In The Aftermath

From the Pastor:    In The Aftermath

       I wrote my last article as Hurricane Milton approached. I sent it to be published several hours before we lost electricity but didn’t know if it would ever be printed. I spent the night of the storm sleeping in a recliner downstairs since it was cooler there than upstairs. It was also a place where I could hear the storm winds howling just outside the windows lining the room. At some point in the tempest, the sound of the carport being destroyed caught my attention enough to wake me up. I got up and tried to see what was happening but it was too dark to see anything, even though it was only a dozen or so feet away. The morning light would show that half of the aluminum top had folded back onto the other half of the roof. Through the grace of God and His angels, the two cars parked under the remaining now-double-roofed section were virtually unscathed. There were tree limbs down throughout the property. The avocado trees didn’t fare too well. Same with the Jackfruit tree. We gave away all of the avocados to the people in Epiphany Arms. There were also a couple of jackfruit that hadn’t been clandestinely taken from the tree (yes, people stole our jackfruit just before they got ripe—we never harvested a single one ourselves. I almost put up a sign saying, “Eve stole some of God’s fruit and look at the results!”) so they were sent next door as well. The back section of the parking lot was flooded up through the third row of parking spots and the water continued about halfway down the driveway toward the rectory. (During Hurricane Irma in 2017 the water reached the handicapped parking spots, so this was not quite so bad, except that this time it took days, not hours, to recede!) The carport outside the social hall kitchen was scattered in pieces from the back of the building to the front along with pieces of what later proved to be the roof of the storage shed next to it. I moved enough of the tree limbs out of the way that cars could enter the parking lot. Anders sang the 6:30 am Mass for the two of us and five people were present for the 8:00 am Mass that morning.
       The people who were here for morning Masses helped move a lot of the debris out of the way so that people could safely enter the church, for which I am extremely grateful. Later, the Troops of St. George arrived and took care of the majority of the heavy labor. They, along with the Knights of Columbus and other men are still assisting widows and shut-ins in clearing fallen trees at their houses and doing all sorts of repairs as needed whenever we get word that a parishioner needs help. What a blessing! Our staff has also been outstanding, helping coordinate relief efforts and checking on everyone we could think of who might live alone or need extra assistance. It was only late Thursday morning (October 17) that our phones and internet finally came back, so all the phoning and messaging was being done via cell phones, making everything just that much more difficult. I am also edified by the contributions of cash and gift cards made by a number of our parishioners to be given to other parishioners in need. It is humbling for anyone to have to ask for assistance but so far we have been able to meet the needs of which we have been made aware. In the unread bulletin from last week, I wrote that two out-of-state pastors had inquired as to our needs, offering assistance from their own parish women’s clubs and Knights. May God bless their generosity even though we have not needed to take advantage of it! If you or someone you know still needs help but have hesitated to ask, please reach out to us. Help is at hand.
       During all of the hustle and bustle, we received our first list of names to be prayed for on All Souls Day. What? Already? Yes, already! Although the hurricane prep and cleanup from two hurricanes have occupied our minds, time, and energy these past weeks and the “normal” stuff like making prayer lists for the souls in Purgatory have taken a back seat, it is still good timing for this feast. After all, we have seen or heard of so many people who perished in Helene and, in lower numbers, thanks be to God, in Milton, it reminds us that we must all die sometime of something and we must always be prepared spiritually to meet our Maker. Let us, who survived, remember to pray for all of those who didn’t make it through as well as remembering our family and friends who have passed away over the years. Bring a long list. Time is short! There will be only one more Sunday before All Souls Day by the time this October 20 bulletin is published.

With prayers for your holiness,
Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka