Katrina victims reaffirm faith with tears, sorrow

San Antonio Express-News ^ | 09/05/2005 | Jeorge Zarazua

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BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. — Inside a church with a damaged roof and no electricity, Liz Fergusson quietly wept as her congregation celebrated its first Sunday Mass since monstrous and deadly Hurricane Katrina ravaged the coast a week ago, tearing apart everything she owned.

Marcus Johnson holds a flashlight for Bishop Thomas Rodi as he leads Mass in Bay St. Louis, Miss., at St. Rose de Lima Catholic Church.

Theresa Wilson prays while attending mass in Bay St. Louis, Miss., at St. Rose de Lima Catholic Church. Wilson's home was destroyed by hurricane Katrina.

Sometimes the weeping turned into uncontrollable sobbing.

Sometimes, Fergusson just held her breath, as if to hold her sorrow and anguish inside.

She wasn't alone.

Throughout the small St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, there were many tears.

Here, like everywhere else along the Mississippi coast Sunday, haggard residents came out to pray, to be closer to God and to reflect on the events of the past seven days, beginning with when Katrina first unleashed her hurricane-force gusts here at 5:20 a.m. Aug. 29.

It was a small Mass. Only about one-third of the church's 38 or so choir members showed up.

They came in T-shirts and shorts. No suits or Sunday dresses.

Yet, they came.

And they prayed, and they sang.

"The storm is passing over, hallelujah.

"The storm is passing over, hallelujah."

No one questioned where the other choir members were.

Fergusson sang, too. The 40-year-old sang until her tears were too much, because, she said, she held a horrible secret that only God knew.

"I was just ashamed," she said. "I was ashamed because I was afraid that God wouldn't take care of me like he always has."

Others had their own reasons for weeping. But, no matter what they were, they all centered on the devastation Katrina wrought with her 25-foot-high water surge and 125-mph winds.

Jennifer Aitken, 38, cried because she couldn't help but think about the future of the small tight-knit hamlet.

"My neighborhood is gone," she said, adding her prayers Sunday were for the town to survive. "I can always get another house, but it's my town I'm worried about. It was the best place in the world to live."

Sherry Hill, 47, let the tears stream down her face when she sang, "God cares." It was a solo performance.

"I'm finally reacting to everything, because it's the first time I cried since it all happened," said Hill, who lost her home in the hurricane.

Bishop Thomas Rodi of the Biloxi Diocese celebrated the Mass with the local pastor, Father Sebastian Myladiyil. It was one of three he held in southern Mississippi on Sunday morning.

Rodi told parishioners that over the past several days he has been repeatedly asked, "Why? Why has all this suffering come upon us?

"My answer is simple as well, 'I don't know.'"

The bishop then talked about the Book of Job and how it addresses suffering.

"So, to the question, 'Why?' I don't know, but this I do know," he said. "The love of Christ is with us. And that's what we celebrate here in the midst of the destruction."

Rodi then told parishioners about a conversation he had with a friend.

"I told him we are going to make it," the bishop said. "He smiled at me and said, "'Bishop, we already have.'" They were words that soothed and calmed. They were uplifting for Fergusson, who at the end, stopped crying.

"Your faith is such a center of strength for you," she said. "We have everything, that's what he said."

Theresa Wilson, 49, understood it as well.

"Our faith is our life," she said. "It's going to get us through this."

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jzarazua@express-news.net

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(Photo by Edward A. Ornelas/Express-News)

Theresa Wilson prays while attending mass in Bay St. Louis, Miss., at St. Rose de Lima Catholic Church. Wilson's home was destroyed by hurricane Katrina.

Amen, Theresa, Amen!