New Orleans pastor urges returning parishioners to reclaim their city

Published: 2006-03-08

NEW ORLEANS (CNS) -- Each Sunday, more and more parishioners return to St. Peter Claver Parish in New Orleans for Masses celebrated in the school cafeteria while the flood-damaged church is being repaired. On March 5, the first Sunday in Lent, the cafeteria was overflowing with churchgoers who started filling the seats an hour before Mass. Parishioners also sat on chairs on the stage, or stood in the back and in doorways. Prior to Mass, the atmosphere in the hall was akin to a family reunion as people greeted those they hadn't seen in months. The expression of the morning, and of many previous Sundays, was: "Are you coming back?" "It's crowded, but it's good to have people in the church," said Edmundite Father Michael Jacques, pastor of St. Peter Claver. In his homily, he said, "Folks every Sunday are coming back. They lost everything, but they want to be at Mass."

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