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Sunday, October 9, 2016

IN THE TWLIGHT ZONE THIS SUNDAY

(Above photo I took three year ago)

I am in the twlight zone this weekend. Yesterday, Saturday, I joined our Holy Father in Saint Peter's Square for the Year of Mercy Marian Celebration which included a grand procession of statues and icons of Our Lady prior to the Holy Father entering to lead us in a beautiful recitation of the Holy Rosary which concluded with a homily and Pontifical Blessing.

This Sunday Morning, I am joining the Holy Father and con celebrating with him the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in St. Peter's Square.

However, back at home in Richmond Hill, the town still remains evacuated due to the damage that Hurricane Matthew has brought. Evidently the roads are impassable and there is no electricity so the authorities have asked those who evacuated not to return.

In addition our bishop suspended the "obligation" to attend Mass in our coastal regions hit by the storm. So there is no priest or Mass at St. Anne Catholic Church in Richmond Hill!!!!

My Mass with the Holy Father for will be for my parishioners, especially those who may have suffered damage from the storm. But who knows what damage? I haven't heard a peep from the local media about Richmond Hill and what happened there.

As it concerns my family condo on Hilton Head Island, about 40 miles north of Savannah, which was also hard hit by the storm, I did find a video of the street on which our condo is situated and fortunately our area doesn't seem to be as bad as some other areas.

You can view the video of South Forest Beach Drive (near the Coligny shopping and beach area) by pressing this sentence here!

The reporter filming the auto tour remarks about half way in about a new hotel on the left side of the street and how unlucky for them to have their grand opening now. Then the camera goes to the right side of the street and the condo office with a green metal roof is shown with no exterior damage. A bit down on the right is our condo complex and the condos that face South Forest Beach seem unscathed as well. Ours is in the interior of the complex and would have been buffered by these condos. Who knows, though, about any large trees toppling onto ours or others in the interior. Ours, as well, is a bit higher up from the ground which would help with any interior flooding.

But I won't know for sure until two weeks from now when I return to the Savannah area. Tomorrow our group flies to Israel. We will be going to Catholic Relief Services ministries to learn how they approach helping those who need help from man made or natural disasters. A big part of their ministry is to help them to help themselves so that once they are gone, their recovery continues.

This will bring us into some areas of Palestine and Israel that are not very tourist or pilgrimage friendly. Pray for everyone.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your "family" condo?

Kelley said...

Fr AJM, I am so happy that your home on Hilton Head seems to be ok. Storms like this do not happen often.
Maybe you will not have to worry so much ever again. Maybe this won't happen for another 100 years.
Enjoy you time in Rome. There is nothing you could do here anyway. A prayer is a prayer no matter where you are.
We are all blessed. This was not as bad as it could have been. My Amelia Island is Ok and I am so grateful.

Rood Screen said...

Anonymous,

Priests, being more or less human, have families, though not wives and children.

Gene said...

I am happy to report that our condo on Hilton Head had no damage. So, I can continue going there and enjoying my white privelege while spending guilt-free time eating high on the food chain and enjoying white middle class values with other Judaeo-Christian, hard-working, Caucasian people. Now, I have to go clean my guns and send another check to Donald Trump. Ya'll have a good night, now.

Anonymous said...

"Family" condo?

tevye said...

Gene and his caucasian "partner"?