When a prisoner is about to be executed, we ask whether he has any last words. Some ask for forgiveness, others continue to claim to be innocent, and still others just rant and rave. 

When loved ones are about to die, we ask whether they have any last wishes. And we feel obligated to fulfill these deathbed wishes.

All of us regard Jesus as a loved one, and on Good Friday, he was a prisoner about to be executed, so we have twice as much reason to listen to his last words and fulfill his deathbed wishes. His last seven words in this life have a lot to say to us who must now take up our crosses and follow him: For that reason, we have meditated on each of these seven words progressively in connection with our participation in the Stations of the Cross every Friday this year during Lent. And here they are:

• First, Jesus asks God to forgive all who did him harm: Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing.
• Second, he gives assurance of eternal life to a broken man who put his faith in him: I assure you, this day you will be with me in Paradise.
• Third, he provides for those who will be left behind, 1) he gives us his mother to be our mother, the mother of the Church, represented here by the Beloved Disciple, the only apostle who did not abandon Jesus on Good Friday and 2) at the same time he entrusts the Church, represented by Mary, to the care of this disciple. Jesus said to his mother: Woman, there is your son, and to the Beloved Disciple: There is your mother.
• Fourth, he who previously had shown so much charity to others now asks for it for himself: I am thirsty, and they bring him a sponge soaked in vinegar to wet his lips.
• Fifth, he professes his faith in God’s ultimate victory by quoting the opening lines of the 22nd Psalm. By quoting the first line, Jesus brings the entire psalm to mind, a psalm that starts out describing the Messiah’s suffering and death: ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? ‘ and then ends proclaiming his ultimate victory: Let the coming generation be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet to be born the justice he has shown!
• Sixth, he entrusts himself into the hands of his Father with the same trust with which he began his ministry three years earlier: Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.
• And finally, he declares his mission accomplished: It is finished.

Those were Jesus’ last words, his deathbed wishes that we are obligated to fulfill. Namely, that we forgive those who do us harm, that we give assurance of eternal life to others who put their faith in Jesus, that we turn in time of need to Mary who is now our mother and care for the Church which she represents, that we extend charity to others, that we put faith in God’s ultimate victory, that we entrust ourselves with hope and confidence into the hands of Our Father, that we follow Jesus’ example, always faithful to the mission God has entrusted to us until the day when our mission too is finished, until the day of our own death, Then we who have shared in Jesus’ sacrificial death will share also in his Easter victory!

These are Jesus’ last words in this life, but they are not the last word. As we heard in today’s Second Reading, Jesus is the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, for all who fulfill his deathbed wishes.

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor delivered this homily on Good Friday, April 18.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of the Presentation of the child Jesus in the Temple 40 days after his birth, and as we see in today’s readings, this was a powerful moment in the life of the Holy Family.
They went to the Temple to comply with the Jewish law that required that on the 40th day of life — which for Jesus was today — every male that opens his mother’s womb be consecrated to the Lord. 

This rite is called the Pidyon ha-Ben, “the ransom of the firstborn.” It harkens back to the 10th and final plague that finally forced Pharaoh to free his Hebrew slaves: the death of the firstborn of Egypt at the same time that God saved the firstborn of Israel, boys who — because they had been rescued — became God’s special possession and thus the rite of the Ransom of the First Born. 

And the ransom to be paid by poor people was “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,” just as we see in today’s Gospel.

Today is also the day when we bless candles in honor of Christ — who is the light of the nations and the light of our life — asking God to continue to rescue us from the power of darkness and lead us along the right path, until we are finally enveloped in eternal light. 

In today’s Gospel we have two elderly persons who — full of the light of the Holy Spirit — gave testimony of what God had revealed to them regarding this 40-day-old baby: that Jesus was the Messiah. 

Simeon took him in his arms and blessed God, saying (about Jesus), “My eyes have seen your salvation…a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.” 

And Ana “spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.” Mary and Joseph were amazed by what they were saying about their child. But it was not all happiness and light. 

Simeon had to warn Mary about the suffering that would be the cost of our salvation. He said that the child would be “a sign that would be contradicted,” and he told her that — figuratively — “you yourself a sword will pierce.” 

