“From Saint Paul to San Juan”Helping our Brothers and Sisters in Need

Stories tend to have limited life spans on the news, even when it comes to natural disasters. By the time you read this on Sunday, it will have been 172 days since Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, and yet the devastation in the island territory continues to manifest itself on a daily basis. You may recall from high school history class that in 1493 Christopher Columbus first arrived at Puerto Rico, calling it San Juan Bautista. Thanks to finding gold in the port, it was renamed to Puerto Rico (“rich port”), and it soon became a Spanish colony.Under the Treaty of Paris of 1898 following the Spanish-American War, Spain ceded Puerto Rico (along with Cuba, the Philippines and Guam) to the U.S. Fifty-four years later, Puerto Rico officially became a U.S. Territory.

So, when I heard that the Minnesota Twins were still planning on playing two regular season games on the island on April 17-18, 2018 I was quite surprised, even puzzled. “How can they go ahead with this,” I thought to myself? This series was planned more than a year ago, well before the hurricane, intended as an outreach in honor of baseball’s deep roots there. But Major League Baseball is committed to moving forward and will make a substantial donation to hurricane relief in the amount of $1,000,000.Those efforts will be aided by notable Puerto Rican-born players on both rosters: All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor and catcher Roberto Perez for the Cleveland Indians and right-hander Jose Berrios, outfielder Eddie Rosario and first baseman/DH Kennys Vargas for the Twins. Puerto Rico is very much a study in contrasts, and its problems are far greater and pre-date the hurricane. Those in the know say that when driving through the countryside, it is difficult to discern the storm damage from what might be the result of the 43 percent poverty rate among its 3.4 million inhabitants.

About two weeks ago, a couple invited me and two others to attend the series with them and I was delighted to accept, given my love of baseball. I have never been to the region before–Miami is as far south as I have traveled. But almost immediately, I felt a little uneasy knowing the struggles of the island and resolved to see if I could do anything to help. I spoke with members of our Parish Council as well as staff and asked if they think it would be a good idea to try to engage in some kind of outreach as part of the brief trip to San Juan. They felt strongly that we should do something, and I then made a phone call to the Catedral de San Juan Bautista (built in 1521 A.D.!) and was connected with Jose Lara, the English language secretary to the Rector. He returned my phone call almost immediately and was so deeply grateful for the offer of assistance. We have already had several conversations, and I’d like to share the upshot of these conversations.

Since September, the United States Army Corps of Engineers has been on hand directing much of the relief efforts. The island still counts more than 400,000 without power or potable water, apparently a result of an electrical grid that was woefully inadequate and aged! This far out, that is unbelievable. The majority of the large power plants are on the south side of the islands, the portion most seriously affected by the storm. But most of the people live in the north and the mountainous terrain makes distributing power difficult. FEMA said it administered 30 million gallons of potable water, almost 60 million meals, $559 million of public assistance grants, and $3.2 million in unemployment assistance.

The stained-glass window in the Cathedral was completely destroyed. Water poured in the window. Had the organ been there when the storm hit, the stained-glass window above it would have ruined it, as well as the water that poured into the space. The organ, previously damaged by termites, essentially collapsed and needs a complete restoration. While the organ collapse happened before the storm due to termite damage (among other things), the water from the storm would surely have ruined it had it managed to stay intact. Here is my plea. I would like to offer some assistance to the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista by means of collecting supplies, as well as a collection to support the restoration efforts for their stained-glass window and organ. I would love to present these gifts from our Cathedral to theirs sometime during my brief visit to San Juan. If you are interested, I ask that you bring in supplies to the Church on the weekends of March 18 and 25, the two weekends before Easter.

The parish is especially in need of over the counter medical supplies: pain killers, cold medicines, aspirin, etc. This is easy to pack! I enlist your support to bring items to Church the next two weekends and deposit them in the boxes near St. Peter’s Chapel. The Cathedral noted that their Caritas Center is most in need of: Aspirin, Tylenol, Cold and Flu Medicine. I envision an opportunity for a second collection on Palm Sunday for Stained Glass/Organ restoration, for those who wish to support this worthy endeavor. We will package up all the items and I will ensure their safe delivery to the Cathedral. I only ask that you please prayerfully consider supporting this outreach.

  • Since the mid-1980’s, I have witnessed the diminution of Catholic identity in many universities across the nation. Last week, Jesuit-sponsored Georgetown University presented an award to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) for his “outstanding and exemplary service” to the community in support of humanitarian causes. This is the same Senator Durbin who was one of 14 Catholic Senators who voted against the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, a bill that would have outlawed (with some exceptions) late-term abortions after 20 week’s gestation, the point when fetuses can experience pain. Granting this award is beyond disappointing– it is simply inexcusable!
  • I knew the answer, but asked our altar servers anyway before Mass– “Has any one of you ever heard of Roger Bannister?” Blank stares ensued. I explained that he was the first man to break a 4-minute mile back in 1954, to which one high-school lad replied, “I can’t even run an 8-minute mile!” Roger once quipped “It’s amazing that more people have climbed Mount Everest than have broken the 4-minute mile.” Still, his greatest pride was found in his children, grandchildren and his forty-year career as a neurosurgeon than in his record run. He died at age 88 in Oxford England.
  • Ecclesial growth spurt? One hundred and fifty years ago, on March 3, 1868, the Catholic Church in this country witnessed the establishment of no fewer than eight new dioceses and two vicariates (prelude to becoming a diocese). In one fell swoop, Pope Pius IX established the Dioceses of: Green Bay (WI), Columbus (OH), La Crosse (WI), Harrisburg (PA), Rochester (NY), Scranton (PA), Wilmington (DE), Saint Joseph (MO) as well as Apostolic Vicariates in North Carolina and Idaho/Montana.
  • Due to Saturday scheduling conflicts with St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) and an Archdiocesan Confirmation on March 24, we will not be able to have the pre-Easter Church cleaning this year. My bad! I’ll be more intentional about blocking out dates next year!

Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. John L. Ubel,

Rector