I’m headed to sleep very soon, and I just checked the Go Fund Me for my priest, Fr. Matthew Harrington, and his family. The fund is over $20,000! It humbles and delights me more than I can say to see so many names from this blog’s readership on the site, and I know well that many of the “Anonymous” donors are … you.

I cannot convey strongly enough how much need there is here. The family of five — soon to be six — gets by on the salary of a rural missionary priest. Anna, the priest’s wife, had to quit her job because her medical condition, with the high-risk pregnancy, was so dire. The baby, who will be delivered on Tuesday morning, is severely handicapped, and because of medical complications, Anna will face hours of risky surgery immediately after the baby comes.

And, if everything succeeds on Tuesday, the family will come home from the hospital facing enormous need. That’s where we all come in.

The reason I live in St. Francisville today is because I saw the power of community, inspired by love, lift up my cancer-stricken sister and her family, and carry them through the fire. This is a different situation, but in most ways, it’s the same: a family is in great need, a need far, far beyond their ability to manage, and has nothing to rely on but the power of God and the caritas of their neighbors.

Thank you, my generous readers, for being their neighbor.