Jesus’ cross will also be Mary’s cross: Jesus shedding his blood and Mary shedding her tears. That cross, which was at the same time painful and salvific, was proclaimed the day Jesus was presented in the temple. He will pay the price of our ransom — our Pidyon ha-Ben — whether we happen to be the firstborn of our families or not. The price he will pay will be a sacrifice of love greater than could ever be expressed in words.

Isn’t it true that every great love has this element of selfless sacrifice that is the cost of love? We give thanks to God for all the undeserved blessings we have received from the Lord through our families and friends. We ask Christ to continue to be the light that guides us along the right path until we are finally enveloped in eternal light

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor delivered this homily Feb. 2.

The saying “Cleanliness is next to godliness” is about as big a lie as you’ll ever hear. Cleanliness has nothing to do with godliness. You’d be a lot closer to the truth if you said, “Dirtiness is next to godliness.” 

Kids know this instinctively. Dirt and germs are everywhere and both are necessary for life, and God is life. Seeds have to be planted in the dirt, fertile soil is full of germs — and manure makes it even better. Dirt is the source of a plant’s life and growth. Plant seeds in sterile, microbe-free soil and nothing happens.

Jesus was born into the dirtiest environment imaginable and the first to believe were filthy shepherds. 

Consider the circumstances of Jesus’ birth. Joseph and Mary — exhausted and probably dirty — end up in a stable full of camels, donkeys and livestock. There was no lighting, no running water and plenty of manure. 

It was there, under the most unsanitary conditions imaginable, that our Savior was born to Mary, the Mother of God, whose feast we celebrate today. That night, dirtiness had a lot to do with godliness.

The same is true regarding the shepherds. They were dirty people who lived outdoors, never bathed or washed their clothes and were widely suspected of immoral behavior. Living in the fields, they were not able to have a normal family life. And yet it was precisely to them that the angel appeared with tidings of great joy. They went with haste to Bethlehem, meaning they probably didn’t take time to wash up. So they blended in nicely with the dirt and smells of the stable. Notice to whom the angels did not appear: the clean, righteous people. Joseph had already gone door to door to the clean people’s houses, but none of them would make room in their life for an exhausted teenager who was great with child. 

Those clean, proper people proved to be spiritually sterile. Their cleanliness had nothing to do with Godliness and everything to do with selfishness.

In the course of this New Year, I hope that every one of us can discover and take ownership of those areas of our lives where we know we’re not clean, because we all have them. Things of which we’re not proud and for which we know we need a Savior, areas of weakness that have the potential for great spiritual fertility because it’s precisely where we’re weakest that God’s grace can do the most good. 

The word human comes from humus, meaning dirt, fertile soil, which is what we are. Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. You and I are not angels, we’re earthy sinners — and so the Savior God sent us was not an angel either. Jesus took on everything that it means to be human in order to redeem us from the sterile selfishness of the evils that hold us bound.

I wish you an especially dirty year. A year in which you will take fuller ownership of your own brokenness and your consequent need for a Savior. A year in which you will come to know Jesus more intimately in the honest messiness of life. A year in which you discover how much you have in common with all the other needy people in this world. 

A year in which you more fully model yourself on Jesus, who humbled himself to take on our broken human condition. A year in which you discover that dirtiness is next to godliness.

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor delivered this homily Jan. 1.

One of the first prayers that you and I learned as children was the Hail Mary, a prayer that some non-Catholics criticize for being directed to Mary rather than to God. 

Part of the problem is that they presume that all prayer is worship, which we agree should only be directed to God. But worship is not the only kind of prayer there is. Prayer is basically spiritual conversation, of which there are many kinds, including meditation, contemplation, intercession, veneration, adoration, praise and lament, formal prayers like the Hail Mary, the Our Father, the rosary, the Way of the Cross, novenas, litanies, songs and, of course, liturgies. 

Liturgies are always worship. For instance, the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours. The Hail Mary, on the other hand, is not worship, but it is a spiritual conversation with the Mother of God in heaven. In it, we praise Mary, profess our faith in her Son and ask for her prayers. Why do I bring this up today? Because the second sentence of the Hail Mary comes directly from today’s Gospel, St. Elizabeth’s praise of Mary: Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

This follows the words the Angel Gabriel used to praise Mary and announce God’s choice of her to bear our Savior: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. And so the Hail Mary prayer begins with words taken from the biblical account of the Annunciation and the Visitation, the first two Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary. Doesn’t it make sense that if God sends his angel to praise Mary, we should praise her, too? 

