San Antonio, Texas, Sep 12, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Although the horrors of Hurricane Katrina, which ravaged the U.S. Gulf Coast two weeks ago, has become a source of despair and dismay for many, San Antonio Archbishop Jose Gomez is challenging his people to see the ever-present face of God in the midst of tragedy.
In a special editorial Saturday in the San Antonio Express-News, the Archbishop said that “When Hurricane Katrina was forcing its will on the cities and the people of Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana, it seemed that the only voice that could be heard was the roaring of an angry wind and the human cry for help.”
He described a “deafening silence” heard by many in the days following the storm and subsequent flooding which begged the question--repeated by many in the last two weeks--‘where was God?’
“God”, said the Archbishop, “was in the fearful mother driven only by her desire to protect her children. God was in the heroic acts of men and women who risked their lives, some losing them, to save those they loved and those they hardly knew.”