September 16, 2005 - Rev. Arthur M. Coyle
Homily for National Day of Prayer and Remembrance
Hurricane Katrina
Who among us has not been moved—possibly even to tears—by the devastation
we have witnessed these past two weeks? Hurricane Katrina has been an enormous
catastrophe of epic proportions. The suffering it has caused is overwhelming
in loss of life, loss of homes, churches and schools. So many people have local
connections with people in the Gulf States area. Boston has a unique connection,
as one of our own priests is the Shepherd of the area most severely devastated – New
Orleans and its environs. So many priests know Archbishop Hughes well as seminary
philosophy professor, spiritual director, and rector, regional bishop of the
Merrimack Region; and some of you have been here long enough to say that you
prayed with him in this chapel and worked with him on this campus when he was
Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia.
In a letter to the Cardinals, Archbishops and Bishops of the United States
earlier this week, written from the temporary office of the Archbishop in the
neighboring Diocese of Baton Rouge, where he is “at home” among
at least 200,000 evacuees from his diocese, Archbishop Hughes writes of his
gratitude for the quick response and outpouring of generosity from across the
nation. He writes of how he and his administrative team have and are further
developing a pastoral plan to provide priestly presence and ministry to the
larger concentrations of evacuees in ten area dioceses in four neighboring
states. New Orleans priests will serve as liaisons in each of those diocese
and reach out to the displaced in need of pastoral care. Of course, many of
those priests themselves have passed through harrowing experiences. Since communications
are very difficult, a number of New Orleans priests have not yet been located,
and it is believed that Farther Arthur Ginart lost his life when his rectory
was carried into the Gulf during the storm.
The Archbishop goes on to speak about how five major relief agencies, both
Catholic and secular, are working together to deliver food, water, bedding,
and medical care to the poorest of the poor confined to shelters, the condition
of most of the shelters leaving a lot to be desired. Within two months, they
believe they will have all 50,000 of their Catholic school students back in
classrooms – some in their own schools in less affected, out-lying areas,
others being absorbed in the schools of neighboring dioceses, and others in
satellite schools brought about through the reopening of closed schools and
temporary structures on school campuses where their own administrators and
teachers in exile will teach. Notre Dame Seminary will open in October at the
Benedictine’s Saint Joseph Abbey in Covington, Louisiana, allowing students
to go through the sacrificial and formative expenses of recovery close to the
people they will serve.
I share all of this with you because it points out first-hand what an extraordinary
challenge and daunting task lies ahead. And yet, Archbishop Hughes concludes
his letter with these words: “We are convinced in faith that God wants
us to move from being victims to victors in Christ Jesus. Please continue to
pray that we will do what God wants in the way he wants.”
I don’t know about you, but since the impact of Hurricane Katrina and
the resulting floods has been realized, I just cannot fathom the magnanimity
and the scope of outreach and compassion we have seen. Truly, the worst of
times has brought out the best in people, both across this nation and across
the world. I found it staggering the other morning to read of the supreme generosity
of so many countries coming to our assistance, some of those countries not
having been our closest allies these past several years. From near and far,
so many have contributed to answering the question posed by the scholar in
today’s gospel, “And who is my neighbor?….with a clear response “Everyone..particularly
those most in need!”
An interesting editorial entitled “Morning Glory” appeared in
the Boston Globe this past Tuesday (September 13,2005). It began, “Watching
a sunrise is good for the soul, especially now, with the horrors of nature
so much in the news.” It went on to speak of how what went down in darkness
must come up and touch everything in view with spectacular light, and in beautiful
figurative language spoke of sunrise being the spring of each day offering
so many invitations of renewal and hope. The concluding paragraph returned
to the present situation: “Watching a sunrise is an act of faith. No
matter how destructive nature has been, the calm will return, and man will
rebuild and heal. That is the promise in every new day!”
My friends, our being here today on this National Day of Prayer is an act
of faith that surely “our help is from the Lord who made heaven and earth”….an
act of faith in the power of Jesus Christ to “make all things new” – Jesus
Christ, whose own death and resurrection we celebrate in this Eucharist…an
act of faith in the living words of the Gospel, and hopefully a positive response
to the challenge it gives us today to go beyond, far beyond, what is required
of us, and to come down to that love which expresses itself in the compassion,
and invites all of us to be Good Samaritans.
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