Doesn’t it make sense that if the New Testament — God’s word — saw fit to report approvingly Elizabeth’s praise of Mary, we should praise her too? They didn’t worship her, but they did honor her because God had honored her by choosing her to bear Jesus, who is God, into the world — three days from now.

It is appropriate that after citing Gabriel and Elizabeth’s words praising Mary in the New Testament, our prayer continues with a reminder of Christmas, the very reason for these earlier events of Annunciation and Visitation, the day Mary bore God into the world: Holy Mary, Mother of God and then a request that she pray for us: Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. 

Notice the Hail Mary begins with beautiful words of praise intimately connected with the story of our Savior’s conception and birth, taken directly from the New Testament and ends with a request for her prayers but does not contain a single word of worship, at least not of Mary. 

Our worship is reserved for her Son, our Savior, soon to be born on Christmas day. The day on which, in the words of Elizabeth to Mary, What was spoken to you by the Lord will be fulfilled.

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor delivered his homily Dec. 22.

For those attempting to bring any part of the Gospel story to the screen, whether big or small, the four canonical accounts, as books of faith, prove to be of limited help. They’re not motion-picture treatments, and their descriptions of historical details and dialogue tend to be brief.

That’s why, ever since the first filmed versions of Scripture were produced more than a century ago, their makers have introduced non-Biblical characters, dialogue and subplots, using their own research and judgment about what will appeal to audiences. The aim is to make such narratives three-dimensional and relatable.

Now, that approach has been applied to Mariology — the theological study of the Blessed Mother — in “Mary,” an earnest drama that will be available for streaming on Netflix Dec. 6. Specifically, director D.J. Caruso and screenwriter Timothy Michael Hayes rely heavily on the “Protoevangelium of James,” a text generally dated to the middle of the second century.

While not recognized by the Church as inspired, the Protoevangelium is both Mary-centric and rich in particulars. It deals with the Virgin’s life even before her conception — which it describes as miraculous — introducing its readers to her elderly parents, Sts. Joachim (Ori Pfeffer) and Anne (Hilla Vidor). 

They consecrate their daughter to God and, as a child (Mila Harris), she leaves home to live in the Temple in Jerusalem. As Mary grows up (Noa Cohen), her dedication to God steadily increases and matures. 

However, Caruso and Hayes have taken liberties with this source material as well.

The Protoevangelium has a nameless angel telling Anne that her prayers to become a mother have been answered. Now he’s identified as the Archangel Gabriel (Dudley O’Shaughnessy). Gabriel becomes a continuous presence in Mary’s life, both before and after the Annunciation, and at one point, he directly confronts Satan (Eamon Farren) to protect her.

In another visual motif, as a youth, Mary finds herself attracted to, and surrounded by, butterflies. They represent the new life conferred in baptism.

The leading topic of criticism on social media was the charge that Joseph and Mary were actually Palestinians. That’s an absurd canard, the staying power of which can be attributed to centuries of anti-Semitism. It’s been given new life, however, by anguish over Israel’s war in Gaza.

“You can’t control what other people think or believe,” Caruso told OSV News with some resignation.

His intent was authenticity. He cast Cohen, a 22-year-old former model, “because we thought it was important that Noa was from the region (in central Israel) where Mary was born.”

The online noise became so ugly, Cohen’s management would not make her available for what was expected to be a joint interview with Caruso.

Instead, OSV News had to settle for an email: “I decided to take on the role of Mary because it offered a unique opportunity to explore a side of her that hadn’t been fully portrayed before,” Cohen wrote.

Two-time Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins plays King Herod, who, in the Gospels, seeks to kill the new Messiah. But Caruso thinks Herod was a victim of his own bitterness. “Yes, he’s looking for the Messiah. Maybe not necessarily to destroy him, but because he has a hole in his life.”

Making Mary relatable, Caruso says, was his principal goal. “Wouldn’t it be great,” he thought, “for a younger person to see this movie and think, ‘These are people I understand?’ They can be role models for a younger generation. (Young women might think) ‘Mary could be my friend. Someone I could reach out to; someone I could talk to.'”

