KATRINA ANNIVERSARY OBSERVANCE
AT LOYOLA UNIVERSITY NEW ORLEANS
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University Ministry invites the entire Loyola community to make Tuesday, August 29 a prayerful day of reflection, conversation and awareness. We encourage individuals, colleges, departments and organizations to make special efforts throughout the day to create an atmosphere of support and encouragement. Take time to commemorate the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina through prayer and conversation with those in your office, class, department or living space with whom you have daily shared the frustrations and graces of post hurricane life. The following resources are just a small sampling of suggestions to start the reflection process.
University Ministry Announcement of Katrina Anniversary Observance at Loyola
A year has passed since Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on Loyola, New Orleans, Louisiana, and the Gulf Coast. The unprecedented nature of both the natural and human-caused tragedies related to this storm continues to adversely influence the daily lives of many members of the Loyola community. Whether for good or bad, we are not the same individuals, university, city, state or nation as before Katrina. As a community of faith and learning, it is important that we take time to recognize where we have been, where we are today and where we hope to be in the weeks, months and years to come. It is important, also, to remember we are not all in the same place mentally or emotionally. Tuesday, August 29, the one year anniversary of the levee failures caused by Hurricane Katrina, is a natural place to start our communal reflection. Since this date coincides with the extreme busy-ness of starting a new semester that brings its own excitement and stresses, we will also use Thursday, September 14, the scheduled day for the Mass of the Holy Spirit, to continue our community observance of post-Katrina reality and hope at Loyola.
University Ministry in cooperation with the Student Government Association and the University Programming Board invites the entire Loyola community to make Tuesday, August 29 a prayerful day of reflection, conversation and awareness. We encourage individuals, colleges, departments and organizations to make special efforts throughout the day to create an atmosphere of support and encouragement. Take time to commemorate this anniversary through prayer and conversation with those in your office, department or living space with whom you have daily shared the frustrations and graces of post hurricane life. Spend time at the reflection boards which will be on display in front of the Danna Center by the statue of St. Ignatius and add your current thoughts. Bring that spirit to the university-wide Mass that will be celebrated at 12:30 in Ignatius Chapel with Fr. Kevin Wildes, S.J. presiding. SGA and UPB will be serving red beans and rice in the peace quad after Mass so the communal conversation can continue.
On this momentous day, we feel that it is important to stand in solidarity with our neighbors in the city of New Orleans, especially those areas that were hit harder than our own campus. While there will be a number of ways to mark the anniversary on campus, we encourage you to join the metropolitan community at any city-wide events or the interfaith prayer service at St. Louis Cathedral on the evening of Aug 29th. Your presence at these events wearing Loyola colors, if possible, will be a great sign of our continued, active involvement in bringing New Orleans back. Here is a link to a partial schedule of activities in the area: http://www.nola.com/katrina/?/katrina/content/anniversary.html
Our daily experiences with the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita will continue beyond this anniversary date. Therefore, we will also use the Mass of the Holy Spirit on Thursday, September 14 at 11:30 AM in the Rec Plex to continue our commemoration. This annual, university-wide tradition marks the beginning of the new academic year by invoking the blessing of the Holy Spirit on the mission of Loyola and all of our community endeavors. The Mass of the Holy Spirit has been canceled the last two years because of hurricanes. It is fitting, then, that we use this time to continue the celebration of our return after the storm.
Over the next few days and weeks, University Ministry will be e-mailing suggested prayers, reflection materials and guides for conversation among your friends, classmates and co-workers. We will also send updated schedules of events as they become available. May God continue to bless us with love and grace as we all face the frustrations, questions, opportunities and excitement of living as a people of faith in post-Katrina New Orleans.
One Year After Hurricane Katrina Prayer
How often, O Lord, do I read casually of disasters afar? How often, O Lord, do I hear indifferently of catastrophes far removed? Then when disaster moved close to me, when
catastrophe shatter the calm of my life, I come alive to pain and loss.
I know you understand how limited I am, by my love that fades off into indifference, by the boundaries of my friendships and personal concerns. I am just that way. So come to me now as I pray for the stricken. For those who grieve and mourn for a life, for a city that is no more. Perhaps I will be more sensitive in the future, more aware, a bit gentler and kinder. For all of us move along the razor's edge between life and death.
Give me a greater appreciation of life and love and other people. Draw me closer to those whom I profess to love. Give me the will to be more helpful to rebuild my city, my region. Give me the will to be more helpful to others trying to rebuild their lives.
In the face of the mystery of life and death, give me courage to trust your sustaining daily presence. Let me not forget that in life and death all of us are yours.
I pray for all your children, for the men and women affected by disaster, who live in pain, physical and emotional. For those who seek and cannot seem to find, for those who live confidently and yet need that something more which comes from fellowship with you in Christ.
I pray for all well and happy people, that in their fullness of life they may know the abundance that comes through Christ. We all need your Spirit, O God, not just in times of calamity but also in our days of strength and well-being.
So I call upon you, O Lord, in this time of great challenges. In my calling, may I hear your voice saying, "Lo, I am with you always." Amen
Adapted from: For A Day of Public Calamity / A Book of Uncommon Prayer
By Kenneth Phifer
Rules for Dealing with Post-Katrina Life
1) Remember the sons and daughters of Israel in the desert- a prime example of evacuee syndrome- grumbling against God and their leaders, grumbling about the food, glorifying the past and "catastrophizing" about the future, unable to focus on the present and find God there.
2) Anticipate a DAILY roller-coaster experience in your emotional life.
3) Remember you are not alone, so use that to your advantage by
seeking out another person to help you unravel your feelings.
4) When you are impacted by someone taking out their frustrations on you, do everyone a big favor and DO NOT PASS IT ALONG. Be like Jesus on the cross and say THE VIOLENCE STOPS HERE.
