Amid storm debris, undamaged picture of Jesus restores a man's faith

Published: 2005-09-13

DAPHNE, Ala. (CNS) -- Donald Thomas, a 73-year-old artist from Biloxi, Miss., lost hundreds of his paintings that had been securely fastened to his wall when the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina filled up the first and second floors of his home. The only thing left on his walls after the waters receded was a plate with an image of Jesus on it hanging on a nail. The sight of that plate, somehow spared from mud that covered everything else remaining in the house, made an impression on Thomas that he will never forget. "I saw it and I said, 'I'm going to church from now on,'" Thomas told Catholic News Service Sept. 11 just outside a Red Cross shelter in Daphne. "I'm not claiming to be a Holy Roller either," stressed Thomas, who said he was raised Catholic but was not a churchgoer. He said the plate impressed him so much because it was one of the first things he saw after a harrowing night of hanging onto the roof of his house for several hours. "To me, it said that God was with me the whole time."

Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .