katrina - Clarion Herald [PDF]

KATRINA:

AUGUST 29, 2015 CLARION HERALD

A

!"

Former seminarian recalls ‘Lake Carrollton’ chaos By Beth Donze Clarion Herald

New Orleans attorney Brandon Briscoe was a secondyear pre-theology student at Notre Dame Seminary when he shot the photograph at right of Wildlife and Fisheries workers evacuating him and about 20 others from the seminary on the afternoon of Sept. 1 – three days after the landfall of Hurricane Katrina. From there, the stranded were taken to Carrollton Avenue and Oak Street, the spot where dry land finally emerged from the floodwaters. Briscoe joined the rescuers on the back of their pickup truck and was taken as far as Lafayette, where he rented a car that enabled him to join his displaced family in Mississippi. About 40 Notre Dame seminarians, faculty, staff and guests had chosen to hunker down at the seminary for various reasons, Briscoe said.

Well stocked for storm

“A number of us did not realize what we were in for,” said Briscoe, who was 24 at the time. “The building is a four-story brick building with generators, so we thought we could ride out a typical storm. We had enough food in the freezers to feed 100 seminarians for a month.” Other reasons beckoned Briscoe and his fellow seminarians to stay in town. Before the storm, a number of them were busy helping frail residents of Chateau de Notre Dame onto evacuation vehicles. After the hurricane’s landfall, the young men were enlisted to patch the seminary’s roof and mop up water that had leaked into the basement. The seminarians’ whistlewhile-you-work feeling of having dodged the bullet turned to real concern by Tuesday morning, Briscoe recalls. “We were busy cleaning up

Photo | COURTESY BRANDON BRISCOE

tree limbs when we noticed a trickle of water making its way toward us,” he said. “We saw water came around the seminary’s circular driveway from each side. It met in the middle and rose and rose. There we were, scooping water out of (the basement), thinking we just had to get it dry, and before long it was under four feet of water.” The rescue took place in stages. A National Guard truck that appeared on the night of Wednesday, Aug. 31, only had space to take about half the seminary group. “We expected (the truck) to be back first thing Thursday morning, but it never came,” Briscoe said. What did show up later that day were rescuers at the helm of four Wildlife and Fisheries boats. But rather than feeling relief upon their arrival, Briscoe remembers feeling oddly anxious about the situation. “(When the photo above was taken) we didn’t know where they were going to take us – to the Superdome or one of the Interstate exchanges where the helicopters were landing. We were leaving conditions that we knew for conditions we weren’t sure about,” Briscoe said, adding that the rescuers were nervous as well. “It was a military operation,” he recalls. “They were determined to get in and out as fast as possible for safety concerns.”

Became first responders

Briscoe said the moments he didn’t photograph during his four days of shelter at the seminary are far more vivid than his recollections of being rescued. Briscoe, another seminarian and School Sister of Notre Dame Elizabeth Willems – a seminary faculty member – are credited with saving at least one life. An elderly woman, who was bleeding internally, was taken by the trio to an ambulance stranded at a nearby gas station, using a plastic tub as a boat. The ill woman, who was temporarily stabilized with IVs inside the ambulance, was subsequently taken by firefighters by boat to Ochsner and airlifted to Houston for treatment. She survived. “The low point was watching people wade up and down Carrollton Avenue in need of help but not being able to render assistance to them – it was a feeling of helplessness,” Briscoe said. “All we could do was pray.” Ironically, the seminary itself became a post-Katrina beacon of hope by serving as a National Guard headquarters following the citywide evacuation. Briscoe went on to complete two more years of seminary studies before discerning a call to marriage and pursuing a career as an attorney, using his previously See BRISCOE page 21 ➤

Photo by Beth Donze | CLARION HERALD

Brandon Briscoe stands at the approximate site of his 2005 photograph picturing Wildlife and Fisheries workers rescuing those stranded at Notre Dame Seminary (far left). Briscoe said Hurricane Katrina ultimately led him to his current parish home of St. Louis Cathedral.

!"

AUGUST 29, 2015 CLARION HERALD

KATRINA: A

We must be prophetic in caring for those with least

A

t 1 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 26, the hurricanetracking forecasters began predicting that Katrina was headed for New Orleans. Catholic Charities’ immediate priority was to evacuate our residential programs and clients: those who were battered, abused, neglected, disabled, mentally ill and homeless. It was a mammoth undertaking. In less than two days, we packed up and sent 300 clients and staff to northern Louisiana and Mississippi. Our folks were 100 percent committed to the safety and well-being of each and every client. Throughout, I was blessed to share in leadership with my good friend, Gordon Wadge, co-president of Catholic Charities. Once all our caravans were on the road, we headed to the Superdome on Sunday afternoon. The Dome became a shelter of last resort for the most vulnerable citizens of New Orleans. We helped move the frail, sick and elderly from the loading docks to a special needs unit staffed by volunteer doctors and nurses.

KATRINA: A

Calm despite conditions

Early the next morning, Katrina struck. Gordon and I first felt a few drops of rain before realizing that the wind had torn off parts of the Dome’s roof. Our fellow inhabitants, the poor of our city, were amazingly calm. Throughout the following harrowing days, we watched good and brave people come together to support and assist each other in this darkest of times. Not until Monday afternoon did we receive word that a number of floodwalls had collapsed and that our city was filling up with water. The National Guard (and so many other armed services, police, fire and volunteers) did an amazing and courageous job of rescuing folks over the course of the next

James

KELLY GUEST COLUMN

week in New Orleans and surrounding parishes. Gordon and I eventually made our way to Baton Rouge, where we set up temporary shop with Archbishop Alfred Hughes, the staff of Catholic Charities and the archdiocese. We worked around the clock doing all that we could for our fellow refugees. We immediately sent a team to the airport to assist in the evacuation of tens of thousands and, as God would have it, to minister to those too sick and frail for the flights out of town.

Caring for all

General Russel Honoré and Archbishop Hughes were the most critical leaders in the days following the storm. The general brought calm to our rooftops, flooded streets and neighborhoods. He convinced the traumatized victims of Katrina to put away their guns – and then led the efforts to rescue ALL who were stranded. A few weeks later, the archbishop announced that the archdiocese would reopen the Cathedral School for the children of emergency workers living on the ships docked along the river. This bold and faith-filled decision led to the reopening of more than 100 parochial, public and private schools. It allowed our children (and families) to come home. The unprecedented outpouring of support and prayers from across the United States and the world was almost beyond comprehension. The prayers helped sustain us and gave us real hope. The generosity of spirit and the donations that followed allowed us to practice

the Gospels in ways that we never could have imagined. Across the Archdiocese, we distributed 250 million pounds of food. We provided counseling to more than 100,000 people. We gave out $55 million in direct assistance. We assisted in the rebuilding and construction of 3,500 homes and apartments. Those are just a few examples of the phenomenal work of Catholic Charities and many archdiocesan parishes, schools and agencies. Gordon and I are forever grateful for the humble leadership and prayerful support of Archbishop Hughes throughout the recovery, relief and rebuilding efforts. Additionally, we were blessed by our board of direc-

tors, thousands of volunteers, an extraordinary team of dedicated, caring professionals, and personally, our wives and families who encouraged and sustained us. I have never been prouder of my church. In the midst of our own grieving, we came together as a people of faith to very simply love God and love our neighbor – especially those most in need. As we reflect on Katrina and her aftermath, we remember how this horrific hurricane peeled back the curtain for the world to see the face of poverty that has long plagued New Orleans. We at Catholic Charities worked extremely hard to make sure that ALL could come home to a more vibrant and healthier city.

In so many ways we have seen enormous progress: stronger schools, better health care, new and improved housing, and a bustling economy. ButCLARION the poorest HERALDof the poor have not seen “all the boats rise together.” In fact, today, 34 percent of youth and children in the Archdiocese of New Orleans live in poverty – 100,000 children of God. I believe tragic disparities like these call us as Catholics to follow the prophetic message of Pope Francis. We must rededicate ourselves these next 10 years to be God’s hands and feet – and to lift up our children, our poor and our most vulnerable. Jim Kelly is executive director of Covenant House New Orleans.

ABP. AYMOND

was dying in their attic and was trapped and could not get out. He was caring for the person who was separated from their family. No, Jesus was not absent. He was there in sorrow and with a broken heart, as well, carrying those who needed to be carried. We just heard in the Gospel that Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. You must eat my flesh and drink my blood.” And many of his disciples said, “This makes no sense. This is too hard to accept.” And they left him. They said, “We’re giving up on this guy.” And so Jesus asks the apostles, “Do you want to leave me, too?” And Peter came up and said, “No, Lord, you have the words of eternal life.” He did not say that he understood what Jesus was saying about the bread of life. He said, “We won’t leave you because we believe that you have the words of eternal life.” This Gospel speaks to our experience today and to this commemoration of 10 years ago. There are times in our lives when we ask questions of faith, when we ask God to explain to us what we cannot understand, what seems impossible to understand. Why natural disasters? Why were the lives of so many taken? We

need the eyes of faith to be able to see the hand of Jesus reaching out in help. We need the eyes of faith to be able to see Jesus crying as so many others were and are. And we say to the Lord Jesus as he reaches out, “Lord, help my unbelief.” But we also say, “We won’t leave you, and he won’t leave us.” That message is true not only for those who were hurt by Hurricane Katrina but also for those who have been beset by so many other difficulties in the world, so many difficulties in our own personal lives and families and community. There are many things we don’t understand. These things are not possible to grasp with the human mind. As Jesus would say, “You don’t understand. Do you want to leave me?” And we say, “No. We don’t understand, but we trust you in faith and we will still follow you because we walk by faith and not by sight.” So today, as we commemorate the 10 years since Hurricane Katrina, our eyes of faith can see the hand of Jesus reaching out, caring for us, feeding us, even in the darkest moments of our lives. Today we come to express faith and also gratitude for what has taken place.

➤ From PAGE 2

completed in the rebuilding: “Do not lose hope.” Today, we come in prayer with very mixed feelings as we commemorate these 10 years. First of all, we come in grief for those who died, for those whose lives were taken in the storm, for family and friends. We also commemorate the first responders who gave their lives to try to save others. Today, we commend them to the Lord’s kingdom and ask God to give them the fullness of eternal life. But we also come in gratitude for what has been accomplished, for the building up of the city and the lives of people. We give thanks to God. And we also come in faith that the rebuilding of lives and homes will continue. Yes, Hurricane Katrina took a great deal. It took life and property. Hurricane Katrina did not take the faith of the people of this great city and the surrounding area. Some still ask the question, where was Jesus during this hurricane, during this great tragedy? He was in the rescue boats, trying to save others, comforting the person who

AUGUST 29, 2015

KATRINA:

AUGUST 29, 2015 CLARION HERALD

A

"!

