Rained out, burned out yet God is faithful, and on time, always!

Hope everyone in the southeast Louisiana area had a good week despite the weather.  A tropical disturbance named Cindy visited us and thankfully, she was nuisance and not a major threat.  Cindy moved far west of the New Orleans area but drug her wet side smack over our area and we have had tons of rain since Tuesday.  Now the rain, for most of us, was not as bad as some of the more dire forecasts.

Being summer, the weather was not a major distraction as there were no schools to close, etc. although almost all the Archdiocese summer camps were told to close for two days.  Honestly, this turned out to be extreme abundance of caution but it is what it is. 

Once again we learned that living in southeast Louisiana during hurricane season is a burden.  Remember this was a tropical storm, not a hurricane and it made landfall some 300 miles west of New Orleans.  Still, several areas received damaging impacts from rising rivers, coastal flooding and a full Lake Pontchartrain.  If nothing else, we should all be reminded that any storm later in the season with more punch will require planning, preparation and vigilance.  Hurricanes are nothing to mess with.

So every hurricane season we pray, we ask for the assistance of Mary under the title of Our Lady of Prompt Succor and we pray various prayers like this one; pray along with us in Louisiana:

O God, Master of this passing world, hear the humble voices of your children.  The Sea of Galilee obeyed your order and returned to its former quietude; you are still the Master of land and sea.  We live in the shadow of a danger over which we have no control.  The Gulf, like a provoked and angry giant, can awake from its seeming lethargy, overstep its conventional boundaries, invade our land and spread chaos and disaster.  During this hurricane season, we turn to You, O loving Father.  Spare us from past tragedies whose memories are still so vivid and whose wounds seem to refuse to heal with the passing of time.  O Virgin, Star of the Sea, Our Beloved Mother, we ask you to plead with your Son in our behalf, so that spared from the calamities common to this area and animated with a true spirit of gratitude, we will walk in the footsteps of your Divine Son to reach the heavenly Jerusalem where a storm-less eternity awaits us. Amen.

Read more at http://www.beliefnet.com/prayers/catholic/violence-disasters/prayer-for-hurricane-season.aspx#tPYFvsQdQXd5Argy.99