me discern my the Sacrifice of the Mass.” vocation to the priesthood because there were Furthermore, he has a profound devotion to the less distractions in the classroom,” he says. mercy of God and is grateful to have the opportunity “I could study and socialize without having to to bring this mercy to souls through Confession. worry about what girls would think of me.” “I have a real devotion to the Sacrament of Along the way, young Ben encountered a
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Our Parish Family with Open Hearts type of “angel” who helped guide him to the road he was meant to travel. “There was a guidance counselor at my high school who was a Franciscan monk, and I went to him for spiritual direction,” he says. “He helped me to deepen my spiritual life and my prayer life, and encouraged me to ask God where He was calling me to be. I really loved Catholic High, and I really loved the experience I had there!” When asked what he would like to share about himself with our parish family, Fr. Riley offers an enthusiastic response. “I love the outdoors!” he says. “I am an Eagle Scout. I was a wilderness EMT before I joined the seminary. I love to mountain climb, backpack, and hunt. I find great spiritual comfort in experiencing God’s presence in nature, and
when I am not working at the parish, I like to spend time in what He has created.” For those who may be considering a vocation to the priesthood or the religious life, Fr. Riley has some helpful advice. “I would like to highlight the importance of silent prayer,” he says. “There is so much noise in our lives and so many distractions. It is essential for us to find time for silent, private prayer so that we can ask the Lord what He is calling us to do with our lives. He doesn’t usually shout at us. Oftentimes, the Lord speaks to us in the silence of our hearts. If you are discerning a vocation, it also helps to express your desires to a loved one. No one should have to go through the challenges of life alone — we should all have someone to lean on.”
“I would like to highlight the importance of silent prayer. There is so much noise in our lives and so many distractions. It essential for us to find time for silent, private prayer so that we can ask the Lord what He is calling us to do with our lives. He doesn’t usually shout at us. Oftentimes, the Lord speaks to us in the silence of our hearts. If you are discerning a vocation, it also helps to express your desires to a loved one. No one should have to go through the challenges of life alone — we should all have someone to lean on.”
— fr. ben riley 5
Immaculate CONCEPTION
The Sign of the
Cross: A Powerful Prayer Tradition in the Catholic Church
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s Catholics, we are blessed to be part of a faith tradition that stretches back over 2,000 years to its founding by Jesus Christ. Along with the history of our faith come many customs and sacred rituals that become even more beautiful when we delve a little deeper into their origins and meanings. Certainly, such is the case with one of the most visible outward signs of our Catholic faith — the Sign of the Cross. Since we say and make the Sign of the Cross so often, it may easily become a rote, perhaps even thoughtless, action. However, it is important to remember that the Sign of the Cross 6
is much more than a simple gesture. Even in its most basic form, the Sign of the Cross — accompanied by the spoken or unspoken words “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” — is a prayer, a creed stating our belief in the Holy Trinity, the dual nature of Jesus Christ, and the dependence of our salvation on His crucifixion and resurrection. In addition, making the Sign of the Cross is an indication of a willingness to take up our own cross and suffering for the sake of Christ. The prayer is considered one of the greatest weapons against Satan and all demons, and an added strength against
the temptations of the flesh. In the Roman Catholic Church today, the Sign of the Cross is typically made with either three fingers or an open hand touching first the forehead, then the chest, followed by the left shoulder and then the right (in the Eastern Church, the right shoulder is touched before the left). The concept of making a sign, or “setting a seal,” upon the forehead of those who place their faith in the Lord appears in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible — see Ezek. 9:4 and Rev. 7:3, 9:4, and 14:1. Early versions of the Sign of the Cross were traced on just the forehead, using the thumb and continued on page 7
The Sign of the Cross forefinger held together in the shape of a tiny cross. We still see this version of the blessing performed during Baptisms (with the cross traced on the infant’s forehead) and on Ash Wednesday (with the cross traced in ashes on the foreheads of the faithful). Similarly, when the Gospel is read during the Liturgy of the Word, the priest or deacon leads the congregation in forming this small cross on the forehead, mouth, and chest, indicating a willingness to keep the Word of the Lord in our minds, on our lips, and in our hearts. There is no doubt that our early Church fathers were strong believers in the sanctifying power of the Sign of the Cross. A second-century ecclesiastical scholar, Tertullian, and a third century saint, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, both wrote about the necessity of performing the Sign of the Cross at one’s waking and one’s lying down, at entering and leaving a
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room, at mealtimes, and more. St. Augustine also referenced the importance of marking the cross on the faithful’s forehead during the administration of the sacraments. It is likely that the sign transformed from the tiny cross on the forehead to the larger, fullbody cross used today sometime in the fifth century, when heretics began questioning both the dual nature of Jesus Christ — fully human and fully divine — and the unity of the Holy Trinity. Believers in these crucial Church doctrines began forming the cross with three extended fingers (representing the Trinity), keeping the ring finger and little finger pressed down into the palm (representing Christ’s dual nature), and tracing a cross on their entire upper body so there could be no mistaking the gesture. Today, the Sign of the Cross still figures predominantly in our prayer life as Roman Cath-
olics. We commonly perform it upon entering a church (with the holy water as a reminder of our Baptism); at the beginning and end of the Catholic Mass, a Benediction, or the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament; when opening and closing our personal prayers; at mealtimes; and when passing by a Catholic Church (in recognition of Christ, present in the tabernacle). As the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us, the frequent, intentional use of the Sign of the Cross can help the faithful dedicate each day to the glory of God and provide strength in the face of trial and temptation (2157). Now, each time we cross ourselves and proclaim, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” let us do so with an increased awareness of the rich history of the Sign of the Cross and the abundant graces that come to us through this powerful prayer tradition!
Making the Sign of the Cross is an indication of a willingness to take up our own cross and suffering for the sake of Christ. The prayer is considered one of the greatest weapons against Satan and all demons, and an added strength against the temptations of the flesh.
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Immaculate CONCEPTION 7000 John F. Kennedy Blvd. North Little Rock, AR 72116 Church Office: (501) 835-4323 www.iccnlr.org
Scouting
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and Michael, who each attained the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the Boy Scout program. Serving alongside Bill is Scoutmaster Todd Hill, who leads the troop of 11 to 18-year-olds. The troop attended a week-long summer camp in June, and they have also gone on various hiking excursions. There’s hope to attend Philmont, a highadventure camp in New Mexico, in the near future. It makes sense for the Boy Scouts to be affiliated with Immaculate Conception as so many of the Boy Scout values are also Christian values. Bill enjoys the Boy Scout’s focus on the outdoors
and outdoor safety. He also appreciates the 12 points of the Scout Law — “A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.” The boys also can learn more about various career fields while earning their merit badges, while having plenty of fun and building their own leadership skills along the way. “Each boy will have numerous opportunities to lead their peers and develop these skills,” Bill says. “They learn to get up in front of their troop to talk and make presentations.”
If you would like to learn more about our Boy Scout program here at Immaculate Conception, please call Bill Wilde at 501-551-3376.
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
Adoration is now being held in the Adoration Chapel. If you are interested in spending time with the Blessed Sacrament, please contact Ramona Bourdo at 501.831.5040, for an available time slot.