I got on a plane a few years ago to find suffering and found instead, joy.
I expected to find darkness and found only light.
I arrived there to give help but received it instead.
I expected to find only poverty and found immeasurable wealth.
I went to affect change, and was affected.
I came home and struggled to explain what I know, and failed.
I wonder why it took so many lives lost to get our attention?
I think people are listening now, but for how long?
I want to scream and shout and cry and hold a small blood-stained hand.
I beg God for mercy, healing, and forgiveness for I am "blan."
Hear my prayer and tell me what to do...
Please, ease their pain.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
The first two funerals in our little Haitian village...
Dear Friends,
News has been quiet lately from our little village in Boucan-Carre, Haiti. This is the first we've heard of structural damage since the quake, other than the second floor of the hospital's ceiling crack. The rectory's kitchen wall has a crack in it which was just discovered yesterday.
I wanted to explain who Deacon Onac is as most of you I don't think ever met him. Deacon Ocan is a transitional Deacon who grew up in Boucan-Carre. He has been in seminary for a long time and is due to be ordained a priest on Feb. 7th. His deceased cousin is named Laromie, 23, whom I honestly don't remember but I'm sure I've met in the past.
I gave Deacon Onac $300 from last year's Thanksgiving Day collection for Haiti towards the purchase of his chalice and patton that he will need in less than a month if the schedule of his ordination doesn't change. You have to wonder where they might have that ordination though as the Cathedral is in ruins. I'm certain there are bishops around that could do it but where????
People keep asking me about if there were deaths in our village. The answer is no, to if people physically lost their lives in BC. However, Port au Prince draws thousands of people from rural Haiti as it's the one place where there is work to be found. Young people, especially, migrate there to the "big city." In PAP, there is a way to find work, make a little money, continue your education, and improve yourself. There will be thousands and thousands of funerals in the coming months in small villages like Boucan-Carre, for people lost in the earthquake.
Fr. Chris Michelson gave an awesome homily last night at the vigil Mass in which he used the interplay between Jesus and Mary at the wedding feast at Cana. He called us all to ask ourselves, "how does your concern affect me? Mary's response: "Do whatever He tells you." And so the first miracle is performed and the water is turned into delicious wine. So we must ask ourselves now, what is Jesus telling us? Certainly to help in various ways through intense giving, through prayer for the suffering and those mourning the loss of loved ones, for all those orphaned last Tuesday...
Let us remember the first two funerals in BC... for Deacon Onac's cousin Laramie, and for St. Lot, Fr. Fitho Jean's brother. Both were just 23 years old.
My the souls of the faithful Haitian departed, through the Mercy of God, rest in peace.
Each of us is being called by Christ to respond to this tragedy. we can honor the dead through self sacrifice, through talking about Haiti with everyone we know, and not let it drift outside of our consciousness. We must keep Haiti's people squarely in front of our hearts and never forget... never.
-dpat
News has been quiet lately from our little village in Boucan-Carre, Haiti. This is the first we've heard of structural damage since the quake, other than the second floor of the hospital's ceiling crack. The rectory's kitchen wall has a crack in it which was just discovered yesterday.
I wanted to explain who Deacon Onac is as most of you I don't think ever met him. Deacon Ocan is a transitional Deacon who grew up in Boucan-Carre. He has been in seminary for a long time and is due to be ordained a priest on Feb. 7th. His deceased cousin is named Laromie, 23, whom I honestly don't remember but I'm sure I've met in the past.
I gave Deacon Onac $300 from last year's Thanksgiving Day collection for Haiti towards the purchase of his chalice and patton that he will need in less than a month if the schedule of his ordination doesn't change. You have to wonder where they might have that ordination though as the Cathedral is in ruins. I'm certain there are bishops around that could do it but where????
People keep asking me about if there were deaths in our village. The answer is no, to if people physically lost their lives in BC. However, Port au Prince draws thousands of people from rural Haiti as it's the one place where there is work to be found. Young people, especially, migrate there to the "big city." In PAP, there is a way to find work, make a little money, continue your education, and improve yourself. There will be thousands and thousands of funerals in the coming months in small villages like Boucan-Carre, for people lost in the earthquake.
