During the long weekend of Sept 27-29, New Albany was drenched with more than 5 inches of rain as the remnants of huricane Helene blew through our area. Many area schools moved to e-learning days to keep kids home, football & soccer games were cancelled, strong winds took down some trees and branches in places. Of course, it was nothing like the horrific pictures of the flood damage to areas of North Carolina, which was terrible. Fortunately for us, apart from the disruptions to our schedules and some minor flooding in low lying areas, New Albany did not fair to bad. This was largely because Helene had had nearly 800 miles of overland travel to dump its rain and lose energy long before it got here. Even then, it was wet. Really wet!!!
I thought about this the other morning as I was considering the support of Holy Family for a family in Haiti to once again build a new home. As we know, Haiti frequently finds itself directly in the pathway of huricanes moving through the Carribean. The island is small and so the destructive force of the winds and the immense rains are experienced at full strength and fully impact the entire island as it is swallowed up by the storms. They ride out the storms as best the can. For many, however, it is not in dry homes and relative safety, but in entirely inadequate shelters. Something, we would hardly call homes: repurposed timbers, plastic tarps, recycled packaging skids, some corrugated steel, dirt floors, and maybe if they are lucky some shiplapped siding. “Homes” pieced together from scraps and leftovers.
I do not paint this picture to make you feel guilty. Having a nice, secure, dry home is not something for which we should feel guilty. Every persons should have such a home. I paint the picture above to remind us to be immensely grateful for the blessings we do have, in simply having more than enough of the basics. As the world around us is already into full secular Christmas mode with all its buying, purchasing, presents – stuff we do not need but want, it is worth us prayerfully pausing to consider, to take stock, to thank God for how much we already have and to be grateful. Gratitude is a much better place from which to spread the Gospel and to extend charitiable support than guilt. Gratitude is a true Christian response. And while we Christians can on occasion experience guilt rightly – when we have in fact sinned greatly in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do – we experience that guilt only so as to turn back to God and receive mercy. Mercy freely extended, so we may freely give in gratitude to others.
The Church would state that a safe, secure, weather-proof home is a basic need and a basic right. And yet, so many do not have such basics. In gratitude for what we have received from God’s goodness, we are called to give. St John wrote in his third letter: “Beloved, you are faithful in all you do for the brothers and sisters, especially for strangers; they have testified to your love before the Church. Please help them in a way worthy of God… Therefore, we ought to support such persons, so that we may be co-workers in the truth” (3 John 5,6, 8). Our support to the ‘strangers’ in Haiti is a small way to be ‘co-workes in the truth’ that God is good and we are grateful.
I once again invite you to join me in providing one more “room” for our shelter-less Lord this Christmas. You might enjoy the 5-minute video showing you the people & place of the Kobonal Mission area, we will be helping in partnership with Cross Catholic International. Donations to help a Haitian Family in a way worthy of God by building a New Home may be placed in the offering basket at Mass with “Home for Haiti” in the check memo line or by contributing to the appeal on Faith Direct (the Holy Family e-giving site). I am grateful in advance for your immense generosity.
Thank you to Fr Tim Wyciskalla for covering the Saturday 5p Mass this weekend. He is down in New Albany to speak at the St Andrew Vocations Dinner at the Cardinal Ritter House. I am escorting 5 of our Holy Family Knights of the Holy Temple high school men to the dinner. Before the dinner & talk, we went out for a team building adventure outing. I’m grateful Fr Tim could provide me the time with the young men. As the Vicar for Clergy, Fr Tim is also my immediate supervisor in ArchIndy… so this is your chance to tell him what you think! Please be charitable!
Nothing Less than saints for the Holy Family of God.
Holy Family, Grateful for God’s Goodness, Pray for us.
~ Fr Jeremy M. Gries