Reflections - After Two Storms

Nearly four years ago Hurricane Harvey brought unprecedented rainfall to Houston. My parents live four blocks from Buffalo Bayou, and as the water was gradually rising with no end in sight, they moved everything they could to the attic, grabbed their most essential documents, and left on foot, wading through the water. They were going to the home of a friend, and a stranger with a tall pick-up truck saw my parents walking and generously offered them a ride. When my parents arrived at the other neighborhood away from the flooding, they saw a homeowner casually mowing his lawn on that late-August day. My mom told me that it was so strange to have just evacuated their home while seeing someone else go about his life completely unaffected by the floods.

Our recent ice storm here in Texas brought us similar experiences. Many lost power, heat, and water for days on end while others didn’t suffer any interruptions. The pandemic has likewise been felt unevenly across the country. Some families have seen multiple loved ones die while other families haven’t had anyone fall ill.

In his recent book “Let Us Dream” about the ongoing pandemic, Pope Francis writes that “To enter into crisis is to be sifted. Your categories and ways of thinking get shaken up; your priorities and lifestyles are challenged. … The basic rule of a crisis is that you don’t come out of it the same. If you get through it, you come out better or worse, but never the same.” Pope Francis doesn’t presume that crises will always make us more compassionate and selfless, and trauma can naturally make people more defensive, self-centered, or in denial about the reality of the situation. But with faith, hope, and love, crises can make us more intentional about our daily choices and compassionate towards others.

As Catholics, we strive to take a universal perspective beyond our own narrow experiences. I have often thought about my mother’s experience of evacuating the house in Houston when I see stories of refugees on the news. The past decade has been a time of strong economic growth and prosperity for many in our city and country, so I want to imagine that everyone is doing well. Yet I know that many people continue struggling both here in Austin and around the world.

I hope that we can all embrace the crises of the past month and year as an opportunity to grow and come out of this with more compassionate and generous hearts. The limitations of the past year have made me very grateful for the countless small blessings that I have received through your ongoing support of us priests and each other. In return, please know that we are praying for everyone who has suffered significant losses during the past month.

Fr. Paolo

PS - I didn't included the rest of my parent's story in the bulletin due to space. My parent's home survived Harvey with only minimal damage from roof leaks. The bayou kept rising after the rains had stopped (hence the reason why others away from the bayou could mow their lawns), but the water crested a couple inches below the front door of my parent's home. Their neighborhood was in a mandatory evacuation zone for nearly two weeks as the electricity remained cut until all the water receded. Once my parents returned home, they hosted two other families who had suffered much worse damage and had to wait many weeks until their homes could be reparied.