Fr. Chris Michelson gave an awesome homily last night at the vigil Mass in which he used the interplay between Jesus and Mary at the wedding feast at Cana. He called us all to ask ourselves, "how does your concern affect me? Mary's response: "Do whatever He tells you." And so the first miracle is performed and the water is turned into delicious wine. So we must ask ourselves now, what is Jesus telling us? Certainly to help in various ways through intense giving, through prayer for the suffering and those mourning the loss of loved ones, for all those orphaned last Tuesday...
Let us remember the first two funerals in BC... for Deacon Onac's cousin Laramie, and for St. Lot, Fr. Fitho Jean's brother. Both were just 23 years old.
My the souls of the faithful Haitian departed, through the Mercy of God, rest in peace.
Each of us is being called by Christ to respond to this tragedy. we can honor the dead through self sacrifice, through talking about Haiti with everyone we know, and not let it drift outside of our consciousness. We must keep Haiti's people squarely in front of our hearts and never forget... never.
-dpat
Friday, January 15, 2010
DPAT and "the Sophster" just got back from Haiti...
My daughter Sophie and my Mom and I just returned from Haiti last Friday. Little did we know we would be just a few hours away from the worst disaster in the country's history. It was the first time Sophie and my Mom had been there, but it was actually my 10th vistit. As I sit here in the comfort of our home in Knoxville, I'm overcome with a terrible guilt that I'm not there doing something to help. It's always difficult for me to make time to do mission trips to Haiti each year, especially since my business is so far off what has been considered normal, in the last ten years. But it's important for me to go there for a number of reasons.
First, I like what it does to me. I'm a typical 45 year-old fat white guy with good insurance, pretty much living the American dream. I'm self-employed, and have some measure of freedom over what I do each day. Haiti is a very uncomfortable place to be, even for a week. It's hot, most of the country lacks power so you spend most evenings talking by candle-light or a newer fancy LED headlamp. There is no noise from AC units, no sounds of traffic or cars in rural Haiti as there are only about 5 vehicles in our village at this point. You see the stars, which we are robbed of in most places in the US because we create so much light pollution. Instead, you fall asleep in real blackness to the sounds of mosquitoes buzzing, the faint sound of the Boucan-Carre River flowing in the distance, the wind, and roosters crowing and dogs barking and fighting. You hear goats and only occasionally, babies crying.
Morning comes early and you just wake up with the sun, especially in the summer heat. You can try to lay in bed for a while but once you start sweating, that loses all of its luster. Your needs are broken down into the most basic: what to eat, when to use the bathroom (if there is one), and what do do that day. We usually have projects lined up so that we are working on something when we're there. It's a good feeling to know that you contributed something more than just the carbon footprint of your airline travel for the 9 million people there.
Second, my faith is always renewed, even if I'm doing OK when I go down there. I have always told people that you get to see the gospel in color in Haiti, rather just in black and white. The gospel of Christ is exposed in raw form there every day. You are struck almost every moment with intense suffering of the people. They are hungry, have little or no healthcare, most have some evidence of malnutrition, and almost all of them are very thin. Most are not super healthy, owing to the fact that clean water remains to be elusive for most there. It is possible to visit the sick, those in jail, pray over the dead, and share your food and clothing with others all in a 12 hour time span. It's possible to live out Matthew 5:3 right in our little village in an afternoon. Yesterday a reporter asked me if my faith had been shaken by the tragedy that is unfolding in Haiti. My response was immediate and certain: "no!" It's actually swinging the other direction. The Haitians may have nothing of monetary value compared to us, but I know in my heart that is is we who are starving spiritually. We are suffering mightily in ways they would have trouble understanding. I go back again and again to learn their faith in God, to try to get into their hearts, and to learn about the true meaning of the word hope. I try to understand the mystery of Job from the old testament, and how through intense suffering it is possible to experience an intimacy with God through the worst of times. It's almost laughable to call ourselves missionaries when in reality, it is we who are schooled when we encounter this very special people who are filled with grace and dignity in the midst of their extreme poverty.
