TEXAS—”God’s work, our hands” is the motto used by the ten young adults and their parochial vicar, Father David Roman, who came to our diocese January 2-6 to work for Hurricane Harvey victims and the homeless in our diocese. They came here at the urging of Corpus Christi diocese’s seminarian Carlos De La Rosa, a good friend of Father Roman.
Led by Father David Roman, parochial vicar at St. Aloysius Parish in New Canaan, Connecticut, the group spent one day painting the exterior of a refurbished home outside of Refugio, another day working on three houses in the Rockport area. One home needed all its walls taken out and the work was done with great gusto using sledgehammers.
They also worked two days at the Mother Teresa Shelter in Corpus Christi where they prepared and served lunch and sorted out the warehouse and prepared various clothing items that were given away to Mother Teresa clients.
These young adults, the youngest age 18 and the oldest age 26, left the comfort of their homes in Connecticut to travel to south Texas to be the hands and feet of our Lord, to extend Christian charity to strangers and in return, receive the grace of new friendships.
They attended Mass every day and had time to enjoy our south Texas Tex-Mex and barbecue and made a pilgrimage to Nuestra Senora de San Juan in the Valley.
The folks at the Refugio Volunteer Center, at Hands of Hope in Rockport and at the Mother Teresa Shelter and their clients will forever remember these enthusiastic, dedicated and holy young men and women who sacrificed their time to travel here for the benefit of God’s people.
Pray for them that their lives be successful and that they’ll continue to do great things for the Lord and his people. May their work here be an inspiration for our south Texas community as we continue our efforts to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey in our Diocese.
Please call/text Deacon Richard Longoria at 361.446.2291 or email rlongoria@diocesecc.org to organize your volunteer group.
by Richard Longoria for STC