Caught between Katrina and my chaplain’s duties

A

fter more than nine years as pastor of Our Lady of the Angels in Waggaman, I received a new appointment to Prince of Peace Parish in Chalmette in early 2001. Soon after 9/11, the U.S. embarked on a war against terrorism in Afghanistan, and then, in 2003, we had another one in Iraq! In July 2005, I received a fateful phone call from the headquarters of the Naval Reserve Forces: I was being mobilized for a tour of duty as a chaplain in Iraq. I called Archbishop Alfred Hughes, who wished me well and reassured me that my parish would be taken care of until I returned. At morning Mass on the day I left, I prayed for protection and safety in my tour of duty. For some reason, I added, “Thy will be done!” And as I left the church, my feeling was something like, “Let’s stare back at the death!” In late August, I flew to Camp Lejeune in Jackson-

Father Paul Van

NGUYEN

GUEST COLUMN

ville, North Carolina. The local TV stations were preoccupied with the weather news: Hurricane Katrina had already entered the Gulf of Mexico, and it was predicted to be a Category 5 storm when it landed in Louisiana. I could not have been any bluer. Mother Nature was threatening my hometown, my church and my parishioners, and I couldn’t do anything about it. Around noon on Monday, Aug. 29, my eyes were glued to the TV in my luxurious suite in the Bachelor Officers’ Quarters at Camp Lejeune, and I helplessly watched Katrina make the landfall in Chalmette. I became numb as the TV showed the eastern side of

the floodwall of the 17th Street Canal giving in and the water violently flowing through as if it was unstoppable. The floodwall on the Industrial Canal on the 9th Ward side shared the same fate. Later on I learned that my church was inundated with more than 12 feet of water! What I did not know was that my good friends, Deacon Frank Rhodes and his wife Bernice, had taken refuge in Prince of Peace Church the previous evening. They were happy that the perpetual winds and gusts had finally died down sometime on Monday afternoon. Then all of a sudden, water began pouring in from all sides of the church. As they watched the water rise through the glass doors, they put on their floating devices while trying to wade out of the church for fear they might be trapped inside. The water kept rising, and they were floating up in it. Finally, they could reach

Cemetery’s flag was tattered but unbowed The only surviving flag flown in a New Orleans Catholic cemetery during Katrina will be placed on permanent display at the Cemeteries Office at 1000 Howard Ave. “(The flag) stands as a symbol of the strength and courage of all the people of New Orleans during that very difficult time,” said Mike Boudreaux, New Orleans Catholic Cemeteries’ executive director at the time of Katrina, who gave the tattered flag to Sherri Peppo, left, the office’s current executive director, last Memorial Day. Boudreaux said the flag was recovered from the entrance flagpole at St. Joseph Cemetery No. 1, located on Washington Avenue in Uptown New Orleans. “May the flag be a tribute to the many who perished during the storm,” Boudreaux said. “May they rest in peace.” Peppo and Greg Barbay, controller of the Cemeteries Office, unfold the flag in advance of its mounting. The Cemeteries Office laid wreaths in memory of the victims of Katrina on Aug. 28 at St. Patrick No. 3; St. Louis No. 3; St. Roch No. 1; St. Joseph No. 1; and St. Vincent No. 1. Photo by Frank J. Methe | CLARION HERALD

the lower part of the church roof climbed up on it. As the water continued to rise, they said good-bye to each other and agreed that neither would blame the other if one of them would not make it! Thank the good Lord, the water finally stopped rising, but the wind was still strong enough to force them to buffet themselves on the opposite side of the roof. About four hours later, a rescue canoe passed by and picked them up. Deacon Frank and Bernice spent a night on the second floor of Chalmette High. The next morning, together with other “refugees,” they had to walk on the levee to the Chalmette ferry landing where buses on the other side of Mississippi River were waiting to take them to New Orleans International Airport. The biblical destruction of Hurricane Katrina went way beyond anyone’s expectations; it was a shock for the nation and even the world. Now Katrina brought me a brand new struggle: “My church has been destroyed, my parishioners have been scattered and I am here preparing to move further away from it all.” I felt like a shepherd running away from his distressed flock! “Should I return? Or must I go forward to Iraq?” A day before I was all ready for the duty in that foreign land, things seemed to change

unexpectedly and placed me right in the middle of a dilemma! In my lengthy prayers I asked the Lord for guidance, but there was not obviously a clear-cut solution. Eventually, I was told by officials in the Pentagon to “march forward” to Iraq. They explained that Chalmette had been destroyed and no one was being allowed to enter the damaged area, meaning there wasn’t much I could do given the circumstances. Most of the Marines I ministered to were so young – 18 to 20 years old. They looked innocent, acceptant and calm. In every war since the beginning of humanity, young soldiers are always affected and suffer the most. The morning after we arrived, I walked in the mess hall for breakfast, I came upon a sign commemorating a fallen Marine who was killed in a mortar attack, right on that spot! “The war is here,” I thought. At exactly 0830 – 8:30 a.m. – on a Sunday in early September 2005, I celebrated my first Mass at Camp Fallujah in the middle of the Iraqi War. It was just the beginning: New Orleans, Chalmette, Katrina already seemed too far away. Father Paul Nguyen is pastor of St. Rita Church in New Orleans. He is a retired U.S. Navy captain.

BRISCOE

storm as a symbol of hope, so some of the seminarians were recruited to help run the parish,” Briscoe said. “And now, St. Louis Cathedral has become my home parish. Katrina helped me find my parish home!” Brandon Briscoe, an attorney at Flanagan Partners, is president of St. Louis Cathedral’s pastoral council and also serves the parish as an acolyte and volunteer tour guide. Beth Donze can be reached at [email protected].

➤ From PAGE 19

attained law degree. He married his wife, Sarah Jane McMahon, in 2011. They have a 21-month-old daughter, Caroline, and are expecting a son in October. Asked to identify Katrina’s silver lining, Briscoe’s answer was immediate. “It was important to Archbishop (Alfred) Hughes to have the cathedral opened as quickly as possible after the

!!

AUGUST 29, 2015 CLARION HERALD

KATRINA: A

Red Cross first responder recalls joy amid chaos

O

n Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. As a member of the American Red Cross Mental Health Disaster Team, and living in the Washington, D.C., area, I was a first responder to the Pentagon attack site. Four years later, and living in Northwest Indiana, I was asked to be a first responder to the new attack on the United States, and in particular, on New Orleans. This time it was a natural disaster. The big one hit the Big Easy: Katrina. New Orleans had been special to me for several years. My eldest daughter had gone to school there. I loved the place – its history, architecture, the food, of course, but mostly the people. So when the Red Cross called, of course, I immediately agreed to go as a first responder. So off I went. I boarded a flight out of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, and a couple of hours later, landed in Baton Rouge. Landing in Baton Rouge, with Red Cross vests on, we were greeted with cheers and welcomes. We heard, “Thanks for coming to help us.” As one of many

KATRINA: A

Dr. Tom

BELLINO GUEST COLUMN

doctors, nurses and other volunteers, we were met by a Red Cross representative and shuttled to the shell of a big box store, which was now command central for the Red Cross. We were given our respective marching orders and then sent to a shelter for the night to sleep before we were sent our separate ways the next morning. My duty station would be New Orleans, whereas others were sent to other Gulf Coast locations. My billeting would be in Kenner – the Kenner jail, to be precise. “Cellblock Purple” would be my home for the next 10 days. There, I would be assigned areas to cover, either with police or the military, as homes in the carnage had to be searched for survivors or, God forbid, for the bodies of those who didn’t make it through the storm. Writing numbers and codes on houses searched is one

experience I didn’t expect. Counseling the young soldiers and even young police officers, as they, too, reacted to a task for which they were not prepared, was a challenge. Fortunately, as a Navy psychologist during the Vietnam War, I had first-hand experience in crisis intervention. But, experience is one thing; getting used to it is another. Candidly, I don’t want to have to experience either event again. I thought I had seen enough tragedy doing crisis intervention during my Navy years, but seeing what I consider as being the “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” – pestilence, war, famine and death – shook me to the core. Seeing houses submerged in water to the roofline and the roof on fire, I could only imagine that I was seeing hell. Shaking off those sights, I focused on working with the people, and in particular, the children, inasmuch as my specialty was pediatric neuropsychology. While handing out MREs (Meals Ready to Eat), I passed out toys and stuffed animals I had brought with me. Later, I was able to buy more once

Walmart opened. Seeing the eyes of the children light up after having been so frightened and sad was worth any discomfort I experienced in my 10 days there. And, in the solitude of Cellblock Purple of the Kenner jail, I prayed. I prayed for the children, for the adults and for the city. I think my prayers were heard. In times of crisis many people, myself included, rely on faith, and New Orleans certainly has that. New Or-

leans has a patroness, Our Lady of Prompt Succor, who has been invoked many times in the history of New Orleans, and I believe she heard the cries of the city once again. CLARION HERALD New Orleans lives. Dr. Tom Bellino was a member of the American Red Cross Mental Health Disaster Team that responded to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans as well as the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon. His recently released, best selling book, “Bac Si: A Novel,” was written mostly in New Orleans.

AUGUST 29, 2015

Katrina’s unidentified rest in peace

Forever grateful to Katrina’s ‘angels’ Luling Thoughts of Katrina – memories of checking online all night for hotels, then the bumper-to-bumper drive, looking back at the huge, dark storm clouds enveloping the city. The surrealism at the sight on TV of water flowing through the levees the next morning – the realization that we couldn’t go back home. So many wonderful angels came into our lives in San Antonio – our son Michael and his new bride Eloise, their friends and co-workers, who gave us clothes, furniture; their landlord who provided a free two-bedroom apartment; the school coun-

selors who cared for our children’s needs; and someone to talk to in Presentation Sister Therese Gleitz at St. Matthew Catholic Church – so many needs met with so much love! More angels in Gonzales – dear Mrs. Ruth who became my “other mother” and provided a real home for our family of six for another 1 ½ years, thanks to dear friends Carolyn and Peter interceding for us and enabling our move back to Louisiana; Father Joel LaBauve and the choir at St. Mark Catholic Church – universal church – the meaning of which had only been words until 2005. Other friends who quickly readied a home in Metairie

for us while our new home in Luling was nearing completion. Ten years have passed – you see, due to a selfless decision by my dear family, these New Orleanians were able to build 10 feet higher, a little further west. And though many changes have taken place – a newly merged parish and a new hometown – the most important remain constant – our family, friends, all of whom survived – and new friends who have come into our lives. The love of God shines through and his merciful care is ever-present. No matter what, he is with us all – always. – Jonelle LeBlanc Foltz

Photos by Beth Donze | CLARION HERALD

A memorial mausoleum at 5056 Canal St. provides the final resting place for more than 100 individuals whose bodies were unclaimed or unidentified after Hurricane Katrina. The memorial, on the site of Charity Hospital’s longtime cemetery for those who had no burial options, was dedicated Aug. 29, 2009. It stands just off the end of the Canal Street/Cemeteries streetcar line.

KATRINA:

AUGUST 29, 2015 CLARION HERALD

A

!"

