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Tropical Storm Lee picked up where Irene left off last week, battering areas of Delaware, Greene, Schenectady and Schoharie Counties that had just begun to recover from the initial storm.

But a tired Jody Bartholomew wanted Catholics across the Albany Diocese to hear a positive story about her hard-hit parish, Our Lady of the Valley in Middleburgh.

"It's quite amazing to see all of our parishioners chipping in," the parish office manager told The Evangelist.

Right after the first wave of flooding tore through the Schoharie County town, parishioners sprang into action. A bowling alley next door to the church had been planning a big Democratic party event that was cancelled, so organizers and parishioners coordinated their efforts and set up a site where flood victims and relief workers could get a hot meal or a sandwich.

On just one night, said Ms. Bartholomew, 300 barbecued chicken dinners were served; the next night, 250 pork dinners were doled out. Parishioners were fixing spaghetti for a third meal when she spoke to The Evangelist.

In addition, volunteers had been making sandwiches and bicycling through town to distribute them to the hungry. Ms. Bartholomew said that, when American Red Cross workers stopped at OLV, they told her they hadn't had to hand out as much food as they had expected: The parish had the effort well in hand.

"A member of the National Guard was in to have dinner the other night and afterward, he went up to Father Tom [Holmes, pastor] and told him how the National Guard had never had such a warm welcome in a community," she added.

Ms. Bartholomew reported that the guardsman also said "what we are doing for the community makes him proud to be a Catholic."

Still, she said wearily, "it's just hard." When rain brought a second round of flooding to Middleburgh last week, residents were temporarily re-evacuated. Ms. Bartholomew struggled just to get to work.

Reports from other areas of the Albany Diocese have continued to arrive, as well. Sacred Heart parish in Margaretville had to move a planned wedding to Oneonta; Our Lady of Fatima parish in Delanson reminded parishioners after the flood that even though a priest had been unavailable to celebrate Mass during Tropical Storm Irene, several parishioners were trained in leading Sunday celebrations in the absence of a priest.

That was a teachable moment: "As we are a somewhat isolated rural faith community without a priest in residence here, emergency situations...might happen from time to time, and may become more and more frequent as the number of priests available to serve us continues to dwindle," wrote parish life director Lynn O'Rourke in the weekly bulletin.

"That being said, please be assured that, if a priest is unable to come to celebrate the Mass, there will always be the availability of the Sunday celebration in the absence of a priest."

Bishop Howard J. Hubbard sent a plea to all parishes in the Diocese to aid storm victims. Though the approximately 10 parish facilities that suffered damage were insured, he noted, many homeowners and business owners were not covered.

"The magnitude of devastation to families, farmers, businesses and local communities is astronomical," Bishop Hubbard wrote. "Initially, emergency response will include shelter, food, medicine and counseling. Then it will transition into the long haul of insurance and FEMA claims to restore homes, crops and places of business. The struggle to meet basic human needs will last long after the cleanup is over."

Catholics across the Diocese have responded. At St. Margaret of Cortona Church in Rotterdam Junction, a mission of St. Joseph's parish in Schenectady, parishioners planned to donate the offertory collection from Sept. 10-11 Masses to the Rotterdam Junction Volunteer Fire Department's relief fund for storm victims.

St. Joseph's took up a second collection for the fire department; St. Joseph's parish in Scotia chipped in with its own donation.

Parishioners of St. Joseph's in Greenwich and Notre Dame-Visitation in Schuylerville were invited to drop off food items for the Salem Food Pantry, which had to close because of severe flooding from Tropical Storm Irene. The pantry is seeking a new location, but the 50 or so families it serves each week are still in need of food, the parish bulletin noted.

At Sacred Heart parish in Stamford, Rev. Michael Cambi, pastor, wrote in the parish bulletin that, in some ways, it was unclear how to best help residents recover from the disaster. He urged parishioners to let the parish know about local needs - and to pray for those suffering.

According to Laetitia Rhatigan of the Albany office of Family Rosary, people affected by the storms will be especially remembered in prayer during the annual diocesan Rosary Celebration, to be held Oct. 2 at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Latham. Bishop Hubbard will lead the Rosary prayer.[[In-content Ad]]

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