Hurricane prayers

My pal Fr. Guy answers your "who do I pray to?" questions at his blog, Omniapost.

Matthew 7:25

Here's a sentence I never thought I'd be typing: After experiencing an earthquake this past week, I now get ready to get myself and the buildings and grounds of St. Lawrence parish through tomorrow's hurricane.

But what about the people? There's really not much for me to do for them now; That's what government and public safety is for. People are "Doin' what they gotta do" (as we say in New Jersey): shopping, putting things away, even evacuating some places. Once the storm has passed, that's when the Church goes to work, helping those who have suffered any losses.

As the one who signs the checks to pay the bills here, it kills me that this storm arrives on a Saturday afternoon and continues through Sunday afternoon. Another weekend we'll lose a collection we need to pay bills (not to mention any repairs that may be necessary from hurricane damage). I ask anyone reading this, who will not be able to make Mass at their parishes this weekend, to "double dip" next weekend, and give two week's worth of contributions next weekend. And, if you were planning on blowing off Mass because of Labor Day weekend next weekend, then you've got to "triple dip" the weekend after that!

But, as the one who is shepherd of souls for this parish community, I ask all of you reading this to use common sense. IT IS NOT "FUN" OR "HEROIC" TO DRIVE THROUGH A HURRICANE-LEVEL STORM TO GO TO MASS; IT IS SELFISH AND FOOLISH. You not only put yourself and any passengers in the car at risk, but also the emergency service volunteers who will have to go out into the storm to rescue you, should something bad happen. Stay indoors. Pray. Read the Sunday Scriptures. Pray a Rosary as a family. Download some hymns from iTunes.

Remember, a hurricane is just a warm blizzard. Treat it appropriately.

Your mission this week

Watch for (any) mainstream media coverage of World Youth Day. See the contrast between the angry youth of the English riots/looting with the participants of WYD.

See if the media tries to draw comparisons.