The story that I hope will be told somehow is that Haiti was a tragic catastrophe of epic proportions long before the first earthquake hit this week. It's sad that it might take this massive loss of human life to finally get our collective attention as a human race, and try to finally repair the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. We all should take seriously our responsibility to give not from our excess, but from where it hurts us deeply in the coming weeks and months. We have a responsibility to ourselves as human beings to look out for those who need what we have: safety, wealth, education, a future that holds promise, and to help our brothers and sisters someday arrive at the dignity God had always intended for Haiti. We all need to look at our finances and make contributions not just in money but in deep, long term, and sustained prayer.
The reality is that it is Jesus himself that is buried under all that rebar and concrete. It is He who suffers, it is He who lies covered by a bedsheet, dead in the gutter of Delmas Ave in Port au Prince. But it is also Christ that digs through the rubble, and yes, scribbles a number on a check to offer at the church f your choice.
This month would be a fantastic time to set aside all those things that we hold as different from one another in terms of our faith perspectives, and lean more on how we share the same faith in the basic goodness of people. We need to pull together if we are going to meaningfully offer solutions and much needed change for Haiti. I pray that each of us will do that in the coming months, for the Haitians offer us something huge right now: the chance for our professed faith to cease to be nominal. it is a special opportunity that we don't want to miss out on. There are no two countries that need each other more than Haiti and the United States. We are obese, they are starving. We are rich, they are poor. We get our teeth cleaned, they get theirs extracted. They have faith and grace, and we have nice homes and cars. We are really desperate for each other.
May we all realize our interconnectedness as one family on earth and do the right thing as opportunities to give and pray present themselves in the near future. Let's dare to be the America that we should be rather than the one we are.
-deacon patrick
First, I like what it does to me. I'm a typical 45 year-old fat white guy with good insurance, pretty much living the American dream. I'm self-employed, and have some measure of freedom over what I do each day. Haiti is a very uncomfortable place to be, even for a week. It's hot, most of the country lacks power so you spend most evenings talking by candle-light or a newer fancy LED headlamp. There is no noise from AC units, no sounds of traffic or cars in rural Haiti as there are only about 5 vehicles in our village at this point. You see the stars, which we are robbed of in most places in the US because we create so much light pollution. Instead, you fall asleep in real blackness to the sounds of mosquitoes buzzing, the faint sound of the Boucan-Carre River flowing in the distance, the wind, and roosters crowing and dogs barking and fighting. You hear goats and only occasionally, babies crying.
Morning comes early and you just wake up with the sun, especially in the summer heat. You can try to lay in bed for a while but once you start sweating, that loses all of its luster. Your needs are broken down into the most basic: what to eat, when to use the bathroom (if there is one), and what do do that day. We usually have projects lined up so that we are working on something when we're there. It's a good feeling to know that you contributed something more than just the carbon footprint of your airline travel for the 9 million people there.
Second, my faith is always renewed, even if I'm doing OK when I go down there. I have always told people that you get to see the gospel in color in Haiti, rather just in black and white. The gospel of Christ is exposed in raw form there every day. You are struck almost every moment with intense suffering of the people. They are hungry, have little or no healthcare, most have some evidence of malnutrition, and almost all of them are very thin. Most are not super healthy, owing to the fact that clean water remains to be elusive for most there. It is possible to visit the sick, those in jail, pray over the dead, and share your food and clothing with others all in a 12 hour time span. It's possible to live out Matthew 5:3 right in our little village in an afternoon. Yesterday a reporter asked me if my faith had been shaken by the tragedy that is unfolding in Haiti. My response was immediate and certain: "no!" It's actually swinging the other direction. The Haitians may have nothing of monetary value compared to us, but I know in my heart that is is we who are starving spiritually. We are suffering mightily in ways they would have trouble understanding. I go back again and again to learn their faith in God, to try to get into their hearts, and to learn about the true meaning of the word hope. I try to understand the mystery of Job from the old testament, and how through intense suffering it is possible to experience an intimacy with God through the worst of times. It's almost laughable to call ourselves missionaries when in reality, it is we who are schooled when we encounter this very special people who are filled with grace and dignity in the midst of their extreme poverty.