Operation Helping Hands got many families home By Christine Bordelon Clarion Herald

Her life wasn’t easy before Hurricane Katrina. Alos Taylor, now 84, had had a heart attack and was trying to keep her head above water raising a dozen great grandchildren on a fixed income. The Sunday before Katrina hit New Orleans in August 2005, Taylor said her daughter Anna Garrison coaxed her and the children to leave their raised Irish Channel home where she had lived for decades – in fear the nearby Mississippi River might overflow – to stay in her home on Earhart Boulevard off Carrollton Avenue. By Monday morning Aug. 29, they learned it was a big mistake. “We almost drowned,” Taylor said. “We had to be rescued by boat” and then were brought to the top of the Causeway overpass, where they remained for two days until a helicopter airlifted the family to Louis Armstrong International Airport. From there, they were flown to a shelter in Fort Polk, Arkansas. A grandson in the military in Virginia Beach was contacted, and he transported some family members back to Virginia, where the Red Cross was helping evacuees.

Roof damage

After five months in an apartment provided by the Red Cross, Taylor said FEMA sent her back to New Orleans to her home, only to discover roof damage from the storm had caused water damage to her home and belongings. What wasn’t destroyed by the storm, looters had ransacked. “I came back here and I had an empty house,” Taylor said. “They broke in and cleaned me out.” She said she was denied Road Home money, causing her family to sleep on the floor for awhile until $13,000 in insurance money was used to replace lost furniture. During a request for relief

OPERATION HELPING HANDS

A ministry of Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans established to help gut and rebuild the homes of the poor, disabled and elderly damaged by Hurricane Katrina. From 2006-12, Operation Helping Hands: ➤

➤

➤

Repaired, gutted, painted and/or rebuilt more than 2,500 homes in the New Orleans area. Approximately 20,000 volunteers from as far away as Japan, Egypt and Europe helped in the rebuilding. The program model has been reactivated in times of devastation such as in the aftermath of Hurricane Isaac, when Operation Helping Hands assisted with 78 relief projects to help get families back into their homes.

from the nonprofit Hope House in the Irish Channel, she was referred to Operation Helping Hands, a program of Catholic Charities New Orleans that helped repair storm-damaged homes. “The first thing they did was bring food and blankets and give us a voucher to buy food,” she said. “Then, they fixed the house and put in central air conditioning,” she said. Operation Helping Hands painted her home’s exterior, repaired the roof and replaced broken windows. “Miss Deborah was a big help,” she said of Operation Helping Hands’ supervisor Debbie Koehler. “I can’t express how good Catholic Charities was. They gave us clothes and food, and Miss Deborah even bought my breathing medicine. I never met anybody like that before. A lot of times I called her and I said we didn’t have anything to eat, and she said to come over (to her office) and get food vouchers.”

Chinese drywall

Not long after her house was completed, it was discovered that Chinese dry wall was used, and Operation Helping Hands swooped in and repaired it again. During the yearlong second renovation, Catholic Charities

paid for the Taylors to rent an apartment on Delachaise Street, she said. The Bishop Perry Center also has helped her with food, school uniforms and school supplies for her great grandchildren. Taylor, who was a cook technician for 40 years with the Orleans Parish School Board and an employee of Kingsley House for 35 years, is Catholic and says she often says novenas at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. Seven of her great grandchildren live with her – three attend St. Stephen School, and one is at St. Augustine. Several were affected deeply by the storm and go to counseling. Taylor said she is thankful for the services of Operation Helping Hands. “I think Catholic Charities is one of the best organization ever made,” Taylor said.

2,500 homes repaired

Kathey Anderson, another Operation Helping Hands client, said Hurricane Katrina completely knocked her Gentilly home in the 7th Ward right off its foundation. “It was devastating,” she said. “It was one of the most horrific things, and I don’t want to go through it again. She evacuated pre-storm See HELPING HANDS page 26 ➤

Photo by Frank J. Methe | CLARION HERALD

Alos Taylor is back in her Irish Channel home thanks to Operation Helping Hands.

!"

AUGUST 29, 2015 CLARION HERALD

KATRINA: A

Katrina brought unexpected experiences for writer

T

en years ago, and yet the memories are as fresh as though it were yesterday. As a senior in high school, I remember that I had just recently asked someone to the Dominican Ring Dance. It was the very beginning of senior year, and there were so many things that I was looking forward to doing: wearing my navy blue sweater, my final Rally Day, graduation in my white gown. And then, it all came crashing down: Hurricane Katrina had landed and devastated the city of New Orleans and its surrounding areas. Nothing would be the same. It’s easy to think of Aug. 29 as a time of loss. So many lost everything they had. While I certainly lost the memories that I had hoped to capture, I also gained memories and experiences that I had never imagined. My brother Ian attended Holy Cross, and while my family was in Houston, a sister school in California contacted my parents and offered the possibility of having my brother and me finish our senior year in Sherman Oaks with a host family. We had both been looking at colleges and visiting them, with most of our options leaning toward going out of state. But I hadn’t expected to leave home quite so suddenly. I remember, at first, being upset that we would be leaving: I didn’t have a chance to say goodbye to friends; I didn’t want to change schools. I couldn’t get past the idea of having a different experience than the senior year I had imagined. But at the airport, saying good-bye to my parents and sister, I only felt fear and nerves. The amount of tears shed in the airplane could only parallel my first day of eighth grade in the car with my mom when I first stepped onto Dominican’s campus and realized I would be spending my first day of

KATRINA: A

Heather

BOZANT WITCHER GUEST COLUMN

school without my brother. The difference was that now my brother was seated beside me, and I knew that we would figure out whatever was in store for us together. The biggest challenge, at first, was definitely being in a classroom that had both girls and boys again. In some ways, I’m glad I was able to grow accustomed to the change from a single-sex classroom before my first day

in college. The second-largest challenge was simply being away from home. I never saw my house or my great-grandparents’ house the same way that my parents saw it. In fact, I never saw the interior of my great-grandparents’ home again. In some ways, I’m grateful for not having that experience. Hearing my parents describe the mold, decay and destruction in a home that held so many memories of my childhood was simply non-relatable. In my mind’s eye, the paneled wood walls and the shelves with all of the religious statues and teacups

with their saucers are in pristine condition. That’s the way I prefer to envision my great-grandparents’ house. So, in some ways, I was shielded from the effects of Hurricane Katrina. When we came home for the holidays, it was the first time that we saw the water lines on the buildings and the Xs on the doors. That was when the effects hit home for me. In a lot of ways, my senior year prepared me for the first year of college, where I was again away from home. While many of my friends during their first few weeks or months at Spring Hill experienced homesickness, it didn’t

seem so different than what I had already gone through. My parents and I had already developed a routine of calling one another almost daily, a habit that HERALD continues even CLARION today. When I look back, the change that had seemed so devastating at the beginning seems to have catapulted me more firmly into reality. Change is a part of life, and Hurricane Katrina simply forced me to face it – and to grow up into facing responsibility and acting on my own judgments – a bit more quickly. Heather Bozant Witcher can be reached at hbozantwitcher@ clarionherald.org.

AUGUST 29, 2015

Emotions of Hurricane Katrina: From A to Z Patricia Pajaud Transfiguration, New Orleans

Just days after the storm, I started the “Negative” and “Positive” lists, using the letters KATRINA. Eventually, I began using the entire alphabet, from A to Z, which is summarized here below in a Katrina anniversary alphabet. Initially, it was challenging to identify positives in a situation as grave as Katrina and its aftermath. Early on, however, countless examples of human kindness and divine intervention were identified and appreciated. LETTER A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

NEGATIVE CONNECTIONS awful broken things catastrophic devastation evacuation woes flooding gutting houses homelessness w jobs lost killer losses mistakes negatives galore odors pity party quit ruin setbacks traumatic unprecedented vexations Why? Why me? eXamples of wrong “You Cannot Go Back to Before” zero progress

POSITIVE CONNECTIONS adjustments blessings caring determination evacuating safely faith generosity happy moments innovations junk gone kindness love memories preserved new beginnings others prayer quiet responders strangers’ kindness togetherness unexpected support victories We – together; Wow – we’re making it! eXamples of heroism Your Future zealous helpers

KATRINA:

AUGUST 29, 2015 CLARION HERALD

!" A Katrina bestowed street cred, provoked questions in college

A

typical beginning of a new school year for me at St. Ann School in Metairie involved wondering whether or not I would like my homeroom teacher and dreading anything having to do with math. However, August 2005 was much different. After having been back in school for only a week, Hurricane Katrina had other plans. Talk about an interruption to fourth grade! Of course, at the time, I was just happy to be getting out of school. I didn’t fully understand the seriousness of Hurricane Katrina’s slow approach to the Gulf Coast. To me, evacuating was just a mini-vacation and not a measure taken for safety. After boarding up the windows of our Kenner home where we had just moved the previous year, my parents, big sister, two grandparents and my mother’s godmother evacuated to Baton Rouge to stay with my aunt and uncle. The night we got there just so happened to be the night my aunt was to celebrate her birthday, which probably added to my perception that everything was fine. Nonetheless, we kept flipping through the TV channels from news station to news station, keeping an eye on the storm. I don’t remember how long it was after we evacuated that we lost power; my 9-year-old self just remembers the losing-power part. Once the storm had passed and we had heard from the news reports what areas had been most seriously affected, we naturally worried about what condition our homes were in, especially my grandparents’ home, which was in New Orleans East. We also started receiving word of school closures and temporary relocations. St. Ann was closed due to water damage, so I attended Blessed Sacrament School in Baton

David

MIRANDA YOUNG ADULTS

Rouge for about two months until we were able to move back home. However, my sister Ericka, who had just started her sophomore year at the Academy of the Sacred Heart, was caught in a somewhat different situation. Sacred Heart on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans was closed due to storm damage and had temporarily relocated to the Sacred Heart School in Grand Coteau, Louisiana. Host families close by in Opelousas were opening up their homes to temporarily house students from New Orleans until they could return home. Ericka had no problem with reuniting with her classmates, but my mother was a bit hesitant. I remember she said it felt like she was unexpectedly dropping her daughter off at college two years early. Ericka stayed with a host family for about two months, and they were extremely kind. The family had a daughter close to Ericka’s age, and, to this day, they remain good friends. Once evacuees like us were allowed to enter the city, we drove home and surveyed the damage to our Kenner home. To our surprise and relief, there was little damage to the house, except for some shingles blown off the roof. The biggest upset was that we lost our massive oak tree in the backyard. My grandparents, however, found something much different when they returned to New Orleans East. Their house sustained about five feet of flooding and was completely devastated. My mother’s godmother Carmen, who evacuated with us, lived Uptown off Magazine Street

and found similar damage in her home. My mother’s sister and her family also could not immediately move back into their own home due to water damage. As a result, all of these family members moved in with my family until they could restore their homes or find a new one. St. Ann was still under restoration when we returned to Jefferson Parish, so grades kindergarten through fourth shared the campus of St. Philip Neri School with their students, and fifth through seventh graders moved to St. Benilde School until we could move back to our campus. Ten years later, I see Hurricane Katrina through a whole different perspective. Having just completed my first year of college at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, much of the introductory process of meeting new classmates went something like this: “Nice to meet you David! Where are you from?” “I’m from New Orleans, Louisiana.” “Oh wow that’s so cool! What was Katrina like?” It threw me off guard a few times, but I guess I should have expected people to wonder. But what struck me the most was that some of

my classmates, who were also only in fourth grade at the time of the storm, remembered it. It had never occurred to me that people from New Jersey and Pennsylvania or just beyond the Gulf Coast, for that matter, knew about and remembered Katrina. What’s more is that some of my new friends remember that their elementary schools had prayer services and bottled water collections to help relief efforts in the city. It’s amazing how 10 years

later, I’m still learning how big this one hurricane really was, to the point that it shocked not only an entire region, but an entire nation. However, if there is one thing I’ve seen demonstrated by the people of the Gulf Coast, and New Orleans, in particular, it is that after tragedy and destruction comes rebuilding and new life. David Miranda was a summer intern for the Clarion Herald. He can be reached at [email protected].

