Father Tom Elliott

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Wed, 22 May 2013 12:45:10 +0000

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May 22, 2013 05:45AM

God's Discipline

God's discipline is not punishment, but rather, it's an opportunity to grow in obedience, trust, and patience.  We find a great example of that in the life of St. Rita of Cascia.  In the 14th century, she was forced to marry a horrible man and they had two sons.  After her husband and sons died, Rita joined a convent in Cascia, Italy.  The mother superior of the convent wanted to ensure that Rita was serious about the religious life, so she disciplined her, asking her to water and care for a dead stick which she had stuck into the ground.  Legend tells us that, after years of watering it, the stick grew into a grapevine, which continues to yield grapes today.  Rita was given an opporutnity to grow in discipline--to be obedient, even though it didn't make sense, and to trust God and be patient.

You and I are given similar opportunities.  I remember when I was pastor of St. Michael Catholic Church in Van Buren, my computer was dying and I was praying about purchasing a new one.  I felt like God told me not to purchase a new one.  It didn't make any sense to me.  I really didn't want God dictating what I could or could not purchase!  However, I obediently resisted the compulsion to purchase the new laptop.  About a week later, the parish surprised me with a new laptop.  God continues to invite us to be obedient, to trust, and to be patient.  

May 17, 2013 02:26PM

Nursery Coordinator Position

Providing childcare for the various activities on our church campus is a priority at Immaculate Conception.  The first step to being able to provide more childcare is to find a Coordinator for the nursery.  The ideal candidate for this position is over 21-years-old, experienced with caring for children, organized, interested in making some extra money while working about three hours a week, and is Virtus trained.  

If you are interested in this position, please fill out the application and return it to the church office.  

May 16, 2013 04:10AM

Unity is the Greatest Evangelizer

Divisions sometimes occur within religion.  For example, in the Acts of the Apostles, we read that "a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the group became divided... The dispute was so serious that the commander [was] afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them" (Acts 23:7, 10).  Such divisions and violence within religion do tremendous damage to our witness to God. Division not only breeds violence, but, unfortunately, it distorts the Gospel message.  Undoubtedly, this is why Jesus prayed to the Father, saying--
?I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me" (John 17:20-21). 
According to Christ, one of the best ways we can evangelize is by letting the divisions be healed.  This begins with each of us, individually, letting God move us beyond duality so that we experience integration in what we believe and who we are.  This, then, overflows into our relationships with others and we grow in integrity and peace, which magnifies our evangelization.

What is the primary thing in my life and your life that keeps us divided and not integrated as persons?  What is the primary thing that we see dividing our religion and how does it affect our evangelization?

May 13, 2013 04:43AM

Our Lady of Fatima

"Between May 13 and October 13, 1917, three Portuguese children received apparitions of Our Lady.... Mary asked the children to pray the rosary for world peace, for the end of World War I, for sinners and for the conversion of Russia. The third visionary, Lucia dos Santos, became a Carmelite nun and died in 2005 at the age of 97. Mary gave the children three secrets. Since Francisco died in 1919 and Jacinta the following year, Lucia revealed the first secret in 1927, concerning devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The second secret was a vision of hell.

Pope John Paul II directed the Holy See's Secretary of State to reveal the third secret in 2000; it spoke of a "bishop in white" who was shot by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows into him. Many people linked this to the assassination attempt against Blessed John Paul II in St. Peter's Square on May 13, 1981.

The feast of Our Lady of Fatima was approved by the local bishop in 1930; it was added to the Church's worldwide calendar in 2002.

The message of Fatima is simple: Pray. Unfortunately, some people?not Sister Lucia?have distorted these revelations, making them into an apocalyptic event for which they are now the only reliable interpreters. They have, for example, claimed that Mary's request that the world be consecrated to her has been ignored. Sister Lucia agreed that Pope John Paul II's public consecration in St. Peter's Square on March 25, 1984, fulfilled Mary's request. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith prepared a June 26, 2000 document explaining the ?third secret? (available at www.vatican.va). Mary is perfectly honored when people generously imitate her response ?Let it be done to me as you say? (Luke 1:38). Mary can never be seen as a rival to Jesus or to the Church's teaching authority, as exercised by the college of bishops united with the bishop of Rome." (Taken from http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1912)


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May 10, 2013 05:15AM

Saint Paul Got a Haircut

Can you imagine a haircut that is so important it made it into the Bible?! In the Acts of the Apostles, we read, "Paul remained for quite some time, and after saying farewell to the brothers he sailed for Syria, together with Priscilla and Aquila.  At Cenchreae he had his hair cut because he had taken a vow" (Acts 18:18).  Why is this haircut so important that it made it into Sacred Scripture?  It's because of the vow.

In the Book of Numbers, chapter six, God offered the Israelites a special spiritual practice to help them grow in holiness.  It is known as the Nazirite vow.  God instructed men and women who wanted to make the vow to decide how long the vow would last and then to do four things--
  1. Abstain from wine, wine vinegar, grapes, raisins, intoxicating liquors and vinegar distilled from such substances.
  2. Refrain from eating or drinking any substance that contained any trace of grapes.
  3. Refrain from getting a haircut. 
  4. Avoid being in the presence of dead bodies or graves, even those of family members.
Basically, this practice was a form of penance, much like the penances that we do during the season of Lent.  Like other penances, the Nazirite vow was meant to turn a person's attention to God and to more deeply trust in God.  At the end of the designated period of time, the person who made the Nazirite vow cut their hair or shaved their head and burned the hair as part of the prayer offering to God.

Paul's haircut in the Acts of the Apostles marked the end of his Nazirite vow.  This helps us to see that Paul had not thrown out his Jewish heritage, but rather, found spiritual benefit in the practices from his past.  It also reminds us of the spiritual benefit of offering penance and detaching ourselves from the things that distract us from God.

 

I am a Roman Catholic priest, serving in the Diocese of Little Rock at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in North Little Rock, AR.  I was ordained a priest in 1999.  If you want to learn more about me, click here.

Contact:
Fr. Tom Elliott
7000 J.F.K. Blvd.
North Little Rock, AR  72116

501-835-4323
FatherT@FatherT.com
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