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Mississippi delta threatened by oil slick

02 May 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The psalmist praises the "glorious splendor" of God's kingdom this Sunday, but the beauty and splendor of the fragile wildlife eco-system off the coast of four U.S. Gulf Coast states is threatened by an approaching oil slick. The U.S. Coast Guard Wednesday started a "controlled burn" to battle the giant oil slick from last week's deadly offshore drilling rig explosion, but strong, gusty winds and thunderstorms moving into the Gulf of Mexico Thursday could push the large seaward oil spill ever closer to the coast. At midday Wednesday the edge of the spill was only 23 miles off the coast of Louisiana, close to a delicate system of coastal estuaries and swamps teeming with birds and other wildlife. The leaking well, 5,000 feet under the ocean surface off Louisiana's coast, has created a growing oil sheen and an emulsified crude slick that has a circumference about the size of Jamaica--and growing, the Coast Guard said. London based British Petroleum, the oil company that contracted with Transocean to use the rig, has been unable to shut down the gushing crude. "We will not stop until we have exhausted every single option," company executive Doug Suttles said, adding that the company was spending $6 million a day in the effort. The drilling rig caught fire April 20, leaving 11 workers missing and presumed dead. The fire raged until the rig sank last Thursday, severely bending the pipe that connected it with equipment on the seafloor. Crude began to gush from the end of the pipe as well as from a hole in it. Thousands of feet of boom were being readied at staging areas in Venice, Louisiana, Biloxi, Mississippi, and Pensacola, Florida to keep the oil slick from reaching coastal areas. But the precautions did little to assure biologists on the coast, who warned that the oil will affect everything from oyster beds and fisheries to endangered wildlife. Source: Articles by Chris Baltimore for Reuters, Ben Casselman, Angel Gonzalez, and Guy Chazan for the Wall Street Journal, and Rick Jervis for USA TODAY

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Yes, you’re in the Army now

13 Mar 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

When Jesus had withstood his trials in the desert, “angels came and ministered to him,” this Sunday’s gospel informs us. A 10-year-old boy suffering the trials of terminal cancer celebrated what likely will be his last birthday with some surprise visitors. Brennan Daigle loves all things related to the U.S. Army, and when he arrived at his party he got a reception from a formation of 40 soldiers, a ride in a camouflaged National Guard Humvee, and induction as an honorary member of the Army. Since October 2009, Brennan, from Sulphur, Louisiana, has been battling embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma--a rare form of cancer in which muscular tumors attach themselves to bones. Last month doctors told his family there was nothing more they could do and gave Brennan only weeks to live. Becky Prejean, who runs a charity for seriously ill children called Dreams Come True of Louisiana, heard about Brennan's illness and got in touch with his mother. Brennan's greatest wish, she told Prejean, was to meet some soldiers in person before his illness worsened. The two women contacted the Fort Polk Community Relations Office, which put out a call for a few soldiers to attend Brennan's tenth birthday on Feb. 26. Forty showed up. Brennan was speechless, according to his mother. "All he could do was giggle," she said. It took a while for his new honor to sink in. The next day he asked her, "Am I really in the Army?" "You most certainly are," she answered. "They don't swear in just anyone." "That's awesome," said Brennan. Source: An article by Rachel Reischling for the Folk Port (Louisiana) Guardian

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Mighty Mississippi menaces Delta region

15 May 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The readings for the Fourth Sunday of Easter--Good Shepherd Sunday--contain many shepherding allusions. Residents of the Mississippi Delta region need the assistance of a good shepherd to help them navigate flood waters from the swollen river that are cresting at near record levels this week. The river topped outTuesday at Memphis just inches short of the record set in 1937. Some low-lying neighborhoods were inundated, but high levees protected much of the rest of the city. The damage was estimated at more than $320 million, but an official tally won't be available until the waters recede. To the south there were no early figures on the cost of the devastation, but with hundreds of homes already damaged, "we're going to have a lot more when the water gets to where it's never been before," said Greg Flynn, a spokesman for the Mississippi emergency management agency. Downstream in Louisiana, inmates were filling sandbags to protect property in Cajun swamp communities that could be flooded if engineers open a spillway to protect the more densely populated Baton Rouge area. Fear was high across the region. "I went through [Hurricane] Katrina," said Lynn Magnuson, a New Orleans resident. "I would not wish flooding on anyone, and this city is the last place on Earth that needs any more high water." "After Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Ike--as well as the oil spill--Louisiana can ill-afford another large-scale disaster," said Sen. Mary Landrieu (D, La.) "Billions of dollars in property is at stake, not to mention the threat to human life." Source: Articles by Holbrook Mohr and Shelia Byrd for the Associated Press and CNN.com

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Religious community wins right to sell caskets