City, Living Word live on Marrero “New Orleans is My Hometown.” It is a great song, but true, so true to life and about life. The “City that Care Forgot.” In challenges, you either meet them, greet them and beat them – or they beat you. Not so for us here. It’s our hometown. A home is where there are people who care, share, help, assist and love one another. We demonstrated it when

we left the city in order and helped others, and we did the same when we returned. What makes it happen? Faith, lived out in hope and demonstrated in love, one for another. We did it before, and we are doing it again now. We are proud to call New Orleans our hometown. We natives demonstrate it every day. So sing it often and loudly: “New Orleans is My Hometown.” – Sister of the Living Word Angela Ashbey

AUGUST 29, 2015

!"

CLARION HERALD

HELPING HANDS ➤ From PAGE 23

first to Mississippi then Memphis to secure Red Cross assistance for family members. Her elderly mother was separated from her for awhile until they saw her on TV standing next to former President Bill Clinton in Arkansas. She reunited with her family only to die five months after the storm (and was buried in Memphis), Anderson said. Before she died, they made a trip home to see their home devastated. “She looked at me and cried for awhile, and she made me promise that I would come back and rebuild the city and our home,” Anderson recalled. After 14 months in Memphis, Anderson heard about Project Reconstruct, a program teaching individuals construction skills to rebuild their own homes and signed up. She said she started working with AmeriCorps for Operation Helping Hands for two years and then was a cook for five years with Catholic Charities. She applied to have Operation Helping Hands rebuild her home from top to bottom, using a floating peer system designed by Louisiana State

KATRINA: A

Partnering with OHH ➤ Several organizations worked with Operation Helping Hands during the rebuilding. Among them were Catholic Charities USA, Rebuilding Together, Irish Christian Brothers, Charity Sisters, Notre Dame Mission Volunteers, Habitat for Humanity, Scott and Mamie Payne Foundation, Project Homecoming, Mennonite Disaster Services, Providence Housing, United Way GNO Disaster Partnership.

KATRINA: A

FINNEY ➤ From PAGE 2

life literally turned upside down – a piano transformed into balsa wood, a coffee mug coaxed from a cabinet into the bathroom – that reality check was a blessing because it prepared me for the moment I had to push in the front door for real. One cleanup Saturday, my sister Barbara stood on the front sidewalk facing the house. She was weeping. “It’s going to be OK,” I assured her. And it was. The sacraments were all around us. When our family returned to New Orleans for our son Jonathan’s senior ring Mass at Jesuit High School, I put on the only sport coat and

AUGUST 29, 2015 CLARION HERALD

University. She said Operation Helping Hands helped her navigate the jungle of paperwork required for federal government rebuilding funds and to obtain an elevation grant. “I couldn’t have done it without the volunteer help and Catholic Charities, who donated more than $100,000 in materials,” she said, including insulated windows and doors. “I couldn’t have afforded to rebuild my house. But it was more than rebuilding; it was the love that went with it.” Her three-bedroom, twobath home was finished in December 2008, allowing extended family to return to

New Orleans. Even now, 10 years after the storm, Taylor’s home is one of few houses in her neighborhood to have been rebuilt. But her life is back on track; she is a banquet waitress at the Fair Grounds. But, she said, working with Operation Helping Hands was an enlightening experience, allowing her to meet people from throughout the world. Some volunteers who worked on her house have become her extended family and revisit every Mardi Gras for the Bacchus parade and a big helping of her red beans. “They didn’t just rebuild the house, they rebuilt my

tie I owned – direct from the haute couture rack at the Gonzales Walmart. When we stood for the Prayer of the Faithful, a nice mother from the pew behind tapped me on my shoulder. Looking a little embarrassed, she pointed to the back of my khaki trousers. And there it was, the mostly translucent stripe running down the back of my pants indicating I was indeed, for the world to see, a 34-by-32. As I peeled away the incriminating evidence of a limited wardrobe, I told her, “Please let me know if you see anything else!” Imagine all that coming before the sign of peace. As a Catholic journalist, I was blessed by Katrina. The Clarion Herald resumed publication on Oct. 1, 2005 – one month after the storm – with

an eight-page issue printed in Lafayette and then trucked to the loading dock of the Catholic Life Center in Baton Rouge. We pulled our cars up to the dock and threw the bundles inside. In the heat of the moment, I told Ron Kogos, one of our ad sales representatives, “Man, I’d hate to do this for a living!” Then, I caught myself. “Wait a minute, we are doing this for a living!” One of Katrina’s blessings was seeing how much our Catholic newspaper was valued by the New Orleanians who had been scattered to places like Breaux Bridge and Grosse Tete and Livonia. People ripped papers out of our hands before we could place the bundles in the back of church. You could go a lifetime without that kind of affirmation of purpose and

Photos by Frank J. Methe | CLARION HERALD

Alos Taylor talks about her Katrina experience and the troubles caused by the rising cost of food and medicine. She is grateful to Catholic Charities.

family,” she said. reached at cbordelon@clarion Christine Bordelon can be herald.org. meaning. Ten years. Three months ago, we officially moved back to New Orleans. We are living in a new home, six feet above the sidewalk, but more importantly, two blocks from our former St. Frances Cabrini Church. I mention this because we are living proof that there is a balm in Gilead. The road home has come full circle. In its destruction, St. Frances Cabrini Church and School, which our children attended, laid down its life and gave seed to Holy Cross School, which in addition to educating young men on its breathtaking campus is breathing life into a neighborhood that Katrina had left for dead. We are back at our church home: Transfiguration of the

Lord Parish, formed postKatrina through the merger of St. Frances Cabrini, St. Raphael the Archangel and St. Thomas the Apostle parishes. Our worship home is the restored St. Raphael Church. There is a balm in Gilead, To make the wounded whole; There is a balm in Gilead, To heal the sin-sick soul. Another sign of our spiritual home: The wooden statue of the Resurrected Christ that for more than 40 years seemed to float, suspended by thin wires, with arms outstretched above the altar at St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, is now soaring from the ceiling near the tabernacle at Transfiguration. We are home, thank God. We can stop running. We can sit and rest awhile. Peter Finney Jr. can be reached at [email protected].

KATRINA:

AUGUST 29, 2015 CLARION HERALD

A

!"

What is the post-K status of churches, schools? The Archdiocese of New Orleans, which sustained $120 million in uninsured damages from Hurricane Katrina, adheres to a hierarchy of priorities when it sells or leases property that it no longer needs, said Sarah McDonald, archdiocesan director of communications. The first option, McDonald said, is to offer the property for use by other Catholic ministries. If that is not possible, the archdiocese attempts to sell the property to nonprofits or organizations that serve a broad community purpose. The final option is to sell or lease the property to buyers for purely secular uses. Five vacant church buildings were among three dozen properties sold in a sealed-bid process in 2012. “The important thing for everyone to know is that we’ve attempted either to put church properties back into ministry use or return them to the service of the neighborhood for the wellbeing of the community,” McDonald said. “In some cases, when that was not possible or feasible, buildings were demolished and the land was sold or held for future considerations.”

List of properties

The following is a list of post-Katrina property transactions involving churches or schools that were either damaged or temporarily closed: BLESSED SACRAMENT CHURCH, NEW ORLEANS: All buildings on the property have been sold. EPIPHANY CHURCH, NEW ORLEANS: The pastor and pastoral council of Corpus ChristiEpiphany asked the archdiocese in July for approval to sell Epiphany church, rectory and convent. I M M A C U L AT E H E A R T O F MARY CHURCH, NEW ORLEANS: Church was demolished. Land is vacant. I NCARNATE W ORD C HURCH AND S CHOOL , N EW O RLEANS :

The school has been leased to Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans’ Head Start program. Auxiliary Bishop Fernand Cheri lives in the rectory. The church is vacant. N AT I V I T Y O F O U R L O R D C HURCH , K ENNER : Purchase agreement has been reached with Victory Life Church. OUR LADY OF GOOD COUNSEL, NEW ORLEANS: The church and rectory  are being renovated for ministry by the Center of Jesus the Lord. Renovations are expected to be completed by December. An option to purchase the school has been signed by a local developer. O UR L ADY OF G OOD H AR BOR CHURCH, BURAS: Church was demolished. Vacant land is for sale. OUR LADY OF LOURDES CHURCH, NEW ORLEANS: The archdiocese is awaiting approval by the city to subdivide the property, which may be finalized in September. The church and rectory will be sold through a request-forproposal process. The school building will continue to be used by Holy Rosary Academy and High School. OUR LADY OF LOURDES CHURCH, VIOLET: New church, which was badly flooded, has reopened. The former Our Lady of Lourdes Church is vacant. O U R L A D Y S TA R O F T H E S EA P ARISH , N EW O RLEANS : Church, rectory and convent are in operation. P RINCE OF P EACE P ARISH , CHALMETTE: Church was demolished and other buildings were renovated by and leased to ARC. SACRED HEART OF JESUS, NEW ORLEANS (CANAL STREET): Church and rectory are vacant. The former Seton Academy/Willwoods Community residential building is now operated by Unity for the Homeless. S T . B ERNARD C HURCH , S T . BERNARD: Church is open. S T . B RIGID C HURCH , N EW

ORLEANS: Church building has been leased. ST. FRANCES XAVIER CABRINI CHURCH AND SCHOOL, NEW O RLEANS : The church and school were demolished and the land was sold to Holy Cross School. ST. FRANCIS DE SALES CHURCH, NEW ORLEANS: Sold to a local developer. S T . H ENRY C HURCH , N EW ORLEANS: Under the oversight of Good Shepherd Parish. Mass is celebrated Monday through Friday at 6:30 a.m. at St. Henry Church. Church also is open for funerals and weddings. School and rectory are leased to École Bilingue. ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST CHURCH, N E W O R L E A N S : Under the oversight of St. Patrick Parish. Weekly Saturday vigil Mass is celebrated at 4 p.m. The church also is open for weddings and funerals. The rectory has been leased to Felicity Group, which has renovated the building. ST. JOSEPH MISSION, POTASH: Church was demolished. Land sold in sealed-bid process. ST. JUDE CHURCH, DIAMOND: The church, which was built on leased land, was demolished. The land reverted to the owners upon the closing of the parish in 2006. ST. JULIAN EYMARD CHURCH AND S CHOOL , N EW O RLEANS : Sold. ST. LAWRENCE THE MARTYR PARISH, METAIRIE: Home to the Hispanic Center, which provides pastoral services for the Hispanic community. Also home to the Archdiocesan Spirituality Center. ST. LOUISE DE MARILLAC SCHOOL, ARABI: Church was demolished. School was leased to The Gathering (Camp Hope), and the rectory leased to St. Bernard Parish for housing. ST. MARK CHURCH AND SCHOOL, CHALMETTE: Church and school were demolished and the land was sold to the