The story that I hope will be told somehow is that Haiti was a tragic catastrophe of epic proportions long before the first earthquake hit this week. It's sad that it might take this massive loss of human life to finally get our collective attention as a human race, and try to finally repair the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. We all should take seriously our responsibility to give not from our excess, but from where it hurts us deeply in the coming weeks and months. We have a responsibility to ourselves as human beings to look out for those who need what we have: safety, wealth, education, a future that holds promise, and to help our brothers and sisters someday arrive at the dignity God had always intended for Haiti. We all need to look at our finances and make contributions not just in money but in deep, long term, and sustained prayer.
The reality is that it is Jesus himself that is buried under all that rebar and concrete. It is He who suffers, it is He who lies covered by a bedsheet, dead in the gutter of Delmas Ave in Port au Prince. But it is also Christ that digs through the rubble, and yes, scribbles a number on a check to offer at the church f your choice.
This month would be a fantastic time to set aside all those things that we hold as different from one another in terms of our faith perspectives, and lean more on how we share the same faith in the basic goodness of people. We need to pull together if we are going to meaningfully offer solutions and much needed change for Haiti. I pray that each of us will do that in the coming months, for the Haitians offer us something huge right now: the chance for our professed faith to cease to be nominal. it is a special opportunity that we don't want to miss out on. There are no two countries that need each other more than Haiti and the United States. We are obese, they are starving. We are rich, they are poor. We get our teeth cleaned, they get theirs extracted. They have faith and grace, and we have nice homes and cars. We are really desperate for each other.
May we all realize our interconnectedness as one family on earth and do the right thing as opportunities to give and pray present themselves in the near future. Let's dare to be the America that we should be rather than the one we are.
-deacon patrick
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Bishop offers thanks for prayers...
Bishop Richard Stika has finally returned home to us in Knoxville after a lengthly stay in hospital last week. He is doing well and attributes his recover so far to so many people who have offered prayers on his behalf. He will visit a specialist at Vanderbilt tomorrow (Wed.) and hopes to get further treatment for his vision there. Please continue to pray for our local apostle of Jesus as he tries to get back into the swing of things here in the Diocese. dpat :)
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Please pray for Bishop Stika....
We are all short on details right now, but our new Bishop Richard has been hospitalized with a "medical emergency" in Florida today. Please pray for his recovery; storm heaven with your prayers on his behalf. Bishop Stika has endeared himself in a very short time to all of us in East Tennessee that have gotten to meet him and get to know him. Our local apostle of Jesus Christ now needs our help.
Please keep in mind that gossip and misinformation can deter us from praying with intelligence, so please lets just all simply pray hard for our Bishop, and for the doctors and nurses who are now caring for him.
dpat
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Heading down to Haiti tomorrow:
I would ask for your prayers for our mission trip down to Boucan-Carre, Haiti. We will drive down to Atlanta tonight and then fly out early in the morning to Port-au-Prince. We will then take 4x4 toyotas up into the Central Plateau to spend a week of work, prayer, and reflection in the midst of the our friends in the western hemisphere's poorest country. Please pray for our collective safety, that we would remain healthy while down there, and that hearts would be moved and changed through the experience.
deacon pat
deacon pat
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Follow me as I ride for the Feist Family to Labrador...
I'm leaving today on a long trip to take time to pray, spend time with Christ alone on the road, to go someplace totally new for me, and basically get away from it all on a self guided retreat. I've been thinking a lot, lately, about the Feist family in the aftermath of losing a baby and a wife and mother. Nancy was a great friend to KCHS and advocated for our school always. She was also a constant fixture on First Fridays at the Holy Trinity Chapel, where she would leave her super busy job at the Chancery and come to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament. So while the whole school was getting on with a normal day at the end of a busy week, Nancy and a few others (you know who you are) would come and usually take the last slot of the day and sit quietly and pray for all of us. In the words of Hope Feist, "she was a prayer warrior." I will be riding, praying, thinking, reflecting, and exploring for the next 12 days or so. Please come along with me vicariously, and pray for the Feist Family. If you have any prayer intentions, I would be happy to pray for you--so just e-mail me or FB me and let me know what's heavy on your heart. I will have nothing but time and I'm eager to take on new petitions. I've set up a special blog just for the ride so e-mail me what's on your mind. Here is the link to the blog:
http://feistkids.blogspot.com/
http://feistkids.blogspot.com/
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