FORT SMITH — Over the past eight years, God has been putting a dream in Dr. Doug Brown’s heart.
As Brown, a retired psychologist and parishioner at Sacred Heart of Mary Church in Barling, attended several large diocesan events, including the ordinations of Bishops J. Peter Sartain and Anthony B. Taylor and the 2005 Eucharistic Congress Mass at Barton Coliseum, he felt called to organize an annual event, the Arkansas Catholic Prayer Breakfast, for all Catholics in the diocese.
When he started studying the encyclicals of Pope Benedict XVI at the monthly classes at the Little Rock Theology Institute at St. John Center in Little Rock, Brown realized that “quite simply, one cannot be a Christian without the Church.”
“Pope Benedict has stressed the fact that ’the Church is communio’; she is God’s communing with men in Christ and hence the communing of men with one another,” Brown said.
After meeting with Bishop Taylor in July to discuss his idea for an annual prayer breakfast, Brown presented his proposal to the Presbyteral Council in August.
“They suggested that because of distances we have deanery-wide prayer breakfasts held simultaneously each year, with a diocesan-wide prayer breakfast every three to five years,” Brown said.
The diocese is divided into 12 deaneries, or regions.
Bishop Taylor appointed a co-chairman, Jim Badami of Little Rock, for the event and drafted a letter asking each deanery to send two representatives, male or female, to be on the statewide prayer breakfast committee. He also asked each diocesan organization to send a representative so that the prayer breakfasts would be truly universal, including Catholics of all ages, races and cultures.
Brown hopes that the first annual prayer breakfast can take place during the third week of April to coincide with the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast held in Washington, D.C. The national event, which was first held in 2004, is a two-day affair, beginning with Mass and a reception Thursday evening, and ending with the rosary, breakfast and presentations by Church and national leaders.
Past speakers have included Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City, President George W. Bush, Dr. Scott Hahn, Father Benedict Groeschel and Michael Novak.
At the 2008 prayer breakfast, participants saw a live broadcast of Pope Benedict XVI’s address to the United Nations.
The mission statement of the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast from which Brown drew his inspiration indicates the purpose of the breakfast is gathering to thank God for his abundant blessings, reaffirming one’s faith in him and one’s dedication to the country, committing themselves to providing for the most vulnerable in society and committing the United States to the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In order to maximize attendance, the Diocese of Little Rock’s annual prayer breakfast would be scheduled during a weekend, most likely a Saturday. The event will likely start with the rosary and Mass and proceed to a large hall where breakfast will be served. Every deanery’s breakfast will be united by a common theme. In this Pauline year, the theme will most likely relate to St. Paul’s writings.
After Mass, rosary and breakfast, Brown would like to present a program of speakers.
“This (the breakfast) will provide a more frequent and broader opportunity for our brothers and sisters in Christ to commune with one another and thereby assist each other in the magnificent journey of salvation,” Bishop Taylor said.