St. Bernard Parish School Board. S T . M AURICE P ARISH , N EW ORLEANS: Former church, rectory and school were sold in sealed-bid process. S T . M ONICA C HURCH AND SCHOOL, NEW ORLEANS: Sold. ST. NICHOLAS OF MYRA CHURCH, LAKE ST. CATHERINE: Church was renovated and opened as a mission of Resurrection of Our Lord Parish in 2014. ST. PHILIP THE APOSTLE CHURCH AND SCHOOL, NEW ORLEANS: Church and school were demolished and the vacant land was sold in a sealed-bid process. ST. RAYMOND PARISH, NEW ORLEANS: The convent is under lease. The rectory is used by St. Raymond-St. Leo the Great Parish. The church and school buildings are vacant. Post-Katrina, the school served as a base camp for Operation Helping Hands of Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans. ST. RAPHAEL THE ARCHANGEL CHURCH, NEW ORLEANS: Renovated church is the worship space for Transfiguration of the Lord Parish. New school building has been built and leased to Holy Cross School for its primary school. A new gym is being built for use by the CYO/Youth and Young

Adult Ministry Office. ST. ROBERT BELLARMINE CHURCH, ARABI: Church, school and parish hall were demolished, and the land was sold in a sealed-bid process. ST. ROSE OF LIMA CHURCH, N E W O R L E A N S : The Bayou Tremé Foundation has leased the building. S T . S IMON P ETER C HURCH , NEW ORLEANS: Sold in a sealedbid process. S T . T HERESA OF THE C HILD JESUS CHURCH, NEW ORLEANS: Sold to Antioch Full Gospel Church in 2008. SAN PEDRO PESCADOR CHURCH, FLORISSANT: Church sold to a private individual.

Other churches

The following parishes were closed in 2000 in the merger of several Marigny/Bywater parishes into Blessed Seelos Parish. However, these properties were sold in the last several years and are included to illustrate the archdiocese’s commitment to neighborhoods to maintain or return to service buildings in the area. STS. PETER AND PAUL, NEW ORLEANS: Church, school and rectory were sold in a sealedbid process. ANNUNCIATION PARISH, NEW ORLEANS: Church, rectory and parish were sold.

AUGUST 29, 2015

KATRINA:

A Bishop Morin’s chalice and New Orleans: Better than ever !"

CLARION HERALD

By Peter Finney Jr. Clarion Herald

The irony is not lost on Biloxi Bishop Roger Morin. With 80 percent of New Orleans submerged in the days following Hurricane Katrina, the then-auxiliary bishop of New Orleans was informed during a disaster recovery meeting in Baton Rouge that his residence on South Carrollton Avenue across from Notre Dame Seminary was burning to the ground. “Somebody came into the meeting and said, ‘CNN is showing your house going up in flames,’” Bishop Morin recalled last week from his office in Biloxi. “I’ve never seen the film to this day.” No one could determine the exact cause of the fire – people were seen two days after the storm on the front porch, going in and out of his house – but the results of the blaze

KATRINA: A

Photos by Frank J. Methe | CLARION HERALD

Bishop Roger Morin’s chalice: after Katrina and “way after” Katrina.

were not open to debate. When the two-story residence collapsed in the inferno, the mud pit that remained swallowed up most of Bishop Morin’s earthly possessions. The most sentimental loss was the sterling silver, gold-plated chalice that family friends had given him for his ordination to the priesthood in 1971. In the weeks after Katrina, Bishop Morin raked through the ruins but found only a

couple of small figurines, a Waterford crystal paperweight sculpted in the form of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., and a few pages of his extensive stamp collection. His chalice, which he stored in his residence’s chapel, was nowhere to be found. Although Bishop Morin had given up any hope of finding it, several seminarians kept poking in the ashes around the spot where they believed the

chapel would have collapsed into the mud. What they stumbled on was the chalice and paten, “burnt, corroded and bent out of shape.” “It seemed beyond repair,” Bishop Morin said. Bishop Morin asked a religious articles store in Baton Rouge if the sacred vessels could be salvaged, and the store shipped it off to CM Almy, which specializes in chalice restoration. When Bishop Morin got the chalice back a few months later, it not only was pristinely restored, but an anonymous benefactor had paid for the painstaking work. “I’ve never to this day found out who had underwritten the expense,” Bishop Morin said. “I would use that chalice for Mass when volunteers would come to New Orleans for recovery work. I would explain to the volunteers that the chal-

ice had been severely damaged and bent out of shape – as if something had fallen on it – just as all of our hopes and aspirations had been for New Orleans. I could show them thatCLARION the chalice was not only HERALD as good as it was before the storm – it was even better!” Bishop Morin said his Katrina losses do not compare to so many other stories he heard in the shelters. “There were people who had a lot more to cope with,” he said. “I was immediately provided with a place to live. I was deeply touched by the faith of the people who had survived the storm. Even in those early days after the storm, people were able to say those words: ‘Thank God I am still here. Thank God my life was spared.’ I learned by listening to other people telling me they were counting their blessings. I had to count my own.”

AUGUST 29, 2015

COMMENTARY

August 29, 2015 | New Orleans

CLARION HERALD | Page 29

Balanced life includes time for family, work, prayer

W

ork is an important expression of human dignity and of caring for one’s family, but today there is a “dangerous tendency” to consider a worker's family obligations as an obstacle to productivity and profit, Pope Francis said. “But let’s ask ourselves: What productivity? And for whom?” he said Aug. 19 at his weekly general audience as he continued a long series of audience talks about the family and family life. “Work, in its thousand forms, beginning with housework, is about caring for the common good,” providing for one's family and cooperating with God in creating goods and services that are useful to others, the pope said. To say someone is a “hard worker,” he said, is a compliment, just as saying someone “lives off” of another is a put down. St. Paul, in 2 Thessalo-

Pope

FRANCIS

nians, tells Christians that if they do not work, they should not eat. “It’s a great recipe for losing weight, eh?” the pope said. “Work – and I repeat, in all its forms – is human. It expresses the dignity of being created in the image of God, which is why it can be said that work is sacred,” Pope Francis told pilgrims gathered in the Vatican audience hall. Work is so important for individual identity, for the ability it gives people to support their families and for its contribution to the community that creating and organizing employment is a huge "human and social responsibility,

which cannot be left in the hands of a few or pushed off onto a divinized market," the pope said. “To cause the loss of jobs is to cause great social damage,” he said. “It makes me sad when I see there are no jobs, when there are people without work who cannot find a job and who do not have the dignity of being able to bring bread home,” he said. “And I rejoice when I see governments making great efforts to promote employment, to find jobs and to try to make sure everyone has work.” Work is part of the normal rhythm of life for individuals and for families, he said. It must alternate with times of rest or celebration and, especially, time for prayer. Balance is important, Pope Francis said, for protecting individuals, their families, society and the environment.

On the Web: www.news.va

Attitudes toward work that consider the family an obstacle to productivity, he said, also tend to see the workforce as something “to assemble, use or dispose of” only according to how much money it makes. The family is “the proving ground” of labor policies, he said. “When the organization of work takes the family hostage or blocks its progress, then we can be certain society has begun working against itself.” Christian families, the pope said, have a mission to remind the world of the fundamental principles of God’s creation and God’s plan: “the identity and bond between man and woman; the generation of children; work that tames and makes the world habitable.”

On managing conflict while praying for patience

F

amilies are made up of fighters, compromisers, sore losers and problem solvers. Are you a fighter for your rights or a compromiser? A sore loser or a problem solver? A fighter refuses to lose. A compromiser gives in but ultimately may forfeit too much for the sake of peace. A sore loser walks away sulking, but a problem solver listens. Listening enables you to get at the root of the conflict to reach a peaceful resolution. Problem solvers know that the art of compromise rests on the principle that a win-win solution is indeed possible. With patience, a good strategy and the help of God, all things are possible. Professional arbitrators know that if you listen to all sides, with sincere interest, the conflict has a way of resolving itself. Why not apply these professional standards to family spats? A good plan begins with

Father John

CATOIR SPIRITUALITY FOR TODAY

the idea that each party has a point of view and a right to have his or her reasonable needs met. Write this down: Your right to meet your needs is equal to my right to have my needs met, but no one has an absolute right to have all their needs met. When disciplining children, the rights of parental authority are superior to the rights of the children. Nevertheless, listening respectfully to a child’s arguments will always be wiser than asserting full parental authority immediately. In conflicts involving adults, never start out by demanding that others give up their right to meet personal needs. Any assumption that

rejects a reasonable presentation of all sides of the arguments is doomed to fail. Define the problem clearly. Put it in writing. Let all the parties agree on exactly what the issue is and what needs are in conflict. Listening will often generate solutions. Also, brainstorm to find solutions. Share ideas and make no judgments. As people voice their ideas, put all the options on the table and look at them without criticism. Choose the most creative solutions, keeping in mind that some things cannot be compromised, such as the laws of God and the laws of legitimate civil authority. Select the solution that gets the most support and then implement it. Later, follow up to see that all promises are kept. Everyone may not get exactly what they want, but compromises can make the resolution more palatable. Having a plan of action often diffuses the emotional

heat before arguments escalate. Conflict is normal, and family conflicts are commonplace. Each person has differing needs, and when one person’s needs, at any given age, are not being met, there is usually a lot of frustration, which leads to emotional conflict. The way we control ourselves has much to do with the virtue of patience. We need to pray for the virtue of patience. Charity begins at home, accompanied by lots of patience. We all have attitudes, which often govern our behavior toward others. Some arguments are more about underlying assumptions than about the issue at hand. There are a variety of conflicts, whether in a family, a factory or a monastery. Just remember to keep your cool, and remember that resolution is possible. Father John Catoir is a columnist with Catholic News Service.

