We find God in the faces and the voices of the people we serve.

 

There can be no evangelizing to the poor without sharing their life. It is not enough to visit them, to assist them, to have compassion for them...and afterward return to our houses to enjoy the silence and the "comfort of the presence of God."...With the poor and in the midst of the poor, in our community experience of life and faith, we discover the face of the poor. They challenge us to change our lifestyle, our confused and often well-intentioned excuses, and demand of us a radical sharing of their life, their history....a history of salvation, and the condition of our own salvation and liberation with them. This is what "Copiosa Redemptio" really means.
Fr. Norman Muckerman, C.Ss.R., from his book, Redemptorists on the Amazon The First 50 Years

 Tom Wasmer and his dog, Midnight

After Katrina: Biloxi Voices...

Tom Wasmer was outside working when he noticed some large items moving, or rather floating, in the distance.  He wasn’t sure what it was at first. Then he looked down the other end of the street and saw this huge wave coming at him. It was high and moving fast. It was carrying cars, trees, refrigerators, debris, and dead bodies.

Tom ran into the house calling for his brother, a diabetic, to get into the attic. Tom ran around furiously stuffing towels at the bottoms of doors and windows in a vain attempt to keep the water out.

But the water was filling up fast. Within minutes, Tom, his brother, and Tom’s dog, Midnight, were all struggling to keep their heads above water. Tom was able to kick out the cupola so they could get up on the roof. At one point he lost sight of Midnight. He found her hanging by her toenails from the ceiling molding.

Tom lost everything. He had just paid off his house and furnished it with brand new leather furniture. Besides the house, he lost his two trucks, three Harley’s, a couple of old classic cars, his collection of miniature racing boats, which he built, and scores of other personal treasures.

Tom is one of those special talents who can fix and build almost anything. He’s been a yacht captain for most of his working life. He knows and loves the water. Tom’s been living in Biloxi for 16 years. He’s seen his share of storms, but never anything like this.

Tom and Midnight are living in a FEMA trailer now. He’s thankful for it but has mixed feelings about the agency. “I got a letter the other day from them. They said I’m not covered because ‘there wasn’t enough destruction.’”

For the first several days after the storm, Tom fed himself and Midnight with food he took from refrigerators floating down his street.  

“The first ones on the scene down here were the religious organizations,” Tom said. “They were here before the government.” Tom’s not the kind of guy who’s comfortable accepting charity. He’s usually the one doing all the helping. It took us three visits to his house to finally find him at home. He was out helping somebody else.

As we were leaving, Fr. Chuong, C.Ss.R. reached into his pocket and pulled out some money. He handed it to Tom. It was hard to watch because it was hard for Tom to take it. He’s never had to do that before.