In the 10 months since Haiti's devastating earthquake buried nearly 300,000 people beneath rubble, the response from American Catholics for relief and rebuilding has been like none before, reported Dallas Bishop Kevin Farrell at the annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. But ongoing needs are massive and redevelopment of Haiti is proceeding slowly and with many obstacles, according to several bishops whose committees are involved in the U.S. church's ongoing assistance. Several bishops provided pieces of a comprehensive oral report about aspects of the church's efforts for Haiti. For example, Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski, who has long worked among the Haitian community in the United States and is chairman of the Haiti Advisory Group of the bishops' Subcommittee on the Church in Latin America, said the massive devastation in Haiti included the destruction of 70 parishes, dozens of schools, and several convents and centers of priestly formation. He asked, at the request of the Haitian bishops, that U.S. church groups use the system of church twinning to channel aid toward local parish communities. What a terrific idea. Trying to figure out a way to help. Talk to your pastor about twinning with a parish in Haiti. Sounds like a great time to start as well. Thanksgiving and Christmas are traditionally times of the year when folks start feeling more charitable. Acts 20:28 says, "Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock of which the holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, in which you tend the church of God that he acquired with his own blood."
Kurt Hilgefort, is a Catholic father of six who publishes his thoughts on his blog Shadows of Augustine . He responded to my seven question survey with the following answers. Kurt is the first layperson to respond to the seven question survey and I think that his experience is extremely relevant to me personally and I hope that you are inspired by his thoughts as well. If you would like to respond, please send an email to fellmananthony@gmail.com with your thoughts and I will be happy to publish them as well. 1. What is the biggest challenge to your faith that you have faced so far? The biggest challenge for me has been the whole dying to self thing. On an intellectual level, there are no barriers. It comes down to a matter of accepting the authority of the Church that Christ founded upon Peter. My challenge is not in the intellect, but rather in the will. The challenge for me has always been to continually seek conversion. I want to be transformed, but I want it to be over all ...
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