“The loss of these fundamentals is a very serious matter, and in our common home there are already too many cracks,” Pope Francis said. “The beauty of the earth and the dignity of work were made to go together,” he said. But when the family, the earth or labor are “hostage to the logic of profit,” then everything is poisoned and the poorest families suffer most. “The task isn’t easy. Sometimes it seems that families are like David facing Goliath, but we know how that story ended!” Pope Francis said. – VATICAN CITY (CNS)

SPORTS

Page 30 | CLARION HERALD

August 29, 2015 | New Orleans

Katrina +10: The trials and triumphs of recovery

A

ug. 24, 2005: I was at Pan American Stadium for St. Augustine’s football photo shoot to talk about the season with head coach Tyrone Payne. I noticed how high the grass was just one day before the first jamboree game. One of the team’s best players was Chad Jones. Little did I know that this would be the last time I would see him wearing a Purple Knights’ uniform. Aug. 25: I watched curiously as the newly opened Desire Street Academy played its first jamboree game against Clark at Pan Am. I spoke with its proud headmaster, Danny Wuerffel, about the team’s future, not knowing that it would be in Baton Rouge and not New Orleans and that it would last just a few years. Aug. 26: En route to Archbishop Hannan for its jamboree, I stopped at a restaurant on West Judge Perez Drive. While waiting for my order to arrive, my attention caught one of many televisions. An enormous storm was slowly churning its way up the Gulf of Mexico. Like thousands who live in southeast Louisiana, I prayed that it would turn away. I watched Redeemer-Seton’s game against Pearl River and then decided it was time to reconsider Jamboree Week. I needed to prepare for the unimaginable, although inevitable. Three days later, Hurricane Katrina reached the Louisiana shoreline, and life in the Big Easy changed forever. There was no longer a need

Ron

BROCATO SPORTS

to cut the grass at Pan Am or anywhere else. The little restaurant in Chalmette was leveled. Today, I couldn’t tell you exactly where it was located. The buildings at RedeemerSeton, St. Mary’s Academy, Holy Cross and Hannan sustained maximum damage. I visited them all several weeks later. I felt I was viewing the sarcophagus of old friends. The first floors at Jesuit and St. Augustine schools were flooded. Like most everything else, football season was on indefinite hold.

Classrooms on the fly Families were spread to all corners of the state and U.S. When I returned from sanctuary in Lafayette, I saw uniform shirts with logos from several schools walking the corridors of Archbishop Shaw. In Metairie, Archbishop Rummel became a transition school and was coed for the first time in its 43-year history. It even fielded a girls’ basketball team. Xavier Prep took in students from the devastated St. Mary’s Academy and St. Augustine and operated under the acronym, The MAX (MaryAugustine-Xavier). Six-hundred Jesuit students attended night classes at St. Martin’s Episcopal School in Metairie (300 more were

National guardsmen, whose unit was headquartered at De La Salle following the hurricane, showed their support for the school’s football team by attending a Cavaliers’ game.

at Strake Jesuit in Houston). The Dunham School in Baton Rouge became the classrooms for Holy Cross students. There was little normality remaining until principals and coaches decided they must have a football season of some kind, if at all possible. LHSAA Commissioner Tommy Henry made it possible by proclaiming New Orleans a single attendance zone. He allowed students to participate in athletics at any school they were attending in this critical advent of recovery.

Let the games begin First back online was St. Charles Catholic. A team that combined its own students with other athletes from closed city Catholic schools, the Comets played their first game on Sept. 10, defeating Jackson, 42-0. They would be the most successful Catholic school in the area by making it to the Class 2A championship game in Shreveport. On Sept. 25, Pope John Paul met Live Oak. Four days later, Holy Cross fielded a makeshift team after salvaging whatever equipment was above the waterline in the battered gym. Athletic Director Greg Battistella bought additional equipment from a sporting goods store in Baton Rouge on the promise that the merchant would be paid in time. Using a truck as its dressing room, the team traveled to Ouachita for a game. Shaw faced Walker on Oct. 7, Rummel followed with a game against Grace King eight days later. The first Catholic League game took place on Oct. 22 when Jesuit and Holy Cross assembled enough players to face each other for the 83rd consecutive year. Jesuit head coach Vic Eumont returned from his refuge in California to coach his team for this traditional game. The game was made possible when Brother Martin AD Barry Hebert provided the helmets and pads to Jesuit, one of his school’s biggest rivals. Holy Cross won the game, played before 2,000 spectators at Yenni Stadium, by the score

File photos by Ron Brocato | CLARION HERALD

Even in the wake of a devastating hurricane, the rivalry between Jesuit and Holy Cross was as ardent as ever as a player from each team chides the other on their way back to their respective huddles in 2005. Although players were scattered, coaches from the two schools maintained their historic rivalry by arranging a game at Joe Yenni Stadium two months after the storm.

of 20-10. On that same day, De La Salle and Rummel met. Cheering for the Cavaliers was a group of National Guardsmen, whose unit was being housed on the De La Salle campus. And on Oct. 29, Brother Mar-

tin and De La Salle met. In all, the local Catholic schools played 15 games. Rummel, Shaw and Holy Cross made the state playoffs and were eliminated the second week. See BROCATO page 31 ➤

St. Charles Catholic’s team, which included players whose families relocated from other schools, met John Curtis for the Class 2A championship in early December 2005. Because the Louisiana Superdome had sustained major damage, the game was played in Shreveport.

SPORTS

August 29, 2015 | New Orleans

CLARION HERALD | Page 31

Green Wave will soon reveal its hidden mysteries

O

n Thursday night, Sept. 3, Tulane football will have its own “reveal” party. The Green Wave is a 10-point underdog at Yulman Stadium against Duke, a team picked to finish fourth in the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. As part of the reveal, Curtis Johnson’s team will answer several questions. Are the holes in an anemic kicking game plugged? Will an up-tempo, fewerformations offense lead to more yards and points? Can a below-average offensive line from a year ago step up and protect its quarterback? And, is quarterback Tanner Lee ready to ascend to be one of the best players in the American Athletic Conference?

Ed

DANIELS SPORTS

In 2014, Tulane missed a chip-shot field goal that would have provided a win at Tulsa. But, that game was revealing in itself. The Green Wave could not put away a Tulsa team that was picked near the bottom of the league. In Johnson’s fourth season, and after only three wins last year, Tulane fans are expecting rapid improvement. If not, the usual grumbling will ensue. It is something Tulane football fans have mastered after years of losing. In the past 10 seasons, Tu-

lane football has won 33 and lost 88, won 11 times on the road, been favored in two away games and gone 20-60 in conference games. In three seasons, head coach Johnson has tried to build a program with a consistent philosophy. He recruits heavily in metro New Orleans and southeast Louisiana. He runs a pro-style offense that emphasizes running the football. And, he puts his best athletes on defense. Johnson has also cracked down on those he didn’t think were making sufficient academic progress. Two key contributors on defense, one a likely starter, were put on ice for the 2015 season after allegedly veering off the road to academic progress. So, what happens this sea-

File photo by Ron Brocato | CLARION HERALD

A Mardi Gras atmosphere prevailed during the healing and recovery process as Holy Cross students attended a basketball game at Archbishop Shaw decked out in humorous outfits, which included a blue tarpaulin raised over their heads. Students showed their resilience to the tragedy that took away their school.

BROCATO ➤ From PAGE 30

A year later, Shaw dropped down to Class 4A and played for back-to-back state championships. Reclassification dropped Holy Cross and De La Salle to lower levels due to smaller enrollment. Soon St. Augustine fell out of the Catholic League, leaving just Jesuit, Brother Martin and Rummel as 5A schools. But the Catholic schools prevailed over tragedy and have since enjoyed a magnificent revival. Holy Cross built

a new campus in Gentilly. Its baseball field rests on the former site of Redeemer-Seton. Hannan moved to Goodbee, and its student population is growing larger every year. And the Catholic League is back together and winning state championships again – Rummel in 2012 and 2013 and Jesuit in 2014. Xavier Prep has become St. Katharine Drexel, and the Academy of Our Lady is beginning a new future on its shiny, new campus. All the Catholic girls’ schools are highly competitive – with each other and

throughout the state. The public schools were not so lucky. Gone are Abramson, Kennedy, Reed, Lawless, St. Bernard and Booker T. Washington in the wake of Katrina. Most were replaced by charter schools. Ten years later, Landry-Walker is the only Class 5A public school in a city that once had two large public school districts. The nightmare is over, and hopefully we have awakened to a new and exciting era of high school sports. Ron Brocato can be reached at [email protected]

son? A split of the first two games, Duke and at Georgia Tech, would give the Wave a chance to be bowl eligible. If Tulane starts 0-2, simple math says it would have to win six of the last 10 games to potentially go bowling. If another losing season ensues, there will be the usual hue and cry for a coaching change. But, I have a question. Who at Tulane is going to call Tom Benson, the man who donated millions for Yulman Stadium (at Benson Field), to tell him that a former Saints assistant (beloved by the staff) is no longer the football coach?

And, if Johnson can’t win, who can? For you Curtis detractors, here’s a stat for you. If Johnson coaches Tulane to a bowl game, he will be the first to ever coach the Green Wave to multiple bowls. Chris Scelfo coached in two bowl games, but one was after Tommy Bowden departed before the 1998 Liberty Bowl. That, to me, is revealing, almost as revealing as what we will see at 8:30 on a Thursday night. Ed Daniels is sports director of ABC26 WGNO. He can be reached at edaniels@clarion herald.org.

EN ESPAÑOL

Page 32 | CLARION HERALD

August 29, 2015 | New Orleans

Dios sigue siendo fiel: reflexiones de un Katrina + 10 Arzobispo Gregory M.

AYMOND

E

l 10 º aniversario del huracán Katrina se acerca, el 29 de agosto. ¿Qué tipo de comentarios le hacen las personas, ahora que se acerca el aniversario? Con frecuencia, es un punto de conversación. Lo que he notado en los últimos 10 años es que Katrina se ha convertido en un punto marcado para todos – esto es lo que estaba sucediendo “antes de Katrina” y lo que pasó “después de Katrina.” Lo escucho cada día, de alguna manera u otra. Katrina fue una fuerza muy poderosa en la vida de todos. ¿De qué manera cree usted que las personas han manejado esto? Cuando regresé a Nueva Orleáns en el año 2009, creo que hubo personas que sufrían de estrés postraumático, y creo que algunas personas todavía podrían estar experimentando esto. Hemos perdido casi 2.000 personas por consecuencia directa de la tormenta, y muchos más murieron poco después, debido a la tensión, y los rigores de la evacuación. Muchas personas perdi-

eron sus hogares y sus pertenencias. Decimos con orgullo, que la gente no perdió su fe en Dios, y perseveran, pero perdieron mucho, y eso es traumático. Algunas personas pueden manejar ese trauma, pero otros no. Estamos tratando de mantener esto en mente, para la conmemoración de los 10 años. Ciertamente, no es una celebración. Conmemoramos el daño trágico en nuestra ciudad y la vida y las posesiones que se perdieron, pero también, damos gracias por nuestra fe y de la capacidad de reconstruir con la fuerza de Dios. ¿Cree que hay algunos que están simplemente cansados de oír hablar de Katrina? Creo que sí. Hay algunos que pueden no escuchar porque ellos no fueron profundamente afectados, y otros no quieren oír hablar de él, porque les abre viejas heridas. Como una comunidad de fe, tenemos que ser sensibles a eso. Tenemos que orar por quienes nos han precedido en la muerte. Damos gracias por aquellos que han podido reconstruir, y oramos por aquellos que siguen luchando. Cada mes, al parecer, conozco a gente que me dice que todavía que están esperando el momento adecuado para regresar a casa.

