Sister Parish – Sister School
St. Mary’s seeks to live the Catholic Social Teaching of Solidarity that we are one human family. We express this principal locally through the Santee Mission, a poor and neglected community in East San Jose; nationally through our Sister Parish and Sister School in Pascagoula; and internationally through our Partners in Mission in Ecuador.
Resurrection School Students
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2006, St. Mary’s responded by establishing a Sister Parish relationship which endures to this day with Sacred Heart Church and Resurrection School in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Pascagoula was devastated by the Hurricane, prompting the Town of Los Gatos to also establish a Sister City relationship with the Town of Pascagoula.
St. Mary’s decision to reach out to our Sister Parish in Pascagoula springs from our belief in the Catholic Social Teaching of Solidarity, that we are one human family. We express the principal of Solidarity locally through the Santee Mission, a poor and neglected community in East San Jose; nationally through our Sister Parish in Pascagoula; and internationally through our Partners in Mission in Ecuador.
To learn how you can volunteer to help our Sister Parish, contact parishioner Valerie Lozowicki at vlozowicki@comcast.net or call the parish’s Pastoral Care and Community Ministry Office at (408) 354-4061 ext 121
Sister Parish Update …
St. Mary’s Parishioners and other Volunteers in Pascagoula
Pascagoula and Jackson County are still in recovery from Hurricane Katrina. Before our volunteer construction projects began, we learned:
- 90% of the homes in Pascagoula were flooded or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina
- One-half of the rental housing was lost and slow to return
- One-half of the retail merchants are no longer operating
- Divorce rates are up by 75%
- Suicide rates rose by 400%.
- 9,000 people have case managers assigned to help them with social service issues
- Another 7,000 people are on a waiting list for social services
- People have new cars and boats because insurance reimbursements paid for them. (Housing was not covered by insurance for the majority of families.)
- Many homeowners were so frustrated with the slow-to -appear federal loans or grants that they’ve taken out private loans to rebuild their homes and get on with life.
Sacred Heart Church is doing well, although the parish is about half the number of families since the Hurricane. The Parish Council is meeting now and helping Fr. Mike Kelleher, Sacred Heart’s pastor, run parish affairs. Sacred Heart was hosting St. Peter’s Parish families until last summer when St. Peter’s rebuilt hall opened and mass is now celebrated at their 100+year mission site. The Centering Prayer Group that our parishioners Carol Thornton and Carole Cook began with an Introductory Workshop in 2007, is meeting regularly. And, Resurrection School is thriving. St. Peter’s children will continue to attend, many with financial aid packages. The St. Vincent de Paul Conference welcomed the idea of linking with our conference on a project to serve the poor in Pascagoula.
Fr. Mike reports that Post-Katrina Stress Disorder continues to impact parishioners and citizens of Pascagoula. “There is a profound send of loss, grief and malaise over the irreplaceably lost ‘sense of place.’ The loss of employment, churches, schools, recreation facilities, historic sites and even entire communities along the Gulf Coast equates to a loss of so much that was familiar and cherished, “ according to Raymond Scurfield, a professor at University of Southern Mississippi.
Fr. Mike shared a story about his former, parish handy-man, Ed, who lost everything in Katrina, including all his tools and shop. Last spring, Ed suffered a major stroke and Fr. Mike is convinced the stress of un-recovered losses was a factor. “Better have your own house (your spiritual life) in order and center on the Lord,” Fr. Mike says, “those who do, seem to be moving forward and better able to adjust.”
Volunteers helping to rebuild homes in Pascagoula
Chronology of St. Mary’s Sister Parish Relationship with Sacred Heart Church and Resurrection School in Pascagoula, Mississippi
August 29, 2006
Hurricane Katrina Destruction, Gulf Coast Mississippi
February 2006
Recommendation of St. Mary’s Sister Parish Research Team to adopt Sacred Heart Church and Resurrection School in Pascagoula, Mississippi
March 2006
Lenten Soup Supper presentation to parishioners in attendance and offering of donations to purchase a new commercial oven for Resurrection School
March 2006
Youth Group presentation and contributions for the commercial oven
May 2006
Fr. Mike Kelleher, Pastor of Sacred Heart, visits St. Mary’s Los Gatos and speaks at all masses about the effects of Hurricane Katrina
June 2006
Second collection at St. Mary’s to help three Sacred Heart Outreach programs: Financial aid (for African-American students to attend Resurrection School), St. Vincent de Paul Pharmacy for the poor, English-as-a-Second Language (for Hispanic immigrants) Plus, a small stipend to help refurnish the rectory.
