Please remember to bring your OKTOBERFEST Donations:

• Cakes for the Cake Booth and for Desserts
• 2 liter sodas for the Ring Toss
• Groceries for the Pantry Booth
• Baskets for the Basket Raffle
• Live and Silent Auction items

October 8, 2017

Daniel Cardinal DiNardo

The last month has been a very trying one for hurricanes and earthquakes. Texas, Florida, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico have all suffered greatly from wind and water; there has been much devastation and the Houston area has been greatly affected. Our neighbor to the south, Mexico, has been hit by two major earthquakes. The toll in human suffering there has been great.

On Sunday, Oct. 1, we witnessed a great horror; one that has become too common in recent years. A lone gunman engaged in the senseless slaughter of many people and wounded hundreds of other people. This evil and darkness shocks us. It should. It has also gathered us together in the solidarity of help and assistance to those who were struck. Such light reveals another movement in our hearts, one that seeks the overcoming of violence by the purposeful bravery and charity that marks the genuine test of love for our neighbors. The bravery of first responders and other persons attending to the wounded in Las Vegas is a striking sign of this wondrous solidarity.

Events of nature unsettle us, but the intentional infliction of harm by another causes a deeper anxiety and, for some, a sense of dread and the lack of meaning in their lives. There are resources of faith that help us to live through these events and open for us avenues of reflection and prayer. Christ Jesus Himself spoke of events in human life that appear to be tragic, but are also the very moments when His counsel and, above all, His life and death open a new way of hope.  The resources of faith also bid us to discern where action on our part can deepen our solidarity as persons and as members of the Church, Christ’s body in the world. We need to address a number of questions in our country in the months to come on our way of life and what is necessary to alleviate the senseless violence that has been marking our common life together. 

The people of this local Church in Galveston-Houston are very generous and loving; the adjectives here are not abstract. They have been shown in recent weeks since Hurricane Harvey. We must direct that same energy towards the elimination of any rancor or violence that would threaten us and lessen the beauty of our country.

Let us make our prayer and action part of Respect Life Month!