Catholic Community of Jeffersonville St. Augustine
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Catholic Community of Jeffersonville St. Augustine & Sacred Heart

Homily
by
Father Thomas E. Clegg

2nd Sunday C        St. Augustine/Sacred Heart               2010
(After the earthquake in Haiti) 

Our gospel reading today contains the story of the first miracle
   that is recorded in the Gospels:
      the changing of water into wine at the wedding feast on Cana. 

All things considered, it is not the greatest of Jesus miracles.
  It’s not as flashy as walking on water…
     Certainly is doesn’t compare with make a blind person see
         or a deaf person hear, or a lame person walk.
And it is absolutely nothing in the face of raising Lazarus from the dead. 

But it is his first miracle and perhaps the greatest point of it all
   Is that Jesus didn’t want anyone to suffer,
      Not even the little bit of suffering that might have accompanied
          A bride and groom running out of wine at their wedding reception. 

And so Jesus makes sure that they don’t.
   He takes care of it for them. 

Perhaps it is in that context that we need to look at the recent tragedy in Haiti. 

If God cares about people so much,
  that he prevents them from being even a little bit embarrassed,
     how much more right now is God’s heart
         grieving for and with the people of Haiti? 

Like he did when his friend Lazarus had died,
   I believe God cried again this week in the midst of Haiti’s destruction. 

And like the Haitian people, like the psalmist, we cry out “poukisa”
   The Creole word for WHY? 

Poukisa…Why did this happen?
   Poukisa…why all this death?
      Poukisa…Why in Haiti…a country that struggles even in normal times? 

I don’t have an answer to that question of Poukisa.
   Frankly I don’t think there is an answer.
But remember this,
  Jesus asked the very same question during his hour of need.
     My God My God, WHY have you abandoned me?
Jesus question God the creator, but he never lost faith.
  He concluded that prayer with Into your hands I commend my spirit. 

But as with any event that causes us to question,
  The earthquake in Haiti challenges us not to lose our faith,
     But to once again, be the hands of Christ. 

We will be taking up a second collection today for the relief effort in Haiti.
    The monies collected will be channeled through Catholic Relief Services
        which is well established in Haiti
           and has been active since the earthquake first struck. 

I know many of you have expressed concern about St. Raphael Parish,
   The orphanage in Port Au Prince that we visited,
     Matthew 25 house where we stay as our stopover point,
      and our seminarians who study at the seminary in Port au Prince. 

Matthew 25 House sustained some damage to the second floor,
   but is structural sound.
That is just a little bit short of a miracle because it lies
  in the Del Mas section of Haiti and it was one of the hardest hit areas. 

I read an article from the Columbus Ohio Dispatch that said the reports
   they received from Haiti is that they believe the orphanage survived the
     quake, and that at least some of the nuns and the children were seen
        living outside in the courtyard.
The report indicated that the building,
    as is the case with almost all building in Port au prince was not safe. 

One of our chief concerns was our seminarians
   They study in Port au Prince and we had heard reports that
     the seminary sustained much damage and that hundreds
        of priests and religious and seminarians were buried in the rubble. 

We have been trying since Tuesday to get into contact with Fr. Leonel.
   We finally today (yesterday) received an email from him:
     And I’d like to share it with you 

Dear Father Tom, Sally and Shirley and the People of Sacred Heart and St. Augustine,

     I, the parishioners of St. Raphael and all the Haitian people,  we send you a fraternal thank you for thinking of us, writing to us, praying for us, and being ready to help us.
     Really, this is the first time that a disaster of such magnitude has strike our country. According to the press, hundreds of thousands are dead and wounded and  Port-au-Prince is almost totally destroyed.
    Church institutions such as the Major Seminary was destroyed almost killing several seminarians. Luckily the Seminarians of St. Raphael have returned safe and sound.

But the Villa Manresa collapsed with dozens of religious whose whereabouts are unknown. The archdiocese also has suffered the  killing of Archbishop Serge Miot, who was my classmate from seminary and the death of many others, including the vicar general. The Cathedral of Port-au-Prince had its roof collapsed.
    The worst is that today after three days, they have still failed to remove even 5% of  the debris and the bodies of people are starting to decompose.
    It is true that St. Raphael is far from Port-au-Prince and that is not directly affected, but when the phone stopped working and that news of dozens of deaths were beginning to arrive, the community was also grieving and it activates all stopped. Many have gone to Port-au-Prince to look for dead or living relatives. I have several relatives who have died.
     Thanks to your precious gift of the Internet, we could give people the greatest service. Day and night, dozens of people went to the presbytery to attend the event by The Internet. Our Radio director manages to connect through the Internet, whatever the desired radio, is to teach by the hour population. Hence what we need most is help in buying conduit? to continue to keep people informed through radio and the Internet. A little money would help, the poorest families are most affected in Port-au-Prince, since it's been raining for 8 days and people are hungry.
    At the time of the earthquake I was at a retreat with our Bishop and other priests, but the next day, it was considered necessary for us to return to parish, because people desperately need the help of the Church, even in ordinary times, it is often the only instance of actual aid to Haiti.
      Thank you for the funds sent. And I want to tell Sally that repairs to the roof of the center of activity is already completed 50 percent. We will continue this week. Our goal was to have it ready for Fr. Tom’s visit.
      Finally, thank you wholeheartedly for your prayers to help us live with these difficult days for our people of Haiti. God bless you.

                                       Fr. Leonel Jean-Francois  

So the seminarians are okay and have returned to St. Raphael. 

Our mission trip will probably be delayed, although that isn’t final at this time. 

Prayer Service Tuesday at 7:00 PM…school children CFF and  Confirmation Candidates calling…. 

Novena to St. Raphael….at the entrances. Pray Wednesday for 9 days. 

Prayer for Haiti—9 weeks after communion. 

Thanks to all of you for your concern.                    

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