'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers (and sisters) of mine, you did for me.'.
Matthew 25:40
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Catholic News Service
Published: Wednesday, February 03, 2010
(CNS)—Nerlande Majeur is beginning to wonder when the help will arrive.
Among an estimated 2,000 people crowded into a field on the grounds of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in the Cite Militaire neighborhood, Majeur said no aid—except a few dozen tents the church's pastor was able to get as a donation—has arrived at the ramshackle camp.
"I'm not feeling good about not getting help," she said.
While a clinic staffed by volunteers from Youth With a Mission, an international, interdenominational volunteer organization, provides basic medical care for camp residents, not much else in the way of assistance has made its way to Our Lady of Lourdes, several residents told Catholic News Service.
Since they took up residence in the field hours after the Jan. 12 earthquake, Majeur and numerous neighbors regularly see military helicopters flying overhead and hear the planes flying into and out of the Port-au-Prince airport, a little more than a mile away.
At times, several camp residents said, U.N. trucks and four-wheel drive vehicles carrying logos of various aid agencies pass by. But not one, people said time and again, has turned into the long driveway leading to the church.
Not even the large black spray-painted messages adorning the concrete block walls on both sides of the driveway identifying the grounds as "Temporary Shelter #31" have helped.
"The only thing we've gotten is some food and some tents," said Philistine Felix, who was fortunate enough to get a nylon tent. "Friends are helping too. That's the only help we get.
"We're living by faith," Felix said as he walks away.
Dalida Milon, 28, and her cousin, Manie Michella, 29, both said they feel frustrated about their situation.
"We have nobody thinking about us here," Michella said, shrugging her shoulders.
Then, with a shrug, she added, "Nobody's thinking about us."
Jean Louis Margaret, 34, has tried to make the best of the situation by selling a few food items such as spaghetti, corn curls, juice, vegetable oil and sweet snacks salvaged from the small business she ran from her home in Cite Militaire. The money helps buy food for three of her four children, Nerlande, 14, Daphka, 10 and Donald, 8. A 15-year-old daughter died in the earthquake and was buried in a mass grave.
Margaret recalled that officials of some sort—she did not know from where—arrived at the parish grounds at one point and gathered information from the campers and passed out cards. For what, she did not know. She has not seen them since.
Despite the feeling of being forgotten, many of the residents at Our Lady of Lourdes have bonded together to help one another with food, clothing and assistance in securing their makeshift shelters.
A few residents also said if they were able to get decent shelter, the strong feeling of insecurity they harbor would ease a bit.
In their pleas for help, the residents also urged the world to find a way to begin to rebuild Haiti as soon as possible.
One resident, John Benes Louis Jeune, 30, a teacher at a school he ran until it was destroyed in the quake, called for a sustained response from the world. Without such a commitment, he said he fears that Haiti will die.
It will take a sustained commitment from the world—at least 25 years, he estimated—for his homeland to be rebuilt.
"We must think about many years out, not short term," he said.
"Everybody should be part of it, not just the president, not the prime minister. Everybody should have a say to bring Haiti back to life.
"We do need assistance. If Port-au-Prince is dead, if the head is dead, the body is dead," he said. "Everywhere the country is down with no more hope. If the international community doesn't come to see the situation, Haiti will die."
Sharing Good News With The World
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Think Of Others
Interesting food for thought this Sunday...
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Parade Magazine - 1/10/2010
Live Well With What You Have - By Lynn Shnumberger
"When we shift our attention away from ourselves to others, we can actually change our biology. Studies show that people involved in 'giving behaviors' produce chemicals in their bodies that result in greater tranquility, joy and trust --- even a diminishing of chronic aches and pains."
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Parade Magazine - 1/10/2010
Live Well With What You Have - By Lynn Shnumberger
"When we shift our attention away from ourselves to others, we can actually change our biology. Studies show that people involved in 'giving behaviors' produce chemicals in their bodies that result in greater tranquility, joy and trust --- even a diminishing of chronic aches and pains."
Friday, January 1, 2010
Pope Benedict XVI's Message To The World For The New Year
What a beautiful message it is if we only will listen:
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From Catholic News Service
January 1, 2010 › Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY — Celebrating the feast of Mary the Mother of God and World Peace Day this morning, Pope Benedict XVI focused on how God revealed his face in the person of Jesus Christ, born of Mary in Bethlehem.
“God, by his nature, is invisible,” he said, yet the Bible frequently uses the metaphor of God’s face. “To show his face is an express of his benevolence, while hiding his face indicates his anger or indignation.”
The pope said that to meditate “on the mystery of God’s face and of the human face” is a way that leads to peace because it involves respect and the recognition of others as persons “no matter the color of their skin, their nationality, their language or their religion. In reality, only if we have God in our hearts will we be able to recognize others as brothers and sisters in humanity, not means toward an end, not rivals or enemies, but others like us,” he said.
Pope Benedict said:
From the time they are small, it is important to educate children to respect others, even when they are different from us. It already is more common to have school classes composed of children of various nations, but even when this does not occur, their faces are a prophecy of the humanity we are called to form: a family of families and peoples. The smaller these children are, the more they elicit from us tenderness and joy for an innocence and brotherhood that is evident: despite their differences, they cry and laugh in the same way, they have the same needs, communicate spontaneously and play together. The faces of children are like a reflection of how God sees the world. So why extinguish their smiles? Why poison their hearts?
