Our contributions can make a difference

By Pat Arensberg
For The Catholic Week
I hope that everyone was safe and relatively unharmed by Hurricane Ida. We were very fortunate here. It is odd to think about how different so many people are experiencing life right now. I am writing this on Aug. 31, just a day after Ida passed through.
I don’t know of anyone in Alabama who lost power or had roof damage. I am sure that there are some, but what I experienced at my house and what so many experienced was very mild. We got some rain and we got some wind. We had sticks and leaves down in my yard, not limbs and trees. Many might say, “We were lucky!” I think we were blessed and I think that we should find ways to help those who have lost so much.
Sometimes in the face of such a large-scale disaster we can feel overwhelmed and we can feel that our efforts won’t really make a difference. I would simply point out the Cajun Navy, comprised of just a bunch of folks with small boats. No one of them makes a huge difference, but when they are combined they are saving so many people from rising flood waters. 
We too can add our efforts/contributions to make a difference. I think that is one of the lessons of the multiplication of the fish and the loaves. One of Jesus’ Apostles points out, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish: but what good are these for so many?” I think the Devil uses this sort of thinking on us. We see a problem, and we don’t think that we can do anything to help simply because we don’t have the resources to fix the whole problem.
The Archdiocese of Mobile is accepting financial donations. Donations should be marked “Hurricane Ida Relief” and sent care of the Archdiocese of Mobile, 356 Government St., Mobile AL 36602.
— Pat Arensberg is the Director of the Office for Evangelization and Family Life. Email him at [email protected] 
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