07 Aug 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The psalmist’s prayer this Sunday serves as a suitable plea for anyone facing their own death of that of a loved one: “Lord, let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.” Also facing people at such a time are decisions concerning the final disposition of the body. The Benedictines of St. Joseph Abbey in St. Benedict, Louisiana want to offer their handcrafted caskets to the public and sued in federal court for the right to do so. Last year the monks had asked a federal judge in New Orleans to overturn a Louisiana law allowing only licensed funeral homes to sell caskets to the public. Several weeks ago, the court agreed. U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval of the Eastern District of Louisiana found no rational relationship between the prohibition on coffin sales and the public "health and safety" concerns that were advanced to justify it. "It appears that the sole reason for these laws is the economic protection of the funeral industry,” Duval said in striking down the law. At stake, the monks had argued, was the their ability to engage in free enterprise through the sale of the caskets, which range in price from $1,500 to $2,000 but which are considerably less expensive than many of those sold to bereaved families by funeral home operators. The monks have made the coffins for decades to bury brother members of their community, but public interest in the caskets began in the early 1990s and has grown over the years. At least three other monasteries in the U.S.--St. Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad, Indiana; New Melleray Abbey in Peosta, Iowa; and Mount Michael Abbey in Elkhorn, Nebraska--have casket-making operations and sell their coffins to the public. Sources: Articles by Peter Finney, Jr. for Catholic News Service and Martha Neil for abajournal.com

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Louisiana monastics can keep selling caskets

27 Oct 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“The time of my departure is at hand,” we hear this Sunday in 2 Timothy. When the time comes, families seeking handmade caskets to bury loved ones are now assured of being able to purchase one from a monastery in Louisiana after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from that state's funeral directors who wanted to stop the practice.“We really can now move forward without worrying about being shut down,” said Deacon Mark Coudrain, manager of St. Joseph Woodworks in Covington, Louisiana. “This is going to affect a lot of other people. A lot of people are going to have opportunities to do things that are their legal right to generate revenue.”In a little-noticed ruling on October 15, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case between the monks of St. Joseph Abbey and the Louisiana State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors. In 2007 the abbey began selling handmade coffins, prompting the board to file a lawsuit that argued Louisiana law required a funeral director’s license for casket sales.The monks won the case and the initial appeal. The funeral directors then asked the Supreme Court to review the case; by not agreeing to hear it, the high court let stand the appeals court ruling, which said that Louisiana does not regulate the use or construction of caskets.The monks have buried their own members as well as the occasional bishop or donor in handmade caskets for years. After Hurricane Katrina destroyed the abbey’s timberland, a source of revenue, the monks decided to sell caskets to fund the medical and educational needs of the abbey.The monastery invested $200,000 in St. Joseph Woodworks and sold “monastic” and “traditional” cypress caskets for $1,500 and $2,000, prices “significantly lower” than caskets at funeral homes, as the appeals court noted in its decision.Coudrain said selling caskets also serves as a way of sharing Catholic teaching about the meaning of death. “The theology of the church is that our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit, and the spirit has moved on, but we want to respect the body as well,” Coudrain said.Homily hint: Thinking about life ending, either our own or a loved one’s, is never easy. Perhaps the the second reading's notion of “departure” rather than ending offers a helpful metaphor for the journey we undertake. At some point we need to sit back, relax, and trust God to guide us home. Source: An article by Katherine Burgess for Religion News Service

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Prisoners train to be shepherds

29 Dec 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The New Year is a time for hopeful new beginnings and upbeat news, such as Jan. 1’s gospel narrative of the message of joy spread by shepherds who came to Bethlehem to rejoice in the birth of the Savior.Over the last 20 years the State Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana has produced something to cheer about: Almost 250 inmates have graduated from its groundbreaking in-house seminary which offers degrees in pastoral ministries and theology. Like the shepherds of old, these graduates often surprise people by being the messengers of the Good News that has “been told to them.”The penitentiary’s curriculum includes a variety of courses such as Greek, Hebrew, and “sidewalk ministry” where inmates learn techniques for ministering to fellow inmates. Most graduates are Christian, but 15 Muslims have also comlpleted the program. Based on the college’s purported success, Texas has implemented a similar program and several other states are also considering in-prison seminaries.Homily hint: The moral of this inspiring story is: Never give up on anyone. Prisons which offer a path to healing and wholeness to those who have lost their way are helping God reach out with saving power. Source: A report by Brad Stoddard for Sightings (University of Chicago Divinity School)

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Prisoners train to be shepherds

05 Jan 2014 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The New Year is a time for hopeful new beginnings and upbeat news, such as Jan. 1’s gospel narrative of the message of joy spread by shepherds who came to Bethlehem to rejoice in the birth of the Savior.Over the last 20 years the State Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana has produced something to cheer about: Almost 250 inmates have graduated from its groundbreaking in-house seminary which offers degrees in pastoral ministries and theology. Like the shepherds of old, these graduates often surprise people by being the messengers of the Good News that has “been told to them.”The penitentiary’s curriculum includes a variety of courses such as Greek, Hebrew, and “sidewalk ministry” where inmates learn techniques for ministering to fellow inmates. Most graduates are Christian, but 15 Muslims have also comlpleted the program. Based on the college’s purported success, Texas has implemented a similar program and several other states are also considering in-prison seminaries.Homily hint: The moral of this inspiring story is: Never give up on anyone. Prisons which offer a path to healing and wholeness to those who have lost their way are helping God reach out with saving power. Source: A report by Brad Stoddard for Sightings (University of Chicago Divinity School)

prisoners prisons seminaries louisiana state penitentiary