Katrina Priest to Speak of Hurricanes Hope And Miracles on Talk Show

On Tuesday, March 24th, Fr. Peter Mockler will be featured on the CatholicTV talk show “This is the Day”. Fr. Mockler will recount his post-Katrina experience, the funerals that followed, the rebuilding, and the new found hope.

In the beginning of September 2005, just after the category 5 hurricane Katrina struck the Southern United States, a group of volunteers mostly from Michigan contacted Fr. Peter Mockler, the Pastor of St. Ann’s Church in Lizana, Mississipi. They were ordinary volunteers who had come to Mississippi to set up a base of operations that other volunteers could come to, and from there assist the local people in their time of need. Fr. Mockler gave his blessing and allowed the volunteers to set up shop at St. Ann’s. According to Steve Hulst, Michigan native and founder of the new organization, many miracles took place after they started work including “scores of volunteers have come, many truckloads of supplies started showing up, financial donations were made, acts of compassion were extended, bridges were built between people of different religious faiths, those away from their faith were returning, values and priorities were re-arranged, and hope was restored to many victims.”

Fr. Mockler has since taken over as the Director of Project Hope and Compassion which originated from Steve Hulst and his friends and family from Michigan. Fr. Mockler will discuss these happenings and the latest from Project Hope and Compassion during his appearance on “This is the Day” on March 24th.

Also featured on the show will be Samantha Ormond, who traveled with St. Elizabeth of Hungary Parish in Acton, Massachusetts on a service trip. Samantha was a high school student at the time and she was moved by the needs of the families in the Gulf Coast. As a result she returned to her home parish, St. Isidore’s in Stow, MA and encouraged parishioners to contribute to Project Hope and Compassion. They raised over $2000.00 to support the recovery efforts.

These guests can be seen on Tuesday, March 24th live at 10:30AM (EST)