ISLAND PARK, N.Y. - Sacred Heart Church in Island Park is in an area of the diocese of Rockville Centre among the most devastated by Hurricane Sandy, but the pastor urged parishioners not to fret about the material goods they have lost.
“Don’t be angry. We lost stuff. We will get other stuff,” Msgr. John Tutone, pastor, told the congregation during his homily at Sunday Mass Nov. 4. “We still have each other and the people we love. That’s the most important thing.
“There are people on your block that need you. Knock on their doors and offer your help. We have to maintain our souls. We have to maintain ourselves by helping others.”
In the community of 10,000 people in the southwest corner of Nassau County, Long Island, 80 per cent of the homes were flooded. The church, too, was flooded. A metre of water was pumped out of the parish centre, which is now being used for Masses.
As of Nov. 5, the death toll from Sandy was at least 106 in the United States, two in Canada and 67 in the Caribbean. The Associated Press reported that about 1.4 million people were still without power, down from a peak of 8.5 million. Of those, about 800,000 were in New Jersey, down from 2.7 million, and about 530,000 in New York, down from 2.2 million.
Early damage estimates put Sandy’s cost in the range of $30 billion to $50 billion.
St. Ignatius Martyr is a sturdy 88-year-old brick church that sits a block from the ocean. Sandy caused minimal damage to the church, though the rectory basement was flooded to the ceiling. Nearly 200 people gathered in the cold, dark church for the 10 a.m. Sunday Mass Nov. 4, celebrated by Msgr. Donald Beckmann.
Chris and Dawn Hagen attended with their children. Going to Mass “was important to restore some routine to our lives. We wanted to be with other people in a place that gives us comfort,” Chris said. “It’s good to come together and pray with people. It’s comforting to see our church is here and we can worship.”
“We’re grateful we are alive and have each other,” said Dawn. “We’re praying for our friends and our family and our own recovery.”
Beckmann described his most important tasks after Sandy: “One is to continue the sharing of the sacraments and preaching the Gospel in as normal a way as possible. ... A couple of people said to me, ‘It’s nice to come back here and see things as normal as possible.’ To see the church functioning is important to them. ... The second thing is to do whatever the church can do to help the wider Long Beach community.”
He said he was “praying a prayer of thanksgiving for all who have survived. I’m also asking the Holy Spirit to show us the proper way to move forward, our three parishes, the whole community and other religious institutions.”