Katrina's Rath

Yesterday after work I checked my mail and got in some rosary making supplies and then headed for church (which ended up being the feast of the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist), I got about a mile down the road before it was raining torrents. On my way, about 7:00pm, the weather service was already confirming 3 deaths further south; it would raise another 50 by midnight just from reports in the county including Biloxi, MS. On my way back from mass there was just a light sprinkle (pretty sporadic). Well, after eating for the rest of the night I watched TV and started teaching myself how to make a rosary while listening to my ham radio to find out where all the damage was and just in case I needed to report any of my own. About 10:30, the power went out on Monte Sano (a foothill mountain on the edge of town) where many antennas are located. That incident took out my cell phone tower, a couple of TV stations were out, and the emergency weather net on the ham radio had to migrate to the backup frequency. The TV and radio towers were back online after midnight (I think the individual crews probably got out there to get each of their generators back up and running).

The climax of the storm hit around 1:00am with lots of rain and definitely high winds; my power never totally went out, but it would flicker off quite a few times. The morning report was that the wind got up over 50 MPH around here. In northern Alabama, there are approximately 50,000 people with out power. The brunt of the storm here stayed mostly west of I-65, and there are some schools closed today in the northwest section. In Madison county (Huntsville and surroundings), it seems that most of the damage is a bunch of tree limb debris. I did here someone say that they saw a large tree on top of someone's house on the way in. Tropical storm Katrina was definitely more powerful in this area than Dennis (which I also got to experience back in July), but not as much damage as some people around here were thinking.

Although luck seems to have been a lady (even though Katrina was no lady) in this area, there are many unlucky people further to the south and southwest. Please continue to pray for them, for it will take a long time to rescue people (some even had to spend the night after the storm on top of their roofs hoping the water wouldn't continue to rise before the morning came with rescuers), drain the water, bury the dead, clean up, and then begin to rebuild. The storm is following a path taking it mostly along the Ohio River valley, and as anyone in Louisville knows, all that added water will flow down the Mississippi into the affected areas causing the water level to continue to rise. It always feels good to be fortunate, but it is so tragic what is happening to others. If you can't donate the money, blood, or volunteer, remember that a donation of you time in prayer is just as important in these times of crisis.

Paix du Christ!

The Pope on a pilgrimage to the world

Pope Benedict XVI took his first pilgrimage to his universal Church this past week. It was a pilgrimage to his homeland, Germany. A pilgramage to the youth. Of course these journey's were already setup for him by his predecessor John Paul the Great. However, Benedict XVI seemed to want to make a big deal out of this first trip becuase in this trip he made it a pilgrimage to the whole world. He made a pilgrimage to the Jewish and Muslim communities. He made a pilgrimage to a meeting for eccumenism, He made a pilgrimage to semenarians. Benedict XVI not only took his first steps outside of Rome as Supreme Pontiff, but also as a Pilgrimage to the whole world.

He possibly crammed so many events into one trip because, as many people say, he doesn't plan on taking many trips and centralize the focus of the Church inward; or possibly he realizes he started his pontificate fairly late in life and wants to get as much done as he can in the wanning years of his life; Or possibly because he simply cares. Whatever his reasons, he definitely made a quick impression to the world that he does not intend to sit aside and be idle.

The World Youth Day celebration was full of vigor and life, and talk of challenges and hopes as it always is. However, World Youth Day 2005 was also tainted by news from France that a deranged lady assaulted a monk during prayer and killed him. It's tragic because Brother Roger the 90 year old founder of the Taizé focused on bringing people together and peace. It's also tragic because I heard someone reporting on the news that some lawyers where saying that she knew what she was doing and wasn't insane, and they should prosecute her. I'm not sure what about that report is true, but that wasn't the man's mission. Brother Roger would have wanted her to be forgiven and to be given the help that she most desperately needs.

World Youth Day was also held during the week that Israel was trying to move the settlers out of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in a last ditch effort towards peace. Which of course brought protestors, but hopefully any peace that comes out of this move will be a lasting peace.

Although the Pope, Israel, monks, and other leaders in the world reach out for peace, a human element still exists that wants to stike back and get revenge instead of letting go and letting God's peace come in.

Maybe, instead of World Youth Day bringing us together as Catholics and showing us the universality of the Church, this World Youth Day teaches us to reach out to others in goodwill and peace. Bridging diverse gaps so that we understand each other as humans and everyone as God's children. What do I do in my life to understand others? How do you reach across borders? It's something to think about. Something this World Youth Day and the news surrounding it has brought to light.

Until next time, cross any borders you see, reach out to others that are different from you. You might just find out how little those differences are.

Paix du Christ!

Holy Days and Such

Over the past week (and a little more) St. Mary of the Visitation has been having a novena to Mother Mary leading up to the Feast of the Assumption. I've been going when I haven't had an obstacle, like falling asleep after work, ham club meeting, and a dying alternator. It was really nice, a very relaxing time to end the day after work, and the prayer time to wind down seemed to give me more energy after work, that's not always the case though, especially with individual prayer. I'm not sure how they pick the readings, but it seems like everytime I have been the gospel reading was always the visitation. Hmm. The prayer started out with a processional and the rosary, then went into a litnay of Mother Mary. Preceding, was a liturgy of the word. It also includes an exposition, benediction, and divine praises before concluding with a recessional. Apparently the parish has held this novena for the past nineteen years. I hope it continues for many more years and continues to grow. Maybe some of you could talk your pastors into having one too. In other news today, celebration of the 20th World Youth Day started in Cologne, Germany. The first World Youth Day for Benedict XVI, I'm sure he will make this one just as special for the youth in attendance as JP the Great always did in the past.

Paix du Christ!