September 2006
Four St. Mary’s parishioners, Carol Thornton, Valerie Lozowicki, Denise Antonowitz, and Fr. Thuc Si Ho visit Sacred Heart Church and Resurrection School and tour the Gulf Coast
September 2006
St. Mary’s Kindergarten class writes to their counterparts at Resurrection School
September 2006
Principal-to-Principal telephone conversation
October 2006
Report to parishioners at all masses regarding impressions of visit to the Gulf Coast by members of the St. Mary’s visiting team
October 2006
Strategy meeting of interested parishioners regarding next steps to take in our Sister Parish relationship
November 2006
Purchase and personalized greetings of the Advent “Blue Books” for distribution to Sacred Heart parishioners Youth Group creates and sends “Christmas Party-in-a- Box” to their counterparts at Sacred Heart
January 2007
St. Mary’s St. Vincent de Paul contribution to Resurrection School’s Scholarship Fund
March, 2007
Introductory Workshop on Centering Prayer presented by St. Mary’s Centering Prayer trainers, Jane Ferguson and Carole Cook Sgarlata, to members of the Sacred Heart parish and broader community. Over thirty people attended and many said the focus on their spiritual lives was something they really needed.
August 26, 2007
Pascagoula Day In Los Gatos at the Farmer’s Market and Music in the Park for a celebration of the Town of Los Gatos’ alliance with the people of Pascagoula, Mississippi. Funds raised for Pascagoula’s 100 Homes in 100 Days Program, a building program reconstructing the Katrina damaged homes of very poor elderly and disabled people.
Winter 2008
St. Mary’s donates 20 albs and cinctures, which were badly needed and “most appreciated (brothers Brad Gordon, 16 and Brice Gordon, 8 of Sacred Heart Parish in Pascagoula, shown at right).” Our St. Vincent de Paul Conference also votes to donate funds to assist the St. Vincent Conference in Pascagoula.
Spring 2008
Four parishioners and a recruit, Doug Aumack, Lisa and Bridget Hogan, Valerie Lozowicki and Doug’s brother from Texas – Bruce, traveled to Pascagoula with the Los Gatos Methodist Church to help rebuild homes along with 20+ Los Gatans from the Methodist Church. Our projects included painting the exterior of a grandfather's home; and rebuilding a bathroom for a disabled-elderly woman. We stayed in the well-organized Lutheran Camp Victor in downtown Ocean Springs. (The camp will be open and providing more volunteers to Hurricane Katrina survivors through December, 2009.) Volunteers from all over the country post their hometowns on a map in the front hallway. It was wonderful to see that the Bay Area was well represented. The families we worked for have been challenged and overwhelmed for 31 months since Hurricane Katrina. As Doug Aumack said, “(Most importantly,) we wound up healing hearts, (too).”
Here are Lisa Hogan’s reflections on the trip: “I was moved by the stories that people shared with us. Everyone had a Katrina story and they describe the events before and after the hurricane as if they had happened yesterday, not three years ago. It was incredible hearing of the devastation and their personal losses yet each person was able to find some hope in the aftermath. One family found hope in a curio cabinet filled with angels that were remarkably untouched in a completely destroyed home. Another family waited almost three years to find hope but when a group of volunteers showed up last month and replaced their roof, the hope of returning their home came a bit closer. Then on the last day of my stay at Camp Victor, I asked the director how we could best keep this hope alive. He answered with just three words, "prayers, people, and money". I assured him that I could do the first one and promised to let others know about the other two.”
