Flood Letter

Flexing our muscles of love like Mother Mary

05/31/2019

Luke 1:39-56 Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."

This morning I would like to share with you a letter I wrote on the occasion of the great Flood of 2019. It seems highly apropos to date it today, May 31st, the great Marian feast of the Visitation. Why? Well, Mother Mary, as she visits and aids her cousin Elizabeth in need, seems to symbolize every virtue we need to help our neighbors in need as we face this flood. Above all her other strengths, I believe, stands Mary’s chief virtue, namely, love. Love for those in need is Mary’s “mightiest muscle” you might say.

We see her flexing that muscle not only on the feast of the Visitation, but also at the wedding in Cana, as well as in her response to the angel at the Annunciation, and as she stood at the foot of the Cross of Christ, and finally on Pentecost, the birthday of the Church. In each and every instance, Mary was aware of others in need and she did not hesitate to hurry and help them. At the Visitation, elderly Elizabeth was in need, at the wedding in Cana the poor couple who ran out of wine was in need, at the Annunciation all humanity was in need of a Savior, at the Crucifixion the Beloved Disciple was in need, and Jesus gave his Mother to help him in that dark hour, and at Pentecost the apostles needed Mary to teach them how to receive the Holy Spirit. Likewise, Jesus gives his Mother Mary to us in this dark hour of the Flood of 2019 to strengthen us with her love. Mary shows us how to love one another, and flex our own muscles of love.

May 31, 2019, Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Dear Immaculate Conception Family,

It’s hard to find the right words adequately to describe Mother Nature’s mighty muscles as she flexed them in the Flood of 2019. I felt very small and vulnerable as I hurried over the I-540 bridge on Monday night, shortly before it was closed. Every now and then – fortunately, not too often – humanity is humbled in the face of the fearsome forces of nature.

It is no less inspiring and hard to describe how our Fort Smith and Van Buren communities have come together to meet this disaster. Mayor George McGill said that it will not be this flood that defines us but rather how we respond to it. And I have seen heroic and even holy responses. Neighbors have rescued valuables from each other’s homes, strangers have filled and piled sandbags, people have opened their homes to others to live in, and companies and churches have fed the multitudes like Jesus fed the thousands with a few loaves and fish. Nature’s raw power has been met and matched by the real power of brotherly and sisterly love.

Many parishioners have asked what our response will be as a Catholic community of faith to this crisis. Here are seven things we can do. First of all, we will pray and beseech God’s blessing on all who are affected. Prayer is an act of faith in God’s love and providence, because all creation is in God’s hands, including the Arkansas River. Secondly, I urge you to help those closest to you: neighbors, friends, family and parishioners. It is not by accident you live where you live: bloom where you are planted. Third, help the local agencies that are the best equipped to deliver the assistance, like the Riverview Hope Campus, Salvation Army, the Red Cross, the Clothes Closet, etc. You can help by volunteering or by donating directly to these agencies.

Fourth, we will partner with OK Foods and area churches to provide lunches for the foreseeable future. I.C. parishioners are asked to purchase gallon-sized containers of vegetables and deliver them to the Sears building between 8:00 am and 6:00 pm. The meals will be served at other churches. Fifth, this weekend, we will take up a second collection for disaster relief. Half of that collection will be used to benefit I.C. parishioners in need from the flooding, and the other half will be distributed to local agencies to bolster their efforts. Sixth, please take care to share accurate information, not hear-say or half-truths. The rumor mill loves to churn in the wake of disasters, causing further confusion and prolonging the pain. Remember the old adage: “loose lips sink ships.” And seventh, bear in mind that recovery from this flood will take months, maybe years, before we return to normal. So, pace yourself as you render assistance. We just started a marathon, not a hundred-yard dash.

My parents taught me that being a family means we share everything together: the good, the bad and the ugly. Our community – Catholic and beyond – has enjoyed great times together, and we will again. Today, it is time to share the sorrows.

God bless, Fr. John K. Antony

Praised be Jesus Christ!