Southeast Texans gathered at St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica, Beaumont, Jan. 24 to pray for those in Haiti being affected by the recent earthquake.
Bishop Curtis Guillory, SVD, celebrated Mass and spoke about the community of faith during his homily.
“In the Gospel today it spoke about the body and how all the parts are needed. We treat our community the same way we treat our body. All the parts work together. When one of us rejoices we all rejoice,” Bishop Guillory said.
Bishop Guillory mentioned that he had seen the funeral of Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot that was held in the parking lot of the Notre Dame Cathedral which is in ruins after the quake.
“During the funeral people were also mourning the cathedral. Because it was there that they were formed, inspired and heard the word of God,” Bishop Guillory said.
He said that it is up to everyone to help out their brothers and sisters in Haiti.
“It’s how we respond that matters. God isn’t going to ask us ‘Why did you cause this earthquake?’ He’s going to ask ‘What did you do to help your brothers and sisters who have the same breath of life that you do?’” Bishop Guillory said.
Angela Thomas, a missionary originally from Beaumont, spent six years in Haiti and is planning on returning as soon as she can.
“This Mass means so much. There is a strong Catholic presence in Haiti. That’s what brought me back to the church originally was seeing the nuns and the priests working there,” Thomas said.
She said that it warms her heart to see the outpouring of kindness from American Catholics.
“It’s wonderful to see that we have not forgotten our fellow Catholics. It’s going to take the heart of Catholics to rebuild Haiti – for the people here to feel the pain that they do and to send help is a blessing,” Thomas said.