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Bishop Anthony B. Taylor celebrated Mass and blessed prayer panels from 15 parishes and schools participating in the Mary Undoer of Knots Prayer Project. The special Mass was held Sept. 30 at St. Edward Church in Little Rock.

The prayer panels ranged in size from that of a large picture frame to freestanding frames six feet in height, in the center of which were affixed wire screening. Prayer intentions written on white and blue ribbons are tied to the wire (“knotted”) as both prayer intention and affirmation that Mary can undo even the most tightly knotted predicament.

The project was begun at St. Edward Church by parishioner Nita Danaher after seeing a temporary grotto for the devotion during the papal visit to Philadelphia in 2015. Danaher brought the devotion to St. Edward Church in 2016 for the Year of Mercy and helped spread it across the diocese. Since then, the devotion has been present in 11 churches, eight Catholic schools and a handful of other Catholic organizations in Arkansas.

Pope Francis developed a Marian devotion to Mary, Untier (Undoer) of Knots while studying in Germany. The 1700 painting, “Mary, Undoer of Knots,” by Johann Georg Schmidtner hangs at St. Peter am Perlach Church in Augsburg, Germany. The painting depicts the Virgin Mary untying a rope of knots.

EL DORADO — Holy Redeemer Church in El Dorado is honoring the centennial of the apparition of Our Lady of Fatima with the installation of a statue in the church.

The statue of Mary was donated by a small Portuguese-American group and installed on Saturday, May 13. The blessing and installation ceremony was held at the end of the Traditional Latin Mass.

Because of their love of Portugal and the Virgin Mary, pastor Father Edward D’Almeida and Holy Redeemer parishioner Albino Garcia “were looking for a special way to honor Our Lady of Fatima for the 100th anniversary,” the pastor said. Father D’Almeida’s parents, Elizabeth and Manuel Almeida of Little Rock, and his brother, Michael D’Almeida, also of Little Rock, joined the priest and parishioner in the purchase of the statue from Portugal.

Father D’Almeida said his parents came from Portugal to the United States in the late 1960s. Garcia is also from Portugal, having immigrated 30 years ago, the pastor said. 

In honor of the event, Father D’Almeida wrote articles for the parish newsletter to tell the story of the three Portuguese shepherd children who reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary 100 years ago, describing her as the Lady of Fatima. The children said she had prophesized that prayer would lead to an end of the Great War, that she would reveal her identity on Oct. 13, 1917, and perform a miracle so that all may believe. 

“There are great benefits for those who comply with this request. Our Lady told Sister Lucia that she would ‘assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation,’” he wrote.

Father D’Almeida said the 100th anniversary will be observed in the parish with adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and a rosary on Friday, Oct. 13 at 6:15 p.m. in English and 7 p.m. in Spanish.

The three-foot statue has been on display next to the ambo for public veneration since May. It will be relocated elsewhere in the church following adoration and rosary Oct. 13.

Holy Redeemer will continue to pray the rosary at 8:30 a.m. Sundays before the 9 a.m. Mass.

“I will continue emphasizing praying the rosary at church and to pray the rosary as a family, in your homes,” Father D’Almeida said.

When Pope Francis visited the United States in September, he made an unexpected stop at a special grotto in Philadelphia, filled with prayer requests for Mary, Undoer of Knots. As the pope, who has a special devotion to Mary as the one who unties knots in our lives, prayed over the prayer requests, Nita Danaher, a parishioner at St. Edward Church in Little Rock, witnessed it all.

“We found the grotto and it was just amazing to see all these prayers people had written on these strips. When Pope Francis did his drive around … I was right across the street from all of that, it was just amazing,” she said.

Since then, it’s been on her heart to bring a similar devotion to Arkansas during the Year of Mercy. Danaher posed the idea of a knots project to fellow members of the Christian Mother’s Solidarity group at St. Edward, a group of mothers in various parishes who pray for “anything and everything” and help out at church events.

“I have never seen anybody so enthused with doing a project,” said LeAnn Wellinghoff, president of the Christian Mother’s Solidarity group. “It’s one of these things we felt like we wanted to do.”

The group had wooden panels built and created strips of paper so parishioners or visitors can write their prayers down and attach them to the panel. Once a prayer request is received, the Mother’s Solidarity Group “prays for all the prayers on there daily.”

