‘No hurricanes,’ bishop prays during Mass

Bishop Michael G. Duca’s prayer was simple and direct during the annual Hurricane Mass, celebrated June 1 at St. Joseph Cathedral in Baton Rouge.

“God, send us no hurricanes,” he said during his homily, which touched on not only the hurricane season but also Louisiana’s caring and immediate response during natural disasters.

The bishop said asking God not send any hurricanes is “really the best prayer” but added the caveat it’s also a “tricky prayer.”

“If a hurricane is coming toward you, you pray, ‘Don’t let the hurricane hit me,’ ” the bishop said. “But if it doesn’t hit me, it’s going to go this way or that. It’s tricky.”

He said the Mass was a time to ask God to spare the area from a hurricane but if a storm does hit let it be small with minimal impact and to provide the grace and the faith to love and rebuild, restore and once again find hope for the future.

“We are all in this together,” the bishop said. “I think that’s one of the great spirits I see here in Louisiana, especially in southeast Louisiana, where some of the damage here is so great.

“As soon as the winds have stopped, the people that can are rising to help (those who have been affected). It’s just a wonderful experience of people who have gone through it before.”

“They know how vulnerable we feel when we are caught in that mix of disaster, when all of our resources have been taken away.”

He said just having a neighbor or relief worker show up with some water, offering a place to stay,  take a shower or showing love and concerns means so much to those suffering. The only way to reach faith is to reach down and reach to others during those difficult times, he said.

The bishop also believes Louisiana tops the nation in those moments of early response. 

“It is immediate, it is wholehearted and it is deeply caring,” he said. “We know we can rebuild things of this world. We know we can depend on the hope of things to come and even if we  lose someone we have the knowledge we have not lost them. We know where they are, with the Lord, and we hope to be with them one day.”

Before the Mass, the bishop blessed a 26-foot box truck recently purchased by Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Baton Rouge. Along with playing a significant role in transporting relief supplies to disaster areas, the truck will also be able to deliver food to local food banks to help serve the needy.

The truck was purchased with funds raised during the 2016 flood earmarked for disaster preparedness through Catholic Charities USA. 

Bishop Duca called the truck central to the church helping people in times of needs.

“This is a tremendous gift from Catholic Charities, and it allows loving hearts of all the people who want to help to bring that love directly to those in need,” he said during the blessing. “It is one of those tools that really makes our work in times of disaster effective.”

He also discussed the impact CCDBR has on the community, saying the agency is always prepared to meet the needs when a natural disaster strikes. He praised the staff, saying they are skilled in terms of relief.

“They are able to interact with the state, local, federal governments working together, and other agencies as well,” he said. 

During his homily, the bishop called CCDBR, whose many of the agency’s staff attended the Mass, a valuable resource.

“Believe me, Catholic Charities sees themselves as part of a greater team,” he said. “We have a a state that comes out and  helps us. And other agencies work together not to duplicate but to fill holes as well.”

Also in his homily, the bishop said the strength of the faith is that Catholics share a God greater than any problems one might encounter. He dismissed the notion that God is not powerful to protect everybody but he noted that nothing “can separate us from the love of God.”

“Corporal works of mercy, that is how we show love,” he said.