5) No matter how difficult, make some act of faith in the bigger picture, knowing you may never totally understand it in your lifetime.
6) Pray for ACTUAL GRACE to live today's challenges.
Fr. Eddie Gros, SJ - University Ministry
Courage in Difficult Times: One last point I would like to discuss with you is the unrest many of you feel with regard to the future. There are times when all of us ask ourselves what will happen tomorrow. Do not let this unrest discourage you, no more than the seeming uselessness of your efforts that can at times make the day look dark. You must realize that the present difficulties are signs of the times, events through which God speaks to us. His ways of pursuing His work can at times be quite disconcerting. Let this unrest and this obscurity help you to make an effort at reflection and imagination- but do it calmly. Let it stimulate you, for it is the light and strength of the Holy Spirit which we need most of all. Above all else, let it be for you an occasion to deepen profoundly your faith and your hope.
-Pedro Arrupe, S.J.
Simple, friendly and informal conversations were the earliest and chief means that Ignatius employed in helping people. Right from his conversion in 1521 he wanted, to use his own words, "to help souls." The way he started was to talk to people, men and women, young and old, about the things that really mattered to them and to him. Such simple talk, such conversation, was the beginning of the life and works of the Society of Jesus.
The term "conversation" in its most obvious sense means to talk with someone and, by so doing, to exchange sentiments, observations, opinions and ideas. Ignatius had that meaning in mind, but he also intended the older and more inclusive meaning of turning towards someone: to live with, keep company with and even to help oneself and the other person toward new experiences and new interpretations of them.
The Society in its members has carried on a great variety of such conversations. Among them, to cite but a few general areas, have been conversations with the secular world in all its variety, with other religious groups, both Christian and non-Christian, with the tradition and practices and personalities of its own Church, with itself among each generation of its own members and, finally, with the Lord.
-John Padberg, S.J.
St. Francis Xavier to St. Ignatius
If the Lord our God has separated us by these vast distances, we are still united by our awareness of these strong bonds that unite us in a single spirit and a common love, since, if I have judged aright, neither physical separation, nor estrangement, nor forgetfulness can have any meaning for those who love one another in the Lord. For it seems to me that we shall always sustain each other as we were ever wont to do before.
• St. Francis Xavier, S.J. to St. Ignatius Loyola, S.J.
Prayer to Our Lady of Prompt Succor
Our Lady of Prompt Succor, ever Virgin Mother of Jesus Christ our Lord and God, you are most powerful against the enemy of our salvation. The divine promise of a Redeemer was announced right after the sin of our first parents; and you, through your Divine Son, crushed the serpent's head. Hasten, then, to our help and deliver us from the deceits of Satan.
Intercede for us with Jesus that we may always accept God's graces and be found faithful to Him in our particular states of life. As you once saved our beloved city (New Orleans) from ravaging flames and our country from an invading army, have pity on us and obtain for us protection from hurricanes and all other disasters. (Silent pause for individual petitions.)
Assist us in the many trials which beset our path through life. Watch over the Church and the Pope as they uphold with total fidelity the purity of faith and morals against unremitting opposition. Be to us truly Our Lady of Prompt Succor now and especially at the hour of our death, that we may gain everlasting life through the merits of Jesus Christ Who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God world without end. Amen.
Questions for individual or group reflection
What have you experienced as a blessing throughout this ordeal?
What is your Katrina story or one you've heard that really stays with you?
What, if anything, has made you angry?
What makes you most anxious or nervous about living in New Orleans?
What is a hope you have for yourself, Loyola and New Orleans?
Any other thoughts?
Tuesday, August 29 : University Ministry in cooperation with the Student Government Association and the University Programming Board invites the entire Loyola community to make Tuesday, August 29 a prayerful day of reflection, conversation and awareness. We encourage individuals, colleges, departments and organizations to make special efforts throughout the day to create an atmosphere of support and encouragement. Take time to commemorate this anniversary through prayer and conversation with those in your office, classroom, department or living space with whom you have daily shared the frustrations and graces of post hurricane life. Spend time at the reflection boards which will be on display in front of the Danna Center by the statue of St. Ignatius and add your current thoughts. Bring that spirit to the university-wide Mass that will be celebrated at 12:30 in Ignatius Chapel with Fr. Kevin Wildes, S.J. presiding. SGA and UPB will be serving red beans and rice in the peace quad after Mass so the communal conversation can continue.
Thursday, September 14 : We will also use the Mass of the Holy Spirit on Thursday, September 14 at 11:30 AM in the Rec Plex to continue our commemoration. This annual, university-wide tradition marks the beginning of the new academic year by invoking the blessing of the Holy Spirit on the mission of Loyola and all of our community endeavors. The Mass of the Holy Spirit has been canceled the last two years because of hurricanes. It is fitting, then, that we use this time to continue the celebration of our return after the storm. A campus-wide e-mail will be coming out soon inviting members of the Loyola community to participate in this celebration in a special way.
Archdiocese of New Orleans Interfaith Prayer Service
The Archdiocese will host an interfaith prayer service at 7:00 PM at St. Louis Cathedral. The service will conclude with a concert by musicians from the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and the tolling of the "Katrina Bell."
The City of New Orleans has planned Hurricane Katrina memorial activities themed Remembrance, Renewal, and Rebirth on Sunday August 27, 2006 and Tuesday, August 29, 2006. All City events are free and open to the public. A complete list of these activities can be found at: http://www.cityofno.com/portal.aspx?portal=1&load=~/PortalModules/ViewPressRelease.ascx&itemid=3659
Spike Lee's Film: "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts"
To air on Cox Channel 10, Tuesday, August 29 at 7PM. Resident Chaplains will be available on campus in the residence halls for anyone wanting to talk after the film.
