Pastor's Corner

PASTOR’S CORNER JANUARY 24, 2010 Father Wilson summed up the feelings of our parish at the homily he shared last Sunday morning: “ Our parish family is feeling a deep sadness today. Over the past 10 years we have developed a familial relationship with our Haitian sis...ters and brothers. It is as if we are in mourning for a member of our family.” Now we know why so many of us are feeling the way we do. What our parish is doing with those feelings is very important right now. We are praying and we are activating that prayer with tangible help for the earthquake victims. I am so very proud of how you have taken our collective grief and translated it into the hands and feet of Christ. We continue to receive very generous gifts of money, goods and volunteer service. Many times personal notes accompany donations. The following are from the “younger set” of our parish family. After reading one of the letters to a parishioner he quickly commented “the kids get it.” The following was sent in by a six year old who asked his grandmother to write for him. She wrote it exactly he spoke it- with all the grammatical errors. Dear Farter martin My Grandma is writing this letter for me, as I can not write yet. I have told her to write what a say only I am given you my coffee can to send to Haiti for nativity village. I hope all is well with them. I do not know how much money is in the coffee can, but it makes a lot of noise when you shake it, so there must be a lot in it. I love it at school. God bless you Fr. Love? I do not wont you to now my name. I wanted to send this to your children in Haiti, who don’t have what I have. Love. Another story came from an 11 year old girl who is passionate about hockey. She had been saving her money for months to buy herself a Washington Capital’s jersey. Just as she reached her goal of $100, the earthquake struck. She made the decision to forego the hockey jersey and give the entire amount to Operation Starfish and the people of Haiti. From a 9-year-old boy: Dear Father Martin I am so sorry that an earthquake hit Haiti. I am watching the news right now but I just cannot look. I am giving you $55 right now because I want to help as soon as I can. I got the $55 from my cousins at Christmas. They said I should keep $50 and give $5 to those in need, but in this case I want to give it all. I’m sure the children in Haiti need it more. God Bless. John From a 12-year-old: Dear Fr. Martin I watched the news and was very upset at what I saw. I don’t think it is fair that the poorest country has to suffer like this. I am including money I received for the holiday. I think that as hard as this is there may be a positive side to this. Haiti has met the ears of almost everyone in the world. If there is anything at all I can do I will be more than glad to do it. Andrew (age 12) Yes. The “kids” do get it. The destruction has moved the hearts of many in our parish. Many have been asking what the status of our projects is. We in the church office, along with Food For The Poor, are trying to establish and stay in contact with our villages. As of this writing our first work at Canapé Vert (Green Hillside), 27 houses, has been completely destroyed. We worked with Father Printemps on our second village- 500 houses, sanitation and two story school. As this project was close to Port Au Prince we hope for the best and pray that Father is alive. We have not yet been able to reach him. As soon as we know something I will share it with you. Our remaining projects (housing and fishing villages, tilapia farms, clincs, schools, etc.) are either in Cap Haitian, some 90 miles north, or on the south coast, or on the Dominican border and so the distance has spared them. Father Duken told us that they are secure. Father did tell me that thousands are walking the 90 miles to Cap Haitian to get food and to bury their dead, many in wheelbarrows, to give them a dignified burial. Today we read in Luke’s Gospel the words that I printed on my ordination card, some 43 years ago: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” From the bottom of my heart I thank each and every one of you for living this Gospel today and every day. You have literally translated Luke’s beautiful words, the words that began and continue to inspire my priesthood, into comfort and aid for the poor, across the street and around the world. God bless each and every one of you… Fr. M