Wildfires in Washington State: the bishop of Spokane calls for prayer and aid

Vast wildfires have been ravaging the Spokane region of Washington State, in the north-western United States, for several days. More than a dozen large fires were burning across the state; in the Spokane area alone, over seven hundred homes have been levelled and entire neighbourhoods evacuated. The local bishop issued a pastoral message on August 3, « Standing in Hope », calling the faithful to pray for those who have fled, those who have lost everything, and all whose lives have been upended. As of now no deaths had been reported, and the two Catholic parishes in the affected area were spared.

The bishop himself toured the devastated region and described homes levelled block after block. Estimates of the number displaced diverge: on one hand more than sixty-five thousand people driven from their homes, on the other only several thousand. At least one of the three large fires is thought to be of human origin, and a person has been arrested and charged with arson. The neighbouring archdiocese has asked the faithful to give for the victims. And one image travelled the country: before the charred ruins of a house, of which only the hearth and chimney remained, a statue of the Virgin, untouched.

Before the fire, the Church makes no speeches: she does two things, and always the same two. She prays, and she helps. She prays, because « Our God is our refuge and strength: a helper in troubles, which have found us exceedingly » (Ps 45:2); it is to Him that a stricken people turns first, not by magic, but because He is the one rock that nothing burns. And she helps, because to feed the hungry, clothe the one who has lost everything, and shelter the homeless are not options: they are the works of mercy, and we shall be judged on them. To call for both is charity that prays with hands.

The loss remains, and it is real: no fine word will raise the roof over a family. But the statue standing in the ashes says what the fire could not take. It carried off the walls; it touched neither faith, nor hope, nor love. And it recalls, bluntly, a truth that comfort makes us forget: « we have not here a lasting city: but we seek one that is to come » (Heb 13:14). None of those houses was our final dwelling. The walls will be rebuilt; let us pray above all that no one loses, along with his house, the hope that does not burn.

Sources. Sacred Scripture: Psalm 45:2, and the Epistle to the Hebrews 13:14, according to the Vulgate.