Después de la Misa de las 11 a.m. el domingo, 23 de agosto, va a bendecir la estatua del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús en el jardín de la Catedral, que ha sido reparada 10 años después del huracán, cuando varios de sus dedos fueron quebrados por la caída de árboles durante Katrina. ¿Cuál es el simbolismo? El Arzobispo Alfred Hughes, dijo – creo que muy sabiamente y espiritualmente – en la primera Misa celebrada en la Catedral después de Katrina, que no quería restaurar las manos de Jesús, hasta que la ciudad y la arquidiócesis fueran restauradas. Hemos restaurado la estatua como un reconocimiento de lo que hizo el Señor Jesús, mientras caminaba con nosotros en las inundaciones y la reconstrucción. Estamos agradecidos con él y a los miles y miles de personas que vinieron y utilizaron sus manos para convertirse en las manos de Jesús. Reemplazar los dedos, también nos permite recordar, a aquellos, que no han podido reconstrui o que todavía están luchando. Queremos ofrecer nuestras manos a ellos. Celebraremos la Misa en honor a San Luis, rey de Francia, pero conmemoraremos a Katrina. Entonces, la noche siguiente, el 24 de agosto a las 7 p.m., tendremos un servicio de

oración interreligioso en la catedral. ¿Cuáles han sido los efectos espirituales de Katrina? He escuchado de muchas personas, que fue una oportunidad para ellos para darse cuenta de que las posesiones no son importantes. Familiares, amigos y el amor son las cosas que importan. Para muchas personas, esto fue una verdadera llamada a la conversión – dejar ir sus pertenencias y sus hogares, y se aferran a Dios y sus seres queridos. Esto exige una dependencia de Dios y una confianza de que él nunca nos ha abandonado. ¿Dónde estaba Dios en medio de Katrina? Caminaba en las inundaciones llevando a las personas. Estaba en los áticos, donde la gente moría. Estaba en el Superdome, donde había mucho caos. Pero, él no nos abandona. Él estaba llorando con nosotros. El sufrimiento humano es un misterio. No pretendo entenderlo, pero totalmente lo entenderemos cuando veamos a Dios cara a cara. Sé que hay quienes a causa de Katrina, sinceramente cuestiona su fe en Dios, y todavía están tratando de buscarle el sentido. Nosotros que podemos, tenemos que llegar a ellos, tomarlos de su mano e invitarlos de regreso a un Dios que es compasivo. Dios nunca desea que nos ocurra el mal. Dios permite que los

desastres naturales y la naturaleza tomen su curso, y él permite las enfermedades humanas, pero Dios nunca nos envía sufrimiento. El mejor ejemplo de explicar es el sufrimiento humano de Jesús mismo. A pesar de su inocencia, él sangró hasta la muerte en la cruz. ¿Estaba muy orgulloso de la arquidiócesis durante ese tiempo, incluso desde lejos? Caridades Católicas hizo un extraordinario trabajo y a menudo no es reconocida por el trabajo que hicieron. Realmente, se convirtieron en signos de esperanza y de presencia de Dios. Las escuelas y parroquias Católicas hicieron un increíble trabajo de reapertura, para servir a los estudiantes. También tenemos que estar muy agradecido por el dinero de recuperación que hemos recibido de FEMA. Hoy, tenemos edificios que nunca habríamos tenido, si no fuera por la asistencia del gobierno federal. La recuperación de la ciudad fue debida en gran parte por el clero, los directores, religiosos y laicos que reabrieron sus puertas tan pronto como fue posible, y pidieron a la gente a regresar para volver a la fe y la comunidad. Mi lema como obispo es: “Dios es fiel.” Y, él lo es. Pueden enviar preguntas para Arzobispo Aymond al clarion [email protected].

COMMENTARY

August 29, 2015 | New Orleans

August 30, Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time Readings: 1) Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8 Psalm 15:2-5 2) James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27 3) Gospel: Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

By Jean Denton Catholic News Service

T

he singsong voice still echoes in my head all these decades later: “We missed you at church Sunday night.” Simultaneously, I still hear my mental translation: “Shame on you for not going to church on Sunday night.” I was a teenager, and the singsong voice was that of a youth group leader. I accepted the implied criticism since it came from an adult, and so I felt guilty for not showing up at the Sunday evening service – although, for the life of me, I didn’t understand why I had to go to church twice! That small, Southern Christian church was hardly the only community where members press extra “requirements” on each other as proof of faith. Religion itself is about expressions of faith, so naturally people are going to sometimes confuse outward signs of reverence, discipline or commitment with actual attitudes of the heart.

In some people’s minds, the signs grow into conditions necessary for salvation: saying your prayers every night; never missing Mass – or the collection basket; for some traditions, abstaining completely from alcohol; the list goes on. People – and churches – tend to put obligations on us beyond what God asks. Unfortunately, it leads to misunderstanding, unnecessary guilt and misplaced resentment. For example, when I taught a confirmation class, a candidate once asked, “If you don’t receive the sacraments, will you go to hell?” In today’s Scripture from Deuteronomy, Moses describes God’s law as just and whole, and tells the people that they should not add nor subtract from God’s commandments. In the Gospel, Jesus warns against overemphasizing human traditions that distract from the fundamental truth to which God wants us to aspire. Instead, Jesus calls us to examine our hearts for greed, malice, licentiousness, envy and other evils that lead to acts more harmful than not fulfilling certain church requirements. In fact, healthy church communities offer some enhancements that become human traditions – Bible study, devotional practices, special prayers and teachings – that help us understand and follow God’s commandments. When offered and received as help, not requirements, these human traditions can heal and form our hearts and draw us closer to the heart of God.

QUESTIONS:

What are some traditions, practices and disciplines our church community gives us? How can they distract us from the core of our Christian faith? How can they enhance our ability to follow God’s commandments?

CLARION HERALD | Page 33

Lo que hace impuro al hombre 22 Domingo Tiempo Ordinario Agosto 30, 2015

Padre

MC. 7:14-23

LUIS HENAO

ste es uno de los pasajes mas revolucionarios del nuevo testamento. Los judíos del tiempo de Jesús tenían muchas costumbres para purificarse de lo impuro. Aunque se trataba de una impureza legal, externa, no de pecado. Por ejemplo no lavarse las manos antes de comer, o tocar una persona enferma de la piel. Jesús va a presentar un cambio radical: lo que hace impuro a una persona es lo que sale de su corazón. No el comer sin lavarse primero las manos. Los alimentos no son impuros, y no nos hacen impuros el comerlos. Los animales no son impuros. No existen personas impuras. Los paganos no son impuros. Solo hay dos cosas impuras: el corazón humano y los espíritus inmundos. La impureza está en el corazón de la persona, no en el cuerpo. El corazón humano alberga muchas impurezas. En este pasaje Jesús menciona 13 cosas que salen del corazón y que nos hacen impuros. Esto no es pureza legal, sino moral. Es lo que hoy llamamos conciencia. Un corazón puro equivale a una conciencia limpia. Hay que notar en este pasaje como repetidamente Jesús llama la atención sobre la importancia de lo que va a decir: “Oídme todos y entended,” dice convocando a la gente. “Quien tenga oídos para oír, que oiga.” El evangelio nos habla de la pureza del corazón Para que el corazón sea puro, hay que purificarlo. Si Jesús señala que en nuestro corazón hay tanta cosa que nos hace impuros, es porque el nos quiere dar los medios para purificar ese corazón. De lo contrario simplemente nos estaría haciendo

APOSTOLADO HISPANO

E

ver nuestra miseria y nos dejaría deprimidos y humillados la pureza de conciencia en esto consiste la verdadera santidad. Miremos la lista que nos da Jesús de lo que sale del corazón y nos hace impuros. ➤ 1. Las malas intenciones. Los malos pensamientos que alimentan nuestras malas acciones. ➤ 2. La inmoralidad sexual. Que incluye la pornografía, la falta de castidad en las personas solteras; relaciones sexuales entre gente no casada; y cualquier forma de trafico sexual. ➤ 3. Los robos. Tanto pequeños como grandes. ➤ 4. Asesinato. Que incluye tanto el homicidio como el aborto. ➤ 5. El adulterio. Relaciones sexuales entre un hombre casado y una mujer que no es

su esposa. ➤ 6. Ambición. El deseo de tener mas de lo que uno necesita. Incluye ambición de dinero, de cosas, de poder y el insaciable deseo de la carne. ➤ 7. Malicia. La persona en cuyo corazón hay deseo de hacerle mal a otros. Es el trabajo preferido de Satanás, “el malo.” ➤ 8. Engaño. Hacer trampas, engañar, duplicidad e hipocresía. ➤ 9. Libertinaje. Permisividad. El no aceptar disciplina o límites. Aquellos que han perdido la decencia y la vergüenza. ➤ 10. Envidia. Sentirse mal con los bienes de otros y desearlos. ➤ 11. Calumnia. Propagar falsos rumores que dañan la fama de otros. ➤ 12. Orgullo. Creerse superior a los demás; despreciar a otros. Estar comparándose con los demás. ➤ 13. Insensatez, falta de juicio. Acciones o creencias locas o imprudentes o tontas. “Todos estos males salen de adentro y contaminan a la persona.”

“ACCESS” unidad movil de servicio gratuito de apoyo a la embarazada Exámenes de embarazo, ultrasonidos, educación y servicio de Referencia. Ayuda para inscribirse a Medicaid. Servicio de banco de pañales. No necesita cita. Todos los miércoles de 9 a.m. a 3:30 p.m. Hispano Apostolado, 2525 Maine Ave., Metairie. Llame para información al 467-2552.

LOCAL

Page 34 | CLARION HERALD

Calendar

Deadline: Submissions due Thursday (10 days before each issue) [email protected] (504) area code unless noted Aug. 30-Sept. 27

EVENTS

the 8:30 a.m. Mass. All are welcome. St. Dominic, 775 Harrison Ave., New Orleans. RELIGIOUS OF THE SACRED HEART, Fall adult education offerings: first Wednesdays Spirituality Group, “Christian Teachers of Prayer,” starting Sept. 2 with Sacred Heart Sister Annice Callahan, Sophie Barat House, 1719 Napoleon Ave., New Orleans. 609-9416. Also Monday Morning Bible Study on the book of Revelation Sept. 21-Dec. 7 (on first and third Mondays), 1011:30 a.m., Duchesne House for Volunteers, 2545 Bayou Road, New Orleans, with Sacred Heart Sister Maureen Chicoine. (909) 641-7871. PUBLIC FORUM ON ISLAM, Imams of New Orleans give presentation on faith and tradition of Islam and its message of peace and goodwill. They are welcomed by Archbishop Gregory Aymond and the archdiocesan office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, Sept. 10, 7 p.m., Nunemaker Auditorium, Loyola University, 6363 St. Charles Ave., New Orleans. S T. C H R I S T O P H E R , Bereavement and Support Group Ministry, meets Sept. 10 at 6:15 p.m., in Parish Center, Derbigny at Manson streets, Metairie. Guest speaker: Marilyn Turner, “A Parent’s Perspective on the Death of One’s Child.”

