They include those who taught our children the faith; those who served as nurses and midwives, those who helped with the youth groups and prayer groups, and all the staff who contributed directly or indirectly in any way to the building of Church on Carriacou, for without the cooking, cleaning, office work, etc., etc., the more obvious direct works could not have been done.

And I can’t fail to mention Fr. Jim Duffy, who with his special gifts of prayer and healing, his Masses and teachings, brought the Charismatic Renewal to our island, and Trudi Cortens, who was at the helm all those years, inspiring, directing and participating in everything.

At one time when MH Carriacou was here, there were 75 young people in the young people’s prayer group. Where are they all now? Almost all of them have emigrated, and hopefully some are now living the faith in the cities of New York, Toronto, London, and wherever else they are scattered like seeds blown in the wind.

Prior to our celebration, which lasted a whole week, we had a three-day retreat. Judging by the number of confessions on the last day, we concluded that it was a success.

Monday was family fun day, and Tuesday was the visitation of the sick and elderly, a day on which people brought them small gifts and a slice of anniversary cake. They were delighted.

Thursday was appreciation-remembrance day. Many certificates of recognition were distributed, including one for Madonna House. They were given for “dedicated service rendered toward the building up of the Church.”

Friday night was a concert and all six Catholic churches on the island participated. There were skits, dances, songs, and poems, including two short ones about the recent Hurricane Ivan.

The youths stole the show with Whoopi Goldberg’s “Hail Holy Queen.” Then Saturday was youth day and Sunday the closing Mass was followed by a “harvest” (bazaar).

All in all, it was a good, full, rewarding week.

Though we were not too badly hit by Hurricane Ivan, nearby Grenada, where we have many friends, was, as you know, completely devastated. When I visited there right after the hurricane to express our concern and solidarity with our friends and to take whatever I could in the line of food and money, the usually lush tropical island looked like an island of dead bones.

As of this writing (November 14th), the rebuilding is in process, but as was expected, is only moving slowly.

Though the electricity is being restored, they still have a long way to go before it is completely back. And the restoring of telephone service is taking even longer. (But many people seem to have acquired cell phones.)

Rain is continuously falling these days, so the island is turning green again. I’m sure many people are beginning to plant.

After the hurricane, the Church in Grenada received, among other things, much needed building supplies. Those involved in the relief work began by concentrating on providing food and temporary shelter, such as tarpaulins.

The second stage was to survey the housing situation and provide vouchers to the most needy, enabling them to get the supplies for more permanent housing. The schools were also a priority.

The Church in Grenada is also working towards providing counseling for those still suffering from the shock of the hurricane.

Last on the scale are the churches and rectories needing to be rebuilt.

We ourselves, thanks to the generosity of many in Canada, have been able to help some people to re-roof their house or build a simple dwelling.