Living Faith Foundation President Makes a Special Appeal Concerning the Victims of the Texas Floods

It’s been barely four weeks since flood waters swept through parts of Central Texas. Living near Austin, I found my social media feed too much to bear. It seemed everyone knew someone who had lost a loved one, saw their livelihood swept away or had dropped everything to rush to help those suffering. While the terrible loss of life at Camp Mystic grabbed headlines, and most lives were lost in Kerr County, the tragedy reached throughout the beautiful Hill Country and has been called the deadliest inland flooding event in the United States since 1976, surpassing even the loss of life from Hurricane Helene in 2024.

As the search for the missing continues and the cleanup begins, faith leaders know the deeper pain for the survivors will take much longer to heal. As temporal resources are being provided quickly, Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, M.Sp.S., whose Archdiocese of San Antonio was most impacted, has said that “many other aspects besides the material needs” must be addressed. He recognized that the camps along the Guadalupe River brought children and vacationers from throughout the United States. Alongside poor families who lost not just loved ones but their homes and businesses, these families need accompaniment in their grief.

While Living Faith Foundation can’t help rebuild homes or fly loved ones across the country, we can assist parishes and communities to receive hurting people and to accompany them with God’s tender mercy.

In an interview with OSV News, Archbishop García-Siller talked about how each of us can offer compassion to those suffering. Prayer is essential in developing compassion, he said. In prayer, he said we should ask, “How can I increase compassionate and be patient with the people that I am now (with)?”

Through your generosity, the resources Living Faith Foundation can provide to pastors and chaplains allow those ministers to help people become more compassionate with themselves and with others, even as seemingly unresolvable grief washes over them.

As always, I am humbled and edified by your generosity and compassion to those who are hurting. May our God of Mercy be close to all who suffer. May He embrace those who mourn, shelter the displaced, strengthen the weary and inspire all of us to offer loving assistance to those in need.

With compassion,