VIETNAMESE YOUNG CATHOLIC STUDENTS MOVEMENT, annual Backto-School Eucharistic celebration, Aug. 30, 11 a.m., Mary Queen of Vietnam Parish, 14001 Dwyer Blvd., New Orleans. Students of all ages invited. 338-7123. BOY SCOUTS, annual meeting for adult leaders of Catholic-chartered Boy Scout troops and Cub Scout packs in the archdiocese, Sept. 2, St. Dominic Parish, 775 Harrison Ave., in the gym behind the church. Purpose: to bring Catholic unit leaders together “in the common context of faith formation and especially the 12th point of the Boy Scout Law: ‘A Scout is reverent.’” Archdiocesan updates, scouting as a youth ministry and overview of Catholic Committee explored. Email by Aug. 29: [email protected] or call the CYO office at 227-3221. ST. MONICA PRAYER GROUP, meets twice monthly to pray for family members who do not follow their ST. PETER, Covington, faith. The next meetings are 12-week healing program Sept. 2, following 5:30 p.m. based on Catholic teaching Mass, and Sept. 15, following for divorced women based

PARISHES

on the book, “The Catholic Divorce Survival Guide.” Participants read a chapter each week and watch segments from the companion DVD series, which addresses shock, denial, anger, grief, forgiveness and more with time for personal reflection and sharing. Also, a 12-week healing group for children ages 8-12 experiencing divorce or separation facilitated by interns from Catholic Counseling Service and features the book, “When Parents Divorce or Separate: I Can Get Through This.” Both groups meet on select Tuesdays from 6:308:30 p.m. at the Upper Room, 319 Jefferson Ave., Covington. Cost: $30 a person and includes book and pizza/refreshments at each gathering. Register: mfl@stpeterparish. com ST. ANGELA MERICI, St. Angela Ladies Auxiliary (SALA) meet and greet and wine and cheese, “Getting to Know You, Getting to Know All About You,” Sept. 1, 7 p.m., Kern Center (gym). Members support St. Angela Parish while growing spiritually, socially, intellectually.

SCHOOLS ST. MARY MAGDALEN, Parents Club first 2015-16 general meeting, Sept. 2, 7 p.m., school cafeteria, 6425 Metairie Ave., Metairie. ST. MARY’S DOMINICAN HIGH, girls in the seventh grade invited to a seventhgrade social, Sept. 11, 6-9 p.m. at the school, 7701 Walmsley Ave., New Orleans. Activities, food and information about the school including academics, admissions and student life will be offered. Staff and students will attend. Registration online at www. stmarysdomini can.org.

COMING…

SHARING PROGRAM, kickoff luncheon, Sept. 9, 11 a.m. St. Francis Xavier’s St. Joseph Hall, 444 Metairie Road. $10. Classes begin Sept. 14. 835-6809. BISHOP PERRY CENTER, community blood drive, Sept. 12, 9:30 a.m.1:30 p.m., 1941 Dauphine at Touro streets, New Orleans. Parking available from Touro Street. O-negative blood is

August 29, 2015 | New Orleans needed. Schedule an appointment: chubert@thebloodcen ter.org, 227-3272. Donors should eat a healthy meal, drink fluids before donating, bring photo identification. GOD’S SPECIAL CHILDREN, Families and Friends, next Mass, Sept. 13, 2 p.m. Archbishop Gregory Aymond concelebrates the anniversary Mass Oct. 11, 2 p.m. St. Francis Xavier, 444 Metairie Road. RACIAL HARMONY DISCUSSION SERIES, “What is God calling you to do?” Sept. 14, 21, 28, Oct. 5, 6:30-8 p.m., with facilitators Deacons Troy Smith and Warren Berault. St. Genevieve Church, 58203 Hwy. 433, Slidell. Registration at door; email [email protected]. ST. CHRISTOPHER, wedding anniversary for parishioners celebrating 25th, 50th or special anniversary such as 60th or 65th, Oct. 3, 4 p.m. Mass followed by reception in parish center. Deadline to register: Sept. 15. 837-8214, [email protected]. INTRODUCING RACIAL SOBRIETY, a conversation about race, Sept. 16, 6-9 p.m. Facilitated by Sister Teresa Rooney, Salvador Longoria. St. Anthony of Padua Church, 4640 Canal St., New Orleans. Registration deadline: Sept. 11. [email protected], 861-6272. ST. ELIZABETH ANN SETON, Home and School Association, general membership meeting, Sept. 16, 7:15 p.m., at the school, 4119 St. Elizabeth Ann Drive, Kenner. RETREAT FOR MEN, “God’s Love for ...?” Sept. 18 with arrival between 4-6 p.m. and ending Sept. 20 at 1:15 p.m. Retreat director Father Paul Hart will delve into the mercy of God and how love is manifested in forgiving and being forgiven. Retreat offering: $225. Archdiocese of New Orleans Retreat House, 5500 St. Mary St., Metairie. www.retreats.arch-no.org, 267-9604. KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS, St. Jane de Chantal Council 12529 13th annual four-person scramble golf tournament, Sept. 17, 8 a.m. sign in, 9 a.m. tee time, Abita Springs Golf Club, 73433 Oliver St. $90 a player; $70 hole sponsor. Car for hole-in-

one, prizes, breakfast, lunch. Proceeds benefit Mentally Disabled Funds of Knights, Covington Food Bank and St. Vincent de Paul Society. (985) 966-2139. CHRIST THE GOOD SHEPHERD, Eucharistic procession, Sept. 20, following the 9:30 a.m. Mass, Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 411 North Rampart St. www. christthegoodshepherdnola. com. MOUNT CARMEL ACADEMY, 16th annual alumni tennis tournament and raffle Sept. 23, 8:30 a.m. registration. Entry: $80 a team plus a USTA approved can of balls. City Park Tennis Center. Also, Susie Anderson Golf Classic, Nov. 9, 11 a.m. shotgun start, scramble format, lunch, dinner, awards, prizes, English Turn Country Club, Algiers. Cost: $150 individuals. Register: 288-7626, mcacubs.com. RETREAT FOR FAMILIES, “A Family That Prays...” for married couples with children ages 7 to 17 years old, Sept. 26-27, designed to enrich marriages, faith, family. Spouses grow closer in their sacrament while children explore deeper understanding and encounter with God. St. Joseph Abbey, Covington. Starts at 8 a.m. Sept. 26; ends after Sunday lunch. Space limited. Suggested donation: $325 family of three, $75 each additional child. Jason Angelette, 830-3716, www. faithandmarriage.org. ST. AUGUSTINE HIGH, seventh annual Hamp Fest, Sept. 26, featuring R&B band Cameo. Gates open at 6 p.m. General admission: $40. 9405980. http://www.staugnola. org/2015-hamp-fest/

KUDOS

S T. M AT T H E W T H E APOSTLE, Knights of Columbus Council 13425 recognized parish CYO members Kirsten Pecquet, a 2015 Mount Carmel Academy graduate, and Ryan Roberts, a 2015 Jesuit High graduate, with the Catholic Youth Leadership award and scholarship for their outstanding leadership skills and serving as role models to other members and faith examples through service to the parish and community. They will attend LSU in the fall.

August 29, 2015 | New Orleans

LOCAL

CLARION HERALD | Page 35

Tulane University builds Center for Catholic life

Photo by Christine Bordelon CLARION HERALD

Students, alumni and friends gathered Aug. 21 for the blessing of the new Tulane Catholic student center, the “Father Val A. McInnes, O.P., Center for Catholic Life” named after the Dominican priest who was considered an icon on campus since his arrival in 1966. Father McInnes headed the Judeo-Christian Studies program and was a chaplain and pastor at the university. Archbishop Gregory Aymond welcomed students who are the “young church of today and the leaders of today and tomorrow” and blessed the new building, which is twice the size of the former structure on the same site. Once that building was torn down, it took only

a year for F.H. Myers Construction to complete HMS Architects’ design. The three-story structure has a 140-seat chapel; a gathering hall and food preparation area; a large veranda on Zimple Street for outdoor activities; space for students to study, socialize and pray; a modern classroom and conference room; a Catholic library for spiritual formation; and offices for the Tulane Catholic staff. The Archdiocese of New Orleans worked with Tulane Catholic to make the new structure a reality. Weekday Masses will be noon Monday, Wednesday, Friday; 12:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday; 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Retired Deacon Herman Williams praying for kidney transplant By Peter Finney Jr. Clarion Herald

When Herman Williams was ordained a permanent deacon in 1993, the director of the permanent diaconate office, Deacon Jim Swiler, advised him and 18 deacon classmates to fill out their funeral arrangements so that the Archdiocese of New Orleans could keep the information on file. Deacon Williams, now 68, didn’t follow up right away, but after facing serious health i s s u e s t h e DEACON WILLIAMS last several years, his file is up to date. “I even picked out the clothes I’m going to wear, the music I want played and the Scripture readings,” Deacon Williams said. “Everything is planned, but I’m still here. The good Lord hasn’t seen fit to pull my card yet. I’m enjoying every moment.” Because of kidney failure, Deacon Williams is undergoing dialysis weekly at Tulane Medical Center. The Tulane Transplant Institute recently approved him as a candidate for a kidney transplant. Because of his age and

condition, the transplant likely will come from a person who has died rather than from a living donor, Deacon Williams said. The call could come at any time. “They will call and I will have an hour to get back to them,” Deacon Williams said. “I feel fantastic because I’m not concerned about anything. If I get one, fine. If I don’t, that’s still OK. I thought I was going to check out a couple times the last few years.” Deacon Williams survived a bout with Stage 3 prostate cancer, so he has been in and out of hospitals and doctor’s offices with more frequency than he would like. “I was lying down on a bed in the hallway and people there were calling me by name,” Deacon Williams said. “I said, ‘I’m coming here way too often for everybody to know me. It’s like I’m walking into “Cheers.”’” Deacon Williams said the prayers and support of his family and the entire diaconate community have been a great support. Every third Thursday of the month, the 1993 diaconate class – and a few other deacons from other ordination years – get together for lunch in Metairie. “Prayer works, and I believe in it,” Deacon Williams said.

“This is all in God’s hands.” Deacon Williams lives in Marrero. He has served at St. Joseph the Worker in Marrero, St. Monica and St. Leo the Great in New Orleans, and St. Joseph in Gretna. He was the office manager at St. Joseph in Gretna until his retirement. Anyone with questions about organ donation can call the Tulane Transplant Institute at 988-5344. Peter Finney Jr. can be reached at [email protected].

Katrina documentary airs Aug. 29 on PBS Former New Orleans resident and award-winning director/producer Rennik Soholt will air part of his documentary, “Forced Change,” on Aug. 29 on the PBS NewsHour Weekend. (Check local listing.) The documentary follows five New Orleanians from 2005 to today “and documents how their lives were impacted by the hurricane. They left the city they loved, and, for differing reasons, have never returned. ... ‘Forced Change’ is a story of frailty, strength and what it means to be human.”

Senior Living & More! www.VilleSteMarie.com