Multimillion dollar mansions or humble shanties face the same fate of being reduced to ashes
By Mary Ann Mueller
VOL Special Correspondent
January 12, 2025
The pictures of A-list celebrity oceanfront mansions reduced to piles of smoldering ruins are grabbing the headlines.
It's like a Hollywood fire flick being played out in real time. The burning of Atlanta in the 1939 classic Gone With the Wind was Hollywood make-believe. What is currently unfolding in Los Angeles is horribly real.
It is a stark reminder that no one or nothing is immune from the powerful forces of nature — fire, wind, water and terra firma. Wildfires, hurricanes, floods and mudslides all wipe the slate clean leaving behind them trails of devastation — homes gone, lives upended, infrastructure destroyed, important community touchstones such as churches and schools disrupted.
As the multiple wildfires rage in the Los Angeles area the city is entering into a deepening humanitarian crisis. Burned-out families have nowhere to go. No place to return to. No job. Many with no insurance. They immediately need the very basics of life — food, clothing, water, shelter, employment, hope.
Each day more families join the growing list of people who have lost virtually everything. White, Black, Asian, Hispanic … Anglican, Catholic, Jewish, Islamic … Rich, poor, middle class, homeless ... Banker, baker, teacher, priest … It doesn't matter. The fire claims all in its path.
Since Tuesday (January 7) wildfires fuelled by hurricane strength gusts of the Santa Ana winds have been leveling various neighbors in and around the City of Los Angeles and the wider surrounding county.
Thousands of structures — twelve thousand and counting — have been leveled by the unrelenting flames. More than 2,000 structures a day are being destroyed.
Saint and sinner face the same fate. Gone are their homes … their businesses … their hopes … their dreams.
The question is how do they deal with their losses? Do they curse God and government and neighbor for their fate or do they humbly bend the knee to the God of creation and acknowledge Him to be in charge regardless of the outcome even when that future seems to be covered with ashes and soot?
How many people will follow Job's lead in giving glory to God in any and all circumstances?
JOB HONORS GOD
Job was a rich man of faith. He had 10 children and much livestock with many servants to help.
“In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.” (Job 1:1-3)
Job, a loving father, would even offer sacrifice and penance on behalf of his children should they sin.
“His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, ‘Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.’ This was Job’s regular custom.” (Job 1:4-5)
But alas his fortunes turned. In one fell swoop he lost everything. His livestock was stolen. His servants were killed by marauders and all his children died in a tornado.
“One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, a messenger came to Job and said: ‘The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, and the Sabeans attacked and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!’ While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said: ‘The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!’ While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said: ‘The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!’ While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said: ‘Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!’” (Job 1:13-19)
In the face of devastating loss — his entire family, save his wife; and his livelihood along with his helpers — Job did not despair. He did not fault God.
He mourned, he grieved but he worshipped the Almighty, not laying any blame on God. His unwavering faith held.
“At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the Name of the Lord be praised.’” In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.” (Job 1:20-22)
THE HALPIN FAMILY SINGS
Now Peter and Jackie Halpin are facing devastating loss as their Altadena home was reduced to ash during last week as a part of the deadly Eaton Fire. As a result they, like Job, worshipped. They gave God the glory through song honoring the Resurrection of the Son of God.
The Halpins and six of their nine adult children gathered on the ruins of their burned out bungalow and turned to singing a familiar prayer. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1HC3hXTyYq/
The children came to support their parents in a time of unimaginable loss. To grieve together the loss of their childhood home. And to join together in unified family prayer.
The National Catholic Register reports that all that was left of the home the Halpins have lived in since 1988 was “the foundation, debris, and singed concrete statues of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Joseph.”
But what was not lost were their lives, their memories and most importantly their rock-solid faith.
Originally the Halpins’ Craftsman home was three bedrooms and one bath which over the years was stretched into four bedrooms and two bathrooms to accommodate their growing family.
Being Roman Catholics, with a strong devotion to Mary, it was natural for the Halpins to turn to her in prayer singing in Latin, and in perfect four-part acapella harmony, the Regina Caeli which honors the Resurrection of her Son — Jesus.
It is alleged that St. Augustine of Hippo once quipped that “when you sing you pray twice.”
With their eyes closed, bared heads bowed, and hands clasped in front of them they sing beneath an orange-tinged sky. They sing from memory and from their hearts: “Regina caeli, laetare, alleluia …”
(Queen of Heaven, rejoice, alleluia.)
“Quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia …”
(For He, whom you did merit to bear, alleluia.)
“Resurrexit sicut dixit, alleluia …”
(Has risen as He said, alleluia.)
“Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia…”
(Pray for us to God, alleluia.)
Mary would understand their displacement. She was travelling when her Holy Child was born. Then she and St. Joseph had to leave their cozy home and flee to Egypt, a foreign land, to protect her Son Jesus from the murderous King Herod the Great.
Upon hearing the Halpins sing Lepanto Institute President Michael Hichborn commented: “Only those with real faith can sing so beautifully in praise of Our Blessed Lord on the ashes of what used to be their own home.”
Mary Ann Mueller is a journalist living in Texas. She is a regular contributor to VirtueOnline
Yorumlar