3 Epiphany C

Jan. 24, 2010
The Rev. Susan J. Latimer

Exactly one year ago today, my former Bishop, +Chilton, arrived in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. She had been there many times before – but after retiring in 2008 as Bishop of Maine, +Chilton’s desire was to give of herself in ministry to the people of Haiti, as much as her health would allow.

Haiti and Maine had been partner Dioceses for many years, and +Chilton traveled there last year to assist Haiti’s bishop for 6 weeks.

Haiti’s Bishop, The Rt. Rev. Zache Duracin, had been with us in Maine for Diocesan convention the year before. He sat with our table for some conversation, because we were a sister church to a church and school in Haiti. The thing I remember most about Bishop Duracin is his presence. He radiated peace, and a quiet joy, and his eyes showed the wisdom and patience of one who had already seen much suffering.

My former parish, St. Mark’s, had formed a companion relationship with a parish and school in Terrier Rouge, Haiti. Their priest, Fr. Noe Bernier, stayed with some of our parishioners on his visits to Maine.

Whenever anyone asked, “What can we do?” the answer was always the same – from the Bishop and from his priest:

“You must come to Haiti.
You must come and be with the people of Haiti."

+Chilton has a blog about her time in Haiti – full of videos and pictures of the people in all the churches that she visited. It is wonderful. Everywhere there is joy. Everywhere the people are singing and smiling.
Haiti has a long tradition of “joyful exuberance and celebration” which is evident in her videos. You can hear +Chilton talking with folks after their Diocesan convention – in what was already the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere – who said, “God has given us so much – this worship and service is our response”.

If you visit +Chilton’s blog, you can see the Diocese of Haiti in action. You can get a glimpse of the vibrancy of the people and their faith. You can hear Haiti’s only Philharmonic Orchestra in concert – an orchestra that was a ministry of Holy Trinity Music School – and was a part of the Cathedral complex in Port-au-Prince. You can see pictures of the only prosthesis shop in all of Haiti – at St. Vincent’s School for the handicapped – also run by the Diocese.

There a proud worker holds up an artificial leg, made specially to fit the recipient. You will also see pictures of the famous frescoes inside the Cathedral – magnificent frescoes which were a national cultural and spiritual treasure - which are now completely reduced to rubble, along with the entire Cathedral complex.

A university, a birthing center, a convent, a cathedral, several outlying parish churches, a hospital, a nursing school, and a Jubilee Center also appear in her videos. Of all these institutions, only the birthing center, Maison de Naissance, remains intact, because it was outside of Port-au-Prince. Everything else has been devastated by the earthquake. Many of the people who worked and studied and lived in these buildings are also dead or injured. Bishop Duracin is, miraculously, alive.

You are the Body of Christ, and individually members of it… For just as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

The Diocese of Haiti is part of The Episcopal Church, It is the largest and fastest growing Diocese in all of the Episcopal Church – with over 83,000 members, 117 churches, and 37 priests.

Before the earthquake, Haiti was the poorest Nation in the Western hemisphere, and the poorest Diocese in our Church.
Before the earthquake, life expectancy was 52, there was 68% unemployment, and 72 babies out of every 1,000 died.
BEFORE the earthquake….

After the earthquake, and the 50 some strong aftershocks that continue to terrorize the people, there are at least 111,000 confirmed dead and over 600,000 homeless. Bishop Duracin says that practically all the church’s buildings in Haiti have fallen down. More than 100 churches are damaged or destroyed.

The Diocese’s entire infrastructure is in ruins…. The Bishop is homeless, along with his flock. He is living in a tent city, ministering to the people, waiting, as so many are, for the supplies necessary for life – water, food, medical supplies….

If one member suffers, all suffer together with it….

The Bishop’s words continue to echo in my mind,

“You must come to Haiti.
You must come and be with the people of Haiti.

I have not yet had a chance to visit Haiti, but I feel a strong connection to the people because of the Haitians I have met.
Bishop Duracin knows that relationships matter – that connections matter. He knows that when we experience our connections as members of the Body of Christ, the power of the Spirit is set loose among us.
We have much to learn from our brothers and sisters in Haiti.

Those who have taken the invitation to go to Haiti report that their lives have been changed. They see our life in the United States with new eyes.
Haiti, before the earthquake, was a place of extremes.
Now, it is even more so.
The juxtaposition of extreme poverty and deprivation with amazing strength of faith and character in the people makes a profound impact.
It puts everything in perspective.

In the early hours after the terrible rending of the earth, along with the wailing, the sound of song rose from the rubble. The people of Haiti continue to sing their prayers and praise to God, prayers that give strength and hope to all who hear them.
Now, of course, is not the time to go to Haiti – not quite yet – not unless we are among the “first responders”. In a country where every normal line of communication and transport has been demolished, we would just be in the way, taking precious resources – water and food – away from those who need it to survive one more day – one more hour…..
Bishop Duracin is urging people not to try to get to Haiti at this time.

But there is something we can do – we must do – we can give generously
to ERD or another Aid organization, so that we may help save the lives of our brothers and sisters in Haiti. If medical aid, water, and food do not reach the people this next week, the death toll from injury and disease could eclipse that of the earthquake itself. Now is the time for us all to do what we are able to do.
Now is the time for us to remember that we are the Body of Christ.
Now is the time for us to remember that every member of that body is precious and necessary.

When Jesus announced his public ministry in the synagogue, he read from the prophet Isaiah these words, words that proclaimed the focus of his ministry:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

We who follow this Christ can do no less than make this our focus as well.

In the words of St. Teresa of Avila, 16th century mystic and reformer:

Christ has no body now on earth but yours,
no hands but yours,
no feet but yours,
yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion
is to look out to the earth,
yours are the feet by which He is to go about doing good
and yours are the hands by which He is to bless us now.
St Teresa of Avila

At the end of +Chilton’s blog, are these words,

“Hand in hand, we move forward”

The people of Haiti desperately need us to join them
The people of Haiti need us to extend our hands to theirs
in this, their time of greatest need,
so that hand in hand, and by God’s grace,
we may all move forward together.

A Prayer for Haiti:

Almighty Father, God of mercies and giver of comfort, deal graciously, we pray, with the people of Haiti in the midst of the great suffering caused by the catastrophic earthquake. May they cast all their care on you and know the consolation of your love.

Give us the courage, zeal, wisdom and patience to assist them, not only in these first days and weeks of urgent need, but as they continue to need the care and partnership of all their sisters and brothers around the world in the long and difficult work of healing and rebuilding.

Grant eternal life to those who have died, healing to the injured and strength to all the survivors, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

The Ven. Dr. J. Fritz Bazin Archdeacon for Immigration and Social Concerns Diocese of Southeast Florida

A Prayer for the Victims of the Earthquake in Haiti

Holy God, source of life, lover of souls, out of the depths we call to you; in the face of incomprehensible anguish and sorrow, we lift the cries of our distress and implore you to show mercy upon those who are suffering from the destruction of the earthquake in Haiti. We pray for those who have died and for their loved ones who grieve. asking you to hold them in the arms of your love; we pray for those who have been injured in body, mind or spirit and ask you to heal them; we pray for those who are homeless and wandering, for families torn asunder and ask you to shelter them. Strengthen the hands and hearts of those who assist in relief efforts and grant us all firm resolve to stand with our neighbors who are in need, to love them and to offer our generous support of them in this their time of trouble; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen