St. Theresa's in Little Rock

I'm in Little Rock, Arkansas this week giving a mission at St. Theresa's parish. The talks are as follows:

Sunday: "Put out into the Deep" Using these words of Jesus from Luke 5: 4--words which Pope John Paul II repeated in his Apostolic Letter "At the Beginning of the New Millennium"--we begin the parish mission recognizing our need to go deeper in our prayer lives.

Monday: "The True Love Story" We reflect on the best love story of all--the love of God that is revealed in the Heart of Jesus.

Tuesday: "The Merciful Heart of Jesus" We recognize our need for reconciliation and healing and that we meet the merciful Heart of Jesus in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Wednesday: "The Eucharistic Heart of Jesus" In the Eucharist Jesus gives us His Heart to transform our hearts.

Thursday: "Living the Eucharist" In his Apostolic Exhortation "Sacramentum Caritatis" Pope Benedict called the Eucharist a mystery to be believed, celebrated, and lived. We reflect on how, practically speaking, we are to live the Eucharist.

On trips like these I often try to spread the message of the Apostleship of Prayer beyond the parish where I'm giving a mission. Yesterday I had the opportunity to talk with Bishop Anthony Taylor. While visiting the diocesan offices, I was also able to meet with Malea Hargett, the editor of the "Arkansas Catholic" newspaper. We talked about publicizing the Holy Father's intentions and possibly providing a link to the Apostleship of Prayer on the diocesan web site.

I find that parish missions are not only opportunities to share the Eucharistic spirituality of the Apostleship of Prayer with large groups in a parish, but also to spread the word in parts of the country that may not know too much about it.