Dear Parishioners,
Last weekend I visited our sister parish in Haiti, St. Guillaume (William), in the remote town of La Chapelle. It was a long, five-hour ride to get there with the last hour over a rocky, bumpy, dirt road that had been washed out in several places. Along the way, we found pick-up trucks with benches serving as transportation. People not only sat on the benches but stood on the bumpers, and some sat on the roofs; so crowded were many of these trucks. Many could not afford to pay, so they traveled the two lane highway by foot, carrying the 40 pound water containers on their heads (due to no inside running water) as well as sacks of grain, tubs of clothes, and whatever else they needed. Motorcycles were very popular, with usually three riders and sometimes four on a single motorcycle. Yet they were in good spirits, because they had God and one another. They were a very social people who gather in the streets at night talking, singing, and listening to music.
In one sense, they have so little, but they also have so much. May we become more appreciative of the many blessings we have rather than worrying about the things we lack. If so, perhaps we can acquire some of the spirit of Haiti where the problem of depression doesn’t exist.
God Bless,
Fr. Carl
Rev. Stephen Hook is Pastor of the Pastorate of the Visitation which includes the Catholic Churches of Pasadena, Maryland: St. Jane Frances de Chantal (Riviera Beach) and Our Lady of the Chesapeake (Lakeshore). He is assisted by Associate Pastor Rev. John Belinki, Deacon Howard Klohr, and Deacon Rick Clemens. To learn more about our pastorate, please visit www.catholicpasadena.org.