The devotion stems from a 1700 painting called “Wallfahrtsbild” by Johann Georg Melchior Schmidtner that depicts the Virgin Mary untying a rope of knots and is displayed at St. Peter am Perlach in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany. According to a 2015 Catholic Herald article, catholicherald.co.uk, Pope Francis spread the devotion after seeing the painting in his younger years.

Though Danaher saw what the prayer devotion could look like for the first time in Philadelphia through Project HOME, a group that serves the local homeless and built the grotto, she learned of Mary, Undoer of Knots from fellow Mother of Solidarity member Martha Roberts, who gave her a novena book. Roberts died in March.

“Martha was the one who put me on this path by giving me that novena book to Mary, Undoer of Knots,” so the project is also being done in her memory, Danaher said. “Now is the time to do it.”

A white wooden panel, standing at 6 feet high and 3 feet wide, is displayed in St. Edward Church near an altar of Mary. English and Spanish instructions along with slips of paper, the same ones used by Project HOME, are available.

Before summer break, St. Edward School students wrote out their prayers for sick grandparents, someone they know in jail and everything in between.

“It made you realize the things that they carry inside of them too,” Danaher said.

Around the first week in June, pastor Father Greg Luyet also gave “a homily on the knots of our life and he tied it all together really well.”

Since then, about 600 to 800 prayer requests have been submitted and another panel will soon be put up. But it’s not enough — the Christian Mother’s Sodality wants the entire diocese involved. Parishes can buy a wooden panel and paper strips from St. Edward for $40. Some parishes have already signed on, including St. Joseph Church in Conway, which will have it displayed at its annual bazaar in early August. Our Lady of the Holy Souls Church also hopes to display one, with parishioner Shannon Callahan already bringing slips of paper to Jericho Way, a homeless day center in Little Rock operated by Catholic nonprofit Depaul USA, where she helps lead Bible study. About 70 prayers were also brought back from a Honduras mission trip with Christ the King Church in Little Rock.

“I want to reach out not only to the parishes, but compassion centers, other places,” including schools, Danaher said. “These people are struggling and I think we just have to pray for them.”

On Nov. 20, the last Mass during the Jubilee Year of Mercy, Danaher hopes that all parishes with panels can bring them to the Cathedral of St. Andrew for Bishop Anthony B. Taylor to bless.

“I would love for those to be displayed, weather permitting, in front,” of the Cathedral, Danaher said. “We can hinge them together, almost like a wall there of all these prayers.” 

After the Year of Mercy ends, the group has not decided what to do with the prayers, but Danaher said Project HOME used white ribbons, because they are flame retardant, as insulation in a Habitat for Humanity home.

“It’s something we can check into,” she said, or allowing individuals to take a prayer home and continue to pray over it. Even still, others have asked, “Why do we have to end this project at the end of the year?”

“It would just be so awesome at that last Mass to see parishes from all over the state come and be a part of it,” Danaher said. “ … The power of prayer is amazing.”

To request a panel and paper strips or send a prayer request to be included on the panel at St. Edward, e-mail maryundoerofknots.prayers@gmail.com.

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Parishioners in Rogers and Little Rock celebrated Our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 11 and 12.  For the 20th year, St. Vincent de Paul in Rogers hosted a procession, led by the local council of the Knights of Columbus, with dancers, bands and floats. The Hispanic Ministry Office of the Diocese of Little Rock hosted a procession at St. John Center with the Matachines dancers from St. Edward Church in Little Rock.

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Hispanic parishioners at St. Anne Church in North Little Rock venerate the traveling statue of Our Lady of Zapopan following Spanish Mass there July 27.

The statue, a replica of the original on display at the Basilica of Our Lady of Zapopan in Jalisco, Mexico, was making its first visit to Arkansas. Our Lady of Zapopan (pronounced sa-PO-pan) is a highly revered image of the Blessed Mother, who is the patroness of the city and whose miraculous protection is invoked in times of epidemics, storms and lightning. Every year, since 1734, there are processions of the statue around Jalisco from June to October.

The Arkansas tour ran from July 19 to Aug. 3 with stops at 19 Catholic churches in the diocese, escorted by three Franciscan friars from Mexico.