Midnight Clear Recording

What is the future of
Our Lady Star of the Sea?
A beacon of light
for the people returning to this New Orleans community
(This lighthouse may be extinguished. According to www.fathertony.com the
Archdiocese of New Orleans may close Our Lady of the Sea and send Fr. Tony to another community.)

Imagine you hear of the impending storm, and you are searching for those few valuables that you will be able to take with you as you leave. The Last Thing You Are Thinking About Is Your Church.

Imagine you are in the attic of your house, and you have chopped a hole in the roof. With the flood waters rising from below, a helicopter lifts you to safety. The Last Thing You Are Thinking About Is Your Church.

Imagine you are 200 miles away living within someone else's home. You are NOW Thinking About Your Church.

Then you hear Your Church Has Survived. Due to a high elevation, only two inches of water dampened the sanctuary floor. A group of volunteers has scrubbed the floor for a week to remove the mold, and your priest, Fr. Tony will hold mass on Christmas Day, the first service since the hurricane. It will also be your church's 100th birthday.

You make the trip Home To Your Church. You are re-united with 200 of your brothers and sisters. Also with you are 50 volunteers from Common Ground Relief who have come to New Orleans to help rebuild your community. Some of these volunteers are the ones who scrubbed your floor and made it possible for you to Come Home To Your Church.

As CGC volunteers, Anne and I are invited to attend Your Christmas Day morning service. Your church's boiler has been ruined. So the inside temperatures on this memorable morning are not anything warmer than the upper 50's.

Your Priest, Fr. Tony personally greets and welcomes us to Your Church.

Your Choir of 20 has reorganized for the first time since the hurricane and is practicing under the direction of Your Wonderful Choir Director ... sending forth wonderful musical energy warming the resounding splendor of Your Chilly Sanctuary.

Your Little Richie sits alert at his drums ready to accent Your Choir's offering.

I find all this deeply moving as the service begins, and I weep uncontrollably with the surrounding joy of Your church.

I sing responsively with Your Choir, with emotion choking my usually dynamic voice.

My eyes are continually pulled up by Your Guiding Angels.

Fr. Tony walks to the front of Your Altar.

He says as he removes the first of his vestments dropping the robe to the floor of Your Sanctuary:

This wasn't suppose to happen. This storm wasn't suppose to happen!!!

He descends the steps of Your Altar talking about the loss of his possessions along with those of his extended family and adds:

This wasn't suppose to happen!!!

He moves to down Through Your Sanctuary Aisle making eye contact with all of us, and casually drops a second robe and adds:.

Ya know,
All we lost was stuff!!!

Then standing in the plainness of black pants and shirt, he talks about his first trip back to the rectory and how he (in a joking manner) lost stuff he didn't even know he had.

photo from www.fathertony.com

All we lost was stuff!!!

But his major concern is his chalice. He and the young man with him search the rectory. Finally the young man comes up with a moldy box and says,

Is this it?

The box is hesitantly opened to find the inside cloth lining and its contents untouched by Katrina's plague. Fr. Tony jokes about the power of Bounty paper toweling that wrapped the chalice. When asked where it was found, the young man said next to the toilet, and Fr. Tony replies:

I hope this is not a sign of my future ministry.

He then begins returning to the altar replacing his vestments, his energy building, and continually reminding us that we still have and will always have ...

Our Faith in God!!!

Following the service we stand on Your Steps and watch Your People greeting each other, many for the first time since Katrina.

I remark to Anne that Because Of
The Wonderful Presence of Your Church
Your Community
will NOT follow the future fate of other many New Orleans communities.

Your Homes Will Not Be Bulldozed
12/24/05

Post script 2/1/06
www.fathertony.com reports that due to financial concerns
the Archdiocese plans to
Close Your Church
The Lighthouse Of Your Community.
Your Fr. Tony
will be moved to a new parish.

If you would like to support the efforts of Fr. Tony and the people of his church to maintain Our Lady of the Sea, you can contact him at:
Email: Fathertony@Fathertony.com
Website: http://www.fathertony.com/
Rev. R. Tony Ricard
1784 Carol Sue Ave
Apt. 12 F
Gretna, LA 70056
(504) 944-0166

Click here for reports on our hurricane relief mission
Should parts of New Orleans be bulldozed?
What is Common Ground Relief?
What is Algiers Free Medical Clinic?
Healing Music for Lafayette, LA
Gary's journal from the trip
Other New Orleans links

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