Unfortunately, the icon of the Mother of God of Tenderness finds its tragic opposite in the sad images of many children and their mothers at the mercy of wars and violence: refugees, asylum seekers, forced migrants. Faces lined by hunger and disease, faces disfigured by pain and desperation. The faces of these innocent little ones are a silent appeal to our responsibility: before their helpless condition, all the false justifications for war and violence fall away. We simply must convert to projects of peace, lay down weapons of every kind and, all of us together, make a commitment to building a world more worthy of humanity.
The pope’s message for World Peace Day focused on the theme, “If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation.” During his homily this morning, he said that people will only respect the environment to the extent that they respect themselves and others. True respect for the environment, he said, requires seeing all of creation as a reflection of God, the creator.
He said:
During the Christmas season, we recite a Psalm that contains, among other things, a stupendous example of how the coming of God transforms creation and provokes a kind of cosmic feast. This hymn begins with a universal invitation to praise: ‘Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless his name.’ Then, at a certain point, this appeal extends to all creation: ‘Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea and what fills it resound; let the plains be joyful and all that is in them. Then let all the trees of the forest rejoice.’ The celebration of faith becomes the celebration of humanity and of creation: it is that celebration, which at Christmas, also is expressed through the decorations on the trees, the streets and in our houses. Everything blooms because God has appeared among us.
The altar servers and other ministers at the Mass this morning were from St. Mark’s Seminary, the seminary of the Diocese of Erie, Pa., which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2009.
Reciting the Angelus after Mass, the pope wished people a Happy New Year, a year during which, “with the help of God, we can make our common home, the world, a better place.”
First of all, he said, everyone must recognize that they can and must make a difference in protecting the environment.
And, he said, “if we must take care of the creatures around us, what care we must have for people — our brothers and sisters! On the first day of the year, I want to appeal to the consciences of those who are part of any kind of armed group. To each and every one I say: Stop, reflect and abandon the path of violence.”
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From Catholic News Service
January 1, 2010 › Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY — Celebrating the feast of Mary the Mother of God and World Peace Day this morning, Pope Benedict XVI focused on how God revealed his face in the person of Jesus Christ, born of Mary in Bethlehem.
“God, by his nature, is invisible,” he said, yet the Bible frequently uses the metaphor of God’s face. “To show his face is an express of his benevolence, while hiding his face indicates his anger or indignation.”
The pope said that to meditate “on the mystery of God’s face and of the human face” is a way that leads to peace because it involves respect and the recognition of others as persons “no matter the color of their skin, their nationality, their language or their religion. In reality, only if we have God in our hearts will we be able to recognize others as brothers and sisters in humanity, not means toward an end, not rivals or enemies, but others like us,” he said.
Pope Benedict said:
From the time they are small, it is important to educate children to respect others, even when they are different from us. It already is more common to have school classes composed of children of various nations, but even when this does not occur, their faces are a prophecy of the humanity we are called to form: a family of families and peoples. The smaller these children are, the more they elicit from us tenderness and joy for an innocence and brotherhood that is evident: despite their differences, they cry and laugh in the same way, they have the same needs, communicate spontaneously and play together. The faces of children are like a reflection of how God sees the world. So why extinguish their smiles? Why poison their hearts?
Unfortunately, the icon of the Mother of God of Tenderness finds its tragic opposite in the sad images of many children and their mothers at the mercy of wars and violence: refugees, asylum seekers, forced migrants. Faces lined by hunger and disease, faces disfigured by pain and desperation. The faces of these innocent little ones are a silent appeal to our responsibility: before their helpless condition, all the false justifications for war and violence fall away. We simply must convert to projects of peace, lay down weapons of every kind and, all of us together, make a commitment to building a world more worthy of humanity.
The pope’s message for World Peace Day focused on the theme, “If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation.” During his homily this morning, he said that people will only respect the environment to the extent that they respect themselves and others. True respect for the environment, he said, requires seeing all of creation as a reflection of God, the creator.
He said:
During the Christmas season, we recite a Psalm that contains, among other things, a stupendous example of how the coming of God transforms creation and provokes a kind of cosmic feast. This hymn begins with a universal invitation to praise: ‘Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless his name.’ Then, at a certain point, this appeal extends to all creation: ‘Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea and what fills it resound; let the plains be joyful and all that is in them. Then let all the trees of the forest rejoice.’ The celebration of faith becomes the celebration of humanity and of creation: it is that celebration, which at Christmas, also is expressed through the decorations on the trees, the streets and in our houses. Everything blooms because God has appeared among us.
The altar servers and other ministers at the Mass this morning were from St. Mark’s Seminary, the seminary of the Diocese of Erie, Pa., which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2009.
Reciting the Angelus after Mass, the pope wished people a Happy New Year, a year during which, “with the help of God, we can make our common home, the world, a better place.”
First of all, he said, everyone must recognize that they can and must make a difference in protecting the environment.
And, he said, “if we must take care of the creatures around us, what care we must have for people — our brothers and sisters! On the first day of the year, I want to appeal to the consciences of those who are part of any kind of armed group. To each and every one I say: Stop, reflect and abandon the path of violence.”
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