A Niagara Falls native doing missionary work in Haiti is counting his blessings after that devastating earthquake.
“I don’t have a scratch,” said the Rev. Thomas Moore, 71, OSFS, who was in Port-au-Prince that day, Jan. 12, when the earthquake destroyed the Hands Together mission staffed by his religious order, the Oblates of St. Francis DeSales.
“We have water to wash and cook with (no small miracle) and electricity. We have enough food, and we’ve been about to buy drinking water,” he added, “So God is good.”
Writing on his own blog, Moore confirmed that he was safe.
Immediately after the earthquake, however, the priest’s family members including a brother, Dr. James P. Moore of Lewiston, were unable to reach him. Two days later, they were informed that the priest was alive and had escaped any serious injury.
With thousands of people killed and countless buildings in ruins, Father Moore was obviously jolted beyond description. A 125-year-old church, next door to the Oblates’ mission, was destroyed.
“The pastor there asked me to celebrate Mass in the open air for him that first weekend,” he recalled.
Just five days ago, Father Moore presided at a service celebrating the feast of the Presentation of the Christ Child in the Temple. He reminded the gathering that when the Savior comes, they will go to meet him in his kingdom with all the saints of heaven.
“I told all those present that, in fact, the Savior had indeed come 22 days ago for many people in Port-au-Prince and by the providence of that same God and Savior, we were not called to the kingdom, at least not for the time being.”
The priest noted that right after the earthquake many people remarked, “God was not ready for us yet and that we will have things to accomplish according to God’s plan ... It is a fact that all of us could have been killed that day. That’s a sobering thought. Now it is also true that for any of us, today could be our last day.” Surviving an earthquake makes that awareness much more real, the priest added.
A 1956 graduate of Bishop Duffy High School, Father Moore was ordained to the priesthood in 1966. Before embarking on his mission assignment to Haiti in 2008, he served for 20 years with various parishes in the Diocese of Saginaw, Mich.
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SOFT PEDALING: Amidst the media blitz about the troubles with Toyota’s vehicles these days, those area car owners receiving their recall notice last week must have chuckled at the first sentence that began, “As you may have heard ...”
The dealers say the problem with the accelerator pedal can be fixed in about a half-hour. It may take years, however, for the company to rebuild a good image.
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IN THE PARK: State Parks Commissioner Carol Ash is scheduled to meet this week with Mark Thomas, western district director of the statewide parks system, at the Prospect Park Administration Building. The commissioner is making the rounds to discuss inevitable challenges the Albany-based Department of Parks will confront from the drastic cuts in the 2010-11 budget. Some parks may even be closed for a lack of maintenance and operating funds.
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A FREE GUIDE: The 2010 New York Campgrounds and RV Parks directory is available at nycampgrounds.com (fill out the online request form), or by calling toll free at (800) 497-2669. The 100-page booklet, which includes more than 200 privately-operated campgrounds across the Empire State, is a handy reference for booking a campsite for your next vacation.
Contact reporter Don Glynn at 282-2311, ext. 2246.
Columns
GLYNN: Falls priest continues his mission in Haiti
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