These are photos of my family's church in Mississippi, St. Thomas the Apostle. This vibrant faith community is one of my very favorite places to attend Mass. I have great memories of holding my baby nephew (now a first grader at the parish school), as an infant during Mass so that his parents could have a moment of peace. We last visited the parish last Easter, around the time of the passing of Pope John Paul II. They have a wonderful Pastor, Father Louis...y'all are in our prayers! To donate, visit www.catholiccharitiesusa.org.
I know that we, collectively, as the Body of Christ will respond to all those in need of homes, food and jobs. Please pray today for my brother in law, Matt, who is on the road from Atlanta to Gulfport to check on my sister Brady, and his own parents.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
My Family's Church - St. Thomas the Apostle
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Dear Lisa -- For the record, I am safe and dry with grandson Patrick in Atltanta. Thank God for extended family and a place to escape to. Last year we left to escape Hurricane Ivan, which by-passed us. Lat month we closely monitored Hurricane Dennis, which also by-passed us, as we decided to hunker-down. This time it was only less than 24 hours before Katrina hit that we made the decision to get out and leave everything behind. It is such a hopeless feeling to load a duffle bag with a week's worth of shorts and t-shirts, plus a box of files, and then leave an accumulation of life's possession to the fate of the elements. So it is understandable that some people either chose or were forced to stay in harm's way. Brady and Matt's home and our home are located 10 miles inland from the beach. I am told that we experienced roof damage from the wind and resulting water damage inside. Most of our neighbors were not as "lucky". The pictures of St. Thomas tell the story of those unfortunates residing by the beach. The church was rebuilt to be hurricane proof after being destroyed by Hurricane Camile in 1969. Katrina proved otherwise. The situation now is one of uncertainty as to when to return. Before homes can be restored or rebuilt, then with businesses, schools, stores and churches to ultimately follow, the entire infrastructure (power, water, communication, sewers) needs to be rebuilt. The long term questions revolve around residing and working. The short term questions relate to managing each day. And we are the lucky ones who dodged the eye of the storm. People who do not live in hurricane country question after the storm has hit why anyone would live in harm's way. But I still have dreams about living in Indiana at the age of 13 clinging to my new bicycle thru the open iron bars on a bridge while I clung for dear life as a tornado lifted my bike and me off the bridge walk. I remember being in our living room in Seal Beach, California eying the liquor cabinet after not having had a drink for five years, as the flood waters subsided down to my calves. I remember being shaken awake by countless earthquakes in California. I recall the fire and resulting water damage that destroyed our condo in Chicago, and that for the only times in our lives that we had gotten up at six o'clock on a Saturday morning to take the dogs for a walk along Lake Michigan, so we were spared from being in our condo while everything above descended into ours. My question is: that where can you move to avoid nature's calamities? I don't know where we will be in the future, but I do know that I am thankful for where we are right now. I love you, Dad.
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