Provide victims with breath of fresh air

Anyone in the Albany Diocese who subscribes to a newspaper or watches television has witnessed the massive devastation wreaked by the May 31 tornados that raced through our region. Now it's time to do something to put it all -- houses, businesses and people -- back together again.

That can happen if Catholics in the Diocese are as generous as usual when special collections are called for. They have come through on many occasions in the past, most recently when last winter's horrendous ice storms disrupted life in the North Country.

One parish has already led the way, challenging other churches to duplicate its success. Last week, Rev. Edward Pratt, pastor of Corpus Christi in Ushers, sent out a quick letter calling for donations for their neighboring parish, Assumption/St. Paul in Mechanicville. As a result, the Ushers parishioners last weekend gave more than $10,000 to storm relief, a remarkable outpouring of Christian solidarity and concern.

That sort of exceptional generosity can be duplicated scores of times this coming weekend when parishes throughout the 14 counties of the Diocese pass the basket a second time in response to Bishop Howard J. Hubbard's call to "relieve the distress" of those devastated by the tornados.

Many people have noted the irony of the windstorms coming on Pentecost Sunday when the wind of the Holy Spirit is celebrated. The ill winds of the storms left behind destruction and ruin. Now it's time for another kind of gust -- a second wind for victims, provided by those who breathed easy when the storms passed them by.

When the second collection comes your way this weekend, count your blessings (including the roof that's intact over your head), think of the victims and give so generously that you take their breath away.

(06-11-98)

[[In-content Ad]]