Bishop celebrates Mass in town hard hit by Harvey

“Harvey has awakened us to what is important.”
Those words were part of the message Bishop Curtis Guillory, SVD, shared with parishioners of Our Lady of Lourdes, Vidor, as he celebrated Mass in that parish on Sunday, Oct. 1.

‘‘We have come to see that our faith has connected us,” Bishop Guillory said as he assured them that their brothers and sisters across the diocese were in solidarity with them as they rebuild their lives. “The storm helped us realize the number of things we take for granted.… As St. James tell us in his letter, we can’t say we love God if we don’t love our neighbor.”

The City of Vidor was one of the communities hardest hit by flooding from Hurricane Harvey. Many residents had to be evacuated by boat or helicopter as water poured into their homes.
In the weeks since the storm, Bishop Guillory has been visiting parishes affected by flood waters and celebrating Mass in locations that took major hits from Harvey.