Katrina Memorial today

“This is a moment to remember in prayer those whom we have lost, to reclaim a vision for the future and both to pray and work for a renewal that will transform the Church and wider community. God grant us this grace.” (Archbishop Alfred Hughes, New Orleans, Clarion Herald column, August 26, 2006)

One year ago, we experienced the worst storm to hit the Gulf Coast, stretching from Louisiana all of the way over to Florida. Hopefully, we will never experience a storm like this one, which brought unbelievable amounts of flooding, damage, and loss of life.

Today at the Cathedral-Basilica of St Louis in New Orleans, LA, Archbishop Hughes celebrated Mass, with President Bush, as well as many others, in attendance. I was blessed enough to be counted in the list for the Mass, not because of who was there, but because of who it was for. In times of trouble, times of disaster, prayer can never be forgotten. Yes, it is easy to cast the blame on God and turn our back on him. But why do that? We all know that the creature is lost without its creator. And for us, our creator is the Creator himself—“the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” As Archbishop Hughes said in his homily today, in the wake of such a disaster, we must not ask “why”, but rather, “what can I do to make this good.” For, “St. Paul has promised us that for those who love God all things will turn unto good.”

Sure, it would be great to see things back to normal in a blink of an eye. But life doesn’t work that way. We just have to be patient and, through the grace of God, things will be better than ever. We just have to quit asking, “Why did this happen?” and start asking, “How can I make this good?”